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diff --git a/old/chhs10.txt b/old/chhs10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b412aec --- /dev/null +++ b/old/chhs10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11474 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chantry House, by Charlotte M. Yonge + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Chantry House + +Author: Charlotte M. Yonge + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7378] +[This file was first posted on April 22, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, CHANTRY HOUSE *** + + + + +Credit + + + +Transcribed from the 1905 Macmillan and Co. edition by David Price, +email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + +CHANTRY HOUSE + + + + +CHAPTER I--A NURSERY PROSE + + + +'And if it be the heart of man + Which our existence measures, +Far longer is our childhood's span + Than that of manly pleasures. + +'For long each month and year is then, + Their thoughts and days extending, +But months and years pass swift with men + To time's last goal descending.' + +ISAAC WILLIAMS. + +The united force of the younger generation has been brought upon me +to record, with the aid of diaries and letters, the circumstances +connected with Chantry House and my two dear elder brothers. Once +this could not have been done without more pain than I could brook, +but the lapse of time heals wounds, brings compensations, and, when +the heart has ceased from aching and yearning, makes the memory of +what once filled it a treasure to be brought forward with joy and +thankfulness. Nor would it be well that some of those mentioned in +the coming narrative should be wholly forgotten, and their place +know them no more. + +To explain all, I must go back to a time long before the morning +when my father astonished us all by exclaiming, 'Poor old James +Winslow! So Chantry House is came to us after all!' Previous to +that event I do not think we were aware of the existence of that +place, far less of its being a possible inheritance, for my parents +would never have permitted themselves or their family to be +unsettled by the notion of doubtful contingencies. + +My father, John Edward Winslow, was a barrister, and held an +appointment in the Admiralty Office, which employed him for many +hours of the day at Somerset House. My mother, whose maiden name +was Mary Griffith, belonged to a naval family. Her father had been +lost in a West Indian hurricane at sea, and her uncle, Admiral Sir +John Griffith, was the hero of the family, having been at Trafalgar +and distinguished himself in cutting out expeditions. My eldest +brother bore his name. The second was named after the Duke of +Clarence, with whom my mother had once danced at a ball on board +ship at Portsmouth, and who had been rather fond of my uncle. +Indeed, I believe my father's appointment had been obtained through +his interest, just about the time of Clarence's birth. + +We three boys had come so fast upon each other's heels in the +Novembers of 1809, 10, and 11, that any two of us used to look like +twins. There is still extant a feeble water-coloured drawing of the +trio, in nankeen frocks, and long white trowsers, with bare necks +and arms, the latter twined together, and with the free hands, +Griffith holding a bat, Clarence a trap, and I a ball. I remember +the emulation we felt at Griffith's privilege of eldest in holding +the bat. + +The sitting for that picture is the only thing I clearly remember +during those earlier days. I have no recollection of the disaster, +which, at four years old, altered my life. The catastrophe, as +others have described it, was that we three boys were riding cock- +horse on the balusters of the second floor of our house in Montagu +Place, Russell Square, when we indulged in a general melee, which +resulted in all tumbling over into the vestibule below. The others, +to whom I served as cushion, were not damaged beyond the power of +yelling, and were quite restored in half-an-hour, but I was +undermost, and the consequence has been a curved spine, dwarfed +stature, an elevated shoulder, and a shortened, nearly useless leg. + +What I do remember, is my mother reading to me Miss Edgeworth's +Frank and the little do Trusty, as I lay in my crib in her bedroom. +I made one of my nieces hunt up the book for me the other day, and +the story brought back at once the little crib, or the watered blue +moreen canopy of the big four-poster to which I was sometimes lifted +for a change; even the scrawly pattern of the paper, which my weary +eyes made into purple elves perpetually pursuing crimson ones, the +foremost of whom always turned upside down; and the knobs in the +Marseilles counterpane with which my fingers used to toy. I have +heard my mother tell that whenever I was most languid and suffering +I used to whine out, 'O do read Frank and the little dog Trusty,' +and never permitted a single word to be varied, in the curious +childish love of reiteration with its soothing power. + +I am afraid that any true picture of our parents, especially of my +mother, will not do them justice in the eyes of the young people of +the present day, who are accustomed to a far more indulgent +government, and yet seem to me to know little of the loyal +veneration and submission with which we have, through life, regarded +our father and mother. It would have been reckoned disrespectful to +address them by these names; they were through life to us, in +private, papa and mamma, and we never presumed to take a liberty +with them. I doubt whether the petting, patronising equality of +terms on which children now live with their parents be equally +wholesome. There was then, however, strong love and self- +sacrificing devotion; but not manifested in softness or cultivation +of sympathy. Nothing was more dreaded than spoiling, which was +viewed as idle and unjustifiable self-gratification at the expense +of the objects thereof. There were an unlucky little pair in +Russell Square who were said to be 'spoilt children,' and who used +to be mentioned in our nursery with bated breath as a kind of +monsters or criminals. I believe our mother laboured under a +perpetual fear of spoiling Griff as the eldest, Clarence as the +beauty, me as the invalid, Emily (two years younger) as the only +girl, and Martyn as the after-thought, six years below our sister. +She was always performing little acts of conscientiousness, little +as we guessed it. + +Thus though her unremitting care saved my life, and was such that +she finally brought on herself a severe and dangerous illness, she +kept me in order all the time, never wailed over me nor weakly +pitied me, never permitted resistance to medicine nor rebellion +against treatment, enforced little courtesies, insisted on every +required exertion, and hardly ever relaxed the rule of Spartan +fortitude in herself as in me. It is to this resolution on her +part, carried out consistently at whatever present cost to us both, +that I owe such powers of locomotion as I possess, and the habits of +exertion that have been even more valuable to me. + +When at last, after many weeks, nay months, of this watchfulness, +she broke down, so that her life was for a time in danger, the lack +of her bracing and tender care made my life very trying, after I +found myself transported to the nursery, scarcely understanding why, +accused of having by my naughtiness made ray poor mamma so ill, and +discovering for the first time that I was a miserable, naughty +little fretful being, and with nobody but Clarence and the housemaid +to take pity on me. + +Nurse Gooch was a masterful, trustworthy woman, and was laid under +injunctions not to indulge Master Edward. She certainly did not err +in that respect, though she attended faithfully to my material +welfare; but woe to me if I gave way to a little moaning; and what I +felt still harder, she never said 'good boy' if I contrived to +abstain. + +I hear of carpets, curtains, and pictures in the existing nurseries. +They must be palaces compared with our great bare attic, where +nothing was allowed that could gather dust. One bit of drugget by +the fireside, where stood a round table at which the maids talked +and darned stockings, was all that hid the bare boards; the walls +were as plain as those of a workhouse, and when the London sun did +shine, it glared into my eyes through the great unshaded windows. +There was a deal table for the meals (and very plain meals they +were), and two or three big presses painted white for our clothes, +and one cupboard for our toys. I must say that Gooch was strictly +just, and never permitted little Emily, nor Griff--though he was +very decidedly the favourite,--to bear off my beloved woolly dog to +be stabled in the houses of wooden bricks which the two were +continually constructing for their menagerie of maimed animals. + +Griff was deservedly the favourite with every one who was not, like +our parents, conscientiously bent on impartiality. He was so bright +and winning, he had such curly tight-rolled hair with a tinge of +auburn, such merry bold blue eyes, such glowing dimpled cheeks, such +a joyous smile all over his face, and such a ringing laugh; he was +so strong, brave, and sturdy, that he was a boy to be proud of, and +a perfect king in his own way, making every one do as he pleased. +All the maids, and Peter the footman, were his slaves, every one +except nurse and mamma, and it was only by a strong effort of +principle that they resisted him; while he dragged Clarence about as +his devoted though not always happy follower. + +Alas! for Clarence! Courage was not in him. The fearless infant +boy chiefly dwells in conventional fiction, and valour seldom comes +before strength. Moreover, I have come to the opinion that though +no one thought of it at the time, his nerves must have had a +terrible and lasting shock at the accident and at the sight of my +crushed and deathly condition, which occupied every one too much for +them to think of soothing or shielding him. At any rate, fear was +the misery of his life. Darkness was his horror. He would scream +till he brought in some one, though he knew it would be only to +scold or slap him. The housemaid's closet on the stairs was to him +an abode of wolves. Mrs. Gatty's tale of The Tiger in the Coal-box +is a transcript of his feelings, except that no one took the trouble +to reassure him; something undefined and horrible was thought to wag +in the case of the eight-day clock; and he could not bear to open +the play cupboard lest 'something' should jump out on him. The +first time he was taken to the Zoological Gardens, the monkeys so +terrified him that a bystander insisted on Gooch's carrying him away +lest he should go into fits, though Griffith was shouting with +ecstasy, and could hardly forgive the curtailment of his enjoyment. + +Clarence used to aver that he really did see 'things' in the dark, +but as he only shuddered and sobbed instead of describing them, he +was punished for 'telling fibs,' though the housemaid used to speak +under her breath of his being a 'Sunday child.' And after long +penance, tied to his stool in the corner, he would creep up to me +and whisper, 'But, Eddy, I really did!' + +However, it was only too well established in the nursery that +Clarence's veracity was on a par with his courage. When taxed with +any misdemeanour, he used to look round scared and bewildered, and +utter a flat demur. One scene in particular comes before me. There +were strict laws against going into shops or buying dainties without +express permission from mamma or nurse; but one day when Clarence +had by some chance been sent out alone with the good natured +housemaid, his fingers were found sticky. + +'Now, Master Clarence, you've been a naughty boy, eating of sweets,' +exclaimed stern Justice in a mob cap and frills. + +'No--no--' faltered the victim; but, alas! Mrs. Gooch had only to +thrust her hand into the little pocket of his monkey suit to convict +him on the spot. + +The maid was dismissed with a month's wages, and poor Clarence +underwent a strange punishment from my mother, who was getting about +again by that time, namely, a drop of hot sealing-wax on his tongue, +to teach him practically the doom of the false tongue. It might +have done him good if there had been sufficient encouragement to him +to make him try to win a new character, but it only added a fresh +terror to his mind; and nurse grew fond of manifesting her +incredulity of his assertions by always referring to Griff or to me, +or even to little Emily. What was worse, she used to point him out +to her congeners in the Square or the Park as 'such a false child.' + +He was a very pretty little fellow, with a delicately rosy face, +wistful blue eyes, and soft, light, wavy hair, and perhaps Gooch was +jealous of his attracting more notice than Griffith, and thought he +posed for admiration, for she used to tell people that no one could +guess what a child he was for slyness; so that he could not bear +going out with her, and sometimes bemoaned himself to me. + +There must be a good deal of sneaking in the undeveloped nature, for +in those days I was ashamed of my preference for Clarence, the +naughty one. But there was no helping it, he was so much more +gentle than Griff, and would always give up any sport that +incommoded me, instead of calling me a stupid little ape, and +becoming more boisterous after the fashion of Griff. Moreover, he +fetched and carried for me unweariedly, and would play at +spillekins, help to put up puzzles, and enact little dramas with our +wooden animals, such as Griff scorned as only fit for babies. Even +nurse allowed Clarence's merits towards me and little Emily, but +always with the sigh: 'If he was but as good in other respects, but +them quiet ones is always sly.' + +Good Nurse Gooch! We all owe much to her staunch fidelity, strong +discipline, and unselfish devotion, but nature had not fitted her to +deal with a timid, sensitive child, of highly nervous temperament. +Indeed, persons of far more insight might have been perplexed by the +fact that Clarence was exemplary at church and prayers, family and +private,--whenever Griff would let him, that is to say,--and would +add private petitions of his own, sometimes of a startling nature. +He never scandalised the nursery, like Griff, by unseemly pranks on +Sundays, nor by innovations in the habits of Noah's ark, but was as +much shocked as nurse when the lion was made to devour the elephant, +or the lion and wolf fought in an embrace fatal to their legs. +Bible stories and Watt's hymns were more to Clarence than even to +me, and he used to ask questions for which Gooch's theology was +quite insufficient, and which brought the invariable answers, 'Now, +Master Clarry, I never did! Little boys should not ask such +questions!' 'What's the use of your pretending, sir! It's all +falseness, that's what it is! I hates hypercriting!' 'Don't +worrit, Master Clarence; you are a very naughty boy to say such +things. I shall put you in the corner!' + +Even nurse was scared one night when Clarence had a frightful +screaming fit, declaring that he saw 'her--her--all white,' and even +while being slapped reiterated, 'HER, Lucy!' + +Lucy was a kind elder girl in the Square gardens, a protector of +little timid ones. She was known to be at that time very ill with +measles, and in fact died that very night. Both my brothers +sickened the next day, and Emily and I soon followed their example, +but no one had it badly except Clarence, who had high fever, and +very much delirium each night, talking to people whom he thought he +saw, so as to make nurse regret her severity on the vision of Lucy. + + + +CHAPTER II--SCHOOLROOM DAYS + + + +'In the loom of life-cloth pleasure, + Ere our childish days be told, +With the warp and woof enwoven, + Glitters like a thread of gold.' + +JEAN INGELOW. + +Looking back, I think my mother was the leading spirit in our +household, though she never for a moment suspected it. Indeed, the +chess queen must be the most active on the home board, and one of +the objects of her life was to give her husband a restful evening +when he came home to the six o'clock dinner. She also had to make +both ends meet on an income which would seem starvation at the +present day; but she was strong, spirited, and managing, and equal +to all her tasks till the long attendance upon me, and the +consequent illness, forced her to spare herself--a little--a very +little. + +Previously she had been our only teacher, except that my father read +a chapter of the Bible with us every morning before breakfast, and +heard the Catechism on a Sunday. For we could all read long before +young gentlefolks nowadays can say their letters. It was well for +me, since books with a small quantity of type, and a good deal of +frightful illustration, beguiled many of my weary moments. You may +see my special favourites, bound up, on the shelf in my bedroom. +Crabbe's Tales, Frank, the Parent's Assistant, and later, Croker's +Tales from English History, Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, Tales of +a Grandfather, and the Rival Crusoes stand pre-eminent--also Mrs. +Leicester's School, with the ghost story cut out. + +Fairies and ghosts were prohibited as unwholesome, and not unwisely. +The one would have been enervating to me, and the other would have +been a definite addition to Clarence's stock of horrors. Indeed, +one story had been cut out of Crabbe's Tales, and another out of an +Annual presented to Emily, but not before Griff had read the latter, +and the version he related to us probably lost nothing in the +telling; indeed, to this day I recollect the man, wont to slay the +harmless cricket on the hearth, and in a storm at sea pursued by a +gigantic cockroach and thrown overboard. The night after hearing +this choice legend Clarence was found crouching beside me in bed for +fear of the cockroach. I am afraid the vengeance was more than +proportioned to the offence! + +Even during my illness that brave mother struggled to teach my +brothers' daily lessons, and my father heard them a short bit of +Latin grammar at his breakfast (five was thought in those days to be +the fit age to begin it, and fathers the fit teachers thereof). And +he continued to give this morning lesson when, on our return from +airing at Ramsgate after our recovery from the measles, my mother +found she must submit to transfer us to a daily governess. + +Old Miss Newton's attainments could not have been great, for her +answers to my inquiries were decidedly funny, and prefaced sotto +voce with, 'What a child it is!' But she was a good kindly lady, +who had the faculty of teaching, and of forestalling rebellion; and +her little thin corkscrew curls, touched with gray, her pale eyes, +prim black silk apron, and sandalled shoes, rise before me full of +happy associations of tender kindness and patience. She was wise, +too, in her own simple way. When nurse would have forewarned her of +Clarence's failings in his own hearing, she cut the words short by +declaring that she should like never to find out which was the +naughty one. And when habit was too strong, and he had denied the +ink spot on the atlas, she persuasively wiled out a confession not +only to her but to mamma, who hailed the avowal as the beginning of +better things, and kissed instead of punishing. + +Clarence's queries had been snubbed into reserve, and I doubt +whether Miss Newton's theoretic theology was very much more +developed than that of Mrs. Gooch, but her practice and devotion +were admirable, and she fostered religious sentiment among us, +introducing little books which were welcome in the restricted range +of Sunday reading. Indeed, Mrs. Sherwood's have some literary +merit, and her Fairchild Family indulged in such delicious and +eccentric acts of naughtiness as quite atoned for all the religious +teaching, and fascinated Griff, though he was apt to be very +impatient of certain little affectionate lectures to which Clarence +listened meekly. My father and mother were both of the old- +fashioned orthodox school, with minds formed on Jeremy Taylor, +Blair, South, and Secker, who thought it their duty to go diligently +to church twice on Sunday, communicate four times a year (their only +opportunities), after grave and serious preparation, read a sermon +to their household on Sunday evenings, and watch over their +children's religious instruction, though in a reserved +undemonstrative manner. My father always read one daily chapter +with us every morning, one Psalm at family prayers, and my mother +made us repeat a few verses of Scripture before our other studies +began; besides which there was special teaching on Sunday, and an +abstinence from amusements, such as would now be called Sabbatarian, +but a walk in the Park with papa was so much esteemed that it made +the day a happy and honoured one to those who could walk. + +There was little going into society, comparatively, for people in +our station,--solemn dinner-parties from time to time--two a year, +did we give, and then the house was turned upside down,--and now and +then my father dined out, or brought a friend home to dinner; and +there were so-called morning calls in the afternoon, but no tea- +drinking. For the most part the heads of the family dined alone at +six, and afterwards my father read aloud some book of biography or +travels, while we children were expected to employ ourselves +quietly, threading beads, drawing, or putting up puzzles, and listen +or not as we chose, only not interrupt, as we sat at the big, +central, round, mahogany table. To this hour I remember portions of +Belzoni's Researches and Franklin's terrible American adventures, +and they bring back tones of my father's voice. As an authority +'papa' was seldom invoked, except on very serious occasions, such as +Griffith's audacity, Clarence's falsehood, or my obstinacy; and then +the affair was formidable, he was judicial and awful, and, though he +would graciously forgive on signs of repentance, he never was +sympathetic. He had not married young, and there were forty years +or more between him and his sons, so that he had left too far behind +him the feelings of boyhood to make himself one with us, even if he +had thought it right or dignified to do so,--yet I cannot describe +the depth of the respect and loyalty he inspired in us nor the +delight we felt in a word of commendation or a special attention +from him. + +The early part of Miss Newton's rule was unusually fertile in such +pleasures, and much might have been spared, could Clarence have been +longer under her influence; but Griff grew beyond her management, +and was taunted by 'fellows in the Square' into assertions of +manliness, such as kicking his heels, stealing her odd little +fringed parasol, pitching his books into the area, keeping her in +misery with his antics during their walks, and finally leading +Clarence off after Punch into the Rookery of St. Giles's, where she +could not follow, because Emily was in her charge. + +This was the crisis. She had to come home without the boys, and +though they arrived long before any of the authorities knew of their +absence, she owned with tears that she could not conscientiously be +responsible any longer for Griffith,--who not only openly defied her +authority, but had found out how little she knew, and laughed at +her. I have reason to believe also that my mother had discovered +that she frequented the preachings of Rowland Hill and Baptist Noel; +and had confiscated some unorthodox tracts presented to the +servants, thus being alarmed lest she should implant the seeds of +dissent. + +Parting with her after four years under her was a real grief. Even +Griff was fond of her; when once emancipated, he used to hug her and +bring her remarkable presents, and she heartily loved her tormentor. +Everybody did. It remained a great pleasure to get her to spend an +evening with us while the elders were gone out to dinner; nor do I +think she ever did us anything but good, though I am afraid we +laughed at 'Old Newton' as we grew older and more conceited. We +never had another governess. My mother read and enforced diligence +on Emily and me, and we had masters for different studies; the two +boys went to school; and when Martyn began to emerge from babyhood, +Emily was his teacher. + + + +CHAPTER III--WIN AND SLOW + + + +'The rude will shuffle through with ease enough: +Great schools best suit the sturdy and the rough.' + +COWPER. + +At school Griffith was very happy, and brilliantly successful, alike +in study and sport, though sports were not made prominent in those +days, and triumphs in them were regarded by the elders with doubtful +pride, lest they should denote a lack of attention to matters of +greater importance. All his achievements were, however, poured +forth by himself and Clarence to Emily and me, and we felt as proud +of them as if they had been our own. + +Clarence was industrious, and did not fail in his school work, but +when he came home for the holidays there was a cowed look about him, +and private revelations were made over my sofa that made my flesh +creep. The scars were still visible, caused by having been +compelled to grasp the bars of the grate bare-handed; and, what was +worse, he had been suspended outside a third story window by the +wrists, held by a schoolfellow of thirteen! + +'But what was Griff about?' I demanded, with hot tears of +indignation. + +'Oh, Win!--that's what they call him, and me Slow--he said it would +do me good. But I don't think it did, Eddy. It only makes my heart +beat fit to choke me whenever I go near the passage window.' + +I could only utter a vain wish that I had been there and able to +fight for him, and I attacked Griff on the subject on the first +opportunity. + +'Oh!' was his answer, 'it is only what all fellows have to bear if +there's no pluck in them. They tried it on upon me, you know, but I +soon showed them it would not do'--with the cock of the nose, the +flash of the eyes, the clench of the fist, that were peculiarly +Griff's own; and when I pleaded that he might have protected +Clarence, he laughed scornfully. 'As to Slow, wretched being, a +fellow can't help bullying him. It comes as natural as to a cat +with a mouse.' On further and reiterated pleadings, Griff declared, +first, that it was the only thing to do Slow any good, or make a man +of him; and next, that he heartily wished that Winslow junior had +been Miss Clara at once, as the fellows called him--it was really +hard on him (Griff) to have such a sneaking little coward tied to +him for a junior! + +I particularly resented the term Slow, for Clarence had lately been +the foremost of us in his studies; but the idea that learning had +anything to do with the matter was derided, and as time went on, +there was vexation and displeasure at his progress not being +commensurate with his abilities. It would have been treason to +schoolboy honour to let the elders know that though a strong, high- +spirited popular boy like 'Win' might venture to excel big bullying +dunces, such fair game as poor 'Slow' could be terrified into not +only keeping below them, but into doing their work for them. To him +Cowper's 'Tirocinium' had only too much sad truth. + +As to his old failing, there were no special complaints, but in +those pre-Arnoldian times no lofty code of honour was even ideal +among schoolboys, or expected of them by masters; shuffling was +thought natural, and allowances made for faults in indolent despair. + +My mother thought the Navy the proper element of boyhood, and her +uncle the Admiral promised a nomination,--a simple affair in those +happy days, involving neither examination nor competition. Griffith +was, however, one of those independent boys who take an aversion to +whatever is forced on them as their fate. He was ready and +successful with his studies, a hero among his comrades, and +preferred continuing at school to what he pronounced, on the +authority of the nautical tales freely thrown in our way, to be the +life of a dog, only fit for the fool of the family; besides, he had +once been out in a boat, tasted of sea-sickness, and been laughed +at. My father was gratified, thinking his brains too good for a +midshipman, and pleased that he should wish to tread in his own +steps at Harrow and Oxford, and thus my mother could not openly +regret his degeneracy when all the rest of us were crazy over Tom +Cringle's Log, and ready to envy Clarence when the offer was passed +on to him, and he appeared in the full glory of his naval uniform. +Not much choice had been offered to him. My mother would have +thought it shameful and ungrateful to have no son available, my +father was glad to have the boy's profession fixed, and he himself +was rejoiced to escape from the miseries he knew only too well, and +ready to believe that uniform and dirk would make a man of him at +once, with all his terrors left behind. Perhaps the chief drawback +was that the ladies WOULD say, 'What a darling!' affording Griff +endless opportunities for the good-humoured mockery by which he +concealed his own secret regrets. Did not even Selina Clarkson, +whose red cheeks, dark blue eyes, and jetty profusion of shining +curls, were our notion of perfect beauty, select the little naval +cadet for her partner at the dancing master's ball? + +In the first voyage, a cruise in the Pacific, all went well. The +good Admiral had carefully chosen ship and captain; there were an +excellent set of officers, a good tone among the midshipmen, and +Clarence, who was only twelve years old, was constituted the pet of +the cockpit. One lad in especial, Coles by name, attracted by +Clarence's pleasant gentleness, and impelled by the generosity that +shields the weak, became his guardian friend, and protected him from +all the roughnesses in his power. If there were a fault in that +excellent Coles, it was that he made too much of a baby of his +protege, and did not train him to shift for himself: but wisdom and +moderation are not characteristics of early youth. At home we had +great enjoyment of his long descriptive letters, which came under +cover to our father at the Admiralty, but were chiefly intended for +my benefit. All were proud of them, and great was my elation when I +heard papa relate some fact out of them with the preface, 'My boy +tells me, my boy Clarence, in the Calypso; he writes a capital +letter.' + +How great was our ecstasy when after three years and a half we had +him at home again; handsome, vigorous, well-grown, excellently +reported of, fully justifying my mother's assurances that the sea +would make a man of him. There was Griffith in the fifth form and a +splendid cricketer, but Clarence could stand up to him now, and +Harrovian exploits were tame beside stories of sharks and negroes, +monkeys and alligators. There was one in particular, about a whole +boat's crew sitting down on what they thought was a fallen tree, but +which suddenly swept them all over on their faces, and turned out to +be a boa-constrictor, and would have embraced one of them if he had +not had the sail of the boat coiled round the mast, and palmed off +upon him, when he gorged it contentedly, and being found dead on the +next landing, his skin was used to cover the captain's sea-chest. +Clarence declined to repeat this tale and many others before the +elders, and was displeased with Emily for referring to it in public. +As to his terrors, he took it for granted that an officer of H.M.S. +Calypso, had left them behind, and in fact, he naturally forgot and +passed over what he had not been shielded from, while his hereditary +love of the sea really made those incidental to his profession much +more endurable than the bullying he had undergone at school. + +We were very happy that Christmas, and very proud of our boys. One +evening we were treated to a box at the pantomime, and even I was +able to go to it. We put our young sailor and our sister in the +forefront, and believed that every one was as much struck with them +as with the wonderful transformations of Goody-Two-Shoes under the +wand of Harlequin. Brother-like, we might tease our one girl, and +call her an affected little pussy cat, but our private opinion was +that she excelled all other damsels with her bright blue eyes and +pretty curling hair, which had the same chestnut shine as Griff's-- +enough to make us correct possible vanity by terming it red, though +we were ready to fight any one else who presumed to do so. Indeed +Griff had defended its hue in single combat, and his eye was treated +for it with beefsteak by Peter in the pantry. We were immensely, +though silently, proud of her in her white embroidered cambric +frock, red sash and shoes, and coral necklace, almost an heirloom, +for it had been brought from Sicily in Nelson's days by my mother's +poor young father. How parents and doctors in these days would have +shuddered at her neck and arms, bare, not only in the evening, but +by day! When she was a little younger she could so shrink up from +her clothes that Griff, or little Martyn, in a mischievous mood, +would put things down her back, to reappear below her petticoats. +Once it was a dead wasp, which descended harmlessly the length of +her spine! She was a good-humoured, affectionate, dear sister, my +valued companion, submitting patiently to be eclipsed when Clarence +was present, and everything to me in his absence. Sturdy little +Martyn too, was held by us to be the most promising of small boys. +He was a likeness of Clarence, only stouter, hardier, and without +the delicate, girlish, wistful look; imitating Griff in everything, +and rather a heavy handful to Emily and me when left to our care, +though we were all the more proud of his high spirit, and were fast +becoming a mutual admiration society. + +What then were our feelings when Griff, always fearless, dashed to +the rescue of a boy under whom the ice had broken in St. James' +Park, and held him up till assistance came? Martyn, who was with +him, was sent home to fetch dry clothes and reassure my mother, +which he did by dashing upstairs, shouting, 'Where's mamma? Here's +Griff been into the water and pulled out a boy, and they don't know +if he is drowned; but he looks--oh!' + +Even after my mother had elicited that Martyn's HE meant the boy, +and not Griff, she could not rest without herself going to see that +our eldest was unhurt, greet him, and bring him home. What happy +tears stood in her eyes, how my father shook hands with him, how we +drank his health after dinner, and how ungrateful I was to think +Clarence deserved his name of Slow for having stayed at home to play +chess with me because my back was aching, when he might have been +winning the like honours! How red and gruff and shy the hero +looked, and how he entreated no one to say any more about it! + +He would not even look publicly at the paragraph about it in the +paper, only vituperating it for having made him into 'a juvenile +Etonian,' and hoping no one from Harrow would guess whom it meant. + +I found that paragraph the other day in my mother's desk, folded +over the case of the medal of the Royal Humane Society, which Griff +affected to despise, but which, when he was well out of the way, +used to be exhibited on high days and holidays. It seems now like +the boundary mark of the golden days of our boyhood, and unmitigated +hopes for one another. + + + +CHAPTER IV--UBI LAPSUS, QUID FECI + + + +'Clarence is come--false, fleeting, perjured Clarence.' + +King Richard III. + +There was much stagnation in the Navy in those days in the reaction +after the great war; and though our family had fair interest at the +Admiralty, it was seven months before my brother went to sea again. +To me they were very happy months, with my helper of helpers, +companion of companions, who made possible to me many a little +enterprise that could not be attempted without him. My father made +him share my studies, and thus they became doubly pleasant. And oh, +ye boys! who murmur at the Waverley Novels as a dry holiday task, ye +may envy us the zest and enthusiasm with which we devoured them in +their freshness. Strangely enough, the last that we read together +was the Fair Maid of Perth. + +Clarence and his friend Coles longed to sail together again, but +Coles was shelved; and when Clarence's appointment came at last, it +was to the brig Clotho, Commander Brydone, going out in the +Mediterranean Fleet, under Sir Edward Codrington. My mother did not +like brigs, and my father did not like what he heard of the captain; +but there had been jealous murmurs about appointments being absorbed +by sons of officials--he durst not pick and choose; and the Admiral +pronounced that if the lad had been spoilt on board the Calypso, it +was time for him to rough it--a dictum whence there was no appeal. + +Half a year later the tidings of the victory of Navarino rang +through Europe, and were only half welcome to the conquerors; but in +our household it is connected with a terrible recollection. Though +more than half a century has rolled by, I shrink from dwelling on +the shock that fell on us when my father returned from Somerset +House with such a countenance that we thought our sailor had fallen; +but my mother could brook the fact far less than if her son had died +a gallant death. The Clotho was on her way home, and Midshipman +William Clarence Winslow was to be tried by court-martial for +insubordination, disobedience, and drunkenness. My mother was like +one turned to stone. She would hardly go out of doors; she could +scarcely bring herself to go to church; she would have had my father +give up his situation if there had been any other means of +livelihood. She could not talk; only when my father sighed, 'We +should never have put him into the Navy,' she hotly replied, + +'How was I to suppose that a son of mine would be like that?' + +Emily cried all day and all night. Some others would have felt it a +relief to have cried too. In more furious language than parents in +those days tolerated, Griff wrote to me his utter disbelief, and how +he had punched the heads of fellows who presumed to doubt that it +was not all a rascally, villainous plot. + +When the time came my father went down by the night mail to +Portsmouth. He could scarcely bear to face the matter; but, as he +said, he could not have it on his conscience if the boy did anything +desperate for want of some one to look after him. Besides, there +might be some explanation. + +'Explanation,' said my mother bitterly. 'That there always is!' + +The 'explanation' was this--I have put together what came out in +evidence, what my father and the Admiral heard from commiserating +officers, and what at different times I learned from Clarence +himself. Captain Brydone was one of the rough old description of +naval men, good sailors and stern disciplinarians, but wanting in +any sense of moral duties towards their ship's company. His +lieutenant was of the same class, soured, moreover, by tardy +promotion, and prejudiced against a gentleman-like, fair-faced lad, +understood to have interest, and bearing a name that implied it. Of +the other two midshipmen, one was a dull lad of low stamp, the other +a youth of twenty, a born bully, with evil as well as tyrannical +propensities;--the crew conforming to severe discipline on board, +but otherwise wild and lawless. In such a ship a youth with good +habits, sensitive conscience, and lack of moral or physical courage, +could not but lead a life of misery, losing every day more of his +self-respect and spirit as he was driven to the evil he loathed, +dreading the consequences, temporal and eternal, with all his soul, +yet without resolution or courage to resist. + +As every one knows, the battle of Navarino came on suddenly, almost +by mistake; and though it is perhaps no excuse, the hurly-burly and +horror burst upon him at unawares. Though the English loss was +comparatively very small, the Clotho was a good deal exposed, and +two men were killed--one so close to Clarence that his clothes were +splashed with blood. This entirely unnerved him; he did not even +know what he did, but he was not to be found when required to carry +an order, and was discovered hidden away below, shuddering, in his +berth, and then made some shallow excuse about misunderstanding +orders. Whether this would have been brought up against him under +other circumstances, or whether it would have been remembered that +great men, including Charles V. and Henri IV., have had their moment +de peur, I cannot tell; but there were other charges. I cannot give +date or details. There is no record among the papers before me; and +I can only vaguely recall what could hardly be read for the sense of +agony, was never discussed, and was driven into the most oblivious +recesses of the soul fifty years ago. There was a story about +having let a boat's crew, of which he was in charge, get drunk and +over-stay their time. One of them deserted; and apparently +prevarication ran to the bounds of perjury, if it did not overpass +them. (N.B.--Seeing seamen flogged was one of the sickening horrors +that haunted Clarence in the Clotho.) Also, when on shore at Malta +with the young man whose name I will not record--his evil genius--he +was beguiled or bullied into a wine-shop, and while not himself was +made the cat's-paw of some insolent practical joke on the +lieutenant; and when called to account, was so bewildered and +excited as to use unpardonable language. + +Whatever it might have been in detail, so much was proved against +him that he was dismissed his ship, and his father was recommended +to withdraw him from the service, as being disqualified by want of +nerve. Also, it was added more privately, that such vicious +tendencies needed home restraint. The big bully, his corrupter, +bore witness against him, but did not escape scot free, for one of +the captains spoke to him in scathing tones of censure. + +Whenever my mother was in trouble, she always re-arranged the +furniture, and a family crisis was always heralded by a revolution +of chairs, tables, and sofas. She could not sit still under +suspense, and, during these terrible days the entire house underwent +a setting to rights. Emily attended upon her, and I sat and dusted +books. No doubt it was much better for us than sitting still. My +father's letter came by the morning mail, telling us of the +sentence, and that he and our poor culprit, as he said, would come +home by the Portsmouth coach in the evening. + +One room was already in order when Sir John Griffith kindly came to +see whether he could bring any comfort to a spirit which would +infinitely have preferred death to dishonour, and was, above all, +shocked at the lack of physical courage. Never had I liked our old +Admiral so well as when I heard how his chief anger was directed +against the general mismanagement, and the cruelty of blighting a +poor lad's life when not yet seventeen. His father might have been +warned to remove him without the public scandal of a court-martial +and dismissal. + +'The guilt and shame would have been all the same to us,' said my +mother. + +'Come, Mary, don't be hard on the poor fellow. In quiet times like +these a poor boy can't look over the wall where one might have +stolen a horse, ay, or a dozen horses, when there was something else +to think about!' + +'You would not have forgiven such a thing, sir.' + +'It never would have happened under me, or in any decently commanded +ship!' he thundered. 'There wasn't a fault to be found with him in +the Calypso. What possessed Winslow to let him sail with Brydone? +But the service is going,' etc. etc., he ran on--forgetting that it +was he himself who had been unwilling, perhaps rightly, to press the +Duke of Clarence for an appointment to a crack frigate for his +namesake. However, when he took leave he repeated, as he kissed my +mother, 'Mind, Mary, don't be set against the lad. That's the way +to make 'em desperate, and he is a mere boy, after all.' + +Poor mother, it was not so much hardness as a wounded spirit that +made her look so rigid. It might have been better if the return +could have been delayed so as to make her yearn after her son, but +there was nowhere for him to go, and the coach was already on its +way. How strange it was to feel the wonted glow at Clarence's +return coupled with a frightful sense of disgrace and depression. + +The time was far on in October, and it was thus quite dark when the +travellers arrived, having walked from Charing Cross, where the +coach set them down. My father came in first, and my mother clung +to him as if he had been absent for weeks, while all the joy of +contact with my brother swept over me, even though his hand hung +limp in mine, and was icy cold like his cheeks. My father turned to +him with one of the little set speeches of those days. 'Here is our +son, Mary, who has promised me to do his utmost to retrieve his +character, as far as may be possible, and happily he is still +young.' + +My mother's embrace was in a sort of mechanical obedience to her +husband's gesture, and her voice was not perhaps meant to be so +severe as it sounded when she said, 'You are very cold--come and +warm yourself.' + +They made room for him by the fire, and my father stood up in front +of it, giving particulars of the journey. Emily and Martyn were at +tea in the nursery, in a certain awe that hindered them from coming +down; indeed, Martyn seems to have expected to see some strange +transformation in his brother. Indeed, there was alteration in the +absence of the blue and gold, and, still more, in the loss of the +lightsome, hopeful expression from the young face. + +There is a picture of Ary Scheffer's of an old knight, whose son had +fled from the battle, cutting the tablecloth in two between himself +and the unhappy youth. Like that stern baron's countenance was that +with which my mother sat at the head of the dinner-table, and we +conversed by jerks about whatever we least cared for, as if we could +hide our wretchedness from Peter. When the children appeared each +gave Clarence the shyest of kisses, and they sat demurely on their +chairs on either side of my father to eat their almonds and raisins, +after which we went upstairs, and there was the usual reading. It +is curious, but though none of us could have told at the time what +it was about, on turning over not long ago a copy of Head's Pampas +and Andes, one chapter struck me with an intolerable sense of +melancholy, such as the bull chases of South America did not seem +adequate to produce, and by and by I remembered that it was the book +in course of being read at that unhappy period. My mother went on +as diligently as ever with some of those perpetual shirts which +seemed to be always in hand except before company, when she used to +do tambour work for Emily's frocks. Clarence sat the whole time in +a dark corner, never stirring, except that he now and then nodded a +little. He had gone through many wakeful, and worse than wakeful, +nights of wretched suspense, and now the worst was over. + +Family prayers took place, chill good-nights were exchanged, and +nobody interfered with his helping me up to my bedroom as usual; but +there was something in his face to which I durst not speak, though +perhaps I looked, for he exclaimed, 'Don't, Ned!' wrung my hand, and +sped away to his own quarters higher up. Then came a sound which +made me open my door to listen. Dear little Emily! She had burst +out of her own room in her dressing-gown, and flung herself upon her +brother as he was plodding wearily upstairs in the dark, clinging +round his neck sobbing, 'Dear, dear Clarry! I can't bear it! I +don't care. You're my own dear brother, and they are all wicked, +horrid people.' + +That was all I heard, except hushings on Clarence's part, as if the +opening of my door and the thread of light from it warned him that +there was risk of interruption. He seemed to be dragging her up to +her own room, and I was left with a pang at her being foremost in +comforting him. + +My father enacted that he should be treated as usual. But how could +that be when papa himself did not know how changed were his own ways +from his kindly paternal air of confidence? All trust had been +undermined, so that Clarence could not cross the threshold without +being required to state his object, and, if he overstayed the time +calculated, he was cross-examined, and his replies received with a +sigh of doubt. + +He hung about the house, not caring to do much, except taking me out +in my Bath chair or languidly reading the most exciting books he +could get;--but there was no great stock of sensation then, except +the Byronic, and from time to time one of my parents would exclaim, +'Clarence, I wonder you can find nothing more profitable to occupy +yourself with than trash like that!' + +He would lay down the book without a word, and take up Smith's +Wealth of Nations or Smollett's England--the profitable studies +recommended, and speedily become lost in a dejected reverie, with +fixed eyes and drooping lips. + + + +CHAPTER V--A HELPING HAND + + + +'Though hawks can prey through storms and winds, +The poor bee in her hive must dwell.' + +HENRY VAUGHAN. + +In imagination the piteous dejection of our family seems to have +lasted for ages, but on comparison of dates it is plain that the +first lightening of the burthen came in about a fortnight's time. + +The firm of Frith and Castleford was coming to the front in the +Chinese trade. The junior partner was an old companion of my +father's boyhood; his London abode was near at hand, and he was a +kind of semi-godfather to both Clarence and me, having stood proxy +for our nominal sponsors. He was as good and open-hearted a man as +ever lived, and had always been very kind to us; but he was scarcely +welcome when my father, finding that he had come up alone to London +to see about some repairs to his house, while his family were still +in the country, asked him to dine and sleep--our first guest since +our misfortune. + +My mother could hardly endure to receive any one, but she seemed +glad to see my father become animated and like himself while Roman +Catholic Emancipation was vehemently discussed, and the ruin of +England hotly predicted. Clarence moped about silently as usual, +and tried to avoid notice, and it was not till the next morning-- +after breakfast, when the two gentlemen were in the dining-room, +nearly ready to go their several ways, and I was in the window +awaiting my classical tutor--that Mr. Castleford said, + +'May I ask, Winslow, if you have any plans for that poor boy?' + +'Edward?' said my father, almost wilfully misunderstanding. 'His +ambition is to be curator of something in the British Museum, isn't +it?' + +Mr. Castleford explained that he meant the other, and my father +sadly answered that he hardly knew; he supposed the only thing was +to send him to a private tutor, but where to find a fit one he did +not know and besides, what could be his aim? Sir John Griffith had +said he was only fit for the Church, 'But one does not wish to +dispose of a tarnished article there.' + +'Certainly not,' said Mr. Castleford; and then he spoke words that +rejoiced my heart, though they only made my father groan, bidding +him remember that it was not so much actual guilt as the accident of +Clarence's being in the Navy that had given so serious a character +to his delinquencies. If he had been at school, perhaps no one +would ever have heard of them, 'Though I don't say,' added the good +man, casting a new light on the subject, 'that it would have been +better for him in the end.' Then, quite humbly, for he knew my +mother especially had a disdain for trade, he asked what my father +would think of letting him give Clarence work in the office for the +present. 'I know,' he said, 'it is not the line your family might +prefer, but it is present occupation; and I do not think you could +well send a youth who has seen so much of the world back to +schooling. Besides, this would keep him under your own eye.' + +My father was greatly touched by the kindness, but he thought it +right to set before Mr. Castleford the very worst side of poor +Clarence; declaring that he durst not answer for a boy who had +never, in spite of pains and punishments, learnt to speak truth at +home or abroad, repeating Captain Brydone's dreadful report, and +even adding that, what was most grievous of all, there was an +affectation of piety about him that could scarcely be anything but +self-deceit and hypocrisy. 'Now,' he said, 'my eldest son, +Griffith, is just a boy, makes no profession, is not--as I am afraid +you have seen--exemplary at church, when Clarence sits as meek as a +mouse, but then he is always above-board, frank and straightforward. +You know where to have a high-spirited fellow, who will tame down, +but you never know what will come next with the other. I sometimes +wonder for what error of mine Providence has seen fit to give me +such a son.' + +Just then an important message came for Mr. Winslow, and he had to +hurry away, but Mr. Castleford still remained, and presently said, + +'Edward, I should like to know what your eyes have been trying to +say all this time.' + +'Oh, sir,' I burst out, 'do give him a chance. Indeed he never +means to do wrong. The harm is not in him. He would have been the +best of us all if he had only been let alone.' + +Those were exactly my own foolish words, for which I could have +beaten myself afterwards; but Mr. Castleford only gave a slight +grave smile, and said, 'You mean that your brother's real defect is +in courage, moral and physical.' + +'Yes,' I said, with a great effort at expressing myself. 'When he +is frightened, or bullied, or browbeaten, he does not know what he +is doing or saying. He is quite different when he is his own self; +only nobody can understand.' + +Strange that though the favoured home son and nearly sixteen years +old, it would have been impossible to utter so much to one of our +parents. Indeed the last sentence felt so disloyal that the colour +burnt in my cheeks as the door opened; but it only admitted +Clarence, who, having heard the front door shut, thought the coast +was clear, and came in with a load of my books and dictionaries. + +'Clarence,' said Mr. Castleford, and the direct address made him +start and flush, 'supposing your father consents, should you be +willing to turn your mind to a desk in my counting-house?' + +He flushed deeper red, and his fingers quivered as he held by the +table. 'Thank you, sir. Anything--anything,' he said hesitatingly. + +'Well,' said Mr. Castleford, with the kindest of voices, 'let us +have it out. What is in your mind? You know, I'm a sort of +godfather to you.' + +'Sir, if you would only let me have a berth on board one of your +vessels, and go right away.' + +'Aye, my poor boy, that's what you would like best, I've no doubt; +but look at Edward's face there, and think what that would come to +at the best!' + +'Yes, I know I have no right to choose,' said Clarence, drooping his +head as before. + +''Tis not that, my dear lad,' said the good man, 'but that packing +you off like that, among your inferiors in breeding and everything +else, would put an end to all hope of your redeeming the past-- +outwardly I mean, of course--and lodge you in a position of +inequality to your brothers and sister, and all--' + +'That's done already,' said Clarence. + +'If you were a man grown it might be so,' returned Mr. Castleford, +'but bless me, how old are you?' + +'Seventeen next 1st of November,' said Clarence. + +'Not a bit too old for a fresh beginning,' said Mr. Castleford +cheerily. 'God helping you, you will be a brave and good man yet, +my boy--' then as my master rang at the door--'Come with me and look +at the old shop.' + +Poor Clarence muttered something unintelligible, and I had to own +for him that he never went out without accounting for himself. +Whereupon our friend caused my mother to be hunted up, and explained +to her that he wanted to take Clarence out with him--making some +excuse about something they were to see together. + +That walk enabled him to say something which came nearer to cheering +Clarence than anything that had passed since that sad return, and +made him think that to be connected with Mr. Castleford was the best +thing that could befall him. Mr. Castleford on his side told my +father that he was sure that the boy was good-hearted all the time, +and thoroughly repentant; but this had the less effect because +plausibility, as my father called it, was one of the qualities that +specially annoyed him in Clarence, and made him fear that his friend +might be taken in. However, the matter was discussed between the +elders, and it was determined that this most friendly offer should +be accepted experimentally. It was impressed on Clarence, with +unnecessary care, that the line of life was inferior; but that it +was his only chance of regaining anything like a position, and that +everything depended on his industry and integrity. + +'Integrity!' commented Clarence, with a burning spot on his cheek +after one of these lectures; 'I believe they think me capable of +robbing the office!' + +We found out, too, that the senior partner, Mr. Frith, a very crusty +old bachelor, did not like the appointment, and that it was made +quite against his will. 'You'll be getting your clerks next from +Newgate!' was what some amiable friend reported him to have said. +However, Mr. Castleford had his way, and Clarence was to begin his +work with the New Year, being in the meantime cautioned and lectured +on the crime and danger of his evil propensities more than he could +well bear. 'Oh!' he groaned, 'it serves me right, I know that very +well, but if my father only knew how I hate and abhor all those +things--and how I loathed them at the very time I was dragged into +them!' + +'Why don't you tell him so?' I asked. + +'That would make it no better.' + +'It is not so bad as if you had gone into it willingly, and for your +own pleasure.' + +'He would only think that another lie.' + +No more could be said, for the idea of Clarence's untruthfulness and +depravity had become so deeply rooted in our father's mind that +there was little hope of displacing it, and even at the best his +manner was full of grave constrained pity. Those few words were +Clarence's first approach to confidence with me, but they led to +more, and he knew there was one person who did not believe the +defect was in the bent of his will so much as in its strength. + +All the time the prospect of the counting-house in comparison with +the sea was so distasteful to him that I was anxious whenever he +went out alone, or even with Griffith, who despised the notion of, +as he said, sitting on a high stool, dealing in tea, so much that he +was quite capable of aiding and abetting in an escape from it. Two +considerations, however, held Clarence back; one, the timidity of +nature which shrank from so violent a step, and the other, the +strong affections that bound him to his home, though his sojourn +there was so painful. He knew the misery his flight would have been +to me; indeed I took care to let him see it. + +And Griffith's return was like a fresh spring wind dispersing +vapours. He had gained an excellent scholarship at Brazenose, and +came home radiant with triumph, cheering us all up, and making a +generous use of his success. He was no letter-writer, and after +learning that the disaster and disgrace were all too certain, he +ignored the whole, and hailed Clarence on his return as if nothing +had happened. As eldest son, and almost a University man, he could +argue with our parents in a manner we never presumed on. At least I +cannot aver what he actually uttered, but probably it was a revised +version of what he thundered forth to me. 'Such nonsense! such a +shame to keep the poor beggar going about with that hang dog look, +as if he had done for himself for life! Why, I've known fellows do +ever so much worse of their own accord, and nothing come of it. If +it was found out, there might be a row and a flogging, and there was +an end of it. As to going about mourning, and keeping the whole +house in doleful dumps, as if there was never to be any good again, +it was utter folly, and so I've told Bill, and papa and mamma, both +of them!' + +How this was administered, or how they took it, there is no knowing, +but Griff would neither skate nor go to the theatre, nor to any +other diversion, without his brother; and used much kindly force and +banter to unearth him from his dismal den in the back drawing-room. +He was only let alone when there were engagements with friends, and +indeed, when meetings in the streets took place, by tacit agreement, +Clarence would shrink off in the crowd as if not belonging to his +companion; and these were the moments that stung him into longing to +flee to the river, and lose the sense of shame among common sailors: +but there was always some good angel to hold him back from desperate +measures--chiefly just then, the love between us three brothers, a +love that never cooled throughout our lives, and which dear old +Griff made much more apparent at this critical time than in the old +Win and Slow days of school. That return of his enlivened us all, +and removed the terrible constraint from our meals, bringing us +back, as it were, to ordinary life and natural intercourse among +ourselves and with our neighbours. + + + +CHAPTER VI--THE VALLEY OF HUMILIATION + + + +'But when I lay upon the shore, + Like some poor wounded thing, +I deemed I should not evermore + Refit my wounded wing. +Nailed to the ground and fastened there, +This was the thought of my despair.' + +ABP. TRENCH. + +Clarence's debut at the office was not wholly unsuccessful. He +wrote a good hand, and had a good deal of method and regularity in +his nature, together with a real sense of gratitude to Mr. +Castleford; and this bore him through the weariness of his new +employment, and, what was worse, the cold reception he met with from +the other clerks. He was too quiet and reserved for the wilder +spirits, too much of a gentleman for others, and in the eyes of the +managers, and especially of the senior partner, a disgraced, +untrustworthy youth foisted on the office by Mr. Castleford's weak +partiality. That old Mr. Frith had, Clarence used to say, a +perfectly venomous way of accepting his salute, and seemed always +surprised and disappointed if he came in in time, or showed up +correct work. Indeed, the old man was disliked and feared by all +his subordinates as much as his partner was loved; and while Mr. +Castleford, with his good-natured Irish wife and merry family, lived +a life as cheerful as it was beneficent, Mr. Frith dwelt entirely +alone, in rooms over the office, preserving the habits formed when +his income had been narrow, and mistrusting everybody. + +At the end of the first month of experiment, Mr. Castleford declared +himself contented with Clarence's industry and steadiness, and +permanent arrangements were made, to which Clarence submitted with +an odd sort of passive gratitude, such as almost angered my father, +who little knew how trying the position really was, nor how a +certain home-sickness for the seafaring life was tugging at the +lad's heart, and making each morning's entrance at the counting- +house an effort--each merchant-captain, redolent of the sea, an +object of envy. My mother would have sympathised here, but Clarence +feared her more than my father, and she was living in continual +dread of some explosion, so that her dark curls began to show +streaks of gray, and her face to lose its round youthfulness. + +Lent brought the question of Confirmation. Under the influence of +good Bishop Blomfield, and in the wave of evangelical revival--then +at its flood height--Confirmation was becoming a more prominent +subject with religious people than it had probably ever been in our +Church, and it was recognised that some preparation was desirable +beyond the power of repeating the Church Catechism. This was all +that had been required of my father at Harrow. My mother's +godfather, a dignified clergyman, had simply said, 'I suppose, my +dear, you know all about it;' and as for the Admiral, he remarked, +'Confirmed! I never was confirmed anything but a post-captain!' + +Our incumbent was more attentive to his duties, or rather recognised +more duties, than his predecessor. He preached on the subject, and +formed classes, sixteen being then the limit of age,--since the idea +of the vow, having become far more prominent than that of the +blessing, it was held that full development of the will and +understanding was needful. + +I was of the requisite age, and my father spoke to the clergyman, +who called, and, as I could not attend the classes, gave me books to +read and questions to answer. Clarence read and discussed the +questions with me, showing so much more insight into them, and +fuller knowledge of Scripture than I possessed, that I exclaimed, +'Why should you not go up for Confirmation too?' + +'No,' he answered mournfully. 