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diff --git a/21119.txt b/21119.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..10281ed --- /dev/null +++ b/21119.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8694 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Flaming June, by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Flaming June + +Author: Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey + +Illustrator: A. Gilbert + +Release Date: April 17, 2007 [EBook #21119] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FLAMING JUNE *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + + +Flaming June + +By Mrs George de Horne Vaizey +________________________________________________________________________ +This book is a little different from most of the others from this +author. The cast of the story are just a shade older than we are used +to in Vaizey books, and there is no one who is afflicted with a +disabling disease, such as the author herself suffered from. I suppose +you could describe the setting as the upper-class Mayfair set. + +The scene opens in the house of a tidy old spinster, living in a tidy +little seaside town, in a row of large houses of similar people, sharing +private access to a well-kept garden. A rather stable existence. + +There is also a nice young American girl, over in England as part of her +education, no doubt. Her father has become very rich in America, but he +is the brother of the tidy old spinster, on whom, and to whose dismay, +he has imposed Cornelia's visit. Cornelia is simply not used to the +standards of English behaviour, for instance chaperones, and not gadding +about with young men. Cornelia has quite enough pocket-money to do as +she pleases. But her aunt is proved right in the end, for among all +these nice well-brought-up people there is a baddy, which is revealed +only towards the end. NH +________________________________________________________________________ + +FLAMING JUNE + +BY MRS. GEORGE DE HORNE VAIZEY + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +Somewhere on the West coast of England, about a hundred miles from the +metropolis, there stands a sleepy little town, which possesses no +special activity nor beauty to justify its existence. People live in it +for reasons of their own. The people who do _not_ live in it wonder for +_what_ reasons, but attain no better solution of the mystery than the +statement that the air is very fine. "We have such bracing air!" says +the resident, as proudly as if that said air were his special invention +and property. Certain West-country doctors affect Norton-on-Sea for +patients in need of restful change, and their melancholy advent +justifies the existence of the great hotel on the esplanade, and the row +of bath-chairs at the corner. There are ten bath-chairs in all, and on +sunny days ten crumpled-looking old ladies can generally be seen sitting +inside their canopies, trundling slowly along the esplanade, accompanied +by a paid companion, dressed in black and looking sorry for herself. +Occasionally on Saturdays and Sundays a pretty daughter, or a tall son +takes the companion's place, but as sure as Monday arrives they +disappear into space. One can imagine that one hears them bidding their +farewells--"So glad to see you getting on so well, mother dear! I +positively _must_ rush back to town to attend to a hundred duties. It's +a comfort to feel that you are so well placed. Miss Biggs is a +treasure, and this air is so bracing!..." + +The esplanade consists of four rows of lodging-houses and two hotels, in +front of which is a strip of grass, on which a band plays twice a week +during the summer months, and the school-children twice a day all the +year long. The invalids in the hotel object to the children and make +unsuccessful attempts to banish them from their pitch, and the children +in their turn regard the invalids with frank disdain, and make audible +and uncomplimentary surmises as to the nature of their complaints as the +procession of chairs trundles by. + +In front of the green, and separating it from the steep, pebbly shore, +are a number of fishermen's shanties, bathing machines, and hulks of old +vessels stretched in a long, straggling row, while one larger shed +stands back from the rest, labelled "Lifeboat" in large white letters. + +Parallel with the esplanade runs the High Street, a narrow thoroughfare +showing shops crowded with the useless little articles which are +supposed to prove irresistibly attractive to visitors to the seaside. +At the bazaar a big white label proclaims that everything in the window +is to be sold at the astounding price of "eleven-three," and the +purchaser is free to make his choice from such treasures as work-boxes +lined in crimson plush, and covered with a massed pattern in shells; +desks fitted with all the implements for writing, scent bottles tied +with blue ribbons; packets of stationery with local views, photograph +frames in plush and gelatine, or to select more perishable trophies in +glass and china, all solemnly guaranteed to be worth double the price. + +At the photographer's, a few yards farther along, a visitor can have his +portrait taken a yard square, the size of a postage stamp, or on a +postcard to send to his friends. Ingenious backgrounds are on hand, +representing appropriate seaside scenes in which the sitter has nothing +to do but to press his face against a hole on the canvas, and these are +extensively patronised, for what can be more convenient than to stand on +solid earth, attired in sober, everyday clothing, yet be portrayed +splashing in the waves in the spandiest of French bathing costumes, +riding a donkey along the sands, or manfully hauling down the sails of a +yacht! + +Mr Photographer Sykes is a man of resource, and deserves the prosperity +which is the envy of his neighbours. Mrs Sykes wears silk linings to +her skirts on Sundays, and rustles like the highest in the land. She +had three new hats in one summer, and the fishmonger's wife knows for a +fact that not one of the number costs less than "twenty-five-six." + +The High Street and the esplanade constitute the new Norton-on-Sea which +has sprung into being within the last ten years, but the real, original, +aristocratic Norton lies a couple of miles inland, and consists of a +wide, sloping street, lined with alternate shops and houses, branching +off from which are a number of sleepy roads, in which detached and semi- +detached villas hide themselves behind trees and hedges, and barricade +their windows with stiff, white curtains. The one great longing +actuating the Norton householder seems to be to see nothing, and to be +seen by none. "Is the house overlooked?" they ask the agent anxiously +on the occasion of the first application. "Does it overlook any other +house?" + +"There _is_ another house across the road, madam!" the agent is +sometimes regretfully obliged to admit, "but it has been very cleverly +planted out." + +So it has! by means of a fir or an elm planted within a few yards of the +windows, and blocking out something more important than another villa, +but the Norton resident desires privacy above all things. The sun and +the air have to creep in as best they may. + +The more aristocratic the position of a family, the more secluded +becomes their position. Fences are raised by an arrangement of lattice- +work on the top of boards; shrubs are planted thickly inside the hedges; +even the railings of the gates are backed by discreetly concealing +boards. If there happens to be a rise in the road from which a passer- +by can catch a glimpse of white figures darting to and fro on the tennis +courts, the owner promptly throws up a bank, and plants on the top one +or two quickly growing limes. It is so disagreeable to be overlooked! + +At the date at which this history opens, there were several large places +in the neighbourhood of Norton, foremost among them were the Manor +House, occupied by the young squire, Geoffrey Greville, and Madame, his +mother; Green Arbour, owned by Admiral Perry, who had married the widow +of the late High Sheriff; and The Meads, the ofttime deserted seat of a +rich London banker. + +With these exceptions, quite the most aristocratic dwellings were +situated in what was known as "The Park," though perhaps "The Crescent" +would have been the more appropriate name, for the twelve houses were +built on one side of a curving road, looking out on a charming stretch +of land, dipping down to a miniature lake, and rising again to a soft +green knoll, surmounted by a bank of trees. The carefully-mowed grass +looked like softest velvet, and might be seen, but not touched, being +surrounded by tiny wire arches, and protected by wooden boards, +requesting visitors to keep to the paths, and not trespass on the +"verges." Impressive title! Visitors were likewise requested not to +touch the flowering shrubs; not to pick the flowers; not to throw +rubbish into the lake, or to inscribe their initials on the seats. +These rules being carefully observed, the twelve householders who paid +for the upkeep of these decorous gardens were free to enjoy such +relaxations as could be derived from gravel paths, and wooden benches. + +The view from their windows the residents apparently did not wish to +enjoy, for they planted their trees and heightened their fences as +industriously as the owners of the fifty-pound villas in Hill Street. +Mrs Garnett, at Buona Vista, having a garden deficient in foliage, had +even erected a temporary trellis at the end of the lawn, and covered it +with creepers, rather than face the indignity of an open view. It gave +her such a "feeling of publicity" to see the neighbours pass to and fro! + +It was only the residents themselves who enjoyed the proud privilege of +pacing the Park unmolested, for at either entrance stood small eaved +lodges in which were housed the two gardeners and their wives. To be +lodge-keeper to the Park was as great a guarantee of respectability in +Norton as to be vicar of the parish church itself. Only middle-aged, +married, teetotal, childless churchmen could apply for the posts, and +among their scant ranks the most searching inquiries were instituted +before an appointment was finally arranged. It is safe to affirm that +no working couples on earth were more clean, industrious, and alive to +their duty towards their betters, than the occupants of the North and +South Lodges of Norton Park! + +All day long the two husbands mowed grass, clipped hedges, and swept up +gravel paths; all day long the wives scrubbed and dusted their +immaculate little houses, keeping a weather-eye on the door to see who +passed to and fro. Their duty it was to pounce out on any stranger who +dared attempt to force an entrance through the hallowed portals, and +send them back discomfited. + +"You can't come this way, madam! This road is private!" + +"Can't I just walk straight through on the path? It is so much nearer +than going all the way round!" + +"The park is private, madam; there is no thoroughfare." + +Occasionally some child of sin would endeavour to prevaricate. + +"I wish to pay a call!" + +"Which house did you wish to go to, madam?" + +"Er--Buona Vista!" + +"Buona Vistas is away from home. They won't be back till the end of the +month." + +Foiled in her attempts the miscreant would have to retrace her steps, or +make her way round by the narrow lane by means of which the tradesmen +made their way to the back-doors of these secluded dwellings. + +Perhaps the most unpromisingly decorous house in the Park was christened +"The Nook," with that appalling lack of humour which is nowhere +portrayed more strikingly than in the naming of suburban residences. It +stood fair and square in the middle of the crescent; and from garret to +cellar there was not a nooky corner on which the eye could light. Two +drawing-room windows flanked the front door on the left; two dining-room +windows on the right. There was not even a gable or a dormer to break +the square solidity of the whole. Fourteen windows in all, each +chastely shrouded in Nottingham lace curtains, looped back by yellow +silk bands, fastened, to a fraction of an inch, at the same height from +the sill, while Aspidistra plants, mounted on small tables, were +artfully placed so as to fill up the space necessarily left in the +centre. They were handsome plants of venerable age, which Mason, the +parlourmaid, watered twice a week, sponging their leaves with milk +before she replaced them in their pots. + +It was a typical early Victorian residence, inhabited by a spinster lady +of early Victorian type and her four henchwomen--Heap the cook, Mary the +housemaid, Mason the parlourmaid, and Jane the tweeny. Four women, plus +a boot-boy, to wait upon the wants of one solitary person, yet in +conclave with the domestic at The Croft to the right, and The Holt to +the left, Miss Briskett's maids were wont to assert that they were +worked off their feet. It was, as has been said, an early Victorian +household, conducted on early Victorian lines. Other people might be +content to buy half their supplies ready-made from the stores, but Miss +Briskett insisted on home-made bread, home-made jams and cakes; home- +made pickles and sauces; home-cured tongues and hams, and home-made +liqueurs. Cook kept the tweeny busy in the kitchen, while Mary grumbled +at having to keep half a dozen unused bedrooms in spick and span +perfection, and Mason spent her existence in polishing, and sweeping +invisible grains of dust from out-of-the-way-corners. + +As a rule the domestic wheel turned on oiled wheels and Miss Briskett's +existence flowed on its even course, from one year's end to another, +with little but the weather to differentiate one month from another, but +on the day on which this history begins, a thunderbolt had fallen in the +shape of a letter bearing a New York post-mark, which the postman handed +in at the door of The Nook at the three o'clock delivery. Miss Briskett +read its contents, and gasped; read them again, and trembled; read them +a third time, and sat buried in thought for ten minutes by the clock, at +the expiration of which time she opened her own desk, and penned a note +to her friend and confidant, Mrs Ramsden, of The Holt-- + + "My dear Friend,--I have just received a communication from America + which is causing me considerable perturbation. If your engagements + will allow, I should be grateful if you will take tea with me this + afternoon, and give me the benefit of your wise counsel. Pray send a + verbal answer by bearer.--Yours sincerely,-- + + "Sophia A Briskett." + +The trim Mason took the note to its destination, and waited in the hall +while Mrs Ramsden wrote her reply. The reference to a verbal answer +was only a matter of form. Miss Briskett would have been surprised and +affronted to receive so unceremonious a reply to her invitation-- + + "My dear Friend,--It will give me pleasure to take tea with you this + afternoon, as you so kindly suggest. I trust that the anxiety under + which you are labouring may be of a temporary nature, and shall be + thankful indeed if I can in any way assist to bring about its + solution.--Most truly yours,-- + + "Ellen Bean Ramsden." + +"The best china, Mason, and a teapot for two!" was Miss Briskett's order +on receipt of this cordial response, and an hour later the two ladies +sat in conclave over a daintily-spread table in the drawing-room of The +Nook. + +Miss Briskett was a tall, thin woman of fifty-eight or sixty, wearing a +white cap perched upon her grey hair, and an expression of frosty +propriety on her thin, pointed features. Frosty is the adjective which +most accurately describes her appearance. One felt a moral conviction +that she would suffer from chilblains in winter, that the long, thin +fingers must be cold to the touch, even on this bright May day; that the +tip of her nose was colder still, that she could not go to sleep at +night without a hot bottle to her feet. She was addicted to grey +dresses, composed of stiff and shiny silk, and to grey bonnets +glittering with steely beads. She creaked, as she moved, and her thin +figure was whale-boned into an unnatural rigidity. + +Mrs Ramsden was, in appearance at least, a striking contrast to her +friend, being a dumpy little woman, in whose demeanour good-nature vied +with dignity. She was dressed in black, and affected an upright feather +in front of her bonnets. "To give me height, my dear!" + +In looking at her one was irresistibly reminded of a pouter pigeon +strutting along on its short little legs, preening its sleek little head +to and fro above its protuberant breast. + +"Read that!" said Miss Briskett, tragically, handing the thin sheet of +paper to her friend, and Mrs Ramsden put on her spectacles and read as +follows-- + + "My dear Sister,--Business connected with mines makes it necessary for + me to go out West for the next few months, and the question has arisen + how to provide for Cornelia meantime. I had various notions, but she + prefers her own (she generally does!), and reckons she can't fill in + this gap better than by running over to pay you a visit in the Old + Country. I can pick her up in the fall, and have a little trot round + before returning. She has friends sailing in the _Lucania_ on the + 15th, and intends crossing with them. You will just have time to + cable to put her off if you are dead, or otherwise incapacitated; but + I take it you will be glad to have a look at my girl. She's worth + looking at! I shall feel satisfied to know she is with you. She + might get up to mischief over here. + + "Looking forward to seeing you later on,--Your brother, Edward + Briskett." + + "_P S_--Dear Aunt Soph, don't you worry to prepare! I'll just chip + in, and take you as you are. We'll have some high old times!--Your + niece, Cornelia." + +Letter and eye-glasses fell together upon Mrs Ramsden's knee. She +raised startled eyes, and blinked dumbly at her friend. + +Miss Briskett wagged her head from side to side, and heaved a sepulchral +sigh. + +The halcyon days of peace were over! + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +"My dear," said Mrs Ramsden, solemnly, "this is indeed great news. I +don't wonder that you feel unnerved!" + +"I do, indeed. The three o'clock post came in, and I was quite +surprised when Mary came in with the salver. I was not expecting any +letters. I have so few correspondents, and I am mostly in their debt, I +am afraid. Still, of course, there are always the circulars. I looked +for nothing more exciting, and then--_this_ arrived! I really felt that +I could not sit alone and think it out by myself all day long. I hope +you will forgive me for asking you to come over on such short notice." + +"Indeed, I am flattered that you should wish to have me. Do tell me all +about this brother. He has lived abroad a long time, I think? It is +the eldest, is it not? The rich one--in America?" + +"I believe he is rich for the moment. Goodness knows how long it may +last," sighed Miss Briskett, dolefully. "He speculates in mines, my +dear, and you know what _that_ means! Half the time he is a pauper, and +the other half a millionaire, and so far as I can gather from his +letters he seems just as well satisfied one way as another. He was +always a flighty, irresponsible creature, and I fear Cornelia has taken +after him." + +"She is the only child?" + +"Yes! She had an English mother, I'm thankful to say; but poor Sybil +died at her birth, and Edward never married again. He was devoted to +Sybil, and said he would never give another woman the charge of her +child. Such nonsense! As if any man on earth could look after a +growing girl, without a woman's help. Instead of a wise, judicious +stepmother, she has been left to nurses and governesses, and from what I +can hear, has ruled _them_, instead of the other way about. You can see +by the tone of her father's letter that he is absurdly prejudiced." + +"That is natural, perhaps, with an only child, left to him in such +peculiarly sad circumstances. We must not judge him hardly for that," +said little Mrs Ramsden, kindly. "Has the girl herself ever written to +you before, may I ask, or is this her first communication?" + +Miss Briskett's back stiffened, and her thin lips set in a straight +line. + +"She has addressed little notes to me from time to time; on birthdays, +and Christmases, and so on; but to tell you the truth, my dear, I have +not encouraged their continuance. They were unduly familiar, and I +object to being addressed by abbreviations of my name. Ideas as to what +is right and fitting seem to differ on different sides of the Atlantic!" + +"They do, indeed. I have always understood that young people are +brought into quite undue prominence in American households. And their +manners, too! One sees in that postscript--you don't mind my saying so, +just between ourselves--a--a _broadness_--" + +"Quite so! I feel it myself. I am most grieved, about it. Cornelia is +my niece, and Edward is the head of the family. Her position as his +only child is one of importance, and I feel distressed that she is so +little qualified to adorn it. She has been well educated, I believe; +has `graduated,' as they call it; but she has evidently none of our +English polish. Quite in confidence, Mrs Ramsden, I feel that she may +be somewhat of a shock to the neighbourhood!" + +"You think of receiving her, then? Your brother leaves you the option +of refusing, and I should think things over very seriously before +incurring such a responsibility. A three-months' visit! I doubt you +could not stand the strain! If you excused yourself on the ground of +health, no offence could possibly be taken." + +But at that Miss Briskett protested strongly. + +"Oh, my dear, I could not refuse! Edward wishes to find a home for the +girl, and says he would be relieved to have her with me. I could not +possibly refuse! I think I may say that I have never yet shirked a +duty, distasteful though it might be, and I must not do so now. I shall +cable to say that I will be pleased to receive Cornelia, when it suits +her to arrive." + +Mrs Ramsden crumbled her seed-cake and wondered why--that being the +case--she had been summoned to give advice, but being a good-natured +soul, smiled assent, and deftly shifted the conversation to the +consideration of details. + +"Well, dear, I only trust you may be rewarded. Miss Cornelia is +fortunate to have such a home waiting to receive her. What room do you +propose to dedicate to her use?" + +Miss Briskett's face clouded, and she drew a long, despairing sigh. + +"That's another thing I am troubled about. I had the best spare room +done up only this spring. The carpet had faded, and when I was renewing +it I took the opportunity to have in the painters and paperhangers. It +is _all_ fresh, even the curtains and bed-hangings. They have not once +been used." + +Mrs Ramsden purred in sympathetic understanding. + +"Poor dear! When one has just made a room all fresh and clean, it is +_most_ trying to have it taken into use! But why give her that room at +all, dear? You have several others. A young, unmarried girl should be +satisfied with a room at the back, or even on the third storey. You +have a nice little guest room over your own bedroom, have you not?" + +"No!" Miss Briskett again manifested a noble determination to do her +duty. "I should like Edward to feel, when he comes over, that I have +paid his daughter all due honour. She must have the spare room, and if +she spills things over the new carpet, I must pray for grace to bear it. +She has been accustomed to a very luxurious style of living for the +last few years, and I daresay even my best room will not be as handsome +as her own apartment. In the present state of Edward's finances, she +is, I suppose, a very great heiress." + +Little Mrs Ramsden stared into her cup with a kindly thoughtfulness. + +"I should keep that fact secret, if I were you," she said earnestly. +"Poor lassie! it's always a handicap to a girl to be received for what +she has, rather than what she is. And there are two or three idle, +worthless young men hanging about, who might be only too glad to pick up +a rich wife. I should simply announce that I was expecting a niece from +the United States of America, to pay me a visit of some months' +duration, and offer no enlightenment as to her circumstances. You will +have enough responsibility as it is, without embarrassing +entanglements." + +"Yes, indeed. Thank you so much. I feel sure that your advice is wise, +and I shall certainly follow it. There's that soldier nephew of Mrs +Mott's, who is constantly running down on short visits. I object +intensely to that dashing style! He is just the type of man to run +after a girl for her money. I shall take special care that they do not +meet. One thing I am determined upon," said Miss Briskett, sternly, +"and that is that there shall be no love-making, nor philandering of any +kind under my roof. I could not be troubled with such nonsense, nor +with the responsibility of it. I am accustomed to a quiet, regular +life, and if Cornelia comes to me, she must conform to the regulations +of the household. At my age I cannot be expected to alter my ways for +the sake of a girl." + +"Certainly not. She is a mere girl, I suppose! How old may she be?" + +Miss Briskett considered. + +"She was born in the winter! I distinctly remember coming in and seeing +the cable, and taking off my fur gloves to open it.--It was the year I +bought the dining-room carpet. It was just down, I remember, and as we +drank the baby's health, the cork flew out of the bottle, and some of +the champagne was spilt, and there was a great fuss wiping it up-- +Twenty-two years ago! Who would have thought it could be so long?" + +"Ah, it always pays to get a good thing while you are about it. It +costs a great deal at the start, but you have such satisfaction +afterwards. It's not a bit faded!" Mrs Ramsden affirmed, alluding, be +it understood, to the Turkey carpet, and not to Miss Cornelia Briskett. +"Twenty-two. Just a year younger than my Elma! Elma will be glad to +have a companion." + +"It is kind of you to say so. Nothing would please me better than to +see Cornelia become intimate with your daughter. Poor child, she has +not had the advantages of an English upbringing; but we must hope that +this visit will be productive of much good. She could not have a better +example than Elma. She is a type of a sweet, guileless, English girl." + +"Ye-es!" asserted the sweet girl's mother, doubtfully; "but you know, +dear Miss Briskett, that at times even Elma..." She shook her head, +sighed, and continued with a struggling smile: "We must remember--must +we not--that we have been young ourselves, and try not to be too hard on +little eccentricities!" + +Mrs Ramsden spoke with feeling, for memory, though slumbering, was not +dead. She had not always been a well-conducted widow lady, who +expressed herself with decorum, and wore black cashmere and bugles. +Thirty odd years ago she had been a plump little girl, with a lively +capacity for mischief. + +On one occasion she had danced two-thirds of the programme at a ball +with an officer even more dashing than the objectionable nephew of Mrs +Mott, and in a corner of the conservatory had given him a flower from +her bouquet. He had kissed the flower before pressing it in his pocket- +book, and had looked as if he would have liked to kiss something else +into the bargain. ... After twenty-five years of life at Norton, it was +astonishing how vividly the prim little widow recalled the guilty thrill +of that moment! On yet another occasion she had carried on a +clandestine correspondence with the brother of a friend, and had +awakened to tardy pangs of conscience only when a more attractive suitor +came upon the scene! + +Mrs Ramsden blushed at the remembrance, and felt a kindly softening of +the heart towards the absent Cornelia but Miss Briskett remained coldly +unmoved. She had been an old maid in her cradle, and had gone on +steadily growing old maidier ever since. Never had she so forgotten +herself as to dally with the affections of any young man, which was +perhaps the less to her credit, as no young man had exhibited any +inclination to tempt her from the paths of single blessedness. + +She looked down her nose at her friend's remark, and replied that she +trusted she might be enabled to do her duty, without either prejudice or +indulgence, and soon afterwards Mrs Ramsden took her leave, and +returned to her own domain. + +At one of the windows of the over-furnished sitting-room of The Holt, a +girl was standing gazing dreamily through the spotted net curtains, with +a weary little droop in the lines of the figure which bespoke fatigue, +rather mental, than physical. She was badly dressed, in an ill-cut +skirt, and an ill-cut blouse, and masses of light brown hair were +twisted heavily together at the back of her head; but the face, which +she turned to welcome her mother reminded one instinctively of a bunch +of flowers--of white, smooth-leaved narcissi; of fragrant pink roses; of +pansies--deep, purple-blue pansies, soft as velvet. Given the right +circumstances and accessories, this might have been a beauty, an +historical beauty, whose name would be handed down from one generation +to another; a Georgina of Devonshire, a beautiful Miss Gunning, a +witching Nell Gwynne; but alas! beauty is by no means independent of +external aid! The poets who declaim to the contrary are men, poor +things, who know no better; every woman in the world will plump for a +good dressmaker, when she wishes to appear at her best. + +Elma Ramsden, with the makings of a beauty, was just a pretty, dowdy +girl, at whom a passer-by would hardly cast a second glance. She looked +bored too, and a trifle discontented, and her voice had a flat, +uninterested tone. + +"Well, mother, back again! Have you enjoyed your call?" + +"Thank you, dear, it was hardly a case of enjoyment. I was invited to +give my opinion of a matter of importance." + +"Yes, I know!--Should she have the sweep this week, or the week after +next?--Should she have new covers for the drawing-room?--Would you +advise slate-grey, or grey-slate for the new dress? ... I hope you +brought the weight of your intellect to bear on the great problems, and +solved them to your mutual satisfaction!" + +Mrs Ramsden seated herself on a deeply-cushioned arm-chair, and began +pulling off her tight kid gloves. A touch of offence was visible in her +demeanour, and the feather in the front of her bonnet reared itself at +an aggressive angle. + +"It is not in good taste, my dear, to talk in that tone to your mother. +Matters of domestic interest may not appeal to you in your present +irresponsible position, but they are not without their own importance. +The subject of to-day's discussion, however, was something quite +different. You will be interested to hear that Miss Briskett is +expecting a young American niece to pay her a visit at an early date." + +"How young?" inquired Elma, tentatively. Her mother had a habit of +alluding to "girls" of thirty-five, which did not commend itself to her +youthful judgment. She reserved her interest until assured on this +important point. + +"About your own age or slightly younger. The only daughter of Mr +Edward Briskett, the head of the family. His business takes him away +from home for several months, and his daughter is anxious to avail +herself of the opportunity of visiting her aunt." + +"Oh!" said Elma; no more and no less, but as she turned her pansy-like +eyes once more to the window, she grimaced expressively. She was sorry +for the delusion of the American daughter who was willing to cross a +whole ocean for the privilege of beholding Miss Sophia Briskett! + +"What is she like?" she asked presently. "Did you hear anything about +her?" + +Mrs Ramsden shook her head dolefully. + +"I fear, dear--strictly between ourselves--that she is not precisely +what we should call a _nice_ girl! The tone of her letter was decidedly +flippant. Miss Briskett is hoping much from your influence. You two +girls will naturally come a good deal into contact, and I hope you will +do your utmost to set her an example of ladylike demeanour." + +Elma stared steadily through the window. "_Flippant_" she repeated to +herself in a breathless whisper. "_Flippant_!" The pansy eyes widened. +She heaved a sigh of deep, incredulous delight. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +The _Lucania_ was due to arrive in the Mersey early on a Tuesday +forenoon, and Miss Briskett expected to welcome her niece on the evening +of the same day. The best spare room was already swept and garnished, +and nothing remained but to take counsel with Heap the cook, and draw +out a menu of a dinner which could most successfully combat the strain +of waiting. The spinster's own appetite, though sparse, was fastidious, +and Heap was a mistress of her art, so that between the two a dainty +little meal was arranged, while Mason, not to be outdone, endeavoured to +impart an extra polish to her already highly-burnished silver. In the +seclusion of the pantry she hummed a joyful air. "Praise the pigs! we +shall have something young in the house, at last," said she to herself. +"I don't mind the extra work, if she'll only make a bit of a stir!" + +By six o'clock the dinner-table was laid, and Miss Briskett was sitting +in state, clad in her newest grey silk gown, though a reference to +Bradshaw made it seem improbable that the traveller could arrive before +seven o'clock. At half-past six hot water was carried up to the +bedroom; ten minutes later Miss Briskett left her seat to move another +few yards nearer the window. Streaks of colour showed in her cheeks, +her fingers clasped and unclasped in nervous fashion. She was conscious +of a quick thud-thud at the left side of the thickly-boned bodice, and +realised with surprise that it came from that almost forgotten organ, +her heart. She had never experienced this agitation before when +awaiting the arrival of her own friends. The old adage was right after +all--blood was thicker than water! What would the child be like? +Edward was a big fair man, with no special beauty of feature. Sybil had +been slight and dainty. It did not seem likely that Cornelia would be +specially pretty, her aunt prayed above all things that she was +unnoticeable--to be unnoticeable was regarded as the climax of elegance +in Norton society!--then with a sudden softening of expression found +herself hoping that there would be something of Edward in looks or +manner! She was a lonely woman, living apart from her kin. To have +someone of her own would be a new and delightful experience. She felt +glad, actually _glad_ that Cornelia was coming! + +Seven o'clock! At any moment now a cab might appear bearing the +expected guest from the station. Miss Briskett crossed the room to +alter the arrangement of a vase of flowers, and as she did so, the door +opened, and Mason entered carrying a telegram upon a silver salver. +Miss Briskett tore it open, and read the following message:-- + + "Safe and sound. Staying night in London with friends. Sight-seeing + to-morrow morning. Be with you at five. God save the Queen!-- + Cornelia." + +Miss Briskett's lips tightened. She folded the orange-coloured paper +and returned it to its envelope, cleared her throat and said coldly-- + +"Inform Heap that my niece will not arrive until to-morrow evening, and +be good enough to serve dinner at once." + +Mason's face clouded with disappointment. In the kitchen Heap banged +the saucepan-lids, and wanted to know what was the use of doing your +best in a despicable world where you never got nothing for your pains! +Mary repaired dolefully upstairs to take away the hot water, and shroud +the furniture in dust-sheets; even the tweeny felt a sudden dampening of +spirits, while in the dining-room the mistress of her house sat at her +solitary meal with anger smouldering in her heart! + +A delay to the boat would, of course, have been inevitable; if Cornelia +had been so fatigued that she felt it necessary to break her journey +half-way, that would have been a disappointment pure and simple, but +that the girl had _chosen_ to delay her arrival for her own amusement +and gratification, this was an offence indeed--a want of respect and +consideration well-nigh unforgivable. Staying in town with friends!-- +Staying _where_?--With what friends? Doing the sights to-morrow +morning! Miss Briskett's lip curled in disdain. Then that ridiculous +ending! What would Miss Brewster, the telegraph clerk at the post- +office, think of such frivolity! In this tiny township, everyone was as +well acquainted with their neighbour's business as with their own, and +while Emily Brewster at the post-office was keenly interested in the +advent of the American visitor, Miss Briskett, in her turn, knew all +about Emily's parentage and education, the nature and peculiarities of +the diseases which she had enjoyed, and vouchsafed a patronising +interest in her prospects. It was gall and wormwood to feel sure that +Emily had laughed and made merry over a message addressed to a Briskett, +from a member of her own house! + +Everyone has experienced the flatness which ensues when an expected +excitement is postponed at the last moment, leaving the hours to drag +along a slow, uneventful course. It was long since Miss Briskett had +felt so consciously lonely and depressed as at her solitary dinner that +evening. In the drawing-room, even Patience lost its wonted charm, and +she was thankful when the time arrived to sip her tumbler of hot water, +and retire to bed. + +Next day it seemed somewhat flat to make the same preparations a second +time over, but as no contradictory message had been received, it did not +appear possible that a second disappointment could supervene. The tea- +table was set out with special care, and a supply of home-made cakes +placed on the three-storied brass stand. Once more Miss Briskett donned +her best gown, and sat gazing through the lace window curtains. + +At last! A cab drove up to the gate; two cabs, laden with enough +luggage for a family journeying to the seaside. The door of the first +was thrown open and there jumped out--a _man_! a tall, alert young man +clad in a suit of light-checked tweed, who turned and gave his hand to a +girl in blue serge, carefully assisting her to alight. They sauntered +up the path together, laughing and chattering in leisurely enjoyment; +half-way to the house the girl turned round, and stood for a moment to +stare at the view, pointing, as she did so, in frank, unabashed fashion. +Then they approached the door, held hospitably open in Mason's hand. + +"Why, Aunt Soph, is that you?" cried a high, clear voice, with a +pronounced American accent, which rang strangely in the unaccustomed +ears. "This is me, anyhow, and I'm real glad to see you. I've had a +lovely ride! This is Mr Eustace C Ross, who crossed with us in the +_Lucania_. He's brought me right here in case I got lost, or fell over +the edge. England's sweet! I've been all over London this morning, and +we did a theatre last night. ... Aunt Soph, you have a look of father +about the nose! Makes me feel kinder homesick to see your nose. I'm +going to kiss it right away?" + +And kiss it she did, on its thin, chilly tip, with Mason sniggering with +delight in the background, and the strange young man chuckling in the +foreground. Miss Briskett retreated hastily into the drawing-room, and +her niece followed, casting curious glances to right and to left. + +"You've got a real cosy little house, Aunt Soph. It looks real +English--not a mite like our place at home. Is that tea? I'm just +about dying for a cup of tea, and so's Mr Ross. Don't you want a cup +of tea more than anything in the world, Mr Ross? I see you do by the +way you look!" + +She sank into an easy chair, and flashed a mischievous glance at the +young man by her side. He was a tall, well-built young fellow, with the +square shoulders and aggressive chin which to the English eye are the +leading characteristics of American men. He had the air of being +exceedingly well able to look after himself, but even his self- +possession wavered before the frosty nature of his reception. He stood +irresolutely, hat in hand, waiting for a repetition of Cornelia's +invitation, but none came, and with an almost imperceptible shrug of the +shoulders, he resigned himself to the inevitable, and announced that it +was imperative that he should hasten back to the station to catch a +return train to town. He proceeded, therefore, to take leave of his +travelling companion, a proceeding characterised on his side by +transparent regret, on hers by an equally transparent indifference. + +"You'll be sure to let me know when you come home!" + +"Yes, indeed! I'll write when I start, and you shall come down to meet +the boat. Good-bye! You've been real kind! I'm ever so much obliged!" + +"Oh, I've enjoyed it enormously. You must be sure to let me know if +there is anything I can do--at any time--anywhere!" repeated the young +fellow, ardently. + +He bowed to Miss Briskett, who extended her hand in patronising +farewell, accompanying him to the door of the room, less, it appeared, +from motives of kindliness, than to satisfy herself that he had really +departed. + +On her return she found that her niece had taken off her hat, and was +leaning back in her chair, sticking hat-pins through the crown with +smiling complacence. Miss Briskett surveyed her with not unnatural +curiosity, and came to the swift conclusion that she was not at all +pretty, but most objectionably remarkable in appearance. The sort of +girl whom people would stare at in the street; the sort of girl whom +Norton would emphatically disapprove! Her hair in itself was arresting. +Miss Briskett had never seen such hair. It was not red, it was not +gold, it was not brown; but rather a blending of all three colours. It +was, moreover, extraordinarily thick, and stood out from the head in a +crisp mass, rippling into big natural waves, while behind each ear was a +broad streak of a lighter shade, almost flaxen in colour. No artificial +means could have produced such an effect; it was obviously the work of +nature. "American nature!" Miss Briskett told herself with a sniff. A +respectably brought-up English girl could never have possessed such a +head! Underneath this glorious mass of hair was a pale, little face, +lighted up by a pair of golden-brown eyes. The eyebrows were well- +marked and remarkably flexible; the nose was thin and pointed, a +youthful replica of Miss Briskett's own. The only really good feature +was the mouth, and that was adorable, with coral red lips curling up at +the corners; tempting, kissable lips, made for love and laughter. For +the rest, it was difficult to understand how a plain blue serge gown +could possibly contrive to look so smart, or how those tiniest of tiny +brown boots had managed to keep so dazzlingly free from dust throughout +a railway journey. + +Miss Briskett sat herself down by the tea-table, and cleared her throat +ominously. Her niece had not been ten minutes in the house, yet already +an occasion had arisen for a serious rebuke. + +"Are you engaged to that young man, may I ask, Cornelia?" + +Cornelia gave a little jump upon her seat, and opened her golden eyes in +a stare of amazement. + +"Mussy, no! What in the land put such an idea in your head?" + +"Your tone and manner, my dear, and the fact of his accompanying you all +the way from town. It is not usual for young men to put themselves to +so much trouble for a mere acquaintance." + +"He don't think it a trouble. He loves flying around! He's a sweet +thing," said Miss Cornelia, with smiling recollection, "but he's not my +Chubb! I'm sorry he couldn't stay to tea, for he's real amusing when he +once gets started. He'd have made you screech with laughter." + +Miss Briskett looked down her nose, in her most dignified and rebuking +fashion. + +"I am not accustomed to `screech' about anything, and in this country, +my dear, it is not considered convenable for young girls to accept the +escort of a gentleman to whom they are not engaged. No English girl +would think of doing such a thing!" + +"They must have a middling dull time of it," retorted Cornelia, calmly, +"I must teach them a thing or two while I'm over." She rose to take the +teacup from her aunt's hand, and to help herself to a couple of +sandwiches from a dainty heart-shaped dish. "Well--aren't you pleased +to have me, Aunt Soph? I've wanted years to come over and see you. It +seemed too bad that I knew none of Poppar's people. And now I'm here!" +She wheeled round, teacup in hand, staring curiously around the +handsome, over-furnished room; at the big ebony console table, +ornamented with bunches of fruit manufactured out of coloured pebbles; +at the grand piano in its walnut case; the piano which was never opened, +but which served as a stand for innumerable photographs and ornaments; +at the old-fashioned sofas and chairs in their glazey chintz covers; at +the glass-shaded vases on the marble mantelshelf. "I'm here, and it's +too quaint for words! Everything's--_different_! I suppose England +_is_ different, isn't it, Aunt Soph?" + +"Very different!" Miss Briskett's tones fairly bubbled with innuendoes. +She put down her rolled slice of bread and butter, and added frostily, +"Before we go any further, Cornelia, I must really beg you to address me +by my proper name. My name is Sophia. You have no intention of being +disrespectful, I feel sure, but I am not accustomed to abbreviations. I +have never had a nickname in my life, and I have no wish to begin at +this late date." + +"My! you poor sufferer, how lonesome for you! Nicknames are so homely +and cosy. I have about as many as I have toes. One of my friends calls +me `Corney.' He's a bit of a wag--(`He,' indeed!)--Another one calls me +`Nelia,'--`Neel-ya!'" She threw a lingering sentiment into the +repetition, and chuckled reminiscently. "To most of my chums I'm just +`Neely.' Life's too short for three syllables every day of the week!" + +"Over here in England we are not too hurried to address people in a +proper manner. I shall call you by your full name, and expect you to do +the same by me." + +"All right, Aunt Sophia Ann, just as you please," cried Cornelia, +naughtily. She was standing up, cup in hand, but even as she spoke she +subsided on to a footstool by Miss Briskett's side, with a sudden lithe +collapse of the body, which made that good lady gasp in dismay. She had +never seen anybody but a professional acrobat move so quickly or +unexpectedly, and felt convinced that the tea must have been spilt, and +crumbs scattered wholesale over the carpet. But no! not even a drop had +fallen into the saucer, and there sat Cornelia nibbling at an undamaged +sandwich with little, strong, white teeth, as cool and composed as if +such feats were of everyday occurrence. + +"This is how I sit by Poppar at home; it's more sociable than right +across the room. Poppar and I are just the greatest chums, and I hate +it when he's away. There was a real nice woman wanted to come and keep +house, and take me around--Mrs Van Dusen, widow of Henry P Van Dusen, +who made a boom in cheese. Maybe you've heard of him. He made a pile, +and lost it all, trying to do it again. Then he got tired of himself +and took the _grippe_ and died, and it was pretty dull for Mrs Van. +She visits round, and puts in her time the best way she can. She'd have +liked quite well to settle down at our place for three or four months, +and I'd have liked it too, if it hadn't been for you. I wanted to see +you Aunt Soph--ia Ann!" + +She put up a thin little hand, and rubbed it ingratiatingly up and down +the shiny silk lap, to the stupefaction of Mason, who came in at that +moment bearing a plate of hot scones, and retired to give a faithful +rendering of the position to her allies in the kitchen, sitting down on +the fender stool, and stroking the cook's apron in dramatic imitation, +while that good lady and her satellites went into helpless fits of +laughter. + +"I'd as soon stroke a nettle myself," said the cook, "but there's no +accounting for taste! You take my word for it, if she goes on stroking +much longer, she'll get a sting as she won't forget in a hurry!" + +Upstairs in the drawing-room, Miss Briskett's fidgeting uncomfortably +beneath that caressing hand. In her lonely, self-contained life, she +was so unused to demonstrations of the kind that she was at a loss how +to receive them when they came. Instinctively she drew herself away, +shrinking into the corners of her chair and busying herself with the re- +arrangement of the tray, while Cornelia asked one question after another +in her high-pitched, slightly monotonous voice. + +"It's mighty quiet out here, Aunt Soph--ia Ann! Does it always go on +being just as still? Do you live all the year round, right here in this +house by your lonesome, listening to the grass growing across the lane? +What do you _do_, anyway? That's a real smart-looking maid! Will she +be the one to wait upon me? Most all my shirt waists fasten up the +back, and there's got to be someone round to fix them, or I'm all +undone. I guess you're pretty tidy by the looks of you, Aunt Soph. I +can't see after things myself, but I fidget the life out of everybody if +I'm not just so. I've got the sweetest clothes.--Do you have gay times +over here in Norton? Is there a good deal of young society? I love +prancing round and having a good time. Poppar says the boys spoil me; +there's always a crowd of them hanging round, ready to do everything I +want, and to send me flowers and bon-bons. I'm just crazed on bonbons! +My state-room was piled full of bouquets and chocolates coming over. I +had more than any other girl on board!" + +Miss Briskett's lips tightened ominously. "If by `boys' you mean young +men, Cornelia, I am surprised that your father allows you to receive +indiscriminate gifts from strangers. I fear he hag become a thorough +American, and forgotten his early training. In England no young man +would venture to send a gift to a lady to whom he was not either +related, or engaged to be married." + +"My! how mean! Amurican men are for ever sending things, and the girls +just love to have them do it. Seems to me, Aunt Soph, it's about time I +came over to teach you how to do things in this benighted isle! Poppar +says you're all pretty mouldy, but, short of an earthquake, he can't +think of anything better calculated to shake you up, than a good spell +of me waltzing around. I guess he's about right. I'm never quiet +unless I'm sick. There's not much of the Sleeping Beauty about Cornelia +E Briskett!" + +Miss Briskett sat still, a pillar of outraged propriety. This was worse +than anything she had expected! The girl appeared to have no modesty, +no decorum, no sense of shame. She might straighten her back until it +was as stiff as a poker, might arch her brows into semicircles, and +purse her lips into an expression of disapproval which would have +frightened Elma Ramsden out of her senses, but Cornelia never appeared +to notice that anything was amiss, and continued her meal with bland +enjoyment. When she had finished the sandwiches she rested her left arm +more firmly on her aunt's knee, and raised her pointed chin until it +rested, actually rested, upon the edge of the table, the while she +carefully scrutinised the different varieties of cake, and selected the +piece most to her taste. At this she proceeded to nibble with evident +satisfaction, lifting it to her lips in one thin hand, while the other +still rested caressingly on that shiny silk lap. Miss Briskett's dumb +swellings of anger gradually subsided to the point when it became +possible to put them into words. She cleared her throat with the usual +preliminary grunt, whereupon the girl turned her stag-like head, to gaze +questioningly upwards, her expression sweetly alert, her eyes--limpid, +golden eyes--widely opened between the double line of lashes! + +Miss Briskett looked, and the remonstrance died on her lips. The scene +shifted, and in an instant she had travelled back through the years to a +day long, long ago, when she sat, a girl in her teens, talking to the +little boy brother who was the dearest of all created things, telling +him stories, and watching the wonder in his eyes! Pert, self- +sufficient, and presumptuous as she might be, by some contradictory +freak of nature, that divine innocence still lingered in this young +girl's eyes. The sight of it arrested the words on the spinster's lips. +She realised with shame that almost every word which she had spoken to +the girl since her arrival had been tinged with reproof, and blushed for +her own lack of hospitality. The frown faded, and was replaced by a +struggling smile. With a half-strained movement she advanced a chilly +hand to meet the girl's warm grasp. + +Cornelia drew a long, fluttering sigh; a sigh of utter contentment, and +laid her russet head on the folds of the stiff grey silk. + +"Oh, Aunt Soph--ia! you are just as sweet!" she murmured beneath her +breath. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +Perfect health, radiant spirits, supreme self-confidence, a sweetly +smiling determination to have her own way, and go her own course, though +the skies fell, and all creation conspired to prevent her--these were +the characteristics of Miss Cornelia Briskett most apparent on a +superficial acquaintance. On the morning after her arrival, when Mary +the housemaid carried the cup of early morning tea to her bedside, she +found the young lady leaning back against the pillows, enveloped in a +garment which suggested a garden party, rather than a night-gown, wide +awake, and ready for conversation. Really a most affable young lady, +who instead of vouchsafing a cool good-morning, launched out into quite +a confidential talk, inquiring after the different members of Mary's +family, their names, ages, and occupations, and showing a most +sympathetic interest in the girl's own future. + +"I guess you are going to be married pretty soon! You've got a marrying +face!" she said shrewdly, whereupon Mary, blushing, acknowledged that +she _had_ a friend, and that he _did_ speak of early next spring. + +"Told you so!" cried Cornelia, dimpling. "Well, Mury, see here, you nip +round and wait upon me the best you know, and I'll give you an elegant +present! I wear muslins most all the time in summer, and I can't endoor +to have them mussed. You keep carrying them away and ironing them out +nice and smooth, without bothering me to tell you. See! I need lots of +attention; there's no getting away from that, but I'll make it worth +your while. You just put your mind to it, and I guess you'll make a +tip-top maid!" + +Mary was at least prepared to perish in the attempt. She related the +conversation downstairs, with the natural result that each of the other +three maids registered a vow to be second to none in her attentions to +the young visitor. + +The breakfast-gong rang at eight o'clock, but it was a good ten minutes +later before Cornelia came sauntering downstairs, singing an unknown +ditty at the pitch of a sweet, if somewhat nasal voice. She was dressed +in white of the most elaborate simplicity, and her shaded hair looked +even more crisply conspicuous than on the night before. The last line +of the song did not come to an end until she was half-way across the +dining-room floor, and so far from being dismayed by her aunt's stare of +disapproval, she only laughed, waved her hands, and threw an extra +flourish into the rallentando. Then she swooped down upon the stiff +figure, hugged it affectionately, and planted three kisses on the cold, +grey face; one on the lips, one on the brow, a third--deliberately--on +the tip of the nose. + +"Cornelia, please! Recollect yourself, my dear! Have a little respect. +You must never do that again!" cried Miss Briskett, irritably, but the +girl showed not the faintest sign of being awed. + +"It's the nose of my father, and I've just _got_ to kiss it! It's not a +mite of use promising that I won't. I've got to kiss it regularly every +morning, and every night, until he comes over to be kissed himself!" she +announced calmly, seating herself at the opposite side of the square +dining-table, and peering curiously at the various dishes. "Poppar says +you never have anything for breakfast in England but bacon and eggs, but +I don't see any here. What's under this cover?