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diff --git a/34247.txt b/34247.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..16e0417 --- /dev/null +++ b/34247.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12208 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Caught in a Trap, by John C. Hutcheson + +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: Caught in a Trap + +Author: John C. Hutcheson + +Release Date: November 8, 2010 [EBook #34247] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAUGHT IN A TRAP *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +Volume 1, Chapter I. + +AMONGST THE PLUNGERS. + +"Hullo! Markworth. How lucky! Why you are just the man I want; you're +ubiquitous, who'd have thought of seeing you in town?" said Tom +Hartshorne, of the --th Dragoons, cheerily, as he sauntered late one +summer afternoon into a private billiard-room in Oxford-street, where a +tall, dark-complexioned, and strikingly-handsome man, was knocking the +balls about in his shirt-sleeves, and trying all sorts of fancy shots +against the cushions--The sole occupant of the room was he, with the +exception of the marker, who was looking on in a desultory sort of way +at the strokes of the player from his thronelike chair underneath the +scoring board. + +"Hullo! Tom, by all that's holy! And what brings you to Babylon? I +left Boulogne last week, and ran up to see what the `boys' were after; +so here I am, quite at your service. What can I do for you, Tom? Are +you hard up, in a row, or run away with your neighbour's wife? Unbosom +yourself, _caro mio_." + +"No, I'm all right, old chap; but nothing could be better. By Jove! +it's the very thing!" + +"Who? Why? What? Enlighten me, Tom." + +"Well, you see, Markworth, I've got to go down to-morrow for my annual +week to my mother's place in Sussex. It will be so awfully slow; just +fancy, old chap, a whole week in that dreary old country house, with no +company, no shooting, no fishing, no anything! Why, it's enough to kill +a fellow!" + +"Poor Tom," observed Markworth, sympathisingly. + +"Yes; but that's not the worst either, old chap. My mother is very +cranky, you know, and the house itself is as dull as ditch-water. You +have to go to bed and get up by clockwork; and if one should be late at +dinner, or in turning in, why, it is thought more of by the ruling +powers than the worst sin in the decalogue. Besides, I have to keep +straight and humour the old lady--for I am quite dependent on her until +I come of age; and, though she's very fond of me in her sort of way, she +cuts up rough sometimes, and would stop supplies in a moment if I should +offend her." + +"Dutiful infant! I pity your sorrows, Tom; but what can I do to help +you?" + +"I'm just coming to that; but we may as well have a game by the way, +while we're talking." + +"Certainly; how many points shall I give you? The usual number, eh? +Score up, fifteen to spot, marker," he said, turning to the little man, +who, with a face of dull impassiveness, was sitting bolt upright, like +Neptune with his trident, holding the billiard-rest in a perpendicular +position, apparently hearing nothing, although his eyes twinkled every +now and then. "You lead, Tom, of course." + +"All right, here goes; but, to return to what we were speaking about. +You can help me very much, Markworth." + +"Can I? That's a good cannon, you mustn't play all through like that, +Tom, or you'll beat me easily; but, go on, and tell me what you want." + +"Ha! yes--you see I've got one saving clause in my predicament. My +mother says I may bring some one down with me, and I don't know who the +deuce to take--for any of our fellows would ruin me in half a day with +the old lady, by talking slang, or flirting with the maids, or something +else." + +"And you want me to go and victimise myself for a week? Much obliged, +I'm sure." + +"Nonsense, Markworth. By Jove! that's a ripping hazard in the middle +pocket; you've got the red in baulk, too, and the game's all in your +hands. You are really the only fellow I'd ask, and it would be a +perfect godsend to have you. It won't be so dull for the two of us +together, and I'm sure you'll be able to pull me out of many a scrape +with the old lady, for she's just your sort, and you can tackle her like +one o'clock; only talk to her about the `Ologies' old country families, +and the peerage, and you'll be all right. She never speaks of anything +else. Besides, there's a Miss Kingscott down there--a governess, or +companion, or something of the sort to my sister--whom I've never yet +seen, as she only came there this year. I daresay you can make love to +her." + +"Thank you, especially after the warning about the maids!" + +"But you'll come, won't you?" + +"I can't promise, Tom. There, that stroke ends the game; let's finish +billiards: they're too slow. What are you going to do to-night, Tom?" + +"A lot of us are going to have a quiet little dinner party at Lane's. +The old colonel has been awfully jolly, and let away nearly the whole +squad on leave together. Will you come? There'll be Harrowby, Miles-- +in fact all the boys. We'll have lansquenette afterwards, and then you +and I can talk over about running down to the country. Do come, there's +a good fellow." + +"Well, I will; what time do you dine?" + +"Sharp seven; so don't be late." + +"I'll be there. Ta-ta, now, for I've got a lot of letters to write. +I'm stopping at the `Tavistock' by the way, in case I don't turn up and +you want to find me." + +They had emerged from the billiard-room, and now stood in the street. + +"But you must come, I shall expect you and will take no excuse. I'm +going to call on some jolly girls whom I met at the Woolwich hop last +night. So good-bye till seven--sharp, mind!" + +"All right," answered the other, as Tom Hartshorne hailed a hansom, and +was quickly whirled off to his destination in Bruton Street, where the +Miss Inskips, two pretty and fast young ladies of the period, dwelt with +their mamma, a widowed dame. + +Allynne Markworth was not so much a type, as a specimen, of a curious +class of men constantly to be met with in London society, and of whom +society knows next to nothing. No one knew where he came from, who were +his progenitors, or what he did; and yet he suffered in no respect from +this self-same ignorance of the world around him, in which he lived and +moved and had his being, as any other of its more regular units. + +He always dressed well, lived well, and seemed to have a fair share of +the loaves and fishes which Providence often so unequally bestows. +Having the _entree_ of good houses, he knew "everybody," and everybody +knew him; but if you asked any of the men who knew him, and were +constantly meeting him about, who Markworth was, the general answer you +would get would be, "'Pon my soul, I don't know." Perhaps Tom +Hartshorne knew more about him and was more intimate with him than +anyone else, but even he had long ceased to puzzle his budding brains +over any analysis of his friend: he was a "good fellow," and "a clever +fellow, by Jove," and that was enough for him. Tom, however, never +dreamt of calling Markworth by his Christian name, and no one else could +have approached that phase of intimacy. + +To tell the truth Allynne Markworth lived by his wits. He was a +_Chevalier d'Industrie_ in a certain sense of the term, although in a +slightly more moral degree; and ran the race set before him by preying +on the weaknesses, follies, and ignorances of human nature in the +abstract, as evinced amongst his fellows in the concrete. + +He was a good billiard player, and knew as well when to hide his play as +"any other man." Many a stray sovereign did he pick up in lives after +pool at Phillipps', even when he could not get a bet on, which he was +never loth to take. The Hanover Square Club acknowledged his supremacy +at whist, and happy was he who was his partner when guinea points were +the rule. Being a good judge of horseflesh, he of course kept a book on +the principal events of the year: rare in "hedging" he was seldom known +to come out a loser. + +With all these little strings to his bow, it is no wonder that Markworth +managed to get along pretty comfortably; and although he toiled not nor +yet did he spin, I much question whether King Solomon if clad _en regle_ +to the nineteenth century would have been better dressed, taking Poole +as a criterion. Add to this that Allynne Markworth was a well-bred, +handsome man of thirty to thirty-five--although his right age would have +been rather hard to discover--and had a certain plausibility of manner +which prevented one at first from noticing the somewhat sinister +expression about his eyes and mouth; and the surprising thing would have +been that he did _not_ get on. Generally he had plenty of money; and +when he had not he absented himself from society until his coffers were +replenished in some secret way or other. + +At this time, however, he had been for some months undergoing a run of +ill-luck. The year had opened badly by the failure of a bubble company +in which he was deeply interested; then, again, men were fighting shy of +him at billiards, and it cost him more work for a sovereign than it was +worth, and guinea points at whist were becoming rare events even amongst +the most reckless _habitues_ of the club; to climax his misfortunes, he +had made a very losing book on the Derby, and although he paid it up-- +for to be a defaulter would have ruined him in his set--he had to leave +London early in the season in consequence of not having the wherewithal +to prosecute the war. + +When he had gone away at the end of May he told Tom Hartshorne that he +would be detained away on the continent on business for months; and yet +here he was back again before the end of July. The fact was he came +back money-hunting, and was so pressed now that he hardly knew where to +turn. He had made up his mind that unless he married a fortune, +discovered a gold mine, or tumbled into some wonderful luck, that his +"little game," as he expressed it, would be "all up." He was glad to +meet Tom Hartshorne so very opportunely at the present juncture, for he +thought that he might be put in the way of some plan for changing +events--and at the worst a little good card playing in the evening might +place him in the position of being able "to look about him." + +Punctually at seven o'clock he showed himself up at Lane's Hotel, where +some half-a-dozen men of Tom's regiment were assembled in a cosy little +room up-stairs, well lighted, and with snow-white-cloth-covered-table, +all duly prepared and laid out for the contemplated feast. + +Dragoon officers or "Plungers"--indeed, all cavalry men--are pretty much +alike, and unlike the remainder of the Army List. The mild, "gushing" +comet, dashing "sub," and massive captain, full-fledged and silky as to +hair and drooping moustache--not forgetting general apathy of +expression--of one troop, or regiment, resemble those of another, even +as the proverbial "two peas," and it would sorely tax one's powers of +diagnosis to discriminate between the members of a party like those +assembled for the present "quiet little dinner, you know." + +Tom Hartshorne--no one who ever spoke two words with him could call him +anything else but "Tom"--was the only exception to this rule; the others +were all men of a class, "classy," without any distinctive +individuality. He, however, was of a different stamp. Of +middle-height, thick-set, fair-haired, and open face--Saxon all over-- +his was the native mould, thorough British metal, that makes our strong +and plucky athletes of the Isis and the Cam, who struggle each year for +aquatic supremacy, like the strong _Gyas fortisque Cloanthus_ of +Virgil's Aenead--that long line of heroes celebrated for every deed of +daring, from Richard the "Lion-hearted" down to the last gallant +recipient of the Victoria Cross: men of which stamp, thank God, live yet +among us! + +A thorough gentleman, his nature was as open as the day, which you could +readily see for yourself by one glance into his truthful face, and clear +blue eyes, although perhaps concealed partly by that slight upper-crust +or veneer of egotism and affectation, which generally hides the better +qualities of young men on first entering into life, and just released +from their "mother's apron string" and the trammels of home and school. + +Tom Hartshorne was little more than nineteen, and it was a wonder, with +his bringing up, that he was what he was; but nothing could altogether +taint the sterling stuff of which he was composed. He was one who could +pass through the lighter follies of military life unscathed, and only +wanted some strong impetus, some ardent motive to bring him out in his +true colours. Tom Hartshorne had made the acquaintance of Markworth +about a year previous to the meeting with which the story opens--in fact +just after he had been gazetted to his cornetcy, and had taken to him at +once--and Markworth had apparently taken to him, a sort of chemical +affinity of opposing forces. + +It may be thought strange that natures so dissimilar should agree, but +so it was. The Latin proverb is often curiously wrong; instead of +_similes similibus curantur_, the prefix _dis_ should be added, and then +the axiom would be complete. When Tom first met Markworth, who had +received an invitation to the mess of the --th, he was struck with him, +and on introduction came to like him greatly, for he was so clever, so +agreeable, so different to the men he had previously met that he could +not fail to be impressed; you always find young men take to a man of the +world, particularly if he be like such a man as Markworth was. + +The little dinner at Lane's passed off well, and the young Plungers +enjoyed themselves to their heart's core, now that they were not under +the jaundiced eye of their stern major, who envied them all their strong +digestions and perfect livers; and, it is to be feared, they drank a +little more champagne than was good for some of them. At the table +Markworth was placed alongside a brother sub of Tom's, who was most +communicative over his wine, talking in a low confidential voice with +his elder companion, whom he wished to convince of his "mannishness," of +horses, dogs, and women, as befitted a noble young soldier. + +During a pause in the conversation Markworth thought he might gain some +information, and having an opportunity of putting in a word, asked-- + +"By the way, do you know any of Tom's people?" + +"Know them? By Jove! yes. Catch me there again, that's all!" + +"Why--how--what's the matter?" asked Markworth. "I thought everybody +liked Tom?" + +"So they do; he's a brick. But Tom ain't his mother and his sister." + +"Certainly not," answered the other, agreeing with the indisputable +fact; "but what of them?" + +"Well, the fact is Tom asked me down there last Christmas, and I never +spent such a time in my life. They are very well connected, but see no +people at all. The mother is a regular Tartar. There is also a sort of +half idiot sister older than Tom. She has a pile of money left her, by +the way; not a bad chance for any one in search of an heiress, who +doesn't care about beauty and brains, and that sort of thing!" + +"The devil she has?" + +"Yes, by Jove! a regular pot of money; twenty thou' or more, I'm told. +There's no elder son and nobody else, so Tom will inherit all the +property when the old lady hooks it. There you have the family. I +stopped with them two days, but it nearly killed me. Men of the world +like us, you know, can't stand that sort of thing. Of course I had to +plead regimental business, and get away. I remember the old lady--a +regular she cat by Jove!--saying that she hoped my mamma--curse her +impudence--would teach me better manners before she let me go out again. +Did you ever hear of such a thing?" + +"Ha! ha! ha! a pleasant old lady, Harrowby; I do not wonder at your +dignity being hurt. I must look out for her if I ever tackle her." + +"What, are you thinking of going down? Take my advice, don't: you'll be +sick of it." + +"Yes, I may. Tom asked me, and perhaps I'll see some fan," responded +Markworth--and there the conversation dropped. + +Later on, when he wished Tom Hartshorne "good-night," in reply to his +repeated invitation, he promised to go. + +"And we'll start on Friday," said Tom, gleefully; "that will be the day +after to-morrow, you know." + +"All right, I'm your man. Call for me at the `Tavistock' at twelve, and +we can start as soon after as you like." + +"Done. That will just give us time to catch the 2:30 train. +Good-night, old fellow!" + +And they parted. + +The next morning Mr Allynne Markworth took a solitary walk citywards. +After passing through Temple Bar and the then--undesolated--Fleet +Street, he ascended the hill of Ludgate; and turning into a thin row of +straggling and seedy old buildings, found himself within the precincts +of Doctor's Commons, sacred to the archives of marriage--one cannot +always say love--and death! + +Here, having previously invested the sum of one shilling in current coin +of the realm, he received permission to examine the "Last will and +testament of one Roger Hartshorne, deceased, of the county of Sussex, +gentleman," the perusal of which document appeared to give him much +internal satisfaction. His task did not take him long, and he was soon +retracing his steps. + +On the day after he went down to Sussex, as agreed, with Tom Hartshorne. + +Volume 1, Chapter II. + +THE SUSSEX DOWAGER. + +Only a simple, and yet special name and appellation-- + + "Mrs Hartshorne, + The Poplars." + +That is all. + +Nothing much in the name certainly, at first sight, nor yet such a very +extraordinary address, either in the nomenclature of the mansion, or in +its surroundings; but the two taken together were something entirely out +of the common. Mrs Hartshorne by herself, or the Poplars, considered +merely as a residence, were neither of them grand or startling +phenomena; but one could not well do without the other, and the dual in +unity formed a complete and unique integrity. In other words, "Mrs +Hartshorne, of the Poplars," was an "institution" in the land, to quote +an Americanism, although neither a thing of beauty nor a joy for ever. +She was a _rara avis in terris_, a millionaire Hecate, a rich and +slightly-over-middle-aged eccentric, a Xantipical Croesus--no less a +personage, in fact, than the "Sussex Dowager." + +Far and wide throughout this county--over a considerable portion of +which she owned manorial rights of vassalage, and ruled with sovereign +sway in the matter of leases and titheholds and rackrents--amongst the +lesser farmers and villagers she was known by this title; although, it +must be confessed, her more intimate dependents and rustic neighbours +dubbed her by far less elegant sobriquets. + +Any one meeting her about the country lanes, where she was to be found +at all hours, would have taken Mrs Hartshorne to be a shabby little +dried-up, poor old woman. She always dressed in dark grey garments of +antediluvian cut, somewhat brown and rusty from age and wear. Her +bonnet was a marvellous specimen of the hideous old coal-scuttle form +used by our grandmothers. She always carried a reticule of similar +date, which, by her demeanour when emporting it, might have contained a +hundred death-warrants, or keys of dungeons--if she had lived some three +centuries or so ago: a bulgy umbrella in all weathers, wet or fine: +thick shoes of rough country make: dark woollen gloves; and no veil to +disguise the thin sharp features and piercing bead-like black eyes, +overhung with bushy grey eyebrows, and the wrinkled forehead above, +covered with scanty white locks, braided puritanically on each side, and +there you have Mrs Hartshorne. + +She was not a handsome old woman, nor a prepossessing old woman, nor +would her face impress you as being either benevolent or pious; but +shrewdness, cleverness, and hardness of set purpose, were ingrained in +every line of its expression; and in truth--she was a hard, shrewd, +clever old woman. + +A quarter of a century seems a somewhat long time to look back, but +twenty-five years ago Mrs Hartshorne was a young and handsome woman. +Time had not dealt kindly with her as he does to some: none would dream +of calling hers a graceful or a winning old age. She seemed to wrestle +with the Destroyer, instead of ignoring his approach as most of us do, +and quietly and placidly submitting to his encroachments. The result +was not to her advantage. Every line on her face, every crow's-foot in +the corners of her twinkling little eyes, every wrinkle on her careworn +brow, every silvery hair on her head, marked the issue of some +unsuccessful struggle; and the strong passions of her nature, even as +they had embittered her life, seemed now, when her youth was passed, to +war with death. + +She had a quick way of speaking, running her words and sentences into +one another, so that they resembled one of those compound, Dutch +jaw-breaking words that occupy several lines in extent, and almost fill +up a paragraph. Her temper was not a sweet one. It might suit "namby +pamby," milk-and-water, bread-and-butter girls--"hussies," she would +have called them--to mince their words and moderate their utterances; +but she, "thank God, was none of those!" She said what she meant, sharp +and straight to the point, and did not care what any one thought about +it. Her voice, mode of speech, and general manner, resembled the +barking of a wiry little Scotch terrier, and terrified most with whom +she had any dealings. "Good Lord!" as old Doctor Jolly, the most +hearty, jovial, loud and cheery-voiced of country surgeons--the only +visitor who had entrance within her gates, and who used at fixed +intervals to beard the lioness in her den--used to say; "but she has a +temper. I would not be her husband, or her son, or her daughter for +something! God bless my soul! sir, but she could hold a candle to the +devil himself." And so she could, and hold her own, too! + +Old Roger Hartshorne--the "squire"--had married her late in life some +twenty-five years ago, and brought her home to the Poplars in all state +and ceremony as befitted the lady of so great a landowner. The old +squire was a very good-natured, liberal sort of man, whose only +amusement was in following the harriers--there were no hounds and +scarlet-coated foxhunters in those parts--and he was generally liked +throughout the county, for he kept a sort of open house, and was +hail-fellow-well-met with everyone; but when he married--and no one knew +where he picked up his wife, people said that _she_ married him--all +this was changed. A new _regime_ was instituted, and the sporting +breakfasts, and hunting dinners, and open-house festivities at the +Poplars became as a thing of the past. Mrs Hartshorne said she would +not have any such "scandalous goings on" in her house: she wasn't going +to be "eaten out of house and home." Every expense of the _menage_ was +cut down. Instead of some seven or eight grooms and gardeners and +domestic servants, only three were retained--an old woman to mind the +house, an old butler, whom the squire insisted on keeping, and a groom +and gardener, who combined both situations in one. When the children +came--a girl and a boy--the squire thought things would be altered; but +they were not. Mrs Hartshorne said they must save, and pinch and pinch +more now for them--although goodness knows the estate was rich enough; +and shortly after the birth of Tom, the old squire died, worn out it was +said by the temper and treatment of his wife. It was, perhaps, a happy +release to Roger of that Ilk, for the poor old gentleman had been sadly +changed since his marriage, and used to look a piteous spectacle when he +took his solitary rides around the village lanes on his old cob, the +sole relict of his handsome stud which he had been proudly fond of +displaying across country. + +With the death of the squire, Mrs Hartshorne became more saving and +pinching, and miserly than ever. The first thing she did was to dismiss +the old butler, who had been in the family for some forty years, saying +she "could not afford to support a lazy, useless pauper;" the next was +to tell the bailiff and estate agent that their services were no longer +required, for "she would have no curious eyes prying into her property, +and telling everyone how much she was worth." The house was almost shut +up and buried in seclusion, and no one but Doctor Jolly ever went there. +_He_ said he "would not be denied by any woman in creation," and +although the "dowager," as she now came to be termed, used to put on her +most vinegar-like expression for him, and address him in the snappiest +and most provoking and insulting manner, he would call at the Poplars at +least once a month in obedience to the promise he had given to the old +squire on his death-bed to "look after his poor children." It must be +said that Mrs Hartshorne tolerated the doctor in a sort of way--her +way; and if she liked anyone, liked him who was a favourite with the +whole county round. She had said to him when he first used to come, +that she supposed he "came there because he might charge for his visits, +and get something by it;" but when she found this was not the case, and +that Doctor Jolly had no base intentions towards her money bags, she +tolerated him, and allowed him to come and go as he pleased, without +bestowing on him more than her customary amount of sweet temper. + +When Tom grew old enough he was sent to school, only coming home for one +week every year by express stipulation with the proprietor of the +school! and when he became eighteen, at his earnest wish, and after +continual wranglings with the old lady--who was passionately fond of +him, although at the same time possessing an inordinate affection for +money--he was allowed to go into the army. His mother said that he +would "ruin her" when she gave an order on her banker to the doctor, who +was Tom's guardian, for the sum required for his commission and outfit, +but she did not behave illiberally, and gave master Tom a very fair +allowance, satisfying her conscience by raising all the rents of her +poorer tenants, and grinding down the household expenses more than ever. +Of Tom she was not only fond but proud: it was the only one womanly +trait in her character; and although she was not a very motherly kind of +woman, and did not display her affection in the manner customary to the +feminine sex--ruling her household, even Tom, with a rod of iron and a +stern sense of duty--yet her son was very much attached to her, +notwithstanding he did not exhibit any strong partiality for visiting +her. He knew that the less he saw of her the better: they both +understood each other well. + +The daughter, however, Mrs Hartshorne hated and disliked in the +strongest manner possible. She grew up uncared for, except as regarded +frequent and summary corrections for childish misdemeanours; and if it +had not been for the boy Tom she would have been altogether neglected. +Little Susan was an eyesore to her mother in consequence of her being +the only one provided for in Roger Hartshorne's will independently of +the mother, to whom all the rest of the property, excepting of course +the entail, was bequeathed without reservation. Mrs Hartshorne +considered her own child as a species of interloper or invader of her +rights, and treated her accordingly with neglect and almost cruelty when +the squire was no longer able to look after and protect her. The very +fondness of the old man for his little girl had been even an additional +incentive for her ill-treatment. When Susan had reached her fifteenth +year--she was little more than a year older than Tom--the dislike of her +mother culminated in an accident, which indeed might be characterised in +worse terms, that somewhat checked the ill-treatment and harshness she +had previously suffered. She had done some trifling thing or other one +day which had offended her mother to fury, and she consequently, after +beating her most unmercifully, had locked her up all one night in a +solitary part of the house by herself. The little thing was of a very +nervous, tender organisation; and the fright she suffered in the lonely +darkness throughout the long hours of the night drove away her poor +little wits. When the child was let out the next day she was in a +raging fever, and when she recovered from that, thanks to old Doctor +Jolly (who was unremitting in his care, after frightening the mother by +declaring her to be almost a murderess), she was never herself again. +She remained quietly passive under any or every treatment of the mother +"half-silly," as the poor folks say, and half-silly she was now still, +although she was almost one-and-twenty. Her mental disorder was of a +pathetic description--a sort of melancholia, and although her mother had +procured governesses for her, and she knew, like a parrot, as much as +most girls of her age in the matter of education, she never exhibited +any likes or dislikes, or preferences, except for music, of which she +was passionately fond: everything else that was taught her she learnt in +a machine-like way. Susan would spend hours each day, particularly in +the evening, playing on an old chamber-organ, which occupied one of the +disused rooms of the house, wild, weird, melancholy melodies which +appeared to soothe her, and give her the only sense of enjoyment she +seemed to possess. Tom and Doctor Jolly were the only people she cared +to see; her mother she disliked greatly, and had a sort of trembling fit +whenever she came across her or passed her in the passages of the house; +and the old female domestics she barely tolerated, although she liked +old George, a simple, uneducated Sussex countryman (the county is great +for its "chawbacons"), who now did all the odd jobs and outdoor work +about the house since the establishment had been reduced. + +Mrs Hartshorne always had a governess or special person to look after +Susan, and she was careful to put down all the expenses of the said +individual to be charged against and deducted from the portion which her +daughter was to inherit in accordance with the terms of the squire's +will. + +These governesses were always being changed, for few persons, even those +who have taught themselves to submit, as governesses have to teach +themselves, could long bear with the temper of the dowager. A new face +was consequently ever coming and going within the narrow range of Susan +Hartshorne's horizon. + +Doctor Jolly used to say that perhaps some sudden shock of grief or joy +might restore the poor girl to the full possession of her senses. + +"But then," he would remark, "I don't know how that is going to happen, +unless the old lady kicks the bucket." + +Thus was Mrs Hartshorne placed, and it must be owned that a skeleton +such as she had in her closet would not tend to sweeten her disposition. +Hard and stern she was with all around her. She was her own farm +agent, her own bailiff, her own man of business. If she had been +entirely alone she would probably have had not a soul in the house with +her, not even a domestic. She collected her own rents, and was never +forgetful of a farthing owed to her. When the leases granted by the +squire expired she would not let them be renewed, but kept her tenants +under fear and trembling, with only a year's certainty of possession of +their homes; and she waxed rich, did the dowager, and had by this time a +goodly pile of ready money at her bankers'. This was all for Tom, and, +faith! the young sir would have a splendid inheritance when the dowager +departed for the happy hunting grounds. The squire's property, before +the advent of Mrs Hartshorne, had been worth some ten thousand a year. +It was now worth nearly half as much again, and the savings of the +yearly income amounted to more than a hundred thousand pounds. "A very +comfortable little sum of ready money, sir!" as the doctor would say. + +The residence of the dowager was situated about a mile from the +picturesque little village of Hartwood, which boasted not only of a +special little station to itself on the S.C. Rail, but also of its own +little church, quite independent of the sacred episcopal edifice general +to the parish under whose jurisdiction it came. The dowager owned the +church as well as the village, and the right of presentation being in +her gift, she had recently inducted the most extreme Ritualistic divine +she could procure into the pulpit of Hartwood, just purely out of +opposition to the rector of the district, whom she disliked, and who was +supposed to be of strong evangelical principles. + +The Poplars--there can be no mistake in saying it--was an extremely ugly +house. Its architecture was neither Gothic nor Norman, Elizabethan or +Tudor; it was an heterogeneous pile of stones and brickwork, scrambled +together without any style or design. Inside it was comfortable enough, +and roomy and rambling; without it seemed nothing but a collection of +eaves and chimneys, and its sole redeeming point consisted in the lofty +and spreading poplar trees which surrounded it on all sides, as well as +gave it its name, and concealed its native ugliness from strangers and +passers-by. + +There you have "The Poplars" and its mistress. + +Volume 1, Chapter III. + +THE FISH AND THE HOOK. + +"Het-wood!" shouted the guard vehemently, as the train in which Tom +Hartshorne and Markworth had left London drew up at a little wayside +station, closely adjoining Hartwood village, the spire of whose church +could be seen near at hand, amidst a group of lofty elm trees which +surrounded it--and "Het-wood! Het-wood! Het-wood!" burst a tribe of +porters and railway men, after that official, chorusing in full cry to a +musical accompaniment of door-slammings and steam-escapements. + +"Here we are at last," ejaculated Tom, poking his head out of the window +of one of the carriages as soon as they fairly stopped. + +"Are we? Then the Lord be praised! Beastly long journey. More than +two hours for only sixty or seventy miles!" responded his companion, +stepping on to the platform, where they and their luggage were quickly +deposited--the only arrivals for the little village--while the iron +horse again grunted and puffed on its toilsome way with its string of +cattle pens behind it. + +"Good day, sir," said the station-master, touching his hat respectfully +to Tom; "do you want a trap, sir?" + +"No, thanks, we'll walk over; but will you send up our things for us, +Murphy?" + +"Certainly, sir; one of the men shall go at once with them. Here, +Peter! shoulder them there bags, and follow Mister Hartshorne up +t'ouse." + +"It's much jollier to walk, Markworth," remarked Tom, as they left the +station, and he led the way over a stile into a little bypath across a +field; "it's a lovely afternoon, and we'll get there in half the time we +should if we drove by the road." + +"All right, my boy, I'm agreeable," answered Markworth. + +So they sauntered on, walking in a narrow foot-wide track, through acres +of gleaming green fields of oats and wheat, with their wavy motion, like +the sea, and their rustling tops, one of the railway porters following +closely behind them, weighed down apparently by two heavy +travelling-bags he carried, although, probably, he thought them but a +trifle. + +A pleasant walk it was on a fine summer day. + +Presently Markworth could see a gaunt, grim stone wall in front of them, +with a mass of tall, melancholy-looking, waving poplar trees behind it, +all in a clump together. + +"There's the place," said Tom. "We'll be there in no time. We can go +through that side-door," pointing to a small gateway cut through the +wall. "You must not mind, old chap, what my mother says, you know, at +first. I told you she was a queer fellow, you know, and she will seem +rough to you at first." + +"I sha'n't mind, bless you, Tom--I oughtn't to be afraid of any woman at +my time of life, my hearty." + +In another minute they had arrived at the small door they had been +making for, and Tom rang the bell with a sonorous peal. + +After waiting about a quarter of an hour, and ringing some three times, +the gate was at length opened by George, the Dowager's "man of all +work," an honest, tall, beaming-looking countryman, who stood at the +entrance with a broad grin of pleasure on his rustic face. + +"Whoy! Lor sakes, measter Tummus! It beant you, be it? Well, to be +sure!" + +"Yes, it's me, sure enough, George. How are the rheumatics?" + +"Och! they be foine, sur?" + +"Nice day, George, ain't it? Good for the crops, eh?" + +"Yees, _surely_! it's a foine day when the soon shoines! that it be, +sur! Ho! ho! ho." And George laughed a heavy, earthy sort of laugh, +which partook of the nature of the clay in which he delved--it was so +warm, and yet lumpish, and seemed to stick in his throat and be unable +to come out, although his mouth was certainly opened wide enough to +permit of its exit. It may be mentioned that this was one of George's +time-honoured jokes about the sun and the weather, indeed the only one +he ever knew of; and he would repeat it some twenty times a day, if +anyone gave him the cue, each time being as much amused with it, and +struck with its novelty and wit as if that were the first time he +propounded it. + +A sharp, querulous voice, which belonged to somebody evidently not far +distant, here suddenly interposed-- + +"What are you standing jabbering and grinning there like a baboon for, +man? Begone to your work man! Do you think I keep your idle carcass +and pay your wages for you to be kicking your heels in the air all day +and doing nothing? Begone to your work, man, and let my son in; if I +ever catch you jabbering away like this again, out you go bag and +baggage!" + +Here it must be noted that the speaker did not pause a second in the +delivery of this harangue--not a stop, such as have been put here for +the sake of legibility, occurred between the words--the whole sentence +rattled out as one word--a word fiery, hot, strong, and by no means +sweet. + +"Lor sakes! here's the missus!" ejaculated George, in sudden terror; and +clutching his spade, which he had put down to open the gate, he +disappeared amidst the shrubbery much sooner and with a quicker movement +than he had evidently acted the part of Janitor. + +The Dowager it was, without a doubt--for her presence had quickly +followed her words, and she now stood before the pair in all her +imposing appearance with an irritated face, and her piercing eyes fixed +on them enquiringly. + +She was the first to break the short silence that ensued. + +"Well, and so you have come at last, Thomas! There, shake hands! that +will do. I wonder you have been able to tear yourself away from all +your jackanape companions--a lot of reckless spendthrifts and conceited +puppies, every one of them--to come and see your ugly old mother at +last. I am so old, and, having no airs and graces to receive you like +other people--all lies to be sure--that I wonder you do come at all! I +suppose it is only because you want money--money, money, money, like the +whole tribe of them--bloodsuckers all. But who's this fellow with you?" +she said, abruptly, turning round on Markworth as if she were going to +snap him up. "Who is he, and what does he want, shoving himself in?" + +Tom hastened to introduce him, saying that he was an old friend, Mr +Allynne Markworth, who had been very kind to him, and whom he had +ventured to invite down according to the express stipulation of his +mother. + +"Humph!" she muttered, "oh! that's it, is it; why did you not say so +before instead of letting him stand staring there like an idiot? But +you never had a head, Thomas, and never will as long as you live! You +are only fit to be a lazy soldier to flaunt about all day in a patchwork +uniform and do nothing. The only sense you ever have shown was in +selecting your profession! So this is Mr Markworth, is it? Humph! I +daresay he's like the rest of them--all calf's head and shrimp sauce! +How do you do, Mr Markworth?" She now spoke without the former +asperity, and curtseyed low in an old-fashioned manner. "Any friend of +my son is welcome to my house, poor as it is! Please go on and lead the +way, Thomas, with your friend, you will find a room ready prepared for +him, and you know your own. We dine at the regular hour, five o'clock, +and it only wants half-an-hour to that, so don't be late. I don't want +any dressing or fal-lalling!" The old lady then turned into the +shrubbery, evidently after the recreant George, and she muttered to +herself as she ambled along, "He's taller than Thomas, and a handsome +puppy; but I don't like him--he's a rogue, or I'll eat my boots." + +There was no need for such an unusual repast on the part of the Dowager; +she might have been wider from the mark in her casual conjecture. + +Punctually at five o'clock the tones of some huge clanging old bell +clanked through the house, proclaiming the hour; and Tom tapping at +Markworth's door, told him that dinner was ready. The latter at once +appeared outside as elaborately dressed as if he were going to attend a +Lord Mayor's banquet. + +"By Jove!" exclaimed Tom, turning his companion round and gazing upon +him with eyes of wonder; "why, what on earth led you to get yourself up +so fearfully?" as he led the way to the dining-parlour--a long, low, +dismal room on the ground floor. + +"I always mind little things," replied the other; "I never sacrifice +appearances:" in truth he never did. + +Tom, on the way down in the train, had explained all about his sister's +infirmity--that she was "Not quite right here, you know," tapping his +forehead significantly; so Markworth was not surprised to see a tall, +pale, slim-looking girl seated at the table with her eyes bent down on +her plate. She looked up in a sort of painful wonder when they entered, +which changed into a pleased, unmeaning smile when she recognised Tom, +and immediately again dropped her eyes. + +She was dressed in a scarlet dress, made of some stuffy material. Her +one weakness--if weakness it were--was for bright colours; she had often +told Tom that they made her "feel warm and happy." Poor child! So she +always wore scarlet or light-blue, or orange--the former hue was her +favourite one, and she had evidently put on that dress to-day in honour +of Tom, to show that she was glad and happy to see him. + +Susan Hartshorne looked older perhaps than she really was; she had +beautiful features, but her face was without expression, save that +Markworth could perceive--for he had been intently watching her--an +occasional careworn or agonised look pass across it whenever her mother +spoke, which she did every now and then in sharp accents to the old +woman servant who waited on them at table. The Dowager had taken no +notice of Markworth in a conversational sense, although she eyed him +frequently, except to mutter "coxcomb!" in an underbreath (which he +however distinctly heard), when he first entered the room, and once to +ask him to be helped to some dish before her. + +The meal was a good one. The old lady received a portion of her rents +"in kind," and was never at a loss for fresh poultry, fish, or +vegetable, not to speak of game; but it was soon over, for the presiding +genius evidently looked upon it in the light of a serious business which +was not to be trifled with. When the last dish had been brought in and +removed, the dowager got up from her seat and stalked majestically out +of the room, followed silently by her daughter, who seemed to glide +rather than move. + +"Rum old party, ain't she? But she's good, though, and I like her in my +way, you know, the same as she does me," observed Tom. + +"Yes," said Markworth, neither affirmatively nor in a questioning tone +of voice, but with a mixture of both inflections. "Where, however, is +that governess you were talking about to me?" + +"Oh! Miss Kingscott! 'Pon my soul I don't know. Let's go and hunt her +up; I have not seen her yet." + +Just then they heard the melancholy notes of an organ in the distance, +as they turned into the passage. + +"That's Susan," observed her brother. "I daresay Miss Kingscott is with +her." + +They followed the strains, which grew louder as they penetrated into the +back and apparently deserted quarters of the house. + +"Here we are," said Tom, as he opened the door of the room from whence +the music proceeded. + +A dark, haughty, ladylike girl, clad in rustling black silk, stood up +and faced the door as they entered. + +"Miss Kingscott, I presume?" Tom asked, bowing politely with his usual +frankness. + +"Whew! By jingo!" ejaculated Markworth, between his teeth. "I'm +blessed if it isn't Clara!" + +Volume 1, Chapter IV. + +MISS KINGSCOTT. + +"Who was Miss Kingscott?" + +"Aye, that would be telling, sure," as a native of the Emerald Isle says +when you question him about anything he does not care to disclose. But +few persons could give you any satisfactory answer to your enquiry, not +even the sharp, shrewd old dowager in whose employ she now was. She +might tell you that Miss Kingscott was a governess, a lady's companion-- +regarding her in the light of a saleable article of furniture--and that +she came to her well recommended, and that she supposed she knew what +she professed to teach, and was worth her wages, or she would not be +hired; but she personally thought her "a bold hussie," and that was all. +Knowledge has its limits, and there Mrs Hartshorne ceased. + +Who was Miss Kingscott? An easy question on the face of it, but one +requiring a very complicated answer. Who was she? Why, _une fille +errante_, a nobody's child, a sort of female Bedouin, whose hand was +against every man's--and woman's also--as she thought theirs to be +against her. A woman young, beautiful, and, beyond all, clever, and not +only very clever but heartless, and as devoted to self as she was _sans +coeur_. One who could take her part--aye, and play her part--before the +world; a fair face with a devil's heart--that is if a devil does have a +heart--and great keen basilisk eyes. One who might be anything and +everything, for you could hardly judge her as to what _role_ would suit +her best, or rather suit her purpose best. A child yesterday, a woman +to-day--nay, she could never have been a child. Only a governess now +mayhap, but she might be _miladi_ to-morrow if she plays her cards well. +Pshaw! she always played her cards well, for there's a rare little +plotting head on her well-formed shoulders. Miss Kingscott, _entendez +vous_, is a clever woman; one day she may be any character she please, +and God knows what the next. + +Now to sketch her personal attributes. In the ante-passport abolition +days an employe in the _Bureau des Passeportes_ might have put her down +as follows: _Des yeux--gris; nez--aquilin; teint--pale; cheveux--noirs; +et taille moyenne_. In plain English she was a girl--woman that is--of +some five feet two in height, of pale--strange the French have no +distinction between pale and sallow--complexion, and with black hair and +grey eyes. Grey eyes the Gallic officer would call them, but that would +not describe them; they were basilisk eyes, eyes that had a depth of +cunning, and treachery, and entrancement in them, which no colour term +would express. + +Ten years ago Clara Joyce--she had lately adopted the name of Kingscott, +bequeathed her by a maiden aunt, who left her nothing else but her +patronymic, which she could wear or not as she pleased, for there was no +one living to question her right to the same--filled the position of +English governess at a _Pensionat des Filles_ in the _Rue des +Courcelles_ in Paris. The school was a famous one, and is a famous one +still, so we must not be too particular about names or dates exactly. + +Her previous life had been one of hardship, slavery, and neglect. Her +parents had died when she was quite young, and she was placed at school, +not to learn merely her education like her mates, but to learn her +profession. She was to be a governess, and her earlier years were but a +training for what she had afterwards to go through. First, she was a +scholar _pur et simple_; next, she became a sort of general drudge, or +female usher, as she grew older; and then her aunt--when the harpy who +watched over her budding intellects grew tired of her temper, and +declared her to be sufficiently taught to be able to teach others,--told +her she could do nothing more for her, having recommended her to a +situation, where she was engaged to teach every possible and impossible +grace and accomplishment at starvation rate, and _ma tante_ washed her +hands metaphorically of her. This aunt of hers, who was the only +relative that Clara Joyce ever remembered coming across, was by no means +the sort of person to impress anyone with the idea of domestic +affection, so houseless, homeless, and friendless, the girl had been all +her school life, and houseless, homeless, and friendless she was when +turned out into the world. + +The very marrow of her nature had been frozen by her surroundings, and +the life of a governess was not one to imbue her with any better +feelings, although it increased her knowledge of human nature. One +situation after another she filled in England until she was fairly sick +of her country, and she eagerly accepted the position offered her in the +_pensionat_ in Paris, thinking that it might throw her into a fresh +field and improve her chances of rising in the social scale. She had +been an _intriguante_ early, her experiences of life already had +deepened her convictions that in order to succeed she must skilfully +manoeuvre the wires, looking upon her fellows as puppets; but even then +if she had had a fair chance--good heavens! how many of us are there not +crying out for a fair chance--Clara Joyce would have turned out a very +different person from the Clara Kingscott, of our story; but it was not +to be. + +At the time she entered the _pensionat_ she was barely twenty years of +age--she was now consequently just thirty--a handsome girl, although +somewhat thin and pale, from the hard life and harder living she had +gone through; and she now determined more than ever to take advantage of +her looks and chances, literally to husband her resources. To endeavour +in fact by a wealthy marriage--she had read and was told that eligible +_partis_ were much sooner picked up on the continent than in the more +calculating Britain--to rid herself for ever of her working life, and be +above the danger of want, which, poor _intriguante_, she had already +gone through, and the necessity for drudgery. + +She had no romance in her nature, no absurd ideas on the subject of love +and happiness which the more benighted of us sometimes imagine to be +indissolubly connected with the married state; but, taking her as she +was, and putting such thoughts out of consideration, Clara Joyce, if she +had had the chance, as has been before suggested, might have made a most +exemplary wife for some one, and turned out, perhaps, a highly correct +and eminently respectable mother of a family. Consider, now, she was +brought up to slave for others, to subdue her own private feelings and +wishes, to conceal her own thoughts and opinions, to enact a series of +petty deceptions and tell white lies every day. How many are there not +of our noble army of British matrons who go through the same parts every +day? Fancy how Joan has to wheedle old Darby, and laugh at his stale +jokes and "keep up appearances," and slave for the children, so that her +life is one long drudgery, the same as Clara's. _Ma foi_! there are +slaves and slaves, many whose black skins are hidden by a white mask, +and whose chains clank beneath their silk or merino gowns. + +French life with its manners and customs pleased our young _debutante_. +Although as a matter of course, _mademoiselles les etudiantes_ were +carefully looked after, yet she had plenty of liberty allowed her, for +she so "got round" the _directrice_ of the school that she was nearly +her own mistress; and she was not slow to employ her spare time in +seeing as much as she could of the gay city, its habits, and its +visitors. _Madame la Directrice_ would have been shocked if she had +known that her timid little modest English teacher, "such a quiet little +thing, _pauvre enfante_!" often went to fetes by herself, _sans +chaperone_, and had been even seen in one of those monstrous places--a +theatre! The _gouvernante_ was a shrewd, cautious little actress, and +_Madame la Directrice_ was as blind, bah! as a mole. It was easy enough +to make up a little story of relations to be seen, and to show letters +of invitation imploring a certain demure English teacher to visit her +poor aunt, who was all alone in Paris. And then the _pauvre enfante_ +was so regular in coming back. She was always in at the fixed hour +every evening she went out--so quiet, so punctual. Madame never dreamt +of such things as bribing a _concierge_! + +While Clara Joyce was thus busying herself in investigating human +nature, a certain young Englishman came to Paris, and in one of her +excursions he made her acquaintance. _Monsieur l'Anglais_ was tall and +handsome and rich. He had plenty of money, and was liberal, and was +looked upon as a _milord_ at least by those with whom he associated. +The young Englishman, however, was as shrewd and clever as the +_gouvernante_. Need it be said that his name was one with which we are +already acquainted? It was Allynne Markworth. + +Clara Joyce was an elegant, pretty girl, and the way he made her +acquaintance was in itself an additional charm. Markworth was attracted +by her, and courted her society. He had then a little romance in him, +and was to a certain extent in love with her; but the girl was as +cautious as he was enamoured. She thought that at last she had +succeeded in picking up her eligible _parti_, not only a wealthy one, +but a young and handsome one also, a regular pearl of price. But, like +all young players, she underrated her adversary, and let him see her +hand too soon. Markworth was not one to be caught so easily. He was +one, also, who was marketing on his good looks, and contemplated +matrimony only through the diamond light of a fortune. He was not going +to sacrifice himself for a pretty English governess, who had only her +graces to recommend her, and not a sou of _dot_! He laughed at her when +she spoke of the hymeneal altar; and so poor Clara Joyce--one cannot +help pitying a clever woman who lays herself out to win and loses in the +end--had made her _coup_ and missed it just by a fluke! + +She had staked her all, her _petit rouleau_ of a heart on "black," and +here _noir perd et passe le coup_, as the gentleman, who presides over a +queer looking long table divided into red and black squares as to its +surface, at Homburg, says mechanically as he rakes in the little piles +of glittering coin and quires of _billets de banque_, while the unlucky +gamesters gaze on him ruefully, and bite their nails in disgust. + +The girl was furious against him. She railed at him, she threatened +him, she vowed vengeance, but he did not care a jot. He had not +committed himself. He was too wary for that, and what did he care? She +bored him, he said, and so he took himself off, and left her to her own +machinations. But Clara was not one to be insulted or injured with +impunity. She had vowed vengeance, and she intended to have it. She +interested herself about Markworth. She wrote to England about him. +She found out many little things about him which he never thought any +one would recollect, or know here in Paris, at all events. By her +indefatigable exertions, she discovered after a year's spying, and +seeking, and enquiry, that Markworth was on the eve of marriage with a +millionairess--a besotted old widow of a Lyons manufacturer, who adored +Englishmen, especially if they were _milords_, and the young lady +communicated with the friends of the _devotee_. Through information she +gave, the match was broken off, and Markworth learnt who had spoiled his +little game. He could not do much, however; he could only expose her at +the Pension, and then there was a fine blow up with Madame Bonchose, the +_Directrice_. Of course Clara had to leave--such a "little snake in the +grass," as Madame called her. But she had had her revenge. Not that +she was satisfied yet. That was only the first of a series of attacks +she planned. She intended to be Mr Allynne Markworth's evil star +through life. It was an unlucky day for him, according to the Fates, +when he came across her orbit and discovered Clara Joyce. + +After leaving the _Pensionat des Filles_ in disgrace, she next became a +_Femme de Chambre_ to a Marquise of questionable reputation, with whom +she remained some two years, travelling about and increasing her +knowledge of the world. But she had not forgotten Markworth, not she, +and was ready to lay her hand on him again whenever she had the +opportunity. + +Time passed, and she came back once more to England. Her aunt died, so +she assumed her name; and, as Miss Kingscott now, she took a situation +once more in an English family at a cathedral town in the south. She +knew _he_ was in London now, and she wanted to be near him. She was so +fond of him, you see! + +But she had another little game, too, to watch over. One day Doctor +Jolly had come to visit at the house where she was employed as a +governess, and where she was about leaving, on account of the breaking +up of the household. Doctor Jolly was impressed with her, and our +heroine, having made enquiries, thought there might be worse lots in +life than being a rich doctress: so she made eyes at him, and set her +cap coquettishly. + +The doctor mentioned that Mrs Hartshorne was in want of a lady +companion for her daughter, and said he would recommend her. + +Miss Kingscott was agreeable. She had heard there was an only son--Poor +Tom!--and who knew what might turn up? Besides, she would be near the +doctor, and consequently have him to fall back upon. + +And so she came to be domesticated at The Poplars. The old lady +squabbled with her, but she gave her as much as she got; and the +dowager, pleased with having some one worth quarrelling with, retained +her. + +Susan, of course, was passive in her hands, and the son of the house she +had not yet seen, so she bided her time, and diligently cultivated old +Jolly, whose cheery "How-de-do!" to her would be heard afar, echoing +through the poplar trees when he came to visit at the house, which he +now did much oftener than before. + +She was surprised, naturally, to see Markworth at the present juncture, +but not so much as he was. He of course had not recognised her new +name, which, indeed, he had never heard of before; and would have been +as pleased--aye! more so--to have met his Satanic Majesty now than his +quondam Parisian love--the little English governess. + +"Damn her!" he growled, _sotto voce_ to himself; "what the devil brings +her here to spoil my game?" + +Volume 1, Chapter V. + +COUNTING THE COST. + +"Miss Kingscott, I presume?" said Tom, bowing politely, as the lady gave +a Parthian glance, sharp, quick, and incisive, of mingled recognition +and command-to-keep-his-own-counsel-until-further-orders at her +_soi-disant_ lover Markworth, who stood in the rear of his companion, +and who, although he was startled at her appearance, was too much the +cool man of the world to give expression aloud to his astonishment. +"Humph!" he thought unto himself, as he pulled his wits together. "I'm +to keep dark, I suppose," and he adopted an air of well-bred +indifference. + +Miss Kingscott smiled bewitchingly on the young squire. + +"I am Tom Hartshorne," continued that gentleman, in a warm, friendly +manner. "You have been very kind to my sister, and I hope we shall be +friends." + +This was a pleasant little fiction, by the way, on Tom's part, as he had +no previous knowledge whatever of Miss Kingscott's kindness, or the +reverse, but the young officer was of a gallant disposition. + +"Oh, indeed!" said the lady, with an air of agreeable surprise. "And so +you are Mr Tom. I am sure dear Susan has spoken often enough to me +about you. I am only Miss Hartshorne's governess, you know, but I've no +doubt we will be good friends as far as our respective positions will +allow." + +Humility was one of her cards, you see, but it was thrown away on Tom: +he was more shocked than pleased, as others more purse-proud might have +been, at the contrast drawn. + +"This is my friend Allynne Markworth," he went on, hurriedly; "we ran +down together for a week to dissipate the London dust. He and I are +great friends, so I hope that we'll all be jolly together." + +Both inclined as if they had never seen each other before. Mr +Markworth was remarkably deferential, with a concealed sneer on his +lips, and the governess sweeping in her condescension. + +Some little commonplace expressions and conversation then passed between +the party, and you would have thought it the most delightful trio in the +world. + +All the while Susan Hartshorne was aloof from the party, seated in a +corner of the half-furnished and half-lighted room, for the outside +shutters were partially closed, and it looked as if it had not been +inhabited for years--most probably a fire had not been lighted in its +old grate since the squire's death. She was playing on an +antique-looking organ, with its zigzag rows of metal pipes which nearly +filled up one end of the apartment, a fitful sort of air which rose and +fell every now and then with a shriek like the last despairing moan of +one of the lost spirits in Dante's Inferno. Presently she ceased +playing, and coming up to the others touched Tom on the arm. + +"Come, brother," she said, in a low, soft voice, without any inflexion +in it; and, taking no notice of either the governess or Markworth, she +led him gently towards the door. "You must see my garden," she +continued, speaking to him as if they were alone, just in the same quiet +tones. + +"I'll be back presently; pray excuse me," said Tom, as he went out; and +Markworth and Miss Kingscott were left alone. + +The former was the first to speak. + +"So we've changed names, have we? Clara Joyce is dead, and Miss +Kingscott reigns in her stead?" + +"Mr Allynne Markworth, however, is still flourishing, I see," she +replied, in accents whose sarcasm was bitter enough and apparent enough +without glancing at her scornful flashing eyes. + +"Yes, small blame to you; but I don't think you'll play any more tricks +with me again. Well, that's long ago, and I can `forgive and forget;' I +shan't rake up the past if you won't. You are here under an assumed +name, and--but what's it to be, Clara, peace or war between us?" + +"Or you'll unmask me, eh? You will tell all about the silly English +teacher-girl who was _eprise_ of a swindling vagabond, and the mistress +of whose school was so very correct as to discharge her without a +character, will you? You'd like to get me turned out from here, the +house of your rich country friends, would you?" she spoke rapidly and +with intense bitterness. "Bah! I do not fear you, Allynne Markworth, +any more than I do that baby-faced, idiot girl who has just left the +room!" + +"What's the use of going on like that, Clara? Who said that I was going +to injure you, or that you were afraid of me? By Jove! I know to my +cost you're not. Why can't you be calm and look at things reasonably? +You and I may be able to assist each other, and it's better for us to be +friends than enemies." + +"I care as little for your enmity as I do for the valuable friendship +you gave me formerly. There can be little in common between us. +Besides, even if I had the inclination, I don't see how either you can +help me, or I you." + +"But you can help me very much." + +"Ha! I thought you wanted something! No, there can be no accord +between us. You are a man of the world, and I am, myself!" (here she +laughed bitterly) "so let us each go our own way in peace or in war, +just as you please--it's indifferent to me." + +"What nonsense!" said Markworth. "It is not indifferent to you. You +can assist me here in this very house, and, if you do, it will be to +your advantage." + +"Of course, you don't gain anything by it?" + +"If my scheme succeeds, you shall share the profits." + +"You will take the lion's share, I have no doubt! and if you fail?" + +"I alone will bear the loss." + +"How generous you are!" + +"Well, do you consent to join forces? is it settled? Am I to tell Mrs +Hartshorne--how pleased she'll be to hear it!--the character of the +governess she has got for her daughter, or are we to form an operative +alliance!" + +"Markworth, you are a villain!" + +"Granted," he said, calmly. "Do you agree?" + +"I suppose I must," she replied. "You are not to interfere with me? and +I--" + +"Will assist me to the best of your ability. That's a bargain; I +thought you would be reasonable, Clara." + +"But what do you want me to do?" she asked, after a slight pause, fixing +her eyes searchingly on his face. + +"It is nothing criminal. You will not have to commit yourself in any +way. I don't want you to do anything, in fact; I only want you to keep +in the background, and not spoil sport. Will you do it?" + +"Agreed," she answered. "And your grand scheme is--" + +"Marriage," he said, curtly. "Well, it won't be your first attempt in +that way at all events! Of course, there's a fortune in view, or you +would not try that speculation. But who's the lady--not me, I presume?" +she enquired, with another of those short bitter laughs which sounded so +strangely from her lips. + +"Not exactly!" he sneered; "I don't think you and I would just suit one +another. Listen," he resumed, quietly, looking towards the door, and +drawing closer to her, and sinking his voice as he spoke, "The girl is +here--you understand?" + +"I confess I do not see your drift," she said, wishing to draw him on to +a full disclosure. + +"Pshaw! Clara, you are not a fool; you understand me well enough." + +"Perhaps I do, and perhaps I don't." + +"Your eyes are not so blind that you cannot see when it is to your own +interests. But there's no use in beating about the bush or mincing +matters; you know this girl here." + +"What! Susan Hartshorne--that poor idiot?" she exclaimed with +well-acted amazement and horror. + +"That same and no other," replied Markworth, positively blushing at +being obliged actually to confess his own villainy. "But she's not an +idiot, she's only foolish--half-silly; and there's no harm in it," he +continued, half apologetically. + +"And you want to marry her?" said the other. + +"I do not _want_ to marry her; I _mean_ to marry her!" answered +Markworth, quite himself again, and with his usual coolness and _sang +froid_, "and you must help me. Listen! That girl has a fortune of +twenty thousand pounds. I am so hard run for money that unless I get +some before the present month is up, I shall be ruined--that girl has +money which she does not want, and can never feel the need of--do you +follow me?--consequently I mean to marry that girl. Nobody cares for +her here; her mother, I daresay, will be glad to get rid of her, and the +girl will suffer no loss." + +"You will take care of her, I suppose!" said the governess, in her +pleasant biting way. + +"Yes, I will take care of her--as good care, I daresay, as she gets +now." + +"Well, and supposing I lent myself to your purposes, what am I to get-- +what is to be my share in the transaction? You don't suppose I am going +to assist you and risk my situation for nothing?" + +"I tell you what, Clara, if you help me in the affair I'll give you two +hundred pounds; I can't give you more now, and I'll have hard work to +get that, for I daresay I will have to go through a long law suit before +I can get her fortune, and spend most of it, perhaps, in doing so, even +if I do succeed in marrying the girl and getting her off." + +"It's little enough! but how shall I know that you will pay me?--you +have cheated me before, Markworth, and I would not trust your word for +sixpence." + +"You need not if you don't like, but I'll act fairly in the matter. I +will give you a hundred before I get the girl away, and another hundred +after I am married to her. There, will that do? If I don't pay you, +you can expose the whole affair; and if you go back on me you will +implicate yourself afterwards; so it serves both our purposes to act +squarely. Do you know what the girl's age is?" + +"Yes, twenty-one; I saw her age in the old family Bible, which Mrs +Hartshorne keeps up-stairs in her own room." + +"Well I wish you would get me a look at it, or find out the exact date +of her birthday for me--it's important." + +"I will let you know either this evening or to-morrow, better say +to-morrow." + +"That will do. Then the bargain is concluded between us. All I want +you to do now is to help me gain the girl over, she looks tractable +enough--and help me to get her away quietly. I'll give you the hundred +before I get her off; then as soon as I marry her you shall get the +other century. I can't help keeping my word to you, for you see it +suits my own interest. It's little enough I want you to do. If all +goes well it will run hard if I don't succeed and get the fortune, and +I'll remember you afterwards. Do you agree--is it a settled thing +between us?" + +"Yes," said she, apparently reflecting a moment. "I suppose that will +do, for if you don't pay me I shall then be able to disclose the whole +transaction." + +"Precisely," he answered, complacently, "You can have me indicted for +conspiracy and what not! but there'll be no fear of that. We will not +quarrel, Clara; what suits my book will suit yours." + +Besides consulting Roger Hartshorne's will he had obtained legal advice +on his contemplated marriage before coming down to The Poplars. + +"Very well, if you are sensible you will play fair in the undertaking, +and I shall be satisfied. If you keep your word I shall assist you; at +all events _I_ am not going to marry the girl, so I shan't have anything +to complain of if I get my money." + +"I will pay you, never fear! and you must keep to your bargain, and +allow me to work my own way with the girl, and assist me in the end to +get her off. Don't forget to let me know to-morrow her right age, and +write down the date of her birth--it might be useful to me. But about +the girl herself, she is not really mad, is she?" + +"I thought you yourself told me just now she was not." + +"Bother! don't be so aggravating, Clara; you ought to know the girl, and +be able to tell me about her." + +"You need not alarm yourself, Mr Allynne Markworth," replied Miss +Kingscott, with a sneer; "on the contrary, allow me to congratulate you. +You have tumbled into luck's way, and appear to have fallen upon your +legs as usual. The girl is only, as you said, half-silly, and without +being exactly an idiot can be made to do anything you and I please--that +is, by judicious management." + +She was going to say something further, but at this moment Tom +re-entered the room, and, of course, the conversation was dropped. + +"I was just asking Miss Kingscott if she liked croquet, and, Tom, do you +know--can you believe it, she has never heard of that flirtative and +fascinating game?" said Markworth, in his usual free and elegant manner. + +"Really!" said Tom. "Then we must enlighten her. Markworth is the +prince of croquetters, you know, Miss Kingscott"--turning to her, and +that lady seemed pleased for the information, and transfixed poor Tom +with her beautifully expressive eyes. + +"Fine girl," he said presently to Markworth, as they went out of the +room to smoke their cigars in the garden. + +"Ya-a-s," he replied, spinning out his answer as if he had not quite +made up his mind on the subject; "but she's no chicken." + +He was right, and he ought to know, at all events. Miss Kingscott was +"no chicken," either in years or in strength of mind. + +The evening passed quietly with Tom and his visitor, neither the +governess nor Susan being seen again, and the old dowager was especially +gracious as bed-time drew nigh. This was fixed at an early hour--ten +o'clock. + +Markworth was presently in his room, and as he undressed he moralised on +the events of the day, and the progress of his plot. + +"Rum, wasn't it?" he soliloquised, "meeting Clara here; but it is a +decided pull in my favour. The thing is regularly _en train_ now, and +must come off soon. The girl is passable enough, and at all events I +don't care. I must risk Tom's anger; but I don't suppose he will mind +it much--he's soft, and I can manage him as I like. There's only the +old lady, and I hardly know how to wheedle her yet, she's so downright +and plain spoken. By Jove! of all the characters I ever met she's one!" + +In the midst of his meditations a loud authoritative rap came to the +door. + +"Your light?" said a thin, sharp voice, which he instantly recognised as +Mrs Hartshorne's. + +He opened the door, and nearly burst out laughing at the odd figure +which presented itself. It was the dowager, clothed in a long white +garment, and with an immense frilled night-cap on her head, and two or +three candlesticks in one hand, and a huge bunch of keys in the other. + +"What are you staring like a stuck pig at? Give me your candlestick! +All the lights in my house go out at half-past ten o'clock every night. +That's my rule, and I won't break it for anyone, I don't care who! Give +me your light." + +Markworth handed the candlestick to the old lady, who presently +retreated down the passage with her arms outstretched, looking like the +Witch of Endor. + +"No chance of a cigar here," he said to himself, as he closed the door +once more, and jumped into bed. "She would smell it at once; I'd back +her nose against a pointer's any day. She's a rum un; of all the +characters, by Jove! I ever met, she is one!" + +And he turned in his bed and slept the sleep of the just, in which the +wicked equally share. + +Volume 1, Chapter VI. + +CONCERNING CERTAIN YOUNG PERSONS. + +It came to pass on the following Sunday, two days after their arrival, +that Tom and his friend went to church along with the dowager, as +befitted respectable people, and a family of state in the county. Not +to the parish church, where the Rev. Jabez Heavieman preached his +ponderous sermons, and warned his congregation of their approaching +perdition, and the damnation of their souls, in his cus +omary evangelical style. Oh, no! but to the +altogether-of-a-different-sort-of-a-doctrine little edifice in Hartwood +village, which specially belonged to the Sussex Dowager. Indeed she +regarded not only the church as her own peculiar property, but also its +officiating clergyman, clerk, school children, nay, even the very future +hopes of salvation of the worshippers who frequented it. + +Hartwood Church was as unpretending a building as to its style as The +Poplars. + +It was a small ungainly-looking, low-roofed structure, oblong with a +stone cross at one end, and a short square tower at the other. It was +built of rough stone, and had apparently been constructed with a +deficient supply of mortar; and a small abutment, which it had on one +side for the requirements of the porch and vestry-room, had more the +semblance of a shed attached to a farmhouse than anything else. It was +an old church, too, probably much older than the one belonging to the +parish; and its little churchyard, encircled by rude wooden palings, +contained some monuments and tombstones, which were grey with age and as +rough as when they were first hewn from the quarry, telling how "John +Giles, aetat 95," and "Richard Chawbacon, aetat 104," both of whom +departed this life Anno Domini 16 hundred and something, were there +entombed. All the Hartshorne family, too, from Geoffrey Hartshorne, who +founded the race and belonged to the Roundhead party in the days of +Cromwell, down to the last old squire, there rested their bones in +peace. One peculiarity of the churchyard, however, consisted in the +great age to which its inhabitants had attained before shaking off this +mortal coil. Ninety years was a comparatively early time for any of the +former citizens of Hartwood to dream of sleeping with his fathers; and +although you occasionally came across an inscription sacred to the +memory of a young man of seventy or thereabouts, the majority of the +departed were mostly centenarians. + +The interior of the church was very different to what you might have +expected from the outside view. The dowager, to do her justice, was not +mean in all things; and, although she would screw her tenants down and +pinch her household, she could occasionally--very occasionally it must +be confessed--be not only liberal but grand in her views, that is when +it suited her book. She had had the church newly fitted up some short +time before, when her High Church fever and devotion to Ritualism had +first begun; and all its columns and crossbeams and rough rafters, which +could be seen within, were newly varnished and resplendent in their +graining. The chancel, too, was a wonder of blue and gold, and she had +also presented a novel reading-desk or _lectern_, consisting of a brass +eagle with outstretched wings, which stood in the centre of the aisle, +and presented quite a grand appearance. + +The pews were not what one generally calls pews at all: they were a +series of high-backed benches, armed at each end, and placed in rows +down the middle of the aisle facing the pulpit and chancel, those at the +side being arranged at right angles, so that the lateral pews faced each +other; this position must be borne in mind, as it accounts for a +trifling circumstance which led to the origin of the present chapter. + +Slowly and majestically Mrs Hartshorne marched into the church, and +slowly and majestically Tom marched after her, carrying her large +prayer-book and Bible of the size originally distributed by the +Religious Tract Society--a service generally performed by the henchman +"Jarge," as he pronounced his own name--while Markworth brought up the +rear of the procession. + +The dowager's pew was immediately opposite the pulpit, and, of course, +facing the side pews on the other side behind the reading-desk, the +front one of which was devoted to the use of the incumbent for the time +being and his family, in case he had any. + +Up the aisle in its onward and solemn progress the procession passed, +and the dowager was soon ensconced in the extreme upper corner of the +pew, with her devotional exercises arranged before her on the +_prie-Dieu_, and her hands folded on her lap, now deprived of their +customary woollen envelopes, as prim as you please. "Primness was no +name for it, sir," as Markworth said afterwards to Tom; "her position +was--yes, sir, statuesque, by Jove!" The guest sat bodkin between the +two, while Tom occupied the corner--by the place where the door should +have been if there had been one--from which point he could command a +portion of the clerical pew, otherwise obscured from general +observation, at least on this side of the house, by the reading-desk. + +Tom, I am sorry to say, was not particularly devout in church. He would +keep his eyes straying from his book, and yet his attention did not +wander over the whole edifice, for he looked straight in front of him, +and none but a very curious observer could have detected his lack of +devotional zeal. His mother did not notice it, for she was apparently +plunged heart and soul into the liturgy, although really making up her +mind as to the feasibility of raising Farmer Grigg's rent upon having +seen the daughters of that unfortunate worthy, who were esteemed the +belles of the village, come into church with new bonnets and actually +silk dresses! "when I can not afford them, the brazen hussies." As for +Markworth he was wondering what a rum lot the Chawbacons were, and how +funny they all looked clean washed and scraped, and with their +elaborately-braided white smock-frocks on over their black trowsers, +looking as if they had donned surplices, or, as he hit upon a better +illustration, as if they had put on their night-shirts--I beg pardon, +_robes de chambre_--and come out by mistake instead of going to bed. So +Tom had it all his own way. + +Tom was observant, but it was nothing so very noticeable that attracted +his attention. It was only a bonnet! only a little coquettish +arrangement of ribbons and lace, and very little crown to it, if any,-- +only one of those tiny specimens of Madame Charles or Leroux, handiwork +which you can see any day in Leicester Square, and which though +apparently so trifling are worth far more than their weight in gold--as +poor Paterfamilias knew to his cost. It is a dainty, demure little +article enough, but nothing in it is there to warrant this wrapt +attention on Tom's part. + +Can he be considering how two ribbons can be held together in that +artful mode by a mere straw? is he a disciple of the millinery art? No, +that would not make the gallant young officer gaze so entrancingly, and +cause the ruddy flush of excitement to colour his budding cheek! Master +Tom is not so simple as that, although he may be a most ingenuous youth. +The bonnet has a wearer who will keep her eyes bent down as earnestly +as Tom persists in raising his from his book, and fixing them over the +way, except now and then an occasional blushing little look across, and +then once more down deep into the service again. It is a pretty little +bonnet and has a pretty little owner, as Tom thinks. He "considers it a +shame," but he cannot help letting his enquiring optics travel over the +way. Young rogue! how he enjoys seeing the colour which his too-earnest +gaze calls up--the pink signal of maidenly reserve, pleasure, coyness, +consciousness. + +There is no blame attached to Tom, those heavenly violet eyes have done +it all. He could not help it even if he would. Tom is hopelessly in +love--love at first sight--with pretty Lizzie Pringle, Mrs Hartshorne's +young incumbent's sister. He is thoroughly in for it, as much as if he +had known her for months or years. + +It is all very well for you, Monsieur Cynic, or you, Madame Artless, to +say that there is no such thing as "love at first sight." Of course it +is foolish, but it is not impossible; Cupid, my dear sir or madam, is a +most erratic as well as _erotic_ young gentleman, and plays some strange +pranks sometimes. A glance from a pair of bright eyes will some times, +one glance, effect a wonderful metamorphosis in even the sternest +misogynists, create a revolution, ruin an empire. Look at history, +Monsieur Cynic, and answer me if you dare. Nay, my dear sir, it is not +impossible, not even improbable. A single word, one look between +sympathetic souls, often establishes that cordial affinity which years +of intercourse, and dictionaries of words, and oceans of sighs will not +create between others who have not met their mental kindred. Philosophy +cannot argue against Cupidon; he laughs Plato and his platitudes to +scorn. _Dixi_! I have spoken. Tom has fallen in love, and it was a +clear case of love at first sight, with Lizzie Pringle just the girl he +was ordained--in a non-clerical sense--to fall in love with. + +She was as nice a little thing as you could conceive--slim, petite, with +dark brown hair nearly black, such heavenly violet eyes with liquid +depths, and the most ravishing little rosebud of a mouth and piquante +little nose possible for any one but a fairy to possess; she was so +winning, innocent, pretty a specimen of God's gift to man, that the fact +is Master Tom would have deserved being called an _eingebornen knarren_, +adopting the German text for fool, if he had _not_ fallen a victim +immediately to her violet eyes. And then she was dressed so +bewitchingly--not in gaudy contrasts, or in the extreme of the _mode_, +but so neatly and in such a ladylike manner that she must have attracted +even wiser heads than his. + +Of course she saw him looking at her--of course she did! "What a rude +staring fellow he is to be sure!" she said to herself mentally, and +resolved not to look that way again but to fix her attention sternly on +the Thirty-nine Articles; still she would have just one peep +more.