'I must take no more vows if I can't +keep them. It would just be profane.' + +I had no more to say; indeed, my parents held the same view. It was +good Mr. Castleford who saw things differently. He was a +clergyman's son, and had been bred up in the old orthodoxy, which +was just beginning to put forth fresh shoots, and, as a quasi- +godfather, he held himself bound to take an interest in our +religious life, while the sponsors, whose names stood in the family +Bible, and whose spoons reposed in the plate-chest, never troubled +themselves on the matter. I remember Clarence leaning over me and +saying, 'Mr. Castleford thinks I might be confirmed. He says it is +not so much the promise we make as of coming to Almighty God for +strength to keep what we are bound by already! He is going to speak +to papa.' + +Perhaps no one except Mr. Castleford could have prevailed over the +fear of profanation in the mind of my father, who was, in his old- +fashioned way, one of the most reverent of men, and could not bear +to think of holy things being approached by one under a stigma, nor +of exposing his son to add to his guilt by taking and breaking +further pledges. However, he was struck by his friend's arguments, +and I heard him telling my mother that when he had wished to wait +till there had been time to prove sincerity of repentance by a +course of steadiness, the answer had been that it was hard to +require strength, while denying the means of grace. My mother was +scarcely convinced, but as he had consented she yielded without a +protest; and she was really glad that I should have Clarence at my +side to help me at the ceremony. The clergyman was applied to, and +consented to let Clarence attend the classes, where his knowledge, +comprehension, and behaviour were exemplary, so that a letter was +written to my father expressive of perfect satisfaction with him. +'There,' said my father, 'I knew it would be so! It is not THAT +which I want.' + +The Confirmation seemed at the time a very short and perfunctory +result of our preparation; and, as things were conducted or +misconducted then, involved so much crowding and distress that I +recollect very little but clinging to Clarence's arm under a strong +sense of my infirmities,--the painful attempt at kneeling, and the +big outstretched lawn sleeves while the blessing was pronounced over +six heads at once, and then the struggle back to the pew, while the +silver-pokered apparitor looked grim at us, as though the maimed and +halt had no business to get into the way. Yet this was a great +advance upon former Confirmations, and the Bishop met my father +afterwards, and inquired most kindly after his lame son. + +We were disappointed, and felt that we could not attain to the +feelings in the Confirmation poem in the Christian Year--Mr. +Castleford's gift to me. Still, I believe that, though encumbered +with such a drag as myself, Clarence, more than I did, + + +'Felt Him how strong, our hearts how frail, +And longed to own Him to the death.' + + +But the evangelical belief that dejection ought to be followed by a +full sense of pardon and assurance of salvation somewhat perplexed +and dimmed our Easter Communion. For one short moment, as Clarence +turned to help my father lift me up from the altar-rail, I saw his +face and eyes radiant with a wonderful rapt look; but it passed only +too fast, and the more than ordinary glimpse his spiritual nature +had had made him all the more sad afterwards, when he said, 'I would +give everything to know that there was any steadfastness in my +purpose to lead a new life.' + +'But you are leading a new life.' + +'Only because there is no one to bully me,' he said. Still, there +had been no reproach against him all the time he had been at Frith +and Castleford's, when suddenly we had a great shock. + +Parties were running very high, and there were scurrilous papers +about, which my father perfectly abhorred; and one day at dinner, +when declaiming against something he had seen, he laid down strict +commands that none should be brought into the house. Then, glancing +at Clarence, something possessed him to say, 'You have not been +buying any.' + +'No, sir,' Clarence answered; but a few minutes later, when we were +alone together, the others having left him to help me upstairs, he +exclaimed, 'Edward, what is to be done? I didn't buy it; but there +is one of those papers in my great-coat pocket. Pollard threw it on +my desk; and there was something in it that I thought would amuse +you.' + +'Oh! why didn't you say so?' + +'There I am again! I simply could not, with his eye on me! +Miserable being that I am! Oh, where is the spirit of ghostly +strength?' + +'Helping you now to take it to papa in the study and explain!' I +cried; but the struggle in that tall fellow was as if he had been +seven years old instead of seventeen, ere he put his hand over his +face and gave me his arm to come out into the hall, fetch the paper, +and make his confession. Alas! we were too late. The coat had been +moved, the paper had fallen out; and there stood my mother with it +in her hand, looking at Clarence with an awful stony face of mute +grief and reproach, while he stammered forth what he had said +before, and that he was about to give it to my father. She turned +away, bitterly, contemptuously indignant and incredulous; and my +corroborations only served to give both her and my father a certain +dread of Clarence's influence over me, as though I had been either +deceived or induced to back him in deceiving them. The unlucky +incident plunged him back into the depths, just as he had begun to +emerge. Slight as it was, it was no trifle to him, in spite of +Griffith's exclamation, 'How absurd! Is a fellow to be bound to +give an account of everything he looks at as if he were six years +old? Catch me letting my mother pry into my pockets! But you are +too meek, Bill; you perfectly invite them to make a row about +nothing!' + + + +CHAPTER VII--THE INHERITANCE + + + +'For he that needs five thousand pound to live +Is full as poor as he that needs but five. +But if thy son can make ten pound his measure, +Then all thou addest may be called his treasure.' + +GEORGE HERBERT. + +It was in the spring of 1829 that my father received a lawyer's +letter announcing the death of James Winslow, Esquire, of Chantry +House, Earlscombe, and inviting him, as heir-at-law, to be present +at the funeral and opening of the will. The surprise to us all was +great. Even my mother had hardly heard of Chantry House itself, far +less as a possible inheritance; and she had only once seen James +Winslow. He was the last of the elder branch of the family, a third +cousin, and older than my father, who had known him in times long +past. When they had last met, the Squire of Chantry House was a +married man, with more than one child; my father a young barrister; +and as one lived entirely in the country and the other in town, +without any special congeniality, no intercourse had been kept up, +and it was a surprise to hear that he had left no surviving +children. My father greatly doubted whether being heir-at-law would +prove to avail him anything, since it was likely that so distant a +relation would have made a will in favour of some nearer connection +on his wife's or mother's side. He was very vague about Chantry +House, only knowing that it was supposed to be a fair property, and +he would hardly consent to take Griffith with him by the Western +Royal Mail, warning him and all the rest of us that our expectations +would be disappointed. + +Nevertheless we looked out the gentlemen's seats in Paterson's Road +Book, and after much research, for Chantry House lay far off from +the main road, we came upon--'Chantry House, Earlscombe, the seat of +James Winslow, Esquire, once a religious foundation; beautifully +situated on a rising ground, commanding an extensive prospect--' + +'A religious foundation!' cried Emily. 'It will be a dear delicious +old abbey, all Gothic architecture, with cloisters and ruins and +ghosts.' + +'Ghosts!' said my mother severely, 'what has put such nonsense into +your head?' + +Nevertheless Emily made up her mind that Chantry House would be +another Melrose, and went about repeating the moonlight scene in the +Lay of the Last Minstrel whenever she thought no one was there to +laugh at her. + +My father and Griffith returned with the good news that there was no +mistake. Chantry House was really his own, with the estate +belonging to it, reckoned at 5000 pounds a year, exclusive of a +handsome provision to Miss Selby, the niece of the late Mrs. +Winslow, a spinster of a certain age, who had lived with her uncle, +and now proposed to remove to Bath. Mr. Winslow had, it appeared, +lost his only son as a schoolboy, and his daughters, like their +mother, had been consumptive. He had always been resolved that the +estate should continue in the family; but reluctance to see any one +take his son's place had withheld him from making any advances to my +father; and for several years past he had been in broken health with +failing faculties. + +Of course there was much elation. Griff described as charming the +place, perched on the southern slope of a wooded hill, with a broad +fertile valley lying spread out before it, and the woods behind +affording every promise of sport. The house, my father said, was +good, odd and irregular, built at different times, but quite +habitable, and with plenty of furniture, though he opined that mamma +would think it needed modernising, to which she replied that our +present chattels would make a great difference; whereat my father, +looking at the effects of more than twenty years of London blacks, +gave a little whistle, for she was always the economical one of the +pair. + +Emily, with glowing cheeks and eager eyes, entreated to know whether +it was Gothic, and had a cloister! Papa nipped her hopes of a +cloister, but there were Gothic windows and doorway, and a bit of +ruin in the garden, a fragment of the old chapel. + +My father could not resign his office without notice, and, besides, +he wished Miss Selby to have leisure for leaving her home of many +years; after which there would be a few needful repairs. The delay +was not a great grievance to any of us except little Martyn. We +were much more Cockney than almost any one is in these days of +railways. We were unusually devoid of kindred on both sides, my +father's holidays were short, I was not a very movable commodity, +and economy forbade long journeys, so that we had never gone farther +than Ramsgate, where we claimed a certain lodging-house as a sort of +right every summer. + +Real country was as much unknown to us as the backwoods. My father +alone had been born and bred to village life and habits, for my +mother had spent her youth in a succession of seaport towns, +frequented by men-of-war. We heard, too, that Chantry House was +very secluded, with only a few cottages near at hand--a mile and a +half from the church and village of Earlscombe, three from the tiny +country town of Wattlesea, four from the place where the coach +passed, connecting it with the civilisation of Bath and Bristol, +from each of which places it was about half a day's distance, +according to the measures of those times. It was a sort of +banishment to people accustomed to the stream of life in London; and +though the consequence and importance derived from being raised to +the ranks of the Squirearchy were agreeable, they were a dear +purchase at the cost of being out of reach of all our friends and +acquaintances, as well as of other advantages. + +To my father, however, the retirement from his many years of +drudgery was really welcome, and he had preserved enough of country +tastes to rejoice that it was, as he said, a clear duty to reside on +his estate and look after his property. My mother saw his relief in +the prospect, and suppressed her sighs at the dislocation of her +life-long habits, and the loss of intercourse with the acquaintance +whom separation raised to the rank of intimate friends, even her +misgivings as to butchers, bakers, and grocers in the wilderness, +and still worse, as to doctors for me. + +'Humph!' said the Admiral, 'the boy will be all the better without +them.' + +And so I was; I can't say they were the subject of much regret, but +I was really sorry to leave our big neighbour, the British Museum, +where there were good friends who always made me welcome, and +encouraged me in studies of coins and heraldry, which were great +resources to me, so that I used to spend hours there, and was by no +means willing to resign my ambition of obtaining an appointment +there, when I heard my father say that he was especially thankful +for his good fortune because it enabled him to provide for me. +There were lessons, too, from masters in languages, music, and +drawing, which Emily and I shared, and which she had just begun to +value thoroughly. We had filled whole drawing-books with wriggling +twists of foliage in B B B marking pencil, and had just been +promoted to water-colours; and she was beginning to sing very +prettily. I feared, too, that I should no longer have a chance of +rivalling Griffith's university studies. All this, with my sister's +girl friends, and those kind people who used to drop in to play +chess, and otherwise amuse me, would all be left behind; and, sorest +of all, Clarence, who, whatever he was in the eyes of others, had +grown to be my mainstay during this last year. He it was who +fetched me from the Museum, took me into the gardens, helped me up +and down stairs, spared no pains to rout out whatever my fanciful +pursuits required from shops in the City, and, in very truth, spoilt +me through all his hours that were free from business, besides being +my most perfect sympathising and understanding companion. + +I feared, too, that he would be terribly lonesome, though of late he +had been less haunted by longings for the sea, had made some way +with his fellows, and had been commended by the managing clerk; and +it was painful to find the elders did not grieve on their own +account at parting with him. My mother told the Admiral that she +thought it would be good for Mr. Winslow's spirits not to be +continually reminded of his trouble; and my father might be heard +confiding to Mr. Castleford that the separation might be good for +both her and her son, if only the lad could be trusted. To which +that good man replied by giving him an excellent character; but was +only met by a sigh, and 'Well, we shall see!' + +Clarence was to be lodged with Peter, whose devotion would not +extend to following us into barbarism, where, as he told us, he +understood there was no such thing as a 'harea,' and master would +have to kill his own mutton. + +Peter had been tranquilly engaged to Gooch for years untold. They +were to be transformed into Mr. and Mrs. Robson, with some small +appointment about the Law Courts for him, and a lodging-house for +her, where Clarence was to abide, my mother feeling secure that +neither his health, his morals, nor his shirts could go much astray +without her receiving warning thereof. + +Meanwhile, by the help of an antiquarian friend of my father, Mr. +Stafford, who was great in county history, I hunted up in the Museum +library all I could discover about our new possession. + +The Chantry of St. Cecily at Earlscombe, in Somersetshire, had, it +appeared, been founded and endowed by Dame Isabel d'Oyley, in the +year of grace 1434, that constant prayers might be offered for the +souls of her husband and son, slain in the French wars. The poor +lady's intentions, which to our Protestant minds appeared rather +shocking than otherwise, had been frustrated at the break up of such +establishments, when the Chantry, and the estate that maintained its +clerks and bedesmen, was granted to Sir Harry Power, from whom, +through two heiresses, it had come to the Fordyces, the last of +whom, by name Margaret, had died childless, leaving the estate to +her stepson, Philip Winslow, our ancestor. + +Moreover, we learnt that a portion of the building was of ancient +date, and that there was an 'interesting fragment' of the old chapel +in the grounds, which our good friend promised himself the pleasure +of investigating on his first holiday. + +To add to our newly-acquired sense of consideration and of high +pedigree, the family chariot, after taking Miss Selby to Bath, came +up post to London to be touched up at the coachbuilder's, have the +escutcheon altered so as to impale the Griffith coat instead of the +Selby, and finally to convey us to our new abode, in preparation for +which all its boxes came to be packed. + +A chariot! You young ones have as little notion of one as of a +British war-chariot armed with scythes. Yet people of a certain +grade were as sure to keep their chariot as their silver tea-pot; +indeed we knew one young couple who started in life with no other +habitation, but spent their time as nomads, in visits to their +relations and friends, for visits WERE visits then. + +The capacities of a chariot were considerable. Within, there was a +good-sized seat for the principal occupants, and outside a dickey +behind, and a driving box before, though sometimes there was only +one of these, and that transferable. The boxes were calculated to +hold family luggage on a six months' tour. There they lay on the +spare-room floor, ready to be packed, the first earnest of our new +possessions--except perhaps the five-pound note my father gave each +of us four elder ones, on the day the balance at the bank was made +over to him. There was the imperial, a grand roomy receptacle, +which was placed on the top of the carriage, and would not always go +upstairs in small houses; the capbox, which fitted into a curved +place in front of the windows, and could not stand alone, but had a +frame to support it; two long narrow boxes with the like infirmity +of standing, which fitted in below; square ones under each seat; and +a drop box fastened on behind. There were pockets beneath each +window, and, curious relic in name and nature of the time when every +gentleman carried his weapon, there was the sword case, an +excrescence behind the back of the best seat, accessible by lifting +a cushion, where weapons used to be carried, but where in our +peaceful times travellers bestowed their luncheon and their books. + +Our chariot was black above, canary yellow below, beautifully +varnished, and with our arms blazoned on each door. It was lined +with dark blue leather and cloth, picked out with blue and yellow +lace in accordance with our liveries, and was a gorgeous spectacle. +I am afraid Emily did not share in Mistress Gilpin's humility when + + + 'The chaise was brought, + But yet was not allowed +To drive up to the door, lest all + Should say that she was proud!' + + +It was then that Emily and I each started a diary to record the +events of our new life. Hers flourished by fits and starts; but I +having perforce more leisure than she, mine has gone on with few +interruptions till the present time, and is the backbone of this +narrative, which I compile and condense from it and other sources +before destroying it. + + + +CHAPTER VIII--THE OLD HOUSE + + + +'Your history whither are you spinning? + Can you do nothing but describe? +A house there is, and that's enough!' + +GRAY. + +How we did enjoy our journey, when the wrench from our old home was +once made. We did not even leave Clarence behind, for Mr. +Castleford had given him a holiday, so that he might not appear to +be kept at a distance, as if under a cloud, and might help me +through our travels. + +My mother and I occupied the inside of the carriage, with Emily +between us at the outset; but when we were off the London stones she +was often allowed to make a third on the dickey with Clarence and +Martyn, whose ecstatic heels could be endured for the sake of the +free air and the view. Of course we posted, and where there were +severe hills we indulged in four horses. The varieties of the +jackets of our post-boys, blue or yellow, as supposed to indicate +the politics of their inns, were interesting to us, as everything +was interesting then. Otherwise their equipment was exactly alike-- +neat drab corduroy breeches and top-boots, and hats usually white, +and they were all boys, though the red faces and grizzled hair of +some looked as if they had faced the weather for at least fifty +years. + +It was a beautiful August, and the harvest fields were a sight +perfectly new, filling us with rapture unspeakable. At every hill +which offered an excuse, our outsiders were on their feet, thrusting +in their heads and hands to us within with exclamations of delight, +and all sorts of discoveries--really new to us three younger ones. +Ears of corn, bearded barley, graceful oats, poppies, corn-flowers, +were all delicious novelties to Emily and me, though Griff and my +father laughed at our ecstasies, and my mother occasionally objected +to the wonderful accumulation of curiosities thrust into her lap or +the door pockets, and tried to persuade Martyn that rooks' wings, +dead hedgehogs, sticks and stones of various merits, might be found +at Earlscombe, until Clarence, by the judicious purchase of a basket +at Salisbury, contrived to satisfy all parties and safely dispose of +the treasures. The objects that stand out in my memory on that +journey were Salisbury Spire, and a long hill where the hedgebank +was one mass of the exquisite rose-bay willow herb--a perfect +revelation to our city-bred eyes; but indeed, the whole route was +like one panorama to us of L'Allegro and other descriptions on which +we had fed. For in those days we were much more devoted to poetry +than is the present generation, which has a good deal of false shame +on that head. + +Even dining and sleeping at an inn formed a pleasing novelty, though +we did not exactly sympathise with Martyn when he dashed in at +breakfast exulting in having witnessed the killing of a pig. As my +father observed, it was too like realising Peter's forebodings of +our return to savage life. + +Demonstrations were not the fashion of these times, and there was a +good deal of dull discontent and disaffection in the air, so that no +tokens of welcome were prepared for us--not even a peal of bells; +nor indeed should we have heard them if they had been rung, for the +church was a mile and a half beyond the house, with a wood between +cutting off the sound, except in certain winds. We did not miss a +reception, which would rather have embarrassed us. We began to +think it was time to arrive, and my father believed we were climbing +the last hill, when, just as we had passed a remarkably pretty +village and church, Griffith called out to say that we were on our +own ground. He had made his researches with the game keeper while +my father was busy with the solicitor, and could point to our +boundary wall, a little below the top of the hill on the northern +side. He informed us that the place we had passed was Hillside-- +Fordyce property,--but this was Earlscombe, our own. It was a great +stony bit of pasture with a few scattered trees, but after the flat +summit was past, the southern side was all beechwood, where a gate +admitted us into a drive cut out in a slant down the otherwise steep +descent, and coming out into an open space. And there we were! + +The old house was placed on the widest part of a kind of shelf or +natural terrace, of a sort of amphitheatre shape, with wood on +either hand, but leaving an interval clear in the midst broad enough +for house and gardens, with a gentle green slope behind, and a much +steeper one in front, closed in by the beechwoods. The house stood +as it were sideways, or had been made to do so by later inhabitants. +I know this is very long-winded, but there have been such +alterations that without minute description this narrative will be +unintelligible. + +The aspect was northwards so far as the lie of the ground was +concerned, but the house stood across. The main body was of the big +symmetrical Louis XIV. style--or, as it is now the fashion to call +it, Queen Anne--brick, with stone quoins, big sash-windows, and a +great square hall in the midst, with the chief rooms opening into +it. The principal entrance had been on the north, with a huge front +door and a flight of stone steps, and just space enough for a gravel +coach ring before the rapid grassy descent. Later constitutions, +however, must have eschewed that northern front door, and later +nerves that narrow verge, and on the eastern front had been added +that Gothic porch of which Emily had heard,--and a flagrantly modern +Gothic porch it was, flanked by two comical little turrets, with +loopholes, from which a thread-paper or Tom Thumb might have +defended it. Otherwise it resembled a church porch, except for the +formidable points of a sham portcullis; but there was no denying +that it greatly increased the comfort of the house, with its two +sets of heavy doors, and the seats on either side. The great hall +door had been closed up, plastered over within, and rendered +inoffensive. Towards the west there was another modern addition of +drawing and dining rooms, and handsome bedchambers above, in Gothic +taste, i.e. with pointed arches filled up with glass over the sash- +windows. The drawing-room was very pretty, with a glass door at the +end leading into an old-fashioned greenhouse, and two French windows +to the south opening upon the lawn, which soon began to slope +upwards, curving, as I said, like an amphitheatre, and was always +shady and sheltered, tilting its flower-beds towards the house as if +to display them. The dining-room had, in like manner, one west and +two north windows, the latter commanding a grand view over the green +meadow-land below, dotted with round knolls, and rising into blue +hills beyond. We became proud of counting the villages and church +towers we could see from thence. + +There was a still older portion, more ancient than the square corps +de logis, and built of the cream-coloured stone of the country. It +was at the south-eastern angle, where the ground began sloping so +near the house that this wing--if it may so be called--containing +two good-sized rooms nearly on a level with the upper floor, had +nothing below but some open stone vaultings, under which it was only +just possible for my tall brothers to stand upright, at the +innermost end. These opened into the cellars which, no doubt, +belonged to the fifteenth-century structure. There seemed to have +once been a door and two or three steps to the ground, which rose +very close to the southern end; but this had been walled up. The +rooms had deep mullioned windows east and west, and very handsome +groined ceilings, and were entered by two steps down from the +gallery round the upper part of the hall. There was a very handsome +double staircase of polished oak, shaped like a Y, the stem of which +began just opposite the original front door--making us wonder if +people knew what draughts were in the days of Queen Anne, and +remember Madame de Maintenon's complaint that health was sacrificed +to symmetry. Not far from this oldest portion were some broken bits +of wall and stumps of columns, remnants of the chapel, and prettily +wreathed with ivy and clematis. We rejoiced in such a pretty and +distinctive ornament to our garden, and never troubled ourselves +about the desecration; and certainly ours was one of the most +delightful gardens that ever existed, what with green turf, bright +flowers, shapely shrubs, and the grand beech-trees enclosing it with +their stately white pillars, green foliage, and the russet arcades +beneath them. The stillness was wonderful to ears accustomed to the +London roar--almost a new sensation. Emily was found, as she said, +'listening to the silence;' and my father declared that no one could +guess at the sense of rest that it gave him. + +Of space within there was plenty, though so much had been sacrificed +to the hall and staircase; and this was apparently the cause of the +modern additions, as the original sitting-rooms, wainscotted and +double-doored, were rather small for family requirements. One of +these, once the dining-room, became my father's study, where he read +and wrote, saw his tenants, and by and by acted as Justice of the +Peace. The opposite one, towards the garden, was termed the book- +room. Here Martyn was to do his lessons, and Emily and I carry on +our studies, and do what she called keeping up her accomplishments. +My couch and appurtenances abode there, and it was to be my retreat +from company,--or on occasion could be made a supplementary drawing- +room, as its fittings showed it had been the parlour. It +communicated with another chamber, which became my own--sparing the +difficulties that stairs always presented; and beyond lay, niched +under the grand staircase, a tiny light closet, a passage-room, +where my mother put a bed for a man-servant, not liking to leave me +entirely alone on the ground floor. It led to a passage to the +garden door, also to my mother's den, dedicated to housewifely cares +and stores, and ended at the back stairs, descending to the +servants' region. This was very old, handsomely vaulted with stone, +and, owing to the fall of the ground, had ample space for light on +the north side,--where, beyond the drive, the descent was so rapid +as to afford Martyn infinite delight in rolling down, to the horror +of all beholders and the detriment of his white duck trowsers. + +I don't know much about the upper story, so I spare you that. Emily +had a hankering for one of the pretty old mullioned-windowed rooms-- +the mullion chambers, as she named them; but Griff pounced on them +at once, the inner for his repose, the outer for his guns and his +studies--not smoking, for young men were never permitted to smoke +within doors, nor indeed in any home society. The choice of the son +and heir was undisputed, and he proceeded to settle his possessions +in his new domains, where they made an imposing appearance. + + + +CHAPTER IX--RATS + + + +'As louder and louder, drawing near, +The gnawing of their teeth he could hear.' + +SOUTHEY. + +'What a ridiculous old fellow that Chapman is,' said Griff, coming +in from a conference with the gaunt old man who acted as keeper to +our not very extensive preserves. 'I told him to get some gins for +the rats in my rooms, and he shook his absurd head like any +mandarin, and said, "There baint no trap as will rid you of them +kind of varmint, sir."' + +'Of course,' my father said, 'rats are part of the entail of an old +house. You may reckon on them.' + +'Those rooms of yours are the very place for them,' added my mother. +'I only hope they will not infest the rest of the house.' + +To which Griff rejoined that they perpetrated the most extraordinary +noises he had ever heard from rats, and told Emily she might be +thankful to him for taking those rooms, for she would have been +frightened out of her little wits. He meant, he said, to get a +little terrier, and have a thorough good rat hunt, at which Martyn +capered about in irrepressible ecstasy. + +This, however, was deferred by the unwillingness of old Chapman, of +whom even Griff was somewhat in awe. His fame as a sportsman had to +be made, and he had had only such practice as could be attained by +shooting at a mark ever since he had been aware of his coming +greatness. So he was desirous of conciliating Chapman, and not +getting laughed at as the London young gentleman who could not hit a +hay-stack. My father, who had been used to carrying a gun in his +younger days, was much amused, in his quiet way, at seeing Griff +watch Chapman off on his rounds, and then betake himself to the +locality most remote from the keeper's ears to practise on the rook +or crow. Martyn always ran after him, having solemnly promised not +to touch the gun, and to keep behind. He was too good-natured to +send the little fellow back, though he often tried to elude the +pursuit, not wishing for a witness to his attempts; and he never +invited Clarence, who had had some experience of curious game but +never mentioned it. + +Clarence devoted himself to Emily and me, tugging my garden-chair +along all the paths where it would go without too much jolting, and +when I had had enough, exploring those hanging woods, either with +her or on his own account. They used to come home with their hands +full of flowers, and this resulted in a vehement attack of botany,-- +a taste that has lasted all our lives, together with the hortus +siccus to which we still make additions, though there has been a +revolution there as well as everywhere else, and the Linnaean system +we learnt so eagerly from Martin's Letters is altogether exploded +and antiquated. Still, my sister refuses to own the scientific +merits of the natural system, and can point to school-bred and +lectured young ladies who have no notion how to discover the name or +nature of a live plant. + +On the Friday after our arrival the noises had been so fearful that +Griff had been exasperated into going off across the hills, +accompanied by his constant shadow, Martyn, in search of the +professional ratcatcher of the neighbourhood, in spite of Chapman's +warning--that Tom Petty was the biggest rascal in the neighbourhood, +and a regular out and out poacher; and as to the noises--he couldn't +'tackle the like of they.' After revelling in the beauty of the +beechwoods as long as was good for me or for Clarence, I was left in +the garden to sketch the ruin, while my two companions started on +one of their exploring expeditions. + +It was getting late enough to think of going to prepare for the six +o'clock dinner when Emily came forth alone from the path between the +trees, announcing--'An adventure, Edward! We have had such an +adventure.' + +'Where's Clarence?' + +'Gone for the doctor! Oh, no; Griff hasn't shot anybody. He is +gone for the ratcatcher, you know. It is a poor little herdboy, who +tumbled out of a tree; and oh! such a sweet, beautiful, young lady-- +just like a book!' + +When Emily became less incoherent, it appeared that on coming out on +the bit of common above the wood, as she and Clarence were halting +on the brow of the hill to admire the view, they heard a call for +help, and hurrying down in the direction whence it proceeded they +saw a stunted ash-tree, beneath which were a young lady and a little +child bending over a village lad who lay beneath moaning piteously. +The girl, whom Emily described as the most beautiful creature she +ever saw, explained that the boy, who had been herding the cattle +scattered around, had been climbing the tree, a limb of which had +broken with him. She had seen the fall from a distance, and hurried +up; but she hardly knew what to do, for her little sister was too +young to be sent in quest of assistance. Clarence thought one leg +seriously injured, and as the young lady seemed to know the boy, +offered to carry him home. School officers were yet in the future; +children were set to work almost as soon as they could walk, and +this little fellow was so light and thin as to shock Clarence when +he had been taken up on his back, for he weighed quite a trifle. +The young lady showed the way to a wretched little cottage, where a +bigger girl had just come in with a sheaf of corn freshly gleaned +poised on her head. They sent her to fetch her mother, and Clarence +undertook to go for a doctor, but to the surprise and horror of +Emily, there was a demur. Something was said of old Molly and her +'ile' and 'yarbs,' or perhaps Madam could step round. When +Clarence, on this being translated to him, pronounced the case +beyond such treatment, it was explained outside the door that this +was a terribly poor family, and the doctor would not come to parish +patients for an indefinite time after his summons, besides which, he +lived at Wattlesea. 'Indeed mamma does almost all the doctoring +with her medicine chest,' said the girl. + +On which Clarence declared that he would let the doctor know that he +himself would be responsible for the cost of the attendance, and set +off for Wattlesea, a kind of town village in the flat below. He +could not get back till dinner was half over, and came in alarmed +and apologetic; but he had nothing worse to encounter than Griff's +unmerciful banter (or, as you would call it, chaff) about his knight +errantry, and Emily's lovely heroine in the sweetest of cottage +bonnets. + +Griff could be slightly tyrannous in his merry mockery, and when he +found that on the ensuing day Clarence proposed to go and inquire +after the patient, he made such wicked fun of the expectations the +pair entertained of hearing the sweet cottage bonnet reading a tract +in a silvery voice through the hovel window, that he fairly teased +and shamed Clarence out of starting till the renowned Tom Petty +arrived and absorbed all the three brothers, and even their father, +in delights as mysterious to me as to Emily. How she shrieked when +Martyn rushed triumphantly into the room where we were arranging +books with the huge patriarch of all the rats dangling by his tail! +Three hopeful families were destroyed; rooms, vaults, and cellars +examined and cleared; and Petty declared the race to be +exterminated, picturesque ruffian that he was, in his shapeless hat, +rusty velveteen, long leggings, a live ferret in his pocket, and +festoons of dead rats over his shoulder. + +Chapman, who regarded him much as the ferret did the rat, declared +that the rabbits and hares would suffer from letting 'that there +chap' show his face here on any plea; and, moreover, gave a grunt +very like a scoff; at the idea of slumbers in the mullion rooms (as +they were called) being secured by his good offices. + +And Chapman was right. The unaccountable noises broke out again-- +screaming, wailing, sobbing--sounds scarcely within the power of cat +or rat, but possibly the effect of the wind in the old building. At +any rate, Griff could not stand them, and declared that sleep was +impossible when the wind was in that quarter, so that he must shift +his bedroom elsewhere, though he still wished to retain the outer +apartment, which he had taken pleasure in adorning with his special +possessions. My mother would scarcely have tolerated such fancies +in any one else, but Griff had his privileges. + + + +CHAPTER X--OUR TUNEFUL CHOIR + + + +'The church has been whitewashed, but right long ago, +As the cracks and the dinginess amply doth show; +About the same time that a strange petrifaction +Confined the incumbent to mere Sunday action. +So many abuses in this place are rife, +The only church things giving token of life +Are the singing within and the nettles without - +Both equally rampant without any doubt.' + +F. R. HAVERGAL. + +All Griff's teasing could not diminish--nay, rather increased-- +Emily's excitement in the hope of seeing and identifying the sweet +cottage bonnet at church on Sunday. The distance we had to go was +nearly two miles, and my mother and I drove thither in a donkey +chair, which had been hunted up in London for that purpose because +the 'pheeaton' (as the servants insisted on calling it) was too high +for me. My father had an old-fashioned feeling about the Fourth +Commandment, which made him scrupulous as to using any animal on +Sunday; and even when, in bad weather, or for visitors, the larger +carriage was used, he always walked. He was really angry with Griff +that morning for mischievously maintaining that it was a greater +breach of the commandment to work an ass than a horse. + +It was a pretty drive on a road slanting gradually through the +brushwood that clothed the steep face of the hillside, and passing +farms and meadows full of cattle--all things quieter and stiller +than ever in their Sunday repose. We knew that the living was in +Winslow patronage, but that it was in the hands of one of the Selby +connection, who held it, together with it is not safe to say how +many benefices, and found it necessary for his health to reside at +Bath. The vicarage had long since been turned into a farmhouse, and +the curate lived at Wattlesea. All this we knew, but we had not +realised that he was likewise assistant curate there, and only +favoured Earlscombe with alternate morning and evening services on +Sundays. + +Still less were we prepared for the interior of the church. It had +a picturesque square tower covered with ivy, and a general air of +fitness for a sketch; indeed, the photograph of it in its present +beautified state will not stand a comparison with our drawings of +it, in those days of dilapidation in the middle of the untidy +churchyard, with little boys astride on the sloping, sunken lichen- +grown headstones, mullein spikes and burdock leaves, more graceful +than the trim borders and zinc crosses which are pleasanter to the +mental eye. + +The London church we had left would be a fearful shock to the +present generation, but we were accustomed to decency, order, and +reverence; and it was no wonder that my father was walking about the +churchyard, muttering that he never saw such a place, while my +brothers were full of amusement. Their spruce looks in their tall +hats, bright ties, dark coats, and white trowsers strapped tight +under their boots, looked incongruous with the rest of the +congregation, the most distinguished members of which were farmers +in drab coats with huge mother-of-pearl buttons, and long gaiters +buttoned up to their knees and strapped up to their gay waistcoats +over their white corduroys. Their wives and daughters were in +enormous bonnets, fluttering with ribbons; but then what my mother +and Emily wore were no trifles. The rest of the congregation were-- +the male part of it--in white or gray smock-frocks, the elderly +women in black bonnets, the younger in straw; but we had not long to +make our observations, for Chapman took possession of us. He was +parish clerk, and was in great glory in his mourning coat and hat, +and his object was to marshal us all into our pew before he had to +attend upon the clergyman; and of course I was glad enough to get as +soon as possible out of sight of all the eyes not yet accustomed to +my figure. + +And hidden enough I was when we had been introduced through the +little north chancel door into a black-curtained, black-cushioned, +black-lined pew, well carpeted, with a table in the midst, and a +stove, whose pipe made its exit through the floriated tracery of the +window overhead. The chancel arch was to the west of us, blocked up +by a wooden parcel-gilt erection, and to the east a decorated window +that would have been very handsome if two side-lights had not been +obscured by the two Tables of the Law, with the royal arms on the +top of the first table, and over the other our own, with the Fordyce +in a scutcheon of pretence; for, as an inscription recorded, they +had been erected by Margaret, daughter of Christopher Fordyce, +Esquire, of Chantry House, and relict of Sir James John Winslow, +Kt., sergeant-at-law, A.D. 1700--the last date, I verily believe, at +which anything had been done to the church. And on the wall, +stopping up the southern chancel window, was a huge marble slab, +supported by angels blowing trumpets, with a very long inscription +about the Fordyce family, ending with this same Margaret, who had +married the Winslow, lost two or three infants, and died on 1st +January 1708, three years later than her husband. + +Thus far I could see; but Griff was standing lifting the curtain, +and showing by the working of his shoulders his amazement and +diversion, so that only the daggers in my mother's eyes kept Martyn +from springing up after him. What he beheld was an altar draped in +black like a coffin, and on the step up to the rail, boys and girls +eating apples and performing antics to beguile the waiting time, +while a row of white-smocked old men occupied the bench opposite to +our seat, conversing loud enough for us to hear them. + +My father and Clarence came in; the bells stopped; there was a sound +of steps, and in the fabric in front of us there emerged a grizzled +head and the back of a very dirty surplice besprinkled with iron +moulds, while Chapman's back appeared above our curtain, his desk +(full of dilapidated prayer-books) being wedged in between us and +the reading-desk. + +The duet that then took place between him and the curate must have +been heard to be credible, especially as, being so close behind the +old man, we could not fail to be aware of all the remarkable shots +at long words which he bawled out at the top of his voice, and I +refrain from recording, lest they should haunt others as they have +done by me all my life. Now and then Chapman caught up a long +switch and dashed out at some obstreperous child to give an audible +whack; and towards the close of the litany he stumped out--we heard +his tramp the whole length of the church, and by and by his voice +issued from an unknown height, proclaiming--'Let us sing to the +praise and glory in an anthem taken from the 42d chapter of +Genesis.' + +There was an outburst of bassoon, clarionet, and fiddle, and the +performance that followed was the most marvellous we had ever heard, +especially when the big butcher--fiddling all the time--declared in +a mighty solo, 'I am Jo--Jo--Jo--Joseph!' and having reiterated this +information four or five times, inquired with equal pertinacity, +'Doth--doth my fa-a-u-ther yet live?' Poor Emily was fairly +'convulsed;' she stuffed her handkerchief into her mouth, and grew +so crimson that my mother was quite frightened, and very near +putting her out at the little door of excommunication. To our last +hour we shall never forget the shock of that first anthem. + +The Commandments were read from the desk, Chapman's solitary +response coming from the gallery; and while the second singing--four +verses from Tate and Brady--was going on, we beheld the surplice +stripped off,--like the slough of a May-fly, as Griff said,--when a +rusty black gown was revealed, in which the curate ascended the +pulpit and was lost to our view before the concluding verse of the +psalm, which we had reason to believe was selected in compliment to +us, as well as to Earlscombe, - + + +'My lot is fall'n in that blest land + Where God is truly know, +He fills my cup with liberal hand; + 'Tis He--'tis He--'tis He--supports my throne.' + + +We had great reason to doubt how far the second line could justly be +applied to the parish! but there was no judging of the sermon, for +only detached sentences reached us in a sort of mumble. Griff +afterwards declared churchgoing to be as good as a comedy, and we +all had to learn to avoid meeting each other's eyes, whatever we +might hear. When the scuffle and tramp of the departing +congregation had ceased, we came forth from our sable box, and +beheld the remnants of a once handsome church, mauled in every +possible way, green stains on the walls, windows bricked up, and a +huge singing gallery. Good bits of carved stall work were nailed +anyhow into the pews; the floor was uneven; no font was visible; +there was a mouldy uncared-for look about everything. The curate in +riding-boots came out of the vestry,--a pale, weary-looking man, +painfully meek and civil, with gray hair sleeked round his face. He +'louted low,' and seemed hardly to venture on taking the hand my +father held out to him. There was some attempt to enter into +conversation with him, but he begged to be excused, for he had to +hurry back to Wattlesea to a funeral. Poor man! he was as great a +pluralist as his vicar, for he kept a boys' school, partially day, +partially boarding, and his eyes looked hungrily at Martyn. + +If the 'sweet cottage bonnet' had been at church there would have +been little chance of discovering her, but we found that we were the +only 'quality,' as Chapman called it, or things might not have been +so bad. Old James Winslow had been a mere fox-hunting squire till +he became a valetudinarian; nor had he ever cared for the church or +for the poor, so that the village was in a frightful state of +neglect. There was a dissenting chapel, old enough to be overgrown +with ivy and not too hideous, erected by the Nonconformists in the +reign of the Great Deliverer, but this partook of the general +decadence of the parish, and, as we found, the chapel's principal +use was to serve as an excuse for not going to church. + +My father always went to church twice, so he and Clarence walked to +Wattlesea, where appearances were more respectable; but they heard +the same sermon over again, and, as my father drily remarked, it was +not a composition that would bear repetition. + +He was much distressed at the state of things, and intended to write +to the incumbent, though, as he said, whatever was done would end by +being at his own expense, and the move and other calls left him so +little in hand that he sighed over the difficulties, and declared +that he was better off in London, except for the honour of the +thing. Perhaps my mother was of the same opinion after a dreary +afternoon, when Griff and Martyn had been wandering about aimlessly, +and were at length betrayed by the barking of a little terrier, +purchased the day before from Tom Petty, besieging the stable cat, +who stood with swollen tail, glaring eyes, and thunderous growls, on +the top of the tallest pillar of the ruins. Emily nearly cried at +their cruelty. Martyn was called off by my mother, and set down, +half sulky, half ashamed, to Henry and his Bearer; and Griff, vowing +that he believed it was that brute who made the row at night, and +that she ought to be exterminated, strolled off to converse with +Chapman, who was a quaint compound of clerk and keeper--in the one +capacity upholding his late master, in the other bemoaning Mr. +Mears' unpunctualities, specially as regarded weddings and funerals; +one 'corp' having been kept waiting till a messenger had been sent +to Wattlesea, who finding both clergy out for the day, had had to go +to Hillside, 'where they was always ready, though the old Squire +would have been mad with him if he'd a-guessed one of they Fordys +had ever set foot in the parish.' + +The only school in the place was close to the meeting-house, 'a very +dame's school indeed,' as Emily described it after a peep on Monday. +Dame Dearlove, the old woman who presided, was a picture of +Shenstone's schoolmistress,--black bonnet, horn spectacles, fearful +birch rod, three-cornered buff 'kerchief, checked apron and all, but +on meddling with her, she proved a very dragon, the antipodes of her +name. Tattered copies of the Universal Spelling-Book served her +aristocracy, ragged Testaments the general herd, whence all appeared +to be shouting aloud at once. She looked sour as verjuice when my +mother and Emily entered, and gave them to understand that 'she +wasn't used to no strangers in her school, and didn't want 'em.' We +found that in Chapman's opinion she 'didn't larn 'em nothing.' She +had succeeded her aunt, who had taught him to read 'right off,' but +'her baint to be compared with she.' And now the farmers' children, +and the little aristocracy, including his own grand-children,--all +indeed who, in his phrase, 'cared for eddication,'--went to +Wattlesea. + + + +CHAPTER XI--'THEY FORDYS.' + + + +'Of honourable reckoning are you both, +And pity 'tis, you lived at odds so long.' + +SHAKESPEARE. + +My father had a good deal of business in hand, and was glad of +Clarence's help in writing and accounts,--a great pleasure, though +it prevented his being Griff's companion in his exploring and essays +at shooting. He had time, however, to make an expedition with me in +the donkey chair to inquire after the herdboy, Amos Bell, and carry +him some kitchen physic. To our horror we found him quite alone in +the wretched cottage, while everybody was out harvesting; but he did +not seem to pity himself, or think it otherwise than quite natural, +as he lay on a little bed in the corner, disabled by what Clarence +thought a dislocation. Miss Ellen had brought him a pudding, and +little Miss Anne a picture-book. + +He was not so dense and shy as the children of the hamlet near us, +and Emily extracted from him that Miss Ellen was 'Our passon's young +lady.' + +'Mr. Mears'!' she exclaimed. + +'No: ourn be Passon Fordy.' + +It turned out that this place was not in Earlscombe at all, but in +Hillside, a different parish; and the boy, Amos, further +communicated that there was old Passon Fordy, and Passon Frank, and +Madam, what was Mr. Frank's lady. Yes, he could read, he could; he +went to Sunday School, and was in Miss Ellen's class; he had been to +school worky days, only father was dead, and Farmer Hartop gave him +a job. + +It was plain that Hillside was under a very different rule from +Earlscombe; and Emily was delighted to have discovered that the +sweet cottage bonnet's owner was called Ellen, which just then was +the pet Christian name of romance, in honour of the Lady of the +Lake. + +In the midst of her raptures, however, just as we were about to turn +in at our own gate into the wood, we heard horses' hoofs, and then +came, careering by on ponies, a very pretty girl and a youth of +about the same age. Clarence's hand rose to his hat, and he made +his eager bow; but the young lady did not vouchsafe the slightest +acknowledgment, turned her head away, and urged her pony to speed. + +Emily broke out with an angry disappointed exclamation. Clarence's +face was scarlet, and he said low and hoarsely, 'That's Lester. He +was in the Argus at Portsmouth two years ago;'--and then, as our +little sister continued her indignant exclamations, he added, 'Hush! +Don't on any account say a word about it. I had better get back to +my work. I am only doing you harm by staying here.' + +At which Emily shed tears, and together we persuaded him not to +curtail his holiday, which, indeed, he could not have done without +assigning the reason to the elders, and this was out of the +question. Nor did he venture to hang back when, as our service was +to be on Sunday afternoon, my father proposed to walk to Hillside +Church in the morning. They came back well pleased. There was care +and decency throughout. The psalms were sung to a 'grinder organ'-- +which was an advanced state of things in those days--and very +nicely. Parson Frank read well and impressively, and the old +parson, a fine venerable man, had preached an excellent sermon-- +really admirable, as my father repeated. Our party had been +scarcely in time, and had been disposed of in seats close to the +door, where Clarence was quite out of sight of the disdainful young +lady and her squire, of whom Emily begged to hear no more. + +She looked askance at the cards left on the hall table the next day- +-'The Rev. Christopher Fordyce,' and 'The Rev. F. C. Fordyce,' also +'Mrs. F. C. Fordyce, Hillside Rectory.' + +We had found out that Hillside was a family living, and that there +was much activity there on the part of the father and son--rector +and curate; and that the other clerical folk, ladies especially, who +called on us, spoke of Mrs. F. C. Fordyce with a certain tone, as if +they were afraid of her, as Sir Horace Lester's sister,--very +superior, very active, very strict in her notions,--as if these were +so many defects. They were an offshoot of the old Fordyces of +Chantry House, but so far back that all recollection of kindred or +connection must have worn out. Their property--all in beautiful +order--marched with ours, and Chapman was very particular about the +boundaries. 'Old master he wouldn't have a bird picked up if it +fell over on they Fordys' ground--not he! He couldn't abide +passons, couldn't the old Squire--not Miss Hannah More, and all they +Cheddar lot, and they Fordys least of all. My son's wife, she was +for sending her little maid to Hillside to Madam Fordys' school, +but, bless your heart, 'twould have been as much as my place was +worth if master had known it.' + +The visit was not returned till after Clarence had gone back to his +London work. Sore as was the loss of him from my daily life, I +could see that the new world and fresh acquaintances were a trial to +him, and especially since the encounter with young Lester had driven +him back into his shell, so that he would be better where he was +already known and had nothing new to overcome. Emily, though not +yet sixteen, was emancipated from schoolroom habits, and the dear +girl was my devoted slave to an extent that perhaps I abused. + +Not being 'come out,' she was left at home on the day when we set +out on a regular progress in the chariot with post-horses. The +britshka and pair, which were our ambition, were to wait till my +father's next rents came in. Morning calls in the country were a +solemn and imposing ceremony, and the head of the family had to be +taken on the first circuit; nor was there much scruple as to making +them in the forenoon, so several were to be disposed of before +fulfilling an engagement to luncheon at the farthest point, where +some old London friends had borrowed a house for the summer, and had +included me in their invitation. + +Here alone did I leave the carriage, but I had Cooper's Spy and my +sketch-book as companions while waiting at doors where the +inhabitants were at home. The last visit was at Hillside Rectory, a +house of architecture somewhat similar to our own, but of the soft +creamy stone which so well set off the vine with purple clusters, +the myrtles and fuchsias, that covered it. I was wishing we had +drawn up far enough off for a sketch to be possible, when, from a +window close above, I heard the following words in a clear girlish +voice - + +'No, indeed! I'm not going down. It is only those horrid +Earlscombe people. I can't think how they have the face to come +near us!' + +There was a reply, perhaps that the parents had made the first +visit, for the rejoinder was--'Yes; grandpapa said it was a +Christian duty to make an advance; but they need not have come so +soon. Indeed, I wonder they show themselves at all. I am sure I +would not if I had such a dreadful son.' Presently, 'I hate to +think of it. That I should have thanked him. Depend upon it, he +will never pay the doctor. A coward like that is capable of +anything.' + +The proverb had been realised, but there could hardly have been a +more involuntary or helpless listener. Presently my parents came +back, escorted by both the gentlemen of the house, tall fine-looking +men, the elder with snowy hair, and the dignity of men of the old +school; the younger with a joyous, hearty, out-of-door countenance, +more like a squire than a clergyman. + +The visit seemed to have been gratifying. Mrs. Fordyce was declared +to be of higher stamp than most of the neighbouring ladies; and my +father was much pleased with the two clergymen, while as we drove +along he kept on admiring the well-ordered fields and fences, and +contrasting the pretty cottages and trim gardens with the dreary +appearance of our own village. I asked why Amos Bell's home had +been neglected, and was answered with some annoyance, as I pointed +down the lane, that it was on our land, though in Hillside parish. +'I am glad to have such neighbours!' observed my mother, and I kept +to myself the remarks I had heard, though I was still tingling with +the sting of them. + +We heard no more of 'they Fordys' for some time. The married pair +went away to stay with friends, and we only once met the old +gentleman, when I was waiting in the street at Wattlesea in the +donkey chair, while my mother was trying to match netting silk in +the odd little shop that united fancy work, toys, and tracts with +the post office. Old Mr. Fordyce met us as we drew up, handed her +out with a grand seigneur's courtesy, and stood talking to me so +delightfully that I quite forgot it was from Christian duty. + +My father corresponded with the old Rector about the state of the +parish, and at last went over to Bath for a personal conference, but +without much satisfaction. The Earlscombe people were pronounced to +be an ungrateful good-for-nothing set, for whom it was of no use to +do anything; and indeed my mother made such discoveries in the +cottages that she durst not let Emily fulfil her cherished scheme of +visiting them. The only resemblance to the favourite heroines of +religious tales that could be permitted was assembling a tiny Sunday +class in Chapman's lodge; and it must be confessed that her brothers +thought she made as much fuss about it as if there had been a +hundred scholars. + +However, between remonstrances and offers of undertaking a share of +the expense, my father managed to get Mr. Mears' services dispensed +with from the ensuing Lady Day, and that a resident curate should be +appointed, the choice of whom was to rest with himself. It was then +and there decided that Martyn should be 'brought up to the Church,' +as people then used to term destination to Holy Orders. My father +said he should feel justified in building a good house when he could +afford it, if it was to be a provision for one of his sons, and he +also felt that as he had the charge of the parish as patron, it was +right and fitting to train one of his sons up to take care of it. +Nor did Martyn show any distaste to the idea, as indeed there was +less in it then than at present to daunt the imagination of an +honest, lively boy, not as yet specially thoughtful or devout, but +obedient, truthful, and fairly reverent, and ready to grow as he was +trained. + + + +CHAPTER XII--MRS. SOPHIA'S FEUD + + + +'O'er all there hung the shadow of a fear, + A sense of mystery the spirit daunted, +And said as plain as whisper in the ear, + The place is haunted.' + +HOOD. + +We had a houseful at Christmas. The Rev. Charles Henderson, a +Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, lately ordained a deacon, had +been recommended to us by our London vicar, and was willing not only +to take charge of the parish, but to direct my studies, and to +prepare Martyn for school. He came to us for the Christmas vacation +to reconnoitre and engage lodgings at a farmhouse. We liked him +very much--my mother being all the better satisfied after he had +shown her a miniature, and confided to her that the original was +waiting till a college living should come to him in the distant +future. + +Admiral Griffith could not tear himself from his warm rooms and his +club, but our antiquarian friend, Mr. Stafford, came with his wife, +and revelled in the ceilings of the mullion room, where he would +much have liked to sleep, but that its accommodations were only fit +for a bachelor. + +Our other visitor was Miss Selby, or rather Mrs. Sophia Selby, as +she designated herself, according to the becoming fashion of elderly +spinsters, which to my mind might be gracefully resumed. It irked +my father to think of the good lady's solitary Christmas at Bath, +and he asked her to come to us. She travelled half-way in a post- +chaise, and then was met by the carriage. A very nice old lady she +was, with a meek, delicate babyish face, which could not be spoilt +by the cap of the period, one of the most disfiguring articles of +head gear ever devised, though nobody thought so then. She was full +of kindness; indeed, if she had a fault it was the abundant pity she +lavished on me, and her determination to amuse me. The weather was +of the kind that only the healthy and hardy could encounter, and +when every one else was gone out, and I was just settling in with a +new book, or an old crabbed Latin document, that Mr. Stafford had +entrusted to me to copy out fairly and translate, she would glide in +with her worsted work on a charitable mission to enliven poor Mr. +Edward. + +However, this was the means of my obtaining some curious +enlightenments. A dinner-party was in contemplation, and she was +dismayed at the choice of the fashionable London hour of seven, and +still more by finding that the Fordyces were to be among the guests. +She was too well-bred to manifest her feelings to her hosts, but +alone with me, she could not refrain from expressing her +astonishment to me, all the more when she heard this was reciprocity +for an invitation that it had not been possible to accept. Her poor +dear uncle would never hear of intercourse with Hillside. On being +asked why, she repeated what Chapman had said, that he could not +endure any one connected with Mrs. Hannah More and her canting, +humbugging set, as the ungodly old man had chosen to call them, +imbuing even this good woman with evil prejudices against their +noble work at Cheddar. + +'Besides this, Fordyces and Winslows could never be friends, since +the Fordyces had taken on themselves to dispute the will, and say it +had been improperly obtained.' + +'What will?' + +'Mrs. Winslow's--Margaret Fordyce that was. She was the heiress, +and had every right to dispose of her property.' + +'But that was more than a hundred years ago!' + +'So it was, my dear; but though the law gave it to us--to my uncle's +grandfather (or great-grandfather, was it?)--those Fordyces never +could rest content. Why, one of them--a clergyman's son too--shot +young Philip Winslow dead in a duel. They have always grudged at +us. Does your papa know it, my dear Mr. Edward? He ought to be +aware.' + +'I do not know,' I said; 'but he would hardly care about what +happened in the time of Queen Anne.' + +It was curious to see how the gentle little lady espoused the family +quarrel, which, after all, was none of hers. + +'Well, you are London people, and the other branch, and may not feel +as we do down here; but I shall always say that Madam Winslow's +husband's son had every right to come before her cousin once +removed.' + +I asked if we were descended from her, for, having a turn for +heraldry and genealogy, I wanted to make out our family tree. Mrs. +Sophia was ready to hold up her hands at the ignorance of the 'other +branch.' This poor heiress had lost all her children in their +infancy, and bequeathed the estate to her stepson, the Fordyce male +heir having been endowed by her father with the advowson of Hillside +and a handsome estate there, which Mrs. Selby thought ought to have +contented him, 'but some people never know when they have enough;' +and, on my observing that it might have been a matter of justice, +she waxed hotter, declaring that what the Winslows felt so much was +the accusation of violence against the poor lady. She spoke as if +it were a story of yesterday, and added, 'Indeed, they made the +common people have all sorts of superstitious fancies about the room +where she died--that old part of the house.' Then she added in a +low mysterious voice, 'I hear that your brother Mr. Griffith Winslow +could not sleep there;' and when the rats and the wind were +mentioned--'Yes, that was what my poor dear uncle used to say. He +always called it nonsense; but we never had a servant who would +sleep there. You'll not mention it, Mr. Edward, but I could not +help asking that very nice housemaid, Jane, whether the room was +used, and she said how Mr. Griffith had given it up, and none of the +servants could spend a night there when they are sleeping round. Of +course I said all in my power to dispel the idea, and told her that +there was no accounting for all the noises in old houses; but you +never can reason with that class of people.' + +'Did you ever hear the noises, Mrs. Selby?' + +'Oh, no; I wouldn't sleep there for thousands! Not that I attach +any importance to such folly,--my poor dear uncle would never hear +of such a thing; but I am such a nervous creature, I should lie +awake all night expecting the rats to run over me. I never knew of +any one sleeping there, except in the gay times when I was a child, +and the house used to be as full as, or fuller than, it could hold, +for the hunt breakfast or a ball, and my poor aunt used to make up +ever so many beds in the two rooms, and then we never heard of any +disturbance, except what they made themselves.' + +This chiefly concerned me, because home cosseting had made me old +woman enough to be uneasy about unaired beds; and I knew that my +mother meant to consign Clarence to the mullion chamber. So, +without betraying Jane, I spoke to her, and was answered, 'Oh, sir, +I'll take care of that; I'll light a fire and air the mattresses +well. I wish that was all, poor young gentleman!' + +To the reply that the rats were slaughtered and the wind stopped +out, Jane returned a look of compassion; but the subject was +dropped, as it was supposed to be the right thing to hush up, +instead of fostering, any popular superstition; but it surprised me +that, as all our servants were fresh importations, they should so +soon have become imbued with these undefined alarms. + +My father was much amused at being successor to this family feud, +and said that when he had time he would look up the documents. + +Mrs. Sophia was a sight when Mr. Fordyce and his son and daughter- +in-law were announced; she was so comically stiff between her +deference to her hosts and her allegiance to her poor dear uncle; +but her coldness melted before the charms of old Mr. Fordyce, who +was one of the most delightful people in the world. She even was +his partner at whist, and won the game, and that she DID like. + +Parson Frank, as we naughty young ones called him, was all good- +nature and geniality--a thorough clergyman after the ideas of the +time, and a thorough farmer too; and in each capacity, as well as in +politics, he suited my father or Mr. Henderson. His lady, in a +blonde cap, exactly like the last equipment my mother had provided +herself with in London, and a black satin dress, had much more style +than the more gaily-dressed country dames, and far more +conversation. Mr. Stafford, who had dreaded the party, pronounced +her a sensible, agreeable woman, and she was particularly kind and +pleasant to me, coming and talking over the botany of the country, +and then speaking of my brother's kindness to poor Amos Bell, who +was nearly recovered, but was a weakly child, for whom she dreaded +the toil of a ploughboy in thick clay with heavy shoes. + +I was sorry when, after Emily's well-studied performance on the +piano, Mrs. Fordyce was summoned away from me to sing, but her music +and her voice were both of a very different order from ordinary +drawing-room music; and when our evening was over, we congratulated +ourselves upon our neighbours, and agreed that the Fordyces were the +gems of the party. + +Only Mrs. Sophia sighed at us as degenerate Winslows, and Emily +reserved to herself the right of believing that the daughter was 'a +horrid girl.' + + + +CHAPTER XIII--A SCRAPE + + + +'Though bound with weakness' heavy chain +We in the dust of earth remain; +Not all remorseful be our tears, +No agony of shame or fears, +Need pierce its passion's bitter tide.' + +Verses and Sonnets. + +Perhaps it was of set purpose that our dinner. party had been given +before Clarence's return. Griffith had been expected in time for +it, but he had preferred going by way of London to attend a ball +given by the daughter of a barrister friend of my father's. Selina +Clarkson was a fine showy girl, with the sort of beauty to inspire +boyish admiration, and Griff's had been a standing family joke, even +my father condescending to tease him when the young lady married Sir +Henry Peacock, a fat vulgar old man who had made his fortune in the +commissariat, and purchased a baronetcy. He was allowing his young +wife her full swing of fashion and enjoyment. My mother did not +think it a desirable acquaintance, and was restless until both the +brothers came home together, long after dark on Christmas Eve, +having been met by the gig at the corner where the coach stopped. +The dinner-hour had been put off till half-past six, and we had to +wait for them, the coach having been delayed by setting down +Christmas guests and Christmas fare. They were a contrast; Griffith +looking very handsome and manly, all in a ruddy glow from the frosty +air, and Clarence, though equally tall, well-made, and with more +refined features, looked pale and effaced, now that his sailor tan +was worn off. The one talked as eagerly as he ate, the other was +shy, spiritless, and with little appetite; but as he always shrank +into himself among strangers, it was the less wonder that he sat in +his drooping way behind my sofa, while Griffith kept us all merry +with his account of the humours of the 'Peacock at home;' the +lumbering efforts of old Sir Henry to be as young and gay as his +wife, in spite of gout and portliness; and the extreme delight of +his lady in her new splendours--a gold spotted muslin and white +plumes in a diamond agraffe. He mimicked Sir Henry's cockneyisms +more than my father's chivalry approved towards his recent host, as +he described the complaints he had heard against 'my Lady being +refused the hentry at Halmack's, but treated like the wery canal;' +and how the devoted husband 'wowed he would get up a still more +hexclusive circle, and shut hout these himpertinent fashionables who +regarded Halmack's as the seventh 'eaven.' + +My mother shook her head at his audacious fun about Paradise and the +Peri, but he was so brilliant and good-humoured that no one was ever +long displeased with him. At night he followed when Clarence helped +me to my room, and carefully shutting the door, Griff began. 