--Fish?" + +"If you wait a few minutes your bacon will be brought in. It had grown +cold with waiting so long, so I sent it away to be kept hot. The +breakfast hour is eight; not a quarter past." + +"It's not a mite of use telling me the hours. I'm always late! I don't +suppose I've ever been down in time in my life, unless by a mistake," +returned Cornelia, cheerfully. "I like to stay in bed and let the day +get sorter warmed up and comfortable, before I begin. What makes you +want to get up so early, anyway? I should have thought nine would have +been heaps early enough, when you have nothing to do." + +It was not a promising beginning to the day. In her own household Miss +Briskett was accustomed to an authority as complete as that of the +general of an army. She was just, and she was generous; her servants +were treated with kindness and consideration, but if they wished to +retain their places, they had to learn the lesson of dumb, unquestioning +obedience. She might be right, she might be wrong, she might remember, +she might forget--no matter! it was not their business to enlighten her. +"Theirs but to do, and die!" She would not brook a question as to her +own authority. It was, therefore, a distinct blow to the good lady to +find her decrees ignored by her young guest with a smiling good-nature, +more baffling than the most determined opposition. + +She remained stolidly silent throughout the meal, but Cornelia +apparently regarded he attitude as a tactful abdication in her own +favour, and kept up an incessant flow of conversation from start to +finish. When the bell was rung for prayers, she seated herself in a low +chair, directly facing the servants' seats, and smiled a dazzling +greeting to each in turn. They sat down in their usual positions, heads +bent, hands folded on the middle of their clean white aprons; feet +tucked carefully out of sight; there was no outward sign of irreverence +or inattention in their demeanour, but Miss Briskett _felt_, that every +single woman of them was absorbed--utterly, consumedly absorbed--in +casting sly glances at that distracting white vision in the easy chair; +at the dully glowing hair, the floating folds of white, the tiny, +extended feet. She might have read a page of the dictionary, and they +would not have noticed; even Heap, who was old enough to know better, +was edging sideways in her chair, to get a better view! + +When the four stiffly-starched dresses had rustled out of the room, +Cornelia yawned, and stretched herself like a sleepy, luxurious kitten, +then snoodled down once more in her comfortable chair. Her eyes were +fixed upon her aunt's face, while that good lady bustled about the room, +folding the newspaper into an accurate square, and putting it away in a +brass-bound cage; collecting scattered envelopes and putting them in the +waste-paper basket, moving the flower-vases on the chimney-piece, so +that they should stand at mathematically the same distance from the +central clock. At every movement she waited to hear the expected, "Can +I help you, Aunt Sophia?" which right feeling would surely prompt in any +well-principled damsel, and though her reply would of a certainty have +been in the negative, she felt aggrieved that the opportunity was not +vouchsafed. + +She was determined not to look in the girl's direction, nor to meet +those watching eyes, but presently, in spite of herself, she felt a +magnetic compulsion to turn her head to answer the bright, expectant +glance. + +"Well?" queried Cornelia, smiling. + +"Well what, my dear?" + +"How are you going to amuse me this forenoon?" + +Miss Briskett sat down suddenly in the nearest chair, and suffered a +mental collapse. Positively this view of the situation had never once +dawned upon her unimaginative brain! Mrs Ramsden had dimly wrestled +with the problem, solving it at last with an easy, "She can talk to +Elma!" but the aunt and hostess had been too much occupied with +consideration for her own comfort to think of anyone else. It had +crossed her mind that the girl might tire her, bore her, worry her, or +humiliate her before the neighbours; in an occasional giddy flight of +fancy she had even supposed it possible that Cornelia might amuse her, +and make life more agreeable, but never for the fraction of a second had +she realised that she herself was fated either to bore, or to amuse +Cornelia in return! + +The discovery was a shock. Being a just woman, Miss Briskett was forced +to the conclusion that she had been selfish and self-engrossed; but such +self-revelations do not as a rule soften our hearts towards the fellow- +creature who has been the means of our enlightenment. Miss Briskett was +annoyed with herself, but she was much more annoyed with Cornelia, and +considered that she had good reason to be so. + +"I have no time to think of frivolities in the morning, my dear. I am +too busy with household duties. I am now going to the kitchen to +interview my cook, then to the store-room to give out what is needed for +the day, and when that is accomplished I shall go to the shops to give +my orders. If you wish, I shall be pleased to have your company!" + +"Right oh!" cried Cornelia, nodding. "It will be a lesson in your silly +old pounds and pence. What do you keep in your store-room, Aunt Soph? +Nice things? Fruits? Candy? Cake? I wouldn't mind giving out the +stores for a spell, now and again. Well! ... I'll just mouch round, +and be ready for you when you set out for your walk." + +Miss Briskett left the room, in blissful ignorance of what "mouch" might +mean, and much too dignified to inquire, but by the time that ten +o'clock had struck, she had learnt to connect the expression with all +that was irritating and presumptuous. In the midst of her discussion +with the cook, for instance, the sound of music burst upon her ears; the +echo of that disused piano which had almost forgotten to be anything but +a stand for ornaments and lamps. Bang went the bass, crash went the +treble, the tune a well-known dance, played with a dash and a spirt, a +rollicking marking of time irresistible to any human creature under +forty, who did not suffer from corns on their toes. In the recesses of +the scullery a subdued scuffling was heard. Tweeny was stepping it to +and fro, saucepans in hand; from the dining-room overhead, where Mason +was clearing away the breakfast dishes, came a succession of mysterious +bumping sounds. Heap stood stolid as a rock, but her eyes--her small, +pale, querulous eyes--danced a deliberate waltz round the table and +back... + +"I must request Cornelia not to play the piano in the morning!" said +Miss Briskett to herself. + +From the store-room upstairs a sound of talking and laughing was heard +from within the visitor's bedroom, where sat that young lady in state, +issuing orders to Mary, who was blissfully employed in unpacking the +contents of one of the big dress boxes, and hanging up skirts in the +mahogany wardrobe. + +"I must beg Cornelia not to interfere with the servants' work in the +morning!" said Miss Briskett once more. At half-past ten silence +reigned, and she went downstairs, equipped in her black silk mantle and +her third best bonnet, to announce her readiness to start on the usual +morning round. + +Cornelia was not in the morning-room; she was not in the drawing-room, +though abundant signs of her recent presence were visible in the +littered ornaments on the open piano. + +"I must beg Cornelia to put things back in their proper places!" said +Miss Briskett a third time as she crossed the hall to the dining-room. +This room also was empty, but even as she grasped the fact, Miss +Briskett started with dismay to behold a bareheaded figure leaning over +the garden gate, elbows propped on the topmost bar, and chin supported +on clasped hands. This time she did not pause to determine what +commands she should issue in the future, but stepped hastily down the +path to take immediate and peremptory measures. + +"My dear! in the front garden--without a hat--leaning over the gate! +What can you be thinking of? The neighbours might see you!" + +Cornelia turned in lazy amusement. "Well, if it's going to be a shock +to them, they might as well begin early, and get it over." She ran a +surprised eye over her aunt's severe attire. "My, Aunt Soph, you look +too good to live! I'm 'most frightened of you in that bonnet. If you'd +given a hoot from the window I'd have hustled up, and not kept you +waiting. Just hang on two shakes while I get my hat. I won't stay to +prink!" + +"I am not accustomed--" began Miss Briskett, automatically, but she +spoke to thin air. Cornelia had flown up the path in a cloud of +swirling skirts; cries of "Mury! Mury!" sounded from within, and the +mistress of the house slowly retraced her steps and seated herself to +await the next appearance of the whirlwind with what patience she could +command. + +It was long in coming. The clock ticked a slow quarter of an hour, and +was approaching twenty minutes, when footsteps sounded once more, and +Cornelia appeared in the doorway. She had not changed her dress, she +had not donned her jacket; her long, white gloves dangled from her hand; +to judge from appearances she had spent a solid twenty minutes in +putting on a tip-tilted hat which had been trimmed with bows of dainty +flowered ribbon, on the principle of the more the merrier. Miss +Briskett disapproved of the hat. It dipped over the forehead, giving an +obviously artificial air of demureness to the features; it tilted up at +the back, revealing the objectionable hair in all its wanton profusion. +It looked--_odd_, and if there was one thing more than another to which +Norton objected, it was a garment which differentiated itself from its +fellows. + +Aunt and niece walked down the path together in the direction of the +South Lodge, the latter putting innumerable questions, to which the +former replied in shocked surprise. "What were those gardens across the +road?"--They were private property of householders in the Park.--"Did +they have fine jinks over there in summer time?"--The householders in +the park never, under any circumstances, indulged in "jinks." They +disapproved thoroughly, and on principle, of anything connected with +jinks!--"Think of that now--the poor, deluded creatures! What did they +use the gardens for, anyway?"--The gardens were used for an occasional +promenade; and were also valuable as forming a screen between the Park +and the houses on the Western Road.--"What was wrong with the houses on +the Western Road?"--There was nothing wrong with the houses in question. +The residents in the Park objected to see, or to be seen by, _any_ +houses, however desirable. They wished to ensure for themselves an +unbroken and uninterrupted privacy.--"My gracious!" + +Mrs Phipps, the dragon of the South Lodge, came out to the doorstep, +and bobbed respectfully as Miss Briskett passed by, but curiosity was +rampant upon her features. Cornelia smiled radiantly upon her; she +smiled upon everyone she met, and threw bright, curious glances to right +and to left. + +"My! isn't it _green_? My! isn't it still? Where _is_ everyone, +anyway? Have they got a funeral in every house? Seems kind of +unsociable, muffling themselves up behind these hedgerows! Over with +us, if we've got a good thing, we're not so eager to hide it away. You +can walk along the sidewalk and see everything that's going on. In the +towns the families camp out on the doorsteps. It's real lively and +sociable. ... Are these your stores? They look as if they'd been made +in the year one." + +They were, in truth, a quaint little row--butcher, grocer, greengrocer, +and linen-draper, all nestled into a little angle between two long, +outstanding buildings, which seemed threatening at every moment to fall +down and crush them to atoms. The windows were small, and the space +inside decidedly limited, and this morning there was an unusual rush of +customers. It seemed as if every housewife in the neighbourhood had +sallied forth to make her purchases at the exact hour when Miss Briskett +was known to do her daily shopping. At the grocer's counter Cornelia +was introduced to Mrs Beaumont, of The Croft. + +"My niece, Miss Cornelia Briskett. Mrs Beaumont," murmured Miss +Briskett. + +"Mrs Beau_mont_!" repeated Cornelia, loudly, with a gracious, sidelong +observance, at which unusual manner of receiving an introduction both +ladies stared in surprise. + +Presently Mrs Beaumont recovered herself sufficiently to put an all- +important question. + +"How do you like England?" + +"I think it's lovely," said Cornelia. + +In the fishmonger's shop Mrs Rhodes and Mrs Muir came up in their +turn, and opened wide eyes of surprise as the strange girl again +repeated their names in her high monotone. Evidently this was an +American custom. Strange people, the Americans! The ladies simpered, +and put the inevitable query: "How do you like England?" + +"I think it's sweet," said Cornelia. + +The draper's shop was a revelation of old-world methods. One anaemic- +looking assistant endeavoured to attend to three counters and half a +dozen customers, with an unruffled calm which they vainly strove to +emulate. Miss Briskett produced a pattern of grey ribbon which she +wished to match. Four different boxes were lifted down from the wall, +and their contents ransacked in vain, while the patient waiters received +small sops in the shape of cases and trays, shoved along to their corner +of the counter. When persuasion failed to convince Miss Briskett that +an elephant grey exactly matched her silvery fragment--"I'll see if we +have it in stock!" cried the damsel, hopefully, and promptly disappeared +into space. The minutes passed by; Cornelia frowned and fidgeted, was +introduced to a fourth dame, and declared that England was "'cute." +Weary waiters for flannel and small-wares looked at their watches, and +fidgeted restlessly, but no one rebelled, nor showed any inclination to +walk out of the shop in disgust. At length the assistant reappeared, +flushed and panting, to regret that they were "sold out," and "What is +your next pleasure, madam?" + +Madam's next pleasure was a skein of wool, which investigation again +failed to produce. "But we have a very nice line in kid gloves; can I +show you something in that line this morning?" Miss Briskett refused to +be tempted, and produced a coin from her purse in payment of a small +account. Cornelia was interested to be introduced to "hef-a-crown," and +tried to calculate what would be left after the subtraction of a +mysterious "seven-three." She had abundant time to calculate, for, to +the suspicious mind, it might really appear as if the assistant had +emigrated to foreign climes with the half-crown as capital in hand. The +little shop was dull and stuffy; an odour of flannel filled the air; the +faces of the patient waiters were colourless and depressed. Cornelia +flounced on her seat, and curled her beautiful lips. + +"My stars and stripes!" she cried aloud. "I'll take root if I sit here +much longer. Seems as that change won't be ready till the last trump!" + +She sprang from her chair as she spoke, too much absorbed in her own +impatience to note the petrifaction of horror on the faces of the +waiters at the counter, and in the doorway came face to face with a +plump, dignified little lady, accompanied by a girl in navy blue. + +"How do you do, my dear? I am Mrs Ramsden," said the stoat lady, +holding out her hand with a very pleasant friendliness. "As the niece +of my dear friend and neighbour, allow me to give you a hearty welcome +to our shores. This is my daughter, Elma, with whom I hope you will be +great friends. I will leave you to talk together while I make my +purchases. Young people always get on better alone!" + +She smiled, a kind, motherly smile, nodding her head the while, until +the upright feather quivered on its stem, then disappeared through the +dingy portals, leaving the two girls on the narrow pavement staring at +each other with bright, curious eyes. + +"How--how do you like England?" queried Elma, shyly, and Cornelia +answered with a happy laugh-- + +"I've been asked that question hef a dozen times already, and I only set +foot on these shores day before yesterday. I think it seems a real good +place for a nerve rest, but if you want to hustle!--" She shrugged +expressively, and Elma smiled with quick understanding. + +"Ah, you have been shopping at Willcox's! But Willcox's is not +England--Norton is not England; it's just a sleepy little backwater, +shut away from the great current of life. Don't judge England by what +you see here. You'd like the _real_ England--you couldn't help liking +that!" + +"I like _you_!" said Cornelia, bluntly. She held out her hand with a +gesture of frank camaraderie, and Elma clasped it, thrilling with +pleasure. A happy conviction assured her that she had found a friend +after her own heart. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +By the time that Cornelia had been a week in residence at The Nook, she +had become the one absorbing topic of Norton conversation, and her +aunt's attitude towards her was an odd mingling of shame and pride. On +principle the spinster disapproved of almost everything that the girl +did or said, and suffered every day a succession of electric shocks-- +but, as we all know, such shocks are guaranteed to exercise a bracing +influence on the constitution, and Miss Briskett was conscious of +feeling brighter and more alert than for many years past. She no longer +reigned as monarch over all she surveyed. A Czar of Russia, suddenly +confronted by a Duma of Radical principles and audacious energy, could +not feel more proudly aggrieved and antagonistic, but it is conceivable +that a Czar might cherish a secret affection for the leader of an +opposition who showed himself honest, clever, and affectionate. In +conclave with her own heart, Miss Briskett acknowledged that she +cherished a distinct partiality for her niece, but in view of the said +niece's tendency to conceit, the partiality was rigorously concealed. + +As for Norton society, it welcomed Cornelia with open arms; that is to +say, all the old ladies of Miss Briskett's acquaintance called upon her, +inquired if she liked England, and sent their maids round the following +day with neat little notes inviting aunt and niece to take tea on a +certain afternoon at half-past four o'clock. These tea-drinkings soon +became a daily occurrence, and Cornelia's attitude towards them was one +of consecutive anticipation, amusement, and ennui. You dressed up in +your best clothes; you sat in rows round a stuffy room; you drank stewed +tea, and ate buttered cakes. You met every day the same--everlastingly +the same ladies, dressed in the same garments, and listened every day to +the same futile talk. From the older ladies, criticisms of last +Sunday's sermon, and details of household grievances; from the younger, +"_Have_ you seen Miss Horby's new hat? _Did_ you hear the latest about +the Briggs? ... I'm going to have blue, with lace insertions..." + +Cornelia bore it meekly for a week on end, and then she struck. Two +notes were discovered lying upon the breakfast-table containing +invitations to two more tea-parties. "So kind of them! You will like +to go, won't you, my dear?" said Miss Briskett, pouring out coffee. + +"No, I shan't, then!" answered Cornelia, ladling out bacon. Her curling +lips were pressed together, her flexible eyebrows wrinkled towards the +nose. If Edward B Briskett had been present he would have recognised +signals of breakers ahead! "I guess I'm about full up of tea-parties. +I'm not going to any more, this side Jordan!" + +"Not going, my dear?" Miss Briskett choked with mingled amazement and +dismay. "Why not, if you please? You have no other engagements. My +friends pay you the honour of an invitation. It is my wish that you +accept. You surely cannot mean what you are saying!" + +She stared across the table in her most dignified and awe-inspiring +fashion, but Cornelia refused to meet her eyes, devoting her entire +attention to the consumption of her breakfast. + +"You bet I do!" + +"Cornelia, how often must I beg you not to use that exceedingly +objectionable expression? I ask you a simple question; please answer it +without exaggeration. Why do you object to accompany me to these two +parties?" + +"Because it's a waste of time. It's against my principles to have the +same tooth drawn six times over. I know all I want to about tea-parties +in England, and I'm ready to pass on to something fresh. I'd go clean +crazed if I'd to sit through that performance again." + +"I am sorry you have been so bored. I hoped you had enjoyed yourself," +said Miss Briskett, stiffly, but with an underlying disappointment in +her tone, which Cornelia was quick to recognise. The imps of temper and +obstinacy which had peeped out of her golden eyes suddenly disappeared +from view, and she nodded a cheery reassurement. + +"I wasn't a mite bored at the start. I loved going round with you and +seeing your friends, but I _have_ seen them, and they've seen me, and we +said all we want to, so that trick is played out. You can't go on +drinking tea with the same old ladies all the days of your life? Why +can't they hit on something fresh?" + +Miss Briskett did not reply. She was indeed too much upset for words. +Tea-drinking was the only form of dissipation in which she and her +friends indulged, or had indulged for many years past. In more +energetic days an occasional dinner had varied the monotony, but as time +crept on there seemed a dozen reasons for dropping the more elaborate +form of entertainment. A dinner-party upset the servants; it +necessitated the resurrection of the best dinner-service from the china +cupboard, and the best silver from the safe; it entailed late hours, a +sense of responsibility, the exertion of entertaining. How much simpler +to buy a sixpenny jar of cream and a few shillings worth of cake welcome +your friends at half-past four, and be free at half-past five to lie +down on the sofa, and have a nap before dressing for dinner! + +Miss Briskett had counted on a protracted orgy of tea-parties in her +niece's honour, and had already planned a return bout on her own accord, +to set the ball rolling a second time. Her wildest flight of fancy had +not soared beyond tea, and here was Cornelia showing signs of rebellion +at the end of a fortnight! It said much for the impression which that +young lady had made that there was a note of actual entreaty in the +voice in which her aunt addressed her. + +"I think you must reconsider your decision, Cornelia. I strongly wish +you to accept these invitations, and my friends will be much +disappointed if you refuse. When you understand the position, I feel +sure you will put your own wishes on one side, and consent to do what is +right and fitting." + +But Miss Cornelia tossed her head, and the impish light flashed back +into her golden eyes. + +"I ken't break my word," she said bluntly. In moments of friction her +American accent was even more strongly marked than usual, which fact was +not calculated to soften her aunt's irritation, "Poppar had me taught to +say a thing and stick to it, no matter how I suffered. I've _said_ I +won't go, and I _won't_--not if all the old ladies in Christendom were +to come and howl at the door! You ken tell 'em I've come out in spots, +and you reckon I'm going down with small-pox." + +"That would not be true." + +"Oh, shucks!" shrugged Cornelia. "Troth is a fine institootion, but, +like most old things, it gives out at times, and then there's nothing +for it but to fall back upon good, new-fashioned imagination." + +Miss Briskett rose majestically from her seat and left the room. + +Cornelia lifted the remnant of bread which lay beside her plate, raised +it high above her head, and deliberately pitched it to the end of the +room. It hit against the wall, and fell over the carpet in a shower of +crumbs. She chuckled malevolently, gave the table a vicious shove on +one side, and rose in her turn. + +On one of the tables by the window stood a neat little pile of books; +she lifted the topmost, and thrusting it under her arm, marched +deliberately down the garden path to the front gate, and thence across +the road towards the gate leading into the plantation. It was a hot, +sunny day, and half-way up the green knoll stood an oak tree, whose +spreading branches made delightful dapplings of shade. Here also a +gentle breeze rustled the leaves to and fro, while in the stuffy paths +below the air itself seemed exhausted and bereft of life. Cornelia +lifted her white skirts, with a display of slim brown ankles which would +have scandalised the Norton worthies, stepped neatly and cleanly over +the wire arches, and made a bee-line across the grass for the forbidden +spot. She was in the mood when it seemed an absolute necessity to defy +somebody, and even a printed notice was better than nothing. She seated +herself aggressively in the most conspicuous position, on the side of +the tree facing the houses, spread wide her skirts on either side, +folded her arms, and awaited developments. + +"I hope they'll _all_ look out and see me sitting on their old grass! I +hope they'll come over, and stand in _rows_ on the path, telling me that +nice young girls never sat on the grass in England. ... Then I'll tell +'em what _I_ think. ... I'm just in the mood to do it. Seems as if I +hadn't drawn a free breath for weeks. `Cornelia, _don't_! Cornelia, +_do_!' `In this country we always--' `In this country we never--' My +stars and stripes; why did I leave my happy home?" + +Round the corner of the path there came into view the figure of Morris, +keeper of the South Lodge, sweeping the gravel path, his head bent over +his task. Cornelia's naughty eyes sent out a flash of delight. She +cleared her throat in a deliberate "hem," cleared it again, and coughed +in conclusion. Morris leant on his broom, surveyed the landscape o'er, +and visibly reeled at the sight of such barefaced trespassing. The +broom was hoisted against a tree, while he himself mounted the sloping +path, shading his eyes from the sun. At the first glance he had +recognised the "'Merican young lady," whose doings and clothings-- +particularly clothings--had formed the unvarying theme of his wife's +conversation for the last fortnight. He had committed himself so far as +to say that he rather fancied the looks of her, but in the depths of his +heart the feeling lingered that for a born lady she was a trifle "free." +Morris was a survival of the old feudal type who "knew his place," and +enjoyed being trampled under foot by his "betters." If an employer +addressed him in terms of kindly consideration, his gratitude was tinged +with contempt. These were not the manners of the good old gentry in +whose service he had been trained! + +Opposite the oak tree he came to a stand, and assumed his official +manner. + +"Beg pardon, miss; visitors his not permitted on the graws." + +"For the land's sake, why not?" + +"It's against the rules, miss." + +"Suppose it is! What will happen if I break 'em?" + +Morris looked discomfited, pushed his hat from his forehead, and +murmured vaguely that he 'sposed she'd be punished. + +"Who by? Who does the grass belong to, anyhow?" + +"To yer Rant, miss, and the hother ladies and gentlemen that owns the +park." + +"Well, and what could _they_ do?" + +Morris, still vague and uncomfortable, murmured concerning prosecution. + +"What's prosecution?" queried Cornelia. "Sounds exciting, anyway. Much +more exciting than sitting on the gravel paths. Guess I'll stay where I +am, and find out. You get on with your work, and keep calm, and when +the fun begins you can waltz in, and play your part. It's no use _one_ +officer trying to arrest me, though! You'll need a _posse_, for I'll +fight to the death! You might give them the tip!" + +Morris walked down hill in stunned surprise, leaving Cornelia to chuckle +to herself in restored good humour. Her impulses towards rebellion and +repentance were alike swift and speedy, but between the two lay a span +of licence, when she revelled in revolt, and felt the tingling of +riotous success. Such a moment was the present as she watched Morris's +dumb retreat, and cast her dancing eyes around, in search of the next +victim. + +For the moment no living creature was in sight, but the scene was +sufficiently entrancing to justify the statement that there is no +country in the world so charming as England on a fine June day. + +It was hot, but not too hot to be exhausting; little fleecy white clouds +flecked the blue dome overhead; the air was sweet with the odour of +flowering trees now in the height of their beauty. The gardener who had +planted them had possessed a nice eye for colour, and much skill in +gaining the desired effects. The golden rain of laburnum, and deep rich +red of hawthorn, were thrown up against the dark lustre of copper-beech, +or the misty green of a graceful fir tree; white and purple lilac were +divided by a light pink thorn, and on the tall chestnuts the red and +white blossoms shone like candles on a giant Christmas tree. It was the +one, all-wonderful week, when everything seems in bloom at the same +time; the week which presages the end of spring, more beautiful than +summer, as promise is ever more perfect than fulfilment. Even the stiff +crescent of houses looked picturesque, viewed through the softening +screen of green. Cornelia scanned the row of upper windows with smiling +curiosity. No one was visible; no one ever _was_ visible at a window at +Norton Park; but discreetly hidden by the lace curtains, half a dozen +be-capped heads might even now be nodding in her direction.--"My dear, +_what_ is that white figure under the oak tree? I thought at first it +must be a sheep, but it is evidently a female of some description. It +looks exceedingly like--but it could not be, it could not _possibly_ be, +Miss Briskett's niece! ..." + +Miss Briskett's niece chuckled, and turned her head to look up the +sloping path. Her choice of position had been largely decided by the +fact that Elma Ramsden was due to return by this route from a weekly +music lesson somewhere about the present time. In the course of the +past week the two girls had drunk tea in the same houses every +afternoon, and exchanged sympathetic glances across a phalanx of elderly +ladies, but the chances for _tete-a-tete_ conversations had been +disappointingly few, and this morning Cornelia had a craving for a +companion young enough to encourage her in her rebellion, or at least to +understand the pent-up vitality which had brought it to a head. + +She watched eagerly for the advent of the tall, blue-robed figure. Elma +always wore dark blue cambric on ordinary occasions. "So useful!" said +her mother, "and such a saving in the washing bill." Mother and +daughter ran up the plain breadths in the sewing machine, and the only +fitting in the body was compassed by a draw-string at the waist. It did +not seem a matter of moment to Mrs Ramsden whether the said string was +an inch higher or lower, and Elma was economical in belts. Cornelia's +expression was eloquent as she viewed the outline of the English girl's +figure as she slowly approached down the narrow path. So far Elma had +not noticed her presence. She was too much buried in her own dreams. +Poor pretty thing! That was all that was left to her--to take it out in +dreams. She had not yet begun to be awake! + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +Twenty yards farther Elma came to a halt, eyes and lips opened wide in +gaping astonishment at the sight of the trespasser. + +"Cornelia! You are sitting on the grass." + +"That's so! Why shouldn't I, if I've a mind?" + +"It's forbidden!" + +"Oh, shucks!" cried Cornelia, impatiently. "Who by?" + +Elma waved her hand vaguely towards the crescent of houses. + +"Everybody--all of them! It's a rule. They all agreed." + +"Suppose they did! I guess it would take more than ten old ladies to +prevent me doing what I want. What's the good of grass, anyway, if you +can't enjoy it? It's lovely up here. I'm as cool as an otter. You +look pretty warm after your walk. Step over, and come right here by +me." She patted the ground beside her, and smiled in her most +irresistible fashion. "We'll have the loveliest talk--" + +Elma hesitated, fascinated but dismayed. + +"I daren't. It's breaking the rules. What would they say?" + +"That's what we've got to find out. They can't kill us, anyway, and +we'll have had a good time first. You've got to pay your bills in this +wicked world. Now, then--hustle!" + +"I can't!" faltered Elma, and lifted one foot over the wire arch, "I +daren't!" and stepped completely over, lifting her skirt behind her. +The deed was done! A tingle of excitement ran through her veins, she +reared her head and laughed aloud, looking with bright, unashamed eyes +at the curtained windows. The moment of revolt had come; a moment long +desired in the depths of a meek, long-suffering heart, and prepared for +by many a seething inward struggle. Cornelia had applied the match, and +the tow blazed. Elma laughed again, and seated herself beneath the +tree. Cornelia had tossed her hat on the ground and clasped her hands +round her knees in comfortable, inelegant position. Elma did the same, +and the American girl, watching her, was at a loss to account for the +reckless radiance of her smile. The sunshine flickered down between the +branches on the sweet pink and white face, the pansy blue eyes, and long +slender throat; it shone alike on the ill-fitting gown, the clumsy +shoes, the carelessly arranged hair. Cornelia's golden eyes travelled +up and down, down and up, in earnest, scrutinising fashion. She met +Elma's glance with a shake of the head, forbearing, yet reproachful. + +"Say! You don't know how to prink, do you?" + +"Prink?" Elma was doubtful even as to the meaning of the word. She +arched her brows in inquiry, whereat Cornelia laughed aloud. + +"You are real, genuine English! You make me think of roses, and cream, +and honey, and mountain dew, and everything that's sweet and wholesome, +and takes no thought of the morrow. If you lived over with us, we'd fix +you up so your own mother wouldn't know you, and there'd be paragraphs +about you in the papers every single day, saying what you did, and what +you were wearing, and how you looked when you wore it." + +"`Miss Elma Ramsden sat on the grass, attired in a blue rag, with +freckles on her nose.'" + +"My, no!" Cornelia chuckled. "They spread it pretty thick when they +once begin. You'd have every adjective in the dictionary emptied over +you. `The irresistible Elma,' `Radiant Miss Ramsden,' `The beauteous +English Rose.' Half the time it's only bluff, but with you it would be +a true bill. You _are_ beautiful. Do you know it?" + +The pink flush deepened in Elma's delicate face. + +"Am I?" she asked wistfully. "Really? Oh, I hope you are right. I +should be so happy if it were true, but--but, I'm afraid it can't be. +No one notices me; no one seems to think I am--nice! I'm only just Elma +Ramsden--not radiant, nor irresistible, nor anything of the kind. Plain +Elma Ramsden, as much a matter of course as the trees in the park. +Since you came here, in one fortnight, you've had more attention than +I've had in the whole course of my life." + +"_Attention_?" echoed Cornelia, shrilly, and rolled her eyes to the +firmament. "Attention? You ken sit there and look me in the face, and +talk about the `attention' that's been paid me the last two weeks! +You're crazed! Where does the attention come in, I want to know? I +haven't spoken to a single man since the day I arrived. You don't call +a dozen old ladies clucking round _attention_, do you? Where _are_ all +the young men, anyhow? I have been used to a heap of men's society, and +I'm kind of lost without it. I call attention having half a dozen nice +boys to play about, and do whatever I want. Don't you ever have any +nice young men to take you round?" + +Elma's dissent was tinged with shocked surprise, for she had been +educated in the theory that it was unmaidenly to think about the +opposite sex. True, experience had proved that this was an +impossibility, for thoughts took wing and flew where they would, and +dreams grew of themselves--dreams of someone big, and strong, and +tender; someone who would _understand_, and fill the void in one's heart +which ached sometimes, and called for more, more; refusing to be +satisfied with food and raiment. Sometimes the dream took a definite +shape, insisted on the possession of grey eyes and wide square +shoulders, associating itself with the personality of a certain young +squire of racing, bridge-playing tendencies, at whom all Park dwellers +glanced askance, refusing to him the honour of their hospitality! + +There remained, however, certain functions at which this outlaw must +annually be encountered; functions when one was thrillingly conscious of +being signalled out for unusual attention. One remembered, for example, +being escorted to eat ices, under the shade of an arbour of crimson +ramblers; of talking with tongues about the weather, and the flowers, +and the music; while grey eyes looked into blue, and said unutterable +things. Oh, the beauty of the sky seen through those rosy branches! +Oh, the glory of the sun! There had never been such a summer day +before. ... Elma trembled at the remembrance, and then blushed at her +own audacity. It was terrible to have to acknowledge such things to +one's inmost heart, but to put them into words--! She pursed her lips, +and looked demurely scandalised by her companion's plain speaking. + +"Do you know, Cornelia,"--she had been commanded to use the Christian +name, but it still came with a certain amount of hesitation--"if I were +you I would not talk like that before your aunt. We--we don't do it +over here! It is not considered--nice--for a girl to talk about young +men." + +Cornelia smiled slowly. Her beautiful lips curved upwards at the +corner, giving an air of impish mischief to her face. She nodded her +head three times over, and hitched a shoulder under the muslin gown. + +"We-ell?" she drawled in her most pronounced accent, "if I've got to +think of 'em, I might as well talk of 'em, and I'm _bound_ to think of +'em!" She relaxed the grasp of her knees, and lay back against the +trunk of a tree, chuckling softly in retrospective triumph. "I've had +such heaps of fun! I just love to carry on, and have half-a-dozen boys +quarrelling over me, and hustling to get the first chance. I've had as +many as ten bouquets before a ball, and I wore an eleventh, which I'd +gotten for myself, and they were all clean crazed to find out who'd sent +it. Poppar says I'll be an old maid yet, but it won't be for want of +asking. There's one young man who's just daft about me--he's young, and +he's lovely, and he's got ten million and a hef dollars, and I've +_tried_ to love him." She sighed despairing. "I've tried hard, but I +_ken't_!" + +Elm a struggled between disapproval, curiosity, and a shocking mingling +of something else, which was not, could not possibly be, _envy_ of such +adventures! The lingering doubt served to add severity to her +indictment. + +"It's very wicked to flirt!" + +Once again Cornelia flashed her impish smile. + +"It's vurry nice! I don't see a mite of use in being young if you ken't +have some fun. You grow old fast enough, and then there's nothing else +to it but to sit round and preach. Your mother and Aunt Soph have just +_got_ to preach, but I wouldn't start yet awhile if I were you. You'd +be just the prettiest thing that was ever seen if you knew how to fix +yourself up, but you _don't_, and you seem to me to mope along the whole +blessed time, without a bit of fun to perk you up. Say! don't you feel +a bit tired of it sometimes? Don't you ever have a kind of feeling that +you want to _do_ something for a change?" + +"Sometimes! Do I ever!" Elma echoed the words with startling emphasis. +"Always, always! It is here,"--she pressed her hands on her +breast--"stifled up here all the time--a horrible, rebellious longing to +get out; to be free, to do--I don't know what--really I don't--but +something _different_! I've lived in Norton all my life, and hardly +ever been away. Mother hates travelling in winter, and in the summer +she hates to leave the garden, and I'm so strong that I don't need +change. I never went to school like other girls. Mother disapproves of +school influences, so I had governesses instead. It's awful to have a +resident teacher in the house, and be an only pupil; you feel +governessed out of your life. And now I have no friends to visit, or to +visit me, only the Norton girls, for whom I don't care. It seems +ungrateful when I have so much to be thankful for, but I feel _pent_! +Sometimes I get such a wicked feeling that I just long to snap and snarl +at everybody. I'm ashamed all the time, and can _see_ how horrid I am, +but--" + +She broke off, sighing deeply, and Cornelia crouched forward, clasping +her knees as before, and bending her chin to meet them, her eyes ashine +with eagerness and curiosity. + +"Yes, I know; I've been there myself. I was there this morning after +just two weeks. I don't begin to have your endoorance, my dear, but you +take a straight tip from me. When you feel the symptoms coming on, +don't you go trying to be sweet and forbearing, and bottling up all the +froth; it's not a mite of use, for it's bound to rise to the top, and +keeping don't improve it. Just let yourself go, and be right-down ugly +to _somebody_--anyone will do, the first that comes handy--and you'll +feel a heap better!" She sighed, and turned a roguish glance towards +the shrouded windows of The Nook. "I was ugly to Aunt Soph before I +came out!" + +Already Elma had mastered the subtleties of Americanese sufficiently to +understand that the terms "lovely" and "ugly" had no bearing on outward +appearance, but were descriptive of character only. Her eyes widened, +partly in horrified surprise at listening to a doctrine so diametrically +opposed to everything which she had previously heard, and partly in +pure, unadulterated curiosity to know the cause of the rebellion. + +"To Miss Briskett? Oh, how had you the courage? I should never have +_dared_. What was it about?" + +"Teas!" replied Cornelia, shortly. "I've attended tea-parties regularly +for the last ten days, and met the same people every single time, and +now I've struck. I've had about enough teas to last the rest of my +natural life, but Aunt Soph seemed to think I was bound to go wherever I +was asked. Two more old ladies sent invitations to-day." + +"I know--at lunch-time. We got ours, too. You can't refuse, Cornelia, +if you haven't another engagement." + +"Can't I just? You bet I can. Besides, what's to hinder having an +engagement if I want to? Say! let's fix one up right here. I'd be +delighted to have you come a drive with me to show me the country, +Thursday afternoon at a quarter after four. We could hire something, I +suppose, to drive in, and find a place to have tea on the way. We'd +have a high old talk, and you'd enjoy it a heap more than the tea- +party." + +"Oh, I know that, but I don't know if I ought,--Mrs Nevins' invitation +came first." + +"Shucks!" cried Cornelia, "you've got too much conscience--that's what's +the matter with you. You'll never have much of a time in this world if +you don't take the pick of a choice. What's two hours, anyway? You go +right home, and write nice and pretty to say you're real sorry you've +got another engagement. Your mother can trot along with Aunt Soph. +They'll enjoy themselves a heap better sitting round without us, talking +over the perversities of the young. They were all tame angels when they +were girls, and never did anything they ought not to have done. My!" +She twisted her saucy nose, and rolled her eyes heavenwards. "I'm +thankful I struck a livelier time! As for you, Elma Ramsden, you're +going to be equal to any one of them, if nothing happens to shake you +up. I guess it's my mission to do the shaking, so we'll start fair from +now on. You're engaged to me Thursday afternoon. D'you understand? I +guess we'd better go home and break the news before the answers are +written." + +She rose to her feet, and Elma followed her example, shaking her skirts +and fastening on the shady mushroom hat. No further protestations rose +to her lips, so it might be taken for granted that silence gave consent, +but half-way down the path she spoke again, in tentative, hesitating +fashion. + +"I don't mind about Mrs Nevins. She is rich and strong, and enjoys her +life; but Miss Nesbitt is different. She's an old maid, and poor. She +belongs to a good family, so she is asked out with the rest, but she +hardly ever gives a tea--not once in a year. It will be a great event +to her; she'll be beginning to make preparations even now; baking cakes, +and cleaning the silver, and taking off the covers of the drawing-room +chairs. It is all in your honour. She'll be disappointed if you don't +go." + +Cornelia turned upon her with a flash of reproof. "Why couldn't you +tell me that before, I want to know? Pretty mean I should have felt, +backing out of a thing like that! I wouldn't disappoint the old dear +for a fortune. Is it the one with the flat hair, and the little +ringlets dangling at the sides? They are too 'cute for anything, those +ringlets. Yes! I guessed she was the one, for I noticed her clothes +looked all used up. Don't you worry! I'll take tea with Miss Nesbitt +as often as she wants, and behave so pretty you'll admire to see me. +That's an olive branch to carry in to Aunt Soph--eh? I reckon she'll be +pretty dusty." + +"I reckon she will." Elma glanced with a half-fearful smile at her +companion's unruffled face. "I wouldn't be in your shoes for a hundred +pounds. Miss Briskett is formidable enough when she is pleased; but +when she is angry--! Cornelia, aren't you frightened?" + +Cornelia's joyous peal of laughter floated away on the air, and caught +the ears of the industrious Morris, who was sweeping the path a hundred +yards away. He turned to lean on his brush and stare, while Elma +glanced nervously at the curtained windows. + +"I never was scared in my life that I know of, and I'm not going to +begin with my very own aunt. I rather like a fizzle now and then--it +freshens one up. Don't you worry about me! I'm quite able to stand up +for myself." + +She pushed open the gate of The Nook as she spoke and sauntered up the +path; laughing, bareheaded, radiantly unashamed. Miss Briskett beheld +her approach from her seat in the corner of the drawing-room, and two +spots of colour shone dully on her thin cheek bones. The hands which +held her knitting trembled with indignation, and her eyes welcomed the +culprit with a steely flash. + +"Cornelia, are you aware that you are forbidden to trespass on the grass +of this park?" + +"Yes, ma'am." + +"You are also aware, I presume, that to wander alone bareheaded is not +the habit of young ladies in this neighbourhood, and that it is +intensely annoying to me that you should do so?" + +"Yes, ma'am." + +"You _do_ know! You are not ashamed to acknowledge it! Then may I +inquire why you have deliberately chosen to do what you know to be +wrong?" + +Cornelia drew up a comfortable chair and seated herself by her aunt's +side, arranging her draperies with a succession of little pulls and +pats. She rested one elbow on the arm of the chair, and leant her chin +upon the upraised palm, a pretty, thoughtful-looking pose into which she +fell naturally in leisure moments. The cat blinked at her through +sleepy eyelids, then, deliberately ignoring the devotion of years, rose +from its place by its mistress's side, stretched itself with feline +grace, and stalked majestically across the rug to nestle against the +soft white skirts. Miss Briskett eyed its desertion over the brim of +her spectacles. Poor lady! her measure of love received was so small, +that she felt a distinct pang at the defection. + +"What explanation have you to offer, Cornelia? You knew that you would +annoy me?" + +"Why, yes, of course. That's all there was to it! It didn't thrill me +a mite to walk over a strip of lawn, without figging up in my best duds. +I can do that any day I want at home, but I just _had_ to raise Cain +somehow! It's the only way I ken pull round again when I get mad. I +just go right away and do the ugliest thing I can strike, and then I +feel all soothed, and calmed down. You try it yourself, next time; it +beats knitting stockings all into fits! I'm just as sweet as candy now, +so you've got to forgive me, and be friends. I'm sorry I acted so mean, +but you were pretty nippy yourself, weren't you now? I guess we've both +been used to take our own way without any fluster, and it comes pretty +hard to be crossed, but now we've had our fling, we've got to kiss and +make friends. That's so; isn't it?" + +She bent forward, pouting her lips to receive the token of peace, but +Miss Briskett drew back in chilly dignity. For the past hour she had +nourished a smouldering resentment, feeling herself the most ill-used of +womenkind, and this calm inclusion of herself in the list of wrong-doers +did not tend to pour oil on the troubled waters. For Cornelia to +acknowledge her deliberate intention to offend, and in the same breath +to offer a kiss of reconciliation, showed a reprehensible lack of proper +feeling. Miss Briskett was a woman of high principles, and made a point +of forgiving her enemies--slowly! As a preliminary process she demanded +an abject apology, and a period of waiting, during which the culprit was +expected to be devoured by remorse and anxiety. Then, bending from an +impeccable height, she vouchsafed a mitigated pardon. "I forgive you, +but I can never forget!" Some such absolution she would have been ready +to bestow upon a tearful and dejected Cornelia, but the pink and white +complaisance of the uplifted face steeled her heart afresh. She shrank +back in her chair, ignoring the outstretched hand. + +"Excuse me, my dear, but I do not care to kiss a person who has just +acknowledged that she has deliberately tried to annoy me. I was +naturally displeased at your rejection of my friend's hospitality, but +it is exceedingly impertinent to compare my behaviour to your own. You +seem to forget that I am your hostess, and nearly three times your age." + +"Then you ought to be three times better, oughtn't you?" retorted +Cornelia, blandly. "Well, I'll own up that I'm sorry about Miss +Nesbitt, and I'll be pleased to take tea with her as often as she likes, +but I regret that a previous engagement prevents my going Thursday also. +You tell the old lady from me that I'm real sorry to miss the treat, +and if it will ease her mind any to know that I don't think England's a +patch on America, she's welcome to the information. Elma Ramsden and I +have fixed up a drive to see the country, Thursday afternoon." + +Miss Briskett's knitting-needles clinked irritably together. A half +concession was little better than none, and the frivolous tone of +Cornelia's remarks spoke of something far removed from the ideal +repentance. Apart from the question of the tea-party, she disapproved +of two young girls driving about the country unattended, but her courage +shrank from the thought of another battle. She dropped her eyelids, and +replied icily-- + +"As you have already made your arrangements it is useless for me to +offer any objections. You are evidently determined to take your own way +in spite of anything I can say. I can only trust that no harm may come +of the experiment." + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +On Thursday afternoon at three o'clock Cornelia retired to her bedroom, +and with the help of the devoted Mary proceeded to make an elaborate +toilette for the drive. Those wonderful trunks seemed to contain +garments suitable for every possible occasion which could arise; for +every fluctuation of weather, for every degree of festivity. From one +of the number out came a long driving coat, snowy white, light of +texture, an ideal garment for a warm yet dusty summer's day, which being +fastened down the side by huge pearl buttons, displayed a degree of +smartness nothing short of uncanny in an untrimmed garment. To wear +with the coat there was a jaunty cap, and a pair of driving gloves with +wide, gauntleted cuffs. Cornelia made faces at herself in the glass as +her custom was the while she arranged the "set" of her hat, puffed out +her shaded locks, and affably cross-questioned her attendant on her +private affairs. + +"Mury, how's your friend?" + +"He isn't so well as he was, miss, thank you all the same. He's been a +bit upset in his indigestion." + +"Think of that now! Isn't that sad! You buy him a bottle of physic and +send it along. I'll pay! It's not a mite of use having a friend with +indigestion. He'll be just as doleful, and you want him to give you a +real good time. ... How's your mother getting along?" + +"Nicely, thank you, miss. She said she didn't know how to thank you +enough for the shawl. Her poor old bones haven't ached half so much +since she's had it to hap round her of a night." + +"Isn't that sweet! Hustle up now with my high shoes, and don't mind +buttoning in bits of flesh as you did last time. I'd just as lief be +left out. See here, Mury, I want everything put back in its place after +I'm gone! I hate to find a muss when I get back, and that blue muslin +has got to be pressed out for to-night, and those bits of lace washed, +and the parcels changed at the shop. Mind, it's got to be all done by +the time I am back. And see here, next time you go out to meet your +friend, there's that taffetas waist you can have for yourself! You'll +look dandy in it, and he'll be so proud. Maybe it will help the +indigestion better than physic." + +Mary was incoherent with delight, and promised ardently to execute all +the young lady's orders, knowing full well that it was the silver +afternoon, and that her time should of rights be fully occupied with +household duties. She promised, and she intended to perform. By dint +of smiles, pleasant words, kindly interests in "friends," and ceaseless +doles of finery and physic, Cornelia had established such a hold upon +the affections of the staff, that her wish already took precedent of her +aunt's law. Mary mentally condemned half the contents of the silver +cupboard to neglect, the while she ironed out foaming frills and +floating sash ends. + +Mrs Ramsden accompanied Elma to the gate of The Nook, and stood beside +Miss Briskett looking on with dubious eyes, while the two girls took +their places in the high dog-cart. A groom had driven the horse from +the livery stable, and both good ladies expected him to take possession +of the back seat, in the double capacity of chaperon and guide. It +came, therefore, as a shock, when Cornelia dismissed the man with a +smile, and a rain of silver dropped into an eager hand, but +protestations, feeble and stern, were alike disregarded. + +"How do you suppose we are going to talk, with him perched there, with +his ears sticking out, listening to every word we say? We don't want +any men poking round, this journey!" laughed Cornelia, settling herself +in her seat, and taking the reins in her gauntleted hands. Miss +Briskett was dismayed to feel a thrill of pride mingling with her +displeasure, for the girl looked so fresh, so trim, so sparklingly alive +perched up on her high driving seat. Elma Ramsden, for all her superior +beauty, looked tame and insignificant beside her. Although she would +not condescend to look around, Miss Briskett divined that behind the +curtains of the neighbouring houses the occupants were looking on with +admiring curiosity, and noting every detail of the girl's attire. If +Cornelia were self-willed and defiant, in appearance at least she was a +worthy representative of her race. The stern lines of the spinster's +mouth relaxed into an unwilling smile as she said urgently-- + +"But, my dear, the horse! I am responsible for your safety. Are you +quite sure that you are capable of managing him?" + +Cornelia's ripple of amusement was sufficiently expressive. "One old +mare in a hired trap, when I've driven a four-in-hand over some of the +wickedest roads in America! If we are smashed, Aunt Soph, you can lay +it to providence, and not to my driving. Don't get to worrying if we +are late. If we're killed you'll hear all about it soon enough. You +can only die once, and a carriage spill is a good slick way of getting +it over." + +"Cornelia, I insist--" + +"Miss Cornelia, I beg--" + +The cart dashed suddenly onward in response to a flip of the whip, +leaving the two old ladies upon the roadway, the unfinished appeal +frozen upon their lips. Elma turned round to wave an abashed adieu, the +long habit of servitude struggling with a delicious new sense of liberty +and adventure. + +"Oh--oh, Cornelia, if you could only _see_ them! They are standing +stock-still, staring after us. They look petrified! ... It _was_ +naughty of you. You frightened your aunt on purpose." + +"That's so!" assented Cornelia, frankly. "I meant to do it. It's going +to hurt me a lot more than it does her, as the mommar said when she +spanked the nipper, but she's got just as set as a fossil, paddling +along in this little backwater, and imagining it's the whole big ocean, +and there's no one on hand to rouse her but myself. It's my mission. +Wake up, England!" and she flourished her whip dramatically as the mare +trotted through the south gateway of the park. + +Outside the gate lay a smooth wide road stretching uphill, and in +response to a movement of Elma's outstretched hand, Cornelia turned the +mare in this direction, flashing a radiant smile into the pink-and-white +face. + +"Well?" + +"Well what?" + +"How do you feel?" + +"Excited!