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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36108-8.txt b/36108-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ef769c7 --- /dev/null +++ b/36108-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4857 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Trevethlan (Vol 3 of 3), by William Davy Watson + +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: Trevethlan (Vol 3 of 3) + A Cornish Story. + +Author: William Davy Watson + +Release Date: May 15, 2011 [EBook #36108] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREVETHLAN (VOL 3 OF 3) *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + TREVETHLAN: + + A Cornish Story. + + BY WILLIAM DAVY WATSON, ESQ. + + BARRISTER-AT-LAW. + + + IN THREE VOLUMES. + VOL. III. + + LONDON: + SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHILL. + 1848. + + London: + Printed by STEWART and MURRAY, + Old Bailey. + + + + +TREVETHLAN. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + _Menenius._ What work's, my countrymen, in hand? Where go you + with bats and clubs? The matter? Speak, I pray you. + + _Citizen._ Our business is not unknown to the senate; they have + had inkling, this fortnight, what we intend to do, which now + we'll show 'em in deeds. They say poor suitors have strong + breath: they shall know we have strong arms too. + + Shakspeare. + + +Among the most striking features of the scenery of West Cornwall, are +the fantastic piles of bare granite which rise occasionally from the +summit of an upland, and to a distant spectator present the exact +semblance of a castle, with towers, turrets, and outworks. So a +stranger, standing on Cape Cornwall and looking towards the Land's End, +might imagine he there beheld the fortress whose sanguinary sieges +obtained for that promontory its ancient name of the Headland of Blood. +Or again, reclining on the moorland, near the cromlech of Morvah, while +the sun was sinking behind Carnyorth, he might fancy that at the +red-edged battlements on the ridge, the original inhabitants of the +country made their last stand against the invaders from the German +Ocean. + +Approach soon destroys the illusion. And it is superfluous to observe +that the warriors of those times had no notion of the structures which +these caprices of nature mimic--the castles of our Plantagenets and +Tudors. Their real fortresses still exist to afford employment to the +antiquary, and inspiration to the poet; and to one of them we now invite +the reader to accompany us. + +Castle Dinas occupies the crest of the highest ground between the +picturesque village of Gulvall and the pilchard-perfumed town of St. +Ives, and commands an uninterrupted view both of Mount's Bay and of the +Irish Sea. Two concentric ramparts of unhewn stones, flung together more +rudely than a Parisian barricade, exhibiting the science of +fortification in its very infancy, inclose a circular area of +considerable extent. From it the ground slopes, not very rapidly, on all +sides; and as there are no screens, an occupant of the camp can see an +approaching friend or enemy some time before he arrives. Within the +inner circle some prosaic favourer of picnics has erected a square +_folly_, with a turret at each angle, not harmonizing very well with +local associations, but convenient in case of a shower of rain. + +Around the folly, on the night which followed the departure of the +orphans of Trevethlan from the home of their fathers, was pacing a +stalwart man of weather-beaten aspect, with an impatient and irregular +gait. The sun had sunk below the horizon, and all the south and west +quarters of the sky were covered with heavy masses of cloud, from behind +which, at intervals, came the low mutterings of distant thunder. Flashes +of lightning followed one another in quick succession, becoming more and +more brilliant as the shades of evening grew deeper. They broke from +various quarters of the horizon, but particularly from the point of +sunset. The light seemed to flit or be reflected all round the sky. +Sometimes it was a lambent flame of blue, sometimes a flush of faint +rose colour; sometimes the dark clouds were displayed in bold relief +against a bright sheet of yellow or white. So far the sea was still +calm, and the air close and heavy. But at length there came a motion in +the hot atmosphere. The surface of the water was crisped. A sigh wailed +along it, as if the spirit of the tempest mourned over his mission; and +then the storm, whose advent had been foreseen by Randolph and Helen, +during their last visit to Merlin's Cave, advanced rapidly up the sky. + +And a tempest scarcely less fierce raged in the breast of Gabriel Denis, +as he paced hurriedly within those old ramparts. He was expecting an +assembly almost as tumultuous as that of the warriors whose battle +shouts once resounded there, and he was resolved that it should not +disperse in the same innocuous manner as former meetings of the same +character. One by one, and two by two, as the darkness deepened, his +promised adherents arrived, and the ancient camp became filled with an +excited mob, anxious for mischief, ignorant what to do. + +Well might Randolph caution Edward Owen that in joining such musters as +these he might easily be carried much further than he intended to go. A +fretting population always contains inflammable materials, and it is far +less difficult to kindle than to extinguish its fury. The consciousness +of this fact frequently deters mob-leaders from urging their followers +into a course where there will be no subsequent control. + +And crimes of this nature are among the greatest that can be committed, +especially in a free state. An idea prevails that there is a sort of +heroism in defying public authority, no matter how trivial the occasion, +nor how impotent the assailant. Defeated and punished, the criminal is +not seldom regarded as a martyr. He is considered the victim of his own +conscientiousness. Antecedent cases of successful sedition are quoted to +justify subsequent failures. But all this is false and mischievous. +There is never heroism in fool-hardiness: the so-styled martyr may +witness to no truth: the conscientiousness may be of the kind which +calls property a theft. And former successes are rather warnings than +examples. Precedent cannot avail against the powers that be. + +The assembly at Castle Dinas, however, was rather riotous than +seditious, and uncertain in what direction to vent its desire for +mischief. There was plenty of tinder, but no one to throw the spark; +until Gabriel Denis, burning with the desire of revenge for the spoiling +of his house and the death of his wife, joined the counsels of the +malcontents, and brought into them the energy they had previously +wanted. He now flung a firebrand among the rabble, and dozens of hands +were stretched to seize it. It was just suited to the mood of the +moment. + +"To Lelant!" the smuggler shouted. "Why loiter we here on the hill, +doing nothing either of good for ourselves or of ill for those who would +put us down? Are we not many, and they few? To Lelant, I say. Let us +turn the tables on the revenue thieves. They have plenty of mine in +their stores; but I want not that. Drink it, lads, free of duty and free +of charge. But there is a desolate home yonder on the bank. What stain +is that on the floor?--there shall be a redder in the storehouse at +Lelant. Ay, lads, let us to Lelant." + +There was a great stir in the crowd: not a few voices echoed the +smuggler's watchword--To Lelant: some of the men pressed forward as if +eager to start: Gabriel himself turned to lead the way. But another +voice arose: it came from the midst of a small and compact party on the +outskirts of the meeting. + +"What are ye about?" the speaker said. "Why go among the cutlasses and +carbines? Is it the drink ye would have--the drink and the sport? Ye can +get them cheaper than at Lelant. Look to our great houses. Does Gabriel +say they have spoiled his? Let us spoil one of theirs. What say ye to +Pendar'l?" + +A shout, much more enthusiastic than that which hailed the smuggler's +proposition, greeted this burst of eloquence. + +"See!" continued the orator, "there's a storm coming up from the sea. It +will hide our advance; and the soldiers are called away to the 'sizes. +Let us disperse, and meet again on the grass of Pendar'l." + +So said, so done. As the crowd moved off, it might be noted that there +were some audible murmurs of "Trevethlan for ever!" "Hurrah for +Trevethlan!" showing that at least a portion of the assembly were +thinking of what had happened in that hamlet a few hours before. And +then the multitude divided itself spontaneously into various parties, +some proceeding by the lanes and other byways, and some boldly crossing +the country in twos and threes;--silent, but not so regular, as an army +of ants. Meantime the storm, driven along by a high wind, came up the +sky, and before the foremost of the marauders had reached the park wall +of Pendarrel, the rain was falling in torrents, and the thunder rolling +overhead. But these were trifles to the hardy assailants, who were now +fairly on fire, and had a definite object before their eyes. They scaled +the wall wherever they first found it, and advanced through the grounds +towards the hall, scaring the deer with the unwonted invasion. At length +they found themselves re-united for the most part in a semicircle, +investing all one side of the house. Fair and stately it stood amidst +the trim pleasure-grounds, reflecting the vivid flashes of lightning +from its white walls and many windows, and offering, alas! too tempting +a prize to the lawless band around it. Within, the household were +collected about their fire-sides, listening to the uproar of the storm, +and little deeming that a more terrible enemy was at hand. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + When tumult lately burst his prison door, + And set plebeian thousands in a roar, + When he usurped authority's just place, + And dared to look his master in the face, + Liberty blushed, and hung her drooping head, + Beheld his progress with the deepest dread, + Blushed that effects like these she should produce, + Worse than the deeds of galley-slaves let loose: + She loses in such scenes her very name, + And fierce licentiousness must bear the blame. + + Cowper. + + +"What can make the dogs bark in this manner?" exclaimed Mrs. Pendarrel +to her husband and daughter. "Surely not the thunder." + +"I cannot tell what it is, my dear," answered her spouse, who was nearly +asleep after his return from Bodmin, in spite of the external uproar. "I +wish they and the thunder would both be quiet." + +Mildred went behind the curtains of a window. Thick as they were, the +flashes of lightning had yet gleamed through them. + +"What a tremendous night!" she exclaimed. + +"Come from the window, Mildred," said Mrs. Pendarrel; "it is dangerous +to stand there." + +"Ha!" cried the daughter, "there is fire. It cannot be the lightning! +Mamma! Papa!" + +The urgency of her tone brought them both to the window. A red glare +streamed over the lawn, and shone bright upon the dripping trees. Fire +was there indeed. + +Gabriel Denis, by this time wild with passion and excitement, had soon +discovered the means of gratifying his turbulent desires. A range of +farming offices, with some ricks, stretched to the west, and therefore +to windward, of the hall. Let these be once kindled, and inactivity +would soon give way to riot and confusion. The smuggler had not +forgotten his tinder-box. He crept down into the homestead, found a +convenient nook, and soon lighted a flame, which nothing but the +speediest and most energetic exertion could hinder the furious wind from +converting into a great conflagration. + +Unhappily the tempest, closing doors and fastening shutters, prevented +an immediate discovery of the blaze, and the heavy rain was powerless to +check its progress under the fanning of the gale. The interior of the +corn-stack, fired by Gabriel, rapidly became a furnace, while volumes of +steam and smoke rolled from the wetted thatch, and were shortly followed +by jets of flame bursting from the inside. Then masses of burning straw +were lifted aloft by the wind and cast on the neighbouring ricks and +wooden barns, and in scarcely more time than is occupied by this +description, the homestead was evidently doomed to destruction, and the +safety of the hall was become very problematical. + +It was just then that Mildred summoned her father and mother to the +window. + +"Hark!" she said, "Was not that a shout? See, there are people running +across the lawn, and under the trees. But, oh, what a light!" + +Terrified domestics rushed into the parlour. + +"The house is beset--hundreds of men--What can be done? What can be +done?" + +These exclamations were mingled with loud cries of "fire," from within +and without the mansion. In the confusion, Esther Pendarrel seemed alone +to preserve her presence of mind. + +"Done!" she said. "The engine! The horses! Ride! Run! To Helston, and to +Marazione! Raise the people! Bring down the soldiers! Away with you; and +let us see where the fire is. And you, sir, look to your arms. Beset! +Nonsense!" + +So saying, Esther proceeded to the wing of the hall next to the farm +offices, which could not be seen from the living rooms, while her +husband hurriedly distributed his fire-arms among the few servants who +remained, when their fellows had departed to endeavour to fulfil the +injunctions of their mistress. + +Mildred accompanied her mother. "Fie," said the latter, seizing by the +wrist one of a group of maids who were crying in terror, "fie, girl! Be +silent; let us have no confusion. We want all our nerve." + +One glance from the window to which she went showed Esther the full +extent of the calamity. Long tongues of fire, bending and quivering in +the fierce wind, were licking the roof of a low range of outhouses which +connected the farm-yard with the hall. Esther remembered that there was +a door of communication between these buildings and the house itself. +Unless they could be pulled down, and that instantly, the mansion would +be in imminent peril. And besides, behind them were the ricks and barns, +vomiting a perfect sea of fire, from which large flakes were ever and +anon borne by the gale over the hall. One such struck the window where +Mrs. Pendarrel stood with her daughter, and made them start back for a +moment. And what hope was there of help? By the red glare they could see +men clustered about, either gazing on the flames with indifference, or +exhibiting exultation in their gestures and movements. Amidst the +crackling of the fire and the thunder of the storm, they could hear the +savage hurrahs of the incendiaries. Whence, then, could come help? + +"We are lost, my child!" Esther said quietly. "But I presume they do not +intend to burn us as well as the hall. Courage, dear." + +She threw her arm round Mildred's waist, and led her back to the main +stairs. There they found Mr. Pendarrel, and two or three men-servants, +armed, but undetermined what to do. + +"Husband," Esther whispered, "in five minutes all the west wing will be +in flames. Nothing can save us, unless the troops arrive in time. Where +are the girls? They must all be here." + +The last words were spoken aloud. + +"I will call them, mother," Mildred said; and she ran back to the +offices. + +"We have no chance," Esther continued as before, "unless the ruffians +should turn----Hush! Hark!" + +There was a clatter of steps to the door of the hall, succeeded by a +loud knocking. + +"Be ready," said Esther. "Let us not be outraged." + +"Shall we not escape?" her husband asked. "By the back windows----" + +"Are the maids all here? Where's Mildred?" + +"I am here, dear mother," was the breathless reply, "and so are they." + +"Then let us go," said Esther sadly. "Go through the drawing-rooms. To +meet at the chief lodge. And you, my friends, will guard us as best you +may. But for the fire, we might do more. All now would be in vain." + +Bare-headed, the little party went out into the storm. Esther stoutly +maintained her own heart, but she had much ado to keep up the courage of +her companions. With quick but faltering steps they made their way +through the shrubbery, in the direction Mrs. Pendarrel had indicated; +looking back with hasty glances, and perceiving that the flames were now +flying over the roof of the mansion, the west wing having already become +their spoil. A little more delay, and perhaps escape had been +impossible. And there were other dangers besides the fire. + +The fugitives had just turned round the corner of a thick clump of +laurels, when they found themselves in the presence of a crowd of men, +who immediately surrounded them, preventing their further progress, +insulting them both with words and gestures. Mr. Pendarrel, bewildered, +fired a pistol, and the rabble rushed in upon him and those with him, +incensed and excited beyond all control. It was a moment of despair. +Esther pressed her daughter to her breast, and opposed herself to the +assailants. Her husband, also, and the men-servants maintained a manful +struggle. But numbers were prevailing, when the ruffians were themselves +attacked in the rear. A throng of country people, apparently acting in +concert, charged them suddenly, and with the first attack, drove them +clear of their intended victims. + +"Fly, madam," then said a voice beside Mrs. Pendarrel. "Fly. There are +none now but friends in the way. And remember Edward Owen." + +And Esther acted instantly on the advice, knowing that, whether true or +false, it afforded the only hope for safety. + +In the mean time, the hall-door had yielded to its assailants, and +ruffianism triumphed through the mansion. Some fellows made their way to +the cellars, and drank desperately, while others rioted through the +various apartments in search of more valuable booty. Not a few quarrels +arose for the possession of some portable trinket, upon which two of the +marauders might have seized at once. Shouts and screams, and execrations +resounded on all sides. And above them all rose the crackle of the +advancing flames, not unlikely to inflict a well-merited doom upon some +of those who exulted in them. + +But many of the country-folks, aroused by the emissaries who escaped +from the hall at the first alarm, had thronged to render assistance in +subduing the flames. They were, however, disconcerted at finding +themselves intercepted by a mob, whose intentions were precisely the +reverse of their own. Coming singly or in small knots, without any +community of action, they were unable to make any impression upon the +banded ruffians, and they either departed to seek further aid, or became +passive spectators of the ruin that was befalling Pendarrel. + +There was one, however, of a different mood. Edward Owen, although he +had attended the meeting at Castle Dinas, and accompanied the mob, +shuddered at the devastation before him. So soon did he experience the +truth of Randolph's words. Recoiling too late, but desirous to atone if +possible for what was past, he hovered on the skirts of the crowd, and +soon collected a tolerably formidable body of the well-disposed, with +which to repress further outrage. They made their first show of prowess +in rescuing the fugitive family: but beyond this their efforts were +unavailing: the fire had obtained too great a head to be withstood. + +The main fury of the storm had now passed; the rain had nearly ceased, +and the wind had fallen; the lightning still flashed, and the thunder +muttered in the east, while the western sky was once more becoming +clear. But the flashes were too faint to be seen, and the muttering too +low to be heard, in the bright glare and loud crackling of the flames +that were devouring Pendarrel Hall. All the centre of the mansion, +containing the great stairs and principal apartments, was in full +conflagration. From window after window, as the glass flew under the +heat, a long stream of fire shot forth, joining the ruddy blaze that +broke from the roof. Once, a human form appeared in the midst of such a +torrent, flinging its arms about in wild supplication for a few moments, +and disappearing, either within or without. Above the house curled vast +volumes of smoke, black, white, and yellow, filled with sparkling +fragments, and glowing in the light of the flames. A flock of pigeons +fled to and fro over the bright vapour, and every now and then a bird +dashed into it, and dropped as if shot. Round about, on all sides, as +near as the heat permitted, rushed the incendiaries, exulting in the +destruction they had accomplished, and hailing every fresh burst of fire +with frantic acclamations. Behind, at a little distance, the trees, +still streaming with the recent rain, reflected the red glare from every +branch. Farther off, a cottage window or a white wall, lighted more +dimly, might denote the rising ground of the neighbourhood. And over +all, were the dark clouds of the retreating tempest, the fury of which +had that night caused no catastrophe so disastrous as was here wrought +by the hand of man. + +The family, so rudely driven from their home, succeeded in reaching the +lodge designated by Esther for their rendezvous. Faint with +excitement--even Mrs. Pendarrel's spirit failed her when she was safe +from immediate peril--exhausted by their flight, deluged with the rain, +they met together in a small room of the cottage, round a window which +looked towards their late abode. With a sort of vacant despair they +watched the flames which rose above the intervening trees, and showed +the progress of ruin. The hall itself they could not see. Mildred sat, +leaning upon her mother's shoulder, and holding her hand, while Mr. +Pendarrel rested against the side of the casement. Not a word was +spoken; and the only sounds that broke the silence of the lodge, were +the subdued noise of the flames, and the shouts of the marauders. + +But Mr. Pendarrel, with his ear against the wall, has now caught another +sound; regular, rhythmical, advancing along the road. Nearer it came, +and nearer, and before the listener had changed his position, a squadron +of dragoons passed the lodge on a hand-gallop, and were followed by +fire-engines. Alas! why came they no sooner? + +The messengers who had made their way from the hall at the first +discovery of the fire, sped fast away to Helston, looking back at +intervals towards the light in the sky. The distance was about five +miles; the road was slippery with the wet; the flood of rain was almost +blinding: a full hour had elapsed before the first of the runners +shouted "fire" in the deserted streets of the little borough. The +inhabitants were at rest, but few were asleep, the din of the storm +preventing slumber. Night-capped heads peeped timidly from windows, and +demanded--where? The messenger learned the officers' quarters. There was +some little demur. False alarms had been given before. But the bugle +soon sounded to horse. The drowsy firemen equipped their engines; and +when once the cavalcade had started, rattling over the stony street, a +very short space sufficed to bring it to the gates of Pendarrel. + +The greater portion of the marauders, struck with consternation at the +sight of the soldiery, fled among the trees of the park, to be +denounced, perhaps, at a future day, by informing comrades. But a few, +maddened by intoxication and excitement, offered a futile resistance, +and were captured on the spot, to answer for their ruffianism, not +improbably with their lives. + +As for the engines, they could effect nothing. The well-disposed of the +country people, who were by this time assembled in great numbers, +assisted in bringing them into play, and water was obtained from an +ornamental reservoir in the garden; but fire was master of the hall. To +save a small quantity of furniture from the lower rooms in the eastern +wing, and to collect articles which lay scattered on the lawns, was all +that the utmost exertion could accomplish. The whole of the mansion had +fallen in, and the burning would continue as long as there remained +anything to furnish fuel. Blackened walls, open to the sky, containing +nothing but smoking and smouldering ruin, would be all the morning sun +would shine upon of Pendarrel Hall. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + The Hall of Cynddylan is gloomy this night, + Without fire, without bed-- + I must weep awhile, and then be silent. + + The Hall of Cynddylan is gloomy this night, + Without fire, without candle-- + Except God doth, who will endue me with patience? + + Llywarch Hen, _by Owen_. + + +The destruction of Pendarrel Hall was the crowning outrage of the +riotous. It was a crime for which a severe retribution was certain to be +exacted. On information, given partly by the prisoners taken at the +fire, partly by volunteers who hoped to screen themselves, the civil and +military authorities swept the country far and wide, and arrested +numbers of suspected individuals. The hamlet of Trevethlan felt the +visitation, and among its accused was the unfortunate Edward Owen. Many +people, shuddering at the consciousness of guilt, fled for shelter to +the wild moors and desolate carns, or lurked in the caverns of the +sea-shore, obtaining a scanty and precarious nourishment from venturous +friends or kindred. The prime mover of all the mischief, Gabriel Denis, +had been captured on the spot; and there was scarcely a cottage between +the two seas, which did not miss from the family circle some son or +brother now lying in prison or lurking in the waste. + +On the night of the disaster, the Pendarrels were at last persuaded to +seek repose in such accommodation as was afforded by the lodge; but +sleep was out of the question. Jaded and sad, they met in the morning, +and went forth to survey the ruins of their home. Melancholy enough was +the mere destruction of the edifice, yet that was the least among their +sorrows. Wealth might restore the house to all its former splendour, but +other losses were irreparable. All the relics of bygone days; the +pledges of friendship and of love, the trinkets associated with old +personal reminiscences, the memorials of travel and adventure, the +rarities collected with their own hands, the family heir-looms, the toys +of one childhood laid by to amuse another, the books of early lessons +and early leisure, the sketches and drawings, the portraits and +miniatures of the dead,--all of these had perished, and could never be +replaced; for Pendarrel was their home, their old familiar +dwelling-place, the storehouse of all things dear,--their cradle and +their grave. Other houses they had, but none like Pendarrel. + +Even the stern pride of Esther might bend a little under so great a +calamity. Only the morning before she had been exulting over the +humiliation of Trevethlan, and now her own hearth was desolate. In the +terror of the night she had been surprised into an unusual display of +tenderness towards her daughter. But any such feelings were merely +transitory. Tale-bearers soon brought to her ear the shouts of "Hurrah +for Trevethlan," which had been heard among the rioters. She thought of +the scornful silence with which her invitation of yesterday had been +received at the Castle, and permitted herself to suspect that the +night's outrage might have had more than empty sympathy from its +inmates. + +She perceived also, with impatience, that the event would necessarily +postpone the marriage of her daughter, and require it to be celebrated +in London. Both the delay and the place was obnoxious, because the +watchful mother still feared that Mildred's outward docility covered a +strong resolve, and she was sorry to restore her to the protecting +influence of Mrs. Winston. Such were the cold and harsh thoughts, which +in Mrs. Pendarrel succeeded to the first depression occasioned by the +calamity. But coming so suddenly on her triumph, it would be strange +indeed if it were wholly unfelt, and the sequel may show that its +effects were more considerable than Esther suspected at the time. + +The exiles selected one from a host of offers of hospitality, but only +availed themselves of the shelter for a single night; setting out the +following morning on their way to town, and arriving in May Fair in due +course. Mrs. Winston awaited their coming. She had her full share of the +recent catastrophe. True it was she had made another home for herself, +but much of her heart remained at Pendarrel. Even in a lately-written +letter Mildred had mentioned their partnership in books. In fact, the +fire might long be remembered in the annals of the family, becoming an +epoch to date from, like that commemorated among the Jews by the spot +left bare in the decoration of their walls, "the memory of desolation." + +In the first _tête-à-tête_ between the sisters, they turned from their +own misfortunes to that which had befallen their cousins of Trevethlan, +and when Gertrude had mentioned the invitation which she had already +despatched to Helen, Mildred suffered herself to be drawn into a +confession of all that had passed under the hawthorns on the cliff. + +"Ah, Mildred," her sister said, shaking her head in gentle reproof, +"remember that while I will do anything to save you from a union you +dislike, I will do nothing to promote one which our parents disapprove. +And that I fear will be the case as regards this gentleman. Count +nothing, my dear, from my invitation to his sister. I should, perhaps, +have hesitated to give it, had I known the state of the case." + +But Mildred heard this little lecture without much heeding its warning. +She was meditating on designs of her own, which she had no intention of +confiding even to her sister. Her mother was not at all unlikely to find +that she had raised a devil which she would be unable to lay. + +Mildred rejoiced, however, at one circumstance: her unwelcome suitor did +not immediately follow her to London. He had not been present at the +fire; for although his domains joined those of Pendarrel, the houses +were very far apart; and there was sufficient uncertainty at Tolpeden +respecting the locality of the flames to excuse the indolent coxcomb +from proceeding to assist, an excuse of which he readily availed himself +in the midst of such a storm. He was greatly vexed when he heard the +truth in the morning, and he paid a visit of polite condolence to the +family, at which, however, he was not favoured with the company of +Mildred. + +And he was far from impatient to accompany her to town. The gossips at +Mrs. Pendarrel's party had indeed exaggerated his embarrassments, but +they were sufficiently heavy. Returning unable to fulfil his undertaking +to his creditors, he should awaken a hundred sinister suspicions. The +fire would be but a bad excuse for the delay, where all excuses +prolonged the chapter of accidents. So Melcomb dreaded to make his +appearance until everything was definitively arranged, and he could meet +his foes with renewed promises of satisfaction. + +To his unsuspected rival the fire was a godsend. It sent his patroness +to London, exactly when with a doubting heart, Sinson was preparing to +visit her in Cornwall, and thus enabled him to hold down his bondman +Everope, with one hand, while with the other he preferred his audacious +suit. Could Mrs. Pendarrel have read what was passing in her servant's +heart, when he came cringing before her with congratulations on the +result of the trial and condolence for the ruin of her house mingled in +equal proportions, she would have cursed the hour when she took the +fawning rustic into her service. He was now manoeuvring to induce the +wretched Everope to go abroad, in order that his last fears might be +laid to sleep. But the spendthrift was not at all willing to accede to +the proposition. And after all, Sinson thought, what did it matter? A +little space would disclose the whole of his plot. And when his +patroness was once implicated, there would be no danger of exposure. +Should circumstances make it necessary, the Trevethlans might be quietly +re-instated in their small patrimony, and Michael would be perfectly +contented with the domain of Pendarrel. Everope might do as he pleased. + +And now Esther had the mortification--for such it was to her--of +receiving condolence from all the circle of her acquaintance. The +burning of her house made no little stir in the metropolis. In public it +was not unreasonably mentioned as affording a good ground for the +general alarm. It might figure considerably in the Parliamentary +debates--we need not specify the volume of Hansard--it might occupy some +space in the reports of secret committees; it might have a green bag all +to itself. It was the topic of the day, and became a source of so much +exasperation to the mistress of the ruined mansion, that she would +almost have rejoiced to sink Pendarrel in some fathomless pool off the +Lizard. It is so difficult to condole in a manner at all sufferable. +Rarely is it pleasant to be pitied. People are apt to lavish their +sorrow on what they think they would have most regretted themselves, and +to forget the real weight of the calamity, in considering some detail +which strikes their particular fancy. So Angelina might remember the +gold fish in the garden, and hope they were not killed when the water +was needed for the engines. Now as Esther really loved her home, and +deeply deplored its ruin, it sometimes cost her an effort to answer her +friends' sympathy with polite equanimity. For the condolers mean kindly, +and must be kindly met. + +But she was gratified also at times. Some hardy spirit would venture to +approach her with a sarcasm. The town, that is to say such men as +Winesour, could recollect the late Mr. Trevethlan, at the time he was +squandering his fortune; when his companions called him a fool, and were +very fond of his society. Such people remembered him with a certain kind +of attachment, and heard of the final ruin of his supposed children with +a certain sort of regret. And some of them were half aware of the old +love-passages between the lord of the castle and the lady of the hall, +and guessed for themselves the cause of Henry Trevethlan's desperation. +And so with polished incivility, they contrived to compare the fire and +the law-suit, and to send a diamond-headed shaft home to Mrs. +Pendarrel's heart. + +Now this Esther liked. It exasperated her, but it put her upon her +mettle; and enabled her to exhibit a wit, delicate and keen as any that +attacked her. And she wanted something of the kind. Disguise it as she +would, she was bitterly humiliated by the catastrophe of that terrible +night. + + "Pendar'l and Trevethlan would own one name," + +when there was no place of the former appellation to claim its share in +the prediction. The prophecy itself seemed to mock her. The fretfulness +induced by these conflicting emotions, restrained abroad, vented itself +at home, and fell heavily upon poor Mildred. + +And now London was very full. The brilliant froth was bubbling and +foaming over the edges of the cup. And so a perpetual round of gaiety +invited the votaries of fashion, like the whirling dance about the +funeral pyre of Arvalan. Into the fascinating circle Mrs. Pendarrel led +her daughter, and took pains to let every one know, that the fillet was +already bound round the victim's brow. But the latter was as little +likely to succumb in patience to the intended doom, as the German poet's +Bride of Corinth. + +And was Esther at all mindful of her defeated adversaries? She heard of +their answering her trembling invitation by a precipitate abandonment of +their ancient home, and she took little heed of their further +proceedings. She did not yet know the full extent of her triumph, and +left the effects of the verdict to be developed in the dens of the +lawyers. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + O Primavera, gioventù del' anno, + Bella madre de' fiori, + D'erbe novelle, e di novelli amori, + Tu torni ben, ma teco + Non tornano i sereni + E fortunati di delle mie gioje: + Tu torni ben, tu torni, + Ma teco altro non torna, + Che del perduto mio caro tesoro + La rimembranza misera e dolente. + + Guarini. + + +Spring and Favonius were rapidly loosening the bonds of winter, when +Randolph and his sister returned to their old quarters at Hampstead, +with feelings very different from those which had attended their first +arrival there. Six months had revolutionized their existence. And when +in the tumult of emotion which followed the trial at Bodmin, the +disinherited heir conceived the idea of seeking the roof which had +sheltered his brief studentship, it was rather in that mockery with +which despair often tries to delude itself, than with a serious purpose +of fulfilling the design. He cast a sneering and scornful glance upon +his sojourn in London, and thought of resuming it as a bitter jest. But +come what might, he was resolved to quit Trevethlan, and that instantly. +Where then could he go? Where find a home for Helen?--questions which +Randolph answered by accepting in earnest the plan which he had +conceived in irony. Let their old host and hostess enjoy a nine days' +wonder. + +So to Hampstead the orphans went, making a more leisurely journey than +before, and arriving, free from fatigue, in the evening. They were +received with warm cordiality. + +"What!" said Peach to Randolph, when Helen had retired, "you slept last +night at Basingstoke! Not disturbed, I hope, by any of the monk of +Croyland's adversaries. Hear Foelix concerning the foes of monastic +rest, as Camden reports his very middling hexameters-- + + 'Sunt aliqui quibus est crinis rigidus, caput amplum, + Frons cornuta, gena distorta, pupilla coruscans, + Os patulum, labra turgentia, dens peracutus-- + Nonnulli quibus est non horrida forma, sed ipse + Horror, cum non sint scelerati, sed scelus ipsum.'" + +Cornelius loved to hear himself talk, and this was a favourite quotation +with him. Randolph assured him the inn at Basingstoke was quite free +from the plagues of Croyland Abbey. And then, in a few brief sentences +he acquainted Mr. Peach with his real quality. His landlord was amused +with the romance. + +"Why," said he, "you are like my Lord Burleigh, wooing his peasant-love +under the guise of a painter." + +A short time before, the remark would have occasioned a severe twinge, +but now there was no room for any. Randolph was surrounded by a sea of +troubles, and knew not in which direction to strike. And the full effect +of the verdict was as yet unperceived by him. He had not observed that +by dissolving all ties between himself and his father, it would deprive +him not merely of his real estate, the castle and its precincts, but +also of all the personal property which he possessed in the world. The +next of kin would follow the heir-at-law. In this case they were +combined in the same person. Would any mercy be shown? Would it be +accepted if it were? The orphans were literally beggars. Nay, they were +even in debt. For a rigorous account might be exacted of every farthing +of property, which the late Mr. Trevethlan left behind him at his death. +And thus opprobium, immediate and inevitable, was hanging over +Randolph's head. + +The lawyers, of course, were well aware of this. But Mr. Truby, about +whom there was nothing of the pettifogger, was in no hurry to advise his +client to rush to extremities. He remembered the judge's observation at +the trial, that additional evidence would probably be forthcoming before +very long, and was not anxious to bear on the defeated party, in a +manner which might afterwards be termed oppressive. He always hated +sharp practice. He felt bound to mention the state of the case to Mr. +Pendarrel, and that gentleman of course communicated it to his wife. +Esther started at the news, but perceiving that every day would only +involve the orphans more deeply, she was contented to let her advantage +rest for a while. + +On the other hand, Mr. Winter did not feel it on any account necessary +to point out his real position to Randolph. Being certain that injustice +had been done, although at present unable to see his way to its +reversal, he was loth to risk the disclosure to one of so passionate and +obstinate a temper as his client. And in truth the latter's condition +required no aggravation. Randolph was in the plight, most harassing to a +hot and impatient mood, when there is nothing immediately to be done, +and the spirit chafes and rages at its forced inertness. + +He sought his friend and counsel, Rereworth, but without obtaining any +consolatory information. Seymour was endeavouring to trace the witness +whose testimony had overthrown his friend. But hitherto wholly without +success. Everope had disappeared entirely from all his former haunts. +His chambers were perpetually closed, and the old woman, who acted as +his laundress, knew nothing at all concerning her master's movements. +Yet this was the quest which Rereworth thought held out the best hope of +success; for if the spendthrift's evidence were bought, there were many +circumstances conceivable, under which he might be induced to confess. + +Very few days had elapsed after the arrival of the orphans at Hampstead, +when they were joined by Polydore Riches. He brought them all the +details of the conflagration at Pendarrel. And with wrath and +indignation Randolph learned that it was pretty generally regarded in +the country as a reprisal for the verdict at Bodmin. Not such was the +retaliation he desired. The chaplain also grieved his old pupils with an +account of the numerous arrests which had been made among the dependents +of the castle. It seemed as though their own ruin involved that of many +besides. + +There was another circumstance connected with this intelligence which +was of deep interest to Randolph. The Pendarrels had returned to London. +He again breathed the same air with Mildred. Now he had almost rejoiced +in the idea that this would not be the case. He was glad that in the +dreary interval devoted to the recovery of his rights, during which he +had vowed to see her no more, distance would remove any temptation to +break the resolution. But she was again within his reach. Any day, in +walking through the streets of the metropolis, she might cross his path. +He would be in continual expectation of such a meeting. An instant might +overthrow all his determination. It was another element to mingle in the +turbulence of his emotions. + +And the chaplain bore a missive also, which was a source of considerable +discussion; namely, Mrs. Winston's letter to Helen, containing the +invitation to her house. Gertrude had written with great tact, and with +a full consciousness of the delicacy which might revolt from accepting +an obligation from the daughter of Esther Pendarrel. She went so far as +to say that her offer would probably be disagreeable to her mother if it +were known, but she hoped to prevent that, until some fortunate +discovery had re-instated her cousins in their just rights. And she +infused into her whole letter a warmth of kindness and sympathy which +she trusted would not be without its effect. For in truth she wrote from +her heart. + +But the proposal led to great demur. Randolph abhorred the idea of +accepting anything like favour from any of his enemy's house; and was +not disposed to admit Mrs. Winston's view of her independence. Yet, +being married, she might be considered as no longer involved in the +quarrel. And Randolph was very anxious to find his sister a home. She +was in his way. He felt it with no want of affection. But whenever in +his reveries he looked forward to the career he should adopt, as soon as +he had re-established the good fame of his family, his sister always +recurred to his mind as an obstacle in his path. Sketching for himself +an adventurous course in some far-distant land, he was always recalled +from the vision by the thought of her he should in such case be +compelled to leave unprotected, behind. A very short glimpse into the +future would have spared him much fruitless speculation. + +Helen, with that gentle longing for a reconciliation which she showed in +the very opening of this narrative, read Mrs. Winston's letter with +pleasure, and desired to accept the invitation. In answer to her +brother's peevish dissatisfaction, she urged that her visit might be +very short, but that it would be ungrateful, uncharitable, every way +perverse, to reject what was offered with such true kindness. She should +be entirely private,--should, of course, hold no intercourse with Mr. or +Mrs. Pendarrel, and could see Randolph as often and as freely as he +pleased. + +The chaplain supported Helen's argument with all his power. And in the +end the brother yielded, little thinking to what a train of +circumstances the visit would give rise. And so Miss Trevethlan removed +to Cavendish-square, where Gertrude's winning demeanour soon put her +completely at her ease, and where she walked through those same rooms, +in which she might remember that Randolph encountered Mrs. Pendarrel +face to face, and made the avowal which cut short his career as a +student of the law. + +He himself escorted her, and quivered a little as he stood in the +well-remembered drawing-room. But he only staid a few minutes before +returning to Hampstead, through the long and squalid suburb which then +lay at the foot of the hill. The stuccoed terraces of the Regent's-park +were still in the brain or the portfolio of the architect. The +realization of Darwin's prophecy, + + "Soon shall thy arm, unconquered Steam, afar + Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car," + +although it had taken place on one element, seemed as far distant on +shore as when the poet wrote. What wonders have been wrought in these +thirty years of peace! And is it possible to think, that once more our +progress may be arrested by war, and that the energies which have so +long been devoted to the cause of civilization--that great cause of the +whole human race, in which nations may fraternize without reciprocal +encroachment, which is identical with the advance of true liberty, and +of the only equality which mortals can attain, that of virtue--is it +possible that these energies can once more be required for self-defence, +that the death-drum may again summon us to repel a foreign foe, or that +symbols and watchwords may divide ourselves, and our ancient flag find a +rival standard unfurled by the sons of those who fought the battle of +freedom? Rather let us hope that the convulsions around us may be found +to have cleared the air, and brought the day more near, + + "When the drum shall throb no longer, and the battle-flag be furled, + In the parliament of man, the federation of the world." + +The coming of Polydore Riches was an event of some interest to the +worthy couple of the peachery. Clotilda, in common with most spinsters +of her age, was much in the habit of criticising the mien and aspect of +clergymen, and formed her own idea of the appearance of the chaplain +from the respect and affection with which Helen always spoke of him. And +it must be owned she was a little disappointed. She had expected rather +a portly man, with white hair, and a commanding presence. She +encountered a slight figure and a pale face, the habitual pensiveness of +which was now deepened by anxiety, and which was shaded by locks wherein +silver had as yet but little share. Miss Peach allowed that Polydore was +"interesting," but she had expected something more. + +But Randolph was quite right in predicting that the chaplain and +Cornelius would agree together admirably. The two old bachelors speedily +conceived a high mutual esteem. Their tastes were very similar. In each +there was the same simplicity of character. Polydore was more refined +and enthusiastic; Cornelius more humorous and practical. The worthy host +soon prevailed on his new friend to join him in a pipe, a luxury in +which the chaplain had scarcely indulged since he quitted the classic +shades of Granta. And they exhaled the fragrant fumes, due to Peach's +ancient friend Sir Walter, so long, that the old clerk fell into a +rhapsody on the perfections of that creature of his dreams, Mabel; and +actually extracted from Polydore a murmured panegyric on that treasure +of his memory, Rose Griffith. And then might a spectator have been +amused to observe how the names of Mabel and Rose alternated with the +puffs of smoke, and were often sighed forth in concert, with a pathos +that might have done honour to the unworthily-used Malvolio. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + _Margaret._ To me what's title when content is wanting? + Or wealth, raked up together with much care, + And to be kept with more, when the heart pines, + In being dispossessed of what it longs for + Beyond the Indian mines? Or the smooth brow + Of a pleased sire, that slaves me to his will, + Leaving my soul nor faculties nor power + To make her own election? + + _Allworth._ But the dangers + That follow the repulse,---- + + _Margaret._ To me they're nothing: + Let Allworth love, I cannot be unhappy. + + Massinger. + + +As Mr. Winston's suggestion to his wife, that she should ask Miss +Trevethlan to their house, seemed suddenly to improve their mutual +understanding, so did Helen's acceptance of the invitation make them +still better known to each other. Among the commonest and worst features +of unions like theirs, is a prejudice on one side or the other that +happiness is impossible, which closes every avenue to amelioration. The +discontented parties have eyes only for defects. The heart which +accepted the match with ill-disguised repugnance, is subsequently too +proud to admit it was in error. It will not resign the privilege of +complaint. It insists on continually galling itself with what it calls +its chains. It hugs the satisfaction of considering itself ill-used. For +the world, it would not allow itself, even in reverie, to be at ease. +Yet, when there is no real deficiency either in character or temper, a +hopeful spirit will probably soon find grounds for esteem, and esteem +will be likely to ripen into affection. And then the very contrasts of +disposition which at first appeared to preclude sympathy, will really +promote it, by furnishing opportunities for good-humoured mirth, instead +of objects for silent peevishness. + +Gertrude Winston had never thought it worth her while to understand her +husband. She married him as a pure negation, preferring King Log to King +Stork. He was neither sulky, nor mean, nor selfish; he was not +meddlesome, nor fidgety, nor exacting. His wife never heard a sharp word +from his lips. Surely she might have taken the trouble to go a little +below the surface, and see if his pedantry and apathy concealed no +qualities which she might first admire, and then love. But no; she had +determined to be a "victim," and resolutely closed both heart and mind +against any appreciation of whatever might be endearing in his +disposition. And for him,--indolent and even-tempered, having married +because people usually married, in the same way as they were born and +buried,--he certainly took no pains to display his merits, and allowed +his wife to do exactly as she pleased, without let or hinderance. + +And Gertrude did not abuse the licence. She would not have asked Helen +to her house without consulting her husband. In his ready though +measured proposal to that effect, Mrs. Winston felt there was a kindness +which she had failed to perceive in all his previous demeanour towards +her. And when their guest arrived, he surprised her still more by +rousing himself from his monotonous pursuits to find sources of interest +and amusement for Miss Trevethlan. Gertrude was far above jealousy, and +attributed his attentions to their true motive,--a desire to alleviate +the anxiety of their new friend. + +Yet was Helen one who might well awaken the domestic fiend. Rather under +the average height of woman, but of a full and luxurious form, she moved +with that soft and undulating mien which fascinates even from afar; and +if, allured by the figure, you permitted yourself to advance and look +upon the face, you would find it was worthy of the shape. You would see +a forehead of the purest white, not very high, but broad and serene, +shaded by long dark ringlets, and supported by eyebrows of the same +colour, rather far apart, and very slightly arched. Under these you +would look into eyes also as dark as night, so gentle and so fond, that +well would it be for you if they did not haunt your slumbers for many a +night to come. Their long lashes drooped over cheeks perhaps a thought +too pale, but so transparently fair that they flushed with every +transient emotion, and then almost rivalled the full and tempting lips, +which lost themselves in dimples at each corner, and showed that the +pensiveness usually characterizing the countenance was not unwilling to +give place to any gaiety of the hour. + +At the present time, however, pensiveness prevailed, and increased the +contrast which Helen's beauty always presented to the attractions of her +cousins. She might trace in Mrs. Winston a strong resemblance to the +features of the miniature found upon her father's heart, which she had +since worn upon hers, and whose original she detected at that eventful +visit to the opera. There were the same inscrutable dark eyes, like +those in which Charles Lamb said lurked the depth of Jael; there were +the same haughty will, and the same decision of purpose; but there was, +Helen thought, something more of tenderness and less of disdain. + +She had been but a very short time in Cavendish-square when she made the +acquaintance of Mildred. Having informed her sister of her invitation, +Mrs. Winston could scarcely avoid the introduction, although she was +cognizant of a certain secret. Helen possessed no corresponding +knowledge, yet a gentle confidence grew up between the maidens, and +Mildred perhaps regarded her cousin as not unlikely to be more nearly +related to her. Naturally also, and unavoidably, she heard not a little +concerning Randolph, and listened to such intelligence with no +untroubled heart. + +Indeed she had begun to think of him more than was prudent; forced into +the recollection by her situation at home. She saw that Mrs. Pendarrel +was daily proceeding in the same course she had adopted in Cornwall, and +that she herself was becoming more and more involved in conduct which +she loathed. She found it very difficult to procure an explanation with +her mother, for since the short colloquy in which she attempted to +remonstrate the morning after the country party, Mrs. Pendarrel had +abruptly checked all further efforts of the same sort. At length, half +in despair, Mildred thought of appealing, perhaps for the first time in +her life, to her father. + +It was a very poor prospect. The scheming younger brother had long sunk +into the intriguing political hack. Obsequious, cold, worldly-minded, +and correct, was Mr. Trevethlan Pendarrel. He would as soon have thought +of absenting himself from a division, as of interfering with his wife's +domestic rule. He dared not even object to her lavish expenditure, +although he was fonder of money than of anything else; and he was too +dull a plodder in official harness to understand the jests sometimes +made at his expense. He was greatly surprised when his daughter +intercepted him one day on his return home, and led him into a parlour. + +"Papa," Mildred said, "I am sure you love me." + +"Of course, of course," he answered. "But your mamma takes care of all +that." He thought she was going to ask for money. + +"But pray do hear me, papa. They say ... This marriage...." + +"Of course, my dear. Your mamma has arranged it all. Very agreeable man, +Mr. Melcomb. Calls me Petruchio. Marriage! Why, you'll be the envy of +half the ladies in London!" + +"But, papa, it cannot be. I have told him so." + +"Cannot! I don't understand. You must speak to mamma. She manages it +all. There--there--" + +So saying, he kissed her cheek hastily and departed. Mildred knew not +where to turn. Her mother's tactics defeated the support which she had +expected from Mrs. Winston, for although the latter threw all the +discredit she could upon the rumours of the approaching marriage, no +pretence was afforded for any interference of a more active kind. But +Mildred, becoming more and more restless, at length seized an +opportunity of telling her mother suddenly, that she would go no more +into society until the report of her engagement was positively +contradicted. Mrs. Pendarrel flew into a violent rage. All her plans +were very far advanced. Almost every particular was definitely settled. +She was flushed with her triumph at Bodmin. Was everything to be undone +by the whim of a foolish girl? + +"What!" Esther exclaimed, with fury sparkling in her eyes, "have you +courage to be openly disobedient? Will you dare to fly in my face? Do +you think to make me wanting to my pledged word? Do you imagine I will +bear the scoffs and taunts bestowed upon a beaten match-maker? No, Miss +Pendarrel. You will marry as I bid you, or--but there is no +alternative." + +In the heat of her anger, Esther almost gasped for breath. She had for +some time observed her daughter's manner with smouldering wrath, and now +Mildred's avowal produced a fierce burst of flame. It deprived Mrs. +Pendarrel of her prudence. + +"And hark!" she cried. "Do you suppose that I am blind? Do you fancy I +know nothing about what you call your heart? Have I forgotten who +trembled on my arm, when that upstart pretender dared to intrude into +society which he could not have entered honestly, and laid claim to a +name to which he had no right? Do I not remember whose cheeks were +reddened, and whose voice said 'my cousin?'" + +Mildred's cheeks were red enough now, and she trembled from head to +foot, and opened her lips to speak, but her mother continued with +increasing vehemence. + +"And suppose he had been Randolph Trevethlan, as he falsely called +himself; suppose that he had been a true descendant of that ancient +house, and lawful owner of Trevethlan Castle, do you dream, girl, that I +would suffer his alliance with a daughter of mine? Do you not know that +I hate him? Do you not know that he hates me? Did I not hunt his father +to death? Have I not pursued him, the son of that base peasant-woman, +with a hatred which can only be extinguished in the grave? Have I not +even now consummated his ruin? Has he a house to hide his head? Is he +not a beggar on the earth?" + +Again Mrs. Pendarrel paused for breath. Mildred's colour came and went +with agitation, and she panted as if her heart would break. She had not +in the least expected to arouse such a storm. + +"And this is the miserable person you have dared to love? Yes; I ask you +again, do you think I am blind, or that there are no eyes but mine? Did +I not hear of that meeting on the cliff? Of folding arms, and hands +clasped, and lips----? Ay, girl, do you quiver and blush? Cousin, +indeed! A creature that has no right to any name at all; homeless, +houseless, penniless! Do you know that he is at this moment in my hands? +that I can throw him into prison, to languish till he dies? And where is +he? where is he hiding? Do you know that his people are charged with the +burning of Pendarrel, that he may be implicated himself? Fie, girl! +Shall the lion love the jackal? Shall the eagle love the owl?" + +"Mother," Mildred ejaculated, taking advantage of another break in +Esther's fierce harangue, "I love Randolph Trevethlan! I have vowed to +be his wife; and I will." + +She was leaving the room, but Mrs. Pendarrel caught her by the wrist and +detained her, looking full in her face, and almost choking with the rage +which she was unable to express. + +"Yes, mother," Mildred said, faltering as she spoke, "in that meeting, +which was watched by some miserable spy--that meeting, which I shall +remember for ever, which brings no shame to my cheek--in that meeting +Randolph won the pledge which nothing but death can break. Did I love +him when first I called him my cousin? Did I love him at that meeting on +the cliff? Mother, I love him now a thousandfold. Is he houseless, +homeless, an outcast, and a beggar? The more need has he of my love. +Tell me not of dishonour: there is none with him. Speak to me not of +shame: I know it not with him. Is his fate in your hands? So is mine. +They cannot be divided. He is mine, and I am his." + +As her daughter spoke, Mrs. Pendarrel tightened her hold upon her wrist, +and when she flung it loose at the close of Mildred's words, it was +discoloured by the pressure. She flung it scornfully from her, and said, +in tones whose concentrated but cold indignation was remarkably at +variance with her previous vehemence:-- + +"Go to your chamber, girl. We must see a quick end to this folly. And as +for him, you have sealed his doom." + +Mildred obeyed, and retired to her own apartment. There she threw +herself on a couch, and wept long and passionately. But one thought at +last seized her, and restored her to herself. + +"His doom sealed!" she murmured. "Did my mother say his doom was sealed? +And through me? No, no: it must not be. And is he, indeed, in such +danger and distress, and I here, far away, instead of sharing his +sorrows, as is my right and my duty? Oh, mother! mother! you little know +what you have done." + +And she rose, and dried her eyes, and wrote two notes, inclosing one +within the other, and directing the outer one to Helen Trevethlan. She +had never been one of those dramatic heroines who, in every little +trouble, seek consolation from their maids. With regard to them, one +might be inclined to avail oneself of the qualification attached to the +Highgate oath. Mildred had never asked Rhoda to do her any secret +service before. But when she summoned her now, and requested her to +convey the note she had just written to its destination at Mrs. +Winston's, the natural quickness of a soubrette at once perceived, from +the mere selection of the messenger, that the errand was confidential, +and it was with gratified self-esteem that Rhoda accepted the mission, +and delivered the billet into Miss Trevethlan's own hands. Rhoda +advanced very rapidly in the confidence of her young mistress that +evening. + +Mrs. Pendarrel had been thunderstruck by the attitude assumed by her +daughter. She had wrapped herself securely in reliance upon her own +power, and so bold a defiance almost stunned her. She bitterly regretted +the sarcasms into which she had been betrayed by passion. She readily +perceived the effect they would have upon a temper like Mildred's, a +temper in some respects like her own. And should all her schemes, all +the plans which she built up with so much care and labour, be frustrated +by the obstinacy of a love-sick girl? Should Esther Pendarrel confess +herself defeated? There was little hope of that. But she felt dim fears +and doubts besetting her. She experienced anew some of the despondency +caused by the destruction of her house; she looked to the future with +some foreboding of evil. But activity must subdue all such misgivings. +This insolent suitor must be crushed at once. Her daughter must be +schooled into instant submission. Nearly cotemporaneously with Mildred's +letter-writing, her mother also indited two epistles. The one she +despatched the same evening, by a trusty hand, to Tolpeden Park; the +other she sent immediately to Messrs. Truby's offices in Lincoln's Inn. + +There would apparently be some searing of hearts, before the war which +was that day proclaimed arrived at a peaceful termination. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + These violent delights have violent ends, + And in their triumph die; like fire and powder, + Which, as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey + Is loathsome in its own deliciousness, + And in the taste confounds the appetite: + Therefore, love moderately; long love doth so; + Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow. + + Shakspeare. + + +It was a notable fact at this time that Seymour Rereworth, the recluse +law-student, whom Mrs. Winston used to rally for his devotion to so +crabbed a mistress, became a frequent haunter of the house in Cavendish +Square. His acquaintance with the Trevethlans, and his relationship to +Gertrude, opened the door, closed to all besides, of that little boudoir +where she and Helen used to sit together, when they were unengaged; +precisely the same room from which Randolph pointed out to Mildred the +star which he fancifully chose as the arbiter of his destiny. There +Rereworth, forsaking the tangled intricacies of Astræa, learned to +disentangle skeins of silk; there, instead of threading the mazes of +some perplexing quibble, he could, on occasion, thread a needle; there, +instead of reading of the wars of the alphabet, A against B, and C +against D, he would read aloud the newest poem of Byron, or the latest +novel of Scott; and Seymour was a good reader, and did not object to +hear himself read, particularly when Helen Trevethlan listened. And the +expression one can throw into such poetry and such prose is very +convenient. So Rereworth was now the Corsair, with-- + + My own Medora, sure thy song is sad. + +Then Selim, with-- + + Bound where thou wilt, my barb; or glide, my prow-- + But be the star that guides the wanderer--thou. + +And again he played the romantic with Flora Mac Ivor, or sang serenades +with Henry Bertram. It is, we say, a convenient way of making love, +which was something very like Seymour's present occupation, when-- + + The deep, the low, the pleading tone + With which we _read_ another's love, + Interpret may our own. + +Pleasant it is to contrast the even and tranquil affection which was +thus ripening between Rereworth and Miss Trevethlan, with the turbulent +and rebellious passion which linked together Mildred and Randolph. Helen +had soon learned to like her brother's friend in his winter visits to +Mr. Peach's cottage: her heart thanked him for the zeal which he now +displayed in investigating the fraud practised at the recent trial; and +she listened to these readings in a mood prepared readily to acquiesce +in the emotions they were calculated to excite. Although it must be +confessed that the wild passions of Lord Byron's heroes had more in +common with the angry humour of Randolph than with her own gentle +disposition. Perhaps her pleasure was derived from the voice of the +reader rather than the poetry which he read. + +But Rereworth did not allow his attentions to the sister to prevail over +his exertions on behalf of the brother. And Randolph, being now more +independent, seconded his friend's efforts with his own. But it was a +vague and unsatisfactory pursuit. With no little difficulty they opened +a correspondence with the family of Everope, but they were disappointed +in its result; for nothing precise could be recollected respecting the +spendthrift's movements in that eventful autumn. His connections were by +no means anxious to revive their knowledge of his habits. And in London +he seemed to have entirely abandoned all his former haunts. His chambers +remained permanently closed; no one had seen him for a long time. +Restless and impatient, Randolph roamed through the metropolis, +scrutinizing the wayfarers, until his eyes became weary of the endless +succession of unknown faces. Occasionally he visited places of +questionable resort, having learned that such were much frequented by +the object of his chase. Thus, once or twice, he went to the Argyll +Rooms, and walked, care-worn and sad, among the giddy throng, where most +especially, even in laughter, the heart was sorrowful, and the end of +mirth was heaviness. And there one night he was mocked with a glimpse of +the man he sought. He was watching, partly with interest, and partly +with aversion, the proceedings at the hazard-table, when he noticed a +player sitting opposite him, the quivering of whose fingers, as his +forehead rested on them, showed how keen was his anxiety in the game. +While Randolph was observing him, a showy woman laid her hand upon the +gambler's shoulder, and made him look up with a start. At the same +moment his eye met Randolph's; he saw he was recognised, rose and +vanished; and though his pursuer hurried after him, his inexperience and +want of acquaintance with the ways of the place enabled Everope to elude +his search. + +Meantime, at Trevethlan, Griffith was quietly following another trail. +He took the proceedings at the inquest on the supposed Ashton as the +basis of his hopes, and was eagerly inquiring among the country people +what was remembered of the occurrences on the night of his suspected +murder; for it might be presumed that they could not now feel any +reluctance to tell all they knew, as the lapse of time would be +sufficient to save them from harm. And, accordingly, the steward had +little difficulty in ascertaining the particulars of the smuggling +adventure of the night in question, and found that it was generally +supposed the murderer had escaped in the lugger which came in with the +illicit cargo. But there his researches were brought to an end. What had +become of that lugger? In what seas she had sailed since, over what +parts of the globe her crew were dispersed, were questions more easily +asked than answered, with respect to a vessel of her character. + +The hamlet was plunged in mourning. Already the note of preparation had +been sounded for the formal taking possession of the castle by its new +proprietor, and no rescue seemed probable. The old prediction was to be +fulfilled at the expense of Trevethlan. The evil omen of the late +squire's marriage was to be borne out by the event. And not a few +families in the village were still bewailing the absence of some member +now imprisoned on a charge of being concerned in the outrage at +Pendarrel. The utmost rigour of the law was threatened against the +guilty, and the offence was capital. The dark hour which old Maud Basset +said was at hand for the house of Trevethlan had indeed arrived, and +gloom hung around the towers on the cliff, and over the green of the +hamlet. + +The wrath of the villagers ran high against all who had in any way +abetted the law-suit, and in particular against Michael Sinson. Upon his +head many an imprecation was breathed, and against him many a threat was +muttered. And the odium reflected upon his sweetheart. The people abused +her for her rejection of Edward Owen. They said it was due to her that +he was now lying in jail. They pointed at her, and flouted her. And poor +Mercy often thought of the dismal denunciations of Dame Gudhan, and +shuddered at the idea they might prove true. + +Old Maud also shared in the unpopularity of her grandson. Over and over +again the folks dinned into her ears that Margaret's marriage was +broken, and that it was all her Michael's doing. That was the reason, +they said, that the castle and lands passed away from Squire Randolph. +It was her own favourite that had brought shame on the daughter of whom +she was so proud. But Maud refused to understand. She sat, hour after +hour, swaying herself to and fro in her rocking-chair, exulting in the +ruin of the family which had wronged her Margaret, and, in a low voice, +murmuring the hymns she had learned in childhood. + +It would seem the fortunes of that family could hardly sink lower, but +such was not the case. Griffith received a letter from Winter, informing +him that Mr. Pendarrel's lawyer had intimated he was instructed to +demand a rigid account of all the personal property left by his late +master, and that, although he had replied the demand would be resisted, +still the steward had better prepare for the worst. As yet no light +appeared to brighten the condition in which they were left by the +verdict in the ejectment. Griffith lifted up his hands in tribulation, +and looked back through those five-and-thirty years. + +This announcement was the result of Mrs. Pendarrel's interview with Mr. +Truby. She insisted on the lawyer pressing all the legal consequences of +the verdict to the utmost, and without delay. She even inquired whether +the so-called Mr. Trevethlan might not be arrested. But Truby coldly +answered, that though perhaps he might, yet he could not be detained, +and that such a procedure would be at variance with the common courtesy. +Common courtesy! Mrs. Pendarrel might think, what courtesy is there +between me and him? She did not, however, venture to urge her +proposition further. + +But we are anticipating a little. Randolph remained unaware of this new +device to drive him to utter ruin. One evening, after a day spent in the +fruitless wanderings which occupied so much of his time, he was sitting +with Polydore Riches, silent and languid, thinking moodily of abandoning +all hope, and at once proceeding to some distant land in quest of +enterprise--South America seemed to offer a field--when the post brought +him a letter. He saw it was from Helen, and opened it slowly and without +much curiosity. But it contained an enclosure, addressed to himself, in +a lady's writing with which he was unacquainted. That he unfolded with +more despatch, and read:-- + + "Randolph--I am yours. I must see you. Meet me to-morrow + afternoon, at three, near the keeper's lodge, in + Kensington-gardens.--Your---- + + "M. P." + +The blood rushed into the reader's pallid cheeks. The very encounter +which he had at times dreaded, while threading his way through the +crowded streets, was here pressed upon him in a manner which he could +not elude. Would he wish, then, to avoid it? Perhaps not. But in the +first confusion of his feelings, joy had only a small share. Again all +his plans were frustrated. He seemed to be a mere plaything in the hands +of destiny. + +It wanted yet some time of the appointed hour when the lover sought the +rendezvous. Backwards and forwards, with uneven steps, he paced the +grass between the cottage and the Serpentine-river. The thought of +avenging the desolation around him again presented itself to his fancy: +again he resisted it, and vowed that no such selfish impulse should +sully his affection for Mildred. But the idea recalled the death-bed +injunctions of his father, and reminded him that he had been on the +point of entirely submitting to his adversary's triumph. He began to +think that the task which had been imposed upon him was beyond his +strength. His dreamy and lonely youth had ill prepared him for the +storms of riper years. He was infirm of purpose and irresolute of heart. + +The approach of a female form fluttered his pulse, and in a moment he +was at Mildred's side. The greeting was incoherent and abrupt. + +"Randolph," the lady said, "I have sought you, because I have no other +succour left. Do you know, have they told you, that my bridal is at +hand?" + +Her lover started, and remembered, as in a flash of lightning, what he +had heard from old Jeffrey. + +"It was false," he said. "Dearest, I knew it was false." + +"Ay," she continued. "But it has become very like truth. Do you know +that everybody believes it? that everybody looks upon Mildred +Pendarrel.... Oh, my mother, my mother, why have you driven me to this?" + +She spoke with passionate sorrowfulness of accent. Well might Randolph +say there was no happiness in love like theirs. + +"Yes, the day is fixed. I am a prisoner till it comes. I am here only by +stealth. I do not know what will become of me. I can bear it no longer." + +The words followed one another in rapid succession. Mildred was trying +to forget herself in the quickness of her utterance. + +"The day will never dawn," Randolph exclaimed. "Are we not vowed to each +other? Are we not pledged for ever? Let us fly, dearest. Let us be +united before the world, as we are in our hearts. But, no, no," he +suddenly ejaculated, with a burst of anguish. "Do you know who I am? An +outcast, without house or name. Dishonoured and infamous. What can I +offer you? How can you share my lot? It must not be, dearest Mildred, it +can never be." + +"I know it all," she answered. "It was my mother that pressed it on me. +What then? Was it not the very reason that determined me? Oh, Randolph, +do not think so lightly of me, as to suppose such things would turn me +from my vow. Do not think I would recall what is my only hope, my +last-remaining joy. I have nothing left but you. Do not fancy I regret +what is gone." + +Brief, but earnest and decided, was the conversation that ensued. +Passion carried all before it. Mildred thought that, with the help of +her faithful Rhoda, she could escape the same evening. Randolph would +arrange everything for their flight. The north road would conduct them, +if not to happiness, at least to security. A few rapid sentences settled +all preliminary details; and the lovers parted, to meet again before +many hours were over. + +There was now no time for reflection. Randolph had not a minute to +spare. There were letters to write for Helen and for Mr. Riches, short +as possible, giving, after all, no information. There were funds to +provide, little requisites to collect. When Randolph stood by his +carriage under the trees of Grosvenor-square, he seemed scarcely to have +rested a moment from the time he left Kensington-gardens. + +Late in the evening it was. Mildred had retired for the night. Rhoda +showed her young mistress, in a slight disguise, to Mrs. Pendarrel's +door, as a visitor, and speedily slipped out, unseen, herself. They +reached the carriage in safety. The elopement was complete. Scandal +laughed in the wind that swept through the trees, as the fugitives were +whirled from the square. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + The father was steel, and the mother was stone; + They lifted the latch, and they bid him begone. + But loud on the morrow their wail and their cry! + He had laughed on the lass with his bonny black eye, + And she fled to the forest to hear a love-tale, + And the youth it was told by was Allen-a-Dale. + + Scott. + + +The flight was not detected. So when Mrs. Pendarrel descended in the +morning to the breakfast room, she was surprised at finding no Mildred +there to receive her. She did not at first take much heed to the +circumstance, but herself commenced what had usually been her daughter's +duty. But when she had been some time joined by her husband, and there +were still no signs of the young lady, she desired a servant to send +Miss Pendarrel's maid to inquire whether her mistress was not ready for +breakfast. Answer came in a few minutes, that Miss Pendarrel's maid was +not to be found. Esther then felt some uneasiness; would herself look +after the bird; found the cage empty; an incoherent note on the +dressing-table:-- + +"Dearest mother," Mildred briefly wrote, "I can bear it no longer. Every +day sinks me deeper in deceit. You do not know--you never can tell, how +I have struggled. Why did you upbraid him? Oh, mother, why did you seem +to rejoice in his sorrow? I feel that I can only be his. When you know +all my despair, you will forgive your child." + +"Never," Esther exclaimed, grinding her teeth. She crushed the billet in +her hand, and returned to her husband. + +"Mr. Trevethlan Pendarrel," said she, "your daughter has eloped." + +The politician felt some excitement for once, and blushed like red tape. + +"What!" he exclaimed. "What did you say, Esther?" + +"Your daughter has eloped, sir," she repeated; "eloped with your +pretended nephew. Come, sir; there must be a pursuit." + +Roused at last to a sense of the emergency, the bereaved father +bestirred himself, obtained some traces of the fugitives, and, within +half an hour, was flying along the north road as fast as four horses +could take him. + +Did any girl ever know the anguish she would inflict by a step like +Mildred's? Press to the uttermost the arguments urged by Milton and +Johnson in defence of the right of children to choose for themselves in +marriage, they will still never be found to countervail the natural +sentiments of the heart. They will never subdue conscience, or stifle +remorse. And so it has been often observed, that wedlock, in which the +honour due to father and mother is forgotten, is rarely happy in its +result. And, on the other hand, parents, who, without the most solid +grounds, coerce their children's inclinations, will probably one day pay +the penalty of their hard-heartedness. + +Esther communicated the event in a short and savage note to Mrs. +Winston, striving to flatter herself with the idea, that in spite of +Mildred's words, she might have sought an asylum in Cavendish-square. +Gertrude answered the missive in person, and with great sorrow. She +bitterly deplored her sister's imprudence; but Mrs. Pendarrel received +her with sharp and angry speech, said what had happened was owing to her +teaching, was sorry she had no daughters to serve her in the same way, +and, in short, treated her with a contumely which it required all Mrs. +Winston's temper to endure in respectful silence. + +Esther was almost prostrated by the blow. She had never been quite +herself since the burning of Pendarrel. She had, it was true, maintained +a bold and haughty front, but she had lost some of her old internal +confidence. She had become more hasty, and found her self-control much +weakened. She perceived the change in that scene with Mildred, which, as +she confessed to herself, had probably hurried the catastrophe more than +anything Mrs. Winston had done or said. But when she desired Mildred not +to leave the house without her cognizance, she had no idea that the +young lady was prepared to disobey. + +She read the note of farewell over and over. She crumpled it, and +smoothed it, again and again. With all its incoherence, it was +sufficiently decided. And so the very same day in which she had +fulminated her final decree against the heir of Trevethlan--a decree +which she hoped would crush him to the ground--that very day her +daughter had thrown herself into his arms. She was check-mated just when +she thought the next move would give her the game. Henry Trevethlan was +already well avenged. + +In the midst of her agitation, word was brought her that Michael Sinson +had begged the favour of an audience. She had seen very little of her +protégé since her arrival in town. She fancied he might be of some +service in her present strait, and granted the permission he sought. +Ignorant of Miss Pendarrel's flight, he came cringing into the presence +of his patroness, with the idea that Everope was safe, and that he might +claim the reward of his treachery. + +"Now, sir," his mistress said as he entered, "what is your business with +me?" + +The young man was embarrassed. He had well considered what he was about +to say, yet, when the time came to speak, his words were not ready. + +"You know, ma'am," he said, hesitating and confused, "the pains I have +taken in exposing the person who had unlawful possession of Trevethlan +Castle." + +"Well, sir!" + +"You know, ma'am, that I did not scruple to bring discredit on some of +my own kindred, in order that right might be done." + +"You have been well paid," Mrs. Pendarrel said. + +"Excuse me, ma'am," Sinson proceeded. "I have been reproached and abused +by my relations, and all the country people turn away from me. It is not +easy for me to show my face in Kerrier or Penwith. But right is done at +last. You have the castle firm and safe. Do you remember, ma'am, what I +told you of the late owner and Miss Mildred?" + +Esther started, supposing the speaker was going to give her some +intelligence respecting the elopement. + +"In a week or a fortnight," Michael continued, "there will be no trace +of the old family at Trevethlan. The steward is now preparing to quit. +Mr. Randolph is wandering somewhere in poverty and want. Do you suppose, +ma'am, that he has forgotten that walk on the cliff, with--with your +daughter?" + +Mrs. Pendarrel was surprised. She could not imagine to what end so +strange an introduction was tending. She listened in silence. + +"No, ma'am," said her protégé. "Love will not grow cold in ruin." + +And then Sinson, in incoherent language, proceeded to contrast +Randolph's circumstances with his own. It was a speech which he had +often meditated, and spoken in soliloquy, yet he now felt almost unable +to deliver it. A sense of the hollowness of his reasoning choked the +words which should have flowed from his lips. He was too conscious of +his own sophistry to be eloquent. Yet he struggled on through sentence +after sentence, without observing the increasing astonishment of Mrs. +Pendarrel, who wondered more and more to what he was coming. Like Fear, +Michael recoiled from the sound of his own voice, when he had heard his +concluding demand. + +"Why, then, if this Mr. Randolph is fascinated by--your daughter--why +should I be blind to the same attractions?" + +By this time Esther had risen from her seat, and stood, mute with +amazement. Had Michael been less excited, he could not have failed to +notice the scorn and indignation in her face. But he had become absorbed +in his subject, and proceeded hurriedly. + +"And what obstacle is there? The world's prejudice? That I sweep aside. +You can give me what station you please. Her engagement? You have good +cause to break it. Why does Melcomb pursue her? To pay off the +encumbrances on Tolpeden? No, no: to pay his own debts. Tolpeden will be +mortgaged as now. Will she object? Not if she have any regard for Mr. +Randolph. I can implicate him in the burning of Pendarrel. His life will +be in danger. She will consent, in order to save him. What hinderance is +there then?" + +Mrs. Pendarrel approached the bell-rope, but before she could pull it, +Michael boldly interposed. He had now regained his audacity. + +"Hark! ma'am," he said. "Before you venture to scorn this offer, +remember what you owe me. I am not to be paid with money. Well paid, did +you say? No, ma'am. The triumph you have gained hangs upon my word. A +breath from me will blow it to the winds. There is shame in store for +you, ma'am, worse than any that has befallen Mr. Randolph. I have +letters of yours, ma'am. You are in my power. I have named my terms. +Beware, ma'am, of rejecting them." + +"You do not seem to be aware, sir," Esther said, with cold and bitter +sarcasm, "that the honour you would confer upon my family, it is not in +my power to accept. My daughter fled from my house last night, and, as I +believe, in company with the person to whom you allude." + +"Fled!" Sinson exclaimed in a whisper. "Fled!" + +Before he recovered from his astonishment, Mrs. Pendarrel had rung the +bell. A servant speedily answered the summons. Michael heard an order +which banished him from the house for ever, and stamped fiercely on the +floor, while his patroness retired into an adjoining apartment. + +"Did you hear, sir?" said the servant tapping Sinson smartly on the +shoulder. + +An execration rose to the young man's lips, but he repressed it, and +followed the attendant. The door of the house closed behind him, and its +jar seemed finally to shiver to atoms the fabric he had been +constructing so long and so laboriously. He stood on the pavement of the +street, once more the vile Cornish peasant. His devices had recoiled +upon his own head. One step of a simple girl had disconcerted all his +schemes. And he had tied his own hands. But then with a sort of savage +glee he thought of the plight of the young lovers. At least he had +brought ruin on the house from which he had been driven with disdain. +And he retained his hold on Mrs. Pendarrel. He was not lost in loss +itself. He must obtain the funds which he had affected to despise. +Should he not follow up the idea which he had mentioned of charging +Randolph with instigating those incendiaries? There was motive +sufficient to make the accusation credible. He could at least tamper +with some of those who were in custody. The hope of pardon, the promise +of reward would be tempting inducements. He was not yet destitute of +resources. And he had the chance of his lottery-ticket. + +Such were the notions into which the tumult of Sinson's passions at +length subsided. He had gone into the Green Park, and he walked rapidly +to and fro, under the trees by Rosamond's Pond. Some people watched him, +thinking that he meditated suicide. But his pace became gradually slower +and steadier, and the flaneurs went on their way, wondering what might +have caused so much agitation. + +"No," Michael might have muttered between his teeth; "at least he shall +not enjoy any tranquillity. Infamy shall follow poverty. He shall never +be happy with her, nor she with him. Let him pay for his father's +scornfulness; let her atone for her mother's disdain. Ha! What did I +say? What did I betray? But no; I mentioned nothing tangible. No names. +No particulars. The secret is safe. Let Mrs. Pendarrel take possession +of Trevethlan Castle: she will hold it for me. Let her refuse me my +demands, and I blow her title to the winds, and shame her in the sight +of the world. And I am safe. There would be nothing against me but what +I chose to confess. Ay, the game is not up yet. I shall not have played +for nothing. Was I expelled from the castle? Am I driven from the hall? +Long shall the heir of the one, and the mistress of the other, rue the +contumely they cast upon Michael Sinson." + +The muser started, for a hand grasped his arm, and shook him. He looked +up, and encountered Everope. + +"Do you hear, Sinson?" cried the spendthrift. "Five times I have said +your name! What is the matter with you?" + +"It's plain enough what is the matter with you," Michael answered +moodily. "And why have you not left London? For what are you lingering +here? Do you wish to be transported?" + +"If I am, you will be also," said Everope. "I must have some money." + +Slovenly and jaded, the unhappy man presented obvious signs of recent +dissipation. His eyes were bloodshot, and his hand trembled. + +"That you may squander it in riot," Sinson said. "Tush! you have had too +much already. You think you are worth more than you are. You can only +harm yourself. Go abroad, or I shall throw you into the Fleet. Let's see +who'll believe your stories there." + +"Villain!" exclaimed the spendthrift. + +All the fierce and disappointed passions which were struggling in +Michael's breast, concurred in giving strength to the blow that sent +Everope staggering several paces to fall upon the turf, almost before +the word had passed his lips. Sinson turned and walked away. + +His bondman rose from the ground in a fury not to be described. All the +few traces of the gentleman which still lingered about him, rebelled +with hot resentment against the insult he had received. Such are the +contradictions of our nature. Mean, profligate, and perjured, Everope +yet revolted from a blow. And from whom received? From the tempter to +whom he sold himself for a few paltry pieces of gold. From one whom he, +even in his own degradation, despised and loathed; who had betrayed him +into guilt at which his soul grew sick. And directed against the man who +had come to offer him kindness. Yes; how well he remembered that +repulsed visit to his chambers in the Temple! With what horror he had +recognised his benefactor at the trial! The man whom his testimony had +undone had attempted to rescue him from ruin. "Too late it was, too +late," Everope cried with his inward voice--"it has always been too late +with me. But need it still be so? Was opportunity of retrieval finally +gone? Had even the eleventh hour elapsed? Could he not break his chains? +It was but to speak one word. The Fleet! There, or worse then there, he +must end! Why should he struggle for a few days' respite? What was the +wretched timidity which disabled him from facing his position?" + +Such was the reverie of him whom want of principle and a sanguine temper +had reduced by degrees to the degraded state in which the reader finds +him. Always hoping to retrieve the effects of past extravagance, and +intending to repair the mischief of former faults, he allowed himself to +be led into fresh wastefulness, and to be involved in further guilt. Was +his present penitence to be more efficient? The question will soon be +answered. He hurried away from the scene of his interview with Sinson, +and quitted the park by Buckingham-gate. + +Meantime, Michael had not gone very far before a thought seemed to +strike him, and he retraced his steps to Rosamond's Pond. After all, it +might be prudent not to quarrel with the spendthrift at present. But he +was too late. Everope had disappeared. "It is no matter," Sinson +muttered; "I can find him at any time." The next day he went down into +Cornwall. + +"The understanding of a man naturally sanguine"--it is Dr. Johnson who +speaks--"may be easily vitiated by the luxurious indulgence of hope, +however necessary to the production of everything great or excellent; as +some plants are destroyed by too open exposure to that sun which gives +life and beauty to the vegetable world." + +In Everope is seen the extremity to which the vitiation here mentioned +by the great moralist may sometimes be carried. Yet surely a sanguine +temperament ought to be a blessing. A willingness to see the bright side +of things should not be converted into a misfortune. But it is +frequently at once compliant and obstinate, yielding readily to +seduction and resisting advice. And it is too often treated in the +spirit of the maxim, that wilful men must have their way. That is to +say, it is considered to be always in the wrong. A common idea is, that +difficulty will cure its faults. But the difficulty must not amount to +ruin. The step from the sublime to the ridiculous is not more easy than +that from sanguineness to despair. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + Do you note, + How much her Grace is altered on the sudden? + How long her face is drawn? How pale she looks, + And of an earthly cold? Mark you her eyes? + + Shakspeare. + + +The news of the elopement was of course at first allowed to transpire as +little as possible. There was still a faint chance that the errant +damsel might be overtaken before she was over the border, in which case +the escapade might perhaps be hushed up, and scandal deprived of its +prey. But it created anxiety and sorrow at other places besides the +house in May-Fair. In Randolph's notes to Helen and to Polydore, he +merely said that he was summoned suddenly from town for a few days, and +would write again very shortly. He did not dare to entrust the secret of +his flight to paper. His communications, therefore, caused great +perplexity. It was something quite new for him to show any reserve, +towards either the chaplain or his sister. But the mystery was solved by +Mrs. Winston, who gently complained that Helen should have availed +herself of her visit in Cavendish Square, to become a means of +correspondence between the fugitives. She soon saw, however, that +Helen's simplicity had alone been to blame, and withdrew her +remonstrances. + +Polydore was very much disturbed. Was this the end of his teaching? Was +it his quiet and meditative pupil, the calm student of the library at +Trevethlan, the contemplative muser by the sea, who had thus in one +moment flung prudence aside, and fled to an irregular and unhallowed +union? The simple-hearted chaplain could not understand it at all. He +had sometimes anticipated the pleasure of himself blessing the nuptials +of his former pupils, according to the ritual of his church, and now +Randolph had contracted a marriage devoid of any ecclesiastical +sanction. Improper and ill-omened as had been the father's wedding, that +of the son, Mr. Riches thought, was still more deplorable. Such matches +were rarely a source of happiness. And here, in particular, the enmity +between the families might lead to unusual misery. And poverty--stark, +staring poverty--seemed to threaten the young couple. For Polydore had +learned from Mr. Winter the last step taken by Mrs. Pendarrel, and saw +nothing before the orphans but absolute and immediate want. + +And the further letters which before long reached both Helen and the +chaplain did not tend to allay their anxiety. Randolph wrote that he and +his bride were returning, by easy and leisurely stages, to the +metropolis. But there were few traces of happiness, or even of +tranquillity in his missives. They contained no spontaneous effusion of +joy, no expressions of triumph, no desire for congratulation. They were, +on the contrary, cold and restrained. The writer seemed endeavouring to +suppress any signs of emotion, to avoid causing uneasiness, to prevent +sympathy. Even in speaking of Mildred, he was cautiously reserved. He +mentioned her without any warmth of panegyric, and without any overflow +of tenderness. Neither did he say a single word in justification of his +flight. He seemed to write, rather because he felt bound to do so, than +from any pleasure in the correspondence. In fact, Polydore remarked to +himself with a sigh, that if Randolph had not wished on his arrival in +town to find a temporary abode ready for him where he was not known, he +would probably not have written at all. In all this the chaplain saw but +slight prospect of future comfort. + +Nor was an epistle which Mildred wrote to her sister, although different +in tone, more re-assuring. It was much more open and unrestrained, but +it exhibited a mood quite as unsatisfactory. The bride strove at great +length, and with much passion, to justify her flight. She described in +eager and bitter language the long solicitude she had endured, both at +Pendarrel Hall and in London. During all that time, she said, she was +made to act a lie. She had remonstrated, and implored, and wept. She had +been derided, and threatened, and terrified. Her steps had been watched, +and at last she had been bidden to consider herself a prisoner. But all +this, and more than this, would not have tempted her to fly. It was not +until she was told that a certain event was imminent,--it was not until +she heard him who was now her husband shamed and calumniated, and +declared to be in want and sorrow,--that the idea of consulting with him +occurred to her. She had no one to advise her. Gertrude's own promises +were too limited. She was distracted. She had no eyes for anything but +one immediate and overwhelming danger. Was not _he_ on the point of +coming from Cornwall? Yet still she did not mean to fly. It was the idea +of a moment; hastily adopted, to be executed after an interval too brief +to give time for reflection. Were it to be done over again, nothing +would induce her to take such a step. She knew all she had forfeited. +But she hoped her sister would not judge her too severely. And, finally, +she prayed Gertrude to intercede for her with her mother. She should +never enjoy a moment's repose until she had obtained her pardon. She +acknowledged her undutifulness in terms of the most earnest penitence. +Already, she said, her punishment had begun. If it lasted, it would be +more than she could bear. Better it would have been to have endured the +utmost extremity, than to have incurred her mother's just indignation. + +With the arrival of these letters all secresy respecting the affair was +at an end. The news spread rapidly from mouth to mouth, that Miss +Pendarrel had made a stolen match. The scandal-mongers were gratified to +their heart's content. All the details of the flight were discussed with +ignorant curiosity; accidents were invented which had never occurred; +and the stratagems by which pursuit was evaded were described with exact +inaccuracy. + +Border weddings will soon be as legendary as that of Lochinvar. The rail +has already destroyed the romance of the journey, and the law will +speedily put an end to its profit, by requiring a fortnight's residence +before a marriage will be valid. Let "victims," therefore, make haste. +It was rather different when Randolph carried off his bride from +Grosvenor Square. He had engaged a carriage for the journey, but he +wanted time and experience to arrange an express, and was consequently +much delayed during the night. The travellers had not accomplished more +than fifty miles, when day broke upon them. It had been a silent, though +sleepless ride, and morning showed Randolph the traces of tears on +Mildred's cheeks. They called to his mind in an instant the extent of +the sacrifice she had made; for he would be no party to any suit for +reconciliation. He had torn his bride from her station and her friends, +and held himself precluded from all attempt to restore her to their +love. His father's spirit seemed to whisper in his ear, that for him +there could be no communion with those whom Mildred was bound to honour, +and whom he had persuaded her to desert. And for what? What lay before +himself? + +He endeavoured to repel such considerations, and to devote himself to +the comforting of his companion. But his efforts were of little avail. +He became gloomy and abstracted. So soon did repentance mingle with the +feelings of the fugitives. But still they hurried forwards. Retreat, for +Randolph at least, was out of the question; and to be overtaken would be +defeat. He could afford no such triumph to Philip or Esther Pendarrel. +And the father's pursuit was fruitless. He gained upon the chase at +every stage; but he came up too late. They were united, never to be put +asunder. + +They heard of his arrival, and Mildred would have thrown herself at his +feet. But her husband would not suffer it. It was rather early for a +matrimonial dispute, and a sad occasion of difference. Dark forebodings +crowded on the heart of the young wife. It was far from being so that +she was bidden to leave father and mother and cleave to her husband. But +Randolph would join her in a letter. No; he would not even permit her to +write on his behalf. She must strictly confine her apologies to herself. +For him, he would make none, and would ask for no forgiveness. It was +his part to forgive. + +In the sorrow and dismay occasioned by these injunctions, Mildred wrote +the letter to her sister which we have sketched above. She gave it to +her husband to read. He observed the anguish expressed in every line, +and melted into a flood of tenderness, blaming the moodiness of his +temper, and praying pardon of his bride. But he said no word which might +encourage her to insert a single sentence in his name; and she +remembered how, at that meeting on the cliff, Randolph spoke of the hate +which was between her mother and himself, and how there could be little +of happiness in his love; and the words appeared to be true with a force +to bring despair. + +With a misgiving heart, Mrs. Winston took her sister's letter to their +mother. Esther read it, and gave no sign. She observed that Mildred's +entreaties and excuses were confined to herself. There was no mention of +her partner in the affront; and Mrs. Pendarrel resented it too fiercely +as yet to show any commiseration. Yet she was greatly changed. The +successive shocks she had sustained had tamed her haughty resolution. +The destruction of her home had caused her many a bitter pang. It was +followed by the anxiety and exasperation produced by her daughter's +demeanour. These were converted into despondency and fury by the +elopement. And then came her miserable agent with a proposal which +insulted her, and with menacing hints which were at once a cause of +perplexity and alarm. Under such an accumulation of cares, it was no +wonder that her old spirit deserted her, and that her usual energy was +prostrated. + +But no gentle thoughts yet mingled with her dejection. Anger, cold and +stern, over-powered every other sentiment. She forgive! She pardon the +rebellion which had shattered the hopes of many months! She extend her +hand to the man whom she had just driven to ruin! Forego the vengeance +which she had meditated for years! Furnish Henry Trevethlan cause to +triumph in his grave! Take the child again to her bosom who had wedded a +nameless outcast! One whom she, Esther Pendarrel, had just before +succeeded in degrading, and whom she could not, if she would, restore! +Was it not a fair jest for the world to laugh at? She had disinherited +and beggared her foe, only to prepare him to become her daughter's +husband. And even now he gave no sign. He was exulting over the check he +had put upon her. After all, it was he who had won the game. And should +she then forgive?--should she make the victory more complete? No: let +them starve;--let them see how poverty and love agreed together. She +could at least enjoy that spectacle. And when love grew cold in daily +bickerings, when life became a long scene of mutual recrimination, when +strife made it happiness to be apart, or guilt brought about an actual +separation, then she might think her daughter's penance sufficiently +severe, and furnish her with the means of prolonging her miserable +existence. + +In this dejected and sullen temper Mr. Pendarrel found his wife upon his +return from his unsuccessful journey to the north. And he was surprised +to discover that he had become of sudden consequence in the household. +Esther seemed to have abdicated her rule. She let things take their +course with a strange sort of apathy. Her activity vanished, or only +showed itself in petty things. She often sat unemployed, and absent of +mind for a long time together. She took her husband's advice. But the +slightest allusion to the elopement, or any kindred topic, made her eyes +gleam in a way to scare the unwary suggester of such a theme. Mr. +Pendarrel ventured to hint, soon after his return, at the desirableness +of some arrangement, and the reception of the experiment fairly +frightened him from repeating it. + +It will be remembered that, after the stormy scene with Mildred, Esther +despatched a missive to Tolpeden Park. It was to summon its proprietor +immediately to town. Melcomb obeyed; and arrived only to learn that his +intended bride belonged to another. His career was soon at an end. +Embarrassments thickened around him. For some time he played at +hide-and-seek with the minions of the sheriff; but at length they +triumphed, and Melcomb became an inmate of the King's Bench. + +And now he may disappear from these pages. After a while he obtained +"the rules;" occupied decent apartments near the Obelisk; joined a club +of gentlemen in his own plight, and mimicked on a small scale the habits +of a more fortunate time. One evening he was missed from his accustomed +tavern. They inquired at his lodgings. He was very ill; and he never +rallied. Some of his companions in misfortune consoled his declining +hours; and in a few days his heir took joyful possession of Tolpeden. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + None but an author knows an author's cares, + Or fancy's fondness for the child she bears: + Committed once into the public arms, + The baby seems to smile with added charms: + Like something precious ventured far from shore, + 'Tis valued for the danger's sake the more. + + Cowper. + + +Polydore Riches, as we have said, was much disturbed by the matrimonial +escapade of his old pupil. But his profession, his own experience, and +his age, had taught him resignation. It was his favourite theory that +things seemed evil only because they were but half seen. Could man +discern the whole train of events of which an apparent calamity was +part, he would find that what was thought a misfortune was really a +blessing. But the eye of reason was as short-sighted as that of the +body. There were many things beyond its ken. And, as the most powerful +telescopes failed to penetrate beyond a certain distance, and served but +to make the vastness of the universe more incomprehensible, so the +severest logic only availed to show the limits of the human +understanding, and to inspire it with reverent humility for things +beyond its bounds. This true and grateful optimism enabled the chaplain +to overcome the sharpness of sorrow, and to maintain that unruffled +quietude of mind which is the happy mean between apathy and +over-susceptibility. Yet, as has been more than once hinted, he was not +unacquainted with grief. + +He had been into London one day to visit Helen, and also to try to find +some of his old college companions, when he met with what was for him a +little adventure. It probably led his thoughts into the course shown in +a conversation which he held with Mr. Peach the same evening. + +"You have several old friends of mine here, Mr. Peach," Polydore said, +surveying the row of tall folios which formed his host's library. "Now +this is one to whom I was always very partial." And he took down Sir +Thomas Browne. "Open this worthy knight where you will, you will be +pretty sure to find some intellectual pabulum." + +"I love his genial and warm-hearted humour," said the old clerk. + +"I have turned to the Physician's Faith," continued Riches. "I light +upon the section beginning--'I never could divide myself from any man +upon the difference of an opinion, or be angry with his judgment for not +agreeing with me in that, from which within a few days I should dissent +myself.'" + +"The whole passage overflows with charity and good sense," said Peach, +rubbing his hands. + +"And a few leaves further on--there is a paper at the place--is the +remark,--'It is we that are blind, not fortune: because our eye is too +dim to discover the mystery of her effects, we foolishly paint her +blind, and hoodwink the providence of the Almighty.'" + +Cornelius became rather fidgety, for he saw that the paper which Mr. +Riches had mentioned lay upon the open page, and was covered with +writing. + +"You write yourself, my friend," observed Mr. Riches. "Will you allow +me...?" + +"No," answered his host, casting down his eyes. "That is, I do not +write. I may sometimes jot down a thought, if a bit of paper is at hand. +I cannot bear to defile the margins of my books." + +"Mischievous vanity of readers," said the chaplain. "But, Mr. Peach, I +like these remarks very much. Did you never print? Confess. You have +caught Sir Thomas's spirit exactly." Cornelius coloured a little. + +"No," said he. "Never. I have nothing to confess." + +Polydore lighted his pipe, and sat down by the side of the chimney, just +out of the glare of the fire. Miss Peach had retired, and the old +bachelors were alone. They smoked in silence for a considerable time. + +"There was a time," at length the host murmured, "when I thought I +should like to print. It was when I was courting my Mabel. I fancied it +would be so pleasant to present her with a volume of my own inditing. +She would be proud of me. She would hear me spoken of, and would say in +her heart--he belongs to me. But there was another side to the medal, +something whispered me, and I had not the courage. The early ambition +passed away." + +"Well," said Polydore, "I was this morning singularly reminded that I +had been one of the irritable race." + +The old clerk's face beamed radiant among the circumambient fumes. + +"You, my dear sir!" he exclaimed, and then begged pardon for the +expression of surprise. + +"'Tis many years ago," the chaplain said. "I had not left my university +at the time. I had nearly forgotten it. Yet it was a delightful dream." + +"What was your offspring?" Cornelius asked. + +"A tale," was the answer. "A little story. Simple enough, but intended +to promote some opinions, of which, in my youth, I was a zealous +advocate. I fear I had not then learned the lesson of those first words +of Sir Thomas Browne." + +"I own," said Peach, "that I do not relish argumentative fiction." + +"Neither, perhaps, should I now," continued Polydore. "But youth is +ardent in proselytism. I dreamt over my manuscript for nights and +nights. It was so true, and so interesting. I was certain it could not +fail; and others thought so too. The little book would be ushered into +the world in a manner more favourable than I had dared to hope. Imagine, +my dear sir, the sort of intoxication with which I revised the proofs. +What Gibbon calls 'the awful interval of printing' was to me a season of +impatient delight. I was rushing into celebrity. And so the book +appeared--by Polydore Riches. I was not yet in orders. Moreover, it was +noticed by critics, on the whole, kindly. I took for granted it was +selling rapidly, and prepared my emendations for a second edition. Judge +then of my feelings, when, at the end of a twelvemonth, I learned that I +might have spared my pains." + +"What was the reason?" said Cornelius. + +"I can tell you best by this," Polydore replied. "After a little idle +repining, and some tacit abuse of the public mind, I laid my poor child +by. I read it again in a dozen years, and I discovered a hundred defects +of which I was ignorant before. No doubt the public discerned them at +the first glance. I did not wonder at my disappointment." + +Here again silence reigned for some time in the cosy parlour. It was +broken by Mr. Peach. + +"You said, my dear sir, that you were reminded of those days this +morning." + +"Yes," answered the chaplain. "I never could pass an open book-stall +without scrutinizing the wares. It has always been one of my habits. If +I were in a hurry, I should make a circuit through the side streets, +instead of proceeding direct along Holborn, so irresistible is the +temptation. Well, this morning I was wending my way by that great +thoroughfare, and duly pausing at each successive treasure-house, when +at one of them I detected an old friend. With trembling fingers, I drew +the volume from between an 'Entick's Dictionary' and a 'Peregrine +Pickle,' and opened it. 'By Polydore Riches.' A kind of mist came over +me as I read." + +"Indeed," said Mr. Peach, "it was an interesting meeting. You found +yourself, as one may say, face to face with your youth." + +"Exactly so. It was like shaking hands with the Riches of twenty-two. +Well, the whim seized me to purchase the book, and also to ascertain the +lowest value put upon it. So I went into the shop, and inquired the +price. The owner ran the leaves backwards and forwards through his +fingers, looked at the outside, and--but I need not trouble you with our +bargaining. I bought it." + +"Ah," exclaimed Cornelius, "might I beg leave to become acquainted with +it?" + +"You shall see the little book, if you wish, my dear sir," answered +Polydore. "But listen. I do not now quite concur in the judgment of the +public. I look at my offspring with parental partiality, and am fond to +believe it was hardly used. And, besides, I hug the memory of my +publishing days. I revel in the recollection of that one enthusiasm. And +I have it all to myself. My book is forgotten. No one knows it now but +myself. Would you desire to read it, my dear sir?" + +Cornelius never repeated his wish. But, some time afterwards, when he +had a day of leisure, he repaired to the Reading-room of the British +Museum, and took down the volume of the Catalogue containing the letter +R. His conscience pricked him as he did so, and if any one had then +touched his elbow, or twitched his coat, he would have blushed like poor +Mercy Page at Madron Well. Glancing furtively from side to side, he +turned over the leaves to the page he wanted, and drew his finger down +the column of names. But there was no Riches rejoicing in the Christian +name of Polydore. Mr. Peach closed the tome with a feeling of relief, +saying to himself,--"So, my excellent friend's book did not even find +its way into this great repository. Well, I am glad I have not +trespassed upon his secret." + +The self-criticism in which the chaplain indulged was, perhaps, affected +by the circumstances of his own history. He had strung his argument upon +a story of requited but unfortunate love, and had found the tale nearly +realized in his attachment to Rose Griffith. Before he was acquainted +with the passion, he thought the public were right: when he had lost the +mistress of his affections, he thought they were wrong. He confounded +his fiction with his fact, and wove them together into a retrospective +romance, the scenery of which he was reluctant to divulge. + +The incident of finding his half-forgotten volume, diverted Polydore's +attention from the anxieties of the moment: and we have thought the +reader might not be displeased with a similar interval of repose. We +must now return to the other personages of our history. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + _Don Pedro._ Officers, what offence have these men done? + + _Dogberry._ Marry, sir, they have committed false report; + moreover, they have spoken untruths; secondarily, they are + slanders; sixth, and lastly, they have belied a lady; thirdly, + they have verified unjust things; and, to conclude, they are + lying knaves. + + Shakspeare. + + +The answers which the returning fugitives received to their letters +during their journey back to London, were ill calculated to restore them +to serenity. Helen acknowledged her brother's account of his marriage in +a letter, which all her affection could not prevent from betraying her +grief; and Polydore Riches, in another, did not attempt to conceal his +disapproval and regret. And he communicated to Randolph the information +he had received from Mr. Winter that proceedings were already begun to +deprive him and his sister of the little personal property which they +might fancy was still their own, and that so far the lawyer saw no hope +of resisting the attempt with success. On the other hand, Gertrude, +seriously alarmed at the state of depression into which Mrs. Pendarrel +had fallen, could not help pointing out to her sister the consequences +of her imprudence. "Why did you not come to me?" she wrote; "why did you +not rely upon the support which I always promised? It might have been +only a temporary succour, but time might have done everything. You +little think, perhaps, how much distress you have occasioned by your +haste." + +These letters led to a painful scene between the travellers. It was true +that in what they said self-reproach predominated, and they did not +accuse each other. But that which wears the appearance of confession, +must also show like repentance. And so when Randolph, with much +bitterness, charged himself with having brought his wife to misery, his +words seemed to imply a desire to undo what was irrevocable. And when +Mildred blamed herself for her mother's anguish, her husband might think +she regretted her devotion to him. Each tacitly acknowledged the +futility of the arguments by which they had before justified their step; +and each, while pretending to accept the fault, was jealous of the +manner in which the other claimed it. + +Yet they loved one another passionately and devotedly; but they found +that passion was not happiness, and that devotedness was not esteem. +Tell them they must part, and they would rush to one another, and vow it +should only be in death. Remind them how they met, and they would shrink +from one another, and hang their heads in sorrow. When they thought only +of themselves, their hearts beat together with a tenderness that seemed +inexhaustible. When they remembered those who ought to be their friends, +they turned away from each other with a sadness that chilled their +blood. Now there are twenty-four hours between two risings of the sun, +and even newly-married lovers cannot be looking into one another's eyes +the whole of the time. Let Randolph and his bride hasten to town before +they are weary of the day. + +There, friends are still assiduous in their behalf. Hopeless, at +present, or imprudent, it may be to try to soothe the wounded heart of a +mother; better, perhaps, to wait until the first irritation has +subsided. But this new piece of chicane may stimulate our zeal in +unravelling what we believe to have been a foul plot. Surely some clue +must be discoverable to the intricacies of this curious law-story. It is +what Rereworth thinks; consoling himself for the loss of those pleasant +hours when he disentangled skeins of silk. For Helen is sad, and sees no +company now. Nay, Mrs. Winston thinks her residence at her house is +growing a questionable point, and her husband, the philosopher, owns +that it may become awkward. Yet she shall sojourn a little longer, +although an apartment is vacant for her at the peachery, and Polydore +Riches is there alone, and would be glad of his old pupil's society. + +At length there arises a gleam of hope. Fortune may have swung the +orphans' lot past the lowermost point of her wheel. Rereworth found a +note on his breakfast-table at chambers one morning, containing an +invitation which almost banished his appetite, although it promised no +support for the body. + +The rendezvous was appointed at an obscure locality in Lambeth. Seymour +took a boat at the Temple-stairs, told the waterman his destination, and +desired to be landed as near it as possible. + +"Ask your pardon, sir," said red jacket, tossing his sculls into the +rowlocks, "that's a queer place for a gentleman to want." + +"Pull away, friend," answered the fare, who was not in a colloquial +humour, and discouraged the talkativeness of Dogget's prizeman. + +It was a delightful April morning, and the trim wherry sped steadily and +swiftly over the bright water, unmolested by those floating omnibusses +which of late years have increased the utility and diminished the +pleasantness of London's noble river. Past the grey fortress, founded by +Archbishop Baldwin, as a refuge from the indignity of personal conflicts +with his monks at Canterbury, swept the boat, and drew up alongside some +stairs not very far beyond. Rereworth bade the waterman await his +return, and accepted the offer of "Jack" to conduct him to the place he +sought. + +So guided, Seymour proceeded up a narrow and unpaved lane, between high +and irregular palisades; beyond which, on either hand, kilns were at +work, emitting fumes far from agreeable. This passage led to a winding +street, scarcely wider than itself, from which lofty windowless walls +nearly excluded the light of day, and bespoke industry busy within. The +dwelling-houses were mostly dingy and dismal in appearance, but at +intervals might be seen one neater than usual, in whose casements a few +unfortunate flowers--luxuries wherewith we have lately been surprised to +learn the children of labour have no concern--lamented the absence of +the sun. Rereworth's guide pointed along this uninviting thoroughfare to +a sign at no great distance, and told him that was the place for which +he had inquired. It was a public-house of disreputable aspect. + +Seymour set his foot in the vile tavern with some repugnance, and had +not replied to the question--what he would please to take--when it was +answered for him by the voice of the man who had invited him to the +rendezvous. + +"Brandy," Everope said, and beckoned Rereworth into the parlour from +which he had emerged. Seymour obeyed the signal, marvelling and +sorrowing at the changed appearance of the spendthrift. It was not +improved since his meeting with Michael Sinson in the park. Then he was +miserable, now he was desperate. The recklessness was upon him which +follows the loss of hope. With an eager but trembling hand he lifted a +glass of the fire-water to his scarlet lips, and seemed to drink with +the thirst of Tantalus. His visitor, shocked and distressed, could not +utter a word. + +"Seymour Rereworth," then said Everope, as one who had meditated on what +he was going to tell; "you see a lost and desperate man. I care for +nothing. Nothing cares for me. I hardly know what has prompted me to +this step. But this man endeavoured once to do me a service. And I +returned it by entering the service of his deadly foe. But Michael +Sinson has the devil's craft as well as his malice. His net was round me +before I was aware. I struggled in the meshes, but they were too strong. +One by one my feelings went to sleep. I was a slave, and did my work, +and earned my wages. Ay, sir, till only the other day. Till that day +when I asked him for a pittance, and he struck me to the ground. That +was to be my payment for the future. The blow snapped all the cords of +his net. Said he, that I was worthless? No offer he could make would buy +my silence now. + +"You of course remember the late trial at Bodmin. You should have had me +at your elbow, when you examined Michael Sinson. It was indeed he, who +got up, or concocted the case for the plaintiff. I only know my own +share in it. Can you imagine the temptation required to induce one who +has been like me, to come and be sworn to tell the truth, with a +falsehood ready framed upon his lips? You foresee what is coming. My +story was learned by rote, well prepared, often rehearsed. I was armed +at all points, furnished with answers to all questions. You know how I +went through the ordeal. + +"Yet I was nearly overthrown. I never dreamed of the defendant as being +in any manner known to me. Who was Randolph Trevethlan? What did I care +about the stranger? What was his ruin to me, so I won my hire? After +what I have said, you will not credit the emotion, with which, in answer +to the question suggested by yourself, I saw Morton rise and confront +me, and remembered that he had once offered me assistance, which might +have saved me from the position I then occupied. + +"I quailed for a moment under his eye, but rallied immediately. I was +not yet ready to avow my shame. But the memory of that moment has +haunted me ever since. The idea that I had ruined him who might have +averted my own fall, has rankled in my heart. I have stifled it in riot +and delirium. But I had no longer the means. Sinson, my employer, +reduced his scanty dole, and urged me to hide myself in a foreign land. +But, no; that was not to be the reward of service such as mine. If he +could extort the means of indulgence from those whom his treachery had +profited, so could I from him. It was on such an errand I was bent, when +he told me contemptuously I was of no use to him, and in answer to his +right name, struck me to the earth. The knaves fell out, and honest men +may get their own. + +"You have heard my tale. I will verify it in detail in any way you +please. And that done, I retire from the scene. I do not suppose you +will desire to pursue me, nor do I care if you do. Would you know +wherefore I am here? I dare not look respectability in the face. Even +the haunts of the disreputable I have been forced to shun. Did I not +there, in the midst of hollow revelry, once meet the glance of my +victim? But all is over now. I am struck to the ground, and have neither +the power nor the wish to rise. I want no pity, and I merit no thanks. A +few shillings to keep me till my task is done, and then let me die. +There's none will shed a tear." + +"Mr. Everope," Rereworth said, gravely and sadly, "what you have this +day done, shows that all is not lost for you. No man who lives is lost. +And I, sir, trust that this is your beginning of a new existence. Are +you not already in some measure comforted? Do you not feel some relief? +Trust me comfort and relief will come. And do not underrate your +service. It is not only Mr. Trevethlan you have benefited, but also his +gentle sister, living in the apprehension of want." + +"Spare me," the spendthrift cried, covering his face with his hands, "I +once had sisters of my own." + +"For their sake, then," Seymour said, "for the sake of everything that +was ever dear to you, and may be again, arise from this unmanly despair. +Will you not leave this miserable haunt? Will you not come with me?" + +Everope shook his head, without raising it from his hands. + +"Not now," he muttered, "not in the day-light. Wait till the darkness. +Then perhaps I may seek my old abode." + +"Well, well," Rereworth continued; "I will not urge you now. But this +statement must be prepared for verification. You will give it me in +writing." + +The spendthrift assented with a nod. Paper, pen, and ink, were procured. +Everope made an attempt to write, but his nerves failed him. + +"Take the pen," he said; "I will dictate and sign." + +Seymour complied, and took down the confession at considerable length. +His wretched informant traced the whole history of his connection with +Michael Sinson; the means by which he had been entrapped into the first +step; the journey to Cornwall; the concoction of the evidence; his +examination by Mr. Truby; his appearance at the trial. Thus, if his +present tale were believed, it would entirely reverse the effect of his +former testimony. + +"That is all," he said, as he signed his name. "To-night I will return +to my old residence. That is, if I am still free; for this Sinson holds +notes of mine, on which he might cast me into the Fleet. It is what he +has often threatened." + +"Fear not," Rereworth answered. "I will undertake all those obligations +shall be satisfied. To-morrow you must be prepared to attest your +statement." + +He placed a small sum of money on the table beside the spendthrift, and, +having again entreated him to hope, and assured him of the means of +retrieving himself, returned in a very thoughtful mood to the stairs +where he had left his wherry. + +Well, perhaps, it would have been, had Rereworth not parted with his +penitent, until he had placed him under some surveillance. He might have +been prompted to confession by transient compunction, and might want +courage to persevere; or the thought of public and inevitable disgrace +might drive him to despair. But Seymour was too much moved by the +unhappy man's condition to oppose his desire for the shelter of night to +come forth from his lair. + +He made no delay at the Temple on his return, but proceeded straight to +Mr. Winter's office. The worthy lawyer's eyes sparkled as he read the +confession. Yet he observed it would be desirable to have it confirmed, +if possible. After all, it _was_ a confession, and the testimony of an +accomplice is always doubtful. There might be some question which story +should be believed, the first or the second. On the face of the +statement there appeared personal reasons for making it. The deponent +might be influenced by rancour against his late employer. + +"Oh, never mind, my good sir," cried Rereworth; "have that statement put +into a shape for attestation, and, trust me, it will be maintained." + +"Ay, ay," answered Winter; "and it will be a pleasant wedding present to +meet our friend on his return." + +The suggestion was scarcely agreeable to Rereworth. He went back to his +chambers, and read carefully through his notes of the trial at Bodmin; +and he wrote Mr. Riches a short account of his discovery. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + And this the world calls frenzy. But the wise + Have a far deeper madness, and the glance + Of melancholy is a fearful gift. + What is it but the telescope of truth? + Which strips the distance of its fantasies, + And brings life near in utter nakedness, + Making the cold reality too real. + + Byron. + + +It is a misfortune for the historian that he is unable to present events +as they really happened, simultaneously, but must be content to relate +them one after another, thereby unavoidably impressing his reader with a +false idea of the lapse of time. The same morning that Rereworth made +his expedition to Lambeth, Mrs. Pendarrel paid a visit to her daughter +in Cavendish Square. Restless, but languid; dejected, but unforgiving, +she came to vent her querulousness on Mrs. Winston, in complaint and +reproach. She wished also to learn, without showing the desire, what +news had reached town respecting the fugitives. She could not close her +heart entirely against the memory of her child. She liked to hear her +mentioned, even when she answered the intelligence with anger and +contempt. And so she came to Gertrude almost daily, to listen and to +abuse. + +She now entered the house, as usual, without ceremony, and proceeded to +the room where she commonly found Mrs. Winston; but on this occasion +Gertrude was not there. Her mother looked listlessly at two or three of +the books upon the table, and wandered into the adjoining apartment, +absent in mind, but disappointed at not seeing her she sought. Here she +lingered a few minutes more, and then passed on into the smaller room, +where, as she well recollected, she had encountered Randolph Trevethlan. +A young lady, sitting with her back to the door, turned as it opened, +and Mrs. Pendarrel immediately recognized Randolph's companion at the +opera, his sister. Helen also remembered the original of her miniature, +and rose from her chair as Esther advanced. + +"What!" the last-named lady exclaimed, fixing her keen eyes upon Helen. +"Have I been mocked? Have I been the sport of a paltry conspiracy? Has +my daughter been nursing the thief, and condoling with me upon the +robbery? Fawning upon me with hypocritical lamentations, and sheltering +those who wronged me? For I see it all. It was here the plot was +hatched; here the correspondence was managed; here the flight was +arranged. Did not Gertrude always boast that she would thwart my +schemes? Yet I hardly thought she would go so far as this." + +"Madam," Helen ejaculated in great confusion, "madam, you do Mrs. +Winston wrong. She knew nothing of my brother's design. Neither did I. +But let your blame only fall on me, for I was the unconscious means of +its execution." + +"Do you dare to answer me, Miss Trevethlan?" Esther asked angrily. "And +what do you here? What does one of your name in the house of one of +mine? Name! What is your name? You have none. What business has one like +you to be here?" + +"I am an intruder, madam," Helen answered, the tears rising in her soft +eyes--"I have felt it, and know it. But I came here before this unhappy +matter. The invitation was very kind. We were very poor. I would relieve +my brother." + +"Poor! did you say, Miss Trevethlan?" exclaimed Esther. "Yes; and you +will be still poorer before many days are gone! Unhappy? No, no; you did +not think so. The beggar does not call it unhappy when he inveigles away +a rich heiress. But it is a mistake. She has nothing. You will be no +richer for the stolen marriage; neither you nor your brother, Miss +Trevethlan." + +"Oh, madam," said Helen in much distress, "I wish you could read in my +heart. You would spare me these reproaches. You do not know how I +deplore what has occurred. The loss of our home, the poverty and sorrow +you speak of, everything I would have endured, rather than my brother +had done this. We want nothing of you, madam, nothing but forgiveness; +and you may spare sarcasms which are undeserved." + +"Would your brother ask my forgiveness?" said Mrs. Pendarrel. "Was there +a word of the kind in Mildred's letter? No, Miss Trevethlan; forgiveness +will never be asked, and never be granted. Why; do you not hate me +yourself? You must have learned from infancy to detest my name. Was not +Pendarrel pointed at as the destroyer of Trevethlan? Am not I the author +of the desolation which has fallen upon your head? Truly, Miss +Trevethlan, it might rouse your father's spirit from his grave, to feel +that one of his children dwelt under the roof of one of mine." + +"No, madam," Helen exclaimed, almost as vehemently as she was +addressed--"a thousand times no. Not till lately did I know there was +any difference." + +"'Tis untrue!" said Esther. "'Tis nonsense. You were born to hate. You +were bequeathed an inheritance of hate. You accepted it. Did not you +send me with scorn from your doors? It was your turn then. It is mine +now. Hate breeds hate." + +"And on which side did it begin, if it were so?" Helen asked. "On ours? +Madam, were we not treated as if hatred were indeed our only +inheritance? Was not my brother insulted with an offer of charity? I +speak his mind, and not my own, for I thought the offer was kind. But I +see now that he was right." + +"You will be glad to have the offer repeated ere long," said Esther +bitterly. + +"You wronged us then, madam," Helen said, "and you wrong us now. We, +alone on the earth, young, mourning the only parent we had ever known, +little likely were we to hate our nearest connections. Was hatred +bequeathed to us? No, madam. I might deem our inherited feelings were +far other, for this portrait was the last companion of our poor father. +They found it upon his heart when he died." + +Esther caught the miniature from Helen's hand, and gazed earnestly at it +for some seconds. Then she pressed it to her lips in a kind of ecstacy. + +"He loved me to the last," she murmured. + +But the transport passed away as rapidly as it came. Melancholy, stern +and dark, fell over Mrs. Pendarrel's brow. She clasped the miniature +upon her bosom. + +"Girl," she said, almost in a whisper, "you give me great joy and sorrow +inexpressible. I have been desperately wronged. My life has been a +blank. I cannot change on a sudden. I do not know what to think. Let me +keep this portrait." + +And she departed from the room and from the house, leaving Helen +bewildered by a host of perplexing reflections. She remembered what +Randolph said concerning that miniature, but she was unaware of the +promise exacted from him at their father's death-bed. She scarcely +understood in what manner the law-suit had been only the final step in a +career of vengeance. But she felt that she had been grievously insulted, +and she perceived the ambiguity of her situation at Mrs. Winston's. She +resolved on returning to Hampstead without delay. + +It was a pity, for she had been an angel of peace to Gertrude. She had +taught the husband and wife to know one another, and the knowledge might +soon become affection. Yet her hostess confessed to herself that the +resolution was correct, even though she was ignorant of the conversation +which had immediately inspired it. She did not so much as attempt to +delay its execution, and the same afternoon found Helen once more an +inmate of Mr. Peach's modest, but pleasant and pretty dwelling. + +Comfort followed her there. Rereworth's letter to Polydore Riches came +to revive hope, and to bring oblivion of the affronts and menaces of the +morning. The news exhilarated the chaplain's drooping spirits, and +inclined him to regard the elopement with less severity. And Helen +thought with gratitude of the writer, and perhaps remembered those +readings of Scott and Byron in Mrs. Winston's little drawing-room. + +Besides this, the fugitives were now approaching the metropolis, and +might possibly arrive the same night. Here were copious sources of +conversation to fill the evening when the chaplain talked with Helen in +the pleasant parlour, where she had sat during the past winter, and +which had witnessed the extinction of all those hopes, so long and so +fondly cherished at Trevethlan Castle, the day-dreams of Merlin's Cave. + +If Mrs. Pendarrel inflicted much pain in her short interview with Helen, +she did not quit it herself unscathed. The sight of her portrait aroused +a thousand recollections, familiar indeed to Esther's hours of reverie, +but never so vividly presented before. She thought of the day when she +permitted that miniature to be taken from her neck. In the morning she +hung it there, not without an idea that it might pass into another's +possession before night. Often had the favour been solicited by the +lover, and as often refused by the coquette. But at last assiduity might +triumph over waywardness. Side by side they strolled over the lawns of +Pendarrel, enjoying converse such as is only derided by the unhappy +wights who have never shared it. There was a secluded little pool, +formed by the rivulet which murmured through the wilderness, surrounded +by flowering shrubs, and over-arched so closely by spreading +forest-trees, that the sunshine scarcely penetrated to the surface of +the water. It was in that bower, under the thickest of the leafy canopy, +that Henry Trevethlan detached the miniature from the chain by which it +hung, and his lips met those of Esther in the first kiss of love. How +well she remembered it now! Every little circumstance, the attitude in +which they stood, the few whispered words, came back to her mind, fresh +as the things of yesterday. A bright-winged butterfly alighted for a +moment upon her wrist, and he called her Psyche, his soul, without whom +he should die. The butterfly rested but a second--was its flight ominous +of what had occurred since? And had he virtually died? Had his +subsequent existence been a mere life in death? Had his soul indeed +remained always with her? So, Esther thought, it would seem. And had he +forgiven the ruin into which he was driven by despair? Had he pardoned +the despair itself, the wreck of all his hopes and feelings, the anguish +which abided with him to the last? + +Questions like these passed rapidly through Esther's mind, while she +gazed on the fair young face which once had been her own. Very different +was her aspect now. The round and glowing cheeks had become hollow and +pale. The smooth white forehead was furrowed with the lines of sorrow. +Silver threads mingled with the dark tresses. The eyes, in the miniature +deep and inscrutable, were now wild and bright. The passions of the girl +had been developed in the woman, and had left their trace on every +feature. + +And then Esther turned to self-justification. Had she made no atonement? +Had she suffered nothing? Had her heart been unwasted? Resolutely as she +had striven to repress all memory of that early dream, had she succeeded +in the attempt? Was not the lava still hot beneath the foliage which +grew over it? Had not the smouldering fire broken forth anew on the news +of Henry's death? And again she thought she had been hardly used by the +precipitation with which he abandoned her. It was cruel to afford her no +chance of reconciliation. If he might charge her with vanity or +wilfulness, surely she might accuse him of rancour and pride. If the +happiness of her lover had been shattered by the storm, neither had her +own escaped its ravages. + +She had endeavoured to forget them in the gratification of her love of +rule, and her eager pursuit of revenge. The first she enjoyed in the +management of her own household, the second in the downfall of +Trevethlan. Ambition and appetite grew with what they fed on. "Pendar'l +and Trevethlan shall own one name." Not till that prediction had been +fulfilled to the letter, and to her own glory, could Esther rest. Her +old lover had departed from the scene; she prolonged the contest with +his children. They increased her ardour by the mode in which they met +her first advances. For a season she seemed to be foiled. But the check +gave new vigour to her never-dying wrath. + +And before long the orphans crossed her path. And soon he, the heir of +all his father's pride, encountered her, face to face, as the companion +of her child. She had trembled to think of what that meeting might call +forth. But then she learned the tale, which would fulfil all her desires +to an extent beyond her dreams, and forgot her danger in the exultation +of approaching triumph. Triumph came, but only as the precursor of +defeat; for her enemy, ruined and dishonoured, had suborned the +affection of her daughter, and made her house desolate in the very hour +of victory. + +Yes, scandal made merry with the name of Pendarrel. Esther, with all her +rigid discipline, with all her cherished authority, had seen the child, +for whose marriage with another her word was pledged, elude her control, +and steal to a furtive union with the man whom she had been labouring to +bring to want and shame. It was nearly enough to deprive her of her +reason. No time was this to think of forgiveness. She would not believe +that Helen Trevethlan was so innocent as she pretended. The production +of the miniature was a theatrical trick. The picture should revive the +memory of a never-forgiven wrong. + +Let the suit then be pressed. Let there be no respite. Let calamity fall +fast and heavy. Let disobedience and presumption meet their just reward. +But where was the agent? Where was he who had pointed out the path of +revenge? What had he said when she last saw him? Better, Esther thought +scornfully, better even that match than this. And what meant his dark +insinuations? Had he not dared to threaten? + +Langour crept over the muser. She began to grow aweary of the sun. She +felt as if her self-control were slipping from her grasp. Shadowy fears +beset her. She did not like to be alone. She was glad when her husband +came home from his official duties; and he became seriously alarmed at +her altered demeanour. She seemed to be sinking into a state of +lethargy, which might affect her mind. Mr. Pendarrel sent to beg Mrs. +Winston to come and watch by her mother, who was evidently very ill. And +Gertrude came, but for some time her presence seemed only to irritate +the invalid. It might be observed that from about this day Esther +entirely discontinued her old practice of calling her husband by the +name which he had abandoned to obtain her hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + Anne magis Siculi gemuerunt æra juvenci, + Aut magis auratis pendens laquearibus ensis + Purpureas subter cervices terruit, _Imus_; + _Imus præcipites_, quam si sibi dicat, intus + Palleat infelix, quod proxima nesciat uxor? + + Persius. + + _Down, headlong, down_--Say could that bull of fire, + Or thread-suspended sword such fear inspire, + As his, whose thoughts, to bosom-wife unknown, + Ring in his livid heart--_Down, headlong, down_? + + +That same evening the fugitive couple arrived in the metropolis, and +took up their abode in apartments engaged for them by Mr. Riches at a +hotel. It was time. Already they were beginning to long for other +company than their own; a few days more might make their own +companionship intolerable. One quarter of the moon had nearly taught +them the vanity of the lover's chimera, that they were all-sufficient +for one another. There was so much anxiety about their path, so much +gloom around the present, so much dismay in the future, that their +spirits drooped, and even love seemed to grow cold in their hearts. Let +them beware, for they were united for ever. In the preservation of their +mutual regard lay their only chance of peace; should that vanish, there +was nothing but misery before them. The day might then come when Mildred +would be qualified to receive succour from her mother, on the terms +which Esther, in the fierceness of her first indignation, had not +scrupled to prescribe. + +The sense of the fault they had committed lay at the bottom of their +discontent. Mildred repented with bitter sorrow her rupture of all +filial ties, and exaggerated her sister's account of the distress it had +occasioned, thinking sometimes that she might even have broken her +mother's heart. She forgot the severity with which she had lately been +treated, and remembered only the tenderness which she had not seldom +experienced. She often recollected how she had been pressed to her +mother's bosom on the night of the fire, and she trembled to dwell upon +the affection which one moment had cast away. + +Randolph read some portion of her thoughts; and he perceived that the +maternal sorrow to which he had once looked forward with perverse +eagerness, afforded him none of the satisfaction he had expected. It was +not so he ought to avenge his own or his father's wrongs. The scheme +recoiled upon himself. There was no happiness for him while his bride +was unhappy, and nothing but wretchednes for her until she had made her +peace at home. And so Randolph saw that his stolen marriage had actually +contributed to Esther's triumph. She had now not only his worldly +wealth, but himself beneath her foot. He had placed himself in a +position where he must either sue for mercy or behold his wife pining +away before his eyes. + +Amidst such gloomy speculations, one bright spot sometimes appeared to +his mental vision. "I have thought," his father said, in those well +remembered words, "she was not so indifferent to me as she chose to +pretend. If it were so, she has avenged me on herself, and has my +forgiveness." Would that Randolph had dwelt oftener upon the hope +contained in this qualification, and more seldom upon the stern +injunction! Would that he had not suffered the early affront to himself +to take so firm a hold of him! That he had not fomented his personal +quarrel, until now he could see no avenue to reconciliation! That he had +listened with more humility to the remonstrances of Polydore Riches! + +These wishes were idle now. It was a sad evening of the honeymoon when +Randolph and his bride sat together in their hired and temporary abode, +having none of their own, and hardly daring to consider what would +become of them. In slow and broken sentences they discussed their future +prospects, and strove to cheer one another with hopes in which neither +put any trust. + +At an early hour in the morning, Randolph escorted Mildred to her +sister's, and left her there, he himself proceeding to Hampstead. +Gertrude had no consolation to offer the young wife. Indeed, she was +obliged to own that Mrs. Pendarrel was in a condition to cause +considerable alarm. She said it would be dangerous for Mildred to +present herself, and would only permit her to call in the carriage at +the house in May Fair and remain at the door, while she herself +ascertained their mother's state. It was not satisfactory; and Gertrude +resumed her watch; while Mildred returned in increased solicitude to +such distraction as could be supplied by her attendant. Sorely puzzled +was Rhoda at so woeful a termination to an elopement. + +Meantime, Randolph continued on his way to the dwelling which had +sheltered himself and Helen in the first enthusiasm of their arrival in +the metropolis. Little had they then deemed how soon that enthusiasm was +to be chilled; little they thought how soon they would return to their +home by the sea with all their hopes extinguished. And still less could +they know, that even that brief absence would be pregnant with events to +influence their whole lives; and that whereas when they quitted their +birth-place they were heart-whole and fancy-free, one of them, at least, +would return to it the slave of passion and unable to hope. + +They had lost that home since then. They had bidden farewell, and, as +they might at times fear, for ever, to the scenes endeared by a thousand +recollections. Thenceforth they could only lean upon one another. And +suddenly they were separated. The brother, rashly and wrongfully, had +taken another partner in misfortune, and abandoned the former sharer of +his affections. And now, with such feelings, they once more met. Yet, +amidst all these mournful reminiscences, Randolph felt some relief from +his trouble in Helen's greeting. She inquired very warmly for her +sister, and he was delighted at hearing the word. + +She told him of her interview with Mrs. Pendarrel the morning before, +and he listened with a degree of interest which surprised her. He +questioned her eagerly respecting every word that was uttered, and his +cheeks flushed with anger when he extorted from the narrator an account +of Mrs. Pendarrel's insults. But this expression seemed to pass away, +when Helen described the emotion displayed by Esther at the sight of her +own likeness, and the whispered exclamation--"He loved me to the last!" + +"There is hope for us, Helen," the brother said, "in your words. If I am +right in interpreting them, there is hope I may find peace for my +Mildred. I have a key to them which you know not of. But, alas! we must +first re-establish ourselves." + +"And of that, too, there is hope," said Helen. "Go to Mr. Riches: let +him have the pleasure of telling you the news. It only came last night. +From your friend,--but our dear chaplain will tell you all the story." + +So to Polydore, Randolph went, and learned the discovery which Rereworth +had made. It certainly gave him great joy, although it was communicated +very gravely. The chaplain did not affect to conceal his mortification +at his old pupil's dereliction of the right path. He urged the necessity +of sacrificing every personal feeling in order to procure a +reconciliation with Mildred's family. + +"It is not so very long," he said, "since you spoke to me of an +inherited quarrel and injunctions of revenge. Such thoughts must be laid +aside now. They were before uncharitable and wrong, but now they are +actively pernicious. I shall have no comfort till I know that peace has +been made." + +Randolph subdued some rising impatience, and answered that he had +conceived some hopes of so desirable a result. + +"And, my dear sir," he continued, "we desire, Mildred and I, that you +would hallow our union. As soon as possible we shall be re-married, and +we hope for your blessing." + +"Then the bride's parents must be present to sanction it," Polydore +answered. "With that condition, nothing could afford me so great a +pleasure." + +Randolph sighed, and departed on his return to town. But his heart was +much lighter than when he went. He had also much to do, and the +necessary activity diverted his melancholy. First, he must call upon +Rereworth, and learn the details of this confession of Everope's, which +afforded hope of recovering his rights, and restoring his father's +honour. For this purpose he bent his way straight to the Temple. + +Seymour met him with congratulatory rebukes, uttered between jest and +earnest, and declared that he would never have presented Mr. Morton at +Mr. Winston's, had he been at all aware of his wicked ways. He also +indulged in some facetiousness respecting the defendant's running off +with the plaintiff's daughter, and remarked that a wife was scarcely a +desirable commodity where there was no property at all either to give or +receive. His tone showed his confidence in the approach of a happy +dénouement. Randolph forced a smile, and turned the conversation to the +story of Everope. + +"Ah," Seymour said, becoming grave in his turn, "that's a bad business. +He was to have sworn to his tale this morning, and when I went to see +after him, he was no more. He died by his own hand. In the night. I have +reproached myself ever since I parted from him yesterday, for allowing +him to be alone. And now his death puts us in a little difficulty. I +must become a witness. But there. You can read the narrative, as I took +it down from his lips. And then we will go and talk over the affair at +Winter's. I understand Everope's accomplice is now down in the country." + +Randolph read the confession with eager eyes. He saw that Everope's +remorse had perhaps originated in his recognition of himself at the +trial, as having once offered to do him some trifling service. He wished +he had arrived in time to repeat the offer, and possibly to save the +spendthrift from destruction. When he had finished the perusal, he and +Rereworth set forth on their way to Mr. Winter's offices. + +They had to pass the foot of Everope's staircase. A group of persons, +laundresses and porters, such as may often be seen gossiping in the inns +of court, was congregated at the entrance, conversing earnestly, but in +low tones. Rereworth made his companion acquainted with the few details +he had been able to collect, or to conjecture, concerning the unhappy +suicide. + +He had gone to Everope's rooms in good time, to prepare him to attest +his confession, and had even then been detained by a crowd like that +which was still there. He made his way without much heed, being in fact +preoccupied, and rapped at the spendthrift's door. The old laundress +answered the knock, seemed greatly surprised when he inquired for her +master, and raised the corner of her apron to her eyes. + +"What is the matter, ma'am?" Rereworth asked. "What has happened?" And +he remembered the groups below with some alarm. + +A few broken words made him acquainted with the catastrophe. + +Everope, it seemed, had come home late in the night. He had obtained a +light, and had been engaged in looking over a quantity of correspondence +and other papers, for such were found strewn about the floor of his +room. Letters of old date, some written when he must have been quite a +youth, lay open on the table. Were the recollections they aroused more +than his shattered, perhaps delirious, senses could bear? Such Rereworth +fancied must have been the case. + +He had glanced slightly at some of the scattered papers, and then +recoiled from prying into matters which concerned him not. One scrap, +however, freshly written upon, caught his eye, and he found it to +contain a few stanzas of verse, evidently penned long ago, and some +incoherent attempts to continue them, which must have been made that +very night. He took possession of this document, in order to produce it, +if necessary; and he now showed it to his friend. And Randolph, in +reading the following melancholy lines, the older portion of the +writing, thought with shuddering pity of the whisper, once addressed by +Everope to himself, which had called forth his offer of assistance. + + 'Tis sad to think of hopes destroyed, + Of prospects lost that once seemed fair, + Of hours in waste or vice employed, + Of talents as _that_ fig-tree bare. + + Where ruin watches the closed door, + And crouches on the cold hearth-stone, + Where home's a word of love no more, + And friends or kindred there are none; + + What though the door exclude the wind? + What though the roof may shield from rain? + No winds like those that tear the mind, + No storms like those that rend the brain. + + While stern remorse unfolds her scroll, + And points to every damning word, + Showing the late-repenting soul + All it has thought, done, seen, or heard-- + + Ay, press thy hands upon thine eyes, + Ay, hear not, feel not, if thou wilt! + Still memory to conscience cries, + Still every heart-quake throbs of guilt. + + Think over all thou might'st have been, + Contrast it then with all thou art: + A retrospect so dark and keen + May well appal thy shuddering heart. + + Woe for the days when childhood knelt + At night and morn its prayer to say; + Breathed worship such as childhood felt, + And loved the vows it learned to pay! + + But now--but now--can phrenzy pray? + To Heaven shall desperation cry? + Madness prepares destruction's way-- + Escape is none--despair, and die! + +"That," said Rereworth, when Randolph gave him back the paper, "is the +superficial penitence, which never does any good. It is regret for the +effects of the fault, not for the fault itself. In true repentance there +is always hope, but in such feelings as are here portrayed there is +little else than despair. Hence this miserable end." + +"Yet," Randolph urged, with some discontent at the moralizing of his +friend, "he seems to have been meant for better things." + +"Few men are not," answered Rereworth. "Few men are not meant for better +things than they achieve. Short-coming is the rule, and fulfilling the +exception. But a truce with what sounds misanthropical. Here we are at +Winter's." + +The lawyer heard of the suicide with much commiseration. + +"But," said he, "our feelings must not interfere with business. This +confession, verified by you, Mr. Rereworth, ought to carry us to the +bottom of the matter. I wish we could get at the true circumstances of +the marriage. You see the real insinuation is, that the late Mr. +Trevethlan was privy to the death of Ashton, and the spiriting away of +the witness. I wish, with all my heart, we could clear up the mystery." + +And Randolph felt that there could be no rest for him until the entire +groundlessness of so dark an impeachment was made clear to all the +world. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + From house to house, from street to street, + The rapid rumour flies; + Incredulous ears it finds, and hands + Are lifted in surprise; + And tongues through all the astonished town + Are busier now than eyes. + + Southey. + + +"So, Mistress Miniver, the old house is like to wear a new sign before +many days. There'll be a change in the arms, methinks." + +"Not while my name's Miniver, Master Colan," answered the plump hostess +of the Trevethlan Arms. + +"Maybe you'd not object to change that, dame," suggested the farmer. + +Mrs. Miniver played with a well-sized bunch of keys that hung from her +girdle. + +"Ay, ay," said Colan-- + + "'The key of the locker the good-wife keeps, + The good-wife's busy, the good-man sleeps.' + +"I fancy you sat in St. Michael's chair the day you were married, +Mistress Miniver." + +"I'll tell you one who did, farmer," said the hostess, laughing merrily; +"and that's the lady of Pendar'l. God forbid I should ever say of +Trevethlan! And d'ye mind what I said, Master Colan? Didn't I foretell +what would happen if ever Squire Randolph and Miss Mildred came +together? And you see they're wooed and married and all." + +"There's not much good like to come of it for Trevethlan," observed the +farmer. "They say the mother's as cold as stone." + +"Mayhap some folks wouldn't care if she were," said Germoe the tailor, +who had come up during the last few words. + +"Oh, neighbours," cried the light-hearted hostess, thrusting her hands +into the pockets of her white apron, "take my word, it'll all come right +in the end. It's natural to fret and fume a little, but it all blows +over. The squire'll bring home his bride by furry-time, I warrant." + +"'Twill be time he did," quoth Germoe; "for the castle's getting awful +lonesome and dismal. How Mr. Griffith and his dame can bide there, is +more than I can tell; and, as for old Jeffrey, he's as dumb as any of +the ghosts they say walk there." + +"Tales to quiet babes, friend Germoe," said Mrs. Miniver. "Old +Jeffrey'll run up our flag again before the oak's in leaf." + +"You were always so comfortable, dame," remarked Colan. "But how'll they +get over the trial at Bodmin yonder? There's an uncommon mystery about +that marriage, Mistress Miniver." + +"Tell you what, farmer," quoth the hostess more gravely, "I care a deal +more for our poor folks that are in the jail at Bodmin. Do you know, +they say it's a hanging matter?" + +"And our Mercy's sweetheart among them, dame," said Germoe. + +"If our Mercy's sweetheart is there," Mrs. Miniver said, "it is to bring +them to ruin. And I heard he did come down here a little ago. It's young +Sinson, I mean, Master Germoe." + +"They say his old grandame takes on quite fearful-like," said Breage the +general merchant, who now joined the little party under the shade of the +old chestnut. "She sits all day, moaning, and rocking herself, and +breaks out with something about her daughter, our late squire's lady, +and then brings herself up quite short." + +"Her Michael's plenty on his mind, neighbours," quoth Mrs. Miniver; "you +may take your oath of that. I don't wonder old Maud's a bit uneasy. But, +hey-day! who comes here?" + +For a horseman rode rapidly on to the far end of the green, crossed it +straight without drawing rein, and proceeded up the ascent of the +base-court. + +"What's in the wind now?" asked farmer Colan. + +But curiosity tied the tongues of the circle. They watched the stranger +while he held a short parley with Jeffrey, and at last dismounted with +apparent impatience, and attached his bridle to a ring in the wall. The +old porter opened the gate and conducted him within, soon emerging again +himself, and seeming to examine the panting quadruped at the porch. + +Several of the villagers came and joined the group beneath the chestnut. +They soon began to discuss this visit in low voices. Whether fear or +hope predominated in their explanations, it might not be easy to +determine. But the freshness of a sunny April morning might seem likely +to inspire the latter feeling, even as it had been evident in Mrs. +Miniver's share of the dialogue recorded above. + +Presently Griffith was seen to come forth from the castle-gate, and +after exchanging a few words with Jeffrey, to descend the hill with the +stranger, who took his reins upon his arm. The excitement of the +villagers increased. As the steward drew near, a similar expression +might be read in his own face. He came up and told Mrs. Miniver he +wanted the one chaise which she still kept, got ready immediately. A +dozen voices demanded the news. + +"I hardly know what to say, my friends," Griffith answered. "But if the +tidings are well founded, they are good news for all who love +Trevethlan." + +"Hurrah," shouted the assembly. + +It was a work of some little time to prepare Mrs. Miniver's chaise, for +the horses which were to draw it, were usually engaged in agricultural +pursuits. But it was ready at last, and the steward drove off. + +The stranger remained to give his animal rest, and was of course +assailed with a host of questions. But all he could say was that an +attorney at Bodmin had sent him with a letter to Mr. Griffith of +Trevethlan Castle, and especially desired him to lose no time on the +road. In about an hour he remounted, and rode away in a more leisurely +manner than he had arrived. + +In order to explain the occurrence which caused so much commotion in the +hamlet, we must revert to the proceedings of Michael Sinson. Smarting +under the discomfiture of all his long-cherished desires, driven +ignominiously from the house of his patroness, and attributing his fall +to the man against whom he had borne hatred even from childhood, Michael +left London, with the intention of trying to implicate Randolph in the +burning of Pendarrel. He imagined that he had a perfect hold upon his +mistress in spite of her proud indifference, and turned his immediate +attention to the overthrow of his successful rival. Restless and +cunning, he was never happy now except when engaged in some intrigue, +and his recent triumph at Bodmin had given him new zest for the work. + +With such ideas he obtained admission to the prisoners charged with the +incendiarism, and sought, as craftily as he could, to extract some +information reflecting upon the disinherited owner of Trevethlan Castle. +But he sought in vain: there were no tidings of the kind to give. Then +Sinson went to his old grandmother, and bore her peevish humours for a +short time, still seeking intelligence to further his designs. He met +his too faithful Mercy, and endeavoured to find such in her knowledge of +what passed within the castle walls. But again he was baffled. He had to +deal with natures very different from his own. + +Finally, he once more repaired to the congenial atmosphere of the gaol, +and tried to gain the confidence of the ringleader of the mob, Gabriel +Denis. Here he met his match. The old smuggler was as wary as himself. +He bent an attentive ear to Michael's suggestions, how it was supposed +the fire was the result of a long-devised plot, how a considerable +reward would be paid, and a free pardon granted to any one who would +furnish a true history of the affair. And Sinson insinuated dark hints +concerning the late owner of Trevethlan, how he had a quarrel of many +years' standing with the family of Pendarrel, how some people thought he +was in the secret of the incendiaries, and how, if it were so, his +impeachment would be the means of liberating a number of the inferior +criminals. In short, Gabriel drew him on, until by degrees he had +disclosed all his plan, and the smuggler was fully aware, that, true or +false, a certain story would bring a certain price. + +Now in prison, Denis had become rather intimate with Edward Owen. They +both kept somewhat apart from their accused confederates. And Gabriel +was full of wild adventure, in different quarters of the globe, which +served to while away the dreary hours of confinement. So, among other +things, the smuggler told Owen of the suggestions which were made to him +by Sinson. The young peasant started. + +"That's the villain that betrayed my master in the trial the other day," +he said. "Have nought to say to him, Gabriel. He'd sell his best friend. +I ought to know him well. He's driven the squire from the castle, and +now he would bring him to shame. No, no; the squire knew nought about +the fire, that I can warrant." + +"Trust me, Edward," Denis answered; "I am too deep for him by a fathom +and a half. But what's this ye say about the squire? Driven from the +castle?" + +"Did ye not hear then," said Owen. "This Michael brought a fellow to +swear away the marriage of the last squire, and so they are going to +turn the son out of the castle. It passes to them whose house was +burned. And Michael is in their pay. Sorrow on the day when a Trevethlan +took a bride from under the thatch." + +"I ought to mind that day well," the smuggler said, musing. + +"You!" Owen exclaimed. + +"'T will be twenty-one-two-three, twenty-three years, next September. I +mind it well. The parson was killed. What did folks say about it?" + +"I was scarce born," Edward answered. "But I ha' heard it made a great +noise in the country. Some said it was Will Watch's people, and some +that the Squire knew more about it than he'd choose to tell." + +"That was wrong," said Denis. + +"What!" cried his companion. + +"I mean 'twas none of his people at the time. And what's this ye say +about the marriage?" + +"Well, it was always thought to be made by this parson, whose body they +found under the cliff. But now Michael brings a fellow to swear 'twas no +such thing, but he married them himself, and, he not being a parson, the +marriage falls to the ground, and the squire's son is put out of the +castle. That's what it is." + +The smuggler mused for some time. + +"Edward," then he said, "'tis a long time since that night, and little I +deemed to have it brought back like this. I have sailed many a league +since then, and half of it has been forgotten. And why should I +recollect it to-day? Will it do me good or harm? But there's nought left +me to care for now; nought but the little lass that the revenue thieves +carried off when they had shot my poor Felipa. And then this fire; one +can hardly be worse off than one is. And I should like to put a check on +this sneaking knave, that wanted to draw me into a lie. So sit thee +down, lad, and listen to the rights of all this story:-- + +"'Tis twenty-three years ago, I was much such another as ye are now. +But, to say the truth, fonder of the wrestling-ring than of the plough, +and better pleased at a wake than at a sermon. Moreover, I knew the +country well, and when I set a snare at night you may rely it was not +empty in the morning. Well, it was that spring or summer, there came to +lodge at Madam Sennor's--a little house on the cliff, not over far from +Trevethlan Castle--one Mr. Ashton, that was a clergyman. Somehow or +other he fell in with me, and used to get me to guide him, as it were, +about the country,--a thing that suited my idle ways very well. Now I +soon found that Mr. Ashton was not over much like a parson, but did not +care to go to a wake himself, and could read the glance of a girl's eye +as well as another. So he and I grew to be in a way more companionable +than suited my station perhaps; but I don't know it, for he was often +very ill off for money. Be it as it will, we got on very well together. + +"So, while we were on this footing, says Mr. Ashton to me one +day,--Wyley, he says, here's Mr. Trevethlan, of the Castle, wants me to +marry him specially, or something, he called it, and I am to take a +witness with me. Will you come? says he. And he told me the particulars; +as how it was a young peasant girl, and there would be money to be had +for the business, and so I agreed to go. Well, he took me with him to +the castle, and Mr. Trevethlan met us himself on the outside, and +brought us just into the great hall without our seeing a single soul. +And there were a young woman, and also an old one, that I understood was +her mother. So Mr. Trevethlan gave Mr. Ashton a prayer-book, and he read +the office between the parties, and I was put to give the +bride--Margaret something was her name--away. And I recollect that +Ashton, being somewhat nervous, dropped the ring, and the mother +muttered it was no good sign. + +"When it was over, Mr. Trevethlan put a purse into Ashton's hand, and we +went our way. But I thought there must be something wrong in the +business, and therefore I chose to consider that Ashton did not give me +my fair share of the price. However, it was not a thing to talk over in +the high road, and I knew well where to find him. He used to walk along +the cliff every evening; and there, just as it was getting dusk, I went +to meet him. We had some high words, and as I came towards him he +stepped backwards, not recollecting how near he was to the edge, and he +went over. + +"I was terribly frightened,--nothing, I knew, could go over there and +live. I thought I was charged with the murder. I lay down, trembling, +and put my head beyond the edge. I fancied I could see him just move. I +lurked thereabout, on and off, not knowing what to do, till it came to +be quite dark. Then I saw lights at one or two points, and began to +think the people were already on the search. But it was not so; and the +truth was all in my favour. + +"The lights were the country folk's signals to Will Watch's lugger, that +was then running in. Luckily for me, as I thought, she took up a berth a +good way off the spot where Ashton lay. All the country turned out to +run the cargo. And I crept down by myself to the beach, and came to +where he had fallen, and there I found him stone-dead. I don't know what +it was moved me, but I fancied that if the body were not owned nothing +could be done. And, in that thought, I took off the clothes, and buried +them in a nook of the cliff, which I could show to this day. For +himself, I could see, by the light from the water, he was so much hurt +that no one would know him. I should say, that I got the money which had +been the cause of our difference. Well, when this was all over, my fears +grew worse and worse. I thought it would have been better to have left +him alone. At last I went among the throng of folks that were busy +running the kegs, and got on board the lugger. She took me over to +Holland, and from there I shipped myself for the Spanish Indies, and +lived a roving life. + +"But I tired of it at length, and had got a wife--my poor Felipa--and a +little girl. So I came home. Lived quiet a while, until I was sure that +no one knew me by my old name, and that the tale of Ashton's death was +nigh forgotten, and then took to the cabin on the hill. The rest you +know." + +Owen listened to this narrative with wonder and joy, for he saw it would +be likely to restore his squire, as he called him, to all his rights. + +"But why," said he after a silence, "why then did you not come forward +to claim the reward they offered?" + +"I did not know of any such," Gabriel answered. "If I had, I should not +have heeded it till they drove me from my cottage. It matters not now. +Do what you will with the tale." + +The young peasant gazed on the swarthy features which had been bronzed +by near a score of year's exposure to a tropical sun, and did not marvel +that the sea-faring wanderer had escaped unrecognised. He was in +communication with an attorney of the town for the purposes of his own +defence, and to him, with Gabriel's permission, he told the strange +tale. Its importance was at once perceived and acknowledged. And the +lawyer in question immediately despatched the news to Griffith by the +messenger whose arrival had excited the curiosity described in the +opening of this chapter. Thus Michael Sinson's artifices again recoiled +upon himself; by his attempted perversion of Gabriel Denis, he cut the +ground from under his own feet. He acquired some inkling of what had +transpired, and hurried back to London; more vexed than before at his +quarrel with Everope, of whose melancholy end he had as yet received no +information. + +Denis, or Wyley, was nothing loth to repeat his story. Griffith, having +the knowledge which Owen was too young to possess, was able to confirm +him on several points. The narrative was verified in every possible +manner, and a copy transmitted to Winter, while the steward returned to +Trevethlan, to confirm it still further, by disinterring the buried +clothes. + +In the flush of his exultation, he did not attempt to conceal the +purpose of his journey, and the greater part of the villagers turned out +spontaneously to assist in the quest which he undertook without loss of +time. Gabriel had described with great exactitude the spot to be +searched, for he remembered it very well. And indeed there were many +people still living who could point out the place where the body was +found. Near at hand, a long narrow rift ran into the face of the +precipice, and at its extreme end, where the billows of every winter +increased the depth of superincumbent sand, Wyley stated he had +deposited the garments which would identify the wearer. The cleft was +too narrow for more than one man to dig at a time, and the excitement of +the crowd behind him increased with every stroke of his spade. The +smuggler appeared to have told the truth. A quantity of half-destroyed +garments were discovered, and among them a pocket-book containing a +pencil-case and a ring. The clothes were worthless for any object; but +of these last-mentioned articles Griffith took possession, and forwarded +them to London, in order that they might be submitted to Mr. Ashton's +friends for recognition. + +"Hurrah for Trevethlan!" shouted Colan, in a conclave held at Dame +Miniver's that night, "and a health to our squire and our bonny young +mistress!" + +Loud acclamations and deep draughts gave a welcome to the toast. + +"'Tis a strange thing," said the general merchant, "that this matter +should have been so long quiet. The times that I've walked by that rift +in the cliff yonder, and never seen anything." + +"Why?" asked the hostess; "and what would ye expect to see, neighbour +Breage? Every winter as passed only packed the sand higher and higher." + +"But there might have been a sign, dame, there might have been a sign." + +"It shows there was no murder done, at any rate," observed another of +the company. + +"Still," persisted Breage, "I wonder there was no dream came to point to +the place; and especially seeing how hard it has gone with the squire." + +"It's like to go hard enough with this Denis or Wyley," Colan remarked. +"The fire of Pendar'l was black enough against him, and this story won't +tell any way for him." + +"But it will for our Edward Owen," said Germoe. "It will turn to his +good, and I am glad of it." + +"Ay," exclaimed Dame Miniver, "and besides that, I hear talk how he +fought for the lady of Pendar'l that night, and beat off some that would +harm her." + +"We shall have him among us again afore long," said farmer Colan. "And +Gabriel will be like to confess all the rights of it before he dies." + +"Well," said the pertinacious Breage, "if he confesses to murder, I +shall never believe in any sign or token again." + +The suspicion here indicated that the smuggler had told only half the +truth, prevailed very generally in the hamlet, and many of the villagers +thought that he had wilfully thrown the clergyman over the cliff. But we +are willing to ascribe the popular feeling to the common love of the +worst in criminal matters, and to believe that Wyley was sincere. He was +probably prepared for robbery, but not for murder. The revelry at the +Trevethlan Arms was protracted till a late hour. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + Decline all this, and see what now thou art. + For one being sued to, one that humbly sues; + For queen, a very caitiff crowned with care; + For one that scorned at me, now scorned of me; + For one being feared of all, now fearing one; + For one commanding all, obeyed of none. + Thus hath the course of justice wheeled about, + And left thee but a very prey to time; + Having no more but thought of what thou wert, + To torture thee the more, being what thou art. + + Shakspeare. + + +Meanwhile scandal and gossip were still busy with the stolen marriage +and its consequences. Mysterious paragraphs had appeared in some of the +public prints. If newspapers at that time had been illustrated, there +might have been portraits of the bride and bridegroom, or at least of +Rhoda, and of the travelling carriage. But the kindred of Asmodeus, who +in these days haunt town and country with the implements of Daguerre, +and embellish our journals with their woodcuts, had not yet acquired +those pictorial aids, and were obliged to content themselves with +old-fashioned letterpress. What their descendants may arrive at, +especially in alliance with the disciples of Mesmer, to whom distance is +no object, and brick and mortar no impediment, it is hard to anticipate. +The electric telegraph is likely to be regarded as a slow concern; +everybody will know his neighbour's thoughts; the old fable of +transparent bosoms will be realized; and the gift of speech will cease +to be of any use. + +This consummation seems, however, at present rather remote. If we were +of a misanthropic turn, and familiar with any good-humoured demon, lame +or otherwise, we should trouble him to take us to and fro between the +home and haunts of some well-seeming family, and the gloomy chambers +where Astræa holds her revels. We should be present one day at the +dinner or the ball, and the next day we should go among crumbling papers +and musty parchments. We should follow the unconscious prey to the levee +or drawing-room, and then we should repair to the dark den, where the +spoiler was quietly and assiduously preparing the pit-fall. Often when +we look up to the lofty buildings inhabited especially by the servants +of Themis, we are led to think of the devices which may there be +silently undermining the stability of some well-to-do house, now +standing fair and seemly in the eyes of the world. Far away back, in +some ancient record, the lynx-eyed practitioner has lighted upon the +trail: step by step he advances, fortifying himself at every pause, +until the prize is full in view, and the filing of a bill or the service +of a writ informs the unsuspecting victim that his all is at stake; +destroying in one moment the whole security of his life, and entangling +him in a maze of litigation, to endure possibly for years, and too +probably to leave him, even if successful, an impoverished and +broken-hearted man. In these days of iron and steam, there is nothing +romantic but the law. + +And we are not thinking of the mere lovers of chicane, who occasionally +disgrace the profession, but of what may happen in the career of the +most honourable of its votaries. It was thus that the downfall of +Trevethlan was prepared in one office, and that its restoration was now +being achieved in another. Little had Randolph dreamed of the plot that +was devising against him, and in which the lawyers were but unwitting +agents: little did Esther imagine the counter-stroke which was now +impending, and to which double weight was to be given by the conduct of +her late protégé. + +Michael Sinson, baffled in his new attempt against Randolph, had +returned sulkily to London. Among the first intelligence which met his +eyes in the daily journals was the suicide of his miserable slave. He +gnashed his teeth as he read it, and perceived that Rereworth had been +in communication with the deceased. Had Everope been a double traitor? +Sinson could not free himself from the idea. The ground seemed to be +shaking under his feet. After hours of irritating uncertainty, he sought +an interview with Mr. Truby, in hope of discovering whether anything had +transpired. But he met a very cold reception, and obtained no solution +of his anxiety. The lawyer, however, demanded his address, and he, after +giving it, went immediately and moved to other quarters. + +He mused of coming forward himself as an informant to the other side, +but if they were already in possession of the truth, to do so would be +merely to place himself in their power. Then he made a futile attempt to +gain admission to his former patroness; but being turned from the door +with contumely, he thought of his supposed power over her, and fancied +that it might yield him both security and profit. With this idea he made +his way to Mr. Pendarrel at his office. Here he acquired the knowledge +which he had vainly sought from Mr. Truby. + +"Do you know, sir," Mr. Pendarrel asked him, "that it is rumoured the +evidence at the trial is upset? That they have found relics of the +clergyman who really performed that marriage, and that steps are already +taken to reverse the judgment?" + +Sinson, although he almost expected something of the kind, was staggered +by the announcement. + +"Now, if this be so," continued Mr. Pendarrel, "it will be strange if +you, sir, were not a party to the fraud that will have been perpetrated. +Do you mark me?" + +He spoke in the cold and deliberate manner which characterized his +demeanour whenever he was independent of his wife. Sinson recovered from +his first surprise, and assumed an attitude of confidence. + +"Whatever I have done," he said, "I have done by the orders of Mrs. +Pendarrel. I am now come to receive my recompense." + +"You have been well paid, sir," answered Mr. Pendarrel; "there is +nothing due to you." + +"Perhaps not, for what is past," Sinson said; "but there is for what is +to come. You tell me there are rumours of fraud: and I say that Mrs. +Pendarrel has authorized whatever has been done. I have her letters. +They may be valuable." + +"You are a cool scoundrel," said Mr. Pendarrel, "upon my word. But you +do not gull me with so simple a device. What hinders me, sirrah, but +that I should instantly give you into custody?" + +"Nothing, perhaps," was the answer, "but the disagreeable consequences. +If you would only be so good as consult my lady, it might change your +mind." + +"Pooh, sir!" said Esther's husband, "you have overshot your mark. Go now +about your business, and don't dare to come here again, or you know the +result." + +He rang his bell, and ordered the disconcerted intruder to be shown out. +Sinson went into the neighbouring park and read over the documents on +which he had so fondly relied. And, regarded in the light thrown upon +them by Mr. Pendarrel's contempt, they presented him with no consolation +in his fall. On the other hand, he had again unwittingly advanced the +interests of his detested rival. + +Mr. Truby, it may have been observed, frequently in matters of business +communicated directly with the wife of his nominal client. When Mr. +Pendarrel went from home that day, he found Esther in a state of even +unusual depression. She had received a letter from the lawyer, +acquainting her there were strong grounds for believing that the main +facts on which they had relied at the trial were fabricated for the +occasion, and that, as his own character might be implicated by any +concealment, he was resolved to probe the matter to the bottom. + +"Oh, Gertrude!" said Esther to her constant attendant, "what will become +of me? Among them, they are breaking my heart." + +She was in this dejected condition when her husband came home. +Everything concurred to make him exceedingly desirous to bring about at +least a formal reconciliation with the fugitive couple. He read Mr. +Truby's letter, and told his wife of the visit he had received that +morning. + +"And, my dear," said he, "this person would make us accomplices in +whatever fraud has been perpetrated." + +"Us, Mr. Pendarrel!" Esther ejaculated. "You are jesting, sir, and in a +very sorry manner." + +But she recollected Michael's threats, and could not help trembling. + +"Not I, madam," her husband protested, adopting for a moment her own +formal mode of address, "not I, upon my life. Sinson declares that he +has letters authorizing all he did, which he pretty plainly admitted to +have been more than was honest. And these letters he threatened to use, +unless I would purchase them." + +"You did not!" Mrs. Pendarrel exclaimed. + +"Of course I did not, my dear," was the reply. "I turned his absurd +threats upon himself. But it is unpleasant to have these things said. +And you see Truby's letter bears out the rumours." + +"Ah, me!" Esther sighed, almost wringing her hands, "to what am I +fallen?" + +"My dear," her husband ventured to urge, "it is time this unhappy matter +were settled. After the wrong which will have been done to Mr. +Trevethlan"--he started when the name had passed his lips--"after that, +I say, we must overlook what has occurred since." + +"Do what you will," muttered his wife, "my part in the affair is over. +But are you sure they will accept forgiveness? Has he asked for it?" + +"Oh yes, dear mother," said Gertrude. "Let me intercede. My poor sister +has no peace till she has thrown herself at your feet, and Randolph has +none while she is unhappy." + +"Well, well," Esther murmured, "I have no more to say. Bring them here, +if you will, Gertrude. And since it must be so, the sooner the better." + +"And really, my dear Esther," said the husband, "the match is not so +disadvantageous after all. You see it will unite the properties, and if +Trevethlan is now but a small estate, it is at least unencumbered, which +is more than we could say of Tolpeden; and I remember that Mildred was +telling me once--" + +"Never mind now, papa," said Mrs. Winston, who saw that every word he +uttered was a dagger in her mother's heart. "Let me go and prepare my +sister to come home." + +Indeed, Esther's humiliation required no aggravating circumstances. She +was deeply wounded in the tenderest parts of her character. Pride, +ambition, and love of rule had all been mortified and abused. And now +she succumbed. She resigned any further struggle, and yielded to her +victorious foe. Her spirit and mind were alike brought down. After the +above conversation she retired to her own room, and drew her miniature +from her bosom, and looked long and stedfastly on the tranquil +lineaments. Again she reviewed her whole life, and again she fell upon +the ever-recurring question--Did he then love me? And she scarcely knew +whether an answer in the affirmative would give her most of joy or of +regret. + +The man who had so long ministered to her will, was in his humbler +sphere as completely overthrown. But his feelings were bitter and +fierce, and no trace of compunction or repentance was to be found among +them. On reconsidering his threats, he clearly saw their futility. When +he partly disclosed his story to a scandal-mongering individual with a +view to extortion, he was only laughed at for his pains. And he very +clearly perceived, that for himself there was nothing in prospect but +the penalty of perjury. On every hand he felt that he had been thwarted +and defeated. The man whom he knew that he hated had wedded the lady +whom Michael fancied he loved, and he foresaw the reconciliation that +would make them happy. While he himself, instead of being on the high +road to fortune, was an outcast from society, disgraced and infamous. + +Yet did one matter detain him in London. One hope remained to save him +from absolute despair. By one chance he might even yet retrieve himself, +and aspire to a certain position in the world. Wealth, he fancied, would +cover a multitude of sins. Cunning had failed him, luck might stand his +friend. Day by day he sought the ancient hall, where the wheel of +fortune, no longer a mere symbol, dispensed blanks and prizes to a host +of care-worn worshippers. And of all that feverish crowd, no votary +watched the numbers as they turned up, with more desperate eyes than the +peasant of Cornwall. Reckless alike of the jests of the indifferent, of +the boisterous glee of the fortunate, and of the execrations of the +ruined, he awaited his turn with intense excitement. The great prizes +were still in the wheel. He might have realised a very handsome profit +on his ticket. But he would scarcely have parted with it for anything +short of the highest amount in the list. Little he cared when the +revolving cylinder threw out a paltry thousand; no such trifle was an +object to him. But he ground his teeth when a number which was not his, +appeared in connection with a prize of twenty thousand pounds, and when +the very next turn of the wheel declared his ticket--blank--he crushed +his hat over his eyes, and slunk out of the hall. He slunk away from +town: it was his final leave-taking of the metropolis. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + Oh, days of youth and joy, long clouded, + Why thus for ever haunt my view? + When in the grave your light lay shrouded, + Why did not memory die there too? + Vainly doth hope her strain now sing me, + Whispering of joys that yet remain-- + No, never more can this life bring me + One joy that equals youth's sweet pain. + + Moore. + + +All this time Mildred Trevethlan remained in strict retirement. The only +visits which interrupted her solitude were those she occasionally +received from Mrs. Winston and from Helen. Gertrude brought intelligence +of Mrs. Pendarrel, which was unhappily not of a kind to comfort the +repenting fugitive, and her calls were rendered of brief duration by her +anxiety to return to the invalid. She could not pretend to assign any +other cause than Mildred's flight to their mother's dejection, and her +sister trembled to think of the effects of her disobedience. In the many +hours when she was necessarily alone, or attended only by Rhoda, she was +haunted by fears of the most alarming kind, and whenever Randolph came +home after an absence as short as he could make it, he always fancied +that his wife's sadness had increased since he left her. + +Yet her despondency was lightened for a time when Helen came to see her. +For she, gentle and hopeful, dwelt always on the theme to which Gertrude +dared not allude. She always promised, or rather predicted, that a +reconciliation could not be distant. She bid Mildred to fix her eyes +upon that prospect, and to overlook the trouble immediately around her. +And upon her brother she urged the duty of obeying the chaplain's +injunctions, in their full spirit, and without delay. But Randolph +listened to such remonstrances with impatience, and still postponed the +day when he would make any advances. + +"Let us, at least, be fully restored to our rights," he would say. "Let +my father's honour be re-established; let me have a name to bestow upon +my bride; and then, when we have exposed the wretched plot by which we +were overthrown, we may have the satisfaction of forgiving those who +wronged us, and may, if they choose, in turn, accept their forgiveness." + +Helen grieved, but could prevail no farther. And, fortunately, the +period marked by her brother was fast approaching. Mr. Winter had been +already in communication with the friends of Ashton, the clergyman. By +good hap, they were able to identify the ring which was found among the +buried clothes. This confirmation of the smuggler's story lent it the +credit which his character could not give. Everope's confession, +attested by Rereworth, had, at least, overthrown the credibility of his +previous testimony. And thus the whole case on which the plaintiff in +the action had rested his title broke down, and the obscurity which hung +around the late Mr. Trevethlan's marriage was finally dissipated. + +We need not trouble our readers with the technical proceedings which +would terminate in a formal and public reversal of the verdict at +Bodmin. Randolph had enjoyed the pleasure of communicating to his wife +the approaching result, and, in more kindly temper, was revolving the +mode by which they might be reconciled to her friends, when Gertrude +came with the message of peace. It was much more than the husband had +conceived possible, or than the wife had dared to hope. It left no room +for further perverseness. Randolph saw the flush of joy with which +Mildred received the offer, and accepted it with eagerness. Mrs. Winston +proposed to take them at once to May Fair; and they went without delay. + +Without pausing, she conducted them into the presence of Mrs. Pendarrel. +And Randolph had taken the mother's offered hand, and Mildred had been +pressed to her heart, before either of them well knew what they were +about. + +Some little awkwardness supervened. Mrs. Winston, with her usual tact, +led her sister from the room. Randolph was alone with his father's +Esther. + +"Mr. Trevethlan," the lady said, after a short silence, and with a faint +sigh upon the name, "we have much to forgive each other." + +"I have forgiven," Randolph answered. "Let the past be forgotten." + +"You have forgiven!" Esther exclaimed mournfully. "Do you know in what +you have been wronged?" + +"All that is personal to myself has passed from my mind," he replied. + +"Ay," said Mrs. Pendarrel, "but there is much that is not personal to +yourself. Where is your sister? You are happy in the possession of such +a one. Do you know that even to her I have been unkind and unjust?" + +"Oh, madam," Randolph said, "do not recall these things. Helen has +differed widely from me. Would that I had been guided by her advice!" + +"Yet you were right, and she was wrong," observed Esther, who seemed to +feel a relief in unburdening her mind. "That letter was intended to try +you, and you interpreted it correctly. Helen was more charitable than I +deserved." + +"Madam," said Randolph, moved by compassion for the humiliation before +him, "there had probably been great provocation." + +"I do not know," was the meditative answer. "I have tried to persuade +myself there was. For if there were not, how shall I ever be justified? +Did she tell you, Randolph--did your sister tell you--that I robbed her? +See. Do you know this miniature?" + +And she showed him the picture of herself. The sight of it reminded her +hearer of those dying imprecations which had been so fatal to all his +happiness. A dark cloud overspread his brow. + +"Ay," said Esther, perceiving the change in his countenance. "You +remember, now, that it is not only your peace which I have broken. There +is another's for which I have to answer." + +"Oh," Randolph exclaimed, "heavy was the task laid upon me, and bitterly +indeed have I judged!" + +"Listen," Mrs. Pendarrel continued, speaking in tremulous accents. "You +know this portrait, but you know not its history. You know not how it +once hung from the neck of a wayward and wilful girl. It had often been +begged and prayed for, by one who loved her faithfully, fondly--ay, as +she believes now--till death. It was taken, or given, in a moment of +overpowering tenderness. The vows were plighted, and each had promised +to live only for the other. And then she--she, forsooth, idol and +votary, worshipped and worshipping--must snap the link, in her petulance +and pride, break the heart which adored her, and seek to console her own +misery by trampling upon her victim. Oh, Randolph Trevethlan, your +father has been deeply avenged. I never forgot that early dream. But I +strove to persuade myself that I was forgotten, and excused my own +arrogance with the thought. And now this image, which he wore upon his +heart--it tells me that he loved me to the last." + +"And he died," Randolph said, restraining his emotion, "with words of +love upon his lips. 'I mentioned'--it was spoken with his latest +breath--'I mentioned Esther Pendarrel. She was once very dear to me'--he +then referred to his disappointment--'but I have often thought I was not +indifferent to her. If so, she has my pardon.' Oh, madam, I repeat, +indeed, something like the words, but it were vain for me to express the +feeling with which they were uttered. Alas, I recked not of the promise +they contained. I only looked on the dark side of the picture. I chose +to make it impossible to ascertain the truth. Entrusted with what was +really a message of peace, I have perpetrated animosity. It is I, it is +I, who should implore pardon." + +Silence followed this speech. Esther fell into a reverie on the past. It +was of a more tranquil character than those which of late had caused so +much anxiety to her friends. At length it was broken by the return of +her daughters. She called Mildred to her side. + +"You have deprived me of the power," she said, with a mournful +expression strangely at variance with the words, "little rebel, to +perform a mother's part. Yet I fain would do it." + +She placed Mildred's hand in that of Randolph. + +"Take her," she said, "Randolph Trevethlan, and may you know a happiness +which has never been mine." + +Mildred threw herself into her mother's arms. + +"My children," Esther continued, "you will make your home here, till.... +And where is Helen?" + +Mrs. Winston said, that Helen would perhaps pay her another visit. And +in a short time Mrs. Pendarrel quitted the room. She left more of +anxiety than of comfort behind her. + +"Oh, Gertrude," Mildred exclaimed, "how fearfully she is changed!" + +The alteration was indeed too evident to escape notice. + +"Do not fear now," Mrs. Winston said; "it has been a trying time, but it +is over now. All will be well, Mildred dear." + +It was kindly said, and well it would be if the anticipation were +fulfilled. But the agitation through which Esther had gone was too +likely to leave its traces for many days to come. + +In no long time, Randolph set forth on his way to Hampstead, to make his +sister and the chaplain partakers of the reconciliation. On his way, he +pondered over the train of events in which he had been involved, and +admitted the wisdom of Polydore's judgment regarding death-bed +injunctions and promises. He could not avoid reverting also to the fatal +misunderstanding which, five-and-thirty years before, had laid the seed +of so much bitter fruit. Was the harvest entirely gathered even now? It +was a question which rose involuntarily in his mind. And the +announcement which he made at Hampstead afforded his hearers a pleasure +more unalloyed, it is probable, than any he felt himself. He reminded +Mr. Riches of his promise to bestow the nuptial blessing, at the +ceremony which would be performed in a few days, and there is no need to +say that the chaplain undertook the duty with great delight. And to +Helen he delivered an invitation to officiate as bridesmaid, and, in the +interval, to occupy her old place at Mrs. Winston's. She accompanied him +back to town. + +That evening Polydore smoked a pipe with Mr. Peach in a more contented +mood than he had enjoyed for some time. He hoped that the sun of +Trevethlan was at last emerging from the clouds. The old clerk edified +Clotilda, who sat with them rather later than usual, by divers +narratives of remarkable elopements, but agreed with the chaplain that +marriage in the regular way was a much better thing. And when Miss Peach +had retired, the old bachelors fell into their usual humour, and sighed +forth the praises of their Rose and Mabel. + +"Better, methinks it is," said Polydore in conclusion, "to imagine my +beloved Rose smiling upon me from the sky, than to have won her at the +expense of another's peace of mind. Better to remember the patience and +resignation with which she learnt to watch the stealthy approach of the +destroyer, than to reflect upon the rashness which precipitated an +unhallowed union. Better to cherish the love which death could not +divide, and to look forward to its everlasting reward, than to rush to +present enjoyment, and expiate it in future remorse." + +The bridegroom invited Rereworth to attend the wedding, as his friend, +and Seymour having of course agreed to do so, found an agreeable mode of +employing the brief interval by renewing his visits in Cavendish-square. +Many a time he went there with the full intention of appearing in his +true character as a lover, should an opportunity offer, and as often he +departed without having revealed his secret. The question which every +man should ask once in his life, rose to his lips continually, and still +remained unuttered. For Mrs. Winston saw plainly enough what was the +state of affairs, and frequently contrived to leave Rereworth alone with +the mistress of his heart. Why did he not avail himself of such an +occasion? Was it from timidity, or doubt, or irresolution? No cause had +he for fear, no reason for doubt, no wavering to disturb. But in the +simple consciousness of being beloved, there was joy so calm and deep, +it seemed a pity to ruffle it by any less tranquil emotion. Lie at hot +noon under the trees which shade one of the "resting-places" of a great +southern river, and you may gaze upon the level water until you cease to +wish for the breeze which would cool your brow, because it would also +ripple that placid expanse. And Rereworth, although confident of a +favourable answer to his petition, yet delayed preferring it, because he +was loth to flutter his present peaceful happiness, even by a +declaration which would end in enhancing it. So the fond secret was +still untold. + +That smooth and unvarying affection offered a much fairer prospect of +future felicity than the impetuous passion which had united Randolph and +Mildred. Even now they felt they were far from serenity. The bridegroom +could not overcome the constraint he experienced in the society of his +father-in-law; he shrank with instinctive dislike from the Philip +Pendarrel whom his own father had denounced in such bitter words; and +the feeling was quickened by the cold and calculating prudence of the +political manoeuvrer. Randolph eagerly cut short all discussions about +settlements, and other formalities, and escaped as soon as he could from +a companionship which was full of disagreeable associations. + +And Mildred was disquieted by the continuing change in her mother, who +seemed to lose all care of the present in musing over the past. Yet this +was a natural effect of the recent events, and it might reasonably be +hoped that no great time would restore Mrs. Pendarrel to tranquillity +and resignation. + +But during the preparations for the new marriage, we must cast a rapid +glance upon the hamlet of Trevethlan. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + There be bright faces in the busy hall, + Bowls on the board, and banners on the wall; + Far checkering o'er the pictured window, plays + The unwonted faggot's hospitable blaze; + And gay retainers gather round the hearth, + With tongues all gladness, and with eyes all mirth. + + Byron. + + +The news of the restoration of Randolph to his ancestral towers had +already diffused joy through the homes of his tenantry; and the +fulfilment of Dame Miniver's prediction respecting his marriage +completed the exultation. There was not a heart in the village that was +not made lighter by the account of the alliance between Pendarrel and +Trevethlan. The castle was busy with the labours of upholsterers and all +their tribe, actively employed under the superintendence of the steward +and his wife, in renovating some of its ancient splendour; and the +Trevethlan Arms rejoiced in their patronage at the close of the day. Old +Jeffrey was half frantic with excitement and delight, practising the +manoeuvre of hoisting and striking a new flag often and often, until +it was suggested to him that, by so doing, he deprived the ensign of its +significance. + +Great preparations were also being made for the reception of the bride +and bridegroom. A triumphal arch at the entrance of the green, and +another over the gate of the base-court, were ready to be decked with +flowers and streamers, when the happy occasion should arrive; for the +merry month of May was come, and nature was robing the land in its +gayest attire. Mistress Miniver's good-humoured face beamed with delight +from sunrise to sunset, and the joyousness of her looks was reflected in +the countenances of her neighbours. + +Yet this happiness was not unalloyed. There were still not a few +absentees from the family hearth, lamenting their turbulence in +captivity. Even with respect to them, however, anxiety was mitigated, +for it was now understood that Mrs. Pendarrel was inclined to intercede +in their behalf. And she had already contributed to the enlargement of +Edward Owen. For, inquiring one day, in her languid manner, concerning +the mode in which the missing Wyley had been discovered, Randolph +mentioned Owen as instrumental in the matter, and she remembered how a +man of that name had rescued herself and family from outrage on the +night of the fire. And on her representations the young rustic was +admitted to bail, with an intimation that his being called up for trial +would depend upon his future conduct. + +But if he had conceived any hope of finding favour in another quarter, +he was disappointed. Mercy Page was as coy as before. Perhaps the very +unpopularity of Michael Sinson had contributed to support his cause in +the maiden's heart; and certainly the taunts with which she was +sometimes assailed were not calculated to change her mind. She had +almost sequestered herself from the neighbouring villagers, and either +sat at home in her mother's cottage, or walked out late in the evening +by herself. On such occasions she was jealously watched, and well it +proved for her in the end that it was so. + +But Edward was not one of the spies upon her steps. He began to feel +chilled by her enduring coldness, and listened more complacently than of +old to the words of those who said he might better himself, and +particularly to any hints of the kind which fell from the mirthful +landlady of the Trevethlan Arms. Farmer Colan once told her, she might +not object to change her name; and now a rumour to the same effect +became very current in the gossip of the hamlet. + +And another topic furnished food to the village scandal-mongers. It was +said Michael Sinson had returned to his old country. And it was true. He +had left London, writhing under a manifold disappointment, baffled in +all his evil desires and devices. Moreover, he suspected that Mr. Truby +was strongly inclined to bring him to justice. But unlike his wretched +victim, Everope, he was unacquainted with shame, and unstung by remorse. +He regretted and resented his want of success; but he rather admired +than deplored the subtile villany of his schemes. Sulky and angry, he +fled from the metropolis to the dwelling of his grandmother, Wilderness +Lodge. Mrs. Pendarrel had not displaced the old gate-keeper. There +Michael brooded in silence and retirement for several days, during which +his ill-temper was continually fretted, and his evil passions stimulated +by the querulousness of the aged fanatic. Shrewd enough was old Maud to +see that her favourite had by no means achieved the success which she +had foretold for him. He was far away from qualification for that +angelic choir, which his mere name appeared to her to entitle him to +enter. + +The news of his arrival reached the ears of his old flame, probably in +some sarcastic shape; and Mercy threw herself in his way. But he thrust +her rudely aside, and with so dark a scowl upon his brow that she +thought involuntarily of Dame Gudhan's predictions, and shuddered at the +recollection. The account of the meeting was soon circulated round the +green of Trevethlan, and gave new force to the ill looks which were cast +upon the luckless maiden. But it did not lull the activity, half hopeful +and half fearful, with which her steps were dogged. + +Meanwhile old Maud harped perpetually on her grandson's failure, and on +the attempt to disturb her Margaret's marriage. She was for ever +lamenting the injustice done to Michael, and calumniating the house of +Trevethlan for its treatment of her favourite daughter. Neither topic +was agreeable to Sinson; and at length, irritated at home beyond +control, he showed himself among the rural habitations. But he went only +to meet with fresh mortification. Every one seemed to know his history. +People turned their backs upon the traitor. Children mocked and flouted +him. Scorn surrounded him on all sides, and in every shape. Daring to +present himself at the Trevethlan Arms, he was ejected with violence and +derision, and was hooted and pelted from the village green. And among +the foremost of his assailants he recognised his ancient rival. There +was nothing for it but to endure the petulance of his fanatical +grandmother. + +Woe for the "ministering angel!" One hand in Trevethlan had no share in +the insults showered that day upon the traitor. One heart in the village +refused to believe in the infamy of him it had loved. One voice was +heard in sorrow amidst the general execration. One pair of eyes were +clouded with tears, where all others flashed with anger. Mercy Page wept +for Michael Sinson. + +At dusk, the same evening, the village maiden left her mother's cottage, +and bent her steps along the quiet lanes to Wilderness Lodge. Now, she +thought, was the time to show her devotion, and, if Michael really had +gone astray, to call him back to the right path. Now, when all men spoke +ill of him, was the time for her to sustain him against their evil +report. Hearing of him as prosperous and rising, she had been, +comparatively, indifferent. Seeing him abased and insulted, all her +early tenderness revived. + +She rattled the latch of the gate, and Sinson came out of the lodge. He +was astonished at perceiving the visitor, who looked at him with her +face half bent down. He returned her glance with a sullen stare, and +rudely bade her "begone." + +"Michael," she said, "will you not hear me, Michael? Not hear Mercy?" + +The soft voice turned the current of the young man's thoughts. + +"Know you not what they say of me?" he asked. "Saw you not how I was +hunted from among them?" + +"I know it all, Michael; but I believe it not. I saw it, and it made me +weep." + +"Speak not to her," shrieked old Maud, who had come forth to see what +her grandson was doing; "speak not to the accursed thing from +Trevethlan. Better fortune is in store for my boy. Bid the Armageddon +depart." + +"And will you walk with me, Mercy, as of old?" the young man asked, +without heeding Maud's interruption. + +The maiden answered by placing her hand in Michael's arm, and so, side +by side, they quitted Wilderness Gate. + +Old Maud tottered after them into the road, and gazed in the direction +they had taken. She shook the thin locks that hung about her temples, +and wrung her hands, and looked up into the sky. The first stars were +beginning to twinkle in the gray transparency of twilight. + +"Woe's me!" muttered the old crone. "Woe's me! She is leading him to his +doom." + +And her wild look quite scared a little girl who waited on her, when she +returned into the lodge. + +We do not care to follow minutely the young couple's evening walk. There +is little pleasure in watching the companionship of villany and +innocence, even where the latter is triumphant. Fortunately for Mercy, +she was well observed that evening. There was a narrow and secluded dell +about a mile from Wilderness Lodge, made obscure in the day-time by +over-shadowing trees; doubly gloomy, therefore, in the twilight. The +brook from Pendarrel Park murmured along it, and a footpath, devious and +unfrequented, followed the wanderings of the streamlet. To that +sequestered spot, which might seem almost designed for the rambles of +lovers, did Sinson guide the steps of her who trusted him with such +unsuspecting fidelity. There in her own simple and homely manner she +sought to persuade him to be at peace with the world, and to make +atonement for any wrong he might have done. But she spoke to an angry +and unrepenting nature, and the only answer to her remonstrances made +her acquainted with the worthlessness of him in whom she had confided so +long. + +It was a rude and bitter lesson. "Better he were dead!" has been the +exclamation of many a heart deceived like hers. Mercy could no longer +hope that the imputations of the villagers were the offspring of rustic +jealousy. She hardly knew what happened in the first pain of her +discovery. She turned to leave him, for she could do no more. He had +followed her, but the watchers interposed. They closed upon the spot in +an instant. The maiden was rescued, and the betrayer fled. He glared +savagely for one moment upon those who came to save, counted their +number, and took to precipitate flight. And the rustics, who had +followed the ill-matched maiden with, at least, as much spite as pity, +now showed more of the better feeling, and brought her safe, though +trembling, home to her mother's cottage. + +A warm pursuit was then commenced in the track of her assailant. Summary +justice the country-folk thought they would inflict upon the culprit, +although he might escape the more regular doom of the law. Many an old +ground of exasperation gave vigour to the chase. Many a motive of fear +lent wings to its object. He fled over the moors, from carn to carn, and +from cave to cave. They drove him at last to the precipices of the +Lizard. He retained his strength and activity, and turned them to good +account in baffling his pursuers among those beetling cliffs. But, after +numerous disappointments, they at length hunted him to bay. They hemmed +him in on a ledge from which the rock descended sheer into the sea. +Certain that he could not escape, they were, perhaps, negligent in +observing his movements. But no one could tell what had become of him, +when it was suddenly found that he had disappeared. They looked eagerly +into the waves which were dashing against the cliff below; but there +they could see no sign. The steepness and height of the rock above +utterly precluded the possibility of his having scaled it. Yet there was +an unwillingness to believe that he had simply been drowned, and the +folks told strange stories of his having been picked up by some boat, +and got away to sea. All that was certain was, that he was never heard +of again. + +The night on which he was lost, his grandmother sat beside the hearth in +Wilderness Lodge, swaying herself to and fro in her rocking-chair, and +moaning to herself in an under tone. The little girl who attended her +was seated opposite on a low stool, and watched her with a feeling of +awe, frightened, yet unable to withdraw her eyes from those of her +employer, which were fixed and unusually bright. + +"Where's my boy?" old Maud might have been heard to mutter. "Where's my +own Michael? What is it they tell me of shame? What is it they say he +told of my winsome Margaret? Did I hear that the marriage was broken? +Na, na, Randolph Trevethlan, thou canst not so sever the ties. Has she +not come to claim her own? Let them cross her path that dare. Smiling, +did he say? A sweet smiling face? That was my Margaret indeed, but she +never smiled at Trevethlan. And would they tell me she went there to +shame? Did my Michael speak against her? Na; 't was they that brought +her to death; they that will not let her rest in her grave. And why has +she woke from her sleep? What comes she back to seek? Why will she not +come to me? I was afar when she died. Was it of my own choice? Were we +not driven away? Me, and my Michael, and all? Was there one of her +kindred left with her? But they are fallen. The dark hour of Trevethlan +came. And will they still make us their sport? Where's my own Michael? +She came for him the night: the white-faced thing from Trevethlan. What +cries did I hear in the sky? What tale did they whisper in my ear?" + +Her voice, which had risen occasionally while she spoke, now sank into +an inarticulate murmur, and her head dropped, and the rocking of her +chair nearly ceased. The little girl looked at her with increasing +wonder and dread. Suddenly Maud raised her head, and after seeming to +listen for a moment, cried, "Michael," in one wild and dissonant shriek. + +"What voice was that on the wind?" she continued, rising abruptly from +the chair. "Who hailed that name?--Michael," she called again, in the +same unearthly tone--"didst hear? 'T was his own. Didst hear how it +wailed on the wind?--Michael--The waters are sounding in my ears. Didst +hear the name, girl?--Drowning.--Ay, it was he--it was he." + +Her voice had declined to a hoarse whisper, and her limbs relaxed, and +she sank, rather then fell, to the ground. The little girl ran terrified +from the lodge to seek for help. When the neighbours whom she summoned +returned thither, they found the old woman huddled together in a heap +upon the floor. They raised her up, but life had departed: she had +rejoined her daughter, Margaret Trevethlan. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + O blisful ordre, O wedlock precious, + Thou art so mery, and so virtuous, + And so commended, and approved eke, + That every man that holt him worth a leke, + Upon his bare knees oughten all his lif + Thanken his God that him hath sent a wif; + Or elles pray to God him for to send + A wif to last until his lives end. + + Chaucer. + + +Odious are town-weddings. To our fancy there is something appalling in +the splendour with which the ceremony is invested. And it seems to +defeat its object; for the festivities which follow the departure of the +new-married pair are proverbially dull. But the train of carriages, the +cloud of bride-maids, and all the rest of the pomp and parade, appear to +us more fitted to gratify the taste of the mob on the pavement, than to +show the refinement of the nineteenth century. A solemn rite is +converted into a theatrical entertainment. What should be a scene of +deep and heart-felt joy becomes a laborious piece of acting. The bridal +wreath is sullied by the incense which rises round it. To be sure if +there is no heart in the business, if the gist of the union is to be +found in the settlements, and the promise to love, honour, and obey is +made as a matter of form, then the scenic character of the accessaries +is perhaps in keeping, and may serve to throw a decorous veil over the +sacrifice. But the village-church is the proper shrine for matrimony. +The rustics who make a holiday of the occasion, and come in their Sunday +raiment to take respectful leave of their squire's daughter, form a much +more seemly retinue, than the gamins and idlers who throng the portico +of the London church, staring with rude wonder, and eager for vulgar +satire. And is it a childish desire that would fain invest the spot +where our fondest hopes were crowned, with a little romance? May we not +look forward to future pilgrimages to the altar where we were made the +happiest of men? And who could dream of so revisiting St. George's? Nay, +even the bells, inaudible in the metropolis, but in the country +proclaiming our happiness, will thereby require a new charm in our ears, +and their music will awake a new sympathy amidst its many dear and holy +associations. + +There would, however, as the reader will readily suppose, be little or +no display at the re-marriage of Randolph and Mildred. It was fixed to +take place at the church belonging to the district in which Mrs. +Pendarrel resided. There at the appointed hour, the little party met; +and the union, which was before furtive and irregular, received the +sanction of Heaven at the hands of Polydore Riches. The ceremony was, +perhaps, more impressive than usual, for more serious emotions +accompanied its celebration. When it was over, the company returned +through a gaping crowd to their carriages, and were driven home to May +Fair. And from thence in no great time the bride and bridegroom, after +many fond leave-takings, departed to travel by a circuitous route to +Trevethlan Castle. + +For it had been arranged that Helen, under the chaplain's safe-conduct, +should precede them, and be ready to welcome her new sister to the old +gray towers. And she carried with her a certain tender reminiscence; for +when the time to part approached, Rereworth's love at last over-flowed. +A select circle of friends was assembled at Mrs. Pendarrel's to +celebrate the event of the day. They were all strangers to Helen, and +thus Seymour was able to appropriate her to himself. Even this little +party was a novelty to her, and served to prolong the excitement caused +by the ceremony of the morning. In the midst of a rapid and animated +conversation, some allusion to the happiness of the married couple, +which reached Seymour's ear, threw him completely off his guard. + +"Happy!" he exclaimed. "Oh, dearest Miss Trevethlan, may not a like +happiness be mine? May not I also--" + +His voice sunk into a whisper, but his prayer was heard. And the ice +being thus broken, Rereworth told hurriedly of all he desired, and he +might read in Helen's flushed cheeks and downcast eyes, that he need not +fear. He had accepted an invitation from Randolph to spend a portion of +the ensuing long vacation at the castle, and then he flattered himself +he might appear as Helen's recognised suitor. + +In the afternoon Mr. Riches returned to his quarters at Hampstead, to +spend his last night at the metropolis. Long was the session, which he +held there with the old clerk. A hint had made Cornelius and his sister +acquainted with the scene of the marriage, and they had been unobserved, +but not unobservant, spectators of the ceremony. And for many a day +after Polydore's departure, the two old bachelors maintained a constant +correspondence, in which they discussed the merits of old essayists, and +criticised the beauties of old plays. Sister Clotilda and her brother +never seemed to grow older than they were when Randolph and Helen dwelt +beneath their roof. Sometimes their old lodger invited them through the +chaplain to make a tour to Trevethlan Castle, promising to shew them all +the wonders of the land. But Cornelius, though he did not appear to age, +grew more and more fond of the flags of the metropolis, and could not be +prevailed upon to attempt so long an excursion. "I am no traveller," he +once wrote to Mr. Riches. "Twenty or twenty-five miles of nice quiet +road, with green hedges and comfortable inns, a cow or two here and +there, and now and then a pig, that is all the country I like. London is +my pleasure. I affect a bit of enthusiasm to strangers about this +village of Hampstead, but I should like it better without the hill." And +so peace and farewell to the peachery. + +The arrival of Helen and the chaplain occasioned much rejoicing in the +hamlet of Trevethlan, but the main demonstration was of course reserved +for the coming of the young squire and his bride. And a proud day it was +for old Jeffrey, when their carriage dashed over the green amidst the +cheers of the villagers, and he finally hoisted the family flag to the +top of its staff. + +There was firing and feasting, and dancing, in the hamlet and the +castle; the great hall was thrown open to all comers, and the rivalry +between Trevethlan and Pendarrel was drowned in flowing bowls, and +forgotten in the unions of the mazy measure. And night had long hung her +pall over the sea, before silence reigned in the towers on the cliff. + +And here, perhaps, we might drop the curtain. But the reader will not be +displeased at a rapid glance over some of the years which have elapsed +since that happy day. The tranquillity which succeeded to the first +exuberance of joyousness, was not unchequered with feelings of a more +pensive cast. + +The hamlet, indeed, throve under the renewed splendour of the castle. +Mrs. Miniver removed the boards from the windows in the wings of the +hostelry, and re-opened the rooms which had so long been closed. Nay, +she was no longer Mrs. Miniver, having submitted to the change at which +farmer Colan had hinted, and taken unto herself a husband. Edward Owen +was the fortunate man. True, he was a dozen or fifteen years younger +than his buxom bride, but she was more youthful in spirit than in age. +The match seemed to turn out as comfortably as either party could +desire. It is probable that the lady retained possession of her bunch of +keys. + +His old sweetheart, Mercy, was not to be tempted into wedlock. Helen +renewed her confidence with the fair rustic, and introduced her to +Mildred. But she never forgot her unworthy lover. She scarcely believed +he was lost to her forever; but sometimes felt a transient fear that, in +a foreign land, he might have found the fate predicted for him by the +old sibyl of St. Madron's Well. But no intelligence ever arrived, either +to confirm or to contradict the maiden's apprehensions. + +Mildred had been only a very short time at the castle when she was +introduced to Merlin's Cave. We cannot close our labours without +reverting for a moment to the grotto, which possessed so many +associations for Randolph and Helen. Few of our readers, we would +believe, will not, at some period of their lives, have had a Merlin's +Cave of their own. Seated under the little canopy of rock, the young +bride learned the traditional ballad of her new home, and trusted that +it might never again be applicable to the fortunes of the family. There +too she became acquainted with the black-letter lore, which of old was +the delight of her husband and sister; and there in long detail she +heard the story of their early ambition. On Mid-summer eve they all +repaired thither to witness the lighting of St. John's fires. Then as +the shades of evening fell over the sea, long streams of radiance rose +into the sky from all the numerous villages surrounding the beautiful +bay. From Carn Dew over Lamorna Cove all round to Cudden Point, the +landscape sparkled with the festive bonfires. The spectators might hear +the sounds of distant revelry borne from afar over the waters, and +echoed more loudly from the green of their own hamlet. + +At the trial of the prisoners charged with the incendiarism at +Pendarrel, it was suggested, in their defence, that the fire was +occasioned by the lightning. Gabriel Denis kept his own counsel. And the +doubt so raised, combined with certain powerful intercession, availed to +mitigate the extreme penalties of the law. Of the criminals, some were +transported for various terms, and others imprisoned. Gabriel's little +girl was brought up at Trevethlan Castle, and caused no small trouble, +with her hot Spanish blood. But it was endured, in remembrance of the +confession of the witness, Wyley. + +The long vacation brought Rereworth to the castle, and few days had +passed when he communicated to Randolph, Helen's sanction of his dearest +aspirations. And the brother rejoiced at the news, and warmly +congratulated both himself and his friend. Seymour thought himself +fortunate in obtaining a house, with pleasant grounds attached, in the +neighbourhood where he had first met the lady of his love; and thither, +in the space of a few months, he had the joy of conducting her as his +bride. And Helen cordially accepted her new abode, shared her husband's +hopes, and encouraged his professional ambition. She might be unable to +repress an occasional regret for the land of her infancy, childhood, and +youth, but the feeling was never visible in the company of her friend, +lover, and husband. + +Some years elapsed before Mrs. Pendarrel revisited the country of her +ancestors. She was content to see Mildred and Randolph, when they came +to stay a while with the Winstons or Rereworths, which they did every +spring. She had subsided into a moping kind of melancholy, which annoyed +her husband and grieved her children. The only circumstance which ever +seemed to dissipate it was the growing good understanding between +Gertrude and Mr. Winston. This appeared to remove some of the weight +which oppressed her mind. And it showed, that if those who are cast +together by accident, or even against their will, will study one +another's merits, instead of seeking for faults and dwelling on +discomforts, happiness may be found in circumstances where least it +might be expected beforehand. It was a lesson which Gertrude learned +with a thankful heart. + +The visits of the spring were returned in the autumnal holidays, when a +joyous throng of young people met regularly, in the course of time, at +Trevethlan Castle. Holidays they were indeed. The Rereworths were always +there, and most often the Winstons. Then the base court resounded with +the glee of children, with a confusion of tongues and of names worthy of +Babel. Griffith, declining gently into the vale of years, presided over +the gambols. Sometimes the ancient sport of archery, the loss of which +is so much deplored by Cornwall's old surveyor, Carew, was revived, and +all the neighbouring country met to try their skill at the butts; while +the little ones, escaping from the mild dominion of Polydore Riches, who +was now, in green old age, the teacher of a new generation, mimicked the +proceedings of their seniors, with bows and arrows suited to their +years. + +Pendarrel Hall remained a ruin. The estate was settled upon Mildred and +her husband, and it seemed unnecessary to maintain two large residences +upon the united property. The flower-garden surrounding it was allowed +to run to waste, and the blackened walls continued standing, mournful +memorials of an outrage which had exiled several of its perpetrators +from their native land. Ivy was planted around the foundations, and at +some future day, the ruin might become a picturesque feature in the +landscape. + +It was the doom which its mistress, in the opening of this narrative, +anticipated for the towers of Trevethlan. The menace or the desire had +been deeply avenged. But Esther was not the only person upon whom the +storm left traces of its passage. Mildred was often visited with +feelings of compunction and remorse, and the cloud which they brought +upon her brow called down a similar shadow upon Randolph's. And when her +mother survived Mr. Pendarrel, and in her loneliness accepted the +shelter of Trevethlan Castle, her aspect and demeanour were a constant +source of self-reproach to her daughter. Without being actually +imbecile, she required minute attention. She was very rigid and exacting +in all the little business of life. Her temper was uncertain, and it was +difficult to gratify her fleeting wishes. At times it might be thought +that she remembered how she should have been mistress of the castle, and +imagined for a brief space that she in fact occupied that position. + +Frequently, too, she fell into long and silent reveries, and then it was +that the melancholy which overspread her countenance, caused the +greatest anxiety to her children. She always wore the miniature of +herself, and used to gaze at it, with a vacant but mournful expression, +for an hour at a time. But at length they found a means of diverting her +attention. She attached herself particularly to her eldest +grand-daughter; and whenever she sank into too prolonged a train of +musing, the little girl crept softly to her knees, and took her hand. +And then Esther awoke from her dream of the past, and smoothed the dark +hair upon the child's forehead, and told many little stories, which +delighted the young listener. + +Rarely did it happen that this manner of relief failed of effect. But +sometimes Esther's abstraction was too deep to yield. At such seasons +she murmured to herself in low tones. And the little girl caused her +mother a bitter pang, by unwittingly telling her that, on one of these +occasions, grandmamma was only repeating, over and over again, and +without intermission-- + + "Pendar'l and Trevethlan shall own one name." + + +THE END. + + + + +POPULAR NEW NOVELS. + + +JANE EYRE: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. + +By CURRER BELL. + +Third Edition, with Preface by the Author. + + "A very pathetic tale--very singular; and so like truth, that + it is difficult to avoid believing that much of the characters + and incidents are taken from life. Though woman is called the + weaker sex, here, in one example, is represented the strongest + passion and the strongest principle, admirably supported. It is + an episode in this work-day world, most interesting, and + touched with a daring and delicate hand. The execution of the + painting is as perfect as the conception. It is a book for the + enjoyment of a feeling heart and vigorous + understanding."--_Blackwood's Magazine._ + + +ROSE, BLANCHE, AND VIOLET. + +By G. H. LEWES, Esq. + +Author of "Ranthorpe." + + "Mr. Lewes takes a high position among our novelists: he + possesses no ordinary insight into the human heart."--_Fraser's + Magazine._ + + +BEAUCHAMP; OR, THE ERROR. + +By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq. + + "One of Mr. James's most successful tales. It has plenty of + adventure, some pretty bits of landscape, much good-hearted + sentiment: in short, all the elements of variety and + interest."--_Examiner._ + + +SIR THEODORE BROUGHTON + +Or, LAUREL WATER. + +By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq. + + "'Sir Theodore Broughton' is founded upon the case of Donellan, + who was hanged some seventy years ago for poisoning his + brother-in-law. Mr. James has a knowledge of the age, and he + indicates it both in manners and incidents; the persons, also, + are well discriminated."--_Spectator._ + + +ADVENTURES OF AN AIDE-DE-CAMP; + +Or, A CAMPAIGN IN CALABRIA. + +By JAMES GRANT, Esq. + +Author of the "Romance of War; or the Highlanders in Spain." + + "Overflowing with adventure--adventure in the camp and in the + chamber, and by the road-side; soldiers' adventures, + travellers' adventures, lovers' adventures, murders and + abductions, battles and sudden deaths, in the romantic land of + Calabria."--_Atlas._ + + +THE GAP OF BARNESMORE: + +A Tale of the Irish Highlands, and the Revolution of 1688. + + "These volumes are not unworthy of being placed in the same + book-case with those of Sir Walter Scott."--_Morning Post._ + + +THE CONVICT; + +A TALE. + +By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq. + + "The volumes are well filled with incident; the sentiments are + those of a reflective and well-constituted mind; there is a + perpetual flow of invention in the conduct of the story; and it + agreeably combines a spirit of romance with a just delineation + of social life and manners."--_Britannia._ + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Trevethlan (Vol 3 of 3), by William Davy Watson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREVETHLAN (VOL 3 OF 3) *** + +***** This file should be named 36108-8.txt or 36108-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/1/0/36108/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Trevethlan (Vol 3 of 3) + A Cornish Story. + +Author: William Davy Watson + +Release Date: May 15, 2011 [EBook #36108] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREVETHLAN (VOL 3 OF 3) *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<h1>TREVETHLAN:</h1> + +<h3>A Cornish Story.</h3> + +<h2>BY WILLIAM DAVY WATSON, <span class="smcap">Esq.</span></h2> + +<h3>BARRISTER-AT-LAW.</h3> + +<h3>IN THREE VOLUMES.<br /> +VOL. III.</h3> + +<h3>LONDON:<br /> +SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHILL.<br /> +1848.</h3> + +<h3>London:<br /> +Printed by <span class="smcap">Stewart</span> and <span class="smcap">Murray</span>,<br /> +Old Bailey.</h3> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a><br /><br /> +<a href="#POPULAR_NEW_NOVELS">POPULAR NEW NOVELS.</a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>TREVETHLAN.</h2> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<blockquote><p><i>Menenius.</i> What work's, my countrymen, in hand? Where go you +with bats and clubs? The matter? Speak, I pray you.</p> + +<p><i>Citizen.</i> Our business is not unknown to the senate; they have +had inkling, this fortnight, what we intend to do, which now +we'll show 'em in deeds. They say poor suitors have strong +breath: they shall know we have strong arms too.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Shakspeare.</span></p></blockquote> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>Among the most striking features of the scenery of West Cornwall, are +the fantastic piles of bare granite which rise occasionally from the +summit of an upland, and to a distant spectator present the exact +semblance of a castle, with towers, turrets, and outworks. So a +stranger, standing on Cape Cornwall and looking towards the Land's End, +might imagine he there beheld the fortress whose sanguinary sieges +obtained for that promontory its ancient name of the Headland of Blood. +Or again, reclining on the moorland, near the cromlech of Morvah, while +the sun was sinking behind Carnyorth, he might fancy that at the +red-edged battlements on the ridge, the original inhabitants of the +country made their last stand against the invaders from the German +Ocean.</p> + +<p>Approach soon destroys the illusion. And it is superfluous to observe +that the warriors of those times had no notion of the structures which +these caprices of nature mimic—the castles of our Plantagenets and +Tudors. Their real fortresses still exist to afford employment to the +antiquary, and inspiration to the poet; and to one of them we now invite +the reader to accompany us.</p> + +<p>Castle Dinas occupies the crest of the highest ground between the +picturesque village of Gulvall and the pilchard-perfumed town of St. +Ives, and commands an uninterrupted view both of Mount's Bay and of the +Irish Sea. Two concentric ramparts of unhewn stones, flung together more +rudely than a Parisian barricade, exhibiting the science of +fortification in its very infancy, inclose a circular area of +considerable extent. From it the ground slopes, not very rapidly, on all +sides; and as there are no screens, an occupant of the camp can see an +approaching friend or enemy some time before he arrives. Within the +inner circle some prosaic favourer of picnics has erected a square +<i>folly</i>, with a turret at each angle, not harmonizing very well with +local associations, but convenient in case of a shower of rain.</p> + +<p>Around the folly, on the night which followed the departure of the +orphans of Trevethlan from the home of their fathers, was pacing a +stalwart man of weather-beaten aspect, with an impatient and irregular +gait. The sun had sunk below the horizon, and all the south and west +quarters of the sky were covered with heavy masses of cloud, from behind +which, at intervals, came the low mutterings of distant thunder. Flashes +of lightning followed one another in quick succession, becoming more and +more brilliant as the shades of evening grew deeper. They broke from +various quarters of the horizon, but particularly from the point of +sunset. The light seemed to flit or be reflected all round the sky. +Sometimes it was a lambent flame of blue, sometimes a flush of faint +rose colour; sometimes the dark clouds were displayed in bold relief +against a bright sheet of yellow or white. So far the sea was still +calm, and the air close and heavy. But at length there came a motion in +the hot atmosphere. The surface of the water was crisped. A sigh wailed +along it, as if the spirit of the tempest mourned over his mission; and +then the storm, whose advent had been foreseen by Randolph and Helen, +during their last visit to Merlin's Cave, advanced rapidly up the sky.</p> + +<p>And a tempest scarcely less fierce raged in the breast of Gabriel Denis, +as he paced hurriedly within those old ramparts. He was expecting an +assembly almost as tumultuous as that of the warriors whose battle +shouts once resounded there, and he was resolved that it should not +disperse in the same innocuous manner as former meetings of the same +character. One by one, and two by two, as the darkness deepened, his +promised adherents arrived, and the ancient camp became filled with an +excited mob, anxious for mischief, ignorant what to do.</p> + +<p>Well might Randolph caution Edward Owen that in joining such musters as +these he might easily be carried much further than he intended to go. A +fretting population always contains inflammable materials, and it is far +less difficult to kindle than to extinguish its fury. The consciousness +of this fact frequently deters mob-leaders from urging their followers +into a course where there will be no subsequent control.</p> + +<p>And crimes of this nature are among the greatest that can be committed, +especially in a free state. An idea prevails that there is a sort of +heroism in defying public authority, no matter how trivial the occasion, +nor how impotent the assailant. Defeated and punished, the criminal is +not seldom regarded as a martyr. He is considered the victim of his own +conscientiousness. Antecedent cases of successful sedition are quoted to +justify subsequent failures. But all this is false and mischievous. +There is never heroism in fool-hardiness: the so-styled martyr may +witness to no truth: the conscientiousness may be of the kind which +calls property a theft. And former successes are rather warnings than +examples. Precedent cannot avail against the powers that be.</p> + +<p>The assembly at Castle Dinas, however, was rather riotous than +seditious, and uncertain in what direction to vent its desire for +mischief. There was plenty of tinder, but no one to throw the spark; +until Gabriel Denis, burning with the desire of revenge for the spoiling +of his house and the death of his wife, joined the counsels of the +malcontents, and brought into them the energy they had previously +wanted. He now flung a firebrand among the rabble, and dozens of hands +were stretched to seize it. It was just suited to the mood of the +moment.</p> + +<p>"To Lelant!" the smuggler shouted. "Why loiter we here on the hill, +doing nothing either of good for ourselves or of ill for those who would +put us down? Are we not many, and they few? To Lelant, I say. Let us +turn the tables on the revenue thieves. They have plenty of mine in +their stores; but I want not that. Drink it, lads, free of duty and free +of charge. But there is a desolate home yonder on the bank. What stain +is that on the floor?—there shall be a redder in the storehouse at +Lelant. Ay, lads, let us to Lelant."</p> + +<p>There was a great stir in the crowd: not a few voices echoed the +smuggler's watchword—To Lelant: some of the men pressed forward as if +eager to start: Gabriel himself turned to lead the way. But another +voice arose: it came from the midst of a small and compact party on the +outskirts of the meeting.</p> + +<p>"What are ye about?" the speaker said. "Why go among the cutlasses and +carbines? Is it the drink ye would have—the drink and the sport? Ye can +get them cheaper than at Lelant. Look to our great houses. Does Gabriel +say they have spoiled his? Let us spoil one of theirs. What say ye to +Pendar'l?"</p> + +<p>A shout, much more enthusiastic than that which hailed the smuggler's +proposition, greeted this burst of eloquence.</p> + +<p>"See!" continued the orator, "there's a storm coming up from the sea. It +will hide our advance; and the soldiers are called away to the 'sizes. +Let us disperse, and meet again on the grass of Pendar'l."</p> + +<p>So said, so done. As the crowd moved off, it might be noted that there +were some audible murmurs of "Trevethlan for ever!" "Hurrah for +Trevethlan!" showing that at least a portion of the assembly were +thinking of what had happened in that hamlet a few hours before. And +then the multitude divided itself spontaneously into various parties, +some proceeding by the lanes and other byways, and some boldly crossing +the country in twos and threes;—silent, but not so regular, as an army +of ants. Meantime the storm, driven along by a high wind, came up the +sky, and before the foremost of the marauders had reached the park wall +of Pendarrel, the rain was falling in torrents, and the thunder rolling +overhead. But these were trifles to the hardy assailants, who were now +fairly on fire, and had a definite object before their eyes. They scaled +the wall wherever they first found it, and advanced through the grounds +towards the hall, scaring the deer with the unwonted invasion. At length +they found themselves re-united for the most part in a semicircle, +investing all one side of the house. Fair and stately it stood amidst +the trim pleasure-grounds, reflecting the vivid flashes of lightning +from its white walls and many windows, and offering, alas! too tempting +a prize to the lawless band around it. Within, the household were +collected about their fire-sides, listening to the uproar of the storm, +and little deeming that a more terrible enemy was at hand.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When tumult lately burst his prison door,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And set plebeian thousands in a roar,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When he usurped authority's just place,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And dared to look his master in the face,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Liberty blushed, and hung her drooping head,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beheld his progress with the deepest dread,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Blushed that effects like these she should produce,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Worse than the deeds of galley-slaves let loose:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">She loses in such scenes her very name,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And fierce licentiousness must bear the blame.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Cowper.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>"What can make the dogs bark in this manner?" exclaimed Mrs. Pendarrel +to her husband and daughter. "Surely not the thunder."</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell what it is, my dear," answered her spouse, who was nearly +asleep after his return from Bodmin, in spite of the external uproar. "I +wish they and the thunder would both be quiet."</p> + +<p>Mildred went behind the curtains of a window. Thick as they were, the +flashes of lightning had yet gleamed through them.</p> + +<p>"What a tremendous night!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Come from the window, Mildred," said Mrs. Pendarrel; "it is dangerous +to stand there."</p> + +<p>"Ha!" cried the daughter, "there is fire. It cannot be the lightning! +Mamma! Papa!"</p> + +<p>The urgency of her tone brought them both to the window. A red glare +streamed over the lawn, and shone bright upon the dripping trees. Fire +was there indeed.</p> + +<p>Gabriel Denis, by this time wild with passion and excitement, had soon +discovered the means of gratifying his turbulent desires. A range of +farming offices, with some ricks, stretched to the west, and therefore +to windward, of the hall. Let these be once kindled, and inactivity +would soon give way to riot and confusion. The smuggler had not +forgotten his tinder-box. He crept down into the homestead, found a +convenient nook, and soon lighted a flame, which nothing but the +speediest and most energetic exertion could hinder the furious wind from +converting into a great conflagration.</p> + +<p>Unhappily the tempest, closing doors and fastening shutters, prevented +an immediate discovery of the blaze, and the heavy rain was powerless to +check its progress under the fanning of the gale. The interior of the +corn-stack, fired by Gabriel, rapidly became a furnace, while volumes of +steam and smoke rolled from the wetted thatch, and were shortly followed +by jets of flame bursting from the inside. Then masses of burning straw +were lifted aloft by the wind and cast on the neighbouring ricks and +wooden barns, and in scarcely more time than is occupied by this +description, the homestead was evidently doomed to destruction, and the +safety of the hall was become very problematical.</p> + +<p>It was just then that Mildred summoned her father and mother to the +window.</p> + +<p>"Hark!" she said, "Was not that a shout? See, there are people running +across the lawn, and under the trees. But, oh, what a light!"</p> + +<p>Terrified domestics rushed into the parlour.</p> + +<p>"The house is beset—hundreds of men—What can be done? What can be +done?"</p> + +<p>These exclamations were mingled with loud cries of "fire," from within +and without the mansion. In the confusion, Esther Pendarrel seemed alone +to preserve her presence of mind.</p> + +<p>"Done!" she said. "The engine! The horses! Ride! Run! To Helston, and to +Marazione! Raise the people! Bring down the soldiers! Away with you; and +let us see where the fire is. And you, sir, look to your arms. Beset! +Nonsense!"</p> + +<p>So saying, Esther proceeded to the wing of the hall next to the farm +offices, which could not be seen from the living rooms, while her +husband hurriedly distributed his fire-arms among the few servants who +remained, when their fellows had departed to endeavour to fulfil the +injunctions of their mistress.</p> + +<p>Mildred accompanied her mother. "Fie," said the latter, seizing by the +wrist one of a group of maids who were crying in terror, "fie, girl! Be +silent; let us have no confusion. We want all our nerve."</p> + +<p>One glance from the window to which she went showed Esther the full +extent of the calamity. Long tongues of fire, bending and quivering in +the fierce wind, were licking the roof of a low range of outhouses which +connected the farm-yard with the hall. Esther remembered that there was +a door of communication between these buildings and the house itself. +Unless they could be pulled down, and that instantly, the mansion would +be in imminent peril. And besides, behind them were the ricks and barns, +vomiting a perfect sea of fire, from which large flakes were ever and +anon borne by the gale over the hall. One such struck the window where +Mrs. Pendarrel stood with her daughter, and made them start back for a +moment. And what hope was there of help? By the red glare they could see +men clustered about, either gazing on the flames with indifference, or +exhibiting exultation in their gestures and movements. Amidst the +crackling of the fire and the thunder of the storm, they could hear the +savage hurrahs of the incendiaries. Whence, then, could come help?</p> + +<p>"We are lost, my child!" Esther said quietly. "But I presume they do not +intend to burn us as well as the hall. Courage, dear."</p> + +<p>She threw her arm round Mildred's waist, and led her back to the main +stairs. There they found Mr. Pendarrel, and two or three men-servants, +armed, but undetermined what to do.</p> + +<p>"Husband," Esther whispered, "in five minutes all the west wing will be +in flames. Nothing can save us, unless the troops arrive in time. Where +are the girls? They must all be here."</p> + +<p>The last words were spoken aloud.</p> + +<p>"I will call them, mother," Mildred said; and she ran back to the +offices.</p> + +<p>"We have no chance," Esther continued as before, "unless the ruffians +should turn——Hush! Hark!"</p> + +<p>There was a clatter of steps to the door of the hall, succeeded by a +loud knocking.</p> + +<p>"Be ready," said Esther. "Let us not be outraged."</p> + +<p>"Shall we not escape?" her husband asked. "By the back windows——"</p> + +<p>"Are the maids all here? Where's Mildred?"</p> + +<p>"I am here, dear mother," was the breathless reply, "and so are they."</p> + +<p>"Then let us go," said Esther sadly. "Go through the drawing-rooms. To +meet at the chief lodge. And you, my friends, will guard us as best you +may. But for the fire, we might do more. All now would be in vain."</p> + +<p>Bare-headed, the little party went out into the storm. Esther stoutly +maintained her own heart, but she had much ado to keep up the courage of +her companions. With quick but faltering steps they made their way +through the shrubbery, in the direction Mrs. Pendarrel had indicated; +looking back with hasty glances, and perceiving that the flames were now +flying over the roof of the mansion, the west wing having already become +their spoil. A little more delay, and perhaps escape had been +impossible. And there were other dangers besides the fire.</p> + +<p>The fugitives had just turned round the corner of a thick clump of +laurels, when they found themselves in the presence of a crowd of men, +who immediately surrounded them, preventing their further progress, +insulting them both with words and gestures. Mr. Pendarrel, bewildered, +fired a pistol, and the rabble rushed in upon him and those with him, +incensed and excited beyond all control. It was a moment of despair. +Esther pressed her daughter to her breast, and opposed herself to the +assailants. Her husband, also, and the men-servants maintained a manful +struggle. But numbers were prevailing, when the ruffians were themselves +attacked in the rear. A throng of country people, apparently acting in +concert, charged them suddenly, and with the first attack, drove them +clear of their intended victims.</p> + +<p>"Fly, madam," then said a voice beside Mrs. Pendarrel. "Fly. There are +none now but friends in the way. And remember Edward Owen."</p> + +<p>And Esther acted instantly on the advice, knowing that, whether true or +false, it afforded the only hope for safety.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the hall-door had yielded to its assailants, and +ruffianism triumphed through the mansion. Some fellows made their way to +the cellars, and drank desperately, while others rioted through the +various apartments in search of more valuable booty. Not a few quarrels +arose for the possession of some portable trinket, upon which two of the +marauders might have seized at once. Shouts and screams, and execrations +resounded on all sides. And above them all rose the crackle of the +advancing flames, not unlikely to inflict a well-merited doom upon some +of those who exulted in them.</p> + +<p>But many of the country-folks, aroused by the emissaries who escaped +from the hall at the first alarm, had thronged to render assistance in +subduing the flames. They were, however, disconcerted at finding +themselves intercepted by a mob, whose intentions were precisely the +reverse of their own. Coming singly or in small knots, without any +community of action, they were unable to make any impression upon the +banded ruffians, and they either departed to seek further aid, or became +passive spectators of the ruin that was befalling Pendarrel.</p> + +<p>There was one, however, of a different mood. Edward Owen, although he +had attended the meeting at Castle Dinas, and accompanied the mob, +shuddered at the devastation before him. So soon did he experience the +truth of Randolph's words. Recoiling too late, but desirous to atone if +possible for what was past, he hovered on the skirts of the crowd, and +soon collected a tolerably formidable body of the well-disposed, with +which to repress further outrage. They made their first show of prowess +in rescuing the fugitive family: but beyond this their efforts were +unavailing: the fire had obtained too great a head to be withstood.</p> + +<p>The main fury of the storm had now passed; the rain had nearly ceased, +and the wind had fallen; the lightning still flashed, and the thunder +muttered in the east, while the western sky was once more becoming +clear. But the flashes were too faint to be seen, and the muttering too +low to be heard, in the bright glare and loud crackling of the flames +that were devouring Pendarrel Hall. All the centre of the mansion, +containing the great stairs and principal apartments, was in full +conflagration. From window after window, as the glass flew under the +heat, a long stream of fire shot forth, joining the ruddy blaze that +broke from the roof. Once, a human form appeared in the midst of such a +torrent, flinging its arms about in wild supplication for a few moments, +and disappearing, either within or without. Above the house curled vast +volumes of smoke, black, white, and yellow, filled with sparkling +fragments, and glowing in the light of the flames. A flock of pigeons +fled to and fro over the bright vapour, and every now and then a bird +dashed into it, and dropped as if shot. Round about, on all sides, as +near as the heat permitted, rushed the incendiaries, exulting in the +destruction they had accomplished, and hailing every fresh burst of fire +with frantic acclamations. Behind, at a little distance, the trees, +still streaming with the recent rain, reflected the red glare from every +branch. Farther off, a cottage window or a white wall, lighted more +dimly, might denote the rising ground of the neighbourhood. And over +all, were the dark clouds of the retreating tempest, the fury of which +had that night caused no catastrophe so disastrous as was here wrought +by the hand of man.</p> + +<p>The family, so rudely driven from their home, succeeded in reaching the +lodge designated by Esther for their rendezvous. Faint with +excitement—even Mrs. Pendarrel's spirit failed her when she was safe +from immediate peril—exhausted by their flight, deluged with the rain, +they met together in a small room of the cottage, round a window which +looked towards their late abode. With a sort of vacant despair they +watched the flames which rose above the intervening trees, and showed +the progress of ruin. The hall itself they could not see. Mildred sat, +leaning upon her mother's shoulder, and holding her hand, while Mr. +Pendarrel rested against the side of the casement. Not a word was +spoken; and the only sounds that broke the silence of the lodge, were +the subdued noise of the flames, and the shouts of the marauders.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Pendarrel, with his ear against the wall, has now caught another +sound; regular, rhythmical, advancing along the road. Nearer it came, +and nearer, and before the listener had changed his position, a squadron +of dragoons passed the lodge on a hand-gallop, and were followed by +fire-engines. Alas! why came they no sooner?</p> + +<p>The messengers who had made their way from the hall at the first +discovery of the fire, sped fast away to Helston, looking back at +intervals towards the light in the sky. The distance was about five +miles; the road was slippery with the wet; the flood of rain was almost +blinding: a full hour had elapsed before the first of the runners +shouted "fire" in the deserted streets of the little borough. The +inhabitants were at rest, but few were asleep, the din of the storm +preventing slumber. Night-capped heads peeped timidly from windows, and +demanded—where? The messenger learned the officers' quarters. There was +some little demur. False alarms had been given before. But the bugle +soon sounded to horse. The drowsy firemen equipped their engines; and +when once the cavalcade had started, rattling over the stony street, a +very short space sufficed to bring it to the gates of Pendarrel.</p> + +<p>The greater portion of the marauders, struck with consternation at the +sight of the soldiery, fled among the trees of the park, to be +denounced, perhaps, at a future day, by informing comrades. But a few, +maddened by intoxication and excitement, offered a futile resistance, +and were captured on the spot, to answer for their ruffianism, not +improbably with their lives.</p> + +<p>As for the engines, they could effect nothing. The well-disposed of the +country people, who were by this time assembled in great numbers, +assisted in bringing them into play, and water was obtained from an +ornamental reservoir in the garden; but fire was master of the hall. To +save a small quantity of furniture from the lower rooms in the eastern +wing, and to collect articles which lay scattered on the lawns, was all +that the utmost exertion could accomplish. The whole of the mansion had +fallen in, and the burning would continue as long as there remained +anything to furnish fuel. Blackened walls, open to the sky, containing +nothing but smoking and smouldering ruin, would be all the morning sun +would shine upon of Pendarrel Hall.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The Hall of Cynddylan is gloomy this night,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Without fire, without bed—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I must weep awhile, and then be silent.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The Hall of Cynddylan is gloomy this night,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Without fire, without candle—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Except God doth, who will endue me with patience?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Llywarch Hen</span>, <i>by Owen</i>.<br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>The destruction of Pendarrel Hall was the crowning outrage of the +riotous. It was a crime for which a severe retribution was certain to be +exacted. On information, given partly by the prisoners taken at the +fire, partly by volunteers who hoped to screen themselves, the civil and +military authorities swept the country far and wide, and arrested +numbers of suspected individuals. The hamlet of Trevethlan felt the +visitation, and among its accused was the unfortunate Edward Owen. Many +people, shuddering at the consciousness of guilt, fled for shelter to +the wild moors and desolate carns, or lurked in the caverns of the +sea-shore, obtaining a scanty and precarious nourishment from venturous +friends or kindred. The prime mover of all the mischief, Gabriel Denis, +had been captured on the spot; and there was scarcely a cottage between +the two seas, which did not miss from the family circle some son or +brother now lying in prison or lurking in the waste.</p> + +<p>On the night of the disaster, the Pendarrels were at last persuaded to +seek repose in such accommodation as was afforded by the lodge; but +sleep was out of the question. Jaded and sad, they met in the morning, +and went forth to survey the ruins of their home. Melancholy enough was +the mere destruction of the edifice, yet that was the least among their +sorrows. Wealth might restore the house to all its former splendour, but +other losses were irreparable. All the relics of bygone days; the +pledges of friendship and of love, the trinkets associated with old +personal reminiscences, the memorials of travel and adventure, the +rarities collected with their own hands, the family heir-looms, the toys +of one childhood laid by to amuse another, the books of early lessons +and early leisure, the sketches and drawings, the portraits and +miniatures of the dead,—all of these had perished, and could never be +replaced; for Pendarrel was their home, their old familiar +dwelling-place, the storehouse of all things dear,—their cradle and +their grave. Other houses they had, but none like Pendarrel.</p> + +<p>Even the stern pride of Esther might bend a little under so great a +calamity. Only the morning before she had been exulting over the +humiliation of Trevethlan, and now her own hearth was desolate. In the +terror of the night she had been surprised into an unusual display of +tenderness towards her daughter. But any such feelings were merely +transitory. Tale-bearers soon brought to her ear the shouts of "Hurrah +for Trevethlan," which had been heard among the rioters. She thought of +the scornful silence with which her invitation of yesterday had been +received at the Castle, and permitted herself to suspect that the +night's outrage might have had more than empty sympathy from its +inmates.</p> + +<p>She perceived also, with impatience, that the event would necessarily +postpone the marriage of her daughter, and require it to be celebrated +in London. Both the delay and the place was obnoxious, because the +watchful mother still feared that Mildred's outward docility covered a +strong resolve, and she was sorry to restore her to the protecting +influence of Mrs. Winston. Such were the cold and harsh thoughts, which +in Mrs. Pendarrel succeeded to the first depression occasioned by the +calamity. But coming so suddenly on her triumph, it would be strange +indeed if it were wholly unfelt, and the sequel may show that its +effects were more considerable than Esther suspected at the time.</p> + +<p>The exiles selected one from a host of offers of hospitality, but only +availed themselves of the shelter for a single night; setting out the +following morning on their way to town, and arriving in May Fair in due +course. Mrs. Winston awaited their coming. She had her full share of the +recent catastrophe. True it was she had made another home for herself, +but much of her heart remained at Pendarrel. Even in a lately-written +letter Mildred had mentioned their partnership in books. In fact, the +fire might long be remembered in the annals of the family, becoming an +epoch to date from, like that commemorated among the Jews by the spot +left bare in the decoration of their walls, "the memory of desolation."</p> + +<p>In the first <i>tête-à-tête</i> between the sisters, they turned from their +own misfortunes to that which had befallen their cousins of Trevethlan, +and when Gertrude had mentioned the invitation which she had already +despatched to Helen, Mildred suffered herself to be drawn into a +confession of all that had passed under the hawthorns on the cliff.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Mildred," her sister said, shaking her head in gentle reproof, +"remember that while I will do anything to save you from a union you +dislike, I will do nothing to promote one which our parents disapprove. +And that I fear will be the case as regards this gentleman. Count +nothing, my dear, from my invitation to his sister. I should, perhaps, +have hesitated to give it, had I known the state of the case."</p> + +<p>But Mildred heard this little lecture without much heeding its warning. +She was meditating on designs of her own, which she had no intention of +confiding even to her sister. Her mother was not at all unlikely to find +that she had raised a devil which she would be unable to lay.</p> + +<p>Mildred rejoiced, however, at one circumstance: her unwelcome suitor did +not immediately follow her to London. He had not been present at the +fire; for although his domains joined those of Pendarrel, the houses +were very far apart; and there was sufficient uncertainty at Tolpeden +respecting the locality of the flames to excuse the indolent coxcomb +from proceeding to assist, an excuse of which he readily availed himself +in the midst of such a storm. He was greatly vexed when he heard the +truth in the morning, and he paid a visit of polite condolence to the +family, at which, however, he was not favoured with the company of +Mildred.</p> + +<p>And he was far from impatient to accompany her to town. The gossips at +Mrs. Pendarrel's party had indeed exaggerated his embarrassments, but +they were sufficiently heavy. Returning unable to fulfil his undertaking +to his creditors, he should awaken a hundred sinister suspicions. The +fire would be but a bad excuse for the delay, where all excuses +prolonged the chapter of accidents. So Melcomb dreaded to make his +appearance until everything was definitively arranged, and he could meet +his foes with renewed promises of satisfaction.</p> + +<p>To his unsuspected rival the fire was a godsend. It sent his patroness +to London, exactly when with a doubting heart, Sinson was preparing to +visit her in Cornwall, and thus enabled him to hold down his bondman +Everope, with one hand, while with the other he preferred his audacious +suit. Could Mrs. Pendarrel have read what was passing in her servant's +heart, when he came cringing before her with congratulations on the +result of the trial and condolence for the ruin of her house mingled in +equal proportions, she would have cursed the hour when she took the +fawning rustic into her service. He was now manœuvring to induce the +wretched Everope to go abroad, in order that his last fears might be +laid to sleep. But the spendthrift was not at all willing to accede to +the proposition. And after all, Sinson thought, what did it matter? A +little space would disclose the whole of his plot. And when his +patroness was once implicated, there would be no danger of exposure. +Should circumstances make it necessary, the Trevethlans might be quietly +re-instated in their small patrimony, and Michael would be perfectly +contented with the domain of Pendarrel. Everope might do as he pleased.</p> + +<p>And now Esther had the mortification—for such it was to her—of +receiving condolence from all the circle of her acquaintance. The +burning of her house made no little stir in the metropolis. In public it +was not unreasonably mentioned as affording a good ground for the +general alarm. It might figure considerably in the Parliamentary +debates—we need not specify the volume of Hansard—it might occupy some +space in the reports of secret committees; it might have a green bag all +to itself. It was the topic of the day, and became a source of so much +exasperation to the mistress of the ruined mansion, that she would +almost have rejoiced to sink Pendarrel in some fathomless pool off the +Lizard. It is so difficult to condole in a manner at all sufferable. +Rarely is it pleasant to be pitied. People are apt to lavish their +sorrow on what they think they would have most regretted themselves, and +to forget the real weight of the calamity, in considering some detail +which strikes their particular fancy. So Angelina might remember the +gold fish in the garden, and hope they were not killed when the water +was needed for the engines. Now as Esther really loved her home, and +deeply deplored its ruin, it sometimes cost her an effort to answer her +friends' sympathy with polite equanimity. For the condolers mean kindly, +and must be kindly met.