'Now, +Teddy, you're always as rich as a Jew, and I told Bill you'd help +him to set it straight. I'd do it myself, but that I'm cleaned out. +I'd give ten times the cash rather than see him with that hang-dog +look again for just nothing at all, if he would only believe so and +be rational.' + +Clarence did look indescribably miserable while it was explained +that he had been commissioned to receive about 20 pounds which was +owing to my father, and to discharge therewith some small debts to +London tradesmen. All except the last, for a little more than four +pounds, had been paid, when Clarence met in the street an old +messmate, a good-natured rattle-pated youth,--one of those who had +thought him harshly treated. There was a cordial greeting, and an +invitation to dine at once at a hotel, where they were joined by +some other young men, and by and by betook themselves to cards, when +my poor brother's besetting enemy prevented him from withdrawing +when he found the points were guineas. Thus he lost the remaining +amount in his charge, and so much of his own that barely enough was +left for his journey. His salary was not due till Lady Day; Mr. +Castleford was in the country, and no advances could be asked from +Mr. Frith. Thus Griff had found him in utter despair, and had ever +since been trying to cheer him and make light of his trouble. If I +advanced the amount, which was no serious matter to me, Clarence +could easily get Peter to pay the bill, and if my father should +demand the receipt too soon, it would be easy to put him off by +saying there had been a delay in getting the account sent in. + +'I couldn't do that,' said Clarence. + +'Well, I should not have thought you would have stuck at that,' +returned Griff. + +'There must be no untruth,' I broke in; 'but if without THAT, he can +avoid getting into a scrape with papa--' + +Clarence interrupted in the wavering voice we knew so well, but +growing clearer and stronger. + +'Thank you, Edward, but--but--no, I can't. There's the Sacrament +to-morrow.' + +'Oh--h!' said Griff, in an indescribable tone. But he will never +believe you, nor let you go.' + +'Better so,' said Clarence, half choked, 'than go profanely-- +deceiving--or not knowing whether I shall--' + +Just then we heard our father wishing the other gentlemen good- +night, and to our surprise Clarence opened the door, though he was +deadly white and with dew starting on his forehead. + +My father turned good-naturedly. 'Boys, boys, you are glad to be +together, but mamma won't have you talking here all night, keeping +her baby up.' + +'Sir,' said Clarence, holding by the rail of the bed, 'I was waiting +for you. I have something to tell you--' + +The words that followed were incoherent and wrong end foremost; nor +had many, indeed, been uttered before my father cut them short with +- + +'No false excuses, sir; I know you too well to listen. Go. I have +ceased to hope for anything better.' + +Clarence went without a word, but Griff and I burst out with +entreaties to be listened to. Our father thought at first that ours +were only the pleadings of partiality, and endeavours to shield the +brother we both so heartily loved; but when he understood the +circumstances, the real amount of the transgression, and Clarence's +rejection of our united advice and assistance to conceal it, he was +greatly touched and softened. 'Poor lad! poor fellow!' he muttered, +'he is really doing his best. I need not have cut him so short. I +was afraid of more falsehoods if I let him open his mouth. I'll go +and see.' + +He went off, and we remained in suspense, Griff observing that he +had done his best, but poor Bill always would be a fool, and that no +one who had not always lived at home like me would have let out that +we had been for the suppression policy. As I was rather shocked, he +went off to bed, saying he should look in to see what remained of +Clarence after the pelting of the pitiless storm he was sure to +bring on himself by his ridiculous faltering instead of speaking out +like a man. + +I longed to have been able to do the same, but my father kindly came +back to relieve my mind by telling me that he was better satisfied +about Clarence than ever he had been before. When encouraged to +speak out, the narrative of the temptation had so entirely agreed +with what we had said as to show there had been no prevarication, +and this had done more to convince my father that he was on the +right track than the having found him on his knees. He had had a +patient hearing, and thus was able to command his nerves enough to +explain himself, and it had ended in my father giving entire +forgiveness for what, as Griff truly said, would have been a mere +trifle but for the past. The voluntary confession had much +impressed my father, and he could not help adding a word of gentle +reproof to me for having joined in aiding him to withhold it, but he +accepted my explanation and went away, observing, 'By the by, I +don't wonder at what Griffith says of that room; I never heard such +strange effects of currents of air.' + +Clarence was in my room before I was drest, full of our father's +'wonderful goodness' to him. He had never experienced anything like +it, he said. 'Why! he really seemed hopeful about me,' were words +uttered with a gladness enough to go to one's heart. 'O Edward, I +feel as if there was some chance of "steadfastly purposing" this +time.' + +It was not the way of the family to say much of religious feeling, +and this was much for Clarence to utter. He looked white and tired, +but there was an air of rest and peace about him, above all when my +mother met him with a very real kiss. Moreover, Mr. Castleford had +taken care to brighten our Christmas with a letter expressive of +great satisfaction with Clarence for steadiness and intelligence. +Even Mr. Frith allowed that he was the most punctual of all those +young dogs. + +'I do believe,' said my father, 'that his piety is doing him some +good after all.' + +So our mutual wishes of a happy Christmas were verified, though not +much according to the notions of this half of the century. People +made their Christmas day either mere merriment, or something little +different from the grave Sunday of that date. And ours, except for +the Admiral's dining with us, had always been of the latter +description, all the more that when celebrations of the Holy +Communion were so rare they were treated with an awe and reverence +which frequency has perhaps diminished, and a feeling (possibly +Puritanical) prevailed which made it appear incongruous to end with +festivity a day so begun. That we had a Christmas Day Communion at +all at Earlscombe was an innovation only achieved by Mr. Henderson +going to assist the old Rector at Wattlesea; and there were no +communicants except from our house, besides Chapman, his daughter- +in-law, and five old creatures between whom the alms were +immediately divided. We afterwards learnt that our best farmer and +his wife were much disappointed at the change from Sunday +interfering with the family jollification; and Mrs. Sophia Selby was +annoyed at the contradiction to her habits under the rule of her +poor dear uncle. + +Of the irregularities, irreverences, and squalor of the whole I will +not speak. They were not then such stumbling-blocks as they would +be now, and many passed unperceived by us, buried as we were in our +big pew, with our eyes riveted on our books; yet even thus there was +enough evident to make my mother rejoice that Mr. Henderson would be +with us before Easter. Still this could not mar the thankful +gladness that was with us all that day, and which shone in +Clarence's eyes. His countenance always had a remarkable expression +in church, as if somehow his spirit went farther than ours did, and +things unseen were more real to him. + +Hillside, as usual, had two services, and my father and his friend +were going to walk thither in the afternoon, but it was a raw cold +day, threatening snow, and Emily was caught by my mother in the hail +and ordered back, as well as Clarence, who had shown symptoms of +having caught cold on his dismal journey. Emily coaxed from her +permission to have a fire in the bookroom, and there we three had a +memorably happy time. We read our psalms and lessons, and our +Christian Year, which was more and more the lodestar of our +feelings. We compared our favourite passages, and discussed the +obscurer ones, and Clarence was led to talk out more of his heart +than he had ever shown to us before. Perhaps he had lost some of +his reserve through his intercourse with our good old governess, +Miss Newton, who was still grinding away at her daily mill, though +with somewhat failing eyesight, so that she could do nothing but +knit in the long evenings, and was most grateful to her former pupil +for coming, as often as he could, to talk or read to her. + +She was a most excellent and devout woman, and when Emily, who in +youthful gaiete de coeur had got a little tired of her, exclaimed at +his taste, and asked if she made him read nothing but Pike's Early +Piety, he replied gravely, 'She showed me where to lay my burthen +down,' and turned to the two last verses of the poem for 'Good +Friday' in the Christian Year, as well as to the one we had just +read on the Holy Communion. + +My father's kindness had seemed to him the pledge of the Heavenly +Father's forgiveness; and he added, perhaps a little childishly, +that it had been his impulse to promise never to touch a card again, +but that he dreaded the only too familiar reply, 'What availed his +promises?' + +'Do promise, Clarry!' cried Emily, 'and then you won't have to play +with that tiresome old Mrs. Sophia.' + +'That would rather deter me,' said Clarence good-humouredly. + +'A card-playing old age is despicable,' pronounced Miss Emily, much +to our amusement. + +After that we got into a bewilderment. We knew nothing of the +future question of temperance versus total abstinence; but after it +had been extracted that Miss Newton regarded cards as the devil's +books, the inconsistent little sister changed sides, and declared it +narrow and evangelical to renounce what was innocent. Clarence +argued that what might be harmless for others might be dangerous for +such as himself, and that his real difficulty in making even a +mental vow was that, if broken, there was an additional sin. + +'It is not oneself that one trusts,' I said. + +'No,' said Clarence emphatically; 'and setting up a vow seems as if +it might be sticking up the reed of one's own word, and leaning on +THAT--when it breaks, at least mine does. If I could always get the +grasp of Him that I felt to-day, there would be no more bewildered +heart and failing spirit, which are worse than the actual falls they +cause.' And as Emily said she did not understand, he replied in +words I wrote down and thought over, 'What we ARE is the point, more +than even what we DO. We DO as we ARE; and yet we form ourselves by +what we DO.' + +'And,' I put in, 'I know somebody who won a victory last night over +himself and his two brothers. Surely DOING that is a sign that he +IS more than he used to be.' + +'If he were, it would not have been an effort at all,' said +Clarence, but with his rare sweet smile. + +Just then Griff called him away, and Emily sat pondering and +impressed. 'It did seem so odd,' she said, 'that Clarry should be +so much the best, and yet so much the worst of us.' + +I agreed. His insight into spiritual things, and his enjoyment of +them, always humiliated us both, yet he fell so much lower in +practice,--'But then we had not his temptations.' + +'Yes,' said Emily; 'but look at Griff! He goes about like other +young men, and keeps all right, and yet he doesn't care about +religious things a bit more than he can help.' + +It was quite true. Religion was life to the one and an insurance to +the other, and this had been a mystery to us all our young lives, as +far as we had ever reflected on the contrast between the practical +failure and success of each. Our mother, on the other hand, viewed +Clarence's tendencies as part of an unreal, self-deceptive nature, +and regretted his intimacy with Miss Newton, who, she said, had +fostered 'that kind of thing' in his childhood--made him fancy talk, +feeling, and preaching were more than truth and honour--and might +lead him to run after Irving, Rowland Hill, or Baptist Noel, about +whose tenets she was rather confused. It would be an additional +misfortune if he became a fanatical Evangelical light, and he was +just the character to be worked upon. + +My father held that she might be thankful for any good influence or +safe resort for a young man in lodgings in London, and he merely +bade Clarence never resort to any variety of dissenting preacher. +We were of the school called--a little later--high and dry, but were +strictly orthodox according to our lights, and held it a prime duty +to attend our parish church, whatever it might be; nor, indeed, had +Clarence swerved from these traditions. + +Poor Mrs. Sophia was baulked of the game at whist, which she viewed +as a legitimate part of the Christmas pleasures; and after we had +eaten our turkey, we found the evening long, except that Martyn +escaped to snapdragon with the servants; and, by and by, Chapman, +magnificent in patronage, ushered in the church singers into the +hall, and clarionet, bassoon, and fiddle astonished our ears. + + + +CHAPTER XIV--THE MULLION CHAMBER + + + +'A lady with a lamp I see, +Pass through the glimmering gloom, + And flit from room to room.' + +LONGFELLOW. + +For want of being able to take exercise, the first part of the night +had always been sleepless with me, though my dear mother thought it +wrong to recognise the habit or allow me a lamp. A fire, however, I +had, and by its light, on the second night after Christmas, I saw my +door noiselessly opened, and Clarence creeping in half-dressed and +barefooted. To my frightened interrogation the answer came, through +chattering teeth, 'It's I--only I--Ted--no--nothing's the matter, +only I can't stand it any longer!' + +His hands were cold as ice when he grasped mine, as if to get hold +of something substantial, and he trembled so as to shake the bed. +'That room,' he faltered. ''Tis not only the moans! I've seen +her!' + +'Whom?' + +'I don't know. There she stands with her lamp, crying!' I could +scarcely distinguish the words through the clashing of his teeth, +and as I threw my arms round him the shudder seemed to pass to me; +but I did my best to warm him by drawing the clothes over him, and +he began to gather himself together, and speak intelligibly. There +had been sounds the first night as of wailing, but he had been too +much preoccupied to attend to them till, soon after one o'clock, +they ended in a heavy fall and long shriek, after which all was +still. Christmas night had been undisturbed, but on this the voices +had begun again at eleven, and had a strangely human sound; but as +it was windy, sleety weather, and he had learnt at sea to disregard +noises in the rigging, he drew the sheet over his head and went to +sleep. 'I was dreaming that I was at sea,' he said, 'as I always do +on a noisy night, but this was not a dream. I was wakened by a +light in the room, and there stood a woman with a lamp, moaning and +sobbing. My first notion was that one of the maids had come to call +me, and I sat up; but I could not speak, and she gave another awful +suppressed cry, and moved towards that walled-up door. Then I saw +it was none of the servants, for it was an antique dress like an old +picture. So I knew what it must be, and an unbearable horror came +over me, and I rushed into the outer room, where there was a little +fire left; but I heard her going on still, and I could endure it no +longer. I knew you would be awake and would bear with me, so I came +down to you.' + +Then this was what Chapman and the maids had meant. This was Mrs. +Sophia Selby's vulgar superstition! I found that Clarence had heard +none of the mysterious whispers afloat, and only knew that Griff had +deserted the room after his own return to London. I related what I +had learnt from the old lady, and in that midnight hour we agreed +that it could be no mere fancy or rumour, but that cruel wrong must +have been done in that chamber. Our feeling was that all ought to +be made known, and in that impression we fell asleep, Clarence +first. + +By and by I found him moving. He had heard the clock strike four, +and thought it wiser to repair to his own quarters, where he +believed the disturbance was over. Lucifer matches as yet were not, +but he had always been a noiseless being, with a sailor's foot, so +that, by the help of the moonlight through the hall windows, he +regained his room. + +And when morning had come, the nocturnal visitation wore such a +different aspect to both our minds that we decided to say nothing to +our parents, who, said Clarence, would simply disbelieve him; and, +indeed, I inclined to suppose it had been an uncommonly vivid dream, +produced in that sensitive nature by the uncanny sounds of the wind +in the chinks and crannies of the ancient chamber. Had not Scott's +Demonology and Witchcraft, which we studied hard on that day, proved +all such phantoms to be explicable? The only person we told was +Griff, who was amused and incredulous. He had heard the noises--oh +yes! and objected to having his sleep broken by them. It was too +had to expose Clarence to them--poor Bill--on whom they worked such +fancies! + +He interrogated Chapman, however, but probably in that bantering way +which is apt to produce reserve. Chapman never 'gave heed to them +fictious tales,' he said; but, when hard pressed, he allowed that he +had 'heerd that a lady do walk o' winter nights,' and that was why +the garden door of the old rooms was walled up. Griff asked if this +was done for fear she should catch cold, and this somewhat affronted +him, so that he averred that he knew nought about it, and gave no +thought to such like. + +Just then they arrived at the Winslow Arms, and took each a glass of +ale, when Griff, partly to tease Chapman, asked the landlady--an old +Chantry House servant--whether she had ever met the ghost. She +turned rather pale, which seemed to have impressed him, and demanded +if he had seen it. 'It always walked at Christmas time--between +then and the New Year.' She had once seen a light in the garden by +the ruin in winter-time, and once last spring it came along the +passage, but that was just before the old Squire was took for +death,--folks said that was always the way before any of the family +died--'if you'll excuse it, sir.' Oh no, she thought nothing of +such things, but she had heard tell that the noises were such at all +times of the year that no one could sleep in the rooms, but the +light wasn't to be seen except at Christmas. + +Griff with the philosophy of a university man, was certain that all +was explained by Clarence having imbibed the impression of the place +being haunted; and going to sleep nervous at the noises, his brain +had shaped a phantom in accordance. Let Clarence declare as he +might that the legends were new to him, Griff only smiled to think +how easily people forgot, and he talked earnestly about catching +ideas without conscious information. + +However, he volunteered to sit up that night to ascertain the exact +causes of the strange noises and convince Clarence that they were +nothing but the effects of draughts. The fire in his gunroom was +surreptitiously kept up to serve for the vigil, which I ardently +desired to share. It was an enterprise; it would gratify my +curiosity; and besides, though Griffith was good-natured and +forbearing in a general way towards Clarence, I detected a spirit of +mockery about him which might break out unpleasantly when poor +Clarry was convicted of one of his unreasonable panics. + +Both brothers were willing to gratify me, the only difficulty being +that the tap of my crutches would warn the entire household of the +expedition. However, they had--all unknown to my mother--several +times carried me about queen's cushion fashion, as, being always +much of a size, they could do most handily; and as both were now +fine, strong, well-made youths of twenty and nineteen, they had no +doubt of easily and silently conveying me up the shallow-stepped +staircase when all was quiet for the night. + +Emily, with her sharp ears, guessed that something was in hand, but +we promised her that she should know all in time. I believe Griff, +being a little afraid of her quickness, led her to suppose he was +going to hold what he called a symposium in his rooms, and to think +it a mystery of college life not intended for young ladies. + +He really had prepared a sort of supper for us when, after my +father's resounding turn of the key of the drawing-room door, my +brothers, in their stocking soles, bore me upstairs, the fun of the +achievement for the moment overpowering all sense of eeriness. +Griff said he could not receive me in his apartment without doing +honour to the occasion, and that Dutch courage was requisite for us +both; but I suspect it was more in accordance with Oxford habits +that he had provided a bottle of sherry and another of ale, some +brandy cherries, bread, cheese, and biscuits, by what means I do not +know, for my mother always locked up the wine. He was disappointed +that Clarence would touch nothing, and declared that inanition was +the preparation for ghost-seeing or imagining. I drank his health +in a glass of sherry as I looked round at the curious old room, with +its panelled roof, the heraldic devices and badges of the Power +family, and the trophy of swords, dirks, daggers, and pistols, +chiefly relics of our naval grandfather, but reinforced by the +sword, helmet, and spurs of the county Yeomanry which Griff had +joined. + +Griff proposed cards to drive away fancies, especially as the sounds +were beginning; but though we generally yielded to him we COULD not +give our attention to anything but these. There was first a low +moan. 'No great harm in that,' said Griff; 'it comes through that +crack in the wainscot where there is a sham window. Some putty will +put a stop to that.' + +Then came a more decided wail and sob much nearer to us. Griff +hastily swallowed the ale in his tumbler, and, striking a theatrical +attitude, exclaimed, 'Angels and ministers of grace defend us!' + +Clarence held up his hand in deprecation. The door into his bedroom +was open, and Griff, taking up one of the flat candlesticks, pursued +his researches, holding the flame to all chinks or cracks in the +wainscotting to detect draughts which might cause the dreary sounds, +which were much more like suppressed weeping than any senseless gust +of wind. Of draughts there were many, and he tried holding his hand +against each crevice to endeavour to silence the wails; but these +became more human and more distressful. Presently Clarence +exclaimed, 'There!' and on his face there was a whiteness and an +expression which always recurs to me on reading those words of +Eliphaz the Temanite, 'Then a spirit passed before my face, and the +hair of my flesh stood up.' Even Griff was awestruck as we cried, +'Where? what?' + +'Don't you see her? There! By the press--look!' + +'I see a patch of moonlight on the wall,' said Griff. + +'Moonlight--her lamp. Edward, don't you see her?' + +I could see nothing but a spot of light on the wall. Griff (plainly +putting a force on himself) came back and gave him a good-natured +shake. 'Dreaming again, old Bill. Wake up and come to your +senses.' + +'I am as much in my senses as you are,' said Clarence. 'I see her +as plainly as I see you.' + +Nor could any one doubt either the reality of the awe in his voice +and countenance, nor of the light--a kind of hazy ball--nor of the +choking sobs. + +'What is she like?' I asked, holding his hand, for, though infected +by his dread, my fears were chiefly for the effect on him; but he +was much calmer and less horror-struck than on the previous night, +though still he shuddered as he answered in a low voice, as if loth +to describe a lady in her presence, 'A dark cloak with the hood +fallen back, a kind of lace headdress loosely fastened, brown hair, +thin white face, eyes--oh, poor thing!--staring with fright, dark-- +oh, how swollen the lids! all red below with crying--black dress +with white about it--a widow kind of look--a glove on the arm with +the lamp. Is she beckoning--looking at us? Oh, you poor thing, if +I could tell what you mean!' + +I felt the motion of his muscles in act to rise, and grasped him. +Griff held him with a strong hand, hoarsely crying, 'Don't!--don't-- +don't follow the thing, whatever you do!' + +Clarence hid his face. It was very awful and strange. Once the +thought of conjuring her to speak by the Holy Name crossed me, but +then I saw no figure; and with incredulous Griffith standing by, it +would have been like playing, nor perhaps could I have spoken. How +long this lasted there is no knowing; but presently the light moved +towards the walled-up door and seemed to pass into it. Clarence +raised his head and said she was gone. We breathed freely. + +'The farce is over,' said Griff. 'Mr. Edward Winslow's carriage +stops the way!' + +I was hoisted up, candle in hand, between the two, and had nearly +reached the stairs when there came up on the garden side a sound as +of tipsy revellers in the garden. 'The scoundrels! how can they +have got in?' cried Griff, looking towards the window; but all the +windows on that side had peculiarly heavy shutters and bars, with +only a tiny heart-shaped aperture very high up, so they somewhat +hurried their steps downstairs, intending to rush out on the +intruders from the back door. But suddenly, in the middle of the +staircase, we heard a terrible heartrending woman's shriek, making +us all start and have a general fall. My brothers managed to seat +me safely on a step without much damage to themselves, but the +candle fell and was extinguished, and we made too heavy a weight to +fall without real noise enough to bring the household together +before we could pick ourselves up in the dark. + +We heard doors opening and hurried calls, and something about +pistols, impelling Griff to call out, 'It's nothing, papa; but there +are some drunken rascals in the garden.' + +A light had come by this time, and we were detected. There was a +general sally upon the enemy in the garden before any one thought of +me, except a 'You here!' when they nearly fell over me. And there I +was left sitting on the stair, helpless without my crutches, till in +a few minutes all returned declaring there was nothing--no signs of +anything; and then as Clarence ran up to me with my crutches my +father demanded the meaning of my being there at that time of night. + +'Well, sir,' said Griff, 'it is only that we have been sitting up to +investigate the ghost.' + +'Ghost! Arrant stuff and nonsense! What induced you to be dragging +Edward about in this dangerous way?' + +'I wished it,' said I. + +'You are all mad together, I think. I won't have the house +disturbed for this ridiculous folly. I shall look into it to- +morrow!' + + + +CHAPTER XV--RATIONAL THEORIES + + + +'These are the reasons, they are natural.' + +Julius Caesar. + +If anything could have made our adventure more unpleasant to Mr. and +Mrs. Winslow, it would have been the presence of guests. However, +inquiry was suppressed at breakfast, in deference to the signs my +mother made to enjoin silence before the children, all unaware that +Emily was nearly frantic with suppressed curiosity, and Martyn knew +more about the popular version of the legend than any of us. + +Clarence looked wan and heavy-eyed. His head was aching from a bump +against the edge of a step, and his cold was much worse; no wonder, +said my mother; but she was always softened by any ailment, and +feared that the phantoms were the effect of coming illness. I have +always thought that if Clarence could have come home from his court- +martial with a brain fever he would have earned immediate +forgiveness; but unluckily for him, he was a very healthy person. + +All three of us were summoned to the tribunal in the study, where my +father and my mother sat in judgment on what they termed 'this +preposterous business.' In our morning senses our impressions were +much more vague than at midnight, and we betrayed some confusion; +but Griff and I had a strong instinct of sheltering Clarence, and we +stoutly declared the noises to be beyond the capacities of wind, +rats, or cats; that the light was visible and inexplicable; and that +though we had seen nothing else, we could not doubt that Clarence +did. + +'Thought he did,' corrected my father. + +'Without discussing the word,' said Griff, 'I mean that the effect +on his senses was the same as the actual sight. You could not look +at him without being certain.' + +'Exactly so,' returned my mother. 'I wish Dr. Fellowes were near.' + +Indeed nothing saved Clarence from being consigned to medical +treatment but the distance from Bath or Bristol, and the +contradictory advice that had been received from our county +neighbours as to our family doctor. However, she formed her theory +that his nervous imaginings--whether involuntary or acted, she hoped +the former, and wished she could be sure--had infected us; and, as +she was really uneasy about him, she would not let him sleep in the +mullion room, but having nowhere else to bestow him, she turned out +the man-servant and put him into the little room beyond mine, and +she also forbade any mention of the subject to him that day. + +This was a sore prohibition to Emily, who had been discussing it +with the other ladies, and was in a mingled state of elation at the +romance, and terror at the supernatural, which found vent in excited +giggle, and moved Griff to cram her with raw-head and bloody-bone +horrors, conventional enough to be suspicious, and send her to me +tearfully to entreat to know the truth. If by day she exulted in a +haunted chamber, in the evening she paid for it by terrors at +walking about the house alone, and, when sent on an errand by my +mother, looked piteous enough to be laughed at or scolded on all +sides. + +The gentlemen had more serious colloquies, and the upshot was a +determination to sit up together and discover the origin of the +annoyance. Mr. Stafford's antiquarian researches had made him +familiar with such mysteries, and enough of them had been explained +by natural causes to convince him that there was a key to all the +rest. Owls, coiners, and smugglers had all been convicted of +simulating ghosts. In one venerable mansion, behind the wainscot, +there had been discovered nine skeletons of cats in different stages +of decay, having trapped themselves at various intervals of time, +and during the gradual extinction of their eighty-one lives having +emitted cries enough to establish the ghastly reputation of the +place. Perhaps Mr. Henderson was inclined to believe there were +more things in heaven and earth than were dreamt of in even an +antiquary's philosophy. He owned himself perplexed, but reserved +his opinion. + +At breakfast Clarence was quite well, except for the remains of his +sore throat, and the two seniors were gruff and brief as to their +watch. They had heard odd noises, and should discover the cause; +the carpenter had already been sent for, and they had seen a light +which was certainly due to reflection or refraction. Mr. Henderson +committed himself to nothing but that 'it was very extraordinary;' +and there was a wicked look of diversion on Griff's face, and an +exchange of glances. Afterwards, in our own domain, we extracted a +good deal more from them. + +Griff told us how the two elders started on politics, and denounced +Brougham and O'Connell loud enough to terrify any save the most +undaunted ghost, till Henderson said 'Hush!' and they paused at the +moan with which the performance always commenced, making Mr. +Stafford turn, as Griff said, 'white in the gills,' though he talked +of the wind on the stillest of frosty nights. Then came the sobbing +and wailing, which certainly overawed them all; Henderson called +them 'agonising,' but Griff was in a manner inured to this, and felt +as if master of the ceremonies. Let them say what they would by +daylight about owls, cats, and rats, they owned the human element +then, and were far from comfortable, though they would not +compromise their good sense by owning what both their younger +companions had perceived--their feeling of some undefinable +presence. Vain attempts had been made to account for the light or +get rid of it by changing the position of candles or bright objects +in the outer room; and Henderson had shut himself into the bedroom +with it; but there he still only saw the hazy light--though all was +otherwise pitch dark, except the keyhole and the small gray patch of +sky at the top of the window-shutters. 'You saw nothing else?' said +Griff. 'I thought I heard you break out as Clarence did, just +before my father opened the door.' + +'Perhaps I did so. I had the sense strongly on me of some being in +grievous distress very near me.' + +'And you should have power over it,' suggested Emily. + +'I am afraid,' he said, 'that more thorough conviction and +comprehension are needed before I could address the thing with +authority. I should like to have stayed longer and heard the +conclusion.' + +For Mr. Stafford had grown impatient and weary, and my father having +satisfied himself that there was something to be detected, would not +remain to the end, and not only carried his companions off, but +locked the doors, perhaps expecting to imprison some agent in a +trick, and find him in the morning. + +Indeed Clarence had a dim remembrance of having been half wakened by +some one looking in on him in the night, when he was sleeping +heavily after his cold and the previous night's disturbance, and we +suspected, though we would not say, that our father might have +wished to ascertain that he had no share in producing these +appearances. He was, however, fully acquitted of all wilful +deception in the case, and he was not surprised, though he was +disappointed, that his vision of the lady was supposed to be the +consequence of excited imagination. + +'I can't help it,' he said to me in private. 'I have always seen or +felt, or whatever you may call it, things that others do not. Don't +you remember how nobody would believe that I saw Lucy Brooke?' + +'That was in the beginning of the measles.' + +' I know; and I will tell you something curious. When I was at +Gibraltar I met Mrs. Emmott--' + +'Mary Brooke?' + +'Yes; I spent a very happy Sunday with her. We talked over old +times, and she told me that Lucy had all through her illness been +very uneasy about having promised to bring me a macaw's feather the +next time we played in the Square gardens. It could not be sent to +me for fear of carrying the infection, but the dear girl was too +light-headed to understand, and kept on fretting and wandering about +breaking her word. I have no doubt the wish carried her spirit to +me the moment it was free,' he added, with tears springing to his +eyes. He also said that before the court-martial he had, night +after night, dreams of sinking and drowning in huge waves, and his +friend Coles struggling to come to his aid, but being forcibly +withheld; and he had since learnt that Coles had actually +endeavoured to come from Plymouth to bear testimony to his previous +character, but had been refused leave, and told that he could do no +good. + +There had been other instances of perception of a presence and of a +prescient foreboding. 'It is like a sixth sense,' he said, 'and a +very uncomfortable one. I would give much to be rid of it, for it +is connected with all that is worst in my life. I had it before +Navarino, when no one expected an engagement. It made me believe I +should be killed, and drove me to what was much worse--or at least I +used to think so.' + +'Don't you now?' I asked. + +'No,' said Clarence. 'It was a great mercy that I did not die then. +There's something to conquer first. But you'll never speak of this, +Ted. I have left off telling of such things--it only gives another +reason for disbelieving me.' + +However, this time his veracity was not called in question,--but he +was supposed to be under a hallucination, the creation of the noises +acting on his imagination and memory of the persecuted widow, which +must have been somewhere dormant in his mind, though he averred that +he had never heard of it. It had now, however, made a strong +impression on him; he was convinced that some crime or injustice had +been perpetrated, and thought it ought to be investigated; but +Griffith made us laugh at his championship of this shadow of a +shade, and even wrote some mock heroic verses about it,--nor would +it have been easy to stir my father to seek for the motives of an +apparition which no one in the family save Clarence professed to +have seen. + +The noises were indisputable, but my mother began to suspect a cause +for them. To oblige a former cook we had brought down with us as +stable-boy her son, George Sims, an imp accustomed to be the pet and +jester of a mews. Martyn was only too fond of his company, and he +made no secret of his contempt for the insufferable dulness of the +country, enlivening it by various acts of monkey-mischief, in some +of which Martyn had been implicated. That very afternoon, as Mrs. +Sophia Selby was walking home in the twilight from Chapman's lodge, +in company with Mr. Henderson, an eldritch yell proceeding from the +vaults beneath the mullion chambers nearly frightened her into fits. +Henderson darted in and captured the two boys in the fact. Martyn's +asseveration that he had taken the pair for Griff and Emily would +have pacified the good-natured clergyman, but Mrs. Sophia was too +much agitated, or too spiteful, as we declared, not to make a scene. + +Martyn spent the evening alone and in disgrace, and only his +unimpeachable character for truth caused the acceptance of his +affirmation that the yell was an impromptu fraternal compliment, and +that he had nothing to do with the noises in the mullion chamber. +He had been supposed to be perfectly unconscious of anything of the +kind, and to have never so much as heard of a phantom, so my mother +was taken somewhat aback when, in reply to her demand whether he had +ever been so naughty as to assist George in making a noise in +Clarence's room, he said, 'Why, that's the ghost of the lady that +was murdered atop of the steps, and always walks every Christmas!' + +'Who told you such ridiculous nonsense?' + +The answer 'George' was deemed conclusive that all had been got up +by that youth; and there was considerable evidence of his talent for +ventriloquism and taste for practical jokes. My mother was certain +that, having heard of the popular superstition, he had acted ghost. +She appealed to Woodstock to prove the practicability of such feats; +and her absolute conviction persuaded the maids (who had given +warning en masse) that the enemy was exorcised when George Sims had +been sent off on the Royal Mail under Clarence's guardianship. + +None of the junior part of the family believed him guilty, but he +had hunted the cows round the paddock, mounted on my donkey, had +nearly shot the kitchen-maid with Griff's gun, and, if not much +maligned, knew the way to the apple-chamber only too well,--so that +he richly deserved his doom, rejoiced in it himself, and was +unregretted save by Martyn. Clarence viewed him in the light of a +victim, and tried to keep an eye on him, but he developed his talent +as a ventriloquist, made his fortune, and retired on a public-house. + +My mother would fain have had the vaults under the mullion rooms +bricked up, but Mr. Stafford cried out on the barbarism of such a +proceeding. The mystery was declared to be solved, and was added to +Mr. Stafford's good stories of haunted houses. + +And at home my father forbade any further mention of such rank folly +and deception. The inner mullion chamber was turned into a lumber- +room, and as weeks passed by without hearing or seeing any more of +lady or of lamp, we began to credit the wonderful freaks of the +goblin page. + + + +CHAPTER XVI--CAT LANGUAGE + + + +Soon as she parted thence--the fearful twayne, +That blind old woman and her daughter deare, +Came forth, and finding Kirkrapine there slayne, +For anguish greate they gan to rend their heare +And beate their breasts, and naked flesh to teare; +And when they both had wept and wayled their fill, +Then forth they ran, like two amazed deere, +Half mad through malice and revenging will, +To follow her that was the causer of their ill.' + +SPENSER. + +The Christmas vacation was not without another breeze about +Griffith's expenses at Oxford. He held his head high, and declared +that people expected something from the eldest son of a man of +property, and my father tried to convince him that a landed estate +often left less cash available than did the fixed salary of an +office. Griff treated all in his light, good-humoured way, promised +to be careful, and came to me to commiserate the poor old +gentleman's ignorance of the ways of the new generation. + +There ensued some trying weeks of dark days, raw frost, and black +east wind, when the home party cast longing, lingering recollections +back to the social intercourse, lamp-lit streets, and ready +interchange of books and other amenities we had left behind us. We +were not accustomed to have our nearest neighbours separated from us +by two miles of dirty lane, or road mended with excruciating stones, +nor were they very congenial when we did see them. The Fordyce +family might be interesting, but we younger ones could not forget +the slight to Clarence, and, besides, the girls seemed to be +entirely in the schoolroom, Mrs. Fordyce was delicate and was shut +up all the winter, and the only intercourse that took place was when +my father met the elder Mr. Fordyce at the magistrates' bench; also +there was a conference about Amos Bell, who was preferred to the +post left vacant by George Sims, in right of his being our tenant, +but more civilised than Earlscombers, a widow's son, and not +sufficiently recovered from his accident to be exposed to the severe +tasks of a ploughboy in the winter. + +Mrs. Fordyce was the manager of a book-club, which circulated +volumes covered in white cartridge paper, with a printed list of the +subscribers' names. Two volumes at a time might be kept for a month +by each member in rotation, novels were excluded, and the manager +had a veto on all orders. We found her more liberal than some of +our other neighbours, who looked on our wants and wishes with +suspicion as savouring of London notions. Happily we could read old +books and standard books over again, and we gloated over Blackwood +and the Quarterly, enjoying, too, every out-of-door novelty of the +coming spring, as each revealed itself. Emily will never forget her +first primroses, nor I the first thrush in early morning. + +Blankets, broth, and what were uncomfortably termed broken victuals +had been given away during the winter, and a bewildering amount of +begging women and children used to ask interviews with 'the Lady +Winslow,' with stories that crumbled on investigation so as to make +us recollect the Rector's character of Earlscombe. + +However, Mr. Henderson came in the second week of Lent, and what our +steps towards improvement introduced would have seemed almost as +shocking to you youngsters, as what they displaced. For instance, a +plain crimson cloth covered the altar, instead of the rags in the +colours of the Winslow livery, presented, according to the queer old +register, by the unfortunate Margaret. There was talk of velvet and +the gold monogram, surrounded by rays, alternately straight and +wavy, as in our London church, but this was voted 'unfit for a plain +village church.' Still, the new hangings of pulpit, desk, and altar +were all good in quality and colour, and huge square cushions were +provided as essential to each. Moreover, the altar vessels were +made somewhat more respectable,--all this being at my father's +expense. + +He also carried in the Vestry, though not without strong opposition +from a dissenting farmer, that new linen and a fresh surplice should +be provided by the parish, which surplice would have made at least +six of such as are at present worn. The farmers were very jealous +of the interference of the Squire in the Vestry--'what he had no +call to,' and of church rates applied to any other object than the +reward of birdslayers, as thus, in the register - + + +Hairy Wills, 1 score sprows heds 2d. +Jems Brown, 1 poulcat 6d. +Jarge Bell, 2 howls 6d. + + +It was several years before this appropriation of the church rates +could be abolished. The year 1830, with a brand new squire and +parson, was too ticklish a time for many innovations. + +Hillside Church was the only one in the neighbourhood where Holy +Week or Ascension Day had been observed in the memory of man. When +we proposed going to church on the latter day the gardener asked my +mother 'if it was her will to keep Thursday holy,' as if he expected +its substitution for Sunday. Monthly Communions and Baptisms after +the Second Lesson were viewed as 'not fit for a country church,' and +every attempt at even more secular improvements was treated with the +most disappointing distrust and aversion. When my father laid out +the allotment grounds, the labourers suspected some occult design +for his own profit, and the farmers objected that the gardens would +be used as an excuse for neglecting their work and stealing their +potatoes. Coal-club and clothing-club were regarded in like manner, +and while a few took advantage of these offers in a grudging manner, +the others viewed everything except absolute gifts as 'me-an' on our +part, the principle of aid to self-help being an absolute novelty. +When I look back to the notes in our journals of that date I see how +much has been overcome. + +Perhaps we listened more than was strictly wise to the revelations +of Amos Bell, when he attended Emily and me on our expeditions with +the donkey. Though living over the border of Hillside, he had a +family of relations at Earlscombe, and for a time lodged with his +grandmother there. When his shyness and lumpishness gave way, he +proved so bright that Emily undertook to carry on his education. He +soon had a wonderful eye for a wild flower, and would climb after it +with the utmost agility; and when once his tongue was loosed, he +became almost too communicative, and made us acquainted with the +opinions of 'they Earlscoom folk' with a freedom not to be found in +an elder or a native. + +Moreover, he was the brightest light of the Sunday school which Mr. +Henderson opened at once--for want of a more fitting place--in the +disused north transept of the church. It was an uncouth, ill-clad +crew which assembled on those dilapidated paving tiles. Their own +grandchildren look almost as far removed from them in dress and +civilisation as did my sister in her white worked cambric dress, +silk scarf, huge Tuscan bonnet, and the little curls beyond the lace +quilling round her bright face, far rosier than ever it had been in +town. And what would the present generation say to the odd little +contrivances in the way of cotton sun-bonnets, check pinafores, list +tippets, and print capes, and other wonderful manufactures from the +rag-bag, which were then grand prizes and stimulants? + +Previous knowledge or intelligence scarcely existed, and then was +not due to Dame Dearlove's tuition. Mr. Henderson pronounced an +authorised school a necessity. My father had scruples as to vested +rights, for the old woman was the last survivor of a family who had +had recourse to primer and hornbook after their ejection on 'black +Bartholomew's Day;' and when the meeting-house was built after the +Revolution, had combined preaching with teaching. Monopoly had +promoted degeneracy, and this last of the race was an unfavourable +specimen in all save outward picturesqueness. However, much against +Henderson's liking, an accommodation was proposed, by which books +were to be supplied to her, and the Church Catechism be taught in +her school, with the assistance of the curate and Miss Winslow. + +The terms were rejected with scorn. No School Board could be more +determined against the Catechism, nor against 'passons meddling wi' +she;' and as to assistance, 'she had been a governess this thirty +year, and didn't want no one trapesing in and out of her school.' + +She was warned, but probably did not believe in the possibility of +an opposition school; and really there were children enough in the +place to overfill both her room and that which was fitted up after a +very humble fashion in one of our cottages. H.M. Inspector would +hardly have thought it even worth condemnation any more than the +attainments of the mistress, the young widow of a small Bristol +skipper. Her qualifications consisted in her piety and +conscientiousness, good temper and excellent needlework, together +with her having been a scholar in one of Mrs. Hannah More's schools +in the Cheddar district. She could read and teach reading well; but +as for the dangerous accomplishments of writing and arithmetic, such +as desired to pass beyond the rudiments of them must go to +Wattlesea. + +So nice did she look in her black that Earlscombe voted her a mere +town lady, and even at a penny a week hesitated to send its children +to her. Indeed it was currently reported that her school was part +of a deep and nefarious scheme of the gentlefolks for reducing the +poor-rates by enticing the children, and then shipping them off to +foreign parts from Bristol. + +But the great crisis was one unlucky summer evening when Emily and I +were out with the donkey, and Griffith, just come home from Oxford, +was airing the new acquisition of a handsome black retriever. + +Close by the old chapel, a black cat was leisurely crossing the +road. At her dashed Nero, stimulated perhaps by an almost +involuntary scss--scss--from his master, if not from Amos and me. +The cat flew up a low wall, and stood at bay on the top on tiptoe, +with bristling tail, arched back, and fiery eyes, while the dog +danced round in agony on his hind legs, barking furiously, and +almost reaching her. Female sympathy ever goes to the cat, and +Emily screamed out in the fear that he would seize her, or even that +Griff might aid him. Perhaps Amos would have done so, if left to +himself; but Griff, who saw the cat was safe, could not help egging +on his dog's impotent rage, when in the midst, out flew pussy's +mistress, Dame Dearlove herself, broomstick in hand, using language +as vituperative as the cat's, and more intelligible. + +She was about to strike the dog--indeed I fancy she did, for there +was a howl, and Griff sprang to his defence with--'Don't hurt my +dog, I say! He hasn't touched the brute! She can take care of +herself. Here, there's half-a-crown for the fright,' as the cat +sprang down within the wall, and Nero slunk behind him. But Dame +Dearlove was not so easily appeased. Her blood was up after our +long series of offences, and she broke into a regular tirade of +abuse. + +'That's the way with you fine folk, thinking you can tread down poor +people like the dirt under your feet, and insult 'em when you've +taken the bread out of the mouths of them that were here before you. +Passons and ladies a meddin' where no one ever set a foot before! +Ay, ay, but ye'll all be down before long.' + +Griff signed to us to go on, and thundered out on her to take care +what she was about and not be abusive; but this brought a fresh +volley on him, heralded by a derisive laugh. 'Ha! ha! fine talking +for the likes of you, Winslows that you are. But there's a curse on +you all! The poor lady as was murdered won't let you be! Why, +there's one of you, poor humpy object--' + +At this savage attack on me, Griff waxed furious, and shouted at her +to hold her confounded tongue, but this only diverted the attack on +himself. 'And as for you--fine chap as ye think yourself, +swaggering and swearing at poor folk, and setting your dog at them-- +your time's coming. Look out for yourself. It's well known as how +the curse is on the first-born. The Lady Margaret don't let none of +'em live to come after his father.' + +Griff laughed and said, 'There, we have had enough of this;' and in +fact we had already moved on, so that he had to make some long steps +to overtake us, muttering, 'So we've started a Meg Merrilies! My +father won't keep such a foul-mouthed hag in the parish long!' + +To which I had to respond that her cottage belonged to the trustees +of the chapel, whereat he whistled. I don't think he knew that we +had heard her final denunciation, and we did not like to mention it +to him, scarcely to each other, though Emily looked very white and +scared. + +We talked it over afterwards in private, and with Henderson, who +confessed that he had heard of the old woman's saying something of +the kind to other persons. We consulted the registers in hopes of +confuting it, but did not satisfy ourselves. The last Squire had +lost his only son at school. He himself had been originally second +in the family, and in the generation before him there had been some +child-deaths, after which we came back to a young man, apparently +the eldest, who, according to Miss Selby's story, had been killed in +a duel by one of the Fordyces. It was not comfortable, till I +remembered that our family Bible recorded the birth, baptism, and +death of a son who had preceded Griffith, and only borne for a day +the name afterwards bestowed on me. + +And Henderson, who was so little our elder as to discuss things on +fairly equal grounds, had some very interesting talks with us two +over ancestral sin and its possible effects, dwelling on the 18th of +Ezekiel as a comment on the Second Commandment. Indeed, we agreed +that the uncomfortable state of disaffection which, in 1830, was +becoming only too manifest in the populace, was the result of +neglect in former ages, and that, even in our own parish, the +bitterness, distrust, and ingratitude were due to the careless, +riotous, and oppressive family whom we represented. + + + +CHAPTER XVII--THE SIEGE OF HILLSIDE + + + +'Ferments arise, imprisoned factions roar, +Represt ambition struggles round the shore; +Till, overwrought, the general system feels +Its motion stop, or frenzy fire the wheels.' + +GOLDSMITH. + +Griffith had come straight home this year. There were no Peacock +gaieties to tempt him in London, for old Sir Henry had died suddenly +soon after the ball in December; nor was there much of a season that +year, owing to the illness and death of George IV. + +A regiment containing two old schoolmates of his was at Bristol, and +he spent a good deal of time there, and also in Yeomanry drill. As +autumn came on we rejoiced in having so stalwart a protector, for +the agricultural riots had begun, and the forebodings of another +French Revolution seemed about to be realised. We stayed on at +Chantry House. My father thought his duty lay there as a +magistrate, and my mother would not leave him; nor indeed was any +other place much safer, certainly not London, whence Clarence wrote +accounts of formidable mobs who were expected to do more harm than +they accomplished; though their hatred of the hero of our country +filled us with direful prognostications, and made us think of the +guillotine, which was linked with revolution in our minds, before we +had I beheld the numerous changes that followed upon the thirty +years of peace in which we grew up. + +The ladies did not much like losing so stalwart a defender when +Griff returned to Oxford; and Jane the housemaid went to bed every +night with the pepper-pot and a poker, the first wherewith to blind +the enemy, the second to charge them with. From our height we could +more than once see blazing ricks, and were glad that the home farm +was not in our own hands, and that our only stack of hay was a good +way from the house. When the onset came at last, it was December, +and the enemy only consisted of about thirty dreary-looking men and +boys in smock-frocks and chalked or smutted faces, armed only with +sticks and an old gun diverted from its purpose of bird-scaring. +They shouted for food, money, and arms; but my father spoke to them +from the hall steps, told them they had better go home and learn +that the public-house was a worse enemy to them than any machine +that had ever been invented, and assured them that they would get no +help from him in breaking the laws and getting themselves into +trouble. A stone or two was picked up, whereupon he went back and +had the hall door shut and barred, the heavy shutters of the windows +having all been closed already, so that we could have stood a much +more severe siege than from these poor fellows. One or two windows +were broken, as well as the glass of the conservatory, and the +flower beds were trampled; but finding our fortress impregnable they +sneaked away before dark. We fared better than our neighbours, some +of whom were seriously frightened, and suffered loss of property. +Old Mr. Fordyce had for many years past been an active magistrate-- +that a clergyman should be on the bench having been quite correct +according to the notions of his younger days; and in spite of his +beneficence he incurred a good deal of unpopularity for withstanding +the lax good-nature which made his brother magistrates give orders +for parish relief refused to able-bodied paupers by their own +Vestries. This was a mischievous abuse of the old poor-law times, +which made people dispose of every one's money save their own. He +had also been a keen sportsman; and though his son had given up +field sports in deference to higher notions of clerical duty (his +wife's, as people said), the old man's feeling prompted him to +severity on poachers. Frank Fordyce, while by far the most earnest, +hardworking clergyman in the neighbourhood, worked off his +superfluous energy on scientific farming, making the glebe and the +hereditary estate as much the model farm as Hillside was the model +parish. He had lately set up a threshing-machine worked by horses, +which was as much admired by the intelligent as it was vituperated +by the ignorant. + +Neither paupers nor poachers abounded in Hillside; the natives were +chiefly tenants and employed on the property, and, between good +management and beneficence, there was little real want and much +friendly confidence and affection; and thus, in spite of surrounding +riots, Hillside seemed likely to be an exception, proving what could +he done by rightful care and attention. Nor indeed did the attack +come from thence; but the two parsons were bitterly hated by +outsiders beyond the reach of their personal influence and +benevolence. + +It was on a Saturday evening, the day after Griff had come back for +the Christmas vacation, that, as Emily was giving Amos his lesson, +she saw that the boy was crying, and after examination he let out +that 'folk should say that the lads were agoing to break Parson +Fordy's machine and fire his ricks that very night;' but he would +not give his authority, and when he saw her about to give warning, +entreated, 'Now, dont'ze say nothing, Miss Emily--' + +'What?' she cried indignantly; 'do you think I could hear of such a +thing without trying to stop it?' + +'Us says,' he blurted out, 'as how Winslows be always fain of ought +as happens to the Fordys--' + +'We are not such wicked Winslows as you have heard of,' returned +Emily with dignity; and she rushed off in quest of papa and Griff, +but when she brought them to the bookroom, Amos had decamped, and +was nowhere to be found that night. We afterwards learnt that he +lay hidden in the hay-loft, not daring to return to his granny's, +lest he should be suspected of being a traitor to his kind; for our +lawless, untamed, discontented parish furnished a large quota to the +rioters, and he has since told me that though all seemed to know +what was about to be done, he did not hear it from any one in +particular. + +It was no time to make light of a warning, but very difficult to +know what to do. Rural police were non-existent; there were no +soldiers nearer than Keynsham, and the Yeomanry were all in their +own homesteads. However, the captain of Griff's troop, Sir George +Eastwood, lived about three miles beyond Wattlesea, and had a good +many dependants in the corps, so it was resolved to send him a note +by the gardener, good James Ellis, a steady, resolute man, on +Emily's fast-trotting pony, while my father and Griff should hasten +to Hillside to warn the Fordyces, who were not unlikely to be able +to muster trustworthy defenders among their own people, and might +send the ladies to take shelter at Chantry House. + +My mother's brave spirit disdained to detain an effective man for +her own protection, and the groom was to go to Hillside; he was in +the Yeomanry, and, like Griff, put on his uniform, while my father +had the Riot Act in his pocket. All the horses were thus absorbed, +but Chapman and the man-servant followed on foot. + +Never did I feel my incapacity more than on that strange night, when +Emily was flying about with Martyn to all the doors and windows in a +wild state of excitement, humming to herself - + + +'When the dawn on the mountain was misty and gray, +My true love has mounted his steed and away.' + + +My mother was equally restless, prolonging as much as possible the +preparation of rooms for possible guests; and when she did come and +sit down, she netted her purse with vehement jerks, and scolded +Emily for jumping up and leaving doors open. + +At last, after an hour according to the clock, but far more by our +feelings, wheels were heard in the distance; Emily was off like a +shot to reconnoitre, and presently Martyn bounced in with the +tidings that a pair of carriage lamps were coming up the drive. My +mother hurried out into the hall; I made my best speed after her, +and found her hastily undoing the door-chain as she recognised the +measured, courteous voice of old Mr. Fordyce. In a moment more they +were all in the house, the old gentleman giving his arm to his +daughter-in-law, who was quite overcome with distress and alarm; +then came his tall, slim granddaughter, carrying her little sister +with arms full of dolls, and sundry maid-servants completed the +party of fugitives. + +'We are taking advantage of Mr. Winslow's goodness,' said the old +Rector. 'He assured us that you would be kind enough to receive +those who would only be an encumbrance.' + +'Oh, but I must go back to Frank now that you and the children are +safe,' cried the poor lady. 'Don't send away the carriage; I must +go back to Frank.' + +'Nonsense, my dear,' returned Mr. Fordyce, 'Frank is in no danger. +He will get on much better for knowing you are safe. Mrs. Winslow +will tell you so.' + +My mother was enforcing this assurance, when the little girl's sobs +burst out in spite of her sister, who had been trying to console +her. 