--As if something were going to happen!" + +Cornelia nodded sagely. + +"Perhaps it is; there's no saying. I've seen horses I'd sooner trust in +a scrimmage, but a little spill would do you no harm. You're skeery as +a cat. You want nerve, my dear, nerve!" Cornelia flicked her whip +round the horse's ears to give emphasis to her words, and chuckled with +mischievous amusement as Elma clutched the seat, and gasped in dismay. + +"I call this crawling, not driving. When we get out into the real +country I'll make her go, so we get some fresh air into our lungs, then +you can hold on if you like, but don't pay before the show begins. Now, +then--where are we bound?" + +Elma cast down her eyes, faintly blushing beneath her hat. Surely there +was something infectiously electric in the air this afternoon, or why +should her thoughts fly as an arrow from the bow to just that very spot +which it should have been her maidenly duty to avoid? She blushed at +her own audacity; telling herself sternly that she ought to be ashamed; +held the temptation afar off, looking at it, longing after it, +regretfully deciding to cast it aside, then with a sudden impetuous +change of front, hugged it to her breast. Yes, she would! For one +afternoon, one golden, glorious afternoon, she would send prudence to +the winds, and follow her own instincts. After all, why not? Because a +certain person happened to be squire of a certain district it did not +follow that other people could not drive over his land without being +suspected of personal designs. It was to the last degree unlikely that +one would happen to meet anyone one knew, but if one _did_--Elma +acknowledged to herself that a lift of the hat, a glance of pleased +recognition, would remain in memory as the pleasantest episode of the +afternoon. + +As a palliative to her conscience, Elma suggested a farther village as +the termination to the drive, directing the course with a thrill of +guilty triumph at each fresh turning. + +"Ain't this dandy!" cried Cornelia, preening her little head, and +showing her white teeth in a smile of delight. "This England of yours +is just a 'cute little garden, with the roads rolled out like gravel +paths. You'd stare to see the roads about my home. Over here it's all +grass and roses. You are a rose, too--a real, sweet garden rose, with +the dewdrops on its leaves. If I were an artist I'd paint a picture of +you on one panel, and Aunt Soph on the other, as two types of English +life, and the people could look on, and learn a lesson. It's kinder +sweet and touching to dream along so long as you're young, but if you go +on keeping your eyes shut, it don't pan out well in old age. It's best +to have 'em wide open, and realise that there are two or three more +people in the world beside yourself." + +Elma smiled in vague, preoccupied fashion. Her own thoughts were all +engrossing, and at every fresh winding of the road she held her breath +in suspense, while the wild rose colour deepened in her cheeks. +Suppose--suppose they met him! How would he look? What would he do? +What would he think? Even the compliment to herself faded into +insignificance beside such questions as these. + +The mare was trotting briskly along a high level road, on the right side +of which lay the boundary wall of a large estate--_the_ estate, every +inch of which was thrilling with interest to one onlooker, at least; to +the right a bank of grass sloped gradually to a lower road, beneath +which again could be seen a wide-stretched panorama of country. +Cornelia slackened the reins, and gave herself up to the enjoyment of +the moment. + +Up to now decorous toddles to and fro the outlying villas had been her +only form of exercise, and she was amazed and delighted with the verdant +beauty of the scene. As Elma did not seem inclined for conversation she +made no further remark, and for the next quarter of an hour the two +girls drove onward in silence, each happy in her own thoughts, in the +sunshine, in the sweet, balmy air, fragrant with the scent of the +flowering trees. Then of a sudden one of the lodges of the park came +into view, and on the roadside beside the door a dazzling golden object, +at sight of which Cornelia puckered puzzled brows. + +"What in the land's name is that? The sun dazzles so that I can't see." + +"It's a--a cage, I think! I see something like bars." + +"What fool-trick are they up to, then, putting a gilt cage on the high +road in the blazing sunshine? They might use the sense they were born +with. Steady, old lady, steady!" cried Cornelia, soothingly, as the +mare pricked up her ears and shied uneasily to the farther side of the +road. "Yes, it's a cage right enough, and a poll parrot inside. Guess +I'll pull up at that house, and tell the inmates that it looks for all +the world like a blazing firework on the side of the path; enough to +scare any horse in creation. This old lady is as nervous as a cat!" + +The fact was painfully apparent even to Elma's inexperience, for the +mare, refusing to be soothed by Cornelia's cajoling words and chuckles, +shied still nearer the opposite hedge, her ears cocked nervously erect. +Seen nearer at hand, and out of the direct dazzle of sunlight, the cage +looked innocent enough with its grey inmate swinging solemnly to and fro +on its perch, but as the cart swung rapidly past, Mistress Poll +evidently felt that it was time to assert herself, and opened her mouth +to emit a shrill, raucous cry, at the sound of which the mare bounded +forward in a headlong gallop. + +"I knew it!" cried Cornelia, shortly. "I just guessed that had to come +next." She sat bolt upright, twisting the reins round her fingers, her +lips pressed into a thin red line, her eyes ashine with an excitement in +which was more than a spice of enjoyment. She shook herself impatiently +free from Elma's frenzied grasp. "Now, then, none of that! You leave +my arms alone. I'll need all my strength before we're through with this +trouble. My stars and stripes, how she does pull." + +"Oh, oh, Cornelia! What shall we do? What shall we do? Shall we be +thrown? What's going to happen? _Cornelia_?" + +Not by a fraction of an inch did Cornelia turn her head in answer to +this frenzied appeal. Upright as a dart she sat in her seat, her +slender wrists straining at the reins. + +"Don't yelp!" she said shortly. "Keep that till you're hurt. Say! what +happens to the road after the next turn?" + +"I don't know. ... Oh, what shall we do? Why did we ever come? ... +Cornelia, can you hold her back?" ... + +"No!" snapped Cornelia, shortly. "I can't!--Not for many minutes +longer, at this rate. My wrists are about broken as it is. What +happens after this turning, I say? You must know. Use your brains, for +goodness' sake--if you want any left to use another day. Is it a good +road--better than this? What's on the sides--hedgerows, walls, water? +For the land's sake, child, sort your ideas!" + +Thus admonished, Elma made a violent effort to pull herself together. +For reasons already mentioned, this particular bit of country was +clearly imprinted on her memory, and she had but to collect her +scattered wits to see a clear picture of the path ahead. + +"The road is quite good. There is a wall--two walls. Some farm +buildings on the right. At the end there is a hill; it leads down into +the next village." + +"Humph!" Cornelia's nostrils dilated widely, and two spots of pink +showed on her white cheeks. "Then I guess this is the end of the +volume. A grass bank is better than a wall any day of the week. ... +Now then, young woman, if you've got any grit stowed away, get it out, +and use it. _It's coming_! Are you ready?" + +"No, no!" shrieked Elma, wildly. She clutched the seat with despairing +hands, as with a sudden convulsive movement Cornelia switched the mare +violently to the right. "Help, help! Oh, help--" + +The bank rose before her eyes in a sudden mountainous sweep; the mare, +instead of being in front, soared suddenly on the top of the trap; the +hinges creaked and strained; and the seat assumed a perpendicular +position. It was all over in a couple of minutes, but to Elma it seemed +as many hours. She had time to hear the rush of approaching footsteps, +to see over the top of the hedge three startled masculine faces; to +recognise the nearer of the three with a great throb of relief, and to +stretch out her arms towards him with a shrill cry of appeal--then the +crash came, and she was shot headlong into space. + +Fireworks! that was the first impression. Little dots of flame flitting +about before her eyes, forming into circles of light and whizzing +rapidly round and round. Then when her eyes were open, a heavy confused +stupor, in which she saw, but refused to understand. Why was she lying +on the grass in the middle of the day? Why did Cornelia look so queer, +with her face stained with soil, and her hat on one side? Why did they +offer her things to drink? She wasn't thirsty; the tea was bad; it +stung her mouth. It wasn't tea at all, but something hot and nasty. It +was brandy out of a flask! Elma lifted big, lovely eyes of a pansy +blue, and stared vacantly into the face by her side, but at the sight of +it memory came back in a rush. She sat up stiffly, moving her limbs in +nervous, tentative fashion--gasped, sighed, and quavered out a +tremulous-- + +"What happened? Is it all over? Are we saved?" + +Cornelia loomed above her, alert even in this moment of shock and +dishevelment. One cheek was plastered with soil; patches of green stain +discoloured her coat, her hair hung rakishly askew, yet never had her +manner been more composed nor complacently matter of fact. + +"We've had a pretty lucky let-off. You are alive all right, and I guess +there's not much the matter with you but nerves. There's nothing wrong +with your lungs, anyway. You scared the mare pretty near as much as the +bird--yelping like a crazed thing, and hanging on to my arm. The grass +is soft enough. It hasn't hurt you any. You needn't worry feeling all +over to see if there's a break. You'd know it fast enough if there +were." + +"Miss Ramsden is feeling stunned. I think it would be wiser to allow +her to recover gradually. It is a shock to--er--to most systems, to be +shot out of a cart, however short the distance!" + +The masculine voice was thunderous with indignation, and the arm which +supported Elma's back tightened its hold, as if to protect her against +the world. Cornelia turned aside, her red lips twisted into a smile, +and walked along the bank to where the other two men were unharnessing +the mare, which lay on her side trembling with fright, the blood oozing +from several ugly-looking cuts and scratches. As Cornelia walked she +held her right wrist tightly with her left hand, as if she still felt +the strain of that wrestle with the reins, but there was no flinching in +voice or manner as she stood over the men, issuing instructions in +brisk, incisive tones. The nearer of the two was impressed to the +extent of ceasing work to touch his cap; the second darted one +contemptuous glance in her direction, and placidly continued to disobey. +Cornelia promptly knelt on the grass by his side, with intent to +demonstrate her own greater efficiency, but the first movement of the +strained wrist brought a flush of pain to her cheeks. She sat back, +pursing her lips together to restrain an involuntary groan, while the +stranger flashed a second look in her direction. He was a tall, lean, +somewhat cadaverous--looking man, with steel-like eyes shaded by haughty +eyelids, perpetually adroop as though no object on earth were worthy of +his regard. Cornelia took him in in a swift, comprehensive glance, and +with youthful ardour decided that she loathed the creature. + +"Hurt yourself?" + +"Not a bit, thanks. I guess there's enough of you to do the work +without me, but I'm used to seeing things done in a hurry, and you +seemed pretty deliberate--" + +"A little caution is not thrown away sometimes. What induced you to +come out driving alone if you could not manage a horse?" + +There being no reply to this question, and the last buckle of the +harness being unstrapped, the speaker turned an inquiring glance over +his shoulder, to behold a rigid figure and a face ablaze with +indignation. + +There was something in the girl's face at that moment so vital, so +bizarre and arresting, that so long as Rupert Guest lived, it remained +with him as one of the most striking pictures in his mental picture- +gallery. He had but to pass a high green hedge in the June sunshine, to +catch the fragrance of the honeysuckle and roses, and it rose up before +him again--the white, furious face, with the red, roughened locks, and +the gleam of white teeth through the scarlet lips. There was no +admiration in his thoughts; this was not at all the type of girl whom he +admired, but she was a being by herself, different from anyone whom he +had met. He stared at her with curious attention. + +"Do you mean," said Cornelia, in the slow, even tones of intense anger, +"that you think this was my doing--that I upset the cart by my bad +driving? If that's so, you are a little out in your reckoning. If I +hadn't been used to horses all my days we might have been in kingdom +come by this time. I _pulled_ her into the bank before worse things +happened!" + +"Then what sent her off in the first instance?" + +"A poll parrot, screeching in its cage, set right out in the roadway by +some fool owner, who ought to be had up for murder." + +The stranger pursed up his lips in an expressive whistle, then suddenly +sprang upwards as the mare, freed from her harness, rolled on her side +and struggled to her feet, where she stood shivering and tossing her +head, displaying fresh cuts and bruises in her dusty coat. The labourer +put his hand on her neck, soothing her with gentle words and touches, +while his master surveyed her with kindly concern. + +"Poor brute! Better take her to the stables, James, and send off for a +vet. Mrs Greville can no doubt spare a carriage to take these ladies +home." He turned towards Cornelia with an impulse of provocation which +seemed to spring from some source outside himself. As a rule he was +chivalrous where women were concerned, but there was something in the +personality of this girl which aroused his antagonism. It seemed almost +a personal offence that she should be so alert and composed while the +mare bled and trembled, and that pale, lovely thing lay like a broken +snowdrop on the bank. He felt a growing desire to annoy, to wound, to +break down this armour of complacent vanity. + +"So you could not hold her till she tired herself out? Well! the +experiment seems to have answered less successfully from her point of +view than your own. She'll need a considerable time to recover her +nerves and give these scratches time to heal." + +"Skin deep!" sneered Cornelia, with a curl of the lip. "I'll drive her +back in a day or two; and up and down this road until she learns not to +play that trick again. I've never given in to a horse yet, and I'm not +going to begin with a hack mare!" + +The stranger eyed her with cold disapproval. + +"Perhaps her owner may refuse to allow her to be experimented upon +again. I should, in his place! It may be foolish, but I hate to see a +brute suffer, even for the noble purpose of proving my own superiority." + +He swung away as he spoke, thus failing to see the stunned blankness of +Cornelia's expression. Straight as a dart she stood, with head thrown +back, scarlet lips pressed tightly together, and dark brows knitted +above the wounded tragedy of her eyes. The labourer standing by the +mare's side looked towards her with honest sympathy. He had had +personal experience of the "length of the Captain's tongue," and was +correspondingly sympathetic towards another sufferer. A tender of dumb +animals, he was quick to understand the expression on the girl's face, +and to know that she had been wrongfully accused. + +"Don't you take on, miss!" he said, touching his cap with the unashamed +servility at which the American girl never ceased to wonder. "I'll look +after her meself, and if the dirt is washed out of the sores at once, +she'll come to no harm. Likely as not there'll be nothing for the vet +to do by the time he arrives. At the worst it'll be only a few +stitches. She'll soon get over that." + +Cornelia shivered, and bit hard on her lower lip. She slipped her hand +into an inside pocket of the white coat, and, coming a step nearer, +dropped a coin into the man's hand. He cast down his eyes, started, and +flushed a deep red. + +"Thank you, miss. Beg pardon, but you've made a mistake!" + +A sovereign lay brightly on his grimy palm; he stared at it with +respectful awe, scarcely regretful, since it did not enter his mind to +conceive that such a munificent gift could seriously have been offered +for his acceptance. It had seldom happened that he had had the handling +of such a fortune, since his whole weekly earnings reached a total of +eighteen shillings, but Cornelia in her turn looked abashed and +discomfited, thrusting her hand once again into the tightly-buttoned +little pocket. + +"I'm sorry! I ken't get used to your money over here. Will that make +it enough?" + +To the man's utter stupefaction she placed a second sovereign beside the +first in his outstretched palm. He stared at it with distended eyes, +thrilled by the discovery that she _had_ meant it after all, awed by the +revelation of such munificence. + +"Beg pardon, miss, I was thinking as you'd mistook it for a shilling, +not making so bold as to complain. I thank your ladyship kindly! I'm +sure I can't rightly say what I ought--" + +He stuttered, incoherent with excitement, but even as he spoke he held +out the second sovereign, and Cornelia understood that his good feeling +permitted him to accept only what had been originally offered. She +would have felt the same in his place, and realising as much, took back +the coin without a demur. + +"Well! it's waiting for you next time I come, if you've done your duty +by that mare." + +She turned, and walked slowly back to where the two men were standing +talking together, some eight or ten yards away. Their backs were turned +towards her, and her assailant of a few minutes past was evidently +answering an appeal from his friend. She caught the last words as she +drew near: "I will go to the stable and look after the mare. ... You +can take them up to the house without my help. I can't stand any more +of that girl--" + +He wheeled round as he spoke, and found himself face to face with +Cornelia. They stared each other full in the eyes, like two combatants +measuring strength before a battle. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +To Elma it was still a dream, but a dream growing momentarily more +wonderful and thrilling. The stupor in her head was passing away, and +there was nothing painful in the lassitude which remained. She was just +weak and languid, content to lie still in the sunshine, her head resting +on one of the cushions from the overturned cart, her eyes turning +instinctively to the bronzed face which bent over her with such tender +solicitude. + +As for Geoffrey Greville, he was realising with a curious mingling of +dismay and elation that the moment was fated to be historic in the story +of his life. For the last two years he had been haunted by the vision +of Elma Ramsden's flower-like face at odd, but by no means inconsequent, +moments. When, for instance, his mother expatiated on the duty of +marriage for a man in his position, and extolled the fascinations of +certain youthful members of county society; when he walked down the long +picture-gallery, and regarded the space on the wall where his wife's +portrait might some day hang beside his own; when he sat at the head of +his table, and looked across at the opposite space; why was it that in +such moments as these the face of this one girl flashed forward, and +persistently blocked the way? Elma Ramsden!--just a little, +insignificant girl, whom he had met at half a dozen garden parties, and +at homes. She did not even belong to the county set, but was the +daughter of a funny, dumpy little mother, who disapproved on principle +of everything smart and up-to-date--himself emphatically included. The +good lady evidently regarded him as a wicked, fox-like creature, whose +society was fraught with danger to her tender bantling. He had seen her +clucking with agitation as he had sat with Elma beneath the trees. + +Mrs Greville had a calling acquaintance with the Park ladies, and +occasionally referred with a blighting toleration to "Goody Ramsden," +but she never by any chance mentioned Mrs Ramsden's daughter. Geoffrey +was doubtful whether she realised the fact of Elma's existence. Up till +now he himself had drifted along in the easy-going manner of bachelors +approaching their thirtieth birthday before the crucial moment arrives +which acts as a spark to smouldering flames. He had indulged in lazy +day-dreams in which Elma played the part of heroine; had thoroughly +enjoyed her society when fate placed her in his way, without, however, +exerting himself to take any active steps to secure additional meetings. +This afternoon as he walked across the meadow with his friend, he would +have indignantly denied the accusation that he was in love, but the +historic moment was at hand. A cry for help rang in his ears; above the +hedge he caught a glimpse of a white, frenzied face, and saw two hands +held out towards him in appeal. + +The anguished grip of the heart with which he realised at once Elma's +identity, and her peril, was a revelation of his own feelings which +could not be reasoned away. As he knelt by her side in those first +anxious moments he was perhaps almost as much stunned as herself, for in +the flash of an eye his whole life had altered. Where he had doubted, +he was now convinced; where he had frivoled, he was in deep, intense +earnest; the fact that there would be certain difficulties to overcome +only seemed to strengthen the inward determination. If Elma would +accept him, she should be his wife though the whole world were against +them! + +And Elma lay and looked at him with her dazed, lovely eyes, allowing him +to arrange the cushions under her head with a simple acquiescence which +seemed to him the sweetest thing in the world. Now that the first dread +was relieved, he felt a guilty satisfaction in the knowledge of her +prostration, and of the damage done to horse and cart. It was +impossible that she could drive back to Norton without some hours' rest, +and a special providence seemed to have arranged that the accident +should take place close to his own gates. He was too much engrossed in +his own interests to notice the look which was exchanged between his +friend and Cornelia, and as the Captain turned, away discomfited, +Geoffrey eagerly addressing his remarks to the girl herself. + +"I want to get Miss Ramsden up to the house. She must rest and be +looked after, and my mother will be delighted--I mean, she'd be awfully +distressed if you didn't come. It's not far--only a few hundred yards +up the avenue. I could carry her easily if she can't manage to walk." + +But at that Elma sat up, a spot of colour shining on her white cheeks. + +"Ah, but I can; I'm better! I'm really quite well. But it's giving so +much trouble. I could wait in the lodge..." + +"Indeed you couldn't; I wouldn't allow it! There's no accommodation +there, and the children would annoy you. Take my arm and lean on me. +Miss--er--your friend will support you on the other side." + +"Briskett!" volunteered Cornelia, bowing towards him in gracious +acknowledgment. "Now then, Elma, up with you! Guess you're about sick +of that bank by this time. There's nothing to it but nerves, and that +won't prevent you walking with a prospect of tea ahead. You're not half +as bad as you think you are." + +Elma thought she was a good deal worse! The sudden rise to her feet, +drawn by two strong hands, brought with it a return of the faintness, +and for a moment it seemed as if Geoffrey would have to carry out his +first proposition. She struggled bravely, however, and Cornelia +forcibly ducked her head forward--a sensible, though on the face of it, +rather a callous remedy, of which Geoffrey plainly disapproved. He drew +the little hand through his arm, pressing it close to his side, and thus +linked together the three made their way to the lodge-gate and up the +winding avenue. + +As they went Cornelia kept casting quick, scrutinising glances at her +companions, her brain busily at work trying to place this stranger, +whose name had never been mentioned in her hearing, but who yet appeared +to take such a deep interest in Elma's welfare. Once, with a sigh, the +girl had regretted that her mother disapproved of "some of the nicest +people in the neighbourhood." Was Geoffrey Greville to be regarded as +representing that vague quantity? Again, with a second sigh, Elma had +confessed that the county people on their side showed no desire to +cultivate her own acquaintance. This afternoon, with a blush, she had +maintained that the best road lay through Steadway, though a signpost +persistently pointed in another direction. Two sighs, and a blush! In +the court of love such evidence is weighty, while of still greater +import was the manner in which Elma clung for support to the arm on the +right, leaving only the gentlest pressure on that to the left. + +As for the man himself, there could be no doubt that he had reached the +stage of entire subjugation. His whole bearing was instinct with +possessive pride, his strong, bronzed features softened into a beautiful +tenderness as he watched the flickering colour in Elma's cheeks, and +smiled encouragement into her eyes. He had a good face; a trifle +arrogant and self-satisfied, no doubt, but these were failings which +would be mitigated by the power of an honest love. For the rest, he +looked strong, and brave, and true. Cornelia's frown gave way to a +smile of approval. + +"I guess it's just about as 'cute a little romance as you can read for a +dollar, and just as English! Her mommar don't approve of him, 'cause +he's smart and worldly; and _his_ mommar don't approve of _her_, 'cause +she lives in a row, and don't mix with the tip-top set. She sits still +and mopes, and he sets to and kills the first thing that comes handy, to +distract his thoughts, and they're going to stick right there till the +door's closed, and the lamps give out. This is where _you_ step in, +Cornelia Briskett! You've got to waltz round and fix up this business +while you've a chance.--I guess I've been a bit too bracing. I'd better +begin to feel a bit scared about Elma's health. ... Seems to me she's +had a pretty bad shock and wants to settle right in, and not risk +another move for the next three or four days!" ... + +The scarlet lips twisted whimsically, and a dimple dipped in the white +cheek. If there was one thing Cornelia loved above another, it was to +feel herself a kind of _Deus ex machina_, and she experienced a +malicious satisfaction in ranging herself on the side of the lovers, in +the battle between youth and age. + +Presently a curve in the road brought the house into view, and the sight +of its mullioned windows and old grey stone gables brought with it a +sudden remembrance of her own dishevelled condition. The disengaged +hand darted up to her head to set the cap at the correct angle, and from +thence continued a patting, smoothing-out excursion, productive of +distinctly smartening results. Fortunately the long coat had sheltered +the dress from harm, so that on reaching the house she could shed it and +look "just so." As for Elma, it was a comfort to see her a little +"mussed," for in her conscientious adherence to order she sacrificed +much of the picturesque nature of her beauty. + +The great oak door stood hospitably open. At the inner glass door an +old butler appeared, and was immediately despatched by the Squire to +find his mistress, and inform her that her son had brought home two +ladies who had experienced a carriage accident at the gates. Meantime +Geoffrey led the way into the drawing-room, and while Elma rested +thankfully against the cushions on her chair, Cornelia enjoyed her first +view of a room in a typical English country house. It fascinated her by +its very difference from the gorgeous apartments which took its place in +her own country. Space, daintiness, simplicity--these were the first +impressions. Long French windows standing open to a velvet stretch of +lawn; deep chairs and couches covered with chintz; pale green walls and +the fragrance of many flowers. A closer inspection showed the intrinsic +value and beauty of each detail which went to make up the charming +whole. Sheraton cabinets holding specimens of rare old china; ivory +miniatures of Grevilles, dead and gone, simpering in pink-and-white +beauty in the velvet cases on the walls; water-colours signed by world- +famed artists; wonderful old sconces holding altar-like lines of +candles; everywhere the eye turned, something beautiful, rare and +interesting, and through it all an unobtrusive good taste, which placed +the most precious articles in quiet corners, and filled the foreground +with a bower of flowers. + +"It's just--gaudy!" said Cornelia to herself, using her favourite +superlative with sublime disregard of suitability. She looked across +the room to where Elma sat, resting her head against a brocaded blue +cushion. One of the half-dozen cases of miniatures hung just behind the +chair, and it was impossible not to notice the likeness between the +living face and those portrayed on the ivory backgrounds. Actual +similarity of feature might not exist, but the delicate colouring, the +fine lines of the features, the loosened cloud of hair, made the +resemblance striking enough. If some day Elma's own miniature should be +added to the number, it would fully sustain the reputation for the +beauty so long enjoyed by the women of the house. + +Coming back from the voyage of comparison, Cornelia's eyes met those of +the Squire fixed upon her in a questioning fashion. He averted them +instantly, but all his determination could not restrain the mantling +blush which dyed his cheek, and she had little doubt that his own +thoughts had been a duplicate of her own. Before the silence was +broken, however, the door opened, and Mrs Greville entered the room. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +It was Mrs Greville's pleasure to be addressed as "Madame" by the +members of her household, and the name had spread until it was now +adopted as a sobriquet by the entire neighbourhood. The tradesmen +instructed their underlings to pay implicit attention to "Madame's" +orders; the townsfolk discussed "Madame's" clothes and manner, +alternately aggrieved and elated, as she smiled upon them, or stared +them haughtily in the face. Her friends adopted it for ease, and Mrs +Greville herself was well pleased that it should be so. She would have +disdained a cheap title, but it seemed fitting that she should be known +by a more distinguished and exclusive designation than the vulgar +"Mrs", which was equally the property of the meanest of her dependants. +She was a graceful woman, with a narrow face, aquiline features, and a +society smile. She dressed perfectly, in soft satins and brocades; not +black, but of rich, subdued colours, softened by fichus of lace, while +her wonderfully silky white hair was dressed in the latest and most +elaborate fashion. To-day, her dress was of a dull heliotrope, a bunch +of Parma violets was fastened in the folds of the fichu at the breast, +ruffles of old point d'Alencon lace fell back from her wrists, and as +she moved there came the glint of diamonds, discreetly hidden away. +Elma recalled her mother's afternoon costume of black cashmere, with +prickly jet edging on the cuffs, and felt several degrees more faint and +weary from pure nervous collapse. Cornelia beamed in artistic +satisfaction. + +"Mother, you know Mrs Ramsden! This is her daughter, and her friend, +Miss--er--Briskett. I happened to be behind a hedge just as their cart +overturned. It was all the fault of that lunatic, Mrs Moss--what must +she do but stick her blessed parrot cage on the side of the road, to +frighten stray horses out of their wits! It's a mercy they were not all +killed. Miss Ramsden has had a severe shock." + +"Poor dear! How trying for you!" ejaculated Madame, in gushing tones of +sympathy. (What she _really_ said was "Paw dar!" as Cornelia was quick +to note; storing up the fact, to produce next time she herself was +accused of murdering the English language!) "How quite too senseless of +Mrs Moss! She really is an impossible woman--but so clean! One can't +expect brains, can one, in persons of that class? So sweet of you to +come up, and let us do what we can to comfort you. It is really our +fault, isn't it? Employers' liability, you know, and that kind of +thing! Is the horse hurt? Your hands are hot, dear, but you look +white. Now what is it to be? Tea? Wine? Sal volatile? Tell me just +what you think would help you most!" + +She held Elma's hand in her own, and stretched out the other towards +Cornelia, thus making both girls feel the warmth of her welcome. Elma +smiled her pretty, shy smile, but left it to her friend to reply. She +was considerably astonished at the sudden development of anxiety which +the answer displayed. + +"I guess, if you don't mind, Miss Ramsden had better lie right-down for +a spell. She's had some brandy, and a cup of tea would be pretty +comforting, but it's rest she needs most of all. It's a pretty hard +strain sitting by, and watching someone else driving straight to glory. +When you've got something to do, there's not so much time to think. The +spill was bound to come, so it was up to me to choose the softest +place!" + +Mrs Greville stared, in obvious disregard of the meaning of the words. + +"Why, you are American! How odd! I've never met an American in Norton +before, in all the years I have lived here!" + +"I'm not a mite surprised!" replied Cornelia, with a depth of meaning +which her hearers failed to fathom. They imagined that she was humbly +appreciative of her own good fortune in visiting a neighbourhood as yet +preserved from the desecration of the American tourists, whereas she was +mentally reviewing the sleepy shops where the assistants took a solid +five minutes to procure twopence change, the broken-down flies which +crawled to and from the station; the tortoise-like round of village +life. + +"If Providence had sent over half a dozen more like me a dozen years +ago, there's no saying but they might be rubbing their knuckles into +their eyes by now, and beginning to wake up! I've got to butt right in, +if I'm to make any mark by the end of three months!" + +Such were the young woman's mental reflections, while Geoffrey rang the +bell and anticipated his mother's order for tea. He was anxious that +Elma should lie down then and there, but she refused to do so, with a +glance from the delicate cushions to her own dusty boots. Cornelia's +openly expressed solicitude had had the not unnatural result of +increasing her feeling of exhaustion, and the colour flamed and faded in +her cheeks as she endeavoured to drink tea and take part in the +conversation which ensued. Mother and son watched her continuously, the +one with unconcealed anxiety, the other with a wholly impersonal +admiration, as though the girl were a new article of furniture, which +fitted unusually well into its niche. Her air was kindly enough, but +too dispassionate to be sympathetic. Elma Ramsden hardly counted as an +independent human being in the estimation of Madame Greville, but she +was a lovely piece of flesh and blood, at whom it was pleasant to look. +It would be a thousand pities if her beauty were marred. It was more in +a spirit of a connoisseur than a friend that she made the inquiry which +her son was already longing to prompt. + +"My dear child, you look very ill! How are we going to get you home? +Your own cart is injured, you say. I think you had better have the +brougham, where you can rest against the cushions. You shall have our +horses, of course. They won't run away with you, though I don't say +they have never done it before! I like a horse with a spirit of its +own, but these two have been out to-day, so they ought to be pretty +quiet." + +At this reassuring speech Elma turned white to the lips, and for a +moment swayed in her seat, as if about to faint. Cornelia sprang to her +side, while Geoffrey whispered to his mother in urgent tones, to which +she listened with lifted brows, half-petulant, half-amused. A final nod +and shrug proved her consent, and she turned to Elma with a gracious air +of hospitality. Madame could never be less than gracious to a guest in +her own house! + +"My dear child, forgive me! I did not realise how unnerved you were. +Of course, you must not dream of returning home to-night. Your mother +and I are old friends, and she will trust me to take care of you. Your +friend will tell her that you are going to rest quietly here until you +are better. Quite a charity, I assure you, to keep me company! It will +remind me of the days before my own Carol deserted me for that monster, +and went off to India. Only daughters should not be allowed to marry in +their mother's lifetime. Remember that when your time comes! You +won't, of course, but it's horribly ungrateful all the same. Now that's +settled! To-morrow they can send you out some things, but for to-night +I can supply all you need. A tea-gown fits anyone, and I've a dream +which has just come home, that will suit you to distraction. Don't +worry any more, dear--it's all settled!" + +But Elma was palpitating with agitation. That she, Elma Ramsden, should +be invited to spend several days at Norton Manor seemed altogether too +unlooked for and extraordinary a happening to be realised. She was +overcome with gratitude, with regret, with incredulity, for of course it +was impossible to accept. Madame could not be in earnest! The +invitation was merely a polite form of speech! Even if she did mean it, +her own mother would strongly disapprove, for did she not consider +Madame a hopeless worldling, and her son a wolf in sheep's clothing, a +type of everything that a young man should not be? Oh, no! it was +quite, quite impossible, all the more so that she longed, longed +intensely; longed from the very bottom of her heart, to accept! + +Elma straightened herself in her chair, protesting, explaining, +thanking, and refusing in confused broken sentences, to which none of +her hearers paid the least attention. Mrs Greville and her son waived +objections aside with the easy certainty of victory, while Cornelia +cried briskly-- + +"You don't hev a choice! I undertook to bring you out, but I won't take +you back if I know it, until you ken sit behind a horse without going +off into hysterics every time he tosses his mane. Your mother'd be a +heap more scared to see you coming back looking like a death's head, +than to hear that you were comfortably located with a friend till you +pulled round. I guess there's nothing for you to do but to say `Thank +you,' as prettily as you know how, and settle down to be comfortable. +Why make a fuss?" + +That last exhortation was decisive! Elma blushingly subsided into the +silence which gives consent, and was forthwith escorted to the room +which was to be given over to her use, there to rest quietly until it +should be time to dress for dinner. + +"Unless she would like to go to bed at once. Do you think that would be +the better plan?" Madame asked Cornelia in a whispered aside, but that +young lady was quick to veto a retirement which would be so detrimental +to the progress of the "cure" which she had at heart. + +"Why, no, indeed! To be left alone to worry herself ill, brooding over +the whole affair, is about the worst thing that could happen to her just +now. It was only a play-baby spill, but it seems the worst accident +that the world ever knew to her. She's got to be roused! I'll sit up +here and see that she rests quietly for an hour, and then I'll fix her +up for the evening, so she can lie on a sofa and listen while you talk. +I must get home by seven o'clock to soothe the old ladies. It would be +real sweet if you'd lend something to take me back! I'm afraid I ken't +walk all the way." + +Madame laughed pleasantly. + +"I wish we could keep you, too, but it would not be kind to Mrs Ramsden +to leave her with only a message to-night. I must hope to have the +pleasure another time. You American girls are so bright and amusing, +and I love to be amused. My son wishes me to have a companion, but a +well-conducted young woman who knew her place would exasperate me to +distraction, and I should kill anyone who took liberties, so the +situation is a little hard to fill. Do tell me who you are? Where are +you staying in Norton, and how long have you been in England?" + +"Just over three weeks, and I like it pretty well, thank you," returned +Cornelia, anticipating the inevitable question, "though I guess I've not +struck the liveliest spot in the land. I'm located with my aunt, Miss +Briskett, in the Park, and my poppar's coming over to fetch me in the +fall." + +Madame's interest waned with surprising suddenness. Of an American +girl, almost more than any other, is that worldly adage true that it is +wise to treat her politely, since there is no knowing whom she may +ultimately marry. + +A girl of such striking appearance and obvious affluence might belong to +anyone, or become anything in these radical, topsy-turvy days. The +mother of a son with broad acres and small income could not but remember +that a large proportion of present-day duchesses hail from across the +water, but it was a very different matter when the young woman suddenly +assumed the personality of the niece of a middle-class spinster resident +at the Manor gates. To Mrs Greville, Miss Briskett stood as a type of +all that was narrow, conventional, and depressing. As much as she could +trouble herself to dislike any woman outside her own world, she disliked +the rigid, strait-laced spinster, and was fully aware that the dislike +was returned. Miss Briskett invariably declined the yearly invitations +which were doled out to her in company with the other townsfolk, +satisfied that in so doing she proclaimed a dignified disapproval of the +frivolities of the Manor. "Thank goodness, that old cat's not coming!" +was Madame's invariable reception of the refusals, but at the bottom of +her heart she resented the fact that so insignificant a person should +dare to reject her hospitality. + +"Miss Briskett's niece. Really! How ver-ry interesting!" she drawled, +in a tone eloquent of the most superlative indifference. Her easy +graciousness of manner became suddenly instinct with patronage, her +eyelids drooped with languid disdain. She sauntered round the room, +giving a touch here and there, turned over the garments which her maid +had laid on the bed ready for Elma's use, and finally sailed towards the +door. "We will leave you to rest, then, as long as you think fit. Pray +ring for anything you require!" + +The door closed, leaving Elma to snoodle down on her pillows, with a +sigh of relief, while Cornelia lifted her skirt in both hands and danced +a pas seul, bowing low towards the doorway, blowing kisses from her +finger-tips the while, after the manner of riders in a circus. + +She pranced and pirouetted, while Elma protested in shocked surprise. +It struck her that Cornelia's anxiety as to her own condition had died a +remarkably sudden death with the disappearance of Mrs Greville from the +room. A pantomimic display was not the best way to ensure quiet and +repose, nor was there much sympathy to be read in the expression of the +twinkling golden eyes. Elma found herself blushing before their gaze, +and guiltily drooping her lashes. + +"Cornelia, what do you mean?" + +"Columns, my dear, which sweet little buds like you ought to know +nothing about! You lie still, and look pretty, and ask no questions; +that's _your_ part in the play! You've got to remember that you've had +a shock, and your nervous system's all to pieces. You don't have no +pain, nor suffering, and anyone to look at you might think you were +quite robust; but just as soon as you make the least exertion, you're +all of a flop, and have to be waited on hand and foot!--That's so, isn't +it now!" + +Elma's delicate brows were furrowed in her attempt to make out what +Cornelia _did_ mean, and what she didn't! There was a note in her voice +which did not ring true--a good-naturedly mocking note, which accorded +ill with the words themselves. She blushed still deeper, and put on an +air of wounded dignity. + +"I certainly am very far from well. My head feels so light and +swimming. I should be very sorry to have to walk far at present. +Coming upstairs just now tried me horribly." + +Cornelia clapped her hands in approval. + +"Capital! capital! Keep it at that, and you can't do better. Go slow, +and don't try to mend all of a sudden. Even when you _do_ begin to buck +up, in a day or two's time, the very sight of a horse will set you +palpitating for all you're worth. You'll kind-er feel as if you'd +rather crawl home on all fours than sit behind the steadiest old nag +that was ever raised. It's three or four miles from home, isn't it, or +maybe more--much too far for an invalid to attempt, for a week at least. +Just a little saunter in the grounds will be all you're fit for this +side Sunday, _with someone to support you carefully as you go_! ... +You'll be apt to turn giddy if you go about alone. ... Have you gotten +that nicely off by heart now, so you won't go forgetting at the wrong +moments?" + +"Why should I forget? Surely my own feelings will be my best guide?" + +"Yes, 'um!" said Cornelia, demurely. She let her lids droop over her +tell-tale eyes, and stood beside the couch for a long, eloquent moment, +during which the flickering colour deepened on Elma's cheek; then turned +aside, took down a book from a shelf, and settled herself comfortably on +a wicker chair. + +"I guess we understand one another, and there's no more to be said. Now +for one hour by the clock you've to shut your eyes and be quiet. Go to +sleep if you can! I'll wake you up in time for the prinking." + +Elma buried her head in the cushions and shed a silent tear. Cornelia +was laughing at her, and she could not bear it. Her mind, trained to +habits of introspection, began at once to wonder if she were _really_ +pretending, as the other seemed to think; if the agitation which she +felt was not so much the result of the accident, as caused by the +excitement of seeing Geoffrey Greville, and meeting his ardent glances. +The prospect of remaining in the same house and of meeting him from hour +to hour was incredible but delightful, yet Elma would give it up a +hundred times over, rather than accept hospitality under false +pretences. Was it her duty to insist upon returning home? Should she +announce that she felt so much refreshed by her rest that there was no +longer any reason why she should be treated as an invalid? The sinking +feeling of disappointment which followed this inspiration was easily +mistaken for a physical symptom. Yes. She _was_ ill! It was quite +true that she felt faint. Surreptitiously she felt her own pulse, and +was convinced that its beat had increased. She thought of the +expression of Geoffrey's eyes as he lifted her from the ground--blushed, +and felt certain that she was feverish. Yes, she would stay! It would +be foolish and ungrateful to refuse. Mother had always warned her not +to run risks where health was concerned... + +A soft little sigh of contentment sounded through the room. If Elma had +been fifteen years younger this was the moment at which a warm, sticky +little thumb would have crept into her mouth, as a sign that earthly +cares were swept aside, and that she had resigned herself to slumber; +being a young woman of sweet and twenty, she snoodled her head into the +pillow, and fell fast asleep. + +For over an hour she slept, and woke to find Cornelia leaning back in +her chair watching her, while the book lay closed on her lap. For a +moment she hardly recognised the face which she had always seen +animated, self-confident, and defiant, but which was now softened into +so sweet a tenderness. A lightning thought flashed through her mind +that it was thus Cornelia would look, if ever in the time to come she +watched by the bedside of her own child. She smiled lazily, and +stretched out a caressing hand. + +"Why, Cornelia, have you been sitting there all the time? How dull for +you! How long have I been asleep?" + +"It's half after five, so we must be lively, if I am to get back in time +to settle the old ladies, and get ready for dinner. Hustle now! I'll +help you to shed your own duds, and then pipe up for the transformation! +That tea-gown's the limit! I thought I knew the last thing there was +to learn about clothes, but I wouldn't be above going in for a course of +too-ition from the woman who fixed those frills! This is going to be an +historic occasion for you, my friend. Your sinful nature is kinder dead +to the joys of frillies, but there's going to be a big awakening! The +woman isn't born who could come out of that gown the same as she went +in!" She lifted the blue serge skirt over Elma's head, and surveyed the +plain hem with tragic eyes. "It's pretty hard luck to be born a woman +instead of a man, but it softens it some to have a swirl of frills round +one's ankles! If I'd to poke around with a hem, I'd give up +altogether.