--"There he is again, the great rude creature! What nice blue eyes +he has, and such a little love of a moustache! and what on earth can he +find to look at so persistently over here?" And down would go the long +dark lashes again, and a little conscious blush would rise, and even the +tender little ears and supple white neck would be encrimsoned. "It must +be Mister Tom," she determined, "that dark ugly man that went in with +Mistress Hartshorne could not be him; but he is a very naughty fellow to +be staring at a young lady like that." Yet she would go on to excuse +him to herself. "Perhaps he does not know any better, poor fellow; he's +very young" (she was just seventeen mind you), "and when I know him I +will tell him what I think of his rudeness." And then she would wonder +to herself whether she ever would know him, and it sent a pang to her +little heart when she thought she might not, and then Master Tom would +catch her eye, and the tell-tale blush would hang out its pink flag +again, and there would be a little flush of happiness, and so _da capo_. +Just picture to yourself, Corydon, your little flirtation or _grande +passion_ with Phyllis, and you can easily fill up all the blanks and +imagine the rest. + +The Reverend Herbert Pringle, B.A., Oxon, who now filled the living at +Hartwood, was a very young man; but a very great man in his own +estimation, and in that of some others also, as to family, talents, and +ritualistic attainments in the church. He was the cousin, twice +removed, of Sir Boanerges Todhunter the great anti-taxpayer and member +of the Opposition, belonged to the extensive High Church party at +Oxford, had gained some celebrity at the Union Debating Club; and here +he was now the regular incumbent (for a term of only five years be it +known, for the Sussex Dowager liked always to have a hold on her tenants +in the matter of leases, and stretched her authority to the livings she +had in her gift) of a respectable church in a good county, where he +could do as he pleased--at an age when the majority of his compeers +would be struggling along perhaps in their first curacies. + +He had reason to be proud of himself; and really, putting aside a +certain priggishness of manner and affectation of style, he was not such +a very bad fellow. Take him out of the church, and he would have been a +regular jolly fellow, who would have got along capitally in a mess room +or in a hunting county, for he was dearly inclined to horseflesh, and +had kept his two hunters at Swain's before he had "gone in" for the High +Church party of "young Oxford." He was a short, well-built, +straw-whiskered man of some eight and twenty, although almost boyish in +manner and in face. He had pleased the dowager by the way in which he +had officiated as curate during the long illness of the late incumbent, +and she had determined to put him in the vacant pulpit, if only out of +opposition, as has been observed before, to the Reverend Jabez +Heavieman, whom she cordially detested. + +Herbert Pringle had therefore tumbled upon a snug thing. "His lines had +fallen in pleasant places," so here he was inducted into the living of +Hartwood. His first step was to set up housekeeping, in order to do +which he had to bring his favourite little sister Lizzie from school to +"keep house" for him, and then he set about making further improvements +in his district, for which he had _carte blanche_ from the dowager, who, +whenever she heard of some fresh innovation, thought to herself, "I +wonder what that old hypocrite"--alluding to the Reverend Jabez--"thinks +of that now!" + +The restoration of the church was effected at the new incumbent's +especial request; and the brass lectern was given by the old lady +because the young divine had munificently presented a huge painted +window, the subject of which was a large cross, erected just over the +chancel. Then a new harmonium was got in place of a wretched old +"spinet," which had previously done duty for an organ, and a choir was +regularly established from amongst the school children that sang the +responses in church now every Sunday, its members clad in little dirty +white surplices. + +He was all in favour of ceremonials, was the Reverend Herbert Pringle; +and although he perhaps "meant well" according to his judgment, he was +very affected, and "High Church" all through the service--to the intense +astonishment of the farmers and poor labourers, who used to wonder at +the new style of worship adopted in their old church, and be perplexed +with all the bowings and genuflections, and especially with the +white-surpliced choir. + +To give him his due, however, he did not preach a bad sermon, and had a +very effective way of appealing to the pockets of his hearers when any +charity required his aid; but he read always in a light, jocular, +hurried manner, as if he were under an engagement to get over a certain +portion of ground in a fixed time, and he always said, or intoned, +"Awe-men" instead of Amen at the end of the prayers. + +He had now been in possession of his cure for more than six months, and +consequently felt at home in it. His improvements, too, had now been +got accustomed to; and although he was thought somewhat queer in his +notions by the heavy agriculturists around him, he was pretty well liked +on the whole. As for his sister Lizzie, she was idolised by poor and +rich around: to tell the truth, it is my opinion that a good deal of her +brother's popularity arose from his connection with the young lady with +the violet eyes. + +Tom's bad behaviour continued all through the service, and his eyes were +not still even during the eloquent discourse which the young divine +afterwards delivered, on the "Vanity of human wishes"--would that Tom +could have applied the text! In going out of the church, he allowed his +mother and Markworth to go on in front, and hung back in the rear. He +could see that his charmer had not yet stirred from her pew, although +nearly all the congregation were out, and he wondered what made her +linger. + +Fortunately, he was not long kept in suspense. He passed our old friend +"Jarge" in the porch, and incontinently asked that individual "who was +the young lady in the rector's pew?" + +"Lor sakes! Measter Tummus, don't you know un? Whoi, thet's the +porsun's seestur; that be Missy Pringle, Measter Tummus!" + +"Thank you, George," answered our hero; and how overjoyed he felt as he +walked along after the others. He knew Pringle well, although he was +not aware that he had a sister; and "of course I can easily get +introduced," he thought very naturally. + +The following Monday, strange to say, Tom begged Markworth to excuse him +for some little time, as he had to pay a visit, and he set off alone to +the parsonage. + +Naturally he was "only going to pay a regular call;" it was only proper +that he should pay a visit to his friend Pringle, whom he had not seen +"since last year, by Jove!" and to congratulate him on his +ecclesiastical preferment. That was all! And so Master Tom rode up to +the parsonage on one of the old horses, which the dowager had retained +in the stables--probably on account of its not being fit for farm-work-- +the very next morning after seeing Lizzie. + +Pringle was glad to see him, and his sister was introduced to the "young +squire," who tried to make himself as agreeable as possible, but was +painfully embarrassed during his entire visit; and yet, before he had +gone away, Lizzie thought him "such a nice fellow," and she was "oh, +what a darling" to him.--The two young things were drinking deep +draughts of love which were intoxicating them and drawing them nearer +and nearer to each other in a sort of rose-coloured Paradise, which the +mere presence of the one conjured up to the other. And then he had to +go, and it was pleasant to go, merely to have those taper fingers in +his, which pressure sent a thrill of sweet electricity through his +frame, while even she trembled and blushed--and then came the pang of +parting. + +On the morrow, he had to come and see "Pringle's new fishing rod," and +show him his own, for it would be so jolly to fish from the lawn at the +back of the parsonage, that ran down to the little river which contained +such capital perch! and of course he could not help meeting her again, +and she wanted to see the "poor little fish that were caught!" + +Bless you, my darling, there were other fish caught that morning besides +perch! How hackneyed, and yet how novel are the windings and twistings +in the fairy land of Love's Young Dream! + +It was all over with them. + +Volume 1, Chapter VII. + +"SOWING THE WIND." + +The nominal week, which had been mentioned as the duration of +Markworth's stay at The Poplars, passed pleasantly enough for Tom at all +events. So pleasantly indeed, that he did not keep count of the days as +they glided by, for he was continually dropping in at the parsonage "to +see Pringle," and was, long before the following Friday arrived, over +head and ears in the little pit of love which Lizzie's bright eyes had +excavated in his heart. The dowager was still trotting about grinding +down her tenants, and laying up riches which she did not know who would +gather. Miss Kingscott had made the best use of her opportunities in +two short interviews which she had had with the somewhat amorous doctor, +and had yet contrived to cast sheep's eyes on the young squire, whom she +had hopes of captivating; while Markworth was steadily trying to gain +the confidence of the poor half-demented girl, around whom he had +already set his snares. All, all the members in fact of our drama, were +recklessly engaged in the vineyard of Aeolus, all were with lavish hand +sowing to the wind, never dreaming of the crop they should reap. + +Susan Hartshorne's strong passion for music had early been taken +advantage of by Markworth as a means towards the end he had in view. + +Music was, strange to say, for such a character, one of his fortes, +indeed it was a hobby with him; and he was not only a first-rate player +in the mere sense of mechanical dexterity, but was also a thorough +musician at heart. + +The pathology of the human mind is a wonderful and intricate study, and +it is a remarkable fact, with all our spread of knowledge and science, +with the vast new fields of thought which are freshly opened every day +in the educated world, what trifling advance we have made in the +analysis of the mainspring and moving power that sets in motion the +train of thought itself! Medical jurisprudence has only of late become +a special study, and the psychology of the human mind, one of its most +important branches--more than a mere ramification as it is often held-- +is at best only a dead letter as yet to those who affect any +acquaintance with the subject. Mental insanity is one of those topics, +like the physiology of dreams, which embraces a large area for research +and investigation; and even the best and latest of the physicians who +have made this division of medical knowledge their especial field for +enquiry, confess to what a very short distance their knowledge carries +them. Hence, until very lately, not only was there no remedial +treatment pursued, but arbitrary incarceration, strait-waistcoats, and +chains, comprised all medical procedure towards our lunatics. Thank +goodness, however, the broad light of science, reason, and common sense, +has tended to dispel the black ignorance displayed by our forefathers +towards our mental as well as bodily ills. Formerly drastics and +phlebotomy, adopted alternately, were supposed to cure every disease and +ailment of the human body, but that day is past now; and, so as in +surgery and physic, a new path has been opened for the treatment of +insanity. It is yet in its infancy; but many species of mania now +deemed hopeless will before long, probably, succumb before judicious and +efficacious ministering. + +One of the most hopeless forms of insanity, according to eminent +authorities on the subject, is melancholia, but even this gives way +under proper treatment. In cases of this kind, patients are but too +often neglected, and the cure is left, ignorantly, to work out itself, +which generally ends unsuccessfully; whereas, if the patient under +treatment were led out of themselves as it were, their affliction +ignored, and treated to just the company and influences which appear to +affect them most, I believe in nine cases out of ten of so called +settled melancholia, the unfortunate sufferer would be turned out cured +after a time. + +Susan Hartshorne was suffering from this species of mental infliction. +Her case certainly was not a very extreme one; and if she had been +removed from her home at the time she first lost her wits, and been +under gentle treatment and care (as Doctor Jolly recommended) instead of +being kept at the place where all her surroundings, and especially her +mother's presence, kept the great fright she had undergone continually +before her, she would have been cured long since. Even as it was, she +was every month gaining fresh mental stamina from the outside influences +at work upon her: now that Markworth specially devoted himself to her, +as he did, and gradually caused her budding intellect and intelligence +to expand instead of warping them, she changed more and more for the +better every day. Markworth told Tom that he was interested in the +case--as indeed he was on more accounts than one--and if left to himself +he would cure her completely. The mother, too, seemed interested, as +she could not but perceive the change in Susan, and thanked Markworth in +her way, by dropping some of her brusquerie, and also by avoiding her +daughter so as not to frighten her, and make her shrink back within +herself by her presence and appearance--Markworth had drawn her +attention to the point. As for Miss Kingscott, of course in fulfilment +of her compact, she did not interfere with him at all, and allowed him +to mould her charge as he pleased, although she watched him narrowly, +and bided her time. + +Allynne Markworth had now become domesticated to a certain extent at The +Poplars. The first week flew away rapidly, even with him, he had so +much to plan, and to take such pains to get his plot _en train_; while +with Tom the time had disappeared since he knew Lizzie as one day. Mrs +Hartshorne, too, was so glad to have her son at home, although she +seemed rather unsympathetic mother, that she tolerated Markworth at +first for his sake; and he had played his cards so well, and studied her +little weaknesses so fully, and kept himself so much out of the way, +that she at length looked upon it as a matter of course that he should +remain when Tom hinted at stopping. "It is such nice weather," +explained that young deceiver, "and so jolly down here, Markworth, and +the Inskips are coming down this week, that I wish you would stay on-- +that is, if you are not fearfully bored with us all." It was very +strange, was it not, that Tom had not remembered the fact of the Inskips +coming down before? + +"Not at all, my dear fellow," answered Markworth; "I like this place +very much; and your mother and I get on very well now, although she did +not certainly like me at first;" he could not help laughing over the +recollection of his first meeting and introduction to the dowager, Tom +sharing in his merriment. + +"Well, I am glad you will stop. It is much better here than being in +town, and I begin to like a country life," observed Tom, thinking of +violet eyes and pastoral rusticity. + +"So do I, Tom; it is far better than all the racket we could have up in +London. I am very glad I came down, but we'll, no doubt, have lots of +gaiety when the Inskips come--not that I care about it, for I am really +interested in the case of your sister." + +"Thank you, old fellow; I am sure you are very kind to take all that +trouble about Susan. Well, it's agreed that we stay on now that we are +here, at least for a week or two. My leave won't be up until September, +and even then I daresay I could get an extension, for the colonel's an +old trump." + +"Agreed," responded Markworth; "when you are tired of me you can turn me +out, you know, but I daresay the old lady would take that trouble off +your hands." And they both laughed again at such a possibility, which +without joking the dowager was fully capable of doing by herself. And +so their stay at The Poplars was decided upon, and Markworth had plenty +of time in which to perfect his plans. + +Susan's love of music had done much, probably, to preserve her mind from +altogether closing up within itself: and her fondness for gardening and +flowers was also beneficial to her case. + +The first, Markworth had perceived at once; and he quickly set to work +upon that foundation to gain a hold upon her, and draw her out of +herself. + +He used to go up-stairs to the old room where the organ was, and play +some of those wonderful fugues of Beethoven, and saddening chords from +the "Lieder ohne Worte," that would nearly make angels weep; and the +affected girl used to follow him, and draw near, as if spell-bound, +whilst he was playing, and try and imitate him after he had left his +seat before the keys. + +Then he began to speak gently to her, only, perhaps, a sentence now and +then, for she was fearfully timid and frightened of strangers, but after +a time she learned to know him, and would reply. No sort of +conversation, of course, could be carried on with her, for her intellect +was just like that of a young child's, although she had learned things +by wrote, like a parrot, and could imitate whatever she saw another do. +After a time she would voluntarily seek Markworth, and ask him to play +the organ in her pleading way; and she would sit quietly for hours to +hear him. If he smiled on her she looked happy: if he frowned, or +raised his voice, her face would wear a tearful and frightened aspect. + +The garden used to be one of her favourite resorts. Here she would +wander up and down before Markworth came, speaking to herself, as if she +were carrying on a conversation with someone else. Here she had flowers +of which she was passionately fond, treating them as if they were living +things, and crying over them should a leaf be broken off, or a branch +blown down. Old George used to take especial pains over "Missy's" +garden, and she always used to go out and watch him at work, and be +continually inciting him to dig up the earth around her plants. When +Markworth began his care, however, Susan changed a great deal in her +habits. She at first gave up the garden, and only would go to the +organ-room; but when he brought a flute out and used to play an air of +which she was especially fond, in and about her favourite haunts in the +shrubbery, she got to come out again, ceased her imaginary dialogues, +and grew more expressive and brighter. Insane people always seem +affected by wind instruments. + +Markworth took care, however, never to play the flute when the dowager +was about the premises, as she "hated that odious tooting thing even +worse than the jackass that played it"--she said. + +Miss Kingscott used to accompany Susan, and consequently the three were +very much together, for Tom was nearly always out now by himself, as he +could not get Markworth to accompany him to the Pringles; and when he +was at home he used to flirt with the governess under his mother's very +nose, and leave Susan even more in Markworth's hands. + +The devil, they say, is never so black as he is painted, and, perhaps, +Markworth was not altogether so selfish or so wicked in his motives as +one might suppose. He was really interested, deeply so, in the peculiar +case of Susan Hartshorne; and having read a great deal on insanity and +its cure, he had certain theories of his own on the subject which made +him glad of the opportunity for reducing them to practice. If he had +not known that the poor girl was the heiress to twenty thousand pounds, +and had not circumstances so strangely placed Clara Joyce--he could not +think of her even by her new name--in the house to assist him, he would +never have dreamt of his plot, nor have attempted to carry it out after +he saw the subject, or rather object, of it; and yet, perhaps, he would +still have tried to put her in the way of recovering her reason without +a thought of recompense. As it was, he was now working with a double +object, and the success which he met with startled him, while it +emboldened him to persevere in his design. + +In a short time there was such a perceptible change in Susan that anyone +not in the habit of seeing her frequently would have noticed it at once; +and soon she was altogether different from what she had been. Her eyes +began to have some expression in them; how different they looked from +their former dull appearance; and she would now look anyone in the face +instead of hanging down her head as she formerly did. Dr Jolly was one +of the first to perceive the alteration, and complimented Miss Kingscott +on the change one day. + +"Bless my soul, ma'am! why, nobody would recognise her again. It's +positively wonderful. By Gad! madam, you deserve a medal for it. I +would not have believed such a change could have taken place unless I +had seen it myself." + +Whereupon Miss Kingscott half declined the credit of the cure, but in +such a way as to make the doctor repeat his compliments. + +"Bless my soul, ma'am! it's no use telling me that, I know better. It's +wonderful, and you deserve every credit--yes, ma'am, by Gad! ma'am, you +do. Good-bye, Miss Kingscott; I shall call soon again to see your +patient, for she is yours now, you know, ma'am. Go-o-od-morning." + +And the doctor took himself off, with an elaborate farewell adieu. He +would have kissed his hand, it is believed, only that the old dowager +was standing looking out at the window, and might have called him an old +fool as likely as not. + +Volume 1, Chapter VIII. + +DAMON AND PYTHIAS. + +He is not a very romantic Damon is Doctor Jolly, nor is he at the +present time to be seen under favourable circumstances, or in the most +picturesque of situations. + +The fact is, Dr Jolly has got an attack of the gout, "his old friend," +as he calls that hereditary and choleric disease; and here he is, seated +in his snug parlour--he knew how to live well and be comfortable did the +doctor--with his feet in a pail of cold water, like Patience on a +monument smiling at grief; (one can't help quoting the "noble bard.") He +was pursuing a rather violent method for reducing the inflammation in +his pedal extremities in order that he might be able to go out and pay +his usual pharmaceutical round of visits, and he was writhing and +swearing inwardly, most probably, and often aloud, from the pain of the +gout and remedy combined. + +"Bless my soul! Deb!" he exclaimed, as irascibly as his natural good +temper would allow, to his sister Deborah, our Pythias, who was in the +room along with him. "Bless my soul! Whew I what a twinge. Confound +the gout, Deborah!" + +"Confound it with all my heart, Richard, if it will do you any good," +she replied, calmly, drawing the thread through the heel of a stocking +which she was darning; "but you know, Richard, it's your own fault. You +_will_ drink that port wine, and you must take the consequences." + +"Bosh, Deb; don't preach. Why, I only drank two glasses yesterday at +lunch, and--" + +"How about the bottle after dinner?" + +"Well, you know, Pringle was here, and hospitality you know, Deb, +hospitality you know--" + +"Hospitality won't preserve your health, Richard." + +"True Deb, quite true; but I couldn't help it, and the gout's getting +better now, the pain's nearly gone. Whew! there's another twinge. +Confound the gout, I say!" + +Damon was a stout, florid, jolly-looking--there is no other word so +expressive--man of forty-five or thereabouts; Pythias--some apology is +due for her sex in carrying out the classical metaphor, although when +you know her better you will acknowledge the propriety of the allusion-- +was some five years the elder, as she could look back with complacency +or otherwise on her fiftieth birthday. She was tall and ungainly, and +her face was so set and deficient of mobility that it looked as if it +were carved out of mahogany, to which wood indeed its colour bore some +resemblance. She evidently took after her male parent more than her +mother, and her brother was right when he called her a "chip of the old +block." + +Damon was genial and hearty; Pythias cold and formal, as befitted an +austere virgin of her years; but both possessed the same kind heart, and +you would rarely find such a good-natured pair, who were so fond of each +other, and so considerate and charitable in every sense of the word, to +those around them. + +Doctor Jolly was emphatically one of the jolliest country-practitioners +in the country, and had one of the best practices, and was better liked +than any other disciple of Aesculapius in the county. For miles round +the farmers and well-to-do, as well as poorer people, knew his pleasant +weather-beaten face and hearty voice. He "was so sociable and +pleasant-like," as the country folk would say; and his well-known portly +form--he rode about sixteen stone--and cheery "How de-do!" used to be +eagerly welcomed when he came riding round on his thorough-bred +heavy-weight hunter, with his two favourite little black and tan +terriers, "Huz, and Buz his brother," scudding at its heels. + +He and his sister had lived together at Bigton for many years past. The +doctor had succeeded his father, and he his father, as far back as lay +within the memory of "the oldest inhabitant"--the practice with its +connection having been kept in the family for nearly a century. + +Bigton is a very quiet rising little watering place, situated some five +or six miles from The Poplars and Hartwood village, at the mouth of the +river, wherein Tom Hartshorne was catching his perch under the eyes of +Miss Lizzie. Bigton is by no means an ostentatious sort of place: it +lacks self-assertion, and is content to occupy a back seat, as it were, +in the assembly of "Fashionable Resorts," when, if it would but only put +itself forward it might be bidden to "come up higher." + +It is really a pleasant little place, and has all the requirements to +make it an agreeable retreat for the hot summer months, when one longs +for the seaside with that intense ardour which only a Londoner knows. +Bigton has a pier--a shabby little pier it must be confessed--a sort of +esplanade, which is as long as that of its Brobdignagian rival, where +George's Pavilion, that hideous monstrosity, used once to attract +admirers--an excellent beach of fine grey sand, and a splendid common, +all covered with gorse and furze, whereon juveniles can play "the +criquette," as Monsieur Jeune France calls our national game. Beyond +that, it has a splendid country around for jaunts and pic-nics; and, as +for antiquities, why, is it not within a decent drive of one of the most +historic old castles in the kingdom, a castle which has its ancient old +keep still in preservation, and which was one of the few Royalist +strongholds that held out successfully against the Puritan general and +his myrmidon Roundheads? + +Yet, with all these advantages, Bigton has not yet become a favourite +with the multitude who annually adjourn to the seaside, and this neglect +is not by any means complained of by the quiet few who wish to avoid the +racket of a fashionable watering place, and come down here in order to +have a quiet enjoyable holiday. The fact is, Bigton reckons for its +standing more upon the support of its residents than on stray birds of +passage; and, of these, it has a larger proportion perhaps than some of +its better known and more highly cracked-up rivals. It has nice trim +rows of terraces facing the sea, and plenty of comfortable detached +houses which are generally let to people who stay for mouths, and even a +year or two, instead of hiring for merely a six week's occupation. +Bigton is therefore busy all the year round, instead of having a season +of three months, and being a necropolis for the rest of the year: +indeed, the annual visitors who come down in summer do not alter the +look of the place much: it is too respectable a town to bother itself +about casual tourists or London holiday-makers. In the summer the +landholders and great people of the surrounding country come from their +inland homes, and take lodgings for the bathing: so Bigton is very +exclusive and keeps entirely to its own set. + +Among not only the residents--returning to our story--but also the +regular visitors, Doctor Jolly was a general favourite, and the doctor +supreme of the locality; and he was as good a surgeon and physician as +he was a favourite. He was not the man to nurse a hypochondriacal +patient by giving him various bottles of medicine containing coloured +water, or pills "as before," consisting of harmless dough. No, he would +tell them to get out and take plenty of exercise and mayhap dip in the +sea, and above all to get good food and plenty of it. No gruel and +arrowroot from him. "All damned slops and dishwater," he would say; but +a mutton chop three times a day, and a glass or two of really good port +wine. "Stop, I'll send you over some of my own, and you may bet your +boots that that's prime stuff," he would offer with a knowing wink of +his eye, riding off to escape a denial. + +He was a jolly, good-natured man, and such a really good minister to the +ills of human nature, that he had it all his own way at Bigton, and +almost throughout the entire county. His practice was so large, that he +had to ride miles every day to do justice to his patients; and yet he +would hire no assistant, except a mild, gentlemanly pupil, whom he kept +to do the home business in his surgery. + +"Catch me!" he would say, "having a fellow to cut me out with all the +pretty girls and old ladies! No, sir, as long as I can cross a horse, +no other sawbones shall rule here but myself. I'm hanged if they shall, +sir?" + +One or two other medical men had tried rashly to set up to him in +opposition at Bigton; but never getting anyone who was ill to patronise +them, they had to give up at length in disgust. One, indeed, still hung +on, as he had bought a house and could not sell it; but he had to take +to the coal trade to support his family. Not that Doctor Jolly grudged +him a living, for no matter what he said, he would cheerfully have lent +his brother practitioner a helping hand; but then no one would let +anyone else visit them in Bigton but our Damon, so the poor-- +Othello's-occupation's-gone-M.D. had to buy and sell chaldrons of the +best Wallsend and Seaborne, and fed his family in that way. + +Dr Jolly's house was one of the best and nicest kept mansions in +Bigton, for the doctor loved to live well, as he could afford it; and +his sister Deborah was one of the most valuable housewives that could be +cited. It was a long, low, old-fashioned house, with a splendid garden +and paddock adjoining, for the doctor's horses, of which he kept three-- +he used to follow the harriers in the time of the old squire, Roger +Hartshorne--but he was getting too heavy for that now, besides having +too much to do. Now he was devoted to poultry and pet deer, pet hares, +pet dogs, pet animals of all kinds, even cats, and had all his +out-houses, yards, and paddocks filled with his various adopted +nurslings. + +It was a wonder, considering his disposition, that he had remained a +bachelor so long; but then he had his sister Deborah to take care of +him, and as he would say, "Bless my soul, man, what more do I want?" +His old friends who had known him for years would hint at a +disappointment in early life; but I don't think care sat heavily on the +doctor's brow, as it does on some of us, for he lived well, and enjoyed +life as he found it, and did not seem inclined to give up his present +life for all the unknown sea of troubles into which matrimony might +plunge him. Perhaps he saw too much and too many of the gentler sex to +hazard a selection, but the probable reason was that he was too +comfortable as he was. He and his sister pulled along capitally as +Damon and Pythias, as they had in fact done all their lives; both were +freely outspoken to each other; and if Deborah had the pre-eminence +within, the doctor was master out of doors. + +The doctor relished good cheer, and gave capital dinner parties, as he +was the most hospitable man in the county. He had had one the evening +before, and hence his slight attack of the gout; its invariable +consequence this morning. He said he had inherited the aristocratic +infliction from his sire, along with a good digestion and his practice; +but perhaps Pythias, or Deborah, was not far wrong in ascribing it to +his love of good living and partiality for port. The gout made him +swear a little, but he did not really mean anything by it: if all our +oaths were as harmless as his, the recording angel who watches over that +special failing of human nature would have a sinecure. + +"Confound the gout, Deb!" he exclaimed, as that sharp twinge caught him +in his left foot, and made him writhe with ill-concealed agony. +"Confound the gout! I'll drink no more of that infernal port! that is," +he added, shortly afterwards, as the pain subsided, "not beyond a glass +or two at lunch; and perhaps a bottle after dinner, eh, Deb? Ho! ho! +ho!" And he laughed his jolly cheery laugh, as he took his feet out of +the tub of water, in which they had been hitherto reposing; and, drawing +on his boots with difficulty, prepared himself for setting out on his +morning round of visits. + +"Better now, Richard?" enquired Pythias, as he stood up fully +caparisoned in the matter of his lower extremities. + +"Yes, Deb, all right now; the plaguey thing has gone away for the +present, and won't trouble me again till next time. My `off stepper' is +somewhat sore still, but it'll be as sound as sixpence by the time I get +back." + +"Are you going far, Richard?" + +"Well, I think I'll pay a call at the dowager's, and all about Hartwood; +and as I shan't be back in time for lunch, I'll drop in and feed at +Pringle's--uncommon pretty little girl his sister is. Bless my soul! +Deb, she's enough to make one think of marrying, although I suspect that +sly dog Tom Hartshorne's after her--we old fellows have got no chance." + +"Take care, Richard. She would probably jump to have you. I know what +girls are! But how is that poor girl Susan Hartshorne getting on?" + +"Really, Deb, do you know I think she has been looking much brighter +lately. I have observed this within the last week or so--there is a +decided change for the better. She has lost nearly all that frightened +look she used to have; and I would not be surprised if she eventually +recovered her mind. It's a sad pity, Deb, bless my soul! a sad pity! +She was a nice child--confound that old woman! and she's now such an +interesting-looking girl--a sad pity that old hag frightened her senses +away." + +"What do you think is the reason of this change in her?" asked Deborah. + +"Well, I can hardly tell, Deb; you see, Tom has been down, and there's +that friend of his, too--don't like him--and she has seen more company +than usual--all these things may have something to do with it; but I +think that the improvement is all due to that new governess, Miss +Kingscott--by Jove! she is a fine girl if you like, a--" + +"Take care, Richard, take care!" she said, as Doctor Jolly went out of +the room, after poking about vainly in every direction for his gloves. + +He mounted his horse which the groom held at the door, and as he rode +away, he murmured to himself, "Dooced fine girl! I wouldn't be +surprised if the artful jade caught me after all!" And off he cantered +down the street, bowing affably, and waving his hand with a cordial +"How-de-do!" to everyone he met, for he knew everybody, on his way to +Hartwood. + +Volume 1, Chapter IX. + +AN OLD CAMPAIGNER. + +The London season had ended: so Lady Inskip, having packed up her +baggage waggons, gathered her _impedimenta_ around her, and mustered her +forces, consisting of her two grown-up daughters, her only son, a young +imp of twelve summers; her maid, a knowing abigail; and lastly, though +by no means least, herself--put her regiment in marching order; and +sallied down with metaphorical bands playing and colours flying to the +quiet little watering place of Bigton, to prosecute a sort of +son-in-law-hunting war during the summer solstice. + +For be it known, Lady Inskip was a campaigner--one, too, who had fought +many a fray on many a field, from the era of her first battle when she +had, with an equally adept old mother for an ally, striven for a husband +and a title, and an establishment in life, and had won the three +combined in the person of her departed spouse, the late Sir John O'Gaunt +Inskip, Bart.--down to her last little skirmish in Mayfair, where she +had attempted to float off her two remaining daughters--her eldest she +had gotten rid of handsomely some time before. She had then and there +been routed disastrously, before she could draw up her forces for a +regular pitched battle; but it was not her fault, or from lack of +perseverance or want of judgment on her part, as she had been unable to +fix upon any special young or old gentleman--it did not matter which-- +whom she deemed or doomed as eligible for her matrimonial projects. + +She was not daunted, however: not she! She was too old and experienced +a campaigner for that, and had regularly changed her front mapped out +her _carte du pays_, and planned out an entirely new disposition of her +forces before coming down to Bigton. She contemplated a bold stroke, +somewhat like Napoleon's procedure at Austerlitz, or, better still, his +invasion of Egypt; and had determined to follow the tactics of other +experienced commanders, and "carry the war into Africa." + +It was not a very colossal adversary against whom she schemed and +plotted, and collected such munitions of war--it was only Tom +Hartshorne--poor Tom, whom she had met in London, and who seemed +inclined for a mild flirtation with her pensive Laura, and lively, not +to say "larky," Carry--especially at the last Woolwich Artillery ball, +when his attentions had been "really quite marked!" That unfortunate +young officer having sauntered through a quadrille with Laura, and told +the exuberant Carry, after a waltz, that she was "a stunner to go." He +certainly, however, criminated himself to some extent, by calling the +next day at their house in town, and playing pretty to, and chaffing +both girls. + +Mr Thomas Hartshorne she had found out--strange what wonderful +perspicacity and knowledge of the means, standing, and expectations of +wooers and would-be sons-in-law, mothers with marriageable daughters +have!--was in a very good position, and was the presumptive heir to the +present proprietress of The Poplars. + +She had made up her mind, therefore, to secure him at all hazards for +one of her "dear, darling, girls." He was, consequently, the object of +her present visit to Bigton. Tom was the game marked down _in esse_, +although goodness knows, with the hopeful ground of a watering place to +work upon, and its heterogeneous crowds of visitors, and its romantic +opportunities, who and how many, without agitating Mormonism, might not +be the victims _in posse_! + +Lady Inskip was the widow of a Scotch baronet, who had married her for +her good looks rather than her fortune--unlike the generality of his +countrymen--for a very limited trousseau was all she brought him; and +even now, some twenty years after her marriage, she was still what +Doctor Jolly would, and did, call "a fine figure of a woman, sir, by +Gad!" + +Her two daughters were very nice, presentable girls; Laura a sort of +languid beauty, and Carry "gushing," and a trifle inclined to be fast. +The boy, Mortimer, was an obstinate, headstrong, young cub, just of that +age when boys are peculiarly obnoxious and always in the way and +disagreeable. He was, naturally enough, the spoilt pet of his mother, +and for a young baronet had all the graces and follies of the position +which he would be required to fill. But we need not go on to +particularise all the points of Lady Inskip's _menage_. + +Suffice it to say, that she came down to Bigton very shortly after Tom +had left town. You may wager a trifle, if you are inclined to woo +Fortune in that way, that she was previously acquainted with his +destination before she moved her Lares and Penates; and now that she was +here, you may depend that she would leave no stone unturned to secure +her object. + +She took a pleasant little cottage on the Esplanade, about half a mile +or so from the town, for a year, and had it fitted up elegantly and +decorated so as to make it a perfect bijou of a place. If you watch a +spider, you will always observe what a magnificent web he spins before +he hunts about or lays in wait for his prey; see what a gorgeous +centre-piece he has to his prismatic castle! Depend upon it that the +spider is certain that his parlour is well-furnished before he invites +the fly to "walk in," as is detailed in the lines of the harrowing +ballad sacred to childhood. + +Well, Lady Inskip had a nice little house, nicely furnished, with a nice +little garden all mignionette and passion flowers, and a nice little +croquet lawn, where nice little games of flirtation could be played by +suitable nice young gentlemen with her nice dear darling girls. In fact +it was all "nice"--that adjective so dear to the heart of the gentler +sex, and so lavishly used by them--and so the old campaigner having +entrenched herself within these fortifications, continuing our military +descriptive, prepared to battle for and on behalf her of two daughters +Laura and Caroline, as aforesaid. + +She had not been in the place two days, before she knew "all about +everybody." How Captain Curry Cucumber, who lived at the big red brick +house, "just as you passed the common, you know," was an old returned +East India officer (and who was seventy years old if he was a day), was +immensely rich, and had come home with a lakh of rupees to marry and +settle down. He had an "awful temper in course," as his landlady said, +and swore dreadful at his "pore black man," but then he had a sweet +yellow face, and his widow would be left very comfortably off. Then she +learnt too of our old friend the doctor, how he was a gay young +bachelor; and of course she found out all about Mrs Hartshorne, and her +place and her ways and her oddities. She learnt also of the Revd. +Herbert Pringle, and his little church at Hartwood: and as he was a +relative of the great Sir Boanerges Todhunter, and was a young man with +a good living, and probably had property of his own, she made up her +mind to patronise him, especially as he was the protege of the dowager. + +Accordingly she and her tender daughters and the young Sir Mortimer +attended divine service at Hartwood the first Sunday of her stay at +Bigton, and she was so wonderfully pleased with the performances of the +ritualistic rector--he was "so like that dear Aminadab, at St. +Barnabas'," that she made up her mind to go there always in future, and +not to patronise the Reverend Jabez, of Bigton. + +She met Tom after church. She was "delighted to see him," and made him +promise to call next day and bring the Reverend Herbert Pringle, on his +mentioning that he was a great friend and a nice fellow. The dowager +having bundled out of church immediately the service was over, Lady +Inskip had then had no opportunity to make her acquaintance, although +she assured Tom she was "longing to know her," but as she was an old +lady, she, Lady Inskip, said she would do herself the honour of paying a +visit at The Poplars very shortly. + +She was _so_ glad to see Mr Markworth, too, "quite an unexpected +pleasure to see him down here," when she was really mortally afraid of +that worthy, who she could readily perceive, with a woman's mental +keenness of vision, had taken her measure and thoroughly understood her +plans and tactics. Altogether Lady Inskip was delighted with +everything, as, fortunately for her peace of mind, she had not seen the +pretty Lizzie Pringle, and was unaware of Tom's present infatuation +about that young lady, which anyone "with half an eye," except those +personally concerned, would have at once recognised. + +She drove back to Bigton, in a very pleasant frame of mind, at peace +with her daughters, herself and everything around her; and her smart +little equipage--a park phaeton and pair of ponies--caused much +excitement amongst the rustics along the road. + +Master Tom, not being averse to renewing his flirtation with Miss Carry +and her sister, notwithstanding his being enthralled by Lizzie, +determined to pay a call at the Inskip's little cottage, on the Bigton +esplanade, a morning or two after, and proposed to Markworth that he +should accompany himself and Pringle. + +"No, thanks," replied that gentleman, "none of my lady schemer for me! +Look out for her, Tom! She's an awful old pythoness, and would wheedle +the devil himself into marrying one of her plain daughters. Why, she +nearly caught Harrowby `of yours' the other day, and I believe she came +down here after you." + +"Never fear, Markworth," answered Tom, as he went off to call on +Pringle, in order to get him to go, and also perhaps to have a glimpse +of Lizzie, to act as a sort of charm against witchery from the Inskip +girls. "Never fear, my boy! I saw her game in London, and shan't be +caught. But they are jolly girls, that little Carry is up to chaff no +end; and they will make this place gayer by coming down. There'll be +nothing but pic-nics and croquet presently, if I know them aright," and +he walked off to get his horse, which George was grooming to make it +look respectable. + +Pringle was a very dapper little man. A perfect little exquisite, and +no one was so particular as to the parting of his hair, the curl of his +whiskers, and the general "nattiness" of his turn out, as himself. He +had seen the fair Laura and Caroline in church, and their presence had +lent a perceptible tone to the pronunciation of his "awe-men," and the +delivery of his sermon. He saw they were well dressed, but when he +learnt that Tom knew them, and beyond that, that they were the daughters +of a baronet, and their mother a "lady in her own right," he was most +anxious to make their acquaintance. Lizzie told him laughingly not to +lose his heart over the belles, and suggested that he would be quite +irresistible when she saw him so particular about the various points of +his toilet this morning; but he thought it no laughing matter, I can +assure you. He had all the elaborate priggishness of a young man fresh +from college, and was more bent on making an impression than on +pleasing. To tell the truth he had mixed very little in the world, and +the feeling of being a man and occupying a responsible position was +quite a novel one to him. + +He was ready long before the hour Tom had fixed for calling for him on +his way to Bigton, and was walking up and down the verandah in front of +the parsonage, waiting impatiently, and flicking the flies off his pony, +which stood ready saddled for the start. + +"By Jove!" he said (he had not been able to break himself of that +expression, more suited to the laity, which he had picked up at Oxford), +"I wish he would come: we shall be too late!" and at that moment Tom +rode in at the gate. After passing a little time speaking to Lizzie, +who told him, too, not to "lose his heart," to which little shot Tom +replied in a low voice--they had become intimate now, you see--that he +had lost his already, which caused Miss Violet Eyes to blush, of course +from sorrow; they at length rode off, and the promised visit was made to +Lady Inskip, at Laburnum Cottage. + +Poor Pringle was dreadfully embarrassed during the time he was under the +eyes of the three ladies, and the "young imp" Mortimer caused him to +lose what little self-possession he had, by making some observation on +the parting of his back hair, asking him what was the perfume on his +"rag," alluding to his pocket-handkerchief, and finally by playfully +pulling away his chair as he was going to sit down. He blushed all the +time of his stay, although Lady Inskip was very affable to him, and the +girls expressed the most intense admiration for his little church and +all its belongings. The only easy moment he had when he could speak +clearly was when "the darling girls," as their mother called them, came +out on the lawn to admire his dapple pony, and called it "a little +duck:" then Pringle had longed in his inmost heart to be that pony, for +he was enraptured with the langour and beauty of Laura. Carry +frightened him with her chaffy tongue, and by the way she went on with +Tom, who seemed quite "at home," as he generally made himself at most +places. + +The young men left after a lengthy stay, and the ladies very naturally, +canvassed them on their departure. + +"What a nice fellow--regularly jolly fellow Tom Hartshorne is!" said +Miss Caroline, "but the parson's a spoon!" + +"My dear Carry!" interposed Lady Inskip, "I do really wish you would not +talk in those horrid slang terms! It is quite shocking! Mr Hartshorne +is a very nice gentleman, of course, and I think Mr Pringle the same +thing. He's very quiet naturally; you cannot expect a clergyman, +Caroline, to be as gay and `jolly,' as you call it, as a young officer. +I'm surprised at you, miss." + +"He preaches delightfully!" observed the beauty languidly, "and I think +him very nice; he was only bashful!" + +"I suppose at the sight of you, Laura?" said the pert Miss Carry. "But +he has one good point about him, and that is his pony. I wonder if it +is up to my weight?" a very natural enquiry, as she probably weighed +considerably heavier than the owner of the animal, and was what an +outspoken individual would have termed "a bouncer." + +"I'm glad he's coming again; we shall have some croquet," continued the +elder sister. "Yes, my dears," said the mother. "We must make him at +home; he's a very nice young man." She had already looked upon the +Oxonian as "eligible," and was bent on making him a captive of her bow +and spear. + +"Well, for my part, I think him a donkey, and do not care whether he +comes or not." + +"Caroline! Caroline! Is this the return you make me for all I have +done for you, and planned and schemed on my bended knees! ungrateful +girl!" said Lady Inskip plaintively, as if she was going to cry. + +"Oh, don't go on, ma, any more. We know all that! Laura can have the +white-choker if she likes: I will cultivate Tom." + +"Bless you my child!" said the mother, "you are rash and impetuous, but +you have a good heart." + +Volume 1, Chapter X. + +A CALL AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. + +Doctor Jolly trotted along the road from Bigton to Hartwood, with Huz +and Buz his brother, cantering at his horse's heels, and making short +predatory excursions every now and then into neighbouring gardens and +farmyards on the way, to the apoplectic scaring and bewilderment of +sundry unhappy fowls and ducks. In about half an hour, as he always +rode at a sharp pace, he had reached The Poplars to make his weekly +visit. + +"How-de-do!" he shouted to Tom, when he was half a mile off, seeing him +at the gate; and presently the stout doctor was dismounting from his +quadruped with extreme difficulty, owing to the still painful gout, and +limping up the steps of the dowager's mansion. + +"So you are here again, are you?" observed that lady with her customary +acrimony, from the open window of the dining-room, which faced the +entrance gate. "Why, you're always running here, now; you'd better come +and live here at once; it would, at all events, save your gouty legs +some exertion." + +"Bless my soul! Mrs Hartshorne, why you are looking as blooming as a +daisy. I wish I could wear like you, madam; why you must be sixty, if +you are a day!" + +"I'll outlast you at all events, Mister Jolly," said the old lady, as +our friend the doctor, who hated being called "Mister" instead of by his +medical title, walked into the house. + +"And how's Susan?" he asked, as he entered the room. + +"There she is with her governess, and you can see for yourself," +snappishly returned the dowager, walking out, and leaving the doctor +with Miss Kingscott and her charge. + +Susan looked greatly improved, and timidly offered her hand as he went +up to her in his hearty way. + +"And how are we to-day?" he said kindly. + +She, to his great astonishment, not only looked him in the face, but +answered him, which she had seldom or ever done before. + +"Very well, I thank you," she said, quietly. + +It was not much, certainly; not more, perhaps, than a well-trained +parrot might have said, but, then, it was a decided improvement to her +former apathy. She immediately afterwards, however, left the room, as +she heard Markworth playing on the organ up-stairs; and Miss Kingscott +and the doctor were alone. + +"By Gad, madam!" exclaimed the doctor, as soon as she had gone--he did +not mean to give Miss Kingscott "brevet rank," but he always addressed +every woman, young or old, as "Madam." + +"By Gad, madam! it's positively wonderful. What an improvement; +couldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it! But where has she gone +to now--who's that thrumming the old organ?" + +"That must be Mr Markworth, I believe," she answered, "and you must +compliment him on Susan's improvement: she's always with him, and he +seems quite devoted to her. It is really quite charming to see them +together." + +Who would have dreamt of their joint conspiracy from the way she spoke? + +"Really?" enquired our Aesculapius. "To tell you the truth, madam, I +don't like that fellow at all. I'm never deceived in a face; and, if I +do not make a mistake, madam, that man is a scoundrel as certain as God +made little apples." + +I do not know why it was, but the doctor always seemed desirous of +connecting the name of the deity with miniature specimens of the +forbidden fruit whenever he wanted to qualify a strong assertion. + +"Dear me, doctor!" interposed the lady, "your language is very strong." + +"Not a bit of it, madam; not a bit more than he deserves. By Gad, +madam! he must have some object to gain; he would not take all that +trouble for nothing. I know human nature, madam, and he is either going +to marry the old lady, or something else. Ho! ho! ho! what a fine pair +they would make!" + +And the doctor sniggered over his own joke, and laughed so contagiously +that Miss Kingscott could not but follow suit. + +The doctor presently, however, returned to business. He had been +thinking of this young lady all the way over from Bigton. He had +asserted to himself over and over again that she was "a dooced fine +girl," as if some one else had been disputing the point with him; and +now that he was in her presence she not only looked finer and more +beautiful than ever, but he had one of the best opportunities for +speaking to her alone he had ever had before, or could have wished for. + +She looked very refined and ladylike as she stood there in the shaded +dining-room, clad in a light morning dress. Her regular features and +pale complexion gave an air of dignified beauty to her face which her +height and figure well carried out. Altogether she was very charming, +and looked so loveable on the present occasion, in appearance, that she +would have captivated a man even less in love than the doctor, and led +him on to the inevitable "pop!" + +Aesculapius was a long time beating about the bush. Although he was +generally free and easy in his speech, the doctor was now tongue-tied +when he most wanted to speak, and his already ruddy face was more +"peonified" than ever--if I may be allowed to coin that word--while his +heart thumped against his ribs "like a pestle against the sides of a +pill mortar," as he expressed it professionally. + +"Ha! hum! a fine morning, madam--a fine morning! Don't you think so?" + +Miss Kingscott assented, of course. She saw his embarrassment, and +wished to lead him on to an _eclaircissement_; but she could scarcely +refrain herself from smiling at the ludicrous endeavours of the doctor +to hide his nervousness, which was unmistakeably increasing. + +"Yes, madam, it's a fine day; but hot, madam. Don't you think so?" + +"Certainly, doctor, I think it is warm," answered the lady, +confirmatively. + +And, indeed, any one looking into his face could not but agree with the +remark. + +"Warm, madam, is no term for it, it is confoundedly hot! But I beg your +pardon, madam, were you ever in love?" he blurted out abruptly, after a +great effort, bolting into his subject, as it were. + +"Good gracious me, doctor?" said Miss Kingscott, with a charmingly acted +surprise, and blushing embarrassment. "What a strange question for you +to ask!" + +"Not at all, madam--not at all. I said the weather was hot. Don't you +see, madam? and it is hot. I asked you about love--and love is hot. +There's my proposition, you see the connection between the two?" + +And the doctor's face glowed with perspiration. + +"I do not follow your argument," said the governess, calmly. "You seem +to arrive very rapidly at your deductions; but what has the result to do +with me?" she asked, with ingenuous innocence. + +"A good deal, madam--a good deal. How fearfully warm it is! You see, +madam, before you an old man." + +"Not so very old, doctor, I'm sure," she interrupted, looking +bewitchingly into his perspiring countenance. + +"Well, well," he continued, in a gratified tone, "perhaps not exactly an +old man; but I'm not a young one. Still, if it wasn't for the +confounded gout, I daresay I should be as young and skittish as the best +of them." + +"Oh! I'm so sorry for that horrid gout--and I do pity you so when I see +you in pain," condoled Miss Kingscott, thinking of the doctor being +"skittish," as if she had heard of an elephant dancing a hornpipe. + +"Are you really--do you really?" he asked eagerly, a flush of joy +overspreading his already flushed and perspiring face. "Well, I tell +you what, madam, I'm in love." + +And the doctor heaved a portentous and languishing sigh, which quivered +through his colossal frame which shook like a mould of jelly. + +"Are you really, doctor? I am sure I hope the young lady is nice, for +your sake; and I hope she will make you a good wife," she replied, +ignoring the doctor's nervousness until she got him to the point. + +"You are very kind, madam, very kind; but you are always kind--you can't +help it, for it is in your nature. Infernally hot, is it not, madam?" + +"Very warm," said the lady, encouragingly. + +"Bless my soul! madam, so it is. But, madam, Miss Kingscott that is--" + +"Well?" she encouraged him, her eyes sparkling with ill-concealed fun at +the doctor's predicament. + +"You sly little creature! Why, you are laughing at me all the time!" + +"Oh! dear no; but who's the young lady, doctor? You have not told me +her name yet, and I'm dying to know." + +"You wicked little baggage! you know all the time." + +"How can I? when you have not yet told me." + +"By Gad! women are the most provoking creatures under the sun." + +"Not _all_, doctor," she pleaded, demurely, tapping the carpet +impatiently with her foot. + +"Well, perhaps not all; but dooced near it. I am an old fool! Here am +I bungling about and can't say what I mean!" + +"Can I help you, doctor?" + +"I wish you would, and tell me what to say to you, young baggage!" + +"Do be calm, doctor. Suppose I'm the old lady now, and that you were +talking to me--I am not so very young you know, either." + +And she looked so demurely grave and elderly, that Aesculapius was +charmed anew. + +"Well, I must say it. It's better to have it out, like a bad tooth; +there's no good in keeping it in my head. I'm an old fool I know, +madam; but I am really in earnest now, and I want you to listen +seriously to me for a moment. The fact is, madam, Miss Kingscott that +is--how fearfully warm it is!" + +At that moment, just when he was trembling on the verge of his +disclosure, the shrill tones of Mrs Hartshorne's voice was heard +without. + +"George! George!" she cried to the faithful servitor (she pronounced +his name indeed _Jodge_! _Jodge_! speaking in her usual rapid manner, +with quick utterance). "Who's that at the gate? Don't you let anybody +in, man!" + +And our friends inside could hear her feet scrunching the gravel as she +walked towards the gate in order to see who it was; so they went to the +window also to look on, and the interesting conversation I have just +detailed, was abruptly broken off at the indefinite point it had +reached. + +"Plaise, marm," replied the rustic voice of George, "it's a leddy, marm, +and she says as how she's coomed to say un." + +"I don't know any ladies, and don't want to know any, either; I wonder +who is the flaunting creature? Get back to your work, you grinning +baboon! I'll speak to the woman myself." + +At the gate, seated in her pony carriage, and accompanied by her two +daughters, all dressed out and equipped in their state-costume for the +payment of calls, was Lady Inskip. She looked astounded--for she had +heard every word of the dialogue between the dowager and her henchman; +and not only she had heard it, but her daughters also; and the grinning +page, covered with sugar-loaf buttons, who sat perched on a mushroom +sort of seat that sprang out as a sort of excrescence from behind the +equipage. The old campaigner was surprised and astounded: but she tried +to appear cool and collected as befitted her dignity: the languid Laura +was as apathetic as ever; and the fast Carry seemed inclined to follow +the Buttons example and laugh aloud. + +The dowager, in another moment, was on the scene of operations, and +addressed the campaigner who sat in her pony carriage, with her forces +drawn up in _echelon_ behind the gate. + +"Who are you, woman; and what do you want?" + +"My name is Lady Inskip," answered the veteran, with bridling dignity. +"I presume I have the honour of addressing Mistress Hartshorne?" + +"I don't know you--that's my name; what do you want, woman? My time is +valuable, and I can't stop cackling with you all day." + +"You might be a little more polite, madam," said Lady Inskip, with +freezing politeness and sarcasm. "I came with my daughters just to pay +a customary call of civility, and I expected, at all events, to be +treated like a lady, by a lady, whom I expected to meet here; but I now +find out I am mistaken." + +"Is that all? Then you and your daughters can just take yourselves off, +with all your flauntings and finery! I don't want any grand people +coming about me! _I_ never go to see anybody, and I don't want anybody +to come and see me. Quite a pity, isn't it, after you had bedizened +yourself so finely too?" + +"Laura!" exclaimed Lady Inskip, ignoring the presence of the dowager, "I +think we had better drive home, and leave this vulgar woman to herself. +Perhaps," she said, turning to the dowager as she whirled the ponies +round, "you will have the civility to give that letter to your son, it +contains an invitation to a pic-nic. I suppose we need not hope for the +pleasure of your sweet company?" + +"I don't want any of your pic-nics, or jakanapes, or your impudence!" +said the downright old woman, raising her shrill voice even more +piercingly. "I will give the letter to my son. If he cares about +running after you, _I_ don't. Go! You said you were going home, and +the sooner you go the better, for you don't come in here, my lady!" +Then, considering the engagement terminated, she slammed-to the gate +menacingly, and turned on her way back to the house, leaving the +discomfitted campaigner to retreat at her leisure. + +Our friends, the doctor and the governess, had heard the whole of the +interview, and much amused they were over it, too, I promise you; but it +stopped the coming proposal. Miss Kingscott was rather pleased at this, +for she thought there was still some hope of gaining over Master Tom, +the young squire, and she did not wish either to finally accept or +reject the doctor until she knew which was the best card to play. + +He, on his way home, was also pleased that he had not fully committed +himself. + +"It would never have done for Deb," he considered; "she would never have +liked it. At all events, I was just stopped in time, though, and a miss +is as good as a mile. But I am a damned old fool! That's a fact." + +He kept to his promise with Pythias, did Damon, and drank a bottle of +port to himself that day after dinner, shaking his head as he muttered +to himself every now and then, while, with half-cocked eye, he held up +his glass to the light-- + +"It's a lucky escape; but I'm a confounded old fool!" + +Twice he bethought him of telling Deborah all about it; but she looked +so comfortable and composed, as she sat there darning his socks, that he +thought it would be a pity to disturb and agitate her. So his dreams, +when he retired to rest, were very wild indeed, and he passed altogether +a sleepless night.--So much for the doctor's love-making. + +Volume 1, Chapter XI. + +DES BEAUX YEUX. + +No words can paint the mingled rage and mortification that filled the +heart of Lady Inskip as she drove away from The Poplars, after her +interview with the dowager. + +"The Jezabel!" she said, in a voice of anger, "I've never been so +scandalously treated in my life. You need not laugh, miss!" she fired +out on Carry, who was exploding in fits of laughter at the humorous +nature of the rencontre. "You need not laugh, miss; it is no laughing +matter to see your mother insulted! But what can you expect from a +vulgar boor but abuse? I ought to have known that before I laid myself +open to such treatment. I don't think I can ask that young Hartshorne +to my house again after this." + +"Good gracious! ma," said Carry; "why what has he got to do with it? +I'm sure he's a very nice fellow, and he is not accountable for his +mother's actions." + +"Well," said the old campaigner, mollifying somewhat, as she got further +from the scene of her defeat, and allowed her better judgment to +prevail; "perhaps he's not to blame, and I am sure I never said so. He +can come of course to the pic-nic, now he is invited; but I am sorry I +left the note with that old cat, after all. Never mind, it's done now, +and there's no use in regretting it. He is a good match; and if you +listen to my words, Carry," she leaned over and said confidentially to +her daughter, so that Buttons might not overhear, "instead of giggling +so foolishly, and play you cards well, you will secure him in spite of +that Jezabel, his mother. Not that I am afraid of her, or twenty like +her," Lady Inskip said to herself consolingly, now that a distance of +road lay between them. + +But where was Master Tom all this while? + +Well, you must understand that Mr Thomas Hartshorne, of Her Majesty's +Plungers, was, and had been all the morning, learning the craft of +fly-fishing on the banks of the little stream that ran by the bottom of +the parsonage, under the apt tuition of the incumbent's sister. The +young reverend himself had long since gone out for his parochial duties, +such as enquiring after farmer Giles' rheumatism, and the widow Blake's +asthma, intending also to do himself the honour of calling on Lady +Inskip on his way home, for Pringle had been much struck by the charming +Laura the more he saw of her, and wanted to see more still. + +It was most surprising what a violent and indefatigable interest that +previously indolent young man Tom had taken in the piscatorial art. + +He who had before declared Isaac Walton an old humbug, and who had +professed his agreement with the dogmatic old doctor Johnson's +assertion, that fishing consisted of "a worm at one end of a rod and a +fool at the other," now used to sally out every morning nearly from The +Poplars, with his fishing-tackle on his shoulder down to the parsonage, +telling Markworth, whom he used to faintly persuade to accompany him, +that it was "the best sport in the world, old fellow." + +He went to the incumbent's grounds because it was the "finest spot in +the county for perch," and Pringle was "a brother angler, and such a +jolly good fellow, you know." Those were his only reasons, of course! + +Hartwood parsonage was the beau ideal of a snug little country lodge; a +long, straggling, one-storied cottage form of house, all ingles and +corners and slanting roofs, and covered with roses, jessamine, and +clematis. + +It had low, diamond-paned French windows, opening down to the ground; so +that one could walk out into the trim-inclined but wild planted flower +garden--Lizzie's especial pride--and on to the smooth velvetty lawn +beyond, that sloped down to the water's edge, bordered with hanging +branches of weeping willows, and sappy, luscious, green osiers, that +sprang like ostrich plumes from the quiet pools and crinks into which +the stream widened here and there. + +The parsonage had a "fine walled-in kitchen garden," as house agents +advertise, devoted to spruce rows of cabbages and arrogant cauliflowers, +each of which weighed more than a good-sized Christmas turkey; and +fruit-clustered pear and apple and peach trees, all nailed up and +trained along the walls, like a giant's palms spread out with the +fingers extended. Beyond the kitchen garden the walls were overhung +with rich green ivy, which took off the stuck-up appearance it might +have had like most enclosures, and gave the place a much, more +picturesque aspect. But it was in the flowery plaisance, marked out on +each side by a thick laurel shrubbery, that Lizzie's handiwork shone +out. + +This commenced just under the windows of the house, round which it +extended, and spread out to where it joined the lawn, from which it was +separated by a sort of strawberry island, and a hedge-row of box, tall, +up-grown, and cut in queer, fantastic shapes. + +In Lizzie's flower garden, which she had specially looked after since +she came to keep house for her brother, there was the most lavish +display. Tiger lilies and jonquills, sunflowers and pale-faced +narcissi, vied with each other for effect; and the great charm of the +whole lay in the utter absence of any set form or arrangement--roses and +lilies all grew together in the most charming confusion, with sundry +creepers twining around them; it was only on account of there being no +weeds visible, that you did not set down this wilderness of flowers to +be totally neglected. + +Other effects were not wanting to complete the picture. Here on a +summer afternoon you would hear a pet robin punctually begin his sweet +song, at "four of the clock precisely," from his favourite perch on a +spreading fir tree that overhung the eaves of the house--a little robin +that used to hop down every morning to the adjacent window of the +parlour, to receive his matutinal crumbs from Lizzie's hand. The +"chuck! chuck! chuck!" of the black bird too, would be also heard from +the laurel shrubbery; and the rival strains of the yellow-hammer from +the neighbouring medlar tree. The latter gentleman would commence his +lay with a "whirr," like an alarm clock running down, and end with a +sort of chorus like the concluding bars of "Green grow the Rushes O!" +The Beccaficoes, too, or English ortolan, very like the thrush, would +assemble here in the hot months of the year, and did not fail to leave +evidences of their partiality for the fruit tree which received the +Saviour's curse. + +Tom Hartshorne had explored all this paradise long before, in the +company of Miss Lizzie; and he was now, as I said, under her tuition, +looking at her tying on some artificial May-fly or other ichneumon to +his line. + +It was a beautiful morning--not yet twelve--and the air was balmy, and +scented with new-mown hay and flowers; while bees were buzzing around, +and birds singing in the air, the lark, chief songster, above them all; +altogether, Master Tom was situated under very romantic circumstances, +and his handsome Saxon face and honest blue eyes looked and shone out +happy in the extreme. + +Lizzie was dressed in a dainty little muslin dress, picked out with some +lilac tinge, and her little hat was thrown on coquettishly, half off and +half on; while her bright pretty little face was unclouded, and there +was a depth of tenderness in the deep violet eyes that glanced up every +now and then to Tom. + +She had just succeeded in tying on the fly, and looked up suddenly in a +triumphant, saucy little way, in Tom's face. He was very close to her, +for he had to watch very narrowly to see how the work was done, and he +stooped at the time she looked up; and she said, "There, sir!" + +They were very close together, and their eyes met, and Tom was stooping, +and, naturally, as those sweet little tempting rosebud lips were so +near, he-- + +Well, what would you do if a very pretty girl was very close to you, +male reader, under the same circumstances? What reply would you make? + +Very well, Tom did it! + +Just at that moment, Lady Inskip was driving round the road which +skirted by the parsonage garden, to pay a visit, and leave an +invitation, at the house of our friend, the young incumbent. It was not +long after her encounter with the dowager, and Lady Inskip was still +wrath: her observation being keen, and the pony carriage high, she could +therefore see the little meeting between Tom and Lizzie over the wall. + +She saw it all, my dear sir; and her sense of propriety was so shocked, +that, instead of calling, as she intended, on the Pringles, she only +left the invitation and drove on homewards. + +Here she had been twice defeated this morning! The dowager had routed +her at The Poplars, and "that artful little minx" had presumed to poach +upon her manor--was actually making love to Master Tom, whom she had +designed for her own Carry. It was absolutely startling! She did not +know what to do. Fortunately, she thought, no one had observed the +pleasant little episode in the garden--so indelicate!