'It is Celestina Mary,' she cried, pointing to three dolls +whom she had carried in clasped to her breast. 'Poor Celestina +Mary! She is left behind, and Ellen won't let me go and see if she +is in the carriage.' + +'My dear, if she is in the carriage, she will be quite safe in the +morning.' + +'Oh, but she will be so cold. She had nothing on but Rosella's old +petticoat.' + +The distress was so real that I had my hand on the bell to cause a +search to be instituted for the missing damsel, when Mrs. Fordyce +begged me to do no such thing, as it was only a doll. The child, +while endeavouring to shelter with a shawl the dolls, snatched in +their night-gear from their beds, wept so piteously at the rebuff +that her grandfather had nearly gone in quest of the lost one, but +was stopped by a special entreaty that he would not spoil the child. +Martyn, however, who had been standing in open-mouthed wonder at +such feeling for a doll, exclaimed, 'Don't cry, don't cry. I'll go +and get it for you;' and rushed off to the stable-yard. + +This episode had restored Mrs. Fordyce, and while providing some of +our guests with wine, and others with tea, we heard the story, only +interrupted by Martyn's return from a vain search, and Anne's +consequent tears, which, however, were somehow hushed and smothered +by fears of being sent to bed, coupled with his promises to search +every step of the way to-morrow. + +It appeared that while the Fordyce family were at dinner, shouts, +howls and yells had startled them. The rabble had surrounded the +Rectory, bawling out abuse of the parsons and their machines, and +occasionally throwing stones. There was no help to be expected; the +only hope was in the strength of the doors and windows, and the +knowledge that personal violence was very uncommon; but those were +terrible moments, and poor Mrs. Fordyce was nearly dead with +suppressed terror when her husband tried haranguing from an upper +window, and was received with execrations and a volley of stones, +while the glass crashed round him. + +At that instant the shouts turned to yells of dismay, 'The so'diers! +the so'diers!' + +Our party had found everything still and dark in the village, for in +truth the men had hidden themselves. They were being too much +attached to their masters to join in the attack, but were afraid of +being compelled to assist the rioters, and not resolute enough +against their own class either to inform against them or oppose +them. + +Through the midnight-like stillness of the street rose the tumult +around the Rectory; and by the light of a few lanterns, and from the +upper windows, they could see a mass of old hats, smock-frocked +shoulders, and the tops of bludgeons; while at soonest, Sir George +Eastwood's troop could not be expected for an hour or more. + +'We must get to them somehow,' said my father and Griff to one +another; and Griff added, 'These rascals are arrant cowards, and +they can't see the number of us.' + +Then, before my father knew what he was about--certainly before he +could get hold of the Riot Act--he found the stable lantern made +over to him, and Griff's sword flashing in light, as, making all +possible clatter and jingling with their accoutrements, the two +yeomen dashed among the throng, shouting with all their might, and +striking with the flat of their swords. The rioters, ill-fed, dull- +hearted men for the most part--many dragged out by compulsion, and +already terrified--went tumbling over one another and running off +headlong, bearing off with them (as we afterwards learnt) their +leaders by their weight, taking the blows and pushes they gave one +another in their pell-mell rush for those of the soldiery, and +falling blindly against the low wall of the enclosure. The only +difficulty was in clearing them out at the two gates of the drive. + +When Mr. Fordyce opened the door to hail his rescuers he was utterly +amazed to behold only three, and asked in a bewildered voice, 'Where +are the others?' + +There were two prisoners, Petty the ratcatcher, who had attempted +some resistance and had been knocked down by Griff's horse, and a +young lad in a smock-frock who had fallen off the wall and hurt his +knee, and who blubbered piteously, declaring that them chaps had +forced him to go with them, or they would duck him in the horse- +pond. They were supposed to be given in charge to some one, but +were lost sight of, and no wonder! For just then it was discovered +that the machine shed was on fire. The rioters had apparently +detached one of their number to kindle the flame before assaulting +the house. The matter was specially serious, because the stackyard +was on a line with the Rectory, at some distance indeed, but on +lower ground; and what with barns, hay and wheat ricks, sheds, +cowhouses and stables, all thatched, a big wood-pile, and a long +old-fashioned greenhouse, there was almost continuous communication. +Clouds of smoke and an ominous smell were already perceptible on the +wind, generated by the heat, and the loose straw in the centre of +the farmyard was beginning to be ignited by the flakes and sparks, +carrying the mischief everywhere, and rendering it exceedingly +difficult to release the animals and drive them to a place of +safety. Water was scarce. There were only two wells, besides the +pump in the house, and a shallow pond. The brook was a quarter of a +mile off in the valley, and the nearest engine, a poor feeble thing, +at Wattlesea. Moreover, the assailants might discover how small was +the force of rescuers, and return to the attack. Thus, while Griff, +who had given amateur assistance at all the fires he could reach in +London; was striving to organise resistance to this new enemy, my +father induced the gentlemen to cause the horses to be put to the +various vehicles, and employ them in carrying the women and children +to Chantry House. The old Rector was persuaded to go to take care +of his daughter-in-law, and she only thought of putting her girls in +safety. She listened to reason, and indeed was too much exhausted +to move when once she was laid on the sofa. She would not hear of +going to bed, though her little daughter Anne was sent off with her +nurse, grandpapa persuading her that Rosella and the others were +very much tired. When she was gone, he declared his fears that he +had sat down on Celestina's head, and showed so much compunction +that we were much amused at his relief when Martyn assured him of +having searched the carriage with a stable lantern, so that whatever +had befallen the lady he was not the guilty person. He really +seemed more concerned about this than at the loss of all his own +barns and stores. And little Anne was certainly as lovely and +engaging a little creature as ever I saw; while, as to her elder +sister, in all the trouble and anxiety of the night, I could not +help enjoying the sight of her beautiful eager face and form. She +was tall and very slight, sylph-like, as it was the fashion to call +it, but every limb was instinct with grace and animation. Her face +was, perhaps, rather too thin for robust health, though this +enhanced the idea of her being all spirit, as also did the +transparency of complexion, tinted with an exquisite varying +carnation. Her eyes were of a clear, bright, rather light brown, +and were sparkling with the lustre of excitement, her delicate lips +parted, showing the pretty pearly teeth, as she was telling Emily, +in a low voice of enthusiasm, scarcely designed for my ears, how +glorious a sight our brother had been, riding there in his glancing +silver, bearing down all before him with his good sword, like the +Captal de Buch dispersing the Jacquerie. + +To which Emily responded, 'Oh, don't you love the Captal de Buch?' +And their friendship was cemented. + +Next I heard, 'And that you should have been so good after all my +rudeness. But I thought you were like the old Winslows; and instead +of that you have come to the rescue of your enemies. Isn't it +beautiful?' + +'Oh no, not enemies,' said Emily. 'That was all over a hundred +years ago!' + +'So my papa and grandpapa say,' returned Miss Fordyce; 'but the last +Mr. Winslow was not a very nice man, and never would be civil to +us.' + +A report was brought that the glare of the fire could be seen over +the hill from the top of the house, and off went the two young +ladies to the leads, after satisfying themselves that Anne was +asleep among her homeless dolls. + +Old Mr. Fordyce devoted himself to keeping up the spirits of his +daughter-in-law as the night advanced without any tidings, except +that the girls, from time to time, rushed down to tell us of fresh +outbursts of red flame reflected in the sky, then that the glow was +diminishing; by which time they were tired out, and, both sinking +into a big armchair, they went to sleep in each other's arms. +Indeed I believe we all dozed more or less before any one returned +from the scene of action--at about three o'clock. + +The struggle with the flames had been very unequal. The long +tongues soon reached the roof of the large barn, which was filled +with straw, nor could the flakes of burning thatch be kept from the +stable, while the water of the pond was soon reduced to mud. +Helpers began to flock in, but who could tell which were +trustworthy? and all were uncomprehending. + +There was so little hope of saving the house that the removal of +everything valuable was begun under my father's superintendence. +Frank Fordyce was here, there, and everywhere; while Griffith, like +a gallant general, fought the foe with very helpless unmanageable +forces. Villagers, male and female, had emerged and stood gaping +round; but, let him rage and storm as he might, they would not go +and collect pails and buckets and form a line to the brook. Still +less would they assist in overthrowing and carrying away the faggots +of a big wood-pile so as to cut off the communication with the +offices. Only Chapman and one other man gave any help in this; and +presently the stack caught, and Griff, on the top, was in great +peril of the faggots rolling down with him into the middle, and +imprisoning him in the blazing pile. 'I never felt so like Dido,' +said Griff. + +That woodstack gave fearful aliment to the roaring flame, which came +on so fast that the destruction of the adjoining buildings quickly +followed. The Wattlesea engine had come, but the yard well was +unattainable, and all that could be done was to saturate the house +with water from its own well, and cover the side with wet blankets; +but these reeked with steam, and then shrivelled away in the intense +glow of heat. + +However, by this time the Eastwood Yeomanry, together with some +reasonable men, had arrived. A raid was made on the cottages for +buckets, a chain formed to the river, and at last the fire was got +under, having made a wreck of everything out-of-doors, and consumed +one whole wing of the house, though the older and more esteemed +portion was saved. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII--THE PORTRAIT + + + +'When day was gone and night was come, + And all men fast asleep, +There came the spirit of fair Marg'ret + And stood at William's feet.' + +Scotch Ballad. + +When I emerged from my room the next morning the phaeton was at the +door to take the two clergymen to reconnoitre their abode before +going to church. Miss Fordyce went with them, and my father was for +once about to leave his parish church to give them his sympathy, and +join in their thanksgiving that neither life nor limb had been +injured. He afterwards said that nothing could have been more +touching than old Mr. Fordyce's manner of mentioning this special +cause for gratitude before the General Thanksgiving; and Frank +Fordyce, having had all his sermons burnt, gave a short address +extempore (a very rare and almost shocking thing at that date), +reducing half the congregation to tears, for they really loved 'the +fam'ly,' though they had not spirit enough to defend it; and their +passiveness always remained a subject of pride and pleasure to the +Fordyces. It was against the will of these good people that Petty, +the ratcatcher, was arrested, but he had been engaged in other +outrages, though this was the only one in which a dwelling-house had +suffered. And Chapman observed that 'there was nothing to be done +with such chaps but to string 'em up out of the way.' + +Griff had toiled that night till he was as stiff as a rheumatic old +man when he came down only just in time for luncheon. Mrs. Fordyce +did not appear at all. She was a fragile creature, and quite +knocked up by the agitations of the night. The gentlemen had +visited the desolate rectory, and found that though the fine ancient +kitchen had escaped, the pleasant living rooms had been injured by +the water, and the place could hardly be made habitable before the +spring. They proposed to take a house in Bath, whence Frank Fordyce +could go and come for Sunday duty and general superintendence, but +my parents were urgent that they should not leave us until after +Christmas, and they consented. Their larger possessions were to be +stored in the outhouses, their lesser in our house, notably in the +inner mullion chamber, which would thus be so blocked that there +would be no question of sleeping in it. + +Old Mr. Fordyce had ascertained that he might acquit himself of +smashing Celestina Mary, for no remains appeared in the carriage; +but a miserable trunk was discovered in the ruins, which he +identified--though surely no one else save the disconsolate parent +could have done so. Poor little Anne's private possessions had +suffered most severely of all, for her whole nursery establishment +had vanished. Her surviving dolls were left homeless, and devoid of +all save their night-clothing, which concerned her much more than +the loss of almost all her own garments. For what dolls were to her +could never have been guessed by us, who had forced Emily to disdain +them; whereas they were children to the maternal heart of this +lonely child. + +She was quite a new revelation to us. All the Fordyces were +handsome; and her chestnut curls and splendid eyes, her pretty +colour and unconscious grace, were very charming. Emily was so near +our own age that we had never known the winsomeness of a little +maid-child amongst us, and she was a perpetual wonder and delight to +us. + +Indeed, from having always lived with her elders, she was an odd +little old-fashioned person, advanced in some ways, and comically +simple in others. Her doll-heart was kept in abeyance all Sunday, +and it was only on Monday that her anxiety for Celestina manifested +itself with considerable vehemence; but her grandfather gravely +informed her that the young lady was gone to an excellent doctor, +who would soon effect a cure. The which was quite true, for he had +sent her to a toy-shop by one of the maids who had gone to restore +the ravage on the wardrobes, and who brought her back with a new +head and arms, her identity apparently not being thus interfered +with. The hoards of scraps were put under requisition to re-clothe +the survivors; and I won my first step in Miss Anne's good graces by +undertaking a knitted suit for Rosella. + +The good little girl had evidently been schooled to repress her +dread and repugnance at my unlucky appearance, and was painfully +polite, only shutting her eyes when she came to shake hands with me; +but after Rosella condescended to adopt me, we became excellent +friends. Indeed the following conversation was overheard by Emily, +and set down: + +'Do you know, Martyn, there's a fairies' ring on Hillside Down?' + +'Mushrooms,' quoth Martyn. + +'Yes, don't you know? They are the fairies' tables. They come out +and spread them with lily tablecloths at night, and have acorn cups +for dishes, with honey in them. And they dance and play there. +Well, couldn't Mr. Edward go and sit under the beech-tree at the +edge till they come?' + +'I don't think he would like it at all,' said Martyn. 'He never +goes out at odd times.' + +'Oh, but don't you know? when they come they begin to sing - + + +'"Sunday and Monday, +Monday and Tuesday." + + +And if he was to sing nicely, + + +'"Wednesday and Thursday," + + +they would be so much pleased that they would make his back straight +again in a moment. At least, perhaps Wednesday and Thursday would +not do, because the little tailor taught them those; but Friday +makes them angry. But suppose he made some nice verse - + + +'"Monday and Tuesday +The fairies are gay, +Tuesday and Wednesday +They dance away--" + + +I think that would do as well, perhaps. Do get him to do so, +Martyn. It would be so nice if he was tall and straight.' + +Dear little thing! Martyn, who was as much her slave as was her +grandfather, absolutely made her shed tears over his history of our +accident, and then caressed them off; but I believe he persuaded her +that such a case might be beyond the fairies' reach, and that I +could hardly get to the spot in secret, which, it seems, is an +essential point. He had imagination enough to be almost persuaded +of fairyland by her earnestness, and she certainly took him into +doll-land. He had a turn for carpentry and contrivance, and he +undertook that the Ladies Rosella, etc., should be better housed +than ever. A great packing-case was routed out, and much ingenuity +was expended, much delight obtained, in the process of converting it +into a doll's mansion, and replenishing it with furniture. Some was +bought, but Martyn aspired to make whatever he could; I did a good +deal, and I believe most of our achievements are still extant. +Whatever we could not manage, Clarence was to accomplish when he +should come home. + +His arrival was, as usual, late in the evening; and, as before, he +had the little room within mine. In the morning, as we were +crossing the hall to the bright wood fire, around which the family +were wont to assemble before prayers, he came to a pause, asking +under his breath, 'What's that? Who's that?' + +'It is one of the Hillside pictures. You know we have a great many +things here from thence.' + +'It is SHE,' he said, in a low, awe-stricken voice. No need to say +who SHE meant. + +I had not paid much attention to the picture. It had come with +several more, such as are rife in country houses, and was one of the +worst of the lot, a poor imitation of Lely's style, with a certain +air common to all the family; but Clarence's eyes were riveted on +it. 'She looks younger,' he said; 'but it is the same. I could +swear to the lip and the whole shape of the brow and chin. No--the +dress is different.' + +For in the portrait, there was nothing on the head, and one long +lock of hair fell on the shoulder of the low-cut white-satin dress, +done in very heavy gray shading. The three girls came down +together, and I asked who the lady was. + +'Don't you know? You ought; for that is poor Margaret who married +your ancestor.' + +No more was said then, for the rest of the world was collecting, and +then everybody went out their several ways. Some tin tacks were +wanted for the dolls' house, and there were reports that Wattlesea +possessed a doll's grate and fire-irons. The children were wild to +go in quest of them, but they were not allowed to go alone, and it +was pronounced too far and too damp for the elder sister, so that +they would have been disappointed, if Clarence--stimulated by +Martyn's kicks under the table--had not offered to be their escort. +When Mrs. Fordyce demurred, my mother replied, 'You may perfectly +trust her with Clarence.' + +'Yes; I don't know a safer squire,' rejoined my father. + +Commendation was so rare that Clarence quite blushed with pleasure; +and the pretty little thing was given into his charge, prancing and +dancing with pleasure, and expecting much more from sixpence and +from Wattlesea than was likely to be fulfilled. + +Griff went out shooting, and the two young ladies and I intended to +spend a very rational morning in the bookroom, reading aloud Mme. de +La Rochejaquelein's Memoirs by turns. Our occupations were, on +Emily's part, completing a reticule, in a mosaic of shaded coloured +beads no bigger than pins' heads, for a Christmas gift to mamma--a +most wearisome business, of which she had grown extremely tired. +Miss Fordyce was elaborately copying our Muller's print of +Raffaelle's St. John in pencil on cardboard, so as to be as near as +possible a facsimile; and she had trusted me to make a finished +water-coloured drawing from a rough sketch of hers of the Hillside +barn and farm-buildings, now no more. + +In a pause Ellen Fordyce suddenly asked, 'What did you mean about +that picture?' + +'Only Clarence said it was like--' and here Emily came to a dead +stop. + +'Grandpapa says it is like me,' said Miss Fordyce. 'What, you don't +mean THAT? Oh! oh! oh! is it true? Does she walk? Have you seen +her? Mamma calls it all nonsense, and would not have Anne hear of +it for anything; but old Aunt Peggy used to tell me, and I am sure +grandpapa believes it, just a little. Have you seen her?' + +'Only Clarence has, and he knew the picture directly.' + +She was much impressed, and on slight persuasion related the story, +which she had heard from an elder sister of her grandfather's, and +which had perhaps been the more impressed on her by her mother's +consternation at 'such folly' having been communicated to her. Aunt +Peggy, who was much older than her brother, had died only four years +ago, at eighty-eight, having kept her faculties to the last, and +handed down many traditions to her great-niece. The old lady's +father had been contemporary with the Margaret of ghostly fame, so +that the stages had been few through which it had come down from +1708 to 1830. + +I wrote it down at once, as it here stands. + +Margaret was the only daughter of the elder branch of the Fordyces. +Her father had intended her to marry her cousin, the male heir on +whom the Hillside estates and the advowson of that living were +entailed; but before the contract had been formally made, the father +was killed by accident, and through some folly and ambition of her +mother's (such seemed to be the Fordyce belief), the poor heiress +was married to Sir James Winslow, one of the successful intriguers +of the days of the later Stewarts, and with a family nearly as old, +if not older, than herself. Her own children died almost at their +birth, and she was left a young widow. Being meek and gentle, her +step-sons and daughters still ruled over Chantry House. They +prevented her Hillside relations from having access to her whilst in +a languishing state of health, and when she died unexpectedly, she +was found to have bequeathed all her property to her step-son, +Philip Winslow, instead of to her blood relations, the Fordyces. + +This was certain, but the Fordyce tradition was that she had been +kept shut up in the mullion chambers, where she had often been heard +weeping bitterly. One night in the winter, when the gentlemen of +the family had gone out to a Christmas carousal, she had endeavoured +to escape by the steps leading to the garden from the door now +bricked up, but had been met by them and dragged back with violence, +of which she died in the course of a few days; and, what was very +suspicious, she had been entirely attended by her step-daughter and +an old nurse, who never would let her own woman come near her. + +The Fordyces had thought of a prosecution, but the Winslows had +powerful interest at Court in those corrupt times, and contrived to +hush up the matter, as well as to win the suit in which the Fordyces +attempted to prove that there was no right to will the property +away. Bitter enmity remained between the families; they were always +opposed in politics, and their animosity was fed by the belief which +arose that at the anniversaries of her death the poor lady haunted +the rooms, lamp in hand, wailing and lamenting. A duel had been +fought on the subject between the heirs of the two families, +resulting in the death of the young Winslow. + +'And now,' cried Ellen Fordyce, 'the feud is so beautifully ended; +the doom must be appeased, now that the head of one hostile line has +come to the rescue of the other, and saved all our lives.' + +My suggestion that these would hardly have been destroyed, even +without our interposition, fell very flat, for romance must have its +swing. Ellen told us how, on the news of our kinsman's death and +our inheritance, the ancestral story had been discussed, and her +grandfather had said he believed there were letters about it in the +iron deed-box, and how he hoped to be on better terms with the new +heir. + +The ghost story had always been hushed up in the family, especially +since the duel, and we all knew the resemblance of the picture would +be scouted by our elders; but perhaps this gave us the more pleasure +in dwelling upon it, while we agreed that poor Margaret ought to be +appeased by Griffith's prowess on behalf of the Fordyces. + +The two young ladies went off to inspect the mullion chamber, which +they found so crammed with Hillside furniture that they could +scarcely enter, and returned disappointed, except for having +inspected and admired all Griff's weapons, especially what Miss +Fordyce called the sword of her rescue. + +She had been learning German--rather an unusual study in those days, +and she narrated to us most effectively the story of Die Weisse +Frau, working herself up to such a pitch that she would have +actually volunteered to spend a night in the room, to see whether +Margaret would hold any communication with a descendant, after the +example of the White Woman and Lady Bertha, if there had been either +fire or accommodation, and if the only entrance had not been through +Griff's private sitting-room. + + + +CHAPTER XIX--THE WHITE FEATHER + + + +'The white doe's milk is not out of his mouth.' + +SCOTT. + +Clarence had come home free from all blots. His summer holiday had +been prevented by the illness of one of the other clerks, whose +place, Mr. Castleford wrote, he had so well supplied that ere long +he would be sure to earn his promotion. That kind friend had +several times taken him to spend a Sunday in the country, and, as we +afterwards had reason to think, would have taken more notice of him +but for the rooted belief of Mr. Frith that it was a case of +favouritism, and that piety and strictness were assumed to throw +dust in the eyes of his patron. + +Such distrust had tended to render Clarence more reserved than ever, +and it was quite by the accident of finding him studying one of Mrs. +Trimmer's Manuals that I discovered that, at the request of his good +Rector, he had become a Sunday-school teacher, and was as much +interested as the enthusiastic girls; but I was immediately +forbidden to utter a word on the subject, even to Emily, lest she +should tell any one. + +Such reserve was no doubt an outcome of his natural timidity. He +had to bear a certain amount of scorn and derision among some of his +fellow-clerks for the stricter habits and observances that could not +be concealed, and he dreaded any fresh revelation of them, partly +because of the cruel imputation of hypocrisy, partly because he +feared the bringing a scandal on religion by his weakness and +failures. + +Nor did our lady visitors' ways reassure him, though they meant to +be kind. They could not help being formal and stiff, not as they +were with Griff and me. The two gentlemen were thoroughly friendly +and hearty; Parson Frank could hardly have helped being so towards +any one in the same house with himself; and as to little Anne, she +found in the new-comer a carpenter and upholsterer superior even to +Martyn; but her candour revealed a great deal which I overheard one +afternoon, when the two children were sitting together on the +hearth-rug in the bookroom in the twilight. + +'I want to see Mr. Clarence's white feather,' observed Anne. + +'Griff has a white plume in his Yeomanry helmet,' replied Martyn; +'Clarence hasn't one.' + +'Oh, I saw Mr. Griffith's!' she answered; 'but Cousin Horace said +Mr. Clarence showed the white feather.' + +'Cousin Horace is an ape!' cried Martyn. + +'I don't think he is so nice as an ape,' said Anne. 'He is more +like a monkey. He tries the dolls by court-martial, and he shot +Arabella with a pea-shooter, and broke her eye; only grandpapa made +him have it put in again with his own money, and then he said I was +a little sneak, and if I ever did it again he would shoot me.' + +'Mind you don't tell Clarence what he said,' said Martyn. + +'Oh, no! I think Mr. Clarence very nice indeed; but Horace did +tease so about that day when he carried poor Amos Bell home. He +said Ellen had gone and made friends with the worst of all the +wicked Winslows, who had shown the white feather and disgraced his +flag. No; I know you are not wicked. And Mr. Griff came all +glittering, like Richard Coeur de Lion, and saved us all that night. +But Ellen cried to think what she had done, and mamma said it showed +what it was to speak to a strange young man; and she has never let +Ellen and me go out of the grounds by ourselves since that day.' + +'It is a horrid shame,' exclaimed Martyn, 'that a fellow can't get +into a scrape without its being for ever cast up to him.' + +'_I_ like him,' said Anne. 'He gave Mary Bell a nice pair of boots, +and he made a new pair of legs for poor old Arabella, and she can +really sit down! Oh, he is VERY nice; but'--in an awful whisper-- +'does he tell stories? I mean fibs--falsehoods.' + +'Who told you that?' exclaimed Martyn. + +'Mamma said it. Ellen was telling them something about the picture +of the white-satin lady, and mamma said, "Oh, if it is only that +young man, no doubt it is a mere mystification;" and papa said, +"Poor young fellow, he seems very amiable and well disposed;" and +mamma said, "If he can invent such a story it shows that Horace was +right, and he is not to be believed." Then they stopped, but I +asked Ellen who it was, and she said it was Mr. Clarence, and it was +a sad thing for Emily and all of you to have such a brother.' + +Martyn began to stammer with indignation, and I thought it time to +interfere; so I called the little maid, and gravely explained the +facts, adding that poor Clarence's punishment had been terrible, but +that he was doing his best to make up for what was past; and that, +as to anything he might have told, though he might be mistaken, he +never said anything NOW but what he believed to be true. She raised +her brown eyes to mine full of gravity, and said, 'I DO like him.' +Moreover, I privately made Martyn understand that if he told her +what had been said about the white-satin lady, he would never be +forgiven; the others would be sure to find it out, and it might +shorten their stay. + +That was a dreadful idea, for the presence of those two creatures, +to say nothing of their parents, was an unspeakable charm and +novelty to us all. We all worshipped the elder, and the little one +was like a new discovery and toy to us, who had never been used to +such a presence. She was not a commonplace child; but even if she +had been, she would have been as charming a study as a kitten; and +she had all the four of us at her feet, though her mother was +constantly protesting against our spoiling her, and really kept up +so much wholesome discipline that the little maid never exceeded the +bounds of being charming to us. After that explanation there was +the same sweet wistful gentleness in her manner towards Clarence as +she showed to me; while he, who never dreamt of such a child knowing +his history was brighter and freer with her than with any one else, +played with her and Martyn, and could be heard laughing merrily with +them. Perhaps her mother and sister did not fully like this, but +they could not interfere before our faces. And Parson Frank was +really kind to him; took him out walking when going to Hillside, and +talked to him so as to draw him out; certifying, perhaps, that he +would do no harm, although, indeed, the family looked on dear good +Frank as a sort of boy, too kind-hearted and genial for his approval +to be worth as much as that of the more severe. + +These were our only Christmas visitors, for the state of the country +did not invite Londoners; but we did not want them. The suppression +of Clarence was the only flaw in a singularly happy time; and, after +all I believe I felt the pity of it more than he did, who expected +nothing, and was accustomed to being in the background. + +For instance, one afternoon in the course of one of the grave +discussions that used to grow up between Miss Fordyce, Emily, and +me, over subjects trite to the better-instructed younger generation, +we got quite out of our shallow depths. I think it was on the +meaning of the 'Communion of Saints,' for the two girls were both +reading in preparation for a Confirmation at Bristol, and Miss +Fordyce knew more than we did on these subjects. All the time +Clarence had sat in the window, carving a bit of doll's furniture, +and quite forgotten; but at night he showed me the exposition copied +from Pearson on the Creed, a bit of Hooker, and extracts from one or +two sermons. I found these were notes written out in a blank book, +which he had had in hand ever since his Confirmation--his logbook as +he called it; but he would not hear of their being mentioned even to +Emily, and only consented to hunt up the books on condition I would +not bring him forward as the finder. It was of no use to urge that +it was a deprivation to us all that he should not aid us with his +more thorough knowledge and deeper thought. 'He could not do so,' +he said, in a quiet decisive manner; 'it was enough for him to watch +and listen to Miss Fordyce, when she could forget his presence.' + +She often did forget it in her eagerness. She was by nature one of +the most ardent beings that I ever saw, yet with enthusiasm kept in +check by the self-control inculcated as a primary duty. It would +kindle in those wonderful light brown eyes, glow in the clear +delicate cheek, quiver in the voice even when the words were only +half adequate to the feeling. She was not what is now called +gushing. Oh, no! not in the least! She was too reticent and had +too much dignity for anything of the kind. Emily had always been +reckoned as our romantic young lady, and teased accordingly, but her +enthusiasm beside Ellen's was + + +'As moonlight is to sunlight, as water is to wine,' - + + +a mere reflection of the tone of the period, compared with a real +element in the character. At least so my sister tells me, though at +the time all the difference I saw was that Miss Fordyce had the most +originality, and unconsciously became the leader. The bookroom was +given up to us, and there in the morning we drew, worked, read, +copied and practised music, wrote out extracts, and delivered our +youthful minds to one another on all imaginable topics from 'slea +silk to predestination.' + +Religious subjects occupied us more than might have been held +likely. A spirit of reflection and revival was silently working in +many a heart. Evangelicalism had stirred old-fashioned orthodoxy, +and we felt its action. The Christian Year was Ellen's guiding +star--as it was ours, nay, doubly so in proportion to the ardour of +her nature. Certain poems are dearer and more eloquent to me still, +because the verses recall to me the thrill of her sweet tones as she +repeated them. We were all very ignorant alike of Church doctrine +and history, but talking out and comparing our discoveries and +impressions was as useful as it was pleasant to us. + +What the Christian Year was in religion to us Scott was in history. +We read to verify or illustrate him, and we had little raving fits +over his characters, and jokes founded on them. Indeed, Ellen saw +life almost through that medium; and the siege of Hillside, +dispersed by the splendid prowess of Griffith, the champion with +silver helm and flashing sword, was precious to her as a renewal of +the days of Ivanhoe or Damian de Lacy. + +As may be believed, these quiet mornings were those when that true +knight was employed in field sports or yeomanry duties, such as the +state of the country called for. When he was at home, all was fun +and merriment and noise--walks and rides on fine days, battledore +and shuttlecock on wet ones, music, singing, paper games, giggling +and making giggle, and sometimes dancing in the hall--Mr. Frank +Fordyce joining with all his heart and drollery in many of these, +like the boy he was. + +I could play quadrilles and country dances, and now and then a reel- +-nobody thought of waltzes--and the three couples changed and +counterchanged partners. Clarence had the sailor's foot, and did +his part when needed; Emily generally fell to his share, and their +silence and gravity contrasted with the mirth of the other pairs. +He knew very well he was the pis aller of the party, and only danced +when Parson Frank was not dragged out, nothing loth, by his little +daughter. With Miss Fordyce, Clarence never had the chance of +dancing; she was always claimed by Griff, or pounced upon by Martyn. + +Miss Fordyce she always was to us in those days, and those pretty +lips scrupulously 'Mistered' and 'Winslowed' us. I don't think she +would have been more to us, if we had called her Nell, and had been +Griff, Bill, and Ted to her, or if there had not been all the little +formalities of avoiding tete a tetes and the like. They were +essentials of propriety then--natural, and never viewed as prudish. +Nor did it detract from the sweet dignity of maidenhood that there +was none of the familiarity which breeds something one would rather +not mention in conjunction with a lady. + +Altogether there was a sunshine around Miss Fordyce by which we all +seemed illuminated, even the least favoured and least demonstrative; +we were all her willing slaves, and thought her smile and thanks +full reward. + +One day, when Griff and Martyn were assisting at the turn out of an +isolated barn at Hillside, where Frank Fordyce declared, all the +burnt-out rats and mice had taken refuge, the young ladies went out +to cater for house decorations for Christmas under Clarence's +escort. Nobody but the clerk ever thought of touching the church, +where there were holes in all the pews to receive the holly boughs. + +The girls came back, telling in eager scared voices how, while +gathering butcher's broom in Farmer Hodges' home copse, a savage dog +had flown out at them, but had been kept at bay by Mr. Clarence +Winslow with an umbrella, while they escaped over the stile. + +Clarence had not come into the drawing-room with them, and while my +mother, who had a great objection to people standing about in out- +door garments, sent them up to doff their bonnets and furs, I +repaired to our room, and was horrified to find him on my bed, white +and faint. + +'Bitten?' I cried in dismay. + +'Yes; but not much. Only I'm such a fool. I turned off when I +began taking off my boots. No, no--don't! Don't call any one. It +is nothing!' + +He was springing up to stop me, but was forced to drop back, and I +made my way to the drawing-room, where my mother happened to be +alone. She was much alarmed, but a glass of wine restored Clarence; +and inspection showed that the thick trowser and winter stocking had +so protected him that little blood had been drawn, and there was +bruise rather than bite in the calf of the leg, where the brute had +caught him as he was getting over the stile as the rear-guard. It +was painful, though the faintness was chiefly from tension of nerve, +for he had kept behind all the way home, and no one had guessed at +the hurt. My mother doctored it tenderly, and he begged that +nothing should be said about it; he wanted no fuss about such a +trifle. My mother agreed, with the proud feeling of not enhancing +the obligations of the Fordyce family; but she absolutely kissed +Clarence's forehead as she bade him lie quiet till dinner-time. + +We kept silence at table while the girls described the horrors of +the monster. 'A tawny creature, with a hideous black muzzle,' said +Emily. 'Like a bad dream,' said Miss Fordyce. The two fathers +expressed their intention of remonstrating with the farmer, and +Griff declared that it would be lucky if he did not shoot it. Miss +Fordyce generously took its part, saying the poor dog was doing its +duty, and Griff ejaculated, 'If I had been there!' + +'It would not have dared to show its teeth, eh?' said my father, +when there was a good deal of banter. + +My father, however, came at night with mamma to inspect the hurt and +ask details, and he ended with, 'Well done, Clarence, boy; I am +gratified to see you are acquiring presence of mind, and can act +like a man.' + +Clarence smiled when they were gone, saying, 'That would have been +an insult to any one else.' + +Emily perceived that he had not come off unscathed, and was much +aggrieved at being bound to silence. 'Well,' she broke out, 'if the +dog goes mad, and Clarence has the hydrophobia, I suppose I may +tell.' + +'In that pleasing contingency,' said Clarence smiling. 'Don't you +see, Emily, it is the worst compliment you can pay me not to treat +this as a matter of course?' Still, he was the happier for not +having failed. Whatever strengthened his self-respect and gave him +trust in himself was a stepping-stone. + +As to rivalry or competition with Griff, the idea seemingly never +crossed his mind, and envy or jealousy were equally aloof from it. +One subject of thankfulness runs through these recollections-- +namely, that nothing broke the tie of strong affection between us +three brothers. Griffith might figure as the 'vary parfite knight,' +the St. George of the piece, glittering in the halo shed round him +by the bright eyes of the rescued damsel; while Clarence might drag +himself along as the poor recreant to be contemned and tolerated, +and he would accept the position meekly as only his desert, without +a thought of bitterness. Indeed, he himself seemed to have imbibed +Nurse Gooch's original opinion, that his genuine love for sacred +things was a sort of impertinence and pretension in such as he--a +kind of hypocrisy even when they were the realities and helps to +which he clung with all his heart. Still, this depression was only +shown by reserve, and troubled no one save myself, who knew him best +guessed what was lost by his silence, and burned in spirit at seeing +him merely endured as one unworthy. + +In one of our varieties of Waverley discussions the crystal hardness +and inexperienced intolerance of youth made Miss Fordyce declare +that had she been Edith Plantagenet, she would never, never have +forgiven Sir Kenneth. 'How could she, when he had forsaken the +king's banner? Unpardonable!' + +Then came a sudden, awful silence, as she recollected her audience, +and blushed crimson with the misery of perceiving where her random +shaft had struck, nor did either of us know what to say; but to our +surprise it was Clarence who first spoke to relieve the desperate +embarrassment. 'Is forgiven quite the right word, when the offence +was not personal? I know that such things can neither be repaired +nor overlooked, and I think that is what Miss Fordyce meant.' + +'Oh, Mr. Winslow,' she exclaimed, 'I am very sorry--I don't think I +quite meant'--and then, as her eyes for one moment fell on his +subdued face, she added, 'No, I said what I ought not. If there is +sorrow'--her voice trembled--'and pardon above, no one below has any +right to say unpardonable.' + +Clarence bowed his head, and his lips framed, but he did not utter, +'Thank you.' Emily nervously began reading aloud the page before +her, full of the jingling recurring rhymes about Sir Thomas of Kent; +but I saw Ellen surreptitiously wipe away a tear, and from that time +she was more kind and friendly with Clarence. + + + +CHAPTER XX--VENI, VIDI, VICI + + + +'None but the brave, +None but the brave, +None but the brave deserve the fair.' + +Song. + +Christmas trees were not yet heard of beyond the Fatherland, and +both the mothers held that Christmas parties were not good for +little children, since Mrs. Winslow's strong common sense had +arrived at the same conclusion as Mrs. Fordyce had derived from +Hannah More and Richard Lovell Edgeworth. Besides, rick-burning and +mobs were far too recent for our neighbours to venture out at night. + +But as we were all resolved that little Anne should have a memorable +Christmas at Chantry House, we begged an innocent, though iced cake, +from the cook, painted a set of characters ourselves, including all +the dolls, and bespoke the presence of Frank Fordyce at a feast in +the outer mullion room--Griff's apartment, of course. The locality +was chosen as allowing more opportunity for high jinks than the +bookroom, and also because the swords and pistols in trophy over the +mantelpiece had a great fascination for the two sisters, and to +'drink tea with Mr. Griffith' was always known to be a great +ambition of the little queen of the festival. As to the mullion +chamber legends, they had nearly gone out of our heads, though +Clarence did once observe, 'You remember, it will be the 26th of +December;' but we did not think this worthy of consideration, +especially as Anne's entertainment, at its latest, could not last +beyond nine o'clock; and the ghostly performances--now entirely laid +to the account of the departed stable-boy--never began before +eleven. + +Nor did anything interfere with our merriment. The fun of fifty +years ago must be intrinsically exquisite to bear being handed down +to another generation, so I will attempt no repetition, though some +of those Twelfth Day characters still remain, pasted into my diary. +We anticipated Twelfth Day because our guests meant to go to visit +some other friends before the New Year, and we knew Anne would have +no chance there of fulfilling her great ambition of drawing for king +and queen. These home-made characters were really charming. Mrs. +Fordyce had done several of them, and she drew beautifully. A +little manipulation contrived that the exquisite Oberon and Titania +should fall to Martyn and Anne, for whom crowns and robes had been +prepared, worn by her majesty with complacent dignity, but barely +tolerated by him! The others took their chance. Parson Frank was +Tom Thumb, and convulsed us all the evening by acting as if no +bigger than that worthy, keeping us so merry that even Clarence +laughed as I had never seen him laugh before. + +Cock Robin and Jenny Wren--the best drawn of all--fell to Griff and +Miss Fordyce. There was a suspicion of a tint of real carnation on +her cheek, as, on his low, highly-delighted bow, she held up her +impromptu fan of folded paper; and drollery about currant wine and +hopping upon twigs went on more or less all the time, while somehow +or other the beauteous glow on her cheeks went on deepening, so that +I never saw her look so pretty as when thus playing at Jenny Wren's +coyness, though neither she nor Griff had passed the bounds of her +gracious precise discretion. + +The joyous evening ended at last. With the stroke of nine, Jenny +Wren bore away Queen Titania to put her to bed, for the servants +were having an entertainment of their own downstairs for all the +out-door retainers, etc. Oberon departed, after an interval +sufficient to prove his own dignity and advanced age. Emily went +down to report the success of the evening to the elders in the +drawing-room, but we lingered while Frank Fordyce was telling good +stories of Oxford life, and Griff capping them with more recent +ones. + +We too broke up--I don't remember how; but Clarence was to help me +down the stairs, and Mr. Fordyce, frowning with anxiety at the +process, was offering assistance, while we had much rather he had +gone out of the way; when suddenly, in the gallery round the hall +giving access to the bedrooms, there dawned upon us the startled but +scarcely displeased figure of Jenny Wren in her white dress, not +turning aside that blushing face, while Cock Robin was clasping her +hand and pressing it to his lips. The tap of my crutches warned +them. She flew back within her door and shut it; Griff strode +rapidly on, caught hold of her father's hand, exclaiming, 'Sir, sir, +I must speak to you!' and dragged him back into the mullion room +leaving Clarence and me to convey ourselves downstairs as best we +might. + +'Our sister, our sweet sister!' + +We were immensely excited. All the three of us were so far in love +with Ellen Fordyce that her presence was an enchantment to us, and +at any rate none of us ever saw the woman we could compare to her; +and as we both felt ourselves disqualified in different ways from +any nearer approach, we were content to bask in the reflected rays +of our brother's happiness. + +Not that he had gone that length as yet, as we knew before the night +was over, when he came down to us. Even with the dear maiden +herself, he had only made sure that she was not averse, and that +merely by her eyes and lips; and he had extracted nothing from her +father but that they were both very young, a great deal too young, +and had no business to think of such things yet. It must be talked +over, etc. etc. + +But just then, Griff told us, Frank Fordyce jumped up and turned +round with the sudden exclamation, 'Ellen!' looking towards the door +behind him with blank astonishment, as he found it had neither been +opened nor shut. He thought his daughter had recollected something +left behind, and coming in search of it, had retreated +precipitately. He had seen her, he said, in the mirror opposite. +Griff told him there was no mirror, and had to carry a candle across +to convince him that he had only been looking at the door into the +inner room, which though of shining dark oak, could hardly have made +a reflection as vivid as he declared that his had been. Indeed, he +ascertained that Ellen had never left her own room at all. 'It must +have been thinking about the dear child,' he said. 'And after all, +it was not quite like her--somehow--she was paler, and had something +over her head.' We had no doubt who it was. Griff had not seen +her, but he was certain that there had been none of the moaning nor +crying, 'In fact, she has come to give her consent,' he said with +earnest in his mocking tone. + +'Yes,' said Clarence gravely, and with glistening eyes. 'You are +happy Griff. It is given to you to right the wrong, and quiet that +poor spirit.' + +'Happy! The happiest fellow in the world,' said Griff, 'even +without that latter clause--if only Madam and the old man will have +as much sense as she has!' + +The next day was a thoroughly uncomfortable one. Griff was not half +so near his goal as he had hoped last night when with kindly Parson +Frank. + +The commotion was as if a thunderbolt had descended among the +elders. What they had been thinking of, I cannot tell, not to have +perceived how matters were tending; but their minds were full of the +Reform Bill and the state of the country, and, besides, we were all +looked on still as mere children. Indeed, Griff was scarcely one- +and-twenty, and Ellen wanted a month of seventeen; and the crisis +had really been a sudden impulse, as he said, 'She looked so sweet +and lovely, he could not help it.' + +The first effect was a serious lecture upon maidenliness and +propriety to poor Ellen from her mother, who was sure that she must +have transgressed the bounds of discretion, or such ill-bred +presumption would have been spared her, and bitterly regretted the +having trusted her to take care of herself. There were sufficient +grains of truth in this to make the poor girl cry herself out of all +condition for appearing at breakfast or luncheon, and Emily's report +of her despair made us much more angry with Mrs. Fordyce than was +perhaps quite due to that good lady. + +My parents were at first inclined to take the same line, and be +vexed with Griff for an act of impertinence towards a guest. He had +a great deal of difficulty in inducing the elders to believe him in +earnest, or treat him as a man capable of knowing his own mind; and +even thus they felt as if his addresses to Miss Fordyce were, under +present circumstances, taking almost an unfair advantage of the +other family--at which our youthful spirits felt indignant. + +Yet, after all, such a match was as obvious and suitable as if it +had been a family compact, and the only objection was the youth of +the parties. Mrs. Fordyce would fain have believed her daughter's +heart to be not yet awake, and was grieved to find childhood over, +and the hero of romance become the lover; and she was anxious that +full time should be given to perceive whether her daughter's +feelings were only the result of the dazzling aureole which +gratitude and excited fancy had cast around the fine, handsome, +winning youth. Her husband, however, who had himself married very +young, and was greatly taken with Griff, besides being always +tender-hearted, did not enter into her scruples; but, as we had +already found out, the grand-looking and clever man of thirty-eight +was, chiefly from his impulsiveness and good-nature, treated as the +boy of the family. His old father, too, was greatly pleased with +Griff's spirit, affection, and purpose, as well as with my father's +conduct in the matter; and so, after a succession of private +interviews, very tantalising to us poor outsiders, it was conceded +that though an engagement for the present was preposterous, it might +possibly be permitted when Ellen was eighteen if Griff had completed +his university life with full credit. He was fervently grateful to +have such an object set before him, and my father was warmly +thankful for the stimulus. + +That last evening was very odd and constrained. We could not help +looking on the lovers as new specimens over which some strange +transformation had passed, though for the present it had stiffened +them in public into the strictest good behaviour. They would have +been awkward if it had been possible to either of them, and, save +for a certain look in their eyes, comported themselves as perfect +strangers. + +The three elder gentlemen held discussions in the dining-room, but +we were not trusted in our playground adjoining. Mrs. Fordyce +nailed Griff down to an interminable game at chess, and my mother +kept the two girls playing duets, while Clarence turned over the +leaves; and I read over The Lady of the Lake, a study which I always +felt, and still feel, as an act of homage to Ellen Fordyce, though +there was not much in common between her and the maid of Douglas. +Indeed, it was a joke of her father's to tease her by criticising +the famous passage about the tears that old Douglas shed over his +duteous daughter's head--'What in the world should the man go +whining and crying for? He had much better have laughed with her.' + +Little did the elders know what was going on in the next room, where +there was a grand courtship among the dolls; the hero being a small +jointed Dutch one in Swiss costume, about an eighth part of the size +of the resuscitated Celestina Mary, but the only available male +character in doll-land! Anne was supposed to be completely ignorant +of what passed above her head; and her mother would have been aghast +had she heard the remarkable discoveries and speculations that she +and Martyn communicated to one another. + + + +CHAPTER XXI--THE OUTSIDE OF THE COURTSHIP + + + +'Or framing, as a fair excuse, +The book, the pencil, or the muse; +Something to give, to sing, to say, +Some modern tale, some ancient lay.' + +SCOTT. + +It seems to me on looking back that I have hardly done justice to +Mrs. Fordyce, and certainly we--as Griffith's eager partisans--often +regarded her in the light of an enemy and opponent; but after this +lapse of time, I can see that she was no more than a prudent mother, +unwilling to see her fair young daughter suddenly launched into +womanhood, and involved in an attachment to a young and untried man. + +The part of a drag is an invidious one; and this must have been her +part through most of her life. The Fordyces, father and son, were +of good family, gentlemen to their very backbones, and thoroughly +good, religious men; but she came of a more aristocratic strain, had +been in London society, and brought with her a high-bred air which, +implanted on the Fordyce good looks, made her daughter especially +fascinating. But that air did not recommend Mrs. Fordyce to all her +neighbours, any more than did those stronger, stricter, more +thorough-going notions of religious obligation which had led her +husband to make the very real and painful sacrifice of his sporting +tastes, and attend to the parish in a manner only too rare in those +days. She was a very well-informed and highly accomplished woman, +and had made her daughter the same, keeping her children up in a +somewhat exclusive style, away from all gossip or undesirable +intimacies, as recommended by Miss Edgeworth and other more +religious authorities, and which gave great offence in houses where +there were girls of the same age. No one, however, could look at +Ellen, and doubt of the success of the system, or of the young +girl's entire content and perfect affection for her mother, though +her father was her beloved playfellow--yet always with respect. She +never took liberties with him, nor called him Pap or any other +ridiculous name inconsistent with the fifth Commandment, though she +certainly was more entirely at ease with him than ever we had been +with our elderly father. When once Mrs. Fordyce found on what terms +we were to be, she accepted them frankly and fully. Already Emily +had been the first girl, not a relation, whose friendship she had +fostered with Ellen; and she had also become thoroughly affectionate +and at home with my mother, who suited her perfectly on the +conscientious, and likewise on the prudent and sensible, side of her +nature. + +To me she was always kindness itself, so kind that I never felt, as +I did on so many occasions, that she was very pitiful and attentive +to the deformed youth; but that she really enjoyed my companionship, +and I could help her in her pursuits. I have a whole packet of +charming notes of hers about books, botany, drawings, little bits of +antiquarianism, written with an arch grace and finish of expression +peculiarly her own, and in a very pointed hand, yet too definite to +be illegible. I owe her more than I can say for the windows of +wholesome hope and ambition she opened to me, giving a fresh motive +and zest even to such a life as mine. I can hardly tell which was +the most delightful companion, she or her husband. In spite of ill +health, she knew every plant, and every bit of fair scenery in the +neighbourhood, and had fresh, amusing criticisms to utter on each +new book; while he, not neglecting the books, was equally well +acquainted with all beasts and birds, and shed his kindly light over +everything he approached. He was never melancholy about anything +but politics, and even there it was an immense consolation to him to +have the owner of Chantry House staunch on the same side, instead of +in chronic opposition. + +The family party moved to a tall house at Bath, but there still was +close intercourse, for the younger clergyman rode over every week +for the Sunday duty, and almost always dined and slept at Chantry +House. He acted as bearer of long letters, which, in spite of a +reticulation of crossings, were too expensive by post for young +ladies' pocket-money, often exceeding the regular quarto sheet. It +was a favourite joke to ask Emily what Ellen reported about Bath +fashions, and to see her look of scorn. For they were a curious +mixture, those girlish letters, of village interests, discussion of +books, and thoughts beyond their age; Tommy Toogood and Prometheus; +or Du Guesclin in the closest juxtaposition with reports of progress +in Abercrombie on the Intellectual Powers. It was the desire of +Ellen to prove herself not unsettled but improved by love, and to +become worthy of her ideal Griffith, never guessing that he would +have been equally content with her if she had been as frivolous as +the idlest girl who lingered amid the waning glories of Bath. + +We all made them a visit there when Martyn was taken to a +preparatory school in the place. Mrs. Fordyce took me out for +drives on the beautiful hills; and Emily and I had a very delightful +time, undisturbed by the engrossing claims of love-making. Very +good, too, were our friends, after our departure, in letting Martyn +spend Sundays and holidays with them, play with Anne as before, say +his Catechism with her to Mrs. Fordyce, and share her little Sunday +lessons, which had, he has since told, a force and attractiveness he +had never known before, and really did much, young as he was, in +preparing the way towards the fulfilment of my father's design for +him. + +When the Rectory was ready, and the family returned, it was high +summer, and there were constant meetings between the households. No +doubt there were the usual amount of trivial disappointments and +annoyances, but the whole season seems to me to have been bathed in +sunlight. The Reform Bill agitations and the London mobs of which +Clarence wrote to us were like waves surging beyond an isle of +peace. Clarence had some unpleasant walks from the office. Once or +twice the shutters had to be put up at Frith and Castleford's to +prevent the windows from being broken; and once Clarence actually +saw our nation's hero, 'the Duke,' riding quietly and slowly through +a yelling, furious mob, who seemed withheld from falling on him by +the perfect impassiveness of the eagle face and spare figure. +Moreover a pretty little boy, on his pony, suddenly pushed forward +and rode by the Duke's side, as if proud and resolute to share his +peril. + +'If Griffith had been there!' said Ellen and Emily, though they did +not exactly know what they expected him to have done. + +The chief storms that drifted across our sky were caused by Mrs. +Fordyce's resolution that Griffith should enjoy none of the +privileges of an accepted suitor before the engagement was an actual +fact. Ellen was obedient and conscientious; and would neither +transgress nor endure to have her mother railed at by Griff's hasty +tongue, and this affronted him, and led to little breezes. + +When people overstay their usual time, tempers are apt to get rather +difficult. Griffith had kept all his terms at Oxford, and was not +to return thither after the long vacation, but was to read with a +tutor before taking his degree. Moreover bills began to come from +Oxford, not very serious, but vexing my father and raising +annoyances and frets, for Griff resented their being complained of, +and thought himself ill-used, going off to see his own friends +whenever he was put out. + +One morning at breakfast, late in October, he announced that Lady +Peacock was in lodgings at Clifton, and asked my mother to call on +her. But mamma said it was too far for the horse--she visited no +one at that distance, and had never thought much of Selina Clarkson +before or after her marriage. + +'But now that she is a widow, it would be such a kindness,' pleaded +Griff. + +'Depend upon it, a gay young widow needs no kindness from me, and +had better not have it from you,' said my mother, getting up from +behind her urn and walking off, followed by my father. + +Griff drummed on the table. 'I wonder what good ladies of a certain +age do with their charity,' he said. + +And while we were still crying out at him, Ellen Fordyce and her +father appeared, like mirth bidding good-morrow, at the window. All +was well for the time, but Griff wanted Ellen to set out alone with +him, and take their leisurely way through the wood-path, and she +insisted on waiting for her father, who had got into an endless +discussion with mine on the Reform Bill, thrown out in the last +Session. Griff tried to wile her on with him, but, though she +consented to wander about the lawn before the windows with him, she +always resolutely turned at the great beech tree. Emily and I +watched them from the window, at first amused, then vexed, as we +could see, by his gestures, that he was getting out of temper, and +her straw bonnet drooped at one moment, and was raised the next in +eager remonstrance or defence. At last he flung angrily away from +her, and went off to the stables, leaving her leaning against the +gate in tears. Emily, in an access of indignant sympathy, rushed +out to her, and they vanished together into the summer-house, until +her father called her, and they went home together. + +Emily told me that Ellen had struggled hard to keep herself from +crying enough to show traces of tears which her father could +observe, and that she had excused Griff with all her might on the +plea of her own 'tiresomeness.' + +We were all the more angry with him for his selfishness and want of +consideration, for Ellen, in her torrent of grief, had even +disclosed that he had said she did not care for him--no one really +in love ever scrupled about a mother's nonsense, etc., etc. + +We were resolved, like two sages, to give him a piece of our minds, +and convince him that such dutifulness was the pledge of future +happiness, and that it was absolute cruelty to the rare creature he +had won, to try to draw her in a direction contrary to her +conscience. + +However, we saw him no more that day; and only learnt that he had +left a message at the stables that dinner was not to be kept waiting +for him. Such a message from Clarence would have caused a great +commotion; but it was quite natural and a matter of course from him +in the eyes of the elders, who knew nothing of his parting with +Ellen. However, there was annoyance enough, when bedtime came, +family prayers were over, and still there was no sign of him. My +father sat up till one o'clock, to let him in, then gave it up, and +I heard his step heavily mounting the stairs. + + + +CHAPTER XXII--BRISTOL DIAMONDS + + + +'Stafford. And you that are the King's friends, follow me. + +Cade. And you that love the Commons, follow me; +We will not leave one lord, one gentleman, +Spare none but such as go in clouted shoon.' + +Act I. Henry VI. + +The next day was Sunday, and no Griff appeared in the morning. +Vexation, perhaps, prevented us from attending as much as we +otherwise might have done to Mr. Henderson when he told us that +there were rumours of a serious disturbance at Bristol; until Emily +recollected that Griff had been talking for some days past of riding +over to see his friend in the cavalry regiment there stationed, and +we all agreed that it was most likely that he was there; and our +wrath began to soften in the belief that he might have been detained +to give his aid in the cause of order, though his single arm could +not be expected to effect as much as at Hillside. + +Long after dark we heard a horse's feet, and in another minute +Griff, singed, splashed, and battered, had hurried into the room-- +'It has begun!' he said. 