--Now, then, sit still where you are, while I fix your hair! +I'm going to do it a way of my own, that will be more comfy for leaning +up against cushions. If you don't like it you can say so, but I guess +you will." + +She brushed the soft light tresses to the top of Elma's head, and +arranged them skilfully in massed-up curls and loops. From time to time +she retreated a step or two as if to study the effect, returning to +heighten a curl, or loosen the sweep over the forehead. In reality she +was reproducing, as nearly as possible, the coiffure of one of the +beauties in miniature hanging on the drawing-room walls behind the couch +on which Elma would probably pass the evening. It might chance that the +eyes of mother or son would observe the likeness between the two girlish +faces, a fact which could not but score in Elma's favour! + +When the dainty white robe was fastened, and each ribbon and lace patted +into its place by skilful fingers, then, and not till then, Elma was +allowed to regard herself in the glass. It was a startling revelation +of her own beauty, but the predominant feeling was not elation, but +distress. Accustomed as she was to a puritan-like simplicity, Elma felt +almost shocked at her own changed appearance. The sweeping folds of the +gown gave additional height to her figure, her neck looked like a round +white pillar above the square of lace; the quaintly arranged tresses +gave a touch of piquancy to her gentle features. An involuntary and +quite impersonal admiration was followed by quick repentance. + +"Cornelia, I can't! I can't go down like this! I daren't do it. I +look like an actress--so dressed up! Just as if I _wanted_ to look +nice!" + +Cornelia sniffed eloquently. + +"Well--don't you?" + +"Yes, but--but I don't like to _look_ as if I did! Oh, Cornelia, +couldn't I put on my own dress again, and do my hair the old way? I'd +be so much happier!" + +"The Grevilles wouldn't! You've got to remember that they are used to +finery, and not to having young women sitting round in blue serge in the +evening. It seems gaudy to you, but it's just dead, everyday-level to +them, and won't raise a ripple. You look a Daisy, and I'm proud of you, +and if you had a mite of feeling you'd say `Thank you,' instead of +finding fault after all my work!" + +Elma wheeled round; surprised another glance of tender admiration, and +held out impulsive hands. + +"Cornelia, you are good! I _do_ thank you; I know quite well that you-- +you are trying--I _do_ love you, Cornelia!" + +"Oh, shucks!" cried Cornelia, hastily. "Don't gush; I hate gush! Take +my arm, and come along downstairs. Lean on it pretty heavily, mind. +Your spirit's too much for your strength, and you are apt to forget that +you are an invalid. You've got to keep a check on yourself, my dear, +and remember that a nervous shock's a ticklish thing, and needs a lot of +tending!" + +Elma's head drooped; she twisted her fingers together, and glanced +beneath the lashes at her friend's face--glanced timidly, questioningly, +as it were, in dread. + +Cornelia deliberately--_winked_! + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +Geoffrey was lounging about in the hall as the two girls descended the +wide staircase. His attitude gave the impression that he had been +impatiently awaiting their advent, and, as he took in Elma's changed +looks in one comprehensive sweep, his eyes brightened with an expression +before which her lids drooped in embarrassment. He came forward eagerly +to lead the way into the drawing-room, where Madame sat reading by an +open window, and a sofa had been pulled forward and banked with cushions +in readiness for the invalid. She smiled a welcome as the little +procession entered the room, and looked on with an amused scrutiny while +Cornelia shook out the cushions, skilfully altering their position so +that the blue brocade should form the background for Elma's fair head. +She did not attempt to rise, but her words were kindly enough, if a +trifle patronising. + +"Well, dear, and how are you now after your rest? We must take care of +you, and not let you get overtired. Sure you are comfortable? You look +too sweet in that gown! I shall never have the heart to wear it after +you. Isn't it wicked that a woman is obliged to live on after her +complexion has faded? I could bear any affliction better than watching +myself growing uglier every day. ... I should have a little pillow +tucked into your back. ... Sure you won't feel the draught? That's +right! And you really must leave us, Miss Briskett? Couldn't possibly +stay to dinner? I suppose it _would_ be unkind! The dog-cart is +waiting for you. I told them to have it round by seven. Geoffrey will +drive you home, of course. After your adventure this afternoon we +should not be happy to leave you to a groom. He'll see you safely to +the door, and report to us on your safe arrival." + +Geoffrey's face clouded involuntarily. He had mapped out a much more +interesting programme for himself, deciding to slip upstairs and dress +for dinner so early that he should be able to descend the moment that +his mother was securely shut into her own room. Madame's evening +toilette was a matter of three-quarters of an hour at least, during +which time he would have Elma all to himself--to speak to, to look at, +to make her look at him. Lovely creature! He had not realised how +beautiful she was, and so sweet, and gentle, and shy. What a marvel to +meet a _shy_ girl in these days of loud-voiced, smoking, tailor-made +women! A man may appreciate the society of a twentieth-century damsel +whom he designates as a "rattling good sort," but he wants a womanly +woman for his wife. Elma was womanliness personified--a sweet pink-and- +white, softly-curved creature, whose eyes regarded the masculine +creature with an unspoken tribute of homage. "You are so big!" they +seemed to say; "I am so little! Oh, please be kind to me!" Inspired by +that look, Geoffrey was capable of fighting dragons on her behalf! + +And now he was consigned to drive home a tiresome American girl, who was +remarkably well able to take care of herself! Mentally he fumed; +outwardly, being a man of the world, he smiled, and murmured +"Delighted!" with an imitation of enthusiasm which won Cornelia's +admiration. + +"One to you, Mr Greville! You played up real well," was the mental +comment, as she dropped a kiss on Elma's brow and listened to her +anxious messages. + +"Tell mother not to be anxious. Tell her I'm not really ill--only silly +and nervous. Tell her I shall soon be well--" + +"That's all right, my dear. I'll cool her fevered brow. ... Your +mother'll be a circumstance compared with Aunt Soph! I'll have to +promise never to look at a horse again while I'm in this country." She +turned towards Mrs Greville with easy self-possession. + +"It's real good of you to send me back, and take such care of us both. +Good-afternoon. So pleased to have met you!" + +Madame extended her thin, ringed hand, laughing softly the while. As +she had said, she loved to be amused, and this American girl was quite +too ridiculously audacious! Actually one might have supposed that she +believed herself to be speaking to an equal! + +Cornelia and Geoffrey Greville passed along the hall, with its great oak +fireplace filled in with branches of spreading beech, its decorations of +tapestry, of armour, of stags' heads, of cases of stuffed birds. The +ceiling was beamed with oak, the floor was polished to a dangerous +brightness, and covered in the centre by an ancient Persian rug. +Cornelia had never seen such an interior except as it is imitated on the +stage. Her own tessellated, be-fountained entrance hall in New York was +as far removed from it on the one side, as on the other was the square +of oil-cloth, decorated with a hat-stand and two mahogany chairs, which +at The Nook was dignified by the same title. She admired, but admired +with reservations. "Kinder mouldy!" summoned up the ultimate verdict. + +Geoffrey moved moodily towards the doorway. Though bitterly annoyed at +his mother's interference, he was too much of a gentleman to wreak his +vengeance on the innocent cause of his exile. As a mitigation of the +penance, it occurred to him that he might occupy the time of absence by +talking of Elma since he might not talk to her; but Providence was +merciful, and came to his aid at the eleventh hour. The inner door +opened, and Captain Guest appeared upon the threshold, cap in hand, +evidently returning from a solitary ramble, and by no means overjoyed to +have arrived at such an inopportune moment. He bowed, murmured some +inarticulate greeting, and would have passed by had not Geoffrey eagerly +blocked the way. For the moment the claims of friendship were non- +existent; he did not care whether Guest were pleased or annoyed; he was +simply a means of escape, to be seized on without compunction. + +"Halloa, here you are! Just the man I wanted," he cried genially. "You +shall have the privilege of driving Miss Briskett home. I was going to +take her myself, but I've got some rather--er--pressing business to +attend to before dinner"--he chuckled mentally over the application of +the words--"so I'll stand aside in your favour. We are not going to +trust her out of our sight until she is delivered safely into her aunt's +keeping. Awfully sorry, Miss Briskett, but we shall meet again! You'll +come up to see Miss Ramsden, won't you? Do come! Come on Saturday--we +could make up a game of tennis if she is fit enough by that time." + +He helped Cornelia to her seat courteously, yet with an underlying haste +which could not be concealed. Captain Guest gave him one look--a +murderous look--and murmured, "Delighted, I'm shaw!" in tones of ice. +Cornelia felt "ugly," and looked delightful; head erect, lips pursed, +eyes a-flash. + +"Just as mad as he can be, to be obliged to be civil to `the girl' for a +short half hour! Guess there's one or two, several sizes bigger than +him, who would cross the ocean to-morrow for the chance! He's English-- +real English!--the sort that's fixed up with liquid prejudice for blood, +and eye-glasses made to see nothing on earth but the British Empire. +Rather skeery at the present moment at being set down beside a bold +American hussy, with only a groom as chaperon! ... Well! I always was +tender-hearted. I'll pile it on all I know, to fix him in his opinions. +I'm made so's I ken't endoore to disappoint anyone in his +expectations!" + +She turned deliberately to stare at the silent figure by her side. +Certainly he was a fine figure of a man! Her own countrymen who would +have travelled so far as to take his place, would have to be giants if +the "several sizes" bigger were to be taken in literal earnest. The +lean cheek showed the square formation of the jaw, the lips were clean +shaven, the eyes dark, deep-set, thickly lashed and browed, the only +handsome feature in the face. Cornelia mentally pulled herself +together, as Guest turned his head, and cast a fleeting glance at her +beneath his drooping lids. + +"I was sorry to hear that your friend is too ill to be moved. I +imagined at the time that she was worse than you realised." + +"She _thinks_ she is, anyhow, and that's about as good as the real +thing--perhaps better, where health's concerned. Some people don't need +much to upset 'em--Elma's one! I guess there's never much snap to her!" + +The dark brows arched expressively. "Really! I am afraid I hardly-- +er--understand the expression!" + +"You wouldn't!" returned Cornelia, calmly. "It don't seem to flourish +in this part of the country. At home we reckon no one _is_ much use +without it." + +"So I have heard!" Captain Guest's understanding of the term seemed to +have been more complete than he would acknowledge. "Our standards +differ, however. `Snap' may be a useful commodity in the business +world, but one resents its intrusion into private life. The very name +is objectionable in connection with a girl like Miss Ramsden--with any +English girl!" + +Cornelia curled her red lips. + +"Yes, they flop; and you like 'em floppy! Kind of ivy round a stalwart +oak, or a sweet, wayside rose. A m-o-oss rose!" No amount of +description could convey the intonation which she threw into that short +word. The "o" was lengthened indefinitely, giving a quaint, un-English +effect to the word, which sounded at the same time incredibly full of +suggestion. Guest flushed with annoyed understanding, even before +Cornelia proceeded to enlarge. "The m-o-oss makes a nice, soft wadding +all round, to keep the little buds safe and hidden. We use it quite a +good deal at home for packing curios. _Dried_ moss! It's apt to get a +bit stale with keeping, don't you think?" + +"No doubt; but even so it retains some of its fragrance. In its worst +state I should be sorry to exchange it for"--it was now the Captain's +turn to throw all his power of expression into one short word--"_snap_!" + +Cornelia's laugh held a curious mingling of irritation and pleasure. + +It was poor fun having a quarrel all to herself, and it whetted her +appetite to find a combatant who was capable of "hitting back." She sat +up very straight in her seat, tossing her head backward in quick, +assertive little jerks, and clasping her bare hands on her lap. Guest +glanced at her curiously from his point of vantage in the rear. She was +like no other girl whom he had met, but somewhere, in pictured form, he +must surely have seen such a face, for it struck some sleeping chord of +memory. A fantasy perhaps of some Norse goddess or Flame Deity; a wild, +weird head, painted in reds and whites, with wonderful shaded locks, and +small white face aglow with the fire within. His lips twisted in an +involuntary smile. Could anything be more aggressively unlike "the +sweet m-o-oss rose" of which she had spoken? + +"I guess if you go to the root of things, a man's picture of a woman is +cut out to fit into his own niche! If he's very big himself, there's +only a little corner left for her--a nookey little corner where the moss +can grow, but the plant don't have much scope to spread. If he don't +take much stock of himself, he kind-er stands back, and gives her the +front place. Then she gets her chance, and shoots ahead!" + +Guest laughed in his turn; an exasperating little laugh, eloquent of an +immense superiority and disdain. + +"You speak in an allegory--an allegory of English and American life. I +am quite aware that with you the sexes have reversed positions, that the +man has sunk into a money-making machine, who slaves so that his wife +may spend, while the woman devotes her whole life to dress and +frivolity--" + +"Have you ever been in my country?" + +Cornelia was brought up short and sharp by an unexpected assent. To +disparage America was an unforgivable offence, and she was prepared to +denounce the judgment of ignorance in words of flame. Her anger was not +abated, but merely turned in another direction, by the discovery that it +was not ignorance, but blindness which she had now to denounce--the +blindness of the obtuse Englishman who had been granted a privilege +which he was incapable of appreciating. + +"Some people travel about with such a heap of prejudice as baggage that +they might as well stay at home and be done with it. Englishmen pride +themselves on being conservative, and if they've once gotten an idea +into their heads, it takes more'n they'll ever see with their eyes to +get it out. I guess you spent your time in my country seeing just +exactly what you'd calculated on from the start. It's big enough to +rear all sorts, and enlightened enough to hold 'em!" + +"It is certainly very big," assented Guest, in a tone of colourless +civility. Cornelia hated him for his indifference, his patronage, his +thinly-veiled antagonism. She was accustomed to a surfeit of masculine +attention, and cherished a complacent faith in her own fascinations. It +was a new and disagreeable experience to meet a man who, so far from +exhibiting the well-known symptoms of subjugation, was honestly anxious +to avoid her society. To feel herself disliked; to be a bore to two +men--the one eager to hand her over to his friend, the other furious at +being so trapped--can the world contain a deeper degradation for +feminine three-and-twenty? Cornelia's mood changed before it. The +excitement which had tided her over the events of the afternoon died +away, to be succeeded by a wave of sickening home-sickness. She was +lonesome--she wanted her poppar! She hated this pokey place, and +everyone in it. She guessed she'd take a cabin in the first boat and +sail away home. ... Her lips quivered, and she blinked rapidly to +suppress a threatening tear. She would rather shoot herself than cry +before this patronising Englishman, but it was almost past endurance to +play second fiddle all the afternoon, be snubbed on the way home, and +look forward to an evening spent in propitiating two nervous old ladies! + +"I don't get any bou-quets in this play!" soliloquised Cornelia, sadly. +"'Far's I can see, there isn't a soul in Great Britain that cares a dump +about me at the present moment, except, maybe, Aunt Soph, and she'd like +me a heap better at a distance!" She sighed involuntarily, and Captain +Guest, watching her from beneath his lowered lids, was visited by an +uncomfortable suspicion that while criticising another, his own +behaviour had not been above reproach. Now that the girl had lost her +aggressive air, and looked tired and sad, the feminine element made its +appeal. Arrogance gave place to sympathy, prejudice to self-reproach. +... She was only a little thing after all, and as slim as a reed. + +Rapidly reviewing the incidents of the afternoon, he was as much +surprised as shocked at the recollection of his own discourtesy. This +stranger had overheard his frank declaration of dislike, had probably +also seen the glance of reproach which he had cast upon Greville in the +porch before starting out on this drive. Twice in a few hours had he +overstepped the bounds of politeness, he, who flattered himself on +presenting an unimpeachable exterior, whatever might be the inward +emotions! The explanation of the lapse was a suddenly conceived +prejudice at the moment of first meeting. The girl's jaunty self- +possession had struck a false note, and he had labelled her as callous +and selfish. Now, looking at her afresh, he realised that this was not +the face of a cold-hearted woman. This girl could _fed_! She was +feeling now--feeling something painful, depressing. His eyes fell once +more on her ungloved hands; he noticed that she held the right wrist +tightly grasped, and even as he did so memory flashed back a picture of +her as she had stood above him on the bank, her hands held in the same +strained position. Afterwards he marvelled at the accuracy of that +brain picture, but for the moment concern overwhelmed every other +feeling. The inquiry came in quick, almost boyish tones, strangely +different from his previous utterances. + +"I say! have you hurt your wrist? You are holding it as if it were +painful." + +Cornelia turned to see a face as altered as the voice, elevated her +brows in involuntary surprise, and drawled an indifferent assent. + +"I guess I ricked it, hanging on to those reins. It was pulled half out +of the sockets." + +"Didn't you have anything done for it at the house?" + +"No." + +"Or tell anyone about it?" + +"No." + +"But why not?" + +"I never yelp!" said Cornelia, proudly. She tilted her chin, and her +eyes sent out a golden flash. "There was enough of that business going +on without my joining in the chorus. If you're hurt, it don't mend it +any to make a fuss." + +Guest looked at her curiously. + +"You certainly did not yelp! I thought you had escaped entirely, and +that your friend had come in for all the knocking about. I'm awfully +sorry. Sprains are beastly things. Look here, if you don't want to be +crippled, it ought to be massaged at once! I'm knowing about sprains. +Had an ankle cured in a couple of days by a Swedish fellow, which would +have laid me up for weeks on the old methods. The great point is to +keep the blood from congealing in the veins. Of course, it must be done +in the right way, or it will do more harm than good. You set to work +directly _above_ the joint. Er--would you allow me?--might I show you +for just a moment?" + +The horse was ambling peacefully along a quiet lane, and as he spoke +Captain Guest twisted the reins loosely round his own wrist and half +held out his hands, then drew them back again in obvious embarrassment. +The shyness was all on his own side, however, for Cornelia cried, "Why, +suttenly!" in frank response, and pulled back the loose lawn sleeve to +leave her wrist more fully exposed. + +She watched with keen interest while he rubbed upward with gentle +pressure, increased gradually as she showed no sign of pain or +shrinking. + +"That's the way--upward, always upward. Follow the line of the blood +vessels--you see!" He traced a fine blue line with the end of a big +finger, while the groom rolled curious eyes from behind, rehearsing a +dramatic recital in the servants' hall. "After that has been done once +or twice, tackle the joint itself, and you'll be astonished at the +effect. Is there anyone in the house who can do it for you? You could +do a good deal for yourself, you know, if the worst comes to the worst. +Like this--give me the left hand, and I'll show you how to work the +joint itself!" + +Cornelia edged round in her seat to adopt a more convenient position, +and laid her hand in his with the simplicity of a child. Such a slip of +a thing it looked lying on his big brown paw, soft and white, with +carefully manicured nails--almond-shaped, transparent, faintly pink. +Guest loved a pretty hand, and held theories of its value as an exponent +of character. The future Mrs Guest might or might not be handsome, as +Fate decreed, but it was inconceivable that he could ever marry a woman +with red fingers, or bitten nails. A pure artistic delight possessed +him at the sight of Cornelia's little hand, but the soft confident touch +of it against his palm brought with it a thrill of something deeper. He +gave his demonstration with a touch of awkwardness, but the girl herself +was as placidly self-possessed as if he had been a maiden aunt buttoning +up a glove. She put question after question, requested him to "show her +again," and gripped his own wrist to prove that she had mastered the +desired movements. A more business-like manner it was impossible to +imagine. Guest doubted if another girl of his acquaintance would have +shown such an utter absence of self-consciousness. It was admirable, of +course, quite admirable, but-- He took up the reins with a little rankle +of disappointment mingling with his approval. + +Barely a mile now remained to be traversed, as the horse was trotting up +the long hill into Norton; at the top was the High Road, at the end of +the High Road the gates leading into the park. If anything remained to +be said, it would be wise to say it now, but Cornelia seemed to have +nothing to say. She sat in erect, straight-backed fashion, her right +hand lying on her knee, the fingers of the left rubbing softly up the +arm, serenely oblivious of his presence. Guest cleared his throat once, +cleared it again, cleared it a third time, but the words would not come. +They passed through the lodge-gates and drew up before The Holt, where +the groom stood ready to assist Cornelia to alight. Before Guest could +throw down the reins she had jumped to the ground, and was standing +facing him on the curb. The slanting rays of the afternoon sun fell on +her as she stood, a slim white slip of a girl whom he could lift with +one hand--a spirit as of tempered steel, which might bend, but never +break. + +"I thank you for your courtesy!" said Cornelia, clearly, as she inclined +her head towards him in formal, old-world fashion. + +Captain Guest watched her progress up the narrow path, biting hard at +his lower lip. Courtesy! The word stung. The big man felt uncommonly +small as he turned his horse and drove slowly home. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +At the first shock of hearing of the accident, Mrs Ramsden's motherly +anxiety swamped all other feeling. She forgot to disapprove of a woman +who at sixty still wore a pad on her uncapped head, and lacy frills on +her petticoat, in gratitude to the hostess who had extended hospitality +to her ewe lamb. For the moment also, Geoffrey himself ceased to be a +dangerous roue, and became a gallant rescuer, miraculously appearing on +the scene of danger. She cried, and wanted to know how Elma looked; +what Elma said; how Elma felt; what Elma had had to eat; if Elma's +sheets had been aired; if Elma cried--poor darling! at being left +behind? And Cornelia answered fully on all these points, not always, it +is to be feared, with a strict regard to veracity, but with a +praiseworthy desire to soothe, which was blessed with wonderful success. +Mrs Ramsden dried her eyes, and opined that life was full of +blessings, and that she ought to be thankful that things were no worse! +There was a sweet young girl whom she had once known, who had both legs +amputated, and died of gangrene, a month before she was to have been +married. It was caused by a carriage accident, too, and now she came to +think of it, the poor dear had just the same pink-and-white complexion +as Elma herself. + +"Well, I guess there's not much stump about Elma, this journey!" +returned Cornelia, cheerily. "There's nothing to it but a little shock +to the constitootion. Elma's constitootion is nervy. What she needs is +re-pose. Perfect re-pose! If I were you, I'd send up a note to-morrow, +and stay quietly at home. It would naturally upset her some to see you, +and she'd recuperate quicker by herself." + +But at this Mrs Ramsden drew herself up with a chilly dignity. She +must certainly see her child. It was her duty to see for herself how +matters progressed. In the matter of removal, she must be guided by +what she saw. ... + +"Yes, 'um!" assented Cornelia, meekly. + +She had said her say, and felt confident that Geoffrey Greville might +now be trusted to play his part. As she walked along the few yards +which separated The Holt from The Nook, she congratulated herself that +the worst half of her explanations were over; but in this reckoning she +was mistaken. Miss Briskett's displeasure was unsoftened by anxiety, +and was, moreover, accentuated by the remembrance that all this trouble +would have been averted if Cornelia had consented to accept Mrs Nevins' +invitation to tea in a reasonable and respectful manner. The girl had +refused to make herself amiable, had insisted upon driving a strange +horse over strange roads, in the face of expressed disapproval, and had +contrived to come to grief outside the very house of all others which +she was most desired to avoid! Cornelia was flighty enough already; the +only chance of keeping her in order was by introducing her to friends +who, by their quiet decorum, would exercise a restraining effect on her +demeanour. Symptoms of dissatisfaction had already set in--witness that +same rejected tea--and this afternoon's experience had established a +certain amount of intimacy, which would entail endless difficulties in +the future. + +Poor Miss Briskett, she was indeed sorely tried! With her own eyes she +had beheld Cornelia driven up to the gate by a man who was even more +dangerous than the young Squire himself, inasmuch as he was often a +visitor in the Park for weeks at a time; his aunt being the proud +possessor of The Towers, the largest and most imposing of the crescent +houses. On the afternoon on which Cornelia's coming had first been +discussed, she herself had remarked to Mrs Ramsden that the girl must +be protected from an acquaintance with Captain Guest! It seemed almost +too exasperating to be borne that she should have effected an +introduction for herself within three short weeks of her arrival! + +The spinster's sharp nose looked sharper than ever, her thin lips +thinner, her grey eyes more cold and colourless. Cornelia looked from +them to the steel trimmings on her dress--really and truly, one looked +about as human as the other! The "lonesome" feeling gripped once more, +and her thoughts flew longingly to "Poppar," away at the other side of +two thousand miles of ocean. + +"I feel kinder _left_!" was the expressive mental comment as the maid +swept away the crumbs, placed the two fruit dishes and the decanter of +port before her mistress, and noiselessly retired from the room. Miss +Briskett had been clearing her throat in ominous fashion for the last +ten minutes, and now that Mary's restraining presence was removed, she +wasted no further time in preliminaries. "I think it is time that we +came to an understanding, Cornelia," she began, in ice-cold accents. +"If you remain under my roof you must give me your word to indulge in no +more escapades like that of this afternoon! I gave my consent with much +reluctance; or, perhaps, it would be more correct to say that I was not +asked for my consent at all; and now you see what the consequences have +been!" + +"I promise faithfully, Aunt Soph, that I'll never have a smash again, if +I can help it! I'm not a bit more set on them than you are yourself, +and I guess the mare was as innocent as a babe, so far's you're +concerned. She wasn't deliberately setting out to annoy you, as you +seem to imagine. I guess she needs more sympathy than blame!" + +"Don't fence with words, Cornelia, please. I was not referring to the +horse, and I have no intention of allowing you to run any more risks. I +distinctly forbid you to take more carriage expeditions without a +competent driver. I am responsible for your safety, and your father +would blame me, if any harm happened to you while you are my guest. I +acted against my judgment in allowing you to go alone to-day, but I +shall not do so again. Do you clearly understand?" + +Cornelia's golden eyes stared at her thoughtfully. An inherent sense of +justice made her conscious that her aunt had right on her side, though +she might have worded her decree in more conciliatory fashion. The +reference to her father also had a softening effect. Poppar'd go crazy +if he heard that his daughter had been in any sort of danger! ... + +"Well--" she said slowly. "It's a `got-to,' I suppose! It would be +playing it pretty low down, to land you with the worry of nursing me, +and keeping Poppar quiet at the other end of the world. But you +wouldn't expect me to drive about with one of those fool-creatures from +the livery stable taking care of me, as if I were a kiddy? No, sir! I +don't see myself coming down to _that_ level yet awhile! We'd best get +up some driving parties, with those men at the Manor. They seem to have +lots of horses and carts and things hanging round, and I don't see as +they could employ themselves better than in giving Elma and me a good +time. I'll air the subject when I go up to inquire!" + +Miss Briskett fairly leapt on her seat with horror and indignation. She +began to speak, and spoke rapidly for the next three minutes, laying +down a series of commandments to which Cornelia listened with bated +breath. + +Thou shalt not hold any communication with the Manor, nor with the +people inhabiting the Manor; nor with the guest sojourning beneath the +roof of the Manor. Thou shalt not associate with any men outside the +circle of thy aunt's acquaintances. Thou shalt walk abroad by thine +aunt's side, on thine own legs, and comport thyself discreetly, as +behoves a young gentlewoman of good family. Thou shalt remember that +thou art a self-invited guest, and conform to the rules of the +establishment, or else shalt promptly return to the place from whence +thou camest. ... + +In a word, Miss Briskett lost her temper, and when a woman of mature +years and grey hairs loses control of herself, and lets her tongue run +amuck, it is a sorry spectacle. The flush on Cornelia's cheeks was not +for her own humiliation, but for her aunt's. She lowered her lids, +ashamed to look into the angry, twisted face. + +"Yes, I understand," she replied quietly, in answer to the final +question. "I guess I understand quite a lot." + +"And you mean to obey?" + +There was a moment's hesitation, and then-- + +"No," drawled Cornelia, calmly. "I can't say as I do! Those people +have been polite to me, and I'm bound to be civil in return. I never +ran after any man that I know of, and I don't intend to begin, but when +I _do_ meet 'em, I'm going to be as pleasant as I know how. It's a +pity, Aunt Soph, but you don't understand girls! I've not been reared +on tea-parties and cribbage, and I tell you straight that I've just +_got_ to have a vent! You be wise not to try to shut me up, for I get +pretty reckless if I'm thwarted." + +"Cornelia, do you dare to threaten me?" + +"No, Aunt Soph. I'm kind enough to warn you before it is too late!" + +Cornelia rose as she spoke, and walked upstairs to the square, prosaic +room, which seemed the only bit of "home" she possessed in the whole big +map of Europe; sat herself down, and reviewed the situation. + +Aunt Soph had not wanted her! The longing for a real heart-to-heart +friendship had been on one side only; that was the first, and most +petrifying revelation. She had travelled two thousand sea-sick miles to +find herself an unwelcome guest, imprisoned within the four square walls +of a nook-less Nook; bound fast in the trammels of old-world +conventions. "My country, 'tis of thee, sw-e-et land of libertee!" +murmured Cornelia, mournfully, beneath her breath. Two big tears rose +in her golden eyes, and her lips quivered. Should she pack up, and sail +for home forthwith? For a moment the temptation seemed irresistible, +but only for a moment. Poppar would feel badly if his two nearest +relations came to an open rupture; and besides, "When I make up my mind +to do a thing, I get there--ev-er-y time!" said the girl, staunchly. "I +guess it'll take more than four weeks of this country to daunt Cornelia +E Briskett, if she's got her head set to stay. For one thing, I've +taken in hand to start Elma Ramsden on the road to liberty, and there's +going to be a fight before she's through. I'll have to stand by, and be +ready with the drill. As for Aunt Soph, she's acted pretty meanly, +letting me come along when she hated to have me, but for Poppar's sake +I'll be as meek as I know how. I thought we were going to be friends, +but she's such a back number she don't even remember how it felt to be a +girl, and it's not a mite of use arguing. She thinks she knows better +than I do!" Cornelia gurgled amused incredulity. "Well, it's as easy +as pie to hev a little prank on my own account, and prank I _must_, if +I'm to last out another three months in this secluded seminary. My +constitootion's fed on excitement! I should wilt away without it. +Poppar wouldn't like to have me wilt!" ... She sat gazing out of the +window; gazing--gazing, while a slow smile curled the corners of her +lips. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +Two golden days! Summer sunshine, roses, lounging chairs set behind +sheltering trees, grey eyes eloquent with unspoken vows; on every side +beauty, and luxury, and sweet fostering care. Elma felt as if she had +fallen asleep, and awakened in a fairyland more wonderful than her +wildest dreams! + +On the morning after the accident, Mrs Ramsden had duly chartered a +fly, and driven to the Manor with intent to bring her daughter home +without delay. During the night watches old dreads had revived; she +shuddered at the thought of Elma left alone--poor, innocent darling!-- +with that terrible young man; pursed her lips at the recollection of +Madame's frivolities, and decided that nothing but grimmest necessity +should induce her to prolong the danger. She entered the Manor, a +Spartan matron prepared to fight to the death for the rescue of her +child, but behold, instead of a battlefield, there stretched before her +eye a scene of pastoral simplicity, in which the most Puritan of critics +could not have discovered an objectionable detail. + +A wide, velvet lawn, shaded by a belt of grand old beeches; a deck chair +placed in the most sheltered nook, on which Elma reclined against a bank +of cushions, while beside her--marvellous and confounding sight!--sat +Madame herself, turning the heel of a common domestic stocking, a +mushroom hat hiding the objectionable pompadour. So far as the eye +could reach there was not a man in sight, not so much as a whiff of +tobacco smoke in the air! As the round black figure waddled across the +lawn, Madame rose in gracious welcome, while Elma--Elma's heart began to +beat with sickening rapidity, a mist swam before her eyes, and a lump +swelled in her throat. She could not speak; her cheeks turned first +red, and then white. She shook her head in response to her mother's +greeting, and gasped as for breath. + +The good lady was distracted at beholding such symptoms of collapse in +her quiet, well-disciplined daughter, and Madame reproached herself in +the conviction that the child was really much worse than she had +imagined. As a matter of fact, the disease from which Elma was +suffering was nothing more nor less than pure, unadulterated fright! +Fright lest her mother should insist upon taking her home; lest she +should be compelled to leave the Manor before Geoffrey returned from an +excursion carefully timed to end just as his mother drove out to keep an +appointment in the town! She was literally paralysed with fear. It +seemed as if life itself hung on the issue of the next few moments. She +shut her eyes and listened, with palpitating breath, to the conversation +between the two ladies. + +"Don't be alarmed! It is just seeing you that has upset her. A few +minutes ago she was quite gay. Weren't you gay, dear? We have had such +a happy little morning together. So long as she is absolutely quiet she +seems quite well. But as you see, any excitement--" Madame gesticulated +eloquently behind Elma's back. "Excitement prostrates you, doesn't it, +dear? We must keep you quite a prisoner for the next few days!" + +Mrs Ramsden sat down heavily on a wicker chair, folded her hands on her +sloping lap, and sighed resignedly. Hardly a moment had elapsed since +her arrival, but already her cause was lost. To subject Elma to the +fatigue of returning home would be madness, when even an ordinary +meeting had so disastrous effect; to refuse hospitality so charmingly +offered would be ungracious in the extreme. There was nothing for it +but to submit with a good grace, and submit she did, arranging to send +up a box of clothing later in the afternoon, and promising to drive up +again in a few days' time. "A few days!" She wanted to come every +single morning, but Madame sweetly ignored her hints, and Elma, +brightening into something wonderfully like her old self, declared that +there was not the slightest cause for anxiety. + +"I shall be _quite_ well, mother dear!" she murmured affectionately as +the poor lady stooped to kiss her before hurrying away, carefully +mindful of the fare of the waiting fly. "_Quite_ well, and--happy!" +The pink flamed again at that last word, and Madame stroked the soft +cheek caressingly. + +"That child is a picture! I love to look at her," she said gushingly, +as the two ladies recrossed the lawn. "How cruel of you to have kept +her to yourself all this time. Really, do you know, I hardly realised +that you _had_ a daughter. But we are going to alter all that, aren't +we? So sweet of you to trust her to me!" + +Madame's conversation was a mixture of questions and exclamations, but +she rarely paused for a reply. She prattled unceasingly as she saw her +guest into her fly, and watched her drive down the avenue. Poor old +Goody Ramsden; she was a worthy old dear! Wrapped up in that child; +terrified to move her, yet terrified to leave her behind! Madame smiled +in amused understanding of the good lady's scruples. What duckings and +cacklings would go on in the parlours of the Park! What fears and +forebodings would be experienced for the safety of the dove in the +eagle's nest! Out of a pure spirit of bravado she was inclined to keep +the child as long as possible; and the fact of Geoffrey's obvious +admiration only strengthened her determination. It was dull for a young +man with only his mother in the house. Let him amuse himself with this +pretty girl. A few days flirtation would put him in good humour, and +there was no danger of anything serious. Geoffrey never _was_ serious. +His flirtations could be counted by the score, but they held no +connection with his future marriage. That must be a serious business +arrangement, involving a name, a fortune, possibly a title; many +tangible qualities would be demanded from the future mistress of the +Manor. + +Madame went through life regarding every person and thing from her own +personal standpoint; apart from herself they ceased to interest. She +would be affectionate and gushing to Elma Ramsden so long as the girl +remained a guest under her roof; when she returned to The Holt she would +promptly fade out of recollection. That a broken heart might be among +the impedimenta which she would carry away with her, was a possibility +which never once entered into the calculation. A typical Society woman! +Verily, Goody Ramsden's fears were not built without a foundation! + +An hour later Madame was driving out of her own gates, while Geoffrey +was installed on her seat by the invalid's couch. A whole hour and a +half still remained before the gong would sound the summons to luncheon; +an hour and a half of solitude beneath the shadow of the trees! Last +night there had been another _tete-a-tete_ while Madame and Captain +Guest played piquet at the end of the room; this morning there had been +yet another, when Elma was first installed in the garden, and Madame was +interviewing her staff. Astonishing how intimate two people can become +in two long conversations! Marvellous in what unison two separate minds +may move! Geoffrey and Elma seemed constantly to be discovering fresh +subjects on which they thought alike, longed alike, hoped, grieved, +joyed, failed and fought, in precisely the same interesting fashion! +Each discovery was a fresh joy, a fresh surprise. "Do you really?" +"Why, so do I!" "How strange it seems!" In the garden of Eden these +surprises grow on every bush! + +Elma's heart was hopelessly out of keeping, but conscience still fought +feebly against temptation. She had been trained to consider no man +worthy of her regard who did not attend Saint Nathaniel's Parish Church, +eschew amusements, wear a blue ribbon in his coat, belong to the Anti- +Tobacco League, and vote with the Conservative Party! In the watches of +the night she had decided that it was her duty to use her influence to +lead this dear worldling into better ways, and, to his credit be it +said, the dear worldling appeared most eager to be reformed. He +besought Miss Ramsden to "pitch into him"; declared that he knew, don't +you know, that he was an "awful rotter"; but represented himself as +waiting eagerly to be guided in the way in which he should go. How was +he to begin? + +Elma puckered her delicate eyebrows. She was wearing no hat, as it was +more comfortable to recline against the cushions with uncovered head, +but a fluffy white parasol belonging to her hostess was placed by her +side, in case an obtrusive sunbeam penetrated the branches overhead. "I +never know where the sun is going to move next. Men always do, don't +they? I think it is so clever of them!" Madame had declared in her +charming, inconsequent fashion as she fluttered away. Elma did not need +the parasol as a shade, but it came in very usefully as a plaything in +moments of embarrassment. There was one all-important subject weighing +on her mind; she made a desperate plunge, and put it into words-- + +"You--you don't go to church!" + +"Not very often, I admit. I'm afraid it is not much in my line." + +"Don't you--believe in it?" + +The vague question was yet sufficiently explicit. The Squire leant +forward, his hands clasped between his knees, his forehead knitted into +thoughtful lines. + +"Er--yes! As a matter of fact, I _do_! Didn't once! At college, you +know; got into a free-thinking set, and chucked the whole thing aside. +But I've been about a good bit. I've seen countries where they go on +that tack and it doesn't pay. The old way is the best. I know I'm a +bit careless still. Men are, Miss Ramsden, when they have only +themselves to think of. They get into the way of leaving that sort of +thing to their mothers and sisters, but when a fellow starts for +himself, it's different! I'm the master here, in name, but virtually +it's my mother who runs the house. I don't interfere with her ways, but +when I--er--_marry_, it will be different! Then I shall make a stand. +Family prayers, and that sort of thing, don't you know. A man ought to +set an example. You are quite right; you are always right! Bit shy at +first, you know, and that sort of thing, but I'd do it; I promise you, I +would! Turn up at church regularly every Sunday!" + +"It would be your duty," said Elma, primly. She twirled the handle of +the sunshade round and round, and strove womanfully to keep her thoughts +fixed on the subject on hand, and away from that thrilling "when I +marry." "But it isn't only _form_, you know," she added anxiously! +"It's caring for it most of all, and putting it before everything else!" + +Geoffrey gazed at her in a rapture of admiration. He loved her +simplicity; he adored her earnestness. In his eyes she was a shining +white angel sent down from heaven to be his guide through life. It +needed all his self-control to keep back the words which were struggling +for utterance, but the fear of frightening Elma by a premature +declaration gave him strength to resist. + +They turned instead into a prayer, a sincere yet bargain-making prayer, +like that of Jacob of old. + +"Give me this woman!" cried the inner voice: "this one woman out of all +the world, and I will vow in return my faith, my allegiance!" The most +earnest vows are often offered in the least conventional language, and +Geoffrey Greville was not a man to promise without intending to perform. +There was a long, pregnant silence. Elma felt the presence of +electricity in the air, and forced herself to return to the attack. + +"And there are other things! ... You play bridge--" + +"Certainly I do!" + +"For money?" + +"Shilling points." + +"What are `points'?" + +Geoffrey laughed happily. This innocence sounded fascinating in his +infatuated ears. + +"That's a little difficult to explain, isn't it, if you don't know +anything about the game? Don't you play cards at all?" + +"Mother won't have them in the house. We have `Quartettes,' but they +are different. ... Can you lose much at shilling points?" + +"A fair amount, if you're unlucky, but you can win it, too! I generally +do win, as a matter of fact!" + +"What is the most you ever lost in a night?" + +Geoffrey grimaced expressively. + +"Sixty pounds; but I was a fool, and doubled no trumps on a risky hand, +on the chance of making the rubber. That was quite an exceptional +drop!" + +"I should hope so, indeed!" Elma's horror was genuinely unassumed. +"Sixty pounds! Why, it's more than many a poor family has to live on +all the year round! Think of all the good you could do with sixty +pounds! It seems awful to lose it on cards in one evening!" + +"The next sixty pounds I win, I'll give to a workmen's charity! Will +that wipe away my offence?" + +Elma was not at all sure that it would. Money won in unworthy fashion +could never bring with it a blessing, according to Mrs Ramsden's +theories. She shook her head sadly, and ventured another question. + +"You go to races, too, don't you?" + +"Whenever I get the chance." + +"You _like_ going?" + +"Love it! Why shouldn't I? Finest thing in the world to see a good +hard race! Wish I could keep a stud myself. I would, if I had the +money. I must tell you the truth, you see, even if you are shocked!" + +"Racecourses are very wicked places." + +"Ever seen one?" + +"No." + +"Oh!" + +They looked at each other and simultaneously burst into a laugh. They +were young and in love; it was delightful to brush aside problematical +difficulties, and give themselves over to enjoyment of the golden +present. Elma forgot her usual somewhat prim reserve, and her laughter +was like a chime of silver bells. It is a rare thing to bear a musical +laugh. Geoffrey longed for nothing so much as to make her laugh again. + +"I'm a born sportsman, Miss Ramsden, and I'll never be anything else. +I'd like to give up everything you dislike, but it's no use swearing +against one's convictions. It's not honest, and it doesn't last, but I +can promise you always to play straight, and to keep down the stakes so +that I shall never run the risk of losing so much again." + +"Why can't you play for nothing but just the fun of the game?" + +"We call that playing for love! It's rather dull--_in cards_!" + +Elma twirled her parasol, and blushed to the eyes. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +Mrs Ramsden sent up a box to the Manor that same afternoon, containing +a dark linen dress, a blue blouse, and black skirt for evening wear; a +supply of underclothing, a grey Shetland shawl, and a flannel dressing- +gown. An hour later, conveyed by special messenger, came a second box, +accompanied by a note in Cornelia's handwriting. Elma was resting in +her bedroom when it arrived. She opened it, and read as follows:-- + + "Dear Moss Rose,--I guess tight gowns are a bit worrying in hot + weather, so I've gotten together a few waists and skirts that may aid + your recovery, and send them along with my love, wishing you many + happy returns of the day. If it isn't the right day, it ought to be, + anyway! I always calculated to be here for your birthday, and I'm + about tired waiting. If you send them back, I'll burn them, as sure + as taxes, but I reckon you're too sweet to hurt my feelings. Put on + the one with the ruckings! It's the duty of every woman to look her + best in the eyes of--. What wonderful weather for the time of year!-- + Your friend, Cornelia. + + "_PS_--There's quite a gale blowing round this corner!..." + +"It _is_ sweet of her, but I mustn't, I can't, I really _couldn't_!" was +Elma's comment as she flushed with surprise and embarrassment. It was +quite certain that she could not accept the gift, but there was no harm +in just looking to see what the box contained! She crossed the room, +cut the string, and unfolded the brown papers which covered the +cardboard box; lifted fold after fold of tissue papers, and gasped in +admiration of each treasure as it was revealed. + +The daintiest of white lawn morning blouses, with skirt to match; a +skirt and bodice of cream net marvellously rucked with ribbons; a blue +muslin, afoam with flounces. All were fresh from the maker's hands, +and, as Elma divined, had been selected from Cornelia's storehouse of +garments, with careful regard to her own requirements. The "waists" +would fit easily enough; the skirts--she shook out the muslin and held +it against her own dress. Just a trifle short, perhaps, but not +sufficiently so to spoil the effect. It was a _lovely_ skirt! Elma +edged away from the glass with a little jerk of the figure calculated to +send the flounces in a swirl round her feet. For three-and-twenty years +she had gone through life wearing plain hems, and as Cornelia predicted, +the flounces went to her brain. After all, would it not be ungracious +to reject so kindly a gift? Her real birthday fell in the middle of +July, and Cornelia, being rich and generous, would naturally offer a +gift on the occasion. To keep the blue muslin would be only +anticipating the remembrance. + +Yes! she _would_ keep it, and return the other dresses, explaining that +she really could not accept so much. But on second thoughts Cornelia +had specially desired her to wear the net with the ruckings. ... Elma +dropped the muslin on the bed, lifted the net blouse carefully from its +wrappings, and held it before her to view the effect. Had mortal hands +fashioned it, or had it dropped down ready-made from a fairyland where +good spirits gathered pieces of cloud and sea-foam, and blew them +together for the benefit of happy girlhood! Elma looked at herself in +the glass; looked back at the blue glace silk and black surah on the +bed, and thanked Heaven for Cornelia Briskett! Indeed and indeed she +would wear the "rucked net to-night, and look her best in the eyes +of..." And she would send back the white lawn, and say--_What_ should +she say? Perhaps, after all, it would seem rather queer to keep the two +more elaborate gowns, and send back the simplest. It might appear as if +she did not consider it worthy of acceptance. She would keep them all; +wear them all; enjoy them all; and oh, dear, sweet, kind, and most +understanding Cornelia, if ever, ever, the time arrived when the gift +could be returned, with what a full heart should it be offered! + +Pen, ink, and paper lay ready on the writing-table. Elma seated +herself, and wrote her thanks:-- + + "You dear Fairy-Godmother,--At first I thought I couldn't, but I've + tried on all three, and I simply _can't_ part from them. I don't know + what mother will say, but I'm living just for the hour. I'm going to + wear the net to-night, and if I look my best it will be _your_ doing, + and I'll never forget it! It's just wonderful up here, but I feel + wicked, for really and truly I'm not ill? Captain Guest asked me a + hundred questions about you last night, and I told him such nice + things, Cornelia! I wonder sometimes whether you are a witch, and + upset the cart on purpose, but of course there _was_ the parrot! + Madame is most kind, but I don't really _know_ her a scrap better than + the moment we arrived. She wears lovely clothes. If it were not for + you I should have to go downstairs to-night in an odd blouse and + skirt, and feel a _worm_! I hope you'll come up to inquire. Come + soon! Everyone wants to see you again. With a hundred thanks.