--but herself, as +her daughters, riding on the front seat, had had their backs turned at +the time, so she would keep it to herself, and determine what was to be +done. + +One thing, at all events, she resolved to do, and that was to speak to +the Reverend Herbert Pringle privately, and in confidence, about his +sister. He was a most gentlemanly young man, and could not be offended +at her mentioning the subject, especially as she would put it to him, +since she was old enough to be his mother--at least, his mother-in-law! + +Fortune favoured the old campaigner in her object. Our friend, the +incumbent, having visited and cheered his poor people, by asking affably +as to their healths, returned homewards by way of Laburnum Cottage, to +see the Inskips, determining to himself that that was the shortest way +round, although it was at least five miles out of his way. + +Lady Inskip only arrived a few moments before him, and so he caught her +when she was red hot on the subject just then rampant in her heart. + +When she had flattered him sufficiently, and after he had basked in the +sunshine of Laura's smiles, he rose to leave, and Lady Inskip +accompanied him herself to the door, and on to the grass plot beyond, +and the gate, where stood his dapple-grey pony with his reins flung over +the post to keep him from straying. When the girls saw their mother +follow Clericus without, they made up their minds that she was going to +"ask his intentions," and much did the lively Carry chaff her sister +therenent. The campaigner's motive was, however, a very different one. + +"You will excuse me, Mr Pringle, I'm sure, but I am an old woman, you +know, and I take such a motherly interest in you--(very motherly!)--that +you will forgive me for asking you a question?" + +Poor Clericus, himself, trembled at this introduction, as I believe his +idea of what was coming was very similar to those of the girls inside. + +"Oh, certainly, Lady Inskip, certainly!" he said, with a sort of +dead-alive alacrity. + +"Is your sister engaged to Mr Tom Hartshorne?" said the old campaigner; +and Pringle was immensely relieved. + +"Oh dear, no!" he responded, this time cheerfully enough. "Oh dear, no, +Lady Inskip, what made you suppose so?" + +And, thereupon, my lady spoke, and told what she had seen; and, although +Pringle was not very angry at first, nor did he look upon the affair as +anything serious, the campaigner presently persuaded him that it was his +duty to speak to his sister. He, of course,--so she explained--could +not be aware how a young girl would be talked about if she were allowed +_carte blanche_ to flirt with every young man she came across. Poor +Lizzie! as if she would have done so--and that it was very unfortunate +the poor girl had no mother to warn her, and so on. But it was his duty +as her brother, and not only on that account, but as a clergyman also-- +so the campaigner put it--to speak earnestly at once, and have the thing +broken off. + +Herbert Pringle promised to do so, and rode home very sadly, for he +loved his little sister very much in his way, and hated the business of +talking so seriously to her, besides not knowing how to set about it. + +Let us return to our lovers; our poor tender sheep, into whose fold such +a great gaunt wolf had now penetrated. + +They did not hear the wheels of the old campaigner's chaise as it passed +round by the garden wall, nor did they see her grim eyes surveying them +above it, and taking notes of their propinquity--not they! + +When Master Tom committed himself in the way I have hinted at, little +Lizzie blushed crimson, and hung down her head so that he could not see +her face. + +"Oh, how could you? How could you?" she stammered out, nearly crying. + +"Forgive me! I beg your pardon: I could not help it"--and Tom was going +to tell his love, and disclose all the feelings that filled his heart, +when, at that moment, my Lady Inskip rang the bell to leave her note, as +already detailed. + +Before Tom could catch her so as to hold her, Lizzie darted off, like a +startled fawn, towards the house, and the opportunity was lost. + +The next day she was not in when he called round, and Pringle visited +him the day after that, instead of his visiting him; and so, although he +was not spoken to, no opportunities were put in the way of their meeting +alone. + +Both Tom and Lizzie were looking forward to the pic-nic with heartfelt +longing, for the former, at least, determined to speak then. + +Oh, Love! Love! When will thy course run smooth? + +Volume 1, Chapter XII. + +"THE BEGINNING OF THE END." + +Markworth's plot was now nearly ripe for execution. + +When he had been down at The Poplars some weeks now, he said one morning +at the breakfast table that he must run up to town for a day or two, as +he had some important business to transact; so excusing himself to the +Hartshornes, mother and son, the former of whom did not look as if she +would break her heart if he never returned, he said he supposed he had +better start at once and come down on the next day, Saturday, so as to +be in time for the contemplated pic-nic on the following Tuesday, which +Tom would not hear of his missing. + +"You'll be sure to be back in time, old fellow," said the latter, as he +wished Markworth good-bye; and the train glided off from the little +station to which they had walked in company across the fields. +"There'll be heaps of fun, for Harrowby and a lot of the fellows will be +down, and I want you to draw out the campaigner, or she'll be making a +dead set at me, and--" + +"You'll have other fish to fry, and will want to attend to someone else, +eh? I quite understand it all, my boy; I'm not so blind as some people +think, Master Tom. However, I'll spare your blushes and your +explanations: don't be alarmed, my boy, I'll be back in plenty of time +for the pic-nic, and will take care to occupy my lady's attention so as +to leave you to your own devices. Good-bye, old chap." + +"Good-bye, old fellow," said Tom; and Markworth was soon whizzing on his +way to London. + +Arrived in town, he first directed his steps to the private +billiard-room where he and his friend first made the acquaintance of the +reader. + +His object was to enlist the services of the little old-fashioned +marker, who we had previously seen watching the game. + +This man, Joe Begg by name, although only known to the sporting world +who frequented the room by his Christian name alone, was an accomplice +and ally of Markworth. When our friend would manage to get hold of a +nice pigeon for plucking, Joe Begg used to be of the greatest service. +He had a peculiarly dexterous way of running up the score, and also a +pleasant and most unaccountable manner of sneezing just when Markworth's +opponent would be making some important stroke. It was most unfortunate +of course, and the victim would meet with so much sympathy, and the +marker would apologise so earnestly with tears in his eyes for the +unfortunate cold in the head, "which takes me most unexpected, sir," as +he would explain, that poor pigeon could not but allow that it was an +accident, and accept the _amende honorable_ by continuing his play. +When neophyte went away, after his vanity had been flattered by his +being allowed _nearly_ to win and his losing "rather hot, you know, by +Jove?" he did not know that Markworth and the marker generally came to +an understanding, which always resulted in the former offering and the +latter accepting sundry substantial tokens of esteem and regard. + +It was not to make use of his aid in the matter of billiards and by-play +that Markworth now sought the company of Joe Begg. It was for something +much more important and vastly different, although of a similar nature. + +He wanted a witness for the contemplated marriage, and he could not +think of anyone better qualified to assist him than Joe. He was just +the man, for he had been always faithful to Markworth's interests, and +could be as "close as wax," although he would naturally require a +"consideration." + +"Well, Joe, how's business," he said, as he walked into the +billiard-room, when, as was usual at such an early hour of the day, the +marker was all alone. + +"Very dull, Mister Markworth, very dull! Why, sir, I haven't made a bob +at pool for the last three weeks. Everybody's out of town, and those +City fellows as comes in are afeared to bet a tizzy on a dead certainty. +Can I do anything for you to-day, Mister Markworth?" + +"Not to-day, Joe; but I will want you shortly." + +"All right, sir, whenever you want me you've only got to speak, and I'm +there." + +"I thought I could rely on you, Joe. The fact is, I shall want you to +be a witness to a marriage between a lady and myself." + +"How much will you stand?" + +"I'll do the thing handsomely. I tell you what, I will give you a fiver +after it's all over, because I shall want you to swear to it perhaps in +evidence afterwards." + +"I'm your man, sir," replied the marker, with alacrity; "swear to +anything for that sum. When is the little affair coming off?" + +"I can't say yet, Joe. Maybe in a week, maybe not for a month; but when +I want you I shall write here and let you know. Mind! You must be +ready at once to accompany me when I write for you." + +"I'm fly, sir," responded Joe, with a cunning movement of his left +eyelid, more expressive than an ordinary wink. "I'll be ready any time; +and perhaps, sir, as the business is partickler, it'll be worth more +than a fiver, who knows?" + +"I shan't forget you, Joe; we won't quarrel about terms," answered +Markworth, meaningly, and he then went away, for he had even more +important arrangements to make. + +He paid a second visit to the dingy purlieus of Doctors Commons. + +This time not to the deed depository of the dead, but to the legal +portals of Hymen, where Cupid sits enthroned on the bench, in all the +majesty of the law, with a horsehair wig and a pair of clerical bands, +to issue licenses to marry and for giving in marriage. + +It was now Friday, and the pic-nic was to come off at Bigton on the +ensuing Tuesday, so Markworth determined that he would manage to get +Susan Hartshorne away from The Poplars on that day, as he would be less +liable to observation and detection; and taking her up to London, could +have the marriage solemnised on the succeeding day. Tuesday, strange to +say, was the very day, the 27th of August, according to the information +of Miss Kingscott, retailed from the Family Bible, when the girl would +be of legal age, one and twenty, and entitled to the free disposal of +her money. + +He accordingly got a license made out without much trouble, by means of +a little stretch of the imagination--called perjury in courts of law-- +and the initiatory step for his design was taken. If everything went +well, he would before that day week be the husband of Susan Hartshorne, +and master of her twenty thousand pounds. He had well weighed every +step in his programme; he had studied every possible consequence to +himself; and he saw no reason to anticipate failure when everything +pointed to success. + +After leaving Doctors Commons he went to some old lodgings of his in a +retired street in Bloomsbury, where he was well-known, and a set of +rooms always kept vacant for him, for his comings and goings were so +irregular that no one knew when to expect him. None of his West End +friends knew of his ever living here, for he always gave an hotel as an +address; and to tell the truth, he had often been comfortably installed +in these same Bloomsbury lodgings when the world thought him travelling +on the Continent, or shooting grouse on the moors. + +His appearance was therefore looked upon as a usual thing, and no +surprise was manifested; for his ways had always been inscrutable, and +as he checked curiosity and was a good and regular paying lodger, he +could do as he liked. He had always done so from the first, and his +landlady never bothered herself about him or his business, "it was no +concern of hers, he always paid his rent, and that was all she cared +about," she said. + +He stopped here that night, and went away the next morning, telling Mrs +Martin, the landlady, that he was going to bring "his sister" to town on +the following Tuesday, and would require the rooms to be ready for her +reception. This was the first time she had ever heard of his having a +sister; but he might have brought twenty so long as he paid his rent. I +believe a regular London lodging-house keeper is more of a cosmopolitan +than any other person in the world. She will take in anybody with a +decent supply of luggage, and who is tolerably regular in the payment of +his or her weekly bills--the wandering Jew, Calcraft, or Eugene Aram. +It is all the same to the proprietors of the "apartments" whether her +tenant be Jew or Gentile, gentleman or "snob," criminal or honest man; +she has but one standard for social position, morality or nationality, +and that is a pecuniary one. A lodger may be forgiven everything, even +seventy times seven, if he only pays his rent regularly; that is the +_ultima ratio_ to which appeal is made--it is practical and works well! + +These preliminary arrangements being seen to, Markworth walked down +through Lincoln's Inn Fields, across into Chancery Lane, and paid a +visit to some dingy, tumble-down looking chambers close to the projected +site for the new Law Courts, which are to be built at some era dim in +futurity. A brass plate was on the door, with the names "Solomonson and +Isaacs, solicitors," engraved thereon. + +His business was with the senior partner, who greeted him as an old +client or customer, which indeed he was. Solomonson was not at all +averse to transact business, even on the Jewish Sabbath. + +"Vell, Mishter M," said the Jew, who was part money lender, part lawyer, +and all rogue. "Doesh de leetel affairsh go on? Have you got de mad +girlsh yet. I vants to see her Mishtressh M'sh--" + +"Not yet, Shylock; but everything's in train, and I shall do it before +the week is out. But you told me right, I hope, about the law; I would +not like to commit a felony?" + +"You are all rightsh, Mishter M'sh. Leave de cashe in dese hands and ve +vill see you trough!" + +"I rely upon you then, and will let you conduct the whole affair,--but I +must have some money to carry the thing through, Solomonson. How much +can you let me have on my own security?" + +"I vill letsh you ave two hundredsh pound. S'help me Gadsh, Mishter +M'sh! itsh all I've got!" + +"Nonsense, Shylock! you can't fool me like that," replied Markworth, and +he tried unsuccessfully to get more out of the Jew. He had to be +contented for the present with a couple of hundreds. Solomonson knew, +however, the stake for which he was playing, and told him that as soon +as he was really married to Susan Hartshorne he would advance him more. +Until then he would not let him have another penny. So Markworth was +forced to content himself with what he had got, and he was not pleased +when he recollected that he would have to give the governess half. + +He was, however, provided with the sinews of war, so he wished +Solomonson good day, cheerfully as he went out, and told him he would +soon see him back again. + +"Good daysh!" replied the Jew. "Don't forget to send me the weddingsh +cakesh, my dearsh! I likesh weddingsh cakesh!" + +The last visit Markworth paid before leaving London was to the curate of +a small church in the city, with whom he was acquainted--how he had made +his acquaintance I cannot say; and to this gentleman he made some +explanation about a forthcoming marriage which appeared to be highly +satisfactory to both parties. + +Everything was now settled but the great event itself, and so Markworth +returned to Hartwood by the afternoon train. To shew that he did not +forget even trifles in considering everything for his plot, he bought an +odd volume of the recently revived "Essays and Reviews," at the railway +book stall, for the personal edification of the Dowager Mrs Hartshorne, +who had been speaking of the book in connection with her now favourite +topic of ritualism. This he presented to her the same evening, much to +her surprise, and peculiarly snappishly-expressed pleasure and thanks. +The old lady had recently been over head and ears in pre-adamite +geology, and nothing interested her so much as a secular essay on +theological truths. + +Tom was delighted to see him back in such good time, and planned out all +sorts of pleasant things for the pic-nic, which was in everybody's +thoughts--little knowing how Markworth intended to dispose of his day. +All the Sussex world was going to be there. A pair of violet eyes +comprised "all the world" to Tom now. + +Some time that evening Markworth had a long conversation with Miss +Kingscott, preparing for "the end." Both--strange anomaly!--had worked +together for once, and not for good. He gave her a hundred pounds, the +first instalment of the "hush money," and their compact was nearly +completed. + +To one who had not marked out every phase in Susan Hartshorne's +treatment, the change that had been worked in her since Markworth had +devoted his energies to her care, was nothing less than marvellous. + +From dull, irksome melancholia the patient had been transported to the +fields of reason. A constantly unchanged vacuity of expression on her +face had given place to mobility of feature. Instead of void animal +eyes, the windows of the soul now looked out of her face. From an idiot +she had been changed nearly if not quite into a reasoning being. +Markworth had done all this, aided by Miss Kingscott acting under him +and by his directions. It is true the girl had only got back the germ +of reason, the reason of a child in nature, and measured by the +experience of years. But it was a germ which, although now of delicate +growth, and requiring every fostering and care, might yet expand into +the fullness of moral culture. + +No one had any idea how poor Susan had improved, for she saw no one to +speak to as yet; and although Tom and Mrs Hartshorne noticed some +change in her, yet the former was too much engaged with observing +another to notice much in his sister, and as for the mother she really, +I believe, did not care either way. She had so long looked upon Susan +as insane, that the possibility of her ever recovering her reason now +after the lapse of so many years, was put beyond the pale of +consideration altogether. + +And so only Markworth and Miss Kingscott knew of her dawning reason; +with them both she spoke now as sensibly as themselves, and as to +Markworth she was his abject slave. + +The first reasoning thought that filled the poor girl's vacuous brain +was one of heartfelt devotion to him who had led her out of darkness to +light. She looked upon him as her saviour, ignorant as she was of a +higher and more powerful God than he; and he was so uniformly kind and +considerate to her, seemingly anticipating her every wish, that one +cannot wonder at her slavish idolatry. He was her god--her all; she +loved him as a dog would love its master, and everything he did was +right: his word, law. + +Markworth's material was now plastic enough. + +Volume 1, Chapter XIII. + +BROTHER AND SISTER. + +"Now, Lizzie, I want to know what all this means?" said the Reverend +Herbert Pringle, B.A., putting on quite a fatherly dignity of manner to +his sister, an evening or two after Lady Inskip had spoken to him. "I +want to know what all this means." + +Lizzie was at the time engaged lifting pots up and down, and poking +about in her little conservatory, which jutted out of the drawing room, +with a trowel and watering-pot, in the manner peculiar to young ladies +of a horticultural tendency. Her back was turned to her brother, so +that he could not see her face, but a brilliant tinge of pink carnation +coloured her little white neck, and suffused her dainty-cheeks, and +ascended even to the pure white forehead; still she steadfastly kept her +head down, bent apparently on investigating the wonderful mysteries of +some flower with a horribly long Greek name, which she was inspecting. + +She must have guessed intuitively what her brother was going to speak +about, but with a woman's noble gift of dissimulation, she asked, with +an air of candour and conscious rectitude--little hypocrite! + +"Why, Bertie, dear, what on earth do you mean?" + +They are all deceivers, every one; bless you! that's the way with them. +They are tricksters at heart, and conceal their feelings with a sort of +savage deceit, which only a Red Indian besides possesses. See how +calmly and placidly Miss Dissembler smiles with elegant ease, whilst +Madame Verjuice pierces her little writhing heart through and through +with a malicious sarcasm that wounds her to the core. She looks as if +she never felt it whilst she is bleeding to death inwardly. Look at the +poor fainting wife and mother, who with a smile on her lips and death at +heart, cheerfully gives her husband and starving children the last +morsel of bread in the hovel, and says with a martyr-like dissimulation +that she does not want it, she is not hungry. Bless you they are all +deceivers, every one, from little miss in her teens, who flirts with her +boy lovers, to old Joan of threescore, who still wheedles her venerable +Darby! + +"Why, Bertie, what on earth do you mean?" as innocently as you please. + +The Reverend Herbert Pringle, B.A., had for the last two days been +puzzling his small amount of brains how to broach the subject to his +sister. He did not wish to vex her, or hurt her feelings; in fact, he +did not know what to do, it was "such a delicate matter, you know, such +a very delicate matter," that he wished it were settled and done for, +and off his hands. But still, all the same, he did not know how to +begin. + +"Well, humph!" clearing his throat portentously, "the fact is, Lizzie, +you know all about it." + +"Really, Bertie," said Lizzie, laughing--oh! such a faint little laugh, +"you are very enigmatical to-day." + +"I'm not joking, Lizzie; it's a serious business, a very serious +business. What is all this going on between you and Tom Hartshorne?" + +Poor Lizzie's little defences of affected ignorance and nonchalance at +once broke down, although she bravely struggled on to preserve her +equanimity. + +"I'm sure I've nothing to do with Mr Hartshorne. What _do_ you mean, +Herbert? Pray explain yourself." + +And the young lady drew herself up with a tremendous accession of +dignity to the full height of her little figure. + +Herbert Pringle was so disgusted with the dissimulation of the sex as +evinced in the instance of his sister that he felt himself nerved up and +able to go on with the talk before him, so he plunged at once _in medias +res_. + +"Here's Lady Inskip been telling me--" + +"Oh! I've got to thank _her_ for interesting herself about me! I am +sure I am very much obliged to Lady Inskip!" + +"You need not interrupt me, Lizzie, and you need not get angry about +Lady Inskip. She's a most motherly woman, and she spoke very kindly to +me about you. You see, Lizzie, it's a very hard thing for a fellow to +speak of. Of course I think girls ought to be allowed to mind their own +affairs of this kind, and it seems rough on my part to interfere; but, +you see, as Lady Inskip very kindly observed, you've no mother to advise +you, and consequently I must take her place." + +As he said this, the Reverend Herbert Pringle looked certainly as unlike +a mother as possible. + +"Go on, Herbert; let me know all that Lady Inskip has been kind enough +to say of me," said Violet Eyes, now facing her brother, with a full +sense of her dignity, and tapping her foot on the floor with angry +impatience. + +"Well, she told me that she saw you and Tom Hartshorne in the garden the +other day as she drove by; and, though I see no harm in it, and +fortunately no one but herself saw it, she said she was very much +shocked, and that you acted as if you were engaged. Now, Lizzie, you +know I'm very fond of you, and all that sort of thing, but people might +talk, you know, and I want you to put a stop to it." + +Lizzie's defences were entirely overthrown. Her look of indignation +faded off her face, to be replaced by a quick crimson blush, which as +rapidly disappeared and left her features as pale as marble. She made a +hurried step towards her brother, and fell sobbing on his neck. + +"Oh! Bertie, Bertie!" she sobbed out, between a series of little gasps. + +"There, there, don't cry! my darling little Lizzie. You know I did not +mean to hurt you, my own little sister!" said Herbert, sympathisingly, +patting her head as if he were saying "Poor dog! poor dog!" to a +Newfoundland pup. And the subject was dropped, Lizzie thus gaining the +victory in the end by having recourse to a woman's strongest safeguard-- +tears. For, as he told Lady Inskip afterwards, "when the waterworks +were turned on he had to give in." The old campaigner for her part, was +very well satisfied that the topic had been mentioned: that was all she +wanted. + +Lizzie went to bed very early that night, pleading a headache, and +really her face was so pale and the deep violet eyes were so sunk in her +head with broad veins of black underneath them, that her assertion was +freely borne out by her appearance. + +The poor little heart was deeply troubled: the stricken deer was +grievously wounded. She was very young, you must remember, and had +fallen into that horrible abyss of love without knowing what she was +doing. The temptation had been so sweet, the steps she had taken into +that rose-coloured paradise so gradual, that she had not perceived the +drift of their march, so that Tom's sudden act and manner had startled +and frightened her; it was letting in the sunlight on one who has been +blindfolded, and the little secret which she had hugged to her heart +alarmed, while it gave her such sweet ecstasy. + +Ever since that morning in the garden, only two days ago--two days! it +seemed more like two years, she had been so much altered--Lizzie had not +been the same. She had awakened from a long sleep as it were, and +everything round her, every little inconsiderable item in her daily life +bore a new charm to her or had a fresh meaning. A deeper and more +beautiful light beamed now in her thoughtful eyes; there was a charming +hesitancy in her manner in lieu of the former piquante pert way she had. +In a word, Lizzie was our Lizzie still, but a hundred times more +loveable and prettier from the new love light that encircled her. + +She had been watching--eagerly watching, for her next meeting with Tom, +and yet when she thought of him, blushed at her thoughts and trembled +with a sly rapture. He was so noble--so manly--so handsome! Just in +fact what most young girls think Corydon when in love. + +It was no wonder, then, that the brother's lecture and the idea of the +old campaigner's criticism on her conduct frightened our poor little +maid. + +She went up to her little bed tearfully and heavy-hearted, and thought +of chains and dungeons, and all the malicious contrivances of the wicked +for parting true lovers, and she sobbed herself to sleep. When she woke +up in the morning she was still in the most restless and perturbed state +that her little mind could be in. "How dared that odious old thing +speak about her, or look at her, or come round at all!" She would never +see Tom again--and she was longing to see him all the time! + +She would not go to the pic-nic--that she wouldn't! + +Then she _would_ go, because the aforesaid old odious thing would +imagine that she took it to heart if she stopped away. + +But she would _not_ go because that impudent Master Tom would be there, +she thought, with a rising blush and a conscious swelling of the tender +little bosom underneath her muslin dress. + +Of course she determined to go! + +Volume 1, Chapter XIV. + +THAT YOUNG IMP. + +The old campaigner's pic-nic had been decided upon by her, not only as a +merrymaking festival, but as a regular strategical _coup_. + +She wanted to roll many issues into one, and like a prudent general, she +conned her forces, surveyed their position, and considered her war +_materiel_; all being in train, she determined that as she wanted to +create an impression in the neighbourhood, and bring sundry persons +together without being compelled to go to any great expense, the best +and most efficacious mode she could adopt for carrying out her plans +would be to give a pic-nic. + +In the first place she could ask all those people of the vicinity whom +she did not care to specially invite to her own house; in the second, as +everyone would to some extent purvey their own refreshments, no great +outlay would be required on her part; and in the third place this sort +of rustic excursion offers greater advantages and inducements for +judicious love-making, and brings many bashful wooers, such as young +Clericus, to the scratch. + +It was under these circumstances and acting with these motives, that +Lady Inskip had made preparations and issued invitations for a grand +pic-nic to come off at Dingle Dell, which was a nice drive from Bigton, +a few weeks after she came down to reside at that festive haunt. + +She had by this time thoroughly explored all the capabilities of the +place, and knew just whom to ask and whom to avoid. The old Indian +officer, Captain Curry Cucumber, had of course an invitation, and so had +Doctor Jolly and his sister, but Deborah said that she never went out to +any such "gallivantings," and declined; the doctor, however, promised to +pick them up in the course of the day after he had made some necessary +calls on his patients. + +The people were all to meet together at Laburnum Cottage, and drive from +thence _en cortege_ to the Dingle, so an early hour was fixed for the +rendezvous in order to have a good long day of it. + +Soon after eleven, the time appointed, there was quite a goodly muster +of vehicles in front of Lady Inskip's residence. Tom Hartshorne drove +down in a bright new dog-cart, and being immediately pounced upon by the +campaigner, was made or inveigled into taking Carry with him. Not that +Tom objected personally to that young lady, who was very agreeable and +naturally glib of tongue, but he sorely wished and had indeed planned +that our little friend Lizzie should be his companion. + +In order to prevent this the campaigner had specially called at the +parsonage and taken Miss Lizzie in her own pony chaise with her: the +Reverend Herbert and the languid Laura completed the quartette. Tom +sadly deplored the absence of Markworth, for he was so well used to the +campaigner, and had such nerve and _sang froid_ that he was capable of +even turning her out of her own carriage. Lieutenant Harrowby and +Captain Miles, too, of Tom's regiment, who had come over from Brighton +that morning for the _fete_, and who hoped to have complete possession +of the Inskip "girls," as military men usually dub the young ladies of +families, did not seem satisfied with the arrangements for the +procession; and as for Captain Curry Cucumber--who had arrived on the +scene of action dressed in a new pair of nankeen trowsers and a solar +hat, not to mention a blue coat with brass buttons and other portions of +a perfectly gorgeous toilet--he was simply enraged at the want of +deference paid him by Lady Inskip, and had serious thoughts of turning +back at first, although he afterwards suffered himself to be soothed +over by Miss Blandish (spinster, _aetat_ 45-60), and promised to remain +with the company until at least "tiffin" should be over. + +At last, however, all things were settled, and "barring" a few +_contretemps_ and heartburnings the whole party started off in great +spirit to drive towards Dingle Dell. + +The road was a very pretty one, all through the romantic scenery to be +found in the valley of the swift-running and widening river Biggle, at +the mouth of which, as has been described in its proper place, the +watering place of Bigton, formerly called Biggleton (_vide_ County +Archaeology), was situated. + +The day was fine--as fine as a bright August day can be in the country. +_Ergo_ all went merry as the proverbial marriage bell. The only trouble +Lady Inskip had was with her darling pride--that horrible boy, the young +Sir Mortimer. He would insist on carrying a wretched old single-barrel +gun with him for the purpose of shooting small birds when they got to +the wood, and of course, as he always managed, he had his own way. +"Such a darling boy," as he was, "but _so_ rash!" Mortimer persisted in +practising along the road as they drove on, frightening the horses every +now and then, and making everybody feel in terror for their lives. + +It was no use that Lady Inskip called out in a half-entreating, +half-commanding voice at intervals, "Oh! Morti-mer! Mortimer!" the +young imp would continue his detonating sport, and everyone was heartily +glad when after passing the steep incline which led down from the old +castle of archaeological renown, they crossed the pretty rustic bridge +over the Biggle, and arrived at length at Dingle Dell. + +Considering that it was a good two hours' drive or more from Bigton, and +that it was "getting on" in the afternoon, no one was averse to +preparations being at once made for the substantial and real part of the +pic-nic. All helped with good will to lay the cloth on the smooth green +turf, and unpack the hampers. Even a smile irradiated the choleric and +saffronised face of the Indian warrior, who was much disgusted when they +sat down to the _al fresco_ banquet that no one had remembered to bring +mango, chutney, or Cayenne pepper, without which he assured Lady Inskip +that even "the best victuals" were not worth the salt that accompanied +them. + +The old campaigner very judiciously arranged the various members of her +company around the tablecloth--one cannot exactly say table. She placed +Tom by the side of Carry, at the extreme opposite end of the "board," +away from Lizzie, whom she quartered with the gallant lieutenant, +Harrowby, by herself. Pringle, of course, was placed next Laura; and +although Lady Inskip had been obliged to invite the Rev. Jabez +Heavieman, of Bigton, for appearance's sake, she took very good care +that he should not run foul of our Ritualistic young incumbent, whom he +regarded in much the same light as the devil is supposed to look upon +holy water. + +Everything passed off well, and Lady Inskip was in ecstasies; Carry was +apparently having it all her own way with Tom Hartshorne, and Pringle +was most devoted to Laura. As for Lizzie, she was hopelessly put on one +side, and the campaigner considered "that artful little minx" as done +for and out of her way: nothing could be better. + +The banquet was at length finished. + +Young Sir Mortimer, having gorged himself sufficiently with cold chicken +and greengage tart, so that his face shone again, went off with his gun +to shoot in the woods, much against the entreaties of his mother, who +fervently implored him "take care, Mortimer, my darling boy, take great +care!" + +The others disposed themselves around; some lolling on the grass, others +making a pretence of fishing in the adjacent river: Tom had wandered off +somewhere--Lizzie had disappeared; and our cheery Doctor Jolly, who had +just arrived in time for the feast--"Bless my soul! madam," as he said, +in explanation, "never miss the grub, my lady--never miss my grub,"--was +enjoying a cigar along with the "military swells," as he called them. + +When suddenly Lady Inskip's pride and hope, the boy Mortimer, dashed in +amongst them with a scared face, yelling out at the top of his voice-- + +"Oh! ma, ma! I've shot and killed somebody!" + +The consternation his advent created can be imagined. + +"Oh! dear, Morti-mer,--Morti-mer! I told you so: I told you so!" said +Lady Inskip, bursting into tears. + +Carry went into hysterics, entreating everybody to "hold me down! hold +me down!" Laura fell fainting in the arms of the Reverend Pringle, who +looked hopelessly bewildered. Miss Blandish, making an ineffectual and +similar attempt to repose on the white waistcoat and nankeen trowsers of +Captain Curry Cucumber, was precipitated by a dexterous and skilful +manoeuvre on the part of that gallant officer, into the salad-bowl, the +Captain muttering horrible imprecations in Hindostanee, such as heaping +curses on the beard of her departed father, and devoutly hoping that +jackasses might sit on her grandmother's grave. + +Doctor Jolly alone retained his composure, and darted off, as quickly as +his size and gout would permit him, in the direction from which the +young imp, Mortimer, had come. + +What had happened? + +Lizzie, after enduring the platitudes of Lieutenant Harrowby until she +was sick of them--the burden of that officer's conversation being +limited apparently to the observations of "Haw! be-y Je-ove!" and +"Doo-ced fine!" to anything and everything around him, including scenery +and lobster salad, managed at last to get away from the company. + +She wandered along listlessly amongst the thickly crowded elms and firs +of the forest that crowned the slopes of the dell, musing on her own sad +thoughts, for her heart felt very weary. Everything had gone wrong with +her that day; Tom had not spoken two words to her, and she did not know +whether he wanted to speak to her at all. He was very unkind; he might, +at least, have said something after what had passed between them the +other day! Then, too, the whole thing had bored her, and she wished she +had never come! Lady Inskip also had been very snappish with her--even +rude, she thought, and though Lizzie, with all her gentleness, was not +"one to be put upon with impunity," and could have held her own against +the campaigner at any other time: still to-day she had quite lost her +natural spirit, and did not try to turn aside a single shaft of the many +hurled by her implacable foe. + +Lizzie was sadly out of heart. Rambling along, she at length came to a +little open glade at some distance from where the picnickers were making +merry. + +Here, as she turned round the trunk of a gnarled old elm, all covered +with ivy, which had previously obscured this open glade from her view, +whom should she see, standing there in gloomy solitude, and looking up +at the fleecy white clouds sailing over head, but the very person who +filled her thoughts--Tom Hartshorne himself, and no other. + +Now was the time, one would think, for an explanation between the pair; +but the Fates willed it otherwise. + +"That young imp," when he left the picnickers, sallied off like a +gallant young sportsman, as he fancied himself, with his "gun upon his +shoulder," and a brandy flask, which he used for a shot pouch, instead +of a "bayonet by his side," in the words of the affecting ballad of +"Jeanette and Jeanot." + +He penetrated into the depths of the wood, firing at everything that +happened to be a trifle larger than a butterfly or humble bee; but +although Mortimer thought he took steady aim at the several little +feathered songsters against whom he had murder in his heart, the gun, +which was something like the Irishman's that could "shoot round a +corner," never brought down anything. + +At length he came to a dense thicket, just on the borders of the little +open glade where Tom and Lizzie were about to meet. + +A particularly fine fat thrush hopped on a twig in the midst of the +thicket; and, as it was only about a yard from the muzzle of his gun, +the young imp was more successful this time. He fired and brought down +his bird; but he also brought down something else which he had not +bargained for. + +Tom was just advancing with outstretched hand towards Lizzie, glad of +the opportunity for which he had been longing all day. + +Whiz! bang! more than half the charge of the young imp's shot struck him +in the side, and Tom fell nearly senseless at Lizzie's feet. + +She, forgetting all her reserve, bent over him in an agony of terror. + +"Oh! Tom, Tom!" she cried, as she knelt down by his side, their faces +nearly touching, and her hair sweeping across his cheek. "They have +killed you! They have killed you!" + +And the sun still shone down, and the fleecy clouds still sailed +overhead, and the summer breeze rippled through the trees. + +"Lizzie, my darling! I'm so happy: I wish I could die now," murmured +Tom, in disconnected fragments, and he fainted away outright. + +"Oh! he's dead! He's dead!" cried Lizzie, out aloud, wringing her +hands, bursting into an agony of tears--tears, idle tears! + +"Bless my soul!" said the doctor, bursting through the bushes, as he +arrived very opportunely on the scene of action, out of breath with the +haste he had made. "Bless my soul! Who's dead, what's dead? It's all +confounded nonsense," he continued, excitedly, bending down over Tom, +and tearing open his coat and shirt, and feeling his heart. "Bless my +soul! He's no more dead than you are, my dear! The man's only +fainted." + +Volume 1, Chapter XV. + +END OF "FIRST ACT." + +The most powerful logic fails to supply one with any rules or data +whereby to analyse the workings and application of motives. If we try +within ourselves even to trace back a passing thought to its original +cause and inception, we see how involved and erratic are its wanderings; +and we are obliged to give up the hopeless quest from sheer inability to +follow its course. No wonder, therefore, that human motives are +difficult to fathom; and although writers of fiction have the +presumptive right to lay bare the inward mechanism which directs and +guides their various characters, and are permitted to exemplify--hanging +their theories and arguments on certain lay-figures more or less +natural--how such and such a train of thought, and such and such a +motive leads on and up to such and such an end; still, it is a very +deceptive argument at the best, and these deductions, however plausible, +are often grievously in fault. Motives are inscrutable. The slightest +bias or hitch one way or the other will produce an altogether different +result. Let us just imagine "what might have been" in the lives of our +heroes and heroines if some new little incident had cropped up, or some +detail or phase been ever-so-little altered; and we cannot but agree, in +the felicitous observation of one of our greatest authors and students +of human nature, that the history of "great events that might have been" +would far outweigh and be more deeply interesting than any history ever +published of what _has_ happened! + +These remarks have been made with reference to the character of Clara +Kingscott. She had been grossly deceived in the first instance by +Markworth, brought about a good deal by herself, no doubt; but still she +had been deceived and her reputation ruined. She then naturally hated +the author of her misfortunes--for hate is closely akin to love--and yet +with all her hate, the love that had first originated had not quite died +out. She hated Markworth: she longed for revenge, she determined to be +even with him; and yet at the same time, the greatest pang she could +have suffered would have been to see him ruined, as she intended him to +be by herself. + +Thus it was partly from love--what a misapplication of the term!--partly +from revenge that she had foiled his wealthy marriage in Paris; it was +partly from love, partly from hate that she was now bent on assisting +his marriage with Susan Hartshorne, if such a conflict of motives with +actions can be imagined. She had entered into the compact with him to +suit her own purpose of attaining her revenge: still when it came to the +last it went to her heart, if she had one, to help him on to his end. +She was his bond servant and his Nemesis as well; and the man's strong +nature controlled the woman's equally strong nature merely by the force +of former circumstances than by anything else. She was assisting in a +plot she knew; but no feeling of self-consideration would have induced +her to hold back now, or from exposing her participation in the +conspiracy when she determined to stretch out her hand. She was bent on +ruining him body and soul; and at the last moment when she had succeeded +in achieving her purpose, she would be the first, the only one, perhaps, +to weep over her own success, and allow the demon of Remorse to prey +upon her vitals. But she must go on now: she had already received the +"blood money!" He, schemer as he was, and skilled as he dreamed himself +to be in the secrets of men and women, did not understand one tithe of +Clara Kingscott's nature. She had tried to entrap him once, and had +found out too late that she herself was entrapped. Her first proceeding +against him resulted most probably, he thought, from a woman's spite and +a woman's jealousy, but he had no doubt she had grown more sensible now, +as she had grown older. She knew him of old, and was no match for him; +so, like a sensible woman, she accepted the part laid down for her, and +acted Faust to his Mephistopheles. She was quite satisfied of course, +for it suited her interests, and he thought besides that she had some +lingering liking--like most women--for the man that had deceived her. +She was a fine girl still, too, and if circumstances had been otherwise, +and Susan Hartshorne and a fortune been in the way, he might have +married her. Of course there would have been no such nonsense as "love" +between them now. Yet she was a clever woman, and he and she would have +got on together very well, and have managed to pick up a very +comfortable living out of the world. This was, probably, what Markworth +did think occasionally, but events were hurrying him on, and he was +fully prepared to take advantage of every circumstance to perfect his +plot. It would be time enough to think of the future when he had hold +of that nice little sum of money which was just within his grasp. + +From what he had heard of the pic-nic he had determined that that day +would be best suited for carrying out his purpose, and later events +decided him upon the justice of his surmise. He found out that the old +lady was going a long distance to collect some rents: she had laughed +the idea to scorn of her attending the merrymaking. Tom would, of +course, be there, and it would be a strange thing if he and Miss +Kingscott could not manage to get Susan--who would not be expected of +course, to go to the pic-nic, even if she were asked--out of the house, +and away without risking discovery. + +Accordingly, finding everything suitable, Markworth wrote up to town on +the Monday (when he was certain that the dowager would be away, and the +coast clear for his purpose) to Joseph Begg, telling him he wanted him +to meet a lady and himself at the Waterloo Terminus the next afternoon +at two o'clock--at all events to be there from two to four; and as the +lady was very timid Begg was to be respectably dressed as an honest +old-fashioned old gentleman, for he would have to take charge of her. +His letter was sent up in good time, made up as a parcel, and given in +charge of the guard of the train, so it was delivered early that +evening; and Markworth got an answer the next morning, saying that his +instructions would be carried out. + +Just as Tom was ready to start to join the party at Lady Inskip's, +Markworth held out an envelope to him, and said he was so sorry, but he +would have to go up to town at once, and consequently could not join him +to go for the pic-nic. + +"Couldn't you put off the business," said Tom excitedly. "It's an awful +shame! I wanted you to be there so much." + +"Well, you see, Tom," said Markworth, speaking with a tone of deep +regret pervading his words, "I'm sure I want to go with you, and have +been thinking of it all the week. But lawyers, you know, won't be put +off, and if I do not go to-day, why it will cost me a pretty penny I can +tell you! I am more sorry than you are, old fellow; you will be in the +society of a nice pretty girl all day, while I shall be muddled up in +law and parchment. By the way there's a train at eleven, isn't there?" + +"Yes, but I'm infernally cut up about this; yet if you must go, of +course you must. I'll drive you over to the station because you have +not much time to lose to catch the train. Will you be back soon?" + +"Well, I can't say; and as my time will be uncertain--you never know +when legal business will be arranged--I think I had better take my traps +with me. If I can, I'll be down again as soon as possible; but I may as +well be prepared." + +"Just as you please, old fellow!" answered Tom; and the friends +presently drove off to the station in the nice looking dog-cart Tom had +hired for going to the pic-nic, when he hoped to have the opportunity of +driving some one else after he got there. + +They just caught the train, and Markworth jumped in, not having a moment +to spare; while Tom drove on to Bigton and the bright eyes that were +expecting him. + +At the next station, on the "up line," Markworth got out. He was not +more than a couple of miles from Hartwood and The Poplars; so, by twelve +o'clock, the time he had previously agreed on with Miss Kingscott before +leaving the house, he met her and Susan at a certain part of the road +across the fields. + +We must retrace our steps for a short time to explain matters. How +strange it is, by the way, the manner in which events and incidents work +out to suit one's plot? They do very often, too, in real life, as the +perusal of any of our _causes celebres_ will show. That unfortunate +victim of the Mannings came punctually to eat of his roast goose, +mindful that he was going to his doom, as we read in that famous murder +case which startled everybody twenty years ago. I wonder if the +circumstances of the crime originated the current idiom known as +"cooking one's goose?" + +The old lady, you see, went off very quietly, to be out of the way, and +Miss Kingscott and Markworth had a splendid opportunity. + +Susan was quite tractable, and would have done anything that Markworth +told her. He said before leaving the house that she was to go for a +walk with him; he did not tell her more at the time, and that she was to +meet him with Miss Kingscott at the stile, across the fields. He also +told her that she must dress nicely in something dark to please him, and +wear a veil; and of course she was delighted to obey him. + +Miss Kingscott lent her a dark dress, shawl and bonnet, and having +assisted her toilet, she was soon equipped. Altogether from her leaving +off her old and favourite colours, the change in her appearance was so +great that she looked totally unlike her former self, and even her own +mother would hardly have recognised her with her piercing eyes, if she +had met her out of doors. + +The governess did not omit any little thing that would baulk the success +of the enterprise. She studied every little detail, too, for she had +her purpose to serve as well as Markworth. She was not going to +jeopardise her prospects of gaining over the young squire, or in +fascinating the doctor, by being mixed up in the elopement in any way, +so that her assistance should be brought home to her; and consequently +for her own sake she had to avoid detection and recognition as well as +her accomplice. + +She sent off George to the neighbouring public-house "The Jolly Spades," +with a shilling, to make himself glad, and render his nature even more +comatose than usual on "home-brewed." George went off exultant, +declaring that she "was a raal leddy, that she were," and that he would +drink her health--so _he_ was disposed of. The old lady was miles away, +and so was Tom, too, at the pic-nic; the old woman servant was deep in +the kitchen or somewhere else downstairs; and thus nobody saw Miss +Kingscott leave the house with Susan. There was only herself to prove +it. + +They met Markworth at the stile; and Miss Kingscott, telling him briefly +"I have kept my part of the compact," to which he as briefly replied "I +will keep mine; you shall hear from me in a month," returned to the +house. They had arranged matters previously, as we have seen. + +Her entrance was as unobserved as her exit. + +Susan was overjoyed at being out, and, above all, being out with +Markworth--without even "that governess," whom she partially disliked-- +and away from the house and her mother. + +It was quite a fairy holiday for her; and although she was now as +reasoning a being as any of us, and had quite recovered her senses, she +asked no questions: she left everything in Markworth's hands, as she +looked up to him as a superior to whom every obedience was due, and who +would do everything for the best. He led the way over the fields, Susan +walking by his side like a child engrossed by her own happy thoughts, +and the novelty of everything around her--it was a new world to her-- +towards the Bigglethorpe station, on the "up line;" this was where he +had got out: it was above Hartwood, so nobody could recognise him. + +"How would you like to be with me always, Susan? To go away and never +come back to the old house again, and all its horrors." + +"Oh! that would be so happy if I were with you," she said, in joy; "but +my mother would never let me," she continued, her tone changing to one +of sadness. + +"Suppose she knew nothing about it, Susan? We won't tell her, and will +go away now, and never come back." + +"Can we? can we?" she exclaimed, with startling earnestness; "you are +not laughing at me?" + +"I mean it, Susan. You shall come with me now if you like. I will take +you up to London and marry you, and then nobody can take you away. Will +you come?" + +"Will I?" she repeated with emotion; "I will go anywhere with you." And +she clung to his arm with a child's touching trust. + +They took the train at Bigglethorpe and in due time arrived at the +Waterloo Station, where Mr Begg, looking like a very respectable old +gentleman, but small and spare, met them. Markworth introduced him as +"his uncle," and they drove together to the lodgings in Bloomsbury +Street. On the way he led out Susan and made her converse with the +ex-marker, who was much struck with her appearance, and her timid, +hesitating way. + +"Well, what do you think of her?" asked Markworth, when Susan had gone +up-stairs to take her things off, under the charge of the old landlady. + +"What do I think, Mister Markworth? Well, I think you are put in luck's +way. She's as pretty a young lady, and as ladylike a one as I ever +seed." + +"You don't see anything about her, do you?" he asked anxiously. + +"Queer? not I; she's a bit nervous, in course, but I'd bet she's as +sensible a lady as you or I." + +"Thank you, Joe, good day; I want you to be here at ten o'clock +to-morrow morning. You must not be late; it will be my marriage day." + +"Never fear, sir; I'll be here sharp ten," and the confederates +separated--the marker to go back to his billiard-room, where he had left +a friend watching over the interest of his pool table, and Markworth to +think over the day and study his plans. + +On the next morning, Wednesday, August 28th, 1867, Susan Hartshorne was +married to Allynne Markworth, at the church of St. Catherine's Cross the +Less, Johnson's Lane, E.C., in the presence of Joseph Begg and the +parish clerk, witnesses. + +END OF VOLUME ONE. + +Volume 2, Chapter I. + +"A PRETTY KETTLE OF FISH!" + +Imagine the unexpected arrival of the murdered Duncan's wraith at +Macbeth's correct little dinner party, just after the soup had been +removed--a break-down of the Prima Donna at the Opera, while executing +some grand _scena_--or, in these High Church days of fashionable +banns-publishing, the sudden uprising of some stern parent or +Nemisitical Mawworm, to interrupt the glib utterance of the +hair-parted-down-the-middle and lavender-kid-gloved curate of the period +with the solemn veto, in basso profundo voice, "I forbid the banns!"-- +and you will have some idea of the alteration and effect which the young +imp's mischief created in the programme of Lady Inskip's pic-nic. + +The whole company soon hurried after the doctor in real alarm; +even Captain Curry Cucumber, forgetting his liver, and the +not-fit-for-much-exertion officers, their lisp and laziness, were in a +few moments on the scene of the accident: whither too, Laura presently +appeared, leaning on Pringle's arm; for she honestly was nervous, and +had been really frightened. + +It was a very dramatic _pose_. + +Tom was lying on the ground, half-supported in Lizzie's arms, a red +stream of blood trickling down from his right side, while Doctor Jolly +was bending over him, dashing water in his face. + +It is wonderful how much more composed in scenes of suffering and danger +women are than men, that is when their services are required. Tell a +girl that a man is shot or someone drowned, and she will immediately, +perhaps, burst into tears, and wail and ring her hands; but tell her to +hold his head up, or fetch water--only to do something, and she will be +as composed as you please, and will set about doing the work far more +steadily and usefully--in a workmanlike manner, so to speak--than you +could get any man to do it. + +Women are all nurses and sick-attendants at heart: there are more +Florence Nightingale's among us than we know of, until time and occasion +draws them out of seclusion, and displays them in their true colours. + +Here was Lizzie, who a moment before had been crying, wringing her hands +and inclined to faint, now as composed as possible, although very pale +and tearful, just because the doctor had employed her services, and +showed her how to be useful. + +"Bless my soul! little girl; don't stop crying there. Hold his head up, +while I get some water." And Lizzie had raised Tom's head as tenderly +as if it had been a piece of Sevres china, and moved it on to her lap, +while her arm passed round him. She did not mind his weight a bit, and +could have thus supported him all day without feeling tired, although +Tom was pretty heavy. Love lightens loads wonderfully! + +The doctor bustled off down to the river's brink, and quickly fetched +back some water in his smart new white hat; he did not mind that, +however, for he would at any time sacrifice anything he had to give ease +or pleasure to another. + +By the time the others came up, Tom opened his eyes, and looked dreamily +around. + +"Hullo! what's the row? where am I?" + +"Bless my soul! you're a nice fellow you are, alarming us all like this. +Do you feel better now? Where's the pain? Does that hurt you, eh! or +that?" said the doctor, who had removed Tom's waistcoat, and was poking +him about in the side with his fat fore-finger. + +"Ugh!" ejaculated Tom, as Aesculapius bore rather heavily on a tender +spot in his ribs, but he took no further notice of his enquiries, for he +was gazing up into Lizzie's anxious face; unless you take a murmured +"Lizzie, my darling," spoken so softly that only one person heard it, as +an answer to the doctor's questions. + +"Speak, you young rascal! You can speak well enough; I heard you, you +rogue. Bless my soul! I heard you." + +Tom laughed faintly, and a little pink colour came into Lizzie's face. +"I'm all right, doctor, thanks. I'll be well in a minute." He made an +effort to rise, as the others gathered around, and a perfect gabble of +questions without answers ensued. "I'm all right;" but his head fell +back again in Lizzie's lap, and a dead-like pallor once more overspread +his face. + +Tom's actions belied his words. He was not by any means all right. Two +of his ribs were broken by the heavy shot, nearly the size of slugs, +that the young imp, Sir Mortimer had loaded his gun with; and if Tom had +been hit on the left side, it would have been a case of _requiescat in +pace_ for him and all his troubles. As it was, he would be laid up for +some time, perhaps for months. + +The doctor saw this, and interrupted the old campaigner, as she was +saying for Lizzie's especial benefit, in her honeyed accents, which had +a concealed sting beneath them--"How very sad! What a very charming +picture; but if I were a young girl--" + +"We would try and make ourselves useful? Bless my soul! my lady, we +must try and get him home. Here, one of you," he said, turning to the +males, who stood aloof looking at one another, and doing nothing, in the +manner customary to them on such occasions--"run up to the cottage where +the carriages are left--" + +Three or four immediately started off, without an idea of what they were +about. + +"Stop!" shouted the doctor, "what are you going for? Ask for a door, +mind you; take one off the hinges, by Gad! if you can't get it any other +way; and steal a mattress and some pillows! Lay them inside the largest +of the pony carriages, and bring it down here as quick as you can. +Bless my soul! and don't walk as if your legs did not belong to you!" +whereupon all, with the exception of the Reverend Jabez Heavieman and +the Indian warrior, hied them off on the errand, although one or two +could have easily performed the service. The ladies, however, still +grouped themselves in picturesque attitudes round the wounded man, and +gazed on him as if he were a rare geological specimen, to be inspected +scientifically. "Ah! he moves," said one; "I think he raised his arm," +put in Aliquis; "He breathes! he breathes!" exclaimed Lady Inskip, with +tragic joy, such as the "heavy old lady" of the piece admirably puts on +when she throws her arms round the villain's neck, and putting her chin +on his left shoulder, gives vent to the agonised words--"My chee-ild! my +chee-ild!" + +The doctor, however, was too full of common sense to make any allowance +for heroics. + +"Move aside, can't ye?" he shouted out stentorially, "move aside, can't +ye? and let the poor fellow have some air. It's enough to stifle him, +all of you sticking around like this, doing nothing, and preventing a +breath of wind from coming past your krinlins! The poor chap wants air; +and he must have it!" And the doctor, rising up, and stretching out his +hands, like street acrobats when they wish to clear a space for their +performance amidst the encircling crowd, the ladies retreated, headed by +the campaigner, who held her nose in the air, as if the whole thing was +"much beneath her," leaving the doctor and his patient, and Miss Lizzie, +for awhile to themselves. Only the young imp remained behind to gaze +with eyes of curiosity on his handiwork, until the doctor sent him to +the right-about, by asking him the pertinent question, "What the doose +are you stopping for? By Gad! don't you think you've done enough for +one day?" when he, too, drew on one side, and left the trio alone. + +After a few moments' pause, by dint of having repeated handfuls of water +dashed into his face, Tom again revived and opened his eyes. + +Shortly he looked much better, and was able to answer the doctor's +enquiries. He raised himself half up, turning over on his left +side--"Oh, yes, doctor, I'm nearly all right. By Jove! though, don't +that hurt," he said, as our friend still continued to examine him--"I'll +soon be right, won't I, doctor? Thank you, but don't press so hard! +And thank you," he said, turning his eyes round and upon her--"my +darling"--he murmured, softly, "what a trouble I am to you." But, +strange to say, Lizzie did not look as if she thought it a trouble at +all! + +The doctor was plunged in deep thought, "Humph! very serious, very +serious," he exclaimed, shaking his head solemnly, at the same time with +a sly twinkle in his eyes--"Very serious, very serious, Master Tom. +You've got two ribs smashed, sir, and I think you want to have another. +Ha! Ha! Sly dog, sly dog. Never mind, it's a beautiful contusion! +Luckily it wasn't the other side, or we would have had your heart gone." + +"I'm afraid it's gone already, doctor," observed the wounded hero, +gazing artfully round at Lizzie, who looked very conscious, "but shall I +be able to get round soon?" and he tried to get up, but fell back again +into his former position, and looked as if he were going to faint. + +"Oh, don't move, pray don't move," Lizzie said, laying her hand on his +shoulder entreatingly: Tom seized that opportunity to make the little +hand a prisoner. Very interesting, was it not, for the old campaigner, +who was looking on grimly from a distance? + +"Don't budge, you young rascal; don't you stir, or we'll have you +fainting again, and looking interesting, like my lady, yonder," and the +doctor sniggered, for his eyes were sharp, and, I believe, he had +fathomed the campaigner's little game--"Don't stir, my boy. You must +keep quiet now, but we'll have you on your legs again in a few days." + +The biggest of the pony carriages, accompanied by a band of gentlemen +followers, now drew up in the glen, close to the gnarled old oak, by the +stump of which the unlucky object of young Sir Mortimer's gun practice +was reclining. + +Doctor Jolly inspected the vehicle to see whether all his directions had +been obeyed; and, finding an old door laid across the seats, on which +was a mattress and a bundle of pillows, he said, "That's right, boys. +Now bear a hand, and we'll get him in." + +Supported by the brawny Aesculapius, and the offered arms of a score of +others, Tom was lifted carefully into the chaise, and arranged +comfortably amidst the pillows. + +"Now," said the doctor aloud, for the benefit of the company, +apparently, but in reality, I think, for little Lizzie's sake, "I want +some lady to go along with us, to hold his head up, and carry the +salts--I want smelling salts, too--or a vinaigrette, or something of +that sort." + +All the ladies eagerly proffered help, but they were headed by Lady +Inskip, who exclaimed-- + +"Here's my darling child Carry, who is so anxious, and will be so glad +to go:" a dozen fair hands also held up gorgeous little silver-topped +vinaigrettes. + +The doctor looked upon them all reflectively. + +"Humph!" he said, sententiously, "I don't think any of you will do. I +shall take Miss Pringle here; she's undertaken the case, and she may as +well complete the cure." + +The campaigner looked fearfully disgusted. She turned to Pringle, B.A., +and said, as if speaking confidentially to them, but for the express +benefit of the doctor and Lizzie, as she spoke so that all might hear +her-- + +"Of course I would not like to interfere with a medical man, Mr +Pringle; but do you think it is quite correct for a young girl like your +sister to go off in that way with a young man without any chaperone?" + +"No indeed, Lady Inskip--no, indeed, Lady Inskip. Of course you know +best; ah! and ah! Lizzie--" + +"Bless my soul!" said the doctor, excitedly, "I don't see why Miss +Lizzie cannot go just as properly as your daughter, my lady! It's all +nonsense, and she shall go!" And the doctor, without asking anybody's +leave or license, at once handed Lizzie into the pony carriage by the +side of Tom. Getting in himself, and telling the campaigner cordially +"Good-day, my lady! good-day," he drove off triumphantly, although +slowly, out from the glade, in and out of the trees, on to the road, and +so slowly homeward to The Poplars, with our wounded hero lying back in +Lizzie's arm--a very different plight to the gallant turn-out in which +Tom had set out so hopefully in the morning for Lady Inskip's _fete +champetre_. + +The campaigner was certainly defeated to some extent, but she was not +discomfited. Oh! dear, no. She had secured one of her birds--Pringle-- +at all events, for he was as devoted as she could wish to Laura; and as +for the other, although he had been brought down, winged is the word--so +unfortunately by the young imp, still, all was not lost there yet--she +had only to act, and it would run hard, so she thought, if she did not +succeed in throwing on one side "that artful little minx." + +She now bethought herself of her company. The day was far spent, and +she was not going to let the whole thing break up in such an +unsatisfactory manner. She was too knowing for that; consequently she +threw cold water on the manifest sympathy for Tom. + +"Pooh!" she said, "it's not much. The doctor said he would be well in a +day or two, it's only a mere scratch!" + +Of course several joined in with her, and followed suit. When +Lieutenant Harrowby ventured to suggest that it "must be very painful, +you know, ba-iey Jo-ve!" he was caught up at once by the choleric +Captain Curry Cucumber, "Nice soldier you are, my fine fellow! to think +so much of a mere flea-bite--a mere flea-bite. By Jingo! when I was at +Rhamdaghur--" And he was going to retail some of his East-Indian +reminiscences, when he was adroitly stopped by the campaigner's +suggesting that they should return to the festal board, which all +thereupon did, sitting down again with much gusto to the remnants of the +feast. + +The evening waxed on, and then they packed up, and sallied homewards. +It is wonderful what a little break the absence or injury of one makes +in a large party. The proverb, "out of sight, out of mind," is true +enough, although it contradicts that other veracious proverb, which +tells us that "absence makes the heart grow fonder!" + +Pringle and the young officers finished the evening very agreeably with +the Inskip girls at their residence, the former not agitating himself +much about his sister, "of whom," the campaigner observed, "she was sure +Doctor Jolly would take every care, notwithstanding his rudeness to +her!" So everything went well with Lady Inskip, and the pic-nic was +voted a success, although Captain Curry Cucumber dubbed her "an infernal +old harridan, by Jingo!" and wished he had had her "out at Rhamdaghur, +by Gad!" and he would have taught her how to "insult an army-man, by +Jingo!" in taking no notice of him, while she "could pamper a civilian, +by Gad!"--alluding, we very much fear, to the Revd. Herbert Pringle, to +whom the campaigner had been really very ingratiating. If only that +accident had not happened, who knows what other success might not have +fallen to her share! But Lady Inskip had the satisfaction that night of +boxing Mortimer's ears. + +As the pony carriage drove very slowly, it was evening, nearly night, by +the time Tom and his companions arrived at The Poplars: the house was +wrapped in gloomy silence. + +The doctor jumped down quickly, and Lizzie after him, when she took the +opportunity of saying to him, quickly, "I will wait here, doctor, until +you come out, and do tell me then how he is!" She wished Tom good-bye, +and walked on, apparently home to the parsonage, but she waited at the +corner, and peeped back to see him carried in; after which she shrunk +into the shades again to the garden-gate of The Poplars, and waited +patiently for the doctor to come out. + +The dowager, herself, answered the gate, outstripping "Garge" in getting +there first. The doctor, having rapidly explained matters, and told her +not to be alarmed, she spoke up at once sharply to the point. + +"Here's a pretty kettle of fish!" she said. "I'm a woman, Doctor Jolly; +but I'm not a fool, and you won't find me crying like an idiot!" + +Whereupon the orders were given to George, who looked on with stolid +wonder and grief, and between them they carried Tom into the house and +laid him on his bed, where the doctor saw him tranquilly composed, and +told him cheerily he would be all right to-morrow. + +"Here's a pretty kettle of fish!" said the dowager, half to herself, in +a muttering tone. "Here's Thomas wounded, and Susan gone away, one +doesn't know where!" + +"What! Susan gone?" enquired the doctor anxiously. + +"Drat it all, man! It doesn't matter. I was only bothering about her +being out in the garden so late; that's all!" + +"Bless my soul!" said the doctor, quieting down--"you nearly frightened +me to death! But I must see about Tom now!"