'The revolution! I have brought her--Lady +Peacock. She was at Clifton, dreadfully alarmed. She is almost at +the door now, in her carriage. I'll just take the pony, and ride +over to tell Eastwood in case he will call out the Yeomanry.' + +The wheels were to be heard, and everybody hastened out to receive +Lady Peacock, who was there with her maid, full of gratitude. I +heard her broken sentences as she came across the hall, about +dreadful scenes--frightful mob--she knew not what would have become +of her but for Griffith--the place was in flames when they left it-- +the military would not act--Griffith had assured her that Mr. and +Mrs. Winslow would be so kind--as long as any place was a refuge + +We really did believe we were at the outbreak of a revolution or +civil war, and, all little frets forgotten, listened appalled to the +tidings; how the appearance of Sir Charles Wetherall, the Recorder +of Bristol, a strong opponent to the Reform Bill, seemed to have +inspired the mob with fury. Griff and his friend the dragoon, while +walking in Broad Street, were astonished by a violent rush of +riotous men and boys, hooting and throwing stones as the Recorder's +carriage tried to make its way to the Guildhall. In the midst a +piteous voice exclaimed - + +'Oh, Griffith! Mr. Griffith Winslow! Is it you?' and Lady Peacock +was seen retreating upon the stone steps of a house either empty, or +where the inhabitants were too much alarmed to open the doors. She +was terribly frightened, and the two gentlemen stood in front of her +till the tumultuary procession had passed by. She was staying in +lodgings at Clifton, and had driven in to Bristol to shop, when she +thus found herself entangled in the mob. They then escorted her to +the place where she was to meet her carriage, and found it for her +with some difficulty. Then, while the officer returned to his +quarters, Griff accompanied her far enough on the way to Clifton to +see that everything was quiet before her, and then returned to seek +out his friend. The court at the Guildhall had had to be adjourned, +but the rioters were hunting Sir Charles to the Mansion-House. +Griff was met by one of the Town Council, a tradesman with whom we +dealt, who, having perhaps heard of his prowess at Hillside, +entreated him to remain, offering him a bed, and saying that all +friends of order were needed in such a crisis as this. Griff wrote +a note to let us know what had become of him, but everything was +disorganised, and we did not get it till two days afterwards. + +In the evening the mob became more violent, and in the midst of +dinner a summons came for Griff's host to attend the Mayor in +endeavouring to disperse it. Getting into the Mansion-House by +private back ways, they were able to join the Mayor when he came +out, amid a shower of brickbats, sticks, and stones, and read the +Riot Act three times over, after warning them of the consequences of +persisting in their defiance. + +'But they were far past caring for that,' said Griff. 'An iron rail +from the square was thrown in the midst of it, and if I had not +caught it there would have been an end of his Worship.' + +The constables, with such help as Griff and a few others could give +them, defended the front of the Mansion-House, while the Recorder, +for whom they savagely roared, made his escape by the roof to +another house. A barricade was made with beds, tables, and chairs, +behind which the defenders sheltered themselves, while volleys of +stones smashed in the windows, and straw was thrown after them. But +at last the tramp of horses' feet was heard, and the Dragoons came +up. + +'We thought all over then,' said Griff; 'but Colonel Brereton would +not have a blow struck, far less a shot fired! He would have it +that it was a good-humoured mob! I heard him! When one of his own +men was brought up badly hurt with a brickbat, I heard Ludlow, the +Town-Clerk, ask him what he thought of their good humour, and he had +nothing to say but that it was an accident! And the rogues knew it! +He took care they should; he walked about among them and shook hands +with them!' + +Griff waited at the Mansion-House all night, and helped to board up +the smashed windows; but at daylight Colonel Brereton came and +insisted on withdrawing the piquet on guard--not, however, sending a +relief for them, on the plea that they only collected a crowd. The +instant they were withdrawn, down came the mob in fresh force, so +desperate that all the defences were torn down, and they swarmed in +so that there was nothing for it but to escape over the roofs. + +Griffith was sent to rouse the inhabitants of College Green and St. +Augustine's Back to come in the King's name to assist the +Magistrates, and he had many good stories of the various responses +he met with. But the rioters, inflamed by the wine they had found +in sacking the Mansion-House, and encouraged by the passiveness of +the troops, had become entirely masters of the situation. And +Colonel Brereton seems to have imagined that the presence of the +soldiers acted as an irritation; for in this crisis he actually sent +them out of the city to Keynsham, then came and informed the mob, +who cheered him, as well they might. + +In the night the Recorder had left the city, and notices were posted +to that effect; also that the Riot Act had been read, and any +further disturbance would be capital felony. This escape of their +victim only had the effect of directing the rage of the populace +against Bishop Grey, who had likewise opposed the Reform Bill. + +Messages had been sent to advise the Bishop, who was to preach that +day at the Cathedral, to stay away and sanction the omission of the +service; but his answer to one of his clergy was--'These are times +in which it is necessary not to shrink from danger! Our duty is to +be at our post.' And he also said, 'Where can I die better than in +my own Cathedral?' + +Since the bells were ringing, and it was understood that the Bishop +was actually going to dare the peril, Griff and others of the +defenders decided that it was better to attend the service and fill +up the nave so as to hinder outrage. He said it was a most strange +and wonderful service. Chants and Psalms and Lessons and prayers +going on their course as usual, but every now and then in the pauses +of the organ, a howl or yell of the voice of the multitude would +break on the ear through the thick walls. Griff listened and hoped +for a volley of musketry. He was not tender-hearted! But none +came, and by the time the service was over, the mob had been greatly +reinforced and had broken into the prisons, set them on fire, and +released the prisoners. They were mustering on College Green for an +attack on the palace. Griff aided in guarding the entrance to the +cloisters till the Bishop and his family had had time to drive away +to Almondsbury, four miles off, and then the rush became so strong +that they had to give way. There was another great struggle at the +door of the palace, but it was forced open with a crowbar, while +shouts rang out 'No King and no Bishops!' A fire was made in the +dining-room with chairs and tables, and live coals were put into the +beds, while the plunder went on. + +Griff meantime had made his way to the party headed by the +magistrates, and accompanied by the dragoons, and the mob began to +flee; but Colonel Brereton had given strict orders that the soldiers +should not fire, and the plunderers rallied, made a fire in the +Chapter House, and burnt the whole of the library, shouting with the +maddest triumph. + +They next attacked the Cathedral, intending to burn that likewise, +but two brave gentlemen, Mr. Ralph and Mr. Linne, succeeded in +saving this last outrage, at the head of the better affected. + +Griff had fought hard. He was all over bruises which he really had +never felt at the time, scarcely even now, though one side of his +face was turning purple, and his clothes were singed. In a sort of +council held at the repulse of the attack on the Cathedral, it had +been decided that the best thing he could do would be to give notice +to Sir George Eastwood, in order that the Yeomanry might be called +out, since the troops were so strangely prevented from acting. As +he rode through Clifton, he had halted at Lady Peacock's, and found +her in extreme alarm. Indeed, no one could guess what the temper of +the mob might be the next day, or whether they might not fall upon +private houses. The Mansion-House, the prisons, the palace were all +burning and were an astounding sight, which terrified her +exceedingly, and she was sending out right and left to endeavour to +get horses to take her away. In common humanity, and for old +acquaintance sake, it was impossible not to help her, and Griff had +delayed, to offer any amount of reward in her name for posthorses, +which he had at last secured. Her own man-servant, whom she had +sent in quest of some, had never returned, and she had to set off +without him, Griff acting as outrider; but after the first there was +no more difficulty about horses, and she had been able to change +them at the next stage. + +We all thought the days of civil war were really begun, as the heads +of this account were hastily gathered; but there was not much said, +only Mr. Frank Fordyce laid his hand on Griff's shoulder and said, +'Well done, my boy; but you have had enough for to-day. If you'll +lend me a horse, Winslow, I'll ride over to Eastwood. That's work +for the clergy in these times, eh? Griffith should rest. He may be +wanted to-morrow. Only is there any one to take a note home for me, +to say where I'm gone;' and then he added with that sweet smile of +his, 'Some one will be more the true knight than ever, eh, you +Griffith you--' + +Griffith coloured a little, and Lady Peacock's eyes looked +interrogative. When the horse was announced, Griff followed Mr. +Fordyce into the hall, and came back announcing that, unless +summoned elsewhere, he should go to breakfast at Hillside, and so +hear what was decided on. He longed to be back at the scene of +action, but was so tired out that he could not dispense with another +night's rest; though he took all precautions for being called up, in +case of need. + +However, nothing came, and he rode to the Rectory in Yeomanry +equipment. Nor could any one doubt that in the ecstasy of meeting +such a hero, all the little misunderstanding and grief of the night +before was forgotten? Ellen looked as if she trod on air, when she +came down with her father to report that Griffith had gone, +according to the orders sent, to join the rest of the Yeomanry, who +were to advance upon Bristol. They had seen, and tried to turn +back, some of the villagers who were starting with bludgeons to +share in the spoil, and who looked sullen, as if they were +determined not to miss their share. + +I do not think we were very much alarmed for Griff's safety or for +our own, not even the ladies. My mother had the lion-heart of her +naval ancestors, and Ellen was in a state of exaltation. Would that +I could put her before other eyes, as she stood with hands clasped +and glowing cheek. + +'Oh!--think!--think of having one among us who is as real and true +knight as ever watched his armour - + + +'"For king, for church, for lady fight!" +It has all come gloriously true!' + + +'Should not you like to bind on his spurs?' I asked somewhat +mischievously; but she was serious as she said, 'I am sure he has +won them.' All the rest of the Fordyces came down afterwards, too +anxious to stay at home. Our elders felt the matter more gravely, +thinking of what civil war might mean to us all, and what an awful +thing it was for Englishmen to be enrolled against each other. +Nottingham Castle had just been burnt, and things looked only too +like revolution, especially considering the inaction of the +dragoons. After Griff had left Bristol, there had been some +terrible scenes at the Custom House, where the ringleaders--unhappy +men!--were caught in a trap of their own and perished miserably. + +However, by the morning, the order sent from Lord Hill, the arrival +of Major Beckwith from Gloucester, and the proceedings of the good- +humoured mob had put an end to poor Brereton's hesitations; a +determined front had been shown; the mob had been fairly broken up; +troops from all quarters poured into the city, and by dinner-time +Griff came back with the news that all was quiet and there was +nothing more to fear. Ellen and Emily both flew out to meet him at +the first sound of the horse's feet, and they all came into the +drawing-room together--each young lady having hold of one of his +hands--and Ellen's face in such a glow, that I rather suspect that +he had snatched a reward which certainly would not have been granted +save in such a moment of uplifted feeling, and when she was thankful +to her hero for forgetting how angry he had been with her two days +before. + +Minor matters were forgotten in the details of his tidings, as he +stood before the fire, shining in his silver lace, and relating the +tragedy and the comedy of the scene. + +It was curious, as the evening passed on, to see how Ellen and Lady +Peacock regarded each other, now that the tension of suspense was +over. To Ellen, the guest was primarily a distressed and widowed +dame, delivered by Griff, to whom she, as his lady love, was bound +to be gracious and kind; nor had they seen much of one another, the +elder ladies sitting in the drawing-room, and we in our own regions; +but we were all together at dinner and afterwards, and Lady Peacock, +who had been in a very limp, nervous, and terrified state all day, +began to be the Selina Clarkson we remembered, and 'more too.' She +was still in mourning, but she came down to dinner in gray satin +sheen, and with her hair in a most astonishing erection of bows and +bands, on the very crown of her head, raising her height at least +four inches. Emily assures me that it was the mode in use, and that +she and Ellen wore their hair in the same style, appealing to +portraits to prove it. I can only say that they never astonished my +weak mind in the like manner; and that their heads, however dressed, +only appeared to me a portion of the general woman, and part of the +universal fitness of things. Ellen was likewise amazed, most likely +not at the hair, but at the transformation of the disconsolate, +frightened widow, into the handsome, fashionable, stylish lady, +talking over London acquaintance and London news with my father and +Griff whenever they left the endless subject of the Bristol +adventures. + +The widow had gained a good deal in beauty since her early girlhood, +having regular features, eyes of an uncommon deep blue, very black +brows, eye-lashes, and hair, and a form of the kind that is better +after early youth is over. 'A fine figure of a woman,' Parson Frank +pronounced her, and his wife, with the fine edge of her lips +replied, 'exactly what she is!' + +She looked upon us younger ones as mere children still--indeed she +never looked at me at all if she could help it--but she mortally +offended Emily by penning her up in a corner, and asking if Griff +were engaged to that sentimental little girl. + +Emily coloured like a turkey cock between wrath and embarrassment, +and hotly protested against the word sentimental. + +'Ah yes, I see!' she said in a patronising tone, 'she is your bosom +friend, eh? That's the way those things always begin. You need not +answer: I see it all. And no doubt it is a capital thing for him; +properties joining and all. And she will get a little air and style +when he takes her to London.' It was a tremendous offence even to +hint that Ellen's style was capable of improvement; perhaps an +unprejudiced eye would have said that the difference was between +high-bred simplicity and the air of fashion and society. + +In our eyes Lady Peacock was the companion of the elders, and as +such was appreciated by the gentlemen; but neither of the two +mothers was equally delighted with her, nor was mine at all sorry +when, on Tuesday, the boxes were packed, posthorses sent for, and my +Lady departed, with great expressions of thankfulness to us all. + +'A tulip to a jessamine,' muttered Griff as she drove off, and he +looked up at his Ellen's sweet refined face. + +The unfortunate Colonel Brereton put an end to himself when the +court-martial was half over. How Clarence was shocked and how +ardent was his pity! But Griffith received the thanks of the +Corporation of Bristol for his gallant conduct, when the special +assize was held in January. Mrs. Fordyce was almost as proud of him +as we were, and there was much less attempt at restraining the terms +on which he stood with Ellen--though still the formal engagement was +not permitted. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII--QUICKSANDS + + + + 'Whither shall I go? +Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes?' + +TENNYSON. + +It was in the May of the ensuing year, 1832, that Clarence was sent +down to Bristol for a few weeks to take the place of one of the +clerks in the office where the cargoes of the incoming vessels of +the firm were received and overhauled. + +This was a good-natured arrangement of Mr. Castleford's in order to +give him change of work and a sight of home, where, by the help of +the coach, he could spend his Sundays. That first spring day on his +way down was a great delight and even surprise to him, who had never +seen our profusion of primroses, cowslips, and bluebells, nor our +splendid blossom of trees--apple, lilac, laburnum--all vieing in +beauty with one another. Emily conducted him about in great +delight, taking him over to Hillside to see Mrs. Fordyce's American +garden, blazing with azaleas, and glowing with rhododendrons. He +came back with a great bouquet given to him by Ellen, who had been +unusually friendly with him, and he was more animated and full of +life than for years before. + +Next time he came he looked less happy. There was plenty of room in +our house, but he used, by preference, the little chamber within +mine, and there at night he asked me to lend him a few pounds, since +Griffith had written one of his off-hand letters asking him to +discharge a little bill or two at Bristol, giving the addresses, but +not sending the accounts. This was no wonder, since any enclosure +doubled the already heavy postage. One of these bills was for some +sporting equipments from the gunsmith's; another, much heavier, from +a tavern for breakfasts, or rather luncheons, to parties of +gentlemen, mostly bearing date in the summer and autumn of 1830, +before the friendship with the Fordyces had begun. On Clarence's +defraying the first and applying for the second, two more had come +in, one from a jeweller for a pair of drop-earrings, the other from +a nurseryman for a bouquet of exotics. Doubting of these two last, +Clarence had written to Griff, but had not yet received an answer. +The whole amount was so much beyond what he had been led to expect +that he had not brought enough money to meet it, and wanted an +advance from me, promising repayment, to which latter point I could +not assent, as both of us knew, but did not say, we should never see +the sum again, and to me it only meant stinting in new books and +curiosities. We were anxious to get the matter settled at once, as +Griffith spoke of being dunned; and it might be serious, if the +tradesmen applied to my father when he was still groaning over +revelations of college expenses. + +On the ensuing Saturday, Clarence showed me Griff's answer--'I had +forgotten these items. The earrings were a wedding present to the +pretty little barmaid, who had been very civil. The bouquet was for +Lady Peacock; I felt bound to do something to atone for mamma's +severe virtue. It is all right, you best of brothers.' + +It was consolatory that all the dates were prior to the Hillside +fire, except that of the bouquet. As to the earrings, we all knew +that Griff could not see a pretty girl without talking nonsense to +her. Anyway, if they were a wedding present, there was an end of +it; and we were only glad to prevent any hint of them from reaching +the ears of the authorities. + +Clarence had another trouble to confide to me. He had strong reason +to believe that Tooke, the managing clerk at Bristol, was carrying +on a course of peculation, and feathering his nest at the expense of +the firm. What a grand discovery, thought I, for such a youth to +have made. The firm would be infinitely obliged to him, and his +fortune would be secured. He shook his head, and said that was all +my ignorance; the man, Tooke, was greatly trusted, especially by Mr. +Frith the senior partner, and was so clever and experienced that it +would be almost impossible to establish anything against him. +Indeed he had browbeaten Clarence, and convinced him at the moment +that his suspicions and perplexities were only due to the ignorance +of a foolish, scrupulous youth, who did not understand the customs +and perquisites of an agency. It was only when Clarence was alone, +and reflected on the matter by the light of experience gained on a +similar expedition to Liverpool, that he had perceived that Mr. +Tooke had been throwing dust in his eyes. + +'I shall only get into a scrape myself,' said Clarence despondently. +'I have felt it coming ever since I have been at Bristol;' and he +pushed his hair back with a weary hopeless gesture. + +'But you don't mean to let it alone?' I cried indignantly. + +He hesitated in a manner that painfully recalled his failing, and +said at last, 'I don't know; I suppose I ought not.' + +'Suppose?' I cried. + +'It is not so easy as you think,' he answered, 'especially for one +who has forfeited the right to be believed. I must wait till I have +an opportunity of speaking to Mr. Castleford, and then I can hardly +do more than privately give him a hint to be watchful. You don't +know how things are in such houses as ours. One may only ruin +oneself without doing any good.' + +'You cannot write to him?' + +'Certainly not. He has taken his family to Mrs. Castleford's home +in the north of Ireland for a month or six weeks. I don't know the +address, and I cannot run the risk of the letter being opened at the +office.' + +'Can't you speak to my father?' + +'Impossible! it would be a betrayal. He would do things for which I +should never be forgiven. And, after all, remember, it is no +business of mine. I know of agents at the docks who do such things +as a matter of course. It is only that I happen to know that Harris +at Liverpool does not. Very possibly old Frith knows all about it. +I should only get scored down as a meddlesome prig, worse hypocrite +than they think me already.' + +He said a good deal more to this effect, and I remember exclaiming, +'Oh, Clarence, the old story!' and then being frightened at the +whiteness that came over his face. + +Little did I know the suffering to which those words of mine +condemned him. For not only had he to make up his mind to +resistance, which to his nature was infinitely worse than it was to +Griffith to face a raging mob, but he knew very well that it would +almost inevitably produce his own ruin, and renew the disgrace out +of which he was beginning to emerge. I did not--even while I prayed +that he might do the right--guess at his own agony of supplication, +carried on incessantly, day and night, sleeping and waking, that the +Holy Spirit of might should brace his will and govern his tongue, +and make him say the right thing at the right time, be the +consequences what they might. No one, not constituted as he was, +can guess at the anguish he endured. I knew no more. Clarence did +not come home the next Saturday, to my mother's great vexation; but +on Tuesday a small parcel was given to me, brought from our point of +contact with the Bristol coach. It contained some pencils I had +asked him to get, and a note marked PRIVATE. Here it is - + + +'DEAR EDWARD--I am summoned to town. Tooke has no doubt forestalled +me. We have had some curious interviews, in which he first, as I +told you, persuaded me out of my senses that it was all right, and +then, finding me still dissatisfied, tried in a delicate fashion to +apprise me that I had a claim to a share of the plunder. When I +refused to appropriate anything without sanction from headquarters, +he threatened me with the consequences of presumptuous interference. +It came to bullying at last. I hardly know what I answered, but I +don't think I gave in. Now, a sharp letter from old Frith recalls +me. Say nothing at home; and whatever you do, do not betray Griff. +He has more to lose than I. Help me in the true way, as you know +how.--Ever yours, W. C. W. + + +I need not dwell on the misery of those days. It was well that my +father had ruled that our letters should not be family property. +Here were all the others discussing a proposed tour in the north of +Devon, to be taken conjointly with the Fordyces, as soon as Griff +should come home. My mother said it would do me good; she saw I was +flagging, but she little guessed at the continual torment of +anxiety, and my wonder at the warning about Griff. + +At the end of the week came another letter. + + +'You need not speak yet. Papa and mamma will know soon enough. I +brought down 150 pounds in specie, to be paid over to Tooke. He +avers that only 130 pounds was received. What is my word worth +against his? I am told that if I am not prosecuted it will only be +out of respect to my father. I am not dismissed yet, but shall get +notice as soon as letters come from Ireland. I have written, but it +is not in the nature of things that Mr. Castleford should not accept +such proofs as have been sent him. I have no hope, and shall be +glad when it is over. The part of black sheep is not a pleasant +one. Say not a word, and do not let my father come up. He could do +no good, and to see him believing it all would be the last drop in +the bucket. + +N.B.--In this pass, nothing would be saved by bringing Griff into +it, so be silent on your life. Innocence does not seem to be much +comfort at present. Maybe it will come in time. I know you will +not drop me, dear Ted, wherever I may be.' + + +Need I tell the distress of those days of suspense and silence, when +my only solace was in being left alone, and in writing letters to +Clarence which were mostly torn up again. + +My horror was lest he should be driven to go off to the sea, which +he loved so well, knowing, as nobody else did, the longing that +sometimes seized him for it, a hereditary craving that curiously +conflicted with the rest of his disposition; and, indeed, his lack +was more of moral than of physical courage. It haunted me +constantly that his entreaty that my father should not come to +London was a bad sign, and that he would never face such another +return home. And was I justified in keeping all this to myself, +when my father's presence might save him from the flight that would +indeed be the surrender of his character, and to the life of a +common sailor? Never have I known such leaden days as these, yet +the misery was not a tithe of what Clarence was undergoing. + +I was right in my forebodings. Prosecution and a second return home +in shame and disgrace were alike hideous to Clarence, and the +present was almost equally terrible, for nobody at the office had +any doubt of his guilt, and the young men who had sneered at his +strictness and religious habits regarded him as an unmasked +hypocrite, only waiting on sufferance till his greatly deceived +patron should write to decide on the steps to be taken with him, +while he knew he was thought to be brazening it out in hopes of +again deceiving Mr. Castleford. + +The sea began to exert its power over him, and he thought with +longing of its freedom, as if the sails of the vessels were the +wings of a dove to flee away and be at rest. He had no illusions as +to the roughness of the life and companionship; but in his present +mood, the frank rudeness and profanity of the sailors seemed +preferable to his cramped life, and the scowls of his fellows; and +he knew himself to have seamanship enough to rise quickly, even if +he could not secure a mate's berth at first. + +Mr. Castleford could not be heard from till the end of the week. +Friday, Saturday came and not a word. That was the climax! When +the consignment of cash, hitherto carried by Clarence to the Bank of +England, was committed to another clerk, the very office boy +sniggered, and the manager demonstratively waited to see him depart. + +Unable to bear it any longer, he walked towards Wapping, bought a +Southwester, examined the lists of shipping, and entered into +conversation with one or two sailors about the vessels making up +their crews; intending to go down after dark, to meet the skipper of +a craft bound for Lisbon, who, he heard, was so much in want of a +mate as perhaps to overlook the lack of testimonials, and at any +rate take him on board on Sunday. + +Going home to pick up a few necessaries, a book lent to him by Miss +Newton came in his way, and he felt drawn to carry it home, and see +her face for the last time. + +All unconscious of his trouble and of his intentions, the good lady +told him of her strong desire to hear a celebrated preacher at a +neighbouring church on the Sunday evening, but said that in her +partial blindness and weakness, she was afraid to venture, unless he +would have the extreme goodness, as she said, to take care of her. +He saw that she wished it so much that he had not the heart to +refuse, and he recollected likewise that very early on Monday +morning would answer his purpose equally well. + +It was the 7th of June. The Psalm was the 37th--the supreme lesson +of patience. 'Hold thee still in the Lord; and abide patiently on +Him; and He shall bring it to pass. He shall make thy righteousness +as clear as the light, and thy just dealing as the noonday.' + +The awful sense of desolation seemed to pass away under those words, +with that gentle woman beside him. And the sermon was on 'Oh tarry +thou the Lord's leisure; be strong, and He shall comfort thine +heart; and put thou thy trust in the Lord.' + +Clarence remembered nothing but the text. But it was borne in upon +him that his purpose of flight was 'the old story,'--cowardice and +virtual distrust of the Lord, as well as absolute cruelty to us who +loved him. + +When he had deposited Miss Newton at her own door, he whispered +thanks, and an entreaty for her prayers. + +And then he went home, and fought the battle of his life, with his +own horrible dread of Mr. Castleford's disappointment; of possible +prosecution; of the shame at home; the misery of a life a second +time blighted. He fought it out on his knees, many a time +persuading himself that flight would not be a sin, then returning to +the sense that it was a temptation of his worse self to be overcome. +And by morning he knew that it would be a surrender of himself to +his lower nature, and the evil spirit behind it; while, by facing +the worst that could befall him, he would be falling into the hand +of the Lord. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV--AFTER THE TEMPEST + + + +'Nor deem the irrevocable past +As wholly wasted, wholly vain, +If rising on its wrecks at last +To something nobler we attain.' + +LONGFELLOW. + +All the rest of the family were out, and I was relieved by being +alone with my distress, not forced to hide it, when the door opened +and 'Mr. Castleford' was announced. After one moment's look at me, +one touch of my hand, he must have seen that I was faint with +anxiety, and said, 'It is all right, Edward; I see you know all. I +am come from Bristol to tell your father that he may be proud of his +son Clarence.' + +I don't know what I did. Perhaps I sobbed and cried, but the first +words I could get out were, 'Does he know? Oh! it may be too late. +He may be gone off to sea!' I cried, breaking out with my chief +fear. Mr. Castleford looked astounded, then said, 'I trust not. I +sent off a special messenger last night, as soon as I saw my way--' + +Then I breathed a little more freely, and could understand what he +was telling me, namely, that Tooke had accused Clarence of +abstracting 20 pounds from the sum in his charge. The fellow +accounted for it by explaining that young Winslow had been paying +extravagant bills at a tavern, where the barmaid showed his +presents, and boasted of her conquest. All this had been written to +Mr. Castleford by his partner, and he was told that it was out of +deference to himself that his protege was not in custody, nor had +received notice of dismissal; but, no doubt, he would give his +sanction to immediate measures, and communicate with the family. + +The effect had been to make the good man hurry at once from the +Giant's Causeway to Bristol, where he had arrived on Sunday, to +investigate the books and examine the underlings. In the midst +Tooke attempted to abscond, but he was brought back as he was +embarking in an American vessel; and he then confessed the whole,-- +how speculation had led to dishonesty, and following evil customs +not uncommon in other firms. Then, when the fugitive found that +young Winslow was too acute to be blinded, and that it had been a +still greater mistake to try to overcome his integrity, self-defence +required his ruin, or at any rate his expulsion, before he could +gain Mr. Castleford's ear. + +Tooke really believed that the discreditable bills were the young +man's own, and proofs of concealed habits of dissipation; but this +excellent man had gone into the matter, repaired to the tradesfolk, +learnt the date, and whose the accounts really were, and had even +hunted up the barmaid, who was not married after all, and had no +hesitation in avowing that her beau had been the handsome young +Yeomanry lieutenant. Mr. Castleford had spent the greater part of +Monday in this painful task, but had not been clear enough till +quite late in the evening to despatch an express to his partner, and +to Clarence, whom he desired to meet him here. + +'He has acted nobly,' said our kind friend. 'His only error seems +to have been in being too good a brother.' + +This made me implore that nothing should be said about Griffith's +bills, showing those injunctions of Clarence's which had so puzzled +me, and explaining the circumstances. + +Mr. Castleford hummed and hawed, and perhaps wished he had seen my +father before me; but I prevailed at last, and when the others came +in from their drive, there was nothing to alloy the intelligence +that Clarence had shown rare discernment, as well as great +uprightness, steadfastness, and moral courage. + +My mother, when she had taken in the fact, actually shed tears of +joy. Emily stood by me, holding my hand. My father said, 'It is +all owing to you, Castleford, and the helping hand you gave the poor +boy.' + +'Nay,' was the answer, 'it seems to me that it was owing to his +having the root of the matter in him to overcome his natural +failings.' + +Still, in all the rejoicing, my heart failed me lest the express +should have come too late, and Clarence should be already on the +high seas, for there had been no letter from him on Sunday morning. +It was doubtful whether Mr. Castleford's messenger could reach +London in time for tidings to come down by the coach--far less did +we expect Clarence--and we had nearly finished the first course at +dinner, when we heard the front door open, and a voice speaking to +the butler. Emily screamed 'It's he! Oh mamma, may I?' and flew +out into the hall, dragging in a pale, worn and weary wight, all +dust and heat, having travelled down outside the coach on a broiling +day, and walked the rest of the way. He looked quite bewildered at +the rush at him; my father's 'Well done, Clarence,' and strong +clasp; and my mother's fervent kiss, and muttered something about +washing his hands. + +Formal folks, such as we were, had to sit in our chairs; and when he +came back apologising for not dressing, as he had left his +portmanteau for the carrier, he looked so white and ill that we were +quite shocked, and began to realise what he had suffered. He could +not eat the food that was brought back for him, and allowed that his +head was aching dreadfully; but, after a glass of wine had been +administered, it was extracted that he had met Mr. Frith at the +office door, and been gruffly told that Mr. Castleford was +satisfied, and he might consider himself acquitted. + +'And then I had your letter, sir, thank you,' said Clarence, +scarcely restraining his tears. + +'The thanks are on our side, my dear boy,' said Mr. Castleford. 'I +must talk it over with you, but not till you have had a night's +rest. You look as if you had not known one for a good while.' + +Clarence gave a sort of trembling smile, not trusting himself to +speak. Approbation at home was so new and strange to him that he +could scarcely bear it, worn out as he was by nearly a month of +doubt, distress, apprehension, and self-debate. + +My mother went herself to hasten the preparation of his room, and +after she had sent him to bed went again to satisfy herself that he +was comfortable and not feverish. She came back wiping away a tear, +and saying he had looked up at her just as when she had the three of +us in our nursery cribs. In truth these two had seldom been so +happy together since those days, though the dear mother, while +thankful that he had not failed, was little aware of the conflict +his resolution had cost him, and the hot journey and long walk came +in for more blame for his exhaustion than they entirely deserved. + +My father perhaps understood more of the trial; for when she came +back, declaring that all that was needed was sleep, and forbidding +me to go to my room before bedtime, he said he must bid the boy +good-night. + +And he spoke as his reserve would have never let him speak at any +other time, telling Clarence how deeply thankful he felt for the +manifestation of such truthfulness and moral courage as he said +showed that the man had conquered the failings of the boy. + +Nevertheless, when I retired for the night, it was to find Clarence +asleep indeed, but most uneasily, tossing, moaning, and muttering +broken sentences about 'disgracing his pennant,' 'never bearing to +see mamma's face'--and the like. I thought it a kindness to wake +him, and he started up. 'Ted, is it you? I thought I should never +hear your dear old crutch again! Is it really all right'--then, +sitting up and passing his hand over his face, 'I always mix it up +with the old affair, and think the court-martial is coming again.' + +'There's all the difference now.' + +'Thank God! yes--He has dragged me through! But it did not seem so +in one's sleep, nor waking neither--though sleep is worst, and +happily there was not much of that! Sit down, Ted; I want to look +at you. I can't believe it is not three weeks since I saw you +last.' + +We talked it all out, and I came to some perception of the fearful +ordeal it had been--first, in the decision neither to shut his eyes, +nor to conceal that they were open; and then in the lack of presence +of mind and the sense of confusion that always beset him when +browbeaten and talked down, so that, in the critical contest with +Tooke, he felt as if his feet were slipping from under him, and what +had once been clear to him was becoming dim, so that he had only +been assured that he had held his ground by Tooke's redoubled +persuasions and increased anger. And for a clerk, whose years were +only twenty-one, to oppose a manager, who had been in the service +more than the whole of that space, was preposterous insolence, and +likely to result in the utter ruin of his own prospects, and the +character he had begun to retrieve. It was just after this, the +real crisis, that he had the only dream which had not been misery +and distress. In it she--she yonder--yes, the lady with the lamp, +came and stood by him, and said, 'Be steadfast.' + +'It was a dream,' said Clarence. 'She was not as she is in the +mullion room, not crying, but with a sweet, sad look, almost like +Miss Fordyce--if Miss Fordyce ever looked sad. It was only a +dream.' + +Yet it had so refreshed and comforted him that we have often since +discussed whether the spirit really visited him, or whether this was +the manner in which conscience and imagination acted on his brain. +Indeed, he always believed that the dream had been either heaven- +sent or heaven-permitted. + +The die had been cast in that interview when he had let it be seen +that he was dangerous, and could not be bought over. The after +consequences had been the terrible distress and temptation I have +before described, only most inadequately. 'But that,' said +Clarence, half smiling, 'only came of my being such a wretched +creature as I am. There, dear old Miss Newton saved me--yes, she +did--most unconsciously, dear old soul. Don't you remember how +Griff used to say she maundered over the text. Well, she did it all +the way home in my ear, as she clung to my arm--"Be strong, and He +shall comfort thine heart." And then I knew my despair and +determination to leave it all behind were a temptation--"the old +story," as you told me, and I prayed God to help me, and just +managed to fight it out. Thank God for her!' + +If it had not been for that good woman, he would have been out of +reach--already out in the river--before Mr. Castleford's messenger +had reached London! He might call himself a poor creature--and +certainly a man of harder, bolder stuff would not have fared so +badly in the strife; but it always seemed to me in after years that +much of what he called the poor creature--the old, nervous, timid, +diffident self--had been shaken off in that desperate struggle, +perhaps because it had really given him more self-reliance, and +certainly inspired others with confidence in him. + +We talked late enough to have horrified my mother, but I did not +leave him till he was sleeping like a child, nor did he wake till I +was leaving the room at the sound of the bell. It was alleged that +it was the first time in his life that he had been late for prayers. +Mr. Castleford said he was very glad, and my mother, looking +severely at me, said she knew we had been talking all night, and +then went off to satisfy herself whether he ought to be getting up. + +There was no doubt on that score, for he was quite himself again, +though he was, in looks and in weariness, just as if he had +recovered from a bad illness, or, as he put it himself, he felt as +tired and bruised as if he had been in a stiff gale. Mr. Castleford +was sorry to be obliged to ask him to go through the whole matter +with him in the study, and the result was that he was pronounced to +have an admirable head for business, as well as the higher qualities +that had been put to the test. After that his good friend insisted +that he should have a long and complete holiday, at first proposing +to take him to Ireland, but giving the notion up on hearing of our +projected excursion to the north of Devon. Pending this, Clarence +was, for nearly a week, fit for nothing but lying on the grass in +the shade, playing with the cats and dogs, or with little Anne, +looking over our drawings, listening to Wordsworth, our reigning +idol,--and enjoying, with almost touching gratitude, the first +approach to petting that had ever fallen to his share. + +The only trouble on his mind was the Quarter-Session. Mr. +Castleford would hardly have prosecuted an old employe, but Mr. +Frith was furious, and resolved to make an example. Tooke had, +however, so carefully entrenched himself that nothing could be +actually made a subject of prosecution but the abstraction of the 20 +pounds of which he had accused Clarence, who had to prove the having +received and delivered it. + +It was a very painful affair, and Tooke was sentenced to seven +years' transportation. I believe he became a very rich and +prosperous man in New South Wales, and founded a family. My father +received warm compliments upon his sons, and Clarence had the new +sensation of being honourably coupled with Griffith, though he +laughed at the idea of mere honesty with fierce struggles being +placed beside heroism with no struggle at all. + + + +CHAPTER XXV--HOLIDAY-MAKING + + + +'The child upon the mountain side + Plays fearless and at ease, +While the hush of purple evening + Spreads over earth and seas. +The valley lies in shadow, + But the valley lies afar; +And the mountain is a slope of light + Upreaching to a star.' + +MENELLA SMEDLEY. + +How pleasant it was to hear Griffith's cheery voice, as he swung +himself down, out of a cloud of dust, from the top of the coach at +the wayside stage-house, whither Clarence and I had driven in the +new britshka to meet him. While the four fine coach-horses were led +off, and their successors harnessed in almost the twinkling of an +eye, Griff was with us; and we did nothing but laugh and poke fun at +each other all the way home, without a word of graver matters. + +I was resolved, however, that Griff should know how terribly his +commission had added to Clarence's danger, and how carefully the +secret had been guarded; and the first time I could get him alone, I +told him the whole. + +The effect was one of his most overwhelming fits of laughter. 'Poor +old Bill! To think of his being accused of gallanting about with +barmaids!' (an explosion at every pause) 'and revelling with +officers! Poor old Bill! it was as bad as Malvolio himself.' + +When, indignant at the mirth excited by what had nearly cost us so +dear, I observed that these items had nearly turned the scale +against our brother, Griff demanded how we could have been such +idiots as not to have written to him; I might at least have had the +sense to do so. As to its doing him harm at Hillside, Parson Frank +was no fool, and knew what men were made of! Griff would have taken +the risk, come at once, and thrust the story down the fellow's +throat (as indeed he would have done). The idea of Betsy putting up +with a pious young man like Bill, whose only flame had ever been old +Miss Newton! And he roared again at the incongruous pair. 'Oh, +wasn't she married after all, the hussy? She always had a dozen +beaux, and professed to be on the point of putting up her banns; so +if the earrings were not a wedding present, they might have been, +ought to have been, and would be some time or other.' + +Then he patted me, and declared there was no occasion for my +disgusted looks, for no one knew better than himself that he had the +best brace of brothers in existence, wanting in nothing but common +sense and knowledge of the world. As to Betsy--faugh! I need not +make myself uneasy about her; she knew what a civil word was worth +much better than I did. + +He showed considerable affection for Clarence after a fashion of his +own, which we three perfectly understood, and preferred to anything +more conventional. Griff was always delightful, and he was +especially so on that vacation, when every one was in high spirits; +so that the journey is, as I look back on it, like a spot of +brilliant sunshine in the distant landscape. + +Mrs. Fordyce kept house with her father-in-law, little Anne, and +Martyn, whose holidays began a week after we had started. The two +children were allowed to make a desert island and a robbers' cave in +the beech wood; and the adventures which their imaginations +underwent there completely threw ours into the shade. + +The three ladies and I started in the big Hillside open carriage, +with my brothers on the box and the two fathers on horseback. Frank +Fordyce was a splendid rider, as indeed was the old rector, who had +followed the hounds, made a leap over a fearful chasm, still known +as the Parson's Stride, and had been an excellent shot. The +renunciation of field sports had been a severe sacrifice to Frank +Fordyce, and showed of what excellent stuff he was made. He used to +say that it was his own fault that he had to give them up; another +man would have been less engrossed by them. Though he only read by +fits and starts when his enthusiasm was excited, he was thorough, +able, and acute, and his intelligence and sympathy were my father's +best compensation for the loss of London society. + +The two riders were a great contrast. Mr. Winslow had the +thoroughly well-appointed, somewhat precise, and highly-polished air +of a barrister, and a thin, somewhat worn and colourless face, with +grizzled hair and white whiskers; and though he rode well, with full +command of his horse, he was old enough to have chosen Chancery for +her sterling qualities. Parson Frank, on the other hand, though a +thorough gentleman, was as ruddy and weather-browned as any farmer, +and--albeit his features were handsome and refined, and his figure +well poised and athletic--he lost something of dignity by easiness +of gesture and carelessness of dress, except on state occasions, +when he discarded his beloved rusty old coat and Oxford mixture +trousers, and came out magnificent enough for an archdeacon, if not +an archbishop; while his magnificent horse, Cossack, was an animal +that a sporting duke might have envied. + +Nothing ever tired that couple, but my father had stipulated for +exchanges with Griffith. On these occasions it almost invariably +happened that there was a fine view for Ellen to see, so that she +was exalted to the box with Griffith to show it to her, and Chancery +was consigned to Clarence. Griff was wont to say that Chancery +deserved her name, and that he would defy the ninety-ninth part of a +tailor to come to harm with her; but Clarence was utterly +unpractised in riding, did not like it, was tormented lest Cossack's +antics should corrupt Chancery, and was mortally afraid of breaking +the knees of the precious mare. Not all Parson Frank's good advice +and kindly raillery would induce him to risk riding her on a +descent; and as our travels were entirely up and down hill, he was +often left leading her far behind, in hot sun or misty rain, and +then would come cantering hastily up, reckless of parallels with +John Gilpin, and only anxious to be in time to help me out at the +halting-place; but more than once only coming in when the beefsteaks +were losing their first charm, and then good-humouredly serving as +the general butt for his noble horsemanship. Did any one fully +comprehend how much pleasanter our journey was through the presence +of one person entirely at the service of the others? For my own +part, it made an immense difference to have one pair of strong arms +and dextrous well-accustomed hands always at my service, enabling me +to accomplish what no one else, kind as all were, would have +ventured on letting me attempt. Primarily, he was my devoted slave; +but he was at the beck and call of every one, making the inquiries, +managing the bargains, going off in search of whatever was wanting-- +taking in fact all the 'must be dones' of the journal. The +contemplation of Cossack and Chancery being rubbed down, and +devouring their oats was so delightful to Frank Fordyce and Griffith +that they seldom wished to shirk it; but if there were any more +pleasing occupation, it was a matter of course that Clarence should +watch to see that the ostlers did their duty by the animals--an +obsolete ceremony, by the bye. He even succeeded in hunting up and +hiring a side saddle when the lovers, with the masterfulness of +their nature, devised appropriating the horses at all the most +beautiful places, in spite of Frank's murmur, 'What will mamma say?' +But, as Griff said, it was a real mercy, for Ellen was infinitely +more at her ease with Chancery than was Clarence. Then Emily had +Clarence to walk up the hills with her, and help her in botany--her +special department in our tour. Mine was sketching, Ellen's, +keeping the journal, though we all shared in each other's work at +times; and Griff, whose line was decidedly love-making, interfered +considerably with us all, especially with our chronicler. I spare +you the tour, young people; it lies before me on the table, +profusely illustrated and written in many hands. As I turn it over, +I see noble Dunster on its rock; Clarence leading Chancery down +Porlock Hill; Parson Frank in vain pursuit of his favourite ancient +hat over that wild and windy waste, the sheep running away from him; +a boat tossing at lovely Minehead; a 'native' bargaining over a crab +with my mother; the wonderful Valley of Rocks, and many another +scene, ludicrous or grand; for, indeed, we were for ever taking the +one step between the sublime and the ridiculous! I am inclined to +believe it is as well worth reading as many that have rushed into +print, and it is full of precious reminiscences to Emily and me; but +the younger generation may judge for itself, and it would be an +interruption here. The country we saw was of utterly unimagined +beauty to the untravelled eyes of most of us. I remember Ellen +standing on Hartland Point, with her face to the infinite expanse of +the Atlantic, and waving back Griff with 'Oh, don't speak to me.' +Yet the sea was a delight above all to my mother and Clarence. To +them it was a beloved friend; and magnificent as was Lynmouth, +wonderful as was Clovelly, and glorious as was Hartland, I believe +they would equally have welcomed the waves if they had been on the +flattest of muddy shores! The ripple, plash, and roar were as +familiar voices, the salt smell as native air; and my mother never +had thawed so entirely towards Clarence as when she found him the +only person who could thoroughly participate her feeling. + +At Minehead they stayed out, walking up and down together in the +summer twilight till long after every one else was tired out, and +had gone in; and when at last they appeared she was leaning on +Clarence's arm, an unprecedented spectacle! + +At Appledore, the only place on that rugged coast where boating +tempted them, there was what they called a pretty little breeze, but +quite enough to make all the rest of us decline venturing out into +Bideford bay. They, however, found a boatman and made a trip, which +was evidently such enjoyment to them, that my father, who had been a +little restless and uneasy all the time, declared on their return +that he felt quite jealous of Neptune, and had never known what a +cruelty he was committing in asking a sea-nymph to marry a London +lawyer. + +Mr. Fordyce told him he was afraid of being like the fisherman who +wedded a mermaid, and made Ellen tell the story in her own pretty +way; but while we were laughing over it, I saw my mother steal her +hand into my father's and give it a strong grasp. Such gestures, +which she denominated pawing, when she witnessed them in Emily, were +so alien to her in general that no doubt this little action was +infinitely expressive to her husband. She was wonderfully softened, +and Clarence implied to me that it was the first time she had ever +seemed to grieve for him more than she despised him, or to recognise +his deprivation more than his disgrace,--implied, I say, for the +words he used were little more than--'You can't think how nice she +was to me.' + +The regaining of esteem and self-respect was lessening Clarence's +bashfulness, and bringing out his powers of conversation, so that he +began to be appreciated as a pleasant companion, answering Griff's +raillery in like fashion, and holding his own in good-natured +repartee. Mr. Fordyce got on excellently with him in their tete-a- +tetes (who would not with Parson Frank?), and held him in higher +estimation than did Ellen. To her, honesty was common, tame, and +uninteresting in comparison with heroism; and Griff's vague +statement that Clarence was the best brother in the world did not go +for much. Emily and I longed to get the two better acquainted, but +it did not become possible while Griff absorbed the maiden as his +exclusive property. + +The engagement was treated as an avowed and settled thing, though I +do not know that there had been a formal ratification by the +parents; but in truth Mrs. Fordyce must have tacitly yielded her +consent when she permitted her daughter to make the journey under +the guardianship of Parson Frank. After a walk in the ravine of +Lynton, we became aware of a ring upon Ellen's finger; and Emily was +allowed at night to hear how and when it had been put on. + +Ellen only slightly deepened her lovely carnation tints when her +father indulged in a little tender teasing and lamentation over +himself. She was thoroughly happy and proud of her hero, and not +ashamed of owning it. + +There was one evening when she and I were sitting with our +sketchbooks in the shade on the beech at Ilfracombe, while the rest +had gone, some to bathe, the others to make purchases in the town. +We had been condoling with one another over the impossibility of +finding anything among our water-colours that would express the +wondrous tints before our eyes. + +'No, nothing can do it,' I said at last; 'we can only make a sort of +blot to assist our memories.' + +'Sunshine outside and in!' said Ellen. 'The memory of such days as +these can never fade away,--no, nor thankfulness for them, I hope.' + +Something then passed about the fact that it was quite possible to +go on in complete content in a quiet monotonous life, in an oyster- +like way, till suddenly there was an unveiling and opening of +unimagined capacities of enjoyment--as by a scene like this before +us, by a great poem, an oratorio, or, as I supposed, by Niagara or +the Alps. Ellen put it--'Oh! and by feelings for the great and +good!' Dear girl, her colour deepened, and I am sure she meant her +bliss in her connection with her hero. Presently, however, she +passed on to saying how such revelations of unsuspected powers of +enjoyment helped one to enter into what was meant by 'Eye hath not +seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man +to conceive, the things that God hath prepared for them that love +him.' Then there was a silence, and an inevitable quoting of the +Christian Year, the guide to all our best thoughts - + + +'But patience, there may come a time.' + + +And then a turning to the 'Ode to Immortality,' for Wordsworth was +our second leader, and we carried him on our tour as our one secular +book, as Keble was our one religious book. We felt that the +principal joy of all this beauty and delight was because there was +something beyond. Presently Ellen said, prettily and shyly, 'I am +sure all this has opened much more to me than I ever thought of. I +always used to be glad that we had no brothers, because our cousins +were not always pleasant with us; but now I have learnt what +valuable possessions they are,' she added, with the sweetest, +prettiest glance of her bright eyes. + +I ventured to say that I was glad she said they, and hoped it was a +sign that she was finding out Clarence. + +'I have found out that I behaved so ill to him that I have been +ashamed ever since to look at him or speak to him,' said Ellen; 'I +long to ask his pardon, but I believe that would distress him more +than anything.' + +In which she was right; and I was able to tell her of the excuses +there had been for the poor boy, how he had suffered, and how he had +striven to conquer his failings; and she replied that the words +'Judge not, that ye be not judged,' always smote her with the +remembrance of her disdainfully cantering past him. There was a +tear on her eye-lashes, and it drew from me an apology for having +brought a painful recollection into our bright day. + +'There must be shade to throw up the lights,' she said, with her +sparkling look. + +Was it shade that we never fell into one of these grave talks when +Griffith was present, and that the slightest approach to them was +sure to be turned by him into jest? + +We made our journey a little longer than we intended, crossing the +moors so as to spend a Sunday at Exeter; but Frank Fordyce left us, +not liking to give his father the entire duty of a third Sunday. + +Emily says she has come to have a superstition that extensions of +original plans never turn out well, and certainly some of the charm +of our journey departed with the merry, genial Parson Frank. Our +mother was more anxious about Ellen, and put more restrictions on +the lovers than when the father was present to sanction their +doings. Griffith absolutely broke out against her in a way he had +never ventured before, when she forbade Ellen's riding with him when +he wanted to hire a horse at Lydford and take an excursion on the +moor before joining us at Okehampton. + +My father looked up, and said, 'Griffith, I am surprised at you.' +He was constrained to mutter some apology, and I believe Ellen +privately begged my mother's pardon, owning her to have been quite +right; but, by the dear girl, the wonderful cascade and narrow gorge +were seen through swollen eyes. And poor Clarence must have had a +fine time of it when Griffith had to ride off with him faute de +mieux. + +All was cleared off, however, when we met again, for Griff's storms +were very fleeting, and Ellen treated him as if she had to make her +own peace with him. She sacrificed her own enjoyment of Exeter +Cathedral to go about with him when he had had enough of it, but on +Sunday afternoon she altogether declined to walk with him till after +the second service. He laughed at her supposed passion for sacred +music, and offered to wait with her to hear the anthem from the +nave. 'No,' she said, 'that would be amusing ourselves instead of +worshipping.' + +'We've done our devoir in that way already,' said Griff. 'Paid our +dues.' + +'One can't,' cried Ellen, with an eager look. 'One longs to do all +the more when He has just let us have such a taste of His beautiful +things.' + +'ONE, perhaps, when one is a little saint,' returned Griff. + +'Oh don't, Griff! I'm not THAT; but you know every one wants all +the help and blessing that can be got. And then it is so +delightful!' + +He gave a long whistle. 'Every one to his taste,' he said; +'especially you ladies.' + +He did come to the Cathedral with us, but he had more than half +spoilt this last Sunday. Did he value her for what was best in her, +or was her influence raising him? + + + +CHAPTER XXVI--C. MORBUS, ESQ. + + + +'Forgot were hatred, wrongs, and fears, +The plaintive voice alone she hears, + Sees but the dying man.' + +SCOTT. + +C. Morbus, Esq. Such was the card that some wicked wag, one of +Clarence's fellow-clerks probably, left at his lodgings in the +course of the epidemic which was beginning its ravages even while we +were upon our pleasant journey--a shade indeed to throw out the +light. + +In these days, the tidings of a visitation of cholera are heard with +compassion for crowded towns, but without special alarm for +ourselves or our friends, since its conditions and the mode of +combating it have come to be fairly understood. + +In 1832, however, it was a disease almost unknown and unprecedented +except in its Indian abode, whence it had advanced city by city, +seaport by seaport, sweeping down multitudes before it; nor had +science yet discovered how to encounter or forestall it. We heard +of it in a helpless sort of way, as if it had been the plague or the +Black Death, and thought of its victims as doomed. + +That terrible German engraving, 'Death as a Foe,' which represents +the grisly form as invading a ballroom in Paris, is an expression of +the feeling with which the scourge was regarded on that first +occasion. Two Years Ago gives some notion of the condition of +things in 1849, but by that time there had been some experience, and +means of prevention were better understood. On the alarm in that +year there was a great inspection of cottages throughout Earlscombe +and Hillside, but in 1832 there was no notion of such precautions. +Nevertheless, on neither visitation, nor any subsequent one, has the +disease come nearer to us than Bristol. + +As far as memory serves me, the idea was that wholesome food, +regular habits, and cleanliness were some protection, but one +locality might be as dangerous as another. There had been cases in +London all the spring, but no special anxiety was felt when Clarence +returned to his work in the end of July, much refreshed and +invigorated by his holiday, and with the understanding that he was +to have a rise in position and salary on Mr. Castleford's return +from Ireland, where he was still staying with his wife's relations. +Clarence was received at the office with a kind of shamefaced +cordiality, as if every one would fain forget the way in which he +had been treated; and he was struck by finding that all the talk was +of the advances of the cholera, chiefly at Rotherhithe. And a great +shock awaited him. He went, as soon as business hours were over, to +thank good old Miss Newton for the comfort and aid she had +unwittingly given him, and to tell her from what she had saved him. +Alas! it was the last benefit she was ever to confer on her old +pupil. At the door he was told by a weeping, terrified maid that +she was very ill with cholera, and that no hope was given. He tried +to send up a message, but she was in a state of collapse and +insensible; and when he inquired the next morning, the gentle spirit +had passed away. + +He attended her funeral that same evening. Griff said it was a +proof how your timid people will do the most foolhardy things; but +Clarence always held that the good woman had really done more for +him than any one in actually establishing a contact, so to say, +between his spirit and external truth, and he thought no mark of +respect beyond her deserts. She was a heavy loss to him, for no one +else in town gave him the sense of home kindness; and there was much +more to depress him, for several of his Sunday class were dead, and +the school had been broken up for the time, while the heats and the +fruits of August contributed to raise the mortality. + +His return had released a couple more clerks for their holiday; it +was a slack time of year, with less business in hand than usual, and +the place looked empty. Mr. Frith worked on as usual, but preserved +an ungracious attitude, as though he were either still incredulous +or, if convinced against his will, resolved that 'that prig of a +Winslow' should not presume upon his services. Altogether the poor +fellow was quite unhinged, and wrote such dismal bills of mortality, +and meek, resigned forebodings that my father was almost angry, +declaring that he would frighten himself into the sickness; yet I +suppressed a good deal, and never told them of the last will and +testament in which he distributed his possessions amongst us. Griff +said he had a great mind to go and shake old Bill up and row him +well, but he never did. + +More than a week passed by, two of Clarence's regular days for +writing, but no letter came. My mother grew uneasy, and talked of +writing to Mrs. Robson, or, as we still called her, Gooch; but it +was doubtful whether the answer would contain much information, and +it was quite certain that any ill tidings would be sent to us. + +At last we did hear, and found, as we had foreboded, that the letter +had not been written for fear of alarming us, or carrying infection, +though Clarence underlined the words 'I am perfectly well.' + +Having to take a message into the senior partner's room, Clarence +had found the old man crouched over the table, writhing in the +unmistakable grip of the deadly enemy. No one else was available; +Clarence had to collect himself, send for the doctor, and manage the +conveyance of the patient to his rooms, which fortunately adjoined +the office; for, through all his influx of wealth, Mr. Frith had +retained the habits and expenditure of his early struggling days. +His old housekeeper and her drudge showed themselves terrified out +of their senses, and as incapable as unwilling. Naval experience, +and waiting on me, had taught Clarence helpfulness and handiness; +and though this was the very thing that had appalled his +imagination, he seemed, as he said afterwards, 'to have got beyond +his fright' to the use of his commonsense. And when at last the +doctor came, and talked of finding a nurse, if possible, for they +were scarce articles, the sufferer only entreated between his +paroxysms, 'Stay, Winslow! Is Winslow there? Don't go! Don't +leave me!' + +No nurse was to be found, but to Clarence's amazement Gooch arrived. +He had sent by the office boy to explain his absence; and before +night the faithful woman descended on him, intending, as in her old +days of authority, simply to put Master Clarry out of harm's way, +and take the charge upon herself. Then, as he proved unmanageable +and would not leave his patient, neither would she leave him, and +through the frightful night that ensued, there was quite employment +enough for them both. Gooch fully thought the end would come before +morning, and was murmuring something about a clergyman, but was cut +short by a sharp prohibition. However, detecting Clarence's lips +moving, the old man said, 'Eh! speak it out!' 