--Your + loving friend, Elma." + + "Why am I a `Moss Rose'?" + +The note was slipped into the letter-box in the hall, as Elma went down +to dinner that night, lovely to behold in the "rucked gown," and the +perusal of it next morning was one of the pleasantest episodes which +Cornelia had known since her arrival. Truth to tell, she had felt many +doubts as to the reception of her fineries, but the mental vision of +Elma's tasteless home-made garments, against the background of the +beautiful old Manor, had been distressing enough to overcome her +scruples. She dimpled as she read, and laughed triumphantly. Things +were going well; excellently well, and those dresses ought to exercise a +distinctly hurrying effect. Four or five days--maybe a week. "My!" +soliloquised Cornelia, happily; "I recollect one little misery who +proposed to me at the end of an afternoon picnic. They're slower over +here, but Mr Greville was pretty well started before this spell began, +and if he's the man I take him for, he won't last out a whole week with +Elma among the roses. Then the fun will begin! Sakes alive, what a +flare-up! And how will the `Moss Rose' stand pickling? That's where I +come to a full stop. I can't surmise one mite which way she'll turn; +but she's got to reckon with Cornelia E Briskett, if she caves in." + +Miss Briskett did not vouchsafe any inquiry as to the contents of the +letter which had afforded such obvious satisfaction. She had probably +recognised Elma's writing on the envelope, but made no inquiries as to +her progress. Relationships between the aunt and niece were still a +trifle strained; that is to say, they were strained on Miss Briskett's +side; Cornelia's knack of relapsing into her natural manner on the very +heels of a heated altercation seemed somehow an additional offence, +since it placed one under the imputation of being sulky, whereas, of +course, one was exhibiting only a dignified reserve! + +Miss Briskett set forth on her morning's shopping expedition without +requesting her niece to accompany her, an omission which she fondly +hoped would be taken to heart; but the hardened criminal, regarding the +retreating figure from behind the curtains, simply ejaculated, "Praise +the Fates!" swung her feet on to the sofa, and settled herself to the +enjoyment of a novel hired from the circulating library round the +corner. For a solid hour she read on undisturbed, then the door opened, +and Mason entered, carrying a telegram upon a silver salver. + +"For you, miss. The boy is waiting for an answer." + +Cornelia tore open the envelope with the haste of one separated far from +her dearest, took in the contents in a lightning glance, sighed with +relief, and slowly broke into a smile. + +"Well--!" ... she drawled thoughtfully; "Well--! ... Yes, there is an +answer, Mason. Give me a pencil from that rack!" She scribbled two or +three words; copied an address, and handed it back eagerly. + +"There! give that to the boy--and see here, Mason, I shall want some +lunch ready by half after twelve. Send Mury right along to my room. +I'm going away!" + +Mason's chin dropped in dismay, but she was too well-trained an +automaton to put her feelings into words. She rustled starchily from +the room, to give the dread message to Mary, who promptly flew upstairs, +voluble with distress. + +"You never mean to say that you are going to leave us, Miss Cornelia? +Why, you've only just come! I thought it was to be three months, at the +least. You're never going so soon?" + +"Only for a few days. I'll be back again, to plague you, by the end of +next week. Don't you want me to go, Mury?" + +Mary shook her head vigourously. + +"I'd like to keep you for ever! The house isn't the same place since +you came. I was saying to my friend only last Sunday that I couldn't a +bear to think of you leaving. Couldn't you find a nice young gentleman, +and settle down in England for good? I'd come and live with you! I +wouldn't ask anything better than to live with you all my days." + +"Mury, Mury! what about the friend? What would he say to such +desertion?" + +Mary's grimace expressed a lively disregard of the friend's sufferings. + +"I don't know how it is, but I think a heap more of you nor I do of +him," she confessed candidly. "I'd come fast enough, if you gave me the +chance. There's lots of good-looking young gentlemen in England, Miss +Cornelia!" + +"Is that so? I hope I'll meet quite a number of them, then; but I +couldn't settle down out of my own country, Mury! You'll hev to cross +the ocean if you want to tend my house. We'll speak about that another +day; just now we've got to hustle round and get my clothes packed in the +next hef hour. Just the dandiest things I've got. I'm going to have a +real gay time in a hotel in London, Mury, with some friends from home, +so I must be as smart as I know how. ... Get out the big dress basket, +and we'll hold a Selection Committee right here on the bed." + +Mary set to work, unable, despite depression, to restrain her interest +in the work on hand. The big boxes were dragged into the middle of the +room; bed, chairs, and sofas were strewn with garments, until the room +presented the appearance of a general drapery establishment. Cornelia +selected and directed, Mary carefully folded up skirts, and laid them in +the long shallow shelves. In the height of the confusion the door +opened, and Miss Briskett entered with hasty step. Signs of agitation +were visible on her features, an agitation which was increased by the +sight of the dishevelled room. In a lightning glance she took in the +half-filled trunks, the trim travelling costume spread over the chair by +the dressing-table, and a gleam of something strangely like fear shone +out of the cold grey eyes. Cornelia had no difficulty in understanding +that look. Aunt Soph was afraid she had pulled the rope just a trifle +too tight, and that it was snapping before her eyes; she was picturing a +flight back to America, and envisaging her brother's disappointment and +wrath. Out of the abundance of her own content the girl vouchsafed a +generous compassion. + +"Yes, I'm off, Aunt Soph! My friends, the Moffatts, are putting up at +the Ritz for a week, and want to have me come and fly round with them. +They are going to meet me at four o'clock this afternoon, to be ready +for a theatre to-night. I've got to be off at once. Mason's getting +ready some lunch." + +Miss Briskett stood severely erect, considering the situation. Now that +the great anxiety was removed, the former irritation revived. + +"And pray, who are the Moffatts? I must know something more about them +before I can give my consent to this visit!" + +Cornelia handed a pile of cardboard boxes into Mary's hands. + +"Take that hat-box downstairs, and pack these on the tray. Don't muss +them about! Then you can come back to finish off." + +She waited until the door was safely closed, then faced her aunt across +the bed. "I'm pleased to answer your questions as well as I know how. +The Moffatts are--the Moffatts! I guess that's about all their family +history, so far as I'm concerned. They came over with me, and Mrs +Moffatt was real kind looking after me when I first came on deck, and +was feeling pretty cheap. We saw quite a good deal of each other after +that, and she said she'd love to have me do the sights with her +sometime. She was going straight through to Paris, to get fixed up with +clothes. Now it seems she's back in London. I gave her my address, and +she wires me to come." + +"You spoke of `the Moffatts.' Who are the other members of the party?" + +"There's a husband, of course, but he's not much account, except to pay +the bills. He must be pretty cashy, for she has everything she wants, +but it gets on her nerves having him poking round all the while. That's +one reason why she wants me. I could always keep him quiet!" + +The complacent gurgle, the jaunty tilt of the head were as fuel to the +spinster's indignation. She pressed her lips tightly together before +putting the final question. + +"And your father knows nothing--nothing whatever of these people?" + +"Well, I guess I may have mentioned their names. He didn't know +anything about them before that." + +"And you propose to stay at a London hotel with the casual acquaintances +of a few days? You are mad! I cannot possibly allow it. You must wire +at once to say that you are unable to accept." + +Cornelia stood silently erect. Her chief personal characteristic was +that air of hot-house fragility so often seen in American girls, but in +that silence her chin squared, her lips set, the delicate brows +contracted in a beetling frown. It was no longer the face of a girl of +two-and-twenty which confronted the spinster across the bed; it was the +face of Edward B Briskett, the financier who had twice over piled up +great fortunes by sheer force and determination. + +"Now see here, Aunt Soph," said Cornelia, clearly; "this is where you +and I have got to come to an understanding. I've been used to going my +own way ever since I was short-coated, and it wasn't hankering to be put +back into leading-strings that brought me across the ocean. Poppar +trusts me, and that's enough for me. You've got a right to boss your +own home, but where I'm concerned your authority don't spread one inch +beyond the gate. If I decide to accept an invitation, it's on my own +responsibility, and no matter what happens, _you_ won't be blamed! I've +decided to leave this at one twenty-five, and I'm _going_ to leave, if I +have to jump out of the window to get away! Now, that's straight, and +we know where we are!" + +"I shall write to your father to-night, and tell him that you have gone +in defiance of my wishes." + +"I guess it's the best thing you can do. Poppar'll cable back: `_Give +Corney her head; It's screwed on pretty straight_!' and you'll feel +easier in your mind." She paused a moment, her features softened into a +smile. Despite the force of her words, there had throughout been no +trace of ill-nature in her voice. Now she drew slowly nearer her aunt, +holding out her pretty, white hands in ingratiating appeal. + +"See here, Aunt Soph, don't be mad! I'm sorry you take it like this, +for I've a feeling that it's just about the best thing that could happen +to both of us, for me to clear out for a spell just now. We've been a +bit fratchetty this last week; gotten on each other's nerves somehow-- +but when I come back we can make a fresh start. In America, girls have +more liberty than over here; but there's not a mite of reason why we +should quarrel over it. You're my own Poppar's sister, and I came quite +a good way to see you. It's a pity if we ken't pull it off for the next +few months. Don't you want to kiss me, and wish me a real good time?" + +Miss Briskett drew back coldly, but the little hands clasped her +shoulder, the young face pressed nearer and nearer. Looking down from +her superior stature, the girl's likeness to her father was once more +strikingly apparent; but it was not the man she recalled, but the dearer +memory of the Baby Edward of long ago, whose clear child's eyes had seen +in "Sister" the most marvellous of created things. As on a former +occasion, the remembrance was more powerful than words. Long years of +solitary confinement had hardened the spinster's heart beyond the +possibility of a gracious capitulation, but at least she submitted to +the girl's embrace, and made no further objections to the proposed +journey. + +On the whole, Cornelia felt that she had scored a victory. + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +Cornelia booked a first-class return to town, scattered half-crowns +broadcast among the astonished porters, ensconced herself in a corner of +an empty carriage, and prepared to enjoy the journey. She did not +purchase any magazines at the bookstall; the only child of a millionaire +need not trouble about insurance coupons, and at two-and-twenty life is +more interesting than fiction. Cornelia guessed she'd heaps more to +think about than would occupy a pokey little journey of from two or +three hours. Just to think how things changed from day to day! +Yesterday she had supposed herself dumped right-down in Norton Park for +a solid three months, and to-day here she was full chase for London, +with the prospect of a week, crammed full of frivolity and amusement! + +She gurgled to herself in much contentment. Aunt Soph had kissed her, +or, at least, submitted to be kissed; Elma was engaged in playing the +part of Eve in flounced blue muslin, to an Adam in a flannel suit, in a +particularly well-mown Garden of Eden. She could therefore be happy in +her mind concerning those who were left behind, and she had never yet +doubted her own ability to take care of herself. She smoothed the +wrinkles on her long suede gloves, flicked the dust off the ridiculous +points of her "high shoes," and sighed impatiently. She and her baggage +were safely aboard. Why couldn't that old engine hustle up and start? + +Cornelia rose to her feet, and thrust her head out of the open window. +There was only one passenger approaching along the deserted platform, +and as fate would have it, he had reached a spot but a couple of yards +away, so that the sudden appearance of the girl's head through the +window was followed by simultaneous exclamations of astonishment. +Exclamations of recognition, too, for the new-comer was none other than +Captain Guest himself, most obviously equipped for town. + +"Miss Briskett--is that you?" + +"Mussy, what a turn you gave me! Who'd have dreamt of meeting you +here?" + +"Are you going up to town?" + +"I am! Are you?" + +"I am! Do you prefer to travel alone? If not, may I come in?" + +"Why, suttenly!" Cornelia was not yet quite sure whether she were +annoyed or pleased by the encounter, but on the whole the agreeable +element predominated. She was of a gregarious nature, and at any time +preferred to talk, rather than remain silent. After a month spent in a +strictly feminine household, the society of a male man was an agreeable +novelty. Moreover--sweet triumph to a daughter of Eve!--half an hour's +_tete-a-tete_ on the drive home from the Manor had apparently made short +work of the Captain's preconceived dislike, since he was so anxious to +repeat the dose! Cornelia smiled; the naughty, little smile of a spider +who welcomes a fly into his net. + +Another minute, and the train was movings lowly out of the station, +while the two young people continued their cross-examination, +confronting each other from their separate corners. + +"This is an unexpected visit, is it not? I understood from Miss Ramsden +that she expected you to call at the Manor to-day or to-morrow." + +(Cornelia scored a point against him, for his own desertion, in the face +of so interesting a prospect!) + +"Vury unexpected! I got a wire from a friend and came off within two +hours. I understood from Mrs Greville that _you_ were making quite a +good stay?" + +Guest grimaced eloquently. + +"I was--but--circumstances alter cases! To tell you the honest truth, +Miss Briskett, I'm just a bit fed up with playing gooseberry by day, and +piquet (with Madame!) by night, and the idea of spending a few days at +the club presented itself as an agreeable novelty. My friends are +almost all in town just now, and there is a good deal going on. I +generally put in a week or so of the season, so I thought I might as +well clear out at once. They don't want me here!" + +"I don't know about that," returned Cornelia, thoughtfully. "What about +Madame? _Someone's_ got to keep her occupied! What's to happen to her +in the evenings now? There'll be nothing for it but a three-handed +game, and that's the limit! If you'd been a kind, self-sacrificing +friend, you'd have stayed on, and worked that piquet for all you were +worth!" + +"But I'm not self-sacrificing, you see!" Captain Guest explained, and +in truth he did not look it. Cornelia's glance took in the magnificent +proportions of the man, the indefinable air of birth and breeding, the +faultless toilette; the strong, dark features. To one and all she paid +a tribute of admiration, but the expression on the face was of +concentrated self-sufficiency. At this point admiration stopped dead, +to be replaced by an uneasy dread. Was Geoffrey Greville, even as his +friend, frankly indifferent to everything but his own amusement, and if +so, what of poor Elma and her dream? It was an awful reflection that in +such a case she herself would be largely responsible for thrusting Elma +into danger. Her expression clouded, and she stared through the window +with unseeing eyes. Captain Guest's words had been so exceedingly plain +that she had not affected to misunderstand their meaning, and the ice +once broken, she was glad of the opportunity of solving her doubts. + +"You know Mr Greville very well. Is he--a flirt?" + +Captain Guest flashed a glance at her; a rapid, understanding glance. + +"He has been," he replied quietly. "A desperate flirt; but--he is not +flirting now!" + +"You think--" + +"I'm sure!" + +Cornelia clasped her hands with a sigh of relief. + +"Then--?" + +"The Deluge!" + +"You mean--?" + +"He can't marry her, of course! She's a lovely girl, and everything +that's nice, and good, and that kind of thing, but--not at all the kind +of girl he ought to marry." + +"Ought he to marry someone hideous then, with an ugly temper? Poor +fellow! Why?" + +"There's no necessity to be hideous, that I know of, though as a matter +of fact he probably won't find a girl suitable as to means and position, +who is anything like so attractive, personally, as Miss Ramsden. +Greville is hardly his own master, Miss Briskett. He is not a rich man, +and he has the place to think of. Besides, there's Madame to consider. +Madame belongs to a noble house, and has high ideas for her son." + +"Is it the custom over here, for the mommas to choose wives for their +sons? I don't know much about Mr Greville, but from the look of him I +shouldn't suppose he was one of that sort. He has a kind of an air as +if he'd want a lot of moving, once he got his head set! If he really +cares--" + +Captain Guest shrugged expressively. + +"Oh, for the moment, of course, it's a case of `all for love, and the +world well lost,' but in a few days' time Miss Ramsden will return home; +they will drop out of each other's lives, and then prudence will come to +the fore. There's a girl whom he has known for years, who is built for +him all the way round. I don't say he'll like it so much, but he'll end +by marrying her like a good boy." + +"By marrying her money, you mean to say? I see, we Americans aren't the +only mercenary nation in the world, though we get the credit for it +sometimes. Well! I'll wait a while, before I judge. There comes a +time in most men's lives when they forget their fine principles, and see +just one thing ahead, _and they've got to have it_! Everything else +goes down like ninepins, even if it's a real stately old mother, with +her hair fixed-up like Marie Antoinette. We'll wait and see if that +time comes along for Mr Greville!" + +Guest's lip twitched with amusement. + +"You seem to be very experienced on the subject." + +"I am so. I've seen quite a good deal of life," said Cornelia, with the +air of a female Methuselah. She did not smirk nor giggle at the +insinuation, but accepted it placidly as a matter of course, an +occurrence of everyday happening. + +Guest studied her critically, as she gazed out of the window. Was she +plain, or beautiful? It was difficult to say. The colourless +complexion, and sharply pointed nose were serious blemishes, but the +mouth was exquisite, and the hair a marvel. How Rossetti would have +gloried in painting it, unbound, with the great red-gold waves floating +over her shoulders! The eyes were good, too, despite their unusual +colour--the colour of a tawny old sherry! + +As though attracted by his scrutiny, Cornelia turned her head, and let +the golden eyes dwell thoughtfully upon his face. + +"Does Mr Greville do anything?" she inquired. "Has he any sort of +occupation in life?" + +"He has a certain amount of business in connection with the property, +but the agent does most of that. He hunts, of course, and shoots--he's +a capital shot--and fishes at odd times. All the ordinary things that a +man does." + +"Is that so? They wouldn't be ordinary with us. I like a man to work. +_You've_ got to work hard, I suppose? You're a soldier." + +The quick pucker of lips and brows were almost startlingly eloquent of +pain. + +"Not now! I was." + +"You retired?" + +"Yes." + +"Why?" + +Rupert Guest looked across the carriage in silence. At any time he was +haughtily resentful of curiosity; but on this subject most of all he +could not endure to speak with his most intimate friends. His first +impulse was to ignore the question, but as he met Cornelia's steady eyes +that impulse underwent an extraordinary reversion. Incredible as it +might appear, he became conscious that it was not only possible that he +could tell this girl, this stranger, the hidden sorrow of his life, but +that he actually wished to tell it! He wanted to hear what she would +say; to see how she would look. Those childlike eyes would look very +beautiful, softened with the light of sympathy and consolation. He +wanted to see that light shining for his sake. + +"It's a long story," he began slowly, "I don't talk of it more than I +can help, but I'll tell you, if you care to hear it. I come of a race +of soldiers: it never entered my head that I could be anything else. My +father was in the Lancers; he died before I left Sandhurst, but my +mother managed to allow me fifteen hundred a year, and I joined my +father's regiment. I was lucky as things go; went through two +engagements before I was thirty; gained distinction at Omdurman. At +home I had a nailing good time: Adjutant of the regiment. We had the +jolliest mess! I don't think a man ever lived who enjoyed his life +more. There was lots of play, but I loved the work too, and studied +hard, at every branch of the profession. I had the credit of being one +of the best all-round men in the service." He laughed; a hard, sore- +hearted laugh. "I can say that now without reproach, for it belongs to +another life. ... Then--my mother died! She had been living beyond her +income, and there were all the legal expenses to face; selling up at a +loss; giving the girls their share. She had made a special push to keep +me in the old regiment; but in the end it came down to this, that in +all, there was barely five hundred a year for me. It was a big blow, +but there was nothing for it but to send in my resignation." + +"Why?" + +"One can't be an officer in a crack cavalry regiment with only five +hundred a year beyond his pay, Miss Briskett. It can't be done. There +wasn't one of my subs, who had less than eight hundred." + +"Don't you get any pay at all in your army then?" + +"Certainly; about enough to pay the mess bills, and perhaps the changes +of kit. The uniform costs several hundreds to start with, and those +fools at the War Office are everlastingly ordering senseless +alterations." + +"Yes; but--I don't understand! If the pay is enough for your keep, why +do you need such a heap more to get along? Where does all the expense +come in?" + +Guest knitted his brows in momentary embarrassment. + +"Well, of course, there are certain things that a man must do to live up +to his position. He must entertain; he must hunt; he must play polo. +It comes cheaper to him than ordinary men, for he has the use of the +regimental stables; but still, things run up. It's astonishing how they +_do_ run up! There are a hundred things that are _expected_ of him, and +there's no getting away from them." + +"Isn't he expected first thing of all to serve his country?" + +"That is, of course!" Guest raised his head proudly. "I have already +explained that I _had_ served her." + +"Wouldn't they let you go on then, because you couldn't cut a dash?" + +"_Let_ me! There wasn't a man in the mess who didn't beg me to stay on! +The Duke sent for me, and argued for half an hour. He promised me a +staff appointment. He said some awfully decent things about my past +services. I was glad of that... I said, `It's no good, sir, I can't +face the prospect of being Colonel of the regiment, and not being able +to afford as much as my own subs.' We went over it again and again, and +he lost his temper at last and called me a fool, but I stuck to it--" + +Cornelia drew a sharp breath of excitement. + +"You _did_ resign--for money? In spite of all! For only that?" + +"It's a very big `only,' Miss Briskett. You don't know how it feels to +have your income suddenly reduced by two-thirds." + +"Oh, don't I just! I know how it feels to have it wiped clean away. I +guess my Poppar's dropped about as much in one slump as any man in the +States!" cried Cornelia, with the true American's pride in size, be it +for good or ill. She did not feel it necessary to state that the lost +fortune had been more than retrieved, for one of the very few points on +which she found herself in complete agreement with her aunt, was the +suppression of her own wealth. She had no wish to be judged from a +monetary standpoint, and Poppar's fame had not travelled across the +ocean. He was just an ordinary everyday millionaire, with a modest +little income of from three to four hundred a day; not a real, genuine +high-flyer, with a thousand an hour! + +"I had to give up my frills and fixings, but I held on like grim death +to the things that mattered.--I guess there's something wrong about your +army, if a man's got to have a fortune before he can be an officer!" + +"A good many people are with you there, Miss Briskett, but unfortunately +that does not alter the fact." + +"Then--what did you do after that?" + +"Cleared out! I sold my uniform for eighty pounds!"--he laughed again, +the same sore laugh--"and gave my orderly about a dozen suits of +ordinary clothes. The only thing I kept was my sword. I had ten swords +hung on my walls, used by ten generations in succession--I couldn't give +that up. ... An old chum was going out ranching to the wildest part of +California. He asked me to come with him, and I jumped at it. I wanted +to get out of the country--away from it all. If I'd seen the regiment +riding through the streets, I should have gone mad! ... We sailed +within a few weeks..." + +"_California_!" Cornelia's face was eloquent with meaning. She had +seen a regiment of Lancers riding through the streets of London on the +one day which she had spent in the metropolis; had stood to stare open- +mouthed, even as the crowd who thronged the pavement. She recalled the +figure of the officer, a gorgeous, mediaeval knight, impenetrably +lifeless, sitting astride his high horse like a figure of bronze; a +glimpse of haughty, set features visible between cap and chin-strap. +Outwardly immovable, indifferent; but within!--ah! within, beyond a +doubt, a swelling pride in himself, in his men, in the noble animals +which bore them; in the consciousness that every day the pageant +attracted the same meed of admiration; pride in the consciousness that +he represented his King, his Empire, the power of the sword! Cornelia, +a stranger and a Republican, had thrilled at the sight of the gallant +Lancers, and--she had visited the wilds of California also, and had +received hospitality at a lonely ranch! There was a husky note in her +voice as she spoke again. + +"How long were you there?" + +"Three years." + +"Did you--hate it very much?" + +The laugh this time was more strangled than before. + +"Twice over I came within an inch of shooting myself! We were twenty +miles from the nearest neighbour. My friend went his way; I went mine. +For days together we hardly exchanged a word. There was nothing but the +great stretch of land, and the Rockies in the distance. In time one +gets to think them beautiful, but at first... I used to sit and think +of home, and the regiment. It was _always_ with me. I used to say to +myself: `Now they are at mess--Now the horses are coming out of the +stables--Now they are turning out for polo!' I could hear the drum, and +the reveille, and the last post. ... As clearly as in the barracks at +home, I heard them!" ... + +He stopped short, turning his eyes from the window to look at Cornelia's +face. It was distorted, quivering, with emotion; her hands were clasped +together, and down her cheek rolled two tear-drops, unashamed. He +turned sharply aside, and for some moments neither spoke. Cornelia was +seeing, as in a picture, the lonely ranch, with the solitary figure, +sitting with his face towards the East, thinking, thinking. ... Guest +was reflecting with amaze on the strange antic of fate, which ordained +that it should be in the eyes of this Yankee stranger that he should see +the first woman's tears shed on his behalf! She cried like a child; +simply, involuntarily, without thought of appearance; the tears rising +from a pure well of sympathy. To the end of his life he would bless her +for those tears! + +The train slackened and drew up at a country station. A stout, elderly +lady approached the carriage, glanced from one to the other of the two +occupants, and hastily moved on. Cornelia smiled, with the tears wet on +her lashes. Again the wheels began to move, and Guest said shortly-- + +"Thank you for your sympathy! I had a feeling that you would +understand--that's why I told you. It's not a story that I often tell +to strangers, as you may guess." + +"My, yes, I sympathise; I should just think I do. I know what even our +own people suffer sometimes away out West; but I don't _understand_," +said Cornelia, firmly. "I don't understand--one--little--bit! There's +more to soldiering than riding through the streets, looking fine and +large, and gotten up like a show. I love to see it. We profess to +laugh at forms and ceremonies, but we love them just the same as anybody +else, but it was your _country_ you'd promise to serve! For better or +worse you allowed you were sworn to serve her. You had risked your life +for her; I reckon you had shed your blood. There was just one thing you +wouldn't sacrifice--your own pride! You were thinking of _yourself_ +when you sent in that resignation, Captain Guest! You saw yourself +sitting looking out of the window, and seeing the boys riding off to +their sports, and leaving you behind. You cared more for that, than the +thought that England might need you!" + +"You hit hard, Miss Briskett." + +"I hit straight. I know just how you've suffered. Seems to me I'm +going to remember all my life how you sat in that ranch and heard the +last post; but if I'd been in your place, if America had wanted me"--her +small, white face lit up with a very ecstasy of emotion--"I'd have +stayed at my post, _if I'd had to sweep the floors to do it_!" + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +The moment of tension passed, and the strain relaxed. Captain Guest +stoutly defended his position, and Cornelia vouchsafed a generous +sympathy, while not budging an inch from her ultimate decision. She +disapproved, but she had wept; the tears had rolled unchecked down her +cheeks on his behalf. After that they could no longer be mere, casual +acquaintances. + +By the end of the first hour they had left the personal element behind, +and were chatting busily about a dozen varying subjects--the English +landscape; Trusts; Free Trade; Miss Alice Roosevelt; chafing dishes, and +the London season. Cornelia had a cut-and-dried opinion on each, and +was satisfied that every one who did not agree with her was a "back +number," but her arguments and illustrations were so apt and humorous, +that Guest was abundantly entertained. Throughout the entire journey +their _tete-a-tete_ was uninterrupted, for though several passengers +approached the carriage with intent to enter, one and all followed the +example of the stout lady, and dropped the handle at sight of the two +occupants. The third time that this interesting little pantomime was +enacted Cornelia laughed aloud, and cried serenely-- + +"Guess they think we're a honeymoon couple; they're so scared of getting +in beside us!" + +Her colour showed not the faintest variation as she spoke. It was Guest +who grew hot and embarrassed, and was at a loss how to reply. He need +not have troubled himself, however, for Cornelia continued her +exposition touching the superiority of American everything, over the +miserable imitations of other countries, with hardly as much as a +comma's pause for breath. + +Guest sat back in his corner, looking at her with every appearance of +attention, but in reality his thoughts were engaged in following a +bewildering suggestion. + +"They think we are a honeymoon couple." ... Suppose--it was folly, of +course, but for one moment, _suppose they were_! He would be looking at +his wife! She would smile across at him, and call him fond, silly +little names. He would kiss her--she had beautiful lips to kiss! and +hold her hand--it was a soft little hand to hold, and tease her about +her shaded hair, and her sharp little nose, and her ridiculous, pointed +shoes! They would get out at the terminus, but instead of bidding each +other a polite good-bye, would drive off together in a fly, discussing +joint plans for the evening. Later on they would have dinner at a +little table in the great dining-hall of the hotel, criticising their +neighbours, and laughing at their peculiarities. In the theatre they +would whisper together, and when the curtain went up on the heels of a +critical moment, he would see the tear-drops shining once more on her +lashes.--It was a lonely business going off to a man's club, where +nobody wanted you, or cared a brass farthing whether you came or went. +Not that for a moment he wished to be married--least of all to Cornelia +Briskett. There were a dozen things about her which jarred on his +nerves, and offended his ideas of good taste. He objected to her +accent, her unconventional expressions, her little tricks of manner; +while on almost every subject her point of view appeared to be +diametrically opposed to his own. In her company he would be often +jarred, annoyed, and discomfited, but of a certainty he would never be +bored! Rapidly reviewing his life for the last few years, it appeared +to Guest that he had existed in a chronic state of boredom. If "we were +a honeymoon couple," that dreariness at least would come to an end! + +He looked at Cornelia's ungloved left hand resting upon the dark +cushions--she wore a ring, a wide, flat band of gold, with one fine +diamond standing far out, in a claw setting. American ladies affect +solitaire rings, as tokens of betrothal--did this mean that the +honeymooning question was already settled? If it were so, the fact +would account for the girl's absence of embarrassment in his own +company; all the same, he did not believe it, for there was in her +manner a calm, virginal composure, an absence of sentimentality, which +seemed to denote that the citadel had not yet been stormed. + +Cornelia noted his gaze, without in the least guessing its meaning. + +"It was the other wrist that was sprained-- The right one!" she said, +holding it up as she spoke, and carefully moving it to and fro. "It's +heaps better, thanks to you. I set Mury to rub it, according to +instructions, and--there you are! It's most as well as the other." + +"Ready to shake hands, now?" + +"Oh, yes." + +"Mentally, as well as physically?" + +The white teeth showed in a smile of comprehension. + +"I--guess so! I never was one to harbour animosity." + +"I am glad of that! You bade me such a frigid good-bye on Thursday +afternoon that I was afraid you had taken a violent dislike to me." + +"My stars and stripes, that's pretty calm! What about _you_, I beg to +ask?" Cornelia rolled indignant eyes to the hanging lamp. "I didn't +hev to think; I _heard_ from your own lips what you thought about _me_! +I couldn't rest easy in my bed, for fear you went home and did away with +Mr Greville, for making you drive me home. I never supposed I should +live to endoor the degradation of having a man do things for me against +his will, but I had to come to England to find my mistake. And then you +sit there and accuse me of disliking you!--Well!!!" + +Guest flushed with embarrassment; with something deeper than +embarrassment; with honest shame. He clasped his hands between his +knees, and bent forward eagerly. + +"You are quite right, Miss Briskett, there is no excuse for me. I +behaved like a cad. Things got me on the raw, somehow. I imagined--all +sorts of things which weren't true! That's no excuse, I know. I should +have controlled myself better. But if I was annoyed at starting on that +drive, I was far more so when it came to an end. You had your revenge! +And you don't deny that you disliked me in return." + +"I did so! I did heaps more than that. I thought you just the +hatefullest person I'd ever met." + +"And now?" + +Cornelia laughed easily. + +"Oh, well--we've had a pretty good time together, haven't we? We can +let bygones be bygones. You're English--vurry, vurry English, but I +guess you're nice!" + +"What do you mean by English?" But even as he put the question Captain +Guest straightened himself, and reared his neck within his stiff, +upstanding collar, with that air of ineffable superiority which marks +the Englishman in his intercourse with "inferior" nations. Cornelia +laughed, a full-throated ha-ha of amusement. + +"It's `English'! There's no other word to it. You are about as English +at this moment as you've been in the whole of your life.--I guess we +must be getting pretty near London now, for I ken see nothing but +smoke." + +"Yes, we are nearly there. Will you--may I call at your hotel some day, +on the chance of finding you in?" + +"Why, suttenly! I'd love to have you. You could take me round. If the +Moffatts have fixed-up a dinner for themselves, some night, we might go +to a theatre together!" + +"Um--yes!" Guest surveyed her with doubtful eyes. "I suppose it would +be easy enough to find some other lady to play chaperon." + +"I don't want a chaperon. Why should I? It's no fun having her poking +round, and listening to every word one says. It's ever so much nicer +alone." + +"I don't doubt it, but--in Rome one must do as the Romans do, Miss +Briskett! In England a man does not take a girl to a theatre +unchaperoned. It's not the thing." + +"I don't care a mite. It's the custom with us, anyway, and there's no +country in the world where women are more respected. What's the harm, I +want to know!" + +"No harm at all. That's not the question. It's simply not the custom." + +"Do you mean to say you refuse to take me alone, even if I ask you?" + +"I do!" + +"Then you're a mean old thing, and I shan't go at all!" + +Guest laughed; an amused little laugh, in which there was an unwonted +softness. Somehow, he quite enjoyed being called "a mean old thing" by +Cornelia Briskett. There was an intimacy in the sound, which more than +nullified the disparagement. + +"I think you will! You are too `straight' to punish me for what is not +my fault. It would be much more amusing for me to take you about +unattended, and so far as I'm concerned, I can afford to ignore +conventions. A man can do as he likes. It is you I am thinking of. +You may not approve of our ideas, but that does not alter their +existence, or the fact that whip; you are here you must be judged by +them. You would not like to be considered careless of your reputation?" + +"I don't care a mite what the old fossils, think." + +"_I_ do, then; and I will take no part in putting you in a false +position." + +Cornelia pouted, but in her heart admired his firmness, as any woman +would. She stared at the forest of chimney-tops without speaking, for +several minutes, then suddenly turned towards him, speaking in what was +evidently supposed to be a lifelike imitation of the English accent, as +spoken by the Lady of the Manor. + +"Th-anks; aw-fly tha-anks! How varry kind! I shall be charmed. ... +Too aw-fly sweet of you, don't-cher-know!" + +"That's all right!" laughed Guest, happily. "We'll manage to enjoy +ourselves, never fear! There's such a thing as taking _two_ chaperons +and letting them play with each other. ... Here we are at Paddington. +Are your friends coming to meet you?" + +"They are. I guess they'll be waiting on the platform. She's tall and +fine-looking, and dresses fit to kill--" + +She paused with a sharp little intake of breath, for the train, as it +snorted into the station, had passed by the figure of a woman standing +conspicuously alone--a tall woman, with hair of a violent peroxide gold, +holding up an elaborate white gown, to display a petticoat of flounced +pink silk. It was Cornelia's first introduction to Mrs Moffatt in +"shore clothes," and to an eye accustomed to Norton simplicity the +vision was sufficiently startling. Also--it was hateful to think such +things--but, that hair! On the steamer it had been just an ordinary +brown! + +Cornelia would have died rather than own it, but she felt a qualm. On +the platform she saw other ladies standing waiting the arrival of the +train; smart, well-dressed, even golden-headed ladies not a few, but +none in the least resembling Mrs Silas P Moffatt. A swift desire arose +that Guest might depart before her hostess made her way through the +crowd, followed by a resigned recollection that that would be of no +avail, since the two were bound to meet sooner or later. She stepped +out of the carriage, keeping her head turned in an opposite direction, +but almost immediately a crisp rustling of skirts, a strong odour of +violette de parme, and a loud--"Say! is that you?" proclaimed that the +search was at an end. + +Cornelia forced a smile to her lips, and acknowledged her identity in +suitable terms, and Mrs Moffatt gushed over her, in a Yankee accent, +strong enough to cut with a knife, casting the while, arch, questioning +glances in Guest's direction. Cornelia suffered qualm number two. Even +to her ears, the tone of her friend's voice sounded unduly loud and +nasal, and looking from her to her late travelling companion, it +appeared that to be "English" need not be invariably a disadvantage. Of +course, Mrs Moffatt was not a good type of American; she belonged to +the class who brought that honourable title into disrepute. How was it +that she herself had hitherto been blind to peculiarities which now +aroused an instant prejudice? + +"Don't you want to introduce me to your friend, dear? I never came +across such a girl. Someone flying around after you wherever you go!" +cried Mrs Moffatt, genially, and Cornelia mumbled the necessary words, +with an unusual display of embarrassment. She dared not look at the +expression of Guest's face, and his cool, easy voice gave no hint of his +real feelings. She turned aside to give instructions to a porter, while +her ears strained to catch every word which passed between her +companions. Mrs Moffatt was talking about her, gushing over her, in +fulsome phrases. Cornelia this! Cornelia that! What business had she +to use that name, anyway? She had never received permission to do so. +It was impertinent to assume such an air of familiarity! + +The three made their way together towards the luggage van, where +Cornelia claimed her two big boxes, and saw them hoisted on the top of a +four-wheeler. The elation of ten minutes back had died a sudden death, +and she felt depressed and lonesome. Among all the crowd no one seemed +a greater stranger than this woman by her side; in comparison with her, +Captain Guest appeared an old and proven friend. She raised her eyes to +his, as the cabman busily strapped the last box to the roof, and found +his eyes fixed on her face with a very grave scrutiny. She did not know +how pale and dejected was her own appearance, how different from the +jaunty self-confidence of an hour before; but Guest had been keen to +notice the quickly succeeding expressions, and was saying to himself: +"She is upset. Something is different from what she expected. It's a +bad lookout for her with that terrible woman, but she must have known +her before." ... + +Mrs Moffatt glanced from one to the other, giggled meaningly, and +stepped into the cab. They were alone; as much alone in the midst of +the noise and confusion, as in the quiet of the railway carriage. + +"Well," said Guest, regretfully; "I suppose I must say good-bye! I'll +come round soon to see how you are getting along, and--Miss Briskett, +here is my card.--It gives the address of my club. If you should need +me for anything, at any time, ring me up! You will promise, won't you? +I could be with you in a few minutes." + +Cornelia smiled faintly. + +"Oh, thanks; I don't know about _needing_. Mr Moffatt will be round to +look after us, but--Norton's my only home over here, and you seem like a +bit of it! I'll be real glad to see you." + +She held out her hand to him; he held it for a moment in a tight, +protective grasp, then took off his hat to Mrs Moffatt, and turned +away. Twenty yards farther on the cab passed him, and he caught another +glimpse of the two faces; one small and white, the other heavy in +outline, and suspiciously blue-pink as to cheeks. + +"Thank heaven, I came up!" said Captain Guest to himself. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +Cornelia was surprised to find that her friends were not already housed +at the Ritz, but had been staying at a private hotel, in a dull side +street, where the cab called on the way from the station, to take up a +pile of luggage lying ready packed in the hall. + +"The fashionable hotels are all crowded out in the season," Mrs Moffatt +explained. "We've had our names down for ages at the Ritz, but it was +impossible to get in before to-day. I don't know as we should have +managed even now, if it hadn't been for you, dear. It worked wonders +when we said you would be one of the party. You don't mind having your +name mentioned, do you? You've just got to play up to these managers, +if you don't want to be put off for ever, or poked away in a back room." + +"Oh, I don't mind," said Cornelia, easily. "If my name is of any use, +use it for all you're worth. I shouldn't have supposed anyone would +know it over here. They don't in Norton." + +"My dear, the hotel is crammed full of Americans, and any one of them +would say it was poor business to refuse the daughter of Edward B +Briskett. The connection might be worth a heap, if you went home and +allowed you were satisfied. Silas don't count for anything--he's no +push! We might have waited for ever if it had been left to him!" + +To judge by the hangdog expression of the said Silas as he came forward +to greet his guest at the door of the Ritz, the success attending his +wife's manoeuvres had not inspired him with any particular joy. +Cornelia thought he looked more henpecked than ever, but he received her +warmly, and hovered round to assist with the smaller impedimenta, while +his wife hurried forward into the hotel. Inside all was brightness and +gaiety; little parties of visitors grouped here and there about the +large, light hall; obsequious clerks bowing before one, hoping that the +rooms reserved might give satisfaction; begging to be informed if any +comfort were lacking; summoning waiters to show the way to the lift. +Cornelia was annoyed to notice that most of these attentions were +directed towards herself, but as Mrs Moffatt did not appear to take +umbrage, it seemed wisest to make no protest. The mistake was not +likely to occur again, for with so many guests in the house, individual +attention could not extend beyond the arrival civilities. + +Tea was served in the Empire suite, which had been reserved for the +party, and Cornelia hated herself for feeling so little in sympathy with +a host and hostess whose one anxiety seemed to be to provide for her +enjoyment. From a printed list of amusements, she was bidden to make +her choice for every evening in the week; for the afternoons, river- +picnics were suggested, coaching expeditions to outlying scenes of +interest, drives in the Park. For the mornings--well, naturally, there +was just one thing to be done in the morning, and that was shopping! + +"I hope you've brought up heaps of money, my dear. You'll need it. The +things are just heavenly this season!" Mrs Moffatt declared, but +Cornelia remained unfired. + +"I've a circular note; it's all right so far as that goes, but I shan't +want any more clothes for ages! I brought over a whole trousseau, and +so far as I can see, the half will go back unpacked. They don't dress +down at Norton--they _clothe_! You've got to be covered right up to the +chin, and to work in all the blue serge you can, and that's about all +there is to it. If you fixed-up like we do at home, you'd make as much +stir as the fire-engine. I'd like to mail a few presents, if I saw +anything really new and snappy, but I shan't go near a store for +myself." + +"I shall, then!" cried Mrs Moffatt, laughing. "I got next to nothing +in Paris. The shops over there aren't a patch on London, in my opinion, +and the language puts one off. I can't get the hang of it, and it gets +on my nerves fitting on clothes, and not being able to find fault. +You'll have to come round with me, Cornelia. I've been waiting till you +came, to decide on heaps of things. You've got such lovely taste. +Silas wants to give me some furs, and I've seen an emerald necklace that +I'm bound to have if I'm to know another happy moment. I've been in +twice to see it, and I guess the man's beginning to weaken. It would +pay him to let me have it at a reduction, rather than keep it lying +idle. You shall come with me, and say what you think it's worth; but +mind, I'm to have the first chance! You mustn't try to snap it up. A +few hundred dollars don't matter to you one way or the other, but I've +got to worry round to make the money go as far as it will. It's not +that Silas wants to stint me; he's not that sort, but he hasn't the +balance behind him your father has!" + +Silas smiled in sickly acknowledgment of his wife's consideration, +fidgeted in his seat, and finally took himself downstairs, to see about +securing theatre tickets, whereupon his wife heaved a sigh of relief, +and helped herself to a fresh cup of tea. + +"Thank goodness! I ken't stand men in the daytime. They don't take any +interest in clothes or parcels, or trying-on, but kinder hang round, +looking bored and superior! It gets on my nerves. ... That was a real +smart-looking man you had with you to-day, dear. Guest? did you say-- +Captain Guest? English, isn't he? Acts as though he'd got the patent, +and everybody else was imitation. I rather like it myself, I don't +think anything of a man who takes a back seat." The short, impatient +little sigh was evidently dedicated to the memory of the absent Silas. +... "Where did you pick him up, dear? He seems very devoted. Anything +coming on between you?" + +Cornelia's "No!" made the listener start in her seat, so loud was it, so +stern, so eloquent of displeasure. She herself was astonished at the +white heat of anger which possessed her as she listened to Mrs +Moffatt's questionings. "Picked him up," indeed! What insolence; what +vulgarity! What an indignity to speak of him in such words. Her +indignation seemed almost as much on Guest's account as her own. A +vision of his face rose before her, she seemed to see the curl of the +lip, the droop of the eyelid with which he would have greeted such an +expression. + +"No! Suttenly not! He is the merest acquaintance. There is not even +an ordinary friendship between us. I may very probably never meet him +again." + +"Is that so?" queried Mrs Moffatt, calmly. As the Captain had himself +announced his intention of calling at the hotel, the only effect of +Cornelia's violence was to deepen the impression that there was +"something in it," but she was too diplomatic to pursue the subject. +Instead, she prattled on about a dozen inconsequent topics, and finally +suggested a drive in the Park before dinner. + +"It will freshen you up after your journey, and there's nothing else to +do for the next two hours. Just ring, will you, dear, and make +arrangements, while I write a few notes in my room. A victoria, or a +motor, whichever you prefer, and in about half-an-hour. That will give +us time to prink." She rustled out of the room, and Cornelia rang and +gave the order, only too thankful to avoid a prolonged _tete-a-tete_ +indoors. Once again she wondered how it had come to pass that she had +become on intimate terms with this woman, who now jarred upon her at +every turn. On board the steamer her own friends had scarcely left +their state-rooms during the voyage, and Mrs Moffatt, in a neat tweed +costume, and an enveloping blue veil, had played the part of ministering +angel with much devotion, during three dreary days, when she herself had +lain on a chair in a sheltered corner of the deck; had read aloud, +repeated amusing little anecdotes about the passengers, taken her for +constitutionals up and down, and even helped her to bed at night. When +Liverpool was reached, it seemed as if they had known one another for +years. They had kissed at parting, and mutually agreed to meet, and +have a good time. + +"Shucks!" cried Cornelia, mentally. "It's that old Norton! I've gotten +so used to dowds, that the sight of a Paris gown scares me all into +fits. I've looked forward to coming to London all my life, and now I'm +here, I'm going to enjoy myself all I know. Now then, for the Park! I +guess that grey crepe, and the hat with the white feathers, will be +about the best I can do for the honour of the flag. You've got to +strike a balance, my dear, and plump for neutral colours as long as you +run in harness with Mrs Silas P Moffatt!" + +That first drive in Hyde Park was a pleasant experience, though the +trees looked grey and dusty, after the fresh green of the country. +Cornelia, like most of her sisters, had, as a first object, to see the +people, not the Park itself, and certainly they were worth the seeing. +There is no place in the world where finer specimens of humanity can be +seen than in Hyde Park on the afternoon of a bright June day. Cornelia +admired the tall, immaculately-groomed men, the dainty, high-bred +looking women, with their air of indolent grace. They did not look as +if they were enjoying themselves particularly, but she enjoyed, looking +at them, and honestly acknowledged the presence of a certain quality +unowned by herself. "They've got a far-off look, as if they couldn't +see anything nearer than a hundred miles, and were scared to laugh, in +case they might break! ... I guess it's what they call `_breed_!' +Captain Guest's got it, too. We've not much use for that kind of thing +at home, but it--counts! If you'd been used to it all your life, it +would be a jar to step down..." + +Mrs Moffatt knew a great many people by sight, and pointed them out as +they drove by. Lady this, the Countess of that, Mrs Blank, who wrote +society novels, and was noted for her taste in dress, the beautiful Miss +Dash.--"Not that I can see much beauty in her myself. She's not a patch +on you, when you're in form!" Cornelia felt a girl's natural pleasure +in the compliment, in the truth of which she complacently agreed. She +did not envy Miss Dash her looks, but she did emphatically envy her her +friends, particularly her male friends, who clustered around her +carriage, eager for a word. One felt decidedly out of it, driving +through a crowd of strangers, not one of whom turned a welcoming smile +in your direction, nor cared whether you came or went. At home, +Cornelia was accustomed to be in the midst of all that was going on, a +central figure, round which all the rest revolved. She did not at all +appreciate being relegated to the position of regarding the fray from +the vantage of a hired vehicle! + +Cornelia craned her head to right and to left, scanning the passing +crowd for a familiar face. It seemed impossible that among hundreds of +people there should not be someone whom she recognised, and her faith +was justified, for just at the bend near the Marble Arch, she had a +passing glimpse of Guest's tall figure, standing talking to two ladies, +one middle-aged, the other young, and graceful, and smiling. They were +quietly, even simply, attired, but their whole air and carriage breathed +that indefinable something which she had just struggled to define: +something diametrically different from the ostentatious display of the +woman by her side. Theoretically, Cornelia was thankful to escape +observation; in reality she felt an absurd pang of loneliness and +disappointment, as the carriage bore her out of sight. + +The evening was spent at a theatre, and by eleven o'clock next morning +both ladies had started forth on one of the shopping expeditions, which +seemed to constitute Mrs Moffatt's chief pleasure in life. They drove +first of all to the jeweller's, where Cornelia was shown the emerald +necklace, a wonderful collection of stones, in an antique setting, with +which she herself promptly fell in love. The price was excessive, even +for her own deep purse, and she concluded that Mr Moffatt's means must +be even larger than she had imagined, since his wife seriously +contemplated such a purchase. There was a good deal of bargaining, +half-serious, half-joking, between Mrs Moffatt and the very imposing- +looking personage behind the counter, but fortified by the advent of +another possible purchaser, the latter steadily refused to reduce his +price, and once again Mrs Moffatt retired discomfited from the +struggle. + +"I know just how it will be," she cried, "I'll have to give it up, and +then you'll step in, and carry it off before my eyes! But you've got to +wait a bit, till I see what I can do with Silas. I'm not going to give +up yet awhile." + +Cornelia laughed easily. "Oh, I'll play fair. If you give up the idea, +I daresay Poppar'd let me have it. He says emeralds suit me better than +any other stones; but I shan't break my heart, one way or the other." +... Then addressing the shopman: "Have you got anything really new and +tasty for little presents? I might as well look round while I'm here." + +Then followed a delightful hour, from the shopkeeper's point of view, at +least, when Cornelia examined the contents of tray after tray, and +selected "little presents" to the value of a cool hundred pounds: an old +pearl and enamel solitaire stud for her father; a hat-pin composed of a +big turquoise, and a selection of dainty, jewelled brooches and bangles +for special girl friends. + +"I'll give you the addresses, and you'd better mail them from here. I +don't know how you fix up things to travel safely from this side, but +you can do all that's necessary. I'll give you a cheque and you needn't +send them out till you see that it's all right. I'm a stranger to you, +and can't expect you to trust me right away, but you'll find the money's +there!" + +"Well, I should think your name's good enough! No one need fear +trusting your father's daughter for a few hundred dollars!" Mrs +Moffatt protested, while the shopman waxed eloquent in protestation. +Cornelia continued to write addresses on the various boxes, without +troubling to answer, for the assiduous manner in which her friend +advertised her parentage was already beginning to jar. First to the +hotel officials; then to casual acquaintances during the evening, and +now to this tradesman! It was a disagreeable change from Norton, where +the subject of money was never mentioned, and no one seemed to care +whether you were rich or poor. + +The whole morning was devoted to shopping; in the afternoon the two +ladies went out driving, and returned to the hotel, to find Captain +Guest's card on the sitting-room table. + +"He has lost no time, anyhow!" said Mrs Moffatt, meaningly. + +"He has done the polite thing. Now he need not trouble any more," +Cornelia replied. On the whole, she was not sorry to have missed the +call. Conversation, with Mrs Moffatt as audience, would have been +somewhat of a strain! + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +The Moffatts appeared to have few private friends in London, and to show +no anxiety to add to their number. Though they displayed an insatiable +curiosity about everything which concerned their guest, they volunteered +very little information in return, and after three days spent entirely +in their society, Cornelia knew little more about them than on the first +day of their meeting on shipboard. A mushroom city of the West figured +as "home," in occasional references; but the wife frankly declared a +hatred of domesticity, while the husband regretted that constant travel +was a necessity in his business. + +Evidently the present period was one of holiday-making, for Mr Moffatt +seemed to do nothing but hang about the hotel, playing odd games of +bridge or billiards with stray loafers like himself, and being +correspondingly elated or depressed as he won or lost. On the whole, +Cornelia preferred him when he was depressed. Exuberance of spirits is +apt to wax offensive when divorced from good taste. At times she +frankly disliked both husband and wife, and meditated an immediate +return to Norton; but as a rule she was absorbed in the interest and +charm of the grey old city, which was so unlike anything she had yet +visited. It was like turning back a page of history, to see with her +own eyes those historical landmarks, of which she had read since +childhood; to drive about looking at the names of the streets, the +monuments at the corners, the great, inky buildings. Visitors from +sunnier lands often take away from our capital an impression of gloom +and ugliness, but Cornelia's artistic sense realised a picturesque +element which rose superior to smoke and grime. She loved the narrow, +irregular streets, the Turneresque haze which hung over the sky, even in +this fine summer weather. + +The City was a solemn land of work, but the West End was a fairy realm +of luxury and pleasure. Flowers everywhere, stacked up in great piles +at the corners of the streets; hanging from window-boxes; massed +together in the beds of the parks. The carriages blocked one another in +the narrow roads; the balconies were draped with awnings; gorgeously- +clad flunkeys stood upon the doorsteps, ushering in long streams of +visitors. In the City men worked for money; in the West End they threw +it away, carelessly, heedlessly, as if it had been dross. The great +hotels sheltered hives of strangers, who admired and criticised, envied +and scoffed, and flitted industriously about on the edge of the feast; +on the edge, but never actually passing over the border! + +On the fourth morning of her stay in town, a note, addressed in a +strange handwriting, was brought to Cornelia, with her morning tea. She +guessed at its authorship before opening the envelope, and reading the +name "Rupert Guest," at the end of the letter. "Rupert!" A good name, +an appropriate name! Strong and manly, with an old-world echo of +dignity in the sound. One could not associate this man with +abbreviations or nicknames. At work and at play, at home and abroad, he +would remain plain, unabbreviated "Rupert." One doubted if even his own +mother ventured on a familiarity! Cornelia read the few lines with +lively curiosity:-- + + "Dear Miss Briskett,--I was disappointed to miss seeing you when I + called at your hotel on Saturday. My aunt, Lady Seymour, is giving a + reception to-morrow afternoon, and would be delighted to see you and + your friends, if you have nothing better on hand. There ought to be + some pretty good music. I will call at three o'clock, on the chance + that you may care to come.