--and there the conversation +about the missing girl dropped. + +The old lady had but just discovered the absence of the girl, and Miss +Kingscott had disclaimed any knowledge as to her whereabouts. The +fright of the dowager, however, about Tom, made her forget the other +trouble for a time, particularly as Susan had often before stopped out +late in the garden. She would not be really alarmed about her daughter +till the morning. + +Now, she was in a fearful state of anxiety about Tom, although she +tried, with the dogged obstinacy of her nature, to affect indifference; +but she was heartily glad when Doctor Jolly said he would do very well, +and that he would come the first thing in the morning to see him. + +It was night now, quite late; and the bright harvest moon was shining +down out of a clear blue sky with all its August fulness, marking out +every feature of the landscape with all that clearness of outline and +vivid contrast of brilliant, blueish light and dark shadow which only +moonlight gives. + +Not a breath stirred the summer night. The tall, melancholy poplars +around the Hartshorne's house looked even more dismal by night than by +day, with their ungainly shapes sharply defined against the sky, and +their shadows more gloomy and eerie than those of the other trees; yet +still Lizzie leant against the gate and waited, Heaven knows how +anxiously! for Doctor Jolly's re-appearance. + +The poor little thing had now been there, outside the gate, for more +than two hours; as the doctor had been long engaged hearing about +Susan's disappearance, which he also made light of, besides seeing to +Tom's comfort and arrangements when they had lifted him into his bed and +undressed him--for he was nearly helpless now. + +He at length came out, however; and he had no sooner got out of the gate +than Lizzie, who was eagerly watching for him, clutched his arm, and +outspoke her dreadful anxiety, "Oh! doctor, dear doctor, is there any +hope? He looked so pale and helpless, and--and--he will die! He will +die!" + +Her little wistful face looked up with such distressing enquiry into his +jovial, weather-beaten countenance, that Doctor Jolly felt his eyes grow +very hazy, and blew his nose vigorously. + +"Certainly, my dear, certainly! That is, there is plenty of hope, Miss +Lizzie. Bless my soul! plenty of hope. You see, we've extracted all +the shot (Lizzie shuddered), and he's a strong and hearty young fellow, +and he'll be round again before we know where we are." + +"Thank you, doctor," Lizzie said, pressing his arm: the doctor felt that +her simple words expressed more then than a hundred sentences might have +done from others. + +The doctor saw her home, and cheered her up wonderfully, so that she +actually laughed before she quitted him at the parsonage gate. They +seemed to have a secret understanding about the wounded hero, although +neither had expressed it in words. Indeed, Doctor Jolly had been so +much taken up in soothing his companion, that he quite forgot to mention +anything about Susan's being missed. And all the time, the hours were +gliding by, and the chances for her recovery were becoming more and more +indefinite. + +Verily! a very pretty kettle of fish. + +Volume 2, Chapter II. + +AT HAVRE AND LONDON. + +Late on the evening of the day after the marriage in London, Markworth +and his charge--lately his "sister," now _Madame sa femme_--arrived at +the half-seaport town, half-fashionable watering place of +_Havre-de-Grace_, at the mouth of the slowly running Seine, tawny as the +yellow Tiber. + +Susan had not been brought to the Continent without serious prior +deliberation. + +Markworth, in the first place, wished to avoid observation at the +present time; and he was so well-known in London, that he thought it +would be folly to remain there any longer than necessary; and, in the +second place, he wanted to secure a quiet retreat wherein to lodge +Susan. + +He determined, of course, to keep his hold on her until her friends were +assured of the marriage; and as she might be traced, and he, perhaps, +arrested for abducting the girl, before he was able to lay a legal claim +to her inheritance, the best plan for him to pursue was to "go across +the water," as he expressed it, for awhile--as, indeed, a good many +other gentlemen, who have sympathising friends amongst the trading +interests of the great city of Babylon-the-Less have done, and annually +do still. + +What place so convenient, he thought, as Havre? So to Havre he +accordingly ran over the next day, and in that pleasant little town he +sat down awhile, to consider what his next movement should be, as he had +to study each move carefully. He had plenty of money for present +expenses; he had "the goose;" the only thing now to do was to get the +"golden eggs." As he had gone so far, he certainly was not going to be +baulked now, he thought. And his chances must have been good, or that +cautious old Jew, Solomonson, would not have "backed him." He had only +got to play his cards properly, and look about him awhile. That was +all! Yes, that was all. + +He could not have chosen a more convenient and comfortable place in +France, all things considered, for his purpose. + +Perhaps, an exceptional reader--I say "exceptional" advisedly--may have +stopped at Havre after crossing over from Southampton--stopped a +sufficient time to learn and know the place, for the generality of +travellers who adopt this route to Paris, usually go on straight to +their destination without breaking their journey at this picturesque old +town, which is a sort of "half-way house" on the direct road. If so, +the "exceptional reader" will bear me out in my observations on the +subject and place. + +Havre is like Liverpool and Boulogne rolled into one harmonious or +inharmonious whole. It has all the shipping and maritime population-- +although perhaps the latter are more gaily dressed--of the great +entrepot on the Mersey, with all the thorough Gallic attributes of a +French watering place. + +Down in the town, Havre proper, it is all trade and bustle as befits a +great commercial port; up amidst the heights of Ingouville, it is +fashionable and fantastic, with its trim white terraces and green, gay +Venetian blinds, and its lovely view of the bay beyond. Havre is really +not considered half as much as it ought to be, and forms a much more +enjoyable spot for a holiday than many of these fearfully uneventful and +racketty fashionable resorts, which are generally patronised by English +tourists on the Continent. + +Liverpool it is like, with its muddy Seine--like the other river that +runs between Birkenhead and its sister city--and its bustling streets +and quays. Liverpool, with a touch of Ratcliffe Highway, on account of +the parrots and foreign birds, mostly South American, that you see +troops of sailors marching about with, besides the strong touch of the +military element which one more frequently observes by the side of Tower +Hill, than in the parallel city of trade in Lancashire. A French +Liverpool, very Frenchified, and jovial and gay, with that foreign dash +of sprightliness and _insouciance_ which is never seen in England. + +Here Markworth hired lodgings, in the _Rue Montmartre_, of a stout, +middle-aged Frenchwoman and her little husband: the latter being a +_marchand_ of something or the other; and by no means the "better half" +of the two. + +Susan was as pleased as a child with the novelty of everything around +her; and if she had been changed for the better at The Poplars, the +change was twice as noticeable now that she had shut out from her all +the past with its associations. + +Every little item in her new life tended to increase the improvement in +her mental organisation; besides which Markworth was kind and attentive +to her, even more so than he had been before. + +Instead of the dingy old melancholy house in Sussex, she was in a bright +little French cottage. The old dark rooms were exchanged for a simple +_apartement bien garni_, with its tiled floor, and those wonderfully +simple accessories which complete the mobilier of our friends on the +other side; the half dozen extraordinary-looking straight backed chairs, +the round table with its matting beneath, the elaborate fire-place with +its porcelain belongings, and the mantel-piece with inevitable gilt +clock and china shepherdesses. + +The fat landlady was very kind, although she did not speak a word of +English; still her husband prided himself on his knowledge of our +language, a knowledge nearly limited to that of the Frenchman's of poor +Albert Smith's acquaintance, who saying "Ah, Ya-as! I spik Englise-- +portair--bier--rosbif--God dam!" there wound up the catalogue of his +accomplishments. + +But Mere Cliquelle was kind in her way. She understood from Markworth +that "Madame" was very delicate; and as she had a separate room and +looked very pale, Mere Cliquelle tried to make her very comfortable by +always nodding to her, and smiling whenever she came into the room, +which she was constantly doing to bring Madame sundry little pet-dishes +or plats of her own _cuisine_ and bonbons _ad infinitum_. + +Susan was soon very happy, and as gay as a bird in her new home. She +had been sensible enough before; but she was now light-hearted as well. + +Markworth devoted himself to her. He would take her out constantly for +walks along the bustling quays, where Susan liked to watch the gaily +dressed sailors, and the ships and tiny craft in the harbour. Every +sailor on landing seemed to bring home half a dozen parrots or crimson +birds of the tropics. You never can see such a lot of "imported" birds, +as the Americans say, anywhere else, as at Havre. + +Susan and Markworth were quite a study for the simple French couple with +whom they abode. They thought "Madame" so beautiful and affectionate; +and Monsieur, "_Mon Dieu! un galant homme_, and _so_ handsome:--a rich +Milor Anglais, no doubt." + +Thus a month had passed by; and Markworth thought that the time for him +to act once more had arrived. His training had not been lost on Susan. +Thanks to his indefatigable efforts she was now fully restored, and she +would be the best witness he could have in court should he be forced to +go to law in order to gain his rights to her money. He had indeed +devoted himself to the girl's cure especially for this object, but he +had also been led on by a species of real zeal in the case. He had seen +from the first how easily Susan, by proper influences, could be led to +regain her mind, and had steadily persevered in that direction. + +If anyone else had spent as much time and trouble on her long ago, Susan +would never have required his aid, but she had been neglected, left +alone in that old house; and Doctor Jolly, with all his cleverness as a +medical practitioner, had not understood her case. + +Markworth was proud of his triumph, apart from the consideration that +his own well-being was interested in Susan's recovery. He was proud +that his hand had wrought the cure; and besides, he was really concerned +about the girl on her own account. Her entire faith and confidence, and +her blind worship, touched even him, while her love had made him have a +friendly regard for her, which might or might not grow deeper. + +There were one or two good points in his character, as is the case with +all bad men. He was not brutal, or naturally bad hearted, but at the +same time he was careful of his own interests. If he had got Susan's +money, for example, he would not then have turned her adrift. She loved +him like a faithful dog, and it was not in his nature to kick a dog +away. He was kind to her because it suited his purpose: it was +necessary to her cure, and besides he had no reason to be otherwise. + +At the end of a month, therefore, he determined to make some move. + +He had seen an advertisement for the lost girl in the "Times," which he +had given directions to have sent over to him here. The advertisement +had appeared a very few days after the date on which he had removed +Susan from The Poplars, and had been continued repeatedly since; but +that did not flurry him much. He knew he could not be traced, and as +the had no feelings of compunction for the anxiety which might be +occasioned by her disappearance, he determined to suit his own time when +to make the news known of her safety and present condition. + +He was certain that Clara Kingscott would not give any information about +him, as she was a clever woman, and was obliged on her own account not +to implicate herself in the abduction of the girl, and was besides +anxious to get the remainder of the money he had promised her for aiding +him; so he could afford to take his own time and play the game just as +he chose, for the cards were in his hand. + +He thus let a month run, and Susan being quite happy and settled down in +their comfortable lodgings with the Mere Cliquelle in the Rue +Montmartre, he thought he would go over to London for a couple of days +or so, and set his plans to work. He also wanted more money, and that +was a potent reason for taking him. + +Susan was disturbed at first on learning that he was going away, but was +as quickly consoled when he promised to be back very soon, and to bring +her brother Tom with him; that was the only anxiety she had displayed on +leaving her home. She had retained her love for her brother, and she +feared he was angry at her leaving. She was delighted consequently to +learn from Markworth, as he told her, that he was going to fetch him, +for she was not yet aware of the great interests that hung at stake upon +her. + +Susan saw him preparing to start with many tears, and many directions +for him to be back soon; after which Markworth left her to the kindly +care of the Mere Cliquelle, who promised to look after her as her own +child: he then crossed the channel. + +He first visited his Hebrew friend Solomonson in Chancery Lane, whereby +depositing sundry shares he had in a City Company, and giving a bond for +about five times the amount, payable on his obtaining his wife's +inheritance, he managed to obtain an advance of some hundred pounds to +carry him on until the lawsuit should be determined. + +Before coming to a final settlement, Markworth bargained some time as +usual with the Jew, but had at last to accede to his terms; as it would +have been difficult for him to get money from anyone else without +stronger security. Indeed, the Jew only trusted him now because he was +in a heavy venture, and because also, Markworth had always behaved +honourably to him in his dealings before--and there had been many and +various between the parties. But he would require sharp payment would +the Jew with all his trust, and should he lose his case, old Solomonson +would be the first to be down upon him. + +He was apparently, he reflected, spending Susan's fortune before he got +it; so he determined to set about securing it now as soon as possible. + +Having already perused several times the advertisement for Susan, he +knew well where the lawyer's offices were, where he was to apply, and he +made up his mind to go there first before--as he called it--"tackling +the old dowager." + +To Bedford Row, he accordingly bent his steps; and he laughed jocosely, +as he went up the staircase towards Messrs. Trump and Sequence's +offices. "What a capital joke it will be," he said to himself, "asking +them for that `Fifty Pounds Reward.' I'm hanged if I don't do it;" and +he walked in accordingly to startle Mr Trump. + +Volume 2, Chapter III. + +THE NEXT MORNING. + +Just about the time when the curate of St. Catherine Cross' Church, in +London, was asking Markworth whether he would take this woman, M. or N., +to be his wedded wife, the dowager and the inhabitants of The Poplars +awoke to the certainty that Susan had really gone off somewhere without +leaving a trace behind. + +She had not come to breakfast; she had not been seen about the premises +or in the garden; she had not come into the house or slept in her bed +all night; where on earth could she be? It was time, indeed, that some +search or enquiry should be instituted. + +No time was to be lost! + +The old dowager was fearfully excited on being made certain of Susan's +disappearance. + +She would not believe it at first; and, saying "It's all stuff and +nonsense, the girl's hidden somewhere, I know," was not convinced until +she had herself in person searched, every nook and cranny in the old +house from top to bottom. + +It was the first time that she had really showed any anxiety about the +girl, for the old woman was very much troubled indeed. She was shrewd +and business-like as usual, however, in her enquiries, and first +examined everybody in the house before carrying the search further. + +Miss Kingscott, the governess, said she had not seen her since the +middle of the previous day, and she had supposed at first that she had +gone out to walk with Mr Markworth. She had found out afterwards, +however, that that gentleman had driven off early along with "poor Mr +Thomas," she believed, towards the station, and so her pupil could not +have gone to walk with him. + +Miss Kingscott afterwards informed Mrs Hartshorne that she missed out +of her wardrobe a black silk dress, and a shawl and bonnet. She +supposed Susan had taken those with her, as her own walking things had +been left behind in her, Miss Kingscott's, room. The old lady said +snappishly that "she did not know what right she, the governess, had to +suppose anything of the sort;" but she kept the information in her mind +nevertheless. + +The old servant, Martha, said she had not seen Miss Susan at all, as +"she had too much work of her own in the kitchen for her to do, as was a +disgrace for only one servant in sich a large 'ouse as she never see, +and it were a burnin' shame it were a workin' one pore old woman worse +nor any black nigger slave as ever was, that it were:" so no information +was obtained from her. + +George, on being summoned in to speak to the "old un," as he called the +dowager, said that he had been "at work all t'day a diggin on +t'petatus," and he had seen "no leetel miss" about the garden, but he +"thort he seed un when he wor a goin' to his dinner, jist arter twelve, +awalkin' in the far lot across t'fields with that gentelmun froom +Lunnon, but he warn't shoor." + +The old lady called him "an ass and a grinning baboon" for his pains, +and told him "get out and go to your work, man!" But George was right, +for he had seen them as he said, when on his way back to the house after +his visit to the "Jolly Spades," although his vision was then somewhat +hazy, and his intellects more obtuse than usual from the large potations +of home-brewed he had taken at such an early hour of the day--thanks to +Miss Kingscott's liberality to him. The dowager was perplexed, but her +cool, calculating temperament was soon at work. + +She determined to send at once to her lawyers in London, and calling in +the aid of the police to track the fugitive. + +Doctor Jolly, too, who came in at this moment to see after Tom--rather +earlier than usual for his professional call, but he was anxious about +his patient--warmly applauded the dowager's resolve. + +He, of course, was also startled at the news that Susan had not been +heard of. "Bless my soul!" he said, when all the facts and enquiries +that had been made were explained to him. "Bless my soul! It's very +strange, very strange, indeed. She could not have stopped anywhere in +the neighbourhood, or you would have heard of her before. She must have +gone off to some distance. Did she have any money with her?" + +"Oh, no!" said Miss Kingscott, to whom he had addressed himself. + +"Fool!" spoke out sharply the dowager. + +"Why, is it likely that I would give any of my hard-earned money to an +idiot to throw away?" + +The doctor confessed the improbability of Mrs Hartshorne's disposing of +her surplus funds in the manner suggested, although he was somewhat +indignant at the strong epithet applied to himself: he was, however, too +much interested on Susan's behalf to cavil now about words with the old +lady. + +"Have you asked about her in the village and at the station?" he said, +after reflecting a minute or two. + +"What is the use of that?" replied the dowager; "all the people know +about her at Hartwood, and would have stopped her. But you can ask +yourself presently, if you don't mind going down there." + +The doctor said he would; and the plan of the dowager, he thought, +would, in the meantime, be the best one to pursue. + +"Yes," said Mrs Hartshorne; "I shall send up to Mr Trump, in London, +at once, and put the matter in his hands. He is a lawyer, and he will +know what is best for us to do. I can't say I'm very fond of the girl," +observed the dowager, drily, to which Doctor Jolly gave a decidedly +affirmative nod; "but I would not like her to come to any harm. But who +shall I send? Can you go?" + +"Bless my soul!" replied Doctor Jolly. "I would go at once, but there's +poor Tom; I can't leave him, for he's in a very ticklish state." + +"True--true; poor Thomas! It's a pretty kettle of fish, all this +happening just now." + +"Let me go, ma'am," said Miss Kingscott, quietly. + +"You!" snapped out the old lady. "What's the good of a girl like you +going? What can you do?" + +"I'm sure a girl can be as good a messenger as anyone else, and I can go +at once," answered the governess, calmly; "indeed I'm so interested in +my poor pupil, that I should like to do something towards finding her." + +"Humph!" grunted the dowager, thinking it over. + +"Certainly," put in the doctor; "certainly, madam. Bless my soul! I +should like to know why not?" + +The thing was agreed to after some further conversation, and Miss +Kingscott, charged with a curt epistle from the dowager, and a supply of +money from the doctor's own purse--the old lady had not hinted at +producing any, and did not advance any demurrer to his so doing--for +paying her expenses on the road, was directed to go to Hartwood Station. +She was to ask there whether they had seen Susan, and if she heard no +intelligence, she was to proceed direct to London; there she was to call +on the lawyers without losing time, explain the whole matter to Mr +Trump, and tell him to come down at once--indeed, she was to bring him +down with her if she could. + +The governess obeyed her instructions to the letter, and acted all +through as if she was as ignorant about Susan's disappearance and her +movements as she had professed to be. + +She asked about Susan in the village, in order that if any enquiries +were made she could substantiate her statement of ignorance. Of course, +nobody had heard there of the missing girl, as she very well knew would +be the case. She then went on up to London by the next train, and +proceeding at once to the offices to which she was directed, she handed +the old lady's letter to the senior partner. + +In the meantime, Doctor Jolly was attending to poor Tom's wounds; the +wounded hero had passed a very bad night, and was feverish and +excitable. + +The doctor, who had his suspicions about Markworth, asked one or two +guarded questions of Tom as to the whereabouts of his friend. He had +been surprised at not seeing the exquisite at Lady Inskip's pic-nic: +with his downright common sense, aided by his dislike and suspicions of +Markworth, he thought that there must be some connection at first +between Susan's disappearance and the absence of the other. + +Tom's answers to his questions, however, fairly puzzled him, and the +doctor was thrown off the scent entirely. + +Tom said, in reply to one of the doctor's casual enquiries, that he had +driven Markworth over to Hartwood Station himself before he had gone on +to the pic-nic. That his friend had been suddenly summoned up to town +the previous morning, and that he expected him back very shortly, as he +said he might not be detained long; although Tom added, "he had taken +his traps with him." + +"Oh, he has? has he!" answered the doctor. "Well, I daresay we'll have +him down soon again though, and then you will be able to get about again +with him." + +He cheered up Tom, who was very crestfallen and hippish with the pain he +had undergone, and the thoughts of being kept a prisoner in bed whilst +he so much wished, particularly now on account of Lizzie, to be able to +move about. + +"Bless my soul!" said the old fellow, cheerfully, as he went out, "why, +you will be right again in a jiffey. We have got all that beastly shot +out of you, and the place is healing beautifully. I tell you what I +will do, too, Master Tom," he added, nodding his head knowingly, with a +twinkling of his kind grey eyes--"I'll tell a certain little girl how we +are getting on; I know she will feel interested!" + +"Thank you, doctor; you're a trump, by Jove!" said Tom, gladly, "and +give her my compliments." + +"Hang your compliments, you young rascal; I'll give you her love when I +come back!" and the doctor laughed himself with a cheery ho! ho! ho! out +of the room, down the staircase, to the dining-room below, where Mrs +Hartshorne--the old lady looking quite broken already from the anxiety +she had gone through--was waiting to hear his report about Tom. + +They had decided not to tell him yet about Susan in his present state-- +not, at all events, until the lawyer came down. + +The doctor said Tom was doing very well, although excitement would be +bad for him; and then went out to pay some calls around, promising to +call back in a few hours' time. + +You may be sure he did not forget, with his kind heart, to call round at +the Pringles, where he found little Lizzie listening anxiously for his +approach, for he had promised her last night to come and give the news +about Tom. + +She eagerly thanked him for coming and for his good news, and coyly gave +the doctor permission to take back her love to Tom: of course, she was +as much surprised as the doctor was to hear of Susan's disappearance, +and her sympathies were quite aroused when he told her how broken the +old lady seemed under the double trouble she was suffering under. + +Lizzie immediately offered to go up and see her, not knowing her general +disposition so well as our friend Aesculapius; but he told her that it +would be useless, and that nothing could be done until the lawyer and +the detective arrived from London. Lizzie was doubly anxious about +Susan for Tom's sake: it is wonderful the interest that young ladies +take in the sisters and other relatives of young gentlemen for whom they +may entertain regard! But Lizzie could do nothing, and was even more +useless in the juncture than the dowager had at first supposed the +governess to be when she offered to make herself useful. + +After paying his round of calls, the doctor returned to The Poplars, +some three hours or more from the time of his setting out: and he and +the dowager then sat down in sympathy and mutual anxiety together in the +parlour, for the first time in their respective lives, to wait for the +return of Miss Kingscott from her mission to London. + +Thus the hours passed by, the day after Susan Hartshorne's elopement. + +Volume 2, Chapter IV. + +MESSRS. TRUMP, SEQUENCE, AND CO. + +Mrs Hartshorne's lawyers had their offices in one of the most palatial +and dingy of that, whilom palatial, and now most dingy, collection of +houses, which it would be sheer lunacy to christen a street,--yclept +Bedford Row--that favourite abiding place and Mecca of the gentlemen of +the "sheepskin" persuasion. The proprietress of The Poplars was one of +the richest clients of the firm, who had for years done business for the +family before the dowager's incorporation in it; but still it does not +follow that Messrs. Trump, Sequence, and Co. got over many fees and +costs from that long-headed lady. She employed them as a matter of +course, for they had all the Hartshorne papers, but they got very little +money out of her, or from the estate, since Roger Hartshorne, the old +squire, died. + +It was to these gentlemen that Miss Kingscott was introduced on coming +up to London to fulfil the mission with which she had been entrusted. +It was good to see how the eyes of both partners glistened on hearing +that, at last, some business was to be done for the Sussex dowager. +Miss Kingscott related the particulars. + +Mr Trump at first was surprised, but being of a keen, energetic turn of +mind, he quickly determined how to act. + +Having examined and cross-examined Miss Kingscott with regard to the +dress and appearance of the girl, and so on--although he himself had +frequently seen Susan too--he at once drew up the form of an +advertisement for the lost girl, offering a reward of fifty pounds for +her recovery. + +He then rang his bell for one of the clerks in the outer office; and a +grizzled old man, old but alert, with his hair standing on end, like a +porcupine's quills, at once obeyed the summons. + +"Here, Smiffens," said Mr Trump, giving him the paper he had just +written, "copy that advertisement; take down copies to the morning +papers, and have it inserted at once. By the way," he added, as +Smiffens bustled out of the room, "take a copy, too, to the printers, +and have five hundred handbills struck off for the police. Wait for +them till they're done, and take them down to the central office. I'm +just going down to Scotland Yard myself, and will tell them to expect +the bills. Be sharp, mind! there's no time to lose." + +As soon as the clerk had gone, Mr Trump turned to the governess who had +been waiting all this time. + +"Now, I'm at your service, Miss Kingscott," he said. "I shall be happy +to accompany you down to Hartwood if you are going back at once." Miss +Kingscott signified that that was her intention. "You won't mind my +stopping at the police-station, will you? I want to pick a sharp +detective there, whom I know, and get him to go down with us." + +"Oh, dear no!" said Miss Kingscott; and after a very trifling delay, +Miss Kingscott, the lawyer, and John Bounce, special detective, of +Scotland Yard, were in the coupe of a first-class carriage, and rattling +down at express speed to Hartwood. + +Arrived there, they managed to secure one of those extraordinary cabs or +flys that are to be met with at country places, and which, I believe, +are derelict London carriages that are thrown away by their former +owners as worn out and useless: and after a short time they got to The +Poplars, just as the doctor and the dowager, worn out with waiting, +began to feel tired of the unusual pleasure of each other's company. + +Matters having been explained over again, the detective, John Bounce, +was set to work; and he, with that look of mystic preparation which the +craft glory in, asked at once to be shown over the house. He examined +every hole and corner as if he thought Susan had been purposely stowed +away by the members of the family. When he was satisfied with an +inspection of the house and garden, giving especial care to examining +the various locks and appurtenances of the gates, he appeared to think +profoundly for a short time, when he asked to be shown the clothes which +Susan had left behind her. These gave him immense gratification, for he +turned them over and over again, giving vent to sundry Lord Burleigh's +shakings of the head, and portentous "humphs," as if he had the whole +thing in his mind's eye. + +Detectives, my dear sir, or madam, are not by any means such sharp +personages as writers of fiction generally love to depict. There are +some especially "cute" members of the force I don't for a moment deny; +but as a class their knowledge and acquirements are fearfully +exaggerated. Indeed, I must be so severe as to call them at once, +humbugs; but they deceive themselves quite as greatly and as often as +they deceive the public, and are by no means so sharp as the malefactors +they are set to catch. I think a clergyman I once knew would have made +a far better detective than a good many real _mouchoirs_ I have come +across. He had the gift of at once divining at the truth, investigating +the morality and ethics of his parishioners which not one detective in a +hundred possesses. They put on a great deal of mystery, and appear to +"know all about it," but they are really much more shallow conjurers +than Herr Frickell when, turning up the sleeves of his coat and his +snow-white wristbands and calling his audience's attention to the theory +that there is "no preparation, gentlemen! no preparation," at once +proceeds to smuggle eggs up his sleeves with a "Hi, Presto! Begone!" + +The detective placed great emphasis on the fact that Susan had taken +Miss Kingscott's dress and bonnet with her. "Putting two and two +together," as he said, he delivered himself of the oracular assertion, +that she "must have gone off somewhere," which, of course, no one else +would have dreamt of but the dowager, who observed snappishly that she +could have told him that before, and advised him to try and find out +where the girl had gone to, as that was what he had been employed for. +Whereupon, John Bounce appeared all at once to wake up to the notion +that he would have to go somewhere else to look for the missing girl. +He asked if they had enquired about her at the nearest railway station, +and was told they had; and on being further told that another station, +Bigglethorpe, was also not far from The Poplars, he said she might have +gone there, which was also perfectly feasible to the meanest +comprehension. + +At Bigglethorpe they found out that the station-master remembered a +tall, dark gentleman getting out on the previous day, and coming back +shortly afterwards with a lady. He thought it was the same, because now +he remembered the gentleman had left his bag there, and had taken it, +and gone off in the next up-train. On the detective's telling him to +"Take care!" and mentioning that he was a policeman, which he generally +found to have an awe-inspiring influence on the _gamins_ of London, the +station-master said he could not tell him any more, not if he were +"twenty detectives, and the Lord Mayor into the bargain, all rolled into +one." He recollected a gentleman getting out there, he thought, and +coming back again, and going up to London, and he believed he had a lady +with him, but he would not be sure. It was "no use a pestering him with +any more questions, for he had his own business to attend to about the +traffic returns." He did not know who the gentleman was, nor the lady, +and he "had not seen them afore or since, and didn't want to see 'em +either, for that matter." There the enquiry ended, for the detective +was at fault; and that is all they found out about Susan, after +searching for days about the neighbourhood in every direction. + +Nothing could be done now but to wait and see what effect the +advertisements and handbills would have in discovering her whereabouts. +So Mr Trump and the detective had to go back to London as unsuccessful +as when they had gone down; while Doctor Jolly and the old lady and Tom, +who were all greatly grieved at the disappearance of the girl, could but +wonder what had become of her. The only thing they had learnt for a +certainty was that she was not in the county; and they could only hope +that a good providence would watch over her, and bring her back to them +safe: in the interim the police in the metropolis, with their wits +sharpened by the reward offered, were doing all they could to ferret her +out in London. And thus a month passed by. + +During all this time, Messrs. Trump, Sequence, and Co. had been fairly +worried out of their wits, day and night, with false reports about the +finding of Susan. More than a hundred persons had come to their offices +brimful of the intelligence that they had secured the fugitive, and had +seen her at all sorts of unheard of places; but the persons whom they +thought to be Susan turned out to be totally unlike her in every +particular. Mr Trump was for ever going with the police to inspect the +bodies of drowned persons; and yet no trace was found of the missing +girl, and he at last began to hope devoutly that she would be found +soon, whether dead or alive he did not care which, for he was bothered +to death about the matter. Indeed, he would have cheerfully given a +handsome sum to have "washed his hands," as he often said to Sequence, +who had a peculiar, parrot-like habit of repeating Trump's words after +him, as if affirmatively, "of the whole affair." To which Sequence +would nod his head, and respond sagaciously, "Certainly, of the whole +affair." + +When Markworth, therefore, after the search had lasted a month, walked +into the office one morning just after his interview with the Jew, +Solomonson, and told Mr Trump, who had accosted him graciously, +thinking he was a new client, that he came about the advertisement for +the lost girl, Mr Trump was wroth and slightly snappy. + +"I hope to goodness you've really found her, and not come here with any +cock and bull story like the rest of 'em." + +"I think you'll find," said Markworth, taking out the marriage +certificate which he had brought with him, the advertisement, and a +photographic likeness which he had had taken at Havre, "when you look at +these, that I've found the girl, and am entitled to the reward you have +offered." + +"This is Susan, sure enough; but," he observed, "where's it taken? +Havre? Havre? How the devil did she get there?" + +"I took her there," answered Markworth, in the most cool and collected +manner, according to his wont; "and if you'll look at this certificate +here you'll see that I had a perfect right to do so. She is my wife!" + +"Whew!" whistled Mr Trump, through his closed teeth. "Your wife! Why, +the girl's insane!" + +"That's where you make the mistake, my dear sir! She's no more insane +than you are. Her people ought to have told you that, for although she +had been previously a little `foolish,' perhaps, they saw her +improvement of late; and she had the sense, at all events, to run away +with me and get married, and that's no proof of her insanity." + +"I don't know about that," said Mr Trump, "I don't know about that. I +remember now, the old doctor said that she had been more intelligent +before she disappeared, but he did not tell me that Susan Hartshorne was +quite right in her mind, and I won't believe it. Do you know Mr --, I +beg your pardon, I did not catch your name." + +"Markworth, Allynne Markworth," said that gentleman. + +"Thank you! Well then, Mr Allynne Markworth, do you know that that +girl has a large fortune, and it is a very serious offence in the eyes +of the law to abduct, and enter into a false contract of marriage with a +girl of feeble intellect like that?" + +"I am perfectly aware of the facts as you state them, my dear sir. +Allow me to congratulate you on your legal presence of mind and +abilities," said Markworth, as calmly as ever. "I knew she had a +fortune, but you will have to prove she was _non compos mentis_, I +believe that's your term for it, when I married her. The girl was of +age, my dear sir. Look at that marriage certificate, and see for +yourself. She was of legal age on the very day before we were married. +There! you see the date of the certificate, 28th August, 1867." + +"Well, well, whether she was of age or not you can be prosecuted under +an indictment for a conspiracy to obtain the money of a person of +unsound mind, under the pretence of going through a marriage ceremony +with a person who, in the eye of the law, could not make a binding +contract!" + +"Precisely, my dear sir!" said the other, coolly, Mr Sequence, of +course, taking no part in the conversation. "Precisely, but you see you +will have to prove, in the first place, that the girl was of unsound +mind; and in the second, to prove conspiracy you will have to implicate +two or more persons. You see, I too, know the law, Mr Trump: allow me +to inform you that I alone was concerned in the affair, how will you +prove your conspiracy?" + +The lawyer looked fairly baffled. "The girl's found at all events, and +that's one trouble saved," he said to himself. + +Markworth resumed after a moment's pause, "You see, my dear sir, the +girl was of age, she was unhappy at home, she ran away with me and +married me: the whole thing lies in a nutshell. I wasn't to blame; and, +of course, as she has property, I shall take very good care to assert my +rights as her husband. But that's an after consideration. You are +quite satisfied that the girl is found, I suppose?" said Markworth, +after detailing how Susan had met him on the day of her disappearance, +taken train with him at Bigglethorpe Station (corroborated as the lawyer +remembered, by his and the detective's enquiries on the day they went +down to Hartwood), from whence they had come up to London, and then gone +to Havre. The marriage certificate and photograph were also convincing +proofs of his statement. + +"Yes," said Mr Trump, "I suppose you have the girl; but it's a very +queer case." + +"My address is _Numero Sept_, _Rue Montmartre_, Havre, where you can see +Mrs Markworth yourself: now I'll thank you to hand over that fifty +pounds you offered as a reward for any information about her." + +"By George!" said the lawyer, "you're a cool hand, and no mistake!" He +could not gainsay Markworth's statement, however; so, unlocking his cash +box, and taking out five ten pound notes, he handed them to him +reluctantly. "There they are, and much good may they do you!" said Mr +Trump, ruefully--He felt just as if he had been the victim of a +practical joke. + +Markworth, after counting them over carefully, pocketed the notes with +the utmost _sang froid_. "I suppose you will inform Mrs Hartshorne of +her daughter's marriage?" + +"Of course, sir, of course! I shall make it my business to go down +there myself at once." + +"Aye, do, my dear sir! and get all those unpleasant details over. I'm +myself going down to-morrow, and should not like to be bothered in +having to make any explanation." + +"You'll get as much as you want," said Mr Trump, significantly, "when +you come across the old lady." And Mr Trump bethought him, with +ill-concealed satisfaction, of the reception with which Markworth would +probably meet; it would be a sort of tit-for-tat, or _quid pro quo_, for +the "sell" he had just been made a victim of, in having to hand over +that fifty pounds to the very man who had caused all the worry of +Susan's disappearance. "You won't get any money out of her," he +thought. + +"I shall instruct my solicitors," said Markworth, as he turned to leave +the room, after making the first move of his game of chess, "to +substantiate my marriage, which can be easily done, and claim my wife's +fortune." + +"You had better," said Mr Trump, savagely; "you won't get it, my dear +sir, without a fight, I can tell you!" + +"Ha--um! _we_ will see," said Markworth, putting on his hat. "Good +morning, gentlemen--good morning!" and he went out. + +"Morning!" grunted Mr Trump, feeling as if he had undergone a defeat; +and "Morning," echoed Mr Sequence, who had been listening carefully all +the time, without putting in a word. He had the whole conversation, +however, stored up in his brain for the future use of the firm. + +Volume 2, Chapter V. + +CONVALESCENT. + +At the commencement of the fifth chapter of the veracious history of the +Knight of La Mancha, it is related that "Don Quixote perceiving that he +was not able to stir, resolved to have recourse to his signal remedy, +which was to bethink himself what passage in his books might afford him +comfort; and presently this fully brought to his remembrance that story +of Baldwin and the Marquis of Mantua, when Charlotte left the former +wounded on the mountain: a story learned and known by little +children,"--as the author proceeds to comment,--"not unknown to young +men and women, celebrated and even received by the old, and yet not a +jot more authentic than the miracles of Mahomet." + +In a similar way did our wounded hero, Master Tom, hasten his recovery +by thinking over all the charming little love passages which had +occurred between Miss Lizzie and himself; consequently in a few weeks, +thanks to Cupid's recollections and the aid of pharmacy, our hero was +nearly on his legs again. + +The broken--"smashed" the doctor called them--ribs had been steadily +improving, in spite of all the anxiety Tom suffered on his sister's +account, sanguine though he was of her yet being brought home; and by +the time that Markworth divulged his plot, and Mr Trump hastened down +to The Poplars to communicate it, Master Tom had progressed his cure as +rapidly as did Don Quixote, being able to leave his bed and hobble about +a bit before being declared by Doctor Jolly to be quite convalescent and +out of his hands. The young squire had, however, youth and health to +back him up, which enabled the "signal remedy," perhaps, to have more +effect on him than it had on Sancho Panza's master. + +The interest which the invalid Tom had created, had somewhat deadened +the effect of Susan's disappearance; and although that was as yet an +unsolved secret, and the cause of much anxiety, still everyone, both in +and out of the household, celebrated it as a day of rejoicing when Tom +made his first re-appearance down stairs. The young Antinous had +undergone the scars and strife of battle: it was meet that his recovery +should be made much of, as indeed was the case. + +Tom came down stairs, and all were glad to see him: even the dowager +allowed a frigid smile of welcome to flit across her features as he +entered the dining-room once more; and "Garge," whom he met in the +passage, exclaimed, with his customary "ploughishness--" + +"Lor' sakes, Measter Tummus! I are roight glad to say un!" + +Miss Kingscott expressed her welcome by far too warmly, the old lady +thought, for she advanced eagerly and squeezed the hand Tom offered, +after curtseying low. Doctor Jolly was pleased to be present also on +the occasion. + +"Bless my soul, Tom!" he said. "Here we are, as right again as +ninepence, my boy; I told you so, Mrs Hartshorne--I told you so," as if +that lady were disputing the point. She was too glad to see Tom, +however, to argue with the doctor as usual, but yielded the point +gracefully, only throwing cold water on the ecstasies of our friend +Damon, by suggesting that Tom's youth and constitution had pulled him +through better perhaps than all the physic and meddling doctors in the +world. Doctor Jolly, however, could also afford to be lenient; so he +left the dowager's challenge unanswered. + +After a day or two, Tom hobbled out into the garden. He was still very +weak and pale, but improving; and as soon as he had tried his powers at +hobbling outside the front door, he determined to hobble down to the +parsonage. "It was only right, you know, after all their kind enquiries +every day about his health!" The Pringles had sent up every morning an +extraordinary looking young female servant of theirs, whom the dowager +christened "the Gezaba," to ask how "Mister Tom was getting on." +Naturally Tom could do no less than return his thanks for such an +attention: it could be no other motive that would take him out down to +the parsonage so soon after he was able to stir--nothing else, of +course! + +Accordingly, Tom sallied out a day or two after he had come down stairs, +telling no one of his venture, for they would all have been up in arms +at his walking so far so soon after his illness. + +It was now a month past the era of the pic-nic--a month remarkable for +much besides his accident, and Tom had many things to think of, not the +least of which was the recollection of what he had said to Lizzie, and +she to him, just after he had been wounded. Doctor Jolly had acted as a +sort of go-between to them, having carried many a little message twixt +The Poplars and the parsonage, after Tom had been placed _hors de +combat_. Kind hearted old Doctor Jolly--his is the truest and most +pleasant face on these pages! + +Tom remembered that walk of his for many a day afterwards. How he had +paused at that corner to take breath, and rested on this stile here to +recover his faintness; and how he thought he would never be able to +reach his destination, until he saw the square old tower of the church +and the trim built parsonage beyond. But he got over the ground +heavily, hobbling along by the aid of his stick, and receiving hearty +greetings of "Foine day, sir!" from the fat farmers, who rejoiced to see +the "yoong squoire" about again. + +The parsonage never looked prettier, he thought, as he got to the gate +at last, and Tom rolled over in his mind what he should say to Lizzie, +and if she would be glad to see him, and whether he should see her at +all. + +His doubts were, however, soon solved. The "Gezaba of a servant" who +opened the door and bungled out a sort of greeting to him, told him that +both "Miss Lizzie and the master" were in. Tom could have dispensed +with Pringle's presence, but he had to make the best of a bad bargain. + +As he entered the little drawing-room which he knew so well, Pringle +stepped forward gladly to meet him, while Lizzie remained shyly in the +background. + +"By Jove! Tom"--they had long since dropped surnames between them, as +men do after a little intimacy--"I'm right glad to see you, old fellow! +But we heard that you only got out of bed the day before yesterday, so +we hardly expected you to come over yet. How are you, old fellow, eh?" +and he shook Tom eagerly by the hand. + +"Oh, I'm all right," answered our hero, after which he gave Lizzie's +hand a very hard squeeze, which caused that young lady to blush +furiously, but in a moment the flush of excitement passed off Tom's +face, and he looked as pale as death; if he had not caught hold of the +back of a chair he would have dropped down. The walk had certainly been +too much for him. + +"Oh! Herbert," exclaimed Lizzie, in alarm, "he's going to faint!" and +she ran forward to Tom, who, I believe, would have cheerfully fainted at +the juncture, if he could possibly have achieved it; you see, the +circumstances were very favourable to the occasion. + +As it was, the "gay young dog," as Doctor Jolly would have said, was "in +precious nice quarters," for there he was in a moment, by the aid of +Pringle's arm, laid out on the comfortable sofa, with Lizzie bathing his +forehead with _eau de Cologne_, and handing him smelling salts, and +Pringle enquiring every moment, "Do you feel better now, eh, old +fellow?" + +"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, sir!" said Lizzie, as she bent +over him with her face suffused with a carnation tinge whenever she +caught his eye, which the artful rogue contrived should happen very +frequently--"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, sir! walking out so +soon, and you deserve a good punishing." + +And Miss Lizzie looked very stern, indeed, with her violet eyes beaming +with a rich warm light: she seemed as if she would punish Master Tom +very severely. + +"Yes, it's very wrong," answered the recumbent hero; "but you see, I +could not help it, you know!" and Miss Lizzie blushed again, as Tom +looked very meaningly at her. + +"Better now, old fellow?" put in Pringle, at this juncture. "That's +right: you don't look so pale now. By Jove! I thought you were going +to faint." + +"Bless you! I'll be right in a twinkle," answered Tom. "You see, the +walk was a trifle too much; but I feel decidedly better now," with a +look at the young lady's eyes to invigorate himself anew: the violet +eyes seemed to act as a sort of tonic. + +"You shall be condemned to lie on the sofa all the afternoon, sir!" said +Lizzie, "as a punishment for your imprudence!" + +"All right," laughed Tom, "I'll stop for ever--that is if you'll let me; +but what will your brother say?" he asked, with a roguish glance. + +"Oh! certainly--certainly," said Pringle, hurriedly; he was very much +puzzled how to act. It looked very much like a flirtation between his +sister and Tom, under his very nose as it were, and he had promised Lady +Inskip to "put a stop to it." He did not know what to do. He liked +Tom, and did not wish besides to appear uncourteous; but he was very +nervous. "If I were only her mother," he murmured to himself, "it would +be easy enough;" but as he unfortunately did not occupy the position of +a maternal relative, he was on thorns all the time Tom stayed. + +"Don't you think we'd better have some lunch, Lizzie," he said, after a +pause, filled up by the other two very agreeably by the aid of that very +intelligible "conversation without words"--which by the aid of looks is +carried on between lovers, whether _de facto_ or _de jure_. Whereupon +Lizzie bustled out of the room, shaking a little bunch of keys in the +most housewifely manner, and looking dangerously pretty; presently +returning with the "Gezaba" in her train, and carrying a little damask +covered luncheon tray. The three had a very sociable and pleasant +little meal, although neither Tom nor Lizzie eat much; however, they +both drank deeply-intoxicating draughts from each other's eyes. + +Presently, Tom rose to go, after paying a call of some hours' duration, +during which Pringle had never given him an opportunity of being alone +with Lizzie. "What cubs brothers are!" thought Tom in his inmost heart, +but he thanked Pringle aloud for his kindness in sending up every day to +enquire after him. Pringle was candid with all his faults. "Oh, you +must thank Lizzie for that," he said; "I've called several times myself +to ask about you, but she sent up the servant, I believe, every day!" + +And then, of course, Master Tom had to thank Miss Lizzie. Why the +thanking had to occupy such a long time, and why Lizzie had to blush so +much, and why Master Tom had to keep her hand such an unconscionable +long time in his, while Pringle went forward to open the door, and show +his guest out; and why Tom had to make the little attention into a +serious business by saying, "I shall never forget it! never, as long as +I live," I can't explain--sufficient to say that Master Tom appeared +very much satisfied at leaving her, though he had not had the chance of +actually telling his love, while Miss Lizzie did not appear as if she +would "punish" him, as she threatened to do, when he called again. + +The young incumbent walked home with Tom, to give him the benefit of his +arm; and he was very uncomfortable about it all, for he could not ask a +poor, sick fellow like that who was hobbling by his side, "what were his +intentions." He must let matters rest for a season, until something +actually turned up. He was distrustful of the whole business, for he +did not think the rich and purse-proud old dowager would consent to let +her son wed her curate's portionless sister; so Pringle felt worried in +his heart, and, after seeing Tom home, had to go and call on Lady Inskip +in order to be comforted by the languid Laura. + +When Tom got to The Poplars, he found that a great deal had happened in +his absence. + +Mr Trump had come down post haste to tell about Susan's recovery, and +how Markworth had taken her away and married her, and that she was with +him now at Havre. The lawyer was still waiting to see him. Doctor +Jolly too was there, and had heard the news, our old friend telling Tom +as he hobbled into the hall, "Bless my soul! sir, there's the very devil +to pay!" + +Volume 2, Chapter VI. + +STORMY! GLASS RISING. + +Barometers are of such use to maritime and other folk, in indicating the +changes of atmospherical phenomena, and the approach of disturbing +elements, that it is a wonder in these go-a-head days, no instrument has +been constructed by which we could ascertain the fluctuations of the +human temperament. One might have a sort of graduated thermometer, _par +exemple_, to indicate the rise and force of the passions, especially +that of anger, and call it a "cholerometer." The idea may be +recommended to the attention of scientific philanthropists, as it would +be of incalculable use in preventing unruly encounters, if one but just +knew the exact choleric and argumentative calibre and equipoise of those +with whom one has frequently to come in contact. + +If such an instrument did exist, the barometrical measurement applied to +the old dowager, Mrs Hartshorne's temper on the morning that Markworth +came to have his interview, and state his case about Susan, would +certainly have indicated some such stormy height, or fall, as 29 degrees +31, or thereabouts! + +Mr Trump had gone down expressly the previous day, as he said he would; +and a nice storm he created. "Not a tempest in a teapot," but a regular +carousal of the elements--a rushing together of hot and cold streams, +not of air, as is so eloquently described in the pages of Professor +Maury, but of temper and passion. + +"Stuff and nonsense," said the dowager, virulently, "I won't believe it! +Do you mean to say that that man, who was stopping here in the house +with us as Thomas' friend, and accepted our hospitality, took advantage +of our kindness, and ran off with that idiot girl; why, it's absurd! +Stuff and nonsense, I tell you. I won't believe it!" + +"But, my dear madam," interposed Mr Trump, "I assure you it is a fact. +We've got the proof, and I have just told you all the circumstances. +It's as clear as a counsellor's wig, madam! He took the girl away from +here, married her, and there she is; nothing could be plainer." + +"Gammon!" said the dowager. "It is all rubbish!" + +"My dear madam," said the lawyer, "just be sensible for a moment." + +"I've got more sense in my little finger, sir, than you have in your +whole body," snapped out the old lady. + +"Granted, my dear madam; but, pardon me, if that is not exactly relevant +to the case. The proof is clear enough that Markworth took her away; +and I sent my clerk down to the church mentioned in the certificate, and +there is no doubt that he married Susan there, and that she's now at +Havre. Besides, his motive is plain enough; he wanted to get her +fortune." + +"The artful, designing scoundrel!" broke out the dowager. + +"The question is, my dear madam, what is to be done now? That fellow +said he was coming down here to-morrow morning. Would it be better to +wait until you see him, and fathom his plans, or else send over to Havre +at once, and take steps to recover the girl?" + +"The cunning, crawling villain!" ejaculated Mrs Hartshorne; "but I'll +be even with him yet, I'll be even with him!" + +"I am quite at your disposal," promptly replied the lawyer, who was +eager to be bounding after Markworth; and just at this moment, before +anything had been decided upon, Doctor Jolly was announced. + +He apologised for interrupting the conversation; but said, that as he +had heard that Mr Trump had just come down, he thought there would be +some tidings of Susan, which must be his excuse for walking in so +unceremoniously. + +Whereupon, both the dowager and the lawyer together fired out upon him +with the astonishing news. "Bless my soul!" exclaimed he, horrified at +what he heard. "Who would have thought it? But I always said he was a +bad fellow! I told you so Mrs Hartshorne, I told you so!" + +"And much good there was in your telling! If you hadn't been always +dangling here, taking that governess off from her duties, and had looked +after Susan better yourself, this would never have happened." + +"Bless my soul! madam," exclaimed the doctor, staring helplessly at Mr +Trump, aghast at the blame being thus thrown on him of all others; and +dabbing his face in perplexity with his yellow bandana pocket +handkerchief. "Bless my soul, madam! What have _I_ got to do with it?" + +Tom at this moment came hobbling up the front steps, and the doctor, +eagerly seizing the opportunity to escape from the dowager's invective, +went out of the room hastily to open the door for him, when he took the +opportunity of telling Tom, as we have already heard, that there was +"the devil to pay in there," pointing with his thumb over his shoulder +to the room he had just quitted, in the most significant manner. + +The tale had, of course, to be told over again to Tom, when he was +admitted to the council, now of four; and an animated debate ensued on +what was to be done. It was finally resolved that the lawyer should +telegraph to London, and send over one of his clerks that night to +Havre, to watch the house where Susan was, and see that she was not +removed in the interim; that Mr Trump was to remain at The Poplars +until after Markworth's visit on the morrow; and, at his express wish, +Tom was to go over as soon afterwards as possible, and fetch Susan back +himself. + +After a good deal of fluctuation, from 29 degrees 31 down to so low a +fall as 28 degrees 64, the barometrical pressure of the dowager's temper +had returned to its abnormal state, during the excited conversation that +had gone on all the time; but the next morning, however, when Markworth +made his appearance, the dowager's barometer sank again to a very low +depth indeed. + +Although he was opposed to three people at once--the old lady, Tom, and +Mr Trump, the former of whom piled Pelion on Ossa in her wrath, +Markworth kept his temper admirably. He seemed to pride himself on the +successful issue of his scheme, and related each step he had taken with +an air of ill-concealed triumph. The dowager was furious, but her +hot-tempered words appeared to have little or no effect on the man who +now proclaimed himself the husband of her daughter, a neglect of which +daughter by herself and her cruelty, he stated, led to his success. +Rages are all very well in their way, but the dowager's anger was +powerless here, so Markworth bore off the palm of victory against the +triple odds against which he had contested it. + +The only time that he appeared to be affected by all that was said +against him, was when Tom addressed him pointedly and coldly with the +stern truth, which he could not dispute. He then turned pale. + +"You have done a dishonourable action, sir," said Tom. "I treated you +and trusted you as a gentleman and a friend, and you have abused that +trust. I--I never thought you would have acted like it; and, apart from +the injury you have done us, I am sorry for it, for you have hurt my +faith in a man's honour." + +Tom really felt it thus. + +"I can't excuse myself," answered Markworth, "but I have done good to +your sister instead of harm. I have brought her back to her reason, +instead of letting her remain a hopeless idiot, as she would have done +if I had not drawn her out; and I'll say this, it was not all for the +sake of her money I did it. I was really, so help me heaven I +interested in her case, and trusted to cure her honestly." + +"You need not swear any more false oaths to me," answered Tom; "I don't +desire to speak to you again, or see you again as long as I live." + +"Very well," said Markworth, "so be it. But all I have to say is this, +that if you wish to take back your sister you are free to do so; if she +likes to go, I will not prevent her. As for you, madam," he said, +turning politely to Mrs Hartshorne, and bowing, "I have placed the +matter in the hands of my solicitor, for I am determined to get the +fortune to which my wife is entitled." + +"You'll not get a penny, rogue," retorted the dowager (barometer 28 +degrees 64!) "not if there's any law in the land." + +"We will see, madam." + +"Hark you, sir," said Mr Trump, having his say, of which he had been +sadly deprived all the time the dowager was going on. "Hark you, sir, +we can find the girl was of unsound mind, as I told you before, and have +you indicted for a conspiracy." + +"That we will!" echoed the dowager, "and have you on the treadmill, +villain!" + +Mrs Hartshorne had somewhat vague notions of the power of that large +word in capitals--Law, and seemed to think that its obvious bent in any +case, especially one like the present, was the treadmill. + +"We will see," answered Markworth, defiantly; "but you will have to +prove your case, my dear sir. You see I did it all by myself, and the +girl was a willing agent, and of age: she is of perfectly sound mind, as +she can prove in the witness-box, and how you are to get over all that +evidence remains to be proved." + +"We'll prove it," answered Mr Trump; but although he was certainly +cross, his countenance did not exhibit any strong hopes of success. +"The cunning vagabond is too much for us," he murmured, _sotto voce_. + +"Good morning," said Markworth, blandly, to all, and he walked out +triumphantly, the dowager screaming after him, "Not a penny will you +get, scoundrel." + +In Markworth's confession he had very naturally, for his own sake, not +brought up the governess's name; consequently she was excluded from all +share in the conspiracy. She knew of his being down, however, and had +gone out apparently for a walk while the battle was being fought in the +dining-room. She wished to meet Markworth alone, and he was equally +desirous to see her; so it is not surprising that a few minutes after +taking such a stagey farewell of the dowager, the two met beyond the +precincts of The Poplars. + +"Just the person I wanted to see," ejaculated Markworth, on coming up +with her under the shadow of the wall, which encircled the Hartshorne +mansion. + +"Indeed! I did not think you would be so glad to see me," replied Miss +Kingscott. + +"Indeed I am, Clara; I wished to settle up with you. I have married the +girl, and the thing's regularly _en train_ now. I have only got to get +the money." + +"That's just what I wanted." + +"Well, I've got it for you." + +"Really?" exclaimed the governess, surprised; she had never thought that +Markworth would have kept to his compact once he had got the girl off. +But he was "careful about little things," as he had told Tom when he +first came down to The Poplars, and he was not going to incur Clara +Kingscott's hostility by breaking his agreement, even when there was +nothing to force him to keep it. + +"Yes, really," he answered; "here's the other hundred I promised you, so +you and I are quits, Clara." + +"Thank you," she said, turning over the notes in astonishment in her +hand; "I never expected you to pay me." + +"Did you not. I always keep my bargains." + +"Do you," she replied. "You have not always done so." + +"Let bygones be bygones, Clara; I promised you the money, and I have +paid you now, and you cannot complain." + +"It is the first time you ever recollected what you owed me," said the +governess, bitterly. + +"Don't say that, Clara; let us be good friends. Our compact is now +finished, and we need not rake up the past. If there is anything more I +can do for you, Clara, let me know; and if it's in my power, I'll do +it," said Markworth, magnanimously, for he thought the woman had still a +lingering regard for him. + +"I don't want anything from you, Allynne Markworth," she said, angrily +stamping her foot; "and I don't wish to see you again. You've been the +curse of my life! But all's not over yet between us!" she muttered, +significantly, as she turned on her heel and walked back towards the +house. + +Markworth looked after her a moment, and then resumed his way down to +the railway station, _en route_ for London. He had a good deal to do +before starting for Havre, and wanted to get there before Tom or anyone +else went over after Susan. + +"That's the way with them all!" he said, to himself, as he walked away +rapidly in quick strides. "They get all they can, and then wash their +hands of you!" + +But he made a great mistake. Miss Kingscott had not by any means washed +her hands of Markworth yet. She had gathered a good deal from the +conversation between Mr Trump and the dowager on the previous day, to +which she had listened attentively through the keyhole of the next room, +and she knew that she could not only upset Markworth's plans for +obtaining Susan's inheritance, but perhaps, also, get him imprisoned, if +she exposed her share in the affair. + +This she intended to do, but not until the last moment, just when she +should think fit; and at present she would remain at The Poplars, and go +on as if she knew nothing of the great event. She might captivate Tom +in the meantime, she thought; and, at all events, she as yet had the +doctor to fall back upon. Aesculapius had been twice as devoted to her +since she displayed so much energy in trying to get Susan back. He had +muttered to himself, over and over again, as he rode up to The Poplars, +in his daily visits to Tom, "She is a dooced fine girl; and a clever +girl, too, by Gad!" and, no doubt, would have repeated that declaration +of his which the campaigner's call had nipped in the bud, if the +opportunity had only favoured him. But it had not, for the dowager +seemed adverse to letting the doctor remain a moment alone with the +governess. + +When Markworth had gone away, the council between Mrs Hartshorne, and +Tom, and the lawyer, was resumed; Tom said that he would go the next day +if he was able and fetch back Susan. As for the money matters, the old +lady declared she would spare no expense to "cheat that scoundrel" out +of his plunder; and Mr Trump was authorised to go to every end to +defeat the suit of Markworth _versus_ Hartshorne, which the schemer had +stated would be at once commenced, the old lady refusing to surrender +her daughter's fortune unless she were compelled to do so. And she +"wouldn't even do it then," she declared. + +While they were debating over the matter, Miss Kingscott came in quietly +and went up to her room--nobody knowing what a strong witness she would +prove on the side of the defendants in the case, if she so willed it: +she now revolved in her mind whether she would or would not act in the +matter. It was as yet unsettled, although she had sworn to revenge +herself on Markworth. His last words to her had somewhat disarmed her. + +Nemesis or _non_ Nemesis: that was the question. The former triumphed. +Mr Trump went back to London; and there he found that the case of +Markworth _versus_ Hartshorne, was already "brewing in the storm," +although it remained to be proved whether it was going to be "nipped in +the bud," as the American stump speaker told his audience after he had +informed them that he "smelt a rat." With which metaphor the chapter +had better be concluded. + +Barometer "Fair" again! + +Volume 2, Chapter VII. + +THE CAMPAIGNER "CARRIES THE FORTRESS." + +Like a lamb to the slaughter, Herbert Pringle was led by the wily +campaigner to his doom matrimonial. + +When the veteran perceived that all her operations _in re_ Tom and the +gushing Carry must for a time be postponed, on account of the +prostration of the principal combatant, she determined to prosecute the +other enterprise to the best of her ability, and declared a sort of +_guerre a l'outrance_ against the young incumbent for the sake of her +eldest daughter, the charming Laura. + +Of course, she was far too strategic a campaigner to neglect the other +affair altogether. She had written Tom an elegant little _billet-doux_ +after the sad contretemps of the pic-nic, telling how sorry she was for +his accident, and how she had punished Mortimer, "that naughty, naughty +boy," and would remember the painful scene "to her grave:" she also +caused Carry to scribble a postscript expressing her condolence, besides +sending every day, like the Pringles, to enquire how he did. But she +could do nothing further there at present, not at all events until Tom +was able to come out again, when she had no doubt she would secure him, +and oust that "odious little minx," in spite of what she had seen at the +pic-nic. She would, indeed, have said more about the matter, only that +she would not for the world offend that "dear Mr Pringle," who was +"such a love of a preacher," and "a perfect gentleman," which she would +persist in telling everyone, as if they disputed the point in the first +place, and in the second, as if it was the most extraordinary thing in +the world to meet with a member of the cloth who was a gentleman! The +surprise on the campaigner's part as to his being a good preacher was, +however, perfectly natural: it is not every gentleman that wears a +cassock who is either a fair orator, has a passable delivery, or +preaches a good sermon. + +Men who go into the church appear sadly ignorant of the old Latin +proverb, _Poeta nascitur non fit_! They ascribe unto themselves two +gifts which they believe that they possess, the gift of literary +composition, and the gift of oratory; neither of which one man in a +hundred, perhaps, possesses separately, and not one in ten thousand, +together! And yet the generality of clergymen seem to think that they +can not only write a good sarmon, but preach it also; hence these +dismal, dreary platitudes, and over-and-over-again schoolboy-themes or +truisms which set most of us to sleep every Sunday in the family pew. +The short homily of the early clericals was far better than the prosy +sermon, of unconscionable length, delivered by the moderns; all of whom +seem to think that they were born and brought up, and mercifully +ordained to be popular preachers, and nothing else! + +The war waged by the campaigner against the young incumbent of Hartwood +church was not one of guns of precision and bloodshed. It was a very +rosy sort of campaign, all rose-coloured, fought with honied words and +sugar plums, and meant to end in orange blossoms and marriage +settlements; only a lawsuit in which the conflicting parties and ends +were the languid Laura, and an establishment, _versus_ the celibacy of +Herbert Pringle, B.A., Oxon. + +Everything favoured the campaigner's manoeuvres. You see, she had the +field clear to herself. The bait she offered was very tempting, and +summer in the country is a most dangerous time for young, unmarried men. +A week in rural retreats will sometimes do more in the Hymeneal line +than weeks of London fashionable life: Coelebs who laughs the hook to +scorn, however so delicately baited in town, may be hooked at once with +a gaudy May-fly down in the country. Besides, the Reverend Herbert was +by no means averse to be caught. He, with all his Oxford experiences, +must have to some extent perceived the motives Lady Inskip had for so +pressingly cultivating his society; but he did not seek cover as the +poor, hunted fox so artfully does. He really found the languid Laura +too bewitching to be resisted; so, with hardly a coy make-believe of +alarm at what he was doing, he eagerly swallowed the bait, hook and all. + +Ever since the pic-nic, Herbert Pringle had become the devoted cavalier +of Lady Inskip's eldest daughter. + +Morning, noon, and night, the little dapple-grey animal which the young +incumbent bestrode was to be seen tied up to the gateposts of Laburnum +Cottage: substantial proof that Pringle was within. Of course this was +during the intervals of parochial duties which were by no means heavy, +as Hartwood, and Bigton too, for that matter, had no poor to speak of, +the population being agricultural, living well on their weekly wage, and +inhabiting comfortable looking stone houses with pleasant flower gardens +in front, and vegetable compounds in the rear. + +Croquet--that pleasantly flirtative game, which demands so little skill +or exertion, and affords such rare opportunities for effective _poses_, +and desultory chit-chat--was all the rage on the little lawn in front of +the Inskip's cottage, during the warm September days: croquet settled +the young incumbent's business. + +Laura was afforded such nice little openings here for developing her +conquest in an easy manner so suited to her nature, that she entered +with some spirit in completing what the campaigner's manoeuvres had +begun. She had only to look graceful, and move about imperially, as +tall women can well do, and show her exquisite profile--it looked better +than her full face: by such means the mischief was done. + +Pringle, like most little men, had a fancy for graceful Junos, and here +he had one ready-made to his hand. Out of the pulpit he was not much of +an orator; but as the languid Laura hardly ever uttered anything but an +occasional interjection, they suited each other admirably. Nothing was +wanting but the final declaration, and that came quite as soon as the +old campaigner had planned. Two or three weeks completed the conquest, +thanks to country air and scene, statuesque charms and croquet, and the +praiseworthy efforts of the skilful old veteran who had charge of the +campaign. + +People speak a great deal, in the press and elsewhere, of the +insufficiency of public rewards and honours for distinguished services +with a good deal of truth; but in all these discussions a large and +praiseworthy portion of the community is entirely neglected, and its +claims to honour and reward absolutely ignored. I allude to the mothers +of families; how do they get their services recognised? We bind the +hero's brows with laurels; we raise the brilliant party orator to the +peerage; we give the eminent professor of the law a seat on the +woolsack; the soldier a medal and a bit of ribbon for his wounds in the +country's service; and we dub the worshipful alderman a knight, should +he happen to be at the royal kitchen steps when a prince is born, or +have invited the Grand Elector of Sauer Kraut to partake of a ham +sandwich on his landing at Dover _en route_ to visit the Palace; but the +talented and skilful diplomatist--the mother of a family, who marries +off her marriageable daughters all to the most eligible of _partis_, +passes by unnoticed. She, who fights courageously a losing game, +against fearful odds, who braves reproach, continually--nay, even +disgrace, sometimes in furthering a praiseworthy object, and who +deserves our esteem and recognition, gets no reward. Peerages in plenty +for parliamentarians, titles for sycophants, knighthoods for toad +eaters--but the campaigners go by without ne'er so much as a ribbon of +decoration. + +This should not be. In the time honoured cause of woman's rights, this +neglect must be protested against. Let us reward our royal plate +cleaners and caustic partisans as much as the nation pleases, but think +also of the noble women of England, and their fortune and +husband-hunting claims! + +Lady Inskip was one of the most skilled and to be honoured of her class. +Not only did she lead Pringle up to the point--but, knowing his +nervousness, she also saved him the trouble of coming to a declaration. +She did it for him herself, and this is how it happened. + +She could be very confidential, you know, and was well fitted to assume +the maternal _role_, and "talk as a mother myself," whenever it was +required of her. She had once before done so to Pringle on Lizzie's +account, as was mentioned in a former chapter; so nothing was more easy +and graceful than to assume the same _role_ now in his own interests +while talking to himself. She determined to make the proposal for him, +as he was too shy to make it himself; although in so doing, she spoilt +considerable hopes of fun at the "fast" Carry's part, who had declared +over and over again in the family circle that she "would give worlds to +see the mild parson pop," provoking a mild "how can you be so absurd, +Carry!" from Laura, who yet could not prevent a feeble smile at the +possibility of such a _tableau_, and "you ought to be ashamed of +yourself, miss!" from her mother; while the young imp, Sir Mortimer, +gave vent to a triumphant war whoop, and declared that it would be +"awful larks! to see Pringle on his knees!" The darling, naughty boy, +to be sure! When the campaigner perceived from sundry unmistakable +symptoms that things had been brought to a crisis, she prepared to act. + +One day, after Pringle had been more bashful and nervous than ever, +although still very attentive to Laura, when there had been some weeks +of intercourse between the pair since the first descent on Bigton, Lady +Inskip "button-holed" him as he was on his way out, and instead of +letting him mount his pony at the gate, entreated him to walk a bit down +the road with her, as she had something important to say. Pringle, more +bashfully still, assented, and passing the bridle of the dapple-grey +through his arm, he and the campaigner sauntered off in close confab, +watched from the windows of Laburnum Cottage by the young ladies and +Mortimer, who seriously wondered what was "up"--one must use slang +sometimes; it is so expressive in these very slangy days. + +"My dear Mr Pringle," began the wily campaigner, "I take a great +interest in you, in quite a motherly way, indeed; and you will excuse me +speaking on a very delicate matter to you?" + +"Oh! certainly, Lady Inskip, certainly--anything you know," he +stammered, in reply, blushing a rosy red, even beneath his budding +whiskers of auburn hue. + +"Well, then, my dear Mr Pringle, I have to speak to you about Laura. I +am her mother, and it seems strange in me to speak to you; but I look +upon you as a son, and I wish I could see things arranged between you. +The darling girl is getting quite thin and pale, and this prolonged +suspense is more than she can bear. And I must ask you in the most-- +that is--my dear Mr Pringle, I think your feelings are interested, +and--" + +"Precisely so, Lady Inskip; just what I wanted to say, only I could not +say it. Would Laura, eh?