'And with difficulty, +feeling as if I were somebody else,' said Clarence, 'I did get out +some short words of prayer. It seemed so awful for him to die +without any.' + +When the doctor came in early morning, the watchers were astonished +to hear that their charge had taken a turn for the better, and might +recover if their admirable care were continued. The doctor had +brought a nurse; but Mr. Frith would not let her come into the room, +and there was plenty of need for her elsewhere. + +Several days of unremitting care followed, during which Clarence +durst not write to us, so little were the laws of infection +understood. Good Mrs. Robson stayed all the time, and probably +saved Clarence from falling a victim to his zeal, for she looked +after him as anxiously as after the sick man; and with a wondering +and thankful heart, he found himself in full health, when both were +set free to return home. Clarence had written at the beginning of +the illness to the only relations of whose existence or address he +was aware, an old sister, Mrs. Stevens, and a young great-nephew in +the office at Liverpool; and the consequence was the arrival of a +sour-looking, old widow sister, who came to take charge of the +convalescence, and, as the indignant Gooch overheard her say, 'to +prevent that young Winslow from getting round him.' + +There were no signs of such a feat having been performed, when, the +panic being past, my father went up to London with Griffith, who was +to begin eating his terms at the Temple. He was to share Clarence's +lodgings, for the Robsons had plenty of room, and Gooch was +delighted to extend her cares to her special favourite, as she +already reigned over Clarence's wardrobe and table as entirely as in +nursery days; and, to my great exultation, my father said it would +be good for Griffith to be with his brother; and, moreover, we +should hear of the latter. Nothing could be a greater contrast than +his rare notifications or requests, scrawled on a single side of the +quarto sheet, with Clarence's regular weekly lines of clerkly +manuscript, telling all that could interest any of us, and covering +every available flap up to the blank circle left for the trim red +seal. + +Promotion had come to Clarence in the natural course of seniority, +and a small sum, due to him on his coming of age, was invested in +the house of business, so that the two brothers could take between +them all the Robsons' available rooms. Clarence's post was one of +considerable trust; but there were no tokens of special favour, +except that Mr. Frith was more civil to my father than usual, and +when he heard of the arrangement about the lodgings, he snarled out, +'Hm! Law student indeed! Don't let him spoil his brother!' + +Which was so far an expression of gratitude that it showed that he +considered that there was something to be spoilt. Mr. Castleford, +however, showed real satisfaction in the purchase of a share in the +concern for Clarence. His own eldest son inherited a good deal of +his mother's Irish nature, and was evidently unfit to be anything +but a soldier, and the next was so young that he was glad to have a +promising and trustworthy young man, from whom a possible joint head +of the firm might be manufactured. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII--PETER'S THUNDERBOLT + + + +If you can separate yourself and your misdemeanours you are welcome +to the house; if not, an it would please you to take leave of her, +she is very willing to bid you farewell.' + +Twelfth Night. + +In the early summer of 1833, we had the opportunity of borrowing a +friend's house in Portman Square for six weeks, and we were allowed +to take Ellen with us for introduction to the Admiral and other old +friends, while we were to make acquaintance with her connections-- +the family of Sir Horace Lester, M.P. + +We were very civil; but there were a good many polite struggles for +the exclusive possession of Ellen, whom both parties viewed as their +individual right; and her unselfish good-humour and brightness must +have carried her over more worries than we guessed at the time. + +She had stayed with the Lesters before, but in schoolroom days. +They were indolent and uninterested, and had never shown her any of +the permanent wonders of London, despising these as only fit for +country cousins, whereas we had grown up to think of them with +intelligent affection. To me, however, much was as new as to Ellen. +Country life had done so much for me that I could venture on what I +had never attempted before. The Admiral said it was getting away +from doctors and their experiments, but I had also done with the +afflictions of attempts at growth in wrong directions. Old friends +did not know me, and more than once, as I sat in the carriage, +addressed me for one of my brothers--a compliment which, Griff said, +turned my head. Happily I was too much accustomed to my own +appearance, and people were too kind, for me to have much shyness on +that score. Our small dinner parties were great enjoyment to me, +and the two girls were very happy in their little gaieties. + +Braham and Catalani, Fanny Kemble, and Turner's landscapes at his +best, rise in my memory as supreme delights and revelations in their +different lines, and awakening trains of thought; and then there was +that entertainment which Griffith and Clarence gave us in their +rooms, when they regaled us with all the delicacies of the season, +and Peter and Gooch looked all pride and hospitality! The dining- +parlour, or what served as such, was Griff's property, as any one +could see by the pictures of horses, dogs, and ladies, the cups, +whips, and boxing-gloves that adorned it; the sitting-room had +tokens of other occupation, in Clarence's piano, window-box of +flowers, and his one extravagance in engravings from Raffaelle, and +a marine water-colour or two, besides all my own attempts at family +portraits, with a case of well-bound books. Those two rooms were +perfectly redolent of their masters--I say it literally--for the +scent of flowers was in Clarence's room, and in Griff's, the odour +of cigars had not wholly been destroyed even by much airing. For in +those days it was regarded by parents and guardians as an +objectionable thing. + +Peter was radiant on that occasion; but a few evenings later, when +all were gone to an evening party except my father and myself, Mr. +Robson was announced as wishing to speak to Mr. Winslow. After the +civilities proper to the visit of an old servant had passed, he +entered with obvious reluctance on the purpose of his visit, namely, +his dissatisfaction with Griff as a lodger. His wife, he said, +would not have had him speak, she was THAT attached to Mr. Griffith, +it couldn't be more if he was her own son; nor was it for want of +liking for the young gentleman on his part, as had known him from a +boy, 'but the wife of one's bosom must come first, sir, as stands to +reason, and it's for the good of the young gentleman himself, and +his family, as some one should speak. I never said one word against +it when she would not be satisfied without running the risk of her +life after Mr. Clarence; hattending of Mr. Frith in the cholery. +That was only her dooty, sir, and I have never a word to say against +dooty: but I cannot see her nearly wore out, and for no good to +nobody.' + +It appeared that Mrs. Robson was 'pretty nigh wore out, a setting up +for Mr. Griffith's untimely hours.' 'He laughed and coaxed--what I +calls cajoling--did Mr. Griff, to get a latch-key; but we knows our +dooty too well for that, and Mrs. Winslow had made us faithfully +promise, when Master Clarence first came to us, that he should never +have a latch-key,--Mr. Clarence, as had only been five times later +than eleven o'clock, and then he was going to dine with Mr. +Castleford, or to the theayter, and spoke about it beforehand. If +he was not reading to poor Miss Newton, as was gone, or with some of +his language-masters, he was setting at home with his books and +papers, not giving no trouble to nobody, after he had had his bit of +bread and cheese and glass of beer to his supper.' + +Ay, Peter knew what young gentlemen was. He did not expect to see +them all like poor Master Clarence, as had had his troubles; the +very life knocked out of him in his youth, as one might say. Indeed +Peter would be pleased to see him a bit more sprightly, and taking +more to society and hamusements of his hage. Nor would there be any +objection if the late 'ours was only once a week or so, and things +was done in a style fitting the family; but when it came to mostly +every night, often to two or three o'clock, it was too much for Mrs. +Robson, for she would never go to bed, being mortal afraid of fire, +and not always certain that Mr. Griffith was--to say--fit to put out +his candle. 'What do you mean, Peter?' thundered my father, whose +brow had been getting more and more furrowed every moment. 'Say it +out!--Drunk?' + +'Well sir, no, no, not to say that exactly, but a little excited, +sir, and women is timid. No sir, not to call intoxicated.' + +'No, that's to come,' muttered my father. 'Has this often +happened?' + +Peter did not think that it had been noticed more than three times +at the most; but he went on to offer his candid and sensible advice +that Mr. Griffith should be placed in a family where there was a +gentleman or lady who would have some hauthority, and could not be +put aside with his good-'umoured haffability--'You're an old fogy, +Peter.' 'Never mind, Nursey, I'll be a good boy next time,' and the +like. 'It is a disadvantage you see, sir, to have been in his +service, and 'tis for the young gentleman's own good as I speaks; +but it would be better if he were somewheres else--unless you would +speak to him, sir.' + +To the almost needless question whether Clarence had been with his +brother on these occasions, there was a most decided negative. He +had never gone out with Griffith except once to the theatre, and to +dine at the Castlefords, and at first he had sat up for his return, +'but it led to words between the young gentlemen,' said Peter, whose +confidences were becoming reckless; and it appeared that when +Clarence had found that Gooch would not let him spare her vigil, he +had obeyed her orders and ceased to share it. + +Peter was thanked for the revelations, which had been a grievous +effort to him, and dismissed. My father sat still in great distress +and perplexity, asking me whether Clarence had ever told me anything +of this, and I had barely time to answer 'No' before Clarence +himself came in, from what Peter called his language-master. He was +taking lessons in French and Spanish, finding a knowledge of these +useful in business. To his extreme distress, my father fell on him +at once, demanding what he knew of the way Griffith was spending his +time, 'coming home at all sorts of hours in a disreputable +condition. No prevarication, sir,' he added, as the only too +familiar look of consternation and bewilderment came over Clarence's +face. 'You are doing your brother no good by conniving at his +conduct. Speak truth, if you can,' he added, with more cruelty than +he knew, in his own suffering. + +'Sir,' gasped Clarence, 'I know Griff often comes home after I am in +bed, but I do not know the exact time, nor anything more.' + +'Is this all you can tell me? Really all?' + +'All I know--that is--of my own knowledge,' said Clarence, +recovering a little, but still unable to answer without hesitation, +which vexed my father. + +'What do you mean by that? Do you hear nothing?' + +'I am afraid,' said Clarence, 'that I do not see as much of him as I +had hoped. He is not up till after I have to be at our place, and +he does not often spend an evening at home. He is such a popular +fellow, and has so many friends and engagements.' + +'Ay, and of what sort? Can't you tell? or will you not? I sent him +up to you, thinking you a steady fellow who might influence him for +good.' + +The colour rushed into Clarence's face, as he answered, looking up +and speaking low, 'Have I not forfeited all such hopes?' + +'Nonsense! You've lived down that old story long ago. You would +make your mark, if you only showed a little manliness and force of +character. Griffith was always fond of you. Can't you do anything +to hinder him from ruining his own life and that sweet girl's +happiness?' + +'I would--I would give my life to do so!' exclaimed Clarence, in +warm, eager tones. 'I have tried, but he says I know nothing about +it, and it is very dull at our rooms for him. I have got used to +it, but you can't expect a fellow like Griff to stay at home, with +no better company than me, and do nothing but read law.' + +'Then you DO know,' began my father; but Clarence, with full self- +possession, said, 'I think you had better ask me no more questions, +papa. I really know nothing, or hardly anything, personally of his +proceedings. I went to one supper with him, after going to the +play, and did not fancy it; besides, it almost unfitted me for my +morning's work; nor does it answer for me to sit up for him--it only +vexes him, as if I were watching him.' + +'Did you ever see him come home showing traces of excess?' + +'No!' said Clarence, 'I never saw!' and, under a stern, distressed +look, 'Once I heard tones that--that startled me, and Mrs. Robson +has grumbled a good deal--but I think Peter takes it for more than +it is worth.' + +'I see,' said my father more gently; 'I will not press you farther. +I believe I ought to be glad that these habits are only hearsay to +you.' + +'As far as I can see,' said Clarence diffidently, but quite restored +to himself, 'Griff is only like most of his set, young men who go +into society.' + +'Oh!' said my father, in a 'that's your opinion' kind of tone; and +as at that moment the yell of a newsboy was heard in the street, he +exclaimed that he must go and get an evening paper. Clarence made a +step to go instead, but was thrust back, as apparently my father +merely wanted an excuse for rushing into the open air to recover the +shock or to think it over. + +Clarence gave a kind of groan, and presently exclaimed, 'If only +untruth were not such a sin!' and, on my exclamation of dismay, he +added, 'I don't think a blowing up ever does good!' + +'But this state of things should not last.' + +'It will not. It would have come to an end without Peter's +springing this mine. Griff says he can't stand Gooch any longer! +And really she does worry him intolerably.' + +'Peter professed to come without her knowledge or consent.' + +'Exactly so. It will almost break the good old soul's heart for +Griff to leave her; but she expects to have him in hand as if he was +in the nursery. She is ever so much worse than she was with me, and +he is really good-nature itself to laugh off her nagging as he does- +-about what he chooses to put on, or eating, or smoking, or leaving +his room untidy, as well as other things.' + +'And those other things? Do you suspect more than you told papa?' + +'It amounts to no more. Griff likes amusement, and everybody likes +him--that's all. Yes, I know my father read law ten hours a day, +but his whole nature and circumstances were different. I don't +believe Griff could go on in that way.' + +'Not with such a hope before him? You would, Clarence.' + +His face and not his tongue answered me, but he added, 'Griff is +sure of THAT without so much labour and trouble.' + +'And do you see so little of him?' + +'I can't help it. I can't keep his hours and do my work. Yes, I +know we are drifting apart; I wish I could help it, but being +coupled up together makes it rather worse than better. It +aggravates him, and he will really get on better without Gooch to +worry him, and thrust my droning old ways down his throat,--as if +Prince Hal could bear to be twitted with "that sober boy, Lord John +of Lancaster." Not,' he added, catching himself up, 'that I meant +to compare him to the madcap Prince. He is the finest of fellows, +if they only would let him alone.' + +And that was all I could get from Clarence. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII--A SQUIRE OF DAMES + + + + 'Spited with a fool - +Spited and angered both.' + +Cymbeline. + +This long stay of Ellen's in our family had made our fraternal +relations with her nearer and closer. Familiarity had been far from +lessening our strong feeling for her goodness and sweetness. Emily, +who knew her best, used to confide to me little instances of the +spirit of devotion and self-discipline that underlay all her sunny +gaiety--how she never failed in her morning's devout readings; how +she learnt a verse or two of Scripture every day, and persuaded +Emily to join with her in repeating it ere they went downstairs for +their evening's pleasure; how she had set herself a little task of +plain work for the poor, which she did every day in her own room; +and the like dutiful habits, which seemed, as it were, to help her +to keep herself in hand, and not be carried away by what was a whirl +of pleasure to her, though a fashionable young lady would have +despised its mildness. + +Indeed Lady Peacock, with whom we exchanged calls, made no secret of +her compassion when she found how many parties the ladies were NOT +going to; and Ellen's own relations, the Lesters, would have taken +her out almost every night if she had not staunchly held to her +promise to her mother not to go out more than three evenings in the +week, for Mrs. Fordyce knew her to be delicate, and feared late +hours for her. The vexation her cousins manifested made her feel +the more bound to give them what time she could, at hours when +Griffith was not at liberty. She did not like them to be hurt, and +jealous of us, or to feel forsaken, and she tried to put her +affection for us on a different footing by averring that 'it was not +the same kind of thing--Emily was her sister.' + +One day she had gone to luncheon with the Lesters in Cavendish +Square, and was to be called for in the carriage by me, on the way +to take up the other two ladies, who were shopping in Regent Street. + +Ellen came running downstairs, with her cheeks in a glow under the +pink satin lining of her pretty bonnet, and her eyes sparkling with +indignation, which could not but break forth. + +'I don't know how I shall ever go there again!' she exclaimed; 'they +have no right to say such things!' Then she explained. Mary and +Louisa had been saying horrid things about Griffith--her Griff! It +was always their way. Think how Horace had made her treat Clarence! +It was their way and habit to tease, and call it fun, and she had +never minded it before; but this was too bad. Would not I put it in +her power to give a flat contradiction, such as would make them +ashamed of themselves? + +Contradict what? + +Then it appeared that the Misses Lester had laughed at her, who was +so very particular and scrupulous, for having taken up with a +regular young man about town. Oh no, THEY did not think much of it- +-no doubt he was only just like other people; only the funny thing +was that it should be Ellen, for whom it was always supposed that no +saint in the calendar, no knight in all the Waverley novels, would +be good enough! And then, on her hot desire to know what they +meant, they quoted John, the brother in the Guards, as having been +so droll about poor Ellen's perfect hero, and especially at his +straight-laced Aunt Fordyce having been taken in,--but of course it +was the convenience of joining the estates, and it was agreeable to +see that your very good folk could wink at things like other people +in such a case. Then, when Ellen fairly drove her inquiries home, +in her absolute trust of confuting all slanders, she was told that +Griffith did, what she called 'all sorts of things--billiards and +all that.' And even that he was always running after a horrid Lady +Peacock, a gay widow. + +'They went on in fun,' said Ellen, 'and laughed the more when--yes, +I am afraid I did--I lost my temper. No, don't say I well might, I +know I ought not; but I told them I knew all about Lady Peacock, and +that you were all old friends, even before he rescued her from the +Bristol riots and brought her home to Chantry House; and that only +made Mary merrier than ever, and say, "What, another distressed +damsel? Take care, Ellen; I would not trust such a squire of +dames." And then Louisa chimed in, "Oh no, you see this Peacock +dame was only conducted, like Princess Micomicona and all the rest +of them, to the feet of his peerless Dulcinea!" And then I heard +the knock, and I was never so glad in my life!' + +'Well!' I could not help remarking, 'I have heard of women's +spitefulness, but I never believed it till now.' + +'I really don't think it was altogether what you call malice, so +much as the Lester idea of fun,' said Ellen, recovering herself +after her outpouring. 'A very odd notion I always thought it was; +and Mary and Louisa are not really ill-natured, and cannot wish to +do the harm they might have done, if I did not know Griff too well.' + +Then, after considering a little, she said, blushing, 'I believe I +have told you more than I ought, Edward--I couldn't help having it +out; but please don't tell any one, especially that shocking way of +speaking of mamma, which they could not really mean.' + +'No one could who knew her.' + +'Of course not. I'll tell you what I mean to do. I will write to +Mary when we go in, and tell her that I know she really cares for me +enough to be glad that her nonsense has done no mischief, and, +though I was so foolish and wrong as to fly into a passion, of +course I know it is only her way, and I do not believe one word of +it.' + +Somehow, as she looked with those radiant eyes full of perfect +trust, I could not help longing not to have heard Peter Robson's +last night's complaint; but family feeling towards outsiders +overcomes many a misgiving, and my wrath against the malignity of +the Lesters was quite as strong as if I had been devoid of all +doubts whether Griff wore to all other eyes the same halo of pure +glory with which Ellen invested him. + +Such doubts were very transient. Dear old Griff was too delightful, +too bright and too brave, too ardent and too affectionate, not to +dispel all clouds by the sunshine he carried about with him. If +rest and reliance came with Clarence, zest and animation came with +Griffith. He managed to take the initiative by declining to remain +any longer with the Robsons, saying they had been spoilt by such a +model lodger as Clarence, who would let Gooch feed him on bread and +milk and boiled mutton, and put on his clean pinafore if she chose +to insist; whereas her indignation, when Griff found fault with the +folding of his white ties, amounted to 'Et tu Brute,' and he really +feared she would have had a fit when he ordered devilled kidneys for +breakfast. He was sure her determination to tuck him up every night +and put out his candle was shortening her life; and he had made +arrangements to share the chambers of a friend who had gone through +school and college with him. There was no objection to the friend, +who had stayed at Chantry House and was an agreeable, lively, young +man, well reported of, satisfactorily connected, fairly industrious, +and in good society, so that Griff was likely to be much less +exposed to temptation of the lower kinds than when left to his own +devices, or only with Clarence, who had neither time nor disposition +to share his amusements. + +There was a scene with my father, but in private; and all that came +to general knowledge was that Griff felt himself injured by any +implication that he was given to violent or excessive dissipation, +such as could wreck Ellen's happiness or his own character. + +He declared with all his heart that immediate marriage would be the +best thing for both, and pleaded earnestly for it; but my father +could not have arranged for it even if the Fordyces would have +consented, and there were matters of business, as well as other +reasons, which made it inexpedient for them to revoke their decision +that the wedding should not take place before Ellen was of age and +Griffith called to the bar. + +So we took our young ladies home, loaded with presents for their +beloved school children, of whom Emily said she dreamt, as the time +for seeing them again drew near. After all the London enjoyment, it +was pretty to see the girls' delight in the fresh country sights and +sounds in full summer glory, and how Ellen proved to have been +hungering after all her dear ones at home. When we left her at her +own door, our last sight of her was in her father's arms, little +Anne clinging to her dress, mother and grandfather as close to her +as could be--a perfect tableau of a joyous welcome. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX--LOVE AND OBEDIENCE + + + +'Unless he give me all in change + I forfeit all things by him; +The risk is terrible and strange.' + +MRS. BROWNING. + +You will be weary of my lengthiness; and perhaps I am lingering too +long over the earlier portion of my narrative. Something is due to +the disproportion assumed in our memories by the first twenty years +of existence--something, perhaps, to reluctance to passing from +comparative sunshine to shadow. There was still a period of +brightness, but it was so uneventful that I have no excuse for +dwelling on it further than to say that Henderson, our excellent +curate, had already made a great difference in the parish, and it +was beginning to be looked on as almost equal to Hillside. The +children were devoted to Emily, who was the source of all the +amenities of their poor little lives. The needlework of the school +was my mother's pride; and our church and its services, though you +would shudder at them now, were then thought presumptuously superior +'for a country parish.' They were a real delight and blessing to +us, as well as to many more of the flock, who still, in their old +age, remember and revere Parson Henderson as a sort of apostle. + +The dawning of the new Poor-Law led to investigations which revealed +the true conditions of the peasant's life--its destitution, +recklessness, and dependence. We tried to mend matters by inducing +families to emigrate, but this renewed the distrust which had at +first beheld in the schools an attempt to enslave the children. +Even accounts, sent home by the exceptionally enterprising who did +go to Canada, were, we found, scarcely trusted. Amos Bell, who +would have gone, if he had not been growing into my special personal +attendant, was letter-writer and reader to all his relations, and +revealed to us that it had been agreed that no letter should be +considered as genuine unless it bore a certain private mark. To be +sure, the accounts of prosperity might well sound fabulous to the +toilers and moilers at home. Harriet Martineau's Hamlets, which we +lent to many of our neighbours, is a fair picture of the state of +things. We much enjoyed those tales, and Emily says they were the +only political economy she ever learnt. + +The model arrangements of our vestries led to a summons to my father +and the younger Mr. Fordyce to London, to be examined on the +condition of the pauper, and the working of the old Elizabethan +Poor-Law. + +They were absent for about a fortnight of early spring, and Emily +and I could not help observing that our mother was unusually +uncommunicative about my father's letters; and, moreover, there was +a tremendous revolution of the furniture, a far more ominous token +in our household than any comet. + +The truth came on us when the two fathers returned. Mine told me +himself that Frank Fordyce was so much displeased with Griffith's +conduct that he had declared that the engagement could not continue +with his consent. + +This from good-natured, tender-hearted Parson Frank! + +I cried out hotly that 'those Lesters' had done this. They had +always been set against us, and any one could talk over Mr. Frank. +My father shook his head. He said Frank Fordyce was not weak, but +all the stronger for his gentleness and charity; and, moreover, that +he was quite right--to our shame and grief be it spoken--quite +right. + +It was true that the first information had been given by Sir Horace +Lester, Mrs. Fordyce's brother, but it had not been lightly spoken +like the daughter's chatter; and my father himself had found it only +too true, so that he could not conscientiously call Griffith worthy +of such a creature as Ellen Fordyce. + +Poor Griff, he had been idle and impracticable over his legal +studies, which no persuasion would make him view as otherwise than a +sort of nominal training for a country gentleman; nor had he ever +believed or acted upon the fact that the Earlscombe property was not +an unlimited fortune, such as would permit him to dispense with any +profession, and spend time and money like the youths with whom he +associated. Still, this might have been condoned as part of the +effervescence which had excited him ever since my father had +succeeded to the estate, and patience might still have waited for +greater wisdom; but there had been graver complaints of +irregularities, which were forcing his friend to dissolve +partnership with him. There was evidence of gambling, which he not +only admitted, but defended; and, moreover, he was known at parties, +at races, and at the theatre, as one of the numerous satellites who +revolved about that gay and conspicuous young fashionable widow, +Lady Peacock. + +'Yes, Frank has every right to be angry,' said my father, pacing the +room. 'I can't wonder at him. I should do the same; but it is +destroying the best hope for my poor boy.' + +Then he began to wish Clarence had more--he knew not what to call +it--in him; something that might keep his brother straight. For, of +course, he had talked to Clarence and discovered how very little the +brothers saw of one another. Clarence had been to look for Griff in +vain more than once, and they had only really met at a Castleford +dinner-party. In fact, Clarence's youthful spirits, and the tastes +which would have made him companionable to Griff, had been crushed +out of him; and he was what more recent slang calls 'such a muff,' +that he had perforce drifted out of our elder brother's daily life, +as much as if he had been a grave senior of fifty. It was, as he +owned, a heavy penalty of his youthful fall that he could not help +his brother more effectually. + +It appeared that Frank Fordyce, thoroughly roused, had had it out +with Griffith, and had declared that his consent was withdrawn and +the engagement annulled. Griff, astounded at the resolute tone of +one whom he considered as the most good-natured of men, had answered +hotly and proudly that he should accept no dismissal except from +Ellen herself, and that he had done no more than was expected of any +young man of position and estate. On the other indictment he +scorned any defence, and the two had parted in mutual indignation. +He had, however, shown himself so much distressed at the threat of +being deprived of Ellen, that neither my father nor Clarence had the +least doubt of his genuine attachment to her, nor that his +attentions to Lady Peacock were more than the effect of old habit +and love of amusement, and that they had been much exaggerated. He +scouted the bare idea of preferring her to Ellen; and, in his second +interview with my father, was ready to make any amount of promises +of reformation, provided his engagement were continued. + +This was on the last evening before leaving town, and he came to the +coach-office looking so pale, jaded, and unhappy that Parson Frank's +kind heart was touched; and in answer to a muttered 'I've been ten +thousand fools, sir, but if you will overlook it I will try to be +worthy of her,' he made some reply that could be construed into, 'If +you keep to that, all may yet be well. I'll talk to her mother and +grandfather.' + +Perhaps this was cruel kindness, for, as we well knew, Mrs. Fordyce +was far less likely to be tolerant of a young man's failings than +was her husband; and she was, besides, a Lester, and might take the +same view. + +Abusing the Lesters was our great resource; for we did not believe +either the sailor or the guardsman to be immaculate, and we knew +them to be jealous. We had to remain in ignorance of what we most +wished to know, for Ellen was kept away from us, and my mother would +not let Emily go in search of her. Only Anne, who was a high- +spirited, independent little person, made a sudden rush upon me as I +sat in the garden. She had no business to be so far from home +alone; but, said she, 'I don't care, it is all so horrid. Please, +Edward, is it true that Griff has been so very wicked? I heard the +maids talking, and they said papa had found out that he was a bad +lot, and that he was not to marry Ellen; but she would stick to him +through thick and thin, like poor Kitty Brown who would marry the +man that got transported for seven years.' 'Will he be transported, +Edward? and would Ellen go too, like the "nut-brown maid?" Is that +what she cries so about? Not by day, but all night. I know she +does, for her handkerchief is wet through, and there is a wet place +on her pillow always in the morning; but she only says, "Never +mind," and nobody WILL tell me. They only say little girls should +not think about such things. And I am not so very little. I am +eight, and have read the Lay of the Last Minstrel and I know all +about people in love. So you might tell me.' + +I relieved Anne's mind as to the chances of transportation, and, +after considering how many confidences might be honourably exchanged +with the child, I explained that her father thought Griff had been +idle and careless, and not fit as yet to be trusted with Ellen. + +Her parish experience came into play. 'Does papa think he would be +like Joe Sparks? But then gentlemen don't beat their wives, nor go +to the public-house, nor let their children go about in rags.' + +I durst not inquire much, but I gathered that there was a heavy +shadow over the house, and that Ellen was striving to do as usual, +but breaking down when alone. Just then Parson Frank appeared. +Anne had run away from him while on a farming inspection, when the +debate over the turnips with the factotum had become wearisome. He +looked grave and sorrowful, quite unlike his usual hearty self, and +came to me, leaning over my chair, and saying, 'This is sad work, +Edward'; and, on an anxious venture of an inquiry for Ellen, 'Poor +little maid, it is very sore work with her. She is a good child and +obedient--wants to do her duty; but we should never have let it go +on so long. We have only ourselves to thank--taking the family +character, you see'--and he made a kindly gesture towards me. 'Your +father sees how it is, and won't let it make a split between us. I +believe that not seeing as much of your sister as usual is one of my +poor lassie's troubles, but it may be best--it may be best.' + +He lingered talking, unwilling to tear himself away, and ended by +disclosing, almost at unawares, that Ellen had held out for a long +time, would not understand nor take in what she was told, accepted +nothing on Lester authority, declared she understood all about Lady +Peacock, and showed a strength of resistance and independence of +view that had quite startled her parents, by proving how far their +darling had gone from them in heart. But they still held her by the +bonds of obedience; and, by dealing with her conscience, her mother +had obtained from her a piteous little note - + + +'MY DEAR GRIFFITH--I am afraid it is true that you have not always +seemed to be doing right, and papa and mamma forbid our going on as +we are. You know I cannot be disobedient. It would not bring a +blessing on you. So I must break off, though--' + + +The 'though' could be read through an erasure, followed by the +initials, E. M. F.--as if the dismal conclusion had been felt to be +only too true--and there followed the postscript, 'Forgive me, and, +if we are patient, it may come right.' + +This letter was displayed, when, on the ensuing evening, it brought +Griff down in towering indignation, and trying to prove the coercion +that must have been exercised to extract even thus much from his +darling. Over he went headlong to Hillside to insist on seeing her, +but to encounter a succession of stormy scenes. Mrs. Fordyce was +the most resolute, but was ill for a week after. The old Rector was +gentle, and somewhat overawed Griff by his compassion, and by +representations that were only too true; and Parson Frank, with his +tender heart torn to pieces, showed symptoms of yielding another +probation. + +The interview with Ellen was granted. She, however, was intrenched +in obedience. She had promised submission to the rupture of her +engagement, and she kept her word,--though she declared that nothing +could hinder her love, and that she would wait patiently till her +lover had proved himself, to everybody's satisfaction, as good and +noble as she knew him to be. When he told her she did not love him +she smiled. She was sure that whatever mistakes there might have +been, he would give no further occasion against himself, and then +every one would see that all had been mere misunderstanding, and +they should be happy again. + +Such trust humbled him, and he was ready to make all promises and +resolutions; but he could not obtain the renewal of the engagement, +nor permission to correspond. Only there was wrung out of Parson +Frank a promise that if he could come in two years with a perfectly +unstained, unblotted character, the betrothal might be renewed. + +We were very thankful for the hope and motive, and Griff had no +doubts of himself. + +'One can't look at the pretty creature and think of disappointing +her,' he said. 'She is altered, you know, Ted; they've bullied her +till she is more ethereal than ever, but it only makes her lovelier. +I believe if she saw me kill some one on the spot she would think it +all my generosity; or, if she could not, she would take and die. Oh +no! I'll not fail her. No, I won't; not if I have to spend seven +years after the model of old Bill, whose liveliest pastime is a good +long sermon, when it is not a ghost.' + + + +CHAPTER XXX--UNA OR DUESSA + + + +'Soone as the Elfin knight in presence came +And false Duessa, seeming ladye fayre, +A gentle husher, Vanitie by name, +Made roome, and passage did for them prepare.' + +SPENSER. + +The two families were supposed to continue on unbroken terms of +friendship, and we men did so; but Mrs. Fordyce told my mother that +she had disapproved of the probation, and Mrs. Winslow was hurt. +Though the two girls were allowed to be together as usual, it was on +condition of silence about Griff; and though, as Emily said, they +really had not been always talking about him in former times, the +prohibition seemed to weigh upon all they said. + +Old Mr. Fordyce had long been talking of a round of visits among +relations whom he had not seen for many years; and it was decided to +send Ellen with him, chiefly, no doubt, to prevent difficulties +about Griffith in the long vacation. + +There was no embargo on the correspondence with my sister, and +letters full of description came regularly, but how unlike they were +to our journal. They were clear, intelligent, with a certain +liveliness, but no ring of youthful joy, no echo of the heart, +always as if under restraint. Griff was much disappointed. He had +been on his good behaviour for two months, and expected his reward, +and I could not here repeat all that he said about her parents when +he found she was absent. Yet, after all, he got more pity and +sympathy from Parson Frank than from any one else. That good man +actually sent a message for him, when Emily was on honour to do no +such thing. Poor Emily suffered much in consequence, when she would +neither afford Griff a blank corner of her paper, nor write even a +veiled message; while as to the letters she received and gave to +him, 'what was the use,' he said, 'of giving him what might have +been read aloud by the town-crier?' + +'You don't understand, Griff; it is all dear Ellen's +conscientiousness--' + +'Oh, deliver me from such con-sci-en-tious-ness,' he answered, in a +tone of bitter mimicry, and flung out of the room leaving Emily in +tears. + +He could not appreciate the nobleness of Ellen's self-command and +the obedience which was the security of future happiness, but was +hurt at what he thought weak alienation. One note of sympathy would +have done much for Griff just then. I have often thought it over +since, and come to the conclusion that Mrs. Fordyce was justified in +the entire separation she brought about. No one can judge of the +strength with which 'true love' has mastered any individual, nor how +far change may be possible; and, on the other hand, unless there +were full appreciation of Ellen's character, she might only have +been looked on as - + + +'Puppet to a father's threat, +Servile to a shrewish tongue.' + + +Yet, after all, Frank Fordyce was very kind to Griff, making himself +as much of a medium of communication as he could consistently with +his conscience, but of course not satisfying one who believed that +the strength of love was to be proved not by obedience but +disobedience. + +Ellen's letters showed increasing anxiety about her grandfather, who +was not favourably affected by the change of habits, consequent on a +long journey, and staying in different houses. His return was fixed +two or three times, and then delayed by slight attacks of illness, +till at last he became anxious to get home, and set off about the +end of September; but after sleeping a night at an inn at Warwick, +he was too ill to proceed any farther. His old man-servant was with +him; but poor Ellen went through a great deal of suspense and +responsibility before her parents reached her. The attack was +paralysis, and he never recovered the full powers of mind or body, +though they managed to bring him back to Hillside--as indeed his +restlessness longed for his native home. When once there he became +calmer, but did not rally; and a second stroke proved fatal just +before Easter. He was mourned alike by rich and poor, 'He WAS a +gentleman,' said even Chapman, 'always the same to rich or poor, +though he was one of they Fordys.' + +My father wrote to summon both his elder sons to the funeral at +Hillside, and in due time Clarence appeared by the coach, but alone. +He had gone to Griffith's chambers to arrange about coming down +together, but found my father's letter lying unopened on the table, +and learnt that his brother was supposed to be staying at a villa in +Surrey, where there were to be private theatricals. He had +forwarded the letter thither, and it would still be possible to +arrive in time by the night mail. + +So entirely was Griff expected that the gig was sent to meet him at +seven o'clock the next morning, but there was no sign of him. My +father and Clarence went without him to the gathering, which showed +how deeply the good old man was respected and loved. + +It was the only funeral Clarence had attended except Miss Newton's +hurried one, and his sensitive spirit was greatly affected. He had +learnt reserve when amongst others, but I found that he had a strong +foreboding of evil; he tossed and muttered in his sleep, and +confessed to having had a wretched night of dreams, though he would +not describe them otherwise than that he had seen the lady whose +face he always looked on as a presage of evil. + +Two days later the Morning Post gave a full account of the amateur +theatricals at Bella Vista, the seat of Benjamin Bullock, Esquire, +and the Lady Louisa Bullock; and in the list of dramatis personae, +there figured Griffith Winslow, Esquire, as Captain Absolute, and +the fair and accomplished Lady Peacock as Lydia Languish. + +Amateur theatricals were much less common in those days than at +present, and were held as the ne plus ultra of gaiety. Moreover, +the Lady Louisa Bullock was noted for fashionable extravagance of +the semi-reputable style; and there would have been vexation enough +at Griffith's being her guest, even had not the performance taken +place on the very day of the funeral of Ellen's grandfather, so as +to be an outrage on decorum. + +At the same time, there came a packet franked by a not very +satisfactory peer, brother to Lady Louisa. My father threw a note +over to Clarence, and proceeded to read a very properly expressed +letter full of apologies and condolences for the Fordyces. + +'He could not have got the letter in time' was my father's comment. +'When did you forward the letter? How was it addressed? Clarence, +I say, didn't you hear?' + +Clarence lifted up his face from his letter, so much flushed that my +mother broke in--'What's the matter? A mistake in the post-town +would account for the delay. Has he had the letter?' + +'Oh yes.' + +'Not in time--eh?' + +'I'm afraid,' and he faltered, 'he did.' + +'Did he or did he not?' demanded my mother. + +'What does he say?' exclaimed my father. + +'Sir' (always an unpropitious beginning for poor Clarence), 'I +should prefer not showing you.' + +'Nonsense!' exclaimed my mother: 'you do no good by concealing it!' + +'Let me see his letter,' said my father, in the voice there was no +gainsaying, and absolutely taking it from Clarence. None of us will +ever forget the tone in which he read it aloud at the breakfast- +table. + + +'DEAR BILL--What possessed you to send a death's-head to the feast? +The letter would have bitten no one in my chambers. A nice scrape I +shall be in if you let out that your officious precision forwarded +it. Of course at the last moment I could not upset the whole affair +and leave Lydia to languish in vain. The whole thing went off +magnificently. Keep counsel and no harm is done. You owe me that +for sending on the letter.--Yours, + +'J. G. W.' + + +Clarence had not read to the end when the letter was taken from him. +Indeed to inclose such a note in a dispatch sure to be opened en +famille was one of Griffith's haphazard proceedings, which arose +from the present being always much more to him than the absent. +Clarence was much shocked at hearing these last sentences, and +exclaimed, 'He meant it in confidence, papa; I implore you to treat +it as unread!' + +My father was always scrupulous about private letters, and said, 'I +beg your pardon, Clarence; I should not have forced it from you. I +wish I had not seen it.' + +My mother gave something between a snort and a sigh. 'It is right +for us to know the truth,' she said, 'but that is enough. There is +no need that they should know at Hillside what was Griffith's +alternative.' + +'I would not add a pang to that dear girl's grief,' said my father; +'but I see the Fordyces were right. I shall never do anything to +bring these two together again.' + +My mother chimed in with something about preferring Lady Peacock and +the Bella Vista crew to Ellen and Hillside, which made us rush into +the breach with incoherent defence. + +'I know how it was,' said Clarence. 'His acting is capital, and of +course these people could not spare him, nor understand how much it +signified that he should be here. They make so much of him.' + +'Who do?' asked my mother. 'Lady Peacock? How do you know? Have +you been with them?' + +'I have dined at Mr. Clarkson's,' Clarence avowed; and, on further +pressure, it was extracted that Griffith--handsome, and with talents +such as tell in society--was a general favourite, and much engrossed +by people who found him an enlivenment and ornament to their +parties. There had been little or nothing of late of the former +noisy, boyish dissipation; but that the more fashionable varieties +were getting a hold on him became evident under the cross- +questioning to which Clarence had to submit. + +My father said he felt like a party to a falsehood when he sent +Griff's letter up to Hillside, and he indemnified himself by writing +a letter more indignant--not than was just, but than was prudent, +especially in the case of one little accustomed to strong censure. +Indeed Clarence could not restrain a slight groan when he perceived +that our mother was shut up in the study to assist in the +composition. Her denunciations always outran my father's, and her +pain showed itself in bitterness. 'I ought to have had the presence +of mind to refuse to show the letter,' he said; 'Griff will hardly +forgive me.' + +Ellen looked very thin, and with a transparent delicacy of +complexion. She had greatly grieved over her grandfather's illness +and the first change in her happy home; and she must have been much +disappointed at Griffith's absence. Emily dreaded her mention of +the subject when they first met. + +'But,' said my sister, 'she said no word of him. All she cared to +tell me was of the talks she had with her grandfather, when he made +her read his favourite chapters in the Bible; and though he had no +memory for outside things, his thoughts were as beautiful as ever. +Sometimes his face grew so full of glad contemplation that she felt +quite awestruck, as if it were becoming like the face of an angel. +It made her realise, she said, "how little the ups and downs of this +life matter, if there can be such peace at the last." And, after +all, I could not help thinking that it was better perhaps that Griff +did not come. Any other sort of talk would have jarred on her just +now, and you know he would never stand much of that.' + +Much as we loved our Griff, we had come to the perception that Ellen +was a treasure he could not esteem properly. + +The Lester cousins, never remarkable for good taste, forced on her +the knowledge of his employment. Her father could not refrain from +telling us that her exclamation had been, 'Poor Griff, how shocked +he must be! He was so fond of dear grandpapa. Pray, papa, get Mr. +Winslow to let him know that I am not hurt, for I know he could not +help it. Or may I ask Emily to tell him so?' + +I wish Mrs. Fordyce would have absolved her from the promise not to +mention Griff to us. That innocent reliance might have touched him, +as Emily would have narrated it; but it only rendered my father more +indignant, and more resolved to reserve the message till a repentant +apology should come. And, alas! none ever came. Just wrath on a +voiceless paper has little effect. There is reason to believe that +Griff did not like the air of my father's letter, and never even +read it. He diligently avoided Clarence, and the pain and shame his +warm heart must have felt only made him keep out of reach. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI--FACILIS DESCENSUS + + + +'The slippery verge her feet beguiled; + She tumbled headlong in.' + +GRAY. + +One of Griffith's briefest notes in his largest hand announced that +he had accepted various invitations to country houses, for cricket +matches, archery meetings, and the like; nor did he even make it +clear where his address would be, except that he would be with a +friend in Scotland when grouse-shooting began. + +Clarence, however, came home for a brief holiday. He was startled +at the first sight of Ellen. He said she was indeed lovelier than +ever, with an added sweetness in her clear eyes and the wild rose +flush in her delicate cheek; but that she looked as if she was being +refined away to nothing, and was more than ever like the vision with +the lamp. + +Of course the Fordyces had not been going into society, though Ellen +and Emily were as much together as before, helping one another in +practising their school children in singing, and sharing in one +another's studies and pursuits. There had been in the spring a +change at Wattlesea; the old incumbent died, and the new one was +well reported of as a very earnest hardworking man. He seemed to be +provided with a large family, and there was no driving into +Wattlesea without seeing members of it scattered about the place. + +The Fordyces being anxious to show them attention without a regular +dinner-party, decided on inviting all the family to keep Anne's +ninth birthday, and Emily and Martyn were of course to come and +assist at the entertainment. + +It was on the morning of the day fixed that a letter came to me +whose contents seemed to burn themselves into my brain. Martyn +called across the breakfast-table, 'Look at Edward! Has any one +sent you a young basilisk?' + +'I wish it was,' I gasped out. + +'Don't look so,' entreated Emily. 'Tell us! Is it Griff?' + +'Not ill-hurt?' cried my mother. 'Oh no, no. Worse!' and then +somehow I articulated that he was married; and Clarence exclaimed, +'Not the Peacock!' and at my gesture my father broke out. 'He has +done for himself, the unhappy boy. A disgraceful Scotch marriage. +Eh?' + +'It was his sense of honour,' I managed to utter. + +'Sense of fiddlestick!' said my poor father. 'Don't stop to excuse +him. We've had enough of that! Let us hear.' + +I cannot give a copy of the letter. It was so painful that it was +destroyed; for there was a tone of bravado betraying his uneasiness, +but altogether unbecoming. All that it disclosed was, that some one +staying in the same house had paid insulting attentions to Lady +Peacock; she had thrown herself on our brother's protection, and +after interfering on her behalf, he had found that there was no +means of sheltering her but by making her his wife. This had been +effected by the assistance of the lady of the house where they had +been staying; and Griffith had written to me two days later from +Edinburgh, declaring that Selina had only to be known to be loved, +and to overcome all prejudices. + +'Prejudices,' said my father bitterly. 'Prejudices in favour of +truth and honour.' + +And my mother uttered the worst reproach of all, when in my +agitation, I slipped and almost fell in rising--'Oh, my poor Edward! +that I should have lived to think yours the least misfortune that +has befallen my sons!' + +'Nay, mother,' said Clarence, putting Martyn toward her, 'here is +one to make up for us all.' + +'Clarence,' said my father, 'your mother did not mean anything but +that you and Edward are the comfort of our lives. I wish there were +a chance of Griffith redeeming the past as you have done; but I see +no hope of that. A man is never ruined till he is married.' + +At that moment there was a step in the hall, a knock at the door, +and there stood Mr. Frank Fordyce. He looked at us and said, 'It is +true then.' + +'To our shame and sorrow it is,' said my father. 'Fordyce, how can +we look you in the face?' + +'As my dear good friend, and my father's,' said the kind man, +shaking him by the hand heartily. 'Do you think we could blame you +for this youth's conduct? Stay'--for we young ones were about to +leave the room. 'My poor girl knows nothing yet. Her mother +luckily got the letter in her bedroom. We can't put off the +Reynoldses, you know, so I came to ask the young people to come up +as if nothing had happened, and then Ellen need know nothing till +the day is over.' + +'If I can,' said Emily. + +'You can be capable of self-command, I hope,' said my mother +severely, 'or you do not deserve to be called a friend.' + +Such speeches might not be pleasant, but they were bracing, and we +all withdrew to leave the elders to talk it over together, when, as +I believe, kind Parson Frank was chiefly concerned to argue my +parents out of their shame and humiliation. + +Clarence told us what he knew or guessed; and we afterwards +understood the matter to have come about chiefly through poor +Griff's weakness of character, and love of amusement and flattery. +The boyish flirtation with Selina Clarkson had never entirely died +away, though it had been nothing more than the elder woman's +bantering patronage and easy acceptance of the youth's equally gay, +jesting admiration. It had, however, involved some raillery on his +attachment to the little Methodistical country girl, and this +gradually grew into jealousy of her--especially as Griff became more +of a man, and a brilliant member of society. The detention from the +funeral had been a real victory on the widow's part, and the few +times when Clarence had seen them together he had been dismayed at +the cavaliere serviente terms on which Griff seemed to stand; but +his words of warning were laughed down. The rest was easy to +gather. He had gone about on the round of visits almost as an +appendage to Lady Peacock, till they came to a free and easy house, +where her coquetry and love of admiration brought on one of those +disputes which rendered his championship needful; and such defence +could only have one conclusion, especially in Scotland, where hasty +private marriages were still legal. What an exchange! Only had +Griff ever comprehended the worth of his treasure? + +Emily went as late as she could, that there might be the less chance +of a tete-a-tete, in which she might be surprised into a betrayal of +her secret: indeed she only started at last when Martyn's +impatience had become intolerable. + +What was our amazement when, much earlier than we expected, we saw +Mr. Fordyce driving up in his phaeton, and heard the story he had to +tell. + +Emily's delay had succeeded in bringing her only just in time for +the luncheon that was to be the children's dinner. There was a +keen-looking, active, sallow clergyman, grizzled, and with an air of +having seen much service; a pale, worn wife, with a gentle, sensible +face; and a bewildering flock of boys and girls, all apparently +under the command of a very brisk, effective-looking elder sister of +fourteen or fifteen, who seemed to be the readiest authority, and to +decide what and how much each might partake of, among delicacies, +evidently rare novelties. + +The day was late in August. The summer had broken; there had been +rain, and, though fine, the temperature was fitter for active sports +than anything else. Croquet was not yet invented, and, besides, +most of the party were of the age for regular games at play. Ellen +and Emily did their part in starting these--finding, however, that +the Reynolds boys were rather rough, in spite of the objurgations of +their sister, who evidently thought herself quite beyond the age for +romps. The sports led them to the great home-field on the opposite +slope of the ridge from our own. The new farm-buildings were on the +level ground at the bottom to the right, where the declivity was +much more gradual than to the left, which was very steep, and ended +in furze bushes and low copsewood. It was voted a splendid place +for hide-and-seek, and the game was soon in such full career that +Ellen, who had had quite running enough, could fall out of it, and +with her, the other two elder girls. Emily felt Fanny Reynolds' +presence a sort of protection, 'little guessing what she was up to,' +to use her own expression. Perhaps the girl had not earlier made +out who Emily was, or she had been too much absorbed in her cares; +but, as the three sat resting on a stump overlooking the hill, she +was prompted by the singular inopportuneness of precocious fourteen +to observe, 'I ought to have congratulated you, Miss Winslow.' + +Emily gabbled out, 'Thank you, never mind,' hoping thus to put a +stop to whatever might be coming; but there was no such good +fortune. 'We saw it in the paper. It is your brother, isn't it?' + +'What?' asked unsuspicious Ellen, thinking, no doubt, of some fresh +glory to Griffith. + +And before Emily could utter a word, if there were any she could +have uttered, out it came. 'The marriage--John Griffith Winslow, +Esquire, eldest son of John Edward Winslow of Chantry House, to +Selina, relict of Sir Henry Peacock and daughter of George Clarkson, +Esquire, Q.C. I didn't think it could be you at first, because you +would have been at the wedding.' + +Emily had not even time to meet Ellen's eyes before they were +startled by a shriek that was not the merry 'whoop' and 'I spy' of +the game, and, springing up, the girls saw little Anne Fordyce +rushing headlong down the very steepest part of the slope, just +where it ended in an extremely muddy pool, the watering-place of the +cattle. The child was totally unable to stop herself, and so was +Martyn, who was dashing after her. Not a word was said, though, +perhaps, there was a shriek or two, but the elder sisters flew with +one accord towards the pond. They also were some way above it, but +at some distance off, so that the descent was not so perpendicular, +and they could guard against over-running themselves. Ellen, +perhaps from knowing the ground better, was far before the other +two; but already poor little Anne had gone straight down, and fallen +flat on her face in the water, Martyn after her, perhaps with a +little more free will, for, though he too fell, he was already +struggling to lift Anne up, and had her head above water, when Ellen +arrived and dashed in to assist. + +The pond began by being shallow, but the bottom sloped down into a +deep hollow, and was besides covered several feet deep with heavy +cattle-trodden mire and weeds, in which it was almost impossible to +gain a footing, or to move. By the time Emily and Miss Reynolds had +come to the brink, Ellen and Martyn were standing up in the water, +leaning against one another, and holding poor little Anne's head up- +-all they could do. Ellen called out, 'Don't! don't come in! Call +some one! The farm! We are sinking in! You can't help! Call--' + +The danger was really terrible of their sinking in the mud and +weeds, and being sucked into the deep part of the pool, and they +were too far in to be reached from the bank. Emily perceived this, +and ran as she had never run before, happily meeting on the way with +the gentlemen, who had been inspecting the new model farm-buildings, +and had already taken alarm from the screams. + +They found the three still with their heads above water, but no +more, for every struggle to get up the slope only plunged them +deeper in the horrible mud. Moreover, Fanny Reynolds was up to her +ankles in the mud, holding by one of her brothers, but unable to +reach Martyn. It seems she had had some idea of forming a chain of +hands to pull the others out. + +Even now the rescue was not too easy. Mr. Fordyce hurried in, and +took Anne in his arms; but, even with his height and strength, he +found his feet slipping away under him, and could only hand the +little insensible girl to Mr. Reynolds, bidding him carry her at +once to the house, while he lifted Martyn up only just in time, and +Ellen clung to him. Thus weighted, he could not get out, till the +bailiff and another man had brought some faggots and a gate that +were happily near at hand, and helped him to drag the two out, +perfectly exhausted, and Martyn hardly conscious. They both were +carried to the Rectory,--Ellen by her father, Martyn by the +foreman,--and they were met at the door by the tidings that little +Anne was coming to herself. + +Indeed, by the time Mr. Fordyce had put on dry clothes, all three +were safe in warm beds, and quite themselves again, so that he +trusted that no mischief was done; though he decided upon fetching +my mother to satisfy herself about Martyn. However, a ducking was +not much to a healthy fellow like Martyn, and my mother found him +quite fit to dress himself in the clothes she brought, and to return +home with her. Both the girls were asleep, but Ellen had had a +shivering fit, and her mother was with her, and was anxious. Emily +told her mother of Fanny Reynolds' unfortunate speech, and it was +thought right to mention it. Mrs. Fordyce listened kindly, kissed +Emily, and told her not to be distressed, for possibly it might turn +out to have been the best thing for Ellen to have learnt the fact at +such a moment; and, at any rate, it had spared her parents some +doubt and difficulty as to the communication. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII--WALY, WALY + + + +'And am I then forgot, forgot? +It broke the heart of Ellen!' + +CAMPBELL + +Clarence and Martyn walked over to Hillside the first thing the next +morning to inquire for the two sisters. As to one, they were +quickly reassured, for Anne was in the porch feeding the doves, and +no sooner did she see them than out she flew, and was clinging round +Martyn's neck, her hat falling back as she kissed him on both +cheeks, with an eagerness that made him, as Clarence reported, turn +the colour of a lobster, and look shy, not to say sheepish, while +she exclaimed, ' Oh, Martyn! mamma says she never thanked you, for +you really and truly did save my life, and I am so glad it was you-- +' + +'It was not I, it was Ellen,' gruffly muttered Martyn. + +'Oh yes! but papa says I should have been smothered in that horrid +mud, before Ellen could get to me if you had not pulled me up +directly.' + +The elders came out by this time, and Clarence was able to get in +his inquiry. Ellen had had a feverish night, and her chest seemed +oppressed, but her mother did not think her seriously ill. Once she +had asked, 'Is it true, what Fanny Reynolds said?' and on being +answered, 'Yes, my dear, I am afraid it is,' she had said no more; +and as the Fordyce habit of treating colds was with sedatives, her +mother thought her scarcely awake to the full meaning of the +tidings, and hoped to prevent her dwelling on them till she had +recovered the physical shock. Having answered these inquiries, the +two parents turned upon Martyn, who, in an access of shamefacedness, +had crept behind Clarence and a great orange-tree, and was thence +pulled out by Anne's vigorous efforts. The full story had come to +light. The Reynolds' boys had grown boisterous as soon as the +restraint of the young ladies' participation had been removed, and +had, whether intentionally or not, terrified little Anne in the +chases of hide-and-seek. Finally, one of them had probably been +unable to withstand the temptation of seeing her timid nervous way +of peeping and prying about; and had, without waiting to be properly +found, leapt out of his lair with a roar that scared the little girl +nearly out of her wits, and sent her flying, she knew not whither. +Martyn was a few steps behind, only not holding her hand, because +the other children had derided her for clinging to his protection. +He had instantly seen where she was going, and shouted to her to +stop and take care; but she was past attending to him, and he had no +choice but to dart after her, seeing what was inevitable; while +George Reynolds had sense to stop in time, and seek a safer descent. +Had Martyn not been there to raise the child instantly from the +stifling mud, her sister could hardly have been in time to save her. + +Mrs. Fordyce tearfully kissed him; her husband called him a little +hero, as if in joke, then gravely blessed him; and he looked, +Clarence related, as if he had been in the greatest possible +disgrace. + +It was the second time that one of us had saved a life from +drowning, but there was none of the exultation we had felt that time +before in London. It was a much graver feeling, where the danger +had really been greater, and the rescue had been of one so dear to +us. It was tempered likewise by anxiety about our dear Ellen--ours, +alas, no longer! She was laid up for several days, and it was +thought better that she should not see Emily till she had recovered; +but after a week had passed, her father drove over to discuss some +plans for the Poor-Law arrangements, and begged my sister to go back +in the carriage and spend the day with his daughter. + +We brothers could now look forward to some real intelligence; we +became restless; and in the afternoon Clarence and I set out with +the donkey-chair on the woodland path to meet Emily. We gained more +than we had hoped, for as we came round one of the turns in the +winding path, up the hanging beech-wood, we came on the two friends- +-Ellen, a truly Una-like figure, in her white dress with her black +scarf making a sable stole. Perhaps we betrayed some confusion, for +there was a bright flush on her cheeks as she came towards us, and, +standing straight up, said, 'Clarence, Edward, I am so glad you are +here; I wanted to see you. I wanted--to say--I know he could not +help it. It was his generosity--helping those that need it; and-- +and--I'm not angry. And though that's all over, you'll always be my +brothers, won't you?' + +She held her outstretched hands to us both. I could not help it, I +drew her down, and kissed her brow; Clarence clasped her other hand +and held it to his lips, but neither of us could utter a word. + +She turned back and went quietly away through the wood, while Emily +sank down under the beech-tree in a paroxysm of grief. You may see +which it was, for Clarence cut out 'E. M. F., 1835' upon the bark. +He soothed and caressed poor Emily as in old nursery troubles; and +presently she told us that it would be long before we saw that dear +one again, for Mrs. Fordyce was going to take her away on the +morrow. + +Mrs. Fordyce had seen Emily in private, before letting her go to +Ellen. There was evidently a great wish to be kind. Mrs. Fordyce +said she could never forget what she owed to us all, and could not +think of blaming any of us. 'But,' she said, 'you are a sensible +girl, Emily,'--'how I hate being called a sensible girl,' observed +the poor child, in parenthesis,--'and you must see that it is +desirable not to encourage her to indulge in needless discussion +after she once understands the facts.' She added that she thought a +cessation of present intercourse would be wise till the sore was in +some degree healed. She had not been satisfied about her daughter's +health for some time, and meant to take her to Bath the next day to +consult a physician, and then decide what would be best. 'And, my +dear,' she said, 'if there should be a slackening of correspondence, +do not take it as unkindness, but as a token that my poor child is +recovering her tone. Do not discontinue writing to her, but be +guarded, and perhaps less rapid, in replying.' + +It was for her friendship that poor Emily wept so bitterly--the +first friendship that had been an enthusiasm to her; looking at it +as a cruel injustice that Griff's misdoing should separate them. +The prediction that all might be lived down and forgotten was too +vague and distant to be much consolation; indeed, we were too young +to take it in. + +We had it all over again in a somewhat grotesque form when, at +another turn in the wood, we came upon Martyn and Anne, loaded with +treasures from their robbers' cave, some of which were bestowed in +my chair, the others carried off between Anne and her not very +willing nursery-maid. + +Anne kissed us all round, and augured cheerfully that she should lay +up a store of shells and rocks by the seaside to make 'a perfect +Robinson Crusoe cavern,' she said, 'and then Clarence can come and +be the Spaniards and the savages. But that won't be till next +summer,' she added, shaking her head. 'I shall get Ellen to tell +Emily what shells I find, and then she can tell Martyn; for mamma +says girls never write to boys unless they are their brothers! And +now Martyn will never be my brother,' she added ruefully. + +'You will always be our darling,' I said. + +'That's not the same as your sister,' she answered. However, amid +auguries of the combination of robbers and Robinson Crusoe, the +parting was effected, and Anne borne off by the maid; while we had +Martyn on our hands, stamping about and declaring that it was very +hard that because Griff chose to be a faithless, inconstant ruffian, +all his pleasure and comfort in life should be stopped! He said +such outrageous things that, between scolding him and laughing at +him, Emily had been somewhat cheered by the time we reached the +house. + +My father had written to Griffith, in his first displeasure, curt +wishes that he might not have reason to repent of the step he had +taken, though he had not gone the right way to obtain a blessing. +As it was not suitable that a man should be totally dependent on his +wife, his allowance should be continued; but under present +circumstances he must perceive that he and Lady Peacock could not be +received at Chantry House. We were shown the letter, and thought it +terribly brief and cold; but my mother said it would be weak to +offer forgiveness that was not sought, and my father was specially +exasperated at the absence of all contrition as to the treatment of +Ellen. All Griff had vouchsafed on that head was--the rupture had +been the Fordyces' doing; he was not bound. As to intercourse with +him, Clarence and I might act as we saw fit. + +'Only,' said my father, as Clarence was leaving home, 'I trust you +not to get yourself involved in this set.' + +Clarence gave a queer smile, 'They would not take me as a gift, +papa.' + +And as my father turned from the hall door, he laid his hand on his +wife's arm, and said, 'Who would have told us what that young fellow +would be to us.' + +She sighed, and said, 'He is not twenty-three; he has plenty of +money, and is very fond of Griff.' + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII--THE RIVER'S BANK + + + +'And my friend rose up in the shadows, + And turned to me, +"Be of good cheer," I said faintly, + For He called thee.' + +B. M. + +Mr. Fordyce waited at Hillside till after Sunday, and then went to +Bath to hear the verdict of the physician. He returned as much +depressed as it was in his sanguine nature to be, for great delicacy +of the lungs had been detected; and to prevent the recent chill from +leaving permanent injury, Ellen must have a winter abroad, and warm +sea or mountain air at once. Whether the disease were +constitutional and would have come on at all events no one could +tell. + +Consumption was much less understood half a century ago; codliver +oil was unknown; and stethoscopes were new inventions, only used by +the more advanced of the faculty. The only escape poor Parson Frank +had from accepting the doom was in disbelieving that a thing like a +trumpet could really reveal the condition of the chest. Moreover, +Mrs. Fordyce had had a brother who had, under the famous cowhouse +cure, recovered enough to return home, and be killed by the +upsetting of a stage coach. + +Mrs. Fordyce took her daughter to Lyme, and waited there till her +husband had found a curate and made all arrangements. It must have +been very inconvenient not to come home; but, no doubt, she wanted +to prevent any more partings. Then they went abroad, travelling +slowly, and seeing all the sights that came in their way, to +distract Ellen's thoughts. She was not allowed to hear what ailed +her; but believed her languor and want of interest in everything to +be the effect of the blow she had received, struggling to exert +herself, and to enter gratefully into the enjoyments provided for +her. She was not prevented from writing to Emily; indeed, no one +liked to hinder anything she wished, but they were guide-book +letters, describing all she saw as a kind of duty, but scarcely +concealing the trouble it was to look. Such sentences would slip +out as 'This is a nice quiet place, and I am happy to say there is +nothing that one ought to see.' Or, 'I sat in the cathedral at +Lucerne while the others were going round. The organ was playing, +and it was such rest!' Or, again, after a day on the Lago di Como, +'It was glorious, and if you and Edward were here, perhaps the +beauty would penetrate my sluggish soul!' + +Ellen's sluggish soul!--when we remembered her keen ecstasy at the +Valley of Rocks. + +Those letters were our chief interest in an autumn which seemed +dreary to us, in spite of friendly visitors; for had not our family +hope and joy been extinguished? There was no direct communication +with Griffith after his unpleasant reply to my father's letter; but +Clarence saw the newly married pair on their return to Lady +Peacock's house in London, and reported that they were very kind and +friendly to him, and gave him more invitations than he could accept. +Being cross-examined when he came home for Christmas, he declared +his conviction that Lady Peacock had married Griff entirely from +affection, and that he had been--well--flattered into it. They +seemed very fond of each other now, and were launching out into all +sorts of gaieties; but though he did not tell my father, he confided +to me that he feared that Griffith had been disappointed in the +amount of fortune at his wife's disposal. + +It was at that Christmas time, one night, having found an intrusive +cat upon my bed, Clarence carried her out at the back door close to +his room, and came back in haste and rather pale. 'It is quite true +about the lady and the light being seen out of doors,' he said in an +awe-stricken voice, 'I have just seen her flit from the mullion room +to the ruin.' + +We only noted the fact in that ghost-diary of ours--we told nobody, +and looked no more. We already believed that these appearances on +the lawn must be the cause that every window, up to the attics on +the garden side of the house, were so heavily shuttered and barred +that there was no opening them without noise. Indeed, those on the +ground floor had in addition bells attached to them. No doubt the +former inhabitants had done their best to prevent any one from +seeing or inquiring into what was unacknowledged and unaccountable. +It might be only a coincidence, but we could not help remarking that +we had seen and heard nothing of her during the engagement which +might have united the two families; though, of course, it would be +ridiculous to suppose her cognisant of it, like the White Lady of +Avenel, dancing for joy at Mary's marriage with Halbert Glendinning. + +The Fordyces had settled at Florence, where they suffered a great +deal more from cold than they would have done at Hillside; and there +was such a cessation of Ellen's letters that Emily feared that Mrs. +Fordyce had attained her wish and separated the friends effectually. +However, Frank Fordyce beguiled his enforced leisure with long +letters to my father on home business, Austrian misgovernment, and +the Italian Church and people, full of shrewd observations and new +lights; and one of these ended thus, 'My poor lassie has been in bed +for ten days with a severe cold. She begs me to say that she has +begun a letter to Emily, and hopes soon to finish it. We had +thought her gaining ground, but she is sadly pulled down. Fiat +voluntas.' + +The letter, which had been begun, never came; but, after three long +weeks, there was one from the dear patient herself, mentioning her +illness, and declaring that it was so comfortable to be allowed to +be tired, and to go nowhere and see nothing except the fragment of +beautiful blue sky, and the corner of a campanile, and the flowers +Anne brought in daily. + +As soon as she could be moved, they took her to Genoa, where she +revived enough to believe that she should be well if she were at +home again, and to win from her parents a promise to take her to +Hillside as soon as the spring winds were over. So anxious was she +that, as soon as there was any safety in travelling, the party began +moving northwards, going by sea to Marseilles to avoid the Corniche, +so early in the year. There were many fluctuations, and it was only +her earnest yearning for home and strong resolution that could have +made her parents persevere; but at last they were at Hillside, just +after Whitsuntide, in the last week of May. + +Frank Fordyce walked over to see us on the very evening after their +arrival. He was much altered, his kindly handsome face looked +almost as if he had gone through an illness; and, indeed, apart from +all his anxiety and sorrow, he had pined in foreign parts for his +human flock, as well as his bullocks and his turnips. He had also +read, thought, and observed a great deal, and had left his long +boyhood behind him, during a space for study and meditation such as +he had never had before. + +He was quite hopeless of his daughter's recovery, and made no secret +of it. In passing through London the best advice had been taken, +but only to obtain the verdict that the case was beyond all skill, +and that it was only a matter of weeks, when all that could be done +was to give as much gratification as possible. The one thing that +Ellen did care about was to be at home--to have Emily with her, and +once more see her school children, her church, and her garden. +Tired as she was she had sprung up in the carriage at the first +glimpse of Hillside spire, and had leant forward at the window, +nodding and smiling her greetings to all the villagers. + +She had been taken at once to her room and her bed, but her father +had promised to beg Emily to come up by noon on the morrow. Then he +sat talking of local matters, not able to help showing what infinite +relief it was to him to be at home, and what music to his ears was +the Somersetshire dialect and deep English voice 'after all those +thin, shrill, screeching foreigners.' + +Poor Emily! It was in mingled grief and gladness that she set off +the next day, with the trepidation of one to whom sickness and decay +were hitherto unknown. When she returned, it was in a different +mood, unable to believe the doctors could be right, and in the +delight of having her own bright, sweet Ellen back again, all +herself. They had talked, but more of home and village than of +foreign experiences; and though Ellen did not herself assist, she +had much enjoyed watching the unpacking of the numerous gifts which +had cost a perfect fortune at the Custom House. No one seemed +forgotten--villagers, children, servants, friends. Some of these +tokens are before me still. The Florentine mosaic paper-weight she +brought me presses this very sheet; the antique lamp she gave my +father is on the mantelpiece; Clarence's engraving of Raffaelle's +St. Michael hangs opposite to me on the wall. Most precious in our +eyes was the collection of plants, dried and labelled by herself, +which she brought to Emily and me--poor mummies now, but redolent of +undying affection. Her desire was to bestow all her keepsakes with +her own hands, and in most cases she actually did so--a few daily, +as her strength served her. The little figures in costume, coloured +prints, Swiss carvings, French knicknacks, are preserved in many a +Hillside cottage as treasured relics of 'our young lady.' Many +years later, Martyn recognised a Hillside native in a back street in +London by a little purple-blue picture of Vesuvius, and thereby +reached the soft spot in a nearly dried-up heart. + +So bright and playful was the dear girl over all her old familiar +interests that we inexperienced beings believed not only that the +wound to her affections was healed, but that she either did not know +or did not realise the sentence that had been pronounced on her; but +when this was repeated to her mother, it was met by a sad smile and +the reply that we only saw her in her best hours. Still, through +the summer, it was impossible to us to accept the truth; she looked +so lovely, was so cheerful, and took such delight in all that was +about her. + +With the first cold, however, she seemed to shrivel up, and the bad +nights extended into the days. Emily ascribed the change to the +lack of going out into the air, and always found reasons for the +increased languor and weakness; till at last there came a day when +my poor little sister seemed as if the truth had broken upon her for +the first time, when Ellen talked plainly to her of their parting, +and had asked us both, 'her dear brother and sister,' to be with her +at her Communion on All Saints' Day. + +She had written a little letter to Clarence, begging his forgiveness +for having cut him, and treated him with the scorn which, I believe, +was the chief fault that weighed upon her conscience; and, hearing +my father's voice in the house, she sent a message to beg him to +come and see her in her mother's dressing-room--that very window +where I had first heard her voice, refusing to come down to 'those +Winslows.' She had sent for him to entreat him to forgive Griffith +and recall the pair to Chantry House. 'Not now,' she said, 'but +when I am gone.' + +My father could deny her nothing, though he showed that the sight of +her made the entreaty all the harder to him; and she pleaded, 'But +you know this was not his doing. I never was strong, and it had +begun before. Only think how sad it would have been for him.' + +My father would have promised anything with that wasted hand on his, +those fervent eyes gazing on him, and he told her he would have +given his pardon long ago, if it had been sought, as it never had +been. + +'Ah! perhaps he did not dare!' she said. 'Won't you write when all +this is over, and then you will be one family again as you used to +be?' + +He promised, though he scarcely knew where Griffith was. Clarence, +however, did. He had answered Ellen's letter, and it had made him +ask for a few days' leave of absence. So he came down on the +Saturday, and was allowed a quarter of an hour beside Ellen's sofa +in the Sunday evening twilight. He brought away the calm, rapt +expression I had sometimes seen on his face at church, and Ellen +made a special entreaty that he might share the morrow's feast. + +There are some things that cannot be written of, and that was one. +Still we had not thought the end near at hand, though on Tuesday +morning a message was sent that Ellen was suffering and exhausted, +and could not see Emily. It was a wild, stormy day, with fierce +showers of sleet, and we clung to the hope that consideration for my +sister had prompted the message. In the afternoon Clarence battled +with a severe gale, made his way to Hillside, and heard that the +weather affected the patient, and that there was much bodily +distress. For one moment he saw her father, who said in broken +accents that we could only pray that the spirit might be freed +without much more suffering, 'though no doubt it is all right.' + +Before daylight, before any one in the house was up, Clarence was +mounting the hill in the gusts that had done their work on the trees +and were subsiding with the darkness. And just as he was beginning +the descent, as the sun tipped the Hillside steeple with light, he +heard the knell, and counted the twenty-one for the years of our +Ellen--for ours she will always be. + +'Somehow,' he told me, 'I could not help taking off my hat and +giving thanks for her, and then all the drops on all the boughs +began sparkling, and there was a hush on all around as if she were +passing among the angels, and a thrush broke out into a regular song +of jubilee!' + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV--NOT IN VAIN + + + +'Then cheerly to your work again, + With hearts new braced and set +To run untired love's blessed race, +As meet for those who face to face + Over the grave their Lord have met.' + +KEBLE. + +That dying request could not but be held sacred, and overtures were +made to Griffith, who returned an odd sort of answer, friendly and +affectionate, but rather as if my father were the offending party in +need of forgiveness. He and his wife were obliged for the +invitation, but could not accept it, as they had taken a house near +Melton-Mowbray for the hunting season, and were entertaining +friends. + +In some ways it was disappointing, in others it was a relief, not to +have the restraint of Lady Peacock's presence during the last days +we were to have with the Fordyces. For a fresh loss came upon us. +Beachharbour was a fishing-village on the north-western coast, +which, within the previous decade, had sprung into importance, on +the one hand as a fashionable resort, on the other as a minor port +for colliers. The living was wretchedly poor, and had been held for +many years by one of the old inferior stamp of clergy, scarcely +superior in habits or breeding to the farmers, and only outliving +the scandals of his youth to fall into a state of indolent +carelessness. It was in the gift of a child, for whom Sir Horace +Lester was trustee, and that gentleman had written, about a +fortnight before Ellen's death, to consult Mr. Fordyce on its +disposal, declaring the great difficulties and deficiencies of the +place, which made it impossible to offer it to any one without +considerable private means, and also able to attract and improve the +utterly demoralised population. He ended, almost in joke, by +saying, 'In fact, I know no one who could cope with the situation +but yourself; I wish you could find me your own counterpart, or come +yourself in earnest. It is just the air that suits my sister-- +bracing sea-breezes; the parsonage, though a wretched place, is well +situated, and she would be all the stronger; but in poor Ellen's +state there is no use in talking of it, and besides I know you are +wedded to your fertile fields and Somersetshire clowns.' + +That letter (afterwards shown to us) had worked on Mr. Fordyce's +mind during those mournful days. He was still young enough to leave +behind him Parson Frank and the 'squarson' habits of Hillside in +which he had grown up; and the higher and more spiritual side of his +nature had been fostered by the impressions of the last year. He +was conscious, as he said, that his talk had been overmuch of +bullocks, and that his farm had engrossed him more than he wished +should happen again, though a change would be tearing himself up by +the roots; and as to his own people at Hillside, the curate, an +active young man, had well supplied his place, and, in his TRULY +humble opinion, though by no means in theirs, introduced several +improvements even in that model parish. + +What had moved him most, however, was a conversation he had had with +Ellen, with whom during this last year he had often held deep and +serious counsel, with a growing reverence on his side. He had read +her uncle's letter to her, and to his great surprise found that she +looked on it as a call. Devotedly fond as she herself was of +Hillside, she could see that her father's abilities were wasted on +so small a field, in a manner scarcely good for himself, and she had +been struck with the greater force of his sermons when preaching to +educated congregations abroad. If no one else could or would take +efficient charge of these Beachharbour souls, she could see that it +would weigh on his conscience to take comparative ease in his own +beloved meadows, among a flock almost his vassals. Moreover, she +relieved his mind about her mother. She had discovered, what the +good wife kept out of sight, that the north-country woman never +could entirely have affinities with the south, and she had come to +the conclusion that Mrs. Fordyce's spirits would be heavily tried by +settling down at Hillside in the altered state of things. + +After this talk, Mr. Fordyce had suggested a possible incumbent to +his brother-in-law, but left the matter open; and when Sir Horace +came down to the funeral, it was more thoroughly discussed; and, as +soon as Mrs. Fordyce saw that departure would not break her +husband's heart, she made no secret of the way that both her opinion +and her inclinations lay. She told my mother that she had always +believed her own ill-health was caused by the southern climate, and +that she hoped that Anne would grow up stronger than her sister in +the northern breezes. + +Poor little Anne! Of all the family, to her the change was the +greatest grief. The tour on the Continent had been a dull affair to +her; she was of the age to weary of long confinement in the carriage +and in strange hotels, and too young to appreciate 'grown-up' +sights. Picture-galleries and cathedrals were only a drag to her, +and if the experiences that were put into Rosella's mouth for the +benefit of her untravelled sisters could have been written down, +they would have been as unconventional as Mark Twain's adventures. +Rosella went through the whole tour, and left a leg behind in the +hinge of a door, but in compensation brought home a Paris bonnet and +mantle. She seemed to have been her young mistress's chief comfort, +next to an occasional game of play with her father, or a walk, +looking in at the shop windows and watching marionettes, or, still +better, the wonderful sports of brown-legged street children, +without trying to make her speak French or Italian--in her eyes one +of the inflictions of the journey, in those of her elders the one +benefit she might gain. She had missed the petting to which she had +been accustomed from her grandfather and from all of us; and she had +absolutely counted the days till she could get home again, and had +fallen into dire disgrace for fits of crying when Ellen's weakness +caused delays. Martyn's holidays had been a time of rapture to her, +for there was no one to attend much to her at home, and she was too +young to enter into the weight of anxiety; so the two had run as +wild together as a gracious well-trained damsel of ten and a +fourteen-year-old boy with tender chivalry awake in him could well +do. To be out of the way was all that was asked of her for the +time, and all old delights, such as the robbers' cave, were renewed +with fresh zest. + + +'It was the sweetest and the last.' + + +And though Martyn was gone back to school, the child felt the wrench +from home most severely. As she told me on one of those sorrowful +days, 'She did think she had come back to live at dear, dear little +Hillside all the days of her life.' Poor child, we became convinced +that this vehement attachment to Griffith's brothers was one factor +in Mrs. Fordyce's desire to make a change that should break off +these habits of intimacy and dependence. + +Pluralities had not become illegal, and Frank Fordyce, being still +the chief landholder in Hillside, and wishing to keep up his +connection with his people, did not resign the rectory, though he +put the curate into the house, and let the farm. Once or twice a +year he came to fulfil some of a landlord's duties, and was as +genial and affectionate as ever, but more and more absorbed in the +needs of Beachharbour, and unconsciously showing his own growth in +devotion and activity; while he brought his splendid health and +vigour, his talent, his wealth, and, above all, his winning charm of +manner and address, to that magnificent work at Beachharbour, well +known to all of you; though, perhaps, you never guessed that the +foundation of all those churches and their grand dependent works of +piety, mercy, and beneficence was laid in one young girl's grave. I +never heard of a fresh achievement there without remembering how the +funeral psalm ends with - + + +'Prosper Thou the work of our hands upon us, +O prosper Thou our handiwork.' + + +And Emily? Her drooping after the loss of her friend was sad, but +it would have been sadder but for the spirit Ellen had infused. We +found the herbs to heal our woe round our pathway, though the first +joyousness of life had departed. The reports Mr. Henderson and the +Hillside curate brought from Oxford were great excitements to us, +and we thought and puzzled over church doctrine, and tried to impart +it to our scholars. We I say, for Henderson had made me take a +lads' class, which has been the chief interest of my life. Even the +roughest were good to their helpless teacher, and some men, as gray- +headed as myself, still come every Sunday to read with Mr. Edward, +and are among the most faithful friends of my life. + + + +CHAPTER XXXV--GRIFF'S BIRD + + + +'Shall such mean little creatures pretend to the fashion? +Cousin Turkey Cock, well may you be in a passion.' + +The Peacock at Home. + +It was not till the second Christmas after dear Ellen Fordyce's +death that my eldest brother brought his wife and child to Chantry +House, after an urgent letter to Lady Peacock from my mother, who +yearned for a sight of Griffith's boy. + +I do not wish to dwell on that visit. Selina, or Griff's bird, as +Martyn chose to term her, was certainly handsome and stylish; but +her complexion had lost freshness and delicacy, and the ladies said +her colour was rouge, and her fine figure due to other female +mysteries. She meant to be very gracious, and patronised everybody, +especially Emily, who, she said, would be quite striking if not +sacrificed by her dress, and whom she much wished to take to London, +engaging to provide her with a husband before the season was over, +not for a moment believing my mother's assurance that it would be a +trial to us all whenever we had to resign our Emily. Nay, she tried +to condole with the poor moped family slave, and was received with +such hot indignation as made her laugh, for, to do her justice, she +was good-natured and easy-tempered. However, I saw less of her than +did the others, for I believe she thought the sight of me made her +ill. Griff, poor old fellow, was heartily glad to be with us again, +but quite under her dominion. He had lost his glow of youth and +grace of figure, his complexion had reddened, and no one would have +guessed him only a year older than Clarence, whose shoulders did +indeed reveal something of the desk, but whose features, though +pale, were still fair and youthful. The boy was another Clarence, +not so much in compliment to his godfather as because it was the +most elegant name in the family, and favoured an interesting belief, +current among his mother's friends, that the king had actually stood +sponsor to the uncle. Poor little man, his grandmother shut herself +into the bookroom and cried, after her first sight of him. He was a +wretched, pinched morsel of humanity, though mamma and Emily +detected wonderful resemblances; I never saw them, but then he +inherited his mother's repulsion towards me, and roared doubly at +the sight of me. My mother held that he was the victim of Selina's +dissipations and mismanagement of herself and him, and gave many +matronly groans at his treatment by the smart, flighty nurse, who +waged one continual warfare with the household. + +Accustomed to absolute supremacy in domestic matters, it was very +hard for my mother to have her counsels and experience set at +naught, and, if she appealed to Griff, to find her notions treated +with the polite deference he might have shown to a cottage dame. + +A course of dinner-parties could not hinder her ladyship from +finding Chantry House insufferably dull, 'always like Sunday;' and, +when she found that we were given to Saints' Day services, her pity +and astonishment knew no bounds. 'It was all very well for a poor +object like Edward,' she held, 'but as to Mr. Winslow and Clarence, +did they go for the sake of example? Though, to be sure, Clarence +might be a Papist any day.' + +Popery, instead of Methodism, was just beginning to be the bugbear +set up for those whom the world held to be ultra-religious, and my +mother was so far disturbed at our interest in what was termed +Oxford theology that the warning would have alarmed her if it had +come from any other quarter. However, Lady Peacock was rather fond +of Clarence, and entertained him with schemes for improving Chantry +House when it should have descended to Griffith. The mullion rooms +were her special aversion, and were all to be swept away, together +with the vaultings and the ruin--'enough to give one the blues, if +there were nothing else,' she averred. + +We really felt it to the credit of our country that Sir George +Eastwood sent an invitation to an early dance to please his young +daughters; and for this our visitors prolonged their stay. My +mother made Clarence go, that she might have some one to take care +of her and Emily, since Griff was sure to be absorbed by his lady. +Emily had not been to a ball since those gay days in London with +Ellen. She shrank back from the contrast, and would have begged +off; but she was told that she must submit; and though she said she +felt immeasurably older than at that happy time, I believe she was +not above being pleased with the pale pink satin dress and wreath of +white jessamine, which my father presented to her, and in which, +according to Martyn, she beat 'Griff's bird all to shivers.' + +Clarence had grown much less bashful and embarrassed since the Tooke +affair had given him a kind of position and a sense of not being a +general disgrace. He really was younger in some ways at five-and- +twenty than at eighteen; he enjoyed dancing, and especially enjoyed +the compliments upon our sister, whom in our usual fashion we viewed +as the belle of the ball. He was standing by my fire, telling me +the various humours of the night, when a succession of shrieks ran +through the house. He dashed away to see what was the matter, and +returned, in a few seconds, saying that Selina had seen some one in +the garden, and neither she nor mamma would be satisfied without +examination--'though, of course, I know what it must be,' he added, +as he drew on his coat. + +'Bill, are you coming?' said Griff at the door. 'You needn't, if +you don't like it. I bet it is your old friend.' + +'I'm coming! I'm coming! I'm sure it is,' shouted Martyn from +behind, with the inconsistent addition, 'I've got my gun.' + +'Enough to dispose of any amount of robbers or phantoms either,' +observed Griff as they went forth by the back door, reinforced by +Amos Bell with a lantern in one hand and a poker in the other. + +My father was fortunately still asleep, and my mother came down to +see whether I was frightened. + +She said she had no patience with Selina, and had left her to Emily +and her maid; but, before many words had been spoken, they all came +creeping down after her, feeling safety in numbers, or perhaps in +her entire fearlessness. The report of a gun gave us all a shock, +and elicited another scream or two. My mother, hoping that no one +was hurt, hastened into the hall, but only to meet Griff, hurrying +in laughing to reassure us with the tidings that it was only Martyn, +who had shot the old sun-dial by way of a robber; and he was +presently followed by the others, Martyn rather crestfallen, but +arguing with all his might that the sun-dial was exactly like a man; +and my mother hurried every one off upstairs without further +discussion. + +Clarence was rather white, and when Martyn demanded, 'Do you really +think it was the ghost? Fancy her selection of the bird!' he +gravely answered, 'Martyn, boy, if it were, it is not a thing to +speak of in that tone. You had better go to bed.' + +Martyn went off, somewhat awed. Clarence was cold and shivering, +and stood warming himself. He was going to wind up his watch, but +his hand shook, and I did it for him, noting the hour--twenty +minutes past one. + +It appeared that Selina, on going upstairs, recollected that she had +left her purse in Griff's sitting-room before going to dress, and +had gone in quest of it. She heard strange shouts and screams +outside, and, going to one of the old windows, where the shutters +were less unmanageable than elsewhere, she beheld a woman rushing +towards the house pursued by at least a couple of men. Filled with +terror she had called out, and nearly fainted in Griff's arms. + +'It agrees with all we have heard before,' said Clarence, 'the very +day and hour!' + +'As Martyn said, the person is strange.' + +'Villagers, less concerned, have seen the like,' he said; 'and, +indeed, all unconsciously poor Selina has cut away the hope of +redress,' he sighed. 'Poor, restless spirit! would that I could do +anything for her.' + +'Let me ask, do you ever see her now?' + +'N-no, I suppose not; but whenever I am anxious or worried, the +trouble takes her form in my dreams.' + +Lady Peacock had soon extracted the ghost story from her husband, +and, though she professed to be above the vulgar folly of belief in +it, her nerves were so upset, she said, that nothing would have +induced her to sleep another night in the house. The rational +theory on this occasion was that one of the maids must have stolen +out to join in the Christmas entertainment at the Winslow Arms, and +been pursued home by some tipsy revellers; but this explanation was +not productive of goodwill between the mother and daughter-in-law, +since mamma had from the first so entirely suspected Selina's smart +nurse as actually to have gone straight to the nursery on the plea +of seeing whether the baby had been frightened. The woman was found +asleep--apparently so--said my mother, but all her clothes were in +an untidy heap on the floor, which to my mother was proof conclusive +that she had slipped into the house in the confusion, and settled +herself there. Had not my mother with her own eyes watched from the +window her flirtations with the gardener, and was more evidence +requisite to convict her? Mamma entertained the hope that her +proposal would be adopted of herself taking charge of her grandson, +and fattening his poor little cheeks on our cows' milk, while the +rest of the party continued their round of visits. + +Lady Peacock, however, treated it as a personal imputation that HER +nurse should be accused instead of any servant of Mrs. Winslow's +own, though, as Griff observed, not only character, but years and +features might alike acquit them of any such doings; but even he +could not laugh long, for it was no small vexation to him that such +offence should have arisen between his mother and wife. Of course +there was no open quarrel--my mother had far too much dignity to +allow it to come to that--but each said in private bitter things of +the other, and my lady's manner of declining to leave her baby at +Chantry House was almost offensive. + +Poor Griffith, who had been growing more like himself every day, +tried in vain to smooth matters, and would have been very glad to +leave his child to my mother's management, though, of course, he +acquitted the nurse of the midnight adventure. He privately owned +to us that he had no opinion of the woman, but he defended her to my +mother, in whose eyes this was tantamount to accusing her own +respectable maids, since it was incredible that any rational person +could accept the phantom theory. + +Gladly would he have been on better terms, for he had had to confess +that his wife's fortune had turned out to be much less than common +report had stated, or than her style of living justified, and that +his marriage had involved him in a sea of difficulties, so that he +had to beg for a larger allowance, and for assistance in paying off +debts. + +The surrender of the London house and of some of the chief expenses +were made conditions of such favours, and Griffith had assented +gratefully when alone with his father; but after an interview with +his wife, demonstrations were made that it was highly economical to +have a house in town, and horses, carriages, and servants and that +any change would be highly derogatory to the heir of Earlscombe and +the sacred wishes of the late Sir Henry Peacock. + +In fact, it was impressed on us that we were mere homely, +countrified beings, who could not presume to dictate to her +ladyship, but who had ill requited her condescension in deigning to +beam upon us. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI--SLACK WATER + + + +'O dinna look, ye prideful queen, on a' aneath your ken, +For he wha seems the farthest BUT aft wins the farthest BEN, +And whiles the doubie of the schule tak's lead of a' the rest: +The birdie sure to sing is the gorbal of the nest. + +'The cauld, grey, misty morn aft brings a sunny summer day; +The tree wha's buds are latest is longest to decay; +The heart sair tried wi' sorrow still endures the sternest test: +The birdie sure to sing is the gorbal of the nest. + +'The wee wee stern that glints in heaven may be a lowin' sun, +Though like a speck of light it seem amid the welkin dun; +The humblest sodger on the field may win a warrior's crest: +The birdie sure to sing is the gorbal of the nest.' + +Scotch Newspaper. + +The wickedness of the nurse was confirmed in my mother's eyes when +the doom on the first-born of the Winslows was fulfilled, and the +poor little baby, Clarence, succumbed to a cold on the chest caught +while his nurse was gossiping with a guardsman. + +He was buried in London. 'It was better for Selina to get those +things over as quickly as possible,' said Griff; but Clarence saw +that he suffered much more than his wife would let him show to her. +'It is so bad for him to dwell on it,' she said. 'You see. I never +let myself give way.' + +And she was soon going out, nearly as usual, till their one other +infant came to open its eyes only for a few hours on this +troublesome world, and owe its baptism to Clarence's exertions. My +mother, who was in London just after, attending on the good old +Admiral's last illness, was greatly grieved and disgusted with all +she heard and saw of the young pair, and that was not much. She +felt their disregard of her uncle as heartless, or rather as +insulting, on Selina's part, and weak on Griff's; and on all sides +she heard of their reckless extravagance, which made her forebode +the worst. + +All these disappointments much diminished my father's pleasure and +interest in his inheritance. He had little heart to build and +improve, when his eldest son's wife made no secret of her hatred to +the place, or to begin undertakings only to be neglected by those +who came after; and thus several favourite schemes were dropped, or +prevented by Griffith's applications for advances. + +At last there was a crisis. At the end of the second season after +their visit to us, Clarence sent a hasty note, begging my father to +join him in averting an execution in Griffith's house. I cannot +record the particulars, for just at that time I had a long low +fever, and did not touch my diary for many weeks; nor indeed did I +know much about the circumstances, since my good nurses withheld as +much as possible, and would not let me talk about what they believed +to make me worse. Nor can I find any letters about it. I believe +they were all made away with long ago, and thus I only know that my +father hurried up to town, remained for a fortnight, and came back +looking ten years older. The house in London had been given up, and +he had offered a vacant one of our own, near home, to Griff to +retrench in, but Selina would not hear of it, insisting on going +abroad. + +This was a great grief to him and to us all. There was only one +side of our lives that was not saddened. Our old incumbent had died +about six months after the Fordyces had gone, and Mr. Henderson had +gladly accepted the living where the parsonage had been built. The +lady to whom he had been so long engaged was a great acquisition. +Her home had been at Oxford; and she was as thoroughly imbued with +the spirit that there prevailed as was the Hillside curate. She +talked to us of Littlemore, and of the sermons there and at St. +Mary's, and Emily and I shared to the full her hero-worship. It was +the nearest compensation my sister had had for the loss of Ellen, +with this difference, that Mrs. Henderson was older, had read more, +and had conversed thoughtfully with some of the leading spirits in +religious thought, so that she opened a new world to us. + +People would hardly believe in our eagerness and enthusiasm over the +revelations of church doctrine; how we debated, consulted our books, +and corresponded with Clarence over what now seems so trite; how we +viewed the British Critic and Tracts for the Times as our oracles, +and worried the poor Wattlesea bookseller to get them for us at the +first possible moment. + +Church restoration was setting in. Henderson had always objected to +christening from a slop-basin on the altar, and had routed out a +dilapidated font; and now one, which was termed by the country paper +chaste and elegant, was by united efforts, in which Clarence had the +lion's share, presented in time for the christening of the first +child at the Parsonage. It is that which was sent off to the +Mission Chapel as a blot on the rest of Earlscombe Church. Yet what +an achievement it was deemed at the time! + +The same may be said of most of our doings at that era. We effected +them gradually, and have ever since been undoing them, as our +architectural and ecclesiastical perceptions have advanced. I +wonder how the next generation will deal with our alabaster reredos +and our stained windows, with which we are all as well pleased as we +were fifty years ago with the plain red cross with a target-like +arrangement above and below it in the east window, or as poor +Margaret may have been with her livery altar-cloth. Indeed, it +seems to me that we got more delight out of our very imperfect work, +designed by ourselves and sent to Clarence to be executed by men in +back streets in London, costing an immensity of trouble, than can be +had now by simply choosing out of a book of figures of cut and dried +articles. + +What an enthusiastic description Clarence sent of the illuminated +commandments in the new Church of St. Katharine in the Regent's +Park! How Emily and I gloated over the imitation of them when we +replaced the hideous old tables, and how exquisite we thought the +initial I, which irreverent youngsters have likened, with some +justice, to an enormous overfed caterpillar, enwreathed with red and +green cabbage leaves! + +My mother was startled at these innovations; but my father, who had +kept abreast with the thought of the day, owned to the doctrines as +chiming in with his unbroken belief, and transferred to the +improvements in the church the interest which he had lost in the +estate. The farmers had given up their distrust of him, and +accepted him loyally as friend and landlord, submitting to the +reseating of the church, and only growling moderately at decorations +that cost them nothing. Daily service began as soon as Henderson +was his own master, and was better attended than it is now; for the +old people to whom it was a novelty took up the habit more freely +than their successors, to whom the bell has been familiar through +their days of toil. We were too far off to be constant attendants; +but evensong made an object for our airings, and my father's head, +now quite white, was often seen there. He felt it a great relief +amid the cares of his later years. + +Perhaps it was with a view to him that Mr. Castleford arranged that +Clarence should become manager for the firm at Bristol, with a good +salary. The Robsons would not take a fresh lodger--they were +getting too old for fresh beginnings; but they kept their rooms +ready for him, whenever he had to be in town, and Gooch found him a +trustworthy widow as housekeeper. He took a little cottage at +Clifton, availing himself of the coach to spend his Sundays with us; +and it was an acknowledged joy to every one that I should drive to +meet him every Saturday afternoon at the Carpenter's Arms, and bring +him home to be my father's aid in all his business, and a most +valuable help in Sunday parish work, in which he had an amount of +experience which astonished us. + +What would have become of the singing without him? The first hint +against the remarkable anthems had long ago alienated our tuneful +choir placed on high, and they had deserted en masse. Then Emily +and the schoolmistress had toiled at the school children, whose thin +little pipes and provincialisms were a painful infliction, till Mrs. +Henderson, backed by Clarence, worked up a few promising men's +voices to support them. We thought everything but the New and Old +Versions smacked of dissent, except the hymns at the end of the +Prayer-book, though we did not go as far as Chapman, who told Emily +he understood as how all the tunes was tried over in Doctor's +Commons afore they were sent out, and it was not 'liable' to change +them. One of Clarence's amusements in his lonely life had been the +acquisition of a knowledge of music, and he had a really good voice; +while his adherence to our choir encouraged other young men of the +farmer and artisan class to join us. Choir, however, did not mean +surplices and cassocks, but a collection of our best voices, male +and female, in the gallery. + +Martyn began to be a great help when at home, never having wavered +in his purpose of becoming a clergyman. On going to Oxford, he +became imbued with the influences that made Alma Mater the focus of +the religious life and progress of that generation which is now the +elder one. There might in some be unreality, in others +extravagance, in others mere imitation; but there was a truly great +work on the minds of the young men of that era--a work which has +stood the test of time, made saints and martyrs, and sown the seed +whereof we have witnessed a goodly growth, in spite of cruel shocks +and disappointments, fightings within and fears without, slanders +and follies to provoke them, such as we can now afford to laugh +over. With Martyn, rubrical or extra-rubrical observances were the +outlet of the exuberance of youth, as chivalry and romance had been +to us; and on Frank Fordyce's visits, it was delightful to find that +he too was in the full swing of these ideas and habits, partly from +his own convictions, partly from his parish needs, and partly +carried along by curates fresh from Oxford. + +In the first of his summer vacations Martyn joined a reading party, +with a tutor of the same calibre, and assured them that if they took +up their quarters in a farmhouse not many miles by the map from +Beachharbour, they would have access to unlimited services, with the +extraordinary luxury of a surpliced choir, and intercourse with +congenial spirits, which to him meant the Fordyces. + +On arriving, however, the bay proved to be so rocky and dangerous +that there was no boating across it, as he had confidently expected. +The farm depended on a market town in the opposite direction, and +though the lights of Beachharbour could be seen at night, there was +no way thither except by a six-miles walk along a cliff path, with a +considerable detour in order to reach a bridge and cross the rapid +river which was an element of danger in the bay, on the north side +of the promontory which sheltered the harbour to the south. + +So when Martyn started as pioneer on the morning before the others +arrived, he descended into Beachharbour later than he intended, but +still he was in time to meet Anne Fordyce, a tall, bright-faced girl +of fourteen, taking her after-lessons turn on the parade with a +governess, who looked amazed as the two met, holding out both hands +to one another, with eager joy and welcome. + +It was not the same when Anne flew into the Vicarage with the +rapturous announcement, 'Here's Martyn!' The vicar was gone to a +clerical meeting, and Mrs. Fordyce said nothing about staying to see +him. The luncheon was a necessity, but with quiet courtesy Martyn +was made to understand that he was regarded as practically out of +reach, and 'Oh, mamma, he could come and sleep,' was nipped in the +utterance by 'Martyn is busy with his studies; we must not disturb +him.' This was a sufficient intimation that Mrs. Fordyce did not +intend to have the pupils dropping in on her continually, and making +her house their resort; and while Martyn was digesting the rebuff, +the governess carried Anne off to prepare for a music lesson, and +her mother gave no encouragement to lingering or repeating the +visit. + +Still Martyn, on his way homewards, based many hopes on the return +of Mr. Fordyce; but all that ensued was, three weeks later, a note +regretting the not having been able to call, and inviting the whole +party to a great school-feast on the anniversary of the dedication +of the first of the numerous new churches of Beachharbour. There +was no want of cordiality on that occasion, but time was lacking for +anything beyond greetings and fleeting exchanges of words. Parson +Frank tried to talk to Martyn, bemoaned the not seeing more of him, +declared his intentions of coming to the farm, began an invitation, +but was called off a hundred ways; and Anne was rushing about with +all the children of the place, gentle and simple, on her hands. +Whenever Martyn tried to help her, he was called off some other way, +and engaged at last in the hopeless task of teaching cricket where +these fisher boys had never heard of it. + +That was all he saw of our old friends, and he was much hurt by such +ingratitude. So were we all, and though we soon acquitted the head +of the family of more than the forgetfulness of over occupation, the +soreness at his wife's coldness was not so soon passed over. Yet +from her own point of view, poor woman, she might be excused for a +panic lest her second daughter might go the way of the first. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII--OUTWARD BOUND + + + +'As slow our ship her foamy track + Against the wind was cleaving, +Her trembling pennant still looked back + To the dear isle 'twas leaving. +So loath we part from all we love, + From all the links that bind us, +So turn our hearts as on we rove + To those we've left behind us.' + +T. MOORE. + +The first time I saw Clarence's menage was in that same summer of +poor Martyn's repulse. My father had come in for a small property +in his original county of Shropshire, and this led to his setting +forth with my mother to make necessary arrangements, and then to pay +visits to old friends; leaving Emily and me to be guests to our +brother at Clifton. + +We told them it was their harvest honeymoon, and it was funny to see +how they enjoyed the scheme when they had once made up their minds +to it, and our share in the project was equally new and charming, +for Emily and I, though both some way on in our twenties, were still +in many respects home children, nor had I ever been out on a visit +on my own account. The yellow chariot began by conveying Emily and +me to our destination. + +Clifton has grown considerably since those days, and terraces have +swallowed up the site of what the post-office knew as Prospect +Cottage, but we were apt to term the doll's house, for, as Emily +said, our visit there had something the same effect as a picnic or +tea drinking at little Anne's famous baby house. In like manner, it +was tiny, square, with one sash-window on each side of the door, but +it was nearly covered with creepers, odds and ends which Clarence +brought from home, and induced to flourish and take root better than +their parent stocks. In his nursery days his precision had given +him the name of 'the old bachelor,' and he had all a sailor's +tidiness. Even his black cat and brown spaniel each had its +peculiar basket and mat, and had been taught never to transgress +their bounds or interfere with one another; and the effect of his +parlour, embellished as it was in our honour, was delightful. The +outlook was across the beautiful ravine, into the wooded slopes on +the further side, and, on the other side, down the widening cleft to +that giddy marvel, the suspension bridge, with vessels passing under +it, and the expanse beyond. + +Most entirely we enjoyed ourselves, making merry over Clarence's +housekeeping, employing ourselves after our wonted semi-student, +semi-artist fashion in the morning; and, when our host came home +from business, starting on country expeditions, taking a carriage +whenever the distance exceeded Emily's powers of walking beside my +chair; sketching, botanising, or investigating church architecture, +our newest hobby. I sketched, and the other two rambled about, +measuring and filling up archaeological papers, with details of +orientation, style, and all the rest, deploring barbarisms and +dilapidations, making curious and delightful discoveries, pitying +those who thought the Dun Cow's rib and Chatterton's loft the most +interesting features of St. Mary's Redcliff, and above all rubbing +brasses with heel ball, and hanging up their grim effigies wherever +there was a vacant space on the walls of our doll's house. + +And though we grumbled when Clarence was detained at the office +later than we expected, this was qualified by pride at feeling his +importance there as a man in authority. It was, however, with much +dismay and some inhospitality that we learnt that a young man +belonging to the office--in fact, Mr. Frith's great-nephew--was +coming to sail for Canton in one of the vessels belonging to the +firm, and would have to be 'looked after.' He could not be asked to +sleep at Prospect Cottage, for Emily had the only spare bedchamber, +and Clarence had squeezed himself into a queer little dressing +closet to give me his room; but the housekeeper (a treasure found by +Gooch) secured an apartment in the next house, and we were to act +hosts, much against our will. Clarence had barely seen the youth, +who had been employed in the office at Liverpool, living with his +mother, who was in ill-health and had died in the last spring. The +only time of seeing him, he had seemed to be a very shy raw lad; +but, 'poor fellow, we can make the best of him,' was the sentiment; +'it is only for one night.' However, we were dismayed when, as +Emily was in the crisis of washing-in a sky, it was announced that a +gentleman was asking for Mr. Winslow. Churlishness bade us despatch +him to the office, but humanity prevailed to invite him previously +to share our luncheon. Yet we doubted whether it had not been a +cruel mercy when he entered, evidently unprepared to stumble on a +young lady and a deformed man, and stammering piteously as he hoped +there was no mistake--Mr. Winslow--Prospect, etc. + +Emily explained, frustrating his desire to flee at once to the +office, and pointing out his lodging, close at hand, whence he was +invited to return in a few minutes to the meal. + +We had time for some amiable exclamations, 'The oaf!' 'What a +bore!' 'He has spoilt my sky!' 'I shan't finish this to-day!' +'Shall we order a carriage and take him to the office; we can't have +him on our hands all the afternoon?' 'And we might get the new +number of Nicholas Nickleby.' + +N.B.--Perhaps it was Oliver Twist or The Old Curiosity Shop--I am +not certain which was the current excitement just then; but I am +quite sure it was Mrs. Nickleby who first disclosed to us that our +guest had a splendid pair of dark eyes. Hitherto he had kept them +averted in the studious manner I have often noticed in persons who +did not wish to excite suspicion of staring at my peculiarities; but +that lady's feelings when her neighbour's legs came down her chimney +were too much for his self-consciousness, and he gave a glance that +disclosed dark liquid depths, sparkling with mirth. He was one +number in advance of us, and could enlighten us on the next stage in +the coming story; and this went far to reconcile us to the invasion, +and to restore him to the proper use of his legs and arms--and very +shapely limbs they were, for he was a slim, well-made fellow, with a +dark gipsy complexion, and intelligent, honest face, altogether +better than we expected. + +Yet we could have groaned when in the evening, Clarence brought him +back with tidings that something had gone wrong with the ship. If I +tried to explain, I might be twitted with, + + +'The bowsprit got mixed with the rudder sometimes.' + + +But of course Clarence knew all about it, and he thought it unlikely +that the vessel would be in sailing condition for a week at soonest. +Great was our dismay! Getting through one evening by the help of +walking and then singing was one thing, having the heart of our +visit consumed by an interloper was another; though Clarence +undertook to take him to the office and find some occupation for him +that might keep him out of our way. But it was Clarence's leisure +hours that we begrudged; though truly no one could be meeker than +this unlucky Lawrence Frith, nor more conscious of being an +insufferable burthen. I even detected a tear in his eye when +Clarence and Emily were singing 'Sweet Home.' + +'Do you know,' said Clarence, on the second evening, when his guest +had gone to dress for dinner, 'I am very sorry for that poor lad. +It is only six weeks since he lost his mother, and he has not a soul +to care for him, either here or where he is going. I had fancied +the family were under a cloud, but I find it was only that old Frith +quarrelled with the father for taking Holy Orders instead of going +into our house. Probably there was some imprudence; for the poor +man died a curate and left no provision for his family. The only +help the old man would give was to take the boy into the office at +Liverpool, stopping his education just as he was old enough to care +about it. There were a delicate mother and two sisters then, but +they are all gone now; scarlet fever carried off the daughters, and +Mrs. Frith never was well again. He seems to have spent his time in +waiting on her when off duty, and to have made no friends except one +or two contemporaries of hers; and his only belongings are old Frith +and Mrs. Stevens, who are packing him off to Canton without caring a +rap what becomes of him. I know what Mrs. Stevens is at; she comes +up to town much oftener now, and has got her husband's nephew into +the office, and is trying to get everything for him; and that's the +reason she wants to keep up the old feud, and send this poor +Lawrence off to the ends of the earth.' + +'Can't you do anything for him?' asked Emily. 'I thought Mr. Frith +did attend to you.' + +Clarence laughed. 