--Yours faithfully, Rupert Guest." + +Enclosed was a formal card of invitation, dated from Grosvenor Gate, +"Miss Briskett and party" written on the corner. + +Cornelia sat banked up against her pillows, her ruddy locks framing her +little face in a glory of rippling curls and waves, her lips pursed in +slow reflection. + +"No-o! I guess Miss Briskett and party would rather not! I don't see +the fun of squeezing in among a lot of grandees, who don't want anything +of us but just to quiz and stare, and make remarks. If he'd asked me +alone, I'd have risked it, just to see how they manage their shows over +here; but he's too proper to take me without a chaperon, and ... Well, +anyway, the Moffatts are right-down good to me, and I'll have no hand in +having them snubbed! Miss Briskett will politely refuse, and the party +won't have a chance of accepting, for they won't be told anything about +it. I hate a fuss." + +Cornelia went downstairs, deciding to write a letter before going out, +and post it to the club; but during breakfast Mrs Moffatt announced +with profuse apologies that she and her husband were obliged to devote +the afternoon to visiting a friend living at some distance from town, +and must therefore leave her to her own resources. Perhaps she would +like to do a little shopping on her own account, take a drive, or visit +a gallery! Cornelia, with a sudden rising of spirits, guessed she could +find a dozen things to do, and bade her friends feel no anxiety on her +score. She wrote no letters that morning, but sallied forth on the +inevitable shopping excursion, with a particularly gay and jaunty air, +and an inclination to bubble into laughter on the slightest provocation, +at which Mrs Moffatt exclaimed in envy-- + +"My, what spirits you do enjoy! I wish I could laugh like that. Some +people have all the luck!" She sighed as she spoke, and Cornelia, +glancing at her, caught a haggard look beneath the white veil. It +occurred to her for the first time that her hostess was no longer young. +She wondered how she would look at night, denuded of powder and rouge, +and luxuriant golden locks? An elderly woman, thin and worn, with the +crow's feet deepening round her eyes. A woman whose life was spent in +the pursuit of personal gain, and who reaped in return the inevitable +harvest of weariness and satiety. Cornelia was too happy to judge her +harshly. She was sorry for her and made a point of being unusually +amiable during the long hours of trailing about from shop to shop, which +were beginning to be a severe tax on her patience. Mrs Moffatt never +seemed to make a purchase outright, but preferred to pay half a dozen +visits to a shop, trying on garment or ornament, as the case might be, +haggling over the price, and throwing small sops to the vendor, in the +shape of the purchase of insignificant trifles. + +Cornelia herself was tempted to buy a number of articles which she +neither needed nor knew exactly how to use, partly from want of +something to do while her companion was occupied, and partly from a +sense of shame, at giving so much trouble for nothing. Every day, also, +boxes of fineries were sent "on approval," to the hotel, so that one +seemed to live in a constant atmosphere of milliner's shop. Cornelia +wondered to what purpose was this everlasting dressing up. The dejected +Silas could hardly count as an audience, since he was the most +indifferent of husbands, and it seemed a poor reward for so much trouble +to receive the passing glances of strangers. + +"I hope when I settle down, I'll have some real interest in life. I'll +take care that I have, too! I'd go crazed if there was nothing more to +it than hanging round stores all the time," said Cornelia to herself, as +she bade farewell to her friends after lunch, and settled herself with a +book in the corner of the lounge, to await Guest's arrival. She was +pleased at the prospect of meeting him again; mischievously amused at +the anticipation of his embarrassment when he found that her chaperons +had fled. It would be a delightful change to chat with him for half an +hour, and when he departed to listen to the "pretty good music," she +herself would get into a hansom and drive to Saint Paul's to listen to +the wonderful boys' voices chanting the evening service. Cathedrals +were not included in the London known to Mrs Silas P Moffatt, but +Cornelia was determined not to leave the metropolis without visiting the +great temple of the East. After four days of pure, undiluted Moffatt, +she felt mentally and spiritually starved. It would be good to leave +the world and sit apart awhile beneath the great dome... + +At five minutes past three by the clock, Guest appeared in the doorway +of the hotel, made an inquiry of the porter, and was directed to +Cornelia's sheltered seat. She saw him cast a glance over her neat, +walking costume, as he approached, and naughtily determined to prolong +his uncertainty. On her own side, she honestly admired his appearance; +compared him to his advantage with the other men in the hall, and was +proud to welcome him as her friend. Her little, white face was +sparkling with animation, as she held out her hand to greet him. + +"How d'you do, Captain Guest? It's real good of you to come again so +soon. I was sorry to miss you Saturday afternoon." + +"So was I." Guest seated himself, and deposited his hat carefully by +his side. "I waited half an hour, and then gave it up, and went to loaf +in the Park. It's the only thing to do before dinner." + +"I saw you there, standing on the sidewalk talking to two ladies, an old +one, and a young one, as pretty as--" + +"A moss rose!" he suggested quickly, and they laughed together over the +remembrance. "Were you driving? I wish I had seen you! Is--er--Mrs +Moffatt quite well?" + +"Puffectly, thank you," said Cornelia, calmly. She noted the quick +glance around, and wondered if he felt it compromising to sit with her +alone, even in the publicity of a hotel lounge. "We drive most +afternoons, and go to the theatre every evening. I'm having a giddy +time--just about as different from Norton as it's possible to imagine! +Have you heard anything from the Manor? That wretched girl has never +sent me as much as a postal, and I'm dying to hear what's going on." + +"No. I've heard nothing. I never for a moment expected that I should. +Greville is too much engaged." Guest knitted his brows, bitched his +trousers at the knee, and cleared his throat uncertainly. Cornelia +divined that he was waiting for her to refer to his aunt's invitation, +and feeling somewhat at a loss to account for the severity of her +costume. At last the question came out suddenly. + +"Er--you got my note?" + +"I did! I thank you for it. It was real kind of good to take the +trouble. I suppose you had to go and ask for those invitations?" + +"I asked, of course, but my aunt was delighted to give them. It will be +quite worth going to, I think--good music, and something of a function! +You would enjoy seeing the people. I hope you are not going to say that +you can't come!" + +"What makes you think that, I wonder? Don't I look smart enough? I'm +sorry you don't approve of my costume!" She sat up straight in her +seat; a smart little hat perched on the top of shaded locks; a neat +little stock beneath the rolled-back collar of her coat; minute little +shoes, with ridiculous points, appearing beneath the hem of her skirt. +Guest looked her over deliberately, his dark face softening into a very +charming smile. + +"I do! Very much indeed!" + +"Maybe it's a trifle homely, but it's best to strike a balance. Mrs +Moffatt's apt to be a bit gaudy on these occasions." + +"It is very good of her to take so much trouble. Is--er--is she nearly +ready, do you know?" + +Cornelia had been narrowly on the watch for the flicker of dismay on +Guest's face; it came surely enough, but was suppressed by such a +gallant effort that, to use her own vernacular, she "weakened" at the +sight. The impish light died out of her eyes, and she said frankly-- + +"I guess I've been jollying all the time! Mrs Moffatt's gone with her +husband to visit a friend who lives quite a good way out, and she won't +be back before seven. I didn't tell her of your invitation, as her +plans were made, so it wasn't worth while. I'm `alone in London' for +the afternoon. Sounds kinder pathetic, don't it; but I'm enjoying it +very well." + +"Then--er--am I to have the pleasure of taking you alone?" + +Cornelia threw him a glance of tragic reproach. + +"Captain Guest! I'm surpr-iz-ed! How dare you take advantage of my +unprotected position, to make such a suggestion? In England young +girls--_nice_ young girls, do not go about with young gentlemen +unchaperoned. I'm shocked at you! I should have believed you would +have been more considerate!" + +"We could start early. I could introduce you to my aunt. She would +find some ladies, with whom you could sit during the concert." + +Cornelia made a grimace, the reverse of appreciative. + +"No, thank you; I guess not! I'm not over-fond of sitting with ladies +at any time, but strange ones are the limit. You tell your aunt that +it's real kind of her, and I vury much regret that I don't want to go. +I've fixed-up just how I'm going to spend the afternoon. First, I'm +going to give you some coffee--the waiter's bringing it along--then, +when you go off to your crush, I shall get into a hansom and drive away +into the City, to Saint Paul's. The service is at four. I'll sit right +by myself, and listen till that's over, then I'll go round and see the +tombs. Quite a number of big people are buried there, I'm told." + +"Saint Paul's!" Guest's tone was eloquent of amazement. "But why Saint +Paul's, of all places on earth? Why not hit on something livelier, +while you are about it? There's a splendid exhibition of paintings in +Bond Street, and the Academy, of course, and the Wallace Collection-- +half a dozen shows which are worth seeing. Why go into the City on a +day like this?" + +"Because I want to! I've had four days cram full of--" She hesitated, +seeking for a word that would not incriminate her hosts--"of _fuss_, and +I want something else for a change. From all I hear, Saint Paul's is a +kinder big, and soothing, and empty. You can sit and think without +being jostled up against someone else all the time. I don't suppose +there's a more sociable creature on earth than I am myself, but every +now and then I've just _got_ to get away and have things out by myself." + +Guest sipped his coffee in thoughtful silence, glancing at Cornelia from +time to time, with eyes full of a new diffidence. An impulse gripped +him, an impulse so extraordinary that he hesitated to put it into words. +He wanted to go to Saint Paul's too; to drive beside Cornelia through +the streets, to see her face as she sat in the dim old cathedral; that +softened, tremulous face, of which he had caught a glimpse once before, +the memory of which lived with him still. When the service was over, he +wanted to be her guide, to climb with her the tortuous staircase, and +look down on the ant-like figures in the streets below; to descend with +her to the subterranean vaults. ... He, Rupert Guest, wished to visit +Saint Paul's on a grilling June afternoon, in preference to attending a +fashionable rendezvous--what madness was this which possessed him? It +was rank folly; he would be ashamed to put the request into words. +Pshaw! it was only the impulse of a moment--he would never think of it +again. Then he looked at Cornelia once more, and heard himself say, in +deliberate tones-- + +"May I come with you? I should not interrupt. If you prefer, I could +sit in another place during the service, but I'd like to come. +Afterwards we could go round together. It would be good of you to give +me the chance." + +"But--the reception?" + +"Oh, hang the reception! I'm not sure that I should go in any ease. Do +let me come, Miss Briskett. I want to. Badly!" + +Cornelia hesitated, staring at him with puzzled eyes. + +"You seemed to think Saint Paul's a pretty queer choice when I mentioned +it a few minutes back!" + +"I did; more shame to me, I suppose; but then you explained your +reasons.--I don't pretend that I should care to go by myself, but if you +take me as your companion, it might be good for me, too. ... Would it +disturb you to have me there?" + +"No-o," said Cornelia, slowly. "I'd as lief you were there as not! I +feel differently since I heard that story. ... You must need heartening +up sometimes. Let's go right along then, and see if we ken't lay in a +store of good thoughts, that will help us along for quite a while. Will +you order a cab?" ... + +Guest walked in silence to the door of the hotel. By his own request he +was going to attend a church afternoon service with Cornelia Briskett! +The thing seemed too extraordinary to be believed! He took his seat in +the hansom in a kind of stunned surprise. Truly, every man was a +stranger to himself, and there was no foretelling what an hour might +bring forth! + +Cornelia turned to survey herself in the slip of mirror, and carefully +adjusted the set of her hat. + +"Say!" she cried, laughingly, "we've forgotten that chaperon! Suppose +you think one's not needed in a cathedral." She paused, dimpling +mischievously. "Well! that's just as you're made. I guess if I were +set on it, I could flirt in a _crypt_!" + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +Captain Guest could not flatter himself that Cornelia was in anyway "set +on" flirting with himself, since nothing could have been further removed +from that attitude than her behaviour during the afternoon. She +displayed a keen interest in her first view of the Strand and Fleet +Street, and though her criticisms of those ancient thoroughfares were +the reverse of complimentary, she was evidently impressed by the vast +solemnity of the cathedral itself. The usual congregation of stragglers +were dotted about on the chairs in the nave; dreary-looking derelicts +from God knows where, who drift in through the open doorways seeking +refuge from heat in summer, and cold in winter, and listen with +apathetic indifference to the passing services. Guest seated himself by +Cornelia's side at the end of an unoccupied row, but for all the notice +she paid him, he might as well have been at his aunt's reception miles +away. Only once, as the boys' voices soared upwards in a strain of +almost unearthly sweetness, did she turn her face towards him, in +involuntary appeal for sympathy, and at that moment there could no +longer be any doubt as to her looks. She was beautiful; so beautiful +that Guest was dazzled by the sight of the white, kindled face. + +The service was an unmitigated success; an hour to cherish in memory, +but in the sight-seeing expedition which followed, there was no denying +the fact that Cornelia _jarred_! Even the most phlegmatic of Englishmen +must be roused to a feeling of pride by such a review of the deeds of +his countrymen as is set forth in a national cathedral; it may be even +conceded that his attitude may be a trifle irritating to strangers from +distant lands; be that as it may Guest and Cornelia seemed fated to view +everything from different points of view. Where he waxed enthusiastic, +she displayed cool commonsense; when he stood dumb, she criticised the +design of the sculpture, and speculated as to the cost; she guessed it +was "playing it pretty low down on Wellington to stow him away in a +cellar," and made scathing remarks by Gordon's memorial. "You muffed it +badly that time! Guess if he'd belonged to _us_, he'd have been hopping +round still!" + +Guest was thankful to mount the narrow staircase leading to the golden +gallery, for Cornelia was so essentially a creature of to-day that he +felt more in sympathy with her in the air and the sunshine, with the +echo of the great city rising to their ears. They stood side by side, +while the breeze blew elf-like tendrils of hair round the girl's face. +The gentle expression of half an hour ago had departed, and she looked a +creature of steel and flame; a vital, indomitable being, tingling with +energy and joy. At sight of the forest of chimney pots stretching away +into the horizon, her eyes shone with an enthusiasm which the wonders of +the cathedral had failed to inspire. To Guest the outlook was +dreariness personified; the vastness which so impressed his companion +conveyed to him only a realisation of work and struggle; of a pent-house +in which human creatures struggled for existence. He stood in silence, +while Cornelia exhausted her supply of adjectives, brooding on the +difference in the standpoints from which each regarded life, until +presently she interrupted with a personal question. + +"You have never told me where you live, Captain Guest! London is not +your real home, is it?" + +"Thank goodness, no! I could never live in a city. My home is in the +country--Staffordshire. It was a valuable property fifty or sixty years +ago, but the factories have crept nearer and nearer, and, of course, +that depreciates values. It is let at present. I hope to save enough +money to go back in time to end my days there. It's a fine old place, +but its value is bound to go on dropping." + +"Couldn't you pull it down, and build small property on the site? If +there are factories about it might pay vury well." + +Guest's look of stupefaction, incredulity, of horror, could scarcely +have been greater if Cornelia had suggested a leap down to the street +beneath. "Good heavens! what an idea! You can't realise what you are +talking about, Miss Briskett. That house has been in the possession of +my family since the time of the Tudors!" + +Cornelia elevated indifferent eyebrows. "I don't know as that's any +reason why you should drop money on it now! I wouldn't take any stock +of Toodors beside my own convenience. It's better to own a house you +ken live in, than the Garden of Eden, and be obliged to rent it out!" + +"There is such a thing as sentiment, Miss Briskett, though you don't +seem to realise it." + +"Don't you make any mistake about that! I realise it right enough. I'm +death on sentiment in its right place, but it takes a back seat when +daily bread comes into the question." + +"And if I told you that I'd rather starve than desecrate the home of my +ancestors--that I'd sooner end my days in a London garret than level a +single wall for my own benefit--what then? Would you put me down as a +madman for my pains?" + +Guest spoke with unwonted passion, staring down into the girl's face +with challenging eyes, but Cornelia preserved her attitude of +complacent, albeit commiserating, superiority. + +"My Poppar'd say it was sheer wickedness to see a chance of making +money, and letting it slide, but I don't go so far as that. Everyone +has a right to be miserable in his own way, but--I prefer to be +comfortable." + +Her ripple of laughter struck a chill to Guest's heart. He looked at +her moodily beneath knitted brows. + +"How is it that we always _do_ feel differently? We seem never to +agree. What is the explanation, I wonder?" + +"We _are_ different!" returned Cornelia, simply. "The difference is +deep down beneath all we say or do. We're _made_ differently from the +start. You felt it the first moment we met, and I did the same. We +kinder hated each other, and wanted to scratch! That was instinct! You +don't get behind instinct in a hurry. Later on other things come in and +muddle one up, but just in the first moment one sees clearly. You +thought Elma Ramsden the sweetest thing, and were all fired up to help +her, but when you looked at me you were bursting with pride and +prejudice. Why was that, I want to know?" + +"You have answered yourself. Prejudice--a blind, ignorant prejudice, of +which I am ashamed; and pride--wounded pride, because you attempted to +lay down the law! Don't judge me by that unfortunate beginning, Miss +Briskett. I have repented sufficiently to deserve forgiveness!" + +Cornelia rested her chin on her clasped hands, and stared thoughtfully +over the forest of chimney-tops. + +"You are sorry because I'm a girl, and we've had some pretty good times +together; but that don't alter the position of the case. I guess we are +each pretty good types of our different nationalities. We ken't blame +ourselves for that; if the truth's told, I expect we are proud of it, +but it makes it impossible to feel the same way. We're bound to jolt up +against each other every time we dip below the surface." + +"You find it impossible then to think of me as a friend?" + +To his own amazement there was a touch of genuine anxiety in Guest's +voice. It seemed to matter a great deal whether this girl of the ruddy +locks and curling lips accepted his friendship, or deliberately put it +aside; to matter none the less that she had jarred upon a dozen +prejudices during the course of the last half hour! He knew the tension +of suspense before he met her radiant, answering smile. + +"Oh, my, no, we're friends right enough! If you haven't to live with +people all the time, it's easy enough to avoid the rubs. I guess we can +agree to differ for the few times we're likely to meet." ... She buried +her face in her hand, to suppress a yawn. "Those steps have just about +finished me! I'm all used up. Don't you want to give me some tea? I +noticed one of those Fuller stores in the Strand as we came along. +Let's go right back and have a rest!" + +Guest led the way downwards, feeling but indifferently consoled. An +uncomfortable depression weighed on him as he walked through the +streets, and sat with Cornelia in a corner of the tea-shop. It was the +first meal of which he had partaken in her company, and it gave a +feeling of intimacy to face each other across the daintily-spread table, +to watch her pour out tea with the pretty white hands on which the +diamond solitaire twinkled meaningly. She seemed really tired, and for +once was content to be silent while she drank boiling tea and munched +rich cakes, with supreme disregard of digestion. As for Guest, two +phrases rang in his ears, to the exclusion of other thoughts--"The few +times we are likely to meet"--"We might be a honeymoon couple..." Two +suggestions, far apart as the poles, yet each bringing within it a +thrill of something like fear. He did not wish to find himself in the +position of bridegroom to this Yankee stranger; the thought was absurd, +nevertheless it was distinctly unpleasant to picture anyone else +occupying the position! It was worse than unpleasant, it was actually +painful to think that the newly-formed friendship might be interrupted +by a separation of three thousand miles! He sat, staring at his +companion with the intensity which accompanies a preoccupied mind, until +presently Cornelia began to arch her eyebrows, purse up her lips, and +crane her head from side to side. + +"I beg your pardon! If I was to get up and stand on that bench, do you +think it would aid your scrutiny? What's the verdict, please? It's the +least you can do to tell me, after quizzing all this time! ... What do +you think of my looks? Honestly, mind, without any bunkum! I'm crazy +to know." + +"I think--sometimes--you are beautiful!" + +"Seriously? You mean it?" + +"I do!" + +The golden eyes met his with a flash of delight, and an arm was +stretched impetuously across the table. "Shake hands! You're just the +nicest thing! To be puffectly candid, I've thought the same once or +twice when I've caught sight of myself in a mirror at a big moment, when +I was all worked up!--Big moments are vury suiting, but on ordinary +days" (Cornelia put a strong accent on the penultimate), "my nose," she +closed one eye to regard with the other the sharp little tip of the +member in question, "there's no getting away from it, that my nose is a +set-back! It's a mean little thing, without a mite of dignity. And I'm +kinder washed-out and pasty by your English roses! Do you think I +should look better if my cheeks were pink like Elma's?" + +She looked at him with arch inquiry, and even as she did so, either as +the result of something which she read in the watching eyes, or by the +action of some mysterious mental power, the pink flamed in her cheek, +and lo! she was a rose herself; a wonderful, exotic rose, flaming from +red to gold! Guest looked at her for a moment, and then hastily dropped +his eyes. He was not by nature an impetuous man, but he had a +conviction that if he looked at Cornelia any longer at this moment, he +might say something which he should afterwards regret. + +He did not answer. It seemed unnecessary to answer. His eyes had done +that eloquently enough in that moment of meeting. There was a long +silence, while Guest mentally pulled himself together, calling himself a +fool for his pains; recalling the fact that by her own confession +Cornelia was an accomplished flirt; steeling himself against her +blandishments. When presently he heard his name pronounced in dulcet +tones, he looked up with his most unapproachable air. Cornelia was +holding her plate towards him with one hand, while with the other she +held a fragment of cake to her lips. + +"Another piece, please!" she commanded. "It's the best thing I've +struck since I've been this side, and I'm going to wolf into it for all +I'm worth! Ordinary meals bore the life out of me, but I'm just wicked +when I get started on sweets!" + +Guest signalled to a damsel in attendance, and saw her eyes widen in +amazement at the renewed order. She walked away suppressing a smile, +and could be observed obviously retailing the incident to a companion +behind the counter. It detracted woefully from the romance of the +situation to be pointed out as a couple who had demolished a large +plateful of cakes, and sent out an order for more! + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +Before parting from Cornelia at the hotel, Guest made a point of finding +out her programme of amusements for the next few days, as a consequence +of which he called at a theatrical depot on his way to his club, and +secured an odd stall for either night. He had already more social +engagements than he could keep, but it occurred to him that it would be +possible to run into the theatre for an odd half hour, and chat with +Cornelia during an interval, on his way from one place to another. He +assured himself with much solemnity that it was his duty to look after +the girl, since she had told him that he seemed to her like a bit of +home, and he had the poorest possible opinion of her hosts. + +As for Cornelia, she ran gaily upstairs to her room, disdaining the +lift, and all a-sparkle with pleasurable excitement. From her point of +view the afternoon had been an unmitigated success; she had been +conscious of no jar, being blandly indifferent to every opinion but her +own, and was now as whole-hearted in appreciation of her companion as +she had previously been violent in denunciation. He was just the +sweetest thing, and she was going to see him again to-morrow; maybe, to- +night. It felt like being at home again to have a nice man hopping +around! + +She threw open the door of her room, and started with surprise to meet +Mrs Moffatt on the threshold, her arms piled high with parcels. A +long, narrow box lay on the top, and she had an impression of seeing her +own name written on the cover, before Mrs Moffatt hurried past, +speaking rapidly over her shoulder. + +"Why, Cornelia, is that you? Excuse me, won't you, coming into your +room? The stupid things have gotten the parcels all mixed up. These +are the things I ordered this morning. Come into the parlour before you +change. I want you a moment." + +She bustled down the passage towards her own room, deposited her +bundles, then crossed the corridor to the sitting-room, where Cornelia +was already seated. She looked up as the elder woman entered, and +thought she had never seen her look so worn and tired; so old, despite +the artificial colouring. + +"I'm afraid you've not had a good time. You look all used up! Wasn't +the visit as nice as you expected?" + +Mrs Moffatt threw herself down on a chair with a sigh of impatience. + +"Oh, my dear, I am so rattled! Every mortal thing's gone wrong from +start to finish. Don't ask me about it, for it don't bear speaking of. +My head aches fit to split, and now Silas has taken the huff and marched +off goodness knows where, and there's a man sitting down in the hall +refusing to go away until he gets his money, and disgracing me before +the whole hotel. It's for those furs I had sent in the other day. I +decided to keep them, and mailed them to a friend in the country to +house for me. I can't be worried with a lot of goods in a hotel, so she +gives me store-room until we sail. That's where I'm fixed-up, you see. +I can't give him either the goods or the money, and when Silas turns +ugly, goodness only knows when he may come back. Maybe not till late at +night. I'm so mortified I don't know what to do." + +Cornelia laughed easily. + +"Don't you worry. It's as easy as pie. I'll give you a cheque, and Mr +Moffatt can pay me back in the morning. I'll go and write it out for +you now. What's the damage?" + +"Two hundred pounds; Fredburg and Company. You are an angel, Cornelia! +I ken't begin to thank you." + +"Don't try, please! What does it matter for a few hours?" cried +Cornelia, brightly. She went into her own room, made out the cheque, +and handed it to her friend, who promptly carried it away, to return at +the expiration of five minutes with a sigh of relief. + +"That was one for him. He looked kinder small when he saw your name on +the cheque. It's real sweet of you, dear, and Silas will pay up like a +lamb when you are the creditor. He won't show his temper to you, as he +would to me. You are a stranger, you see, and I'm only his wife." + +There was an accent of bitterness in the speaker's voice, and she leant +her head on her hands, in an attitude of profound dejection. Cornelia +had never before been the witness of so abandoned a mood, but her ideas +of loyalty were too much outraged to permit of sympathy. She held her +head erect, and her voice sounded cold and distant. + +"I'd just as soon not hear any more about Mr Moffatt, if you don't +mind. He's been very kind to me, and it's not my business how he +behaves. I guess a good many men get crusty when the bills come in, and +you're a pretty expensive wife. I should think you'd get tired of +prowling about those stores!" + +Mrs Moffatt flushed, and bit her lower lip, not attempting to defend +herself, but staring before her with weary, vacant eyes. It was a +welcome diversion when a waiter entered the room carrying a tray with +tea and refreshments, and Cornelia waited on her hostess with an +attention which was intended to mitigate her late severity. Although a +fuller acquaintance of Mrs Moffatt had increased neither liking nor +respect, it had developed a sincere pity for a woman whose life was +barren of purpose, of interest, apparently of love also. It was not in +Cornelia's nature to see anyone suffer and not try to help, and if it +had been her own mother on whom she was waiting she could not have shown +more care and consideration. A table was placed by Mrs Moffatt's side, +tea was made with exact remembrance of her preferences; a cushion was +brought from a sofa to put behind her back, and a footstool placed ready +for her feet. It was while she still knelt to put the stool in position +that the elder woman at length broke silence. + +"See here, Cornelia!" she cried suddenly, "I mayn't have another chance +of talking to you quietly before you go, and there's something I want to +say. ... You are young, and rich, and pretty, and strong, and you've +had a good time all the way through. Your Poppar spoils you, and you've +got just to wish for a thing, and it's there right along. I'm glad of +it, for you're a real sweet girl, but, _don't come down too hard on +other people_! ... It's a pretty queer world when you compare one +person's luck with another! I'm not going to tell you all I've come +through, but it's not been too easy. At times I've been to blame, and +at times I haven't. I don't know as it makes much difference anyway-- +the end's the same. Seems to you I'm a pretty poor thing, but you don't +know how you'd have been yourself, Cornelia, if you'd come along the +same road. You've got to remember that, before you judge!" + +"That's so!" assented Cornelia, gravely. She was too "straight" to deny +an insinuation which was all too true, but at the same time she felt an +acute regret and embarrassment in the thought that a woman so much older +than herself should feel it necessary to make such a confession of +unworthiness. "I ought to be a heap better than I am, for there isn't +anyone living that's had a better time. We've had spells when Poppar's +had bad luck, and the money's been short, but we were as happy as grigs +planning out how we'd spend the next pile. So long as you can get +along, it doesn't matter much about the extras, when you're as happy +together as we are, Poppar and I." + +Mrs Moffatt sighed once more. + +"I never knew my parents. They died when I was a baby, and I was raised +among strangers, who put up with me for the sake of the pay. Love never +came my way, somehow. I suppose some folks would say that was my own +fault. There was a man I could have cared for, but he didn't want me, +and I married Silas for a change; to get away from the dull old life. +... You be careful who you marry, Cornelia! You're the sort of girl +who does things pretty thoroughly either way; there's no middle course +for you. You're bound to be either blissful or wretched. You've got +enough money of your own, so you can afford to choose. Lucky girl!--Is +it going to be that Captain Guest?" + +"Suttenly not!" Cornelia rose to her feet, and walked back to the tea- +table, very stiff in the back, and pink in the cheeks. She was angry +with herself for blushing, and the fact naturally made her blush the +more. "I told you before that we have only met once or twice, and +more'n half the time has been taken up in quarrelling. We are too +different ever to run together in double harness." + +"Well--I'm sorry! He's got lots of frills, but he looks the right sort +all the same. I'm sorry. You ought to have a good man, Cornelia." + +Mrs Moffatt pushed aside her half-finished cup of tea, and rose wearily +to her feet. + +"Well, I guess I'll go and dress. We'll have some champagne for dinner, +and that will perk us up for the theatre. They say it's a real good +play, and we shall only be together two more nights, so I want you to +have a good time. It seems mean not to ask you to stay on, but our +plans are all uncertain. We may be off ourselves any time now. Silas +never settles down for more than a few days." + +Cornelia gave the politely inaudible murmur usual on such occasions. +Much as she had enjoyed the stay in town, she could not pretend to +regret the prospect of returning to Norton. Later on she would make a +longer visit to town, in Poppar's company, but even if the invitation +were given she could not consent to remain any longer the guest of Mrs +Silas P Moffatt. She was a woman whom it was impossible to respect, and +to Cornelia, respect was a necessary foundation to friendship. Silas +did not count! He was "a little misery," to be regarded only as an +adjunct to his wife. She was even surprised to hear that he was capable +of exhibiting ill-temper. In any case, it seemed to be short-lived, as +dinner found him in his usual place, and then and throughout the evening +he was, if anything, a trifle more animated than usual, thanking +Cornelia warmly for helping his wife out of an awkward position, and +regretting that in the rush to the theatre there was not time to +discharge the debt forthwith. "But we must settle up after breakfast +to-morrow. Short accounts make long friends!" he declared smilingly, as +he helped her to put on her cloak. + +Cornelia had dressed with a vivid remembrance of the fact that Captain +Guest had never seen her in evening attire, and a determination to +secure "a big moment," for his benefit. When an hour or two later he +stood at the entrance to the stalls, and caught sight of her seated in +the centre of the front row, it seemed at first sight that she was clad +entirely in black, but even as he was applauding the choice for the +display of ruddy locks and snowy shoulders, she made a sudden movement, +and lo! the black was transformed into vivid, glittering green. Now she +was conspicuous--too conspicuous, to please his fastidious taste. He +could see opera-glasses levelled on her from the boxes overhead, and +over the edge of the dress circle. She sat well forward in her stall, +with head thrown back, and eyes fixed upon the stage, in absorbed +attention. There was no doubting the unconsciousness of the pose; she +was as oblivious of the gaze of others as of his own presence, but he +felt an irritated longing to muffle her in veils and wrappings; to lift +her up and transplant her to the back seat in a box. What business had +those idiots to stare at her, as if she were one of the actresses on the +stage? He branded the idiots with even stronger titles, the while he +continued to follow their example. Surely it was a forgivable sin to be +conspicuously attractive; to stand out, vivid and dazzling, from the +surrounding throng, whose chief characteristics seemed to be a bleached +inanity, and indifference... + +Guest stood in the shadow, his deep-set eyes fixed on the girl with +unblinking scrutiny. He remembered that such a gaze was said to demand +a response where a certain amount of affinity existed between the people +involved, and put out his strength to try the truth of the statement in +his own case. The proof came almost startlingly soon. Cornelia's head +turned over her shoulder, and her eyes lightened with a flash of +recognition. She smiled at him, nodded her head, and arched her brows, +signalling a message, which he could easily divine to be an invitation +to come to speak to her between the acts. When the curtain fell, Mr +Moffatt made an immediate rush for the door, and Guest took possession +of his seat, devoutly thankful that it did not happen to adjoin that of +the other lady of the party. + +"I'm very pleased to meet you again! Seems quite a good time since we +parted," said Cornelia, gaily. Her hair stood out round her head like a +halo of gold, her eyes shone like stars, her cheeks were softly pink. +Guest was dazzled by the bizarre beauty of her. She wore no jewels, not +so much as a chain round her neck, and the dress by some witchery was +black once more, a thin black gauze, heavily jetted. He pointed at it +with a curious finger. + +"I could have sworn it was green over there! What has happened to turn +it into black?" + +Cornelia laughed complacently. + +"It's meant to change! There are skirts and skirts: ever so many of +them, on top of each other, and each one is different. They all get a +chance at times. It's the vury latest craze. Mrs Moffatt nearly +killed me when she saw it." + +"A chameleon effect. I see! Is it supposed to be symbolic?" + +"Of me? I guess not! When I've made up my mind, I _stick_! There's no +chopping about for this child!" + +It was extraordinary how illusion vanished at the sound of the high- +pitched, nasal voice. The fairy princess vanished, and in her place sat +a flesh-and-blood damsel, composed, complacent, and matter-of-fact. +Guest felt again the intrusion of a jarring note. He would have liked +Cornelia to welcome him with a flutter of embarrassment, to have seen +her eyes droop before his, and hear a quiver in her voice. He wanted to +realise that he was the natural head and protector, and she the woman, +the weak, clinging creature, whose happy destiny it was to be the +helpmeet of man; but as Cornelia herself would have phrased it, there +was "no cling to her." It seemed ridiculous to think of protection in +connection with a creature so jauntily self-satisfied and independent. + +He sat by her side until the conclusion of the interval, but the +conversation was forced and uninteresting, and he rose to depart with +the depressing consciousness that the interview had been a failure, +since it left him less in sympathy with Cornelia than he had been in the +afternoon. + +On his way to the door, Guest's eyes caught the signal of a warning fan, +and he looked up to see one of the boxes occupied by a party of his own +friends. He had been too much occupied with Cornelia to look around the +audience, but now it was impossible to leave the theatre without going +upstairs a few minutes. After the ordinary greetings, complaints of the +heat, and comparisons of engagements, followed the inevitable question-- + +"Who is Miss Rossetti?" + +"I beg your pardon?" + +"Your friend in the stalls. The girl with the wonderful hair?" + +"She's an American--a Miss Briskett. Over from the States on a short +visit. I met her lately down in the country, and we happened to strike +the same week for a visit to town." + +"Lucky for you! I've been admiring her all night. That hair and skin, +and the glittering black-green frock! Quite bewitching! Where is she +staying?" + +"At the Ritz, with some people she met coming over. She knows no one +over here." + +The good lady's interest appeased, she turned back to the stage, +fluttering her fan to and fro. Attracted by its movement, or by the +glances focussed upon her, Cornelia tilted her head upwards, recognised +Guest, and whispered to her companion. Mr Moffatt's eyes travelled +obediently towards the box, to fasten, not on Guest but on the man by +his side. For a moment they widened in unmistakable recognition, +before, of set purpose, as it were, they grew blank and lifeless. He +bowed slightly to Guest, and turned back to the stage. + +The man by Guest's side laughed drily, and followed him out into the +corridor. + +"Look here, Guest," he said shortly, "if that girl is a friend of yours, +and is staying in a hotel here with those people, you'd better advise +her to get away as soon as possible! That man's a bad egg. I ran up +against him in Marienbad last year. He and his wife made the hotel too +hot to hold them, and were politely requested to leave. There was +nothing definite proved, but too many shady things to be pleasant. He +had an extraordinary facility for winning at cards, and the fair Mrs +Schuter--by the way her hair was brown at that time--" + +"These people are called Moffatt! Perhaps you are mistaking them for +somebody else!" Guest interrupted eagerly: but he knew the futility of +his hope before he heard the reply. + +"No doubt they have half a dozen aliases! What does it matter what they +choose to call themselves. You saw for yourself that the man recognised +me just now. Sorry to interfere, you know, and all that, but I'd be +nailing sorry to leave any girl I knew in such a caravansary. Thought I +ought to tell you!" + +"Thanks very much! You are perfectly right. I'll send her off to- +morrow," said Guest, firmly. As he walked down the steps again he was +smouldering with fury, with an impulse to walk into the theatre, +denounce the adventurers to their faces, and bear Cornelia away to a +place of safety. For all her assurance, events had proved that she was +neither capable of taking care of herself, nor of choosing her own +companions. She had been led away by impulse, like other girls; he +liked her the more, not the less, for the discovery, and his heart +softened at the thought of her disillusion. No use to worry her to- +night! Let her have a good night's rest, and to-morrow morning, bright +and early, he would go round to the hotel, when Mr and Mrs Schuter, or +Moffatt, or whatever their name happened to be, would once more find +their quarters too hot to hold them! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +On returning to the hotel that evening, Mr Moffatt announced that he +and his wife had business on hand next morning, which would necessitate +an early breakfast, and that once again they would be obliged to leave +Cornelia to her own resources. He suggested, however, that they should +all meet at Paddington Station at two o'clock, whence they could take +train to Maidenhead for an afternoon on the river. + +Cornelia hailed the prospect with delight, and mentally dedicated the +morning to doing a picture-gallery, and to choosing a suitable present +for her aunt and Elma Ramsden. Aunt Soph should have lace; something +soft, and smooth, and womanly, to take the place of the prickly steel +trimmings which seemed to constitute her one idea of adornment. Elma, +dear thing, what should be chosen for her? Not clothes; it would not be +good taste to offer another gift of the kind; a piece of jewellery would +be best; something good and quiet, and unobtrusive, suitable for the +wear of "a nice young girl." + +Cornelia chuckled to herself in prospective enjoyment next morning, as +she repaired to the private sitting-room of the suite, where breakfast +was invariably served. Her host and hostess had already risen from the +table and were dressed for walking. Mrs Moffatt stood before the +window looking down into the street with a pale and worried expression. +Her husband was scribbling at a side table, but jumped up at Cornelia's +entrance, as if he had been anxiously awaiting her appearance. + +"Ah, good-morning, Miss Briskett! We are just off, but I wanted to +settle up with you first. Here's the cheque, with many thanks! Perhaps +you will kindly look over it, to see it is all right." + +"Oh, Mr Moffatt, you should not have troubled when you were so hustled. +It's too good of you!" cried Cornelia, eagerly, her heart warming to +the little man for a promptitude in money matters which reminded her of +her own beloved Poppar. "Of course it's all right!" She cast a casual +glance over the cheque, and broke into a surprised laugh. "It isn't, +though! You've paid me too much! I guess I'm not a usurer, to want +interest for a single night. It was only two hundred that I lent!" + +Mr Moffatt gave an exclamation of irritation. + +"And I have made it out for two hundred and fifty! How very annoying! +I have advised it to the bank, too, and sent off the letter. I wanted +to get through with as much business as possible this morning. The more +hurry the less speed! Why on earth could you not give me the right +figures, Gertrude?" + +He turned upon his wife with an expression of querulous anger, which she +treated with her usual cool disdain. + +"I _did_ tell you, Silas--but, for the land's sake, don't make a fuss! +It's simple enough, Cornelia can give me the change in notes, and it +will do to pay up one or two odd accounts before we leave. You won't +mind, dear, I know; and, see here! I'm fairly rattled this morning, and +I want you to help me through. I've written out a list of errands that +ought to be done right away, as soon as you've gotten through breakfast. +The particulars are down on this list, and I'd be for ever obliged. +You ought to get through before one, if you start soon, so meet me at +Buzzard's and we'll have lunch together. In case I should be late, +don't wait, but just order for yourself, and allow half an hour to get +to Paddington. If I'm delayed, I'll go straight there, and look out for +you on our platform." + +"That'll be all right. I'll stay till you come," Cornelia assented. +She had already opened the gold chain bag which hung by her side, and +was smoothing-out a roll of notes. "Two fives, two tens; I guess that's +all I can do this morning! I'll give you the rest to-night." + +"Oh, my, yes; there's no hurry. Thank you, dear; much obliged!" said +Mrs Moffatt, lightly, but her expression altered as she spoke. +Cornelia wondered if she were imagining a look of disappointment. It +_must_ be imagination, for of what importance were a trumpery hundred +dollars to a woman who daily squandered many times the amount on her own +adornment! + +After the Moffatts had departed, Cornelia ate her breakfast, and set out +in a hansom to accomplish Mrs Moffatt's commissions before proceeding +to shop on her own account. She handed the driver the list of addresses +which she was asked to visit in town, and wondered at his expression of +astonishment; but she wondered no longer as they traversed mile after +mile of dreary roadways, to find on arriving at the first destination +that as great a distance still separated it from the second on the list. +The commissions themselves were trivial and unimportant, at which +Cornelia was not surprised after her personal experience of Mrs +Moffatt's shopping eccentricities, but when she had wasted a couple of +hours driving to and fro for no tangible result, she waxed impatient, +determined that she had done enough for the honour of friendship, and +that Mrs Moffatt could herself finish the remaining transactions. She +therefore directed the driver to take her to the jeweller's shop in Bond +Street where she had made her previous purchases, and anticipated a +pleasant half hour choosing an ornament which would commend itself to +Elma's approval. + +The partner in the firm welcomed her with his usual empressement, +mingled with a certain surprise for which she was at a loss to account. +Although a keen tradesman, pearl brooches and bangles seemed this +morning too trivial matters to engross his attention; he had the air of +waiting momentarily to discuss a more important subject, and presently +introduced it himself, unable to be longer silent. + +"I despatched a messenger to the hotel an hour ago with the emerald +necklace! Mrs Moffatt informed him that you were not in at the moment, +but would be able to see him at tea-time. She was probably unaware that +you intended to call yourself." + +"Yes, she was. It doesn't matter a mite. So long as she was there, +it's all right," Cornelia replied, turning over the tray of ornaments +absently. It seemed odd that Mrs Moffatt should have returned to the +hotel after representing that she was obliged to be absent all morning, +but no doubt some engagement had fallen through which she had intended +to keep. She had lifted a brooch in her hands and turned towards the +window to examine the colour of the pearls, when the jeweller spoke +again. + +"We were delighted to receive your agreement to take the necklace, for, +as Mrs Moffatt had definitely decided that it was beyond her figure, we +were on the point of sending it over to our Paris house. I am sure Mr +Briskett will not regret this purchase when he sees the quality of the +stones." + +Cornelia stood stock-still, staring hard at the little pearl brooch, a +hundred vague doubts and dreads which had previously been resolutely +thrust aside, darting back into her mind with a new and terrible +significance. She felt stunned and bewildered, but the predominant +sensation was the necessity for caution. She must be certain of what +had happened before she presumed to judge. She rallied all her self- +possession, and was surprised at the natural sound of her own voice as +she replied-- + +"What makes you speak of my father, Mr Marchant? Did I mention to you +at any time that he was fond of emeralds?" + +"I believe you did on one occasion, but it was your reference this +morning to which I alluded." Mr Marchant drew out his pocket-book and +selected one letter from the contents. "This is it, I think. Yes! You +say--`I have just received a cable permission from my father, Mr Edward +B Briskett, to purchase the emerald necklace.' I was referring to this +quotation, rather than any casual remark." + +Cornelia leant over the counter and read the words with her own eyes; +saw the signature of her own name written below in Mrs Moffatt's +handwriting. + +"Why, of course! I forgot. I never do remember what I write," she said +calmly. + +She was sure now; there was no longer any reason for doubt! The +everlasting shopping expeditions; the purchase of a succession of +worthless trifles; the exploiting of her own wealth, had all been +designed to create a confidence which would prepare the way for such a +_coup_ as the present. And this morning she had been deliberately +decoyed out of the way, while the last scene of the comedy was enacted. +The messages were plainly a ruse, while the different rendezvous would +have provided a further detention, allowing the conspirators plenty of +time to decamp. + +Once opened, Cornelia's eyes were wonderfully keen. She understood now +why the goods which it was inconvenient to harbour in a hotel had been +constantly despatched to the keeping of "a friend." She realised that +she had been cheated--doubly cheated--in first giving a cheque for two +hundred pounds, and afterwards in counting out change for a worthless +return. + +"I need never fancy myself again after this! I'm just the greenest +peach on the wall!" she told herself furiously, but through all the +anger and shock, the necessity for caution remained predominant in her +mind. Mr Marchant must not suspect that anything was wrong. Even now, +at the eleventh hour, the fraud might be prevented. She must get back +to the hotel at once; see Mrs Moffatt and reason with her, argue with +her, command her to hand over the jewels! The woman was not all bad, +and life had gone hardly with her. She should have another chance! +Cornelia waived aside all thought of responsibility toward the jeweller +himself, by the easy decision to pay for the necklace if necessary, but +a sudden feeling of helplessness weighed upon her at the prospect of the +interview ahead. + +Suppose Mr Moffatt were at the hotel with his wife! Then there would +be two to one, and once the outer veneer was broken through, there was +no saying to what extremes of abuse, of threatening, even of violence +itself, they might descend. Cornelia recalled the two faces; the +woman's hard, sullen, coarse; the man's mean and crafty, and shuddered +at the prospect. + +All at once the thought of Guest occurred, to bring with it a wave of +relief. Guest had begged her to summon him if at any time he should be +needed; now the need had arisen, and he should help her through. + +She hastily selected a pearl bangle and laid it on one side on the +counter. + +"I will decide on that! Let your man bring it round at five o'clock, +and ask to see me personally. He can bring a bill made out for all I +owe, and I'll settle at once. And, Mr Marchant, I want to use your +telephone! Can you ring and have me switched on to the Army and Navy +Club?" + +While the preliminary operations were going on at the telephone, +Cornelia racked her brain to think of a suitable rendezvous, and failing +a better suggestion, decided on a tea-shop exactly across the road. To +her immense relief, Guest was found at his club, and announced that he +would be with her in ten minutes' time, so that there was nothing to do +but to dismiss the hansom, and secure a table in a quiet corner. + +The time seemed long, but in reality it was less than ten minutes before +Guest seated himself by her side. He looked grave and stern; +preoccupied almost to the point of discourtesy, for the ordinary +greetings were exchanged for a succession of short, eager questions. + +"Where have you been all the morning? Have you been back to the hotel? +Did you get my message?" + +"I did not! I've been out since about half-past nine. What was the +message about? Anything important?" + +"Tell me first what you wanted me for just now." + +Cornelia paused for a moment and her lips trembled. She clasped her +hands together and leant across the little table, staring earnestly into +his eyes. + +"Captain Guest, I'm in trouble! I've a pretty good opinion of myself as +a rule, but--I ken't see it through alone! ... It's going to be one of +the meanest businesses you ever touched. ... Will you help me?" + +"I will!" said Guest, quietly. "Thank you for asking me. Is it--excuse +my asking--anything in connection with Mr and Mrs Moffatt? Ah!" as +the girl exclaimed in sharp surprise, "I fancied that last night's +meeting might bring things to a crisis. Now, I'll tell you just what +happened in that box, and then you must tell me your story." + +For the next ten minutes they sat with heads bent close together, +exchanging confidences of grave import. Cornelia kept nothing back, and +as he listened, Guest's face grew momentarily sterner. The hastily +ordered meal lay neglected on the table while they faced the desperate +situation with which they had to deal. + +Guest took a man's cut-and-dried view of the case, and was strongly in +favour of apprising Mr Marchant of what had happened and returning to +the hotel, supported not only by him, but by a police officer into the +bargain, but Cornelia would not be induced to agree. + +"She's done wrong, and she forged my name for her own purposes--there's +no getting away from that, but there may be some explanation which will +make it look a little less black. Anyway, I'm going to hear it before I +judge, and if she'll make things good I'll give her another chance. You +don't know what's come before this!" + +"I should have little difficulty in guessing, however," Guest said +drily. + +He thought of the hotel in Marienbad; of the changed name; the dyed +hair; and mentally conjured up the dreary life of plotting and scheming, +of constant danger, and miserable success, which constitutes the life of +the professional adventurer, but Cornelia saw only the haggard face +which had looked at her in the sitting-room of the hotel, the face of +the woman whose childhood had known no home, whom love had passed by. +She heard again the hopeless intonation of the voice which had reminded +her--"You'd have to tread the same road yourself, before you could judge +me, Cornelia!" Her chin squared with the look of stubborn determination +which her aunt already knew so well, and she said firmly-- + +"Well, anyway, I've got to see her first! If you don't approve, I'll go +alone, but I'd like best to have you there." + +"Of course I'll come. There's no question about that. We had better +get off at once, then, and not waste any more time, but first you must +have something to eat! You've been driving about all morning, and +there's trouble ahead. I'll ring for something hot and tempting. What +would you like best?" + +"I couldn't swallow a bite if you paid me for it. It would stick in my +throat." + +"Have a glass of wine, then! I'm not going to stir till you have +something. You look tired out." + +"I never touch wine. I think perhaps I could drink some cor-fee!" +Cornelia said doubtfully, and Guest's stern face suddenly lightened into +a smile. + +"Coffee! The worst thing possible for your nerves. You funny little +girl! You have not the smallest glimmering of an idea how to take care +of yourself." + +To his surprise and alarm, two big tears brimmed up suddenly in +Cornelia's eyes, and her lips quivered. + +"Don't be good to me!" she whispered sharply. "_Don't_! For two straws +I'll howl! I'm all worked up. Take me out, out into the street, quick, +before I make a scene!" + +Guest needed no second bidding. In an incredibly short time the +untasted meal was paid for, a hansom summoned, and he was driving once +more through the streets by Cornelia's side, while she mopped her eyes +with a minute pocket-handkerchief. + +"_You_ haven't lived with her for days at a time. ... _You_ haven't +thought of her as a friend. ... _You_ haven't had her nurse you, when +you were sick!..." + +"Thank heaven for that!" ejaculated Guest, devoutly. It was ridiculous +to indulge in sentiment in connection with a thief and a forger; the +woman deserved no mercy, and would receive none, if he had his way; none +the less was he charmed by Cornelia's emotion, by her pity, her amazing +inconsistency. Gone were her airs of complacency and independence; at +the first threatening of danger the pretty pretence was broken up; weak, +trembling, tearful, she summoned her natural protector to her side! +Guest's heart swelled with a passion of tenderness. In his immaculate +frock-coat, freshly-creased trousers, and irreproachable silk hat, he +was as truly a knight-errant at that moment as any mailed warrior of +old, going forth to fight a tourney for his lady's favour. + +"Don't cry!" he cried eagerly. "Look here, you know, if you want me to +let her down lightly, you must pull yourself together. I can't stand +this. If you cry any more--I'll--_kill her_!" + +Cornelia swallowed dismally, blinking the tears from her eyelids. + +"I don't know as it wouldn't be the best way out, as far as she's +concerned, but I'd just as lief you didn't _all_ turn criminals on my +hands! I'll pull myself up once we are there, but I'm all of a flutter +thinking it over in advance." + +"We'll be there soon now," Guest told her reassuringly. + +They drove in silence down the length of Bond Street, and out into the +whirl of Piccadilly. Soon, almost too soon for Cornelia's jangled +nerves, they had drawn up before the great door of the hotel. + +Here nothing of a sensational nature had occurred. The porter touched +his cap to Cornelia with his usual stolid air, the clerk bowed with +unruffled complacence--no hint of trouble had come to their ears. The +lift was full of a laughing, chattering crowd. It seemed to Cornelia +almost incredible that these women were repairing to their rooms to deck +themselves for fresh pleasures, while she was about to bring a prisoner +to the bar. She turned towards Guest, as he stood by her side, and felt +a fresh sense of comfort in his nearness, his bigness, his air of quiet +strength. + +On the second floor the lift discharged half its occupants--a merry +flock for the most part, hurrying along the corridor, laughing and +jesting as they went, while two followed gravely behind, looking to +right and left with anxious eyes. + +The door of Mrs Moffatt's bedroom was closed. Was it already +deserted--its drawers and wardrobes despoiled of their treasures; a +bundle of worthless trifles left behind?