--your daughter, do you think, eh?" and he +looked nervously into the campaigner's face. + +"I think she will consent. I am so glad, my dear young friend; I will +speak to her for you, and it will be all arranged, if you will come in +again this evening. I have long wished to see my angel Laura married to +a Christian gentleman, and since I have known you, you have fulfilled +everything which I could have hoped for her to find in a husband"--that +he had, with regard to position and competency, besides being easily +managed--"and, my dear Mr Pringle, I will tell Laura at once; and this +is the happiest moment in my life!" + +"Certainly, Lady Inskip, certainly!" stammered the young incumbent, as +he shook hands joyfully with his future mother-in-law; and in the +evening he came round again to Laburnum Cottage. Laura received him +with a faint blush and a timid pressure of his hand, so it was an +understood thing that they were regularly engaged. + +After it was all settled, Pringle lost a good deal of his prior +bashfulness; and both Carry and young Sir Mortimer regarded him as a +very jolly sort of brother-in-law to have. The wedding was fixed for an +early date in the following year, after a probationary engagement of +some three months. + +_Eureka_! The campaigner had carried the fortress after a series of +admirable military tactics. + +Volume 2, Chapter VIII. + +SUSAN. + +Change of scene is one of the most potent panaceas for mental ills; and +change of scene had in a few week effected Susan's complete recovery. +She had been under Markworth's care at The Poplars in those early days +of August, an entirely reasoning being, but she had lacked animation and +life; she had been like Gibson's Venus, before the flesh tints were put +on the statue; but she was now a bright, living, thinking girl, with +hopes and pleasures and aspirations which she had hitherto undreamt of. + +In her cheerful little apartments in the Rue Montmartre she unfolded +herself like a chrysalis from the grub, and bustled about and took an +interest in everything around her which Doctor Jolly would have wondered +at. + +While Markworth was away, the Mere Cliquelle used to look after her and +keep her company, and go out with her, and the dignified _bon homme_ of +that good lady would also frequently came up to see Madame and air his +few English phrases. But Markworth used never to be long away. Havre +was so very convenient that he could run over to Southampton and thence +to London whenever he wished to see how matters were going on for the +approaching law suit; so he seldom stopped away beyond a couple of days. +When he was at Havre, however, he continued to devote himself to Susan +with all his former care, and tried to gratify every wish she had; and +she was as happy as a bird. + +One thing only was wanting to complete her happiness, and that was to +see her brother Tom: that desire, however, was soon gratified. She had +been disappointed sadly when Markworth returned the first time without +him; but he said that Tom would soon come, and in a few more days he +arrived at Havre. But, he was actuated with no desire to see Markworth: +it was only his sister that brought him over, and he wished to persuade +her to return home, which he thought she might do at once as he, with +the others, had made certain of Markworth retaining her against her +will. Indeed the lawyer Mr Trump, or Doctor Jolly would have gone over +to Havre at once to fetch her back on learning where she was--for +Markworth had freely said that they might come to fetch her if they +pleased,--for it was only at Tom's express wish that a few days were +allowed to elapse to enable him to fetch her himself, for he was hardly +able to move about as yet, notwithstanding that he had every desire to +start off at once on first hearing the news. Miss Kingscott had offered +to go, but the Dowager bluntly declined her services, saying that, as +she had shown so little care in watching over her charge in the first +instance, she certainly would not be now entrusted with the charge of +bringing her back, and beyond that Mrs Hartshorne said she did not +require her services any longer. + +So Miss Kingscott left The Poplars altogether, much against her +inclinations at this juncture, although she would have more time at her +disposal for watching Markworth, for it cut her off from all association +with the doctor before matters were brought to a satisfactory point +between them. Tom went over to Havre to fetch Susan home in a day or +two afterwards, confident of bringing her back. We thus see several +important alterations in the _carte du pays_, of the several actors in +our little drama. + +Markworth was out one day shortly after his own return to Havre when he +had set his plans rolling on the other side, when Tom Hartshorne rang +the bell at the house _Numero sept, Rue Montmartre_. + +The Mere Cliquelle answered the summons and on Tom (in extremely bad +French) asking if Madame Markworth was in, the fat landlady herself +ushered him up-stairs. She was very much taken with the appearance of +Master Tom, who really, with his fine built frame, slightly emaciated +with the confinement he had undergone from his illness, and his pale +face, looked altogether rather a handsome, presentable fellow. The Mere +Cliquelle gazed upon him with admiration: she had a Frenchwoman's eye +for _un brave Monsieur_, and she showed it. + +She tapped at the door of Susan's little _salle a manger. "Un Monsieur +Anglais_," she said, with which explanatory information Tom was ushered +in before Susan could exactly comprehend what the Mere Cliquelle meant. + +Susan gave one look up of surprise and joy as the door opened and she +recognised the visitor: she had been working and had not expected +Markworth in for some time. Rushing forwards she flung her arms round +Tom's neck. + +"Oh, Tom! Tom! You've come at last!" she said, and patted his cheek in +delight, as if she were caressing a cat--a peculiarly sympathetic way +the fair sex have of showing their affection. + +Tom himself was touched. He loved his sister greatly, the more too for +her infirmity, and he though he comprehended it all at once in his +reasoning mind. Poor Susan was no doubt kept here against her will: she +was doubtless glad to see him for his own sake, but probably ten times +more so, thinking he was about to take her back home again to England +and her own people. + +He thought thus for a moment; but he was soon undeceived. After a +moment or two he held his sister off from him, his two hands resting on +her shoulders, and he looked in her face with surprise. + +"By Jove, Susan!" he exclaimed. "How altered you are; I should not have +known you again!" He had not seen her for some weeks, and the gradual +change which had been taking place in her came upon him all at once like +a shock. + +"Would you not?" laughed Susan, "but I should have known you anywhere, +although you look pale and thin. What has been the matter, Tom?" + +"Oh nothing!" he answered. "I have not been quite well. But you, +Susan, by Jove! why you are all right again!" he was amazed at her +having got rid of that melancholy reticence which had hung over her for +so many years as he well knew. Instead of hanging back and not saying a +word as she used to do, she now spoke to him freely, and looked just the +same as any other girl. He could not believe it: it was wonderful! + +"Of course I am all right!" answered Susan, merrily, and then her voice +changed to a tone of sadness and anxiety, "but you are not angry with +me, Tom, are you?" + +"Certainly not! Why should I be angry?" + +"For going away and leaving you all like that, and--" + +She hesitated. + +"We don't blame you, Susan, my dear," said Tom, kindly. "We know that +it was all that rascal Markworth's doing." + +Susan interrupted him at once, and spoke earnestly, with great emotion. + +"Do not say a word against him, Tom; he is my husband, and I won't have +a word said against him. If I am changed it is all his doing, and I +love him. He has rescued me from ignorance and worse, and made me what +I now am. Tom, Tom, you must not say a word against him. I won't bear +it even from you." + +"There, there," said Tom, soothingly, as if he were speaking to a child, +"I did not mean it, and I won't say another word. But are you happy?" + +"Happy!" echoed Susan--the answer to his question could be read in her +face--"I never knew what happiness was before. I do not mean to blame +you, Tom," seeing the look of surprise in Tom's face, "but I could never +understand before. I have to thank him for reason and all. I can never +repay all that he has done for me." + +Tom saw that it was useless to say anything further, and he changed the +tenor of the conversation. + +"And how did you get over here, Susan?" he said, cheerfully. "Tell me +how you got away, and all about it." + +"I never intended to go away until the last moment," said Susan, "and I +was so frightened of mother that if I had thought of her I should have +turned back; but he was with me, and I felt courage, and the next +morning we were married in London, I believe, and then we came over +here; and, oh! Tom, I am so happy!" + +She proceeded to tell him all about her daily life, and her little joys +and pleasures. + +Tom was greatly interested. He saw that Susan was immensely improved, +and he could not but be glad at the change, however much he may have +been angry at the way in which it was brought about. Besides, no blame +could be attached to her. Tom himself was in love, you see, and he +could make greater allowances now on that score than he might previously +have done. He saw that Markworth must be kind to her, and at all +events, he had certainly done more good to Susan in these few weeks than +all the doctors had done. For his part, he would cheerfully have let +Markworth now have the money that he had plotted for, and be done with +him altogether, but it did not rest in his hands, so the least he could +do would be to try and get Susan to go back with him. + +"And will you come home with me now, Susan?" he asked, after a pause. +"We are all so anxious about you; and you will find things all right at +home now, and mother will be very kind." + +"And Allynne!--will he come too?" + +"No, Susan; I can't ask him. You ought to know that." + +"You want me to leave him? Tom, I will never leave him unless he sends +me away himself." + +Just at this moment the door opened, and Markworth walked in as coolly +as possible. Susan darted past Tom and threw her arms round his neck. + +"Oh! Allynne, Allynne!" she cried--she had learnt to call him by his +Christian name, which no one else had done before--"they want to take me +from you. You won't let me go, will you?" + +"Of course not, Susan. There, Mr Hartshorne," he said, turning to Tom. +"I told you that I did not detain the girl against her will, and you +can hear her answer for yourself. I wish to act fairly in the matter, +no matter how my motives are misunderstood. Susan," he said, again +addressing her, "what will you do--go with your brother or stay here +with me?" + +The only answer she made was to cling closer round his neck. + +Markworth looked at Tom triumphantly, and the latter felt humbled. + +"I'm sure it is not my fault," he said. "I daresay you mean very well, +Markworth, but I don't retract what I said to you the other day. It was +dishonourable for you to take my sister away like that. As for the +money, however, now that I see her well and happy, you might cheerfully +have it for all I care." + +"Thank you," said Markworth, really touched, "you are a generous fellow, +and I promise you to take care of your sister carefully for your sake as +well as her own. She is well and happy now, and quite recovered, as you +can see for yourself, but if she went back she might relapse again, +although I won't prevent her from going." + +Tom saw there was no use in trying to urge Susan, for she would not come +with him and leave Markworth. He therefore only stopped that day with +her, and returned on the morrow to Southampton, to report his want of +success. He gave a very truthful account of his mission, and told both +his mother and the doctor that Susan was quite restored. The old +dowager appeared not to care very much about the matter, and reiterated +her intention of preventing Markworth from "getting a penny of her +money." The doctor was pleased to hear such good accounts of his former +patient, but he was apprehensive as to the duration of Markworth's kind +treatment to Susan. + +"Bless my soul, sir!" said he to Tom, "it may be all very true now, but +you can't expect to make a nigger change his skin, or make a silk purse +out of a sow's ear, as they say somewhere or other, in something I've +read. That man's bad at the bottom, Tom, as certain as God made little +apples!"--the doctor, in his customary manner, mixing up a hypothesis +with two biblical proverbs. + +Thus ended Tom's mission after Susan. He shortly afterwards arranged +another enterprise with a different object, and how he fared here will +be detailed in the next chapter. + +Volume 2, Chapter IX. + +"FIDDLE-DE-DEE!" + +"Fiddle-de-dee! Thomas," said the old dowager, with considerable +asperity, "why you'll be wanting a glass coach and four, and a cocked +hat next. Stuff and nonsense, sir, it's all fiddle-de-dee!" + +"But, mother--" + +"But me no buts sir! I tell you I won't have it, and that's enough." + +"Really, mother." + +"Really, indeed! I suppose you think I'm as great a fool as you are, +Thomas." + +"Pray don't excite yourself, mother," said Tom, trying to keep down the +thermometer until he could obtain a fair hearing, but the old lady was +not to be pacified, for his soothing words only added fuel to the fire. + +"Excite myself, indeed! I should think there was a little cause for +excitement to hear a baby like you talking of getting married! And +bearding me in my own house to be sure! I tell you, Thomas, I won't +have it!" And the dowager paced rapidly backwards and forwards on one +side of the dining-room with short, jerky steps, swinging her hands, +with the fingers clasping and unclasping in unison with her nervous +walk. + +Tom walked up and down the room on the other side, the table being +entrenched between them. He took long military strides, and twirled the +end of his moustache impatiently every now and then, for his temper too +was rising. He did not reply at once, so his mother went on with a +recapitulated volley of wrath. She had only been winding up as it were, +before, and now burst out in a flowing stream of words, like an alarm +clock running down, as if she had never paused from her last utterance. + +"A boy like you--not of age yet, and whom I only carried in my arms the +other day! You deserve to be whipped and sent to bed, sir! I never +heard of such a thing in all my born days! And as for that little +chit--she--she, I don't know what oughtn't to be done with her. Little +minx! But it serves me right, putting that jackanapes of a brother of +hers into that snug living down there." And the dowager with a wave of +her hand indicated Hartwood village. "There is he prancing about on +that little beast of a pony of his every day after the heels of that +fine my lady who wanted to poke her nose in here if I had only let her. +I can see what's going on, although I do mind my own business! And now +that artful little jade is trying to catch you with her big staring +eyes! I wonder what you can see in her I'm sure. I know what she's +after: they have heard that you are the heir, and they want to secure +you for the family, but I'll spoil their tricks. I'm not going to be +turned out of my own house yet. I'll pack that jackanapes of a brother +off about his business, and as for the artful little minx--it's +positively indecent a girl running after a boy like that! I saw what +they were fishing for, in sending up every day that Gezaba of a servant +of theirs to enquire `how Mister Tom was.' Mister Tom, indeed! It +ought to be Master Tom, and he to be birched. The artful little minx! +I'll--I'll--" + +"Stop, mother," shouted Tom, seizing upon a favourable opportunity when +the dowager paused a moment from loss of breath. "Stop, mother, I won't +have you say a word against that young lady. I don't mind what you say +of me, but I won't stand by and hear you abuse an innocent girl like +that. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, mother, to use such +language. Against your own sex, too, and a lady whom I intend to make +my wife." + +"Your wife!" screamed the old lady with tenfold vehemence and passion. +"Your wife! I'd sooner see you in your grave first!" + +"You forget yourself, mother," said Tom, hotly. Like all easy-going men +who have good tempers and are seldom roused up to anger, Tom took some +time to lose his temper thoroughly, and when he did, he lost it +completely. He was now in a regular passion, and his mother's taunts +sent him up to fever heat. + +"Forget myself, indeed!"--It was a case of flint and steel between the +two.--"It is you that forget yourself, talking like a Bashaw of Nine +Tails of marrying whom you please, as if you were a lord and master. +Fine doings, indeed! why you're as mad as your sister Susan." + +"You need not bring poor Susan into the conversation, mother. I'm sure +she's very happy, and I believe she did for the best, if this be a +sample of a mother's affection, and what she would have met with at +home"--Tom ejaculated bitterly. + +"Oh! she did for the best, did she? And a fine mess she made of it, +running off with that swindling vagabond. I would like to see him on +the treadmill! If that was the only way in which she could get back her +senses, it would have been better for her to have been dead at once. +But it is the way with all silly women; they never seem to have their +senses until they have tied themselves to some scoundrel who has only +married them for their money. You are more mad than she is, Thomas. +Marry, indeed! A pretty pass things are coming to. You're an idiot, +and she's a minx, there!" + +"I tell you, mother, I won't have you say a word against that lady. If +there be any fault attached to the business, which I can't see myself, +she's not to blame at any rate." + +"She's a little minx, there," repeated the dowager, with increased +venom. She saw how well the shaft was aimed, and like a woman she +pushed it in. + +"I won't have it, mother." + +"Minx! minx! minx! there!" uttered the old lady rapidly, giving her head +a jerky nod after each repetition of the obnoxious epithet. + +"This is scandalous!" said Tom, literally boiling over with passion. +The term "minx," applied to Lizzie, having apparently the same effect on +him as a red rag has on a bull, or a fat turkey gobler, to adapt a more +ignoble simile. "I won't have it, whether you're my mother or not, and +I'll marry whom I please, without asking your leave or licence." + +"You will, will you? I should like to know how you're going to support +a wife? I'm not going to do it for you." + +"I don't care whether you do or do not," said Tom, savagely. + +The bull had been now tormented sufficiently, and the matador thought it +time to give the _coup de grace_. + +"Mark my words," said the dowager, impressively, "if you marry that +chit, Thomas, or have anything more to do with her, or any of that +toadying crew, not a penny piece of my money do you get, Thomas." + +"Hang the money! I don't want it: I suppose I can get along somehow or +other without it." + +"Remember, you're not of age yet, young sir, and when you are, you won't +be much better off, unless I please. You haven't a penny of your own +now, except what I give you, and if you don't abandon the whole thing, +not a penny more will you have." + +The dowager was aware of the advantage in military tactics of cutting +off the enemy's supplies. + +"I'm sure I don't want it," said Tom; but he thought in a moment how +ungracious this was to his mother, who had previously been so kind to +him. "I mean, I don't want you to help me any more, if it's to be +thrown in my teeth like this. I am very much obliged to you, mother, +for what you have done for me already. That is past and gone, and I'm +not going to sell myself now and break a trusting girl's heart for the +sake of my future chances. Hang the money! I hate the very sound of +the word." + +"But it is a very useful thing, Thomas--a very useful thing; and you +don't seem to have had any objection to it before. It's very hard on +me, Thomas, very hard." The old lady was broken now a good deal, after +all the trouble she had gone through, and was not able to prosecute the +combat with her customary vigour. "After I've been slaving and saving +for you all these years to meet with such a return. It's a judgment on +me; and if I had served my church better than I have served my son, it-- +it--" And the dowager fairly broke down for the first time in her life, +after vainly attempting to paraphrase Cardinal Wolsey's memorable +monologue. + +Tom was fairly vanquished. + +"I beg your pardon, mother. I did not mean to say anything unkind or +ungrateful, but really--" + +"After all I have done for you, too," whimpered Mrs Hartshorne; "it's a +judgment on me for neglecting your sister and making so much of you." + +"I'm very sorry, mother, but I'm a man now, and this is a matter I must +decide for myself." + +"You shan't marry with my consent," retorted the dowager; "and you can't +marry without that." + +"You're my mother," said Tom, sadly emphasising that undeniable fact; +"and you can ruin my hopes of happiness, if you please. But I shan't +stop here; I shall go abroad." + +"You go where you please," said the old lady, in her usual sharp way, +"so long as you give up that chit." + +"I'm not going to give up anybody," said Tom, defiantly; "and I shall +exchange into an Indian regiment to-morrow, and when I come of age I +shall do as I please." + +"Suit yourself," said the dowager, curtly; "but mark my words, not a +penny of my money do you get." + +At this point the engagement terminated, each party withdrawing their +forces without undergoing either a defeat or a victory. It was a +decided case of what the dowager had termed in the first instance, +"Fiddle-de-dee!" + +Tom, immediately after returning from his unsuccessful trip to Havre, +had gone down one fine morning to the pretty little parsonage house at +Hartwood. + +This was not like the first visit he had paid after his convalescence. +Then he had been prevented from speaking all he had to say, for Pringle +was there; and however much a man may be in love and dying to speak out +to the object of his young affections, he cannot very well do it in the +presence of her brother. Much, therefore, as Tom liked Pringle, he had +hated him at the time of his prior visit for his persistent presence. + +"Why on earth could he not go away and set to work about his sermon or +something else," Tom thought savagely at the time, and I believe his +wishes were shared in this respect, mingled with a little trembling and +nervousness, by Miss Lizzie herself, for she doubtless guessed what Tom +wished to say. There is something inherent in the divine sex which +tells them at once when a male biped is going to make a fool of himself. +But then Pringle had not gone away, and the tale, that billionth-told +tale, had still to be told. + +Why is it that writers always allude to a love episode as that "old, old +story?" It is never old, my dear sir, or madam, or mayhap, +mademoiselle. It is always new. That wonderful little drama, +oftentimes a tragedy, in which two actors only take the parts. It is +like the fabled Phoenix which possesses the faculty of reproduction, for +it is perennially fresh, and young, and new. + +Tom found Lizzie alone this time, and you may be certain he took +advantage of the opportunity. You see the case had nearly been +concluded before, and was well understood between the pair, so it did +not require all that serious preparation, and Quintus Curtian resolve +before dashing into the yawning gulf. Tom plunged into it at once. +Lizzie's fresh little face, with its melting violet eyes, and the pretty +embarrassment which she displayed as she received him in her little +conservatory, into which he walked at once to find her on hearing +Pringle was out, made him fear nothing and all confident. + +The impudent dog darted forward on catching sight of her; and, would you +believe it, he had Lizzie folded in his arms before she knew where she +was, murmuring over her "My darling, my darling!" And Miss Lizzie--I +suppose from discretion, knowing how powerless she was against his +strong arms, did not appear to offer any protest. "Abandoned girl!" I +hear the old campaigner exclaiming in her dulcet accents. + +Master Tom was not going to let the opportunity slip, you may be bound. +He had been looking forwards to this, and thinking over the scene all +the time he had been laid up, and he was quite prepared to act it. + +"Lizzie, my darling," he whispered, after a pause, into her little pink +ear, which was temptingly near him, "will you be my own darling little +wife?" + +And Lizzie said nothing; she only looked up in his face. And their lips +met in one long thrilling kiss. + +Of course it was the old or new story all over again. Rehearse it, +Damon; fight the love-strife over again, Phyllis, and you have the scene +complete. + +They were in the conservatory all the time; and it was curious how after +Pringle came in what a tremendous lot of gardening Lizzie had to do, and +how she could not move the pots about, or exercise her little trowel +without Tom's help. Shortly afterwards she darted off up-stairs somehow +with a very flushed face. Stooping always does send the colour to one's +head, you know. And then Tom told Lizzie's brother all about it. + +"I'm awfully glad, old fellow," said Herbert Pringle, B.A.--"I am +awfully glad, old fellow. Nothing could have pleased me better. I +thought you were rather spoony on Lizzie, you know, all along, and I was +expecting something like this." + +And they shook hands together in mutual congratulation. Tom thought +Lizzie's brother a very fine, good-natured, clever fellow indeed! + +"By-the-way," said Pringle, after a pause, "have you asked your mother +about this?" + +Tom looked rather glum; he thought Lizzie's brother a little like the +stern parent now. + +"Not yet," he answered. "I am going up to tell her now; but it'll be +all right, you know." + +"I am very glad to hear it, for I would not let you and Lizzie enter +into any engagement without her consent. It would not be right, as +she's placed me here in her parish, you know." + +Herbert Pringle had very serious thoughts on the subject of etiquette, +and rather doubted the dowager's consent being obtained, from all he had +heard of her from the campaigner, and knew of her himself. + +"Oh! that'll be all right," said Tom. + +And then Lizzie had come down again, looking bewitchingly beautiful, and +Tom spent an hour of ecstasy, after which he took up his hat to go. + +Lizzie knew the errand he was now going on--to speak to the dowager--and +she wished tearful success to him, and gave him a pretty adieu as he +went off exultant: for he said his mother would never refuse her consent +to an angel! + +How he fared in his enterprise has been already detailed, for as soon as +he hinted at the thing his mother had broken out with her characteristic +diatribe. + +And now the pleasant little drama was brought to an abrupt conclusion. +It was all over! He could not marry Lizzie without his mother's +consent; the crimson sea of love was now covered with the heaving +billows of adversity. He would go abroad somewhere, for he should go +mad if he stopped here and could not see his darling, and Lizzie, of +course, she would die of a broken heart: it was always the usual routine +in tragedies like this. + +Tom was very miserable, for he had yet to see Lizzie and her brother-- +from whom he had gone off so exultant--and tell of his defeat. + +The world was a blank to him now! + +"Fiddle-de-dee!" + +Volume 2, Chapter X. + +MARKWORTH VERSUS HARTSHORNE. + +Markworth was as good as his word. + +As soon as he saw that there was no chance of prevailing on the old +dowager to pay over Susan's inheritance without calling in the aid of +the law, he quickly set the slowly-moving wheels of that ponderous and +unwieldly machinery in motion. + +The very day Mr Trump and himself both got back to London, Mrs +Hartshorne was served, through her solicitors, with a notice to refund +the sum of twenty thousand pounds cash, trust money held by her on +behalf of her daughter, Susan Markworth _nee_ Hartshorne, and bequeathed +by the late Roger Hartshorne, deceased, now claimed by Allynne Markworth +on behalf of his wife Susan, as beforesaid. + +This legal notice was sent to Messrs. Trump, Sequence, and Co., by a +firm of Jewish notoriety, Solomonson and Isaacs, unknown to Mr Trump, +save through the columns of the "Law List"--although their names were +frequently seen in the newspapers, under the head of "Police +Intelligence," as the defenders of low class criminals and receivers of +stolen goods. + +"Mishter Sholomonshon" had not only been willing to act as Markworth's +banker, "for a shtrong conshiderashun, ma dere shir," pending the suit, +but also agreed to act as his legal adviser in the matter, and instruct +counsel for carrying on the case. As Markworth looked upon all +attorneys as alike, they all being, in his estimation, "limbs of the +devil," without any distinction between them, he consented willingly to +the arrangement, particularly as he knew Solomonson was as sharp as a +needle, and he was not at all averse to his being a Jew; besides, he +already knew all about the matter, and Markworth was not personally +acquainted with any other lawyers. + +"Sharp work!" said Mr Trump, rubbing his hands gleefully in +anticipation of a lengthy suit and a long bill of costs when this notice +was served. "Sharp work; but I don't like to have to act with that +rascally Jew firm; I wish the rogue had respectable solicitors. It +can't be helped though now--" + +"Quite so," murmured Mr Sequence, affirmatively, looking at his partner +straight in the face, with his dull eyes and expressionless features. + +"But we'll stop their little game," continued Mr Trump, as if speaking +to himself, without taking any notice of Sequence at the moment. He +presently turned to him, however, and the two, after some little +deliberation, settled upon what course they should pursue. + +Mr Trump was resolved, according to the dowager's express wish and his +own personal inclination--that fifty pounds rankled sorely in his +breast!--to fight the case to the death. + +The notice was answered by a peremptory refusal to pay over the trust +money. + +Whereupon Mrs Hartshorne was invited in judicial parlance through her +solicitors to show cause why she should not refund the said sum of +twenty thousand pounds. + +The rule, "to show cause," was retorted to by sundry pleas, the first of +which averred never indebtedness, and the others that the plaintiff, +Allynne Markworth, had coerced the said Susan Hartshorne, falsely termed +Susan Markworth, on whose behalf the trust money was claimed, which +claim was null and void, and without foundation in the eyes of the law, +inasmuch as the said plaintiff "had entered into a conspiracy to obtain +the money of a person of unsound mind, under the pretence of going +through a marriage ceremony with a person who, in the eye of the law, +could not make a binding contract." + +These pleas were replicated, and the whole thing resolved itself into a +formal case at law--a very important case of medical jurisprudence, +wherein the evidence for the defence was to impeach the sanity of the +plaintiffs principal witness. + +Everything was at length arranged. The preliminaries of the combat were +all settled, and counsel were engaged on either side. The foemen were +eager for the fray, a day was fixed for the trial, late in the +Michaelmas term, and on the day of battle appointed, the lists would be +lined by the partisans of the respectives combatants, who would then +enter the arena with visors closed and lances couched--visors of legal +dust with which to blind their opponent's eyes, and not to save their +own, and lances of parchment briefs with substantial butts of strong +witnesses--to fight the be-wigged and be-gowned battle until either foe +should fall. When "God defend the right," or in the more colloquial +language of the prize ring, "may the best man win." + +The case of "Markworth _versus_ Hartshorne" created an immense sensation +in legal circles when it was known that a day had been appointed for +giving it a hearing. + +The issues involved were very intricate; and, as in most cases based on +a point of lunacy, the sympathy of the public, who, as yet, knew nothing +reliable about the matter, was in favour of Markworth and his wife, the +latter of whom would be, it was said, produced in court to testify her +own sanity at the time she married the plaintiff. + +The whole case, in fact, rested upon this point--whether the marriage +was a real marriage or not--that is to say, whether Susan Hartshorne was +sane or insane at the time she ran away with Markworth. If she was in +her right senses at the time, then the marriage was _bona fide_, and the +old dowager would have to hand over the nice little amount of her +daughter's inheritance that was due; if Susan was proved to be imbecile, +then the marriage would be void, the dowager would still retain her hold +of the twenty thousand pounds, and Markworth be indictable for +conspiracy. + +It was a civil suit, so to speak, based on criminal ends; so it would go +worse with the plaintiff than the defendant should his case fall +through. + +Solomonson and Isaacs, however, were sharp practitioners, and one of +their first proceedings was to subpoena Doctor Jolly, who had attended +Susan so long as her medical adviser, and who, of course, would be a +very material witness: this was in order to prevent the other side from +getting hold of him; and Miss Kingscott was also favoured with a little +oblong slip of paper and a guinea in order to insure her attendance to +the same end. + +They were sharp enough, as Mr Trump found out to his cost; for before +the day fixed for the trial, the dowager's lawyers were at their wits +end how to support their case. They had got hold of Joseph Begg, who +had witnessed the marriage, and the curate who solemnised it, to bear +out the alleged charge of conspiracy against Markworth, but beyond that +they felt they could do nothing. If Susan were placed in the +witness-box, and stood her cross-examination so as to prove her sanity, +the case would be all put out of court, or, as Mr Trump graphically +expressed it, "it would be all up." + +Indeed, Mr Trump had such very serious thoughts about the termination +of the case, after he had thoroughly gone into the evidence _pro_ and +_con_, that he took upon himself to advise Mrs Hartshorne to compromise +the matter before it came on for trial. This was just after Tom came +back from his visit to Susan and reported how happy and changed she was. + +But the dowager would not hear a word of compromise. She was determined +to "fight it out on that line," as General Grant is reported to have +said when besieging Richmond in the Southern States, not only "if it +took all the summer," but the winter too. + +Accordingly the case of "Markworth _versus_ Hartshorne," was regularly +put down for trial; and Sergeants Thickhyde, Q.C., and Silvertong +retained for the defence. The Jew lawyers had got hold of the +well-known Brassy, considered A1 at the criminal bar, and Serjeant +Interpleader, to conduct their case on Markworth's behalf. + +Volume 2, Chapter XI. + +"THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME." + +"_Partant pour la Syrie_" should have been the proper title for this +chapter, only instead of _la Syrie_, read _l'Abysinne_; but as "The girl +I left behind me" is more appropriate to the matter, if not to the +motive of what follows, the latter heading has been adopted in +preference. "The Girl I left behind me!" That would-be jovial and yet +melancholy air, with its dreary rub-a-dub-dub which the band plays when +the regiment is marching out so gaily oh! with the route for foreign +service. The Light Brigade played it when they started off to the +Crimea; the Royals when they sailed for India, to avenge the deaths of +our murdered kinswomen at Cawnpore: how many that departed so gallantly +marching to the strains of that sad hackneyed tune, saw their native +land again, or met the welcome of the girls they left behind them! + +The "fiddle-de-dee" conversation with the old dowager had levelled the +charming little Spanish castle which Tom had erected down to the ground; +so it was with a very sad heart that he called at the parsonage on the +following day to acquaint Lizzie and her brother with the upshot of his +interview with his mother. + +He was obliged to speak out straight and tell the truth: and it resulted +in his worst fears being realised. Herbert Pringle said he could not +hear of an engagement between them, as Mrs Hartshorne would not give +her consent; and Lizzie, with a very pale little face and a determined +little air, as if she was a martyr and being led to the stake, said she +would have to do as her brother told her. + +Tom, on hearing this, burst into a passion, and said she had "never +cared for him," and that "nobody cared for him," and he "wished he was +dead," and that he "would go away," and "when some bullet put an end to +his life" she "would think of him," a false, "fickle, perjured girl as +she was;" and he went off in a tantrum, unmindful of Lizzie's pleading +little face, and the longing violet eyes, and the pale, tearless cheek. + +Tom went straight off to rejoin his regiment, the depot of which was +quartered at Aldershot. He told the Colonel, who was an old bachelor, +and regarded Tom as a son, that he wanted to exchange and go on foreign +service. + +"Pooh, pooh!" said the old Plunger, who had grown grey in the regiment, +and seen much service at its head in India and the Crimea--"Pooh, pooh, +Tom; why, you must be crossed in love, my boy!" + +Tom was very sad over it, and very stern; he could not see anything to +joke about. He told the colonel that he was very unhappy at home, and +wished to go away for a time; and if he could assist him in furthering +his object, he, Tom, would ever remain grateful, and so on. + +The Colonel was a kind hearted old fellow, and seeing that Tom was sore +wounded, he did not rally him any more on the subject, but entered into +it _con amore_. + +"I'll do anything for you, Tom, my boy, that I can. You know that +without my saying it; and if you really do want to go abroad, I can put +you in the way of it this present moment." + +"Can you, Colonel?" said Tom, earnestly; "I wish you would." + +"That I will, my boy! You know the Abyssinian Expedition is just +starting out." + +"By Jove!" said Tom, "that's just what I should like." + +"Easy, my boy--easy! Don't run away with the squad like that all at +once! I'm just coming to it, my boy." + +"Pray excuse me, sir," said Tom, who was dying for the rather easy-going +Colonel to proceed. + +"All right, my boy--all right. You see, I met my friend Sir Charles, +who goes out with the advanced corps, the other day in London, and he +told me that if I knew any smart young officer who would like to go out, +he would be happy to let him come with him as one of his aides-de-camp, +to oblige me." + +"Oh, sir!" ejaculated Tom, in anxiety. + +"The question is, my boy, are you a smart young officer, and can I +recommend you?" the Colonel asked, being a bit of a wag, as he saw the +sudden joy which irradiated the suppliant's face. + +"I would thank you so much, sir," ejaculated Tom; "I am sure I could be +useful to him if you would only recommend me." + +"Much use you would be, to be sure! I suppose you would teach him the +last waltz step, and tell him how to flirt, you dog!" + +"Oh, sir--you'll oblige me, Colonel, won't you? and do me this favour?" + +"Well, I don't mind if I do, Tom. You are a young scamp I know, but +I've a sort of liking for you, and I'll give you a letter of +introduction to Sir Charles. But you must go up to London at once, for +he'll be off in a day or two. I daresay you can catch him at that den +of thieves, the Horse Guards, or else at his club." + +"Oh I thank you, sir," said Tom, shaking the old veteran heartily by the +hand. "Oh! thank you, Colonel; I'll never forget your kindness." + +"There, there, my boy--take it easily. And now if you will kindly let +me have my arm to myself, I will sit down and write you your letter at +once, and also one to the commander-in-chief, which will facilitate your +movements." + +The Colonel then sat down and wrote as he promised; and Tom was off in a +jiffey to London. In the joy of going off, he had for a moment +forgotten Lizzie, only to remember her with a ten times greater fondness +a moment or two later. + +Being diligent in his explorations, Tom speedily found his new chief, +who received him very cordially, and said how very glad he was to be +able to do anything for the old Plunger veteran, from whom he had just +come. Tom, to his great joy, was appointed one of the aides-de-camp of +the general who was going off with the expeditionary force to Abyssinia. +He was only just in time, however, for the places had all been filled +up. Tom indeed owed his luck to the sudden illness of one of the +officers already appointed. + +What a wonderful thing that Abyssinian Expedition was! The world sees +some queer changes in its time. Twenty-eight hundred and fifty years +ago the Queen of Sheba paid her celebrated visit to King Solomon at +Jerusalem, and here, so many centuries after, we have the children of +the Gentiles and the inhabitants of the Isles of the West sallying out +and getting them ready to battle against the descendants of the +self-same King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba across the waters of the +Red Sea. + +Tom had very few days in which to prepare for his departure. It was now +October, and he had to go by the overland route to India first, and then +to sail from Bombay with the advance guard of the invading army. + +His mother was very much vexed at his going away. She did not think he +would have acted up to what he had threatened; but Tom had the same +stubborn temper at bottom, and what he had said he would stick to, so +she could not alter it. As she saw this she did not press him, for she +knew it would be no use; his preparations were therefore rather hurried. + +Tom, however, was not going to part from Lizzie in that way. He had +rushed off that time in a passion, but he was not going to leave her so +abruptly, and he went down again to the parsonage to make his peace in +his own way. + +The little conservatory witnessed many little tender scenes before the +day of his departure came, although the time was but short for them to +be acted in. Pringle had interposed scruples at first, but his calm +course of ecstasy with the languid Laura made him somewhat more lenient +than the campaigner, his future mother-in-law--the time was drawing on +now--would have approved. + +Tender little scenes of love these were in that romantic conservatory, +which had witnessed all Tom's love-making and all his short happiness. +Little repetitions and conjugations of the same verb _amo_ over and over +again, with its present, and its past, and its future subjunctive +tenses. Who has not lived and loved and can fill in all these details? +Ah! how well remembered they are--the looks, the smiles, the tears, the +joys, the sorrows, the ecstasies of love's young dream! Tom Moore was +more eloquent on the subject than Goethe, who told-- + + Ich habe genossen das irdische Gluck; + Ich habe gelebt und geliebt, + +Is not half so expressive as the Irish Catullus. + +Fond hearts are severed however, if sometimes only for a time. Tom came +down one day to the parsonage to take his last farewell. He had bidden +adieu to his mother before. Lizzie he wanted to see last of all! She +was the girl he left behind him. + +It was very sad for the young lovers to part like this, just when they +were beginning to know each other. + +But perhaps it was for the best. With true love "Absence makes the +heart grow fonder," with the article of dross the reverse proverb holds +true. Perhaps as it is preferable to be able to know which is the real +Simon Pure: a separation sometimes works well. + +There is little good in dwelling on last words. + +The parting was only for a time, as Tom fondly told Lizzie, trying to +cheer her up. + +One long embrace, one last kiss, and Tom was off. The young Dunois had +sallied forth for the Orient, and Lizzie wept like Medora at the +departure of Conrad the Corsair, thinking, if not exclaiming-- + + "And is he gone?" On sudden solitude + How oft that question will intrude! + "'Twas but an instant past, and here he stood! + And now"--without the portal's porch she rush'd, + And then her tears at length in freedom gush'd; + Big, bright, and fast, unknown to her they fell, + And still her lips refused to send "Farewell!" + +Volume 2, Chapter XII. + +COUNTER TRAPS. + +Clara Kingscott, when Mrs Hartshorne sent her away from The Poplars in +that ignominious manner, telling her she did not require her services +any further, was more than half inclined not to prosecute her design +against Markworth in revealing her share in inducing Susan to go away +with him, out of pure spite against the old dowager. + +"I'll make the old cat pay for it," she said to herself. "If I don't +prove anything against Markworth she'll have to pay him all that money, +and she shall too!" + +But after some deliberation in the matter Miss Kingscott saw that she +would, according to the proverb, "be biting off her nose to spite her +face," and surrendering her long cherished revenge from a mere passing +pique. It would never do; she thought she had been cold and calculating +enough to achieve her purpose, and here she was going off at a tangent +and sacrificing all she looked and hoped for these many years but for a +petty loss of temper. No, she might be sent away from The Poplars, but +she would still achieve that grand purpose of her life, and no regret at +benefitting the harsh old woman she called her mistress should prevent +her from ruining Markworth. That she had sworn, and would stick to. + +She took some temporary satisfaction out of the old dowager by abusing +her to her heart's content to her face, so astonishing that worthy lady, +who had not had a person exchange retorts with her for years, that Miss +Kingscott made her exit with flying colours just shortly before Tom +started off for Abyssinia. + +No one was very much grieved at her departure, except the old doctor, +who said it was "A dooced shame sending away a poor girl like that, +marm!" to the mistress of The Poplars, who told him in reply to mind his +own business, and not to "be dancing to her house" any more, as he "had +nothing and nobody to dance there for now, thank goodness!" + +The doctor had held his peace, and went his way a wiser if a sadder man, +saying unto himself, "Bless my soul! It's an infernal shame, and she's +a dooced fine girl, and it's a great pity," after taking an affecting +adieu of his late love, whom he commanded to have no scruples about +writing to him in case she wanted any assistance. You see the old lady +was present all the while, and the doctor could not repeat his +declaration in her presence, however much he may have been tempted so to +do. + +In this manner Clara Kingscott went away, shaking the Sussex dust from +her feet and came to London, The Poplars being left to its own solitude +after Tom's departure, with the old dowager twice as cross and rancorous +and grinding to her tenants as before. I believe she even missed the +governess after a time, for now the old doctor hardly ever came, and she +had no one to quarrel with; no one who would answer her back again that +is, for "Garge" took all she gave him, as did the old women servant, and +there is no fun in having the quarrelling all to oneself. It takes two +to make a fair quarrel, but the poor old dowager had no one now but +herself. She paid off, however, her deprivation on Mr Trump, writing +long letters every day to him about the progress of the suit, and making +the lawyer swear at old ladies in general and Mrs Hartshorne in +particular, and curse the inventors of pen, ink, and paper, and Sir +Rowland Hill for the penny post. + +The governess, when she arrived in London, took some comfortable +apartments for herself; she could afford to wait awhile, for she had +plenty of money besides her salary, which latter she had rigorously +exacted from the dowager to the last penny, including a month's notice, +for which she gave a receipt in full, and she could afford to look about +and suit her own convenience as to her future plans. + +By a strange coincidence, she, after hunting about for a day or two, +took lodgings in the very house where Markworth had formerly lived in +Bloomsbury, and had the very same landlady, Mrs Martin, as hostess. +That good lady being very fond of chat, like most landladies, and as +"the parlours," as Miss Kingscott became called from taking these rooms, +had no friends coming to see her, she would frequently drop in "of an +evenink" to pass the time of day: also, like most landladies, Mrs +Martin would recount all the deeds and doings of her former lodgers, in +which narrative she did not fail to mention Mr Markworth, "The best +gentleman as any lady ever had; so quiet and giving no trouble, and +always paying his rent that regular as you might depend upon it like the +Bank of England as ever was!" + +It was not surprising under these circumstances, therefore, that Miss +Kingscott soon got a little further information about the gentleman +around whom she was busily weaving her coils, and learnt in a very short +time--just through passing curiosity, that's all, she was so much +interested in what that good Mrs Martin had to tell of her lodgers--all +about the habits of Markworth, and that "sister" of his he had brought +up from the country, and how he had removed all his things, and gone off +at last without a word of warning; although "I'll do him the justice to +say he behaved as a perfect gentleman, that he did, and paid a month's +rent in advance," said Mrs Martin, which capped what the governess had +got out of the old dowager, and placed the lodging-house keeper and +herself on a par. + +"Markworth _versus_ Hartshorne" was rapidly coming on for trial, when +late one evening, just as he was thinking of shutting up his office, and +going home for the night--the clerks, but one, had all departed an hour +since--Mr Trump had a visitor. + +"Ah, ha! Miss Kingscott, glad to see you," said the lawyer, rising from +his chair as she entered. He was by himself, Sequence and the "Co." +having retired for the evening, and he was then writing busily by the +aid of a couple of greasy candles, which flared, now to the right, now +to the left, from the draught through the half-open door. "Glad to see +you; can I do anything for you? it's rather late, but never too late for +business, you know!" And he rubbed his hands with a sort of +congratulatory and metallic rub. + +"Yes," answered the governess, speaking deliberately, in her cold, calm +voice; "I wanted to speak to you, and that's the reason you see me here. +You know, I suppose, that I have left Mrs Hartshorne's employment?" + +"Yes--sorry for it too--hasty business; but you must remember the old +lady is a leetel hasty sometimes, and I ought to know it as well as +anybody." + +"You are right, sir; she is too hasty sometimes, and was a little too +much so for her own good very nearly: only that it serves my purpose to +help her, I would not now be here. That case is very nearly coming on, +is it not?" + +"What, Markworth _versus_ Hartshorne? Yes; but I thought you were +subpoenaed on the other side?" + +"So I am, but I can help your side a good deal!" + +"Indeed, Miss Kingscott! I do not like as a rule to tamper with an +opponent's witness, but as they played so very sharply with us, I think +we may stretch a point in the present instance." And the lawyer again +rubbed his hands expectantly, waiting for what the governess had to say. + +"Now, what I am going to tell you," continued Miss Kingscott, "I am +going to disclose in confidence, and I wish you to pledge me your word-- +I know you to be a gentleman, and I believe you to be a man of honour-- +that not a particle of the information I give you is to be mentioned by +you until the day the trial comes on, when, of course, you are welcome +to make what use you please of it!" + +"That's very strange, Miss Kingscott, very strange. I don't know what I +might be binding myself to!" + +"You will find nothing to reflect on you, sir," resumed the governess, +"I shall be the only one who will suffer; and the very fact of my +telling you what I will do will be a proof of its truthfulness and +veracity. You can, in the meantime, substantiate anything I say by your +own personal enquiry." + +"It's very strange! very strange, indeed, madam! But I take your word +for it, and will pledge myself as you require, excepting always," he +added, with his legal acumen, "that it does not prejudice my future act +on in the matter." + +"It certainly will not; I shall want you to act!" said Miss Kingscott; +and thereupon she told the astonished lawyer all about her complicity +with Markworth, the compact between them, and how it was carried out. + +"Dear me, this is very strange!" said the lawyer, when she had +concluded. "You haven't got any document to show, have you, in proof of +what you say?" + +"No; only my word." + +"Quite so! Quite so! What am I thinking of? Why, the very fact of +your coming forward, and implicating yourself in the conspiracy will be +proof enough." + +The lawyer did not look on Miss Kingscott with the same deference that +he had previously shown her. He eyed her somewhat askance, but he +presently resumed his cross-examination. + +"And you gave him the date of Susan's coming of age, eh!" + +"Yes; I got it out of the family Bible. It was the 27th of August, I +remember it well--just the day before they had the pic-nic--when he took +Susan off." + +"Humph! The 27th of August," said Mr Trump, reflectively, as he looked +over a little document he had before him, at first carelessly, but in a +moment or two more eagerly. "The 27th of August, eh--that's strange!" +He continued to pore upon the mass of papers on his desk, and then he +suddenly seized a large, old-fashioned volume that also lay before him. +"The twenty-seventh, eh? Then, by George, Miss Kingscott, I'm a born +idiot! Hurrah!" he shouted, rising, and dashing the volume to the other +end of the room, as if he were taken suddenly mad, and quite alarming +the governess, who hastily got up, and cried out-- + +"Mr Trump! Mr Trump! what is the matter, sir?" + +"Matter, eh? Matter enough. I'm a born fool! Why that rascal married +the girl before she came of age. She was not of age until the 29th of +August; and, by George, the mistake in the figure will spoil every +chance he had, and prevent the necessity of your services, or any trial +at all!" + +"Gracious! Mr Trump, is that really so, and it is only found out now?" + +"Fact, madam. I'm a born idiot! Why, the whole thing could have been +nipped in the bud at once; and none of us to have seen that thing which +was glaring in our faces all the time, and going to let the case come on +for trial! Dear! Dear! I'm a born idiot, madam, and so is Sequence, +and we'd better now shut up shop!" + +"And that will end the case at once?" + +"Certainly, at once; why, he's got no right to claim anything now, as he +will know very shortly, from the very wording of the will." + +"I'm glad of it; but I should have liked mine to have been the hand to +work his ruin." + +"Very sorry, I'm sure, for your sake, madam; but you see we don't want +your help now, although I should have been very glad to use it a minute +or two ago! I shall write to that vagabond at once. He gave me an +address at an hotel the other day, and he said he would stop there until +the trial came on, in case we wanted to compromise, which, I confess, I +once did. But now, hurrah! the rascal's done for without that. I shall +be happy to see you any other time, Miss Kingscott; but I shall have to +be very busy now, and if you will excuse me--yes--good evening, madam-- +ah--" And the governess was bowed out. + +Mr Trump, when he was by himself, gave vent to a long, congratulatory +chuckle; after which he called out to his clerk, Smiffens, in the outer +office, and told him all about it. + +"By George, Smiffens! what fools we all have been to be sure. There was +that plain evidence of the girl's birth, and the date of the marriage +staring us in the face all the time, and not one of us perceived it! By +George! Smiffens, what a fool I am!" + +"Certainly, sir," answered the old clerk, meekly, his hair standing bolt +upright as he spoke. + +"Go to the devil, sir! What do you mean? Confound your impudence!" + +"Certainly, sir," said Smiffens, in the same tone of voice as before; +and he went towards the door, slowly. + +"Stop!" sang out Mr Trump, who had not paused a moment writing all the +time. "Here, copy these two letters, and deliver them before you go +home. One is for Mr Markworth fixing an appointment for to-morrow +morning, so be sure to tell the waiter or porter at the Tavistock, where +he is staying, to be certain and give it to him to-night. The other +letter is for Solomonson and Isaacs, which you can post." + +The clerk did as he was bidden; and Mr Trump went off to his suburban +home very well satisfied with his day's work. No cause now or need for +any witnesses or evidence, or for the praiseworthy exertions of +Sergeants Thickhyde and Silvertong. The suit of "Markworth _versus_ +Hartshorne" was quashed ere yet it had begun. + +Volume 2, Chapter XIII. + +THE BITER BIT. + +The lawyer's letter surprised him somewhat, but Markworth had no fears +or presentiment of what was the motive or would be the upshot of the +missive. + +"Ha!" he thought, "they want to compromise, do they? It's rather late +in the day for that, and they won't catch me with any chaff. But I may +as well go round and see what they are after." + +At eleven o'clock precisely, the hour they had fixed for the interview, +Markworth tapped at the half-open green baize door which led into the +outer office of Messrs. Trump, Sequence and Co.'s chambers in Bedford +Row. + +"Mr Trump in?" he asked of the old clerk, whose desk, surmounted by the +mahogany face and head, with the grizzled hair standing upon end as if +it had been electrified, faced the door. + +"Yes, sir," answered that worthy, speaking through his shut lips, "Mr +Trump and Mr Sequence both in. Yer name Markworth, b'lieve?"--and +Markworth nodded--"Waiting to see you. Both in there!" pointing to the +door of the inner office, where, on entering, our friend found the +lawyers arranged in state, one on each side of a table, covered with +papers and a wrinkled parchment folio, endorsed on the outside, "Last +will and testament of Roger Hartshorne, deceased." Markworth took in +all the preparations at a glance, the lawyers with their pleasant +about-to-perform-an-operation expression of face, the paper-covered +table, the will, the dentist-like looking easy chair, placed handily for +him between the solicitors, exposing him to their fire on either flank, +and all. + +"Aha! Good morning, Mr Markworth. Fine day," said Mr Trump; and +"Aha! Good morning, Mr Markworth. Fine day," echoed Mr Sequence +after him, as customary, in his feeble treble. + +"Good morning," he answered, "You sent for me, eh?" + +"We sent for you, Mr Markworth, because," said Mr Trump, smiling and +rubbing his hands gleefully, as he always did before plunging into his +subject. "We sent for you, Mr Markworth, because," said the echo, +without any smile, however, or rubbing of hands. + +"Because what, sir?" exclaimed Markworth, turning round abruptly on poor +little Sequence, who of course had not a word to say for himself until +his principal gave him the cue. + +Mr Trump came gallantly to the rescue. + +"We sent for you, Mr Markworth, because we wished to have some +conversation on the subject of the case put down for the present term of +Markworth _versus_ Hartshorne. We represent the defendant, as you +know." + +"Certainly, Mr Trump; but don't you think you had better consult my +solicitor, as the matter is entirely out of my hands?" + +"Hum! I think you'll agree with us after hearing what we have to say, +that the communication which we have to make had better be addressed to +you in the first instance." + +"You wish to compromise the thing, I suppose?" + +"Pray don't be so hasty, my _dear_ sir," responded Trump, still smiling +affably. + +And "My _dear_ sir!" chimed in Sequence, as usual. + +"We don't suppose anything, and we don't pledge or commit ourselves to +anything. Don't be so hasty, my _dear_ sir; it's very unprofessional, +_very_ unprofessional." + +And "Very unprofessional," squeaked Sequence. + +"I wish you would come to the point at once!" said Markworth, angrily. + +Mr Trump at once dropped his professional smile. Glancing his eyes +carelessly over a paper before him, and taking up the will, he spoke out +in a straight, business-like manner, while Mr Sequence sat himself bolt +upright in his chair, and tried to look very stern and pre-occupied +indeed. + +"You are aware," said Mr Trump, looking Markworth full in the face, +"that the late Roger Hartshorne, deceased"--he smacked out his +adjectives with an oily gusto, did Mr Trump--"Deceased;" he repeated +the word as if loth to abandon it, "left his daughter Susan the sum of +twenty thousand pounds sterling, free of legacy duty, to be inherited by +her on her arriving at the age of twenty-one years; or, should she marry +before arriving at the said age of twenty-one years, and after she had +attained the age of eighteen years, _providing_ that the said marriage +should be sanctioned, and by the express will and consent of her mother, +if alive, or in case of her death by an appointed guardian, a certain +Doctor Richard Jolly, as mentioned in the will of the Testator, then and +in such case she was to receive the annual interest at the rate of five +per cent, per annum, chargeable on the property of the Testator, until +she should arrive at the said age of twenty-one years, when she would be +put in possession of all right, title, and interest whatever in the said +sum of twenty thousand pounds, free of legacy duty. I believe that's +the wording of the will?" + +"My dear sir," interrupted Markworth, blandly, "what on earth are you +repeating all that legal gibberish to me for? I knew all that long +ago." + +"I've no doubt, sir, no doubt of _that_. You are a man of the world, +Mr Markworth, like myself, and you'll pardon my hinting that you +probably took a glance at this self-same will before committing yourself +in the matrimonial noose with our rustic young friend. Ha! ha!" + +And Mr Trump laughed a taking, "good joke" sort of laugh. So genial +was he, in fact, that Markworth could not help joining in the laugh, and +thought himself a very smart and clever fellow indeed. + +"You're a sharp fellow, Mr Trump," he said roguishly, giving Mr Trump +a metaphorical poke in the ribs. + +"A sharp fellow! a sharp fellow!" chorused Mr Sequence; and the three +were all at once laughing cordially together, as friendly as you please. + +What charming agreeable fellows dentists are: what capital jokes they +make, and what highly seasoned anecdotes they retail just before drawing +out a tooth. + +Mr Trump was now going to produce his pliers; he had had them concealed +in the professional way up his sleeve all this time. + +"Pardon me, Mr Markworth," he said, all at once, when the chuckle had +died out, turning grave and business-like once more. "Pardon me, but +what I was reading from that will has a good deal to do with what I am +now going to say. Supposing that I admitted for argument's sake, only +as a mere figure of speech so to say, that Susan Hartshorne when she +married you was perfectly sane, and was not coerced into the measure +against her will?" + +"Ha! you admit that." + +"I don't admit it at all, my dear sir; I only used it just for mere +argument's sake." + +"That, Mr Trump, is just the question we are going to try, and I +flatter myself our case is very good; you have got to prove that she was +insane, and it seems incomprehensible to me how you are going to do it +against the evidence we have--that of her governess and people who had +seen her before the marriage--indeed we will have her own evidence in +the witness-box. I don't see how, Mr Trump, you will be able to prove +a conspiracy after that. Besides, we will produce her medical attendant +and guardian, as you term him, Doctor Jolly." + +"Ah! that was sharp practice subpoenaing him! I give you great credit +for that stroke, Mr Markworth; but allow me to say we are not arguing +the case now." + +"And I don't see how I can come into any compromise so late in the day, +Mr Trump! We have the whole thing as clear as a pikestaff, and you +won't have a leg to stand upon when it is brought into court." + +"Humph! we'll see," ejaculated the senior partner, and "we will see," +followed Mr Sequence, parrot-like, after him. "But I did not make any +allusion to such a thing as a compromise, Mr Markworth," continued Mr +Trump. + +"Then what have you brought me here for? I will wish you good morning," +he said, rising, and taking up his hat to go, angrily. + +"Stay! Don't be so hasty; pray don't be so hasty, Mr Markworth; you +may be certain that I would not have asked you to call unless I had +something important to communicate," said Mr Trump, soothingly. + +"Then, why don't you get to it at once, instead of beating about the +bush," he answered, still only half appeased, and resuming his seat in +the dentist-like chair. + +"I am just coming to the point, my dear sir, just coming to that; but, +you see, we must speak of things in a professional way." + +"Certainly, in a professional way," said Mr Sequence, nodding his head +sagaciously, as if in confirmation of Mr Trump's remark; while +Markworth twirled his hat impatiently between his fingers, and wondered +what "those two rogues were after now!" + +"By the terms of the will of the late Roger Hartshorne, deceased," +resumed Mr Trump, unctiously, "without exactly phrasing it in legal +language, Mr Markworth, you will see that, putting the question of +Susan Hartshorne's sanity or insanity, as I said before, entirely out of +the argument--and that remains to be proved"--he said, significantly, +"if she married you without her mother's consent before she was +twenty-one years of age, she forfeited all right and claim to the +bequest mentioned in her father's will." + +"Quite right, and I thought we settled all that before," responded +Markworth, knowingly. He continued, as if in response to a question +from the lawyer. "Quite right, Mr Trump. But you see, I took very +good care that the happy day on which I called her mine should not be +until after the date on which she came of age;" and Markworth laughed +very heartily. Strange to say, neither Mr Trump nor his partner joined +in the laugh this time; both of them looked more stolid and parchmenty +than ever. The senior of the firm went on straight to the point. + +"That is just the question we have to decide, Mr Markworth." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Exactly what I say," answered Mr Trump, calmly. "That's the point," +said Mr Sequence; and both looked at their subject composedly--just +like dentists! + +"What the devil do you mean? staring at me like that," said Markworth, +angrily, and turning pale with apprehension. "What pettifoggery are you +raking up now? I'm not to be frightened easily." + +"We are not pettifoggers, Mr Markworth, and have no wish to intimidate +you or any other person; but the date of your marriage, or +quasi-marriage"--Mr Trump corrected himself--"with the girl has got a +good deal to do with us, and you too." + +"Go on, man, go on, and say all you've got to say without any more +unnecessary words. By Heavens! I can't bear all this talking." + +Mr Trump went on systematically inserting the forceps, without paying +any attention to the excitement of the other. + +"The date of your marriage was--?" + +"You know well enough. Have you not got the copy of the marriage +certificate?" + +"The 28th of August, I believe?" + +"Right," said Markworth, curtly. "And what then?" + +"The date of your marriage, you allow then, with Susan Hartshorne, was +on the twenty-eighth of last August; and, my dear sir, she did not come +of legal age until the 29th of August, the day after the marriage." Mr +Trump could not refrain from putting an inflection of triumph in his +voice, as with a mental twist of his wrist he extracted the metaphorical +tooth. Even Mr Sequence gave vent to a faint chuckle, without, +however, disturbing a single line in his immobile face, as he squeaked +out in a sort of victorious way, "The day after the marriage; the day +after, my dear sir--" the longest sentence he had ever yet been known to +utter. + +"By heavens! it can't be--it can't be. It's an infernal swindle," +exclaimed Markworth, violently, his face flaming with passion, as he +jumped up; and, seizing the lawyer by the collar, he shook him as a +terrier would a rat; "it can't be; it's a confounded swindle!" + +Mr Trump remained as calm as ever under this unexpected assault; but as +for little Sequence he hedged himself into the corner by the window, +having his chair and the table as a sort of barricade before him. + +Markworth recovered himself in a moment. + +"I beg your pardon, Mr Trump," he said, apologising; "I forgot myself; +what was it that you said?" + +"Pray don't mention it, my dear sir--my dear sir. I shan't bring any +action for assault and battery. You see, my dear sir,"--Trump got very +affectionate here, as he had just played his winning card--"we are +accustomed to these little emotions now and then. But to return to what +I was saying, Mr Markworth, it is a very unfortunate circumstance for +you; the son Tom was born on the 27th August, 1847, and Susan, the +daughter, on the 29th August, '46, and your mistake probably thus arose; +but I can't help feeling glad on my clients behalf, that your marriage +took place the day before Susan Hartshorne came of age. Consequently +you must admit it, as she did not marry with her mother's consent, the +marriage being, indeed, after an elopement, and our client, being ready +to prove that it was entirely without her consent or knowledge, Susan +Hartshorne--as your wife--has forfeited all right to the twenty thousand +pounds mentioned in her father's will." + +Markworth seemed to be quite dazed. This sudden blow to all his +expectations quite unnerved him. He spoke absently, as if in a dream. + +"Have you got the proofs?" he said abruptly; for he knew all the +consequences which his oversight would entail. "Where are the papers?" + +"Here is the certificate of her birth," said the lawyer, producing it as +he spoke, "dated the 29th August, 1846. Here is also the written +evidence of her mother, Mrs Hartshorne, and here, too, the old Family +Bible, with the date and entry of her birth inscribed in it, by the hand +of the late Squire Roger Hartshorne, as I myself can testify. Quite +sufficient evidence, Mr Markworth, in any court of law, to establish +the date of Susan Hartshorne's birth, and the consequent failure of your +little plan to get her fortune. Very unfortunate, Mr Markworth! Very +unfortunate!" + +And the lawyer rubbed his hands with triumph, and smiled as if he was +telling his victim a piece of remarkably good news. + +Markworth never took any notice of the lawyer's words. He examined +eagerly the papers before him; and when he saw the convincing entry in +the family Bible, he gave up. The figure 9 in the date "29th August," +might easily have been taken for a 7, and he cursed Clara Kingscott for +making the mistake, which she had very naturally made in this instance +quite unintentionally, and without any thought as to the effects of the +error. + +He bore his defeat bravely, however, although all his schemes were thus +dashed to the ground when they were trembling on the verge of success. + +He knew at once that he had now no more chance of getting the fortune, +for which he had risked so much, than the veriest beggar whom he might +pick out of the street. He would have to leave England at once, or his +next step would be into a gaol, on account of his debts: the harpies +would be upon him the moment his failure was known. What on earth to do +with himself, or with the girl he called his wife, whom he had tackled +himself to, he did not know. The first thing, however, was to get away, +and that as soon as possible. + +"I suppose the suit will have to be dropped now, for I have no object in +carrying it on. Good morning, gentlemen," he said, to the lawyers; "I +suppose you don't want me any longer." + +And he walked out of the office as calmly as if he had achieved a +victory, although all his hopes and plans were utterly wrecked. + +"He's a plucky fellow, and deserved to win," said Mr Trump to his +partner, when Markworth had disappeared, and his steps were heard going +down the staircase. + +"That he is; that he did," responded parrot Sequence, and both dismissed +him from their minds, and set about filing the necessary papers which +would soon put an end to the longed talked of suit of "Markworth +_versus_ Hartshorne." + +Volume 2, Chapter XIV. + +THE DOCTOR GOES ABROAD. + +"Ait-choo!" sneezed the doctor one morning towards the end of October, +when the weather was getting damp and misty, as he entered his +comfortable breakfast parlour, where Deborah was sitting as usual before +the fire darning her interminable stockings. I believe if you walked +into that room at any hour of the day or night, you would always find +her at the same task, darning stockings, and she always seemed to have +the same stocking, a half grey and white one with plenty of holes about +the heel, in her hand. + +"Ait-choo!" sneezed the doctor again. "Bless my soul, Deb," he +exclaimed, "I believe I have taken a cold. Confound it! Just what I +might expect from toddling up to The Poplars last night on such a wild +goose chase." + +"Well, you know, Richard, you would go out, and you threw off that +comforter I took the trouble to wrap round your neck." + +"A lot of molly coddling! But you're a good soul, Deb. What an old +catamaran that old woman is to be sure." + +"Do you mean Mrs Hartshorne, Richard?" + +"Bless my soul, Deb! Of course; who else should I mean? She's a +regular old devil incarnate, and her temper, never very good, has got +quite awful now. I wanted her to go according to Trump's advice; he's a +sensible man, and told her to compromise that case. It will never stand +in law, so Trump says; and it's better to give that rascal Markworth +half the money now than expose the whole family, and have to give up the +whole lot by and bye. Half a loaf is better than no bread, I say, and I +would rather have it so for that poor girl's sake." + +"And she won't do it, Richard?" + +"The devil a scrap she says. Bless my soul, Deb! she won't hear of a +compromise; she says she will see that rascal hanged first before he +gets a penny of her money--and she's right, too, by Gad?" + +"Oh! Richard, Richard!" said Pythias, warningly. + +"Well, she did not use exactly that language, but she meant it. I tell +you what I've a mind to do, Deb." + +"What, Richard? Nothing rash I hope!" observed Deborah, with anxiety: +she always looked upon her brother as a gay young fellow, who might +suddenly rush off and commit some escapade, so she consequently was +constantly on the tenter hooks of suspense. You see the doctor had a +partiality for the fair sex. He was always fancying himself in love +with every pretty young lady he came across, and innumerable were the +frights Deborah had had in consequence. The doctor in fact was always +committing himself, and only his universal _bonhomie_ saved him from +breaches of promises without number. He would be sensible enough and +hold his own with men, but with women he was a very child in their +hands. Deborah looked upon everybody in petticoats as special tempters +and snares set in the path of her brother. She thought he was +irresistible: and it was therefore a wonder with all the chances he had +had and the many very serious flirtations he had engaged in that he had +not yet been caught. He had got over his partiality for Miss Kingscott, +now that the charmer had gone away, not that I wish to accuse the doctor +of heartless conduct, or of being a "gay deceiver." But to be in love +was a chronic epidemic with him, and as Miss Kingscott was gone, he was +in duty and of necessity bound to take up with someone else, Deborah +knew that the doctor had of late been very attentive to a certain pretty +little widow who had come down to stop at Bigton, and had called in the +services of Aesculapius for some trifling nervous ailment--who knows +what might come of it? The doctor had escaped often but he might be +caught at last! The pitcher that often is carried scatheless to the +well is broken in the end; so she was now in terror that the doctor was +going to declare in his well-known manner that this pretty little widow +was "a dooced fine girl!" and state that he was going to marry her. +"Women are so designing; the artful wretches!" Pythias thought, +"especially widows!" and she waited in nervous expectation to hear what +Damon had "a mind to do!" + +The doctor was in a thinking fit. He twirled his hat in his hands; and +then that not being sufficient to conduce to reflection, he pulled out +his bandana pocket-handkerchief and began to twist it round his fingers +in all sorts of fanciful shapes. + +"I tell you what I've a mind to do, Deb. I'm hanged if I don't go over +to that foreign Frenchy place, and try and fetch Susan back myself! Tom +has gone away, and I daresay he made a mull of it before, and the old +woman won't do anything. I promised poor Roger Hartshorne to look after +his children, and I'm hanged if I don't go over there and bring her +back!" + +Pythias was at once relieved in her mind. It was not that artful +designing creature then that Damon had in her thoughts. "Indeed, +Richard!" she said, "but it is a long journey, and do you think at your +time of life you can stand it?" she, like most country people who have +never stirred out of their native wilds, looked upon a journey to France +as if it comprised the circumnavigation of the globe. + +"Bosh, Deb! Why it's only a hundred and fifty miles or so from here to +Havre, and I'll be back in a couple of days at most! It is right for me +to go, and I can just manage now to get away for two or three days, for +there's nobody ill and nothing doing; and that coal merchant fellow +Dobbins, who came down here to set up for surgeon, can mind my practice +for me. I'll go round and ask him this morning; he'll jump at the +offer." + +"Well, if you think you ought to go, you must I suppose; and it is +better now than any other time." + +"Of course I ought, and I will to, by Gad!" The doctor being a man of +resolution, although he often did make hasty resolves, quickly settled +his departure; and to the intense astonishment of everybody went away +from Bigton for a week as he said, although he only intended to be away +two days at the most, the whilom coal merchant Dobbins driving about in +the doctor's chaise, which he seldom used himself unless the gout was +very bad indeed, and making the most of his short resign until +Aesculapius proper should come back to his own again. + +Doctor Jolly had never stirred out of his native town, save of course on +short excursions into the surrounding neighbourhood, for nearly a +quarter of a century; not for twenty-five years, ever since the time +when he went to London to walk the boards of Guy's Hospital, in order to +acquire his medical education; and naturally such an expedition as the +present was quite an era in his life. + +But the doctor did not make "any bones" about it, as the popular +expression runs. He packed up his traps in a small portmanteau; and +after a very affecting farewell with Deborah, who fell upon his neck and +embraced him, as if she were never going to see him again, telling him, +"Take care of yourself, Richard! _Do_ take care of yourself!" to which +he responded in his cheery voice, "God bless my soul! Deb, of course I +will. God bless you!" he rubbed his eyes, which were glistening, with +his horny fist, and blowing his nose vigorously with his bandana, the +doctor went off on his travels. + +He made his way safely to Havre, and got over all right with the +exception of being fearfully sea-sick on the passage. Oh! the blessing +of being thin! Fat men suffer the tortures of the direst days of the +Inquisition when attacked by the fell _mal du mer_! while the Misters +Slenders escaped scatheless. + +He had some little difficulty with the gendarmes of the custom house and +the hotel touts, the latter of whom struggled for the possession of his +manly form; but he finally escaped after being taken summarily to a +caravanserai, where he left his luggage, and shortly afterwards set +about finding the abode of Susan and Markworth. + +By some mistake or other he got carried off to the railway station, and +was taken some miles on the road to Paris. A fellow countryman, +however, convinced him of his mistake, and showed him how to get back +again to Havre. By the time he got back, however, evening had set in, +and he experienced the greatest difficulty in finding the direction of +the Rue Montmartre, for, even after finding the direction in which it +lay, he was still at fault. How he blessed the "frog eating race" as he +called them. + +As the doctor's knowledge of French was somewhat limited,--indeed, he +only knew the word _oui_ which he pronounced "Ooo"--he found some +difficulty in finding his way. However, by dint of continually bawling +out in an extra stentorian voice "Roo Mount Martha," as he called it, to +every passer-by whom he met, he at length reached the street of which he +was in search. + +It was some time before he got to the right number, as he would persist +in asking, of course in English, for "Number-o'-seven," instead of +_numero sept_. But in due course he arrived at the _logement_ of La +Mere Cliquelle. + +The door was opened by the husband of that good lady--it is curious how +some men lose their individuality on getting married; they become mere +nonentities--how often you hear a man described as Mrs So-and-So's +husband. The doctor, thinking that by speaking his words very +distinctly, and in a loud tone of voice, he could make any Frenchman +understand English, acted on that plan. + +"Is--Susan? Bless my soul! What the dooce am I thinking of?" +interrupted the doctor to himself. He commenced anew. "Is--Missis-- +Mark--worth--in?" + +"Hein?" grunted the Frenchman, interrogatively. + +The doctor repeated his question, only this time asking for "madam" +instead of "mistress." + +The Gaul's face brightened, and he looked more intelligent. "Ah-h! +Yase! yase, yase, yase!" he said, nodding his head violently, "de +madame? de Inglismans, hay?" + +"Yes, yes! quite right," ejaculated the doctor. "I say you are quite +right," bawling out the words at the top of his voice. "Confound these +stupid French frogs," he muttered to himself; "why, they can't +understand plain English! Is--she--you--know--who in?" And seeing that +the Gaul liked to nod, he nodded his head until he grew quite apoplectic +in the face. + +"Non," said the Mere Cliquelle's husband. "Ze Inglisman's is go--vat +you call it, eh? Ah, yase, is go oot." + +"Oh! she's gone out, is she?" + +"Ah-h! Yase! yase, yase!" nodded the M.C.'s husband. + +"Do--you--know--when--she--will--come--back?" + +The Frenchman looked puzzled for a moment, but with a foreigner's +intuitive cleverness be guessed at the gist of the question. "Ah, yase! +you vant to know _son retour_? Cee go walk mit monsieur. Cee go joost +now _a huit heures_, and cee will retour byanby, _a neuf heures_, noine +clock. _Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf_"--he +said, counting on his fingers--"o'cloke!" + +"Ooo!" said the doctor, giving a satisfied nod, "I understand, she will +be back again at nine o'clock," holding up nine of his fingers in proof. +"I--am--much--obliged--to--you,--I--will--come back again--at nine!" + +"Ah-h, yase! Dat is raite. You will retour?" + +"Yes, I'll come back again!" said the doctor, as he walked away, after +both had bowed politely to each other, and the Gaul had entreated him to +accept a hundred thousand assurances of his extreme subserviency. + +"Confound those stoopid foreigners!" muttered the doctor, as he walked +up the street in the direction of Ingouville, to pass the time. +"Confound those stoopid foreigners! Why, that fellow could have said +all that in half the time in English." + +Volume 2, Chapter XV. + +"END OF SECOND ACT." + +The engulfment of the last straw on which he, the drowning man, had +leant his weight, left Markworth without a single loophole of escape: he +did not know where to turn. + +The Jew, Solomonson, had not only advanced him the money required for +carrying on the unsuccessful lawsuit, but he was largely indebted to him +besides; and Solomonson, he knew, was a very Shylock, and although he +might bow and smile, and be the best of friends, and most cordial of +bankers, while things were going on right and he saw some prospect of +getting his money back with a large "pershentage" in addition, still +Markworth was equally well aware that the Jew would rigorously exact his +pound of flesh as soon as he saw the game was up, and the cards exposed, +and he would be the first one to come upon him for the three thousand +pounds, for which he held his bill. + +Markworth judged the child of Israel very rightly; and if he had not +been a trifle earlier in the day in receiving that damming proof of the +date of Susan's coming of age, its disagreement with the date of the +marriage, and the consequent working of the clause in the will, and its +effect on his claims, he would have found Mr Solomonson so anxious +about his welfare, and considerate about his movements, that he might +have discovered some slight check, in the shape of a _capias_, was +placed in the way of any desire he might evince to leave the kingdom, +and rejoin his wife. Messrs. Trump and Sequence had communicated with +Markworth's lawyers at the same time as they had done with him, so the +news would soon reach other ears which would be attentive enough to the +information, and note its effects. He did not have a very long start in +his advance news; still it was sufficient. That was something at all +events, and he just managed to catch the tidal boat that night, and was +soon on his way to that Alsatia on the other side, where debtors, unless +their shortcomings are of a criminal nature, may laugh in safety at +their creditors in England. + +When Markworth was safely on board, and the steamer had ploughed through +the muddy Southampton Water, and was dancing through the blue sea +beyond, somewhat rough and leadeny at this season of the year, and the +Southampton lights were far behind, his mind grew more composed, and he +began to think over all that had happened. + +"Dolt that I was," he said to himself, "not to have looked at that +cursed register myself. In planning the whole scheme I neglected one of +its most trifling, and yet most important points; and that has damned +all! I see now how it all happened; the dates of Tom's and the girl's +births came so close together, one on the 27th of August, and the other +the 29th, that Clara jumbled the two together. The idiot! Curse her +carelessness! But it was easy enough to mistake that 9 for a 7, and +more fool I for trusting her! Curse my own folly! Treble fool, dolt, +ass that I was! not to see to the thing myself!" He spoke out bitterly, +looking out over the sea. "But I wonder how the devil it was those +cursed lawyers and pettifoggers did not find out that mistake of the +date before!" he added, afterwards, as if reflecting. + +There was some cause for Markworth's wonderment at the lawyers' +oversight, as the discovery was as much a surprise to them as it was to +him. But such things do happen sometimes; and many an important case +having large interests at stake, has been decided ere now on just such a +similar point, which has never been discovered or brought to light until +just before, or indeed after, the case has gone into court. In many +instances the lawyers have been grubbing and searching far and wide for +remote proofs and impossible witnesses, when some little, +straightforward clue has been lying under their eyes all the time, +without being seized upon and made use of, or even dreamt of. + +In the case of Susan Hartshorne, the date of her marriage and her +majority had been taken for granted to be coeval; and, indeed, there was +so little difference in the date and in the figures, that some little +allowance must be made for the palpable error of Trump, Sequence, and +Co., which was only discovered just in time, as their case could never +have been sustained in court for Susan could have proved her own sanity +on Markworth's side. + +That date only saved the dowager from having to pay over her daughter's +inheritance; but Markworth would never have allowed that mistake in the +date to have occurred if he had known at first, as he knew latterly, +what a great effect it would have in the working of Roger Hartshorne's +will. + +When he went down that first time to Doctors' Commons he had read +through the will carefully, but not carefully enough to understand the +absolute forfeiture of Susan's inheritance if she married before the age +of twenty-one without her mother's consent. Even when he had +subsequently digested this fact, he had been so certain about the date +that he had not given it an afterthought; and had, like Mrs +Hartshorne's lawyers, thought that the only thing he had to prove was +her sanity at the time she married him. + +The three months that had passed since her marriage, the change of scene +from the place of her childhood which was associated with her calamity, +and the novel influences which had been brought to bear upon her, had so +thoroughly altered her, as has been observed before, although too much +stress cannot be placed on that point, that Susan was completely cured, +to all intents and purposes. She was no more silly, foolish, or insane +than Markworth himself, and few people would have taken him for an +idiot. + +He had so thoroughly worked out her cure which he had planned when he +had seen how malleable and easily influenced she was, for this especial +purpose of putting her in the witness-box, having represented to her +that she would have to come forward at some time and prove their +marriage, or that her mother would tear her away from him--that she was +quite prepared to be very strong evidence on his side. The very idea of +her being taken back to The Poplars, and her mother, at whose name she +still trembled, and grew frightened still, was sufficient to nerve her +up to face a thousand juries, for the sake of her liberty and for +Markworth, whom she now loved with more than the child's trusting love +with which she had first regarded him. + +That was all past now, however! + +There was no more necessity for her coming forward, Markworth thought +savagely; no chance now for him to produce her triumphantly at the last +moment before his adversaries, and say-- + +"There! you say I have cajoled a lunatic into entering into an illegal +contract of marriage with me, for the sake of appropriating her fortune. +There is your alleged insane girl; examine her for yourselves, and +prove your case if you can." + +The opportunity was lost, and he had to withdraw from the battle before +the very forces even were marshalled for the fight. + +He had played his game well, but one false move had lost him all, and +what to do now he neither knew nor cared. All his aims and ends had +become so bound up in the successful termination of that law suit, that +now that he was vanquished he seemed to be completely shipwrecked. + +His last straw had sunk, and he was lost. He knew it and felt it! + +With a strong effort of his native indomitable will, he dismissed the +past from his mind, and tried to concentrate his thoughts on some plan +for the future. + +All hopes of getting any money from the Hartshornes were idle to indulge +in; the old lady certainly would see him in Tartarus first before she +gave him a penny; and Tom, although he had offered to take his sister +back, and would provide for her, would as certainly not assist him, for +he had seen from their last interview that Tom was not nearly of so +plastic a nature as he had thought him at first. Besides, he was far +away now. There was only the doctor to ask, and he would do nothing, he +thought; and, above all, he could not go back to England himself. + +His best plan, therefore, would be to pack up his things when he arrived +at Havre, and scrape together all the money he could by selling any +unnecessary superfluities. He was not going to be "troubled with that +girl any longer." + +He would send Susan back to her home, and tell her people to do what +they liked with her, as he had no further need of her. + +"Curse her!" he thought, for clogging himself to her, "the idiot! and +curse myself, too, for my folly in not looking before I leaped." + +He stopped on deck the whole night during the passage across, for he +could not sleep, his mind was so at war with every thing. If he had +gone below he might, perhaps, have discovered who two of his fellow +passengers were, but he did not. + +Nemesis was with him, but he knew it not; and besides Nemesis there was +another person, whom neither would have dreamt of seeing there. + +It was broad day now--a beautiful morning; but the morning had no charms +for him; and he was glad when it waxed towards noon, and Havre came in +sight with its quaint lighthouse, and its twin rows of houses on the +heights above, and the muddy Seine with its Babel of a landing place. + +The _machine a vapeur_ quickly plied her way along, and in another half +hour broadly opened her destination on her port bow. + +They were soon alongside the pier, and Markworth having no luggage, was +not delayed in passing through the _Douane_. + +Saying to the officer--"_Rien a declarer_!" he passed rapidly along the +gangway on to the pier, and up through the busy little streets, until he +reached his lodgings in the Rue Montmartre. + +"Oh! Allynne! you're come at last. I've been longing so to see you; it +has been so lonely here all this time by myself," said Susan, rising and +going forward eagerly to meet him, as he opened the door of their little +sitting room. + +"Stop! Damn it! I don't want any humbug and foolishness. None of that +snivelling for me," he said, savagely, repulsing her as she came towards +him. + +"Oh! Allynne! what have I done? Why are you angry with me?" said +Susan, entreatingly. + +The slightest change in his voice affected her at once, and all her joy +and gladness at his return was frozen up in a moment. + +When he perceived the effects of his words he relented and spoke kindly +to her, and Susan was soothed in a moment. + +But he was ill at ease, for he was busily debating with himself all day +how he should break the news of his going away to her. The day passed +drearily enough for him, and he was longing for evening to come; the +sickly gleams of the November sun angered him: he wanted the day and all +its belongings to be shut out. + +Dreading that Solomonson might have sent a sheriff's officer after him, +he gave strict injunctions to the Mere Cliquelle to say he was not at +home, and not to admit any one on any pretence at all to see him; at all +events, during the day. In the evening it would not matter. + +Someone came in the afternoon he heard, and beyond a muttered oath at +the intruder, whom he did not make any inquiries respecting, he was left +to himself all day. + +He wanted to settle matters with Susan, and break the news to her, and +he did not know how to set about it. He knew or fancied what might be +the effects of a sudden shock on her. Evening came at last, and he felt +he could not stop in any longer. So he told Susan he wanted her to come +out with him for a walk. + +"Here, put on your bonnet at once, and come out for a walk. I want to +speak to you seriously, and I can't breathe in this stuffy little hole," +he said, suddenly, after a pause, looking round morosely at the quaint +little room, with its gaudy belongings, and its half-starved little +fire, composed of about a dozen small pieces of slimly cut fire-wood, +arranged with mathematical precision, in the porcelain fire-place. The +evenings were chilly now, and even the French pretence of a fire was +necessary to warm the room. + +Susan was equipped in a moment; and they went out of the house, +Markworth slamming the door behind him. + +"_Mon Dieu_!" said the little fat landlady, who was superintending the +cooking of her supper, to her husband, looking out of the window of her +kitchen above, as she heard the door bang, and saw the pair go down the +steps. "_Mon Dieu, Auguste! V'la Msieu et Madame qui'ls s'en vont +sortir, et Monsieur, il ne fait que d'entrer_! _C'est bien tard +promener_!" + +"_Hein_!" observed her _bon homme_, reflectively, from his seat in the +corner, where he was salivating a stick of chocolate to pass the time +while waiting anxiously for the _potage_ to be ready. "_C' n'est pas +mon affaire_!" and he proceeded to suck his _chocolat_ calmly, which he +had withdrawn for a moment from his mouth for the exigencies of +conversation. + +Markworth walked on rapidly, Susan keeping up with difficulty by his +side, through the town, which was now partly overhung by the sea-fog, up +to the heights of Ingouville, where the air was clearer, and the lights +shone out from the trim little rows of villa residences. + +The promenade was quite deserted; but Markworth proceeded without +speaking a word until he had passed all the houses, and had reached a +lonely part of the road, with the cliff above the footpath, and a +precipitous descent on the other side nearest the town, below which was +the zigzag street, up which they had come. + +Markworth now stopped suddenly, seeing that Susan was quite out of +breath from the exertions she had made to keep up with him. + +"At last," he said, "I can speak to you quietly;" and he paused a +second, as if to think over his words. + +He did not know that Nemesis was close behind him, for it was nearly +dark: the thud of the sea in the distance, splashing against the pier, +and the sound of the waters of the Seine at their embouchure, mingling +with the tide, drowned even the sound of a passing footstep. + +It was a crisis in Markworth's fate. + +"Susan," he said, abruptly, "I have to leave you. I have to go away for +a long time, and I shall send you back to-morrow to your people in +England." + +He spoke rapidly. To do him justice, he knew what a pang it would be to +the poor girl; but he could not possibly take her with him, so he was +anxious to get the "scene," as he called it, over as quickly as he +could. + +"Oh, Allynne! Allynne!" she cried out, piteously; "you are not going to +leave me! I shall die if I go back there!" + +And she flung her arms round his neck, as if to hold him for ever. He +was her life, her all! + +The avenger was close behind. + +"Don't be so foolish, Susan!" Markworth said, in a half-angry, +half-coaxing manner. "I'm not going to leave you now, child. I'm +talking about to-morrow. I've been away before, and I can't be with you +always." + +And he tried to unclasp her hands from his neck. + +"Oh, Allynne! I can't go back there! I shall die! Take my money, +everything I've got; but do let me stay with you--don't send me back +there!" she sobbed out in broken accents. + +The allusion to the money, and her entreaties seemed to madden him. + +"Have done, girl! Idiot!" he said, roughly, tearing away her hands with +violence, and throwing her from him. + +The poor girl started back as pale as death, as if she had been shot. + +"Idiot! idiot!" she cried out, in tones that seemed to come from the +depths of a broken heart. "Oh, Allynne! That word from you! from you!" +she moaned, and wrung her hands in bitterness of spirit. + +As she started back--the pathway was very narrow--she stood on the very +verge of the rocky precipice which bordered the road. + +And as she uttered the last words, her foot slipped. With a scream of +genuine terror, re-echoed by Markworth, she fell back, and he could hear +the heavy fall of a body below. + +"Good God!" he exclaimed aloud, rushing forward and peering into the +gulf down which she had disappeared, "she must be killed!" + +He turned round hurriedly, for he could not get down to the bottom of +the cliff without retracing his steps by the winding road up which they +had just come. + +And, as he turned, he found himself face to face with-- + +Clara Kingscott. + +END OF VOLUME TWO. + +Volume 3, Chapter I. + +AT BAY! + +"Gracious Heavens, Clara! What brings you here?" uttered Markworth, +half in astonishment, half in terror, as he suddenly turned round, and +was confronted by Miss Kingscott, immediately after Susan had fallen +back over the precipice. + +"Murderer!" she exclaimed, standing right before him in the narrow +pathway. "Thank God! I came in time to witness your crime!" + +"Woman!" cried Markworth, trying to brush past her. "You're mad! What +do you mean? Let me pass!" + +"Murderer!" she repeated, with withering bitterness, still blocking the +way. "Murderer!" + +"Good God! Clara, what do you mean?" + +"Mean, Allynne Markworth? What do I mean! That you are caught at last +in your own toils! I knew you were a swindler, a cheat, a villain! I +can now prove that you are a murderer as well!" + +"For God's sake, Clara, do not say that! You don't think I've murdered +the girl?" + +She still looked him full in the face, but made no reply; so he went on +hurriedly-- + +"Why, she fell over the cliff herself! I never touched her! I was +just--" + +"Ha! ha!" she laughed, a cold, bitter laugh. "Tell that to the officers +of justice who will be soon in pursuit of you! To the jury who will try +you! To the judge who will sentence you to your final end! I don't +want to hear your lying story!" + +Markworth turned pale and shook with fear. "What do you mean, woman? +Who will accuse me? God knows I never meant the poor girl any harm! +She slipped, and fell back by accident; and I was just hastening down to +her assistance when you--you--" + +"Murderer!" + +"Let me go, woman!" he cried, excitedly, shoving past the governess, who +threw her arms round him and tried to hold him back. + +"She's dying, perhaps! I'll be too late! Curse you, let me go!" + +"Help! Help! Murder!" she screamed. "You're mad! Let me go at once +or it will be the worse for you." And he struggled with her to get +away, while the air rung with her loud screams for help. At length he +got one arm free, although she still clung with desperation to him. +"Curse you!" he muttered, between his clenched teeth, raising his fist +and dealing her a savage blow in the face. "You've brought it on +yourself!" + +Another half-uttered scream was checked on her lips, and she sank back +in a heap on the ground, while Markworth rushed past her, and flew +rather than ran down the heights. + +In spite of lung logic, Clara Kingscott's cries for help remained +unheard. No one came to her assistance; and when she recovered her +consciousness after the insensibility produced by Markworth's blow, she +found herself cold and alone, lying stretched out along the side of the +narrow path where she had fallen. And he? Where was he? + +Gone! + +After one half-stupefied thought as to where she was, she recollected +all, and nerved herself up to the determination of following Markworth +to the death! The blood was still trickling down her face from the +dastardly blow she had received: it animated her with additional +strength and fresh courage; and she seemed like a tigress, and snarled, +as it were, at the sight of her own blood! + +Rising to her feet, she nearly stumbled at first from stiffness and +faintness, but by force of will she quickly recovered her strength, and +in a few moments felt better, and able to walk. + +She had marked the spot where Susan had disappeared; thither she bent +her steps, and gazed down into the deep descent, hidden now, and black +with the dark veil of night. + +Turning round, and retracing her steps down the winding path, she +proceeded to search below. As she projected round an abrupt turn of the +road she jostled against a _sergent de ville_--mutual astonishment-- +explanations. + +Speaking rapidly to him in his native tongue, with which she was even +better conversant than Markworth, and knew almost as well as a genuine +Parisienne, she represented matters to the guardian of the peace. "A +murder and an assault has been committed," she said, eagerly +gesticulating in her emotion. + +"I saw the villain throw a girl over that precipice above, and she or +her body must be here! Let us search for her; help me to arrest the +murderer! Have you heard no cries, seen no one?" + +No, the _sergent de ville_ had seen no one: he had only just come up the +road: the officer whom he had relieved had reported no disturbance. + +"Had madame cried out? _Mon Dieu_! really? He had heard no cries, in +faith! It was very late for madame to be out--did she know what time it +was?" + +"I suppose it is nearly ten o'clock," replied Miss Kingscott. + +"_Ma foi_! Why it is close on morning. Madame cannot be well"--he +meant that the lady, who certainly looked very bedraggled and +disorderly, was something infinitely worse. + +"I tell you, officer," exclaimed the governess, stamping her foot, and +speaking angrily, "I am not mad or drunk; and, no matter what time it +is--night or morning--I am telling you the truth! I know the man that +has done this; his name is Markworth, and an Englishman; and I saw him +shove the girl over the precipice, for I was close behind him at the +time! I tried to stop him. He struck me; here is the cut on my +forehead; you can see for yourself that I don't lie. The blow made me +faint, and I must have been insensible much longer than I supposed, but +it is not too late! We may catch the villain yet. It is your duty to +aid me! But let us first search for the girl; her body must be here!" + +Although strongly inclined to believe that the lady who addressed him +was under the influence of absinthe or eau de vie, and that she had lost +her way amongst the heights, and tumbling down had hurt herself, thus +accounting for her blood-stained face and wild appearance, the _sergent +de ville_ was somewhat thrown off his first-formed opinion by her +enthusiasm and the coherency of her story. He accordingly adjusted his +lantern, and they looked about together in silence for some time. +However, when no body of any murdered person was to be found, no traces +of a sanguinary struggle to be seen, and everything looked as usual +about the place, the _sergent de ville_ returned to his original +opinion. + +"I said Madame was not well!" he observed, in an aggrieved tone. "She +had better go home to bed, and not be talking of any fabulous murders! +Where does Madame reside?" + +"I tell you I saw the thing with my own eyes! He must have carried the +body away and hidden it!" + +"Hush! _ma petite_," said the man, soothingly. "Go home: it will be all +right to-morrow!" + +"I won't go home. I am quite in my senses, and it will be your fault if +that man escapes. You ought to do your duty and arrest him. I shall +complain to the Maire! Where does he live? I must see him! Take me +there at once." + +"_C'est impossible_!" replied the officer, coldly; "but Madame will find +that I will do my duty," he added, meaningly. + +"I must see the Maire! The murderer will escape!" went on the +governess, hysterically. + +The _sergent de ville_ placed her arm firmly within his own. + +"Madame will come with me," he said, and he led her away. + +He was not going to wake up the Maire or Juge de Paix at that late hour +of the night, or rather early hour of the morning, with such a cock and +a bull story from a drunken woman. Why, he might lose his promotion +should he disturb the slumbers of his superiors! + +Finding, therefore, that his entreaties for her to go home were treated +only as deaf words, and that she would neither go herself nor tell where +she lived, the astute officer conducted her carefully to the +guard-house, under the plea of showing her where the Maire lived in +order to get her along quietly, and had her comfortably locked up. + +The tables were turned with a vengeance! Markworth had got off scot +free; and here was Clara Kingscott locked up in a police-station for the +night as a disorderly character! Some allowance must be made, however, +for the _sergent de ville_. Her story was so improbable, and she looked +so strange and talked so excitedly, that the mistake might have been +made even by one of our very bright and intelligent guardians of the +peace, who never make such mistakes as, say, locking up a dying man +perhaps on the charge of inebriety! + +Be that as it may, however, there was Clara Kingscott incarcerated in a +cell, and powerless of action. There are strange things happen +sometimes in fiction; but stranger things often occur in real life. + +Volume 3, Chapter II. + +"MISHTER SHOLOMONSHON" PREPARES TO ACT: MUCH HE GAINS BY IT! + +Matters seem somewhat forestalled, and a brief retrospect is needed. + +How came she there--his Nemesis? Politely bowed out, after she had +avowed her share in Markworth's conspiracy to Mr Trump, Clara Kingscott +walked away from the lawyers' offices in a perfect frenzy. She was ever +tasting the cup of revenge, which she would have so gladly drunk to the +dregs, and yet as she raised it to her lips it was ever being dashed +away. + +It was maddening to her now to think that when she had planned to ruin +Markworth at the eleventh hour, just when he was confident of success, +by her appearance against instead of for him in the suit, that +circumstances should so occur to defeat his ends without her aid being +required. She had intended all along that her hand should deal him the +blow, and that he should know it. + +True it was that all his hopes for getting Susan Hartshorne's fortune +were all passed away like last winter's snow; that was some satisfaction +for her to know, but then Markworth's ill-luck was not caused by her; +there was where the shoe pinched, and she felt foiled. + +What should she do now? She could not remain inactive. Reflecting a +moment, she turned and walked hurriedly onward across Holborn, and down +Chancery Lane, until she came to the offices of Solomonson and Isaacs. + +It was late now; so the place was closed up, and the children of Israel +were gone home: After ringing in vain for some time, she had to give up +her project until the morrow, and depart in peace. + +"He'll escape me yet," she muttered, "but I will be here early, and make +assurance doubly sure." + +And she turned on her heel and went away. Before she went home to her +lodgings, however, she took the trouble to go round to the hotel where +she had learnt that Markworth was staying, to ask whether he was there +still. She was so afraid of his getting off before her vengeance could +be felt. The porter told her that he was out, but that he had not left +the hotel yet: he was expecting him in every minute, for a messenger had +just brought a letter for him. + +"A messenger to see him?" + +She pondered a moment, and then she recollected that it must be the +lawyers' clerk, sent by Mr Trump to appoint the interview for the next +day, when Markworth would hear the worst. She gave a sigh of +satisfaction, and went to her lodgings contentedly. + +Messrs. Solomonson and Isaacs came to their offices the next day at +their usual time, about half-past ten o'clock, and proceeded to set +about their introductory business. Letters had to be opened, documents +arranged, the list of bankrupts in the papers looked to and compared +with another list of their own of the men indebted to them; in fact, all +the minutiae of their daily routine had to be seen to before setting +actually to work and "interviewing" their clients, or more properly +speaking, customers or borrowers, for they did more in usury than law, +although the appellation "solicitors" was on their door plate. The term +indeed was better suited to the clients than the firm. + +Mister Isaacs was at the moment engaged upon comparing the bankrupt +lists, when a sudden exclamation from his partner Solomonson, who was +opening the letters and glancing at their contents, startled him. + +"Father Abrahamsh!" ejaculated that worthy. "Gott in Himmell! how about +der monish?" + +"Vat's der matter, my tearsh?" enquired Isaacs, in anxious suspense. +"Noting's wrongsh mit der bank?" + +"No, mine Isaacs, it is not ter banksh! Mein Gott, der monish! der +monish! It is all oop wit Markevorts; der shoot is ruined!" + +"Sholomonshon, ma tearsh, vat you mean? The suit lost! Vy it ain't +tried yet." + +"No mein sohn, it is not trite and perhaps never vills!" + +And then he explained the purport of the letter. + +"It's a svindel!" said Isaacs. "Ow butch did he get from you, +Solomonshon?" he asked, although he well knew. + +"Eleving hundert! And we vos to get tree tousand--tree tousand pounds!" + +He told Isaacs a lie, and Isaacs knew it. + +"And now ve can't get himsh? Is he got no monish?" + +"No monish, but vat der shoot vood have bringsh." + +"And it is all gonesh?" + +"Ja, tso! all gonesh if de lettersh be true!" + +"And ve vood 'ave got tree tousaud, Sholomonshon?" + +"Ja! tree tousand pound! der villainsh! der swindlersh! Tree tousand +poundsh, and look'd as shafe as der bank! Tree tousand poundsh; never +no moresh!" + +The Jew repeated this over and over again, and almost wept in his +anguish. It should have been mentioned before that Solomon was a Hebrew +of Teutonic proclivities, and had emigrated from the _Juden Strasse_ in +Berlin, where he had originally belonged before he took up with his +partner Isaacs and set up business in Chancery Lane, London. + +After a hasty consultation Solomonson and Isaacs rushed off together to +the offices of Messrs. Trump, Sequence, and Co., to hear whether the +ill-fated news was true. + +Any hopes they might have had were quickly dispelled. Mr Trump, who +could not repress his dislike for the men who now confronted him, did +not mince matters with them. He showed them all the proofs, and gave +them the additional evidence that Markworth himself had been there at +his especial notification, and was satisfied that the opposition was too +great for him to continue the suit. + +Solomonson and Isaacs were not satisfied until they had read every +tittle of the evidence, including Roger Hartshorne's will, the baptismal +certificate of Susan, and the marriage registry. It was all perfectly +true, so they then heaped reproaches on Mr Trump for letting Markworth +know before communicating with them. Indeed, they were both so violent +that Mr Trump had to order them out of his office. They saw it was all +up with them, and returned chagrined to their own den in Chancery Lane, +to concert about what more should they do. + +They had no doubt that Markworth would be off early, but it was their +business to try and catch him if possible. Never let it be said in +Jewry that a debtor got off clear from their clutches: it would be a +standing reproach against them from Dan even unto Beersheba, and they +would never hear the end of it. Besides the money, the money, they +could not afford to lose that! + +Once more the scene changes back to their den of usury. Solomonson had +just taken out the bills Markworth had given from an escritoire in the +corner of the room, and both he and Isaacs are pondering them over, and +looking at the shares securities that their client had given them for +the advance. The shares were in a financial company whose smash they +had just read of in that morning's paper! This news added "bad" to +"worse." + +"Fader Abrahamsh!" ejaculated Solomonson. "Oh der villainsh! der +shvindlersh! Tree tousand pounds, Isaacs, all gonesh!" and they +bewailed their fate in concert. + +Behold the children of Israel weeping and wailing, and making much +lamentation over the loss of the presumptive three thousand pounds, +which they would have gained if Markworth had won his suit against the +old dowager of The Poplars. To them enters Clara Kingscott, governess, +at present detective, Nemesis, and follower of their unlucky client. +Affecting meeting. + +She went like another Ruth to glean what she could towards affecting her +purpose in the fields of the rich Boaz. The Hebrews, although sharp +enough, were at their wits' end when Miss Kingscott entered, but she +quickly worked them up to the point of action, after explaining the +reason of her visit. + +"The news is true enough," she said. "I was there and heard it all-- +when that letter was written to you; but have you not sent round yet to +those lawyers? what do you propose to do?" + +"Doosh? Vat can ve doosh! der shoot is gone! and der svindlersh is gone +too, and he has no monish!" said Solomonson, in the most lugubrious +tones. + +"Why don't you act?" said the governess, excitedly. "If I were a man I +would arrest him and clap him into jail, and let him rot there until I +got my money back. If I could not get my money I would get his life!" + +"De womansh is right, Sholomonshon, my shon," said Isaacs. + +"Of course I am. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth--that is +your creed, is it not? Can't you get out a warrant against that +villain, or something else, and have him stopped before he leaves the +country? Why even I will go after him: he shall never escape my hate!" + +"Ja, tso!" exclaimed Solomonson, now fired by her words and animated by +her desire for vengeance; "but a varrantsh ish no goots!" + +"A Kay shay?" suggested Isaacs. + +"Ja, dat is goot--der villainsh! But he was alvays squaresh vas mishter +M., and it seems hart." + +"Pshaw!" exclaimed Clara Kingscott, with intense scorn. "Do you think +he will pay you if you let him get away?" + +That settled any lingering reluctance they might have had to proceed to +extremities with their client, besides the loss of the money was +rankling in their minds; so "Mishter Sholomonshon" started off down to +the courts at Westminster to invoke the aid of her gracious Majesty +"Victoria R. by the grace of God" in a documentary form. + +While the Hebrews were concerting measures for Markworth's apprehension, +Clara Kingscott proceeded down to his hotel to see whether the "biter" +had yet been "bitten," and if he had returned from the interview +appointed with Mr Trump. + +She found he had come, and gone. The bird had flown! The porter said +he had left in a cab with all his luggage for the Waterloo Station. + +Making sure he was off to Havre, where she had previously found out his +address, she started off to Southampton, intending to follow him +wherever he went. Before doing this she sent a few hasty lines to +Messrs. Solomonson and Isaacs by a _commissionaire_, telling them where +Markworth was gone and she would follow him up, and let them know +further; although certainly her information would not be of much use to +them if he were out of the kingdom. + +The Jews in the meanwhile were crying "Havoc!" and trying very hard to +"let loose the dogs of war." They had some difficulty in obtaining +their _ca ca_. No Judge was at chambers when they first went down; and +then they lost much valuable time in swearing to an affidavit that +Markworth was going to leave the country. Not that the fact of swearing +any number of oaths, whether true or false, troubled them much--but he +was "gone," as the auctioneer cries, before they could touch him on the +shoulder. + +A bailiff and detective were sent down after the absconding debtor to +Southampton--Miss Kingscott had telegraphed up to the Jews late in the +evening to say that she had seen him there; but they arrived too late, +notwithstanding that the Jews had not spared the expense of luring a +special train for them: they never grudged money when hunting money. +But they arrived too late! The _ca ca_ and _ne exeat regno_ were both +useless. + +Just as the Havre steamer had cast loose her fastenings, and was going +out into the stream, the myrmidons of the law came down with the warrant +for Markworth's arrest: the proverb "better late than never" did not +hold true in their case, however, for the man they were after could +laugh them to scorn with every revolution of the steamboat's paddles. + +Jewry was "sold" by the Gentile, and there went up a wail in Chancery +Lane. + +Volume 3, Chapter III. + +ON THE TRAIL. + +It was not until late in the morning that Clara Kingscott was let out of +the cell in the police-station, where she had been locked up, and was +taken to be examined before _Monsieur le Chef des sergents de ville_. + +Although she was full of natural indignation at the treatment that she +met with, to gain her purpose, she was forced to dissemble her anger, +and answer all the questions put to her in a cool and collected manner. + +Having taken care also to arrange her toilette and efface the traces of +bedragglement, her appearance had its due effect, and Monsieur le Chef +comprehended the case in a moment. + +It was a mistake arising from the want of perspicacity of an +over-zealous officer, and the Chef entreated Madame--he begged pardon, +Mademoiselle--to accept a hundred thousand apologies for the unfortunate +mistake which had subjected her to such treatment. + +_Trop de zele_ was poor satisfaction for being arrested, locked up, and +losing her vengeance; but Mademoiselle smiled sweetly, told the officer +not to mention it, and now that she had gained his ear went on eagerly +to tell her tale. + +The Chef listened attentively to Miss Kingscott's narration, making +short notes in a memorandum book before him, knitting his brows, +glancing at her every now and then interrogatively with his sharp +pistolling eyes, and pulling the waxed ends of his black moustache _a +l'Empereur_ meditatively as she proceeded with her strange recital. + +It did not astonish the Chef, however. The French police are never +astonished, _Le Garde meurt, mais ne se rend pas_: Monsieur le Chef was +only perplexed, but his perplexity grew greater the more he heard. + +That a murder should have been committed anywhere was not such a very +surprising thing in itself; but that a murder should take place in +Havre, Havre which was under his own especial supervision, _c'etait +impossible_! It was a thing incredible. + +It was absurd on the face of it. His _sergents de ville_ knew their +duty too well to allow it; but still he interrogated Mademoiselle, and +put down the answers she gave to his various questions in his note book. +All the circumstances of the case should be looked into and +investigated, although they certainly seemed incredible. It struck the +Chef, however, that Mademoiselle's narrative was too clear and succinct +to be made up: besides, a few initiatory inquiries would readily reveal +whether her premises were true or false. + +The Chef touched a hand-bell on his table, and a subordinate officer +quickly answered the summons. To him some directions were given, in a +low earnest voice, so low that Miss Kingscott could not catch their +purport: the man then withdrew. + +"_Attendez un moment, Mademoiselle, il reviendra bientot_," said the +Chef, in an apologetic tone. + +Miss Kingscott had to wait nearly half-an-hour until the messenger came +back. + +More whispering with the Chef, and comparing of note books; the news was +evidently important, for the latter looked grave and puzzled; but as +soon as the underling withdrew, he again addressed the governess. + +"I find you have told me the truth about yourself," he commenced. + +"Your politeness is great to have doubted my word: I thought all +Frenchmen were renowned for their gallantry!" interposed the lady. + +"Circumstances must plead my excuse, Mademoiselle," continued the Chef, +making an elaborately polite bow; "the law must be assured before it can +act. I find that you came to Havre yesterday, that about mid-day you +went to the Hotel du Cote d'Or, secured a room, and left your luggage. +The _proprietaire_ mentions that you have stopped there before, and +gives you a good character." + +"A thousand thanks," said Miss Kingscott, with a sneer. + +"Mademoiselle will understand that it is my duty to make these +enquiries. _Allons_! That, after remaining a short time at the Hotel +du Cote d'Or," continued the Chef, calmly, as if reading out from an +affidavit, "you went out, leaving word that you would return again to +dinner, but you did not go back, and _Monsieur le proprietaire_ was +plunged into the deepest uneasiness at your non-appearance: I believe I +am so far correct." + +The Chef paused here a moment, as if to to have his observation to be +confirmed. + +"_Apres_?" inquired the lady, and nodded her head for him to go on. + +"I have also learnt," continued the Chef, "that this man Markworth, whom +you accuse, was a gentleman, English, and has lived with a lady whom he +called his wife, and who was of delicate health for more than three +months past at the house of Madame Cliquelle, commonly called _la Mere +Cliquelle_, at the house _Numero_ 7, _Rue Montmartre_; that this man +Markworth has been in the habit of quitting his apartments for short +intervals, leaving _madame sa femme_ behind him, and crossing over to +England, from whence he has generally returned after an absence of two +or three days. That, after one of these short absences, he came back +yesterday--Mademoiselle probably crossed the channel in the same boat +with Monsieur?" + +"I did." + +"This man Markworth, after coming back remained in his apartments all +day until the evening. The Mere Cliquelle says that she heard no high +words (_grosses paroles_) between Monsieur Markworth and his wife. She +has observed that Madame was very delicate and very fond of Monsieur, +and that he was always very gentle and kind to her--in fact that they +were an attached couple. Well, this Monsieur Markworth remained in all +day until the evening, he gave orders to the Mere Cliquelle to admit +nobody to see him. One person called and enquired particularly to see +him in the afternoon--perhaps that was Mademoiselle?" + +"It was," answered Miss Kingscott. + +"You were not admitted to see Monsieur?" + +"I was not admitted," she answered, sententiously. + +The Chef went on. "So says the Mere Cliquelle. In the evening about +seven o'clock she and her husband also both declare that Monsieur et +Madame Markworth went out apparently for a walk. Shortly after they +went out a big stout English gentleman called and enquired for them; he +was told they were out, and said he would return again at nine o'clock. +About that time, as near as the Mere Cliquelle and her husband could +judge, Markworth came back alone without his wife. Monsieur Cliquelle, +who saw him, says he looked pale, and was out of breath, as if from +running; and he told him that Madame Markworth was unwell, that he had +taken her to see some friends at Lugonville, that he only came back to +fetch some things for her, and would bring her home in the morning. +Monsieur Markworth after remaining in his apartments perhaps half an +hour or more went out, as the husband of the Mere Cliquelle supposed to +Lugonville and his wife, taking a small travelling portmanteau with him; +nothing further has been seen of Markworth or his wife, or of the fat +Englishman who said he would return to the house in question at nine +o'clock last night. Does Mademoiselle follow me? She will see that her +story is partly confirmed by other circumstances." + +"I told you nearly all that myself, before!" she observed, angrily. + +"Certainly, Mademoiselle! But your statement had to be confirmed." + +"And now, what are you going to do?" + +"The machinery of justice shall be at once set in motion!" said the +Frenchman, grandiloquently, in the fashion of his countrymen. + +"And I?" + +"Mademoiselle will do me the honour of accompanying me to the Bureau of +_Monsieur le Juge de Paix_, to make her deposition. But we must attend +to other things first," saying which the Chef again touched the +hand-bell that lay within easy reach on his table. The same officer +appeared again as before. + +"Send Auguste and Dechemal to me at once." + +Enter two _mouchards_ in plain clothes. + +The Chef addressed the one he called Dechemal first--did anyone ever +know the real name of a French spy?--"You went to that house in the Rue +Montmartre just now, did you not?" + +"_Oui, Mon Chef_," he answered monosyllabically. + +"Well, go there again. Arrest the Mere Cliquelle and her husband, take +them to the office of the Juge de Paix, and await me there." + +"Oui, Mon Chef,"--Exit first _mouchard_. + +"Auguste!" + +"Oui; Mon Chef." + +"Go down to the office of the English steam-boats. See what passengers +leave this morning. Ask also along the quays if any boatman took any +person or persons across to Honfleur, or any place adjoining, last night +or this morning. Make enquiries, too, at the hotels and cabarets, if +they have received any fresh lodgers since nine o'clock yesterday +evening, and whom. Report to me at the Juge de Paix's in half an hour, +or as soon as you can." + +"_Oui, Mon Chef_." Exit second _mouchard_, as stealthily as the other-- +serpentine in movements both. + +"_Allons_, Mademoiselle," said the Chef, rising from his chair of office +and bowing to Nemesis, "if you will follow me, we will now act our +parts. The machinery of justice is already in motion." + +Clara Kingscott accompanied the functionary of the law, civil in every +respect, out of his office and into the street. At his notification +their steps were first directed up the hill to the spot where she +pointed out as having confronted Markworth. The Chef busied himself +with taking notes as deftly as any "chiel." She also indicated the +place on the verge where she had seen Susan disappear. They then +descended the pathway where she supposed the girl would have fallen. +More keen observation and note taking on the part of the Chef. No +apparent results however, for not a trace could be seen of anybody. + +Suddenly the Chef paused in the act of taking notes with one hand and +pulling the ends of his waxed moustache with the fingers of the other. +He perceived a piece of rag evidently torn off a dress, clinging to the +rocks. It was dark crimson in colour, and was a piece of merino dyed +that hue. He took it up triumphantly, and held it forth for Miss +Kingscott's inspection. + +"_Voila_!" he exclaimed. + +The governess did "look there," and examined the fragment curiously; a +glance of recognition flickered on her face, which the Chef at once +perceived. + +"Ha!" he said, "you see something? You recognise the dress of your +compatriot?" with much guttural rolling of his R's. + +"I do!" she answered, "I can swear that Susan Hartshorne wore a dress +like that the last time I saw her alive." + +"It is well! We have now some proof, but we must discover what has been +done with the body. Mademoiselle will now accompany me to the bureau of +the Juge de Paix," he added, after a reflective pause, filled up with +more notation and twirling of the somewhat stiff ends of the "hirsute +appendage on his upper lip." + +The Chef leading this time and Miss Kingscott following behind, the two +were soon walking rapidly together towards the imposing residence of the +official alluded to. + +Volume 3, Chapter IV. + +POOR ANDROMEDA! + +While events were thus hastening on abroad, all was quiet at home, both +at The Poplars and the parsonage. Fancy Andromeda's lamentations when +Perseus left her! and in her place picture Lizzie, since Tom had gone. + +It was now autumn, or rather winter, for the month of November was well +in hand, and Christmas was "coming," as the adage says.--Some people's +Christmases seem always coming. + +It was now autumn. The trees were leafless, with their skeleton boughs +stretched out like spectral hands clutching towards the sky, and sighing +with every breath of the dull wintry wind that swept across their +moaning branches for the approach of spring. + +What a change the past three weeks had made in Lizzie Pringle's life! +It is one of the anomalies of our nature, ever changeful and varying, +that the world--our world--is made up of change, even in the most +monotonous of lives. The machinery of existence is wonderfully +intricate, and of such delicate construction, that the slightest hitch +or strain can throw it entirely out of gear. We move on calmly, +perhaps, in a smooth groove, from life to death, from the cradle towards +the grave, when of a sudden a pebble gets into the works, a new element +is introduced into, or an old one subtracted from, the course of our +existence, and all is changed. No more do the wheels move steadily +round and the cranks slide up and down as of yore; a hitch has occurred; +and although the machine goes on still, apparently with the same rumble +and clang, the motion is not what it was; it is parallel, perhaps, or +elliptical, but is not the same as it was before. Nothing can ever +restore it again. Our lives are altered against our wills, and though +the cradle stands in the background and the grave looms in front, the +change of the enchanter's hand--it may be of pleasure and joy, or more +likely one of grief and pain--has passed over our lives, and we +ourselves are altered too, for better or worse--God grant the former! + +In a woman's life this change is more common, although not so apparent +as with men; because love and marriage, which cause more proportionately +this change, are looked upon by them more as their natural destiny than +as exceptional incidents in an otherwise even life. Marriage is the +ultimate end of a woman's life, as the subsequent nursing of babies and +darning of socks; with the sterner, though by no means nobler sex, it is +but a new phase of existence. + +When the little winged god makes his appearance, therefore, and hurls +one of his death-dealing darts, it is a much more serious matter for a +girl than it is with us. Daphne feels it far more acutely than Apollo. +With him it has been merely a pleasant little change in his life--_pour +s'amuser_; but to her it is a new existence--her life, her all. She has +only been in a state of pupilage before; but now she is a woman, with +all a woman's hopes and fears. She has entered on the portals of the +future state, when once Love's fetters have entwined themselves around +her, the state for which she was born--her _ultima Thule_. + +For eighteen calm and happy years Lizzie's life had flowed on smoothly +in the one quiet groove. She had passed from babyhood to girldom and +school-age in the usual course of nature, and, until now, she had never +had a deeper happiness than what a passing fancy would give, or a +greater trouble than a few hours could efface. Her one great loss--the +death of her mother--had occurred at so early an age that it left no +lasting impression on her; and she had consequently grown up a merry +little lassie, winning all hearts with her sweetly _piquante_ face and +those wondrous violet eyes, whose unknown depths now laughed defiance at +you, and now displayed a strange wistful languor, which irresistibly +attracted you. + +That was until last summer; but Lizzie was very much changed now. The +little laughing girl was transformed into the winning, wistful maiden, +who knew now that there was more in life than eighteen summers usually +dreams of. The apples of the Tree of Knowledge had been tasted, and +Lizzie became aware that existence was not all lotus-eating, although it +did contain, perhaps, some secret joys unknown to childhood. + +Everyone meets their "Fate" at some time or other; and Tom was her fate, +young as they both were; perhaps, it was better that that mysterious +affinity which unites us all, for a temporary or a permanent period with +those especially appointed for us, should come across her early in life. +It is a cup which one only sips once in a lifetime--better early +perhaps than late. Do you know there is something in the Mormon +doctrine after all--putting polygamy aside--in that principle of theirs +that the brides of the elders or prophets are "sealed" to them. It +shows a belief in the mystical and apparently predestined affinity of +certain souls to one another. + +From that first meeting in church, when the stolen glances of Tom had +set the loom of love in motion, a regular and intricate warp and woof of +affection had been woven between the pair. The time of their +acquaintance was perhaps short; but love laughs at time even as well as +he does at the proverbial locksmiths: between kindred souls an hour +affects more than years in others--as may have been already observed. + +Lizzie was visited with an attack of that _malaria mortis_ which comes +to some of us in our lives at some certain time or other, either for +good or ill. It was a very serious attack. Not a trumpery little +ailment which could be patched up for the nonce, and the patient recover +without having a scar to remind her of the disease; but a real bona fide +visitation, in which the sickness works its course from beginning to +end, and is not to be repelled by namby-pamby lotions of milk and water, +and worldly prudence and mammon panaceas. It was love. Love _pur et +simple_, which one hears derided every day by philosophising +"anti-gamonists" and Pharisaical parents, who esteem riches beyond +happiness, and "an eligible parti" superior to the attainment of healthy +though poor affection. Love overrides worldly motives still, however, +in this so-called heathenish and worldly nineteenth century, and exists +in spite of the false code of morality which strives to bear it down. +Love in a cottage may be humbug certainly when our souls thirst after +the gargoyles of a ten-storied mansion and purple and fine linen. The +dinner of roots and herbs in preference to the stalled ox, is a delusion +and a snare to one who had a weakness for _entrees_, and would rather +the high priced salmon and early peas, at some fabled sum a peck in +Covent Garden; but bear me out, Chloe, when next thou listenest with +attentive ear to the tuneful pipes of Amaryllon, and you, God-like +Augustus, when you see the modest blush of happiness which crimsons the +cheek of the gentle though rustic Lettice Lisle! + +After Lizzie had first seen Tom she did not know what was the matter +with her, and nobody else could perhaps have enlightened her on the +subject. + +She was restless, and did not know what to do. Things which had +previously given pleasure to her she now wondered she could have ever +enjoyed. Nothing pleased her; nothing delighted her; what could have +come over her? + +Her brother perceived the change, and wondered too what was the matter. +He thought Lizzie was hipped at being left alone so much, for he had to +be out a good deal, and the household was only composed of himself and +her, with the exception of the servants. Acting on this idea he had +proposed to Lizzie that they should invite a certain Aunt Jane to visit +them; but Lizzie made up a horrible little _moue_, expressive of +disgust, and laughed the idea to scorn. + +She drew such a picture of the peculiarities of the stern Aunt Jane, and +showed what straits they would be reduced to under her _regime_, that +Pringle quickly abandoned the project in holy horror, and wondered how +he could have ever thought of such a thing. Then when he commented on +Lizzie's looks, and asked her affectionately what was the matter, she +laughed it off at first, told him she was never better in her life, +asked him what could induce him to question her so, and concluded by +making a pretty scene, and sobbing on his neck. She was miserable! She +did not know what was the matter with her! She must be ill! She would +be all right probably to-morrow; she had a headache now, and was tired; +she would go to bed!--which she accordingly did. + +This was after the first acquaintance with Master Tom. + +But when that young gentleman began to take such a deep interest in +fly-fishing, and, in pursuing his favourite spoilt, had to pay so many +and frequent visits to the parsonage in order to fish in the pool that +ran at the bottom of the lawn, Lizzie got brighter and better. + +Instead of her movements being all languor and lack of elasticity, they +were now all life and vivacity. She took a deeper interest in +everything around her; every little humdrum detail in her daily routine +seemed to be invested with a new charm: there was not a brighter little +lassie around the country side. She was merry then, and when Tom's +avowal came, and she heard from his own lips those burning words of +love, of which she had been intuitively cognisant, and which she had, +unknown to herself, already returned, her cup of happiness brimmed over. + +The change was complete. + +Then came the after relapse, when Tom came down so miserably to tell of +his mother's refusal, and had afterwards parted from her in anger. + +In anger with her! She thought her little heart would break. + +The falling out of lovers, however, is the renewal of love; and so +Lizzie found it. + +The happiness which she then enjoyed was greater than that which +preceded it. Who is it that defines that word happiness to be "gleams +of a brighter world, too soon eclipsed and forfeited?" Lizzie's bliss, +however, was saddened by the thought that Tom was soon to leave her. It +intensified her love, and surrounded it with that holier charm which +sorrow always lends. + +Then came the parting. And Andromeda was left alone to lament, whilst +her lover was ploughing the stormy main. Tom was "off to the wars"-- +rather a queer place for a knight of chivalry in the nineteenth century +to seek for adventure, Abyssinia!