</p> + +<p>But she was gratified also at times. Some hardy spirit would venture to +approach her with a sarcasm. The town, that is to say such men as +Winesour, could recollect the late Mr. Trevethlan, at the time he was +squandering his fortune; when his companions called him a fool, and were +very fond of his society. Such people remembered him with a certain kind +of attachment, and heard of the final ruin of his supposed children with +a certain sort of regret. And some of them were half aware of the old +love-passages between the lord of the castle and the lady of the hall, +and guessed for themselves the cause of Henry Trevethlan's desperation. +And so with polished incivility, they contrived to compare the fire and +the law-suit, and to send a diamond-headed shaft home to Mrs. +Pendarrel's heart.</p> + +<p>Now this Esther liked. It exasperated her, but it put her upon her +mettle; and enabled her to exhibit a wit, delicate and keen as any that +attacked her. And she wanted something of the kind. Disguise it as she +would, she was bitterly humiliated by the catastrophe of that terrible +night.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Pendar'l and Trevethlan would own one name,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>when there was no place of the former appellation to claim its share in +the prediction. The prophecy itself seemed to mock her. The fretfulness +induced by these conflicting emotions, restrained abroad, vented itself +at home, and fell heavily upon poor Mildred.</p> + +<p>And now London was very full. The brilliant froth was bubbling and +foaming over the edges of the cup. And so a perpetual round of gaiety +invited the votaries of fashion, like the whirling dance about the +funeral pyre of Arvalan. Into the fascinating circle Mrs. Pendarrel led +her daughter, and took pains to let every one know, that the fillet was +already bound round the victim's brow. But the latter was as little +likely to succumb in patience to the intended doom, as the German poet's +Bride of Corinth.</p> + +<p>And was Esther at all mindful of her defeated adversaries? She heard of +their answering her trembling invitation by a precipitate abandonment of +their ancient home, and she took little heed of their further +proceedings. She did not yet know the full extent of her triumph, and +left the effects of the verdict to be developed in the dens of the +lawyers.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O Primavera, gioventù del' anno,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bella madre de' fiori,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">D'erbe novelle, e di novelli amori,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tu torni ben, ma teco<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Non tornano i sereni<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E fortunati di delle mie gioje:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tu torni ben, tu torni,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ma teco altro non torna,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Che del perduto mio caro tesoro<br /></span> +<span class="i0">La rimembranza misera e dolente.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Guarini.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>Spring and Favonius were rapidly loosening the bonds of winter, when +Randolph and his sister returned to their old quarters at Hampstead, +with feelings very different from those which had attended their first +arrival there. Six months had revolutionized their existence. And when +in the tumult of emotion which followed the trial at Bodmin, the +disinherited heir conceived the idea of seeking the roof which had +sheltered his brief studentship, it was rather in that mockery with +which despair often tries to delude itself, than with a serious purpose +of fulfilling the design. He cast a sneering and scornful glance upon +his sojourn in London, and thought of resuming it as a bitter jest. But +come what might, he was resolved to quit Trevethlan, and that instantly. +Where then could he go? Where find a home for Helen?—questions which +Randolph answered by accepting in earnest the plan which he had +conceived in irony. Let their old host and hostess enjoy a nine days' +wonder.</p> + +<p>So to Hampstead the orphans went, making a more leisurely journey than +before, and arriving, free from fatigue, in the evening. They were +received with warm cordiality.</p> + +<p>"What!" said Peach to Randolph, when Helen had retired, "you slept last +night at Basingstoke! Not disturbed, I hope, by any of the monk of +Croyland's adversaries. Hear Fœlix concerning the foes of monastic +rest, as Camden reports his very middling hexameters—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Sunt aliqui quibus est crinis rigidus, caput amplum,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Frons cornuta, gena distorta, pupilla coruscans,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Os patulum, labra turgentia, dens peracutus—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nonnulli quibus est non horrida forma, sed ipse<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Horror, cum non sint scelerati, sed scelus ipsum.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Cornelius loved to hear himself talk, and this was a favourite quotation +with him. Randolph assured him the inn at Basingstoke was quite free +from the plagues of Croyland Abbey. And then, in a few brief sentences +he acquainted Mr. Peach with his real quality. His landlord was amused +with the romance.</p> + +<p>"Why," said he, "you are like my Lord Burleigh, wooing his peasant-love +under the guise of a painter."</p> + +<p>A short time before, the remark would have occasioned a severe twinge, +but now there was no room for any. Randolph was surrounded by a sea of +troubles, and knew not in which direction to strike. And the full effect +of the verdict was as yet unperceived by him. He had not observed that +by dissolving all ties between himself and his father, it would deprive +him not merely of his real estate, the castle and its precincts, but +also of all the personal property which he possessed in the world. The +next of kin would follow the heir-at-law. In this case they were +combined in the same person. Would any mercy be shown? Would it be +accepted if it were? The orphans were literally beggars. Nay, they were +even in debt. For a rigorous account might be exacted of every farthing +of property, which the late Mr. Trevethlan left behind him at his death. +And thus opprobium, immediate and inevitable, was hanging over +Randolph's head.</p> + +<p>The lawyers, of course, were well aware of this. But Mr. Truby, about +whom there was nothing of the pettifogger, was in no hurry to advise his +client to rush to extremities. He remembered the judge's observation at +the trial, that additional evidence would probably be forthcoming before +very long, and was not anxious to bear on the defeated party, in a +manner which might afterwards be termed oppressive. He always hated +sharp practice. He felt bound to mention the state of the case to Mr. +Pendarrel, and that gentleman of course communicated it to his wife. +Esther started at the news, but perceiving that every day would only +involve the orphans more deeply, she was contented to let her advantage +rest for a while.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, Mr. Winter did not feel it on any account necessary +to point out his real position to Randolph. Being certain that injustice +had been done, although at present unable to see his way to its +reversal, he was loth to risk the disclosure to one of so passionate and +obstinate a temper as his client. And in truth the latter's condition +required no aggravation. Randolph was in the plight, most harassing to a +hot and impatient mood, when there is nothing immediately to be done, +and the spirit chafes and rages at its forced inertness.</p> + +<p>He sought his friend and counsel, Rereworth, but without obtaining any +consolatory information. Seymour was endeavouring to trace the witness +whose testimony had overthrown his friend. But hitherto wholly without +success. Everope had disappeared entirely from all his former haunts. +His chambers were perpetually closed, and the old woman, who acted as +his laundress, knew nothing at all concerning her master's movements. +Yet this was the quest which Rereworth thought held out the best hope of +success; for if the spendthrift's evidence were bought, there were many +circumstances conceivable, under which he might be induced to confess.</p> + +<p>Very few days had elapsed after the arrival of the orphans at Hampstead, +when they were joined by Polydore Riches. He brought them all the +details of the conflagration at Pendarrel. And with wrath and +indignation Randolph learned that it was pretty generally regarded in +the country as a reprisal for the verdict at Bodmin. Not such was the +retaliation he desired. The chaplain also grieved his old pupils with an +account of the numerous arrests which had been made among the dependents +of the castle. It seemed as though their own ruin involved that of many +besides.</p> + +<p>There was another circumstance connected with this intelligence which +was of deep interest to Randolph. The Pendarrels had returned to London. +He again breathed the same air with Mildred. Now he had almost rejoiced +in the idea that this would not be the case. He was glad that in the +dreary interval devoted to the recovery of his rights, during which he +had vowed to see her no more, distance would remove any temptation to +break the resolution. But she was again within his reach. Any day, in +walking through the streets of the metropolis, she might cross his path. +He would be in continual expectation of such a meeting. An instant might +overthrow all his determination. It was another element to mingle in the +turbulence of his emotions.</p> + +<p>And the chaplain bore a missive also, which was a source of considerable +discussion; namely, Mrs. Winston's letter to Helen, containing the +invitation to her house. Gertrude had written with great tact, and with +a full consciousness of the delicacy which might revolt from accepting +an obligation from the daughter of Esther Pendarrel. She went so far as +to say that her offer would probably be disagreeable to her mother if it +were known, but she hoped to prevent that, until some fortunate +discovery had re-instated her cousins in their just rights. And she +infused into her whole letter a warmth of kindness and sympathy which +she trusted would not be without its effect. For in truth she wrote from +her heart.</p> + +<p>But the proposal led to great demur. Randolph abhorred the idea of +accepting anything like favour from any of his enemy's house; and was +not disposed to admit Mrs. Winston's view of her independence. Yet, +being married, she might be considered as no longer involved in the +quarrel. And Randolph was very anxious to find his sister a home. She +was in his way. He felt it with no want of affection. But whenever in +his reveries he looked forward to the career he should adopt, as soon as +he had re-established the good fame of his family, his sister always +recurred to his mind as an obstacle in his path. Sketching for himself +an adventurous course in some far-distant land, he was always recalled +from the vision by the thought of her he should in such case be +compelled to leave unprotected, behind. A very short glimpse into the +future would have spared him much fruitless speculation.</p> + +<p>Helen, with that gentle longing for a reconciliation which she showed in +the very opening of this narrative, read Mrs. Winston's letter with +pleasure, and desired to accept the invitation. In answer to her +brother's peevish dissatisfaction, she urged that her visit might be +very short, but that it would be ungrateful, uncharitable, every way +perverse, to reject what was offered with such true kindness. She should +be entirely private,—should, of course, hold no intercourse with Mr. or +Mrs. Pendarrel, and could see Randolph as often and as freely as he +pleased.</p> + +<p>The chaplain supported Helen's argument with all his power. And in the +end the brother yielded, little thinking to what a train of +circumstances the visit would give rise. And so Miss Trevethlan removed +to Cavendish-square, where Gertrude's winning demeanour soon put her +completely at her ease, and where she walked through those same rooms, +in which she might remember that Randolph encountered Mrs. Pendarrel +face to face, and made the avowal which cut short his career as a +student of the law.</p> + +<p>He himself escorted her, and quivered a little as he stood in the +well-remembered drawing-room. But he only staid a few minutes before +returning to Hampstead, through the long and squalid suburb which then +lay at the foot of the hill. The stuccoed terraces of the Regent's-park +were still in the brain or the portfolio of the architect. The +realization of Darwin's prophecy,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Soon shall thy arm, unconquered Steam, afar<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>although it had taken place on one element, seemed as far distant on +shore as when the poet wrote. What wonders have been wrought in these +thirty years of peace! And is it possible to think, that once more our +progress may be arrested by war, and that the energies which have so +long been devoted to the cause of civilization—that great cause of the +whole human race, in which nations may fraternize without reciprocal +encroachment, which is identical with the advance of true liberty, and +of the only equality which mortals can attain, that of virtue—is it +possible that these energies can once more be required for self-defence, +that the death-drum may again summon us to repel a foreign foe, or that +symbols and watchwords may divide ourselves, and our ancient flag find a +rival standard unfurled by the sons of those who fought the battle of +freedom? Rather let us hope that the convulsions around us may be found +to have cleared the air, and brought the day more near,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"When the drum shall throb no longer, and the battle-flag be furled,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the parliament of man, the federation of the world."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The coming of Polydore Riches was an event of some interest to the +worthy couple of the peachery. Clotilda, in common with most spinsters +of her age, was much in the habit of criticising the mien and aspect of +clergymen, and formed her own idea of the appearance of the chaplain +from the respect and affection with which Helen always spoke of him. And +it must be owned she was a little disappointed. She had expected rather +a portly man, with white hair, and a commanding presence. She +encountered a slight figure and a pale face, the habitual pensiveness of +which was now deepened by anxiety, and which was shaded by locks wherein +silver had as yet but little share. Miss Peach allowed that Polydore was +"interesting," but she had expected something more.</p> + +<p>But Randolph was quite right in predicting that the chaplain and +Cornelius would agree together admirably. The two old bachelors speedily +conceived a high mutual esteem. Their tastes were very similar. In each +there was the same simplicity of character. Polydore was more refined +and enthusiastic; Cornelius more humorous and practical. The worthy host +soon prevailed on his new friend to join him in a pipe, a luxury in +which the chaplain had scarcely indulged since he quitted the classic +shades of Granta. And they exhaled the fragrant fumes, due to Peach's +ancient friend Sir Walter, so long, that the old clerk fell into a +rhapsody on the perfections of that creature of his dreams, Mabel; and +actually extracted from Polydore a murmured panegyric on that treasure +of his memory, Rose Griffith. And then might a spectator have been +amused to observe how the names of Mabel and Rose alternated with the +puffs of smoke, and were often sighed forth in concert, with a pathos +that might have done honour to the unworthily-used Malvolio.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Margaret.</i> To me what's title when content is wanting?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or wealth, raked up together with much care,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And to be kept with more, when the heart pines,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In being dispossessed of what it longs for<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beyond the Indian mines? Or the smooth brow<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of a pleased sire, that slaves me to his will,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Leaving my soul nor faculties nor power<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To make her own election?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Allworth.</i> But the dangers<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That follow the repulse,——<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Margaret.</i> To me they're nothing:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let Allworth love, I cannot be unhappy.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Massinger.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>As Mr. Winston's suggestion to his wife, that she should ask Miss +Trevethlan to their house, seemed suddenly to improve their mutual +understanding, so did Helen's acceptance of the invitation make them +still better known to each other. Among the commonest and worst features +of unions like theirs, is a prejudice on one side or the other that +happiness is impossible, which closes every avenue to amelioration. The +discontented parties have eyes only for defects. The heart which +accepted the match with ill-disguised repugnance, is subsequently too +proud to admit it was in error. It will not resign the privilege of +complaint. It insists on continually galling itself with what it calls +its chains. It hugs the satisfaction of considering itself ill-used. For +the world, it would not allow itself, even in reverie, to be at ease. +Yet, when there is no real deficiency either in character or temper, a +hopeful spirit will probably soon find grounds for esteem, and esteem +will be likely to ripen into affection. And then the very contrasts of +disposition which at first appeared to preclude sympathy, will really +promote it, by furnishing opportunities for good-humoured mirth, instead +of objects for silent peevishness.</p> + +<p>Gertrude Winston had never thought it worth her while to understand her +husband. She married him as a pure negation, preferring King Log to King +Stork. He was neither sulky, nor mean, nor selfish; he was not +meddlesome, nor fidgety, nor exacting. His wife never heard a sharp word +from his lips. Surely she might have taken the trouble to go a little +below the surface, and see if his pedantry and apathy concealed no +qualities which she might first admire, and then love. But no; she had +determined to be a "victim," and resolutely closed both heart and mind +against any appreciation of whatever might be endearing in his +disposition. And for him,—indolent and even-tempered, having married +because people usually married, in the same way as they were born and +buried,—he certainly took no pains to display his merits, and allowed +his wife to do exactly as she pleased, without let or hinderance.</p> + +<p>And Gertrude did not abuse the licence. She would not have asked Helen +to her house without consulting her husband. In his ready though +measured proposal to that effect, Mrs. Winston felt there was a kindness +which she had failed to perceive in all his previous demeanour towards +her. And when their guest arrived, he surprised her still more by +rousing himself from his monotonous pursuits to find sources of interest +and amusement for Miss Trevethlan. Gertrude was far above jealousy, and +attributed his attentions to their true motive,—a desire to alleviate +the anxiety of their new friend.</p> + +<p>Yet was Helen one who might well awaken the domestic fiend. Rather under +the average height of woman, but of a full and luxurious form, she moved +with that soft and undulating mien which fascinates even from afar; and +if, allured by the figure, you permitted yourself to advance and look +upon the face, you would find it was worthy of the shape. You would see +a forehead of the purest white, not very high, but broad and serene, +shaded by long dark ringlets, and supported by eyebrows of the same +colour, rather far apart, and very slightly arched. Under these you +would look into eyes also as dark as night, so gentle and so fond, that +well would it be for you if they did not haunt your slumbers for many a +night to come. Their long lashes drooped over cheeks perhaps a thought +too pale, but so transparently fair that they flushed with every +transient emotion, and then almost rivalled the full and tempting lips, +which lost themselves in dimples at each corner, and showed that the +pensiveness usually characterizing the countenance was not unwilling to +give place to any gaiety of the hour.</p> + +<p>At the present time, however, pensiveness prevailed, and increased the +contrast which Helen's beauty always presented to the attractions of her +cousins. She might trace in Mrs. Winston a strong resemblance to the +features of the miniature found upon her father's heart, which she had +since worn upon hers, and whose original she detected at that eventful +visit to the opera. There were the same inscrutable dark eyes, like +those in which Charles Lamb said lurked the depth of Jael; there were +the same haughty will, and the same decision of purpose; but there was, +Helen thought, something more of tenderness and less of disdain.</p> + +<p>She had been but a very short time in Cavendish-square when she made the +acquaintance of Mildred. Having informed her sister of her invitation, +Mrs. Winston could scarcely avoid the introduction, although she was +cognizant of a certain secret. Helen possessed no corresponding +knowledge, yet a gentle confidence grew up between the maidens, and +Mildred perhaps regarded her cousin as not unlikely to be more nearly +related to her. Naturally also, and unavoidably, she heard not a little +concerning Randolph, and listened to such intelligence with no +untroubled heart.</p> + +<p>Indeed she had begun to think of him more than was prudent; forced into +the recollection by her situation at home. She saw that Mrs. Pendarrel +was daily proceeding in the same course she had adopted in Cornwall, and +that she herself was becoming more and more involved in conduct which +she loathed. She found it very difficult to procure an explanation with +her mother, for since the short colloquy in which she attempted to +remonstrate the morning after the country party, Mrs. Pendarrel had +abruptly checked all further efforts of the same sort. At length, half +in despair, Mildred thought of appealing, perhaps for the first time in +her life, to her father.</p> + +<p>It was a very poor prospect. The scheming younger brother had long sunk +into the intriguing political hack. Obsequious, cold, worldly-minded, +and correct, was Mr. Trevethlan Pendarrel. He would as soon have thought +of absenting himself from a division, as of interfering with his wife's +domestic rule. He dared not even object to her lavish expenditure, +although he was fonder of money than of anything else; and he was too +dull a plodder in official harness to understand the jests sometimes +made at his expense. He was greatly surprised when his daughter +intercepted him one day on his return home, and led him into a parlour.</p> + +<p>"Papa," Mildred said, "I am sure you love me."</p> + +<p>"Of course, of course," he answered. "But your mamma takes care of all +that." He thought she was going to ask for money.</p> + +<p>"But pray do hear me, papa. They say ... This marriage...."</p> + +<p>"Of course, my dear. Your mamma has arranged it all. Very agreeable man, +Mr. Melcomb. Calls me Petruchio. Marriage! Why, you'll be the envy of +half the ladies in London!"</p> + +<p>"But, papa, it cannot be. I have told him so."</p> + +<p>"Cannot! I don't understand. You must speak to mamma. She manages it +all. There—there—"</p> + +<p>So saying, he kissed her cheek hastily and departed. Mildred knew not +where to turn. Her mother's tactics defeated the support which she had +expected from Mrs. Winston, for although the latter threw all the +discredit she could upon the rumours of the approaching marriage, no +pretence was afforded for any interference of a more active kind. But +Mildred, becoming more and more restless, at length seized an +opportunity of telling her mother suddenly, that she would go no more +into society until the report of her engagement was positively +contradicted. Mrs. Pendarrel flew into a violent rage. All her plans +were very far advanced. Almost every particular was definitely settled. +She was flushed with her triumph at Bodmin. Was everything to be undone +by the whim of a foolish girl?</p> + +<p>"What!" Esther exclaimed, with fury sparkling in her eyes, "have you +courage to be openly disobedient? Will you dare to fly in my face? Do +you think to make me wanting to my pledged word? Do you imagine I will +bear the scoffs and taunts bestowed upon a beaten match-maker? No, Miss +Pendarrel. You will marry as I bid you, or—but there is no +alternative."</p> + +<p>In the heat of her anger, Esther almost gasped for breath. She had for +some time observed her daughter's manner with smouldering wrath, and now +Mildred's avowal produced a fierce burst of flame. It deprived Mrs. +Pendarrel of her prudence.</p> + +<p>"And hark!" she cried. "Do you suppose that I am blind? Do you fancy I +know nothing about what you call your heart? Have I forgotten who +trembled on my arm, when that upstart pretender dared to intrude into +society which he could not have entered honestly, and laid claim to a +name to which he had no right? Do I not remember whose cheeks were +reddened, and whose voice said 'my cousin?'"</p> + +<p>Mildred's cheeks were red enough now, and she trembled from head to +foot, and opened her lips to speak, but her mother continued with +increasing vehemence.</p> + +<p>"And suppose he had been Randolph Trevethlan, as he falsely called +himself; suppose that he had been a true descendant of that ancient +house, and lawful owner of Trevethlan Castle, do you dream, girl, that I +would suffer his alliance with a daughter of mine? Do you not know that +I hate him? Do you not know that he hates me? Did I not hunt his father +to death? Have I not pursued him, the son of that base peasant-woman, +with a hatred which can only be extinguished in the grave? Have I not +even now consummated his ruin? Has he a house to hide his head? Is he +not a beggar on the earth?"</p> + +<p>Again Mrs. Pendarrel paused for breath. Mildred's colour came and went +with agitation, and she panted as if her heart would break. She had not +in the least expected to arouse such a storm.</p> + +<p>"And this is the miserable person you have dared to love? Yes; I ask you +again, do you think I am blind, or that there are no eyes but mine? Did +I not hear of that meeting on the cliff? Of folding arms, and hands +clasped, and lips——? Ay, girl, do you quiver and blush? Cousin, +indeed! A creature that has no right to any name at all; homeless, +houseless, penniless! Do you know that he is at this moment in my hands? +that I can throw him into prison, to languish till he dies? And where is +he? where is he hiding? Do you know that his people are charged with the +burning of Pendarrel, that he may be implicated himself? Fie, girl! +Shall the lion love the jackal? Shall the eagle love the owl?"</p> + +<p>"Mother," Mildred ejaculated, taking advantage of another break in +Esther's fierce harangue, "I love Randolph Trevethlan! I have vowed to +be his wife; and I will."</p> + +<p>She was leaving the room, but Mrs. Pendarrel caught her by the wrist and +detained her, looking full in her face, and almost choking with the rage +which she was unable to express.</p> + +<p>"Yes, mother," Mildred said, faltering as she spoke, "in that meeting, +which was watched by some miserable spy—that meeting, which I shall +remember for ever, which brings no shame to my cheek—in that meeting +Randolph won the pledge which nothing but death can break. Did I love +him when first I called him my cousin? Did I love him at that meeting on +the cliff? Mother, I love him now a thousandfold. Is he houseless, +homeless, an outcast, and a beggar? The more need has he of my love. +Tell me not of dishonour: there is none with him. Speak to me not of +shame: I know it not with him. Is his fate in your hands? So is mine. +They cannot be divided. He is mine, and I am his."</p> + +<p>As her daughter spoke, Mrs. Pendarrel tightened her hold upon her wrist, +and when she flung it loose at the close of Mildred's words, it was +discoloured by the pressure. She flung it scornfully from her, and said, +in tones whose concentrated but cold indignation was remarkably at +variance with her previous vehemence:—</p> + +<p>"Go to your chamber, girl. We must see a quick end to this folly. And as +for him, you have sealed his doom."</p> + +<p>Mildred obeyed, and retired to her own apartment. There she threw +herself on a couch, and wept long and passionately. But one thought at +last seized her, and restored her to herself.</p> + +<p>"His doom sealed!" she murmured. "Did my mother say his doom was sealed? +And through me? No, no: it must not be. And is he, indeed, in such +danger and distress, and I here, far away, instead of sharing his +sorrows, as is my right and my duty? Oh, mother! mother! you little know +what you have done."</p> + +<p>And she rose, and dried her eyes, and wrote two notes, inclosing one +within the other, and directing the outer one to Helen Trevethlan. She +had never been one of those dramatic heroines who, in every little +trouble, seek consolation from their maids. With regard to them, one +might be inclined to avail oneself of the qualification attached to the +Highgate oath. Mildred had never asked Rhoda to do her any secret +service before. But when she summoned her now, and requested her to +convey the note she had just written to its destination at Mrs. +Winston's, the natural quickness of a soubrette at once perceived, from +the mere selection of the messenger, that the errand was confidential, +and it was with gratified self-esteem that Rhoda accepted the mission, +and delivered the billet into Miss Trevethlan's own hands. Rhoda +advanced very rapidly in the confidence of her young mistress that +evening.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pendarrel had been thunderstruck by the attitude assumed by her +daughter. She had wrapped herself securely in reliance upon her own +power, and so bold a defiance almost stunned her. She bitterly regretted +the sarcasms into which she had been betrayed by passion. She readily +perceived the effect they would have upon a temper like Mildred's, a +temper in some respects like her own. And should all her schemes, all +the plans which she built up with so much care and labour, be frustrated +by the obstinacy of a love-sick girl? Should Esther Pendarrel confess +herself defeated? There was little hope of that. But she felt dim fears +and doubts besetting her. She experienced anew some of the despondency +caused by the destruction of her house; she looked to the future with +some foreboding of evil. But activity must subdue all such misgivings. +This insolent suitor must be crushed at once. Her daughter must be +schooled into instant submission. Nearly cotemporaneously with Mildred's +letter-writing, her mother also indited two epistles. The one she +despatched the same evening, by a trusty hand, to Tolpeden Park; the +other she sent immediately to Messrs. Truby's offices in Lincoln's Inn.</p> + +<p>There would apparently be some searing of hearts, before the war which +was that day proclaimed arrived at a peaceful termination.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">These violent delights have violent ends,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in their triumph die; like fire and powder,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which, as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is loathsome in its own deliciousness,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in the taste confounds the appetite:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Therefore, love moderately; long love doth so;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Shakspeare.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>It was a notable fact at this time that Seymour Rereworth, the recluse +law-student, whom Mrs. Winston used to rally for his devotion to so +crabbed a mistress, became a frequent haunter of the house in Cavendish +Square. His acquaintance with the Trevethlans, and his relationship to +Gertrude, opened the door, closed to all besides, of that little boudoir +where she and Helen used to sit together, when they were unengaged; +precisely the same room from which Randolph pointed out to Mildred the +star which he fancifully chose as the arbiter of his destiny. There +Rereworth, forsaking the tangled intricacies of Astræa, learned to +disentangle skeins of silk; there, instead of threading the mazes of +some perplexing quibble, he could, on occasion, thread a needle; there, +instead of reading of the wars of the alphabet, A against B, and C +against D, he would read aloud the newest poem of Byron, or the latest +novel of Scott; and Seymour was a good reader, and did not object to +hear himself read, particularly when Helen Trevethlan listened. And the +expression one can throw into such poetry and such prose is very +convenient. So Rereworth was now the Corsair, with—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">My own Medora, sure thy song is sad.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Then Selim, with—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Bound where thou wilt, my barb; or glide, my prow—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But be the star that guides the wanderer—thou.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And again he played the romantic with Flora Mac Ivor, or sang serenades +with Henry Bertram. It is, we say, a convenient way of making love, +which was something very like Seymour's present occupation, when—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The deep, the low, the pleading tone<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With which we <i>read</i> another's love,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Interpret may our own.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Pleasant it is to contrast the even and tranquil affection which was +thus ripening between Rereworth and Miss Trevethlan, with the turbulent +and rebellious passion which linked together Mildred and Randolph. Helen +had soon learned to like her brother's friend in his winter visits to +Mr. Peach's cottage: her heart thanked him for the zeal which he now +displayed in investigating the fraud practised at the recent trial; and +she listened to these readings in a mood prepared readily to acquiesce +in the emotions they were calculated to excite. Although it must be +confessed that the wild passions of Lord Byron's heroes had more in +common with the angry humour of Randolph than with her own gentle +disposition. Perhaps her pleasure was derived from the voice of the +reader rather than the poetry which he read.</p> + +<p>But Rereworth did not allow his attentions to the sister to prevail over +his exertions on behalf of the brother. And Randolph, being now more +independent, seconded his friend's efforts with his own. But it was a +vague and unsatisfactory pursuit. With no little difficulty they opened +a correspondence with the family of Everope, but they were disappointed +in its result; for nothing precise could be recollected respecting the +spendthrift's movements in that eventful autumn. His connections were by +no means anxious to revive their knowledge of his habits. And in London +he seemed to have entirely abandoned all his former haunts. His chambers +remained permanently closed; no one had seen him for a long time. +Restless and impatient, Randolph roamed through the metropolis, +scrutinizing the wayfarers, until his eyes became weary of the endless +succession of unknown faces. Occasionally he visited places of +questionable resort, having learned that such were much frequented by +the object of his chase. Thus, once or twice, he went to the Argyll +Rooms, and walked, care-worn and sad, among the giddy throng, where most +especially, even in laughter, the heart was sorrowful, and the end of +mirth was heaviness. And there one night he was mocked with a glimpse of +the man he sought. He was watching, partly with interest, and partly +with aversion, the proceedings at the hazard-table, when he noticed a +player sitting opposite him, the quivering of whose fingers, as his +forehead rested on them, showed how keen was his anxiety in the game. +While Randolph was observing him, a showy woman laid her hand upon the +gambler's shoulder, and made him look up with a start. At the same +moment his eye met Randolph's; he saw he was recognised, rose and +vanished; and though his pursuer hurried after him, his inexperience and +want of acquaintance with the ways of the place enabled Everope to elude +his search.</p> + +<p>Meantime, at Trevethlan, Griffith was quietly following another trail. +He took the proceedings at the inquest on the supposed Ashton as the +basis of his hopes, and was eagerly inquiring among the country people +what was remembered of the occurrences on the night of his suspected +murder; for it might be presumed that they could not now feel any +reluctance to tell all they knew, as the lapse of time would be +sufficient to save them from harm. And, accordingly, the steward had +little difficulty in ascertaining the particulars of the smuggling +adventure of the night in question, and found that it was generally +supposed the murderer had escaped in the lugger which came in with the +illicit cargo. But there his researches were brought to an end. What had +become of that lugger? In what seas she had sailed since, over what +parts of the globe her crew were dispersed, were questions more easily +asked than answered, with respect to a vessel of her character.</p> + +<p>The hamlet was plunged in mourning. Already the note of preparation had +been sounded for the formal taking possession of the castle by its new +proprietor, and no rescue seemed probable. The old prediction was to be +fulfilled at the expense of Trevethlan. The evil omen of the late +squire's marriage was to be borne out by the event. And not a few +families in the village were still bewailing the absence of some member +now imprisoned on a charge of being concerned in the outrage at +Pendarrel. The utmost rigour of the law was threatened against the +guilty, and the offence was capital. The dark hour which old Maud Basset +said was at hand for the house of Trevethlan had indeed arrived, and +gloom hung around the towers on the cliff, and over the green of the +hamlet.</p> + +<p>The wrath of the villagers ran high against all who had in any way +abetted the law-suit, and in particular against Michael Sinson. Upon his +head many an imprecation was breathed, and against him many a threat was +muttered. And the odium reflected upon his sweetheart. The people abused +her for her rejection of Edward Owen. They said it was due to her that +he was now lying in jail. They pointed at her, and flouted her. And poor +Mercy often thought of the dismal denunciations of Dame Gudhan, and +shuddered at the idea they might prove true.</p> + +<p>Old Maud also shared in the unpopularity of her grandson. Over and over +again the folks dinned into her ears that Margaret's marriage was +broken, and that it was all her Michael's doing. That was the reason, +they said, that the castle and lands passed away from Squire Randolph. +It was her own favourite that had brought shame on the daughter of whom +she was so proud. But Maud refused to understand. She sat, hour after +hour, swaying herself to and fro in her rocking-chair, exulting in the +ruin of the family which had wronged her Margaret, and, in a low voice, +murmuring the hymns she had learned in childhood.</p> + +<p>It would seem the fortunes of that family could hardly sink lower, but +such was not the case. Griffith received a letter from Winter, informing +him that Mr. Pendarrel's lawyer had intimated he was instructed to +demand a rigid account of all the personal property left by his late +master, and that, although he had replied the demand would be resisted, +still the steward had better prepare for the worst. As yet no light +appeared to brighten the condition in which they were left by the +verdict in the ejectment. Griffith lifted up his hands in tribulation, +and looked back through those five-and-thirty years.</p> + +<p>This announcement was the result of Mrs. Pendarrel's interview with Mr. +Truby. She insisted on the lawyer pressing all the legal consequences of +the verdict to the utmost, and without delay. She even inquired whether +the so-called Mr. Trevethlan might not be arrested. But Truby coldly +answered, that though perhaps he might, yet he could not be detained, +and that such a procedure would be at variance with the common courtesy. +Common courtesy! Mrs. Pendarrel might think, what courtesy is there +between me and him? She did not, however, venture to urge her +proposition further.</p> + +<p>But we are anticipating a little. Randolph remained unaware of this new +device to drive him to utter ruin. One evening, after a day spent in the +fruitless wanderings which occupied so much of his time, he was sitting +with Polydore Riches, silent and languid, thinking moodily of abandoning +all hope, and at once proceeding to some distant land in quest of +enterprise—South America seemed to offer a field—when the post brought +him a letter. He saw it was from Helen, and opened it slowly and without +much curiosity. But it contained an enclosure, addressed to himself, in +a lady's writing with which he was unacquainted. That he unfolded with +more despatch, and read:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Randolph—I am yours. I must see you. Meet me to-morrow +afternoon, at three, near the keeper's lodge, in +Kensington-gardens.—Your——</p> + +<p>"M. P."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The blood rushed into the reader's pallid cheeks. The very encounter +which he had at times dreaded, while threading his way through the +crowded streets, was here pressed upon him in a manner which he could +not elude. Would he wish, then, to avoid it? Perhaps not. But in the +first confusion of his feelings, joy had only a small share. Again all +his plans were frustrated. He seemed to be a mere plaything in the hands +of destiny.</p> + +<p>It wanted yet some time of the appointed hour when the lover sought the +rendezvous. Backwards and forwards, with uneven steps, he paced the +grass between the cottage and the Serpentine-river. The thought of +avenging the desolation around him again presented itself to his fancy: +again he resisted it, and vowed that no such selfish impulse should +sully his affection for Mildred. But the idea recalled the death-bed +injunctions of his father, and reminded him that he had been on the +point of entirely submitting to his adversary's triumph. He began to +think that the task which had been imposed upon him was beyond his +strength. His dreamy and lonely youth had ill prepared him for the +storms of riper years. He was infirm of purpose and irresolute of heart.</p> + +<p>The approach of a female form fluttered his pulse, and in a moment he +was at Mildred's side. The greeting was incoherent and abrupt.</p> + +<p>"Randolph," the lady said, "I have sought you, because I have no other +succour left. Do you know, have they told you, that my bridal is at +hand?"</p> + +<p>Her lover started, and remembered, as in a flash of lightning, what he +had heard from old Jeffrey.</p> + +<p>"It was false," he said. "Dearest, I knew it was false."</p> + +<p>"Ay," she continued. "But it has become very like truth. Do you know +that everybody believes it? that everybody looks upon Mildred +Pendarrel.... Oh, my mother, my mother, why have you driven me to this?"</p> + +<p>She spoke with passionate sorrowfulness of accent. Well might Randolph +say there was no happiness in love like theirs.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the day is fixed. I am a prisoner till it comes. I am here only by +stealth. I do not know what will become of me. I can bear it no longer."</p> + +<p>The words followed one another in rapid succession. Mildred was trying +to forget herself in the quickness of her utterance.</p> + +<p>"The day will never dawn," Randolph exclaimed. "Are we not vowed to each +other? Are we not pledged for ever? Let us fly, dearest. Let us be +united before the world, as we are in our hearts. But, no, no," he +suddenly ejaculated, with a burst of anguish. "Do you know who I am? An +outcast, without house or name. Dishonoured and infamous. What can I +offer you? How can you share my lot? It must not be, dearest Mildred, it +can never be."</p> + +<p>"I know it all," she answered. "It was my mother that pressed it on me. +What then? Was it not the very reason that determined me? Oh, Randolph, +do not think so lightly of me, as to suppose such things would turn me +from my vow. Do not think I would recall what is my only hope, my +last-remaining joy. I have nothing left but you. Do not fancy I regret +what is gone."</p> + +<p>Brief, but earnest and decided, was the conversation that ensued. +Passion carried all before it. Mildred thought that, with the help of +her faithful Rhoda, she could escape the same evening. Randolph would +arrange everything for their flight. The north road would conduct them, +if not to happiness, at least to security. A few rapid sentences settled +all preliminary details; and the lovers parted, to meet again before +many hours were over.</p> + +<p>There was now no time for reflection. Randolph had not a minute to +spare. There were letters to write for Helen and for Mr. Riches, short +as possible, giving, after all, no information. There were funds to +provide, little requisites to collect. When Randolph stood by his +carriage under the trees of Grosvenor-square, he seemed scarcely to have +rested a moment from the time he left Kensington-gardens.</p> + +<p>Late in the evening it was. Mildred had retired for the night. Rhoda +showed her young mistress, in a slight disguise, to Mrs. Pendarrel's +door, as a visitor, and speedily slipped out, unseen, herself. They +reached the carriage in safety. The elopement was complete. Scandal +laughed in the wind that swept through the trees, as the fugitives were +whirled from the square.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The father was steel, and the mother was stone;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They lifted the latch, and they bid him begone.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But loud on the morrow their wail and their cry!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He had laughed on the lass with his bonny black eye,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And she fled to the forest to hear a love-tale,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the youth it was told by was Allen-a-Dale.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Scott.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>The flight was not detected. So when Mrs. Pendarrel descended in the +morning to the breakfast room, she was surprised at finding no Mildred +there to receive her. She did not at first take much heed to the +circumstance, but herself commenced what had usually been her daughter's +duty. But when she had been some time joined by her husband, and there +were still no signs of the young lady, she desired a servant to send +Miss Pendarrel's maid to inquire whether her mistress was not ready for +breakfast. Answer came in a few minutes, that Miss Pendarrel's maid was +not to be found. Esther then felt some uneasiness; would herself look +after the bird; found the cage empty; an incoherent note on the +dressing-table:—</p> + +<p>"Dearest mother," Mildred briefly wrote, "I can bear it no longer. Every +day sinks me deeper in deceit. You do not know—you never can tell, how +I have struggled. Why did you upbraid him? Oh, mother, why did you seem +to rejoice in his sorrow? I feel that I can only be his. When you know +all my despair, you will forgive your child."</p> + +<p>"Never," Esther exclaimed, grinding her teeth. She crushed the billet in +her hand, and returned to her husband.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Trevethlan Pendarrel," said she, "your daughter has eloped."</p> + +<p>The politician felt some excitement for once, and blushed like red tape.</p> + +<p>"What!" he exclaimed. "What did you say, Esther?"</p> + +<p>"Your daughter has eloped, sir," she repeated; "eloped with your +pretended nephew. Come, sir; there must be a pursuit."</p> + +<p>Roused at last to a sense of the emergency, the bereaved father +bestirred himself, obtained some traces of the fugitives, and, within +half an hour, was flying along the north road as fast as four horses +could take him.</p> + +<p>Did any girl ever know the anguish she would inflict by a step like +Mildred's? Press to the uttermost the arguments urged by Milton and +Johnson in defence of the right of children to choose for themselves in +marriage, they will still never be found to countervail the natural +sentiments of the heart. They will never subdue conscience, or stifle +remorse. And so it has been often observed, that wedlock, in which the +honour due to father and mother is forgotten, is rarely happy in its +result. And, on the other hand, parents, who, without the most solid +grounds, coerce their children's inclinations, will probably one day pay +the penalty of their hard-heartedness.</p> + +<p>Esther communicated the event in a short and savage note to Mrs. +Winston, striving to flatter herself with the idea, that in spite of +Mildred's words, she might have sought an asylum in Cavendish-square. +Gertrude answered the missive in person, and with great sorrow. She +bitterly deplored her sister's imprudence; but Mrs. Pendarrel received +her with sharp and angry speech, said what had happened was owing to her +teaching, was sorry she had no daughters to serve her in the same way, +and, in short, treated her with a contumely which it required all Mrs. +Winston's temper to endure in respectful silence.</p> + +<p>Esther was almost prostrated by the blow. She had never been quite +herself since the burning of Pendarrel. She had, it was true, maintained +a bold and haughty front, but she had lost some of her old internal +confidence. She had become more hasty, and found her self-control much +weakened. She perceived the change in that scene with Mildred, which, as +she confessed to herself, had probably hurried the catastrophe more than +anything Mrs. Winston had done or said. But when she desired Mildred not +to leave the house without her cognizance, she had no idea that the +young lady was prepared to disobey.</p> + +<p>She read the note of farewell over and over. She crumpled it, and +smoothed it, again and again. With all its incoherence, it was +sufficiently decided. And so the very same day in which she had +fulminated her final decree against the heir of Trevethlan—a decree +which she hoped would crush him to the ground—that very day her +daughter had thrown herself into his arms. She was check-mated just when +she thought the next move would give her the game. Henry Trevethlan was +already well avenged.</p> + +<p>In the midst of her agitation, word was brought her that Michael Sinson +had begged the favour of an audience. She had seen very little of her +protégé since her arrival in town. She fancied he might be of some +service in her present strait, and granted the permission he sought. +Ignorant of Miss Pendarrel's flight, he came cringing into the presence +of his patroness, with the idea that Everope was safe, and that he might +claim the reward of his treachery.</p> + +<p>"Now, sir," his mistress said as he entered, "what is your business with +me?"</p> + +<p>The young man was embarrassed. He had well considered what he was about +to say, yet, when the time came to speak, his words were not ready.</p> + +<p>"You know, ma'am," he said, hesitating and confused, "the pains I have +taken in exposing the person who had unlawful possession of Trevethlan +Castle."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir!"</p> + +<p>"You know, ma'am, that I did not scruple to bring discredit on some of +my own kindred, in order that right might be done."</p> + +<p>"You have been well paid," Mrs. Pendarrel said.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, ma'am," Sinson proceeded. "I have been reproached and abused +by my relations, and all the country people turn away from me. It is not +easy for me to show my face in Kerrier or Penwith. But right is done at +last. You have the castle firm and safe. Do you remember, ma'am, what I +told you of the late owner and Miss Mildred?"</p> + +<p>Esther started, supposing the speaker was going to give her some +intelligence respecting the elopement.</p> + +<p>"In a week or a fortnight," Michael continued, "there will be no trace +of the old family at Trevethlan. The steward is now preparing to quit. +Mr. Randolph is wandering somewhere in poverty and want. Do you suppose, +ma'am, that he has forgotten that walk on the cliff, with—with your +daughter?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pendarrel was surprised. She could not imagine to what end so +strange an introduction was tending. She listened in silence.</p> + +<p>"No, ma'am," said her protégé. "Love will not grow cold in ruin."</p> + +<p>And then Sinson, in incoherent language, proceeded to contrast +Randolph's circumstances with his own. It was a speech which he had +often meditated, and spoken in soliloquy, yet he now felt almost unable +to deliver it. A sense of the hollowness of his reasoning choked the +words which should have flowed from his lips. He was too conscious of +his own sophistry to be eloquent. Yet he struggled on through sentence +after sentence, without observing the increasing astonishment of Mrs. +Pendarrel, who wondered more and more to what he was coming. Like Fear, +Michael recoiled from the sound of his own voice, when he had heard his +concluding demand.</p> + +<p>"Why, then, if this Mr. Randolph is fascinated by—your daughter—why +should I be blind to the same attractions?"</p> + +<p>By this time Esther had risen from her seat, and stood, mute with +amazement. Had Michael been less excited, he could not have failed to +notice the scorn and indignation in her face. But he had become absorbed +in his subject, and proceeded hurriedly.</p> + +<p>"And what obstacle is there? The world's prejudice? That I sweep aside. +You can give me what station you please. Her engagement? You have good +cause to break it. Why does Melcomb pursue her? To pay off the +encumbrances on Tolpeden? No, no: to pay his own debts. Tolpeden will be +mortgaged as now. Will she object? Not if she have any regard for Mr. +Randolph. I can implicate him in the burning of Pendarrel. His life will +be in danger. She will consent, in order to save him. What hinderance is +there then?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pendarrel approached the bell-rope, but before she could pull it, +Michael boldly interposed. He had now regained his audacity.</p> + +<p>"Hark! ma'am," he said. "Before you venture to scorn this offer, +remember what you owe me. I am not to be paid with money. Well paid, did +you say? No, ma'am. The triumph you have gained hangs upon my word. A +breath from me will blow it to the winds. There is shame in store for +you, ma'am, worse than any that has befallen Mr. Randolph. I have +letters of yours, ma'am. You are in my power. I have named my terms. +Beware, ma'am, of rejecting them."</p> + +<p>"You do not seem to be aware, sir," Esther said, with cold and bitter +sarcasm, "that the honour you would confer upon my family, it is not in +my power to accept. My daughter fled from my house last night, and, as I +believe, in company with the person to whom you allude."</p> + +<p>"Fled!" Sinson exclaimed in a whisper. "Fled!"</p> + +<p>Before he recovered from his astonishment, Mrs. Pendarrel had rung the +bell. A servant speedily answered the summons. Michael heard an order +which banished him from the house for ever, and stamped fiercely on the +floor, while his patroness retired into an adjoining apartment.</p> + +<p>"Did you hear, sir?" said the servant tapping Sinson smartly on the +shoulder.</p> + +<p>An execration rose to the young man's lips, but he repressed it, and +followed the attendant. The door of the house closed behind him, and its +jar seemed finally to shiver to atoms the fabric he had been +constructing so long and so laboriously. He stood on the pavement of the +street, once more the vile Cornish peasant. His devices had recoiled +upon his own head. One step of a simple girl had disconcerted all his +schemes. And he had tied his own hands. But then with a sort of savage +glee he thought of the plight of the young lovers. At least he had +brought ruin on the house from which he had been driven with disdain. +And he retained his hold on Mrs. Pendarrel. He was not lost in loss +itself. He must obtain the funds which he had affected to despise. +Should he not follow up the idea which he had mentioned of charging +Randolph with instigating those incendiaries? There was motive +sufficient to make the accusation credible. He could at least tamper +with some of those who were in custody. The hope of pardon, the promise +of reward would be tempting inducements. He was not yet destitute of +resources. And he had the chance of his lottery-ticket.</p> + +<p>Such were the notions into which the tumult of Sinson's passions at +length subsided. He had gone into the Green Park, and he walked rapidly +to and fro, under the trees by Rosamond's Pond. Some people watched him, +thinking that he meditated suicide. But his pace became gradually slower +and steadier, and the flaneurs went on their way, wondering what might +have caused so much agitation.</p> + +<p>"No," Michael might have muttered between his teeth; "at least he shall +not enjoy any tranquillity. Infamy shall follow poverty. He shall never +be happy with her, nor she with him. Let him pay for his father's +scornfulness; let her atone for her mother's disdain. Ha! What did I +say? What did I betray? But no; I mentioned nothing tangible. No names. +No particulars. The secret is safe. Let Mrs. Pendarrel take possession +of Trevethlan Castle: she will hold it for me. Let her refuse me my +demands, and I blow her title to the winds, and shame her in the sight +of the world. And I am safe. There would be nothing against me but what +I chose to confess. Ay, the game is not up yet. I shall not have played +for nothing. Was I expelled from the castle? Am I driven from the hall? +Long shall the heir of the one, and the mistress of the other, rue the +contumely they cast upon Michael Sinson."</p> + +<p>The muser started, for a hand grasped his arm, and shook him. He looked +up, and encountered Everope.</p> + +<p>"Do you hear, Sinson?" cried the spendthrift. "Five times I have said +your name! What is the matter with you?"</p> + +<p>"It's plain enough what is the matter with you," Michael answered +moodily. "And why have you not left London? For what are you lingering +here? Do you wish to be transported?"</p> + +<p>"If I am, you will be also," said Everope. "I must have some money."</p> + +<p>Slovenly and jaded, the unhappy man presented obvious signs of recent +dissipation. His eyes were bloodshot, and his hand trembled.</p> + +<p>"That you may squander it in riot," Sinson said. "Tush! you have had too +much already. You think you are worth more than you are. You can only +harm yourself. Go abroad, or I shall throw you into the Fleet. Let's see +who'll believe your stories there."</p> + +<p>"Villain!" exclaimed the spendthrift.</p> + +<p>All the fierce and disappointed passions which were struggling in +Michael's breast, concurred in giving strength to the blow that sent +Everope staggering several paces to fall upon the turf, almost before +the word had passed his lips. Sinson turned and walked away.</p> + +<p>His bondman rose from the ground in a fury not to be described. All the +few traces of the gentleman which still lingered about him, rebelled +with hot resentment against the insult he had received. Such are the +contradictions of our nature. Mean, profligate, and perjured, Everope +yet revolted from a blow. And from whom received? From the tempter to +whom he sold himself for a few paltry pieces of gold. From one whom he, +even in his own degradation, despised and loathed; who had betrayed him +into guilt at which his soul grew sick. And directed against the man who +had come to offer him kindness. Yes; how well he remembered that +repulsed visit to his chambers in the Temple! With what horror he had +recognised his benefactor at the trial! The man whom his testimony had +undone had attempted to rescue him from ruin. "Too late it was, too +late," Everope cried with his inward voice—"it has always been too late +with me. But need it still be so? Was opportunity of retrieval finally +gone? Had even the eleventh hour elapsed? Could he not break his chains? +It was but to speak one word. The Fleet! There, or worse then there, he +must end! Why should he struggle for a few days' respite? What was the +wretched timidity which disabled him from facing his position?"</p> + +<p>Such was the reverie of him whom want of principle and a sanguine temper +had reduced by degrees to the degraded state in which the reader finds +him. Always hoping to retrieve the effects of past extravagance, and +intending to repair the mischief of former faults, he allowed himself to +be led into fresh wastefulness, and to be involved in further guilt. Was +his present penitence to be more efficient? The question will soon be +answered. He hurried away from the scene of his interview with Sinson, +and quitted the park by Buckingham-gate.</p> + +<p>Meantime, Michael had not gone very far before a thought seemed to +strike him, and he retraced his steps to Rosamond's Pond. After all, it +might be prudent not to quarrel with the spendthrift at present. But he +was too late. Everope had disappeared. "It is no matter," Sinson +muttered; "I can find him at any time." The next day he went down into +Cornwall.</p> + +<p>"The understanding of a man naturally sanguine"—it is Dr. Johnson who +speaks—"may be easily vitiated by the luxurious indulgence of hope, +however necessary to the production of everything great or excellent; as +some plants are destroyed by too open exposure to that sun which gives +life and beauty to the vegetable world."</p> + +<p>In Everope is seen the extremity to which the vitiation here mentioned +by the great moralist may sometimes be carried. Yet surely a sanguine +temperament ought to be a blessing. A willingness to see the bright side +of things should not be converted into a misfortune. But it is +frequently at once compliant and obstinate, yielding readily to +seduction and resisting advice. And it is too often treated in the +spirit of the maxim, that wilful men must have their way. That is to +say, it is considered to be always in the wrong. A common idea is, that +difficulty will cure its faults. But the difficulty must not amount to +ruin. The step from the sublime to the ridiculous is not more easy than +that from sanguineness to despair.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i8">Do you note,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How much her Grace is altered on the sudden?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How long her face is drawn? How pale she looks,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And of an earthly cold? Mark you her eyes?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Shakspeare.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>The news of the elopement was of course at first allowed to transpire as +little as possible. There was still a faint chance that the errant +damsel might be overtaken before she was over the border, in which case +the escapade might perhaps be hushed up, and scandal deprived of its +prey. But it created anxiety and sorrow at other places besides the +house in May-Fair. In Randolph's notes to Helen and to Polydore, he +merely said that he was summoned suddenly from town for a few days, and +would write again very shortly. He did not dare to entrust the secret of +his flight to paper. His communications, therefore, caused great +perplexity. It was something quite new for him to show any reserve, +towards either the chaplain or his sister. But the mystery was solved by +Mrs. Winston, who gently complained that Helen should have availed +herself of her visit in Cavendish Square, to become a means of +correspondence between the fugitives. She soon saw, however, that +Helen's simplicity had alone been to blame, and withdrew her +remonstrances.</p> + +<p>Polydore was very much disturbed. Was this the end of his teaching? Was +it his quiet and meditative pupil, the calm student of the library at +Trevethlan, the contemplative muser by the sea, who had thus in one +moment flung prudence aside, and fled to an irregular and unhallowed +union? The simple-hearted chaplain could not understand it at all. He +had sometimes anticipated the pleasure of himself blessing the nuptials +of his former pupils, according to the ritual of his church, and now +Randolph had contracted a marriage devoid of any ecclesiastical +sanction. Improper and ill-omened as had been the father's wedding, that +of the son, Mr. Riches thought, was still more deplorable. Such matches +were rarely a source of happiness. And here, in particular, the enmity +between the families might lead to unusual misery. And poverty—stark, +staring poverty—seemed to threaten the young couple. For Polydore had +learned from Mr. Winter the last step taken by Mrs. Pendarrel, and saw +nothing before the orphans but absolute and immediate want.</p> + +<p>And the further letters which before long reached both Helen and the +chaplain did not tend to allay their anxiety. Randolph wrote that he and +his bride were returning, by easy and leisurely stages, to the +metropolis. But there were few traces of happiness, or even of +tranquillity in his missives. They contained no spontaneous effusion of +joy, no expressions of triumph, no desire for congratulation. They were, +on the contrary, cold and restrained. The writer seemed endeavouring to +suppress any signs of emotion, to avoid causing uneasiness, to prevent +sympathy. Even in speaking of Mildred, he was cautiously reserved. He +mentioned her without any warmth of panegyric, and without any overflow +of tenderness. Neither did he say a single word in justification of his +flight. He seemed to write, rather because he felt bound to do so, than +from any pleasure in the correspondence. In fact, Polydore remarked to +himself with a sigh, that if Randolph had not wished on his arrival in +town to find a temporary abode ready for him where he was not known, he +would probably not have written at all. In all this the chaplain saw but +slight prospect of future comfort.</p> + +<p>Nor was an epistle which Mildred wrote to her sister, although different +in tone, more re-assuring. It was much more open and unrestrained, but +it exhibited a mood quite as unsatisfactory. The bride strove at great +length, and with much passion, to justify her flight. She described in +eager and bitter language the long solicitude she had endured, both at +Pendarrel Hall and in London. During all that time, she said, she was +made to act a lie. She had remonstrated, and implored, and wept. She had +been derided, and threatened, and terrified. Her steps had been watched, +and at last she had been bidden to consider herself a prisoner. But all +this, and more than this, would not have tempted her to fly. It was not +until she was told that a certain event was imminent,—it was not until +she heard him who was now her husband shamed and calumniated, and +declared to be in want and sorrow,—that the idea of consulting with him +occurred to her. She had no one to advise her. Gertrude's own promises +were too limited. She was distracted. She had no eyes for anything but +one immediate and overwhelming danger. Was not <i>he</i> on the point of +coming from Cornwall? Yet still she did not mean to fly. It was the idea +of a moment; hastily adopted, to be executed after an interval too brief +to give time for reflection. Were it to be done over again, nothing +would induce her to take such a step. She knew all she had forfeited. +But she hoped her sister would not judge her too severely. And, finally, +she prayed Gertrude to intercede for her with her mother. She should +never enjoy a moment's repose until she had obtained her pardon. She +acknowledged her undutifulness in terms of the most earnest penitence. +Already, she said, her punishment had begun. If it lasted, it would be +more than she could bear. Better it would have been to have endured the +utmost extremity, than to have incurred her mother's just indignation.</p> + +<p>With the arrival of these letters all secresy respecting the affair was +at an end. The news spread rapidly from mouth to mouth, that Miss +Pendarrel had made a stolen match. The scandal-mongers were gratified to +their heart's content. All the details of the flight were discussed with +ignorant curiosity; accidents were invented which had never occurred; +and the stratagems by which pursuit was evaded were described with exact +inaccuracy.</p> + +<p>Border weddings will soon be as legendary as that of Lochinvar. The rail +has already destroyed the romance of the journey, and the law will +speedily put an end to its profit, by requiring a fortnight's residence +before a marriage will be valid. Let "victims," therefore, make haste. +It was rather different when Randolph carried off his bride from +Grosvenor Square. He had engaged a carriage for the journey, but he +wanted time and experience to arrange an express, and was consequently +much delayed during the night. The travellers had not accomplished more +than fifty miles, when day broke upon them. It had been a silent, though +sleepless ride, and morning showed Randolph the traces of tears on +Mildred's cheeks. They called to his mind in an instant the extent of +the sacrifice she had made; for he would be no party to any suit for +reconciliation. He had torn his bride from her station and her friends, +and held himself precluded from all attempt to restore her to their +love. His father's spirit seemed to whisper in his ear, that for him +there could be no communion with those whom Mildred was bound to honour, +and whom he had persuaded her to desert. And for what? What lay before +himself?</p> + +<p>He endeavoured to repel such considerations, and to devote himself to +the comforting of his companion. But his efforts were of little avail. +He became gloomy and abstracted. So soon did repentance mingle with the +feelings of the fugitives. But still they hurried forwards. Retreat, for +Randolph at least, was out of the question; and to be overtaken would be +defeat. He could afford no such triumph to Philip or Esther Pendarrel. +And the father's pursuit was fruitless. He gained upon the chase at +every stage; but he came up too late. They were united, never to be put +asunder.</p> + +<p>They heard of his arrival, and Mildred would have thrown herself at his +feet. But her husband would not suffer it. It was rather early for a +matrimonial dispute, and a sad occasion of difference. Dark forebodings +crowded on the heart of the young wife. It was far from being so that +she was bidden to leave father and mother and cleave to her husband. But +Randolph would join her in a letter. No; he would not even permit her to +write on his behalf. She must strictly confine her apologies to herself. +For him, he would make none, and would ask for no forgiveness. It was +his part to forgive.</p> + +<p>In the sorrow and dismay occasioned by these injunctions, Mildred wrote +the letter to her sister which we have sketched above. She gave it to +her husband to read. He observed the anguish expressed in every line, +and melted into a flood of tenderness, blaming the moodiness of his +temper, and praying pardon of his bride. But he said no word which might +encourage her to insert a single sentence in his name; and she +remembered how, at that meeting on the cliff, Randolph spoke of the hate +which was between her mother and himself, and how there could be little +of happiness in his love; and the words appeared to be true with a force +to bring despair.</p> + +<p>With a misgiving heart, Mrs. Winston took her sister's letter to their +mother. Esther read it, and gave no sign. She observed that Mildred's +entreaties and excuses were confined to herself. There was no mention of +her partner in the affront; and Mrs. Pendarrel resented it too fiercely +as yet to show any commiseration. Yet she was greatly changed. The +successive shocks she had sustained had tamed her haughty resolution. +The destruction of her home had caused her many a bitter pang. It was +followed by the anxiety and exasperation produced by her daughter's +demeanour. These were converted into despondency and fury by the +elopement. And then came her miserable agent with a proposal which +insulted her, and with menacing hints which were at once a cause of +perplexity and alarm. Under such an accumulation of cares, it was no +wonder that her old spirit deserted her, and that her usual energy was +prostrated.</p> + +<p>But no gentle thoughts yet mingled with her dejection. Anger, cold and +stern, over-powered every other sentiment. She forgive! She pardon the +rebellion which had shattered the hopes of many months! She extend her +hand to the man whom she had just driven to ruin! Forego the vengeance +which she had meditated for years! Furnish Henry Trevethlan cause to +triumph in his grave! Take the child again to her bosom who had wedded a +nameless outcast! One whom she, Esther Pendarrel, had just before +succeeded in degrading, and whom she could not, if she would, restore! +Was it not a fair jest for the world to laugh at? She had disinherited +and beggared her foe, only to prepare him to become her daughter's +husband. And even now he gave no sign. He was exulting over the check he +had put upon her. After all, it was he who had won the game. And should +she then forgive?—should she make the victory more complete? No: let +them starve;—let them see how poverty and love agreed together. She +could at least enjoy that spectacle. And when love grew cold in daily +bickerings, when life became a long scene of mutual recrimination, when +strife made it happiness to be apart, or guilt brought about an actual +separation, then she might think her daughter's penance sufficiently +severe, and furnish her with the means of prolonging her miserable +existence.</p> + +<p>In this dejected and sullen temper Mr. Pendarrel found his wife upon his +return from his unsuccessful journey to the north. And he was surprised +to discover that he had become of sudden consequence in the household. +Esther seemed to have abdicated her rule. She let things take their +course with a strange sort of apathy. Her activity vanished, or only +showed itself in petty things. She often sat unemployed, and absent of +mind for a long time together. She took her husband's advice. But the +slightest allusion to the elopement, or any kindred topic, made her eyes +gleam in a way to scare the unwary suggester of such a theme. Mr. +Pendarrel ventured to hint, soon after his return, at the desirableness +of some arrangement, and the reception of the experiment fairly +frightened him from repeating it.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that, after the stormy scene with Mildred, Esther +despatched a missive to Tolpeden Park. It was to summon its proprietor +immediately to town. Melcomb obeyed; and arrived only to learn that his +intended bride belonged to another. His career was soon at an end. +Embarrassments thickened around him. For some time he played at +hide-and-seek with the minions of the sheriff; but at length they +triumphed, and Melcomb became an inmate of the King's Bench.</p> + +<p>And now he may disappear from these pages. After a while he obtained +"the rules;" occupied decent apartments near the Obelisk; joined a club +of gentlemen in his own plight, and mimicked on a small scale the habits +of a more fortunate time. One evening he was missed from his accustomed +tavern. They inquired at his lodgings. He was very ill; and he never +rallied. Some of his companions in misfortune consoled his declining +hours; and in a few days his heir took joyful possession of Tolpeden.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">None but an author knows an author's cares,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or fancy's fondness for the child she bears:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Committed once into the public arms,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The baby seems to smile with added charms:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like something precious ventured far from shore,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis valued for the danger's sake the more.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Cowper.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>Polydore Riches, as we have said, was much disturbed by the matrimonial +escapade of his old pupil. But his profession, his own experience, and +his age, had taught him resignation. It was his favourite theory that +things seemed evil only because they were but half seen. Could man +discern the whole train of events of which an apparent calamity was +part, he would find that what was thought a misfortune was really a +blessing. But the eye of reason was as short-sighted as that of the +body. There were many things beyond its ken. And, as the most powerful +telescopes failed to penetrate beyond a certain distance, and served but +to make the vastness of the universe more incomprehensible, so the +severest logic only availed to show the limits of the human +understanding, and to inspire it with reverent humility for things +beyond its bounds. This true and grateful optimism enabled the chaplain +to overcome the sharpness of sorrow, and to maintain that unruffled +quietude of mind which is the happy mean between apathy and +over-susceptibility. Yet, as has been more than once hinted, he was not +unacquainted with grief.</p> + +<p>He had been into London one day to visit Helen, and also to try to find +some of his old college companions, when he met with what was for him a +little adventure. It probably led his thoughts into the course shown in +a conversation which he held with Mr. Peach the same evening.</p> + +<p>"You have several old friends of mine here, Mr. Peach," Polydore said, +surveying the row of tall folios which formed his host's library. "Now +this is one to whom I was always very partial." And he took down Sir +Thomas Browne. "Open this worthy knight where you will, you will be +pretty sure to find some intellectual pabulum."</p> + +<p>"I love his genial and warm-hearted humour," said the old clerk.</p> + +<p>"I have turned to the Physician's Faith," continued Riches. "I light +upon the section beginning—'I never could divide myself from any man +upon the difference of an opinion, or be angry with his judgment for not +agreeing with me in that, from which within a few days I should dissent +myself.'"</p> + +<p>"The whole passage overflows with charity and good sense," said Peach, +rubbing his hands.</p> + +<p>"And a few leaves further on—there is a paper at the place—is the +remark,—'It is we that are blind, not fortune: because our eye is too +dim to discover the mystery of her effects, we foolishly paint her +blind, and hoodwink the providence of the Almighty.'"</p> + +<p>Cornelius became rather fidgety, for he saw that the paper which Mr. +Riches had mentioned lay upon the open page, and was covered with +writing.</p> + +<p>"You write yourself, my friend," observed Mr. Riches. "Will you allow +me...?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered his host, casting down his eyes. "That is, I do not +write. I may sometimes jot down a thought, if a bit of paper is at hand. +I cannot bear to defile the margins of my books."</p> + +<p>"Mischievous vanity of readers," said the chaplain. "But, Mr. Peach, I +like these remarks very much. Did you never print? Confess. You have +caught Sir Thomas's spirit exactly." Cornelius coloured a little.</p> + +<p>"No," said he. "Never. I have nothing to confess."</p> + +<p>Polydore lighted his pipe, and sat down by the side of the chimney, just +out of the glare of the fire. Miss Peach had retired, and the old +bachelors were alone. They smoked in silence for a considerable time.</p> + +<p>"There was a time," at length the host murmured, "when I thought I +should like to print. It was when I was courting my Mabel. I fancied it +would be so pleasant to present her with a volume of my own inditing. +She would be proud of me. She would hear me spoken of, and would say in +her heart—he belongs to me. But there was another side to the medal, +something whispered me, and I had not the courage. The early ambition +passed away."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Polydore, "I was this morning singularly reminded that I +had been one of the irritable race."</p> + +<p>The old clerk's face beamed radiant among the circumambient fumes.</p> + +<p>"You, my dear sir!" he exclaimed, and then begged pardon for the +expression of surprise.</p> + +<p>"'Tis many years ago," the chaplain said. "I had not left my university +at the time. I had nearly forgotten it. Yet it was a delightful dream."</p> + +<p>"What was your offspring?" Cornelius asked.</p> + +<p>"A tale," was the answer. "A little story. Simple enough, but intended +to promote some opinions, of which, in my youth, I was a zealous +advocate. I fear I had not then learned the lesson of those first words +of Sir Thomas Browne."</p> + +<p>"I own," said Peach, "that I do not relish argumentative fiction."</p> + +<p>"Neither, perhaps, should I now," continued Polydore. "But youth is +ardent in proselytism. I dreamt over my manuscript for nights and +nights. It was so true, and so interesting. I was certain it could not +fail; and others thought so too. The little book would be ushered into +the world in a manner more favourable than I had dared to hope. Imagine, +my dear sir, the sort of intoxication with which I revised the proofs. +What Gibbon calls 'the awful interval of printing' was to me a season of +impatient delight. I was rushing into celebrity. And so the book +appeared—by Polydore Riches. I was not yet in orders. Moreover, it was +noticed by critics, on the whole, kindly. I took for granted it was +selling rapidly, and prepared my emendations for a second edition. Judge +then of my feelings, when, at the end of a twelvemonth, I learned that I +might have spared my pains."</p> + +<p>"What was the reason?" said Cornelius.</p> + +<p>"I can tell you best by this," Polydore replied. "After a little idle +repining, and some tacit abuse of the public mind, I laid my poor child +by. I read it again in a dozen years, and I discovered a hundred defects +of which I was ignorant before. No doubt the public discerned them at +the first glance. I did not wonder at my disappointment."</p> + +<p>Here again silence reigned for some time in the cosy parlour. It was +broken by Mr. Peach.</p> + +<p>"You said, my dear sir, that you were reminded of those days this +morning."</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered the chaplain. "I never could pass an open book-stall +without scrutinizing the wares. It has always been one of my habits. If +I were in a hurry, I should make a circuit through the side streets, +instead of proceeding direct along Holborn, so irresistible is the +temptation. Well, this morning I was wending my way by that great +thoroughfare, and duly pausing at each successive treasure-house, when +at one of them I detected an old friend. With trembling fingers, I drew +the volume from between an 'Entick's Dictionary' and a 'Peregrine +Pickle,' and opened it. 'By Polydore Riches.' A kind of mist came over +me as I read."</p> + +<p>"Indeed," said Mr. Peach, "it was an interesting meeting. You found +yourself, as one may say, face to face with your youth."</p> + +<p>"Exactly so. It was like shaking hands with the Riches of twenty-two. +Well, the whim seized me to purchase the book, and also to ascertain the +lowest value put upon it. So I went into the shop, and inquired the +price. The owner ran the leaves backwards and forwards through his +fingers, looked at the outside, and—but I need not trouble you with our +bargaining. I bought it."</p> + +<p>"Ah," exclaimed Cornelius, "might I beg leave to become acquainted with +it?"</p> + +<p>"You shall see the little book, if you wish, my dear sir," answered +Polydore. "But listen. I do not now quite concur in the judgment of the +public. I look at my offspring with parental partiality, and am fond to +believe it was hardly used. And, besides, I hug the memory of my +publishing days. I revel in the recollection of that one enthusiasm. And +I have it all to myself. My book is forgotten. No one knows it now but +myself. Would you desire to read it, my dear sir?"</p> + +<p>Cornelius never repeated his wish. But, some time afterwards, when he +had a day of leisure, he repaired to the Reading-room of the British +Museum, and took down the volume of the Catalogue containing the letter +R. His conscience pricked him as he did so, and if any one had then +touched his elbow, or twitched his coat, he would have blushed like poor +Mercy Page at Madron Well. Glancing furtively from side to side, he +turned over the leaves to the page he wanted, and drew his finger down +the column of names. But there was no Riches rejoicing in the Christian +name of Polydore. Mr. Peach closed the tome with a feeling of relief, +saying to himself,—"So, my excellent friend's book did not even find +its way into this great repository. Well, I am glad I have not +trespassed upon his secret."</p> + +<p>The self-criticism in which the chaplain indulged was, perhaps, affected +by the circumstances of his own history. He had strung his argument upon +a story of requited but unfortunate love, and had found the tale nearly +realized in his attachment to Rose Griffith. Before he was acquainted +with the passion, he thought the public were right: when he had lost the +mistress of his affections, he thought they were wrong. He confounded +his fiction with his fact, and wove them together into a retrospective +romance, the scenery of which he was reluctant to divulge.</p> + +<p>The incident of finding his half-forgotten volume, diverted Polydore's +attention from the anxieties of the moment: and we have thought the +reader might not be displeased with a similar interval of repose. We +must now return to the other personages of our history.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Don Pedro.</i> Officers, what offence have these men done?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Dogberry.</i> Marry, sir, they have committed false report;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">moreover, they have spoken untruths; secondarily, they are<br /></span> +<span class="i0">slanders; sixth, and lastly, they have belied a lady; thirdly,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">they have verified unjust things; and, to conclude, they are<br /></span> +<span class="i0">lying knaves.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Shakspeare.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>The answers which the returning fugitives received to their letters +during their journey back to London, were ill calculated to restore them +to serenity. Helen acknowledged her brother's account of his marriage in +a letter, which all her affection could not prevent from betraying her +grief; and Polydore Riches, in another, did not attempt to conceal his +disapproval and regret. And he communicated to Randolph the information +he had received from Mr. Winter that proceedings were already begun to +deprive him and his sister of the little personal property which they +might fancy was still their own, and that so far the lawyer saw no hope +of resisting the attempt with success. On the other hand, Gertrude, +seriously alarmed at the state of depression into which Mrs. Pendarrel +had fallen, could not help pointing out to her sister the consequences +of her imprudence. "Why did you not come to me?" she wrote; "why did you +not rely upon the support which I always promised? It might have been +only a temporary succour, but time might have done everything. You +little think, perhaps, how much distress you have occasioned by your +haste."</p> + +<p>These letters led to a painful scene between the travellers. It was true +that in what they said self-reproach predominated, and they did not +accuse each other. But that which wears the appearance of confession, +must also show like repentance. And so when Randolph, with much +bitterness, charged himself with having brought his wife to misery, his +words seemed to imply a desire to undo what was irrevocable. And when +Mildred blamed herself for her mother's anguish, her husband might think +she regretted her devotion to him. Each tacitly acknowledged the +futility of the arguments by which they had before justified their step; +and each, while pretending to accept the fault, was jealous of the +manner in which the other claimed it.</p> + +<p>Yet they loved one another passionately and devotedly; but they found +that passion was not happiness, and that devotedness was not esteem. +Tell them they must part, and they would rush to one another, and vow it +should only be in death. Remind them how they met, and they would shrink +from one another, and hang their heads in sorrow. When they thought only +of themselves, their hearts beat together with a tenderness that seemed +inexhaustible. When they remembered those who ought to be their friends, +they turned away from each other with a sadness that chilled their +blood. Now there are twenty-four hours between two risings of the sun, +and even newly-married lovers cannot be looking into one another's eyes +the whole of the time. Let Randolph and his bride hasten to town before +they are weary of the day.