--Cornelia's heart beat in +sickening throbs; she knew a coward wish that she might be too late. To +pay up and go quietly home seemed an easy way out of the difficulty into +which she had walked so blindly! + +She drew a quick, frightened breath, and felt Guest's hand press +protectingly on her arm. The sitting-room door opened, and side by side +they entered the room. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +Mrs Moffatt was standing before the table, tearing up old papers. She +looked up with a start, to see Guest and Cornelia standing before her in +that eloquent, linked attitude, and over her features there passed that +helpless, trapped expression of guilt discovered and brought to bay, +which, once seen, can never be forgotten. The blood ebbed from her +face, leaving it ashen white, except for two fixed spots of colour on +either cheek; her fingers relaxed their hold, and the fragments of paper +fluttered downward to the floor. There was a ghastly silence. + +It was Guest who was the first to speak, standing straight and stern at +the opposite side of the table, and at the sound of his opening words +the wretched woman trembled violently, and sank on a chair for support. + +"Mrs Schuter! I have come here with Miss Briskett to ask your +explanation of a letter sent in her name to Mr Marchant, the jeweller, +this morning. She has seen the letter, with the forged signature at the +end, and has heard that the necklace was brought to this hotel, and +delivered to you. May I trouble you to hand it over?" + +Each word was sharp and cutting as an icicle, and Guest's steel-like +eyes were alight with remorseless anger. Cornelia turned her head +aside, unable to endure the pitiful spectacle. Mrs Moffatt stammered +out a broken subterfuge. + +"What necklace? I don't know--I don't--understand!" + +Even as she spoke, one trembling hand twitched upward, to be as quickly +lowered, but not before Guest had pounced upon the clue with swift +intuition. + +"You understand very well! As a matter of fact, you are wearing it at +this moment beneath your dress. Will you kindly take it off, and put it +on the table?" + +He turned aside as he spoke, paying this small tribute to her womanly +feelings. A strangled sob broke the silence; the sound of laboured +breathing, then a faint, clicking sound, and he looked round to see a +dazzle of light on a corner of the table, where the sunbeams had found a +plaything. A bauble of green and white stones, for which a woman had +sold her soul. + +Cornelia was leaning against the mantelpiece, her face hidden in her +hands. Guest realised that it was her sob which he had heard, and the +knowledge did not soften his heart. + +"Thank you!" he said in the same tone of cutting politeness. "That is +so much to the good, but I shall have to trouble you still further. +There was two hundred pounds lent to you yesterday, ostensibly to be +paid to a furrier, that, of course, was a mere excuse!--and thirty +pounds in bank-notes this morning. I fear the first sum is gone beyond +recall, since your husband's cheque is probably not worth the paper on +which it is written, but I take it that the notes are still intact. As +you prefer someone else to pay your bills, you will have kept them for +personal use. They are probably in your pocket at this moment!" + +"I have not got the cheque--I could not return it if I would," said Mrs +Moffatt, hoarsely. "My husband cashed it as soon as the bank was open, +and left London shortly after. He has the money. I have not had a cent +of it. The notes are in my purse. He left them so that I should be +able to follow." + +"Just so. You will please return them to Miss Briskett, and we will +deal with the other sum later on. Your intention was to leave the hotel +for good this morning, and you provided Miss Briskett with commissions +to keep her out of the way while you made your preparations. That is +the case, is it not?" + +The woman did not answer, but looked across the room towards where +Cornelia stood; and Cornelia parted her hands and looked back at her in +pitiful inquiry. + +"_Did_ you mean to run away, and leave me here alone?" + +Mrs Moffatt bent her head in shame. Her face was not white now, but +deep, burning red. + +"We knew--after last night--that the game was up. We _had_ to go, +Cornelia--or--" + +"Be kind enough not to address Miss Briskett by her Christian name!" +interrupted Guest, sharply. It seemed to him an impossible humiliation +that this woman should still dare to address the girl in the language of +friendship. "Let us get to the end of this business. I presume there +are other bills, which will come in, in due course; bills for goods +ordered in other forged notes. Am I right in supposing this? It is +your best plan to speak the truth!" + +"Y-es!" + +"There _are_ more bills! Can you give me an approximate idea of their +amount? Fifty pounds, one hundred, two hundred? What is the amount?" + +"About--one hundred." + +"And the hotel expenses! Miss Briskett suspects from the manner of the +officials that you were thoughtful enough to take these rooms in her +name. Again I ask you, is that the case?" + +A bend of the head gave assent, and Guest wheeled round with a gesture +of intense indignation, took a few rapid strides up and down the room, +then halted again by Mrs Moffatt's side. + +"And, not content with cheating and plotting to desert this young girl, +whom you professed to befriend, how many of her personal possessions +have you stolen? You had free access to her room--have you taken +advantage of her absence this morning to rob her of her private +belongings?" + +Two exclamations, of denial, of dismay, and reproach, sounded in his +ears. Innocent and guilty alike regarded him with indignant eyes. To +the mysterious feminine reasoning it appeared there were different +degrees in the crime of theft. To pay a debt by means of a worthless +cheque was evidently less reprehensible than to pilfer a brooch from a +dressing-table. Guest knew himself condemned before he heard the +simultaneous replies. + +"Captain Guest, how _can_ you! She would never do that!" + +"Indeed, you are mistaken. I'm bad enough, but I have not fallen quite +so low. I have not touched a thing." + +"You must excuse my denseness. I fail to see how one theft is so much +worse than the other. I am sorry to seem intrusive, Miss Briskett, but +I have taken a certain responsibility upon myself, and I must be +satisfied on this point before we go any further. Will you take Mrs +Schuter with you to your room while you carefully check your +possessions, and get back your bank-notes. I will wait here till you +return." + +For a moment Cornelia appeared on the point of refusing, but she changed +her mind, and without a word led the way down the corridor towards her +own bedroom. Her dressing-case stood on a table by the window; she +stood over it uncertainly, as if still debating with herself whether she +should or should not obey Guest's command, and as she did so Mrs +Moffatt's voice broke the silence-- + +"Cornelia!--there's not a mite of reason why you should take my word, +but I tell you straight I haven't laid a finger on one of your things. +You ken look as well as not, but it's wasting time. The thirty pounds +is in my purse, ready for you to take. When it comes to the last Silas +takes fright. There's no need to tell any more lies. We have lived by +this sort of thing for years past, but as soon as he scents danger in +the air, he makes off to a place of safety, and leaves me to finish up. +You won't find him, however hard you search, but I'm right here. ... +What are you going to do with me, Cornelia?" + +Cornelia drew a sharp, sobbing breath. + +"Oh, why did you do it?" she cried wildly. "Why did you do it? You +laid a plot for me from the start. I was rich, and--and _green_, so you +fussed over me, and acted like a friend, and invited me up here, for +nothing but to bleed me--to get as much out of me as you could, and then +leave me to face it out alone in a strange place. I was your own +countrywoman, and I trusted you. Hadn't you got a spark of loyalty +left, that you could act so--_mean_?" + +Mrs Moffatt put her hand to her throat. Her voice seemed paralysed; +husky, disjointed, and feeble. + +"No! It's all gone; loyalty, faith, everything that matters. There's +nothing left but _this_! You'd not believe me if I said I was fond of +you, Cornelia, but it's the solid truth, though I robbed you all the +same. I _plotted_ to rob you, as you say! You had plenty of money, and +we were cleaned out. I meant to get away with that necklace, and sell +the stones on the Continent. There are people there who will buy +without asking questions. I've got to know them pretty well during the +last few years. ... Cornelia, what are you going to do? Is Mr +Marchant sending to arrest me here?" + +"He doesn't know that anything is wrong. I managed to keep quiet, and +let him believe I knew all about it. To the last I kept hoping that +there was some way out. Captain Guest wanted to bring an officer along, +but I wouldn't do it." + +"That was like you! You wanted I should have a chance, but it's all +true; every one thing! There's more true than you know of--other bills +to come in, a big sum run up here. You can give back the necklace, but +even so, it is going to be heavy enough. ... Cornelia, _what are you +going to do_? I'm a bad woman--are you going to send me to prison, to +have a chance of growing worse, among other bad women like myself?" + +Cornelia threw out her arms with a sudden, reckless gesture. + +"_No_!" she cried strongly, "I'm not! I'm going to let you go; I'm +going to _help_ you to go. Captain Guest's a pretty hard man; I guess +you'd better not see him again. Keep those notes--you'll need some +money to help along, and march out of the hotel right now, and lose +yourself as fast as ever you can. You can have ten minutes to do it, +while I wait here, and as much longer as I can keep him quiet; but +you've got to be slippy. ... You shall have your chance!" + +Mrs Moffatt gasped for breath, her face twitched convulsively, and she +tottered as she stood. + +"You mean that? Oh, God bless you, Cornelia Briskett! If there are any +blessings going, there's no one on earth deserves them more than you. +You've saved me this time. Whatever happens in the future, you've given +me a chance." + +"That's so, but the question is, _are you going to take it_? See here! +let's strike a bargain over this before you go! You are a clever woman, +or you wouldn't have escaped so long, but the game is played out. It +isn't safe to go on, when any moment you may be recognised by people you +have fooled before. You're bound to make a fresh start--why shouldn't +you try being straight for a change? You'd find it would pay better in +the end. You've got to think, when you leave this to-day, that a girl's +whim is all there is between you and a prison cell. That ought to be a +pretty bracing remembrance, I should say. ... Start away with the money +you have in hand, and see if you ken't make some more for yourself. +There's another thing! You can write to me in a year from now, and tell +me where you are, and what you have been about. I'll ferret into every +single thing, and if it's _straight_, I'll help you again; I'll go _on_ +helping you! You need never say after this that you cheat because +you're obliged. Live straight, and work hard, and I'll see to it that +you don't want. You've got your chance! ... I guess you'd better +scoot!" + +Mrs Moffatt stood before her, trembling and abject; overcome with a +pitiful emotion. + +"I'm going! Could you, could you kiss me, Cornelia, before I go?" + +Cornelia drew herself up proudly. + +"No, I guess not! We'll leave that over for another time. Some day, +perhaps, when you're straight. ... You'd best not waste any more +time..." + +"I'm going. I can't thank you. I swear to you--" + +"No, don't swear! I don't want any promises. Promise _yourself_; +that's the best thing. ... Good-bye." + +"Good-bye, Cornelia Briskett!" + +The door opened, and shut. Cornelia listened with bated breath, but all +was silent from the corridor without. She leant her head on the +dressing-table, and burst into a passion of tears. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Captain Guest paced up and down the sitting-room for a quarter of an +hour, casting impatient glances at the clock, and pausing now and then +to lift the emerald necklace from the table and examine it with +wondering curiosity. It was a pretty enough plaything, but from his +point of view it seemed a preposterous waste of money to sink a cool +thousand pounds on its purchase. He mentally ran over the various +necessary repairs on his own property, which could be completed for the +sum, and shrugged his shoulders expressively. Still, women liked such +playthings, and if one were specially interested in a woman (a woman, +say, to whom emeralds were specially becoming!), there would be a +certain satisfaction in seeing her wearing the pretty things. It was +conceivable that the pleasure so given might even be as keen as that +derived from a new chimney-stack or a barn! + +A vision rose before him; a vision of a ruddy head and snowy shoulders, +on which the green light flashed and waned. He saw Cornelia, as she had +appeared, sitting in the front row of the stalls at the theatre, and +mentally clasped the necklace round her throat. + +The door opened. He thrust the vision aside, and wheeled round quickly, +reassuming his sternest expression. A dejected little girl stood on the +threshold, with dishevelled locks and tear-stained eyes, and as he +stared in amazement, she quietly closed the door, and collapsed in a +limp little heap on the corner of the sofa. + +"I've--come back!" + +"Where's Mrs Moffatt?" + +"She's"--the voice broke in a strangled sob--"_gone_!" + +"Gone _where_?" + +"Gone away. Ten minutes ago. She's ever so far off by now!" + +Guest stood still, transfixed with anger and astonishment. + +"Do you mean to say that she escaped before your eyes? What happened? +Did you leave her alone in your room?" + +"No; I told her to go. I sent her away. It was my suggestion from the +start." + +"You--told--her--to go!" Guest's face was a study of outraged wrath. +"After all she has done; after the deliberate way in which she has +cheated and deceived you; after the lies she has told; after her +thefts,--hundreds of pounds still to pay up! after intending to desert +you in this hotel, you mean to tell me seriously that you _sent_ her +away!" + +The tousled head nodded dumbly; two big tears trickled down the reddened +cheeks. + +"Are you aware that you have compounded a felony? If Mr Marchant heard +what you had done, he could accuse you of being a partner in the crime. +Do you know that you have broken the law of the country, and that I +could give you in charge at this moment, if I wished to do so?" + +"I guess that's so.--Are you going to do it?" + +"That's ridiculous! You know it is, but--" + +"Then you're another!" cried Cornelia, laughing through her tears. +"You're as bad as I am, so you can't preach! She's gone anyway, and +I'm--_glad_! We got the necklace, and for the rest, I'll just have to +pay up, and look pleasant. Poppar says you've got to pay for experience +in this world. I'll tell him I concluded I'd better learn it pretty +thoroughly, once I'd started. He won't mind." + +"Your father must be a wealthy man if he can afford to lose four or five +hundred pounds without feeling annoyed!" + +Cornelia looked at him quickly, and replied in a tone of studied +indifference. + +"Oh, he's flush enough at the moment. Likely enough we shall be paupers +next year. Don't be angry with me, Captain Guest. I simply _had_ to +give her a chance! I can afford to pay up, and if I'd sent her to +prison it would have killed the last little mite of self-respect. I +trusted her instead, and I believe that's going to help more than any +punishment. It would _me_! She's had a good old fright, and maybe this +will be the turning-point in her life." + +Guest's lips curled in eloquent disbelief. He paced slowly up and down +the room, then stationed himself once more in front of the sofa. + +"Did you look over your things to see that they were all right?" + +"No! ... She said she hadn't touched them." + +"Did you make her return the notes?" + +"No, I--I guessed she'd need them herself!" + +"How extremely considerate! Didn't you feel it necessary to offer her a +little more, while you were about it? To give her another twenty +pounds, say, to make up the full change for the cheque?" + +The face that peered up at him was at once so abashed, so discomfited, +so childlike in its humility, that his anger melted before it, and gave +place to a wave of tenderness. + +"You ridiculous, high-flown, little girl! Who would have believed that +all your shrewd commonsense would collapse like this! No! I'm not +angry, I shan't scold any more. The thing's done now, and you've had +enough worry. I'm going to ring the bell, and order some luncheon. We +will have it here together, and comfort ourselves after all this +excitement. I'm hungry enough, whatever you are! What shall it be? +You are going to treat me, you know, so it must be something good. +Roast chicken! That's what ladies generally prefer, and some sweets, +and fruit. Claret for me, and what for you? Is it to be--`corfee'-- +once more?" + +He went to the door to give the order to the waiter, accompanied by a +tip which had the effect of producing the meal in an extraordinarily +short space of time. Cornelia's appearance being still distinctly +dishevelled, Guest dismissed the waiter and himself took the head of the +table, carving the chicken, handing the vegetable dishes, and even +pouring out the coffee. If they had been a honeymoon couple the +intimacy of the scene could not have been greater, but in that case he +would have taken his wife in his arms and kissed away her tears. Poor, +little, red-eyed girl! There was precious little beauty about her at +the moment, yet she had never appeared more attractive. + +"I ken't eat a bite!" was Cornelia's first melancholy statement, but +when one wing of the chicken had disappeared from her plate--"It's +mighty good!" she said, and promptly set to work on a second. She drank +copious draughts of coffee, began to revive in spirits, and experience +qualms concerning her appearance. "Say! do I look a perfect freak?" + +"You look much better than you did ten minutes since. In another ten +minutes you will look quite like yourself, if you obey my orders, and +eat a good meal." + +Cornelia shrugged expressively. + +"I know what that means! I guess I'm ugly enough to kill. That's why I +hate to cry--it musses one up so for hours after. ... Captain Guest, +what am I going to do next? Can I settle up, and get away to Norton +this afternoon, do you suppose?" + +"I am afraid not. The last train leaves at three o'clock, and that does +not give enough time for all that has to be done. I was wondering +whether my aunt--whether you would consent to sleep at her house to- +night." + +"Suttenly not! Why should I? It won't be the first time by a good many +that I've stayed a night by myself in a hotel, and there's no reason why +I should move. I'll have my meals up in this room, if it will ease you +any, but I won't leave this place till to-morrow morning. Then I'll go +back," she laughed feebly, "to The Nook, and humble pie!" + +"You need not tell your aunt what has happened, if you don't choose to +do so!" + +"Oh, yes; I'll own up! Aunt Soph will be pleased to feel she was right. +Maybe she'll like me better when I'm down on my luck. ... What must I +set about first?" + +"I shall interview the hotel manager, and tell him the whole story-- +that's due to him, you know, or there might be a repetition of the +offence. Then there's the jeweller--he must be warned in the same way, +and the necklace returned. I presume you don't want to keep it." + +Cornelia shuddered. + +"Oh, no. I could never wear it. But when Poppar comes over I'll make +him buy me something else instead. Mr Marchant shan't lose! I guess +I'd better drive there straight away, and then to the bank. I'll have +to arrange for a pretty big draft. ... You never know how things are +going to pan out in this world, do you? I thought I was going to spend +this afternoon on the river, gliding about so sweet and peaceful!" + +Guest flushed, hesitated, and--plunged! + +"Why shouldn't we go all the same? We can finish our business and still +have time. If you will allow me, I'll take great care of you and bring +you home before it's dark. It would be too dreary sitting up here by +yourself, all the evening." + +Cornelia sprang to her feet, clapping her hands with delight. + +"How lovely! How lovely! You're just the nicest thing! It's sweet of +you to think of it! Go right away now, and get through with your +interview, and I'll join you in the lounge as soon as I've prinked, and +gotten my face into order. I'll hang my head out of the window, and +massage my nose. ... Let's go and be happy, and forget all our woes!" + +She ran to the door, waved her hand gaily over her shoulder, and +disappeared from sight. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +When Guest drove round to the hotel next morning to escort Cornelia to +the station, she was surprised to see his own bag on the roof, and to +hear that he intended to accompany her all the way to Norton. + +"I want to make sure that you are safely housed once more," he explained +as they drove off. "I feel a certain responsibility for you, and I +think perhaps your aunt would like to see me, and hear from a second +person that everything is satisfactorily settled here." + +"My aunt," said Cornelia, demurely, "my aunt isn't a mite disposed to +acknowledge your responsibility. She thinks you're `dashing'! She +don't approve of dashing young men. She warned me specially to avoid +you." + +"Humph! dashing, am I? The word has an Early Victorian sound that +suggests side-whiskers and leg-of-mutton trousers. I'm not at all sure +that I'm flattered!" returned Guest, as he alternately stared out of the +window, and busied himself in arranging the bags on the front seat of +the cab. + +There was an air of embarrassment in his manner this morning, and he +talked against time, as if anxious not to let the conversation come to a +pause. The afternoon on the river had been a delightful experience, +abundantly proving the truth of his prophecy that it would be impossible +to be bored in Cornelia's society. She had looked very sweet in her +softened mood, and as they drifted down the stream together, had +prattled away in simple, confiding fashion, telling him the story of her +life; of the ups and downs which she and her Poppar had known together; +of her own individual adventures. He learnt that she was not engaged, +and had never been in love, though there were always heaps of admirers +"prancing" round. She intended to marry some day, however. Why, +suttenly! Just as soon as ever the right man hove along. What was the +good of being a woman, if you didn't have your own home, and your own +husband and children! Then she looked at him with her clear, golden +eyes, and inquired how it was with himself. Was he in love? + +"No!" answered Guest, but, even as he spoke, he knew in his heart that +he lied. In the guise of a Yankee stranger, who embodied in herself all +the traits which he most condemned, the one woman of his life had +appeared. He loved--and the woman whom he loved was Cornelia Briskett! + +After that, conversation languished. Guest was too much bewildered by +the sudden realisation of his position to wish to talk, and Cornelia had +developed a headache as a result of the morning's emotion. She was glad +to be quiet; to allow herself to be led about, and cared for, and told +what she must do. + +"Just like a `nice young girl'!" she said, laughingly as they parted in +the lounge of the hotel. "If I lived over here long enough--there's no +telling--I might grow into a Moss Rose myself!" + +"I wish you would! I wish you would! Won't you try?" Guest cried +eagerly. He, himself, did not know what he really meant by the inquiry, +for the words had sprung to his lips almost without thought. He was as +much startled by the sound of them as was Cornelia herself. He saw the +dismay in her eyes, the dawning comprehension; he saw something else +also--the first flicker of self-consciousness, the first tell-tale droop +of the lids. She put him off with a light answer, and he went out to +pace the streets until the night closed around him. ... What was this +that had happened, and what was it going to mean? One week--a week to +the day since he had first met this girl and conceived a violent dislike +to her on the spot. Voice, accent, and manner had alike jarred on his +nerves: she had appeared in every respect the opposite to the decorous, +soft-voiced, highly-bred, if somewhat inane, damsel who represented his +ideal of feminine charm. One week ago! What magic did she possess, +this little red-haired, white-faced girl, to make such short work of the +scruples of a lifetime? What was this mysterious feminine charm which +blinded his senses to everything but just herself, and the dearness of +her, and the longing to have her for his own? The jarring element had +not disappeared, the difference of thought still existed, but for the +moment he was oblivious of their existence. For the first time in his +three-and-thirty years he was in love, and had room for no other +thought. + +The morning brought colder reflections. When--supposing he ever +married, it would be wormwood and gall to see his wife condemned by his +friends! He had looked forward to espousing the daughter of some +irreproachable county family, and returning to his old home to live in +frugal state for the rest of his life; driving to church in the old +barouche, attending a succession of dull, country-house dinners; taking +the chair at village meetings. He tried to imagine Cornelia spending +long, peaceful years as the squire's wife, contentedly pottering about +the village, superintending Dorcas meetings, and finding recreation in +occasional garden parties, where the same people met the same people, +attired in the same frocks, and sat meekly in rows, drinking claret cup +and sour lemonade, but the effort failed. Cornelia obstinately refused +to fit into the niche. He could summon up a vision of her, indeed, but +it was a disconcerting vision, in which she "pranced round," while the +neighbourhood turned its back, and pursed disapproving lips. + +He was attracted by the girl--seriously attracted, _but_-- It was a +great big _but_, and he promised himself to be cautious, to think long +and well before taking the plunge. All the same, it seemed imperative +that he should return to Norton. His aunt was always delighted to put +him up, and he could not be happy until he had satisfied himself that +all was well with Cornelia once more. Incidentally also, he was +interested to know what was happening at the Manor. + +On the journey to Norton the presence of fellow-travellers kept the +conversation necessarily impersonal, and at the station Cornelia +dismissed her escort, refusing point blank to drive with him to the +Park. + +"I'm going back as a sorrowing penitent, and it don't suit the part to +drive up with a dashing young man. There are only two players in this +act, and they are Aunt Soph and myself. You come round in the evening, +when I've paved the way." + +"Till to-night, then!" said Guest, raising his hat. Once again, as he +looked at her through the window of the cab, the clear eyes wavered +before his own; once again his scruples vanished. He loved, and the +world held nothing but that glad fact. + +Cornelia exhibited much diplomacy in her interview with her aunt. +Seated at the good lady's feet in an attitude of childlike humility, she +related the story of her adventures in simple, unexaggerated language, +without any attempt at self-justification. + +"I ought to have guessed from the start; but it seems I'm not as smart +as I thought. They had me, the whole way through. You were right, you +see, and I was wrong. I should have taken your advice. Guess it will +be a lesson to me!" + +"I trust it may prove so, my dear! a dearly-bought, but invaluable +lesson!" quoth Miss Briskett, blandly. So far from being incensed, she +actually purred with satisfaction, for had not the truant returned home +in a humble and tractable spirit, ready to acknowledge and apologise for +her error? Her good humour was such that she bore the shock of hearing +of Guest's role in the drama with comparative composure. + +"He seems," she declared, "to have comported himself with considerable +judgment, but, my dear Cornelia, if anything more were needed to +demonstrate the necessity for caution and restraint in the future, it +must surely be the remembrance that you were driven into such intimate +relationship with a man whose acquaintance you had made but a few short +days before! It seems to me that the recollection must be painfully +embarrassing to any nice young girl." + +"Yes, 'um!" said Cornelia, meekly. She lowered her eyelids, and her +cheeks flushed to a vivid pink. Such a typical picture did she make of +a modest and abashed young girl, that the spinster's stern face relaxed +into a smile, and she laid her hand affectionately upon the ruddy locks. + +"There! there! We will say no more about it-- + + "`Repentance is to leave + The sins we loved before; + And show that we in earnest grieve + By doing so _no more_!' + +"Another time you will be guided by wiser counsels!" + +"...Have you missed me, Aunt Soph, while I've been away?" + +"Er--the house has seemed very quiet," replied Miss Briskett, +truthfully. "I am sorry that I am obliged to leave you this afternoon, +my dear, but I have promised to attend a committee meeting at four +o'clock. You will be glad to rest after your journey, and to unpack and +get your things put neatly away." + +"Has Elma come home?" + +"She returned yesterday morning. I saw the dog-cart from the Manor +waiting outside the gate this morning. Mrs Ramsden told me the other +day that Elma's health was completely restored." + +Cornelia pondered over these scanty items of news as she sat at her +solitary tea an hour later. Elma was well; Elma had returned home. A +dog-cart from the Manor had been observed waiting outside the gate of +The Holt that morning. A dog-cart! Imagination failed to picture the +picturesque figure of Madame perched on the high seat of that +undignified vehicle. If the cart had not conveyed the mother, it must, +in all probability, have conveyed the son. The dog-cart had been +_waiting_! The deduction was obvious to the meanest intellect. +Geoffrey Greville had driven down to see Elma the morning after her +departure, and had spent a considerable time in her society! + +Suddenly Cornelia realised that her anxiety could brook no delay, and +that it would be impossible to spend another night without discovering +how the Moss Rose had fared during her absence. She despatched Mary to +The Holt with a verbal message to the effect that she had returned from +town, and, if convenient, would much like to see Miss Ramsden for a few +minutes before six o'clock, and while she was still at tea the answer +was received; a note this time, written in pencil, and bearing marks of +haste and agitation. + + "Dearest Cornelia,--Yes, of course! I _am_ thankful you are back. + Come right up to my room. It's perfectly wretched here, but I'm so + happy! Elma." + +Cornelia rolled her eyes to the ceiling, and indulged in an expressive +whistle. Contradictory as Elma's epistle might have appeared to an +ordinary reader, she understood it readily enough. It was Mrs Ramsden +who was wretched, Elma who was happy--"_so_ happy," despite the +atmosphere of disapproval. The crisis had arrived! + +In five minutes' time, Cornelia was in her friend's room, holding her +hands, gazing into her face, kissing her flaming cheeks. + +"Elma, _is_ it? It is! I can see it in your face! Oh, you dear thing! +When? How? I'm crazy to know. Tell me every single thing." + +Elma laughed; a delicious little laugh of conscious happiness. + +"Yes, yes, it is! Oh, Cornelia, isn't it wonderful? I can't believe +it! It's partly your doing, you know, and I love you for that, but +doesn't it seem impossible that he can really care for--_me_!" She +turned her exquisite, flower-like face towards her friend, with an +expression of humility as sweet as it was sincere. "He might have had +anybody, and he chooses--_me_! Oh, Cornelia, I never knew that one +could live, and be so happy! It seems like a dream." + +"Wake up, then, and get down to facts! I'm crazy to hear all about it. +When was it settled?" + +"This morning." + +"Only this morning! I calculated it would come off Monday at latest." + +"No, it didn't. Of course he was very--I mean, I knew--we both +understood, but Geoffrey says he couldn't possibly have spoken plainly +while I was a guest under his own roof. It wouldn't have been the right +thing. He was obliged to wait till I got home!" + +"My! how mediaeval. I should have thought Geoffrey Greville had more +snap to him, than to hang on to such worn-out notions. Fancy letting +you go away, and driving down in cold blood next morning! It's the +dullest thing!" + +"It's not dull at all!" contradicted Elma, hotly. "It's noble, and +manly, and self-sacrificing. I love him for it-- + + "`I could not love thee, dear, so much + Loved I not honour more!'" + +"Shucks!" sniffed Cornelia, scornfully. "I'd as lief have a little less +high-falutin', and a lot more push. I wouldn't mind if it was his house +ten times over, I'd want him to feel he couldn't wait another five +minutes, and settle it off, so's we could have a good time together. If +he let me come away, not knowing if he were in fun or earnest, I'd have +led him a pretty dance for his pains. But you're so meek; I bet you +dropped into his mouth like a ripe plum!" + +Elma drew herself up with a charming dignity. + +"I told him the truth without any pretences, if that is what you mean," +she said quietly. "I am perfectly satisfied with Geoffrey's behaviour, +and I'd rather not discuss it, Cornelia, please. We may seem old- +fashioned to you, but we understand each other, and there is not a +thing--not a single thing--I would wish altered. I am perfectly, +utterly happy!" + +"Bless you, you sweet thing, I see you are, and I'm happy for you! +Never mind how it happened; it _has_ happened, and that's good enough. +... How's Mrs Ramsden bearing up?" + +Elma's face fell. For a person who had just proclaimed herself +completely happy, she looked astonishingly worried and perturbed. + +"Oh, my dear, such a scene! I took Geoffrey in to see her, and she +couldn't have been more horrified if he had been the most desperate +character in the world. She refused to listen to a word. You would not +have recognised mother, she was so haughty and distant, and--rude! Some +things she said were horribly rude. After he went, she cried! That was +the worst of all. She cried, and said she had given her whole life for +me for twenty-three years, and was I going to break her heart as a +reward? I cried, too, and said, No, I should love her more, not less, +but she wouldn't listen. She said if I married Geoffrey it would be as +bad as a public refutation of all the principles which I had professed +since childhood. Then she called him names, and I got angry. We didn't +speak a word all through lunch, and as soon as it was over she sent for +a fly to drive to the Manor. She's there still!" + +"Shut up with Madame, hatching the plan of campaign! Madame won't like +it any better, I suppose!" + +Elma flushed miserably. + +"No; she's against us, too! Geoffrey told her what he was coming for, +and--isn't it curious?--she was quite surprised! She had not suspected +a bit, and I'm afraid she was pretty cross. Geoffrey wouldn't let me +say it, but I know she doesn't think me good enough. I'm not; that's +quite true. No one knows it better than I." + +"If you say that again, I'll shake you! You're a heap too good for the +best man that ever lived. Mind now, Elma, don't start out on this +business by eating humble pie! You've got to hold up your end of the +stick for all you're worth, and let them see you won't be sat upon. +When you feel redooced, go and sit in front of the glass for a spell, +and ask yourself if he won't be a lucky man to have that vista across +the table all the rest of his life. Don't be humble with _him_, +whatever happens! Make him believe he's got the pick of the bundle!" + +"He--he does!" said Elma, and blushed again. "It makes me ashamed to +hear him talk about me, for I know I am really so different. He would +not have thought me so sweet if he had heard me scolding mother this +morning. Poor mother! I'm so terribly sorry for her. It must be hard +to care for a child for twenty-three years, as she says, and then have +to step aside for a stranger. I sympathised with every word she said, +and knew that I should have felt the same. My head was with her all the +time, but my heart"--she clasped her hands to her side with the +prettiest of gestures--"my heart was with Geoffrey! Reason's not a bit +of use, Cornelia, when you're in love." + +"Well!" said Cornelia, firmly, "my heart's got to wait and behave +itself, until my head goes along at the same pace. I've not kept it in +order for twenty-three years to have it weaken at the last moment. I'll +stick to my guns, whatever it may cost." + +Elma looked at her with surprised curiosity. + +"Why, you talk as if, as if you were in love, too! I wish you _were_! +We could sympathise with each other so beautifully. _Are_ you in love, +Cornelia? You never said so before." + +Cornelia turned to the window and gazed out on the forbidden grass of +the Park. Her face was hidden from view, and she answered by another +question, put in slow, thoughtful tones.--"What is love? You seem to +feel pretty certain that yours is the genuine article. Define it for +me! How do you feel when you are in dear Geoffrey's society?" + +"Happy! so wonderfully happy that I seem to walk on air. Everything +seems beautiful, and I love everybody, and long to make them as happy as +myself. Nothing troubles me any more. It seems as if nothing could +_ever_ trouble me. Geoffrey's there! He is like a great big rock, +which will shelter me all my life." + +"Do you feel one moment that it's the cutest thing in the world to sit +right there in the shade and be fussed over, and the next as if you +wanted to knock the rock down _flat_, and march away down your own road? +Do you feel blissful one moment and the next all worked up, and fit to +scratch? When he's kinder big and superior, and the natural protector, +do you feel ugly; or inclined to cave in, and honour and obey?" + +Elma stared at her with shocked blue eyes. + +"Of _course_ I'll obey! Geoffrey is so wise and clever. He knows so +much better than I. I'm only too thankful to let him decide for us +both. You talk so strangely, Cornelia; I don't understand--" + +Cornelia swung round quickly, and kissed her upon the cheek. + +"Never mind, sweetling!" she said fondly, "don't _try_ to understand! +You are better off as you are. It is women like you who have the best +time in the world, and are the most loved. I wish I were like you, but +I'm not, so what's the use of repining. I am as I wor' created!" + +She laughed, but the laugh had a forced, unnatural sound. Elma saw with +dismay a glimmer of tears in the golden eyes. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +For a whole week the battle raged; the battle between youth and age, +love and the world. Elma pleaded for patience and self-restraint, +Geoffrey urged defiance and independence; Mrs Ramsden quoted Scripture, +and made constant reference to serpents' teeth, while Madame remained +charmingly satirical, refusing to treat the matter otherwise than as a +joke, laughing at Geoffrey's rhapsodies, and assuring him that he was +suffering from an attack of sun, from which recovery would be swift and +certain. Rupert Guest and Cornelia hurried to and fro on the outskirts +of the fray, in the character of aides-de-camp carrying messages, and +administering encouragement and consolation. Every morning Cornelia sat +in conclave with her friend in the prosaic Victorian drawing-room which +took the place of the turret chamber of romance. Elma would not +condescend to hold stolen interviews with her lover, while both families +so strongly opposed the engagement, so she shut herself up in the house, +growing daily whiter and thinner, wandering aimlessly from room to room, +and crying helplessly upon her bed. It was as a breath of fresh +mountain air when Cornelia appeared upon the scene, bearing always the +same terse, practical advice--"Make sure of your own mind, and--_stick_ +to it!" + +The colour came back to Elma's face as she listened, and hope revived in +her heart. She declared anew that nothing in the world should separate +her from Geoffrey; that she would be true to him to the last day of her +life. Cornelia repeated these touching vows in conclave with Guest +behind the shrubbery of the Park, and then he went off post-haste to the +Manor, to cheer Geoffrey with the news of the steadfast loyalty of his +_fiancee_. Second-hand assurances soon pall, however, on the youthful +lover, and after a week had passed by, Geoffrey suddenly waxed +desperate, and announced that he would not submit to the separation for +another hour. He was perfectly capable of choosing his own wife, Elma +was of age, and at liberty to decide for herself. He would go down to +The Holt that very afternoon and have it out with the old lady, once for +all. If his mother liked to accompany him, so much the better. She and +Mrs Ramsden could each have their say, and then he and Elma would have +theirs. For his part he warned them that no arguments could move him +from his point, but they might see what they would do with Elma! +Perhaps they could persuade Elma to give him up! + +He smiled as he spoke, in proud, self-confident fashion, but Madame +looked at him thoughtfully, smoothed the ruffles on her sleeves, and +replied in her sweetest tones-- + +"Dear boy, yes! quite a good idea. Let us talk it over like sensible +people. Elma has such truly nice feelings.--I feel sure we may trust +her decision!" + +Geoffrey sat him down forthwith to indite a letter to his love, warning +her of the ordeal ahead in a couple of lines, and enlarging on his own +devotion for the rest of the sheet, which missive was entrusted to Guest +when he paid his daily visit to the Manor. "I mean to put an end to +this nonsense, once for all," the Squire declared firmly. "You must be +sick of trotting to and fro with these everlasting messages, but there +won't be any more need for them after to-day." + +Guest expressed his gratification, and started forth on his return +journey profoundly depressed in spirit. With the end of the strife +would end his daily meetings with Cornelia, which alone kept him in +Norton. Miss Briskett's attitude on the occasion of his one call at The +Nook had not encouraged him to repeat the experiment. He smiled to +himself whenever he recalled the picture of the heavily-furnished room, +the sharp-faced spinster, with her stiff, repellent manner, and the slim +figure of Cornelia sitting demurely in the background, drooping her eyes +to the ground whenever her aunt looked in her direction, and wrinkling +her nose at him in pert little grimaces when the good lady's back was +turned, so that he had had hard work to preserve his gravity. Since +that evening they had met daily in the shrubbery of the Park, though +only for a few minutes at a time, for Cornelia steadily refused to sit +down, or to linger by his side in a manner which would suggest that the +assignation was on her behalf, as well as that of her friend. + +Guest was always the first to arrive at the meeting-place, and was +careful to remain standing in a position from which he could watch the +girl's approach. In these bright summer days Cornelia was invariably +dressed in white, her short skirts standing out above her feet in a +manner peculiar to herself, and the fashion plates. She wore shady hats +which dipped over her face, and curved upward at the sides, showing the +burnished waves of her wonderful hair. At first sight she gave the +impression of looking pale and ill, but invariably by the time she +reached his side, her cheeks were pink, and he forgot his anxiety in +delight and admiration. + +To-day his manner was less buoyant than usual, as he delivered the note +into her hands. + +"An ultimatum at last! Geoffrey and Madame propose to storm the citadel +this afternoon. Quite time, too! I wonder he has waited so long. I +should have come to blows on the second day. ... Fancy hanging about a +whole week when a girl like that was waiting to see you!" + +Cornelia turned the letter round and round, staring at it the while with +absent eyes. + +"You used to say that he would never marry her ... that she was not a +suitable wife ... that it would be a great mistake if he did..." + +"I used to say a great many foolish things," said Guest, quietly. "I +didn't know what I was talking about, you see. Now I do! If she is the +woman he loves, all the little differences go for nothing. I hope he +will marry her, and I believe that they will be happy--" + +Cornelia twirled to and fro on the heels of her pointed shoes, and +tilted her chin with a pretence at indifference. + +"Well! I guess it won't help things on if I hang about gossiping here. +She ought to have this letter at once, to think out what she's going to +say. Poor little Elma! She'll have a rough time with those two mammas +firing away at her at the same time. Mrs Ramsden will plump for +principle, and Madame for convention. It doesn't seem to either of +_them_ that love is enough! They both believe they know a heap better +what's good for the young people than they do themselves. _And they've +been through it_! You can't get away from that. ... They've been +through it, and away at the other end they are going to do all they know +to prevent their own son and their own daughter from the folly of +marrying for love!..." + +"People--some people--seem to keep no memory of youth in middle age! +It's a pity, for it destroys their influence. In the end, however, it +is the young people who decide. ... These two ought to know their own +minds, for it has not been a hurried affair. They have known each other +for years, and have been more and more attracted. That is a duty which +a man and a woman owe to each other in these circumstances--to make sure +that what they are offering is real and lasting! I suppose only time +can prove this. ... We shall see what this afternoon brings forth. In +any case I am needed no longer.--I thought of going north to-morrow +morning to pay a couple of visits." + +The hand that was playing with the letter was still for a moment, and an +almost imperceptible quiver straightened the white figure. For a moment +Guest saw, or imagined that he saw, a shadow flit across the girl's +face, but it passed as quickly as it came. She tilted her head, and +said calmly-- + +"I guess you're right! We've done our turn, and now they've got to fend +for themselves. I hope you'll have a real good time. ... Mr Greville +will let you know when the wedding's fixed!" + +"Oh, I shall be back at the end of three or four weeks, before there's +any talk of dates, I expect! I shall see you again in July." He +paused, looking at her with sudden uneasy suspicion. "You will be here +in July? There is no chance that you may be away paying other visits?" + +Cornelia shook her head. + +"I have no other relations over here. So far as I know at present, I +shall stay on here until Poppar comes over to fetch me. We're going to +fly round together for two or three months after that." + +Guest drew a sigh of relief, but as he took Cornelia's outstretched hand +in his own to say good-bye, he added a hesitating request-- + +"If for any unexpected reason you should be leaving Norton during the +next three or four weeks, will you let me know? A line to my club will +always be forwarded. If there were any uncertainty about seeing you +again, I--" his voice lost its level tone, and became husky and +disconnected. "These visits don't matter.