--and Lizzie had, like most women in +such cases, to nurse her grief, which was her joy as well, by herself. +'Tis the way of the world, as Kingsley sings-- + + "For men must work! and women must weep! + And the sooner 'tis over, the sooner to sleep!" + +The weary weeks glided by slowly after Tom's departure, and Lizzie's +little world was changed. But greater changes were coming soon, if not +to her spiritual, at least to her temporal state. + +Lizzie had been made aware, of course, long since, of her brother's +engagement with Laura Inskip; but she had been so much taken up with her +own troubles that she had not had spirit enough to enter into Herbert's +"little _roman_" with all the good-natured enthusiasm of which her +bursting: little heart was capable. Events had rolled on so rapidly +that she became confused between them all, and the engagement with Laura +was not looked upon with that surprise and interest with which any +enterprise or suit of her brother's was usually regarded. + +But time went on, and Lizzie could not but interest herself now in the +progress of change around her. She had liked the languid Laura in her +way; but she was not the sort of girl--being a very energetic and +hopeful little sister--that she would have selected for her brother's +mate. She would have had a little goddess or empress for Herbert; still +as Herbert had chosen for himself, she made up her mind to love her +expected sister-in-law with all her heart. + +With these thoughts, Lizzie made many advances to the Inskips, but the +old campaigner was very disagreeable to her, and treated her as a +nonentity; and Laura was too lazy to share her future sister's +enthusiasm, so Lizzie's feelings were damped. Carry, she thought very +"nice," but she was too noisy and gushing for Lizzie, just so heavily +bereaved; consequently the little maiden was forced to withdraw herself +within herself, and think of the future and Tom, and build very unstable +castles in the air. + +And so the autumn passed by, and winter was nigh, and the change changed +still. + +Herbert Pringle was to be married early in the new year. It was to be +quite a grand affair, and from the hints dropped, Bigton and Hartwood +village were all agog with the news and their anticipations, for you may +be sure the campaigner was not one to hide her light under a bushel. + +But Lizzie felt alone! Poor Andromeda. Perseus had gone! not in a +classic trireme! but by one of the P. and O. steamers. + +Volume 3, Chapter V. + +BEFORE THE JUGE DE PAIX. + +Following the Chef, on her arrival at the office, Miss Kingscott found +Monsieur le Juge de Paix to be an oldish man, with sharp striking +features, his nose having an unfair advantage over the others; and his +skin, tightly drawn over the face, was of that saffron hue which adapts +itself to the complexion of most Frenchmen, and Messieurs les Espagnols +as well, after they have entered their eighth lustrum. He was seated in +his official chamber, surrounded with all the majesty of the law, as +suited his elevated position. A clerk occupied a lower desk in the same +room, and the majestic demeanour of his superior seemed reflected, +although in an inferior degree, on him. + +Dechemal and Auguste, the Chefs aides, were both there. So also was the +Mere Cliquelle and her husband, appearing terribly frightened, and +imagining that they were going to be guillotined at the least. A bust +of Napoleon the Third looked down from a niche in the wall, facing the +judge, sternly on all, giving an air of dignity to the whole +proceedings. The judge was taking notes, his clerk following suit; the +_mouchards_ contemplating the impassable physiognomy of the "Man of +Destiny;" the Mere Cliquelle and her small better-half awaiting their +turn for examination in the background. There was no crowd, no troops +of friends and spectators and idlers, such as you would see in a +disorderly English court-room; no, they manage these things very +differently in France. There were only those persons present who were +absolutely necessary for conducting the enquiry; all was silent and +quiet, although the machinery of the law Gallic was in rapid motion. + +The wheels of justice run in greased grooves on the other side of the +Channel. + +The arrival of the Chef and his important witness, Miss Kingscott, +accelerated movements. + +The governess deposed, on oath, as follows:--That on the previous day +she had crossed over from Southampton, Angleterre, to Havre, _par la +vapeur_; her object was to see a certain Monsieur Anglais, by name +Allynne Markworth (the judge had some difficulty in arriving at the +exact etymology of the name, being inclined more than persistently to +call it "Makervorts;" so Miss Kingscott had to spell it succinctly, and +afterwards write it down for the correct information of the clerk). +This gentleman lived, when at Havre, at the house Numero 7, Rue +Montmartre; he had lived there for the last three months, she believed, +with his wife--that is a lady whom he had married in England, after +abducting her from her home; it was not yet settled whether she was +legally his wife or not--there was a law-suit, or _proces civil_, at +present pending in England on the subject. She (Miss Kingscott) knew +this lady--Markworth's wife--very well; she had, indeed, been her +_gouvernante_ at her mother's house for some months; she had reason to +know her, she should think, and would not have any difficulty in +recognising her. Her name was Susan Hartshorne. This Susan Hartshorne +came from the _departement de Sussex, au sud de l'Angleterre_; her +mother was _une veuve_, and a large _proprietaire_; her address was The +Poplars, Sussex, England (direction given by the judge, and note taken +by clerk to forward information to said address); she (Miss Kingscott) +had crossed in the boat, as she had said, yesterday, and arrived at +Havre about mid-day. Perhaps it was before that time, she could not be +certain, and, at all events, it did not matter. (Witness was here +cautioned by the judge not to make any irrelevant observations. Nothing +was too insignificant to be taken note of; the eye of justice was wide, +and comprehended everything in its vision.) Markworth probably came +over in the same boat with her. + +"Did Mademoiselle see _ce Monsieur la_ on board?" + +"Yes, Mademoiselle did see him on board; it was at night, and dark; but +she saw him come on the boat at Southampton, and she saw him leave it +yesterday when they arrived at Havre; she had been watching him." + +"Did Mademoiselle accompany Monsieur?" + +"No, certainly not; she had not spoken to him all the time they were on +board; she did not think that he knew she was there." + +"It is very strange. I thought Mademoiselle came over especially to see +this Monsieur Markworth? _Mon Dieu_! Here she was on board with him +all the time on the boat, and she had not spoken to him! She did not +think even that this monsieur knew she was there! It was very strange!" + +"Yes, it might be strange; but she had her own reasons for acting as she +did. She did not wish this Markworth to know that she was there, or to +meet him until after he had landed and gone home; she had her reasons." + +"Mademoiselle then had _Monsieur_ under surveillance?" + +"Well, they might call it spying if they liked. She had watched this +Markworth enter the house already pointed out in the Rue Montmartre. +She had then herself gone to the Hotel du Cote d'Or, and secured an +_appartement_. After this she had returned to the Rue Montmartre, and +asked at the house of the Mere Cliquelle to see M. Markworth. She had +been refused admittance, although she knew he was _chez lui_. In +carrying out her purpose of watching his movements, she had gone over to +a cafe on the opposite side of the street, from the upper room of which +she was able to observe the house at _Numero Sept_. She watched there +until late in the afternoon--evening it was, for it was after seven-- +nearly eight o'clock she thought. At that time she then saw Markworth +come out of the house along with his wife--the girl Susan Hartshorne, to +whom she had before referred." + +"Can you swear it was her?" + +"_Je le jure_" responded Miss Kingscott, and then went on with her +deposition. She went out from her place of observation quickly after +them. They went in the direction of Ingouville, up the heights; +Markworth walking by the side of his wife, or reputed wife, and she, +Miss Kingscott some little distance behind them. She did not speak to +them, and did not think that they knew of her propinquity. She let them +get on some distance ahead of her, although she still followed and kept +them in sight. When they got on the heights they stopped walking, and +she hid herself behind a projecting wall. She feared some mischief, and +watched to see what Markworth was going to do. Presently she heard his +voice raised as if in anger, and then the voice of the girl Susan as if +in supplication. She then heard a scream from the unfortunate girl. +She, Miss Kingscott, rushed forward to help her. She was too late. +_Helas_! She saw this Markworth, this villain, throw the girl over the +precipice. + +"You saw him throw her over?" + +"Yes, I swear it. I then tried to stop the murderer, but he escaped +from my hands, knocked me senseless with a blow--here is the cut on my +forehead now--and he got off, heaven only knows where. I had cried, `_a +voleur_' and `_assassinat_' as loud as I could before I became +insensible, but no one came to my help. When I recovered my +consciousness I walked feebly down the path, and meeting a _sergent de +ville_, told him all about the murder, but he arrested me, thinking, he +says, I was drunk, and I was locked up in a cell till this evening, when +the Chef released me, apologising for the mistake of his subordinate. I +have only to add," observed Miss Kingscott, after she had finished +answering the questions put to her, "that had it not been for this +mistake on the part of your boasted _sergents de ville_, which could +only have arisen from sheer stupidity, the murderer might never have got +off." + +"_C'est possible_!" said the judge, making a note against the name of +the unfortunate guardian of the peace who had arrested the governess. +"But Mademoiselle will recollect that according to her statement it was +several hours after the escape of her assailant that she was thus +_arretee_. Call the next witnesses!" + +And the interrogatory went on. + +The Mere Cliquelle and her husband, "_son petit bon homme_," as she +called him, were then examined to the same purport as already detailed +by the Chef to Miss Kingscott, Dechemal corroborating what had been +previously told him, and certifying to their arrest by him, and +importation before the Juge de Paix. + +Auguste, the other of the Chefs inquisitors, had little to tell. He had +searched the _cabarets_ and hotels, and enquired at the office of the +Steamboat Company, and along the quays. No Englishman, or any one else +resembling Markworth's description had been seen or heard of since +yesterday evening, or had taken passage for England. + +This was all the evidence that could be obtained, and on it Monsieur le +Juge de Paix framed the _acte d'accusation_, by which the charge of +wilful murder was established against Markworth, and a warrant issued +for his arrest. + +The police, therefore, acting under the orders of the Chef, were on the +alert. + +Directions were also given to the fishermen and sailors about the quays +to look out for a body in the river: the Seine was then dragged with +better effect, for the very next day the surmises of the Judge and the +Chef were set at rest. + +The body of a fair woman, with light brown hair and about twenty-one or +twenty-two years of age, was discovered floating beneath the battlements +of the centre quay. The features were nearly indistinguishable from the +action of the water or the attacks of crustacea, but the remains of a +crimson merino dress still clung around the body, which Miss Kingscott +immediately recognised and identified as that of Susan Hartshorne. The +Mere Cliquelle and her husband were also certain that the remains were +those of the poor English lady, although neither were positive about the +dress. Madame Cliquelle said that she had never observed any particular +colour in the dress of Madame (Miss Kingscott had testified in her +deposition that Susan Hartshorne always wore robes of bright hue, +different, as a rule, from anyone else), but she might have worn this +particular dress and gone out in it that evening without her having +noticed it. _Helas_! however, what need had they to be particular about +a worthless dress when they had the body of the poor Madame before them! +The Mere Cliquelle wept over the lifeless shell of humanity; and even +her little husband shed tears as he recounted how he and _la pauvre +belle ange Anglaise_ used to "spik Inglese togeders." + +The afternoon of the same day, too, a fisherman from Honfleur +communicated with the police, and gave evidence that about ten o'clock +on the night of the murder he had conveyed an Englishman, answering in +every respect to the description of Markworth, across from Havre to his +own village: he had been out to sea and along the coast since then, and +had consequently not heard of the inquiry before. + +There was no doubt of this being Markworth, as the fisherman described +him to a hair with two or three telling word-strokes. The landlord of +the Auberge, also, where he had stopped at Honfleur, produced a torn +envelope which had been carelessly dropped by his guest. It was +addressed "Allynne Markworth, Esqr.;" that settled the question. + +Two clear days, however, had passed; and although the object of their +search was traced to Paris, all further clue of his track was lost, and +where he had gone remained an unsolved problem. + +The French police, with all their acuteness and _finesse_, in the +exercise of which they are far ahead of our blundering English +detectives (and those vile, social-inquisitorial dens of humbug and +area-sneakishness called "Private Inquiry Offices," too) were at fault, +and the game had to be given up. From some papers found amongst the +things he had left behind him at the Rue Montmartre, it was surmised +that Markworth had gone to America; a photograph of himself was also +discovered, which he had had taken with one of his wife--it may be +remembered that Markworth had shown a carte de visite of Susan to Mr +Trump, when he had gone to the lawyers to tell of his marriage, and +claim the reward for the missing girl. These photographs were carefully +preserved by the police, and copies of Markworth's likeness despatched +to various points to secure his arrest in case he put foot on French +ground. + +Nothing more could be done, however, by the Juge de Paix or the Chef. +The machinery of justice had been set in motion; and although its wheels +were greased it had to stop working; its _but_ was non-apparent. + +The depositions and evidence of the witnesses, who were now released +from surveillance, were preserved until the occasion should arise for +their utility. + +Miss Kingscott was a potent pursuer, but the prey had escaped her again: +she had still to wait for vengeance. + +In the meantime the body of the girl was kept for burial until word +should be received from England, + +The chief of the police had communicated with the mother of Markworth's +victim, having written to the _veuve_ Hartshorne, according to the +address given by Miss Kingscott; the latter personage had also sent her +version of the affair to the widow lady's lawyers, and both were now +awaiting response. + +Volume 3, Chapter VI. + +THE DOWAGER AROUSED--THE DOWAGER STRUCK DOWN! + +Dead! + +"What? Susan dead!" She could not believe it; she wouldn't, and that +was a fact. "Stuff and nonsense! don't tell me," she exclaimed; "I +won't believe it." + +"But, my dear madam," interposed Mr Trump, who had come down especially +to The Poplars, for the purpose of breaking the news, and considering +what was to be done on receiving Miss Kingscott's letter. "But, my dear +madam, I have received the most satisfactory intelligence about the +unfortunate event, and we must do something." + +"Nonsense! don't tell me! Susan dead, indeed! What should make her +die? She is a hale, strong girl, much stronger than I am, and I am not +going to die yet. It's all some lying nonsense or other; that woman, +the governess, who wrote to you, is capable of anything, after what you +told me of her helping that villain to go away--and she as meek as a +mouse all the time as if butter would not melt in her mouth! Stuff and +nonsense! It's all a lie from beginning to end." But the old dowager +did not speak with her customary absolute quality of expression. There +was a lingering dread in her voice as if she wanted to be assured of the +truth of what she herself had declared, and as if she feared the worst +to be confirmed. + +Mr Trump, from his previous knowledge of the family, did not think that +Mrs Hartshorne would grieve very much about her daughter, and so he did +not mince matters. He took out Miss Kingscott's letter, and showed it +her. + +The old lady grasped it with trembling hands, and read it from first to +last in silence, although her fingers shook, and the paper rustled in +her clutch. + +"I can't read it," she said, after a long pause, in a faint voice, +without its usual querulous intonation. "My eyes are weak; they are not +so strong as they were. The light to-day is very bad. That handwriting +is so small, I cannot make it out. Here, take the worthless thing and +read it out to me yourself. I cannot make head or tail of it." + +Mr Trump resumed possession of the document; his sight was not +deficient, nor the light too bad for him, or the calligraphy beyond his +comprehension. He read as follows, in his loud, clear voice:-- + +"Havre. + +"Mr Trump,-- + +"Sir,--You will remember our conversation some days since with reference +to the abduction of Susan Hartshorne by Markworth, and the desire I +expressed to avow my share in the conspiracy? I have something now far +more dreadful to communicate; the poor girl Susan has been murdered by +that villain, Markworth! Finding, I suppose, all his hopes of gaining +the girl's fortune fruitless, after his explanation with you, he +returned to Havre the same evening. For reasons of my own, I followed +him over from England. The very same evening he returned here he took +out the girl for a walk, and this ended in his throwing her over a +precipice and murdering her--I suppose, in order to get rid of her, as +he could not secure the money. How I came to be present will be +explained in the accompanying attested copies of my deposition, and that +of the other witnesses taken before the Juge de Paix, or principal +magistrate of this town. The body of the poor girl was found this +afternoon, floating in the river Seine, close to the scene of the brutal +murder. I have seen it, and there is no doubt of its being Susan +Hartshorne, but the authorities need some further identification by some +member of the unfortunate victim's family (or by some person authorised +by them) before it is buried, or any further proceedings taken. I +entreat you, my dear sir, to come over here at once. The murderer has +escaped, the police seem undetermined; and although I have done all I +could to stir them up, still I am only a woman, and cannot have that +influence over them which a man would possess. They say that Markworth +has gone to America, but surely something ought to be done, so you had +better come over here, if you have got any interest in the fate of the +poor girl. I believe the chief of the police has written to Mrs +Hartshorne, but whether she will be able to come I do not know, and I +think she had better not. Pray come yourself at once, or else the +murderer will escape, and his crime be unavenged; and, besides, there +are many other things to be attended to, notwithstanding that I have +done my best. Come at once, and see what is to be done; you can take +the night boat, which leaves Southampton at midnight, after seeing Mrs +Hartshorne on your way. + +"Yours, in haste, + +"Clara Kingscott. + +"Messrs. Trump, Sequence, and Co., + +"Bedford Row, London." + +The old lady never moved, or spoke once during the time which Mr Trump +was occupied in reading the governess's long letter and the legal +documents that accompanied it, although if the lawyer had looked at her, +instead of at the papers, which he was perusing, he would have observed +a strange and wonderful change in her face. + +"Is that all? Have you done?" she asked, in a deep, hollow voice, so +unlike her own, that the lawyer started and looked at her inquiringly. + +"That is all," he answered. + +The old dowager had received no intimation before of the startling news. +The Chef had undoubtedly forwarded a communication to the _veuve_ +bereaved; but, addressed as it was _au sud de l'Angleterre_, it would +take some weeks for it to reach The Poplars, if it ever got there. + +Mr Trump waited in vain for some time for what the old lady would say, +glancing over the depositions, which Clara Kingscott had had translated +for his benefit. + +At last the dowager spoke. + +"Go! Go!" she screamed out in a shrill, unearthly voice. "Pursue him! +The murderer! The villain! The swindling rogue!" + +As Mr Trump looked at her in amazement her face became of a blue and +livid colour. + +"I--I will go too! Get my--" The blue colour had now turned to black, +and the old lady seemed to draw herself up as she exclaimed in +disjointed sentences. "Get my--Susan!--Husband!--Where am I!" + +And with a still shriller shriek she fell forward on her face on the +floor. + +"Apoplexy, my dear sir," as Mr Trump said afterwards in detailing the +circumstance to a _confrere_. "Apoplexy, my dear sir! It often happens +to people like her from a sudden shock!" But he was wrong, it was a +more insidious if not so fatal a disease--it was paralysis, the fell +enemy of muscularity. + +The lawyer at once sent for a doctor; and "Garge," the messenger +despatched, went to Bigton for Doctor Jolly, as he was the only medical +man recognised in the country round. But our old friend was not at +home, he had not returned yet from his unusual absence abroad; and +Dobbins, the whilom coal merchant, who was acting in his stead, shortly +came to see the dowager. After a hasty inspection he saw what was the +case, and telling Mr Trump that further assistance would be required, +the lawyer telegraphed up to London for the great doctor, Stephanos +Jenner, who arrived in the evening. This great authority confirmed the +opinion of the lesser medical light. He said, after a preliminary "Ha! +Hum!" that the treatment of the patient was everything that could be +desired; and, accepting a fee of fifty guineas, which Mr Trump +presented him by cheque, went off again to London after a few minutes' +consultation, leaving the dowager in the hands of Dobbins, who, to do +him justice, knew what he was about; and of Mr Trump, who hardly knew +what to do. + +The lawyer was puzzled at the first; but his logical mind, keen to +action, comprehended the situation, and prepared to act. He could not +help moralising for a moment, however, on the vanity of human wishes, +and the truthfulness of the proverb which tells us that "_L'homme +propose mais le bon Dieu dispose_." The dowager had not been "going to +die yet;" she had been ready to do anything and everything, and derided +the idea of death and sickness; but here she was struck down in all her +strength, and lying stretched out there a senseless lump of humanity +without either the power or even the will to do anything. _Tali sunt +solicitae vitae_! + +However, as she could not, he had to act. So, after a hasty whisper +with Dobbins--it was now getting late in the December night--he +determined to proceed to Havre alone. Somebody had to go, for much had +to be done; so much does not fall on all lawyer's shoulders as rested on +Mr Trump's then. The dowager was accordingly left in the hands of +Dobbins--who said that Doctor Jolly would probably return the next day, +when he would undoubtedly take charge--and of the old woman-servant, who +had described herself as being as hard-worked as "a pore nigger slave," +but who now cheerfully attended to her mistress, with whom she had lived +for some twenty years, having treated with indignation the suggestion of +calling in a hired nurse. "Not if I knows it," she said, vehemently, +"these hands wot 'ave worked for her twenty year will nuss her now; I +should like ter know who else has any right to displace I?" So Dobbins +conceded the points, at all events until Aesculapius proper should +return; and he and the old woman nursed the dowager between them, and +got her to bed, while Mr Trump went off on his travels. There was +quite a revolution and a dark shadow in the old house, while the +leafless poplars which encircled it seemed like funeral plumes, and the +old house itself a hearse, in the hazy light of the dull December night. + +The lawyer's journey was a comparatively easy one in comparison with +that which our old friend the doctor had taken some time before. + +He travelled rapidly to Southampton by the express, which he caught at +Bigton--only occasional trains stopped at Hartwood--and was in plenty of +time to despatch sundry telegraphic instructions to his clerks in London +before embarking in the night boat for Havre. At midnight, instead of +going to his warm bed in his comfortable suburban retreat, as he usually +did at that hour, Mr Trump had to pull on his nightcap between the +rolls of the waves, and ensconce himself in the narrow bunk that fell to +his share of the cabin in the channel-crossing steam-packet. However, +Mr Trump was a man of the world besides being a man of business, and +knew how to accommodate himself to circumstances, and make matters as +comfortable as he could under unforeseen data. So there is little doubt +that he went to sleep at last, in spite of the narrowness of his +lodging, and just as probably, he snored harmoniously to the +accompaniment of the steamboat's paddles. + +The morning found him at Havre, prepared to set about his business as +methodically as if he were only going down to his chambers in Bedford +Row as usual, instead of being in a strange country. + +He first went to the police office, and subsequently to the address +given by Miss Kingscott. Mr Trump never trusted to individual +evidence. With the governess and Monsieur le Chef, he proceeded to view +the remains of what had been Susan Hartshorne, and identify them. The +inspection was merely a work of detail, for the face was irrecognisable, +even more so now than when it had been first taken out of the water. +The lawyer, to the best of his belief, thought it to be Susan. And then +the corpse was buried in the cemetery with a single headstone above the +grave, on which the name "Susan," alone was inscribed, and her age. + +Mr Trump had already explained his position, and stated himself to be +the representative of the deceased's family to the chief of the police, +who was most cordial and polite to him on learning that he was _un +avocat Anglais_. The chef, to the lawyer's astonishment, spoke English +fluently, just as if he were a native, and told him he knew Bedford Row +as well as the Palais Royal in Paris. From him also, Mr Trump learnt a +more coherent, and less one-sided story than from Miss Kingscott, +although her statements were confirmed. From the evidence of the one +witness, the case was evidently strong against Markworth, both the chef +and the lawyer determined; but then the one witness was, on her own +testimony, and from Mr Trump's previous knowledge, strongly +antagonistic to Markworth; and his legal mind compassed the +probabilities of something to be said on the other side. Markworth's +disappearance was the great thing against him, for the girl might have +drowned herself, and the scene which Clara Kingscott described never +have taken place at all. It is true her story was somewhat +corroborated, and the doctors had said, on the examination of the dead +girl's body, that death might have ensued from a jagged wound in the +head which probably had been caused by a fall; but they had only said +this when they had been asked their opinion on these points, and Miss +Kingscott's revelations been told them. + +Altogether, Mr Trump thought it better to let the French police pursue +their own course in the matter, and not interfere with them by any +proceedings of his own. He also gave up to their possession all the +poor girl's things which had been left behind at the Rue Montmartre; and +he had a kindly word to say to the Mere Cliquelle and her husband for +their kindness and treatment towards the ill-fated Susan. + +Miss Kingscott was in a rage of mortification at the lawyer's apparent +apathy; but her words had no weight with him; he had conceived a species +of aversion towards her ever since her disclosure to him that night in +Bedford Row; and the avowal of her purpose since, to track Markworth to +the death, had not increased his regard, although it heightened his +judgment on her as a "woman with a purpose." + +After an absence of three days or more, Mr Trump returned to England. +His hands drew up the advertisement of Susan's death, which he caused to +be inserted in the _Times_. The circumstances of the mystery had not +got abroad, and he did not wish to court public enquiry as yet, so he +worded the announcement very simply: + +At Havre, on the 27th ultimo, from an accident, Susan, wife of Allynne +Markworth, and only daughter of Roger Hartshorne, Esq., of The Poplars, +Sussex. + +The lawyer then went down to see how the old lady was getting on. + +She was still speechless--thoughtless--lying as it were on the brink of +eternity; and Doctor Jolly, who had now returned, and was attending her, +did not yet know whether she would recover or not. The doctor and Mr +Trump had a long conversation together, and mutual explanations. The +lawyer was more than ever glad that he had taken no further proceedings +about Susan's death, although he wrote out to Tom Hartshorne, now among +the heights of Abyssinia, telling him all about it. + +Meanwhile, the old lady--struck down in her prime--was hovering on the +edge of the grave, in her great, old solitary house at The Poplars. Her +son had flown away, her daughter was among the departed, and she alone +was left to struggle with the Mower's scythe, alone--although she +neither seemed to think nor feel--Doctor Jolly and strangers ministering +to her. It is sad being alone--sadder being alone at the last! May +you, reader, never feel it! + +Volume 3, Chapter VII. + +BIGTON BEWITCHED. + +The quiet, little unpretending, out-of-the-way and not-of-much-account +watering place of Bigton, was emphatically upside-down and out of its +mind. + +Bigton was, in a word, bewitched--good reason, too, if all things were +taken into consideration. It is not every day, according to our +Hibernian friends, that "Morris kills a pig." Following out the +analogy, it was not every day that Bigton had a wedding--a wedding, +moreover, where the bride was the daughter of a lady, "in her own +right;" and the happy man, if not "a lord of high degree," a shining +light in the church, and closely related to a high and eminent political +personage, such as Sir Boanerges Todhunter. + +Besides, the nuptial ceremony was to be celebrated by the right reverend +prelate, the Lord Bishop of Chumpchopster, who was renowned far and wide +as the most imposing of confirmists in the annual laying on of hands; +and distinguished, not only as being one of the most ornate of orators, +but for having published the well-known refutation of Judaism on the +part of the pork-consuming portion of the population. A treatise which +proclaimed his unswerving adherence to the time-honoured thirty-nine +articles and undoubted hostility to the pre-adamite theologians. The +fact that he would be there was quite enough to set Bigton in a +whirligig of wonder and expectation, quite apart from the contingent +circumstances attending the auspicious event. + +The engagement between the present contracting parties had not been a +very long one, the campaigner being in favour of early marriages, she +said--having daughters to dispose of; but her probable reason was to get +the irrevocable knot tied so that there might be no backing-out and no +backsliding on the part of _I promessi sposi_. + +Lady Inskip took all the arrangements in her own hands. Having brought +Pringle to book, she decided upon the length of the engagement, fixed +the wedding day, and then told the languid Laura and her expectant +son-in-law all about it. They had nothing whatever to do with the +affair at all; they were to be married, and that was sufficient for +them. She considered the pair as children in her hands, who had only to +do as they were told. Hers be it to act, and plan, and settle +everything; theirs to acquiesce in what she planned, and be thankful for +the considerate forethought of their mamma-of-action. + +Pringle glided readily and easily into such an improved order of things; +he accepted the gifts the gods gave him with admirable complacency. He +consented to every arrangement that was made; indeed, it was well that +the campaigner took matters in her own hands, for the young incumbent +was of such an easy-going temperament, that even if he had gone to the +length of popping the question to the languid Laura on his own behalf, +it might have been years before he summoned up resolution enough to take +the final plunge into matrimony. All things considered, therefore, it +was better for the campaigner to act; and act she did, with promptitude +and despatch. + +The Reverend Herbert Pringle, B.A., behaved, throughout, as a very +decorous, about-to-be-married man, and expectant filial. Of course he +paid a regular visit every day to the cottage on the esplanade to see +his _fiancee_. He enjoyed her placid society, and went through all the +formulas expected and required of him--even to the extent of going +shopping for his presumptive mother-in-law, and selecting gaudy wools of +many colours for mat manufacture, and purchasing garden seeds, besides +attending to the redecoration and preparation of the parsonage for the +reception of his bride, under the stern and uncompromising eye of the +campaigner, who would have "this" done, and "that" altered, as she +pleased: her word was already law to him. + +The gloom that had fallen over the house of Hartshorne did not, in any +way, affect the approaching marriage. + +A rumour had got abroad that something was wrong at The Poplars, from +the chattering of the villagers, but no real facts had leaked out; and +everybody put down the old dowager's attack of paralysis and subsequent +long illness to the news of her daughter Susan's sudden death, which +they had read of in the necropolitan portion of the _Times_ newspaper. +Doctor Jolly, with the exception of such observations as, "Bless my +soul! Sad pity! sad pity!" and "By Gad!" 'Twas a fearful "shock to the +old woman!" kept a sealed tongue in his head; and the lawyer, who was +the only other person that now had the _entree_ at The Poplars, was +naturally and professionally reticent. At the parsonage, the calamities +of the "big house" had, of course, created interest. Herbert Pringle +thought, from his religious position, and Lizzie, from her sympathetic +little heart, which naturally yearned towards anyone in affliction-- +particularly now, and when the object of her sympathy was the mother of +her lover--both made attempts to minister at The Poplars, and both were +unsuccessful. + +The old lady was, for weeks, speechless; and so ill, as not to be able +to bear the sight of a new face. Doctor Jolly would not hear of the +young incumbent seeing her; she could not understand anything said to +her, and, for the present--the doctor told him gravely--any religious +question which she wanted settled must rest between herself and her God! +The doctor thought that but little spiritual consolation could be +imparted by a flippant young man, who only wore a cassock for temporal +purposes: as the means of obtaining a living, to a woman old enough to +be his mother, and who was already, even now, struggling, with the +Infinite! + +To Lizzie, however, the doctor spoke kindly. He recognised the spirit +in which her sympathy was tendered; and he told her that as soon as the +old lady got round a bit he would be glad of her services. When she +recovered her consciousness, a brighter face around her than that of the +old servant, who now attended her, would conduce to her recovery; and +Lizzie, you may be sure, was very glad to hear this, and longed for the +time when she could be of use to "Tom's mother." + +Although the old dowager, therefore, lay sick unto death, the marriage +preparations were not set aside. Pringle, indeed, had hinted to the +campaigner that perhaps it would not be in good taste to celebrate the +festival while the great proprietress of the county, his especial +patroness, was in this state, but that intrepid lady had incontinently +derided the notion, asking what was the dowager to them? following up +the question with another and more potent one, as to whether he wished +to postpone the marriage with her darling girl in a very aggrieved tone +of voice. Upon this Pringle was hastily "shut up," and had to pour out +a hundred apologies of, "Really, Lady Inskip, not for the world!" and so +on. + +The end of the old year came, and the beginning of the new ushered in +the wedding morn. + +Many things had been achieved before this, however, as may have been +expected, from the great preparations which had been going on ever since +Pringle's proposal, _ex parte_ the campaigner, and the settlement of the +engagement. + +The parsonage had been newly decorated and painted throughout from top +to basement; on the campaigner's express stipulation, the drawing-room +had been refurnished in a gorgeous suite of velvet and gold; and, +although Lizzie's special domain in the garden had not been interfered +with, everything else about the young incumbent's mansion had been +altered and duly prepared for the coming event. At Laburnum Cottage, +too, the occasion was not disregarded. + +To do her the justice, the campaigner was not stingy in her present +expenditure. Whether it was the joy of marrying off one of her +marriageable daughters opened her purse-strings in the same extent as it +gladdened her heart, or that it arose from a desire to shine amidst the +thing, or that it was owing to a union of both sentiments, cannot be +exactly decided: suffice it to say that the campaigner opened her purse +with a lavish hand. + +For many days large boxes had come down from various haberdashers--"dry +goods establishments," the Americans call them--and milliners in London; +and every little shop in Bigton had been ransacked to the same intent by +Lady Inskip and her daughters. The languid Laura was provided with such +a gigantic _trousseau_ that she would probably attain the rank of +grandmother before she wore out one half the number of "dozens" +provided, while a perfect corps of needlewomen was kept in constant +employment, basting, fitting, hemming, stitching, cutting out, felling, +"goring," and trying on, for upwards of a fortnight or more. + +The campaigner had an additional motive in thus providing for her eldest +darling. You see, Lady Inskip had no _dot_, as she elegantly phrased +it, with which to endow her "poor, portionless darlings," and the fact +of giving them a handsome "rig-out," as their brother Mortimer said, +would perhaps blind the eyes of Caelebs in search of a wife. Be that as +it may, however, the needlewomen worked apace, the _trousseau_ was fully +provided, and Monday night, the eve of the wedding day, Tuesday, the +seventh of January, anno domini 1868, found everything ready for the +auspicious event. + +Lizzie was necessarily one of the bridesmaids--that highly necessary +_corps d'armee_, without which no bride of any pretensions will allow +herself to be conducted to Hymen's sacrificial font. Carry, the bride's +sister, was another; and the places of the two additional +ladies-in-waiting (for espousal themselves) were supplied by two distant +cousins of the Inskips, who had already officiated in a similar capacity +so many times that they had most probably made up their maiden minds +that this was the only problematical manner in which they would ever +officiate at a wedding. Some people seem doomed always to play second +fiddle through life, and bridesmaids are no exceptions to the rule. + +The campaigner had spared no pains, as she had grudged no expense. All +her influence, whether important or slight, was brought to bear on the +contingent circumstances of the affair. + +By back-stairs beseeching she so worked round the maternal aunt of the +Bishop of Chumpchopster, that the right reverend prelate was persuaded-- +inasmuch as he had temporal expectations from the said maternal aunt--to +accompany her to Bigton, and officiate in the tying of the matrimonial +noose between Herbert Pringle, of whom his lordship was pleased to take +some considerable notice, and Laura. The prelate and his maternal aunt +became the honoured guests of Lady Inskip for a day and a night in +consequence; but how on earth they were stowed in Laburnum Cottage, and +what accommodation was provided for them, remains to this day a puzzle. + +"The blushing orb of day at length gilded the sky," and "Phoebus" +announced the wedding morn. + +Enormous dressings of bride and bridesmaids. White and scarlet were the +colours adopted, if you've a fancy for knowing them, although the +campaigner had a strong leaning, which she subsequently quenched, +towards mauve and yellow. Multitudinous errands and scurryings to and +fro of "slavies" and domestics, including "Buttons" and several hired +menials, now addicted to Berlin gloves, although displaying raw, +beefsteaky hands in every-day life. Manifold preparations for the +_dejeuner_, and consequent encroachments of pastry-cook's boys with +superincumbent trays and oblong covered boxes with horizontal S handles; +Laburnum Cottage turned inside out, and outside in; Bigton church bells +clanging "fit to bust 'emselves," as the villagers said; Bigton +upside-down--in a word, bewitched. + +In the early morning two cavaliers might have been seen wending their +way towards the scene of the festivities; not "clad in Lincoln green," +as the late lamented G.P.R. James would have described, but dressed _en +regle_: these were Captain Miles and Lieutenant Harrowby, who had +received pressing invitations from Lady Inskip to come over from +Brighton in order to be present at the ceremony. Neither was averse to +coming, and, indeed, Captain Miles had certain reasons of his own, which +will be detailed presently, for jumping at the offer; so the two +cavaliers set out early, and wended their way to Bigton, as already +chronicled in the language of the ancient "romancist." The Americans +will add an "ist" or a "cist" to every known trade or substantive under +the sun, to describe the person or individual who practises or has any +connection with the same: thus, a "paragraphist" is a man who writes a +paragraph, and they carry it down to a "pipist," who uses a pipe-- +whether for smoking or musical purposes it does not matter--and +"chawist," he who masticates tobacco--a remarkably dirty habit! + +Captain Miles and Lieutenant Harrowby, however, were not the only +guests. Besides these were others, great and important too, although it +must be observed that there was an especial lack of young men in the +campaigner's "goodlie compagnie;" whether it was because she deprecated +their presence or feared their worldly ways cannot be exactly decided. +The campaigner was acquainted with the truism that "young people will be +young people," and fenced herself in accordingly, as she had fears on +the subject of her youngest daughter Carry, who was far too frivolous to +suit her more prudent expectations, and she wanted to put temptation out +of the way of the "dear girl" that she might not be led to throw herself +away on an "ineligible _parti_." The campaigner thought that she knew +Captain Miles very well; he had nothing but his pay, and if he were +younger she would not put him in the way of any young lady whom she +wished to marry well, but she was certain that the captain was no fool +to let his beautiful Dundreary whiskers be sold for nothing, so she had +no fears for Carry with him. Lieutenant Harrowby was perfectly +allowable too: he was a simpleton, and had a very snug little fortune of +five "thou" per annum. + +Besides the Bishop of Chumpchopster and his maternal aunt, the next most +important guest who would grace the festal board at the wedding +breakfast would be Sir Boanerges Todhunter, the great Conservative +Reformer. He was stopping at the parsonage now with the Reverend +Herbert Pringle, his distant cousin, but he had already accepted an +invitation to the _dejeuner_, and had in fact come over for the purpose, +on the grounds of his relationship with the bridegroom, to assist in the +demolition of the Strasbourg _pate_, and propose the health of the +about-to-be-newly-spliced pair. + +In the list also of the fashionable world present might have been seen +the names of Captain Curry Cucumber, of the Honorable and defunct East +India Company's Service, Miss Blandish, Lady Sparrowhawk and sister, the +Honorable Miss Bigges (pray be particular about the final e), the +Reverend Jabez Heavieman--invited in virtue of his office more than on +account of his convivial proclivities--and others. + +Suppose the wedding over. Picture the bride in her orange blossoms, the +bridegroom in his magpie dress--he could not adopt the time-honoured +blue frock, being a cleric--the bridesmaids in their scarlet and white +trains of tulle and tulips--the Bishop of Chumpchopster in his +voluminous lawn sleeves pronouncing the blessing in his well-known and +to be-much-admired Alcaic manner. Imagine the bells of Bigton clanging +out their merry peal in the frosty air: paint to yourself the gallant +and gay assemblage. Fancy, in a word, the marriage to be _un fait +accompli_; the guests returned to Laburnum Cottage; the toast of the day +proposed in that highly-declamatory style which makes the name of Sir +Boanerges Todhunter synonymous with that of Cicero; thanks responded in +the usual halting manner by the bridegroom; the happy pair started on +their tour with the customary shower of shoes; the banquet concluded. +Imagine all this. Aha! and now I will a tale unfold. + +The campaigner had been in ecstasies with the way in which everything +had gone off. The Bishop and Sir Boanerges had just driven away, late +in the evening, after partaking of a hasty dinner, which had been +scrambled out of the remains of the previous feast; Captain Curry +Cucumber was detailing some highly-spiced Indian anecdotes to Miss +Blandish, who was in a holy state of maiden indignation at some of the +particulars with which the captain thought it incumbent on him to +furnish her, although she listened eagerly all the while; Lieutenant +Harrowby was indulging in platitudes with the Hon. Miss Bigges, while +poor Lizzie was being swamped by the veteran Lady Sparrowhawk, who was +imparting to our little friend--who found the whole thing fearfully +dreary--her views on the girls of the present day, contrasting them, +sadly to the disadvantage of the former, with the time when she was +young: all, in fact, was going on just as the campaigner wished. + +When, suddenly, just as Lady Inskip proposed a carpet dance to break the +monotony of the evening, she discovered that her darling girl Carry and +Captain Miles were both missing! + +Horror! Where could they be? Could her worst fears be realised? The +skeleton which had lurked behind the banquet now stepped forth. Her +_atra cura_ now confronted the campaigner! Uneasy was the head that +wore the crown of manoeuvring triumph that day: Carry and the Captain +had gone off _nulla vestigia retrorsum_, leaving not a trace behind. + +Mortimer was first dispatched to search for the fugitives; but when he +returned unsuccessfully, and no trace of the delinquents was to be +found, either in and about the house or in the adjacent garden, the +campaigner, whose nerves had been in a state of tension all day, fairly +broke down. She proclaimed her calamities to her astonished company, +bursting into a passion of tears, as she threw her arms round the neck +of her boy, that young imp, and exclaimed, "Oh! Morti-mer! Morti-mer! +I told you so! I told you so!" over and over again, insisting all the +time that she had _him_ still left to her! + +The _fiasco_ of the pic-nic was comparatively nothing to the present +scene; and the excitement culminated when a note was brought in at this +juncture by the campaigner's abigail (who said she had just found it on +the dressing-table in Miss Carry's room, although she had known of its +existence some hours before, and Lady Inskip discharged her, "by the +same token," as Paddy says, the next day for her complicity in the +affair), telling how the young lady--somewhat "fast" on her part, it +must be confessed--had gone off with Captain Miles to get married, +spurred up to the point probably by the events of the day. + +The note, which was handed round for general perusal, in consequence of +Lady Inskip's temporary abstraction, ran as follows, in Carry's neat +calligraphy, described in violet ink, on cream-laid note:-- + +"Dear Ma,-- + +"Algernon and I having determined to unite our lot--(we have been in +correspondence for a long time without your knowledge)--have gone off to +get married without any bother. We knew you would object and `kick up a +row,' as dear Algernon says, and have therefore thought it best to go +off without letting you know anything about the state of our affections. +Any pursuit will be vain, as we are both determined. We will be +married to-morrow morning. Hoping you will not be vexed very much with +your `darling girl,' and that Laura will be as happy as I intend to be, +with the `prig,' as I used to call the poor little parson, + +"Believe me, + +"Your affectionate daughter, + +"Carry. + +"P.S.--Algernon says to give you his love, and he tells you to `keep +your pecker up.' Tell Mortimer he can have my Persian kitten. Please +excuse Abigail for helping me off. I bullied her into doing it. +Forgive me, dear ma! I know I shall be as happy as a butterfly, and, at +all events, I shall ever be your loving daughter, Carry." + +The comments that were made on this missive may be imagined; and in the +commotion that ensued the characters of the campaigner's guests soon +developed themselves, as is usually the case in moments of excitement, +particularly when an _esclandre_ arises. + +Old Lady Sparrowhawk and the antiquated virgin, Miss Bigges, thought it +highly immoral on Lady Inskip's part to invite them to a house where any +such thing could possibly have happened. Of course they would not +mention anything about it, they said, as they retired from the scene; +but, strange to say, in a very little while after, the mutual friends of +Lady Sparrowhawk and the campaigner were acquainted with every incident +of the elopement. Indeed, from the statements of these people, you +would be led to suppose that they knew a good deal more about it than +had as yet transpired, with much noddings and sly gestures, and +confidential "you knows." + +To say that Captain Curry Cucumber was wrath, would convey but a feeble +idea of his state of mind and volubility of expression, when he, too, +got up to go. In the first place, he had had a slight penchant for the +fair Carry, which Lady Inskip had fostered and encouraged; the remnant +of his liver was consequently wrung with jealousy and baffled love--if +love it may be called--which empurpled his saffron face; and he looked +upon it is a special affront and injury to himself that the campaigner +should have allowed her daughter thus to run away. + +"By Gad! sir!" he said, to Lieutenant Harrowby, who, having been a +confidant of Captain Miles, was dreading in much fear and trembling that +the onus of the whole affair would be laid upon his weak shoulders. "By +Gad! sir, I have never been so scandalously treated in my life; not even +by the Begum of Ferozesha!" + +He said this in sufficiently angry tones, ere he left the room; but when +he got into the hall, his wrath rose to thunder, and was terrific to +behold. + +The magnificent gold-mounted bamboo cane which he had left there, which +had been presented to him by Rumagee Bumagee, the Rajah of Bugpoor, and +which he valued at ever so many lakhs of rupees, was missing. The +captain boiled over with indignation, called Laburnum Cottage a den of +thieves, and heaped such reams of violent epithets on the heads of Lady +Inskip, her daughter, and all her family, even unto the third and fourth +generation, as made Miss Blandish's scanty locks stand on end with +fright, and even restored the campaigner to her senses. + +Captain Curry Cucumber then went out of Laburnum Cottage, for good and +all, and he vowed he would never set foot within another house in Bigton +for social purposes or otherwise. For the remainder of his term of +residence in the sea-side retreat, he shut himself up in the red brick +corner house of the terrace he inhabited, where he spent his time, it is +believed, from morning until night, swearing at his Kitmaghar, a lascar +servant, and eating chutney and prawn curries. The poor unhappy half +caste servant's life must have been a sad burden to him, for the captain +was continually calling him an "Ooloo ka bucka," or son of an owl, and +associating his name in Hindostanee with a big black monkey, who was +being perpetually consigned to the lower regions. + +Carry Inskip's elopement was a "nine days' wonder" in Bigton, and then +was forgotten. It is supposed that the young lady made a better bargain +of it than most runaway matches turn out, and she lives very happily on +a somewhat limited income, with the gallant son of Mars, whom she +espoused the day after their elopement, not at Gretna Green, but by +licence at Chumpchopster, the adjacent cathedral town to Bigton. + +The campaigner's star was certainly under an eclipse. She had done well +for her eldest, but Carry turned out "a bold, ungrateful hussie," as she +called her. Yet she quickly recovered from the blow. In bewitching +Bigton she had been bewitched herself; but she was not one to be +daunted, and now that her "darling Laura" was so comfortably +established, the campaigner began to agitate a most notable scheme in +her worldly-wise head. + +Volume 3, Chapter VIII. + +FOILED! + +The winter passed by and fled. Ships from foreign parts came and went +from Havre; and still, although the police with the able Chef at their +head kept a strict look out and surveillance on all comers and goers, +nothing was heard or seen of Markworth, and no circumstances arose to +unravel the web of mystery in which his disappearance and the murder of +the girl were enwrapped. + +Clara Kingscott still remained at Havre. She was loth to leave the +scene where her enemy had made his last _coup_, and she was hoping on +against hope that something might arise to mature her vengeance--but +nothing came. + +So at last in disgust, having made the Chef promise her, as he did +willingly in the interests of the law, to forward her the first +intimation should anything be heard of Markworth, she quitted Havre and +returned to England in order to prosecute her watch here. + +She went back to the lodgings she had previously occupied in Bloomsbury. +It may be remembered that these were the same where Markworth used +formerly to live; and besides their being comfortable and suited to her +in every way as a point of attack, the governess hoped that perchance he +of whom she was in search might perchance come there unexpectedly. He +would probably have seen the news of Susan's death in the paper, and +thinking that nothing had been discovered of his crime, as she thought, +return again some time to London: where would he be more likely to come +than here? No one connected with the after circumstances of his life +knew of his having lived here but herself, and it was on the cards that +the first place that he would go to, should he return again, as was most +probable, to the scenes of his old life, when he thought pursuit had +died out, would be Mrs Martin's old apartments. + +Here, therefore, Miss Kingscott sat herself down to bide her time. +Patience was never a virtue that she possessed, and it can be no wonder +that time hung heavy on her hands, and her heart was gnawed through with +vexation and impatience at the delay in all her plans, the failure of +her vengeance. Nemesis was at fault, and Nemesis showed the traces of +her mental struggles in her face: this last year had aged her more than +ten. + +She paid repeated visits to the offices of Messrs. Trump, Sequence, and +Co., in Bedford Row, all to no purpose. + +Mr Trump had first heard her placidly and promised assistance when she +should have secured her prey; he had next, after being sufficiently +bored, told her that it was no business of his, and washed his hands of +it; he also said that if she took his advice she too would wash her +hands of it, and leave it alone, to which Sequence, parrot-like, had +re-echoed "leave it alone!" The lawyer finally, when he had been bored +too much and had lost his admiration at the woman's fixity of purpose, +gave directions in his office that he was to be "never in" when she +called. Clara Kingscott after this waited long hours, sitting +determinedly in the outer room, amid the ill-concealed ridicule and +chaff of "sucking sheepskins," the clerks, and had finally to give up +the lawyers in the chronic disgust which was now enveloping everything +in her life. + +Solomonson and Isaacs, the Jew creditors of Markworth, she also haunted; +but they, too, could not see what was to be done, and did not take that +interest in Clara Kingscott's plans which she had supposed they would +have done. To tell the truth the name of Markworth and all that was +connected with their former client stunk in their nostrils; it was not a +pleasant subject for them to dwell upon; so while their debtor was out +of their reach,--although they were ready to pounce upon him _vi et +armis_, with warrants and detainers, should he venture within the +precincts of the lion's den, _id est_, be again within the realm--they +preferred taking a dignified, albeit Hebrews, silence on the matter, and +let it lie _perdu_ for the present. + +Ousted on all sides, therefore, and disappointed of her prey, Clara +Kingscott's life during this interregnum of affairs was not a happy one, +although she tried to make the best of it that she could. As she had +plenty of money for her wants she was not obliged to seek employment, +and she could afford to wait awhile and watch. But watching without +occupation, and waiting with nothing to do, is poor work at the best for +an impatient mind. + +In the meantime she cultivated relationship with the lodging-house +keeper Mrs Martin, in the furtherance of her projects: "the parlours" +and the basement were on the best of terms. + +The spring came and passed, the days spun out their weary length, summer +was nigh, summer had come, and yet Clara Kingscott's vengeance was not +matured; the fly kept away from the web which the spider had so +cunningly woven for him. + +But her gratification came at last in reward for her patience. + +One night--it was far now advanced in the summer--as she was perspiring +in the dingy parlours which she would not relinquish even in the hot +weather, notwithstanding that she had nothing to keep her in town, she +heard a double knock at the street door. + +The knock was nothing unusual in itself. It was a knock which perhaps +any gentleman or lady might have given--but there was this point about +it, it was undecided. Miss Kingscott had been previously reviewing in +her mind all the chain of events that had interwoven her life and her +purpose with that of Markworth. She had been tracing down the panorama +of the last year from its inception to the part where the canvas had +been roughly torn across. There was nothing unusual in this, it was her +constant practice to do this nearly every night--to evolve the various +thoughts which had been passing through her mind during the day, as they +did every day. But by one of those sudden mental clutches which strike +across our brain sometimes, she seized upon the past and worked it into +the present. Like as a sudden noise which we hear in our sleep--such as +the report of a gun, or the sudden exclamation of someone who intrudes +on our slumbers--is worked into our dreams and forms the subject of a +complete mental phantasmagoria, so this stray knock at the street door +of Mrs Martin's lodgings was worked by Clara Kingscott into her present +thoughts. "He's here!" she exclaimed to herself in the tumultuous +throbbing of her excited imagination. "He's here! I feel it! I have +waited long, but he is caught at last!" But she did not go to the door, +she waited and watched still: in spite of all, however, she was right +for once. + +It was Markworth. + +By and bye, later in the evening, Mrs Martin came up to tell her the +important news. Her former lodger had returned--so poor--so +ill-dressed--so changed from what she had formerly remembered him. + +What did he want? Had she sent him about his business? + +Not she! The worldly lodging-house keeper had still a heart left; and +the poor wanderer who had returned had been one of her best tenants. He +was worn out, poor fellow--she said--and she had put him in one of her +best bedrooms, where she hoped he was sleeping comfortably after all the +troubles he had gone through. "It made her heart bleed to hear 'im," +said the twenty-five-shillings-a-week-and-coals-extra vampire. There is +charity in all of us, friend, if you can find it out; even in a London +lodging-house keeper; and some of us, returning prodigals, can quote +with the poet, that they found their warmest welcome at an inn. +Strangers are sometimes even more compassionate than friends! + +"At last! At last!" murmured Miss Kingscott; and she had planned well +before what she should do in such an emergency. + +Early the next morning, while the wanderer was yet enjoying the soundest +sleep he had had since the night he fled like a hunted animal from +Havre, the ex-governess was up and doing. + +Pressing business this time with Solomonson and Isaacs: they did not +refuse now to hear her news, and act upon it too. + +Disruption of the prodigal's dreams. + +Dire disgust in the Bloomsbury lodgings! + +Before twelve o'clock that day, Allynne Markworth was removed in a cab +under the escort of two sheriffs officers (much to the disgust of Mrs +Martin, who had lent her prodigal lodger five pounds "until he could go +to the bank," as he said) to Chancery Lane--or rather a small street +running out of the same. + +He changed his lodgings a second time, from the worthy Mrs Martin's +first-floor to the apartments of a certain Abednego in Curseover Street, +who keeps a court of reception--popularly know as a sponging-house, of +the class immortalised by Hogarth--for gentlemen under a pecuniary +cloud. + +Markworth was arrested at the suit of certain _confreres_ of Mister +Abednego, twixt "Solomonson and Isaacs, solicitors," on a writ for a +largish sum of money, which he certainly could not pay. + +Was the detainer heavy! + +3,000 pounds and costs! + +And he hadn't a penny in his pocket but Mrs Martin's five pounds! + +Pleasant! + +"But your friends will soon come and see you," said the Cerberus of the +sponging-house in words of comfort. If Markworth had been arrested for +a trifling sum, he would have taken no notice of him whatever. There is +a dignity even in debt, if it be large enough! Your paltry insolvents +are but small fry: a colossal defaulter is a man to be looked up to and +envied, _vide_ the annals of the Bankruptcy Court. So Markworth was +comfortably treated, and had a private room, as he owed a heavy sum, +and, moreover, had money in his pocket. + +Oh! yes, there was not the least doubt Markworth's friends would look +after him. He had a visitor the very first day of his incarceration, +and who it was may easily be guessed. + +Volume 3, Chapter IX. + +PRINGLE "PECKED." + +The nuptial couch is not always a bed of roses, and so the young +incumbent of Hartwood found out after a time. Not that it was all the +fault of his newly-married spouse. Laura loved him in her languid way, +and would have endeavoured to make his home happy if she had been left +to herself; but the old campaigner stood in the gap: she had became +Herbert Pringle's _bete noir_. + +Shortly after the happy pair came back from their honeymoon to the +parsonage, Lady Inskip made a proposition, which by dint of judicious +manoeuvring she managed to carry into operation. Now that her eldest +daughter was married, and Carry, "the bold, ungrateful girl," had left +her in that scandalous manner, there was no need for her to keep up any +longer a special establishment as she had formerly done. She only had +her darling boy, Mortimer, now to care for, and Laburnum Cottage would +be too big for herself and him only. She suggested to her dear, kind, +clever son-in-law what she would do. She would give up the cottage--her +time would be out on Lady-day, and it did not want such a very long time +now to that date, and come and live at the parsonage with her +affectionate children. Nothing could be better! Of course she would +insist on paying her share of the housekeeping expenses; but then she +did eat so very little; that would be of little count. Would not her +dear Herbert and Laura--she put it to them--welcome her? She was such a +good manager, and they were so ignorant of the world. + +"Of course, dear ma!" said Laura. "That will be so nice; and then I +should not have any trouble with the house and that horrid cookery book. +I hate it! I wish Soyer had never been born. I'm sure I cannot make +head or tail of all his `economical dishes,' as he calls them." + +"Certainly, my love!" responded the campaigner with alacrity. It was +wonderful how very sweet and affectionate she could be when she had any +point to gain. "I should take charge of all that off your hands, my +dear! It _would_ be hard if I could not be of use to my own children, +whom I only have left to care for." + +"That'll be all right, ma, then?" said Laura, considering the matter +settled; but the campaigner was not so sure, for her son-in-law had not +made any response yet to the offer. + +"What does Herbert say, my pet?" exclaimed the old general, playfully, +and looked the Rev. Herbert full in the face. "Will he turn his old +mother into the street, or--?" + +"Oh! certainly, Lady Inskip, certainly!" promptly answered up the young +divine, confused at being appealed to. "That is, of course we'll be +glad to have you here for a time, and--" + +"Oh! I see," interposed the campaigner, with a capital assumption of +offended pride and wounded feeling, "I should be intruding when I only +offered to come here and help my darling child. Oh! that I have lived +to hear this." + +"Oh! ma," said Laura, "don't go on so. Herbert didn't mean anything of +the kind." + +"That I have lived to see this day!" repeated the campaigner, with +solemn emphasis, and looking as if she were going to cry; however as she +was seldom given to lachrymals, tears did not come so readily as would +have now suited her purpose, but she twisted up her eyes, nevertheless, +and sniffed ominously. + +"Pray don't say so, ma! Don't say so! Say something, Herbert, to her, +and don't be so unfeeling!" eagerly ejaculated Laura, turning to her +husband, who did not know what to say. He certainly had hoped that he +and his wife could have lived together without the services of his +honoured mother-in-law, the lady in her own right; but what could he do? +Here was she asking, and Laura urging it; and he was a single man +against two energetic females. He was helpless, although he wished to +do battle on his sister Lizzie's behalf, being certain that she and the +campaigner would not get on well together. He was driven to the wall, +however, for Laura had called on him to say something, and he must +speak! + +"Certainly, Lady Inskip, certainly!" he began. "That is, I mean to say, +we will be most happy, Laura, and myself, to have you to live with us. +Delighted, I'm sure; and Laura can make all the arrangements; but if +there's anything you want me to see to, you have only to ask. That's +all, and--and--" + +"You dear, impulsive creature," interrupted the campaigner; "you are so +good. I thought you did not mean to be unkind; but my feelings have +been so lacerated of late that a very little affects me now." The +campaigner spoke of a very little affecting her as if she were alluding +to the imbibition of gin, or some other stimulant. "And so _that's_ all +arranged, and I can give up the cottage at once. It will be delightful +to live here altogether; just like the happy family, won't it?" + +"Quite so, Lady Inskip, quite so!" responded the Reverend Herbert; but +he did not speak cheerfully, and I fear he had other views in his own +mind of what a "happy family" arrangement might be. + +"Charming, ma!" chorused Laura. "We'll see about making the +arrangements at once, in order to prevent you from changing your mind." + +The incumbent's wife need not, however, have been under any anxiety on +that score: the campaigner knew very well when she had made a bargain, +and she was not going to back out of it. + +"I must send the darling boy Mortimer to school, however. It will be so +sad parting with him, but it must be done. It would never do to have +him here, would it?" + +And she looked inquiringly at her son-in-law. + +Pringle had sundry experiences of the darling boy's tractable +disposition, and was rather disinclined in being so intimately +associated with the young hopeful, so he combatted the point. + +"You're quite right, Lady Inskip. He'd better be sent to school; not +that I'd have any objections to his coming here, but then--" + +"Yes," sighed the campaigner, "I suppose he must go; it would be too +much to ask." + +"Oh! have him here, ma. Don't send him to school, poor little fellow! +Herbert won't mind, will you?" struck in Laura. + +The incumbent was again doomed to defeat. He could refuse his young +wife nothing when she was so judiciously "backed up" by the campaigner. + +"Oh! certainly not, Lady Inskip. Have him here by all means." + +He gave in. He thought as the campaigner was coming the mischief was +done; and he would be equally willing now to receive all the rest of the +family; even Carry and her military husband, if it was suggested that +they should all be invited; and the green parrot, too, the Persian cats, +and all the other pets of My Lady's. He succumbed hopelessly, and was +thenceforth a pecked man. + +I remember once coming across a little Oriental anecdote which lays +particular stress on the relations of connubial folk. Pity that Pringle +was not acquainted with it before he committed himself. The story runs +as follows:--Once upon a time a gay young fellow married the widow of a +great Khan--the scene is laid in Persia. On the wedding night the lady +determined to assert her authority, and show who was the real lord and +master. She accordingly treated her spouse with great contempt when he +entered the ante-room, where she was seated on rose-leaf cushions +caressing a large white cat, of which she pretended to be very fond +indeed. She appeared very much annoyed at her husband's entrance, and +looked at him out of the corners of her eyes with cold disdain as he +came in. + +"I hate cats," observed the young husband, blandly, as if he were only +making a casual observation; "they offend my sight." + +If his wife had looked at him with glances of cold disdain before, her +eyes now wore an expression of anger and contempt, such as no words can +express. She did not even deign to answer him, but took the cat to her +bosom and fondled it passionately: her whole heart seemed to be in the +cat, and cold was the shoulder that she turned to her husband. + +"When any one offends me," continued her gallant, gaily, "I cut off his +head. It is a peculiarity of mine which I am sure will only make me +dearer to you." + +Then, drawing his sword, he took the cat gently but firmly from her +arms, cut off its head, wiped the blade, sheathed it, and sitting down +continued to talk affectionately to his wife as if nothing had happened. +After which, says tradition, she became the best and most submissive +wife in the world. + +A hen-pecked fellow, meeting him the next day as he rode with a gallant +train through the market place, began to condole with him. + +"Ah!" said the hen-pecked one with deep feeling, "you, too, have taken a +wife, and got a tyrant. You had better have remained the poor soldier +that you were. I pity you from my very heart!" + +"Not so," replied the other, jollily; "keep your sighs to cool yourself +next summer." + +He then related the events of his wedding night with their satisfactory +results. + +The hen-pecked man listened attentively, and pondered long. + +"I also have a sword," said he, "though it is rusty, and my wife is +likewise fond of cats. I will cut off the head of my wife's favourite +cat at once." + +He did so, and received a sound beating. His wife, moreover, made him +go down upon his knees and tell her what djinn, or evil spirit, had +prompted him to do the bloody deed. + +"Fool!" said the lady, when she had possessed herself of the +hen-pecked's secret, with a vixenish vinegar smile on her sallow lips, +"you should have done it the first night!" + +The moral is obvious: the Persians say "Advice is useless to fools!" + +Pringle did not kill the cat at once; hence his position. + +The old campaigner sold out at Laburnum Cottage in another week or two, +and came with the young imp Mortimer, her Persian cats, and green +parrot, and all her multitudinous belongings, settling down like a swarm +of locusts on the devoted parsonage. Gone thenceforth were all its +tranquil joys. + +After a time the Lucca-oil-like-suavity which had formerly distinguished +Lady Inskip in Pringle's mind, disappeared. She appeared now as the +concentrated essence of verjuice or tartaric acid, and ruled the whole +house with a rod of iron, becoming in truth the master of all. Poor +Lizzie's life was made a burden to her; and she was treated as if she +were a presumptuous intruder in her brother's house. The old campaigner +wrung her little heart with continual allusions to the "Young Squire," +and said how glad she "would have been to get him, miss!" making bitter +comments on the way she said Lizzie had angled for Tom, and how he had +gone off now and left her. "Served her right, too," she ought not to be +"pining and whining and breaking her heart after a man who never cared +for her!" When, you may be sure, our little friend answered and stuck +up for her rights, whereupon the campaigner would go and complain to the +supposed head of the family, and declare that she could not stop in the +house with "that virago of a girl," and Pringle had to timidly urge that +he would not keep Lady Inskip against her will for the world. Then the +campaigner would commence with a stern philippic on ingratitude, and +wind up by bursting into tears and wishing she had never been born to +observe that particular day. Here Laura would interfere, Herbert +Pringle beg the pardon of his mamma-in-law, and all would be soothed +over for a time, and the campaigner would establish a fresh gap in the +trenches she was engineering for universal sovereignty. + +Pringle suffered in more ways than one. He had to walk now through the +parish in discharging his parochial duties, for he could no more "prance +about," as Mrs Hartshorne called it, on his dapple grey pony. The +campaigner had impounded that valuable little animal, and no more was it +bestridden by the well shaped, albeit diminutive legs of the incumbent. +The Macchiaevelli in petticoats said that "her daughter" must have a +carriage to go about in, considering she could no longer afford to keep +one of her own, which otherwise she would have been happy for Laura to +have made free use of. The campaigner had sold her equipage when she +cleared out from Laburnum Cottage along with other sundry theatrical +"effects" which she had kept up for the sales of entrapping suitors for +her daughters' hands, and now they were both off her hands she melted +down her appurtenances into the handier form of a banker's balance. "No +one knew what might come," as she said to herself, sagely reflective. + +She accordingly made Pringle buy a neat basket carriage, and build an +enlargement to the parsonage stable for its accommodation. To this +vehicle, dapple grey was thenceforth attached, and the campaigner used +to drive out in it every afternoon, occasionally but seldom, accompanied +by her daughter, and the small boy with the eruption of buttons on him, +whom she had retained in her own service when she migrated to the house +of her son-in-law. "It was so respectable to have a page," as she said. +Lizzie she never invited to drive with her, not that she would for a +moment have consented to the penance of a _tete-a-tete_ with the +campaigner, whom she disliked as much almost as the other did her, +although she tried to bear with her for her brother's sake, whom she +pitied. Lizzie in fact saw clearly that poor Herbert was sadly +hen-pecked, not by his wife, for she was two apathetic, but by his +mother-in-law. + +Instead of the paradise of bliss which he had hoped to enter, by allying +himself with Lady Inskip's eldest daughter, the young incumbent found +himself in a very miserable position; and I am inclined to think that he +somewhat regretted his hasty step. He loved Laura as much as it was in +his nature to do so, and so did she him; but both were very young--he +just a boy from College, one might say; and they had yet much to learn +of that mutual forbearance principle, and earnest trust and love, +without which too many find marriage the "lottery" they declare it. +What chance of happiness they had depended upon their being to +themselves, without the odious presence of the campaigner; but she had +established herself as a fixture, and was not going to stir herself in a +hurry; and as Laura as yet took her part, principally because Herbert +Pringle had his sister on his side, the pecktive state continued, +unhappily for all parties. + +No more did the ritualistic young divine devote much attention to his +sermons; and the Ciceronian phraseology, which purely distinguished +those works of composition, disappeared. He had no heart in his work-- +for the campaigner was always "nagging" at him at home, and no longer +praised his eloquence as she had done at first. + +No more did he chant in melodious strains the Psalms to his elaborately +embroidered and besmocked congregation of farmers, but read them over +hurriedly, in order to get rid of them. Even his ritualistic tendencies +began to be toned down: the lectern was seldom made use of, and the +white surplices were dispensed with for the boys of the choir. + +Pringle was pecked with a vengeance, and its effect was shown, not only +in his outward ways, but in his adornment--he became careless about his +dress, and not half so particular as he had been for appearances before +he became a Benedict. Bottom was very much translated, indeed. Pringle +was pecked! + +Lizzie saw all that was going on, and sympathised with her brother. The +old campaigner she detested, and only the desire not to increase her +brother's miseries by having home broils, made her keep her hostility +subdued; she even tried to coax the artful Macchiaevelli for him, all to +no effect, as also her endeavours to awaken the languid Laura to a sense +of the responsibility owing to her husband. + +The campaigner ruled the roast in spite of all; and showed not the +slightest desire to conceal her dislike for Lizzie. She tormented her +constantly with spiteful allusions to the past, and Lizzie would not +have minded so much what she said about herself, but she would abuse +Tom, and that she could not stand. Besides, she encouraged the horrid +imp Mortimer to spoil all poor Lizzie's garden, and disarrange her pet +conservatory, and even to break up a little artful contrivance for +holding plants, which Tom had specially given her. It is true Pringle +made up a row on that subject, and threatening to chastise the boy, +somewhat checking his horticultural tendencies to the detriment of +Lizzie in future. Still, the place was made very unhappy to her, and +Lizzie would have been miserable and wished herself dead and out of the +way if some consolation had not turned up suddenly for her in a most +unexpected manner. + +Thenceforth she bore the campaigner's taunts with stolid and aggravating +silence, making that lady wish time and again that Lizzie were "her +child," and she "would soon teach her manners." Notwithstanding that +poor Pringle was so sadly pecked, and the parsonage lost its Eden-like +character since the invasion of the serpent, there was balm yet in +Gilead for Lizzie. + +What had happened? Whence came Lizzie's consolation? + +You would never suspect. + +Volume 3, Chapter X. + +CAUGHT AT LAST. + +"Even the worst laws are so necessary for our guidance, that without +them, men would devour one another," remarks Epicurus--in order to +exemplify the frailty of human nature, according to Plutarch, the +moralist. Putting the point of cannibalism aside, and thus obviating a +trip to the Feejee Islands, or New Zealand, for example, it cannot be +disputed that the dictum of the Epicurean philosopher is based on a +fundamental truth, which is fairly exhibited in every-day life. +Granting, however, that laws are necessary for human progress, the +philosophical enquirer is still as much at fault as ever, for he +becomes, as it were, like Hamlet, plunged into a sea of troubles, which +no opposition will limit, the moment he begins his search into the +mysteries of jurisprudence. The progress of the blind goddess with the +sinister and dexter scale has been by no means commensurate with the +advancement of civilisation, for the name of laws is legion; and between +good laws and bad laws, and what may be termed legal laws and moral +laws, there are as wide differences and as great discrepancies as exist +among the several offenders and offences against the same. + +A law may be a good law, and a necessary law, and yet be a bad law, +speaking according to law; while a bad and unjust law, merely regarded +as a piece of law-making, becomes good when weighed in the same forensic +balance. This seems paradoxical, but can be verified readily in +overlooking the legal code. Law, itself, is wise, and good, and +necessary; but, "too many cooks spoil the broth," so our original Magna +Charta of Liberty has become a hotch-potch pie of precedents, thanks to +the many law-makers we have had, who lead the blind goddess into the +gutter, and so transform Themis that no one would know her again in her +original guise. There are so many cities of refuge provided for +criminals within the statutes of the justice book, so many loopholes for +chicanery and fraud to sneak through, that no criminal need trouble +himself for fear of consequences at committing any offence in the +decalogue or calendar, short of murder--even that often becomes +justified under the appellative "homicide" in the minds, and under the +verdict of "a free and enlightened jury!"