</p> + +<p>There, friends are still assiduous in their behalf. Hopeless, at +present, or imprudent, it may be to try to soothe the wounded heart of a +mother; better, perhaps, to wait until the first irritation has +subsided. But this new piece of chicane may stimulate our zeal in +unravelling what we believe to have been a foul plot. Surely some clue +must be discoverable to the intricacies of this curious law-story. It is +what Rereworth thinks; consoling himself for the loss of those pleasant +hours when he disentangled skeins of silk. For Helen is sad, and sees no +company now. Nay, Mrs. Winston thinks her residence at her house is +growing a questionable point, and her husband, the philosopher, owns +that it may become awkward. Yet she shall sojourn a little longer, +although an apartment is vacant for her at the peachery, and Polydore +Riches is there alone, and would be glad of his old pupil's society.</p> + +<p>At length there arises a gleam of hope. Fortune may have swung the +orphans' lot past the lowermost point of her wheel. Rereworth found a +note on his breakfast-table at chambers one morning, containing an +invitation which almost banished his appetite, although it promised no +support for the body.</p> + +<p>The rendezvous was appointed at an obscure locality in Lambeth. Seymour +took a boat at the Temple-stairs, told the waterman his destination, and +desired to be landed as near it as possible.</p> + +<p>"Ask your pardon, sir," said red jacket, tossing his sculls into the +rowlocks, "that's a queer place for a gentleman to want."</p> + +<p>"Pull away, friend," answered the fare, who was not in a colloquial +humour, and discouraged the talkativeness of Dogget's prizeman.</p> + +<p>It was a delightful April morning, and the trim wherry sped steadily and +swiftly over the bright water, unmolested by those floating omnibusses +which of late years have increased the utility and diminished the +pleasantness of London's noble river. Past the grey fortress, founded by +Archbishop Baldwin, as a refuge from the indignity of personal conflicts +with his monks at Canterbury, swept the boat, and drew up alongside some +stairs not very far beyond. Rereworth bade the waterman await his +return, and accepted the offer of "Jack" to conduct him to the place he +sought.</p> + +<p>So guided, Seymour proceeded up a narrow and unpaved lane, between high +and irregular palisades; beyond which, on either hand, kilns were at +work, emitting fumes far from agreeable. This passage led to a winding +street, scarcely wider than itself, from which lofty windowless walls +nearly excluded the light of day, and bespoke industry busy within. The +dwelling-houses were mostly dingy and dismal in appearance, but at +intervals might be seen one neater than usual, in whose casements a few +unfortunate flowers—luxuries wherewith we have lately been surprised to +learn the children of labour have no concern—lamented the absence of +the sun. Rereworth's guide pointed along this uninviting thoroughfare to +a sign at no great distance, and told him that was the place for which +he had inquired. It was a public-house of disreputable aspect.</p> + +<p>Seymour set his foot in the vile tavern with some repugnance, and had +not replied to the question—what he would please to take—when it was +answered for him by the voice of the man who had invited him to the +rendezvous.</p> + +<p>"Brandy," Everope said, and beckoned Rereworth into the parlour from +which he had emerged. Seymour obeyed the signal, marvelling and +sorrowing at the changed appearance of the spendthrift. It was not +improved since his meeting with Michael Sinson in the park. Then he was +miserable, now he was desperate. The recklessness was upon him which +follows the loss of hope. With an eager but trembling hand he lifted a +glass of the fire-water to his scarlet lips, and seemed to drink with +the thirst of Tantalus. His visitor, shocked and distressed, could not +utter a word.</p> + +<p>"Seymour Rereworth," then said Everope, as one who had meditated on what +he was going to tell; "you see a lost and desperate man. I care for +nothing. Nothing cares for me. I hardly know what has prompted me to +this step. But this man endeavoured once to do me a service. And I +returned it by entering the service of his deadly foe. But Michael +Sinson has the devil's craft as well as his malice. His net was round me +before I was aware. I struggled in the meshes, but they were too strong. +One by one my feelings went to sleep. I was a slave, and did my work, +and earned my wages. Ay, sir, till only the other day. Till that day +when I asked him for a pittance, and he struck me to the ground. That +was to be my payment for the future. The blow snapped all the cords of +his net. Said he, that I was worthless? No offer he could make would buy +my silence now.</p> + +<p>"You of course remember the late trial at Bodmin. You should have had me +at your elbow, when you examined Michael Sinson. It was indeed he, who +got up, or concocted the case for the plaintiff. I only know my own +share in it. Can you imagine the temptation required to induce one who +has been like me, to come and be sworn to tell the truth, with a +falsehood ready framed upon his lips? You foresee what is coming. My +story was learned by rote, well prepared, often rehearsed. I was armed +at all points, furnished with answers to all questions. You know how I +went through the ordeal.</p> + +<p>"Yet I was nearly overthrown. I never dreamed of the defendant as being +in any manner known to me. Who was Randolph Trevethlan? What did I care +about the stranger? What was his ruin to me, so I won my hire? After +what I have said, you will not credit the emotion, with which, in answer +to the question suggested by yourself, I saw Morton rise and confront +me, and remembered that he had once offered me assistance, which might +have saved me from the position I then occupied.</p> + +<p>"I quailed for a moment under his eye, but rallied immediately. I was +not yet ready to avow my shame. But the memory of that moment has +haunted me ever since. The idea that I had ruined him who might have +averted my own fall, has rankled in my heart. I have stifled it in riot +and delirium. But I had no longer the means. Sinson, my employer, +reduced his scanty dole, and urged me to hide myself in a foreign land. +But, no; that was not to be the reward of service such as mine. If he +could extort the means of indulgence from those whom his treachery had +profited, so could I from him. It was on such an errand I was bent, when +he told me contemptuously I was of no use to him, and in answer to his +right name, struck me to the earth. The knaves fell out, and honest men +may get their own.</p> + +<p>"You have heard my tale. I will verify it in detail in any way you +please. And that done, I retire from the scene. I do not suppose you +will desire to pursue me, nor do I care if you do. Would you know +wherefore I am here? I dare not look respectability in the face. Even +the haunts of the disreputable I have been forced to shun. Did I not +there, in the midst of hollow revelry, once meet the glance of my +victim? But all is over now. I am struck to the ground, and have neither +the power nor the wish to rise. I want no pity, and I merit no thanks. A +few shillings to keep me till my task is done, and then let me die. +There's none will shed a tear."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Everope," Rereworth said, gravely and sadly, "what you have this +day done, shows that all is not lost for you. No man who lives is lost. +And I, sir, trust that this is your beginning of a new existence. Are +you not already in some measure comforted? Do you not feel some relief? +Trust me comfort and relief will come. And do not underrate your +service. It is not only Mr. Trevethlan you have benefited, but also his +gentle sister, living in the apprehension of want."</p> + +<p>"Spare me," the spendthrift cried, covering his face with his hands, "I +once had sisters of my own."</p> + +<p>"For their sake, then," Seymour said, "for the sake of everything that +was ever dear to you, and may be again, arise from this unmanly despair. +Will you not leave this miserable haunt? Will you not come with me?"</p> + +<p>Everope shook his head, without raising it from his hands.</p> + +<p>"Not now," he muttered, "not in the day-light. Wait till the darkness. +Then perhaps I may seek my old abode."</p> + +<p>"Well, well," Rereworth continued; "I will not urge you now. But this +statement must be prepared for verification. You will give it me in +writing."</p> + +<p>The spendthrift assented with a nod. Paper, pen, and ink, were procured. +Everope made an attempt to write, but his nerves failed him.</p> + +<p>"Take the pen," he said; "I will dictate and sign."</p> + +<p>Seymour complied, and took down the confession at considerable length. +His wretched informant traced the whole history of his connection with +Michael Sinson; the means by which he had been entrapped into the first +step; the journey to Cornwall; the concoction of the evidence; his +examination by Mr. Truby; his appearance at the trial. Thus, if his +present tale were believed, it would entirely reverse the effect of his +former testimony.</p> + +<p>"That is all," he said, as he signed his name. "To-night I will return +to my old residence. That is, if I am still free; for this Sinson holds +notes of mine, on which he might cast me into the Fleet. It is what he +has often threatened."</p> + +<p>"Fear not," Rereworth answered. "I will undertake all those obligations +shall be satisfied. To-morrow you must be prepared to attest your +statement."</p> + +<p>He placed a small sum of money on the table beside the spendthrift, and, +having again entreated him to hope, and assured him of the means of +retrieving himself, returned in a very thoughtful mood to the stairs +where he had left his wherry.</p> + +<p>Well, perhaps, it would have been, had Rereworth not parted with his +penitent, until he had placed him under some surveillance. He might have +been prompted to confession by transient compunction, and might want +courage to persevere; or the thought of public and inevitable disgrace +might drive him to despair. But Seymour was too much moved by the +unhappy man's condition to oppose his desire for the shelter of night to +come forth from his lair.</p> + +<p>He made no delay at the Temple on his return, but proceeded straight to +Mr. Winter's office. The worthy lawyer's eyes sparkled as he read the +confession. Yet he observed it would be desirable to have it confirmed, +if possible. After all, it <i>was</i> a confession, and the testimony of an +accomplice is always doubtful. There might be some question which story +should be believed, the first or the second. On the face of the +statement there appeared personal reasons for making it. The deponent +might be influenced by rancour against his late employer.</p> + +<p>"Oh, never mind, my good sir," cried Rereworth; "have that statement put +into a shape for attestation, and, trust me, it will be maintained."</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay," answered Winter; "and it will be a pleasant wedding present to +meet our friend on his return."</p> + +<p>The suggestion was scarcely agreeable to Rereworth. He went back to his +chambers, and read carefully through his notes of the trial at Bodmin; +and he wrote Mr. Riches a short account of his discovery.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And this the world calls frenzy. But the wise<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Have a far deeper madness, and the glance<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of melancholy is a fearful gift.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What is it but the telescope of truth?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which strips the distance of its fantasies,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And brings life near in utter nakedness,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Making the cold reality too real.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Byron.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>It is a misfortune for the historian that he is unable to present events +as they really happened, simultaneously, but must be content to relate +them one after another, thereby unavoidably impressing his reader with a +false idea of the lapse of time. The same morning that Rereworth made +his expedition to Lambeth, Mrs. Pendarrel paid a visit to her daughter +in Cavendish Square. Restless, but languid; dejected, but unforgiving, +she came to vent her querulousness on Mrs. Winston, in complaint and +reproach. She wished also to learn, without showing the desire, what +news had reached town respecting the fugitives. She could not close her +heart entirely against the memory of her child. She liked to hear her +mentioned, even when she answered the intelligence with anger and +contempt. And so she came to Gertrude almost daily, to listen and to +abuse.</p> + +<p>She now entered the house, as usual, without ceremony, and proceeded to +the room where she commonly found Mrs. Winston; but on this occasion +Gertrude was not there. Her mother looked listlessly at two or three of +the books upon the table, and wandered into the adjoining apartment, +absent in mind, but disappointed at not seeing her she sought. Here she +lingered a few minutes more, and then passed on into the smaller room, +where, as she well recollected, she had encountered Randolph Trevethlan. +A young lady, sitting with her back to the door, turned as it opened, +and Mrs. Pendarrel immediately recognized Randolph's companion at the +opera, his sister. Helen also remembered the original of her miniature, +and rose from her chair as Esther advanced.</p> + +<p>"What!" the last-named lady exclaimed, fixing her keen eyes upon Helen. +"Have I been mocked? Have I been the sport of a paltry conspiracy? Has +my daughter been nursing the thief, and condoling with me upon the +robbery? Fawning upon me with hypocritical lamentations, and sheltering +those who wronged me? For I see it all. It was here the plot was +hatched; here the correspondence was managed; here the flight was +arranged. Did not Gertrude always boast that she would thwart my +schemes? Yet I hardly thought she would go so far as this."</p> + +<p>"Madam," Helen ejaculated in great confusion, "madam, you do Mrs. +Winston wrong. She knew nothing of my brother's design. Neither did I. +But let your blame only fall on me, for I was the unconscious means of +its execution."</p> + +<p>"Do you dare to answer me, Miss Trevethlan?" Esther asked angrily. "And +what do you here? What does one of your name in the house of one of +mine? Name! What is your name? You have none. What business has one like +you to be here?"</p> + +<p>"I am an intruder, madam," Helen answered, the tears rising in her soft +eyes—"I have felt it, and know it. But I came here before this unhappy +matter. The invitation was very kind. We were very poor. I would relieve +my brother."</p> + +<p>"Poor! did you say, Miss Trevethlan?" exclaimed Esther. "Yes; and you +will be still poorer before many days are gone! Unhappy? No, no; you did +not think so. The beggar does not call it unhappy when he inveigles away +a rich heiress. But it is a mistake. She has nothing. You will be no +richer for the stolen marriage; neither you nor your brother, Miss +Trevethlan."</p> + +<p>"Oh, madam," said Helen in much distress, "I wish you could read in my +heart. You would spare me these reproaches. You do not know how I +deplore what has occurred. The loss of our home, the poverty and sorrow +you speak of, everything I would have endured, rather than my brother +had done this. We want nothing of you, madam, nothing but forgiveness; +and you may spare sarcasms which are undeserved."</p> + +<p>"Would your brother ask my forgiveness?" said Mrs. Pendarrel. "Was there +a word of the kind in Mildred's letter? No, Miss Trevethlan; forgiveness +will never be asked, and never be granted. Why; do you not hate me +yourself? You must have learned from infancy to detest my name. Was not +Pendarrel pointed at as the destroyer of Trevethlan? Am not I the author +of the desolation which has fallen upon your head? Truly, Miss +Trevethlan, it might rouse your father's spirit from his grave, to feel +that one of his children dwelt under the roof of one of mine."</p> + +<p>"No, madam," Helen exclaimed, almost as vehemently as she was +addressed—"a thousand times no. Not till lately did I know there was +any difference."</p> + +<p>"'Tis untrue!" said Esther. "'Tis nonsense. You were born to hate. You +were bequeathed an inheritance of hate. You accepted it. Did not you +send me with scorn from your doors? It was your turn then. It is mine +now. Hate breeds hate."</p> + +<p>"And on which side did it begin, if it were so?" Helen asked. "On ours? +Madam, were we not treated as if hatred were indeed our only +inheritance? Was not my brother insulted with an offer of charity? I +speak his mind, and not my own, for I thought the offer was kind. But I +see now that he was right."</p> + +<p>"You will be glad to have the offer repeated ere long," said Esther +bitterly.</p> + +<p>"You wronged us then, madam," Helen said, "and you wrong us now. We, +alone on the earth, young, mourning the only parent we had ever known, +little likely were we to hate our nearest connections. Was hatred +bequeathed to us? No, madam. I might deem our inherited feelings were +far other, for this portrait was the last companion of our poor father. +They found it upon his heart when he died."</p> + +<p>Esther caught the miniature from Helen's hand, and gazed earnestly at it +for some seconds. Then she pressed it to her lips in a kind of ecstacy.</p> + +<p>"He loved me to the last," she murmured.</p> + +<p>But the transport passed away as rapidly as it came. Melancholy, stern +and dark, fell over Mrs. Pendarrel's brow. She clasped the miniature +upon her bosom.</p> + +<p>"Girl," she said, almost in a whisper, "you give me great joy and sorrow +inexpressible. I have been desperately wronged. My life has been a +blank. I cannot change on a sudden. I do not know what to think. Let me +keep this portrait."</p> + +<p>And she departed from the room and from the house, leaving Helen +bewildered by a host of perplexing reflections. She remembered what +Randolph said concerning that miniature, but she was unaware of the +promise exacted from him at their father's death-bed. She scarcely +understood in what manner the law-suit had been only the final step in a +career of vengeance. But she felt that she had been grievously insulted, +and she perceived the ambiguity of her situation at Mrs. Winston's. She +resolved on returning to Hampstead without delay.</p> + +<p>It was a pity, for she had been an angel of peace to Gertrude. She had +taught the husband and wife to know one another, and the knowledge might +soon become affection. Yet her hostess confessed to herself that the +resolution was correct, even though she was ignorant of the conversation +which had immediately inspired it. She did not so much as attempt to +delay its execution, and the same afternoon found Helen once more an +inmate of Mr. Peach's modest, but pleasant and pretty dwelling.</p> + +<p>Comfort followed her there. Rereworth's letter to Polydore Riches came +to revive hope, and to bring oblivion of the affronts and menaces of the +morning. The news exhilarated the chaplain's drooping spirits, and +inclined him to regard the elopement with less severity. And Helen +thought with gratitude of the writer, and perhaps remembered those +readings of Scott and Byron in Mrs. Winston's little drawing-room.</p> + +<p>Besides this, the fugitives were now approaching the metropolis, and +might possibly arrive the same night. Here were copious sources of +conversation to fill the evening when the chaplain talked with Helen in +the pleasant parlour, where she had sat during the past winter, and +which had witnessed the extinction of all those hopes, so long and so +fondly cherished at Trevethlan Castle, the day-dreams of Merlin's Cave.</p> + +<p>If Mrs. Pendarrel inflicted much pain in her short interview with Helen, +she did not quit it herself unscathed. The sight of her portrait aroused +a thousand recollections, familiar indeed to Esther's hours of reverie, +but never so vividly presented before. She thought of the day when she +permitted that miniature to be taken from her neck. In the morning she +hung it there, not without an idea that it might pass into another's +possession before night. Often had the favour been solicited by the +lover, and as often refused by the coquette. But at last assiduity might +triumph over waywardness. Side by side they strolled over the lawns of +Pendarrel, enjoying converse such as is only derided by the unhappy +wights who have never shared it. There was a secluded little pool, +formed by the rivulet which murmured through the wilderness, surrounded +by flowering shrubs, and over-arched so closely by spreading +forest-trees, that the sunshine scarcely penetrated to the surface of +the water. It was in that bower, under the thickest of the leafy canopy, +that Henry Trevethlan detached the miniature from the chain by which it +hung, and his lips met those of Esther in the first kiss of love. How +well she remembered it now! Every little circumstance, the attitude in +which they stood, the few whispered words, came back to her mind, fresh +as the things of yesterday. A bright-winged butterfly alighted for a +moment upon her wrist, and he called her Psyche, his soul, without whom +he should die. The butterfly rested but a second—was its flight ominous +of what had occurred since? And had he virtually died? Had his +subsequent existence been a mere life in death? Had his soul indeed +remained always with her? So, Esther thought, it would seem. And had he +forgiven the ruin into which he was driven by despair? Had he pardoned +the despair itself, the wreck of all his hopes and feelings, the anguish +which abided with him to the last?</p> + +<p>Questions like these passed rapidly through Esther's mind, while she +gazed on the fair young face which once had been her own. Very different +was her aspect now. The round and glowing cheeks had become hollow and +pale. The smooth white forehead was furrowed with the lines of sorrow. +Silver threads mingled with the dark tresses. The eyes, in the miniature +deep and inscrutable, were now wild and bright. The passions of the girl +had been developed in the woman, and had left their trace on every +feature.</p> + +<p>And then Esther turned to self-justification. Had she made no atonement? +Had she suffered nothing? Had her heart been unwasted? Resolutely as she +had striven to repress all memory of that early dream, had she succeeded +in the attempt? Was not the lava still hot beneath the foliage which +grew over it? Had not the smouldering fire broken forth anew on the news +of Henry's death? And again she thought she had been hardly used by the +precipitation with which he abandoned her. It was cruel to afford her no +chance of reconciliation. If he might charge her with vanity or +wilfulness, surely she might accuse him of rancour and pride. If the +happiness of her lover had been shattered by the storm, neither had her +own escaped its ravages.</p> + +<p>She had endeavoured to forget them in the gratification of her love of +rule, and her eager pursuit of revenge. The first she enjoyed in the +management of her own household, the second in the downfall of +Trevethlan. Ambition and appetite grew with what they fed on. "Pendar'l +and Trevethlan shall own one name." Not till that prediction had been +fulfilled to the letter, and to her own glory, could Esther rest. Her +old lover had departed from the scene; she prolonged the contest with +his children. They increased her ardour by the mode in which they met +her first advances. For a season she seemed to be foiled. But the check +gave new vigour to her never-dying wrath.</p> + +<p>And before long the orphans crossed her path. And soon he, the heir of +all his father's pride, encountered her, face to face, as the companion +of her child. She had trembled to think of what that meeting might call +forth. But then she learned the tale, which would fulfil all her desires +to an extent beyond her dreams, and forgot her danger in the exultation +of approaching triumph. Triumph came, but only as the precursor of +defeat; for her enemy, ruined and dishonoured, had suborned the +affection of her daughter, and made her house desolate in the very hour +of victory.</p> + +<p>Yes, scandal made merry with the name of Pendarrel. Esther, with all her +rigid discipline, with all her cherished authority, had seen the child, +for whose marriage with another her word was pledged, elude her control, +and steal to a furtive union with the man whom she had been labouring to +bring to want and shame. It was nearly enough to deprive her of her +reason. No time was this to think of forgiveness. She would not believe +that Helen Trevethlan was so innocent as she pretended. The production +of the miniature was a theatrical trick. The picture should revive the +memory of a never-forgiven wrong.</p> + +<p>Let the suit then be pressed. Let there be no respite. Let calamity fall +fast and heavy. Let disobedience and presumption meet their just reward. +But where was the agent? Where was he who had pointed out the path of +revenge? What had he said when she last saw him? Better, Esther thought +scornfully, better even that match than this. And what meant his dark +insinuations? Had he not dared to threaten?</p> + +<p>Langour crept over the muser. She began to grow aweary of the sun. She +felt as if her self-control were slipping from her grasp. Shadowy fears +beset her. She did not like to be alone. She was glad when her husband +came home from his official duties; and he became seriously alarmed at +her altered demeanour. She seemed to be sinking into a state of +lethargy, which might affect her mind. Mr. Pendarrel sent to beg Mrs. +Winston to come and watch by her mother, who was evidently very ill. And +Gertrude came, but for some time her presence seemed only to irritate +the invalid. It might be observed that from about this day Esther +entirely discontinued her old practice of calling her husband by the +name which he had abandoned to obtain her hand.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Anne magis Siculi gemuerunt æra juvenci,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Aut magis auratis pendens laquearibus ensis<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Purpureas subter cervices terruit, <i>Imus</i>;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Imus præcipites</i>, quam si sibi dicat, intus<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Palleat infelix, quod proxima nesciat uxor?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Persius.</span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Down, headlong, down</i>—Say could that bull of fire,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or thread-suspended sword such fear inspire,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As his, whose thoughts, to bosom-wife unknown,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ring in his livid heart—<i>Down, headlong, down</i>?<br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>That same evening the fugitive couple arrived in the metropolis, and +took up their abode in apartments engaged for them by Mr. Riches at a +hotel. It was time. Already they were beginning to long for other +company than their own; a few days more might make their own +companionship intolerable. One quarter of the moon had nearly taught +them the vanity of the lover's chimera, that they were all-sufficient +for one another. There was so much anxiety about their path, so much +gloom around the present, so much dismay in the future, that their +spirits drooped, and even love seemed to grow cold in their hearts. Let +them beware, for they were united for ever. In the preservation of their +mutual regard lay their only chance of peace; should that vanish, there +was nothing but misery before them. The day might then come when Mildred +would be qualified to receive succour from her mother, on the terms +which Esther, in the fierceness of her first indignation, had not +scrupled to prescribe.</p> + +<p>The sense of the fault they had committed lay at the bottom of their +discontent. Mildred repented with bitter sorrow her rupture of all +filial ties, and exaggerated her sister's account of the distress it had +occasioned, thinking sometimes that she might even have broken her +mother's heart. She forgot the severity with which she had lately been +treated, and remembered only the tenderness which she had not seldom +experienced. She often recollected how she had been pressed to her +mother's bosom on the night of the fire, and she trembled to dwell upon +the affection which one moment had cast away.</p> + +<p>Randolph read some portion of her thoughts; and he perceived that the +maternal sorrow to which he had once looked forward with perverse +eagerness, afforded him none of the satisfaction he had expected. It was +not so he ought to avenge his own or his father's wrongs. The scheme +recoiled upon himself. There was no happiness for him while his bride +was unhappy, and nothing but wretchednes for her until she had made her +peace at home. And so Randolph saw that his stolen marriage had actually +contributed to Esther's triumph. She had now not only his worldly +wealth, but himself beneath her foot. He had placed himself in a +position where he must either sue for mercy or behold his wife pining +away before his eyes.</p> + +<p>Amidst such gloomy speculations, one bright spot sometimes appeared to +his mental vision. "I have thought," his father said, in those well +remembered words, "she was not so indifferent to me as she chose to +pretend. If it were so, she has avenged me on herself, and has my +forgiveness." Would that Randolph had dwelt oftener upon the hope +contained in this qualification, and more seldom upon the stern +injunction! Would that he had not suffered the early affront to himself +to take so firm a hold of him! That he had not fomented his personal +quarrel, until now he could see no avenue to reconciliation! That he had +listened with more humility to the remonstrances of Polydore Riches!</p> + +<p>These wishes were idle now. It was a sad evening of the honeymoon when +Randolph and his bride sat together in their hired and temporary abode, +having none of their own, and hardly daring to consider what would +become of them. In slow and broken sentences they discussed their future +prospects, and strove to cheer one another with hopes in which neither +put any trust.</p> + +<p>At an early hour in the morning, Randolph escorted Mildred to her +sister's, and left her there, he himself proceeding to Hampstead. +Gertrude had no consolation to offer the young wife. Indeed, she was +obliged to own that Mrs. Pendarrel was in a condition to cause +considerable alarm. She said it would be dangerous for Mildred to +present herself, and would only permit her to call in the carriage at +the house in May Fair and remain at the door, while she herself +ascertained their mother's state. It was not satisfactory; and Gertrude +resumed her watch; while Mildred returned in increased solicitude to +such distraction as could be supplied by her attendant. Sorely puzzled +was Rhoda at so woeful a termination to an elopement.</p> + +<p>Meantime, Randolph continued on his way to the dwelling which had +sheltered himself and Helen in the first enthusiasm of their arrival in +the metropolis. Little had they then deemed how soon that enthusiasm was +to be chilled; little they thought how soon they would return to their +home by the sea with all their hopes extinguished. And still less could +they know, that even that brief absence would be pregnant with events to +influence their whole lives; and that whereas when they quitted their +birth-place they were heart-whole and fancy-free, one of them, at least, +would return to it the slave of passion and unable to hope.</p> + +<p>They had lost that home since then. They had bidden farewell, and, as +they might at times fear, for ever, to the scenes endeared by a thousand +recollections. Thenceforth they could only lean upon one another. And +suddenly they were separated. The brother, rashly and wrongfully, had +taken another partner in misfortune, and abandoned the former sharer of +his affections. And now, with such feelings, they once more met. Yet, +amidst all these mournful reminiscences, Randolph felt some relief from +his trouble in Helen's greeting. She inquired very warmly for her +sister, and he was delighted at hearing the word.</p> + +<p>She told him of her interview with Mrs. Pendarrel the morning before, +and he listened with a degree of interest which surprised her. He +questioned her eagerly respecting every word that was uttered, and his +cheeks flushed with anger when he extorted from the narrator an account +of Mrs. Pendarrel's insults. But this expression seemed to pass away, +when Helen described the emotion displayed by Esther at the sight of her +own likeness, and the whispered exclamation—"He loved me to the last!"</p> + +<p>"There is hope for us, Helen," the brother said, "in your words. If I am +right in interpreting them, there is hope I may find peace for my +Mildred. I have a key to them which you know not of. But, alas! we must +first re-establish ourselves."</p> + +<p>"And of that, too, there is hope," said Helen. "Go to Mr. Riches: let +him have the pleasure of telling you the news. It only came last night. +From your friend,—but our dear chaplain will tell you all the story."</p> + +<p>So to Polydore, Randolph went, and learned the discovery which Rereworth +had made. It certainly gave him great joy, although it was communicated +very gravely. The chaplain did not affect to conceal his mortification +at his old pupil's dereliction of the right path. He urged the necessity +of sacrificing every personal feeling in order to procure a +reconciliation with Mildred's family.</p> + +<p>"It is not so very long," he said, "since you spoke to me of an +inherited quarrel and injunctions of revenge. Such thoughts must be laid +aside now. They were before uncharitable and wrong, but now they are +actively pernicious. I shall have no comfort till I know that peace has +been made."</p> + +<p>Randolph subdued some rising impatience, and answered that he had +conceived some hopes of so desirable a result.</p> + +<p>"And, my dear sir," he continued, "we desire, Mildred and I, that you +would hallow our union. As soon as possible we shall be re-married, and +we hope for your blessing."</p> + +<p>"Then the bride's parents must be present to sanction it," Polydore +answered. "With that condition, nothing could afford me so great a +pleasure."</p> + +<p>Randolph sighed, and departed on his return to town. But his heart was +much lighter than when he went. He had also much to do, and the +necessary activity diverted his melancholy. First, he must call upon +Rereworth, and learn the details of this confession of Everope's, which +afforded hope of recovering his rights, and restoring his father's +honour. For this purpose he bent his way straight to the Temple.</p> + +<p>Seymour met him with congratulatory rebukes, uttered between jest and +earnest, and declared that he would never have presented Mr. Morton at +Mr. Winston's, had he been at all aware of his wicked ways. He also +indulged in some facetiousness respecting the defendant's running off +with the plaintiff's daughter, and remarked that a wife was scarcely a +desirable commodity where there was no property at all either to give or +receive. His tone showed his confidence in the approach of a happy +dénouement. Randolph forced a smile, and turned the conversation to the +story of Everope.</p> + +<p>"Ah," Seymour said, becoming grave in his turn, "that's a bad business. +He was to have sworn to his tale this morning, and when I went to see +after him, he was no more. He died by his own hand. In the night. I have +reproached myself ever since I parted from him yesterday, for allowing +him to be alone. And now his death puts us in a little difficulty. I +must become a witness. But there. You can read the narrative, as I took +it down from his lips. And then we will go and talk over the affair at +Winter's. I understand Everope's accomplice is now down in the country."</p> + +<p>Randolph read the confession with eager eyes. He saw that Everope's +remorse had perhaps originated in his recognition of himself at the +trial, as having once offered to do him some trifling service. He wished +he had arrived in time to repeat the offer, and possibly to save the +spendthrift from destruction. When he had finished the perusal, he and +Rereworth set forth on their way to Mr. Winter's offices.</p> + +<p>They had to pass the foot of Everope's staircase. A group of persons, +laundresses and porters, such as may often be seen gossiping in the inns +of court, was congregated at the entrance, conversing earnestly, but in +low tones. Rereworth made his companion acquainted with the few details +he had been able to collect, or to conjecture, concerning the unhappy +suicide.</p> + +<p>He had gone to Everope's rooms in good time, to prepare him to attest +his confession, and had even then been detained by a crowd like that +which was still there. He made his way without much heed, being in fact +preoccupied, and rapped at the spendthrift's door. The old laundress +answered the knock, seemed greatly surprised when he inquired for her +master, and raised the corner of her apron to her eyes.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, ma'am?" Rereworth asked. "What has happened?" And +he remembered the groups below with some alarm.</p> + +<p>A few broken words made him acquainted with the catastrophe.</p> + +<p>Everope, it seemed, had come home late in the night. He had obtained a +light, and had been engaged in looking over a quantity of correspondence +and other papers, for such were found strewn about the floor of his +room. Letters of old date, some written when he must have been quite a +youth, lay open on the table. Were the recollections they aroused more +than his shattered, perhaps delirious, senses could bear? Such Rereworth +fancied must have been the case.</p> + +<p>He had glanced slightly at some of the scattered papers, and then +recoiled from prying into matters which concerned him not. One scrap, +however, freshly written upon, caught his eye, and he found it to +contain a few stanzas of verse, evidently penned long ago, and some +incoherent attempts to continue them, which must have been made that +very night. He took possession of this document, in order to produce it, +if necessary; and he now showed it to his friend. And Randolph, in +reading the following melancholy lines, the older portion of the +writing, thought with shuddering pity of the whisper, once addressed by +Everope to himself, which had called forth his offer of assistance.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Tis sad to think of hopes destroyed,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of prospects lost that once seemed fair,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of hours in waste or vice employed,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of talents as <i>that</i> fig-tree bare.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Where ruin watches the closed door,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And crouches on the cold hearth-stone,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where home's a word of love no more,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And friends or kindred there are none;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">What though the door exclude the wind?<br /></span> +<span class="i2">What though the roof may shield from rain?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No winds like those that tear the mind,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">No storms like those that rend the brain.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">While stern remorse unfolds her scroll,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And points to every damning word,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Showing the late-repenting soul<br /></span> +<span class="i2">All it has thought, done, seen, or heard—<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ay, press thy hands upon thine eyes,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ay, hear not, feel not, if thou wilt!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Still memory to conscience cries,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Still every heart-quake throbs of guilt.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Think over all thou might'st have been,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Contrast it then with all thou art:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A retrospect so dark and keen<br /></span> +<span class="i2">May well appal thy shuddering heart.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Woe for the days when childhood knelt<br /></span> +<span class="i2">At night and morn its prayer to say;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Breathed worship such as childhood felt,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And loved the vows it learned to pay!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But now—but now—can phrenzy pray?<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To Heaven shall desperation cry?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Madness prepares destruction's way—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Escape is none—despair, and die!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"That," said Rereworth, when Randolph gave him back the paper, "is the +superficial penitence, which never does any good. It is regret for the +effects of the fault, not for the fault itself. In true repentance there +is always hope, but in such feelings as are here portrayed there is +little else than despair. Hence this miserable end."</p> + +<p>"Yet," Randolph urged, with some discontent at the moralizing of his +friend, "he seems to have been meant for better things."</p> + +<p>"Few men are not," answered Rereworth. "Few men are not meant for better +things than they achieve. Short-coming is the rule, and fulfilling the +exception. But a truce with what sounds misanthropical. Here we are at +Winter's."</p> + +<p>The lawyer heard of the suicide with much commiseration.</p> + +<p>"But," said he, "our feelings must not interfere with business. This +confession, verified by you, Mr. Rereworth, ought to carry us to the +bottom of the matter. I wish we could get at the true circumstances of +the marriage. You see the real insinuation is, that the late Mr. +Trevethlan was privy to the death of Ashton, and the spiriting away of +the witness. I wish, with all my heart, we could clear up the mystery."</p> + +<p>And Randolph felt that there could be no rest for him until the entire +groundlessness of so dark an impeachment was made clear to all the +world.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">From house to house, from street to street,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The rapid rumour flies;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Incredulous ears it finds, and hands<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Are lifted in surprise;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And tongues through all the astonished town<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Are busier now than eyes.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Southey.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>"So, Mistress Miniver, the old house is like to wear a new sign before +many days. There'll be a change in the arms, methinks."</p> + +<p>"Not while my name's Miniver, Master Colan," answered the plump hostess +of the Trevethlan Arms.</p> + +<p>"Maybe you'd not object to change that, dame," suggested the farmer.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Miniver played with a well-sized bunch of keys that hung from her +girdle.</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay," said Colan—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"'The key of the locker the good-wife keeps,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The good-wife's busy, the good-man sleeps.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"I fancy you sat in St. Michael's chair the day you were married, +Mistress Miniver."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you one who did, farmer," said the hostess, laughing merrily; +"and that's the lady of Pendar'l. God forbid I should ever say of +Trevethlan! And d'ye mind what I said, Master Colan? Didn't I foretell +what would happen if ever Squire Randolph and Miss Mildred came +together? And you see they're wooed and married and all."</p> + +<p>"There's not much good like to come of it for Trevethlan," observed the +farmer. "They say the mother's as cold as stone."</p> + +<p>"Mayhap some folks wouldn't care if she were," said Germoe the tailor, +who had come up during the last few words.</p> + +<p>"Oh, neighbours," cried the light-hearted hostess, thrusting her hands +into the pockets of her white apron, "take my word, it'll all come right +in the end. It's natural to fret and fume a little, but it all blows +over. The squire'll bring home his bride by furry-time, I warrant."</p> + +<p>"'Twill be time he did," quoth Germoe; "for the castle's getting awful +lonesome and dismal. How Mr. Griffith and his dame can bide there, is +more than I can tell; and, as for old Jeffrey, he's as dumb as any of +the ghosts they say walk there."</p> + +<p>"Tales to quiet babes, friend Germoe," said Mrs. Miniver. "Old +Jeffrey'll run up our flag again before the oak's in leaf."</p> + +<p>"You were always so comfortable, dame," remarked Colan. "But how'll they +get over the trial at Bodmin yonder? There's an uncommon mystery about +that marriage, Mistress Miniver."</p> + +<p>"Tell you what, farmer," quoth the hostess more gravely, "I care a deal +more for our poor folks that are in the jail at Bodmin. Do you know, +they say it's a hanging matter?"</p> + +<p>"And our Mercy's sweetheart among them, dame," said Germoe.</p> + +<p>"If our Mercy's sweetheart is there," Mrs. Miniver said, "it is to bring +them to ruin. And I heard he did come down here a little ago. It's young +Sinson, I mean, Master Germoe."</p> + +<p>"They say his old grandame takes on quite fearful-like," said Breage the +general merchant, who now joined the little party under the shade of the +old chestnut. "She sits all day, moaning, and rocking herself, and +breaks out with something about her daughter, our late squire's lady, +and then brings herself up quite short."</p> + +<p>"Her Michael's plenty on his mind, neighbours," quoth Mrs. Miniver; "you +may take your oath of that. I don't wonder old Maud's a bit uneasy. But, +hey-day! who comes here?"</p> + +<p>For a horseman rode rapidly on to the far end of the green, crossed it +straight without drawing rein, and proceeded up the ascent of the +base-court.</p> + +<p>"What's in the wind now?" asked farmer Colan.</p> + +<p>But curiosity tied the tongues of the circle. They watched the stranger +while he held a short parley with Jeffrey, and at last dismounted with +apparent impatience, and attached his bridle to a ring in the wall. The +old porter opened the gate and conducted him within, soon emerging again +himself, and seeming to examine the panting quadruped at the porch.</p> + +<p>Several of the villagers came and joined the group beneath the chestnut. +They soon began to discuss this visit in low voices. Whether fear or +hope predominated in their explanations, it might not be easy to +determine. But the freshness of a sunny April morning might seem likely +to inspire the latter feeling, even as it had been evident in Mrs. +Miniver's share of the dialogue recorded above.</p> + +<p>Presently Griffith was seen to come forth from the castle-gate, and +after exchanging a few words with Jeffrey, to descend the hill with the +stranger, who took his reins upon his arm. The excitement of the +villagers increased. As the steward drew near, a similar expression +might be read in his own face. He came up and told Mrs. Miniver he +wanted the one chaise which she still kept, got ready immediately. A +dozen voices demanded the news.</p> + +<p>"I hardly know what to say, my friends," Griffith answered. "But if the +tidings are well founded, they are good news for all who love +Trevethlan."</p> + +<p>"Hurrah," shouted the assembly.</p> + +<p>It was a work of some little time to prepare Mrs. Miniver's chaise, for +the horses which were to draw it, were usually engaged in agricultural +pursuits. But it was ready at last, and the steward drove off.</p> + +<p>The stranger remained to give his animal rest, and was of course +assailed with a host of questions. But all he could say was that an +attorney at Bodmin had sent him with a letter to Mr. Griffith of +Trevethlan Castle, and especially desired him to lose no time on the +road. In about an hour he remounted, and rode away in a more leisurely +manner than he had arrived.</p> + +<p>In order to explain the occurrence which caused so much commotion in the +hamlet, we must revert to the proceedings of Michael Sinson. Smarting +under the discomfiture of all his long-cherished desires, driven +ignominiously from the house of his patroness, and attributing his fall +to the man against whom he had borne hatred even from childhood, Michael +left London, with the intention of trying to implicate Randolph in the +burning of Pendarrel. He imagined that he had a perfect hold upon his +mistress in spite of her proud indifference, and turned his immediate +attention to the overthrow of his successful rival. Restless and +cunning, he was never happy now except when engaged in some intrigue, +and his recent triumph at Bodmin had given him new zest for the work.</p> + +<p>With such ideas he obtained admission to the prisoners charged with the +incendiarism, and sought, as craftily as he could, to extract some +information reflecting upon the disinherited owner of Trevethlan Castle. +But he sought in vain: there were no tidings of the kind to give. Then +Sinson went to his old grandmother, and bore her peevish humours for a +short time, still seeking intelligence to further his designs. He met +his too faithful Mercy, and endeavoured to find such in her knowledge of +what passed within the castle walls. But again he was baffled. He had to +deal with natures very different from his own.</p> + +<p>Finally, he once more repaired to the congenial atmosphere of the gaol, +and tried to gain the confidence of the ringleader of the mob, Gabriel +Denis. Here he met his match. The old smuggler was as wary as himself. +He bent an attentive ear to Michael's suggestions, how it was supposed +the fire was the result of a long-devised plot, how a considerable +reward would be paid, and a free pardon granted to any one who would +furnish a true history of the affair. And Sinson insinuated dark hints +concerning the late owner of Trevethlan, how he had a quarrel of many +years' standing with the family of Pendarrel, how some people thought he +was in the secret of the incendiaries, and how, if it were so, his +impeachment would be the means of liberating a number of the inferior +criminals. In short, Gabriel drew him on, until by degrees he had +disclosed all his plan, and the smuggler was fully aware, that, true or +false, a certain story would bring a certain price.</p> + +<p>Now in prison, Denis had become rather intimate with Edward Owen. They +both kept somewhat apart from their accused confederates. And Gabriel +was full of wild adventure, in different quarters of the globe, which +served to while away the dreary hours of confinement. So, among other +things, the smuggler told Owen of the suggestions which were made to him +by Sinson. The young peasant started.</p> + +<p>"That's the villain that betrayed my master in the trial the other day," +he said. "Have nought to say to him, Gabriel. He'd sell his best friend. +I ought to know him well. He's driven the squire from the castle, and +now he would bring him to shame. No, no; the squire knew nought about +the fire, that I can warrant."</p> + +<p>"Trust me, Edward," Denis answered; "I am too deep for him by a fathom +and a half. But what's this ye say about the squire? Driven from the +castle?"</p> + +<p>"Did ye not hear then," said Owen. "This Michael brought a fellow to +swear away the marriage of the last squire, and so they are going to +turn the son out of the castle. It passes to them whose house was +burned. And Michael is in their pay. Sorrow on the day when a Trevethlan +took a bride from under the thatch."</p> + +<p>"I ought to mind that day well," the smuggler said, musing.</p> + +<p>"You!" Owen exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"'T will be twenty-one-two-three, twenty-three years, next September. I +mind it well. The parson was killed. What did folks say about it?"</p> + +<p>"I was scarce born," Edward answered. "But I ha' heard it made a great +noise in the country. Some said it was Will Watch's people, and some +that the Squire knew more about it than he'd choose to tell."</p> + +<p>"That was wrong," said Denis.</p> + +<p>"What!" cried his companion.</p> + +<p>"I mean 'twas none of his people at the time. And what's this ye say +about the marriage?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it was always thought to be made by this parson, whose body they +found under the cliff. But now Michael brings a fellow to swear 'twas no +such thing, but he married them himself, and, he not being a parson, the +marriage falls to the ground, and the squire's son is put out of the +castle. That's what it is."</p> + +<p>The smuggler mused for some time.</p> + +<p>"Edward," then he said, "'tis a long time since that night, and little I +deemed to have it brought back like this. I have sailed many a league +since then, and half of it has been forgotten. And why should I +recollect it to-day? Will it do me good or harm? But there's nought left +me to care for now; nought but the little lass that the revenue thieves +carried off when they had shot my poor Felipa. And then this fire; one +can hardly be worse off than one is. And I should like to put a check on +this sneaking knave, that wanted to draw me into a lie. So sit thee +down, lad, and listen to the rights of all this story:—</p> + +<p>"'Tis twenty-three years ago, I was much such another as ye are now. +But, to say the truth, fonder of the wrestling-ring than of the plough, +and better pleased at a wake than at a sermon. Moreover, I knew the +country well, and when I set a snare at night you may rely it was not +empty in the morning. Well, it was that spring or summer, there came to +lodge at Madam Sennor's—a little house on the cliff, not over far from +Trevethlan Castle—one Mr. Ashton, that was a clergyman. Somehow or +other he fell in with me, and used to get me to guide him, as it were, +about the country,—a thing that suited my idle ways very well. Now I +soon found that Mr. Ashton was not over much like a parson, but did not +care to go to a wake himself, and could read the glance of a girl's eye +as well as another. So he and I grew to be in a way more companionable +than suited my station perhaps; but I don't know it, for he was often +very ill off for money. Be it as it will, we got on very well together.</p> + +<p>"So, while we were on this footing, says Mr. Ashton to me one +day,—Wyley, he says, here's Mr. Trevethlan, of the Castle, wants me to +marry him specially, or something, he called it, and I am to take a +witness with me. Will you come? says he. And he told me the particulars; +as how it was a young peasant girl, and there would be money to be had +for the business, and so I agreed to go. Well, he took me with him to +the castle, and Mr. Trevethlan met us himself on the outside, and +brought us just into the great hall without our seeing a single soul. +And there were a young woman, and also an old one, that I understood was +her mother. So Mr. Trevethlan gave Mr. Ashton a prayer-book, and he read +the office between the parties, and I was put to give the +bride—Margaret something was her name—away. And I recollect that +Ashton, being somewhat nervous, dropped the ring, and the mother +muttered it was no good sign.</p> + +<p>"When it was over, Mr. Trevethlan put a purse into Ashton's hand, and we +went our way. But I thought there must be something wrong in the +business, and therefore I chose to consider that Ashton did not give me +my fair share of the price. However, it was not a thing to talk over in +the high road, and I knew well where to find him. He used to walk along +the cliff every evening; and there, just as it was getting dusk, I went +to meet him. We had some high words, and as I came towards him he +stepped backwards, not recollecting how near he was to the edge, and he +went over.</p> + +<p>"I was terribly frightened,—nothing, I knew, could go over there and +live. I thought I was charged with the murder. I lay down, trembling, +and put my head beyond the edge. I fancied I could see him just move. I +lurked thereabout, on and off, not knowing what to do, till it came to +be quite dark. Then I saw lights at one or two points, and began to +think the people were already on the search. But it was not so; and the +truth was all in my favour.</p> + +<p>"The lights were the country folk's signals to Will Watch's lugger, that +was then running in. Luckily for me, as I thought, she took up a berth a +good way off the spot where Ashton lay. All the country turned out to +run the cargo. And I crept down by myself to the beach, and came to +where he had fallen, and there I found him stone-dead. I don't know what +it was moved me, but I fancied that if the body were not owned nothing +could be done. And, in that thought, I took off the clothes, and buried +them in a nook of the cliff, which I could show to this day. For +himself, I could see, by the light from the water, he was so much hurt +that no one would know him. I should say, that I got the money which had +been the cause of our difference. Well, when this was all over, my fears +grew worse and worse. I thought it would have been better to have left +him alone. At last I went among the throng of folks that were busy +running the kegs, and got on board the lugger. She took me over to +Holland, and from there I shipped myself for the Spanish Indies, and +lived a roving life.</p> + +<p>"But I tired of it at length, and had got a wife—my poor Felipa—and a +little girl. So I came home. Lived quiet a while, until I was sure that +no one knew me by my old name, and that the tale of Ashton's death was +nigh forgotten, and then took to the cabin on the hill. The rest you +know."</p> + +<p>Owen listened to this narrative with wonder and joy, for he saw it would +be likely to restore his squire, as he called him, to all his rights.</p> + +<p>"But why," said he after a silence, "why then did you not come forward +to claim the reward they offered?"</p> + +<p>"I did not know of any such," Gabriel answered. "If I had, I should not +have heeded it till they drove me from my cottage. It matters not now. +Do what you will with the tale."</p> + +<p>The young peasant gazed on the swarthy features which had been bronzed +by near a score of year's exposure to a tropical sun, and did not marvel +that the sea-faring wanderer had escaped unrecognised. He was in +communication with an attorney of the town for the purposes of his own +defence, and to him, with Gabriel's permission, he told the strange +tale. Its importance was at once perceived and acknowledged. And the +lawyer in question immediately despatched the news to Griffith by the +messenger whose arrival had excited the curiosity described in the +opening of this chapter. Thus Michael Sinson's artifices again recoiled +upon himself; by his attempted perversion of Gabriel Denis, he cut the +ground from under his own feet. He acquired some inkling of what had +transpired, and hurried back to London; more vexed than before at his +quarrel with Everope, of whose melancholy end he had as yet received no +information.</p> + +<p>Denis, or Wyley, was nothing loth to repeat his story. Griffith, having +the knowledge which Owen was too young to possess, was able to confirm +him on several points. The narrative was verified in every possible +manner, and a copy transmitted to Winter, while the steward returned to +Trevethlan, to confirm it still further, by disinterring the buried +clothes.</p> + +<p>In the flush of his exultation, he did not attempt to conceal the +purpose of his journey, and the greater part of the villagers turned out +spontaneously to assist in the quest which he undertook without loss of +time. Gabriel had described with great exactitude the spot to be +searched, for he remembered it very well. And indeed there were many +people still living who could point out the place where the body was +found. Near at hand, a long narrow rift ran into the face of the +precipice, and at its extreme end, where the billows of every winter +increased the depth of superincumbent sand, Wyley stated he had +deposited the garments which would identify the wearer. The cleft was +too narrow for more than one man to dig at a time, and the excitement of +the crowd behind him increased with every stroke of his spade. The +smuggler appeared to have told the truth. A quantity of half-destroyed +garments were discovered, and among them a pocket-book containing a +pencil-case and a ring. The clothes were worthless for any object; but +of these last-mentioned articles Griffith took possession, and forwarded +them to London, in order that they might be submitted to Mr. Ashton's +friends for recognition.</p> + +<p>"Hurrah for Trevethlan!" shouted Colan, in a conclave held at Dame +Miniver's that night, "and a health to our squire and our bonny young +mistress!"</p> + +<p>Loud acclamations and deep draughts gave a welcome to the toast.</p> + +<p>"'Tis a strange thing," said the general merchant, "that this matter +should have been so long quiet. The times that I've walked by that rift +in the cliff yonder, and never seen anything."</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked the hostess; "and what would ye expect to see, neighbour +Breage? Every winter as passed only packed the sand higher and higher."</p> + +<p>"But there might have been a sign, dame, there might have been a sign."</p> + +<p>"It shows there was no murder done, at any rate," observed another of +the company.</p> + +<p>"Still," persisted Breage, "I wonder there was no dream came to point to +the place; and especially seeing how hard it has gone with the squire."</p> + +<p>"It's like to go hard enough with this Denis or Wyley," Colan remarked. +"The fire of Pendar'l was black enough against him, and this story won't +tell any way for him."</p> + +<p>"But it will for our Edward Owen," said Germoe. "It will turn to his +good, and I am glad of it."</p> + +<p>"Ay," exclaimed Dame Miniver, "and besides that, I hear talk how he +fought for the lady of Pendar'l that night, and beat off some that would +harm her."</p> + +<p>"We shall have him among us again afore long," said farmer Colan. "And +Gabriel will be like to confess all the rights of it before he dies."</p> + +<p>"Well," said the pertinacious Breage, "if he confesses to murder, I +shall never believe in any sign or token again."</p> + +<p>The suspicion here indicated that the smuggler had told only half the +truth, prevailed very generally in the hamlet, and many of the villagers +thought that he had wilfully thrown the clergyman over the cliff. But we +are willing to ascribe the popular feeling to the common love of the +worst in criminal matters, and to believe that Wyley was sincere. He was +probably prepared for robbery, but not for murder. The revelry at the +Trevethlan Arms was protracted till a late hour.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Decline all this, and see what now thou art.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For one being sued to, one that humbly sues;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For queen, a very caitiff crowned with care;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For one that scorned at me, now scorned of me;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For one being feared of all, now fearing one;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For one commanding all, obeyed of none.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thus hath the course of justice wheeled about,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And left thee but a very prey to time;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Having no more but thought of what thou wert,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To torture thee the more, being what thou art.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Shakspeare.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>Meanwhile scandal and gossip were still busy with the stolen marriage +and its consequences. Mysterious paragraphs had appeared in some of the +public prints. If newspapers at that time had been illustrated, there +might have been portraits of the bride and bridegroom, or at least of +Rhoda, and of the travelling carriage. But the kindred of Asmodeus, who +in these days haunt town and country with the implements of Daguerre, +and embellish our journals with their woodcuts, had not yet acquired +those pictorial aids, and were obliged to content themselves with +old-fashioned letterpress. What their descendants may arrive at, +especially in alliance with the disciples of Mesmer, to whom distance is +no object, and brick and mortar no impediment, it is hard to anticipate. +The electric telegraph is likely to be regarded as a slow concern; +everybody will know his neighbour's thoughts; the old fable of +transparent bosoms will be realized; and the gift of speech will cease +to be of any use.</p> + +<p>This consummation seems, however, at present rather remote. If we were +of a misanthropic turn, and familiar with any good-humoured demon, lame +or otherwise, we should trouble him to take us to and fro between the +home and haunts of some well-seeming family, and the gloomy chambers +where Astræa holds her revels. We should be present one day at the +dinner or the ball, and the next day we should go among crumbling papers +and musty parchments. We should follow the unconscious prey to the levee +or drawing-room, and then we should repair to the dark den, where the +spoiler was quietly and assiduously preparing the pit-fall. Often when +we look up to the lofty buildings inhabited especially by the servants +of Themis, we are led to think of the devices which may there be +silently undermining the stability of some well-to-do house, now +standing fair and seemly in the eyes of the world. Far away back, in +some ancient record, the lynx-eyed practitioner has lighted upon the +trail: step by step he advances, fortifying himself at every pause, +until the prize is full in view, and the filing of a bill or the service +of a writ informs the unsuspecting victim that his all is at stake; +destroying in one moment the whole security of his life, and entangling +him in a maze of litigation, to endure possibly for years, and too +probably to leave him, even if successful, an impoverished and +broken-hearted man. In these days of iron and steam, there is nothing +romantic but the law.</p> + +<p>And we are not thinking of the mere lovers of chicane, who occasionally +disgrace the profession, but of what may happen in the career of the +most honourable of its votaries. It was thus that the downfall of +Trevethlan was prepared in one office, and that its restoration was now +being achieved in another. Little had Randolph dreamed of the plot that +was devising against him, and in which the lawyers were but unwitting +agents: little did Esther imagine the counter-stroke which was now +impending, and to which double weight was to be given by the conduct of +her late protégé.</p> + +<p>Michael Sinson, baffled in his new attempt against Randolph, had +returned sulkily to London. Among the first intelligence which met his +eyes in the daily journals was the suicide of his miserable slave. He +gnashed his teeth as he read it, and perceived that Rereworth had been +in communication with the deceased. Had Everope been a double traitor? +Sinson could not free himself from the idea. The ground seemed to be +shaking under his feet. After hours of irritating uncertainty, he sought +an interview with Mr. Truby, in hope of discovering whether anything had +transpired. But he met a very cold reception, and obtained no solution +of his anxiety. The lawyer, however, demanded his address, and he, after +giving it, went immediately and moved to other quarters.</p> + +<p>He mused of coming forward himself as an informant to the other side, +but if they were already in possession of the truth, to do so would be +merely to place himself in their power. Then he made a futile attempt to +gain admission to his former patroness; but being turned from the door +with contumely, he thought of his supposed power over her, and fancied +that it might yield him both security and profit. With this idea he made +his way to Mr. Pendarrel at his office. Here he acquired the knowledge +which he had vainly sought from Mr. Truby.</p> + +<p>"Do you know, sir," Mr. Pendarrel asked him, "that it is rumoured the +evidence at the trial is upset? That they have found relics of the +clergyman who really performed that marriage, and that steps are already +taken to reverse the judgment?"</p> + +<p>Sinson, although he almost expected something of the kind, was staggered +by the announcement.</p> + +<p>"Now, if this be so," continued Mr. Pendarrel, "it will be strange if +you, sir, were not a party to the fraud that will have been perpetrated. +Do you mark me?"</p> + +<p>He spoke in the cold and deliberate manner which characterized his +demeanour whenever he was independent of his wife. Sinson recovered from +his first surprise, and assumed an attitude of confidence.</p> + +<p>"Whatever I have done," he said, "I have done by the orders of Mrs. +Pendarrel. I am now come to receive my recompense."</p> + +<p>"You have been well paid, sir," answered Mr. Pendarrel; "there is +nothing due to you."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not, for what is past," Sinson said; "but there is for what is +to come. You tell me there are rumours of fraud: and I say that Mrs. +Pendarrel has authorized whatever has been done. I have her letters. +They may be valuable."</p> + +<p>"You are a cool scoundrel," said Mr. Pendarrel, "upon my word. But you +do not gull me with so simple a device. What hinders me, sirrah, but +that I should instantly give you into custody?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, perhaps," was the answer, "but the disagreeable consequences. +If you would only be so good as consult my lady, it might change your +mind."</p> + +<p>"Pooh, sir!" said Esther's husband, "you have overshot your mark. Go now +about your business, and don't dare to come here again, or you know the +result."</p> + +<p>He rang his bell, and ordered the disconcerted intruder to be shown out. +Sinson went into the neighbouring park and read over the documents on +which he had so fondly relied. And, regarded in the light thrown upon +them by Mr. Pendarrel's contempt, they presented him with no consolation +in his fall. On the other hand, he had again unwittingly advanced the +interests of his detested rival.</p> + +<p>Mr. Truby, it may have been observed, frequently in matters of business +communicated directly with the wife of his nominal client. When Mr. +Pendarrel went from home that day, he found Esther in a state of even +unusual depression. She had received a letter from the lawyer, +acquainting her there were strong grounds for believing that the main +facts on which they had relied at the trial were fabricated for the +occasion, and that, as his own character might be implicated by any +concealment, he was resolved to probe the matter to the bottom.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Gertrude!" said Esther to her constant attendant, "what will become +of me? Among them, they are breaking my heart."</p> + +<p>She was in this dejected condition when her husband came home. +Everything concurred to make him exceedingly desirous to bring about at +least a formal reconciliation with the fugitive couple. He read Mr. +Truby's letter, and told his wife of the visit he had received that +morning.</p> + +<p>"And, my dear," said he, "this person would make us accomplices in +whatever fraud has been perpetrated."</p> + +<p>"Us, Mr. Pendarrel!" Esther ejaculated. "You are jesting, sir, and in a +very sorry manner."</p> + +<p>But she recollected Michael's threats, and could not help trembling.</p> + +<p>"Not I, madam," her husband protested, adopting for a moment her own +formal mode of address, "not I, upon my life. Sinson declares that he +has letters authorizing all he did, which he pretty plainly admitted to +have been more than was honest. And these letters he threatened to use, +unless I would purchase them."</p> + +<p>"You did not!" Mrs. Pendarrel exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Of course I did not, my dear," was the reply. "I turned his absurd +threats upon himself. But it is unpleasant to have these things said. +And you see Truby's letter bears out the rumours."</p> + +<p>"Ah, me!" Esther sighed, almost wringing her hands, "to what am I +fallen?"</p> + +<p>"My dear," her husband ventured to urge, "it is time this unhappy matter +were settled. After the wrong which will have been done to Mr. +Trevethlan"—he started when the name had passed his lips—"after that, +I say, we must overlook what has occurred since."</p> + +<p>"Do what you will," muttered his wife, "my part in the affair is over. +But are you sure they will accept forgiveness? Has he asked for it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, dear mother," said Gertrude. "Let me intercede. My poor sister +has no peace till she has thrown herself at your feet, and Randolph has +none while she is unhappy."</p> + +<p>"Well, well," Esther murmured, "I have no more to say. Bring them here, +if you will, Gertrude. And since it must be so, the sooner the better."</p> + +<p>"And really, my dear Esther," said the husband, "the match is not so +disadvantageous after all. You see it will unite the properties, and if +Trevethlan is now but a small estate, it is at least unencumbered, which +is more than we could say of Tolpeden; and I remember that Mildred was +telling me once—"</p> + +<p>"Never mind now, papa," said Mrs. Winston, who saw that every word he +uttered was a dagger in her mother's heart. "Let me go and prepare my +sister to come home."</p> + +<p>Indeed, Esther's humiliation required no aggravating circumstances. She +was deeply wounded in the tenderest parts of her character. Pride, +ambition, and love of rule had all been mortified and abused. And now +she succumbed. She resigned any further struggle, and yielded to her +victorious foe. Her spirit and mind were alike brought down. After the +above conversation she retired to her own room, and drew her miniature +from her bosom, and looked long and stedfastly on the tranquil +lineaments. Again she reviewed her whole life, and again she fell upon +the ever-recurring question—Did he then love me? And she scarcely knew +whether an answer in the affirmative would give her most of joy or of +regret.</p> + +<p>The man who had so long ministered to her will, was in his humbler +sphere as completely overthrown. But his feelings were bitter and +fierce, and no trace of compunction or repentance was to be found among +them. On reconsidering his threats, he clearly saw their futility. When +he partly disclosed his story to a scandal-mongering individual with a +view to extortion, he was only laughed at for his pains. And he very +clearly perceived, that for himself there was nothing in prospect but +the penalty of perjury. On every hand he felt that he had been thwarted +and defeated. The man whom he knew that he hated had wedded the lady +whom Michael fancied he loved, and he foresaw the reconciliation that +would make them happy. While he himself, instead of being on the high +road to fortune, was an outcast from society, disgraced and infamous.</p> + +<p>Yet did one matter detain him in London. One hope remained to save him +from absolute despair. By one chance he might even yet retrieve himself, +and aspire to a certain position in the world. Wealth, he fancied, would +cover a multitude of sins. Cunning had failed him, luck might stand his +friend. Day by day he sought the ancient hall, where the wheel of +fortune, no longer a mere symbol, dispensed blanks and prizes to a host +of care-worn worshippers. And of all that feverish crowd, no votary +watched the numbers as they turned up, with more desperate eyes than the +peasant of Cornwall. Reckless alike of the jests of the indifferent, of +the boisterous glee of the fortunate, and of the execrations of the +ruined, he awaited his turn with intense excitement. The great prizes +were still in the wheel. He might have realised a very handsome profit +on his ticket. But he would scarcely have parted with it for anything +short of the highest amount in the list. Little he cared when the +revolving cylinder threw out a paltry thousand; no such trifle was an +object to him. But he ground his teeth when a number which was not his, +appeared in connection with a prize of twenty thousand pounds, and when +the very next turn of the wheel declared his ticket—blank—he crushed +his hat over his eyes, and slunk out of the hall. He slunk away from +town: it was his final leave-taking of the metropolis.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh, days of youth and joy, long clouded,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Why thus for ever haunt my view?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When in the grave your light lay shrouded,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Why did not memory die there too?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Vainly doth hope her strain now sing me,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Whispering of joys that yet remain—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No, never more can this life bring me<br /></span> +<span class="i2">One joy that equals youth's sweet pain.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Moore.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>All this time Mildred Trevethlan remained in strict retirement. The only +visits which interrupted her solitude were those she occasionally +received from Mrs. Winston and from Helen. Gertrude brought intelligence +of Mrs. Pendarrel, which was unhappily not of a kind to comfort the +repenting fugitive, and her calls were rendered of brief duration by her +anxiety to return to the invalid. She could not pretend to assign any +other cause than Mildred's flight to their mother's dejection, and her +sister trembled to think of the effects of her disobedience. In the many +hours when she was necessarily alone, or attended only by Rhoda, she was +haunted by fears of the most alarming kind, and whenever Randolph came +home after an absence as short as he could make it, he always fancied +that his wife's sadness had increased since he left her.</p> + +<p>Yet her despondency was lightened for a time when Helen came to see her. +For she, gentle and hopeful, dwelt always on the theme to which Gertrude +dared not allude. She always promised, or rather predicted, that a +reconciliation could not be distant. She bid Mildred to fix her eyes +upon that prospect, and to overlook the trouble immediately around her. +And upon her brother she urged the duty of obeying the chaplain's +injunctions, in their full spirit, and without delay. But Randolph +listened to such remonstrances with impatience, and still postponed the +day when he would make any advances.</p> + +<p>"Let us, at least, be fully restored to our rights," he would say. "Let +my father's honour be re-established; let me have a name to bestow upon +my bride; and then, when we have exposed the wretched plot by which we +were overthrown, we may have the satisfaction of forgiving those who +wronged us, and may, if they choose, in turn, accept their forgiveness."</p> + +<p>Helen grieved, but could prevail no farther. And, fortunately, the +period marked by her brother was fast approaching. Mr. Winter had been +already in communication with the friends of Ashton, the clergyman. By +good hap, they were able to identify the ring which was found among the +buried clothes. This confirmation of the smuggler's story lent it the +credit which his character could not give. Everope's confession, +attested by Rereworth, had, at least, overthrown the credibility of his +previous testimony. And thus the whole case on which the plaintiff in +the action had rested his title broke down, and the obscurity which hung +around the late Mr. Trevethlan's marriage was finally dissipated.</p> + +<p>We need not trouble our readers with the technical proceedings which +would terminate in a formal and public reversal of the verdict at +Bodmin. Randolph had enjoyed the pleasure of communicating to his wife +the approaching result, and, in more kindly temper, was revolving the +mode by which they might be reconciled to her friends, when Gertrude +came with the message of peace. It was much more than the husband had +conceived possible, or than the wife had dared to hope. It left no room +for further perverseness. Randolph saw the flush of joy with which +Mildred received the offer, and accepted it with eagerness. Mrs. Winston +proposed to take them at once to May Fair; and they went without delay.</p> + +<p>Without pausing, she conducted them into the presence of Mrs. Pendarrel. +And Randolph had taken the mother's offered hand, and Mildred had been +pressed to her heart, before either of them well knew what they were +about.</p> + +<p>Some little awkwardness supervened. Mrs. Winston, with her usual tact, +led her sister from the room. Randolph was alone with his father's +Esther.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Trevethlan," the lady said, after a short silence, and with a faint +sigh upon the name, "we have much to forgive each other."</p> + +<p>"I have forgiven," Randolph answered. "Let the past be forgotten."</p> + +<p>"You have forgiven!" Esther exclaimed mournfully. "Do you know in what +you have been wronged?"</p> + +<p>"All that is personal to myself has passed from my mind," he replied.</p> + +<p>"Ay," said Mrs. Pendarrel, "but there is much that is not personal to +yourself. Where is your sister? You are happy in the possession of such +a one. Do you know that even to her I have been unkind and unjust?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, madam," Randolph said, "do not recall these things. Helen has +differed widely from me. Would that I had been guided by her advice!"</p> + +<p>"Yet you were right, and she was wrong," observed Esther, who seemed to +feel a relief in unburdening her mind. "That letter was intended to try +you, and you interpreted it correctly. Helen was more charitable than I +deserved."</p> + +<p>"Madam," said Randolph, moved by compassion for the humiliation before +him, "there had probably been great provocation."</p> + +<p>"I do not know," was the meditative answer. "I have tried to persuade +myself there was. For if there were not, how shall I ever be justified? +Did she tell you, Randolph—did your sister tell you—that I robbed her? +See. Do you know this miniature?"</p> + +<p>And she showed him the picture of herself. The sight of it reminded her +hearer of those dying imprecations which had been so fatal to all his +happiness. A dark cloud overspread his brow.</p> + +<p>"Ay," said Esther, perceiving the change in his countenance. "You +remember, now, that it is not only your peace which I have broken. There +is another's for which I have to answer."</p> + +<p>"Oh," Randolph exclaimed, "heavy was the task laid upon me, and bitterly +indeed have I judged!"</p> + +<p>"Listen," Mrs. Pendarrel continued, speaking in tremulous accents. "You +know this portrait, but you know not its history. You know not how it +once hung from the neck of a wayward and wilful girl. It had often been +begged and prayed for, by one who loved her faithfully, fondly—ay, as +she believes now—till death. It was taken, or given, in a moment of +overpowering tenderness. The vows were plighted, and each had promised +to live only for the other. And then she—she, forsooth, idol and +votary, worshipped and worshipping—must snap the link, in her petulance +and pride, break the heart which adored her, and seek to console her own +misery by trampling upon her victim. Oh, Randolph Trevethlan, your +father has been deeply avenged. I never forgot that early dream. But I +strove to persuade myself that I was forgotten, and excused my own +arrogance with the thought. And now this image, which he wore upon his +heart—it tells me that he loved me to the last."</p> + +<p>"And he died," Randolph said, restraining his emotion, "with words of +love upon his lips. 'I mentioned'—it was spoken with his latest +breath—'I mentioned Esther Pendarrel. She was once very dear to me'—he +then referred to his disappointment—'but I have often thought I was not +indifferent to her. If so, she has my pardon.' Oh, madam, I repeat, +indeed, something like the words, but it were vain for me to express the +feeling with which they were uttered. Alas, I recked not of the promise +they contained. I only looked on the dark side of the picture. I chose +to make it impossible to ascertain the truth. Entrusted with what was +really a message of peace, I have perpetrated animosity. It is I, it is +I, who should implore pardon."</p> + +<p>Silence followed this speech. Esther fell into a reverie on the past. It +was of a more tranquil character than those which of late had caused so +much anxiety to her friends. At length it was broken by the return of +her daughters. She called Mildred to her side.</p> + +<p>"You have deprived me of the power," she said, with a mournful +expression strangely at variance with the words, "little rebel, to +perform a mother's part. Yet I fain would do it."</p> + +<p>She placed Mildred's hand in that of Randolph.</p> + +<p>"Take her," she said, "Randolph Trevethlan, and may you know a happiness +which has never been mine."</p> + +<p>Mildred threw herself into her mother's arms.</p> + +<p>"My children," Esther continued, "you will make your home here, till.... +And where is Helen?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Winston said, that Helen would perhaps pay her another visit. And +in a short time Mrs. Pendarrel quitted the room. She left more of +anxiety than of comfort behind her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Gertrude," Mildred exclaimed, "how fearfully she is changed!"</p> + +<p>The alteration was indeed too evident to escape notice.</p> + +<p>"Do not fear now," Mrs. Winston said; "it has been a trying time, but it +is over now. All will be well, Mildred dear."</p> + +<p>It was kindly said, and well it would be if the anticipation were +fulfilled. But the agitation through which Esther had gone was too +likely to leave its traces for many days to come.</p> + +<p>In no long time, Randolph set forth on his way to Hampstead, to make his +sister and the chaplain partakers of the reconciliation. On his way, he +pondered over the train of events in which he had been involved, and +admitted the wisdom of Polydore's judgment regarding death-bed +injunctions and promises. He could not avoid reverting also to the fatal +misunderstanding which, five-and-thirty years before, had laid the seed +of so much bitter fruit. Was the harvest entirely gathered even now? It +was a question which rose involuntarily in his mind. And the +announcement which he made at Hampstead afforded his hearers a pleasure +more unalloyed, it is probable, than any he felt himself. He reminded +Mr. Riches of his promise to bestow the nuptial blessing, at the +ceremony which would be performed in a few days, and there is no need to +say that the chaplain undertook the duty with great delight. And to +Helen he delivered an invitation to officiate as bridesmaid, and, in the +interval, to occupy her old place at Mrs. Winston's. She accompanied him +back to town.</p> + +<p>That evening Polydore smoked a pipe with Mr. Peach in a more contented +mood than he had enjoyed for some time. He hoped that the sun of +Trevethlan was at last emerging from the clouds. The old clerk edified +Clotilda, who sat with them rather later than usual, by divers +narratives of remarkable elopements, but agreed with the chaplain that +marriage in the regular way was a much better thing. And when Miss Peach +had retired, the old bachelors fell into their usual humour, and sighed +forth the praises of their Rose and Mabel.</p> + +<p>"Better, methinks it is," said Polydore in conclusion, "to imagine my +beloved Rose smiling upon me from the sky, than to have won her at the +expense of another's peace of mind. Better to remember the patience and +resignation with which she learnt to watch the stealthy approach of the +destroyer, than to reflect upon the rashness which precipitated an +unhallowed union. Better to cherish the love which death could not +divide, and to look forward to its everlasting reward, than to rush to +present enjoyment, and expiate it in future remorse."</p> + +<p>The bridegroom invited Rereworth to attend the wedding, as his friend, +and Seymour having of course agreed to do so, found an agreeable mode of +employing the brief interval by renewing his visits in Cavendish-square. +Many a time he went there with the full intention of appearing in his +true character as a lover, should an opportunity offer, and as often he +departed without having revealed his secret. The question which every +man should ask once in his life, rose to his lips continually, and still +remained unuttered. For Mrs. Winston saw plainly enough what was the +state of affairs, and frequently contrived to leave Rereworth alone with +the mistress of his heart. Why did he not avail himself of such an +occasion? Was it from timidity, or doubt, or irresolution? No cause had +he for fear, no reason for doubt, no wavering to disturb. But in the +simple consciousness of being beloved, there was joy so calm and deep, +it seemed a pity to ruffle it by any less tranquil emotion. Lie at hot +noon under the trees which shade one of the "resting-places" of a great +southern river, and you may gaze upon the level water until you cease to +wish for the breeze which would cool your brow, because it would also +ripple that placid expanse. And Rereworth, although confident of a +favourable answer to his petition, yet delayed preferring it, because he +was loth to flutter his present peaceful happiness, even by a +declaration which would end in enhancing it. So the fond secret was +still untold.