--I could put them off.--I am +_making_ myself go, because..." His fingers tightened over hers in +involuntary appeal, "Cornelia! I wonder if you understand what is in my +mind?" + +She looked into his kindled face with serious, unwavering eyes. For a +moment it appeared as if she had some difficulty in managing her voice, +but when she spoke it was calm and self-possessed as ever. + +"I understand that you've been a real true friend to me, Captain Guest, +and I'm grateful for all the good times we've had together... That's +all we need worry about to-day. Elma is waiting! I mustn't keep her +longer. ... Good-bye again! I wish you a real pleasant time!" + +She drew her hand from his, gently enough, yet with a determination +which could not be opposed. In her voice there was the same note of +finality; the composure of her pale, fixed look checked the words on +Guest's lips, and left him chilled and wondering. + +"For three weeks, then!" he murmured softly, but no echoing assurance +came in reply. + +Cornelia carried the all-important message to Elma in her den, cheered +her with affectionate prophecies, and hurried back to the shelter of her +own bedroom. Safe behind locked doors she stood before the mirror on +her dressing-table, staring at her own reflection with the implacable +air of a judge regarding a prisoner at the bar. The slight figure was +held proudly erect, the lips set in a straight, hard line, but the +eyes--poor tell-tale woman's eyes!--the eyes wavered, and on the white +cheeks flamed two patches of rosy red. Cornelia turned on her heel, +and, crossing the room to her writing-table, tore open a letter which +lay there already addressed to her father in America. It was a long, +cheerfully-written epistle, containing constant references to his +coming, and to the good time which they were to enjoy together. With +deliberate fingers she tore it in pieces and dropped the fragments into +the waste-paper basket. The missive, which was written in its stead was +short, and to the point-- + + "My old Poppar!--This is just a business note that has got to be + attended to in a hurry. Well-brought-up-parents do what they're told, + and ask no questions. There are breakers ahead over here. They don't + concern Aunt Soph; I've broken the back of that worry, and we get + along a treat. Heart trouble, daddy! Symptoms unfavourable, and + ultimate collapse preventable only by speedy change of scene. + + "Sit down straight away and write a letter I can show round, summoning + me home by the first boat! You can call it an `urgent crisis.' It's + as true as taxes, though not in the way they take it. I've got to + run, and that's all there is to it. Our jaunt must wait till another + day. You must comfort me, Poppar,--you and America!--Your lonesome, + Cornelia." + +She did not pause to read over what she had written, but, fastening it +in an envelope, pealed the bell, which brought Mary running blithely to +her service. For once, however, the devoted slave ventured to raise a +feeble objection. + +"_Now_, Miss Cornelia? I'm in the middle of my silver. It will go just +as soon if it's posted by half-past three!" + +Cornelia glanced at her with the air of an offended goddess. + +"I said now, and I _mean_ now! This instant, before you touch another +one thing. Post it with your own hands, and come up here to tell me +it's done!" + +Mary vanished in a whirl of starched cotton skirts, rushed to the +pillar-box at the corner of the Park, and in five minutes' time was back +at the bedroom door to proclaim her obedience. Cornelia was still +standing in the middle of the room. It appeared to the maid that she +had not altered her position by as much as an inch since she had seen +her last. Her expression was tense with expectation. + +"It's gone, miss! I put it in myself!" + +The golden eyes regarded her strangely. + +"Did you, Mury?" said Cornelia, low. She paused a moment as though to +form some expression of acknowledgment, but it did not come. "Some +time," she continued slowly, "some time, Mury, I believe I'm going to +thank you very much, but to-day I don't feel like gushing. ... You can +go back to your work." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +"I suppose I must give them tea!" was Mrs Ramsden's comment upon +hearing of the visit which had been planned for the afternoon. Her +depression was broken by a struggling sense of elation, for it was not +every day that Madame deigned to accept hospitality from her neighbours. +She despatched a messenger to the confectioner's to purchase a pound of +plum cake, a muffin, and half a pound of macaroons, the invariable +preparations under such circumstances, and gave instructions that the +best silver and china should be brought out of their hiding-places, with +the finest tablecloth and d'oyleys. At three o'clock Elma discovered +her removing the covers from the drawing-room cushions, and folding them +neatly away in the chiffonnier. Something in the simple action touched +the girl, and broke down the hard wall of reserve which had risen +between her mother and herself during the past painful week. She +stretched out impulsive arms, and stooped her head to kiss the troubled +face. + +"You funny little mother! What do cushions matter? Geoffrey will never +notice them, and Madame"--she hesitated, unwilling to hurt her mother's +feelings by hinting at Madame's opinion of the satin splendours so +carefully preserved from sight--"Madame won't care! ... She is not +coming to admire fancy-work!" + +Mrs Ramsden lifted a flushed, tear-stained face to look at her daughter +standing before her, lovely and slender in the blue muslin gown which +had been Cornelia's gift. The daintiness of the dress, its unaccustomed +smartness and air of fashion, seemed at the moment a presage of the +threatened separation. At the sight, and the sound of the softened +voice, the tears streamed afresh, and she cried brokenly-- + +"Elma! Elma! My child! I beg you at the eleventh hour--think! +consider! remember all that I have striven to teach you! ... You have +prayed to resist temptation--what is the use of your prayers if they +don't avail you in your hour of need? Elma, I know it will be hard! +Don't think I shall not suffer with you--but if it is right. ... There +is no happiness, my child, if we depart from the right course!" + +"I know it, mother," said Elma, calmly. "If you or Madame can convince +me that I should be doing wrong in marrying Geoffrey I will give him up! +I promise you that, and you must promise me in return that you will try +to see things from our point of view as well as your own. Remember, +it's my life that is at stake, and I'm so young! I may have such a long +time to live. Some girls have a dozen fancies before they are twenty- +three, but I have never thought of anyone else. ... From the first time +that I met Geoffrey I knew that he was the one man for me. You have +been happily married yourself, mother! Could you bear to spoil our +happiness?" + +Mrs Ramsden winced at the sound of that significant little pronoun, +which now, for the first time in twenty-three years, failed to include +herself. Now she was an outsider, for her child's heart and life alike +had passed from her keeping: It is a bitter moment for all mothers; +doubly bitter when, as to Mrs Ramsden, the supplanter seems unworthy of +his trust. + +"Happiness is not everything, Elma! I hope,--I hope I am strong enough +to endure even to see you suffer for your ultimate good." + +She mopped her eyes with her handkerchief, while Elma turned aside, +realising sadly that it was useless to prolong the discussion. +Presently Geoffrey and his mother would arrive and then they would all +consult together. Elma had not rehearsed her own share in the +conversation; the all-important decision was in the last issue to be +left to herself, and she had spoken the simple truth in saying that she +wished above all things to do what was right. Her life's training had +instilled the conviction that no happiness was possible at the cost of a +sacrifice of principle. If she could be once convinced that it was +wrong to marry Geoffrey Greville, she would give him up as unflinchingly +as any martyr of old walked to the stake, but she must be convinced on +the ground of principle alone! Pride, prejudice, convention, would pass +her by, leaving her unshaken in her determination to marry the man she +loved. + +At four o'clock the great landau from the Manor drove up to the gate, +and from within the shrouded windows mother and daughter watched the +groom jump lightly from his seat, to shield the grey froth of Madame's +draperies as she stepped to the ground. To Mrs Ramsden the scene was +an eloquent illustration of the world, the flesh and the devil; the +world exemplified by the carriage with its handsome trappings, its +valuable horses, and liveried attendants; the flesh by Madame--a picture +of elegance in cloudy grey draperies, her silvery locks surmounted by a +flower-wreathed toque, her cheeks faintly pink beneath the old lace +veil--the devil!--it was a hard word to apply to the handsome, resolute +young fellow who followed his mother up the gravel path, but at the +moment Geoffrey Greville appeared in Mrs Ramsden's eyes as the +destroyer of her happiness, the serpent who had brought discord into +Eden! She was in truth an honest little Puritan in whose sight the good +things of the world were but as snares and pitfalls. So far from +feeling any pleasure in the thought that her daughter might one day +reign as the great lady of the neighbourhood, the prospect filled her +with unaffected dread, and the needle's eye had been quoted almost as +frequently as the serpent's teeth, during the last week. She turned +away from the window with a shudder of distress. + +The door opened, and Madame entered, bringing with her that faint, +delicious fragrance of violets which seemed inseparable from her person. +Contrary to her hostess's expectation, she was wreathed in smiles, and +even more gracious than of yore. She pressed the plump little hand +extended towards her, kissed Elma on the cheek, exclaimed prettily upon +the comfort of the chair to which she was escorted, and chatted about +the weather as if her coming were an ordinary society call. Mrs +Ramsden, being unaccustomed to the ways of fashionable warfare, was +flurried and thrown off her balance by so unexpected an opening to the +fray, and had hard work to answer connectedly. She was, moreover, +keenly on the alert to watch the meeting between Elma and Geoffrey, whom +she had not seen in each other's company since the fatal visit to the +Manor. They shook hands without speaking a word, but their eyes met, +and at the sight of that look, the onlooker thrilled with a memory of +long ago. That glance, that silent hand-grasp softened her heart more +than a hundred arguments. It was an ocular demonstration of what had +until now been merely words! + +The trim maid brought in the tea-tray and proceeded to set it out on the +little table in front of her mistress. It was a good hour earlier than +the time when the meal was served at the Manor, but the little business +of handing round cups and cake broke the embarrassment of the first few +minutes, and was therefore welcome to all. Elma began as usual to wait +upon her guests, but Geoffrey took the plates out of her hand with an +air of gentle authority, which the elder ladies were quick to note. It +was the air of the master, the proprietor; as significant in its way as +was Elma's blushing obedience. Once again Mrs Ramsden felt a pang of +remembrance, but Madame arched her eyebrows, and tapped her foot on the +floor in noiseless irritation. It was time that this nonsense came to +an end! + +"Well, dear people," she began airily, "let us get to business! It's so +much wiser to talk things over quietly, when there is any +misunderstanding. I thought it was so clever of Geoffrey to suggest +this meeting. Letters are quite useless. One always forgets the most +important things, or, if one remembers, they look so horribly +disagreeable in black and white, and people bring them up against one +years afterwards. Dear Elma, I'm afraid you think me a cruel old woman! +I am desolated to appear so unfeeling, especially as I should certainly +have fallen in love with you in Geoffrey's place, but it's not always a +question of doing what we like in this world. I am sure your dear +mother has taught you that. I said to Geoffrey: `Elma has such sweet, +true feelings, I shall be quite satisfied to trust to her decision when +the matter has been put fully before her!'" + +"Thank you," said Elma, faintly. She had put down her cup, and now sat +with her fingers clasped tightly together on her lap. The two elder +ladies faced her from the opposite side of the room; Geoffrey fidgeted +about, and finally seated himself--not by her side, as had obviously +been his first impulse--but some little distance away, where he could +watch the expression of her face. Mrs Ramsden pushed the tea-table +aside, and fidgeted with the jet trimming on her cuff. + +"I--er, I think we should get on better if Mr Greville would--would +kindly leave us alone!" she said awkwardly. "We are well acquainted +with his arguments, and as Elma is to decide, there seems no object in +his staying on. Elma will, no doubt, feel quieter and less restrained +without his presence." + +Madame's murmur of agreement was interrupted by a sharp exclamation from +her son. He looked flushed and angry, but Elma checked him in his turn, +and answered herself, in clear, decided accents! "No, mother! I shall +feel much better if Geoffrey is here. I don't want him to go. If I am +persuaded to give him up, it is only right that he should know my +reasons. He will promise to listen quietly to what you have to say, as +I am going to do, and not to interrupt until you have done." She turned +towards her lover with a flickering smile. "Won't you, Geoffrey?" + +Geoffrey bit his moustache, and scowled heavily. + +"I'll--do my best!" he said slowly. "I'm not going away in any case. +It's preposterous to suppose that I could be absent while such a +discussion was going on. Elma knows that this is a matter of life and +death to me. If you persuade her to give me up, it will be sending me +straight to the devil!" + +Mrs Ramsden's eyes flashed with anger. + +"If an earthly love is the only incentive you have to follow the paths +of righteousness, Mr Greville, that is a poor inducement to me to give +my child into your care! I have brought her up to put principle first +of all. It is my chief objection to yourself that your character is not +worthy of the trust!" + +"My dear lady, he is not a pickpocket! You speak as if he were a +hardened criminal," cried Madame, with an irritated laugh. "Geoffrey +may not be a saint, but I assure you that, considered as a young man of +the world, he is quite a model specimen! He has been an excellent son. +There have been no debts; no troubles of any kind. Absolutely, at times +I have accused him of being almost too staid. ... One can only be young +once!..." + +"I think you and Mrs Ramsden have somewhat different standards, +mother," put in Geoffrey quietly. He turned towards the last-mentioned +lady, bending forward and speaking with deliberate emphasis. "I quite +agree with you, Mrs Ramsden, that I am unworthy of your daughter. I +wish I had been a better man for her sake. With her to help me I hope I +might become a man more after your own heart. As my mother says, I have +so far been a respectable member of society, for the things which you +condemn in me are after all matters of opinion, but at this moment I +stand at the parting of the ways. If you give me Elma, I shall look +upon her as a sacred trust, and shall be a better man for her sake. I +_must_ be a better man with her beside me! ... If you refuse; if she +refuses"--he shrugged expressively--"you empty my life of all I value. +The responsibility will be upon your shoulders!" + +"That is not true! You can depute to nobody the responsibility of your +own soul," Mrs Ramsden began solemnly, but Madame interrupted with an +impatient gesture. + +"I thought Geoffrey was not to interfere! For pity's sake don't let us +waste time talking sentiment! We are here to discuss this matter in a +sensible, business manner. Let us begin at once, and not waste time!" + +To her surprise Elma met her glance with a smile. A happy, composed +little smile, which brought the dimples into her soft cheeks. Really +the child was wonderful! Her quietness and self-possession were in +delightful contrast with her mother's flustered solemnity. Madame +returned the smile, with restored equanimity, and felt a thrill of +artistic satisfaction. + +"I am afraid Geoffrey and I hardly look at our engagement from a +business point of view!" said Elma, slowly. "It _is_ a matter of +sentiment with us, and we are not a bit ashamed of it, but I must answer +mother first. ... Mother, dear, you are shocked because Geoffrey says +he would not be good without me, but when _you_ were young, when you +were careless, and enjoyed things which you disapprove of now, was there +no good influence in your life which helped you to be strong? It may +have been a companion, or a book, or a sermon--one of a hundred things-- +but when it came, weren't you thankful for it? Didn't you hold close to +it and fear lest it should go? I am Geoffrey's influence! I'm glad and +proud that it is so. If I can help him in one little way, I'd rather do +it than anything else in all the world! When he feels like that about +me, I should think it very, very wrong to give him up." + +"Elma, my dear, these are specious arguments! You are deceiving +yourself, and preparing a bitter awakening! Mr Greville does not even +understand what he is promising. His ideas and yours are different as +night from day; the same words convey different meanings to you and him. +You would find as you talked together that there was a gulf between you +on every serious subject." + +"No, mother, dear, there is no gulf. We agree--we always agree! I am +amazed to find how marvellously we agree," said Elma, simply. +Geoffrey's eyes flashed a look at her; a look of adoring triumph. +Madame screwed her lips on one side, and stared markedly at a corner of +the ceiling. Mrs Ramsden wrung her hands in despair. + +"Elma, you pray every night to be delivered from temptation--consider +what your position would be if you married Mr Greville! Ask yourself +if you are strong enough to resist pride and selfishness, and absorption +in the things of this world. Many would say that it was a great match +for you, but I would rather see you settled in a cottage with enough +money for your daily needs. It is easier for a camel--" + +Elma interrupted quickly. + +"I don't think you need be afraid, mother. I love beautiful things, but +truly and honestly I believe they are good for me! It is a little +difficult to explain, but ugly things--inartistic things, _jar_! They +make me feel cross and discontented, while beauty is a joy! I need not +become proud and self-engrossed because the things around me are +beautiful and rich with associations. On the contrary, they ought to do +me good. I'd _love_ them so, and be so thankful, that I should want +other people to enjoy them, too. It isn't riches themselves that one +cares for--it is the things that riches can give!" + +Madame had been watching the girl's face as she spoke, her own +expression kindling in sympathy with views so entirely in accordance +with her own, but at the last sentence her brows knitted. + +"It's not a case of riches, my dear!" she said quickly. "I don't think +you understand the position. Geoffrey is a poor man. The estate brings +in little more than half what it did in his father's time, and the +expense of keeping it up increases rather than diminishes, as the +buildings grow older. He ought to marry money. All these years we have +lived in the expectation of a marriage which would pay up old scores, +and put things on a better basis for the future. If he marries a girl +without money he will have to face constant anxiety and trouble." + +Elma turned to her mother, her delicate brow puckered in anxiety. + +"I shall have _some_ money, shan't I, mother? You told me that father +left some provision for me on my marriage!" + +"You are to have three thousand pounds paid down if you marry with my +consent. My income is largely derived from an annuity, Mrs Greville, +but there will be about another five thousand to come to Elma after +death." + +Madame bowed her head in gracious patronage. + +"Very nice, I'm sure! A very nice little sum for pin money, but quite +useless for our purposes. Don't hate me, Elma--I am the most +unmercenary of women--Geoffrey will tell you that I am always getting +into debt!--but when a man is the owner of a property--which has +descended to him from generations of ancestors, his first duty is to it. +_Noblesse oblige_! It is not right to allow it to fall into disrepair +for a matter of sentiment!" + +Elma sat with downcast looks considering the point, while Geoffrey +devoured her face with hungry eyes. Mrs Ramsden's face had flushed to +a painful red, and she passed her handkerchief nervously round her lips. +She could bear to torture her child herself, but not to sit by and hear +another woman follow in her own footsteps. + +The silence lasted for a long minute before Elma replied by asking a +question on her own behalf. + +"Can it be right for a man to marry one woman for money, when he has +given his heart to another?" + +Mrs Greville tossed her head with another impatient little laugh. + +"His heart! Ah, my dear, a man's heart is an adaptable commodity! He +`gives it,' as you say, many times over in the course of his life. He +is far more likely to love a wife whose money brings him ease and +comfort, than one for whose pretty face he has sacrificed his peace!" + +Elma turned to her lover and looked deep into his eyes. With a strong +effort he had resisted breaking into the conversation before now, but +his face was more eloquent than words. She smiled at him, a tender +little smile of encouragement. + +"I am very economical. I would help Geoffrey to save. I have not been +accustomed to luxuries, so it would cost me nothing to do without them, +and he says he doesn't care. Don't think I am selfish, Mrs Greville, +please! I am thinking of Geoffrey first, but I believe he would be +happier living quietly with me, and looking after the estate himself, +instead of paying an agent to do it, than if he sold himself for money +and ease. We love each other very much. We need nothing more than just +to be together." + +Geoffrey turned aside and stared out of the window. The two mothers +exchanged helpless glances. + +"Elma!" said Mrs Ramsden, sharply, "have you no pride? It is hard +enough for me to sit by and listen. Are you not ashamed to force +yourself upon a family where you are not wanted? When I have looked +forward to your marriage, I have always imagined that you would be +welcomed with open arms. For your own position you are well dowered. I +have been proud of you all your life--too proud, perhaps--it would be a +bitter blow to me to see you married on sufferance. If you have no +other feeling in the matter, does not your pride come to your aid?" + +"Mother, I'm going to marry Geoffrey, not his family! He can take care +of his wife!" + +"The child is right!" said Madame, quickly. "Geoffrey's wife, whoever +she may be, will be treated with every respect. It is not the judgment +of others which she need dread, but the judgment of her own heart. +Listen to me, child! You are a sweet thing, and I love you for your +devotion to my boy. As I told you before, I should be in love with you +in his place, but I'm an old woman, and I know the world! Geoffrey is +not used to work and economy; for a little time, while the first glamour +lasted, he might be contented enough, but he would weary in the end. He +would surely weary, and then--how would you feel? When you saw him +restless and discontented; longing to leave you and fly back to his old +life, would you feel no remorse? Love's young dream does not last for +ever, my pretty child." + +"No," said Elma, quietly; "dreams don't last, but sometimes the +awakening is better! You have known Geoffrey all his life, Mrs +Greville, and it seems presumptuous to pretend that I know him even +better, but I can--_feel_! You believe he would tire of me, and long to +get back to his old luxurious life. You think he would love me very +much for a little time and then be indifferent and careless, and that I +should feel it was my own fault; but you are wrong. Indeed, indeed, you +are wrong! He is your son--has he ever failed you? You say yourself +that he has been good and true. You would trust him for your own +future. Do you think he would be less loyal to his own wife? I am not +at all afraid. I am like you--I trust Geoffrey!" + +As she finished speaking she turned towards her lover and held out her +hand towards him, and in two strides Geoffrey was by her side; was on +his knees beside her, holding that little hand pressed between both his +own, turning to look at his mother with triumphant eyes; with eyes +ashine with something deeper than triumph. + +Geoffrey on his knees! Tears in Geoffrey's eyes! Madame stared in +amaze, then broke into a sudden excited laugh. + +"Bravo, Elma! Bravo, Geoffrey! Congratulations, my dears. Thank +heaven you have a mother who knows when she is well beaten!" + +She rose from her seat and crossed the room to where the girl sat. +"Bravo, little Elma! I like to see a good fighting spirit. You will +make Geoffrey a charming wife, and I shall be proud of my daughter." +She took Elma's disengaged hand and pressed it between her own, and the +girl smiled a happy response, but Geoffrey was oblivious of her +presence, his eyes fixed upon his love's face, with the rapt, adoring +gaze with which a knight of old may have gazed upon the vision of the +grail. His mother looked at him, and her lips quivered. Artificial and +frivolous though she was, her only son was dear to her heart. Since the +hour of his birth he had been to her as a pivot round which the world +revolved. Her son--the last of the Grevilles who had owned the Manor +since the days of the Tudors. To be alienated from him would be the +bitterest grief which life could bring. + +Her grip tightened on the girl's hand. + +"Elma!" she cried urgently. "I am Geoffrey's mother. He is yours now, +and will be swayed by you, but he has been mine for thirty-three years. +If I have taken part against you, it has been because I believed it was +best for him. I have lost, and you have won. You will be his wife, the +mistress of the Manor. I don't grudge you your success, but don't-- +don't bear me a grudge! Don't turn my boy against me!" + +"Mrs Greville!" gasped Elma, breathlessly. "Mrs Greville!" She +pulled her hand from Geoffrey's grasp, and rose swiftly to her feet. +"Oh, please don't think that I could be so mean! I want him to love you +more, not less. I want to be a _real_ daughter! You must not think +that I am going to drive you from your place. You must stay on at the +Manor, and let me learn from you. There is so much that I shall have to +learn. I shall be quite satisfied to be allowed to help!" + +"Silly child!" said Madame, smiling. She lifted her delicate, ringed +hand and stroked the girl's cheeks with kindly patronage. "You don't +know what you are talking about, my dear, but I _do_--fortunately for us +all! Geoffrey's wife must have no divided rule. You need not trouble +your pretty head about me. Norton palls at times even to a Greville, +and I shall enjoy my liberty. I'll go out and spend a cold weather with +Carol; I'll have a cosy little flat in town, and do the theatres. I'll +enjoy myself gadding about, and come down upon you now and then when I +want a rest, but I'll never _live_ with you, my dear; be sure of that!" + +"It's rather early to make plans, mater. Things will arrange +themselves. Elma and I will always try to make you happy," said +Geoffrey, bluntly. + +He, too, had risen, and stood by his mother's side; flushed, triumphant, +a little shamefaced at the remembrance of his late emotion; but +transparently and most radiantly happy. "I'll do all in my power to be +a good son to you, and to Mrs Ramsden also if she will allow me!" + +He was the first of the three to remember the existence of the little +woman in the background; the little woman who was sobbing into her +handkerchief, shedding bitter tears because, forsooth, her daughter had +secured the biggest match in the country-side, and was about to become a +Greville of Norton Manor! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +The parental summons arrived ten days after the date of Elma's formal +engagement, and at the expiration of the seventh week of Cornelia's +sojourn in England. There it was for all the world to see;--short, +authoritative, and to the point. Circumstances had altered Poppar's +plan. His visit to Europe must be postponed, he desired his daughter to +return home by the first possible boat. Useless to exclaim, to argue, +to condemn. The command had gone forth; implicit obedience must ensue. + +"Will you feel badly when I'm gone, Aunt Soph?" Cornelia asked after +the news had been broken. She looked wistfully into the spinster's +face, and felt herself answered as she noted the involuntary momentary +hesitation which preceded the reply. + +"It will naturally be a disappointment to me to miss seeing my brother, +but I hope the pleasure is only deferred. I am glad to have had an +opportunity of making your acquaintance, my dear, though the time is so +curtailed." + +"Yes, I guess we've fixed-up an acquaintance right enough!" said +Cornelia, quietly. Seven weeks, or seven years--what did it matter? +She and this woman could never become friends. Time counts for nothing +in the intercourse of souls. An hour may reveal a kindred spirit; no +years can bridge some gaps. Elma would remain a life-long friend, Guest +a life-long memory, but her kinswoman, the nearest on earth with the one +exception of her father, must for ever be a stranger. + +Cornelia was sad at heart that day, and Elma was sad, too; opening wide, +startled eyes, and clasping her friend in jealous arms. + +"Cornelia, it isn't true! It _can't_ be true! I can't spare you, dear. +Is it really impossible to stay on a little longer? Geoffrey and I +counted on you for our wedding. It is fixed for October, and I wanted +you for a bridesmaid. I wanted you to pay me a visit in my own house! +You have been such a friend to us both, that we _need_ you, Cornelia! I +shall miss you badly!" + +"Shucks!" returned Cornelia, lightly. "You'll forget there is such a +creature in existence. _I_ should, in your place, and I don't mind if +you do, for I know you'll remember again another day. This is +Geoffrey's hour, and I won't interfere. If I live, I'll pay you that +visit right enough, and maybe you'll come over to see me. I'd give you +a roaring time. Tell Geoffrey he is bound to bring you over to see +America. I'll think about you on your marriage-day, but I don't know as +I'm sorry to do the thinking at a distance. Wedding-days aren't the +liveliest occasions in the world for the looker-on. I guess I'd feel +pretty `_left_,' when you drove off from the gates, and I found myself +all by my lonesome with the two old girls. ... I've wired to Liverpool +about berths, and may have to start off at a day's notice, so we've got +to make the most of the time. Aunt Soph don't care! She's polite, of +course, but right at the back of her mind I can see she's planning to +clean out my room, and thinking how good it will be to have the mats +laid aside, and the shroudings over the tables! If it wasn't for you, +Moss Rose, I should feel I'd done a fool-trick coming over at all! When +all's said and done it amounts to nothing but disappointment and heart- +break." + +"You mean," began Elma, "you mean--" and then suddenly paused. Why +should Cornelia's heart break? Disappointment and disillusion would be +natural enough in one who had experienced both coldness and deception +within the last few weeks, but heart-break was too strong a term. To +Elma, with her mind full to overflowing of that beloved Geoffrey, it +seemed as if nothing but love could count so seriously in life. Her +thoughts flew to Guest, recalling all she had heard of his knight- +errantry in London; of the long hours which the two had spent alone +together; and later on, of the daily meetings in the Park, planned for +her own benefit, but none the less opportunities for fuller knowledge. +She fixed her blue eyes on Cornelia's face, and asked a sudden +question-- + +"Does Captain Guest know that you are going?" + +"How should he?" returned Cornelia, lightly. Eyes and lips were +unflinching, but all the will in the world could not keep the blood from +her cheeks. "He's visiting somewhere at the other end of the country, +with old friends who belong to his own world, and feel the same way +about the same things. Let him stay and be happy! I don't want him to +come worrying down here for the fun of saying good-bye. Guess he's had +trouble enough about my affairs. Mind now, Elma, you are not to tell +him! This is my affair, and I won't have you interfere." + +Elma meekly disavowed any intention of communicating with Captain Guest, +but like many other meek people she harboured a quiet reservation which +annulled the promise. She would not write, but--Geoffrey could! +Geoffrey _should_! That flame in Cornelia's cheek satisfied her that +the girl's interest was deeper than she would admit, and if Guest +returned the feeling, what joy, what rapture to have Cornelia settled in +England; to look forward to a life of constant intercourse! Cornelia +had helped her; according to her lights Elma was determined to help +Cornelia also. + +With disconcerting swiftness a return telegram arrived from Liverpool +stating that owing to illness a passenger had been suddenly obliged to +resign a state-room on the boat sailing on the following Saturday, and +that the accommodation would be reserved pending Miss Briskett's +confirmation. An immediate reply was requested. + +Cornelia gasped and hesitated. Four days! _Only_ four days, and then +farewell to England and English friends. She had not expected anything +so speedy as this. During these summer months berths were engaged so +long ahead that it was generally a most difficult thing to arrange for a +speedy passage. She had been told of this over and over again; had +known of her friends' difficulties in such matters; in the background of +her mind had counted on a similar delay in her own case. In a week or a +fortnight much might happen, but in four days! She stood battling with +temptation, while Mary watched her with anxious eyes. No one but +herself knew the purport of the message; no one need know if the answer +were a refusal. Two or three scribbled words would give her a reprieve. +... Poor Cornelia! She realised afresh how easy it was to be brave in +anticipation, how bitterly hard in actual fact. She was silent so long +that Mary summoned up courage to ask a question-- + +"Is it bad news, miss?" + +Cornelia stared at her blankly for a moment, and valiantly forced a +smile. + +"I guess there's two sides to it, as there are to most things in this +world. My Poppar'll think it splendid, but you'll hate it badly enough. +I'm going pretty quick, Mury! You won't have me but four days more!" + +The truth was out. She had burned her boats, and made retreat +impossible. While Mary wept and lamented, Cornelia wrote the +confirmatory wire, and sent it out to the waiting messenger. Then Mary +returned to continue her lamentations. + +"I wish I could marry him, and be done with it! I can't seem to face +staying on here with no one but her in the house, nagging at us all the +day. I'll have to make another move!" she proclaimed dismally. In +Mary's converse the singular pronoun, when masculine, always applied to +her friend; when feminine, to her mistress. Cornelia had grasped this +fact, and had therefore no difficulty in understanding her meaning. She +sat down in a chair by the window, and stared at the maid with serious +eyes. + +"Do you love him, Mury? Enough to marry him, and live beside him every +one day to the end of your life? You think you would not get--_tired_?" + +Mary hesitated, unwilling to commit herself. "I wouldn't like to go so +far as that," she announced judicially. "He aggravates me at times +something cruel, but I'd sooner be aggravated by him nor anyone else. +They talk a lot of rubbish about love, Miss Cornelia, but that's about +the size of it when all's said and done. Some people suit you and +others don't, and all the lovey-doveying in the world won't make 'em--" + +"Why, Mury, you are a philosopher! It's the dead truth, Mury, but I +guess you needn't rub it in.--If you've made up your mind, why need you +wait?" + +"Furniture, miss! I've told him I won't marry to go into rooms, not if +it's ever so. I'll wait till I get a 'ome of me own. He'd put by a +goodish bit, and so had I, but things have been agen us. He was out of +work four months last winter, and mother's legs are a awful drain-- +liniments, and bandages, and what-not. You can't see your own mother +suffer, and not pay out. We've got to wait till we save up again." + +"How much money does it take to furnish a cottage over here, Mury?" + +"That depends on how it's done. You can do it 'an'some for forty +pounds. I lived with a girl who did hers for twenty, but I wouldn't +like to be as close as that. I reckon about thirty." + +"Thirty pounds! One hundred and fifty dollars!" Cornelia gasped in +astonishment at the smallness of the sum. "You can't mean that that +includes everything--chairs and tables, and carpets, and dishes, and +beds, and bureaus, and brooms, and tins, and curtains, and fire-irons-- +and all the fixing to put 'em up! It isn't possible you can get them +all for a hundred and fifty dollars!" + +"You can, miss. There's a shop in the Fore Street where they do you +everything complete for three rooms for thirty pounds, with a velvet +suite for the parlour. Lady's chair, gent's chair, sofa, and four +uprights, with chiffonnier, and overmantel, and all. You couldn't wish +for anything better. The girl I lived with had only a few odd bits--I'd +be ashamed to have such a poor sort of parlour.--In the kitchen they +give you a dresser, and a flap-table, and linoleum on the floor. Jim +and me went to the shop one day to have a look round. ... That was when +he had a bit put by!" Mary sighed, and flicked away a tear. "And now +you're going next! I'm getting a bit sick of bad luck, I am!" + +Cornelia was bending forward in her seat, her chin supported in the +palms of her hands. Her expression was very grave and wistful, but in +her eyes shone the light of awakened interest. + +"Mury!--you've been real good and attentive to me. I guess I've given +you quite a heap of trouble. I want to make you a present before I go. +Would you like it if I fixed-up that house so's you could get married +right away? If you say so, you can go to that store and make your own +bargains, and I'll leave thirty pounds with Miss Ramsden to pay the +bills. I'd like to feel I'd helped you to a home of your own, Mury!" + +Mary clutched the back of a chair near to which she was standing; her +eyes protruded, her chin dropped, speech failed her in the excess of +emotion. She could only stare, and gasp, and stare again. + +"Poor Mury!" said Cornelia, softly. "Are you so pleased? I want you +should be pleased. If I ken make someone happy to-day--right-down, +tearing happy, it's going to help me more'n you know. ... Won't you +enjoy going shopping with your friend, Mury, bossing round in that +store, choosing the things you want, and putting on airs as if you owned +the bank? Mind you put on airs, Mury! Make 'em hop round, and get +things to your taste. They'll think the more of you, and it's not every +day one furnishes a house. ... I'll send you my picture to stand on the +mantelpiece in that parlour, and when you dust it in the mornings, you +can send me a kind thought 'way over all those miles of ocean, and I'll +think of you sitting in the lady's chair. ... For the land's sake, +girl, don't have a fit! You don't need to have a thing unless you say +so!" + +"Oh, Miss Cornelia!" sobbed Mary, brokenly. "You're too--I'm so--you're +an _angel_, Miss Cornelia, that's what you are! ... Jim will go off his +head when he hears this.--It's a sort of thing you can't seem to +believe.--I loved to wait on you, miss; if you'd never given me a thing +I'd have loved it all the same--you talked so kind, and took such an +interest, and was always so lively and laughing. It wasn't for what I +could get--but the house! ... To have a house thrown at you, as you may +say, at a moment's notice--it--takes away my breath! I can't seem to +take it in." + +"But you are happy, Mury? You feel happy to think of it?" + +"I should think I do just. Clean dazed with happiness!" + +"Poor Mury!" said Cornelia, again. She looked across the room at the +flushed, ecstatic face of the prospective bride, and smiled with tender +sympathy. + +"I'm real glad you're pleased. To-night, just as soon as dinner's over, +you must go out and tell your friend. I'll fix it up with Aunt Soph. +You'll have a fine time, won't you? He won't believe it's true, but +you'll _make_ him believe, and be as happy as grigs walking round and +planning out that parlour. Come into my room when you get back and tell +me what he says. I shan't be asleep!" + +There seemed no time for sleep during the next few days. The mornings +were devoted to packing, and to long confidential interviews with Elma; +the afternoons to a succession of tea-parties, to which every old lady +in Norton was bidden in turns, to say the same things, and breathe the +same pious good wishes; the evenings to decorous cribbage matches with +her aunt; the nights--the nights were Cornelia's own secret, but they +left a wan, heavy-eyed damsel to yawn at the breakfast-table each +morning. + +When the last hour arrived, the very last, Cornelia's friends assembled +at the station to bid her good-bye; Miss Briskett, tall and angular in +her new grey costume; Mrs Ramsden with the black feather fiercely erect +in the front of her bonnet; lovely, blooming Elma attended by her swain, +and in the background the faithful Mary, holding on to the dressing-bag, +and sniffing dolorously. Cornelia had refused to be escorted farther on +the journey, and now that the hour had arrived, her one longing was to +say her farewells and be left to herself. + +She was eager to be off, yet, when the train steamed slowly out of the +station, she was gripped by a strange, swift spasm of anguish. Not on +her friends' behalf. Aunt Soph had made no pretence of anything beyond +polite regret. Elma and Mary shared a personal happiness so deep, that, +for the time at least, the departure of a friend held no lasting sting. +Cornelia could wave adieu to each, rejoicing in their joy, in the +remembrance that she had had some small share in bringing it about; yet +the torturing pain continued, the desolating ache of disappointment. + +What was it for which she had waited? What hope had lived persistent at +the back of her mind, while she had pretended that she had no hope? She +knew now that, hour by hour, she had lived in the expectation of Guest's +return; had felt an unreassuring conviction that he must come before she +left! That she had done her utmost to prevent his coming had nothing to +do with the case. Surely, when she had so sternly followed the dictates +of reason, there was all the more need for some good fairy to weave a +miracle which should upset her plans. Something must happen! +Something! At sweet-and-twenty it is so difficult to believe in the +irrevocable! + +The journey to London was alive with memories. In this corner she had +sat watching Guest's face, listening to his voice as he told the story +of his life. At this landscape they had looked together, admiring, and +comparing tastes and impressions. At Paddington, Mrs Moffatt had stood +in waiting upon the platform. Cornelia was thankful to be safe inside +the boat-mail, away from the pressing memories. Here the atmosphere was +of home. Eye and ear caught on every side the familiar accent, the +familiar phraseology; the familiar tilt of the hat, and squaring of +shoulder. The passenger list included more than one well-known name, +and once afloat she was sure of companionship. She settled down in her +corner, with a sigh of relief, as of one who has reached a haven after +struggling in deep waters. This was a foretaste of home! These people +were her own kindred; their ways were her ways, their thoughts her +thoughts. For the first time since her arrival on English soil she felt +the rest of being in perfect accord with her surroundings. With +Cornelia America was a passion; life away from her native land was only +half a life. + +Aboard the great steamer the passengers were rushing to and fro, +searching for their state-rooms, and, when found, depositing their +impedimenta on the tops of the narrow white bunks. + +Cornelia walked to the quietest corner of the deck, dropped her bag on a +seat, and leant idly over the rail. She was in no hurry to go below, +and held instinctively aloof from the groups of fellow-passengers and +their friends. She was alone, and her heart was sad. + +Someone walking quickly along the deck caught sight of the solitary +figure in the trim, dark-blue dress, and recognised its outline before a +turn of the head revealed the glorious, flaming hair. Someone with a +grim face, pale beneath his tan, with haggard lines about the eyes and +mouth; a man whose looks betrayed the fact that he had been awake all +night, face to face with calamity. He walked straight to the girl's +side, and laid his hand upon her arm. + +"Cornelia!" + +Cornelia turned swiftly, and a light leapt into her eyes; a light of +joy, so pure and involuntary that, at sight of it, the man's face lost +something of its grim tension. He turned his back so as to screen the +girl from the passers-by, and his hand tightened on her arm. + +"Cornelia, are you running away from me?" + +She did not answer, but her silence gave assent--her silence, and a +quiet bend of the head. + +"Why?" + +"I was--afraid!" breathed Cornelia, low. + +Beneath the close-fitting cap Guest could see her lips tremble. The +little face looked white and tense. She twisted her fingers nervously. + +"Afraid of me, and my love? Afraid that I should come back to trouble +you? Afraid of my selfishness, Cornelia?" + +The curling lips breathed a faint dissent. + +"Of what, then? We have only a few minutes left. You must tell me the +truth now!" + +She raised her eyes to his; brave, pitiful eyes, mutely imploring for +mercy. + +"Of myself! Of my own weakness! Afraid lest I might give way, and ruin +two lives!" + +"You knew that I loved you; that I had gone away to prove my love, to +see if it would stand the test of absence? It was a serious matter for +us both, and I would not let myself act on the spur of an impulse. If I +had, Cornelia, you know that I should have spoken long ago!--that night +on the river. You knew it at the time. I saw it in your eyes.--I made +you promise to let me know if you left Norton during my absence. It was +not fair to run away." + +"I never promised! I never did! You asked me, but I didn't promise. I +felt at the time that I must leave." + +The words came in quick, gasping breaths, as a child might speak who +tried to justify himself to his taskmaster. Guest's face softened at +the sound, and his grasp of the girl's arm turned into a caress. + +"Darling, don't you see what that means? You love me, or you would not +be afraid. Geoffrey wrote to me giving me warning, but the letter only +reached me late yesterday night. I have been travelling ever since. I +just managed to be here in time. If I had missed the boat I should have +come after you. Do you think a few thousand miles are going to keep us +apart, Cornelia?" + +She shook her head sadly. "No!--no distance in space, just the distance +between our two selves; the distance that can't be bridged! We belong +to different worlds, you and I; we could never be happy together. You +love forms and ceremonies, and conventions; all the things that worry me +most, and make me feel ugly. It's the height of your ambition to settle +down in your old home, and to keep things rolling along in the same old +ruts that they've run in for centuries. I want change and excitement, +and the newest there is. Your quiet English life would get on my +nerves. Poppar and I have had lots of ups and downs, and I've never +lost grit. I ken bear a good big blow, but to stodge along every day +the same dull round would drive me crazed! We live quickly over with +us, and you're so slow. I don't say that the advantage is all on our +side. I used to laugh at English girls, but I don't any longer, since +I've known Elma Ramsden. If I were a man, Elma's the sort I'd want for +my wife. You'll find another like her some day, and be thankful you are +free. You love me now, but your love would not stand the strain of +pulling separate ways all our lives--" + +Guest gazed at her with gloomy eyes. + +"You don't love me, or you would not think of anything else. Whatever +may be the differences between us, you are the one woman I have ever +wanted for my wife. I can't bear to let you go. ... Don't trifle with +me for the few minutes that are left. Tell me honestly how we stand. +... Do you love me, Cornelia?" + +"I--_could_!" answered Cornelia, slowly. Her cheeks flushed beneath his +gaze, and the white lids drooped over the honest eyes. "It was just +finding out how easy it would be, that sent me running home. The people +at Norton think it was Poppar's doing, but I'll tell you straight that I +asked him to send for me. ... Life's a big chance. We've got to make +the best we know out of it, for ourselves and other people. I don't +mean to spoil things for us both. ... You didn't _want_ to love me! +Right at the back of your mind you've felt all the time that I was not +your mate. You went away to think it out; perhaps, if the truth's +known, you were still undecided when the news of my sailing brought you +up with a run. When I am gone and you have had time to cool down, +you'll be glad!" + +Guest repeated the word with bitter emphasis. + +"_Glad_! I shall be glad, shall I? At the present moment, in any case, +I am the most miserable man on earth. Have you no pity, Cornelia? Will +nothing move you? Think how happy we have been together! If we loved +each other, surely we could outlive the differences? Can you bear to go +away like this and leave me for ever? Is it nothing to you how I +suffer? Don't you _care_, Cornelia?" + +"Yes, I care," she answered simply. "It _hurts_, but it's going to hurt +a lot more if I stay behind. If we lived together it would be like +trying to piece together the bits of two different puzzles. We don't +fit!" + +The simple words expressed the truth with paralysing force. Even at +that bitter moment Guest recognised their truth, and was dumb before it. +He turned aside, his strong jaw working with emotion, powerless to +fight any longer against the rock of Cornelia's will. + +Behind him lay the grey city wrapped in its veil of smoke, the tall +spire of the old church rising in picturesque isolation above the line +of the surrounding buildings. It seemed at that moment to stand as a +symbol of the life of the Mother Country, a life fenced in by +convention, by forms and ceremonies sanctified to every Englishman by +centuries of association; forms at which he may at times smile or scoff, +but which he would no sooner demolish than he would tear away the +clustering ivy which clothes his walls. Before him lay the broad river, +its mouth widening to the sea: to that free, untrammelled waste of +waters, which were a fit symbol of that land of the West, whose daughter +could place her liberty even before her love! + +There came a sudden stir and movement. A second time the bell clanged +its warning, and the visitors began to stream towards the gangway. +Guest heard the sound of a strangled sob, and felt his own heart beat +with suffocating quickness. + +"I--I can't face it," he cried desperately, "I won't take this as an +answer. If I had time I could _make_ you listen to me. I could make +you agree. I shall come after you to New York." + +She turned aside, but not so quickly that he did not catch the sudden +light in her eyes, the same involuntary gleam of joy which had greeted +his coming a few minutes before. The sight of that tell-tale signal +made his heart leap, but Cornelia shook her head, and her voice broke in +a low-breathed "Ho! It would be a mistake. Wait here. Wait quietly! +At first it will hurt, but after a while you'll be glad. You'll find +that other things come first. You think now that you will come after +me, but I know you better! You will never come. You'll not want me any +more." + +Guest laughed a strained little laugh of excitement and exultation. +Cornelia might preach prudence, and hold fast to her own ideas, but at +least she had not forbidden his coming; had not said in so many words, +"I will not see you!" For the moment, at least, he had triumphed; he +was confident that the future also would be his own. + +"We will discuss that question on our next meeting," he cried +breathlessly. "I will wait as long as you like; undergo any test you +like to decree, but I will come! _Au revoir_, Cornelia!" + +"Good-bye!" breathed Cornelia, low. She raised her eyes to his, but now +there was no light in the golden depths, but only a deep and +immeasurable sadness. + +Guest wrung her hand, and turned aside. There was no time left to +reason further. The future alone could prove the depth and stability of +his love. He made his way to the gangway, his heart wrung with the +sense of loss, of wounded love and pride. By his side men and women +sobbed and cried, while others laughed and exchanged merry banter with +their friends on board. To some this meant a parting for life; to +others a pleasure excursion across the ocean ferry. Among them all, was +there one whose loss was as his own? + +A wild impulse seized him to push his way back and remain on the boat +for the first stage of the journey, but the steady stream bore him +onward, and, as in a dream, he found himself standing on the stage, and +saw the gangway descend. He stood in the crowd and heard a woman sob by +his side. She was waving her handkerchief to a sad-faced man, who stood +on the spot which Cornelia had vacated but a minute before. Now she had +disappeared. Guest's eyes searched for her hungrily, but in vain. It +was only as the vessel slowly moved from the stage that she came into +sight; a small dark figure standing alone on the upper deck, with the +sunlight shining on ruddy locks, and on a white face turned outwards +towards the sea. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Flaming June, by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FLAMING JUNE *** + +***** This file should be named 21119.txt or 21119.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/1/1/21119/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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