--save the mark. + +The various turnings and windings of our great national bulwark--the +Law--are many and wonderful. + +A man who commits a greater offence can only be, perhaps, indicted under +a lesser plea, and the small criminal again is treated proportionately +more severely than the man who deals in crime wholesale. Some reforms +have, indeed, been made already, but more are still needed. Perhaps one +of the greatest agitated of late has been the abolishment of +imprisonment for debt, one of the most iniquitous statutes we have been +cursed with. The debtor had been held on a par with the thief and the +murderer, and has often been condemned to a greater term of imprisonment +than the criminal who commits a burglary or takes human life. However, +this will soon be numbered amongst the other mistakes of the past, like +the old Fleet prison. + +Following out the analogy, it seems strange that Markworth, who had been +deemed guilty of graver offences under the eye of the law should only be +caught at last through a _ca ca_, _ex parte_ Solomonson, the Jew money +lender. + +He had puzzled Mrs Hartshorne's lawyers in proving the abduction; he +would have gained a large fortune by his scheming, but through the +little mistake of a date; he had evaded the French police, and escaped +the arrest of a murderer; and here he was imprisoned at last, in a +sponging-house, only on a question of debt--a matter of pounds, +shillings, and pence. Oh, the anachronisms of the law! But enough has +been already said in these pages of its Penelopean web of trickery and +evasion. + +To return to our hero, perhaps the best example of terror which could be +mentioned, is that of seeing a drove of wild animals on the prairies of +the far west, flying from a bush fire. The herds of buffalo, deer, and +even bears and panthers, are then seized with a maddening influence of +fright and flight combined, and rush pell mell in front of the blazing +torrent of fire which spreads behind them. They do not care where they +go, and will encroach even upon the haunts of men, of whom they are +generally afraid, the panther running by the side of the bison, which +does not now mind the proximity of its enemy, all flying in their wild +scare for safety, with heaving flanks and panting breath. + +It was under the influence of such a fright that Markworth fled from the +heights of Ingouville, when he escaped from Clara Kingscott's clutches: +he could fancy that he still heard Susan's wild shriek ringing in his +ears. + +The accusation of Clara Kingscott had paralysed him with a morbid +terror. His first impulse was, when Susan disappeared over the +precipice, to rush down and save her. Then he had been stopped so +unexpectedly, and on the governess accusing him of murdering the girl, +his mind had rapidly grasped the circumstances attending, and he saw how +strong the proof of circumstantial evidence would be against him. + +The cries of Clara Kingscott would now have alarmed the neighbourhood. +Morbid terror possessed him. How to escape! Was there time to fly? + +And he fled with all the fear of a hunted animal. + +He did not know in which direction he went, but he suddenly arrested his +fleeing footsteps: he saw somebody in the distance, and turned back. + +It would never do to continue the path down which the body of Susan +might be lying; if he were to be found near at hand he might be lost. + +He bent aside and rapidly made his way down the steep incline, and after +wheeling around in various directions so as to discern any possible +pursuit, he made up his mind to go first to the lodgings in the Rue +Montmartre. He must get off out of the way, and as nobody would search +for him yet awhile--it was so late, and quiet, and dark--he could find +time to collect his things, and get on board some steamer in the harbour +before anyone would dream of searching for him. Besides, there might be +no pursuit at all, he thought to himself, his native courage rapidly +returning as he got further and further from the scene of action. He +would proceed cautiously; but he must go away: yes, it was best to go +away. What was the use in remaining now? Susan was the only link that +bound him to Havre, and now she was providentially put out of his way. +Poor girl! He pitied her; but it was, perhaps, best as it was, and +somebody else would see after her now. It would have been an unpleasant +business if he had stopped by her at any rate. She even might not be +dead after all: somebody else would see to her; that devil Clara was +there at all events. + +These thoughts flitted through his brain, as he walked leisurely along +the now deserted streets of the town. It would never do to appear in a +hurry, for Havre was respectable, and went to bed at an early hour, with +the exception of the fisher folk, who were still carousing in the low +cabarets down by the quays. + +By this time he had reached his door, and opening it with his pass key, +he let himself in. + +In the passage he met the little husband of the Mere Cliquelle, whom he +told that _Madame sa femme_, was unwell and stopping at a friends, and +he was going out again for her. He then went into his rooms and began +to pack a portmanteau leisurely, for he thought "if they are hunting for +me this is the last place they would seek for me." And so he arranged +matters quite at his ease. + +He had nearly a hundred pounds left in money, and that he thought would +see him through a good deal. He could not stop in England, he +considered, and on the other hand Clara Kingscott would make the +Continent too hot to hold him. Where should he go? + +America, he decided, in a moment. That blessed land for aliens and +criminals would receive him and offer him a convenient shelter; besides, +if all he heard was true, he was in no doubt that he could pick up a +living by his wits amongst his transatlantic cousins. The moment he +came to this determination he proceeded to act upon it. + +At all events, there was no use in stopping in the Rue Montmartre any +longer, so he opened the door, after putting the things in order, and +taking up the valise in his hand, he walked towards the passage. + +"_Bon soir_!" he shouted to the Mere Cliquelle and her husband above, +who thought the evening's proceedings rather strange on the whole but +consoled themselves with the reflection that "_Ces Anglais sont +droles_!" + +"_Bon soir, Monsieur! Au revoir_!" they responded; and Markworth walked +out of the Mere Cliquelle's house for the last time. It was now nearly +ten o'clock, and all was quiet about the street, which was quite dark. +He was unnoticed, and free to go where he pleased, and so he turned his +steps this time down towards the steamboat quay. There, although it was +so late, he managed to come across a fisherman, who was just starting +off in his little boat. + +For a small consideration, as it lay in his way, the man consented to +land him over at Honfleur, on the opposite banks of the Seine, Markworth +telling him that he had a sick wife, whom he must visit that night. + +"_Pauvre fille_!" said the _Ignobile Pescatore_, with a sympathetic +shrug, "we must take you to madame;" and setting his brawny arms to +work, in addition to the lugsail, for there was little wind, Markworth +was, after the lapse of a short interval, set ashore at length at +Honfleur, leaving the broad and muddy Seine between himself and his +Nemesis. He could now breathe freely. His plans were made up, and he +had only to wait until the early morning for carrying them into +execution. + +At an auberge in the centre of the town he got a lodging for the night, +and in the early morning was travelling north. + +From Paris to Brussels--train again--miles of railroad--on, on to +Bremen, or rather Bremenhaven as the port is properly called. Time to +catch one of the German American steamships of the _Nord Deutsche_ line, +that ply between that port and New York, touching at Southampton on the +way. Caught it! Be certain tho' that Markworth landed not at the +stopping-place on the route! He had too wholesome a dread of his +creditor, Solomonson, and the possibilities of a "capias" or "ca ca" +administered by one of the greasy hands of mine host of Curseover +Street, Chancery Lane. No more treading on British soil for him! + +Bremen to Southampton--a two days' trip. One day more lying there +alongside the railroad dock, and afterwards far out in the harbour, +where the hull of the steamer looked like a gigantic lizard, or the +far-famed sea-serpent. Then, on a Wednesday morning, he finally sailed +for the land of the setting sun--"the home of the brave and free;" +where, according to the poetical license of transatlantic eulogists, +"the Bird o' Freedom claps her wings in exultation over the +star-spangled banner in the ethereal expanse of perennial blue." + +On landing in New York, Markworth found it very similar to any other +city of the old world in which he had been. There was no Eldorado here: +the streets were not profusely strewn with gold for the needy to pick +up. New York was only another temple of Mammon, where he who had money +was a brave gentleman, and he who had none might starve and be hanged to +him! + +For labouring men and mechanics, there is a wide field for industry in +the Empire City and the adjacent country round about; but for clerks, +"gentlemen," and Chevaliers d'Industrie, New York possesses few +facilities, and it is harder work to pick up a living there than even in +our own over-crowded London. + +Markworth's available funds melted down into greenbacks, and the +wretched paper currency that forms the circulating medium of our +transatlantic brethren, did not stretch very far. The essays he made to +increase his store by his wits shrunk his purse still less. + +Although "enterprise" is one of the proverbial characteristics of +Jonathan, still there is no country in the world, in spite of all the +fabulous anecdotes we hear of swindling and "bogus" schemes, where +adventurers without capital have such small chances of success. +Jonathan may take in other people with his wooden nutmegs, pewter +dollars, and Connecticut clocks, warranted to go for eight days, but a +person is required to "get up extremely early in the morning" to get +over him. The land of humbug, which possesses its native Barnums in +shoals, is one of the "cutest countries in creation, I guess," and can +"whip" any "coon" that comes from "tother side of Jordan." + +Markworth thought himself shrewd; but here, in the race of wits, he +found himself a sluggard. + +He had at last to take to gambling, but even there he was no match for +the smart Yankees with whom he played. Talk of Homburg and Baden-Baden! +They cannot hold a candle to the Faro banks and other gambling hells of +New York and Saratoga. Gambling is supposed to be contrary to the laws +of the United States, but when their senators and law-makers practise +it, it cannot be wondered that the people hold it up _en masse_, while +justice winks at their doings. + +Finding chance no ally, all his endeavours to get employment vain, and +the country with its people and belongings hateful to him, Markworth +became possessed with that intense home longing, which none but those +who have experienced it can appreciate. It is strange, the effects of +that same _maladie du pays_, as the French call it. Numbers of +conscripts die from it every year in Algiers, pining for their _belle +France_ to the last; only the Ethiopian, or modern negro, seems +unaffected by its influence. Even he, too, may long to be back again in +his beloved Congo, when sweltering in the shambles of Cuba, where, thank +goodness, slavery only now exists; there, however, it is also doomed to +be mercifully blotted out. + +While suffering from this home sickness, homeless, friendless, nearly +penniless, Markworth had a sudden and lucky _coup_ at Faro, which just +gained him sufficient money wherewith to pay his passage back to +England. Sick he was of the Yankees, but he blessed them now! + +He eagerly jumped at the chance, and without a thought of the +consequences of debt and imprisonment, or of the harpies looking out for +him, he paid his passage money--"third class" this time--and was on his +way home in one of those steamships that land at London, some six months +or so after he had gone out so valiantly, a man of money, to the New +World. He did not care, however: his one dream was to get back home +again--"home," though it be ever so homely, and he--but in rags. + +He arrived at last; he landed, and he was cast upon the sea of London +life without a penny in his pockets, and no luggage to overburden him. + +Markworth, however, did not mind this. He had been hard pushed before; +and having always managed to wriggle himself out of pecuniary +difficulties, he saw no reason why he should not raise himself again, +even though his fortunes were at such a very low ebb. Indeed, he did +not doubt his ability so to do for a moment. + +His first care was to get a little money to go on with, and he had no +fear but that Joseph Begg, his former _confidant_, would readily assist +him, as he could soon pay him back in his own time; for a habitation, of +which he had also to be careful, he determined to go back to his old +lodgings at Mrs Martin's in Bloomsbury. + +Begg's billiard rooms in Oxford Street accordingly formed his first +destination. As it was getting late, and "pool" the natural thing at +the time, he was certain of finding Joseph Begg in; but he was doomed to +be disappointed. + +On inquiring for his old friend of an Irish marker, who alone was in the +room, he heard to his astonishment that Joseph Begg was dead! + +"Yis, yer 'anner," said this man, with a strong Dublin brogue; "he's did +an' bur'd mor'n foor month. He wint to dhrink a pint of rhum agin some +City swell or other for a bet of a fife-pun-nut, and be Jabers! it kilt +poor Begg enthirely! Shure, yer 'anner, he jist dhropped down did on +the flure, he did, yer 'anner. Good luck till him! Faith he wor one of +the raal sort, too, and he desarved to win, but the rhum was too much +for him--bad cess to it!" + +It seemed another link in the chain of ill-luck which had enwrapped him +ever since his marriage with Susan Hartshorne; and Markworth turned away +with a heavy heart to seek his quarters at Mrs Martin's, while the +Irish lad was crooning out some ditty about a "gintlemun" who-- + + "Turned up his nose, + And the tips of his toes, + To the roots of the daisies, oh!" + +But he readily found an asylum in Bloomsbury, as he had thought; still +even there his fate still pursued him, and he was arrested next day, as +already told. + +The first visitor who came to see him in the sponging-house was she who +had last held him on the heights of Ingouville, and called him murderer. +He was proportionately glad to see her: a mutual pleasure, without +doubt! + +But his troubles had much shaken him, and Markworth was not the +Markworth of before--the cool collected man of the world with a strong +spice of the devil-may-care element; he was cowed and beaten. + +"What do you want here with me, Clara Kingscott?" he growled out, as he +cowered from her fixed gaze of hate. "What do you want now, for God's +sake! I paid you, at all events!" + +"What do I want, Allynne Markworth? I wanted to see you caged at last, +villain! and now I'm satisfied!" + +"Well, you've seen me now, so you may go away and be happy! But I don't +know why you hate me so, I'm sure; I don't owe you any money at all +events!" + +"Money, money, money! that has always been the burden of your song--and +now you see its worth!" + +"I know it would take me out of here; that's what I know!" he replied, +with a faint attempt at a jocular laugh--it was a very faint one. + +"Would it? Do you know who put you here?" + +"Solomonson, I suppose; my worthy friend to whom I am slightly indebted. +I don't think he'll get his money, though; for I am hanged if I don't +go through `the Court.'" He laughed, still keeping up appearances. + +The governess went on, however, in her cold grating voice, without +apparently noticing his interruption. + +"I placed you here!" she said, with bitter emphasis. "I got you +arrested. I knew that you came to those lodgings last night! I have +been watching for you for weeks; and I went down this morning to those +attorneys, and told them where you were. I would have gone last night +if it had not been so late! You have got to thank me for your arrest!" + +"You! you she devil! Why, what on earth have I done to you?" he +exclaimed, in astonishment. + +"Done to me! If you have forgotten ten years ago, and the way you +deceived me, Allynne Markworth, I have not!" + +"Good God, Clara! I thought that was all past and gone. No one could +have regretted it more than I! and you, yourself, said we had better let +bygones be bygones! Why, you accepted money from me, you--" + +"Yes, I did! It was only to work your own ruin!" + +"Good God, Clara! Don't go on like that; I'm hunted down now, or I +would do anything you wanted. Don't hit a man when he's down!" + +She still continued, working herself up into a frenzy of passion as she +spoke, without noticing his words, although gazing steadily in his face +with her basilisk eyes, which were widened with fury and hate. + +"Do you know that if that flaw had not been discovered in the date of +the girl's age--and I only wish that I had made it and discovered it!-- +and that if your case had gone to trial, I would have come forward as +evidence against you, and would have sworn to having assisted you to +abduct that poor idiot Susan Hartshorne? Do you know that I would have +sworn to this, no matter how I implicated myself, only to get you +ruined? Did you ever think of that?" + +"No, for God's sake, Clara! I kept to my bargain." + +"Did you keep your bargain ten years ago? If you forget, Allynne +Markworth, I do not! Now, thank God, I have got you caught at last!" + +"Have you, you she devil, fiend!" he said, "You will be baulked again, +my lady! Don't make too sure! curse you, she cat! What do you come +here to torment me for?" + +"What do I come for, eh? I told you before--to see you caged at last-- +you deceiver! swindler! murderer!" she hissed between her teeth. "Ha! +does not that touch you up at last? You will get out, will you! Do you +forget Havre? Do you forget Susan Hartshorne, the same as you forgot me +once before? Have you forgotten the murder I saw, murderer? Ah!" + +"Woman! you are mad! Get out, and leave me in peace! I am no murderer, +although you almost persuade me to be one now! Get out, or by God +I'll--" + +"No! You won't murder me. You cannot get away from me like you ran +from Havre! I am not afraid of you, although I am a woman." + +"You are no woman, or you would not come here to torment me like this. +You _know_ I never hurt that girl. God knows I did not do it; whatever +else I may have done, I am innocent of that crime, and if the poor girl +is dead, no one would wish to get her back to life more than I do, as +she could prove my innocence. For God's sake, Clara, stop. You must be +mad, or you would not talk like this. Think of the past between us, +think of--" + +"Yes, I do think of the past, and that makes me act now. I am no more +mad than you are; but I have sworn to ruin you, and I will keep my oath. +Do you know where I am going to now?" + +"I don't know, and I don't care," he said sullenly, "only for God's +sake, leave me in peace, and go away." + +He was quite broken down now, and the expression of the woman's strong +hate, coupled with all he had gone through, made him nerveless and +hopeless. She still went on in the same tone of fiendish glee: her +feelings seemed to have overcome her reason. + +"I am going now to have you charged with murder. Murder, do you hear? +The French police were on your track. We will see what the English +police will do now. You will get out, will you? You think you will +escape! Bah! Just wait and see." + +"Hang you! Go away, will you. You are raving!" he said: he really +thought her mad. + +"Hang me? Not quite; but you will be hanged though, and then I will die +happy!" she exclaimed, with the passion still in her eyes, in her +gestures, in her very form and figure. + +Markworth was seated in a corner of the private room in which they were +speaking (Mr Abednego charged a guinea a day for the accommodation of +the same), and his attitude betokened intense misery and hopelessness. +It was not so much the words of his adversary, but the thought that she, +too, was against him, like all the rest of the world. He was quite +broken down, now. + +"Do your worst," he replied, "only go away. I can't bear this any +longer." + +"I will do my worst, never fear," she said, as she moved towards the +door. She was satisfied to see that her enemy was at length abased, and +to think that she had brought down his pride. + +She was now at the door; her mission had been accomplished, and, as she +glanced back, the bright summer sun, streaming through the open window +with its iron bars, on his bent figure, discovered the streaks of silver +in his dark hair, painted by time and trouble, not forgetting the +thinness of the long, sinewy hands that hid his face from her view. + +A pang of compunction smote her, and stirred her heart for a moment with +the thoughts of days gone by, and she seemed to hesitate before she left +him, although no intention of relinquishing her purpose crossed her +mind. + +"Go! go!" he murmured, in a broken voice, "leave me in peace." + +And she went out, and left him alone with his misery. + +Volume 3, Chapter XI. + +THE AGE OF MIRACLES. + + "I sat by his mother one midsummer day, + And she looked me through and through + As I spoke of her lad who was far away, + For she guessed that I loved him too!" + +Maggie's Secret. + +"Lizzie, pull that pillow more under my head, will you, dear? I think, +too, my feet are getting cold; I wish you would throw that shawl over +me." + +The speaker was our old acquaintance the dowager; but wonderfully +changed both in appearance and voice since we last saw and heard her; +and the young lady addressed in that affectionate and trusting manner +was our own little Lizzie, the young incumbent's sister, the beloved of +Master Tom. + +Fancy her being now on such terms of intimacy with Tom's mother! But it +is a fact. _Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis_: this is the age +of miracles, and we must not be surprised at anything that happens in +our daily life when so many startling changes in science and art are +worked out every day in the world around us. + +I don't know how the first advance was made from the parsonage to The +Poplars, but the worthy old doctor managed it all. That man, I venture +to say, sir, or madam, who may be reading these lines, was most +unhesitatingly one whom we used to term in schoolboy phraseology, a +trump. He was a trump most certainly, even although all the other suits +at cards be of fair and equable measure! A trump of trumps, a _rara +avis_, even amongst a horde of good fellows, and I affectionate him +much, as our foreign friends put it. + +The doctor had already told Miss Lizzie that he would be glad to make +use of her services as soon as the old lady was a little more sensible, +and Lizzie had gladly consented to be made use of when the proper time +should arrive. + +Doctor Jolly, from the experiences of the past, when he had so +satisfactorily played the go-between in Tom and Lizzie's young loves, +was pretty well aware of the state of things between those two young +persons. His own nature being an ardent one, and having often--to Deb's +intense misgivings and alarm--cultivated the tender passion himself, he +was quite competent to sympathise with all lovers whose course of true +love might not, through the stern opposition of unfeeling parents and +worldly relations, run smooth. He could do this quite apart from his +good nature, which would have forced him to befriend any one in trouble. +But when he naturally liked a sighing lover like Master Tom, and had +such a paternal interest in him, and when Miss Lizzie--the object +beloved--was one of his own especial pets, one cannot wonder that the +doctor threw himself into the breach with all the ardour of his ardent +nature and good nature combined. He determined that he would befriend +this young couple to the best of his ability. Although Fate had +unkindly nipped all his little _affaires du coeur_ in the bud, and +destroyed all his tender Platonisms, he would have the satisfaction, at +least, of seeing others happy. + +Accordingly, our friend Aesculapius having played go-between, +subsequently became the trusted confidant to both the lovers. Tom, +before his departure for the land of the Queen of Sheba's descendants, +had breathed out his heartburnings, his rage, his morbid determination, +sighing furiously all the while, like Shakespeare's typical furnace; and +after Tom's Hegira, Lizzie, with many little tender protestations and +pearly sacrifices, had also unfolded her troubles to him. It was not +for a long time, however, that Lizzie did this--not until the little +heart had been wrung by keeping its trouble to itself for a very long, +long time; but she need not have held back her confidence from the +doctor--he knew all about it, and even if Tom had not told him of the +ruthless separation which Fate had brought about, he could have easily +guessed it from Andromeda's martyr-like face. + +The dowager's illness now enabled Doctor Jolly to befriend Lizzie, and +consequently Tom also, much more efficiently than he might otherwise +have been able to do. + +Putting aside the necessity which he thought existed for establishing +the _entente cordiale_ between Lizzie and the mother of her adored, the +good doctor was full of sympathy--in which he forgot all her former bad +temper and malevolence towards him--for the poor old woman was lying +grievously ill--sick unto death nearly, at 1 The Poplars. She was so +ill, so changed, so friendless and deserted, only tended by strangers +and hired servants, that Doctor Jolly thought that the best thing for +her in common charity was to get some one to come and see her, and +minister, who would be actuated in so doing by a higher and more of a +brotherly-kindness principle than that of mere wage. With this idea +revolving strongly in his head, the doctor could think of no one better +suited for the post than Lizzie. By employing her, he would be able to +achieve two purposes at once--kill two birds with one stone. Tom's +lady-love was willing and happy enough at the thought; the only thing +that remained was to gain the old dowager's consent for the arrangement, +and this Doctor Jolly found much more easily done than he had thought +possible. + +For a long time the old lady had remained speechless, and of course +nothing could be done about it then. She was in such a state that the +mere sight of a new face might have affected her fatally, much less the +sight of a face which could be connected in her mind, if she could +think, with former times and her quarrel with her son. But, by-and-bye, +as the dowager became more sensible and was able to express her wishes +by writing on a slate, and afterwards to speak when she got back her +voice--what a changed voice it was!--the doctor mooted the matter. + +He suggested that she should have some one to sit and read with her for +company's sake, as he told her: it was bad for her to be alone with only +a servant, and it would delay her recovery if she were not roused out of +herself. + +She had at first given a vehement veto against the suggestion. She +thought the doctor was going to prepare Miss Kingscott's society for +her, remembering Aesculapius's old partiality in that quarter. But when +he indignantly denied this, and told her he would not propose her +company for any decent person--the doctor had learnt the governess's +treachery from Mr Trump--the old lady accepted very agreeably the offer +of Lizzie Pringle's society. She thought it quite a satisfactory +substitute for the old lady whom she had dreaded the doctor was going to +invite to wait on her. + +Doctor Jolly took Mrs Hartshorne at her word, and sent Lizzie up the +very same afternoon that he got permission, for fear that the dowager +might withdraw the same. He did not doubt that the moment the old lady +knew Lizzie she would take to her, and then the rest lay in Lizzie's own +hands. + +Aesculapius was right. Within a week, the tender graces, and kindness, +and soft ways of the young girl, had made way in the heart of the old +woman which you would have never suspected, and she afterwards could +hardly bear her out of her sight. + +Lizzie and the dowager were on the most affectionate footing. She, +winning, ministering like an angel of mercy: the old lady accepting all +her kindness, not saying much in words, but feeling in her heart an +unknown love towards this little girl, who was winding herself into her +affections in spite of herself. + +And Lizzie, you may be sure, was happy--happy at doing good--happy at +ministering to affliction; above all, happy at helping Tom's mother. +Thus did Andromeda's grief lessen: thus was she able to bear all the +snapping and snarling of the old campaigner at home. This was her +source of balm, which you might never have suspected. + +It was a strange association between the two: between the dowager of +former days, with her harsh voice and querulous temper, and the gentle +little girl who had won Tom's love. There never would have been, one +would think, any sympathy or companionship; but the dowager was very +much altered now. + +"Wonders will never cease," says the proverb; and Solomon adds, that +"there is nothing new under the sun." Consequently putting that and +that together, as the old folks say, we ought not to be surprised at +this unexpected _rapport_ between Tom's mother and Lizzie. + +Far more wonderful than that wonderful recovery of reason poor Susan +Hartshorne, under Markworth's superintending care, was this change in +the dowager, and the amelioration in her temper. But sickness and +mental anxiety work strange changes! She _was_ changed! + +When the old lady's recollection came back, she grieved very much over +the death of her daughter, and seemed to accuse herself on that account. +She told Lizzie that if she had not been so harsh and unlike a mother +to Susan, all the past might never have happened. Lizzie tried to +soothe her self-reproaches somewhat ineffectually, but when Dr Jolly +combatted the old lady's arguments, and had a long explanation with her, +the dowager seemed much relieved, although she would express fervent +hopes of seeing her daughter again--in heaven, and she did not any +longer fret so much about Susan as she had done. + +The old lady's thoughts and conversation after this turned on her dear +Tom principally. + +Mrs Hartshorne was a very shrewd old lady, and as she got better her +old shrewdness returned. + +She had not by any means forgotten the name of Miss Lizzie Pringle. She +remembered very well Tom's explanation with reference to that young lady +and his crude ideas of wishing to get married; after a time she startled +Lizzie nearly out of her seven little senses, by abruptly mentioning the +subject, asking her what arrangement she had come to with Tom, and if +they were still engaged. + +Lizzie told her "no," indignantly: she would enter into no engagement +with anyone whose family objected to her. + +The dowager was very much pleased at her pride in not holding Tom to his +word when she had related the affair, and she probed Lizzie's heart +further by enquiring whether she loved Tom still. + +She did not care for him, if it would harm his prospects that is, and-- +and--The dowager looked very kind and cheerful and not stern at all, and +all Lizzie's love for the graceless Tom who had abandoned her in his +senseless anger for her strict regard for duty, was poured out again +into very sympathising ears, the dowager told her to cheer up--and "all +would yet be well." + +After this many were the dialogues between the old lady and the young +girl about the absent warrior, and suggestions made about the probable +time of his return, and surmises--on the older lady's part--the junior +only blushed and said nothing--as to what would happen when Tom did come +back. + +The young man's letters home to his mother were read out by Miss Lizzie. +She took no interest in them at all, of course; but the old lady's +sight being somewhat defective and Tom's calligraphy none of the +clearest, it was absolutely necessary that the old lady's companion +should read them out for her. You may be quite certain that Lizzie did +not peruse them afterwards quietly to herself, and enter with deep +interest into all the young man's deeds and doings. How the army was +getting on satisfactorily towards Magdala: how splendid the scenery was: +how he had had a monkey hunt, and had not caught one; and what fine +figures the Abyssinian girls had. Of course Miss Lizzie did not toss +her head at this, and say "Well, to be sure, sir; I wonder what next!" + +Whether she did or did not, Master Tom's doings seemed to have great +interest for the two. When they were talking about him, the old lady +would recount with a maternal pride, which from a former knowledge of +her character you might never have dreamt she possessed, incidents +connected with the childhood of the warrior, to which Lizzie would +listen with spell-bound attention. + +The dowager would relate how gentle Tom was when teething; how +wonderfully he had borne that infantile malady, the measles; what +marvellous escape he had had from breaking his neck when he tumbled down +the back staircase. And then she would glide on to later experiences, +and tell how well Tom got on at school; and how the old colonel of his +regiment liked him, as indeed all did with whom the Saxon youngster came +in contact. + +Lizzie would drink in all this with greedy ears; and never tire of +hearing of the deeds and doings of this most extraordinary young man. + +So the time passed on, and Lizzie became even more domesticated at The +Poplars than she was at the parsonage. + +Tom's mother got to love her; and the young incumbent's sister, much as +she loved her brother, took a deeper interest in the big house and its +belongings than she did in Herbert Pringle's mansion. + +Thus while the latter was being pecked _ad libitum_ by the campaigner, +Lizzie generally "made herself scarce," and went up to The Poplars to +talk about Tom--the never wearisome subject--with the old dowager. + +The campaigner's rule might be rigid enough, but Lizzie laughed it to +scorn. Instead of bandying words with the veteran, our little friend +abandoned the field to her completely, and left her "alone in her +glory." + +She was unhappy no longer. There was balm in Gilead. Jupiter _tonans_ +was propitious: the doctor's plans successful: the dowager gained over +to Lizzie's cause: the field fought: the battle won. + +Who would have thought of the "Fiddle-de-dee"-asserting-dowager ever +being in Lizzie's favour? + +The course of true love looked, for a wonder, as if it were going for +once to run smooth. Miracles certainly will never cease: this is the +age of them! + +Volume 3, Chapter XII. + +"TOO LATE! TOO LATE!" + +Markworth still sat in the same position in the untidy, ill-furnished +private room at the sponging-house after the governess, his enemy, had +left him--with his face hidden between his hands and his head bent down, +the summer sun still streaming down on him, for the sun shines for rich +and poor alike: for those in captivity, and for those that are free! + +Clara Kingscott, meanwhile, directed her steps once more to the offices +of Mr Trump and his partner, in Bedford Row. She did not dread a +refusal this time: she did not hold back for fear of being denied +admission: she had news--news! to communicate now, and they must see +her! + +"Mr Trump was out," said one of the clerks. + +Miss Kingscott was in no hurry--although she was out of breath with the +haste she had made from the hotel _restante_ of Abednego--she "would +wait until Mr Trump came in." + +That would never do, thought the clerk; his master wouldn't be pleased +to find his _bete noir_ seated there in his outer office, ready to +pounce upon him when he made his appearance. So fearful of a probable +blowing up, the embryo Sheepskin tried again. + +"Mr Trump was busy; he could not see anyone to-day." + +Miss Kingscott, however, was invincible--"she would wait until the +lawyer was disengaged," she said, calmly taking a seat unbidden. + +Worse and worse for Sheepskin, who was in an agony of terror as to what +to do. In the midst of the excitement enters Mr Trump himself from his +inner sanctum, accompanied by Doctor Jolly. + +"Bless my soul, Miss Kingscott!" exclaimed the latter; "who would have +thought of seeing you here." But the doctor seemed embarrassed; he did +not offer his broad palm to the governess as he would have done in the +old days at The Poplars; and his ruddy countenance was suffused with a +deeper shade of crimson than was really habitual. Mr Trump advanced, +however, to Miss Kingscott, and spoke out curtly in his cold, business +voice. + +"What do you want here, madam? You have no business with me! and I told +my clerks to say I was not in whenever you came here!" glaring round at +the solitary embryo sheepskin, who quaked in his shoes; the other grisly +clerk, whose hair had the semblance of the fretful porcupine, was not +there--probably he was at lunch, and would "return in ten minutes," as +they all say. + +Miss Kingscott was not staggered by the lawyer's facer; she was far too +much wrapt up in her purpose to take notice of any rebuff, as she had +had many already. She went in straight to her point, gasping with +excitement as she spoke. + +"He's found! He's found!" she exclaimed. + +"Who's found? What do you mean, madam?" said Mr Trump, who, thinking +the governess was going to make a dash at him, cautiously retired behind +the doctor: the latter uttering his usual, "God bless my soul!" was +staring at his quondam flame in astonishment. + +"He's caught at last! Caught at last!" continued the governess +hysterically, waving her arms frantically all the while. + +"Who's found? Who's caught at last? Really, I do not comprehend you, +madam; what is it to me whom you find or catch?" + +"Bless my soul!" ejaculated the doctor, hopelessly bewildered. + +"Fool!" exclaimed Miss Kingscott, in cutting bitterness--so sharp and +short was her tone, that the word sounded like a pistol-shot. "Fool! +Markworth is caught at last! Caught at last, do you hear? And I have +caught him!" + +Mr Trump and the doctor stared at one another in blank surprise; the +former recovered himself first. + +"Whew!" he whistled, between his closed teeth. "Oh, that's it, is it! +Well, and supposing he is caught, and that you have caught him, what is +that to me?" + +It was the governess's turn to be now surprised; she stared at Mr Trump +in bewilderment. + +"Why--I thought--what do you mean?" she stammered. + +"I mean what I say, madam. What is it to me?" said the lawyer, coolly. + +"Bless my soul!" still ejaculated the doctor, in that stage of +astonishment where one is described as "looking nine ways for Sunday." + +Miss Kingscott now recovered herself. + +"You must be mad, I think," she said, in her cold, grating voice. "Why, +it is everything to you, as it is to me! Markworth is captured, do you +hear? He is now arrested for debt; but the charge of murder has to be +brought against him, and it is your place to accuse him. I have just +left him," she went on hurriedly, dashing out her short, sharp +sentences. "He knows that he can expect no mercy from me, or anyone +else! The law must now do its part! A warrant must be at once +obtained! If you will not come forward and do your duty, I will! The +blood of Susan Hartshorne cries out aloud for vengeance!" + +"Bless my soul!" said the doctor, aghast at the change in the bashful, +timid governess of his former acquaintance, and staring with widening +eyes at the stern Medea before him. "Bless my soul! Trump, why she +does not know!" + +"Whew!" whistled the lawyer again. "And you have told him this?" he +inquired aloud of Miss Kingscott. "A fiend of a woman!" he muttered, +aside to the doctor. + +"Of course I have!" she exclaimed, indignantly. "Who had a better right +than I to beard him at last? Have I not waited long enough, and tracked +him all these months to have only that satisfaction? But it is come at +last! I shall see him hanged, and then I shall be happy; my vengeance +will be complete!" + +"God bless my soul!" murmured the doctor, in a tone of warm +congratulation to himself. "Bless my soul--that she did not catch _me_! +Why, she's a regular devil! Worse than twenty dowagers!" + +The lawyer, meanwhile, was interrogating Miss Kingscott calmly, without +apparently noticing her excitement. He had a wonderful sedative +presently wherewith to cool this excitement down. + +"And where is Markworth now?" he asked. + +"He is where I've just left him, I believe. He was arrested this +morning for a debt he owed to a Jew named Solomonson, who had advanced +him money for carrying on that suit. He is locked up in a place +somewhere in Chancery lane." + +"Oh! yes; I know," said Mr Trump, interrupting her; "Abednego's, is it +not?" + +"Yes, that's the name," answered the governess. + +"Hum-m!" ejaculated Mr Trump, musingly. "And you are going to bring +this charge of murder against him, eh?" + +"I am!" she answered, sternly. + +"Well, Miss Kingscott, if you will wait a short time, I will go with +you." + +"I've waited long enough," she said, impatiently. "Cannot you come +now?" + +"No, I have some matters to settle first; but, I will not delay; and, +besides, I must see Markworth himself first, before anything can be +done." + +"See Markworth! What do you want to see him for?" she exclaimed, in +surprise. "Why I have seen him there already!" + +"That's my business," Mr Trump said, curtly; "but it will be better for +you if you leave it in my hands. Will you meet me in half-an-hour at +Abednego's place in Chancery lane?" + +"I suppose I must," said the governess, after hesitating a moment, for I +"cannot act very well without you. But you will be certain to be there, +won't you?" + +"I always keep my word," answered the lawyer, sententiously; "I will be +there in half-an-hour." + +"Very well," said the governess; and she went to the appointed place and +passed the time in restlessly walking up and down the pavement in front +of the sponging-house, until Mr Trump should come. + +At the time appointed--it was now late in the afternoon, and legal hours +were nearly over--as punctual as clockwork, Mrs Hartshorne's lawyer +made his appearance. He was accompanied by Doctor Jolly and a lady +dressed in deep black, with her face closely veiled. + +"Who is she?" asked the governess, pointing to this lady, who leant on +the doctor's arm, and was trembling, as Miss Kingscott could see, +although she could not distinguish her face. "Who is she? No stranger +has any business with him or me!" + +"She has a right to be here," answered the lawyer, as he rang the bell +at the door of the sponging-house; "you will soon know all." + +Miss Kingscott gazed searchingly at the stranger, and gave a start of +half-amazement, half-terror; but the lawyer did not give her time to say +anything. He asked for Markworth on the door being opened, and the +Cerberus told him that he was upstairs in the private room, where he had +given orders not to be disturbed. + +Mr Trump said he was his lawyer. Cerberus knew his vocation very well, +for Mr Trump had paid many visits to clients in Abednego's retirement +before--and he was admitted after a little parley at the door, +facilitated by the application of palm oil. + +"He's upstairs on the second floor, the door right fronting you," +shouted the man, after them. "You'll be sure to find him at home," he +added, with a chuckle at his own joke. + +The lawyer led the way up the dirty staircase, followed by Miss +Kingscott: while the Doctor and the strange lady were close behind. + +Arrived at the door of the room in which Markworth was, Mr Trump +knocked in vain for some time. He at length turned, the handle, and the +four visitors walked in unbidden. + +Markworth was in the corner of the room: they could all see him. + +The lawyer called out to him, but got no answer: he went up to him. + +The man was dead! + +Markworth was sitting in the same place where the governess had left him +in his misery. His bowed head lay between his clasped hands: the sun +had gone down now, and no longer shone upon him with its golden gleams: +his sun also had sunk to rest! + +The Doctor went forward and examined him. He had been dead more than an +hour he said: cause--heart disease, probably brought on by strong +excitement, or a sudden shock. + +All were startled at this unexpected appearance of pale death; even his +enemy and Nemesis relented as she gazed on the lifeless mask of him whom +she had so ruthlessly pursued, and drew back in horror at what she had +done. + +But the stranger darted forward, and threw herself with a burst of grief +on the motionless form of the dead man: sorrow and sympathy, friendship +or hate, could no longer affect him now! + +As she did so, the stranger threw aside her veil: and the face of the +mourner was the face of Susan Hartshorne, whom the dead man had been +accused of having murdered. + +"Poor thing! poor thing!" murmured the doctor, as he turned away his +head and walked towards the window to conceal his emotion. "Bless my +soul! It's a sad pity--a sad pity! But it is better as it is." + +Volume 3, Chapter XIII. + +RETROSPECTIVE AND PROGRESSIONAL. + +In order to explain Susan's reappearance under these exceptional +circumstances, it will be necessary that we should retrace our steps and +return to a date some months back in our narrative. + +It will be remembered that when Doctor Jolly paid his visit to Havre in +the previous winter, he, after enquiring unsuccessfully for Susan at the +house of the Mere Cliquelle, in the Rue Montmartre, went off for a walk +(to pass the time until his ward should return) in the very same +direction that Markworth and Susan, with Clara Kingscott dogging their +heels, had taken--towards the heights of Ingouville. + +The Doctor picked his steps carefully, for it was dusk, and he was in a +strange place, and he wished to establish certain landmarks in his mind, +by which he might regain the Rue Montmartre when his stroll was over, +and he should think it time to return. + +Doctor Jolly had the address of his hotel on a printed card in his +pocket: he was not going to make another mistake, such as he had made +earlier in the day; and if any doubts arose in his mind as to his exact +latitude and longitude, he had resolved to hand the card of the hotel, +which he had previously secured, to the nearest policeman or cabman. +Oh! the doctor was very 'cute and business-like. + +But he did not wish to return there just yet. He wanted to see Susan, +and have his mind set at rest about her before the night was over. And +so the doctor walked on in a desultory way, carefully studying the +topography of the street as he sauntered along, and pondering over +recent events in his mind. + +He was wondering at the chain of circumstances which had brought him +wandering about "this confounded foreign, outlandish place!" at +nightfall, and "in the depth of winter too, by Gad!" he soliloquised, as +he inhaled the foggy air of the dull November night, which made him puff +and wheeze beneath the comforter, which in remembrance of Deb's +solicitude, he still kept carefully wrapped round his neck. + +When he came to one of the roads leading up to the heights above, the +doctor paused a moment to recover his breath; he had never been "any +great hand at walking," as he would have told you himself; and the +distance he had already traversed, short though it was, had by this time +affected his wind. + +While he was resting a moment, and debating in his mind whether he +should ascend the footpath in front of him, or yet retrace his steps to +the Rue Montmartre, he heard a sound near him as of one groaning in +pain. It was like the noise of the battle to the war-horse, or the salt +smell of the sea to a mariner; and the doctor pricked up his ears, all +his senses aroused at the idea of pain and suffering being suggested to +him: to minister to the ills of nature was his special vocation. + +He searched about and followed the sound--it led him up higher to a +ledge on the cliff above; and there in the dim twilight he made out the +form of a human figure lying stretched on the _debris_ which had fallen +away with it apparently from the summit above. + +To see and perceive was, with the staunch old doctor, but secondary to +acting. + +He climbed up as hastily as his portly form would permit to the ledge, +and bent over a figure, which was nearly motionless. "Bless my soul!" +he ejaculated in alarm and surprise. "God bless my soul! Why, it is +poor Susan! How on earth did she come here?" As he bent to lift her up +she lay like a log in his arms. + +The doctor however did not waste any time in vain regrets or in +exclamations of wonder: he was a medical man, and his first care was to +examine the motionless form of the girl, to see how far she was hurt. +She had only fainted, he shortly perceived, and he set to work at once +to revive her. + +Thanks to a pocket flask of brandy, which he had fortunately brought +with him, he soon contrived to put a little life into the girl; and he +was able after a time to raise her up, when she opened her eyes and gave +a groan of pain. She apparently did not know where she was or recognise +the doctor; she only moaned, "Take me home! Take me home!" + +One of her arms broken, and a cut on her head; but, otherwise, she had +most providentially escaped. She had probably fainted at the time she +shrieked out before falling backwards over the cliff. Being thus +supine, she could not struggle; so instead of receiving fatal injuries +as a man might have done, who attempted to resist his fall she was +unhurt, with the exception of a few trifling injuries, which time would +soon repair. But she was very much shaken, and the doctor did not know +what to do with her, as she could hardly walk, and he was not strong +enough to carry her, as he might have done in his earlier days. + +The place was quite deserted. The doctor could not see a soul, and much +as he disliked Frenchmen, he would have been glad to come across then +the most "miserable foreign vagabond" who might have been sent on his +way; but no one came, and as it was getting darker and darker, and night +coming on, the doctor had to pull his wits together. + +He was a man of action: to wager with possible improbabilities his +creed, so he did not hesitate long. While the girl was sobbing and +moaning to herself, and crying out in half-incoherent language "Allynne! +Allynne!" he lifted her up bodily, and tried to get her home to her own +place in the _Rue Montmartre_. + +But the night was dark, as has been before observed, and the doctor +missed the landmarks, which he had so carefully jotted down on the +tablets of his memory. He was in the right direction, but when he got +to the foot of the street of which he was in search, he lost altogether +his _carte du pays_. Just then he saw a _fiacre_, and at the same time +he arrived at a sudden determination; what it was, will be presently +shown. + +The doctor bethought him that he had come over to Havre especially to +try and get Susan home, and separate her from Markworth. Why on earth +should he take her back now to the place where she would still be with +him? Here she was unconscious, and he was her proper guardian appointed +by her father. He would--"Yes, I will, I'll be damned if I don't!" he +said, to himself; "take her back to England on my own account, without +asking anybody's leave or license!" And the doctor carried his +determination into effect between that night and the next day. + +The _fiacre_ arriving opportunely, the doctor hailed it; and lifting +Susan in, gave the driver the card of his hotel, "The Queen of Savoy," +which he had kept so carefully in his waistcoat pocket for such an +emergency as losing his way: he and his charge--now more recovered--were +presently set down at that famous hostelry, where the doctor had Susan +at once put to bed, guarding her all the while with jealous +watchfulness: he was afraid Markworth might step in at the last moment +to claim her, and that his trouble would be thrown away. + +In the morning--Susan being still nearly unconscious--he had her carried +on board the early packet for England; and the same evening the doctor, +to his intense satisfaction, had her on English ground. + +At Southampton, Susan was unfortunately taken very ill; and Doctor Jolly +could not carry out his intention of removing her at once to his own +house as he had intended. + +The shock, the fall, the mental anxieties she had suffered, brought on +an attack of brain fever; and Susan was for days struggling between life +and death. When she was out of danger, the doctor, leaving her in the +care of a trustworthy nurse, went home to see about his practice--which +he thought must be at sixes and sevens from his prolonged absence--and +to make preparations for Susan's return to The Poplars. + +When he got to Bigton, however, the doctor heard of the alarming illness +of the old dowager, and his plans became upset. + +He went off at once to Hartwood village, and found the old lady +unconscious, although the respectable Dobbins, his _locum tenens_ had +treated her, the doctor allowed, as well as he could have done himself +under the sudden paralytic shock she had sustained. + +Doctor Jolly had consequently to neglect Susan for a few days, in order +to attend to her mother; and when he did go back for her, he determined +that he would not bring her home to The Poplars--where everything would +remind her of her former life--but would take her to his own house at +Bigton. + +Here, accordingly, Susan was removed as soon as she was able to travel +from Southampton; and here the good old Deb, the doctor's sister, nursed +the girl back to life, and to a knowledge of the past and present, with +more than a mother's care, tenderly aided by the doctor himself. + +It may be remembered by the reader, in our retrospect, that Mr Trump +met Doctor Jolly soon after he returned from abroad; and the two had +some explanation together, which resulted in the fact of the lawyer +being pleased with himself at having taken no active part in the +proceedings of the French police after Susan's disappearance and +supposed death--although he had inserted a mortuary notice in the +_Times_. + +Mr Trump's gratulation is thus easily explained. The advertisement of +Susan's death was not contradicted, in the first place because it was +rather late in the day to do it now, and in the second, the doctor +advised no steps being taken in the matter, or else Markworth might +return and claim the girl. + +Mr Trump, however, made one omission, which, as a lawyer, he ought to +have attended to earlier. He did not communicate with the French police +until some weeks had elapsed--not until in fact after Miss Kingscott had +left Havre, in disgust at not hearing anything there of the hunted man, +and come to prosecute her watch in London. Thus it was that she knew +nothing of these revelations; and the polite Chef did not think it worth +his while, or the expenditure of a _dix centimes_ stamp, to inform +_cette femme diable_, as he termed her, any more about the matter. + +When Susan recovered her senses and her memory, the only thing remained +fixed in her mind was the idea that Markworth had gone off and left her. +She seemed to remember only the words which he had spoken before she +had been alarmed and started back to the edge of the cliff that night. +She remembered nothing of the fall, and her subsequent removal by the +doctor to England. All the present was easily explained to her mind as +a natural consequence of what Markworth had told her, that he had to go +away, and that he was going to send her back home again; here she was +accordingly. + +As she became well, however--there could be no question of her reason +now, for she was as sensible as possible, although timid in manner, as +she always would be--she appeared to dread the idea of being taken back +to her mother's house, which very naturally the doctor had suggested. + +As soon as the old lady was able to bear the unexpected news--the doctor +and Lizzie had broken to her very gently the fact of Susan, her +daughter, whom she supposed dead, and whose death she accused herself of +causing, was still alive!--the dowager wanted her immediately to be +brought to The Poplars; but when the doctor proposed it to Susan, she +shrank back in alarm at the suggestion. The poor girl had such a +nervous dread of ever beholding the painful scenes of her miserable +childhood, and any allusion to the place or to her mother caused her +such trembling fits, and seemed to make her to withdraw herself into +herself, that the doctor saw that, for some time at least, the +eventuality of Susan's removal must be postponed. + +When matters were explained to the dowager, she agreed with Doctor Jolly +that Susan had better remain at his house, although she would not hear +of it until he consented to accept remuneration. Fancy how changed the +dowager was when she now was anxious to force money on one unwilling to +receive it! + +Susan still lived, therefore, at Bigton, undisturbed, with the doctor +and his worthy sister; indeed, Deb took such a fancy to Susan, with her +fair, grief-marked face, and frightened manner, that in a little while-- +although she at first grumbled at her coming there to interrupt the +_tete-a-tete_ life of Damon and her Pythias--she could not bear the idea +of parting with her: there is no such pet in the world as an "old maid's +child." + +By-and-bye, when Susan was quite recovered, as she expressed a desire to +see Havre again, and the house where she had lived so happily with +Markworth, the doctor took her over. The Mere Cliquelle and her _petit +bon homme_, were delighted to see _La belle Madame_ again--it seemed +like a resurrection from the dead to them, and they were in a great +puzzle about all the circumstances of the case, which the doctor's +explanation, although delivered in his loudest voice, utterly failed to +solve. + +The Mere Cliquelle and her husband still let lodgings in their +comfortable little house in the _Rue Montmartre_; and if you want _un +appartement bien garni_, a cheerful hostess, and a landlord who "spiks +Inglis," decidedly broken, and has a partiality for chewing chocolate +and bon-bons, you cannot do better than "take their first-floor!" + +Although she was anxious to re-visit these scenes again, Susan did not +care to stop after she got there. The place made her sad and +melancholy, and she said she wished to go away the next day: the doctor, +you may be certain, did not oppose her, and they returned to England +immediately. + +They crossed the Channel, however, _via_ Folkestone, and went through +London, as Mr Trump wished for Susan to sign some documents referring +to the property she inherited under her father's will--property which +there was now no chance or loophole left for Markworth to lay claim to. + +Thus it was that Doctor Jolly and Susan were both in London on the spot +where Clara Kingscott had caught the man she pursued at last. + +And here they now were in company with the lawyer, and the woman who so +persistently hated him, in the presence of the dead man! + +It was a sad shock to Susan; but a more fearful one to Clara Kingscott, +who felt herself a betrayer, like Judas Iscariot when he discovered our +Saviour with his accursed kiss. Remorse preyed upon her and gave her no +rest. She afterwards, it is believed, entered a convent in the South of +France, and is now a lay sister of the order of the Bleeding Heart! + +Markworth's death released him from all his liabilities! It can be +imagined what a wail went up in Jewry when the knowledge that he had +escaped them became fully known to those modern Shylocks, Solomonson and +Isaacs. They tore their beards, they wept, they cursed by their gods +the Gentile who had out-witted them; but it was of no use, they could +not get their money back. Death is regardless of human bonds and +obligations, and although the Shylocks got much additional avoirdupois +weight of flesh beyond their original pound, the Jews thought themselves +sadly victimised. They got no pecuniary satisfaction for the large sums +they had advanced their former client; even the change which had been +left out of Mrs Martin's five pound note did not come to them: it was +taken out of the pockets of the dead man by the Cerberus of the +sponging-house, who thought it better to appropriate the said moneys to +his own use rather than leave them to be a source of wrangling to +others. + +Seeing that nothing could be got out of him now, the harpies left +Markworth's body to its fate. An inquest was held, a verdict given, +"Died by the visitation of God," and the unfortunate schemer would have +been buried at the expense of the parish, had it not been for Mr Trump, +who defrayed the cost out of his own pocket. + +Thus ended Markworth's life. He had schemed and planned, it is true, to +enrich himself at the expense of others, but he was not, perhaps, so bad +altogether, as one would, perhaps, at the first blush suppose. If we +were to analyse the men around us, and enquire into the motives which +plan their actions, independently of the actions themselves, we might +find many whose principles are like those of the man who has been +depicted in these pages--many, perhaps, far worse. + +Volume 3, Chapter XIV. + +"SEE THE CONQUERING HERO COMES." + +The Abyssinian war was ended! that gallant exploit of British arms, +however marvellous in its inception, and second only to the march of +Cyrus to the Sea that we read of in Xenophon, was actually _un fait +accompli_! The captives were rescued, and the host returned, leaving +Abyssinia pretty much as it was before it set out, with the exception of +King Theodore being no longer in the land of the living. Peace to the +bones of his sable majesty, who deserves some credit for his pluck, even +if his ideas on the subject of diplomacy were at fault. + +Although we have been saddled with a debt of some ten millions more or +less--probably more, on account of the expedition--still it was a +glorious feat for our country. + +That "Britons never will be slaves," or allow their fellow-countrymen to +remain in captivity, is a remarkably comfortable axiom to hug to one's +heart cannot be denied; and beyond the credit we have gained from the +successful termination of the "war," and the kudos for the manner in +which it was carried through from first to last, in spite of apparently +insurmountable difficulties, the Abyssinian mission has done much to +restore our old Continental reputation. + +Sadly tarnished has the latter been of late years by the "old womanish" +policy of certain foreign secretaries of ours, in _re_ Denmark, and one +or two other like matters, not to speak of the moral cowardice and +practical stupidity we displayed in the non-recognition of the ill-fated +Confederate party in America; but we have not heard the last of that +question yet! _Vide_ Mr Sumner and the Alabama claims. + +It would be useless to the point of our story, as well as out of place +here, to chronicle the different steps of the Abyssinian army, so ably +detailed by the graphic author of "The March to Magdala." + +Suffice it to say that the expedition started and succeeded in its +purpose; and our hero, Master Tom, as one of its component parts, may be +said to have gone, and seen, and conquered like one of the rest, and +was, after a time, on his way home again. + +Tom Hartshorne was ignorant of most that had occurred since he left +home. He had read and grieved over the intelligence of his sister +Susan's death, which he had come across in a stray copy of the _Times_ +at Zoulla; but his grief was of very short duration, for the very next +day after he read the announcement he received a letter from Mr Trump, +telling him that it was all a mistake, and Susan was not dead at all, +although his mother, the dowager, was seriously ill. Beyond this--and +puzzled he was, too, with the conflicting accounts--Tom knew nothing of +the chops and changes brought about at The Poplars and in its +neighbourhood during his absence; he had no one to correspond with him, +and although he had written frequently to his mother in the meanwhile, +the lawyer's letter was the only communication he had received about +home matters since he left England, and home, and Lizzie, the year +before, for the far East. + +His means of information being thus so scant, you may be sure that Tom's +imagination was additionally busy; and Tom had plenty to occupy his mind +in thinking of a past most important episode in his life, which you may +guess was connected with somebody--"you know who"--and allowing his +thoughts to dwell on the future, his future, so pregnant for him of joy +or sorrow. Which was it to be? + +Time alone could tell; and Time, that ill-featured old gentleman, who +will persist in playing with edged tools, decided favourably, in spite +of his usual malevolence. + +Tom came home at last, to find his way smooth, and his lot cast in +pleasant places; but it was some time before he did so. + +You see he was connected with the staff, and had to return to Bombay +with the major portion of the expeditionary army; and there he was +detained, arranging this thing and that, until it was waxing late in the +summer, when he gazed on the Sunderbunds behind him; late in the summer +when he beheld again the donkey boys of Cairo; still latter when he +steamed down the Mediterranean and past "The Rock," and up the Bay of +Biscay, and landed at Southampton; but he came at last, although the +month of August had again come round ere Tom set foot on British soil, +and revisited his native place. + +The dowager had been "picking up," as Doctor Jolly said, all this time; +and although she could not walk about--one of her sides was paralysed +still--yet she was very cheerful, and could speak fluently enough. + +Lizzie was in the room--the parlour where his mother had told him +"Fiddle-de-dee!" when he told his love--with her when he came home--and +you may guess the meeting between the three. How the mother sobbed over +her darling boy; how she grieved over the change in him; how Lizzie's +face wore little tell-tale blushes when he spoke to her; and how he, +too, blushed, when his mother called out to him, when he was going to +shake hands with her politely-- + +"Why don't you kiss her, Tom? You know you would, you scamp, if I were +not here." + +But the old lady would not let him out of her sight; and although Tom +was dying to have more explanation with Lizzie, he had to wait for a +chance. + +When Lizzie rose to go it was late in the afternoon, a bright August +afternoon. Tom told her he wanted to speak to her, as she was going to +the door, and asked her if he might come down to the parsonage. "He +wanted to see Pringle:" he was actually dying to see the young +incumbent. + +And Lizzie, with a still more tell-tale blush, and a sudden casting down +of the pretty violet eyes, and a resting of the long black lashes on her +cheek, had murmured to him-- + +"Come!" + +Later on, when the mother and son had had still quieter conversation, +and Tom got away, he bent his steps towards the parsonage, his mother +wishing him "God speed" on his errand. What on earth could that errand +be? + +Fortunately, not only was the old campaigner away for the day--she had +taken to visiting and bullying the young incumbent's sick parishioners +for him now, and priming them with tracts when a cheerful word would +have better suited their ailments; but Pringle was also out with his +wife, and Tom found Lizzie alone at home--alone in a very little +conservatory, which had witnessed his love-tale before, and where he had +parted from her, telling her that she was a heartless jilt. + +Lizzie was in the self-same little conservatory, pretending to be very +busy putting pots up, and poking about with her trowel, as if +horticulture was the ultimate aim and end of existence. She was trying +to be very unconscious--oh! what a very feeble pretence it was--and +endeavoured to receive Master Tom as if he were an ordinary afternoon +caller. Such a very faint endeavour it was. + +Tom went forward eagerly. He was not going to be baulked this time, and +his military experience had taught him that a determined assault was the +best way of securing an enemy's capitulation. + +He went forward, and with one hand he seized the little taper fingers of +the young lady; his other arm, the unblushing dog placed round her +waist, forcing Miss Lizzie to drop her trowel, and thus reducing her +means of defence. + +He looked down into the deep violet eyes which were looking up into his +own with--what shall you call it?--wonder or indignation? + +"Well, Lizzie!" Tom said. + +Lizzie said nothing; but it appeared to be "well." And then what a long +tale had to be told. What a number of explanations and conjectures, and +enquiries, and assertions! + +Tom wanted her to tell him here, in this very spot, where she had +treated him so cruelly, that she was sorry for what she had done. Of +course she was, and it "should not occur again," with such a +supplicating little gesture. + +Then Lizzie must be informed over and over again in the strongest terms +of assertion that the English language was capable of, whether Tom +"really" loved her and cared for her so much. + +Imagine the protestations that ensued: the multiplicity of lover's +honied words and oaths: then Tom's enquiries to the same effect, which +had also to be confirmed, and so _da capo_. + +It took a good many "wells" before the interview was satisfactorily +terminated, and Tom returned exultant to The Poplars to tell his mother +of his happiness. + +Volume 3, Chapter XV. + +GRAND TABLEAUX. + +Typical characteristics, however decided, vary with the effects of time +and change; and so the dowager had altered very much for the better, as +regards her temper and disposition applied to the amenities of daily +life, after that attack of paralysis she had had: the arrival of Tom at +home again also did much to effect a cure, and she was now by far a more +agreeable old woman than when she was first introduced to our notice. + +The certainty that Susan was alive and well, and the knowledge that she +was comfortably situated, and no questions of money remaining between +them, also tended to preserve the old lady's equanimity; and her direct +wish was now to see Tom married and done for--then she said, she would +be satisfied, and could go to her grave in peace beneath the green turf +of Hartwood churchyard, where many a generation of the Hartshorne's of +The Poplars slept their last sleep. Her one desire was to see "her boy" +united to her pet Lizzie--that very Lizzie whom she had formerly railed +at acrimoniously for "an artful minx!" + +Miss Lizzie had certainly played her cards well. She could not have +succeeded better in gaining her object if she had schemed ever so +shrewdly, like our old friend the campaigner, instead of acting +according to the dictates of her own truthful, tender little heart. + +The mistress of The Poplars now idolised her, and could not bear the +quondam minx to be ever out of her sight. Although Lizzie used to come +up every day to see her from the parsonage--now by no means her happy +home--and spend long hours reading to her, or casting up her farm +accounts, or else working silently by her side, the old lady would +grudge her going away; and long before the hour when she generally came +up of a day to make her visit, the old lady would be eagerly looking out +for her. + +The dowager had never relied so on anyone else but herself within the +memory of anyone acquainted with her. It was a wonderful transformation +in her, and "Garge" and the other servant would canvas each other on the +state of the "ould leddy," and since she had given up her scolding and +general cantankerousness, they voted unanimously that "she warn't all +right--that she warn't," although they, too, took to Lizzie as much as +their mistress. + +Under these circumstances Lizzie perceived that her presence was so much +required at The Poplars that she must make a virtue of necessity, and +consent to take the graceless Master Tom for a partner for better or +worse. You see Master Tom was so pleading, and he had gone through such +a deal for her sake, that she must reward him somehow or other for his +constancy; and then old Mrs Hartshorne told her she already looked upon +her as a daughter, and entreated her so tenderly to be so in reality, +that Lizzie, who as I have said before had a very tender little heart, +could not resist all these pleadings combined. Tom did say such +nonsense, and went on so, that she must put a stop to it, and they did +not want her at the parsonage now! So hadn't she better? + +She debated the point, and as a woman who hesitates--Byron tells us, and +he ought to have known--generally capitulates, Lizzie "wouldn't," and +wound up by consenting. The magnet was very strong, and her heart was +such a very susceptible little bit of steel, that she was attracted to +the ultimate goal of love, and "the happy day" was fixed. + +Summer was gay now again. A year had passed since Tom and Lizzie became +first acquainted; and what a wonderful year of events that had been! +But it was not so very extraordinary. What a change one year--nay one +month, brings to some of us stragglers in the sea of ever-moving life +around us! + +But the year had passed with all its hopes and fears--with all its +troubles and trials, and summer was come again to gladden their heart +once more: a summer not only of the season, but one also of joy and +happiness, and new-sprung gladness in their hearts. A summer in their +lives--May it be the precursor of many such. + +The grass was green, so were their memories of what had been, and their +thoughts of the future. The sky was bright, so was their horizon of +expected bliss. The birds sang gaily, so did their hearts with pent-up +happiness. Time, the great arbitrator, ruled propitiously. + +On the day Tom Hartshorne came of age, he and Lizzie were married in the +gaily-decked chapel at Hartwood. It was a very quiet little wedding +though; quite a contrast to the gorgeous ceremony which had taken place +so many months previously at Bigton, under the campaigner's auspices, +and that worthy lady turned up her nose at the whole affair, and would +not grace it with her presence. Indeed, quite a little disagreement had +arisen between herself and her son-in-law, the young incumbent, in +consequence, the upshot of which was that the campaigner removed her bag +and baggage from the parsonage, shaking off the metaphorical dust from +her feet, and wondering how "they would get on without her." + +They did get on, however, much more satisfactorily. With the era of a +mother's abdication, the languid Laura became much more bustling and +busy, and the parsonage more like home to its occupants, Pringle +appearing again quite in his old colours, and preaching far better +sermons now than he had since he entered the bonds of matrimony: he had +been quite weighted down by the campaigner's metal. + +Lady Inskip, it is believed, husbanded her anger against Carry, and +offered to go and conduct the household of the other son-in-law, but the +wily Captain Miles having politely declined the offer, the campaigner +retreated to a boarding house at Southsea, where she lorded it over the +other boarders and watched over the education of her young hopeful, that +imp "Morti-mer," who was being instructed in the elements of navigation, +at a naval academy, at the well-known watering place, contiguous to the +old port of Portsmouth: there we leave her. + +Tom Hartshorne was married by the Reverend Jabez, of Bigton, that divine +having ceased to regard the young incumbent so unfairly, ever since the +Bishop of Chumpchopster had recognised him; and besides, the offices of +the Reverend Herbert Pringle were required to give away the bride, the +charming little Lizzie. + +The solitary bell of the old church rang out as joyfully as it could, +and seemed to be a peal all in itself: the affair went off most +satisfactorily, the old dowager being wheeled down in a bath chair, in +order to be present; and then Tom and Lizzie went off for a three weeks' +honeymoon to the Isle of Wight, that blessed spot for novitiates in +matrimony. + +They then returned, and settled down at The Poplars, and long may they +live there happily. Why, it was only the other day they were married, +so much cannot be said of their after life. Knowing the fair-haired +Saxon Tom, however, and sweet violet eyes so well, you may be pretty +certain that you would search long and widely to find a happier couple +in the country round. + +It was apparently rather young for Tom to marry and settle down, but he +was, with his twenty-one years and experience, older than a good many +people of nearly ten years advance in age. Some people look and are +older than the calendar puts them down. I shall never forget a +well-known military friend, who got into the army under age, in +consequence of his old looks. He had a magnificent beard at sixteen, +and looked as old as thirty. His brother officers in the mess used to +swear that poor--was "born" with whiskers! + +Poor fellow! He afterwards fell at Lucknow. + +Susan still lives at the old doctor's house in Bigton, with the cheery +Damon and the austere virgin, "Pythiasina," as she ought to be called. +Perhaps when the cycle of cradles and pap and babydom once more come +round at The Poplars, and little voices are heard in the grim old +house--grim now no longer, but lighted up by Lizzie's presence--the +daughter of the house may return again to their old home, and "Garge" be +charmed once more with the presence of his dearly loved "Leetle Mees." + +She seems very happy in her present place, and has quite recovered from +the shock of Markworth's death, and is a very different Susan from the +girl of a twelvemonth or so back. + +The old dowager is quite changed, too, and is "as merry as a grig, God +bless my soul," as the doctor says. She does not grind down the tenants +so much now, however, and quite startled a farmer the other day by +letting him off a portion of back rent, which he had gone up in fear and +trembling to The Poplars to excuse himself from paying just then. + +And now, reader, the play is nearly ended--the landscape is completed. +The prompter's bell rings, the curtain is about to rise or fall, it does +not matter which, and the last touches only remain to be put to the +picture, ere the public be admitted to the view, or the scene closes. + +In conclusion, it behoves the _Deus et Machina_ of the puppet show--the +painter of the canvas--to offer some little explanation touching the +characters introduced, explanation which will tend, perhaps, to +elucidate apparent anachronisms with regard to persons and purposes, and +acting like the stray _soupcon_ of Chinese white on the superstratum of +the finished pencil drawing, heighten the effects of light and shade. + +An attempt has been made to portray the struggle of Will _versus_ Power, +of Opportunity against Destiny; and to show the contests which sometimes +arise between the worse and better feelings of our nature, and how each +and all of us are often "Caught in a Trap" of our own making! It +depends upon the reader to decide whether the attempt has been a success +or a failure; and he or she can fit on each passion or feeling to the +particular human peg or character on which they think it best should +hang. + +Above all, the writer wished to draw attention to the looseness of the +law, and its vagaries applied to our social and moral life, as evinced +in Susan's case. The character and history of the girl is no romance, +for Susan is taken from actual existence; still the fallacy of the +current ideas on the subject of lunacy and its laws has been already +exposed by an abler pictorial pen than that of the writer. + +Markworth and Clara Kingscott are no unusual types: search the daily +police and criminal intelligence, and you will come across their +"doubles." Speaking in the language of the _cuisine_, the meats +provided have been fair and hearty, and if the _plat_ be over-seasoned +or not sufficiently spiced, the blame rests on the _chef_, and not on +the viands. + +Ring away, prompter! Lower the curtain. The play is ended: _le jeu est +fait_. The scene closes on the well-known forms and faces; and, as the +curtain drops on the general tableau at the end, I can still see the +cheery, weather-beaten face of Doctor Jolly, and hear him exclaiming, in +his usual way, with his hearty voice and contagious _bonhomie_-- + +"Bless my soul, sir! How are you? How-de-doo?" + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Caught in a Trap, by John C. 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