</p> + +<p>That smooth and unvarying affection offered a much fairer prospect of +future felicity than the impetuous passion which had united Randolph and +Mildred. Even now they felt they were far from serenity. The bridegroom +could not overcome the constraint he experienced in the society of his +father-in-law; he shrank with instinctive dislike from the Philip +Pendarrel whom his own father had denounced in such bitter words; and +the feeling was quickened by the cold and calculating prudence of the +political manœuvrer. Randolph eagerly cut short all discussions about +settlements, and other formalities, and escaped as soon as he could from +a companionship which was full of disagreeable associations.</p> + +<p>And Mildred was disquieted by the continuing change in her mother, who +seemed to lose all care of the present in musing over the past. Yet this +was a natural effect of the recent events, and it might reasonably be +hoped that no great time would restore Mrs. Pendarrel to tranquillity +and resignation.</p> + +<p>But during the preparations for the new marriage, we must cast a rapid +glance upon the hamlet of Trevethlan.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There be bright faces in the busy hall,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bowls on the board, and banners on the wall;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Far checkering o'er the pictured window, plays<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The unwonted faggot's hospitable blaze;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And gay retainers gather round the hearth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With tongues all gladness, and with eyes all mirth.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Byron.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>The news of the restoration of Randolph to his ancestral towers had +already diffused joy through the homes of his tenantry; and the +fulfilment of Dame Miniver's prediction respecting his marriage +completed the exultation. There was not a heart in the village that was +not made lighter by the account of the alliance between Pendarrel and +Trevethlan. The castle was busy with the labours of upholsterers and all +their tribe, actively employed under the superintendence of the steward +and his wife, in renovating some of its ancient splendour; and the +Trevethlan Arms rejoiced in their patronage at the close of the day. Old +Jeffrey was half frantic with excitement and delight, practising the +manœuvre of hoisting and striking a new flag often and often, until +it was suggested to him that, by so doing, he deprived the ensign of its +significance.</p> + +<p>Great preparations were also being made for the reception of the bride +and bridegroom. A triumphal arch at the entrance of the green, and +another over the gate of the base-court, were ready to be decked with +flowers and streamers, when the happy occasion should arrive; for the +merry month of May was come, and nature was robing the land in its +gayest attire. Mistress Miniver's good-humoured face beamed with delight +from sunrise to sunset, and the joyousness of her looks was reflected in +the countenances of her neighbours.</p> + +<p>Yet this happiness was not unalloyed. There were still not a few +absentees from the family hearth, lamenting their turbulence in +captivity. Even with respect to them, however, anxiety was mitigated, +for it was now understood that Mrs. Pendarrel was inclined to intercede +in their behalf. And she had already contributed to the enlargement of +Edward Owen. For, inquiring one day, in her languid manner, concerning +the mode in which the missing Wyley had been discovered, Randolph +mentioned Owen as instrumental in the matter, and she remembered how a +man of that name had rescued herself and family from outrage on the +night of the fire. And on her representations the young rustic was +admitted to bail, with an intimation that his being called up for trial +would depend upon his future conduct.</p> + +<p>But if he had conceived any hope of finding favour in another quarter, +he was disappointed. Mercy Page was as coy as before. Perhaps the very +unpopularity of Michael Sinson had contributed to support his cause in +the maiden's heart; and certainly the taunts with which she was +sometimes assailed were not calculated to change her mind. She had +almost sequestered herself from the neighbouring villagers, and either +sat at home in her mother's cottage, or walked out late in the evening +by herself. On such occasions she was jealously watched, and well it +proved for her in the end that it was so.</p> + +<p>But Edward was not one of the spies upon her steps. He began to feel +chilled by her enduring coldness, and listened more complacently than of +old to the words of those who said he might better himself, and +particularly to any hints of the kind which fell from the mirthful +landlady of the Trevethlan Arms. Farmer Colan once told her, she might +not object to change her name; and now a rumour to the same effect +became very current in the gossip of the hamlet.</p> + +<p>And another topic furnished food to the village scandal-mongers. It was +said Michael Sinson had returned to his old country. And it was true. He +had left London, writhing under a manifold disappointment, baffled in +all his evil desires and devices. Moreover, he suspected that Mr. Truby +was strongly inclined to bring him to justice. But unlike his wretched +victim, Everope, he was unacquainted with shame, and unstung by remorse. +He regretted and resented his want of success; but he rather admired +than deplored the subtile villany of his schemes. Sulky and angry, he +fled from the metropolis to the dwelling of his grandmother, Wilderness +Lodge. Mrs. Pendarrel had not displaced the old gate-keeper. There +Michael brooded in silence and retirement for several days, during which +his ill-temper was continually fretted, and his evil passions stimulated +by the querulousness of the aged fanatic. Shrewd enough was old Maud to +see that her favourite had by no means achieved the success which she +had foretold for him. He was far away from qualification for that +angelic choir, which his mere name appeared to her to entitle him to +enter.</p> + +<p>The news of his arrival reached the ears of his old flame, probably in +some sarcastic shape; and Mercy threw herself in his way. But he thrust +her rudely aside, and with so dark a scowl upon his brow that she +thought involuntarily of Dame Gudhan's predictions, and shuddered at the +recollection. The account of the meeting was soon circulated round the +green of Trevethlan, and gave new force to the ill looks which were cast +upon the luckless maiden. But it did not lull the activity, half hopeful +and half fearful, with which her steps were dogged.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile old Maud harped perpetually on her grandson's failure, and on +the attempt to disturb her Margaret's marriage. She was for ever +lamenting the injustice done to Michael, and calumniating the house of +Trevethlan for its treatment of her favourite daughter. Neither topic +was agreeable to Sinson; and at length, irritated at home beyond +control, he showed himself among the rural habitations. But he went only +to meet with fresh mortification. Every one seemed to know his history. +People turned their backs upon the traitor. Children mocked and flouted +him. Scorn surrounded him on all sides, and in every shape. Daring to +present himself at the Trevethlan Arms, he was ejected with violence and +derision, and was hooted and pelted from the village green. And among +the foremost of his assailants he recognised his ancient rival. There +was nothing for it but to endure the petulance of his fanatical +grandmother.</p> + +<p>Woe for the "ministering angel!" One hand in Trevethlan had no share in +the insults showered that day upon the traitor. One heart in the village +refused to believe in the infamy of him it had loved. One voice was +heard in sorrow amidst the general execration. One pair of eyes were +clouded with tears, where all others flashed with anger. Mercy Page wept +for Michael Sinson.</p> + +<p>At dusk, the same evening, the village maiden left her mother's cottage, +and bent her steps along the quiet lanes to Wilderness Lodge. Now, she +thought, was the time to show her devotion, and, if Michael really had +gone astray, to call him back to the right path. Now, when all men spoke +ill of him, was the time for her to sustain him against their evil +report. Hearing of him as prosperous and rising, she had been, +comparatively, indifferent. Seeing him abased and insulted, all her +early tenderness revived.</p> + +<p>She rattled the latch of the gate, and Sinson came out of the lodge. He +was astonished at perceiving the visitor, who looked at him with her +face half bent down. He returned her glance with a sullen stare, and +rudely bade her "begone."</p> + +<p>"Michael," she said, "will you not hear me, Michael? Not hear Mercy?"</p> + +<p>The soft voice turned the current of the young man's thoughts.</p> + +<p>"Know you not what they say of me?" he asked. "Saw you not how I was +hunted from among them?"</p> + +<p>"I know it all, Michael; but I believe it not. I saw it, and it made me +weep."</p> + +<p>"Speak not to her," shrieked old Maud, who had come forth to see what +her grandson was doing; "speak not to the accursed thing from +Trevethlan. Better fortune is in store for my boy. Bid the Armageddon +depart."</p> + +<p>"And will you walk with me, Mercy, as of old?" the young man asked, +without heeding Maud's interruption.</p> + +<p>The maiden answered by placing her hand in Michael's arm, and so, side +by side, they quitted Wilderness Gate.</p> + +<p>Old Maud tottered after them into the road, and gazed in the direction +they had taken. She shook the thin locks that hung about her temples, +and wrung her hands, and looked up into the sky. The first stars were +beginning to twinkle in the gray transparency of twilight.</p> + +<p>"Woe's me!" muttered the old crone. "Woe's me! She is leading him to his +doom."</p> + +<p>And her wild look quite scared a little girl who waited on her, when she +returned into the lodge.</p> + +<p>We do not care to follow minutely the young couple's evening walk. There +is little pleasure in watching the companionship of villany and +innocence, even where the latter is triumphant. Fortunately for Mercy, +she was well observed that evening. There was a narrow and secluded dell +about a mile from Wilderness Lodge, made obscure in the day-time by +over-shadowing trees; doubly gloomy, therefore, in the twilight. The +brook from Pendarrel Park murmured along it, and a footpath, devious and +unfrequented, followed the wanderings of the streamlet. To that +sequestered spot, which might seem almost designed for the rambles of +lovers, did Sinson guide the steps of her who trusted him with such +unsuspecting fidelity. There in her own simple and homely manner she +sought to persuade him to be at peace with the world, and to make +atonement for any wrong he might have done. But she spoke to an angry +and unrepenting nature, and the only answer to her remonstrances made +her acquainted with the worthlessness of him in whom she had confided so +long.</p> + +<p>It was a rude and bitter lesson. "Better he were dead!" has been the +exclamation of many a heart deceived like hers. Mercy could no longer +hope that the imputations of the villagers were the offspring of rustic +jealousy. She hardly knew what happened in the first pain of her +discovery. She turned to leave him, for she could do no more. He had +followed her, but the watchers interposed. They closed upon the spot in +an instant. The maiden was rescued, and the betrayer fled. He glared +savagely for one moment upon those who came to save, counted their +number, and took to precipitate flight. And the rustics, who had +followed the ill-matched maiden with, at least, as much spite as pity, +now showed more of the better feeling, and brought her safe, though +trembling, home to her mother's cottage.</p> + +<p>A warm pursuit was then commenced in the track of her assailant. Summary +justice the country-folk thought they would inflict upon the culprit, +although he might escape the more regular doom of the law. Many an old +ground of exasperation gave vigour to the chase. Many a motive of fear +lent wings to its object. He fled over the moors, from carn to carn, and +from cave to cave. They drove him at last to the precipices of the +Lizard. He retained his strength and activity, and turned them to good +account in baffling his pursuers among those beetling cliffs. But, after +numerous disappointments, they at length hunted him to bay. They hemmed +him in on a ledge from which the rock descended sheer into the sea. +Certain that he could not escape, they were, perhaps, negligent in +observing his movements. But no one could tell what had become of him, +when it was suddenly found that he had disappeared. They looked eagerly +into the waves which were dashing against the cliff below; but there +they could see no sign. The steepness and height of the rock above +utterly precluded the possibility of his having scaled it. Yet there was +an unwillingness to believe that he had simply been drowned, and the +folks told strange stories of his having been picked up by some boat, +and got away to sea. All that was certain was, that he was never heard +of again.</p> + +<p>The night on which he was lost, his grandmother sat beside the hearth in +Wilderness Lodge, swaying herself to and fro in her rocking-chair, and +moaning to herself in an under tone. The little girl who attended her +was seated opposite on a low stool, and watched her with a feeling of +awe, frightened, yet unable to withdraw her eyes from those of her +employer, which were fixed and unusually bright.</p> + +<p>"Where's my boy?" old Maud might have been heard to mutter. "Where's my +own Michael? What is it they tell me of shame? What is it they say he +told of my winsome Margaret? Did I hear that the marriage was broken? +Na, na, Randolph Trevethlan, thou canst not so sever the ties. Has she +not come to claim her own? Let them cross her path that dare. Smiling, +did he say? A sweet smiling face? That was my Margaret indeed, but she +never smiled at Trevethlan. And would they tell me she went there to +shame? Did my Michael speak against her? Na; 't was they that brought +her to death; they that will not let her rest in her grave. And why has +she woke from her sleep? What comes she back to seek? Why will she not +come to me? I was afar when she died. Was it of my own choice? Were we +not driven away? Me, and my Michael, and all? Was there one of her +kindred left with her? But they are fallen. The dark hour of Trevethlan +came. And will they still make us their sport? Where's my own Michael? +She came for him the night: the white-faced thing from Trevethlan. What +cries did I hear in the sky? What tale did they whisper in my ear?"</p> + +<p>Her voice, which had risen occasionally while she spoke, now sank into +an inarticulate murmur, and her head dropped, and the rocking of her +chair nearly ceased. The little girl looked at her with increasing +wonder and dread. Suddenly Maud raised her head, and after seeming to +listen for a moment, cried, "Michael," in one wild and dissonant shriek.</p> + +<p>"What voice was that on the wind?" she continued, rising abruptly from +the chair. "Who hailed that name?—Michael," she called again, in the +same unearthly tone—"didst hear? 'T was his own. Didst hear how it +wailed on the wind?—Michael—The waters are sounding in my ears. Didst +hear the name, girl?—Drowning.—Ay, it was he—it was he."</p> + +<p>Her voice had declined to a hoarse whisper, and her limbs relaxed, and +she sank, rather then fell, to the ground. The little girl ran terrified +from the lodge to seek for help. When the neighbours whom she summoned +returned thither, they found the old woman huddled together in a heap +upon the floor. They raised her up, but life had departed: she had +rejoined her daughter, Margaret Trevethlan.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O blisful ordre, O wedlock precious,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou art so mery, and so virtuous,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And so commended, and approved eke,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That every man that holt him worth a leke,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Upon his bare knees oughten all his lif<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thanken his God that him hath sent a wif;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or elles pray to God him for to send<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A wif to last until his lives end.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><span class="smcap">Chaucer.</span><br /></span> +</div></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>Odious are town-weddings. To our fancy there is something appalling in +the splendour with which the ceremony is invested. And it seems to +defeat its object; for the festivities which follow the departure of the +new-married pair are proverbially dull. But the train of carriages, the +cloud of bride-maids, and all the rest of the pomp and parade, appear to +us more fitted to gratify the taste of the mob on the pavement, than to +show the refinement of the nineteenth century. A solemn rite is +converted into a theatrical entertainment. What should be a scene of +deep and heart-felt joy becomes a laborious piece of acting. The bridal +wreath is sullied by the incense which rises round it. To be sure if +there is no heart in the business, if the gist of the union is to be +found in the settlements, and the promise to love, honour, and obey is +made as a matter of form, then the scenic character of the accessaries +is perhaps in keeping, and may serve to throw a decorous veil over the +sacrifice. But the village-church is the proper shrine for matrimony. +The rustics who make a holiday of the occasion, and come in their Sunday +raiment to take respectful leave of their squire's daughter, form a much +more seemly retinue, than the gamins and idlers who throng the portico +of the London church, staring with rude wonder, and eager for vulgar +satire. And is it a childish desire that would fain invest the spot +where our fondest hopes were crowned, with a little romance? May we not +look forward to future pilgrimages to the altar where we were made the +happiest of men? And who could dream of so revisiting St. George's? Nay, +even the bells, inaudible in the metropolis, but in the country +proclaiming our happiness, will thereby require a new charm in our ears, +and their music will awake a new sympathy amidst its many dear and holy +associations.</p> + +<p>There would, however, as the reader will readily suppose, be little or +no display at the re-marriage of Randolph and Mildred. It was fixed to +take place at the church belonging to the district in which Mrs. +Pendarrel resided. There at the appointed hour, the little party met; +and the union, which was before furtive and irregular, received the +sanction of Heaven at the hands of Polydore Riches. The ceremony was, +perhaps, more impressive than usual, for more serious emotions +accompanied its celebration. When it was over, the company returned +through a gaping crowd to their carriages, and were driven home to May +Fair. And from thence in no great time the bride and bridegroom, after +many fond leave-takings, departed to travel by a circuitous route to +Trevethlan Castle.</p> + +<p>For it had been arranged that Helen, under the chaplain's safe-conduct, +should precede them, and be ready to welcome her new sister to the old +gray towers. And she carried with her a certain tender reminiscence; for +when the time to part approached, Rereworth's love at last over-flowed. +A select circle of friends was assembled at Mrs. Pendarrel's to +celebrate the event of the day. They were all strangers to Helen, and +thus Seymour was able to appropriate her to himself. Even this little +party was a novelty to her, and served to prolong the excitement caused +by the ceremony of the morning. In the midst of a rapid and animated +conversation, some allusion to the happiness of the married couple, +which reached Seymour's ear, threw him completely off his guard.</p> + +<p>"Happy!" he exclaimed. "Oh, dearest Miss Trevethlan, may not a like +happiness be mine? May not I also—"</p> + +<p>His voice sunk into a whisper, but his prayer was heard. And the ice +being thus broken, Rereworth told hurriedly of all he desired, and he +might read in Helen's flushed cheeks and downcast eyes, that he need not +fear. He had accepted an invitation from Randolph to spend a portion of +the ensuing long vacation at the castle, and then he flattered himself +he might appear as Helen's recognised suitor.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon Mr. Riches returned to his quarters at Hampstead, to +spend his last night at the metropolis. Long was the session, which he +held there with the old clerk. A hint had made Cornelius and his sister +acquainted with the scene of the marriage, and they had been unobserved, +but not unobservant, spectators of the ceremony. And for many a day +after Polydore's departure, the two old bachelors maintained a constant +correspondence, in which they discussed the merits of old essayists, and +criticised the beauties of old plays. Sister Clotilda and her brother +never seemed to grow older than they were when Randolph and Helen dwelt +beneath their roof. Sometimes their old lodger invited them through the +chaplain to make a tour to Trevethlan Castle, promising to shew them all +the wonders of the land. But Cornelius, though he did not appear to age, +grew more and more fond of the flags of the metropolis, and could not be +prevailed upon to attempt so long an excursion. "I am no traveller," he +once wrote to Mr. Riches. "Twenty or twenty-five miles of nice quiet +road, with green hedges and comfortable inns, a cow or two here and +there, and now and then a pig, that is all the country I like. London is +my pleasure. I affect a bit of enthusiasm to strangers about this +village of Hampstead, but I should like it better without the hill." And +so peace and farewell to the peachery.</p> + +<p>The arrival of Helen and the chaplain occasioned much rejoicing in the +hamlet of Trevethlan, but the main demonstration was of course reserved +for the coming of the young squire and his bride. And a proud day it was +for old Jeffrey, when their carriage dashed over the green amidst the +cheers of the villagers, and he finally hoisted the family flag to the +top of its staff.</p> + +<p>There was firing and feasting, and dancing, in the hamlet and the +castle; the great hall was thrown open to all comers, and the rivalry +between Trevethlan and Pendarrel was drowned in flowing bowls, and +forgotten in the unions of the mazy measure. And night had long hung her +pall over the sea, before silence reigned in the towers on the cliff.</p> + +<p>And here, perhaps, we might drop the curtain. But the reader will not be +displeased at a rapid glance over some of the years which have elapsed +since that happy day. The tranquillity which succeeded to the first +exuberance of joyousness, was not unchequered with feelings of a more +pensive cast.</p> + +<p>The hamlet, indeed, throve under the renewed splendour of the castle. +Mrs. Miniver removed the boards from the windows in the wings of the +hostelry, and re-opened the rooms which had so long been closed. Nay, +she was no longer Mrs. Miniver, having submitted to the change at which +farmer Colan had hinted, and taken unto herself a husband. Edward Owen +was the fortunate man. True, he was a dozen or fifteen years younger +than his buxom bride, but she was more youthful in spirit than in age. +The match seemed to turn out as comfortably as either party could +desire. It is probable that the lady retained possession of her bunch of +keys.</p> + +<p>His old sweetheart, Mercy, was not to be tempted into wedlock. Helen +renewed her confidence with the fair rustic, and introduced her to +Mildred. But she never forgot her unworthy lover. She scarcely believed +he was lost to her forever; but sometimes felt a transient fear that, in +a foreign land, he might have found the fate predicted for him by the +old sibyl of St. Madron's Well. But no intelligence ever arrived, either +to confirm or to contradict the maiden's apprehensions.</p> + +<p>Mildred had been only a very short time at the castle when she was +introduced to Merlin's Cave. We cannot close our labours without +reverting for a moment to the grotto, which possessed so many +associations for Randolph and Helen. Few of our readers, we would +believe, will not, at some period of their lives, have had a Merlin's +Cave of their own. Seated under the little canopy of rock, the young +bride learned the traditional ballad of her new home, and trusted that +it might never again be applicable to the fortunes of the family. There +too she became acquainted with the black-letter lore, which of old was +the delight of her husband and sister; and there in long detail she +heard the story of their early ambition. On Mid-summer eve they all +repaired thither to witness the lighting of St. John's fires. Then as +the shades of evening fell over the sea, long streams of radiance rose +into the sky from all the numerous villages surrounding the beautiful +bay. From Carn Dew over Lamorna Cove all round to Cudden Point, the +landscape sparkled with the festive bonfires. The spectators might hear +the sounds of distant revelry borne from afar over the waters, and +echoed more loudly from the green of their own hamlet.</p> + +<p>At the trial of the prisoners charged with the incendiarism at +Pendarrel, it was suggested, in their defence, that the fire was +occasioned by the lightning. Gabriel Denis kept his own counsel. And the +doubt so raised, combined with certain powerful intercession, availed to +mitigate the extreme penalties of the law. Of the criminals, some were +transported for various terms, and others imprisoned. Gabriel's little +girl was brought up at Trevethlan Castle, and caused no small trouble, +with her hot Spanish blood. But it was endured, in remembrance of the +confession of the witness, Wyley.</p> + +<p>The long vacation brought Rereworth to the castle, and few days had +passed when he communicated to Randolph, Helen's sanction of his dearest +aspirations. And the brother rejoiced at the news, and warmly +congratulated both himself and his friend. Seymour thought himself +fortunate in obtaining a house, with pleasant grounds attached, in the +neighbourhood where he had first met the lady of his love; and thither, +in the space of a few months, he had the joy of conducting her as his +bride. And Helen cordially accepted her new abode, shared her husband's +hopes, and encouraged his professional ambition. She might be unable to +repress an occasional regret for the land of her infancy, childhood, and +youth, but the feeling was never visible in the company of her friend, +lover, and husband.</p> + +<p>Some years elapsed before Mrs. Pendarrel revisited the country of her +ancestors. She was content to see Mildred and Randolph, when they came +to stay a while with the Winstons or Rereworths, which they did every +spring. She had subsided into a moping kind of melancholy, which annoyed +her husband and grieved her children. The only circumstance which ever +seemed to dissipate it was the growing good understanding between +Gertrude and Mr. Winston. This appeared to remove some of the weight +which oppressed her mind. And it showed, that if those who are cast +together by accident, or even against their will, will study one +another's merits, instead of seeking for faults and dwelling on +discomforts, happiness may be found in circumstances where least it +might be expected beforehand. It was a lesson which Gertrude learned +with a thankful heart.</p> + +<p>The visits of the spring were returned in the autumnal holidays, when a +joyous throng of young people met regularly, in the course of time, at +Trevethlan Castle. Holidays they were indeed. The Rereworths were always +there, and most often the Winstons. Then the base court resounded with +the glee of children, with a confusion of tongues and of names worthy of +Babel. Griffith, declining gently into the vale of years, presided over +the gambols. Sometimes the ancient sport of archery, the loss of which +is so much deplored by Cornwall's old surveyor, Carew, was revived, and +all the neighbouring country met to try their skill at the butts; while +the little ones, escaping from the mild dominion of Polydore Riches, who +was now, in green old age, the teacher of a new generation, mimicked the +proceedings of their seniors, with bows and arrows suited to their +years.</p> + +<p>Pendarrel Hall remained a ruin. The estate was settled upon Mildred and +her husband, and it seemed unnecessary to maintain two large residences +upon the united property. The flower-garden surrounding it was allowed +to run to waste, and the blackened walls continued standing, mournful +memorials of an outrage which had exiled several of its perpetrators +from their native land. Ivy was planted around the foundations, and at +some future day, the ruin might become a picturesque feature in the +landscape.</p> + +<p>It was the doom which its mistress, in the opening of this narrative, +anticipated for the towers of Trevethlan. The menace or the desire had +been deeply avenged. But Esther was not the only person upon whom the +storm left traces of its passage. Mildred was often visited with +feelings of compunction and remorse, and the cloud which they brought +upon her brow called down a similar shadow upon Randolph's. And when her +mother survived Mr. Pendarrel, and in her loneliness accepted the +shelter of Trevethlan Castle, her aspect and demeanour were a constant +source of self-reproach to her daughter. Without being actually +imbecile, she required minute attention. She was very rigid and exacting +in all the little business of life. Her temper was uncertain, and it was +difficult to gratify her fleeting wishes. At times it might be thought +that she remembered how she should have been mistress of the castle, and +imagined for a brief space that she in fact occupied that position.</p> + +<p>Frequently, too, she fell into long and silent reveries, and then it was +that the melancholy which overspread her countenance, caused the +greatest anxiety to her children. She always wore the miniature of +herself, and used to gaze at it, with a vacant but mournful expression, +for an hour at a time. But at length they found a means of diverting her +attention. She attached herself particularly to her eldest +grand-daughter; and whenever she sank into too prolonged a train of +musing, the little girl crept softly to her knees, and took her hand. +And then Esther awoke from her dream of the past, and smoothed the dark +hair upon the child's forehead, and told many little stories, which +delighted the young listener.</p> + +<p>Rarely did it happen that this manner of relief failed of effect. But +sometimes Esther's abstraction was too deep to yield. At such seasons +she murmured to herself in low tones. And the little girl caused her +mother a bitter pang, by unwittingly telling her that, on one of these +occasions, grandmamma was only repeating, over and over again, and +without intermission—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"<span class="smcap">Pendar'l and Trevethlan shall own one name.</span>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<h3>THE END.</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="POPULAR_NEW_NOVELS" id="POPULAR_NEW_NOVELS"></a>POPULAR NEW NOVELS.</h2> + + +<h3>JANE EYRE: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By CURRER BELL.</span></h3> + +<h3>Third Edition, with Preface by the Author.</h3> + +<blockquote><p>"A very pathetic tale—very singular; and so like truth, that +it is difficult to avoid believing that much of the characters +and incidents are taken from life. Though woman is called the +weaker sex, here, in one example, is represented the strongest +passion and the strongest principle, admirably supported. It is +an episode in this work-day world, most interesting, and +touched with a daring and delicate hand. The execution of the +painting is as perfect as the conception. It is a book for the +enjoyment of a feeling heart and vigorous +understanding."—<i>Blackwood's Magazine.</i></p></blockquote> + + +<h3>ROSE, BLANCHE, AND VIOLET.</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By G. H. LEWES, Esq.</span></h3> + +<h3>Author of "Ranthorpe."</h3> + +<blockquote><p>"Mr. Lewes takes a high position among our novelists: he +possesses no ordinary insight into the human heart."—<i>Fraser's +Magazine.</i></p></blockquote> + + +<h3>BEAUCHAMP; OR, THE ERROR.</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq.</span></h3> + +<blockquote><p>"One of Mr. James's most successful tales. It has plenty of +adventure, some pretty bits of landscape, much good-hearted +sentiment: in short, all the elements of variety and +interest."—<i>Examiner.</i></p></blockquote> + + +<h3>SIR THEODORE BROUGHTON</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Or, LAUREL WATER.</span></h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq.</span></h3> + +<blockquote><p>"'Sir Theodore Broughton' is founded upon the case of Donellan, +who was hanged some seventy years ago for poisoning his +brother-in-law. Mr. James has a knowledge of the age, and he +indicates it both in manners and incidents; the persons, also, +are well discriminated."—<i>Spectator.</i></p></blockquote> + + +<h3>ADVENTURES OF AN AIDE-DE-CAMP;</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">Or, A CAMPAIGN IN CALABRIA.</span></h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By JAMES GRANT, Esq.</span></h3> + +<h3>Author of the "Romance of War; or the Highlanders in Spain."</h3> + +<blockquote><p>"Overflowing with adventure—adventure in the camp and in the +chamber, and by the road-side; soldiers' adventures, +travellers' adventures, lovers' adventures, murders and +abductions, battles and sudden deaths, in the romantic land of +Calabria."—<i>Atlas.</i></p></blockquote> + + +<h3>THE GAP OF BARNESMORE:</h3> + +<h3>A Tale of the Irish Highlands, and the Revolution of 1688.</h3> + +<blockquote><p>"These volumes are not unworthy of being placed in the same +book-case with those of Sir Walter Scott."—<i>Morning Post.</i></p></blockquote> + + +<h3>THE CONVICT;</h3> + +<h3>A TALE.</h3> + +<h3><span class="smcap">By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq.</span></h3> + +<blockquote><p>"The volumes are well filled with incident; the sentiments are +those of a reflective and well-constituted mind; there is a +perpetual flow of invention in the conduct of the story; and it +agreeably combines a spirit of romance with a just delineation +of social life and manners."—<i>Britannia.</i></p></blockquote> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Trevethlan (Vol 3 of 3), by William Davy Watson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREVETHLAN (VOL 3 OF 3) *** + +***** This file should be named 36108-h.htm or 36108-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/1/0/36108/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Trevethlan (Vol 3 of 3) + A Cornish Story. + +Author: William Davy Watson + +Release Date: May 15, 2011 [EBook #36108] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREVETHLAN (VOL 3 OF 3) *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + TREVETHLAN: + + A Cornish Story. + + BY WILLIAM DAVY WATSON, ESQ. + + BARRISTER-AT-LAW. + + + IN THREE VOLUMES. + VOL. III. + + LONDON: + SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORNHILL. + 1848. + + London: + Printed by STEWART and MURRAY, + Old Bailey. + + + + +TREVETHLAN. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + _Menenius._ What work's, my countrymen, in hand? Where go you + with bats and clubs? The matter? Speak, I pray you. + + _Citizen._ Our business is not unknown to the senate; they have + had inkling, this fortnight, what we intend to do, which now + we'll show 'em in deeds. They say poor suitors have strong + breath: they shall know we have strong arms too. + + Shakspeare. + + +Among the most striking features of the scenery of West Cornwall, are +the fantastic piles of bare granite which rise occasionally from the +summit of an upland, and to a distant spectator present the exact +semblance of a castle, with towers, turrets, and outworks. So a +stranger, standing on Cape Cornwall and looking towards the Land's End, +might imagine he there beheld the fortress whose sanguinary sieges +obtained for that promontory its ancient name of the Headland of Blood. +Or again, reclining on the moorland, near the cromlech of Morvah, while +the sun was sinking behind Carnyorth, he might fancy that at the +red-edged battlements on the ridge, the original inhabitants of the +country made their last stand against the invaders from the German +Ocean. + +Approach soon destroys the illusion. And it is superfluous to observe +that the warriors of those times had no notion of the structures which +these caprices of nature mimic--the castles of our Plantagenets and +Tudors. Their real fortresses still exist to afford employment to the +antiquary, and inspiration to the poet; and to one of them we now invite +the reader to accompany us. + +Castle Dinas occupies the crest of the highest ground between the +picturesque village of Gulvall and the pilchard-perfumed town of St. +Ives, and commands an uninterrupted view both of Mount's Bay and of the +Irish Sea. Two concentric ramparts of unhewn stones, flung together more +rudely than a Parisian barricade, exhibiting the science of +fortification in its very infancy, inclose a circular area of +considerable extent. From it the ground slopes, not very rapidly, on all +sides; and as there are no screens, an occupant of the camp can see an +approaching friend or enemy some time before he arrives. Within the +inner circle some prosaic favourer of picnics has erected a square +_folly_, with a turret at each angle, not harmonizing very well with +local associations, but convenient in case of a shower of rain. + +Around the folly, on the night which followed the departure of the +orphans of Trevethlan from the home of their fathers, was pacing a +stalwart man of weather-beaten aspect, with an impatient and irregular +gait. The sun had sunk below the horizon, and all the south and west +quarters of the sky were covered with heavy masses of cloud, from behind +which, at intervals, came the low mutterings of distant thunder. Flashes +of lightning followed one another in quick succession, becoming more and +more brilliant as the shades of evening grew deeper. They broke from +various quarters of the horizon, but particularly from the point of +sunset. The light seemed to flit or be reflected all round the sky. +Sometimes it was a lambent flame of blue, sometimes a flush of faint +rose colour; sometimes the dark clouds were displayed in bold relief +against a bright sheet of yellow or white. So far the sea was still +calm, and the air close and heavy. But at length there came a motion in +the hot atmosphere. The surface of the water was crisped. A sigh wailed +along it, as if the spirit of the tempest mourned over his mission; and +then the storm, whose advent had been foreseen by Randolph and Helen, +during their last visit to Merlin's Cave, advanced rapidly up the sky. + +And a tempest scarcely less fierce raged in the breast of Gabriel Denis, +as he paced hurriedly within those old ramparts. He was expecting an +assembly almost as tumultuous as that of the warriors whose battle +shouts once resounded there, and he was resolved that it should not +disperse in the same innocuous manner as former meetings of the same +character. One by one, and two by two, as the darkness deepened, his +promised adherents arrived, and the ancient camp became filled with an +excited mob, anxious for mischief, ignorant what to do. + +Well might Randolph caution Edward Owen that in joining such musters as +these he might easily be carried much further than he intended to go. A +fretting population always contains inflammable materials, and it is far +less difficult to kindle than to extinguish its fury. The consciousness +of this fact frequently deters mob-leaders from urging their followers +into a course where there will be no subsequent control. + +And crimes of this nature are among the greatest that can be committed, +especially in a free state. An idea prevails that there is a sort of +heroism in defying public authority, no matter how trivial the occasion, +nor how impotent the assailant. Defeated and punished, the criminal is +not seldom regarded as a martyr. He is considered the victim of his own +conscientiousness. Antecedent cases of successful sedition are quoted to +justify subsequent failures. But all this is false and mischievous. +There is never heroism in fool-hardiness: the so-styled martyr may +witness to no truth: the conscientiousness may be of the kind which +calls property a theft. And former successes are rather warnings than +examples. Precedent cannot avail against the powers that be. + +The assembly at Castle Dinas, however, was rather riotous than +seditious, and uncertain in what direction to vent its desire for +mischief. There was plenty of tinder, but no one to throw the spark; +until Gabriel Denis, burning with the desire of revenge for the spoiling +of his house and the death of his wife, joined the counsels of the +malcontents, and brought into them the energy they had previously +wanted. He now flung a firebrand among the rabble, and dozens of hands +were stretched to seize it. It was just suited to the mood of the +moment. + +"To Lelant!" the smuggler shouted. "Why loiter we here on the hill, +doing nothing either of good for ourselves or of ill for those who would +put us down? Are we not many, and they few? To Lelant, I say. Let us +turn the tables on the revenue thieves. They have plenty of mine in +their stores; but I want not that. Drink it, lads, free of duty and free +of charge. But there is a desolate home yonder on the bank. What stain +is that on the floor?--there shall be a redder in the storehouse at +Lelant. Ay, lads, let us to Lelant." + +There was a great stir in the crowd: not a few voices echoed the +smuggler's watchword--To Lelant: some of the men pressed forward as if +eager to start: Gabriel himself turned to lead the way. But another +voice arose: it came from the midst of a small and compact party on the +outskirts of the meeting. + +"What are ye about?" the speaker said. "Why go among the cutlasses and +carbines? Is it the drink ye would have--the drink and the sport? Ye can +get them cheaper than at Lelant. Look to our great houses. Does Gabriel +say they have spoiled his? Let us spoil one of theirs. What say ye to +Pendar'l?" + +A shout, much more enthusiastic than that which hailed the smuggler's +proposition, greeted this burst of eloquence. + +"See!" continued the orator, "there's a storm coming up from the sea. It +will hide our advance; and the soldiers are called away to the 'sizes. +Let us disperse, and meet again on the grass of Pendar'l." + +So said, so done. As the crowd moved off, it might be noted that there +were some audible murmurs of "Trevethlan for ever!" "Hurrah for +Trevethlan!" showing that at least a portion of the assembly were +thinking of what had happened in that hamlet a few hours before. And +then the multitude divided itself spontaneously into various parties, +some proceeding by the lanes and other byways, and some boldly crossing +the country in twos and threes;--silent, but not so regular, as an army +of ants. Meantime the storm, driven along by a high wind, came up the +sky, and before the foremost of the marauders had reached the park wall +of Pendarrel, the rain was falling in torrents, and the thunder rolling +overhead. But these were trifles to the hardy assailants, who were now +fairly on fire, and had a definite object before their eyes. They scaled +the wall wherever they first found it, and advanced through the grounds +towards the hall, scaring the deer with the unwonted invasion. At length +they found themselves re-united for the most part in a semicircle, +investing all one side of the house. Fair and stately it stood amidst +the trim pleasure-grounds, reflecting the vivid flashes of lightning +from its white walls and many windows, and offering, alas! too tempting +a prize to the lawless band around it. Within, the household were +collected about their fire-sides, listening to the uproar of the storm, +and little deeming that a more terrible enemy was at hand. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + When tumult lately burst his prison door, + And set plebeian thousands in a roar, + When he usurped authority's just place, + And dared to look his master in the face, + Liberty blushed, and hung her drooping head, + Beheld his progress with the deepest dread, + Blushed that effects like these she should produce, + Worse than the deeds of galley-slaves let loose: + She loses in such scenes her very name, + And fierce licentiousness must bear the blame. + + Cowper. + + +"What can make the dogs bark in this manner?" exclaimed Mrs. Pendarrel +to her husband and daughter. "Surely not the thunder." + +"I cannot tell what it is, my dear," answered her spouse, who was nearly +asleep after his return from Bodmin, in spite of the external uproar. "I +wish they and the thunder would both be quiet." + +Mildred went behind the curtains of a window. Thick as they were, the +flashes of lightning had yet gleamed through them. + +"What a tremendous night!" she exclaimed. + +"Come from the window, Mildred," said Mrs. Pendarrel; "it is dangerous +to stand there." + +"Ha!" cried the daughter, "there is fire. It cannot be the lightning! +Mamma! Papa!" + +The urgency of her tone brought them both to the window. A red glare +streamed over the lawn, and shone bright upon the dripping trees. Fire +was there indeed. + +Gabriel Denis, by this time wild with passion and excitement, had soon +discovered the means of gratifying his turbulent desires. A range of +farming offices, with some ricks, stretched to the west, and therefore +to windward, of the hall. Let these be once kindled, and inactivity +would soon give way to riot and confusion. The smuggler had not +forgotten his tinder-box. He crept down into the homestead, found a +convenient nook, and soon lighted a flame, which nothing but the +speediest and most energetic exertion could hinder the furious wind from +converting into a great conflagration. + +Unhappily the tempest, closing doors and fastening shutters, prevented +an immediate discovery of the blaze, and the heavy rain was powerless to +check its progress under the fanning of the gale. The interior of the +corn-stack, fired by Gabriel, rapidly became a furnace, while volumes of +steam and smoke rolled from the wetted thatch, and were shortly followed +by jets of flame bursting from the inside. Then masses of burning straw +were lifted aloft by the wind and cast on the neighbouring ricks and +wooden barns, and in scarcely more time than is occupied by this +description, the homestead was evidently doomed to destruction, and the +safety of the hall was become very problematical. + +It was just then that Mildred summoned her father and mother to the +window. + +"Hark!" she said, "Was not that a shout? See, there are people running +across the lawn, and under the trees. But, oh, what a light!" + +Terrified domestics rushed into the parlour. + +"The house is beset--hundreds of men--What can be done? What can be +done?" + +These exclamations were mingled with loud cries of "fire," from within +and without the mansion. In the confusion, Esther Pendarrel seemed alone +to preserve her presence of mind. + +"Done!" she said. "The engine! The horses! Ride! Run! To Helston, and to +Marazione! Raise the people! Bring down the soldiers! Away with you; and +let us see where the fire is. And you, sir, look to your arms. Beset! +Nonsense!" + +So saying, Esther proceeded to the wing of the hall next to the farm +offices, which could not be seen from the living rooms, while her +husband hurriedly distributed his fire-arms among the few servants who +remained, when their fellows had departed to endeavour to fulfil the +injunctions of their mistress. + +Mildred accompanied her mother. "Fie," said the latter, seizing by the +wrist one of a group of maids who were crying in terror, "fie, girl! Be +silent; let us have no confusion. We want all our nerve." + +One glance from the window to which she went showed Esther the full +extent of the calamity. Long tongues of fire, bending and quivering in +the fierce wind, were licking the roof of a low range of outhouses which +connected the farm-yard with the hall. Esther remembered that there was +a door of communication between these buildings and the house itself. +Unless they could be pulled down, and that instantly, the mansion would +be in imminent peril. And besides, behind them were the ricks and barns, +vomiting a perfect sea of fire, from which large flakes were ever and +anon borne by the gale over the hall. One such struck the window where +Mrs. Pendarrel stood with her daughter, and made them start back for a +moment. And what hope was there of help? By the red glare they could see +men clustered about, either gazing on the flames with indifference, or +exhibiting exultation in their gestures and movements. Amidst the +crackling of the fire and the thunder of the storm, they could hear the +savage hurrahs of the incendiaries. Whence, then, could come help? + +"We are lost, my child!" Esther said quietly. "But I presume they do not +intend to burn us as well as the hall. Courage, dear." + +She threw her arm round Mildred's waist, and led her back to the main +stairs. There they found Mr. Pendarrel, and two or three men-servants, +armed, but undetermined what to do. + +"Husband," Esther whispered, "in five minutes all the west wing will be +in flames. Nothing can save us, unless the troops arrive in time. Where +are the girls? They must all be here." + +The last words were spoken aloud. + +"I will call them, mother," Mildred said; and she ran back to the +offices. + +"We have no chance," Esther continued as before, "unless the ruffians +should turn----Hush! Hark!" + +There was a clatter of steps to the door of the hall, succeeded by a +loud knocking. + +"Be ready," said Esther. "Let us not be outraged." + +"Shall we not escape?" her husband asked. "By the back windows----" + +"Are the maids all here? Where's Mildred?" + +"I am here, dear mother," was the breathless reply, "and so are they." + +"Then let us go," said Esther sadly. "Go through the drawing-rooms. To +meet at the chief lodge. And you, my friends, will guard us as best you +may. But for the fire, we might do more. All now would be in vain." + +Bare-headed, the little party went out into the storm. Esther stoutly +maintained her own heart, but she had much ado to keep up the courage of +her companions. With quick but faltering steps they made their way +through the shrubbery, in the direction Mrs. Pendarrel had indicated; +looking back with hasty glances, and perceiving that the flames were now +flying over the roof of the mansion, the west wing having already become +their spoil. A little more delay, and perhaps escape had been +impossible. And there were other dangers besides the fire. + +The fugitives had just turned round the corner of a thick clump of +laurels, when they found themselves in the presence of a crowd of men, +who immediately surrounded them, preventing their further progress, +insulting them both with words and gestures. Mr. Pendarrel, bewildered, +fired a pistol, and the rabble rushed in upon him and those with him, +incensed and excited beyond all control. It was a moment of despair. +Esther pressed her daughter to her breast, and opposed herself to the +assailants. Her husband, also, and the men-servants maintained a manful +struggle. But numbers were prevailing, when the ruffians were themselves +attacked in the rear. A throng of country people, apparently acting in +concert, charged them suddenly, and with the first attack, drove them +clear of their intended victims. + +"Fly, madam," then said a voice beside Mrs. Pendarrel. "Fly. There are +none now but friends in the way. And remember Edward Owen." + +And Esther acted instantly on the advice, knowing that, whether true or +false, it afforded the only hope for safety. + +In the mean time, the hall-door had yielded to its assailants, and +ruffianism triumphed through the mansion. Some fellows made their way to +the cellars, and drank desperately, while others rioted through the +various apartments in search of more valuable booty. Not a few quarrels +arose for the possession of some portable trinket, upon which two of the +marauders might have seized at once. Shouts and screams, and execrations +resounded on all sides. And above them all rose the crackle of the +advancing flames, not unlikely to inflict a well-merited doom upon some +of those who exulted in them. + +But many of the country-folks, aroused by the emissaries who escaped +from the hall at the first alarm, had thronged to render assistance in +subduing the flames. They were, however, disconcerted at finding +themselves intercepted by a mob, whose intentions were precisely the +reverse of their own. Coming singly or in small knots, without any +community of action, they were unable to make any impression upon the +banded ruffians, and they either departed to seek further aid, or became +passive spectators of the ruin that was befalling Pendarrel. + +There was one, however, of a different mood. Edward Owen, although he +had attended the meeting at Castle Dinas, and accompanied the mob, +shuddered at the devastation before him. So soon did he experience the +truth of Randolph's words. Recoiling too late, but desirous to atone if +possible for what was past, he hovered on the skirts of the crowd, and +soon collected a tolerably formidable body of the well-disposed, with +which to repress further outrage. They made their first show of prowess +in rescuing the fugitive family: but beyond this their efforts were +unavailing: the fire had obtained too great a head to be withstood. + +The main fury of the storm had now passed; the rain had nearly ceased, +and the wind had fallen; the lightning still flashed, and the thunder +muttered in the east, while the western sky was once more becoming +clear. But the flashes were too faint to be seen, and the muttering too +low to be heard, in the bright glare and loud crackling of the flames +that were devouring Pendarrel Hall. All the centre of the mansion, +containing the great stairs and principal apartments, was in full +conflagration. From window after window, as the glass flew under the +heat, a long stream of fire shot forth, joining the ruddy blaze that +broke from the roof. Once, a human form appeared in the midst of such a +torrent, flinging its arms about in wild supplication for a few moments, +and disappearing, either within or without. Above the house curled vast +volumes of smoke, black, white, and yellow, filled with sparkling +fragments, and glowing in the light of the flames. A flock of pigeons +fled to and fro over the bright vapour, and every now and then a bird +dashed into it, and dropped as if shot. Round about, on all sides, as +near as the heat permitted, rushed the incendiaries, exulting in the +destruction they had accomplished, and hailing every fresh burst of fire +with frantic acclamations. Behind, at a little distance, the trees, +still streaming with the recent rain, reflected the red glare from every +branch. Farther off, a cottage window or a white wall, lighted more +dimly, might denote the rising ground of the neighbourhood. And over +all, were the dark clouds of the retreating tempest, the fury of which +had that night caused no catastrophe so disastrous as was here wrought +by the hand of man. + +The family, so rudely driven from their home, succeeded in reaching the +lodge designated by Esther for their rendezvous. Faint with +excitement--even Mrs. Pendarrel's spirit failed her when she was safe +from immediate peril--exhausted by their flight, deluged with the rain, +they met together in a small room of the cottage, round a window which +looked towards their late abode. With a sort of vacant despair they +watched the flames which rose above the intervening trees, and showed +the progress of ruin. The hall itself they could not see. Mildred sat, +leaning upon her mother's shoulder, and holding her hand, while Mr. +Pendarrel rested against the side of the casement. Not a word was +spoken; and the only sounds that broke the silence of the lodge, were +the subdued noise of the flames, and the shouts of the marauders. + +But Mr. Pendarrel, with his ear against the wall, has now caught another +sound; regular, rhythmical, advancing along the road. Nearer it came, +and nearer, and before the listener had changed his position, a squadron +of dragoons passed the lodge on a hand-gallop, and were followed by +fire-engines. Alas! why came they no sooner? + +The messengers who had made their way from the hall at the first +discovery of the fire, sped fast away to Helston, looking back at +intervals towards the light in the sky. The distance was about five +miles; the road was slippery with the wet; the flood of rain was almost +blinding: a full hour had elapsed before the first of the runners +shouted "fire" in the deserted streets of the little borough. The +inhabitants were at rest, but few were asleep, the din of the storm +preventing slumber. Night-capped heads peeped timidly from windows, and +demanded--where? The messenger learned the officers' quarters. There was +some little demur. False alarms had been given before. But the bugle +soon sounded to horse. The drowsy firemen equipped their engines; and +when once the cavalcade had started, rattling over the stony street, a +very short space sufficed to bring it to the gates of Pendarrel. + +The greater portion of the marauders, struck with consternation at the +sight of the soldiery, fled among the trees of the park, to be +denounced, perhaps, at a future day, by informing comrades. But a few, +maddened by intoxication and excitement, offered a futile resistance, +and were captured on the spot, to answer for their ruffianism, not +improbably with their lives. + +As for the engines, they could effect nothing. The well-disposed of the +country people, who were by this time assembled in great numbers, +assisted in bringing them into play, and water was obtained from an +ornamental reservoir in the garden; but fire was master of the hall. To +save a small quantity of furniture from the lower rooms in the eastern +wing, and to collect articles which lay scattered on the lawns, was all +that the utmost exertion could accomplish. The whole of the mansion had +fallen in, and the burning would continue as long as there remained +anything to furnish fuel. Blackened walls, open to the sky, containing +nothing but smoking and smouldering ruin, would be all the morning sun +would shine upon of Pendarrel Hall. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + The Hall of Cynddylan is gloomy this night, + Without fire, without bed-- + I must weep awhile, and then be silent. + + The Hall of Cynddylan is gloomy this night, + Without fire, without candle-- + Except God doth, who will endue me with patience? + + Llywarch Hen, _by Owen_. + + +The destruction of Pendarrel Hall was the crowning outrage of the +riotous. It was a crime for which a severe retribution was certain to be +exacted. On information, given partly by the prisoners taken at the +fire, partly by volunteers who hoped to screen themselves, the civil and +military authorities swept the country far and wide, and arrested +numbers of suspected individuals. The hamlet of Trevethlan felt the +visitation, and among its accused was the unfortunate Edward Owen. Many +people, shuddering at the consciousness of guilt, fled for shelter to +the wild moors and desolate carns, or lurked in the caverns of the +sea-shore, obtaining a scanty and precarious nourishment from venturous +friends or kindred. The prime mover of all the mischief, Gabriel Denis, +had been captured on the spot; and there was scarcely a cottage between +the two seas, which did not miss from the family circle some son or +brother now lying in prison or lurking in the waste. + +On the night of the disaster, the Pendarrels were at last persuaded to +seek repose in such accommodation as was afforded by the lodge; but +sleep was out of the question. Jaded and sad, they met in the morning, +and went forth to survey the ruins of their home. Melancholy enough was +the mere destruction of the edifice, yet that was the least among their +sorrows. Wealth might restore the house to all its former splendour, but +other losses were irreparable. All the relics of bygone days; the +pledges of friendship and of love, the trinkets associated with old +personal reminiscences, the memorials of travel and adventure, the +rarities collected with their own hands, the family heir-looms, the toys +of one childhood laid by to amuse another, the books of early lessons +and early leisure, the sketches and drawings, the portraits and +miniatures of the dead,--all of these had perished, and could never be +replaced; for Pendarrel was their home, their old familiar +dwelling-place, the storehouse of all things dear,--their cradle and +their grave. Other houses they had, but none like Pendarrel. + +Even the stern pride of Esther might bend a little under so great a +calamity. Only the morning before she had been exulting over the +humiliation of Trevethlan, and now her own hearth was desolate. In the +terror of the night she had been surprised into an unusual display of +tenderness towards her daughter. But any such feelings were merely +transitory. Tale-bearers soon brought to her ear the shouts of "Hurrah +for Trevethlan," which had been heard among the rioters. She thought of +the scornful silence with which her invitation of yesterday had been +received at the Castle, and permitted herself to suspect that the +night's outrage might have had more than empty sympathy from its +inmates. + +She perceived also, with impatience, that the event would necessarily +postpone the marriage of her daughter, and require it to be celebrated +in London. Both the delay and the place was obnoxious, because the +watchful mother still feared that Mildred's outward docility covered a +strong resolve, and she was sorry to restore her to the protecting +influence of Mrs. Winston. Such were the cold and harsh thoughts, which +in Mrs. Pendarrel succeeded to the first depression occasioned by the +calamity. But coming so suddenly on her triumph, it would be strange +indeed if it were wholly unfelt, and the sequel may show that its +effects were more considerable than Esther suspected at the time. + +The exiles selected one from a host of offers of hospitality, but only +availed themselves of the shelter for a single night; setting out the +following morning on their way to town, and arriving in May Fair in due +course. Mrs. Winston awaited their coming. She had her full share of the +recent catastrophe. True it was she had made another home for herself, +but much of her heart remained at Pendarrel. Even in a lately-written +letter Mildred had mentioned their partnership in books. In fact, the +fire might long be remembered in the annals of the family, becoming an +epoch to date from, like that commemorated among the Jews by the spot +left bare in the decoration of their walls, "the memory of desolation." + +In the first _tete-a-tete_ between the sisters, they turned from their +own misfortunes to that which had befallen their cousins of Trevethlan, +and when Gertrude had mentioned the invitation which she had already +despatched to Helen, Mildred suffered herself to be drawn into a +confession of all that had passed under the hawthorns on the cliff. + +"Ah, Mildred," her sister said, shaking her head in gentle reproof, +"remember that while I will do anything to save you from a union you +dislike, I will do nothing to promote one which our parents disapprove. +And that I fear will be the case as regards this gentleman. Count +nothing, my dear, from my invitation to his sister. I should, perhaps, +have hesitated to give it, had I known the state of the case." + +But Mildred heard this little lecture without much heeding its warning. +She was meditating on designs of her own, which she had no intention of +confiding even to her sister. Her mother was not at all unlikely to find +that she had raised a devil which she would be unable to lay. + +Mildred rejoiced, however, at one circumstance: her unwelcome suitor did +not immediately follow her to London. He had not been present at the +fire; for although his domains joined those of Pendarrel, the houses +were very far apart; and there was sufficient uncertainty at Tolpeden +respecting the locality of the flames to excuse the indolent coxcomb +from proceeding to assist, an excuse of which he readily availed himself +in the midst of such a storm. He was greatly vexed when he heard the +truth in the morning, and he paid a visit of polite condolence to the +family, at which, however, he was not favoured with the company of +Mildred. + +And he was far from impatient to accompany her to town. The gossips at +Mrs. Pendarrel's party had indeed exaggerated his embarrassments, but +they were sufficiently heavy. Returning unable to fulfil his undertaking +to his creditors, he should awaken a hundred sinister suspicions. The +fire would be but a bad excuse for the delay, where all excuses +prolonged the chapter of accidents. So Melcomb dreaded to make his +appearance until everything was definitively arranged, and he could meet +his foes with renewed promises of satisfaction. + +To his unsuspected rival the fire was a godsend. It sent his patroness +to London, exactly when with a doubting heart, Sinson was preparing to +visit her in Cornwall, and thus enabled him to hold down his bondman +Everope, with one hand, while with the other he preferred his audacious +suit. Could Mrs. Pendarrel have read what was passing in her servant's +heart, when he came cringing before her with congratulations on the +result of the trial and condolence for the ruin of her house mingled in +equal proportions, she would have cursed the hour when she took the +fawning rustic into her service. He was now manoeuvring to induce the +wretched Everope to go abroad, in order that his last fears might be +laid to sleep. But the spendthrift was not at all willing to accede to +the proposition. And after all, Sinson thought, what did it matter? A +little space would disclose the whole of his plot. And when his +patroness was once implicated, there would be no danger of exposure. +Should circumstances make it necessary, the Trevethlans might be quietly +re-instated in their small patrimony, and Michael would be perfectly +contented with the domain of Pendarrel. Everope might do as he pleased. + +And now Esther had the mortification--for such it was to her--of +receiving condolence from all the circle of her acquaintance. The +burning of her house made no little stir in the metropolis. In public it +was not unreasonably mentioned as affording a good ground for the +general alarm. It might figure considerably in the Parliamentary +debates--we need not specify the volume of Hansard--it might occupy some +space in the reports of secret committees; it might have a green bag all +to itself. It was the topic of the day, and became a source of so much +exasperation to the mistress of the ruined mansion, that she would +almost have rejoiced to sink Pendarrel in some fathomless pool off the +Lizard. It is so difficult to condole in a manner at all sufferable. +Rarely is it pleasant to be pitied. People are apt to lavish their +sorrow on what they think they would have most regretted themselves, and +to forget the real weight of the calamity, in considering some detail +which strikes their particular fancy. So Angelina might remember the +gold fish in the garden, and hope they were not killed when the water +was needed for the engines. Now as Esther really loved her home, and +deeply deplored its ruin, it sometimes cost her an effort to answer her +friends' sympathy with polite equanimity. For the condolers mean kindly, +and must be kindly met. + +But she was gratified also at times. Some hardy spirit would venture to +approach her with a sarcasm. The town, that is to say such men as +Winesour, could recollect the late Mr. Trevethlan, at the time he was +squandering his fortune; when his companions called him a fool, and were +very fond of his society. Such people remembered him with a certain kind +of attachment, and heard of the final ruin of his supposed children with +a certain sort of regret. And some of them were half aware of the old +love-passages between the lord of the castle and the lady of the hall, +and guessed for themselves the cause of Henry Trevethlan's desperation. +And so with polished incivility, they contrived to compare the fire and +the law-suit, and to send a diamond-headed shaft home to Mrs. +Pendarrel's heart. + +Now this Esther liked. It exasperated her, but it put her upon her +mettle; and enabled her to exhibit a wit, delicate and keen as any that +attacked her. And she wanted something of the kind. Disguise it as she +would, she was bitterly humiliated by the catastrophe of that terrible +night. + + "Pendar'l and Trevethlan would own one name," + +when there was no place of the former appellation to claim its share in +the prediction. The prophecy itself seemed to mock her. The fretfulness +induced by these conflicting emotions, restrained abroad, vented itself +at home, and fell heavily upon poor Mildred. + +And now London was very full. The brilliant froth was bubbling and +foaming over the edges of the cup. And so a perpetual round of gaiety +invited the votaries of fashion, like the whirling dance about the +funeral pyre of Arvalan. Into the fascinating circle Mrs. Pendarrel led +her daughter, and took pains to let every one know, that the fillet was +already bound round the victim's brow. But the latter was as little +likely to succumb in patience to the intended doom, as the German poet's +Bride of Corinth. + +And was Esther at all mindful of her defeated adversaries? She heard of +their answering her trembling invitation by a precipitate abandonment of +their ancient home, and she took little heed of their further +proceedings. She did not yet know the full extent of her triumph, and +left the effects of the verdict to be developed in the dens of the +lawyers. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + O Primavera, gioventu del' anno, + Bella madre de' fiori, + D'erbe novelle, e di novelli amori, + Tu torni ben, ma teco + Non tornano i sereni + E fortunati di delle mie gioje: + Tu torni ben, tu torni, + Ma teco altro non torna, + Che del perduto mio caro tesoro + La rimembranza misera e dolente. + + Guarini. + + +Spring and Favonius were rapidly loosening the bonds of winter, when +Randolph and his sister returned to their old quarters at Hampstead, +with feelings very different from those which had attended their first +arrival there. Six months had revolutionized their existence. And when +in the tumult of emotion which followed the trial at Bodmin, the +disinherited heir conceived the idea of seeking the roof which had +sheltered his brief studentship, it was rather in that mockery with +which despair often tries to delude itself, than with a serious purpose +of fulfilling the design. He cast a sneering and scornful glance upon +his sojourn in London, and thought of resuming it as a bitter jest. But +come what might, he was resolved to quit Trevethlan, and that instantly. +Where then could he go? Where find a home for Helen?--questions which +Randolph answered by accepting in earnest the plan which he had +conceived in irony. Let their old host and hostess enjoy a nine days' +wonder. + +So to Hampstead the orphans went, making a more leisurely journey than +before, and arriving, free from fatigue, in the evening. They were +received with warm cordiality. + +"What!" said Peach to Randolph, when Helen had retired, "you slept last +night at Basingstoke! Not disturbed, I hope, by any of the monk of +Croyland's adversaries. Hear Foelix concerning the foes of monastic +rest, as Camden reports his very middling hexameters-- + + 'Sunt aliqui quibus est crinis rigidus, caput amplum, + Frons cornuta, gena distorta, pupilla coruscans, + Os patulum, labra turgentia, dens peracutus-- + Nonnulli quibus est non horrida forma, sed ipse + Horror, cum non sint scelerati, sed scelus ipsum.'" + +Cornelius loved to hear himself talk, and this was a favourite quotation +with him. Randolph assured him the inn at Basingstoke was quite free +from the plagues of Croyland Abbey. And then, in a few brief sentences +he acquainted Mr. Peach with his real quality. His landlord was amused +with the romance. + +"Why," said he, "you are like my Lord Burleigh, wooing his peasant-love +under the guise of a painter." + +A short time before, the remark would have occasioned a severe twinge, +but now there was no room for any. Randolph was surrounded by a sea of +troubles, and knew not in which direction to strike. And the full effect +of the verdict was as yet unperceived by him. He had not observed that +by dissolving all ties between himself and his father, it would deprive +him not merely of his real estate, the castle and its precincts, but +also of all the personal property which he possessed in the world. The +next of kin would follow the heir-at-law. In this case they were +combined in the same person. Would any mercy be shown? Would it be +accepted if it were? The orphans were literally beggars. Nay, they were +even in debt. For a rigorous account might be exacted of every farthing +of property, which the late Mr. Trevethlan left behind him at his death. +And thus opprobium, immediate and inevitable, was hanging over +Randolph's head. + +The lawyers, of course, were well aware of this. But Mr. Truby, about +whom there was nothing of the pettifogger, was in no hurry to advise his +client to rush to extremities. He remembered the judge's observation at +the trial, that additional evidence would probably be forthcoming before +very long, and was not anxious to bear on the defeated party, in a +manner which might afterwards be termed oppressive. He always hated +sharp practice. He felt bound to mention the state of the case to Mr. +Pendarrel, and that gentleman of course communicated it to his wife. +Esther started at the news, but perceiving that every day would only +involve the orphans more deeply, she was contented to let her advantage +rest for a while. + +On the other hand, Mr. Winter did not feel it on any account necessary +to point out his real position to Randolph. Being certain that injustice +had been done, although at present unable to see his way to its +reversal, he was loth to risk the disclosure to one of so passionate and +obstinate a temper as his client. And in truth the latter's condition +required no aggravation. Randolph was in the plight, most harassing to a +hot and impatient mood, when there is nothing immediately to be done, +and the spirit chafes and rages at its forced inertness. + +He sought his friend and counsel, Rereworth, but without obtaining any +consolatory information. Seymour was endeavouring to trace the witness +whose testimony had overthrown his friend. But hitherto wholly without +success. Everope had disappeared entirely from all his former haunts. +His chambers were perpetually closed, and the old woman, who acted as +his laundress, knew nothing at all concerning her master's movements. +Yet this was the quest which Rereworth thought held out the best hope of +success; for if the spendthrift's evidence were bought, there were many +circumstances conceivable, under which he might be induced to confess. + +Very few days had elapsed after the arrival of the orphans at Hampstead, +when they were joined by Polydore Riches. He brought them all the +details of the conflagration at Pendarrel. And with wrath and +indignation Randolph learned that it was pretty generally regarded in +the country as a reprisal for the verdict at Bodmin. Not such was the +retaliation he desired. The chaplain also grieved his old pupils with an +account of the numerous arrests which had been made among the dependents +of the castle. It seemed as though their own ruin involved that of many +besides. + +There was another circumstance connected with this intelligence which +was of deep interest to Randolph. The Pendarrels had returned to London. +He again breathed the same air with Mildred. Now he had almost rejoiced +in the idea that this would not be the case. He was glad that in the +dreary interval devoted to the recovery of his rights, during which he +had vowed to see her no more, distance would remove any temptation to +break the resolution. But she was again within his reach. Any day, in +walking through the streets of the metropolis, she might cross his path. +He would be in continual expectation of such a meeting. An instant might +overthrow all his determination. It was another element to mingle in the +turbulence of his emotions. + +And the chaplain bore a missive also, which was a source of considerable +discussion; namely, Mrs. Winston's letter to Helen, containing the +invitation to her house. Gertrude had written with great tact, and with +a full consciousness of the delicacy which might revolt from accepting +an obligation from the daughter of Esther Pendarrel. She went so far as +to say that her offer would probably be disagreeable to her mother if it +were known, but she hoped to prevent that, until some fortunate +discovery had re-instated her cousins in their just rights. And she +infused into her whole letter a warmth of kindness and sympathy which +she trusted would not be without its effect. For in truth she wrote from +her heart. + +But the proposal led to great demur. Randolph abhorred the idea of +accepting anything like favour from any of his enemy's house; and was +not disposed to admit Mrs. Winston's view of her independence. Yet, +being married, she might be considered as no longer involved in the +quarrel. And Randolph was very anxious to find his sister a home. She +was in his way. He felt it with no want of affection. But whenever in +his reveries he looked forward to the career he should adopt, as soon as +he had re-established the good fame of his family, his sister always +recurred to his mind as an obstacle in his path. Sketching for himself +an adventurous course in some far-distant land, he was always recalled +from the vision by the thought of her he should in such case be +compelled to leave unprotected, behind. A very short glimpse into the +future would have spared him much fruitless speculation. + +Helen, with that gentle longing for a reconciliation which she showed in +the very opening of this narrative, read Mrs. Winston's letter with +pleasure, and desired to accept the invitation. In answer to her +brother's peevish dissatisfaction, she urged that her visit might be +very short, but that it would be ungrateful, uncharitable, every way +perverse, to reject what was offered with such true kindness. She should +be entirely private,--should, of course, hold no intercourse with Mr. or +Mrs. Pendarrel, and could see Randolph as often and as freely as he +pleased. + +The chaplain supported Helen's argument with all his power. And in the +end the brother yielded, little thinking to what a train of +circumstances the visit would give rise. And so Miss Trevethlan removed +to Cavendish-square, where Gertrude's winning demeanour soon put her +completely at her ease, and where she walked through those same rooms, +in which she might remember that Randolph encountered Mrs. Pendarrel +face to face, and made the avowal which cut short his career as a +student of the law. + +He himself escorted her, and quivered a little as he stood in the +well-remembered drawing-room. But he only staid a few minutes before +returning to Hampstead, through the long and squalid suburb which then +lay at the foot of the hill. The stuccoed terraces of the Regent's-park +were still in the brain or the portfolio of the architect. The +realization of Darwin's prophecy, + + "Soon shall thy arm, unconquered Steam, afar + Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car," + +although it had taken place on one element, seemed as far distant on +shore as when the poet wrote. What wonders have been wrought in these +thirty years of peace! And is it possible to think, that once more our +progress may be arrested by war, and that the energies which have so +long been devoted to the cause of civilization--that great cause of the +whole human race, in which nations may fraternize without reciprocal +encroachment, which is identical with the advance of true liberty, and +of the only equality which mortals can attain, that of virtue--is it +possible that these energies can once more be required for self-defence, +that the death-drum may again summon us to repel a foreign foe, or that +symbols and watchwords may divide ourselves, and our ancient flag find a +rival standard unfurled by the sons of those who fought the battle of +freedom? Rather let us hope that the convulsions around us may be found +to have cleared the air, and brought the day more near, + + "When the drum shall throb no longer, and the battle-flag be furled, + In the parliament of man, the federation of the world." + +The coming of Polydore Riches was an event of some interest to the +worthy couple of the peachery. Clotilda, in common with most spinsters +of her age, was much in the habit of criticising the mien and aspect of +clergymen, and formed her own idea of the appearance of the chaplain +from the respect and affection with which Helen always spoke of him. And +it must be owned she was a little disappointed. She had expected rather +a portly man, with white hair, and a commanding presence. She +encountered a slight figure and a pale face, the habitual pensiveness of +which was now deepened by anxiety, and which was shaded by locks wherein +silver had as yet but little share. Miss Peach allowed that Polydore was +"interesting," but she had expected something more. + +But Randolph was quite right in predicting that the chaplain and +Cornelius would agree together admirably. The two old bachelors speedily +conceived a high mutual esteem. Their tastes were very similar. In each +there was the same simplicity of character. Polydore was more refined +and enthusiastic; Cornelius more humorous and practical. The worthy host +soon prevailed on his new friend to join him in a pipe, a luxury in +which the chaplain had scarcely indulged since he quitted the classic +shades of Granta. And they exhaled the fragrant fumes, due to Peach's +ancient friend Sir Walter, so long, that the old clerk fell into a +rhapsody on the perfections of that creature of his dreams, Mabel; and +actually extracted from Polydore a murmured panegyric on that treasure +of his memory, Rose Griffith. And then might a spectator have been +amused to observe how the names of Mabel and Rose alternated with the +puffs of smoke, and were often sighed forth in concert, with a pathos +that might have done honour to the unworthily-used Malvolio. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + _Margaret._ To me what's title when content is wanting? + Or wealth, raked up together with much care, + And to be kept with more, when the heart pines, + In being dispossessed of what it longs for + Beyond the Indian mines? Or the smooth brow + Of a pleased sire, that slaves me to his will, + Leaving my soul nor faculties nor power + To make her own election? + + _Allworth._ But the dangers + That follow the repulse,---- + + _Margaret._ To me they're nothing: + Let Allworth love, I cannot be unhappy. + + Massinger. + + +As Mr. Winston's suggestion to his wife, that she should ask Miss +Trevethlan to their house, seemed suddenly to improve their mutual +understanding, so did Helen's acceptance of the invitation make them +still better known to each other. Among the commonest and worst features +of unions like theirs, is a prejudice on one side or the other that +happiness is impossible, which closes every avenue to amelioration. The +discontented parties have eyes only for defects. The heart which +accepted the match with ill-disguised repugnance, is subsequently too +proud to admit it was in error. It will not resign the privilege of +complaint. It insists on continually galling itself with what it calls +its chains. It hugs the satisfaction of considering itself ill-used. For +the world, it would not allow itself, even in reverie, to be at ease. +Yet, when there is no real deficiency either in character or temper, a +hopeful spirit will probably soon find grounds for esteem, and esteem +will be likely to ripen into affection. And then the very contrasts of +disposition which at first appeared to preclude sympathy, will really +promote it, by furnishing opportunities for good-humoured mirth, instead +of objects for silent peevishness. + +Gertrude Winston had never thought it worth her while to understand her +husband. She married him as a pure negation, preferring King Log to King +Stork. He was neither sulky, nor mean, nor selfish; he was not +meddlesome, nor fidgety, nor exacting. His wife never heard a sharp word +from his lips. Surely she might have taken the trouble to go a little +below the surface, and see if his pedantry and apathy concealed no +qualities which she might first admire, and then love. But no; she had +determined to be a "victim," and resolutely closed both heart and mind +against any appreciation of whatever might be endearing in his +disposition. And for him,--indolent and even-tempered, having married +because people usually married, in the same way as they were born and +buried,--he certainly took no pains to display his merits, and allowed +his wife to do exactly as she pleased, without let or hinderance. + +And Gertrude did not abuse the licence. She would not have asked Helen +to her house without consulting her husband. In his ready though +measured proposal to that effect, Mrs. Winston felt there was a kindness +which she had failed to perceive in all his previous demeanour towards +her. And when their guest arrived, he surprised her still more by +rousing himself from his monotonous pursuits to find sources of interest +and amusement for Miss Trevethlan. Gertrude was far above jealousy, and +attributed his attentions to their true motive,--a desire to alleviate +the anxiety of their new friend. + +Yet was Helen one who might well awaken the domestic fiend. Rather under +the average height of woman, but of a full and luxurious form, she moved +with that soft and undulating mien which fascinates even from afar; and +if, allured by the figure, you permitted yourself to advance and look +upon the face, you would find it was worthy of the shape. You would see +a forehead of the purest white, not very high, but broad and serene, +shaded by long dark ringlets, and supported by eyebrows of the same +colour, rather far apart, and very slightly arched. Under these you +would look into eyes also as dark as night, so gentle and so fond, that +well would it be for you if they did not haunt your slumbers for many a +night to come. Their long lashes drooped over cheeks perhaps a thought +too pale, but so transparently fair that they flushed with every +transient emotion, and then almost rivalled the full and tempting lips, +which lost themselves in dimples at each corner, and showed that the +pensiveness usually characterizing the countenance was not unwilling to +give place to any gaiety of the hour. + +At the present time, however, pensiveness prevailed, and increased the +contrast which Helen's beauty always presented to the attractions of her +cousins. She might trace in Mrs. Winston a strong resemblance to the +features of the miniature found upon her father's heart, which she had +since worn upon hers, and whose original she detected at that eventful +visit to the opera. There were the same inscrutable dark eyes, like +those in which Charles Lamb said lurked the depth of Jael; there were +the same haughty will, and the same decision of purpose; but there was, +Helen thought, something more of tenderness and less of disdain. + +She had been but a very short time in Cavendish-square when she made the +acquaintance of Mildred. Having informed her sister of her invitation, +Mrs. Winston could scarcely avoid the introduction, although she was +cognizant of a certain secret. Helen possessed no corresponding +knowledge, yet a gentle confidence grew up between the maidens, and +Mildred perhaps regarded her cousin as not unlikely to be more nearly +related to her. Naturally also, and unavoidably, she heard not a little +concerning Randolph, and listened to such intelligence with no +untroubled heart. + +Indeed she had begun to think of him more than was prudent; forced into +the recollection by her situation at home. She saw that Mrs. Pendarrel +was daily proceeding in the same course she had adopted in Cornwall, and +that she herself was becoming more and more involved in conduct which +she loathed. She found it very difficult to procure an explanation with +her mother, for since the short colloquy in which she attempted to +remonstrate the morning after the country party, Mrs. Pendarrel had +abruptly checked all further efforts of the same sort. At length, half +in despair, Mildred thought of appealing, perhaps for the first time in +her life, to her father. + +It was a very poor prospect. The scheming younger brother had long sunk +into the intriguing political hack. Obsequious, cold, worldly-minded, +and correct, was Mr. Trevethlan Pendarrel. He would as soon have thought +of absenting himself from a division, as of interfering with his wife's +domestic rule. He dared not even object to her lavish expenditure, +although he was fonder of money than of anything else; and he was too +dull a plodder in official harness to understand the jests sometimes +made at his expense. He was greatly surprised when his daughter +intercepted him one day on his return home, and led him into a parlour. + +"Papa," Mildred said, "I am sure you love me." + +"Of course, of course," he answered. "But your mamma takes care of all +that." He thought she was going to ask for money. + +"But pray do hear me, papa. They say ... This marriage...." + +"Of course, my dear. Your mamma has arranged it all. Very agreeable man, +Mr. Melcomb. Calls me Petruchio. Marriage! Why, you'll be the envy of +half the ladies in London!" + +"But, papa, it cannot be. I have told him so." + +"Cannot! I don't understand. You must speak to mamma. She manages it +all. There--there--" + +So saying, he kissed her cheek hastily and departed. Mildred knew not +where to turn. Her mother's tactics defeated the support which she had +expected from Mrs. Winston, for although the latter threw all the +discredit she could upon the rumours of the approaching marriage, no +pretence was afforded for any interference of a more active kind. But +Mildred, becoming more and more restless, at length seized an +opportunity of telling her mother suddenly, that she would go no more +into society until the report of her engagement was positively +contradicted. Mrs. Pendarrel flew into a violent rage. All her plans +were very far advanced. Almost every particular was definitely settled. +She was flushed with her triumph at Bodmin. Was everything to be undone +by the whim of a foolish girl? + +"What!" Esther exclaimed, with fury sparkling in her eyes, "have you +courage to be openly disobedient? Will you dare to fly in my face? Do +you think to make me wanting to my pledged word? Do you imagine I will +bear the scoffs and taunts bestowed upon a beaten match-maker? No, Miss +Pendarrel. You will marry as I bid you, or--but there is no +alternative." + +In the heat of her anger, Esther almost gasped for breath. She had for +some time observed her daughter's manner with smouldering wrath, and now +Mildred's avowal produced a fierce burst of flame. It deprived Mrs. +Pendarrel of her prudence. + +"And hark!" she cried. "Do you suppose that I am blind? Do you fancy I +know nothing about what you call your heart? Have I forgotten who +trembled on my arm, when that upstart pretender dared to intrude into +society which he could not have entered honestly, and laid claim to a +name to which he had no right? Do I not remember whose cheeks were +reddened, and whose voice said 'my cousin?'" + +Mildred's cheeks were red enough now, and she trembled from head to +foot, and opened her lips to speak, but her mother continued with +increasing vehemence. + +"And suppose he had been Randolph Trevethlan, as he falsely called +himself; suppose that he had been a true descendant of that ancient +house, and lawful owner of Trevethlan Castle, do you dream, girl, that I +would suffer his alliance with a daughter of mine? Do you not know that +I hate him? Do you not know that he hates me? Did I not hunt his father +to death? Have I not pursued him, the son of that base peasant-woman, +with a hatred which can only be extinguished in the grave? Have I not +even now consummated his ruin? Has he a house to hide his head? Is he +not a beggar on the earth?" + +Again Mrs. Pendarrel paused for breath. Mildred's colour came and went +with agitation, and she panted as if her heart would break. She had not +in the least expected to arouse such a storm. + +"And this is the miserable person you have dared to love? Yes; I ask you +again, do you think I am blind, or that there are no eyes but mine? Did +I not hear of that meeting on the cliff? Of folding arms, and hands +clasped, and lips----? Ay, girl, do you quiver and blush? Cousin, +indeed! A creature that has no right to any name at all; homeless, +houseless, penniless! Do you know that he is at this moment in my hands? +that I can throw him into prison, to languish till he dies? And where is +he? where is he hiding? Do you know that his people are charged with the +burning of Pendarrel, that he may be implicated himself? Fie, girl! +Shall the lion love the jackal? Shall the eagle love the owl?" + +"Mother," Mildred ejaculated, taking advantage of another break in +Esther's fierce harangue, "I love Randolph Trevethlan! I have vowed to +be his wife; and I will." + +She was leaving the room, but Mrs. Pendarrel caught her by the wrist and +detained her, looking full in her face, and almost choking with the rage +which she was unable to express. + +"Yes, mother," Mildred said, faltering as she spoke, "in that meeting, +which was watched by some miserable spy--that meeting, which I shall +remember for ever, which brings no shame to my cheek--in that meeting +Randolph won the pledge which nothing but death can break. Did I love +him when first I called him my cousin? Did I love him at that meeting on +the cliff? Mother, I love him now a thousandfold. Is he houseless, +homeless, an outcast, and a beggar? The more need has he of my love. +Tell me not of dishonour: there is none with him. Speak to me not of +shame: I know it not with him. Is his fate in your hands? So is mine. +They cannot be divided. He is mine, and I am his." + +As her daughter spoke, Mrs. Pendarrel tightened her hold upon her wrist, +and when she flung it loose at the close of Mildred's words, it was +discoloured by the pressure. She flung it scornfully from her, and said, +in tones whose concentrated but cold indignation was remarkably at +variance with her previous vehemence:-- + +"Go to your chamber, girl. We must see a quick end to this folly. And as +for him, you have sealed his doom." + +Mildred obeyed, and retired to her own apartment. There she threw +herself on a couch, and wept long and passionately. But one thought at +last seized her, and restored her to herself. + +"His doom sealed!" she murmured. "Did my mother say his doom was sealed? +And through me? No, no: it must not be. And is he, indeed, in such +danger and distress, and I here, far away, instead of sharing his +sorrows, as is my right and my duty? Oh, mother! mother! you little know +what you have done." + +And she rose, and dried her eyes, and wrote two notes, inclosing one +within the other, and directing the outer one to Helen Trevethlan. She +had never been one of those dramatic heroines who, in every little +trouble, seek consolation from their maids. With regard to them, one +might be inclined to avail oneself of the qualification attached to the +Highgate oath. Mildred had never asked Rhoda to do her any secret +service before. But when she summoned her now, and requested her to +convey the note she had just written to its destination at Mrs. +Winston's, the natural quickness of a soubrette at once perceived, from +the mere selection of the messenger, that the errand was confidential, +and it was with gratified self-esteem that Rhoda accepted the mission, +and delivered the billet into Miss Trevethlan's own hands. Rhoda +advanced very rapidly in the confidence of her young mistress that +evening. + +Mrs. Pendarrel had been thunderstruck by the attitude assumed by her +daughter. She had wrapped herself securely in reliance upon her own +power, and so bold a defiance almost stunned her. She bitterly regretted +the sarcasms into which she had been betrayed by passion. She readily +perceived the effect they would have upon a temper like Mildred's, a +temper in some respects like her own. And should all her schemes, all +the plans which she built up with so much care and labour, be frustrated +by the obstinacy of a love-sick girl? Should Esther Pendarrel confess +herself defeated? There was little hope of that. But she felt dim fears +and doubts besetting her. She experienced anew some of the despondency +caused by the destruction of her house; she looked to the future with +some foreboding of evil. But activity must subdue all such misgivings. +This insolent suitor must be crushed at once. Her daughter must be +schooled into instant submission. Nearly cotemporaneously with Mildred's +letter-writing, her mother also indited two epistles. The one she +despatched the same evening, by a trusty hand, to Tolpeden Park; the +other she sent immediately to Messrs. Truby's offices in Lincoln's Inn. + +There would apparently be some searing of hearts, before the war which +was that day proclaimed arrived at a peaceful termination. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + These violent delights have violent ends, + And in their triumph die; like fire and powder, + Which, as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey + Is loathsome in its own deliciousness, + And in the taste confounds the appetite: + Therefore, love moderately; long love doth so; + Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow. + + Shakspeare. + + +It was a notable fact at this time that Seymour Rereworth, the recluse +law-student, whom Mrs. Winston used to rally for his devotion to so +crabbed a mistress, became a frequent haunter of the house in Cavendish +Square. His acquaintance with the Trevethlans, and his relationship to +Gertrude, opened the door, closed to all besides, of that little boudoir +where she and Helen used to sit together, when they were unengaged; +precisely the same room from which Randolph pointed out to Mildred the +star which he fancifully chose as the arbiter of his destiny. There +Rereworth, forsaking the tangled intricacies of Astraea, learned to +disentangle skeins of silk; there, instead of threading the mazes of +some perplexing quibble, he could, on occasion, thread a needle; there, +instead of reading of the wars of the alphabet, A against B, and C +against D, he would read aloud the newest poem of Byron, or the latest +novel of Scott; and Seymour was a good reader, and did not object to +hear himself read, particularly when Helen Trevethlan listened. And the +expression one can throw into such poetry and such prose is very +convenient. So Rereworth was now the Corsair, with-- + + My own Medora, sure thy song is sad. + +Then Selim, with-- + + Bound where thou wilt, my barb; or glide, my prow-- + But be the star that guides the wanderer--thou. + +And again he played the romantic with Flora Mac Ivor, or sang serenades +with Henry Bertram. It is, we say, a convenient way of making love, +which was something very like Seymour's present occupation, when-- + + The deep, the low, the pleading tone + With which we _read_ another's love, + Interpret may our own. + +Pleasant it is to contrast the even and tranquil affection which was +thus ripening between Rereworth and Miss Trevethlan, with the turbulent +and rebellious passion which linked together Mildred and Randolph. Helen +had soon learned to like her brother's friend in his winter visits to +Mr. Peach's cottage: her heart thanked him for the zeal which he now +displayed in investigating the fraud practised at the recent trial; and +she listened to these readings in a mood prepared readily to acquiesce +in the emotions they were calculated to excite. Although it must be +confessed that the wild passions of Lord Byron's heroes had more in +common with the angry humour of Randolph than with her own gentle +disposition. Perhaps her pleasure was derived from the voice of the +reader rather than the poetry which he read. + +But Rereworth did not allow his attentions to the sister to prevail over +his exertions on behalf of the brother. And Randolph, being now more +independent, seconded his friend's efforts with his own. But it was a +vague and unsatisfactory pursuit. With no little difficulty they opened +a correspondence with the family of Everope, but they were disappointed +in its result; for nothing precise could be recollected respecting the +spendthrift's movements in that eventful autumn. His connections were by +no means anxious to revive their knowledge of his habits. And in London +he seemed to have entirely abandoned all his former haunts. His chambers +remained permanently closed; no one had seen him for a long time. +Restless and impatient, Randolph roamed through the metropolis, +scrutinizing the wayfarers, until his eyes became weary of the endless +succession of unknown faces. Occasionally he visited places of +questionable resort, having learned that such were much frequented by +the object of his chase. Thus, once or twice, he went to the Argyll +Rooms, and walked, care-worn and sad, among the giddy throng, where most +especially, even in laughter, the heart was sorrowful, and the end of +mirth was heaviness. And there one night he was mocked with a glimpse of +the man he sought. He was watching, partly with interest, and partly +with aversion, the proceedings at the hazard-table, when he noticed a +player sitting opposite him, the quivering of whose fingers, as his +forehead rested on them, showed how keen was his anxiety in the game. +While Randolph was observing him, a showy woman laid her hand upon the +gambler's shoulder, and made him look up with a start. At the same +moment his eye met Randolph's; he saw he was recognised, rose and +vanished; and though his pursuer hurried after him, his inexperience and +want of acquaintance with the ways of the place enabled Everope to elude +his search. + +Meantime, at Trevethlan, Griffith was quietly following another trail. +He took the proceedings at the inquest on the supposed Ashton as the +basis of his hopes, and was eagerly inquiring among the country people +what was remembered of the occurrences on the night of his suspected +murder; for it might be presumed that they could not now feel any +reluctance to tell all they knew, as the lapse of time would be +sufficient to save them from harm. And, accordingly, the steward had +little difficulty in ascertaining the particulars of the smuggling +adventure of the night in question, and found that it was generally +supposed the murderer had escaped in the lugger which came in with the +illicit cargo. But there his researches were brought to an end. What had +become of that lugger? In what seas she had sailed since, over what +parts of the globe her crew were dispersed, were questions more easily +asked than answered, with respect to a vessel of her character. + +The hamlet was plunged in mourning. Already the note of preparation had +been sounded for the formal taking possession of the castle by its new +proprietor, and no rescue seemed probable. The old prediction was to be +fulfilled at the expense of Trevethlan. The evil omen of the late +squire's marriage was to be borne out by the event. And not a few +families in the village were still bewailing the absence of some member +now imprisoned on a charge of being concerned in the outrage at +Pendarrel. The utmost rigour of the law was threatened against the +guilty, and the offence was capital. The dark hour which old Maud Basset +said was at hand for the house of Trevethlan had indeed arrived, and +gloom hung around the towers on the cliff, and over the green of the +hamlet. + +The wrath of the villagers ran high against all who had in any way +abetted the law-suit, and in particular against Michael Sinson. Upon his +head many an imprecation was breathed, and against him many a threat was +muttered. And the odium reflected upon his sweetheart. The people abused +her for her rejection of Edward Owen. They said it was due to her that +he was now lying in jail. They pointed at her, and flouted her. And poor +Mercy often thought of the dismal denunciations of Dame Gudhan, and +shuddered at the idea they might prove true. + +Old Maud also shared in the unpopularity of her grandson. Over and over +again the folks dinned into her ears that Margaret's marriage was +broken, and that it was all her Michael's doing. That was the reason, +they said, that the castle and lands passed away from Squire Randolph. +It was her own favourite that had brought shame on the daughter of whom +she was so proud. But Maud refused to understand. She sat, hour after +hour, swaying herself to and fro in her rocking-chair, exulting in the +ruin of the family which had wronged her Margaret, and, in a low voice, +murmuring the hymns she had learned in childhood. + +It would seem the fortunes of that family could hardly sink lower, but +such was not the case. Griffith received a letter from Winter, informing +him that Mr. Pendarrel's lawyer had intimated he was instructed to +demand a rigid account of all the personal property left by his late +master, and that, although he had replied the demand would be resisted, +still the steward had better prepare for the worst. As yet no light +appeared to brighten the condition in which they were left by the +verdict in the ejectment. Griffith lifted up his hands in tribulation, +and looked back through those five-and-thirty years. + +This announcement was the result of Mrs. Pendarrel's interview with Mr. +Truby. She insisted on the lawyer pressing all the legal consequences of +the verdict to the utmost, and without delay. She even inquired whether +the so-called Mr. Trevethlan might not be arrested. But Truby coldly +answered, that though perhaps he might, yet he could not be detained, +and that such a procedure would be at variance with the common courtesy. +Common courtesy! Mrs. Pendarrel might think, what courtesy is there +between me and him? She did not, however, venture to urge her +proposition further. + +But we are anticipating a little. Randolph remained unaware of this new +device to drive him to utter ruin. One evening, after a day spent in the +fruitless wanderings which occupied so much of his time, he was sitting +with Polydore Riches, silent and languid, thinking moodily of abandoning +all hope, and at once proceeding to some distant land in quest of +enterprise--South America seemed to offer a field--when the post brought +him a letter. He saw it was from Helen, and opened it slowly and without +much curiosity. But it contained an enclosure, addressed to himself, in +a lady's writing with which he was unacquainted. That he unfolded with +more despatch, and read:-- + + "Randolph--I am yours. I must see you. Meet me to-morrow + afternoon, at three, near the keeper's lodge, in + Kensington-gardens.--Your---- + + "M. P." + +The blood rushed into the reader's pallid cheeks. The very encounter +which he had at times dreaded, while threading his way through the +crowded streets, was here pressed upon him in a manner which he could +not elude. Would he wish, then, to avoid it? Perhaps not. But in the +first confusion of his feelings, joy had only a small share. Again all +his plans were frustrated. He seemed to be a mere plaything in the hands +of destiny. + +It wanted yet some time of the appointed hour when the lover sought the +rendezvous. Backwards and forwards, with uneven steps, he paced the +grass between the cottage and the Serpentine-river. The thought of +avenging the desolation around him again presented itself to his fancy: +again he resisted it, and vowed that no such selfish impulse should +sully his affection for Mildred. But the idea recalled the death-bed +injunctions of his father, and reminded him that he had been on the +point of entirely submitting to his adversary's triumph. He began to +think that the task which had been imposed upon him was beyond his +strength. His dreamy and lonely youth had ill prepared him for the +storms of riper years. He was infirm of purpose and irresolute of heart. + +The approach of a female form fluttered his pulse, and in a moment he +was at Mildred's side. The greeting was incoherent and abrupt. + +"Randolph," the lady said, "I have sought you, because I have no other +succour left. Do you know, have they told you, that my bridal is at +hand?" + +Her lover started, and remembered, as in a flash of lightning, what he +had heard from old Jeffrey. + +"It was false," he said. "Dearest, I knew it was false." + +"Ay," she continued. "But it has become very like truth. Do you know +that everybody believes it? that everybody looks upon Mildred +Pendarrel.... Oh, my mother, my mother, why have you driven me to this?" + +She spoke with passionate sorrowfulness of accent. Well might Randolph +say there was no happiness in love like theirs. + +"Yes, the day is fixed. I am a prisoner till it comes. I am here only by +stealth. I do not know what will become of me. I can bear it no longer." + +The words followed one another in rapid succession. Mildred was trying +to forget herself in the quickness of her utterance. + +"The day will never dawn," Randolph exclaimed. "Are we not vowed to each +other? Are we not pledged for ever? Let us fly, dearest. Let us be +united before the world, as we are in our hearts. But, no, no," he +suddenly ejaculated, with a burst of anguish. "Do you know who I am? An +outcast, without house or name. Dishonoured and infamous. What can I +offer you? How can you share my lot? It must not be, dearest Mildred, it +can never be." + +"I know it all," she answered. "It was my mother that pressed it on me. +What then? Was it not the very reason that determined me? Oh, Randolph, +do not think so lightly of me, as to suppose such things would turn me +from my vow. Do not think I would recall what is my only hope, my +last-remaining joy. I have nothing left but you. Do not fancy I regret +what is gone." + +Brief, but earnest and decided, was the conversation that ensued. +Passion carried all before it. Mildred thought that, with the help of +her faithful Rhoda, she could escape the same evening. Randolph would +arrange everything for their flight. The north road would conduct them, +if not to happiness, at least to security. A few rapid sentences settled +all preliminary details; and the lovers parted, to meet again before +many hours were over. + +There was now no time for reflection. Randolph had not a minute to +spare. There were letters to write for Helen and for Mr. Riches, short +as possible, giving, after all, no information. There were funds to +provide, little requisites to collect. When Randolph stood by his +carriage under the trees of Grosvenor-square, he seemed scarcely to have +rested a moment from the time he left Kensington-gardens. + +Late in the evening it was. Mildred had retired for the night. Rhoda +showed her young mistress, in a slight disguise, to Mrs. Pendarrel's +door, as a visitor, and speedily slipped out, unseen, herself. They +reached the carriage in safety. The elopement was complete. Scandal +laughed in the wind that swept through the trees, as the fugitives were +whirled from the square. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + The father was steel, and the mother was stone; + They lifted the latch, and they bid him begone. + But loud on the morrow their wail and their cry! + He had laughed on the lass with his bonny black eye, + And she fled to the forest to hear a love-tale, + And the youth it was told by was Allen-a-Dale. + + Scott. + + +The flight was not detected. So when Mrs. Pendarrel descended in the +morning to the breakfast room, she was surprised at finding no Mildred +there to receive her. She did not at first take much heed to the +circumstance, but herself commenced what had usually been her daughter's +duty. But when she had been some time joined by her husband, and there +were still no signs of the young lady, she desired a servant to send +Miss Pendarrel's maid to inquire whether her mistress was not ready for +breakfast. Answer came in a few minutes, that Miss Pendarrel's maid was +not to be found. Esther then felt some uneasiness; would herself look +after the bird; found the cage empty; an incoherent note on the +dressing-table:-- + +"Dearest mother," Mildred briefly wrote, "I can bear it no longer. Every +day sinks me deeper in deceit. You do not know--you never can tell, how +I have struggled. Why did you upbraid him? Oh, mother, why did you seem +to rejoice in his sorrow? I feel that I can only be his. When you know +all my despair, you will forgive your child." + +"Never," Esther exclaimed, grinding her teeth. She crushed the billet in +her hand, and returned to her husband. + +"Mr. Trevethlan Pendarrel," said she, "your daughter has eloped." + +The politician felt some excitement for once, and blushed like red tape. + +"What!" he exclaimed. "What did you say, Esther?" + +"Your daughter has eloped, sir," she repeated; "eloped with your +pretended nephew. Come, sir; there must be a pursuit." + +Roused at last to a sense of the emergency, the bereaved father +bestirred himself, obtained some traces of the fugitives, and, within +half an hour, was flying along the north road as fast as four horses +could take him. + +Did any girl ever know the anguish she would inflict by a step like +Mildred's? Press to the uttermost the arguments urged by Milton and +Johnson in defence of the right of children to choose for themselves in +marriage, they will still never be found to countervail the natural +sentiments of the heart. They will never subdue conscience, or stifle +remorse. And so it has been often observed, that wedlock, in which the +honour due to father and mother is forgotten, is rarely happy in its +result. And, on the other hand, parents, who, without the most solid +grounds, coerce their children's inclinations, will probably one day pay +the penalty of their hard-heartedness. + +Esther communicated the event in a short and savage note to Mrs. +Winston, striving to flatter herself with the idea, that in spite of +Mildred's words, she might have sought an asylum in Cavendish-square. +Gertrude answered the missive in person, and with great sorrow. She +bitterly deplored her sister's imprudence; but Mrs. Pendarrel received +her with sharp and angry speech, said what had happened was owing to her +teaching, was sorry she had no daughters to serve her in the same way, +and, in short, treated her with a contumely which it required all Mrs. +Winston's temper to endure in respectful silence. + +Esther was almost prostrated by the blow. She had never been quite +herself since the burning of Pendarrel. She had, it was true, maintained +a bold and haughty front, but she had lost some of her old internal +confidence. She had become more hasty, and found her self-control much +weakened. She perceived the change in that scene with Mildred, which, as +she confessed to herself, had probably hurried the catastrophe more than +anything Mrs. Winston had done or said. But when she desired Mildred not +to leave the house without her cognizance, she had no idea that the +young lady was prepared to disobey. + +She read the note of farewell over and over. She crumpled it, and +smoothed it, again and again. With all its incoherence, it was +sufficiently decided. And so the very same day in which she had +fulminated her final decree against the heir of Trevethlan--a decree +which she hoped would crush him to the ground--that very day her +daughter had thrown herself into his arms. She was check-mated just when +she thought the next move would give her the game. Henry Trevethlan was +already well avenged. + +In the midst of her agitation, word was brought her that Michael Sinson +had begged the favour of an audience. She had seen very little of her +protege since her arrival in town. She fancied he might be of some +service in her present strait, and granted the permission he sought. +Ignorant of Miss Pendarrel's flight, he came cringing into the presence +of his patroness, with the idea that Everope was safe, and that he might +claim the reward of his treachery. + +"Now, sir," his mistress said as he entered, "what is your business with +me?" + +The young man was embarrassed. He had well considered what he was about +to say, yet, when the time came to speak, his words were not ready. + +"You know, ma'am," he said, hesitating and confused, "the pains I have +taken in exposing the person who had unlawful possession of Trevethlan +Castle." + +"Well, sir!" + +"You know, ma'am, that I did not scruple to bring discredit on some of +my own kindred, in order that right might be done." + +"You have been well paid," Mrs. Pendarrel said. + +"Excuse me, ma'am," Sinson proceeded. "I have been reproached and abused +by my relations, and all the country people turn away from me. It is not +easy for me to show my face in Kerrier or Penwith. But right is done at +last. You have the castle firm and safe. Do you remember, ma'am, what I +told you of the late owner and Miss Mildred?" + +Esther started, supposing the speaker was going to give her some +intelligence respecting the elopement. + +"In a week or a fortnight," Michael continued, "there will be no trace +of the old family at Trevethlan. The steward is now preparing to quit. +Mr. Randolph is wandering somewhere in poverty and want. Do you suppose, +ma'am, that he has forgotten that walk on the cliff, with--with your +daughter?" + +Mrs. Pendarrel was surprised. She could not imagine to what end so +strange an introduction was tending. She listened in silence. + +"No, ma'am," said her protege. "Love will not grow cold in ruin." + +And then Sinson, in incoherent language, proceeded to contrast +Randolph's circumstances with his own. It was a speech which he had +often meditated, and spoken in soliloquy, yet he now felt almost unable +to deliver it. A sense of the hollowness of his reasoning choked the +words which should have flowed from his lips. He was too conscious of +his own sophistry to be eloquent. Yet he struggled on through sentence +after sentence, without observing the increasing astonishment of Mrs. +Pendarrel, who wondered more and more to what he was coming. Like Fear, +Michael recoiled from the sound of his own voice, when he had heard his +concluding demand. + +"Why, then, if this Mr. Randolph is fascinated by--your daughter--why +should I be blind to the same attractions?" + +By this time Esther had risen from her seat, and stood, mute with +amazement. Had Michael been less excited, he could not have failed to +notice the scorn and indignation in her face. But he had become absorbed +in his subject, and proceeded hurriedly. + +"And what obstacle is there? The world's prejudice? That I sweep aside. +You can give me what station you please. Her engagement? You have good +cause to break it. Why does Melcomb pursue her? To pay off the +encumbrances on Tolpeden? No, no: to pay his own debts. Tolpeden will be +mortgaged as now. Will she object? Not if she have any regard for Mr. +Randolph. I can implicate him in the burning of Pendarrel. His life will +be in danger. She will consent, in order to save him. What hinderance is +there then?" + +Mrs. Pendarrel approached the bell-rope, but before she could pull it, +Michael boldly interposed. He had now regained his audacity. + +"Hark! ma'am," he said. "Before you venture to scorn this offer, +remember what you owe me. I am not to be paid with money. Well paid, did +you say? No, ma'am. The triumph you have gained hangs upon my word. A +breath from me will blow it to the winds. There is shame in store for +you, ma'am, worse than any that has befallen Mr. Randolph. I have +letters of yours, ma'am. You are in my power. I have named my terms. +Beware, ma'am, of rejecting them." + +"You do not seem to be aware, sir," Esther said, with cold and bitter +sarcasm, "that the honour you would confer upon my family, it is not in +my power to accept. My daughter fled from my house last night, and, as I +believe, in company with the person to whom you allude." + +"Fled!" Sinson exclaimed in a whisper. "Fled!" + +Before he recovered from his astonishment, Mrs. Pendarrel had rung the +bell. A servant speedily answered the summons. Michael heard an order +which banished him from the house for ever, and stamped fiercely on the +floor, while his patroness retired into an adjoining apartment. + +"Did you hear, sir?" said the servant tapping Sinson smartly on the +shoulder. + +An execration rose to the young man's lips, but he repressed it, and +followed the attendant. The door of the house closed behind him, and its +jar seemed finally to shiver to atoms the fabric he had been +constructing so long and so laboriously. He stood on the pavement of the +street, once more the vile Cornish peasant. His devices had recoiled +upon his own head. One step of a simple girl had disconcerted all his +schemes. And he had tied his own hands. But then with a sort of savage +glee he thought of the plight of the young lovers. At least he had +brought ruin on the house from which he had been driven with disdain. +And he retained his hold on Mrs. Pendarrel. He was not lost in loss +itself. He must obtain the funds which he had affected to despise. +Should he not follow up the idea which he had mentioned of charging +Randolph with instigating those incendiaries? There was motive +sufficient to make the accusation credible. He could at least tamper +with some of those who were in custody. The hope of pardon, the promise +of reward would be tempting inducements. He was not yet destitute of +resources. And he had the chance of his lottery-ticket. + +Such were the notions into which the tumult of Sinson's passions at +length subsided. He had gone into the Green Park, and he walked rapidly +to and fro, under the trees by Rosamond's Pond. Some people watched him, +thinking that he meditated suicide. But his pace became gradually slower +and steadier, and the flaneurs went on their way, wondering what might +have caused so much agitation. + +"No," Michael might have muttered between his teeth; "at least he shall +not enjoy any tranquillity. Infamy shall follow poverty. He shall never +be happy with her, nor she with him. Let him pay for his father's +scornfulness; let her atone for her mother's disdain. Ha! What did I +say? What did I betray? But no; I mentioned nothing tangible. No names. +No particulars. The secret is safe. Let Mrs. Pendarrel take possession +of Trevethlan Castle: she will hold it for me. Let her refuse me my +demands, and I blow her title to the winds, and shame her in the sight +of the world. And I am safe. There would be nothing against me but what +I chose to confess. Ay, the game is not up yet. I shall not have played +for nothing. Was I expelled from the castle? Am I driven from the hall? +Long shall the heir of the one, and the mistress of the other, rue the +contumely they cast upon Michael Sinson." + +The muser started, for a hand grasped his arm, and shook him. He looked +up, and encountered Everope. + +"Do you hear, Sinson?" cried the spendthrift. "Five times I have said +your name! What is the matter with you?" + +"It's plain enough what is the matter with you," Michael answered +moodily. "And why have you not left London? For what are you lingering +here? Do you wish to be transported?" + +"If I am, you will be also," said Everope. "I must have some money." + +Slovenly and jaded, the unhappy man presented obvious signs of recent +dissipation. His eyes were bloodshot, and his hand trembled. + +"That you may squander it in riot," Sinson said. "Tush! you have had too +much already. You think you are worth more than you are. You can only +harm yourself. Go abroad, or I shall throw you into the Fleet. Let's see +who'll believe your stories there." + +"Villain!" exclaimed the spendthrift. + +All the fierce and disappointed passions which were struggling in +Michael's breast, concurred in giving strength to the blow that sent +Everope staggering several paces to fall upon the turf, almost before +the word had passed his lips. Sinson turned and walked away. + +His bondman rose from the ground in a fury not to be described. All the +few traces of the gentleman which still lingered about him, rebelled +with hot resentment against the insult he had received. Such are the +contradictions of our nature. Mean, profligate, and perjured, Everope +yet revolted from a blow. And from whom received? From the tempter to +whom he sold himself for a few paltry pieces of gold. From one whom he, +even in his own degradation, despised and loathed; who had betrayed him +into guilt at which his soul grew sick. And directed against the man who +had come to offer him kindness. Yes; how well he remembered that +repulsed visit to his chambers in the Temple! With what horror he had +recognised his benefactor at the trial! The man whom his testimony had +undone had attempted to rescue him from ruin. "Too late it was, too +late," Everope cried with his inward voice--"it has always been too late +with me. But need it still be so? Was opportunity of retrieval finally +gone? Had even the eleventh hour elapsed? Could he not break his chains? +It was but to speak one word. The Fleet! There, or worse then there, he +must end! Why should he struggle for a few days' respite? What was the +wretched timidity which disabled him from facing his position?" + +Such was the reverie of him whom want of principle and a sanguine temper +had reduced by degrees to the degraded state in which the reader finds +him. Always hoping to retrieve the effects of past extravagance, and +intending to repair the mischief of former faults, he allowed himself to +be led into fresh wastefulness, and to be involved in further guilt. Was +his present penitence to be more efficient? The question will soon be +answered. He hurried away from the scene of his interview with Sinson, +and quitted the park by Buckingham-gate. + +Meantime, Michael had not gone very far before a thought seemed to +strike him, and he retraced his steps to Rosamond's Pond. After all, it +might be prudent not to quarrel with the spendthrift at present. But he +was too late. Everope had disappeared. "It is no matter," Sinson +muttered; "I can find him at any time." The next day he went down into +Cornwall. + +"The understanding of a man naturally sanguine"--it is Dr. Johnson who +speaks--"may be easily vitiated by the luxurious indulgence of hope, +however necessary to the production of everything great or excellent; as +some plants are destroyed by too open exposure to that sun which gives +life and beauty to the vegetable world." + +In Everope is seen the extremity to which the vitiation here mentioned +by the great moralist may sometimes be carried. Yet surely a sanguine +temperament ought to be a blessing. A willingness to see the bright side +of things should not be converted into a misfortune. But it is +frequently at once compliant and obstinate, yielding readily to +seduction and resisting advice. And it is too often treated in the +spirit of the maxim, that wilful men must have their way. That is to +say, it is considered to be always in the wrong. A common idea is, that +difficulty will cure its faults. But the difficulty must not amount to +ruin. The step from the sublime to the ridiculous is not more easy than +that from sanguineness to despair. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + Do you note, + How much her Grace is altered on the sudden? + How long her face is drawn? How pale she looks, + And of an earthly cold? Mark you her eyes? + + Shakspeare. + + +The news of the elopement was of course at first allowed to transpire as +little as possible. There was still a faint chance that the errant +damsel might be overtaken before she was over the border, in which case +the escapade might perhaps be hushed up, and scandal deprived of its +prey. But it created anxiety and sorrow at other places besides the +house in May-Fair. In Randolph's notes to Helen and to Polydore, he +merely said that he was summoned suddenly from town for a few days, and +would write again very shortly. He did not dare to entrust the secret of +his flight to paper. His communications, therefore, caused great +perplexity. It was something quite new for him to show any reserve, +towards either the chaplain or his sister. But the mystery was solved by +Mrs. Winston, who gently complained that Helen should have availed +herself of her visit in Cavendish Square, to become a means of +correspondence between the fugitives. She soon saw, however, that +Helen's simplicity had alone been to blame, and withdrew her +remonstrances. + +Polydore was very much disturbed. Was this the end of his teaching? Was +it his quiet and meditative pupil, the calm student of the library at +Trevethlan, the contemplative muser by the sea, who had thus in one +moment flung prudence aside, and fled to an irregular and unhallowed +union? The simple-hearted chaplain could not understand it at all. He +had sometimes anticipated the pleasure of himself blessing the nuptials +of his former pupils, according to the ritual of his church, and now +Randolph had contracted a marriage devoid of any ecclesiastical +sanction. Improper and ill-omened as had been the father's wedding, that +of the son, Mr. Riches thought, was still more deplorable. Such matches +were rarely a source of happiness. And here, in particular, the enmity +between the families might lead to unusual misery. And poverty--stark, +staring poverty--seemed to threaten the young couple. For Polydore had +learned from Mr. Winter the last step taken by Mrs. Pendarrel, and saw +nothing before the orphans but absolute and immediate want. + +And the further letters which before long reached both Helen and the +chaplain did not tend to allay their anxiety. Randolph wrote that he and +his bride were returning, by easy and leisurely stages, to the +metropolis. But there were few traces of happiness, or even of +tranquillity in his missives. They contained no spontaneous effusion of +joy, no expressions of triumph, no desire for congratulation. They were, +on the contrary, cold and restrained. The writer seemed endeavouring to +suppress any signs of emotion, to avoid causing uneasiness, to prevent +sympathy. Even in speaking of Mildred, he was cautiously reserved. He +mentioned her without any warmth of panegyric, and without any overflow +of tenderness. Neither did he say a single word in justification of his +flight. He seemed to write, rather because he felt bound to do so, than +from any pleasure in the correspondence. In fact, Polydore remarked to +himself with a sigh, that if Randolph had not wished on his arrival in +town to find a temporary abode ready for him where he was not known, he +would probably not have written at all. In all this the chaplain saw but +slight prospect of future comfort. + +Nor was an epistle which Mildred wrote to her sister, although different +in tone, more re-assuring. It was much more open and unrestrained, but +it exhibited a mood quite as unsatisfactory. The bride strove at great +length, and with much passion, to justify her flight. She described in +eager and bitter language the long solicitude she had endured, both at +Pendarrel Hall and in London. During all that time, she said, she was +made to act a lie. She had remonstrated, and implored, and wept. She had +been derided, and threatened, and terrified. Her steps had been watched, +and at last she had been bidden to consider herself a prisoner. But all +this, and more than this, would not have tempted her to fly. It was not +until she was told that a certain event was imminent,--it was not until +she heard him who was now her husband shamed and calumniated, and +declared to be in want and sorrow,--that the idea of consulting with him +occurred to her. She had no one to advise her. Gertrude's own promises +were too limited. She was distracted. She had no eyes for anything but +one immediate and overwhelming danger. Was not _he_ on the point of +coming from Cornwall? Yet still she did not mean to fly. It was the idea +of a moment; hastily adopted, to be executed after an interval too brief +to give time for reflection. Were it to be done over again, nothing +would induce her to take such a step. She knew all she had forfeited. +But she hoped her sister would not judge her too severely. And, finally, +she prayed Gertrude to intercede for her with her mother. She should +never enjoy a moment's repose until she had obtained her pardon. She +acknowledged her undutifulness in terms of the most earnest penitence. +Already, she said, her punishment had begun. If it lasted, it would be +more than she could bear. Better it would have been to have endured the +utmost extremity, than to have incurred her mother's just indignation. + +With the arrival of these letters all secresy respecting the affair was +at an end. The news spread rapidly from mouth to mouth, that Miss +Pendarrel had made a stolen match. The scandal-mongers were gratified to +their heart's content. All the details of the flight were discussed with +ignorant curiosity; accidents were invented which had never occurred; +and the stratagems by which pursuit was evaded were described with exact +inaccuracy. + +Border weddings will soon be as legendary as that of Lochinvar. The rail +has already destroyed the romance of the journey, and the law will +speedily put an end to its profit, by requiring a fortnight's residence +before a marriage will be valid. Let "victims," therefore, make haste. +It was rather different when Randolph carried off his bride from +Grosvenor Square. He had engaged a carriage for the journey, but he +wanted time and experience to arrange an express, and was consequently +much delayed during the night. The travellers had not accomplished more +than fifty miles, when day broke upon them. It had been a silent, though +sleepless ride, and morning showed Randolph the traces of tears on +Mildred's cheeks. They called to his mind in an instant the extent of +the sacrifice she had made; for he would be no party to any suit for +reconciliation. He had torn his bride from her station and her friends, +and held himself precluded from all attempt to restore her to their +love. His father's spirit seemed to whisper in his ear, that for him +there could be no communion with those whom Mildred was bound to honour, +and whom he had persuaded her to desert. And for what? What lay before +himself? + +He endeavoured to repel such considerations, and to devote himself to +the comforting of his companion. But his efforts were of little avail. +He became gloomy and abstracted. So soon did repentance mingle with the +feelings of the fugitives. But still they hurried forwards. Retreat, for +Randolph at least, was out of the question; and to be overtaken would be +defeat. He could afford no such triumph to Philip or Esther Pendarrel. +And the father's pursuit was fruitless. He gained upon the chase at +every stage; but he came up too late. They were united, never to be put +asunder. + +They heard of his arrival, and Mildred would have thrown herself at his +feet. But her husband would not suffer it. It was rather early for a +matrimonial dispute, and a sad occasion of difference. Dark forebodings +crowded on the heart of the young wife. It was far from being so that +she was bidden to leave father and mother and cleave to her husband. But +Randolph would join her in a letter. No; he would not even permit her to +write on his behalf. She must strictly confine her apologies to herself. +For him, he would make none, and would ask for no forgiveness. It was +his part to forgive. + +In the sorrow and dismay occasioned by these injunctions, Mildred wrote +the letter to her sister which we have sketched above. She gave it to +her husband to read. He observed the anguish expressed in every line, +and melted into a flood of tenderness, blaming the moodiness of his +temper, and praying pardon of his bride. But he said no word which might +encourage her to insert a single sentence in his name; and she +remembered how, at that meeting on the cliff, Randolph spoke of the hate +which was between her mother and himself, and how there could be little +of happiness in his love; and the words appeared to be true with a force +to bring despair. + +With a misgiving heart, Mrs. Winston took her sister's letter to their +mother. Esther read it, and gave no sign. She observed that Mildred's +entreaties and excuses were confined to herself. There was no mention of +her partner in the affront; and Mrs. Pendarrel resented it too fiercely +as yet to show any commiseration. Yet she was greatly changed. The +successive shocks she had sustained had tamed her haughty resolution. +The destruction of her home had caused her many a bitter pang. It was +followed by the anxiety and exasperation produced by her daughter's +demeanour. These were converted into despondency and fury by the +elopement. And then came her miserable agent with a proposal which +insulted her, and with menacing hints which were at once a cause of +perplexity and alarm. Under such an accumulation of cares, it was no +wonder that her old spirit deserted her, and that her usual energy was +prostrated. + +But no gentle thoughts yet mingled with her dejection. Anger, cold and +stern, over-powered every other sentiment. She forgive! She pardon the +rebellion which had shattered the hopes of many months! She extend her +hand to the man whom she had just driven to ruin! Forego the vengeance +which she had meditated for years! Furnish Henry Trevethlan cause to +triumph in his grave! Take the child again to her bosom who had wedded a +nameless outcast! One whom she, Esther Pendarrel, had just before +succeeded in degrading, and whom she could not, if she would, restore! +Was it not a fair jest for the world to laugh at? She had disinherited +and beggared her foe, only to prepare him to become her daughter's +husband. And even now he gave no sign. He was exulting over the check he +had put upon her. After all, it was he who had won the game. And should +she then forgive?--should she make the victory more complete? No: let +them starve;--let them see how poverty and love agreed together. She +could at least enjoy that spectacle. And when love grew cold in daily +bickerings, when life became a long scene of mutual recrimination, when +strife made it happiness to be apart, or guilt brought about an actual +separation, then she might think her daughter's penance sufficiently +severe, and furnish her with the means of prolonging her miserable +existence. + +In this dejected and sullen temper Mr. Pendarrel found his wife upon his +return from his unsuccessful journey to the north. And he was surprised +to discover that he had become of sudden consequence in the household. +Esther seemed to have abdicated her rule. She let things take their +course with a strange sort of apathy. Her activity vanished, or only +showed itself in petty things. She often sat unemployed, and absent of +mind for a long time together. She took her husband's advice. But the +slightest allusion to the elopement, or any kindred topic, made her eyes +gleam in a way to scare the unwary suggester of such a theme. Mr. +Pendarrel ventured to hint, soon after his return, at the desirableness +of some arrangement, and the reception of the experiment fairly +frightened him from repeating it. + +It will be remembered that, after the stormy scene with Mildred, Esther +despatched a missive to Tolpeden Park. It was to summon its proprietor +immediately to town. Melcomb obeyed; and arrived only to learn that his +intended bride belonged to another. His career was soon at an end. +Embarrassments thickened around him. For some time he played at +hide-and-seek with the minions of the sheriff; but at length they +triumphed, and Melcomb became an inmate of the King's Bench. + +And now he may disappear from these pages. After a while he obtained +"the rules;" occupied decent apartments near the Obelisk; joined a club +of gentlemen in his own plight, and mimicked on a small scale the habits +of a more fortunate time. One evening he was missed from his accustomed +tavern. They inquired at his lodgings. He was very ill; and he never +rallied. Some of his companions in misfortune consoled his declining +hours; and in a few days his heir took joyful possession of Tolpeden. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + None but an author knows an author's cares, + Or fancy's fondness for the child she bears: + Committed once into the public arms, + The baby seems to smile with added charms: + Like something precious ventured far from shore, + 'Tis valued for the danger's sake the more. + + Cowper. + + +Polydore Riches, as we have said, was much disturbed by the matrimonial +escapade of his old pupil. But his profession, his own experience, and +his age, had taught him resignation. It was his favourite theory that +things seemed evil only because they were but half seen. Could man +discern the whole train of events of which an apparent calamity was +part, he would find that what was thought a misfortune was really a +blessing. But the eye of reason was as short-sighted as that of the +body. There were many things beyond its ken. And, as the most powerful +telescopes failed to penetrate beyond a certain distance, and served but +to make the vastness of the universe more incomprehensible, so the +severest logic only availed to show the limits of the human +understanding, and to inspire it with reverent humility for things +beyond its bounds. This true and grateful optimism enabled the chaplain +to overcome the sharpness of sorrow, and to maintain that unruffled +quietude of mind which is the happy mean between apathy and +over-susceptibility. Yet, as has been more than once hinted, he was not +unacquainted with grief. + +He had been into London one day to visit Helen, and also to try to find +some of his old college companions, when he met with what was for him a +little adventure. It probably led his thoughts into the course shown in +a conversation which he held with Mr. Peach the same evening. + +"You have several old friends of mine here, Mr. Peach," Polydore said, +surveying the row of tall folios which formed his host's library. "Now +this is one to whom I was always very partial." And he took down Sir +Thomas Browne. "Open this worthy knight where you will, you will be +pretty sure to find some intellectual pabulum." + +"I love his genial and warm-hearted humour," said the old clerk. + +"I have turned to the Physician's Faith," continued Riches. "I light +upon the section beginning--'I never could divide myself from any man +upon the difference of an opinion, or be angry with his judgment for not +agreeing with me in that, from which within a few days I should dissent +myself.'" + +"The whole passage overflows with charity and good sense," said Peach, +rubbing his hands. + +"And a few leaves further on--there is a paper at the place--is the +remark,--'It is we that are blind, not fortune: because our eye is too +dim to discover the mystery of her effects, we foolishly paint her +blind, and hoodwink the providence of the Almighty.'" + +Cornelius became rather fidgety, for he saw that the paper which Mr. +Riches had mentioned lay upon the open page, and was covered with +writing. + +"You write yourself, my friend," observed Mr. Riches. "Will you allow +me...?" + +"No," answered his host, casting down his eyes. "That is, I do not +write. I may sometimes jot down a thought, if a bit of paper is at hand. +I cannot bear to defile the margins of my books." + +"Mischievous vanity of readers," said the chaplain. "But, Mr. Peach, I +like these remarks very much. Did you never print? Confess. You have +caught Sir Thomas's spirit exactly." Cornelius coloured a little. + +"No," said he. "Never. I have nothing to confess." + +Polydore lighted his pipe, and sat down by the side of the chimney, just +out of the glare of the fire. Miss Peach had retired, and the old +bachelors were alone. They smoked in silence for a considerable time. + +"There was a time," at length the host murmured, "when I thought I +should like to print. It was when I was courting my Mabel. I fancied it +would be so pleasant to present her with a volume of my own inditing. +She would be proud of me. She would hear me spoken of, and would say in +her heart--he belongs to me. But there was another side to the medal, +something whispered me, and I had not the courage. The early ambition +passed away." + +"Well," said Polydore, "I was this morning singularly reminded that I +had been one of the irritable race." + +The old clerk's face beamed radiant among the circumambient fumes. + +"You, my dear sir!" he exclaimed, and then begged pardon for the +expression of surprise. + +"'Tis many years ago," the chaplain said. "I had not left my university +at the time. I had nearly forgotten it. Yet it was a delightful dream." + +"What was your offspring?" Cornelius asked. + +"A tale," was the answer. "A little story. Simple enough, but intended +to promote some opinions, of which, in my youth, I was a zealous +advocate. I fear I had not then learned the lesson of those first words +of Sir Thomas Browne." + +"I own," said Peach, "that I do not relish argumentative fiction." + +"Neither, perhaps, should I now," continued Polydore. "But youth is +ardent in proselytism. I dreamt over my manuscript for nights and +nights. It was so true, and so interesting. I was certain it could not +fail; and others thought so too. The little book would be ushered into +the world in a manner more favourable than I had dared to hope. Imagine, +my dear sir, the sort of intoxication with which I revised the proofs. +What Gibbon calls 'the awful interval of printing' was to me a season of +impatient delight. I was rushing into celebrity. And so the book +appeared--by Polydore Riches. I was not yet in orders. Moreover, it was +noticed by critics, on the whole, kindly. I took for granted it was +selling rapidly, and prepared my emendations for a second edition. Judge +then of my feelings, when, at the end of a twelvemonth, I learned that I +might have spared my pains." + +"What was the reason?" said Cornelius. + +"I can tell you best by this," Polydore replied. "After a little idle +repining, and some tacit abuse of the public mind, I laid my poor child +by. I read it again in a dozen years, and I discovered a hundred defects +of which I was ignorant before. No doubt the public discerned them at +the first glance. I did not wonder at my disappointment." + +Here again silence reigned for some time in the cosy parlour. It was +broken by Mr. Peach. + +"You said, my dear sir, that you were reminded of those days this +morning." + +"Yes," answered the chaplain. "I never could pass an open book-stall +without scrutinizing the wares. It has always been one of my habits. If +I were in a hurry, I should make a circuit through the side streets, +instead of proceeding direct along Holborn, so irresistible is the +temptation. Well, this morning I was wending my way by that great +thoroughfare, and duly pausing at each successive treasure-house, when +at one of them I detected an old friend. With trembling fingers, I drew +the volume from between an 'Entick's Dictionary' and a 'Peregrine +Pickle,' and opened it. 'By Polydore Riches.' A kind of mist came over +me as I read." + +"Indeed," said Mr. Peach, "it was an interesting meeting. You found +yourself, as one may say, face to face with your youth." + +"Exactly so. It was like shaking hands with the Riches of twenty-two. +Well, the whim seized me to purchase the book, and also to ascertain the +lowest value put upon it. So I went into the shop, and inquired the +price. The owner ran the leaves backwards and forwards through his +fingers, looked at the outside, and--but I need not trouble you with our +bargaining. I bought it." + +"Ah," exclaimed Cornelius, "might I beg leave to become acquainted with +it?" + +"You shall see the little book, if you wish, my dear sir," answered +Polydore. "But listen. I do not now quite concur in the judgment of the +public. I look at my offspring with parental partiality, and am fond to +believe it was hardly used. And, besides, I hug the memory of my +publishing days. I revel in the recollection of that one enthusiasm. And +I have it all to myself. My book is forgotten. No one knows it now but +myself. Would you desire to read it, my dear sir?" + +Cornelius never repeated his wish. But, some time afterwards, when he +had a day of leisure, he repaired to the Reading-room of the British +Museum, and took down the volume of the Catalogue containing the letter +R. His conscience pricked him as he did so, and if any one had then +touched his elbow, or twitched his coat, he would have blushed like poor +Mercy Page at Madron Well. Glancing furtively from side to side, he +turned over the leaves to the page he wanted, and drew his finger down +the column of names. But there was no Riches rejoicing in the Christian +name of Polydore. Mr. Peach closed the tome with a feeling of relief, +saying to himself,--"So, my excellent friend's book did not even find +its way into this great repository. Well, I am glad I have not +trespassed upon his secret." + +The self-criticism in which the chaplain indulged was, perhaps, affected +by the circumstances of his own history. He had strung his argument upon +a story of requited but unfortunate love, and had found the tale nearly +realized in his attachment to Rose Griffith. Before he was acquainted +with the passion, he thought the public were right: when he had lost the +mistress of his affections, he thought they were wrong. He confounded +his fiction with his fact, and wove them together into a retrospective +romance, the scenery of which he was reluctant to divulge. + +The incident of finding his half-forgotten volume, diverted Polydore's +attention from the anxieties of the moment: and we have thought the +reader might not be displeased with a similar interval of repose. We +must now return to the other personages of our history. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + _Don Pedro._ Officers, what offence have these men done? + + _Dogberry._ Marry, sir, they have committed false report; + moreover, they have spoken untruths; secondarily, they are + slanders; sixth, and lastly, they have belied a lady; thirdly, + they have verified unjust things; and, to conclude, they are + lying knaves. + + Shakspeare. + + +The answers which the returning fugitives received to their letters +during their journey back to London, were ill calculated to restore them +to serenity. Helen acknowledged her brother's account of his marriage in +a letter, which all her affection could not prevent from betraying her +grief; and Polydore Riches, in another, did not attempt to conceal his +disapproval and regret. And he communicated to Randolph the information +he had received from Mr. Winter that proceedings were already begun to +deprive him and his sister of the little personal property which they +might fancy was still their own, and that so far the lawyer saw no hope +of resisting the attempt with success. On the other hand, Gertrude, +seriously alarmed at the state of depression into which Mrs. Pendarrel +had fallen, could not help pointing out to her sister the consequences +of her imprudence. "Why did you not come to me?" she wrote; "why did you +not rely upon the support which I always promised? It might have been +only a temporary succour, but time might have done everything. You +little think, perhaps, how much distress you have occasioned by your +haste." + +These letters led to a painful scene between the travellers. It was true +that in what they said self-reproach predominated, and they did not +accuse each other. But that which wears the appearance of confession, +must also show like repentance. And so when Randolph, with much +bitterness, charged himself with having brought his wife to misery, his +words seemed to imply a desire to undo what was irrevocable. And when +Mildred blamed herself for her mother's anguish, her husband might think +she regretted her devotion to him. Each tacitly acknowledged the +futility of the arguments by which they had before justified their step; +and each, while pretending to accept the fault, was jealous of the +manner in which the other claimed it. + +Yet they loved one another passionately and devotedly; but they found +that passion was not happiness, and that devotedness was not esteem. +Tell them they must part, and they would rush to one another, and vow it +should only be in death. Remind them how they met, and they would shrink +from one another, and hang their heads in sorrow. When they thought only +of themselves, their hearts beat together with a tenderness that seemed +inexhaustible. When they remembered those who ought to be their friends, +they turned away from each other with a sadness that chilled their +blood. Now there are twenty-four hours between two risings of the sun, +and even newly-married lovers cannot be looking into one another's eyes +the whole of the time. Let Randolph and his bride hasten to town before +they are weary of the day. + +There, friends are still assiduous in their behalf. Hopeless, at +present, or imprudent, it may be to try to soothe the wounded heart of a +mother; better, perhaps, to wait until the first irritation has +subsided. But this new piece of chicane may stimulate our zeal in +unravelling what we believe to have been a foul plot. Surely some clue +must be discoverable to the intricacies of this curious law-story. It is +what Rereworth thinks; consoling himself for the loss of those pleasant +hours when he disentangled skeins of silk. For Helen is sad, and sees no +company now. Nay, Mrs. Winston thinks her residence at her house is +growing a questionable point, and her husband, the philosopher, owns +that it may become awkward. Yet she shall sojourn a little longer, +although an apartment is vacant for her at the peachery, and Polydore +Riches is there alone, and would be glad of his old pupil's society. + +At length there arises a gleam of hope. Fortune may have swung the +orphans' lot past the lowermost point of her wheel. Rereworth found a +note on his breakfast-table at chambers one morning, containing an +invitation which almost banished his appetite, although it promised no +support for the body. + +The rendezvous was appointed at an obscure locality in Lambeth. Seymour +took a boat at the Temple-stairs, told the waterman his destination, and +desired to be landed as near it as possible. + +"Ask your pardon, sir," said red jacket, tossing his sculls into the +rowlocks, "that's a queer place for a gentleman to want." + +"Pull away, friend," answered the fare, who was not in a colloquial +humour, and discouraged the talkativeness of Dogget's prizeman. + +It was a delightful April morning, and the trim wherry sped steadily and +swiftly over the bright water, unmolested by those floating omnibusses +which of late years have increased the utility and diminished the +pleasantness of London's noble river. Past the grey fortress, founded by +Archbishop Baldwin, as a refuge from the indignity of personal conflicts +with his monks at Canterbury, swept the boat, and drew up alongside some +stairs not very far beyond. Rereworth bade the waterman await his +return, and accepted the offer of "Jack" to conduct him to the place he +sought. + +So guided, Seymour proceeded up a narrow and unpaved lane, between high +and irregular palisades; beyond which, on either hand, kilns were at +work, emitting fumes far from agreeable. This passage led to a winding +street, scarcely wider than itself, from which lofty windowless walls +nearly excluded the light of day, and bespoke industry busy within. The +dwelling-houses were mostly dingy and dismal in appearance, but at +intervals might be seen one neater than usual, in whose casements a few +unfortunate flowers--luxuries wherewith we have lately been surprised to +learn the children of labour have no concern--lamented the absence of +the sun. Rereworth's guide pointed along this uninviting thoroughfare to +a sign at no great distance, and told him that was the place for which +he had inquired. It was a public-house of disreputable aspect. + +Seymour set his foot in the vile tavern with some repugnance, and had +not replied to the question--what he would please to take--when it was +answered for him by the voice of the man who had invited him to the +rendezvous. + +"Brandy," Everope said, and beckoned Rereworth into the parlour from +which he had emerged. Seymour obeyed the signal, marvelling and +sorrowing at the changed appearance of the spendthrift. It was not +improved since his meeting with Michael Sinson in the park. Then he was +miserable, now he was desperate. The recklessness was upon him which +follows the loss of hope. With an eager but trembling hand he lifted a +glass of the fire-water to his scarlet lips, and seemed to drink with +the thirst of Tantalus. His visitor, shocked and distressed, could not +utter a word. + +"Seymour Rereworth," then said Everope, as one who had meditated on what +he was going to tell; "you see a lost and desperate man. I care for +nothing. Nothing cares for me. I hardly know what has prompted me to +this step. But this man endeavoured once to do me a service. And I +returned it by entering the service of his deadly foe. But Michael +Sinson has the devil's craft as well as his malice. His net was round me +before I was aware. I struggled in the meshes, but they were too strong. +One by one my feelings went to sleep. I was a slave, and did my work, +and earned my wages. Ay, sir, till only the other day. Till that day +when I asked him for a pittance, and he struck me to the ground. That +was to be my payment for the future. The blow snapped all the cords of +his net. Said he, that I was worthless? No offer he could make would buy +my silence now. + +"You of course remember the late trial at Bodmin. You should have had me +at your elbow, when you examined Michael Sinson. It was indeed he, who +got up, or concocted the case for the plaintiff. I only know my own +share in it. Can you imagine the temptation required to induce one who +has been like me, to come and be sworn to tell the truth, with a +falsehood ready framed upon his lips? You foresee what is coming. My +story was learned by rote, well prepared, often rehearsed. I was armed +at all points, furnished with answers to all questions. You know how I +went through the ordeal. + +"Yet I was nearly overthrown. I never dreamed of the defendant as being +in any manner known to me. Who was Randolph Trevethlan? What did I care +about the stranger? What was his ruin to me, so I won my hire? After +what I have said, you will not credit the emotion, with which, in answer +to the question suggested by yourself, I saw Morton rise and confront +me, and remembered that he had once offered me assistance, which might +have saved me from the position I then occupied. + +"I quailed for a moment under his eye, but rallied immediately. I was +not yet ready to avow my shame. But the memory of that moment has +haunted me ever since. The idea that I had ruined him who might have +averted my own fall, has rankled in my heart. I have stifled it in riot +and delirium. But I had no longer the means. Sinson, my employer, +reduced his scanty dole, and urged me to hide myself in a foreign land. +But, no; that was not to be the reward of service such as mine. If he +could extort the means of indulgence from those whom his treachery had +profited, so could I from him. It was on such an errand I was bent, when +he told me contemptuously I was of no use to him, and in answer to his +right name, struck me to the earth. The knaves fell out, and honest men +may get their own. + +"You have heard my tale. I will verify it in detail in any way you +please. And that done, I retire from the scene. I do not suppose you +will desire to pursue me, nor do I care if you do. Would you know +wherefore I am here? I dare not look respectability in the face. Even +the haunts of the disreputable I have been forced to shun. Did I not +there, in the midst of hollow revelry, once meet the glance of my +victim? But all is over now. I am struck to the ground, and have neither +the power nor the wish to rise. I want no pity, and I merit no thanks. A +few shillings to keep me till my task is done, and then let me die. +There's none will shed a tear." + +"Mr. Everope," Rereworth said, gravely and sadly, "what you have this +day done, shows that all is not lost for you. No man who lives is lost. +And I, sir, trust that this is your beginning of a new existence. Are +you not already in some measure comforted? Do you not feel some relief? +Trust me comfort and relief will come. And do not underrate your +service. It is not only Mr. Trevethlan you have benefited, but also his +gentle sister, living in the apprehension of want." + +"Spare me," the spendthrift cried, covering his face with his hands, "I +once had sisters of my own." + +"For their sake, then," Seymour said, "for the sake of everything that +was ever dear to you, and may be again, arise from this unmanly despair. +Will you not leave this miserable haunt? Will you not come with me?" + +Everope shook his head, without raising it from his hands. + +"Not now," he muttered, "not in the day-light. Wait till the darkness. +Then perhaps I may seek my old abode." + +"Well, well," Rereworth continued; "I will not urge you now. But this +statement must be prepared for verification. You will give it me in +writing." + +The spendthrift assented with a nod. Paper, pen, and ink, were procured. +Everope made an attempt to write, but his nerves failed him. + +"Take the pen," he said; "I will dictate and sign." + +Seymour complied, and took down the confession at considerable length. +His wretched informant traced the whole history of his connection with +Michael Sinson; the means by which he had been entrapped into the first +step; the journey to Cornwall; the concoction of the evidence; his +examination by Mr. Truby; his appearance at the trial. Thus, if his +present tale were believed, it would entirely reverse the effect of his +former testimony. + +"That is all," he said, as he signed his name. "To-night I will return +to my old residence. That is, if I am still free; for this Sinson holds +notes of mine, on which he might cast me into the Fleet. It is what he +has often threatened." + +"Fear not," Rereworth answered. "I will undertake all those obligations +shall be satisfied. To-morrow you must be prepared to attest your +statement." + +He placed a small sum of money on the table beside the spendthrift, and, +having again entreated him to hope, and assured him of the means of +retrieving himself, returned in a very thoughtful mood to the stairs +where he had left his wherry. + +Well, perhaps, it would have been, had Rereworth not parted with his +penitent, until he had placed him under some surveillance. He might have +been prompted to confession by transient compunction, and might want +courage to persevere; or the thought of public and inevitable disgrace +might drive him to despair. But Seymour was too much moved by the +unhappy man's condition to oppose his desire for the shelter of night to +come forth from his lair. + +He made no delay at the Temple on his return, but proceeded straight to +Mr. Winter's office. The worthy lawyer's eyes sparkled as he read the +confession. Yet he observed it would be desirable to have it confirmed, +if possible. After all, it _was_ a confession, and the testimony of an +accomplice is always doubtful. There might be some question which story +should be believed, the first or the second. On the face of the +statement there appeared personal reasons for making it. The deponent +might be influenced by rancour against his late employer. + +"Oh, never mind, my good sir," cried Rereworth; "have that statement put +into a shape for attestation, and, trust me, it will be maintained." + +"Ay, ay," answered Winter; "and it will be a pleasant wedding present to +meet our friend on his return." + +The suggestion was scarcely agreeable to Rereworth. He went back to his +chambers, and read carefully through his notes of the trial at Bodmin; +and he wrote Mr. Riches a short account of his discovery. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + And this the world calls frenzy. But the wise + Have a far deeper madness, and the glance + Of melancholy is a fearful gift. + What is it but the telescope of truth? + Which strips the distance of its fantasies, + And brings life near in utter nakedness, + Making the cold reality too real. + + Byron. + + +It is a misfortune for the historian that he is unable to present events +as they really happened, simultaneously, but must be content to relate +them one after another, thereby unavoidably impressing his reader with a +false idea of the lapse of time. The same morning that Rereworth made +his expedition to Lambeth, Mrs. Pendarrel paid a visit to her daughter +in Cavendish Square. Restless, but languid; dejected, but unforgiving, +she came to vent her querulousness on Mrs. Winston, in complaint and +reproach. She wished also to learn, without showing the desire, what +news had reached town respecting the fugitives. She could not close her +heart entirely against the memory of her child. She liked to hear her +mentioned, even when she answered the intelligence with anger and +contempt. And so she came to Gertrude almost daily, to listen and to +abuse. + +She now entered the house, as usual, without ceremony, and proceeded to +the room where she commonly found Mrs. Winston; but on this occasion +Gertrude was not there. Her mother looked listlessly at two or three of +the books upon the table, and wandered into the adjoining apartment, +absent in mind, but disappointed at not seeing her she sought. Here she +lingered a few minutes more, and then passed on into the smaller room, +where, as she well recollected, she had encountered Randolph Trevethlan. +A young lady, sitting with her back to the door, turned as it opened, +and Mrs. Pendarrel immediately recognized Randolph's companion at the +opera, his sister. Helen also remembered the original of her miniature, +and rose from her chair as Esther advanced. + +"What!" the last-named lady exclaimed, fixing her keen eyes upon Helen. +"Have I been mocked? Have I been the sport of a paltry conspiracy? Has +my daughter been nursing the thief, and condoling with me upon the +robbery? Fawning upon me with hypocritical lamentations, and sheltering +those who wronged me? For I see it all. It was here the plot was +hatched; here the correspondence was managed; here the flight was +arranged. Did not Gertrude always boast that she would thwart my +schemes? Yet I hardly thought she would go so far as this." + +"Madam," Helen ejaculated in great confusion, "madam, you do Mrs. +Winston wrong. She knew nothing of my brother's design. Neither did I. +But let your blame only fall on me, for I was the unconscious means of +its execution." + +"Do you dare to answer me, Miss Trevethlan?" Esther asked angrily. "And +what do you here? What does one of your name in the house of one of +mine? Name! What is your name? You have none. What business has one like +you to be here?" + +"I am an intruder, madam," Helen answered, the tears rising in her soft +eyes--"I have felt it, and know it. But I came here before this unhappy +matter. The invitation was very kind. We were very poor. I would relieve +my brother." + +"Poor! did you say, Miss Trevethlan?" exclaimed Esther. "Yes; and you +will be still poorer before many days are gone! Unhappy? No, no; you did +not think so. The beggar does not call it unhappy when he inveigles away +a rich heiress. But it is a mistake. She has nothing. You will be no +richer for the stolen marriage; neither you nor your brother, Miss +Trevethlan." + +"Oh, madam," said Helen in much distress, "I wish you could read in my +heart. You would spare me these reproaches. You do not know how I +deplore what has occurred. The loss of our home, the poverty and sorrow +you speak of, everything I would have endured, rather than my brother +had done this. We want nothing of you, madam, nothing but forgiveness; +and you may spare sarcasms which are undeserved." + +"Would your brother ask my forgiveness?" said Mrs. Pendarrel. "Was there +a word of the kind in Mildred's letter? No, Miss Trevethlan; forgiveness +will never be asked, and never be granted. Why; do you not hate me +yourself? You must have learned from infancy to detest my name. Was not +Pendarrel pointed at as the destroyer of Trevethlan? Am not I the author +of the desolation which has fallen upon your head? Truly, Miss +Trevethlan, it might rouse your father's spirit from his grave, to feel +that one of his children dwelt under the roof of one of mine." + +"No, madam," Helen exclaimed, almost as vehemently as she was +addressed--"a thousand times no. Not till lately did I know there was +any difference." + +"'Tis untrue!" said Esther. "'Tis nonsense. You were born to hate. You +were bequeathed an inheritance of hate. You accepted it. Did not you +send me with scorn from your doors? It was your turn then. It is mine +now. Hate breeds hate." + +"And on which side did it begin, if it were so?" Helen asked. "On ours? +Madam, were we not treated as if hatred were indeed our only +inheritance? Was not my brother insulted with an offer of charity? I +speak his mind, and not my own, for I thought the offer was kind. But I +see now that he was right." + +"You will be glad to have the offer repeated ere long," said Esther +bitterly. + +"You wronged us then, madam," Helen said, "and you wrong us now. We, +alone on the earth, young, mourning the only parent we had ever known, +little likely were we to hate our nearest connections. Was hatred +bequeathed to us? No, madam. I might deem our inherited feelings were +far other, for this portrait was the last companion of our poor father. +They found it upon his heart when he died." + +Esther caught the miniature from Helen's hand, and gazed earnestly at it +for some seconds. Then she pressed it to her lips in a kind of ecstacy. + +"He loved me to the last," she murmured. + +But the transport passed away as rapidly as it came. Melancholy, stern +and dark, fell over Mrs. Pendarrel's brow. She clasped the miniature +upon her bosom. + +"Girl," she said, almost in a whisper, "you give me great joy and sorrow +inexpressible. I have been desperately wronged. My life has been a +blank. I cannot change on a sudden. I do not know what to think. Let me +keep this portrait." + +And she departed from the room and from the house, leaving Helen +bewildered by a host of perplexing reflections. She remembered what +Randolph said concerning that miniature, but she was unaware of the +promise exacted from him at their father's death-bed. She scarcely +understood in what manner the law-suit had been only the final step in a +career of vengeance. But she felt that she had been grievously insulted, +and she perceived the ambiguity of her situation at Mrs. Winston's. She +resolved on returning to Hampstead without delay. + +It was a pity, for she had been an angel of peace to Gertrude. She had +taught the husband and wife to know one another, and the knowledge might +soon become affection. Yet her hostess confessed to herself that the +resolution was correct, even though she was ignorant of the conversation +which had immediately inspired it. She did not so much as attempt to +delay its execution, and the same afternoon found Helen once more an +inmate of Mr. Peach's modest, but pleasant and pretty dwelling. + +Comfort followed her there. Rereworth's letter to Polydore Riches came +to revive hope, and to bring oblivion of the affronts and menaces of the +morning. The news exhilarated the chaplain's drooping spirits, and +inclined him to regard the elopement with less severity. And Helen +thought with gratitude of the writer, and perhaps remembered those +readings of Scott and Byron in Mrs. Winston's little drawing-room. + +Besides this, the fugitives were now approaching the metropolis, and +might possibly arrive the same night. Here were copious sources of +conversation to fill the evening when the chaplain talked with Helen in +the pleasant parlour, where she had sat during the past winter, and +which had witnessed the extinction of all those hopes, so long and so +fondly cherished at Trevethlan Castle, the day-dreams of Merlin's Cave. + +If Mrs. Pendarrel inflicted much pain in her short interview with Helen, +she did not quit it herself unscathed. The sight of her portrait aroused +a thousand recollections, familiar indeed to Esther's hours of reverie, +but never so vividly presented before. She thought of the day when she +permitted that miniature to be taken from her neck. In the morning she +hung it there, not without an idea that it might pass into another's +possession before night. Often had the favour been solicited by the +lover, and as often refused by the coquette. But at last assiduity might +triumph over waywardness. Side by side they strolled over the lawns of +Pendarrel, enjoying converse such as is only derided by the unhappy +wights who have never shared it. There was a secluded little pool, +formed by the rivulet which murmured through the wilderness, surrounded +by flowering shrubs, and over-arched so closely by spreading +forest-trees, that the sunshine scarcely penetrated to the surface of +the water. It was in that bower, under the thickest of the leafy canopy, +that Henry Trevethlan detached the miniature from the chain by which it +hung, and his lips met those of Esther in the first kiss of love. How +well she remembered it now! Every little circumstance, the attitude in +which they stood, the few whispered words, came back to her mind, fresh +as the things of yesterday. A bright-winged butterfly alighted for a +moment upon her wrist, and he called her Psyche, his soul, without whom +he should die. The butterfly rested but a second--was its flight ominous +of what had occurred since? And had he virtually died? Had his +subsequent existence been a mere life in death? Had his soul indeed +remained always with her? So, Esther thought, it would seem. And had he +forgiven the ruin into which he was driven by despair? Had he pardoned +the despair itself, the wreck of all his hopes and feelings, the anguish +which abided with him to the last? + +Questions like these passed rapidly through Esther's mind, while she +gazed on the fair young face which once had been her own. Very different +was her aspect now. The round and glowing cheeks had become hollow and +pale. The smooth white forehead was furrowed with the lines of sorrow. +Silver threads mingled with the dark tresses. The eyes, in the miniature +deep and inscrutable, were now wild and bright. The passions of the girl +had been developed in the woman, and had left their trace on every +feature. + +And then Esther turned to self-justification. Had she made no atonement? +Had she suffered nothing? Had her heart been unwasted? Resolutely as she +had striven to repress all memory of that early dream, had she succeeded +in the attempt? Was not the lava still hot beneath the foliage which +grew over it? Had not the smouldering fire broken forth anew on the news +of Henry's death? And again she thought she had been hardly used by the +precipitation with which he abandoned her. It was cruel to afford her no +chance of reconciliation. If he might charge her with vanity or +wilfulness, surely she might accuse him of rancour and pride. If the +happiness of her lover had been shattered by the storm, neither had her +own escaped its ravages. + +She had endeavoured to forget them in the gratification of her love of +rule, and her eager pursuit of revenge. The first she enjoyed in the +management of her own household, the second in the downfall of +Trevethlan. Ambition and appetite grew with what they fed on. "Pendar'l +and Trevethlan shall own one name." Not till that prediction had been +fulfilled to the letter, and to her own glory, could Esther rest. Her +old lover had departed from the scene; she prolonged the contest with +his children. They increased her ardour by the mode in which they met +her first advances. For a season she seemed to be foiled. But the check +gave new vigour to her never-dying wrath. + +And before long the orphans crossed her path. And soon he, the heir of +all his father's pride, encountered her, face to face, as the companion +of her child. She had trembled to think of what that meeting might call +forth. But then she learned the tale, which would fulfil all her desires +to an extent beyond her dreams, and forgot her danger in the exultation +of approaching triumph. Triumph came, but only as the precursor of +defeat; for her enemy, ruined and dishonoured, had suborned the +affection of her daughter, and made her house desolate in the very hour +of victory. + +Yes, scandal made merry with the name of Pendarrel. Esther, with all her +rigid discipline, with all her cherished authority, had seen the child, +for whose marriage with another her word was pledged, elude her control, +and steal to a furtive union with the man whom she had been labouring to +bring to want and shame. It was nearly enough to deprive her of her +reason. No time was this to think of forgiveness. She would not believe +that Helen Trevethlan was so innocent as she pretended. The production +of the miniature was a theatrical trick. The picture should revive the +memory of a never-forgiven wrong. + +Let the suit then be pressed. Let there be no respite. Let calamity fall +fast and heavy. Let disobedience and presumption meet their just reward. +But where was the agent? Where was he who had pointed out the path of +revenge? What had he said when she last saw him? Better, Esther thought +scornfully, better even that match than this. And what meant his dark +insinuations? Had he not dared to threaten? + +Langour crept over the muser. She began to grow aweary of the sun. She +felt as if her self-control were slipping from her grasp. Shadowy fears +beset her. She did not like to be alone. She was glad when her husband +came home from his official duties; and he became seriously alarmed at +her altered demeanour. She seemed to be sinking into a state of +lethargy, which might affect her mind. Mr. Pendarrel sent to beg Mrs. +Winston to come and watch by her mother, who was evidently very ill. And +Gertrude came, but for some time her presence seemed only to irritate +the invalid. It might be observed that from about this day Esther +entirely discontinued her old practice of calling her husband by the +name which he had abandoned to obtain her hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + Anne magis Siculi gemuerunt aera juvenci, + Aut magis auratis pendens laquearibus ensis + Purpureas subter cervices terruit, _Imus_; + _Imus praecipites_, quam si sibi dicat, intus + Palleat infelix, quod proxima nesciat uxor? + + Persius. + + _Down, headlong, down_--Say could that bull of fire, + Or thread-suspended sword such fear inspire, + As his, whose thoughts, to bosom-wife unknown, + Ring in his livid heart--_Down, headlong, down_? + + +That same evening the fugitive couple arrived in the metropolis, and +took up their abode in apartments engaged for them by Mr. Riches at a +hotel. It was time. Already they were beginning to long for other +company than their own; a few days more might make their own +companionship intolerable. One quarter of the moon had nearly taught +them the vanity of the lover's chimera, that they were all-sufficient +for one another. There was so much anxiety about their path, so much +gloom around the present, so much dismay in the future, that their +spirits drooped, and even love seemed to grow cold in their hearts. Let +them beware, for they were united for ever. In the preservation of their +mutual regard lay their only chance of peace; should that vanish, there +was nothing but misery before them. The day might then come when Mildred +would be qualified to receive succour from her mother, on the terms +which Esther, in the fierceness of her first indignation, had not +scrupled to prescribe. + +The sense of the fault they had committed lay at the bottom of their +discontent. Mildred repented with bitter sorrow her rupture of all +filial ties, and exaggerated her sister's account of the distress it had +occasioned, thinking sometimes that she might even have broken her +mother's heart. She forgot the severity with which she had lately been +treated, and remembered only the tenderness which she had not seldom +experienced. She often recollected how she had been pressed to her +mother's bosom on the night of the fire, and she trembled to dwell upon +the affection which one moment had cast away. + +Randolph read some portion of her thoughts; and he perceived that the +maternal sorrow to which he had once looked forward with perverse +eagerness, afforded him none of the satisfaction he had expected. It was +not so he ought to avenge his own or his father's wrongs. The scheme +recoiled upon himself. There was no happiness for him while his bride +was unhappy, and nothing but wretchednes for her until she had made her +peace at home. And so Randolph saw that his stolen marriage had actually +contributed to Esther's triumph. She had now not only his worldly +wealth, but himself beneath her foot. He had placed himself in a +position where he must either sue for mercy or behold his wife pining +away before his eyes. + +Amidst such gloomy speculations, one bright spot sometimes appeared to +his mental vision. "I have thought," his father said, in those well +remembered words, "she was not so indifferent to me as she chose to +pretend. If it were so, she has avenged me on herself, and has my +forgiveness." Would that Randolph had dwelt oftener upon the hope +contained in this qualification, and more seldom upon the stern +injunction! Would that he had not suffered the early affront to himself +to take so firm a hold of him! That he had not fomented his personal +quarrel, until now he could see no avenue to reconciliation! That he had +listened with more humility to the remonstrances of Polydore Riches! + +These wishes were idle now. It was a sad evening of the honeymoon when +Randolph and his bride sat together in their hired and temporary abode, +having none of their own, and hardly daring to consider what would +become of them. In slow and broken sentences they discussed their future +prospects, and strove to cheer one another with hopes in which neither +put any trust. + +At an early hour in the morning, Randolph escorted Mildred to her +sister's, and left her there, he himself proceeding to Hampstead. +Gertrude had no consolation to offer the young wife. Indeed, she was +obliged to own that Mrs. Pendarrel was in a condition to cause +considerable alarm. She said it would be dangerous for Mildred to +present herself, and would only permit her to call in the carriage at +the house in May Fair and remain at the door, while she herself +ascertained their mother's state. It was not satisfactory; and Gertrude +resumed her watch; while Mildred returned in increased solicitude to +such distraction as could be supplied by her attendant. Sorely puzzled +was Rhoda at so woeful a termination to an elopement. + +Meantime, Randolph continued on his way to the dwelling which had +sheltered himself and Helen in the first enthusiasm of their arrival in +the metropolis. Little had they then deemed how soon that enthusiasm was +to be chilled; little they thought how soon they would return to their +home by the sea with all their hopes extinguished. And still less could +they know, that even that brief absence would be pregnant with events to +influence their whole lives; and that whereas when they quitted their +birth-place they were heart-whole and fancy-free, one of them, at least, +would return to it the slave of passion and unable to hope. + +They had lost that home since then. They had bidden farewell, and, as +they might at times fear, for ever, to the scenes endeared by a thousand +recollections. Thenceforth they could only lean upon one another. And +suddenly they were separated. The brother, rashly and wrongfully, had +taken another partner in misfortune, and abandoned the former sharer of +his affections. And now, with such feelings, they once more met. Yet, +amidst all these mournful reminiscences, Randolph felt some relief from +his trouble in Helen's greeting. She inquired very warmly for her +sister, and he was delighted at hearing the word. + +She told him of her interview with Mrs. Pendarrel the morning before, +and he listened with a degree of interest which surprised her. He +questioned her eagerly respecting every word that was uttered, and his +cheeks flushed with anger when he extorted from the narrator an account +of Mrs. Pendarrel's insults. But this expression seemed to pass away, +when Helen described the emotion displayed by Esther at the sight of her +own likeness, and the whispered exclamation--"He loved me to the last!" + +"There is hope for us, Helen," the brother said, "in your words. If I am +right in interpreting them, there is hope I may find peace for my +Mildred. I have a key to them which you know not of. But, alas! we must +first re-establish ourselves." + +"And of that, too, there is hope," said Helen. "Go to Mr. Riches: let +him have the pleasure of telling you the news. It only came last night. +From your friend,--but our dear chaplain will tell you all the story." + +So to Polydore, Randolph went, and learned the discovery which Rereworth +had made. It certainly gave him great joy, although it was communicated +very gravely. The chaplain did not affect to conceal his mortification +at his old pupil's dereliction of the right path. He urged the necessity +of sacrificing every personal feeling in order to procure a +reconciliation with Mildred's family. + +"It is not so very long," he said, "since you spoke to me of an +inherited quarrel and injunctions of revenge. Such thoughts must be laid +aside now. They were before uncharitable and wrong, but now they are +actively pernicious. I shall have no comfort till I know that peace has +been made." + +Randolph subdued some rising impatience, and answered that he had +conceived some hopes of so desirable a result. + +"And, my dear sir," he continued, "we desire, Mildred and I, that you +would hallow our union. As soon as possible we shall be re-married, and +we hope for your blessing." + +"Then the bride's parents must be present to sanction it," Polydore +answered. "With that condition, nothing could afford me so great a +pleasure." + +Randolph sighed, and departed on his return to town. But his heart was +much lighter than when he went. He had also much to do, and the +necessary activity diverted his melancholy. First, he must call upon +Rereworth, and learn the details of this confession of Everope's, which +afforded hope of recovering his rights, and restoring his father's +honour. For this purpose he bent his way straight to the Temple. + +Seymour met him with congratulatory rebukes, uttered between jest and +earnest, and declared that he would never have presented Mr. Morton at +Mr. Winston's, had he been at all aware of his wicked ways. He also +indulged in some facetiousness respecting the defendant's running off +with the plaintiff's daughter, and remarked that a wife was scarcely a +desirable commodity where there was no property at all either to give or +receive. His tone showed his confidence in the approach of a happy +denouement. Randolph forced a smile, and turned the conversation to the +story of Everope. + +"Ah," Seymour said, becoming grave in his turn, "that's a bad business. +He was to have sworn to his tale this morning, and when I went to see +after him, he was no more. He died by his own hand. In the night. I have +reproached myself ever since I parted from him yesterday, for allowing +him to be alone. And now his death puts us in a little difficulty. I +must become a witness. But there. You can read the narrative, as I took +it down from his lips. And then we will go and talk over the affair at +Winter's. I understand Everope's accomplice is now down in the country." + +Randolph read the confession with eager eyes. He saw that Everope's +remorse had perhaps originated in his recognition of himself at the +trial, as having once offered to do him some trifling service. He wished +he had arrived in time to repeat the offer, and possibly to save the +spendthrift from destruction. When he had finished the perusal, he and +Rereworth set forth on their way to Mr. Winter's offices. + +They had to pass the foot of Everope's staircase. A group of persons, +laundresses and porters, such as may often be seen gossiping in the inns +of court, was congregated at the entrance, conversing earnestly, but in +low tones. Rereworth made his companion acquainted with the few details +he had been able to collect, or to conjecture, concerning the unhappy +suicide. + +He had gone to Everope's rooms in good time, to prepare him to attest +his confession, and had even then been detained by a crowd like that +which was still there. He made his way without much heed, being in fact +preoccupied, and rapped at the spendthrift's door. The old laundress +answered the knock, seemed greatly surprised when he inquired for her +master, and raised the corner of her apron to her eyes. + +"What is the matter, ma'am?" Rereworth asked. "What has happened?" And +he remembered the groups below with some alarm. + +A few broken words made him acquainted with the catastrophe. + +Everope, it seemed, had come home late in the night. He had obtained a +light, and had been engaged in looking over a quantity of correspondence +and other papers, for such were found strewn about the floor of his +room. Letters of old date, some written when he must have been quite a +youth, lay open on the table. Were the recollections they aroused more +than his shattered, perhaps delirious, senses could bear? Such Rereworth +fancied must have been the case. + +He had glanced slightly at some of the scattered papers, and then +recoiled from prying into matters which concerned him not. One scrap, +however, freshly written upon, caught his eye, and he found it to +contain a few stanzas of verse, evidently penned long ago, and some +incoherent attempts to continue them, which must have been made that +very night. He took possession of this document, in order to produce it, +if necessary; and he now showed it to his friend. And Randolph, in +reading the following melancholy lines, the older portion of the +writing, thought with shuddering pity of the whisper, once addressed by +Everope to himself, which had called forth his offer of assistance. + + 'Tis sad to think of hopes destroyed, + Of prospects lost that once seemed fair, + Of hours in waste or vice employed, + Of talents as _that_ fig-tree bare. + + Where ruin watches the closed door, + And crouches on the cold hearth-stone, + Where home's a word of love no more, + And friends or kindred there are none; + + What though the door exclude the wind? + What though the roof may shield from rain? + No winds like those that tear the mind, + No storms like those that rend the brain. + + While stern remorse unfolds her scroll, + And points to every damning word, + Showing the late-repenting soul + All it has thought, done, seen, or heard-- + + Ay, press thy hands upon thine eyes, + Ay, hear not, feel not, if thou wilt! + Still memory to conscience cries, + Still every heart-quake throbs of guilt. + + Think over all thou might'st have been, + Contrast it then with all thou art: + A retrospect so dark and keen + May well appal thy shuddering heart. + + Woe for the days when childhood knelt + At night and morn its prayer to say; + Breathed worship such as childhood felt, + And loved the vows it learned to pay! + + But now--but now--can phrenzy pray? + To Heaven shall desperation cry? + Madness prepares destruction's way-- + Escape is none--despair, and die! + +"That," said Rereworth, when Randolph gave him back the paper, "is the +superficial penitence, which never does any good. It is regret for the +effects of the fault, not for the fault itself. In true repentance there +is always hope, but in such feelings as are here portrayed there is +little else than despair. Hence this miserable end." + +"Yet," Randolph urged, with some discontent at the moralizing of his +friend, "he seems to have been meant for better things." + +"Few men are not," answered Rereworth. "Few men are not meant for better +things than they achieve. Short-coming is the rule, and fulfilling the +exception. But a truce with what sounds misanthropical. Here we are at +Winter's." + +The lawyer heard of the suicide with much commiseration. + +"But," said he, "our feelings must not interfere with business. This +confession, verified by you, Mr. Rereworth, ought to carry us to the +bottom of the matter. I wish we could get at the true circumstances of +the marriage. You see the real insinuation is, that the late Mr. +Trevethlan was privy to the death of Ashton, and the spiriting away of +the witness. I wish, with all my heart, we could clear up the mystery." + +And Randolph felt that there could be no rest for him until the entire +groundlessness of so dark an impeachment was made clear to all the +world. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + From house to house, from street to street, + The rapid rumour flies; + Incredulous ears it finds, and hands + Are lifted in surprise; + And tongues through all the astonished town + Are busier now than eyes. + + Southey. + + +"So, Mistress Miniver, the old house is like to wear a new sign before +many days. There'll be a change in the arms, methinks." + +"Not while my name's Miniver, Master Colan," answered the plump hostess +of the Trevethlan Arms. + +"Maybe you'd not object to change that, dame," suggested the farmer. + +Mrs. Miniver played with a well-sized bunch of keys that hung from her +girdle. + +"Ay, ay," said Colan-- + + "'The key of the locker the good-wife keeps, + The good-wife's busy, the good-man sleeps.' + +"I fancy you sat in St. Michael's chair the day you were married, +Mistress Miniver." + +"I'll tell you one who did, farmer," said the hostess, laughing merrily; +"and that's the lady of Pendar'l. God forbid I should ever say of +Trevethlan! And d'ye mind what I said, Master Colan? Didn't I foretell +what would happen if ever Squire Randolph and Miss Mildred came +together? And you see they're wooed and married and all." + +"There's not much good like to come of it for Trevethlan," observed the +farmer. "They say the mother's as cold as stone." + +"Mayhap some folks wouldn't care if she were," said Germoe the tailor, +who had come up during the last few words. + +"Oh, neighbours," cried the light-hearted hostess, thrusting her hands +into the pockets of her white apron, "take my word, it'll all come right +in the end. It's natural to fret and fume a little, but it all blows +over. The squire'll bring home his bride by furry-time, I warrant." + +"'Twill be time he did," quoth Germoe; "for the castle's getting awful +lonesome and dismal. How Mr. Griffith and his dame can bide there, is +more than I can tell; and, as for old Jeffrey, he's as dumb as any of +the ghosts they say walk there." + +"Tales to quiet babes, friend Germoe," said Mrs. Miniver. "Old +Jeffrey'll run up our flag again before the oak's in leaf." + +"You were always so comfortable, dame," remarked Colan. "But how'll they +get over the trial at Bodmin yonder? There's an uncommon mystery about +that marriage, Mistress Miniver." + +"Tell you what, farmer," quoth the hostess more gravely, "I care a deal +more for our poor folks that are in the jail at Bodmin. Do you know, +they say it's a hanging matter?" + +"And our Mercy's sweetheart among them, dame," said Germoe. + +"If our Mercy's sweetheart is there," Mrs. Miniver said, "it is to bring +them to ruin. And I heard he did come down here a little ago. It's young +Sinson, I mean, Master Germoe." + +"They say his old grandame takes on quite fearful-like," said Breage the +general merchant, who now joined the little party under the shade of the +old chestnut. "She sits all day, moaning, and rocking herself, and +breaks out with something about her daughter, our late squire's lady, +and then brings herself up quite short." + +"Her Michael's plenty on his mind, neighbours," quoth Mrs. Miniver; "you +may take your oath of that. I don't wonder old Maud's a bit uneasy. But, +hey-day! who comes here?" + +For a horseman rode rapidly on to the far end of the green, crossed it +straight without drawing rein, and proceeded up the ascent of the +base-court. + +"What's in the wind now?" asked farmer Colan. + +But curiosity tied the tongues of the circle. They watched the stranger +while he held a short parley with Jeffrey, and at last dismounted with +apparent impatience, and attached his bridle to a ring in the wall. The +old porter opened the gate and conducted him within, soon emerging again +himself, and seeming to examine the panting quadruped at the porch. + +Several of the villagers came and joined the group beneath the chestnut. +They soon began to discuss this visit in low voices. Whether fear or +hope predominated in their explanations, it might not be easy to +determine. But the freshness of a sunny April morning might seem likely +to inspire the latter feeling, even as it had been evident in Mrs. +Miniver's share of the dialogue recorded above. + +Presently Griffith was seen to come forth from the castle-gate, and +after exchanging a few words with Jeffrey, to descend the hill with the +stranger, who took his reins upon his arm. The excitement of the +villagers increased. As the steward drew near, a similar expression +might be read in his own face. He came up and told Mrs. Miniver he +wanted the one chaise which she still kept, got ready immediately. A +dozen voices demanded the news. + +"I hardly know what to say, my friends," Griffith answered. "But if the +tidings are well founded, they are good news for all who love +Trevethlan." + +"Hurrah," shouted the assembly. + +It was a work of some little time to prepare Mrs. Miniver's chaise, for +the horses which were to draw it, were usually engaged in agricultural +pursuits. But it was ready at last, and the steward drove off. + +The stranger remained to give his animal rest, and was of course +assailed with a host of questions. But all he could say was that an +attorney at Bodmin had sent him with a letter to Mr. Griffith of +Trevethlan Castle, and especially desired him to lose no time on the +road. In about an hour he remounted, and rode away in a more leisurely +manner than he had arrived. + +In order to explain the occurrence which caused so much commotion in the +hamlet, we must revert to the proceedings of Michael Sinson. Smarting +under the discomfiture of all his long-cherished desires, driven +ignominiously from the house of his patroness, and attributing his fall +to the man against whom he had borne hatred even from childhood, Michael +left London, with the intention of trying to implicate Randolph in the +burning of Pendarrel. He imagined that he had a perfect hold upon his +mistress in spite of her proud indifference, and turned his immediate +attention to the overthrow of his successful rival. Restless and +cunning, he was never happy now except when engaged in some intrigue, +and his recent triumph at Bodmin had given him new zest for the work. + +With such ideas he obtained admission to the prisoners charged with the +incendiarism, and sought, as craftily as he could, to extract some +information reflecting upon the disinherited owner of Trevethlan Castle. +But he sought in vain: there were no tidings of the kind to give. Then +Sinson went to his old grandmother, and bore her peevish humours for a +short time, still seeking intelligence to further his designs. He met +his too faithful Mercy, and endeavoured to find such in her knowledge of +what passed within the castle walls. But again he was baffled. He had to +deal with natures very different from his own. + +Finally, he once more repaired to the congenial atmosphere of the gaol, +and tried to gain the confidence of the ringleader of the mob, Gabriel +Denis. Here he met his match. The old smuggler was as wary as himself. +He bent an attentive ear to Michael's suggestions, how it was supposed +the fire was the result of a long-devised plot, how a considerable +reward would be paid, and a free pardon granted to any one who would +furnish a true history of the affair. And Sinson insinuated dark hints +concerning the late owner of Trevethlan, how he had a quarrel of many +years' standing with the family of Pendarrel, how some people thought he +was in the secret of the incendiaries, and how, if it were so, his +impeachment would be the means of liberating a number of the inferior +criminals. In short, Gabriel drew him on, until by degrees he had +disclosed all his plan, and the smuggler was fully aware, that, true or +false, a certain story would bring a certain price. + +Now in prison, Denis had become rather intimate with Edward Owen. They +both kept somewhat apart from their accused confederates. And Gabriel +was full of wild adventure, in different quarters of the globe, which +served to while away the dreary hours of confinement. So, among other +things, the smuggler told Owen of the suggestions which were made to him +by Sinson. The young peasant started. + +"That's the villain that betrayed my master in the trial the other day," +he said. "Have nought to say to him, Gabriel. He'd sell his best friend. +I ought to know him well. He's driven the squire from the castle, and +now he would bring him to shame. No, no; the squire knew nought about +the fire, that I can warrant." + +"Trust me, Edward," Denis answered; "I am too deep for him by a fathom +and a half. But what's this ye say about the squire? Driven from the +castle?" + +"Did ye not hear then," said Owen. "This Michael brought a fellow to +swear away the marriage of the last squire, and so they are going to +turn the son out of the castle. It passes to them whose house was +burned. And Michael is in their pay. Sorrow on the day when a Trevethlan +took a bride from under the thatch." + +"I ought to mind that day well," the smuggler said, musing. + +"You!" Owen exclaimed. + +"'T will be twenty-one-two-three, twenty-three years, next September. I +mind it well. The parson was killed. What did folks say about it?" + +"I was scarce born," Edward answered. "But I ha' heard it made a great +noise in the country. Some said it was Will Watch's people, and some +that the Squire knew more about it than he'd choose to tell." + +"That was wrong," said Denis. + +"What!" cried his companion. + +"I mean 'twas none of his people at the time. And what's this ye say +about the marriage?" + +"Well, it was always thought to be made by this parson, whose body they +found under the cliff. But now Michael brings a fellow to swear 'twas no +such thing, but he married them himself, and, he not being a parson, the +marriage falls to the ground, and the squire's son is put out of the +castle. That's what it is." + +The smuggler mused for some time. + +"Edward," then he said, "'tis a long time since that night, and little I +deemed to have it brought back like this. I have sailed many a league +since then, and half of it has been forgotten. And why should I +recollect it to-day? Will it do me good or harm? But there's nought left +me to care for now; nought but the little lass that the revenue thieves +carried off when they had shot my poor Felipa. And then this fire; one +can hardly be worse off than one is. And I should like to put a check on +this sneaking knave, that wanted to draw me into a lie. So sit thee +down, lad, and listen to the rights of all this story:-- + +"'Tis twenty-three years ago, I was much such another as ye are now. +But, to say the truth, fonder of the wrestling-ring than of the plough, +and better pleased at a wake than at a sermon. Moreover, I knew the +country well, and when I set a snare at night you may rely it was not +empty in the morning. Well, it was that spring or summer, there came to +lodge at Madam Sennor's--a little house on the cliff, not over far from +Trevethlan Castle--one Mr. Ashton, that was a clergyman. Somehow or +other he fell in with me, and used to get me to guide him, as it were, +about the country,--a thing that suited my idle ways very well. Now I +soon found that Mr. Ashton was not over much like a parson, but did not +care to go to a wake himself, and could read the glance of a girl's eye +as well as another. So he and I grew to be in a way more companionable +than suited my station perhaps; but I don't know it, for he was often +very ill off for money. Be it as it will, we got on very well together. + +"So, while we were on this footing, says Mr. Ashton to me one +day,--Wyley, he says, here's Mr. Trevethlan, of the Castle, wants me to +marry him specially, or something, he called it, and I am to take a +witness with me. Will you come? says he. And he told me the particulars; +as how it was a young peasant girl, and there would be money to be had +for the business, and so I agreed to go. Well, he took me with him to +the castle, and Mr. Trevethlan met us himself on the outside, and +brought us just into the great hall without our seeing a single soul. +And there were a young woman, and also an old one, that I understood was +her mother. So Mr. Trevethlan gave Mr. Ashton a prayer-book, and he read +the office between the parties, and I was put to give the +bride--Margaret something was her name--away. And I recollect that +Ashton, being somewhat nervous, dropped the ring, and the mother +muttered it was no good sign. + +"When it was over, Mr. Trevethlan put a purse into Ashton's hand, and we +went our way. But I thought there must be something wrong in the +business, and therefore I chose to consider that Ashton did not give me +my fair share of the price. However, it was not a thing to talk over in +the high road, and I knew well where to find him. He used to walk along +the cliff every evening; and there, just as it was getting dusk, I went +to meet him. We had some high words, and as I came towards him he +stepped backwards, not recollecting how near he was to the edge, and he +went over. + +"I was terribly frightened,--nothing, I knew, could go over there and +live. I thought I was charged with the murder. I lay down, trembling, +and put my head beyond the edge. I fancied I could see him just move. I +lurked thereabout, on and off, not knowing what to do, till it came to +be quite dark. Then I saw lights at one or two points, and began to +think the people were already on the search. But it was not so; and the +truth was all in my favour. + +"The lights were the country folk's signals to Will Watch's lugger, that +was then running in. Luckily for me, as I thought, she took up a berth a +good way off the spot where Ashton lay. All the country turned out to +run the cargo. And I crept down by myself to the beach, and came to +where he had fallen, and there I found him stone-dead. I don't know what +it was moved me, but I fancied that if the body were not owned nothing +could be done. And, in that thought, I took off the clothes, and buried +them in a nook of the cliff, which I could show to this day. For +himself, I could see, by the light from the water, he was so much hurt +that no one would know him. I should say, that I got the money which had +been the cause of our difference. Well, when this was all over, my fears +grew worse and worse. I thought it would have been better to have left +him alone. At last I went among the throng of folks that were busy +running the kegs, and got on board the lugger. She took me over to +Holland, and from there I shipped myself for the Spanish Indies, and +lived a roving life. + +"But I tired of it at length, and had got a wife--my poor Felipa--and a +little girl. So I came home. Lived quiet a while, until I was sure that +no one knew me by my old name, and that the tale of Ashton's death was +nigh forgotten, and then took to the cabin on the hill. The rest you +know." + +Owen listened to this narrative with wonder and joy, for he saw it would +be likely to restore his squire, as he called him, to all his rights. + +"But why," said he after a silence, "why then did you not come forward +to claim the reward they offered?" + +"I did not know of any such," Gabriel answered. "If I had, I should not +have heeded it till they drove me from my cottage. It matters not now. +Do what you will with the tale." + +The young peasant gazed on the swarthy features which had been bronzed +by near a score of year's exposure to a tropical sun, and did not marvel +that the sea-faring wanderer had escaped unrecognised. He was in +communication with an attorney of the town for the purposes of his own +defence, and to him, with Gabriel's permission, he told the strange +tale. Its importance was at once perceived and acknowledged. And the +lawyer in question immediately despatched the news to Griffith by the +messenger whose arrival had excited the curiosity described in the +opening of this chapter. Thus Michael Sinson's artifices again recoiled +upon himself; by his attempted perversion of Gabriel Denis, he cut the +ground from under his own feet. He acquired some inkling of what had +transpired, and hurried back to London; more vexed than before at his +quarrel with Everope, of whose melancholy end he had as yet received no +information. + +Denis, or Wyley, was nothing loth to repeat his story. Griffith, having +the knowledge which Owen was too young to possess, was able to confirm +him on several points. The narrative was verified in every possible +manner, and a copy transmitted to Winter, while the steward returned to +Trevethlan, to confirm it still further, by disinterring the buried +clothes. + +In the flush of his exultation, he did not attempt to conceal the +purpose of his journey, and the greater part of the villagers turned out +spontaneously to assist in the quest which he undertook without loss of +time. Gabriel had described with great exactitude the spot to be +searched, for he remembered it very well. And indeed there were many +people still living who could point out the place where the body was +found. Near at hand, a long narrow rift ran into the face of the +precipice, and at its extreme end, where the billows of every winter +increased the depth of superincumbent sand, Wyley stated he had +deposited the garments which would identify the wearer. The cleft was +too narrow for more than one man to dig at a time, and the excitement of +the crowd behind him increased with every stroke of his spade. The +smuggler appeared to have told the truth. A quantity of half-destroyed +garments were discovered, and among them a pocket-book containing a +pencil-case and a ring. The clothes were worthless for any object; but +of these last-mentioned articles Griffith took possession, and forwarded +them to London, in order that they might be submitted to Mr. Ashton's +friends for recognition. + +"Hurrah for Trevethlan!" shouted Colan, in a conclave held at Dame +Miniver's that night, "and a health to our squire and our bonny young +mistress!" + +Loud acclamations and deep draughts gave a welcome to the toast. + +"'Tis a strange thing," said the general merchant, "that this matter +should have been so long quiet. The times that I've walked by that rift +in the cliff yonder, and never seen anything." + +"Why?" asked the hostess; "and what would ye expect to see, neighbour +Breage? Every winter as passed only packed the sand higher and higher." + +"But there might have been a sign, dame, there might have been a sign." + +"It shows there was no murder done, at any rate," observed another of +the company. + +"Still," persisted Breage, "I wonder there was no dream came to point to +the place; and especially seeing how hard it has gone with the squire." + +"It's like to go hard enough with this Denis or Wyley," Colan remarked. +"The fire of Pendar'l was black enough against him, and this story won't +tell any way for him." + +"But it will for our Edward Owen," said Germoe. "It will turn to his +good, and I am glad of it." + +"Ay," exclaimed Dame Miniver, "and besides that, I hear talk how he +fought for the lady of Pendar'l that night, and beat off some that would +harm her." + +"We shall have him among us again afore long," said farmer Colan. "And +Gabriel will be like to confess all the rights of it before he dies." + +"Well," said the pertinacious Breage, "if he confesses to murder, I +shall never believe in any sign or token again." + +The suspicion here indicated that the smuggler had told only half the +truth, prevailed very generally in the hamlet, and many of the villagers +thought that he had wilfully thrown the clergyman over the cliff. But we +are willing to ascribe the popular feeling to the common love of the +worst in criminal matters, and to believe that Wyley was sincere. He was +probably prepared for robbery, but not for murder. The revelry at the +Trevethlan Arms was protracted till a late hour. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + Decline all this, and see what now thou art. + For one being sued to, one that humbly sues; + For queen, a very caitiff crowned with care; + For one that scorned at me, now scorned of me; + For one being feared of all, now fearing one; + For one commanding all, obeyed of none. + Thus hath the course of justice wheeled about, + And left thee but a very prey to time; + Having no more but thought of what thou wert, + To torture thee the more, being what thou art. + + Shakspeare. + + +Meanwhile scandal and gossip were still busy with the stolen marriage +and its consequences. Mysterious paragraphs had appeared in some of the +public prints. If newspapers at that time had been illustrated, there +might have been portraits of the bride and bridegroom, or at least of +Rhoda, and of the travelling carriage. But the kindred of Asmodeus, who +in these days haunt town and country with the implements of Daguerre, +and embellish our journals with their woodcuts, had not yet acquired +those pictorial aids, and were obliged to content themselves with +old-fashioned letterpress. What their descendants may arrive at, +especially in alliance with the disciples of Mesmer, to whom distance is +no object, and brick and mortar no impediment, it is hard to anticipate. +The electric telegraph is likely to be regarded as a slow concern; +everybody will know his neighbour's thoughts; the old fable of +transparent bosoms will be realized; and the gift of speech will cease +to be of any use. + +This consummation seems, however, at present rather remote. If we were +of a misanthropic turn, and familiar with any good-humoured demon, lame +or otherwise, we should trouble him to take us to and fro between the +home and haunts of some well-seeming family, and the gloomy chambers +where Astraea holds her revels. We should be present one day at the +dinner or the ball, and the next day we should go among crumbling papers +and musty parchments. We should follow the unconscious prey to the levee +or drawing-room, and then we should repair to the dark den, where the +spoiler was quietly and assiduously preparing the pit-fall. Often when +we look up to the lofty buildings inhabited especially by the servants +of Themis, we are led to think of the devices which may there be +silently undermining the stability of some well-to-do house, now +standing fair and seemly in the eyes of the world. Far away back, in +some ancient record, the lynx-eyed practitioner has lighted upon the +trail: step by step he advances, fortifying himself at every pause, +until the prize is full in view, and the filing of a bill or the service +of a writ informs the unsuspecting victim that his all is at stake; +destroying in one moment the whole security of his life, and entangling +him in a maze of litigation, to endure possibly for years, and too +probably to leave him, even if successful, an impoverished and +broken-hearted man. In these days of iron and steam, there is nothing +romantic but the law. + +And we are not thinking of the mere lovers of chicane, who occasionally +disgrace the profession, but of what may happen in the career of the +most honourable of its votaries. It was thus that the downfall of +Trevethlan was prepared in one office, and that its restoration was now +being achieved in another. Little had Randolph dreamed of the plot that +was devising against him, and in which the lawyers were but unwitting +agents: little did Esther imagine the counter-stroke which was now +impending, and to which double weight was to be given by the conduct of +her late protege. + +Michael Sinson, baffled in his new attempt against Randolph, had +returned sulkily to London. Among the first intelligence which met his +eyes in the daily journals was the suicide of his miserable slave. He +gnashed his teeth as he read it, and perceived that Rereworth had been +in communication with the deceased. Had Everope been a double traitor? +Sinson could not free himself from the idea. The ground seemed to be +shaking under his feet. After hours of irritating uncertainty, he sought +an interview with Mr. Truby, in hope of discovering whether anything had +transpired. But he met a very cold reception, and obtained no solution +of his anxiety. The lawyer, however, demanded his address, and he, after +giving it, went immediately and moved to other quarters. + +He mused of coming forward himself as an informant to the other side, +but if they were already in possession of the truth, to do so would be +merely to place himself in their power. Then he made a futile attempt to +gain admission to his former patroness; but being turned from the door +with contumely, he thought of his supposed power over her, and fancied +that it might yield him both security and profit. With this idea he made +his way to Mr. Pendarrel at his office. Here he acquired the knowledge +which he had vainly sought from Mr. Truby. + +"Do you know, sir," Mr. Pendarrel asked him, "that it is rumoured the +evidence at the trial is upset? That they have found relics of the +clergyman who really performed that marriage, and that steps are already +taken to reverse the judgment?" + +Sinson, although he almost expected something of the kind, was staggered +by the announcement. + +"Now, if this be so," continued Mr. Pendarrel, "it will be strange if +you, sir, were not a party to the fraud that will have been perpetrated. +Do you mark me?" + +He spoke in the cold and deliberate manner which characterized his +demeanour whenever he was independent of his wife. Sinson recovered from +his first surprise, and assumed an attitude of confidence. + +"Whatever I have done," he said, "I have done by the orders of Mrs. +Pendarrel. I am now come to receive my recompense." + +"You have been well paid, sir," answered Mr. Pendarrel; "there is +nothing due to you." + +"Perhaps not, for what is past," Sinson said; "but there is for what is +to come. You tell me there are rumours of fraud: and I say that Mrs. +Pendarrel has authorized whatever has been done. I have her letters. +They may be valuable." + +"You are a cool scoundrel," said Mr. Pendarrel, "upon my word. But you +do not gull me with so simple a device. What hinders me, sirrah, but +that I should instantly give you into custody?" + +"Nothing, perhaps," was the answer, "but the disagreeable consequences. +If you would only be so good as consult my lady, it might change your +mind." + +"Pooh, sir!" said Esther's husband, "you have overshot your mark. Go now +about your business, and don't dare to come here again, or you know the +result." + +He rang his bell, and ordered the disconcerted intruder to be shown out. +Sinson went into the neighbouring park and read over the documents on +which he had so fondly relied. And, regarded in the light thrown upon +them by Mr. Pendarrel's contempt, they presented him with no consolation +in his fall. On the other hand, he had again unwittingly advanced the +interests of his detested rival. + +Mr. Truby, it may have been observed, frequently in matters of business +communicated directly with the wife of his nominal client. When Mr. +Pendarrel went from home that day, he found Esther in a state of even +unusual depression. She had received a letter from the lawyer, +acquainting her there were strong grounds for believing that the main +facts on which they had relied at the trial were fabricated for the +occasion, and that, as his own character might be implicated by any +concealment, he was resolved to probe the matter to the bottom. + +"Oh, Gertrude!" said Esther to her constant attendant, "what will become +of me? Among them, they are breaking my heart." + +She was in this dejected condition when her husband came home. +Everything concurred to make him exceedingly desirous to bring about at +least a formal reconciliation with the fugitive couple. He read Mr. +Truby's letter, and told his wife of the visit he had received that +morning. + +"And, my dear," said he, "this person would make us accomplices in +whatever fraud has been perpetrated." + +"Us, Mr. Pendarrel!" Esther ejaculated. "You are jesting, sir, and in a +very sorry manner." + +But she recollected Michael's threats, and could not help trembling. + +"Not I, madam," her husband protested, adopting for a moment her own +formal mode of address, "not I, upon my life. Sinson declares that he +has letters authorizing all he did, which he pretty plainly admitted to +have been more than was honest. And these letters he threatened to use, +unless I would purchase them." + +"You did not!" Mrs. Pendarrel exclaimed. + +"Of course I did not, my dear," was the reply. "I turned his absurd +threats upon himself. But it is unpleasant to have these things said. +And you see Truby's letter bears out the rumours." + +"Ah, me!" Esther sighed, almost wringing her hands, "to what am I +fallen?" + +"My dear," her husband ventured to urge, "it is time this unhappy matter +were settled. After the wrong which will have been done to Mr. +Trevethlan"--he started when the name had passed his lips--"after that, +I say, we must overlook what has occurred since." + +"Do what you will," muttered his wife, "my part in the affair is over. +But are you sure they will accept forgiveness? Has he asked for it?" + +"Oh yes, dear mother," said Gertrude. "Let me intercede. My poor sister +has no peace till she has thrown herself at your feet, and Randolph has +none while she is unhappy." + +"Well, well," Esther murmured, "I have no more to say. Bring them here, +if you will, Gertrude. And since it must be so, the sooner the better." + +"And really, my dear Esther," said the husband, "the match is not so +disadvantageous after all. You see it will unite the properties, and if +Trevethlan is now but a small estate, it is at least unencumbered, which +is more than we could say of Tolpeden; and I remember that Mildred was +telling me once--" + +"Never mind now, papa," said Mrs. Winston, who saw that every word he +uttered was a dagger in her mother's heart. "Let me go and prepare my +sister to come home." + +Indeed, Esther's humiliation required no aggravating circumstances. She +was deeply wounded in the tenderest parts of her character. Pride, +ambition, and love of rule had all been mortified and abused. And now +she succumbed. She resigned any further struggle, and yielded to her +victorious foe. Her spirit and mind were alike brought down. After the +above conversation she retired to her own room, and drew her miniature +from her bosom, and looked long and stedfastly on the tranquil +lineaments. Again she reviewed her whole life, and again she fell upon +the ever-recurring question--Did he then love me? And she scarcely knew +whether an answer in the affirmative would give her most of joy or of +regret. + +The man who had so long ministered to her will, was in his humbler +sphere as completely overthrown. But his feelings were bitter and +fierce, and no trace of compunction or repentance was to be found among +them. On reconsidering his threats, he clearly saw their futility. When +he partly disclosed his story to a scandal-mongering individual with a +view to extortion, he was only laughed at for his pains. And he very +clearly perceived, that for himself there was nothing in prospect but +the penalty of perjury. On every hand he felt that he had been thwarted +and defeated. The man whom he knew that he hated had wedded the lady +whom Michael fancied he loved, and he foresaw the reconciliation that +would make them happy. While he himself, instead of being on the high +road to fortune, was an outcast from society, disgraced and infamous. + +Yet did one matter detain him in London. One hope remained to save him +from absolute despair. By one chance he might even yet retrieve himself, +and aspire to a certain position in the world. Wealth, he fancied, would +cover a multitude of sins. Cunning had failed him, luck might stand his +friend. Day by day he sought the ancient hall, where the wheel of +fortune, no longer a mere symbol, dispensed blanks and prizes to a host +of care-worn worshippers. And of all that feverish crowd, no votary +watched the numbers as they turned up, with more desperate eyes than the +peasant of Cornwall. Reckless alike of the jests of the indifferent, of +the boisterous glee of the fortunate, and of the execrations of the +ruined, he awaited his turn with intense excitement. The great prizes +were still in the wheel. He might have realised a very handsome profit +on his ticket. But he would scarcely have parted with it for anything +short of the highest amount in the list. Little he cared when the +revolving cylinder threw out a paltry thousand; no such trifle was an +object to him. But he ground his teeth when a number which was not his, +appeared in connection with a prize of twenty thousand pounds, and when +the very next turn of the wheel declared his ticket--blank--he crushed +his hat over his eyes, and slunk out of the hall. He slunk away from +town: it was his final leave-taking of the metropolis. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + Oh, days of youth and joy, long clouded, + Why thus for ever haunt my view? + When in the grave your light lay shrouded, + Why did not memory die there too? + Vainly doth hope her strain now sing me, + Whispering of joys that yet remain-- + No, never more can this life bring me + One joy that equals youth's sweet pain. + + Moore. + + +All this time Mildred Trevethlan remained in strict retirement. The only +visits which interrupted her solitude were those she occasionally +received from Mrs. Winston and from Helen. Gertrude brought intelligence +of Mrs. Pendarrel, which was unhappily not of a kind to comfort the +repenting fugitive, and her calls were rendered of brief duration by her +anxiety to return to the invalid. She could not pretend to assign any +other cause than Mildred's flight to their mother's dejection, and her +sister trembled to think of the effects of her disobedience. In the many +hours when she was necessarily alone, or attended only by Rhoda, she was +haunted by fears of the most alarming kind, and whenever Randolph came +home after an absence as short as he could make it, he always fancied +that his wife's sadness had increased since he left her. + +Yet her despondency was lightened for a time when Helen came to see her. +For she, gentle and hopeful, dwelt always on the theme to which Gertrude +dared not allude. She always promised, or rather predicted, that a +reconciliation could not be distant. She bid Mildred to fix her eyes +upon that prospect, and to overlook the trouble immediately around her. +And upon her brother she urged the duty of obeying the chaplain's +injunctions, in their full spirit, and without delay. But Randolph +listened to such remonstrances with impatience, and still postponed the +day when he would make any advances. + +"Let us, at least, be fully restored to our rights," he would say. "Let +my father's honour be re-established; let me have a name to bestow upon +my bride; and then, when we have exposed the wretched plot by which we +were overthrown, we may have the satisfaction of forgiving those who +wronged us, and may, if they choose, in turn, accept their forgiveness." + +Helen grieved, but could prevail no farther. And, fortunately, the +period marked by her brother was fast approaching. Mr. Winter had been +already in communication with the friends of Ashton, the clergyman. By +good hap, they were able to identify the ring which was found among the +buried clothes. This confirmation of the smuggler's story lent it the +credit which his character could not give. Everope's confession, +attested by Rereworth, had, at least, overthrown the credibility of his +previous testimony. And thus the whole case on which the plaintiff in +the action had rested his title broke down, and the obscurity which hung +around the late Mr. Trevethlan's marriage was finally dissipated. + +We need not trouble our readers with the technical proceedings which +would terminate in a formal and public reversal of the verdict at +Bodmin. Randolph had enjoyed the pleasure of communicating to his wife +the approaching result, and, in more kindly temper, was revolving the +mode by which they might be reconciled to her friends, when Gertrude +came with the message of peace. It was much more than the husband had +conceived possible, or than the wife had dared to hope. It left no room +for further perverseness. Randolph saw the flush of joy with which +Mildred received the offer, and accepted it with eagerness. Mrs. Winston +proposed to take them at once to May Fair; and they went without delay. + +Without pausing, she conducted them into the presence of Mrs. Pendarrel. +And Randolph had taken the mother's offered hand, and Mildred had been +pressed to her heart, before either of them well knew what they were +about. + +Some little awkwardness supervened. Mrs. Winston, with her usual tact, +led her sister from the room. Randolph was alone with his father's +Esther. + +"Mr. Trevethlan," the lady said, after a short silence, and with a faint +sigh upon the name, "we have much to forgive each other." + +"I have forgiven," Randolph answered. "Let the past be forgotten." + +"You have forgiven!" Esther exclaimed mournfully. "Do you know in what +you have been wronged?" + +"All that is personal to myself has passed from my mind," he replied. + +"Ay," said Mrs. Pendarrel, "but there is much that is not personal to +yourself. Where is your sister? You are happy in the possession of such +a one. Do you know that even to her I have been unkind and unjust?" + +"Oh, madam," Randolph said, "do not recall these things. Helen has +differed widely from me. Would that I had been guided by her advice!" + +"Yet you were right, and she was wrong," observed Esther, who seemed to +feel a relief in unburdening her mind. "That letter was intended to try +you, and you interpreted it correctly. Helen was more charitable than I +deserved." + +"Madam," said Randolph, moved by compassion for the humiliation before +him, "there had probably been great provocation." + +"I do not know," was the meditative answer. "I have tried to persuade +myself there was. For if there were not, how shall I ever be justified? +Did she tell you, Randolph--did your sister tell you--that I robbed her? +See. Do you know this miniature?" + +And she showed him the picture of herself. The sight of it reminded her +hearer of those dying imprecations which had been so fatal to all his +happiness. A dark cloud overspread his brow. + +"Ay," said Esther, perceiving the change in his countenance. "You +remember, now, that it is not only your peace which I have broken. There +is another's for which I have to answer." + +"Oh," Randolph exclaimed, "heavy was the task laid upon me, and bitterly +indeed have I judged!" + +"Listen," Mrs. Pendarrel continued, speaking in tremulous accents. "You +know this portrait, but you know not its history. You know not how it +once hung from the neck of a wayward and wilful girl. It had often been +begged and prayed for, by one who loved her faithfully, fondly--ay, as +she believes now--till death. It was taken, or given, in a moment of +overpowering tenderness. The vows were plighted, and each had promised +to live only for the other. And then she--she, forsooth, idol and +votary, worshipped and worshipping--must snap the link, in her petulance +and pride, break the heart which adored her, and seek to console her own +misery by trampling upon her victim. Oh, Randolph Trevethlan, your +father has been deeply avenged. I never forgot that early dream. But I +strove to persuade myself that I was forgotten, and excused my own +arrogance with the thought. And now this image, which he wore upon his +heart--it tells me that he loved me to the last." + +"And he died," Randolph said, restraining his emotion, "with words of +love upon his lips. 'I mentioned'--it was spoken with his latest +breath--'I mentioned Esther Pendarrel. She was once very dear to me'--he +then referred to his disappointment--'but I have often thought I was not +indifferent to her. If so, she has my pardon.' Oh, madam, I repeat, +indeed, something like the words, but it were vain for me to express the +feeling with which they were uttered. Alas, I recked not of the promise +they contained. I only looked on the dark side of the picture. I chose +to make it impossible to ascertain the truth. Entrusted with what was +really a message of peace, I have perpetrated animosity. It is I, it is +I, who should implore pardon." + +Silence followed this speech. Esther fell into a reverie on the past. It +was of a more tranquil character than those which of late had caused so +much anxiety to her friends. At length it was broken by the return of +her daughters. She called Mildred to her side. + +"You have deprived me of the power," she said, with a mournful +expression strangely at variance with the words, "little rebel, to +perform a mother's part. Yet I fain would do it." + +She placed Mildred's hand in that of Randolph. + +"Take her," she said, "Randolph Trevethlan, and may you know a happiness +which has never been mine." + +Mildred threw herself into her mother's arms. + +"My children," Esther continued, "you will make your home here, till.... +And where is Helen?" + +Mrs. Winston said, that Helen would perhaps pay her another visit. And +in a short time Mrs. Pendarrel quitted the room. She left more of +anxiety than of comfort behind her. + +"Oh, Gertrude," Mildred exclaimed, "how fearfully she is changed!" + +The alteration was indeed too evident to escape notice. + +"Do not fear now," Mrs. Winston said; "it has been a trying time, but it +is over now. All will be well, Mildred dear." + +It was kindly said, and well it would be if the anticipation were +fulfilled. But the agitation through which Esther had gone was too +likely to leave its traces for many days to come. + +In no long time, Randolph set forth on his way to Hampstead, to make his +sister and the chaplain partakers of the reconciliation. On his way, he +pondered over the train of events in which he had been involved, and +admitted the wisdom of Polydore's judgment regarding death-bed +injunctions and promises. He could not avoid reverting also to the fatal +misunderstanding which, five-and-thirty years before, had laid the seed +of so much bitter fruit. Was the harvest entirely gathered even now? It +was a question which rose involuntarily in his mind. And the +announcement which he made at Hampstead afforded his hearers a pleasure +more unalloyed, it is probable, than any he felt himself. He reminded +Mr. Riches of his promise to bestow the nuptial blessing, at the +ceremony which would be performed in a few days, and there is no need to +say that the chaplain undertook the duty with great delight. And to +Helen he delivered an invitation to officiate as bridesmaid, and, in the +interval, to occupy her old place at Mrs. Winston's. She accompanied him +back to town. + +That evening Polydore smoked a pipe with Mr. Peach in a more contented +mood than he had enjoyed for some time. He hoped that the sun of +Trevethlan was at last emerging from the clouds. The old clerk edified +Clotilda, who sat with them rather later than usual, by divers +narratives of remarkable elopements, but agreed with the chaplain that +marriage in the regular way was a much better thing. And when Miss Peach +had retired, the old bachelors fell into their usual humour, and sighed +forth the praises of their Rose and Mabel. + +"Better, methinks it is," said Polydore in conclusion, "to imagine my +beloved Rose smiling upon me from the sky, than to have won her at the +expense of another's peace of mind. Better to remember the patience and +resignation with which she learnt to watch the stealthy approach of the +destroyer, than to reflect upon the rashness which precipitated an +unhallowed union. Better to cherish the love which death could not +divide, and to look forward to its everlasting reward, than to rush to +present enjoyment, and expiate it in future remorse." + +The bridegroom invited Rereworth to attend the wedding, as his friend, +and Seymour having of course agreed to do so, found an agreeable mode of +employing the brief interval by renewing his visits in Cavendish-square. +Many a time he went there with the full intention of appearing in his +true character as a lover, should an opportunity offer, and as often he +departed without having revealed his secret. The question which every +man should ask once in his life, rose to his lips continually, and still +remained unuttered. For Mrs. Winston saw plainly enough what was the +state of affairs, and frequently contrived to leave Rereworth alone with +the mistress of his heart. Why did he not avail himself of such an +occasion? Was it from timidity, or doubt, or irresolution? No cause had +he for fear, no reason for doubt, no wavering to disturb. But in the +simple consciousness of being beloved, there was joy so calm and deep, +it seemed a pity to ruffle it by any less tranquil emotion. Lie at hot +noon under the trees which shade one of the "resting-places" of a great +southern river, and you may gaze upon the level water until you cease to +wish for the breeze which would cool your brow, because it would also +ripple that placid expanse. And Rereworth, although confident of a +favourable answer to his petition, yet delayed preferring it, because he +was loth to flutter his present peaceful happiness, even by a +declaration which would end in enhancing it. So the fond secret was +still untold. + +That smooth and unvarying affection offered a much fairer prospect of +future felicity than the impetuous passion which had united Randolph and +Mildred. Even now they felt they were far from serenity. The bridegroom +could not overcome the constraint he experienced in the society of his +father-in-law; he shrank with instinctive dislike from the Philip +Pendarrel whom his own father had denounced in such bitter words; and +the feeling was quickened by the cold and calculating prudence of the +political manoeuvrer. Randolph eagerly cut short all discussions about +settlements, and other formalities, and escaped as soon as he could from +a companionship which was full of disagreeable associations. + +And Mildred was disquieted by the continuing change in her mother, who +seemed to lose all care of the present in musing over the past. Yet this +was a natural effect of the recent events, and it might reasonably be +hoped that no great time would restore Mrs. Pendarrel to tranquillity +and resignation. + +But during the preparations for the new marriage, we must cast a rapid +glance upon the hamlet of Trevethlan. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + There be bright faces in the busy hall, + Bowls on the board, and banners on the wall; + Far checkering o'er the pictured window, plays + The unwonted faggot's hospitable blaze; + And gay retainers gather round the hearth, + With tongues all gladness, and with eyes all mirth. + + Byron. + + +The news of the restoration of Randolph to his ancestral towers had +already diffused joy through the homes of his tenantry; and the +fulfilment of Dame Miniver's prediction respecting his marriage +completed the exultation. There was not a heart in the village that was +not made lighter by the account of the alliance between Pendarrel and +Trevethlan. The castle was busy with the labours of upholsterers and all +their tribe, actively employed under the superintendence of the steward +and his wife, in renovating some of its ancient splendour; and the +Trevethlan Arms rejoiced in their patronage at the close of the day. Old +Jeffrey was half frantic with excitement and delight, practising the +manoeuvre of hoisting and striking a new flag often and often, until +it was suggested to him that, by so doing, he deprived the ensign of its +significance. + +Great preparations were also being made for the reception of the bride +and bridegroom. A triumphal arch at the entrance of the green, and +another over the gate of the base-court, were ready to be decked with +flowers and streamers, when the happy occasion should arrive; for the +merry month of May was come, and nature was robing the land in its +gayest attire. Mistress Miniver's good-humoured face beamed with delight +from sunrise to sunset, and the joyousness of her looks was reflected in +the countenances of her neighbours. + +Yet this happiness was not unalloyed. There were still not a few +absentees from the family hearth, lamenting their turbulence in +captivity. Even with respect to them, however, anxiety was mitigated, +for it was now understood that Mrs. Pendarrel was inclined to intercede +in their behalf. And she had already contributed to the enlargement of +Edward Owen. For, inquiring one day, in her languid manner, concerning +the mode in which the missing Wyley had been discovered, Randolph +mentioned Owen as instrumental in the matter, and she remembered how a +man of that name had rescued herself and family from outrage on the +night of the fire. And on her representations the young rustic was +admitted to bail, with an intimation that his being called up for trial +would depend upon his future conduct. + +But if he had conceived any hope of finding favour in another quarter, +he was disappointed. Mercy Page was as coy as before. Perhaps the very +unpopularity of Michael Sinson had contributed to support his cause in +the maiden's heart; and certainly the taunts with which she was +sometimes assailed were not calculated to change her mind. She had +almost sequestered herself from the neighbouring villagers, and either +sat at home in her mother's cottage, or walked out late in the evening +by herself. On such occasions she was jealously watched, and well it +proved for her in the end that it was so. + +But Edward was not one of the spies upon her steps. He began to feel +chilled by her enduring coldness, and listened more complacently than of +old to the words of those who said he might better himself, and +particularly to any hints of the kind which fell from the mirthful +landlady of the Trevethlan Arms. Farmer Colan once told her, she might +not object to change her name; and now a rumour to the same effect +became very current in the gossip of the hamlet. + +And another topic furnished food to the village scandal-mongers. It was +said Michael Sinson had returned to his old country. And it was true. He +had left London, writhing under a manifold disappointment, baffled in +all his evil desires and devices. Moreover, he suspected that Mr. Truby +was strongly inclined to bring him to justice. But unlike his wretched +victim, Everope, he was unacquainted with shame, and unstung by remorse. +He regretted and resented his want of success; but he rather admired +than deplored the subtile villany of his schemes. Sulky and angry, he +fled from the metropolis to the dwelling of his grandmother, Wilderness +Lodge. Mrs. Pendarrel had not displaced the old gate-keeper. There +Michael brooded in silence and retirement for several days, during which +his ill-temper was continually fretted, and his evil passions stimulated +by the querulousness of the aged fanatic. Shrewd enough was old Maud to +see that her favourite had by no means achieved the success which she +had foretold for him. He was far away from qualification for that +angelic choir, which his mere name appeared to her to entitle him to +enter. + +The news of his arrival reached the ears of his old flame, probably in +some sarcastic shape; and Mercy threw herself in his way. But he thrust +her rudely aside, and with so dark a scowl upon his brow that she +thought involuntarily of Dame Gudhan's predictions, and shuddered at the +recollection. The account of the meeting was soon circulated round the +green of Trevethlan, and gave new force to the ill looks which were cast +upon the luckless maiden. But it did not lull the activity, half hopeful +and half fearful, with which her steps were dogged. + +Meanwhile old Maud harped perpetually on her grandson's failure, and on +the attempt to disturb her Margaret's marriage. She was for ever +lamenting the injustice done to Michael, and calumniating the house of +Trevethlan for its treatment of her favourite daughter. Neither topic +was agreeable to Sinson; and at length, irritated at home beyond +control, he showed himself among the rural habitations. But he went only +to meet with fresh mortification. Every one seemed to know his history. +People turned their backs upon the traitor. Children mocked and flouted +him. Scorn surrounded him on all sides, and in every shape. Daring to +present himself at the Trevethlan Arms, he was ejected with violence and +derision, and was hooted and pelted from the village green. And among +the foremost of his assailants he recognised his ancient rival. There +was nothing for it but to endure the petulance of his fanatical +grandmother. + +Woe for the "ministering angel!" One hand in Trevethlan had no share in +the insults showered that day upon the traitor. One heart in the village +refused to believe in the infamy of him it had loved. One voice was +heard in sorrow amidst the general execration. One pair of eyes were +clouded with tears, where all others flashed with anger. Mercy Page wept +for Michael Sinson. + +At dusk, the same evening, the village maiden left her mother's cottage, +and bent her steps along the quiet lanes to Wilderness Lodge. Now, she +thought, was the time to show her devotion, and, if Michael really had +gone astray, to call him back to the right path. Now, when all men spoke +ill of him, was the time for her to sustain him against their evil +report. Hearing of him as prosperous and rising, she had been, +comparatively, indifferent. Seeing him abased and insulted, all her +early tenderness revived. + +She rattled the latch of the gate, and Sinson came out of the lodge. He +was astonished at perceiving the visitor, who looked at him with her +face half bent down. He returned her glance with a sullen stare, and +rudely bade her "begone." + +"Michael," she said, "will you not hear me, Michael? Not hear Mercy?" + +The soft voice turned the current of the young man's thoughts. + +"Know you not what they say of me?" he asked. "Saw you not how I was +hunted from among them?" + +"I know it all, Michael; but I believe it not. I saw it, and it made me +weep." + +"Speak not to her," shrieked old Maud, who had come forth to see what +her grandson was doing; "speak not to the accursed thing from +Trevethlan. Better fortune is in store for my boy. Bid the Armageddon +depart." + +"And will you walk with me, Mercy, as of old?" the young man asked, +without heeding Maud's interruption. + +The maiden answered by placing her hand in Michael's arm, and so, side +by side, they quitted Wilderness Gate. + +Old Maud tottered after them into the road, and gazed in the direction +they had taken. She shook the thin locks that hung about her temples, +and wrung her hands, and looked up into the sky. The first stars were +beginning to twinkle in the gray transparency of twilight. + +"Woe's me!" muttered the old crone. "Woe's me! She is leading him to his +doom." + +And her wild look quite scared a little girl who waited on her, when she +returned into the lodge. + +We do not care to follow minutely the young couple's evening walk. There +is little pleasure in watching the companionship of villany and +innocence, even where the latter is triumphant. Fortunately for Mercy, +she was well observed that evening. There was a narrow and secluded dell +about a mile from Wilderness Lodge, made obscure in the day-time by +over-shadowing trees; doubly gloomy, therefore, in the twilight. The +brook from Pendarrel Park murmured along it, and a footpath, devious and +unfrequented, followed the wanderings of the streamlet. To that +sequestered spot, which might seem almost designed for the rambles of +lovers, did Sinson guide the steps of her who trusted him with such +unsuspecting fidelity. There in her own simple and homely manner she +sought to persuade him to be at peace with the world, and to make +atonement for any wrong he might have done. But she spoke to an angry +and unrepenting nature, and the only answer to her remonstrances made +her acquainted with the worthlessness of him in whom she had confided so +long. + +It was a rude and bitter lesson. "Better he were dead!" has been the +exclamation of many a heart deceived like hers. Mercy could no longer +hope that the imputations of the villagers were the offspring of rustic +jealousy. She hardly knew what happened in the first pain of her +discovery. She turned to leave him, for she could do no more. He had +followed her, but the watchers interposed. They closed upon the spot in +an instant. The maiden was rescued, and the betrayer fled. He glared +savagely for one moment upon those who came to save, counted their +number, and took to precipitate flight. And the rustics, who had +followed the ill-matched maiden with, at least, as much spite as pity, +now showed more of the better feeling, and brought her safe, though +trembling, home to her mother's cottage. + +A warm pursuit was then commenced in the track of her assailant. Summary +justice the country-folk thought they would inflict upon the culprit, +although he might escape the more regular doom of the law. Many an old +ground of exasperation gave vigour to the chase. Many a motive of fear +lent wings to its object. He fled over the moors, from carn to carn, and +from cave to cave. They drove him at last to the precipices of the +Lizard. He retained his strength and activity, and turned them to good +account in baffling his pursuers among those beetling cliffs. But, after +numerous disappointments, they at length hunted him to bay. They hemmed +him in on a ledge from which the rock descended sheer into the sea. +Certain that he could not escape, they were, perhaps, negligent in +observing his movements. But no one could tell what had become of him, +when it was suddenly found that he had disappeared. They looked eagerly +into the waves which were dashing against the cliff below; but there +they could see no sign. The steepness and height of the rock above +utterly precluded the possibility of his having scaled it. Yet there was +an unwillingness to believe that he had simply been drowned, and the +folks told strange stories of his having been picked up by some boat, +and got away to sea. All that was certain was, that he was never heard +of again. + +The night on which he was lost, his grandmother sat beside the hearth in +Wilderness Lodge, swaying herself to and fro in her rocking-chair, and +moaning to herself in an under tone. The little girl who attended her +was seated opposite on a low stool, and watched her with a feeling of +awe, frightened, yet unable to withdraw her eyes from those of her +employer, which were fixed and unusually bright. + +"Where's my boy?" old Maud might have been heard to mutter. "Where's my +own Michael? What is it they tell me of shame? What is it they say he +told of my winsome Margaret? Did I hear that the marriage was broken? +Na, na, Randolph Trevethlan, thou canst not so sever the ties. Has she +not come to claim her own? Let them cross her path that dare. Smiling, +did he say? A sweet smiling face? That was my Margaret indeed, but she +never smiled at Trevethlan. And would they tell me she went there to +shame? Did my Michael speak against her? Na; 't was they that brought +her to death; they that will not let her rest in her grave. And why has +she woke from her sleep? What comes she back to seek? Why will she not +come to me? I was afar when she died. Was it of my own choice? Were we +not driven away? Me, and my Michael, and all? Was there one of her +kindred left with her? But they are fallen. The dark hour of Trevethlan +came. And will they still make us their sport? Where's my own Michael? +She came for him the night: the white-faced thing from Trevethlan. What +cries did I hear in the sky? What tale did they whisper in my ear?" + +Her voice, which had risen occasionally while she spoke, now sank into +an inarticulate murmur, and her head dropped, and the rocking of her +chair nearly ceased. The little girl looked at her with increasing +wonder and dread. Suddenly Maud raised her head, and after seeming to +listen for a moment, cried, "Michael," in one wild and dissonant shriek. + +"What voice was that on the wind?" she continued, rising abruptly from +the chair. "Who hailed that name?--Michael," she called again, in the +same unearthly tone--"didst hear? 'T was his own. Didst hear how it +wailed on the wind?--Michael--The waters are sounding in my ears. Didst +hear the name, girl?--Drowning.--Ay, it was he--it was he." + +Her voice had declined to a hoarse whisper, and her limbs relaxed, and +she sank, rather then fell, to the ground. The little girl ran terrified +from the lodge to seek for help. When the neighbours whom she summoned +returned thither, they found the old woman huddled together in a heap +upon the floor. They raised her up, but life had departed: she had +rejoined her daughter, Margaret Trevethlan. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + O blisful ordre, O wedlock precious, + Thou art so mery, and so virtuous, + And so commended, and approved eke, + That every man that holt him worth a leke, + Upon his bare knees oughten all his lif + Thanken his God that him hath sent a wif; + Or elles pray to God him for to send + A wif to last until his lives end. + + Chaucer. + + +Odious are town-weddings. To our fancy there is something appalling in +the splendour with which the ceremony is invested. And it seems to +defeat its object; for the festivities which follow the departure of the +new-married pair are proverbially dull. But the train of carriages, the +cloud of bride-maids, and all the rest of the pomp and parade, appear to +us more fitted to gratify the taste of the mob on the pavement, than to +show the refinement of the nineteenth century. A solemn rite is +converted into a theatrical entertainment. What should be a scene of +deep and heart-felt joy becomes a laborious piece of acting. The bridal +wreath is sullied by the incense which rises round it. To be sure if +there is no heart in the business, if the gist of the union is to be +found in the settlements, and the promise to love, honour, and obey is +made as a matter of form, then the scenic character of the accessaries +is perhaps in keeping, and may serve to throw a decorous veil over the +sacrifice. But the village-church is the proper shrine for matrimony. +The rustics who make a holiday of the occasion, and come in their Sunday +raiment to take respectful leave of their squire's daughter, form a much +more seemly retinue, than the gamins and idlers who throng the portico +of the London church, staring with rude wonder, and eager for vulgar +satire. And is it a childish desire that would fain invest the spot +where our fondest hopes were crowned, with a little romance? May we not +look forward to future pilgrimages to the altar where we were made the +happiest of men? And who could dream of so revisiting St. George's? Nay, +even the bells, inaudible in the metropolis, but in the country +proclaiming our happiness, will thereby require a new charm in our ears, +and their music will awake a new sympathy amidst its many dear and holy +associations. + +There would, however, as the reader will readily suppose, be little or +no display at the re-marriage of Randolph and Mildred. It was fixed to +take place at the church belonging to the district in which Mrs. +Pendarrel resided. There at the appointed hour, the little party met; +and the union, which was before furtive and irregular, received the +sanction of Heaven at the hands of Polydore Riches. The ceremony was, +perhaps, more impressive than usual, for more serious emotions +accompanied its celebration. When it was over, the company returned +through a gaping crowd to their carriages, and were driven home to May +Fair. And from thence in no great time the bride and bridegroom, after +many fond leave-takings, departed to travel by a circuitous route to +Trevethlan Castle. + +For it had been arranged that Helen, under the chaplain's safe-conduct, +should precede them, and be ready to welcome her new sister to the old +gray towers. And she carried with her a certain tender reminiscence; for +when the time to part approached, Rereworth's love at last over-flowed. +A select circle of friends was assembled at Mrs. Pendarrel's to +celebrate the event of the day. They were all strangers to Helen, and +thus Seymour was able to appropriate her to himself. Even this little +party was a novelty to her, and served to prolong the excitement caused +by the ceremony of the morning. In the midst of a rapid and animated +conversation, some allusion to the happiness of the married couple, +which reached Seymour's ear, threw him completely off his guard. + +"Happy!" he exclaimed. "Oh, dearest Miss Trevethlan, may not a like +happiness be mine? May not I also--" + +His voice sunk into a whisper, but his prayer was heard. And the ice +being thus broken, Rereworth told hurriedly of all he desired, and he +might read in Helen's flushed cheeks and downcast eyes, that he need not +fear. He had accepted an invitation from Randolph to spend a portion of +the ensuing long vacation at the castle, and then he flattered himself +he might appear as Helen's recognised suitor. + +In the afternoon Mr. Riches returned to his quarters at Hampstead, to +spend his last night at the metropolis. Long was the session, which he +held there with the old clerk. A hint had made Cornelius and his sister +acquainted with the scene of the marriage, and they had been unobserved, +but not unobservant, spectators of the ceremony. And for many a day +after Polydore's departure, the two old bachelors maintained a constant +correspondence, in which they discussed the merits of old essayists, and +criticised the beauties of old plays. Sister Clotilda and her brother +never seemed to grow older than they were when Randolph and Helen dwelt +beneath their roof. Sometimes their old lodger invited them through the +chaplain to make a tour to Trevethlan Castle, promising to shew them all +the wonders of the land. But Cornelius, though he did not appear to age, +grew more and more fond of the flags of the metropolis, and could not be +prevailed upon to attempt so long an excursion. "I am no traveller," he +once wrote to Mr. Riches. "Twenty or twenty-five miles of nice quiet +road, with green hedges and comfortable inns, a cow or two here and +there, and now and then a pig, that is all the country I like. London is +my pleasure. I affect a bit of enthusiasm to strangers about this +village of Hampstead, but I should like it better without the hill." And +so peace and farewell to the peachery. + +The arrival of Helen and the chaplain occasioned much rejoicing in the +hamlet of Trevethlan, but the main demonstration was of course reserved +for the coming of the young squire and his bride. And a proud day it was +for old Jeffrey, when their carriage dashed over the green amidst the +cheers of the villagers, and he finally hoisted the family flag to the +top of its staff. + +There was firing and feasting, and dancing, in the hamlet and the +castle; the great hall was thrown open to all comers, and the rivalry +between Trevethlan and Pendarrel was drowned in flowing bowls, and +forgotten in the unions of the mazy measure. And night had long hung her +pall over the sea, before silence reigned in the towers on the cliff. + +And here, perhaps, we might drop the curtain. But the reader will not be +displeased at a rapid glance over some of the years which have elapsed +since that happy day. The tranquillity which succeeded to the first +exuberance of joyousness, was not unchequered with feelings of a more +pensive cast. + +The hamlet, indeed, throve under the renewed splendour of the castle. +Mrs. Miniver removed the boards from the windows in the wings of the +hostelry, and re-opened the rooms which had so long been closed. Nay, +she was no longer Mrs. Miniver, having submitted to the change at which +farmer Colan had hinted, and taken unto herself a husband. Edward Owen +was the fortunate man. True, he was a dozen or fifteen years younger +than his buxom bride, but she was more youthful in spirit than in age. +The match seemed to turn out as comfortably as either party could +desire. It is probable that the lady retained possession of her bunch of +keys. + +His old sweetheart, Mercy, was not to be tempted into wedlock. Helen +renewed her confidence with the fair rustic, and introduced her to +Mildred. But she never forgot her unworthy lover. She scarcely believed +he was lost to her forever; but sometimes felt a transient fear that, in +a foreign land, he might have found the fate predicted for him by the +old sibyl of St. Madron's Well. But no intelligence ever arrived, either +to confirm or to contradict the maiden's apprehensions. + +Mildred had been only a very short time at the castle when she was +introduced to Merlin's Cave. We cannot close our labours without +reverting for a moment to the grotto, which possessed so many +associations for Randolph and Helen. Few of our readers, we would +believe, will not, at some period of their lives, have had a Merlin's +Cave of their own. Seated under the little canopy of rock, the young +bride learned the traditional ballad of her new home, and trusted that +it might never again be applicable to the fortunes of the family. There +too she became acquainted with the black-letter lore, which of old was +the delight of her husband and sister; and there in long detail she +heard the story of their early ambition. On Mid-summer eve they all +repaired thither to witness the lighting of St. John's fires. Then as +the shades of evening fell over the sea, long streams of radiance rose +into the sky from all the numerous villages surrounding the beautiful +bay. From Carn Dew over Lamorna Cove all round to Cudden Point, the +landscape sparkled with the festive bonfires. The spectators might hear +the sounds of distant revelry borne from afar over the waters, and +echoed more loudly from the green of their own hamlet. + +At the trial of the prisoners charged with the incendiarism at +Pendarrel, it was suggested, in their defence, that the fire was +occasioned by the lightning. Gabriel Denis kept his own counsel. And the +doubt so raised, combined with certain powerful intercession, availed to +mitigate the extreme penalties of the law. Of the criminals, some were +transported for various terms, and others imprisoned. Gabriel's little +girl was brought up at Trevethlan Castle, and caused no small trouble, +with her hot Spanish blood. But it was endured, in remembrance of the +confession of the witness, Wyley. + +The long vacation brought Rereworth to the castle, and few days had +passed when he communicated to Randolph, Helen's sanction of his dearest +aspirations. And the brother rejoiced at the news, and warmly +congratulated both himself and his friend. Seymour thought himself +fortunate in obtaining a house, with pleasant grounds attached, in the +neighbourhood where he had first met the lady of his love; and thither, +in the space of a few months, he had the joy of conducting her as his +bride. And Helen cordially accepted her new abode, shared her husband's +hopes, and encouraged his professional ambition. She might be unable to +repress an occasional regret for the land of her infancy, childhood, and +youth, but the feeling was never visible in the company of her friend, +lover, and husband. + +Some years elapsed before Mrs. Pendarrel revisited the country of her +ancestors. She was content to see Mildred and Randolph, when they came +to stay a while with the Winstons or Rereworths, which they did every +spring. She had subsided into a moping kind of melancholy, which annoyed +her husband and grieved her children. The only circumstance which ever +seemed to dissipate it was the growing good understanding between +Gertrude and Mr. Winston. This appeared to remove some of the weight +which oppressed her mind. And it showed, that if those who are cast +together by accident, or even against their will, will study one +another's merits, instead of seeking for faults and dwelling on +discomforts, happiness may be found in circumstances where least it +might be expected beforehand. It was a lesson which Gertrude learned +with a thankful heart. + +The visits of the spring were returned in the autumnal holidays, when a +joyous throng of young people met regularly, in the course of time, at +Trevethlan Castle. Holidays they were indeed. The Rereworths were always +there, and most often the Winstons. Then the base court resounded with +the glee of children, with a confusion of tongues and of names worthy of +Babel. Griffith, declining gently into the vale of years, presided over +the gambols. Sometimes the ancient sport of archery, the loss of which +is so much deplored by Cornwall's old surveyor, Carew, was revived, and +all the neighbouring country met to try their skill at the butts; while +the little ones, escaping from the mild dominion of Polydore Riches, who +was now, in green old age, the teacher of a new generation, mimicked the +proceedings of their seniors, with bows and arrows suited to their +years. + +Pendarrel Hall remained a ruin. The estate was settled upon Mildred and +her husband, and it seemed unnecessary to maintain two large residences +upon the united property. The flower-garden surrounding it was allowed +to run to waste, and the blackened walls continued standing, mournful +memorials of an outrage which had exiled several of its perpetrators +from their native land. Ivy was planted around the foundations, and at +some future day, the ruin might become a picturesque feature in the +landscape. + +It was the doom which its mistress, in the opening of this narrative, +anticipated for the towers of Trevethlan. The menace or the desire had +been deeply avenged. But Esther was not the only person upon whom the +storm left traces of its passage. Mildred was often visited with +feelings of compunction and remorse, and the cloud which they brought +upon her brow called down a similar shadow upon Randolph's. And when her +mother survived Mr. Pendarrel, and in her loneliness accepted the +shelter of Trevethlan Castle, her aspect and demeanour were a constant +source of self-reproach to her daughter. Without being actually +imbecile, she required minute attention. She was very rigid and exacting +in all the little business of life. Her temper was uncertain, and it was +difficult to gratify her fleeting wishes. At times it might be thought +that she remembered how she should have been mistress of the castle, and +imagined for a brief space that she in fact occupied that position. + +Frequently, too, she fell into long and silent reveries, and then it was +that the melancholy which overspread her countenance, caused the +greatest anxiety to her children. She always wore the miniature of +herself, and used to gaze at it, with a vacant but mournful expression, +for an hour at a time. But at length they found a means of diverting her +attention. She attached herself particularly to her eldest +grand-daughter; and whenever she sank into too prolonged a train of +musing, the little girl crept softly to her knees, and took her hand. +And then Esther awoke from her dream of the past, and smoothed the dark +hair upon the child's forehead, and told many little stories, which +delighted the young listener. + +Rarely did it happen that this manner of relief failed of effect. But +sometimes Esther's abstraction was too deep to yield. At such seasons +she murmured to herself in low tones. And the little girl caused her +mother a bitter pang, by unwittingly telling her that, on one of these +occasions, grandmamma was only repeating, over and over again, and +without intermission-- + + "Pendar'l and Trevethlan shall own one name." + + +THE END. + + + + +POPULAR NEW NOVELS. + + +JANE EYRE: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. + +By CURRER BELL. + +Third Edition, with Preface by the Author. + + "A very pathetic tale--very singular; and so like truth, that + it is difficult to avoid believing that much of the characters + and incidents are taken from life. Though woman is called the + weaker sex, here, in one example, is represented the strongest + passion and the strongest principle, admirably supported. It is + an episode in this work-day world, most interesting, and + touched with a daring and delicate hand. The execution of the + painting is as perfect as the conception. It is a book for the + enjoyment of a feeling heart and vigorous + understanding."--_Blackwood's Magazine._ + + +ROSE, BLANCHE, AND VIOLET. + +By G. H. LEWES, Esq. + +Author of "Ranthorpe." + + "Mr. Lewes takes a high position among our novelists: he + possesses no ordinary insight into the human heart."--_Fraser's + Magazine._ + + +BEAUCHAMP; OR, THE ERROR. + +By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq. + + "One of Mr. James's most successful tales. It has plenty of + adventure, some pretty bits of landscape, much good-hearted + sentiment: in short, all the elements of variety and + interest."--_Examiner._ + + +SIR THEODORE BROUGHTON + +Or, LAUREL WATER. + +By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq. + + "'Sir Theodore Broughton' is founded upon the case of Donellan, + who was hanged some seventy years ago for poisoning his + brother-in-law. Mr. James has a knowledge of the age, and he + indicates it both in manners and incidents; the persons, also, + are well discriminated."--_Spectator._ + + +ADVENTURES OF AN AIDE-DE-CAMP; + +Or, A CAMPAIGN IN CALABRIA. + +By JAMES GRANT, Esq. + +Author of the "Romance of War; or the Highlanders in Spain." + + "Overflowing with adventure--adventure in the camp and in the + chamber, and by the road-side; soldiers' adventures, + travellers' adventures, lovers' adventures, murders and + abductions, battles and sudden deaths, in the romantic land of + Calabria."--_Atlas._ + + +THE GAP OF BARNESMORE: + +A Tale of the Irish Highlands, and the Revolution of 1688. + + "These volumes are not unworthy of being placed in the same + book-case with those of Sir Walter Scott."--_Morning Post._ + + +THE CONVICT; + +A TALE. + +By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq. + + "The volumes are well filled with incident; the sentiments are + those of a reflective and well-constituted mind; there is a + perpetual flow of invention in the conduct of the story; and it + agreeably combines a spirit of romance with a just delineation + of social life and manners."--_Britannia._ + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Trevethlan (Vol 3 of 3), by William Davy Watson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREVETHLAN (VOL 3 OF 3) *** + +***** This file should be named 36108.txt or 36108.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/1/0/36108/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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