'I know that Mrs. Stevens hates me like poison; +but that is the only reason I have for supposing I might have any +influence.' + +'And can't you speak to Mr. Castleford?' + +'Set him to interfere about old Frith's relations! He would know +better! Besides, the fellow is too old to get into any other line-- +four-and-twenty he says, though he does not look it; and he is as +innocent as a baby, indifferent just now to what becomes of him, or +whither he goes; it is all the same to him, he says; there is no one +to care for him anywhere, and I think he is best pleased to go where +it is all new. And there, you see, the poor lad will be left to +drift to destruction--mother's darling that he has been--just for +want of some human being to care about him, and hinder his getting +heartless and reckless!' + +Clarence's voice trembled, and Emily had tears in her eyes as she +asked if absolutely nothing could be done for him. Clarence meant +to write to Mr. Castleford, who would no doubt beg the chaplain at +the station to show the young man some kindness; also, perhaps, to +the resident partner, whom Clarence had looked at once over his +desk, but in his rawest and most depressed days. The only clerk out +there, whom he knew, would, he thought, be no element of safety, and +would not like the youth the better either for bringing his +recommendation or bearing old Frith's name. + +We were considerably softened towards our guest, though the next +time Emily came on him he was standing in the hall, transfixed in +contemplation of her greatest achievement in brass-rubbing, a severe +and sable knight with the most curly of nostrils, the stiffest and +straightest of mouths, hair straight on his brows, pointed toes +joined together below, and fingers touching over his breast. There +he hung in triumph just within the front door, fluttering and +swaying a little on his pins whenever a draught came in; and there +stood Lawrence Frith, freshly aware of him, and unable to repress +the exclamation, 'I say! isn't he a guy?' + +'Sir Guy de Warrenne,' began Emily composedly; 'don't you see his +coat of arms? "chequy argent and azure."' + +'Does your brother keep him there to scare away the tramps?' + +Emily's countenance was a study. + +The subject of brasses was unfolded to Lawrence Frith, and before +the end of the week he had spent an entire day on his hands and +knees, scrubbing away with the waxy black compound at a figure in +the Cathedral--the office-work, as we declared, which Clarence gave +him to do. In fact he became so thoroughly infected that it was a +pity that he was going where there would be no exercise in +ecclesiology--rather the reverse. Embarrassment on his side, and +hostility on ours, may be said to have vanished under the influence +of Sir Guy de Warrenne's austere countenance. The youth seemed to +regard 'Mr. Winslow' in the light of a father, and to accept us as +kindly beings. He ceased to contort his limbs in our awful +presence, looked at me like as an ordinary person, and even ventured +on giving me an arm. He listened with unfeigned pleasure to our +music, perilled his neck on St. Vincent's rocks in search of plants, +and by and by took to hanging back with Emily, while Clarence walked +on with me, to talk to her out of his full heart about his mother +and sisters. + +Three weeks elapsed before the Hoang-ho was ready to sail, and by +that time Lawrence knew that there were some who would rejoice in +his success, or grieve if things went ill with him. Clarence and I +had promised him long home letters, and impressed on him that we +should welcome his intelligence of himself. For verily he had made +his way into our hearts, as a thoroughly good-hearted, affectionate +being, yearning for something to cling to; intelligent and refined, +though his recent cultivation had been restricted, soundly +principled, and trained in religious feelings and habits, but so +utterly inexperienced that there was no guessing how it might be +with him when cast adrift, with no object save his own maintenance, +and no one to take an interest in him. + +Clarence talked to him paternally, and took him to second-hand shops +to provide a cheap library of substantial reading, engaging to cater +for him for the future, not omitting Dickens; and Emily worked at +providing him with the small conveniences and comforts for the +voyage that called for a woman's hand. He was so grateful that it +was like fitting out a dear friend or younger brother. + +'I wonder,' said Clarence, as he walked by my chair on one of the +last days, 'whether it was altogether wise to have this young Frith +here so much, though it could hardly have been helped.' + +To which I rejoined that it could hardly have displeased the uncle, +and that if it did, the youth's welfare was worth annoying him for. + +'I meant something nearer home,' said Clarence, and proceeded to ask +if I did not think Lawrence Frith a good deal smitten with Emily. + +To me it seemed an idea not worth consideration. Any youth, +especially one who had lived so secluded a life, would naturally be +taken by the first pleasing young woman who came in his way, and +took a kindly interest in him; but I did not think Emily very +susceptible, being entirely wrapped up in home and parish matters; +and I reminded Clarence that she had not been loverless. She had +rejected the Curate of Hillside; and we all saw, though she did not, +that only her evident indifference kept Sir George Eastwood's second +son from making further advances. + +Clarence was not convinced. He said he had never seen our sister +look at either of these as she did when Lawrence came into the room; +and there was no denying that there was a soft and embellishing +light on her whole countenance, and a fresh sweetness in her voice. +But then he seemed such a boy as to make the notion ridiculous; and +yet, on reckoning, it proved that their years were equal. All that +could be hoped was that the sentiment, if it existed, would not +discover itself before they parted, so as to open their eyes to the +dreariness of the prospect, and cause our mother to think we had +betrayed our trust in the care of our sister. As we could do +nothing, we were not sorry that this was the last day. Clarence was +to go on board with Frith, see him out of the river, and come back +with the pilot; and we all drove down to the wharf together; nobody +saying much by the way, except the few jerky remarks we brothers +felt bound to originate and reply to. + +Emily sat very still, her head bent under her shading bonnet--I +think she was trying to keep back tears for the solitary exile; and +Lawrence, opposite, was unable to help watching her with wistful +eyes, which would have revealed all, if we had not guessed it +already. It might be presumptuous, but it made us very sorry for +him. + +When the moment of parting came, there was a wringing of hands, and, +'Thank you, thank you,' in a low, broken, heartfelt voice, and to +Emily, 'You have made life a new thing to me. I shall never +forget,' and the showing of a tiny book in his waistcoat pocket. + +When the two had disappeared, Emily, no longer restraining her +tears, told me that she had exchanged Prayer-books with him, and +they were to read the Psalms at the same time every day. 'I thought +it might be a help to him,' she said simply. + +Nor was there any consciousness in her talk as she related to me +what he had told her about his mother and sisters, and his dreary +sense of piteous loneliness, till we had adopted him as a brother-- +in which capacity I trusted that she viewed him. + +However, Clarence had been the recipient of all the poor lad's +fervent feelings for Miss Winslow, how she had been a new revelation +to his desolate spirit, and was to be the guiding star of his life, +etc., etc., all from the bottom of his heart, though he durst not +dream of requital, and was to live, not on hope, but on memory of +the angelic kindness of these three weeks. + +It was impossible not to be touched, though we strove to be worldly +wise old bachelors, and assured one another that the best and most +probable thing that could happen to Lawrence Frith would be to have +his dream blown away by the Atlantic breezes, and be left open to +the charms of some Chinese merchant's daughter. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII--TOO LATE + + + +'Thus Esau-like, our Father's blessing miss, +Then wash with fruitless tears our faded crown.' + +KEBLE. + +After such a rebuff as Martyn had experienced at Beachharbour, he no +longer haunted its neighbourhood, but devoted the long vacation of +the ensuing year to a walking tour in Germany, with one or two +congenial spirits, who shared his delight in scenery, pictures, and +architecture. + +By and by he wrote to Clarence from Baden Baden - + +'Whom do you think I should find here but Griffith and his bird? I +first spotted the old fellow smoking under a tree in the Grand +Platz, but he looked so seedy and altered altogether that I was not +sure enough of him to speak, especially as he showed no signs of +knowing me. (He says it was my whiskers that stumped him.) I made +inquiries and found that they figured as "Sir Peacock and lady," but +they were entered all right in the book. He is taking the "Kur"--he +looks as if he wanted it--and she is taking rouge et noir. I saw +her at the salon, with her neck grown as long as her namesake's, but +not as pretty, claws to match, thin and painted, as if the ruling +passion was consuming her. Poor old Griff! he was glad enough to +see me, but he is wofully shaky, and nearly came to tears when he +asked after Ted and all at home. They had an upset of their +carriage in Vienna last winter, and he got some twist, or other +damage, which he thought nothing of, but it has never righted +itself; I am sure he is very ill, and ought to be looked after. He +has had only foreign doctoring, and you know he never was strong in +languages. I heard of the medico here inquiring what precise +symptom der Englander meant by being "down in zie mout!" Poor Griff +is that, whatever else he is, and Selina does not see it, nor +anything else but her rouge et noir table. I am afraid he plays +too, when he is up to it, but he can't stand much of the stuffiness +of the place, and he respects my innocence, poor old beggar; so he +has kept out of it, since we have been here. He seems glad to have +me to look after him, but afraid to let me stay, for fear of my +falling a victim to the place. I can't well tell him that there is +a perpetual warning to youth in the persons of himself and his +Peacock. His mind might be vastly relieved if I were out of it, but +scarcely his body; and I shall not leave him till I hear from home. +Thomson says I am right. I should like to bring the poor old man +home for advice, especially if my lady could be left behind, and by +all appearances she would not object. Could not you come, or mamma? +Speak to papa about it. It is all so disgusting that I really could +not write to him. It is enough to break one's heart to see Griff +when he hears about home, and Edward, and Emily. I told him how +famously you were getting on, and he said, "It has been all up, up +with him, all down, down with me," and then he wanted me to fix my +day for leaving Baden, as if it were a sink of infection. I fancy +he thinks me a mere infant still, for he won't heed a word of advice +about taking care of himself and WILL do the most foolish things +imaginable for a man in his state, though I can't make out what is +the matter with him. I tried both French and Latin with his doctor, +equally in vain.' + +There was a great consultation over this letter. Our parents would +fain have gone at once to Baden, but my father was far from well; in +fact, it was the beginning of the break-up of his constitution. He +had been ageing ever since his disappointment in Griffith, and +though he had so enjoyed his jaunt with my mother that he had seemed +revived for the time, he had been visibly failing ever since the +winter, and my mother durst not leave him. Indeed she was only too +well aware that her presence was apt to inspire Selina with the +spirit of contradiction, and that Clarence would have a better +chance alone. He was to go up to London by the mail train, see Mr. +Castleford, and cross to Ostend. + +A valise from the lumber-room was wanted, and at bedtime he went in +quest of it. He came back white and shaken; and I said - + +'You have not seen HER?' + +'Yes, I have.' + +'It is not her time of year.' + +'No; I was not even thinking of her. There was none of the wailing, +but when I looked up from my rummaging, there was her face as if in +a window or mirror on the wall.' + +'Don't dwell on it' was all I could entreat, for the apparition at +unusual times had been mentioned as a note of doom, and not only did +it weigh on me, but it might send Clarence off in a desponding mood. +Tidings were less rapid when telegraphs were not, and railways +incomplete. Clarence did not reach Baden till ten days after the +despatch of Martyn's letter, and Griffith's condition had in the +meantime become much more serious. Low fever had set in, and he was +confined to his dreary lodgings, where Martyn was doing his best for +him in an inexperienced, helpless sort of way, while Lady Peacock +was at the salle, persisting in her belief that the ailment was a +temporary matter. Martyn afterwards declared that he had never seen +anything more touching than poor Griff's look of intense rest and +relief at Clarence's entrance. + +On the way through London, by the assistance of Mr. Castleford, +Clarence had ascertained how to procure the best medical advice +attainable, and he was linguist enough to be an adequate +interpreter. Alas! all that was achieved was the discovery that +between difficulties of language, Griff's own indifference, and his +wife's carelessness, the injury had developed into fatal disease. +An operation MIGHT yet save him, if he could rally enough for it, +but the fever was rapidly destroying his remaining strength. Selina +ascribed it to excitement at meeting Martyn, and indeed he had been +subject to such attacks every autumn. Any way, he had no spirits +nor wish for improvement. If his brothers told him he was better, +he smiled and said it was like a condemned criminal trying to +recover enough for the gallows. His only desire was to be let alone +and have Clarence with him. He had ceased to be uneasy as to +Martyn's exposure to temptation, but he said he could hardly bear to +watch that bright, fresh young manhood, and recollect how few years +had passed since he had been such another, nor did he like to have +any nurse save Clarence. His wife at first acquiesced, holding fast +to the theory of the periodical autumnal fever, and then that the +operation would restore him to health; and as her presence fretted +him, and he received her small attentions peevishly, she persisted +in her usual habits, and heard with petulance his brothers' +assurances of his being in a critical condition, declaring that it +was always thus with these fevers--he was always cross and low- +spirited, and no one could tell what she had undergone with him. + +Then came days of positive pain, and nights of delirious, dreary +murmuring about home and all of us, more especially Ellen Fordyce. +Clarence had no time for letters, and Martyn's became a call for +mamma, with the old childish trust in her healing and comforting +powers, declaring that he would meet her at Cologne, and steer her +through the difficulties of foreign travel. + +Hesitation was over now. My father was most anxious to send her, +and she set forth, secure that she could infuse life, energy, and +resolution into her son, when those two poor boys had failed. + +It was not, however, Martyn who met her, but his friend Thomson, +with the tidings that the suffering had become so severe as to +prevent Martyn from leaving Baden, not only on his brother's +account, but because Lady Peacock had at last taken alarm, and was +so uncontrollable in her distress that he was needed to keep her out +of the sickroom, where her presence, poor thing, only did mischief. + +She evidently had a certain affection for her husband; and it was +the more piteous that in his present state he only regarded her as +the tempter who had ruined his life--his false Duessa, who had led +him away from Una. On one unhappy evening he had been almost +maddened by her insisting on arguing with him; he called her a hag, +declared she had been the death of his children, the death of that +dear one--could she not let him alone now she had been the death of +himself? + +When Martyn took her away, she wept bitterly, and told enough to +make the misery of their life apparent, when the gaiety was over, +and regrets and recriminations set in. + +However, there came a calmer interval, when the suffering passed +off, but in the manner which made the German doctor intimate that +hope was over. Would life last till his mother came? + +His brothers had striven from the first to awaken thoughts of higher +things, and turn remorse into repentance; but every attempt resulted +in strange, sad wanderings about Esau, the birthright, and the +blessing. Indeed, these might not have been entirely wanderings, +for once he said, 'It is better this way, Bill. You don't know what +you wish in trying to bring me round. Don't be hard on me. She +drove me to it. It is all right now. The Jews will be +disappointed.' + +For even at the crisis in London, he had concealed that he had +raised money on post obits, so that, had he outlived my father, +Chantry House would have been lost. Lady Peacock's fortune had been +undermined when she married him; extravagance and gambling had made +short work of the rest. + +Why should I speak of such things here, except to mourn over our +much-loved brother, with all his fine qualities and powers wasted +and overthrown? He clung to Clarence's affection, and submitted to +prayers and psalms, but without response. He showed tender +recollection of us all, but scarcely durst think of his father, and +hardly appeared to wish to see his mother. Clarence's object soon +came to be to obtain forgiveness for the wife, since bitterness +against her seemed the great obstacle to seeking pardon, peace, or +hope; but each attempt only produced such bitterness against her, +and such regrets and mourning for Ellen, as fearfully shook the +failing frame, while he moaned forth complaints of the blandishments +and raillery with which his temptress had beguiled him. Clarence +tried in vain to turn away this idea, but nothing had any effect +till he bethought himself of Ellen's message, that she knew even +this fatal act had been prompted by generosity of spirit. There was +truth enough in it to touch Griff, but only so far as to cry, 'What +might I not have been with her?' Still, there was no real softening +till my mother came. He knew her at once, and all the old childish +relations were renewed between them. There was little time left +now, but he was wholly hers. Even Clarence was almost set aside, +save where strength was needed, and the mother seemed to have equal +control of spirit and body. It was she, who, scarcely aware of what +had gone before, caused him to admit Selina. + +'Tell her not to talk,' he said. 'But we have each much to forgive +one another.' + +She came in, awed and silent, and he let her kiss him, sit near at +hand, and wait on my mother, whose coming had, as it were, +insensibly taken the bitterness away and made him as a little child +in her hands. He could follow prayers in which she led him, as he +could not, or did not seem to do, with any one else, for he was +never conscious of the presence of the clergyman whom Thomson hunted +up and brought, and who prayed aloud with Martyn while the physical +agony claimed both my mother and Clarence. + +Once Griff looked about him and called out for our father, then +recollecting, muttered, 'No--the birthright gone--no blessing.' + +It grieved us much, it grieves me now, that this was his last +distinct utterance. He LOOKED as if the comforting replies and the +appeals to the Source of all redemption did awaken a response, but +he never spoke articulately again; and only thirty-six hours after +my mother's arrival, all was over. + +Poor Selina went into passions of hysterics and transports of grief, +needing all the firmness of so resolute a woman as my mother to deal +with her. She was wild in self-accusation, and became so ill that +the care of her was a not unwholesome occupation for my mother, who +was one of those with whom sorrow has little immediate outlet, and +is therefore the more enduring. + +She would not bring our brother's coffin home, thinking the +agitation would be hurtful to my father, and anxious to get back to +him as soon as possible. So Griff was buried at Baden, and from +time to time some of us have visited his grave. Of course she +proposed Selina's return to Chantry House with her; but Mr. +Clarkson, the brother, had come out to the funeral, and took his +sister home with him, certainly much to our relief, though all the +sad party at Baden had drawn much nearer together in these latter +days. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX--A PURPOSE + + + + 'It then draws near the season +Wherein the spirit held his wont to walk.' + +Hamlet. + +We had really lost our Griffith long before--our bright, generous, +warm-hearted, promising Griff, the brilliance of our home; but his +actual death made the first breach in a hitherto unbroken family, +and was a new and strange shock. It made my father absolutely an +old man; and it also changed Martyn. His first contact with +responsibility, suffering, and death had demolished the light- +hearted boyishness which had lasted in the youngest of the family +through all his high aspirations. Till his return to Oxford, his +chief solace was in getting some one of us alone, going through all +the scenes at Baden, discussing his new impressions of the trials +and perplexities of life, and seeking out passages in the books that +were becoming our oracles. What he had admired externally before, +he was grasping from within; nor can I describe what the Lyra +Apostolica, and the two first volumes of Parochial Sermons preached +at Littlemore, became to us. + +Mr. Clarkson had been rather dry with my brothers at Baden, +evidently considering that poor Griffith had been as fatal to his +sister as we thought Selina had been to our brother. It was hardly +just, for there had been much more to spoil in him than in her; and +though she would hardly have trod a much higher path, there is no +saying what he might have been but for her. + +Griffith had said nothing about providing for her, not having +forgiven her till he was past recollecting the need, but her brother +had intimated that something was due from the family, and Clarence +had assented--not, indeed, as to her deserts, poor woman, but her +claims and her needs--well knowing that my father would never suffer +Griff's widow to be in want. + +He judged rightly. My father was nervously anxious to arrange for +giving her 500 pounds a year, in the manner most likely to prevent +her from making away with it, and leaving herself destitute. But +there had already been heavy pulls on his funded property, and ways +and means had to be considered, making Clarence realise that he had +become the heir. Somehow, there still remained, especially with my +mother and himself, a sense of his being a failure, and an inferior +substitute, although my father had long come to lean upon him, as +never had been the case with our poor Griff. + +The first idea of raising the amount required was by selling an +outlying bit of the estate near the Wattlesea Station, for which an +enterprising builder was making offers, either to purchase or take +on a building lease. My father had received several letters on the +subject, and only hesitated from a feeling against breaking up the +estate, especially if this were part of the original Chantry House +property, and not a more recent acquisition of the Winslows. +Moreover, he would do nothing without Clarence's participation. + +The title-deeds were not in the house, for my father had had too +much of the law to meddle more than he could help with his own +affairs, and had left them in the hands of the family solicitor at +Bristol, where Clarence was to go and look over them. He rejoiced +in the opportunity of being able to see whether anything would throw +light on the story of the mullion chamber; and the certainty that +the Wattlesea property had never been part of the old endowment of +the Chantry did not seem nearly so interesting as a packet of yellow +letters tied with faded red tape. Mr. Ryder made no difficulty in +entrusting these to him, and we read them by our midnight lamp. + +Clarence had seen poor Margaret's will, bequeathing her entire +property to her husband's son, Philip Winslow, and had noted the +date, 1705; also the copy of the decision in the Court of Probate +that there was no sufficient evidence of entail on the Fordyce +family to bar her power of disposing of it. We eagerly opened the +letters, but found them disappointing, as they were mostly offerings +of 'Felicitations' to Philip Winslow on having established his 'Just +Claim,' and 'refuted the malicious Accusations of Calumny.' They +only served to prove the fact that he had been accused of something, +and likewise that he had powerful friends, and was thought worth +being treated with adulation, according to the fashion of his day. +Perhaps it was hardly to be expected that he should have preserved +evidence against himself, but it was baffling to sift so little out +of such a mass of correspondence. If we could have had access to +the Fordyce papers, no doubt they would have given the other phase +of the transaction, but they were unattainable. The only public +record that Clarence could discover was much abbreviated, and though +there was some allusion to intimidation, the decision seemed to have +been fixed by the non-existence of any entail. + +Christmas was drawing on, and gathering together what was left of +us. Though Griffith had spent only one Christmas at home in nine +years, it was wonderful how few we seemed, even when Martyn +returned. My father liked to have us about him, and even spoke of +Clarence's giving up his post as manager at Bristol, and living +entirely at home to attend to the estate; but my mother did not +encourage the idea. She could not quite bear to accept any one in +Griff's place, and rightly thought there was not occupation enough +to justify bringing Clarence home. I was competent to assist my +father through all the landlord's business that came to him within +doors, and Emily had ridden and walked about enough with him to be +an efficient inspector of crops and repairs, besides that Clarence +himself was within reach. + +'Indeed,' he said to me, 'I cannot loose my hold on Frith and +Castleford till I see my way into the future.' + +I did not know what he intended either then or when he gave his +voice against dismembering the property by selling the Wattlesea +estate, but arranged for raising Selina's income otherwise, +persuading my father to let him undertake the building of the +required cottages out of his own resources, on principles much more +wholesome than were likely to be employed by the speculator. Nor +did grasp what was in his mind when he made me look out my 'ghost +journal,' as we called my record of each apparition reported in the +mullion chamber or the lawn, with marks to those about which we had +no reasonable doubt. Separately there might be explanation, but +conjointly and in connection with the date they had a remarkable +force. + +'I am resolved,' said Clarence, 'to see whether that figure can have +a purpose. I have thought of it all those years. It has hitherto +had no fair play. I was too much upset by the sight, and beaten by +the utter incredulity of everybody else; but now I am determined to +look into it.' + +There was both awe and resolution in his countenance, and I only +stipulated that he should not be alone, or with no more locomotive +companion than myself. Martyn was as old as I had been at our +former vigil, and a person to be relied on. + +A few months ago he would have treated the matter as a curious +adventurous enterprise--a concession to superstition or imagination; +but now he took it up with much grave earnestness. He had been +discussing the evidence for such phenomena with friends at Oxford, +and the conclusion had been that they were at times permitted, +sometimes as warnings, sometimes to accomplish the redress of a +wrong, sometimes to teach us the reality of the spiritual world +about us; and, likewise, that some constitutions were more +susceptible than others to these influences. Of course he had +adduced all that he knew of his domestic haunted chamber, but had +found himself uncertain as to the amount of direct or trustworthy +evidence. So he eagerly read our jottings, and was very anxious to +keep watch with Clarence, though there were greater difficulties in +the way than when the outer chamber was Griffith's sitting-room, and +always had a fire lighted. + +To our disappointment, likewise, there came an invitation from the +Eastwoods for the evening of the 27th of December, the second of the +recurring days of the phantom's appearance. My father could not, +and my mother would not go, but they so much wanted my brothers and +sister to accept it that it could not well be declined. It was +partly a political affair, and my father was anxious to put Clarence +forward, and make him take his place as the future squire; and my +mother thought depression had lasted long enough with her children, +and did not like to see Martyn so grave and preoccupied. 'It was +quite right and very nice in him, dear boy, but it was not natural +at his age, though he was to be a clergyman.' + +As to Emily, her gentle cheerfulness had helped us all through our +time of sorrow, and just now we had been gratified by the tidings of +young Lawrence Frith. That youth was doing extremely well. There +had been golden reports from manager and chaplain, addressed to Mr. +Castleford, the latter adding that the young man evidently owed much +to Mr. Winslow's influence. Moreover, Lawrence had turned out an +excellent correspondent. Long letters, worthy of forming a book of +travels, came regularly to Clarence and me, indeed they were thought +worth being copied into that fat clasped MS. book in the study. +Writing them must have been a real solace to the exile, in his +island outside the town, whither all the outer barbarians were +relegated. So, no doubt, was the packing of the gifts that were +gradually making Prospect Cottage into a Chinese exhibition of +nodding mandarins, ivory balls, exquisite little cups, and faggots +of tea. Also, a Chinese walking doll was sent humbly as an offering +for the amusement of Miss Winslow's school children, whom indeed she +astonished beyond measure; and though her wheels are out of order, +and her movements uncertain, she is still a stereotyped incident in +the Christmas entertainments. + +There was no question but that these letters and remembrances gave +great pleasure to Emily; but I believe she was not in the least +conscious that though greater in degree, it was not of the same +quality as that she felt when a runaway scholar who had gone to sea +presented her in token of gratitude with a couple of dried sea- +horses. + + + +CHAPTER XL--THE MIDNIGHT CHASE + + + +'What human creature in the dead of night + Had coursed, like hunted hare, that cruel distance, +Had sought the door, the window in her flight + Striving for dear existence?' + +HOOD. + +On the night of the 26th of December, Clarence and Martyn, well +wrapped in greatcoats, stole into the outer mullion room; but though +the usual sounds were heard, and the mysterious light again +appeared, Martyn perceived nothing else, and even Clarence declared +that if there were anything besides, it was far less distinct to him +than it had been previously. Could it be that his spiritual +perceptions were growing dimmer as he became older, and outgrew the +sensitiveness of nerves and imagination? + +We came to the conclusion that it would be best to watch the outside +of the house, rather than within the chamber; and the dinner-party +facilitated this, since it accounted for being up and about nearer +to the hour when the ghost might be expected. Egress could be had +through the little garden door, and I undertook to sit up and keep +up the fire. + +All three came to my room on their return home, for Emily had become +aware of our scheme, and entreated to be allowed to watch with us. +Clarence had unfastened the alarum bell from my shutters, and taken +down the bar after the curtains had been drawn by the housemaid, and +he now opened them. It was a frosty moonlight night, and the lawn +lay white and crisp, marked with fantastic shadows. The others +looked grave and pale, Emily was in a thick white shawl and hood, +with a swan's down boa over her black dress, a somewhat ghostly +figure herself, but we were in far too serious a mood for light +observations. + +There was something of a shudder about Clarence as he went to unbolt +the back door; Martyn kept close to him. We saw them outside, and +then Emily flew after them. From my window I could watch them +advancing on the central gravel walk, Emily standing still between +her brothers, clasping an arm of each. I saw the light near the +ruin, and caught some sounds as of shrieks and of threatening +voices, the light flitted towards the gable of the mullion rooms, +and then was the concluding scream. All was over, and the three +came back much agitated, Emily sinking into an armchair, panting, +her hands over her face, and a nervous trembling through her whole +frame, Martyn's eyes looking wide and scared, Clarence with the +well-known look of terror on his face. He hurried to fetch the tray +of wine and water that was always left on the table when anyone went +to a party at night, but he shivered too much to prevent the glasses +from jingling, and I had to pour out the sherry and administer it to +Emily. 'Oh! poor, poor thing,' she gasped out. + +'You saw?' I exclaimed. + +'They did,' said Martyn; 'I only saw the light, and heard! That was +enough!' and he shuddered again. + +'Then Emily did,' I began, but Clarence cut me short. 'Don't ask +her to-night.' + +'Oh! let me tell,' cried Emily; 'I can't go away to bed till I have +had it out.' + +Then she gave the details, which were the more notable because she +had not, like Martyn, been studying our jottings, and had heard +comparatively little of the apparition. + +'When I joined the boys,' she said, 'I looked toward the mullion +rooms; I saw the windows lighted up, and heard a sobbing and crying +inside.' + +'So did I,' put in Martyn, and Clarence bent his head. + +'Then,' added Emily, 'by the moonlight I saw the gable end, not +blank, and covered by the magnolia as it is now, but with stone +steps up to the bricked-up doorway. The door opened, the light +spread, and there came out a lady in black, with a lamp in one hand, +and a kind of parcel in the other, and oh, when she turned her face +this way, it was Ellen's!' + +'So you called out,' whispered Martyn. + +'Dear Ellen, not as she used to be,' added Emily, 'but like what she +was when last I saw her; no, hardly that either, for this was sad, +sad, scared, terrified, with eyes all tears, as Ellen never, never +was.' + +'I saw,' added Clarence, 'I saw the shape, but not the countenance +and expression as I used to do.' + +'She came down the steps,' continued Emily, 'looking about her as if +making her escape, but, just as she came opposite to us, there was a +sound of tipsy laughing and singing from the gate up by the wood.' + +'I thought it real,' said Martyn. + +'Then,' continued Emily, 'she wavered, then turned and went under an +arch in the ruin--I fancied she was hiding something--then came out +and fled across to the steps; but there were two dark men rushing +after her, and at the stone steps there was a frightful shriek, and +then it was all over, the steps gone, all quiet, and the magnolia +leaves glistening in the moonshine. Oh! what can it all mean?' + +'Went under the arch,' repeated Clarence. 'Is it what she hid there +that keeps her from resting?' + +'Then you believe it really happened?' said Emily, 'that some +terrible scene is being acted over again. Oh! but can it be the +real spirits!' + +'That is one of the great mysteries,' answered Martyn; 'but I could +tell you of other instances.' + +'Don't now,' I interposed; 'Emily has had quite enough.' + +We reminded her that the ghastly tragedy was over and would not +recur again for another year; but she was greatly shaken, and we +were very sorry for her, when the clock warned her to go to her own +room, whither Martyn escorted her. He lighted every candle he could +find, and revived the fire; but she was sadly overcome by what she +had witnessed, she lay awake all the rest of the night, and in the +morning, looked so unwell, and had so little to tell about the party +that my mother thought her spirits had been too much broken for +gaieties. + +The real cause could not be confessed, for it would have been +ascribed to some kind of delirium, and have made a commotion for +which my father was unfit. Besides, we had reached an age when, +though we would not have disobeyed, liberty of thought and action +had become needful. All our private confabulations were on this +extraordinary scene. We looked for the arch in the ruin, but there +was, as our morning senses told us, nothing of the kind. She tried +to sketch her remembrance of both that and the gable of the mullion +chamber, and Martyn prowled about in search of some hiding-place. +Our antiquarian friend, Mr. Stafford, had made a conjectural drawing +of the Chapel restored, and all the portfolios about the house were +searched for it, disquieting mamma, who suspected Martyn's Oxford +notions of intending to rebuild it, nor would he say that it ought +not to be done. However, he with his more advanced ecclesiology, +pronounced Mr. Stafford's reconstruction to be absolutely mistaken +and impossible, and set to work on a fresh plan, which, by the bye, +he derides at present. It afforded, however, an excuse for routing +under the ivy and among the stones, but without much profit. From +the mouldings on the materials and in the stables and the front +porch, it was evident that the chapel had been used as a quarry, and +Emily's arch was very probably that of the entrance door. In a dry +summer, the foundations of the walls and piers could be traced on +the turf, and the stumps of one or two columns remained, but the +rest was only a confused heap of fragments within which no one could +have entered as in that strange vision. + +Another thing became clear. There had once been a wall between the +beech wood and the lawn, with a gate or door in it; Chapman could +just remember its being taken down, in James Winslow's early married +life, when landscape gardening was the fashion. It must have been +through this that the Winslow brothers were returning, when poor +Margaret perhaps expected them to enter by the front. + +We wished we could have consulted Dame Dearlove, but she had died a +few years before, and her school was extinct. + + + +CHAPTER XLI--WILLS OLD AND NEW + + + +'And that to-night thou must watch with me + To win the treasure of the tomb.' + +SCOTT. + +Some seasons seem to be peculiarly marked, as if Death did indeed +walk forth in them. + +Old Mr. Frith died in the spring of 1841, and it proved that he had +shown his gratitude to Clarence by a legacy of shares in the firm +amounting to about 2000 pounds. The rest of his interest therein +went to Lawrence Frith, and his funded property to his sister, Mrs. +Stevens, a very fair and upright disposition of his wealth. + +Only six weeks later, my father had a sudden seizure, and there was +only time to summon Clarence from London and Martyn from Oxford, +before a second attack closed his righteous and godly career upon +earth. + +My mother was very still and calm, hardly shedding a tear, but her +whole demeanour was as if life were over for her, and she had +nothing to do save to wait. She seemed to care very little for +tendernesses or attentions on our part. No doubt she would have +been more desolate without them, but we always had a baffled +feeling, as though our affection were contrasted with her perfect +union with her husband. Yet they had been a singularly +undemonstrative couple; I never saw a kiss pass between them, except +as greeting or farewell before or after a journey; and if my mother +could not use the terms papa or your father, she always said, 'Mr. +Winslow.' There was a large gathering at the funeral, including Mr. +Fordyce, but he slept at Hillside, and we scarcely saw him--only for +a few kind words and squeezes of the hand. Holy Week was begun, and +he had to hurry back to Beachharbour that very night. + +The will had been made on my father's coming into the inheritance. +It provided a jointure of 800 pounds per annum for my mother, and +gave each of the younger children 3000 pounds. A codicil had been +added shortly after Griffith's death, written in my father's hand, +and witnessed by Mr. Henderson and Amos Bell. This put Clarence in +the position of heir; secured 500 pounds a year to Griffith's widow, +charged on the estate, and likewise an additional 200 pounds a year +to Emily and to me, hers till marriage, mine for life, 300 pounds a +year to Martyn, until Earlscombe Rectory should be voided, when it +was to be offered to him. The executors had originally been Mr. +Castleford and my mother, but by this codicil, Clarence was +substituted for the former. + +The legacies did not come out of the Chantry House property, for my +father had, of course, means of his own besides, and bequests had +accrued to both him and my mother; but Clarence was inheriting the +estate much more burthened than it had been in 1829, having 2000 +pounds a year to raise out of its proceeds. + +My mother was quite equal to business, with a sort of outside sense, +which she applied to it when needful. Clarence made it at once +evident to her that she was still mistress of Chantry House, and +that it was still to be our home; and she immediately calculated +what each ought to contribute to the housekeeping. She looked +rather blank when she found that Clarence did not mean to give up +business, nor even to become a sleeping partner; but when she +examined into ways and means, she allowed that he was prudent, and +that perhaps it was due to Mr. Castleford not to deprive him of an +efficient helper under present circumstances. Meantime she was +content to do her best for Earlscombe 'for the present,' by which +she meant till her son brought home a wife; but we knew that to him +the words bore a different meaning, though he was still in doubt and +uncertainty how to act, and what might be the wrong to be undone. + +He was anxious to persuade her to go from home for a short time, and +prevailed on her at last to take Emily and me to Dawlish, while the +repairs went on which had been deferred during my father's +feebleness; at least that was the excuse. We two, going with great +regret, knew that his real reason was to have an opportunity for a +search among the ruins. + +It was in June, just as Martyn came back from Oxford, eager to share +in the quest. Those two brothers would trust no one to help them, +but one by one, in the long summer evenings, they moved each of +those stones; I believe the servants thought they were crazed, but +they could explain with some truth that they wanted to clear up the +disputed points as to the architecture, as indeed they succeeded in +doing. + +They had, however, nearly given up, having reached the original +pavement and disinterred the piscina of the side altar, also a +beautiful coffin lid with a floriated cross; when, in a kind of +hollow, Martyn lit upon the rotten remains of something silken, +knotted together. It seemed to have enclosed a bundle. There were +some rags that might have been a change of clothing, also a Prayer- +book, decayed completely except the leathern covering, inside which +was the startling inscription, 'Margaret Winslow, her booke; Lord, +have mercy on a miserable widow woman.' There was also a thick +leathern roll, containing needles, pins, and scissors, entirely +corroded, and within these a paper, carefully folded, but almost +destroyed by the action of damp and the rust of the steel, so that +only thus much was visible. 'I, Margaret Winslow, being of sound +mind, do hereby give and bequeath--' + +Then came stains that defaced every line, till the extreme end, +where a seal remained; the date 1707 was legible, and there were +some scrawls, probably the poor lady's signature, and perhaps that +of witnesses. Clarence and Martyn said very little to one another, +but they set out for Dawlish the next day. + +'Found' was indicated to us, but no more, for they arrived late, and +had to sleep at the hotel, after an evening when we were delighted +to hear my mother ask so many questions about household and parish +affairs. In the morning she was pleased to send all 'the children' +out on the beach, then free from the railway. It was a beautiful +day, with the intensely blue South Devon sea dancing in golden +ripples, and breaking on the shore with the sound Clarence loved so +well, as, in the shade of the dark crimson cliffs, Emily sat at my +feet and my brothers unfolded their strange discoveries into her +lap. There was a kind of solemnity in the thing; we scarcely spoke, +except that Emily said, 'Oh, will she come again,' and, as the tears +gathered at sight of the pathetic petition in the old book, 'Was +that granted?' + +We reconstructed our theory. The poor lady must have repented of +the unjust will forced from her by her stepsons, and contrived to +make another; but she must have been kept a captive until, during +their absence at some Christmas convivialities, she tried to escape; +but hearing sounds betokening their return, she had only time to +hide the bundle in the ruin before she was detected, and in the +scuffle received a fatal blow. + +'But why,' I objected, 'did she not remain hidden till her enemies +were safe in the house?' + +'Terrified beyond the use of her senses,' said Clarence. + +'By all accounts,' said Martyn, 'the poor creature must have been +rather a silly woman.' + +'For shame, Martyn,' cried Emily, 'how can you tell? They might +have seen her go in, or she might have feared being missed.' + +'Or if you watch next Christmas you may see it all explained.' + +To which Emily replied with a shiver that nothing would induce her +to go through it again, and indeed she hoped the spirit would rest +since the discovery had been made. + +'And then?'--one of us said, and there was a silence, and another +futile attempt to read the will. + +'I shall take it to London and see what an expert can do with it,' +said Clarence. 'I have heard of wonderful decipherings in the +Record Office; but you will remember that even if it can be made +out, it will hardly invalidate our possession after a hundred and +thirty years.' + +'Clarence!' cried Emily in a horrified voice; and I asked if the +date were not later than that by which we inherited. + +'Three years,' Clarence said, 'yes; but as things stand, it is +absolutely impossible for me to make restitution at present.' + +'On account of the burthens on the estate?' I said. + +'Oh, but we could give up,' said Emily. + +'I dare say!' said Clarence, smiling; 'but to say nothing of poor +Selina, my mother would hardly see it in the same light, nor should +I deal rightly, even if I could make any alterations; I doubt +whether my father would have held himself bound--certainly not while +no one can read this document.' + +'It would simply outrage his legal mind,' said Martyn. + +'Then what is to be done? Is the injustice to be perpetual?' asked +Emily. + +'This is what I have thought of,' said Clarence. 'We must leave +matters as they are till I can realise enough either to pay off all +these bequests, or to offer Mr. Fordyce the value of the estate.' + +'It is not the whole,' I said. + +'Not the Wattlesea part. This means Chantry House and the three +farms in the village. 10,000 pounds would cover it.' + +'Is it possible?' asked Emily. + +'Yes,' returned Clarence, 'God helping me. You know our concern is +bringing in good returns, and Mr. Castleford will put me in the way +of doing more with my available capital.' + +'We will save so as to help you!' added Emily. At which he smiled. + + + +CHAPTER XLII--ON A SPREE + + + +'Her eyes as stars of twilight fair, +Like twilight too, her dusky hair, +But all things else about her drawn +From May-time and the cheerful dawn, +A dancing shape, an image gay, +To haunt, to startle, and waylay.' + +WORDSWORTH. + +Clarence went to London according to his determination, and as he +had for some time been urgent that I should try some newly-invented +mechanical appliances, he took me with him, this being the last +expedition of the ancient yellow chariot. One of his objects was +that I should see St. Paul's, Knightsbridge, which was then the most +distinguished church of our school of thought, and where there was +to be some special preaching. The Castlefords had a seat there, and +I was settled there in good time, looking at the few bits of stained +glass then in the east window, when, as the clergy came in from the +vestry, I beheld a familiar face, and recognised the fine +countenance and bearing of our dear old friend Frank Fordyce. + +Then, looking at the row of ladies in front of me, I beheld for a +moment an outline of a profile recalling many things. No doubt, +Anne Fordyce was there, though instead of barely emulating my +stunted stature, she towered above her companions, looking to my +mind most fresh and graceful in her pretty summer dress; and I knew +that Clarence saw her too. + +I had never heard Mr. Fordyce preach before, as in his flying visits +his ministrations were due at Hillside; and I certainly should have +been struck with the force and beauty of his sermon if I had never +known him before. It was curious that it was on the 49th Psalm, +meant perhaps for the fashionable congregation, but remarkably +chiming in with the feelings of us, who were conscious of an +inheritance of evil from one who had 'done well unto himself;' +though, no doubt, that was the last thing honest Parson Frank was +thinking of. + +When the service was over, and Anne turned, she became aware of us, +and her face beamed all over. It was a charming face, with a +general likeness to dear Ellen's, but without the fragile ethereal +look, and all health, bloom, and enjoyment recalling her father's. +She was only moving to let her pew-fellows pass out, and was waiting +for him to come for her, as he did in a few moments, and he too was +all pleasure and cordiality. He told us when we were outside that +he had come up to preach, and 'had brought Miss Anne up for a +spree.' They were at a hotel, Mrs. Fordyce was at home, and the +Lesters were not in town this season--a matter of rejoicing to us. +Could we not come home and dine with them at once? We were too much +afraid of disappointing Gooch to do so, but they made an appointment +to meet us at the Royal Academy as soon as it was open the next +morning. + +There was a fortnight of enjoyment. Parson Frank was like a boy out +for a holiday. He had not spent more than a day or two in town for +many years; Anne had not been there since early childhood, and they +adopted Clarence as their lioniser, going through such a country- +cousin course of delights as in that memorable time with Ellen. +They even went down to Eton and Windsor, Frank Fordyce being an old +Etonian. I doubt whether Clarence ever had a more thoroughly happy +time, not even in the north of Devon, for there was no horse on his +mind, and he was not suppressed as in those days. Indeed, I +believe, it is the experience of others besides ourselves that there +is often more unmixed pleasure on casual holidays like this than in +those of early youth; for even if spirits are less high (which is +not always the case), anticipations are less eager, there is more +readiness to accept whatever comes, more matured appreciation, and +less fret and friction at contretemps. + +I was not much of a drag, for when I could not be with the others, I +had old friends, and the museum was as dear to me as ever, in those +recesses that had been the paradise of my youth; but there was a +good deal in which we could all share, and as usual they were all +kind consideration. + +Anne overflowed with minute remembrances of her old home, and +Clarence so basked in her sunshine that it began to strike me that +here might be the solution of all the perplexities especially after +the first evening, when he had shown his strange discovery to Mr. +Fordyce, who simply laughed and said we need not trouble ourselves +about it. Illegible was it? He was heartily glad to hear that it +was. Even otherwise, forty years' possession was quite enough, and +then he pointed to the grate, and said that was the best place for +such things. There was no fire, but Clarence could hardly rescue +the paper from being torn up. + +As to the ghost, he knew much less than his daughter Ellen had done. +He said his old aunt had some stories about Chantry House being +haunted, and had thought it incumbent on her to hate the Winslows, +but he had thought it all nonsense, and such stories were much +better forgotten. 'Would he not see if there were any letters?' + +There might be, perhaps in the solicitor's office at Bath, but if he +ever got hold of them, he should certainly burn them. What was the +use of being Christians, if such quarrels were to be remembered? + +Anne knew nothing. Aunt Peggy had died before she could remember, +and even Martyn had been discreet. Clarence said no more after that +one conversation, and seemed to me engrossed between his necessary +business at the office, and the pleasant expeditions with the +Fordyces. Only when they were on the point of returning home, did +he tell me that the will had been pronounced utterly past +deciphering, and that he thought he saw a way of setting all +straight. 'So do I,' was my rejoinder, and there must have been a +foolishly sagacious expression about me that made him colour up, and +say, 'No such thing, Edward. Don't put that into my head.' + +'Isn't it there already?' + +'It ought not to be. It would be mere treachery in these sweet, +fresh, young, innocent, days of hers, knowing too what her mother +would think of it and of me. Didn't you observe in old Frank's +unguarded way of reading letters aloud, and then trying to suppress +bits, that Mrs. Fordyce was not at all happy at our being so much +about with them, poor woman. No wonder! the child is too young,' he +added, showing how much, after all, he was thinking of it. 'It +would be taking a base advantage of them NOW.' + +'But by and by?' + +'If she should be still free when the great end is achieved and the +evil repaired, then I might dare.' + +He broke off with a look of glad hope, and I could see it was +forbearance rather than constitutional diffidence that withheld him +from awakening the maiden's feelings. He was a very fine looking +man, in his prime--tall, strong, and well made, with a singularly +grave, thoughtful expression, and a rare but most winning smile; and +Anne was overflowing with affectionate gladness at intercourse with +one who belonged to the golden age of her childhood. I could +scarcely believe but that in the friction of the parting the spark +would be elicited, and I should even have liked to kindle it for +them myself, being tolerably certain that warm-hearted, unguarded +Parson Frank would forget all about his lady and blow it with all +his might. + +We dined with the Fordyces at their hotel, and sat in the twilight +with the windows open, and we made Anne and Clarence sing, as both +could do without notes, but he would not undertake to remember +anything with an atom of sentiment in it, and when Anne did sing, +'Auld lang syne,' with all her heart, he went and got into a dark +corner, and barely said, 'Thank you.' + +Not a definite answer could be extracted from him in reply to all +the warm invitations to Beachharbour that were lavished on us by the +father, while the daughter expatiated on its charms; the rocks I +might sketch, the waves and the delicious boating, and above all the +fisher children and the church. Nothing was wanting but to have us +all there! Why had we not brought Mrs. Winslow, and Emily, and +Martyn, instead of going to Dawlish? + +Good creatures, they little knew the chill that had been cast upon +Martyn. They even bemoaned the having seen so little of him. And +we knew all the time that they were mice at play in the absence of +their excellent and cautious cat. + +'Now mind you do come!' said Anne, as we were in the act of taking +leave. 'It would be as good as Hillside to have you by my Lion +rock. He has a nose just like old Chapman's, and you must sketch it +before it crumbles off. Yes, and I want to show you all the dear +old things you made for my baby-house after the fire, your dear +little wardrobe and all.' + +She was coming out with us, oblivious that a London hotel was not +like her own free sea-side house. Her father was out at the +carriage door, prepared to help me in, Clarence halted a moment - + +'Please, pray, go back, Anne,' he said, and his voice trembled. +'This is not home you know.' + +She started back, but paused. 'You'll not forget.' + +'Oh no; no fear of my forgetting.' + +And when seated beside me, he leant back with a sigh. + +'How could you help?' I said. + +'How? Why the perfect, innocent, childish, unconsciousness of the +thing,' he said, and became silent except for one murmur on the way. + +'Consequences must be borne--' + + + +CHAPTER XLIII--THE PRICE + + + +'With thee, my bark, I'll swiftly go + Athwart the foaming brine.' + +LORD BYRON. + +Clarence would not tell me his purpose, he said, till he had +considered it more fully; nor could we have much conversation on the +way home, as my mother had arranged that we should bring an old +friend of hers back with us to pay her a visit. So I had to sit +inside and make myself agreeable to Mrs. Wrightson, while Clarence +had plenty of leisure for meditation outside on the box seat. The +good lady said much on the desirableness of marriage for Clarence, +and the comfort it would be to my mother to see Emily settled. + +We had heard much in town of railway shares; and the fortunes of +Hudson, the railway king, were under discussion. I suspected +Clarence of cogitating the using his capital in this manner; and +hoped that when he saw his way, he might not think it dishonourable +to come into further contact with Anne, and reveal his hopes. He +allowed that he was considering of such investments, but would not +say any more. + +My mother and Emily had, in the meantime, been escorted home by +Martyn. The first thing Clarence did was to bespeak Emily's company +in a turn in the garden. What passed then I never knew nor guessed +for years after. He consulted her whether, in case he were absent +from England for five, seven, or ten years, she would be equal to +the care of my mother and me. Martyn, when ordained, would have +duties elsewhere, and could only be reckoned upon in emergencies. +My mother, though vigorous and practical, had shown symptoms of +gout, and if she were ill, I could hardly have done much for her; +and on the other hand, though my health and powers of moving were at +their best, and I was capable of the headwork of the estate, I was +scarcely fit to be the representative member of the family. +Moreover, these good creatures took into consideration that poor +mamma and I would have been rather at a loss as each other's sole +companions. I could sort shades for her Berlin work, and even solve +problems of intricate knitting, and I could read to her in the +evening; but I could not trot after her to her garden, poultry-yard, +and cottages; nor could she enter into the pursuits that Emily had +shared with me for so many years. Our connecting link, that dear +sister, knew how sorely she would be missed, and she told Clarence +that she felt fully competent to undertake, conjointly with us, all +that would be incumbent on Chantry House, if he really wanted to be +absent. For the rest, Clarence believed my mother would be the +happier for being left regent over the estate; and his scheme broke +upon me that very forenoon, when my mother and he were settling some +executor's business together, and he told her that Mr. Castleford +wished him to go out to Hong Kong, which was then newly ceded to the +English, and where the firm wished to establish a house of business. + +'You can't think of it,' she exclaimed, and the sound fell like a +knell on my ears. + +'I think I must,' was his answer. 'We shall be cut out if we do not +get a footing there, and there is no one who can quite answer the +purpose.' + +'Not that young Frith--' + +'Ten to one but he is on his way home. Besides, if not, he has his +own work at Canton. We see our way to very considerable advantages, +if--' + +'Advantages!' she interrupted. 'I hate speculation. I should have +thought you might be contented with your station; but that is the +worst of merchants,--they never know when to stop. I suppose your +ambition is to make this a great overgrown mansion, so that your +father would not know it again.' + +'Certainly not that, mamma,' said Clarence smiling; 'it is the last +thing I should think of; but stopping would in this case mean going +backward.' + +'Why can't Mr. Castleford send one of his own sons?' + +'Probably Walter may come out by and by, but he has not experience +enough for this.' + +Clarence had not in the least anticipated my mother's opposition, +for he had come to underestimate her affection for and reliance on +him. He had us all against him, for not only could we not bear to +part with him; but the climate of Hong-Kong was in evil repute, and +I had become persuaded that, with his knowledge of business, railway +shares and scrip might be made to realise the amount needed, but he +said, 'That is what _I_ call speculation. The other matter is trade +in which, with Heaven's blessing, I can hope to prosper.' + +He explained that Mr. Castleford had received him on his coming to +London with almost a request that he would undertake this +expedition; but with fears whether, in his new position, he could or +would do so, although his presence in China would be very important +to the firm at this juncture; and there would be opportunities which +would probably result in very considerable profits after a few +years. If Clarence had been, as before, a mere younger brother, it +would have been thought an excellent chance; and he would almost +have felt bound by his obligations to Mr. Castleford to undertake +the first starting of the enterprise, if it had not been for our +recent loss, and the doubt whether he could he spared from home. + +He made light of the dangers of climate. He had never suffered in +that way in his naval days, and scarcely knew what serious illness +meant. Indeed, he had outgrown much of that sensibility of nerve +which had made him so curiously open to spiritual or semi-spiritual +impressions. + +'Any way,' he said, 'the thing is right to be done, provided my +mother does not make an absolute point of my giving it up; and +whether she does or not depends a good deal on how you others put it +to her.' + +'Right on Mr. Castleford's account?' I asked. + +'That is one side of it. To refuse would put him in a serious +difficulty; but I could perhaps come home sooner if it were not for +this other matter. I told him so far as that it was an object with +me to raise this sum in a few years, and he showed me how there is +every likelihood of my being able to do so out there. So now I feel +in your hands. If you all, and Edward chiefly, set to and persuade +my mother that this undertaking is a dangerous business, and that I +can only be led to it by inordinate love of riches--' + +'No, no--' + +'That's what she thinks,' pursued Clarence, 'and that I want to be a +grander man than my father. That's at the bottom of her mind, I +see. Well, if you deplore this, and let her think the place can't +do without me, she will come out in her strength and make it my duty +to stay at home.' + +'It is very tempting,' said Emily. + +'We all undertook to give up something.' + +'We never thought it would come in this way!' + +'We never do,' said Clarence. + +'Tell me,' said Martyn, 'is this to content that ghost, poor thing? +For it is very hard to believe in her, except in the mullion room in +December.' + +'Exactly so, Martyn,' he answered. 'Impressions fade, and the +intellect fails to accept them. But I do not think that is my +motive. We know that a wicked deed was done by our ancestor, and we +hardly have the right to pray, "Remember not the sins of our +forefathers," unless, now that we know the crime, we attempt what +restitution in us lies.' + +There was no resisting after this appeal, and after the first shock, +my mother was ready to admit that as Clarence owed everything to Mr. +Castleford, he could not well desert the firm, if it were really +needful for its welfare that he should go out. We got her to look +on Mr. Castleford as captain of the ship, and Clarence as first +lieutenant; and when she was once convinced that he did not want to +aggrandise the family, but to do his duty, she dropped her +objections; and we soon saw that the occupations that his absence +would impose on her would be a fresh interest in life. + +Just as the decision was thus ratified, a packet from Canton arrived +for Clarence from Bristol. It was the first reply of young Frith to +the tidings of the bequest which had changed the poor clerk to a +wealthy man, owning a large proportion of the shares of the +prosperous house. + +I asked if he were coming home, and Clarence briefly replied that he +did not know,--'it depended--' + +'Is he going to wed a fair Chinese with lily feet?' asked Martyn, to +which the reply was an unusually discourteous 'Bosh,' as Clarence +escaped with his letter. He was so reticent about it that I +required a solemn assurance that poor Lawrence's head had not been +turned by his fortune, and that there was nothing wrong with him. +Indeed, there was great stupidity in never guessing the purport of +that thick letter, nor that it contained one for Emily, where +Lawrence Frith laid himself, and all that he had, at her feet, +ascribing to her all the resolution with which he had kept from +evil, and entreating permission to come home and endeavour to win +her heart. We lived so constantly together that it is surprising +that Clarence contrived to give the letter to Emily in private. She +implored him to say nothing to us, and brought him the next day her +letter of uncompromising refusal. + +He asked whether it would have been the same if he had intended to +remain at home. + +'As if you were a woman, you conceited fellow,' was all the answer +she vouchsafed him. + +Nor could he ascertain, nor perhaps would she herself examine, on +which side lay her heart of hearts. The proof had come whether she +would abide by her pledge to him to accept the care of us in his +absence. When he asked it, it had not occurred to him that it might +be a renunciation of marriage. Now he perceived that so it had +been, but she kept her counsel and so did he. We others never +guessed at what was going on between those two. + + + +CHAPTER XLIV--PAYING THE COST + + + +'But oh! the difference to me.' + +WORDSWORTH. + +So Clarence was gone, and our new life begun in its changed aspect. +Emily showed an almost feverish eagerness to make it busy and +cheerful, getting up a sewing class in the village, resuming the +study of Greek, grappling with the natural system in botany, all of +which had been fitfully proposed but hindered by interruptions and +my father's feebleness. + +On a suggestion of Mr. Stafford's, we set to work on that History of +Letter Writing which, what with collecting materials, and making +translations, lasted us three years altogether, and was a great +resource and pleasure, besides ultimately bringing in a fraction +towards the great purpose. Emily has confessed that she worked away +a good deal of vague, weary depression, and sense of monotony into +those Greek choruses: but to us she was always a sunbeam, with her +ever ready attention, and the playfulness which resumed more of +genuine mirth after the first effort and strain of spirits were +over. + +Then journal-letters on either side began to bridge the gulf of +separation,--those which, minus all the specially interesting +portions, are to be seen in the volume we culled from them, and +which had considerable success in its day. + +Martyn worked in the parish and read with Mr. Henderson till he was +old enough for Ordination, and then took the curacy of St. +Wulstan's, under a hardworking London vicar, and thenceforth his +holidays were our festivals. Our old London friends pitied us for +what they viewed as a fearfully dull life, and in the visits they +occasionally paid us thought they were doing us a great favour by +bringing us new ideas and shooting our partridges. + +We hardly deserved their compassion: our lives were full of +interest to ourselves--that interest which comes of doing ever so +feeble a stroke of work in one great cause; and there was much keen +participation in the general life of the Church in the crisis +through which she was passing. We found that, what with drawing +pictures, writing little books, preparing lessons for teachers, and +much besides which is now ready done by the National Society and +Sunday School Institute, we could do a good deal to assist Martyn in +his London work, and our own grew upon us. + +For the first year of her widowhood, my mother shrank from society, +and afterwards had only spasmodic fits of doubt whether it were not +her duty to make my sister go out more. So that now and then Emily +did go to a party, or to make a visit of some days or weeks from +home, and then we knew how valuable she was. It would be hard to +say whether my mother were relieved or disappointed when Emily +refused James Eastwood, in spite of many persuasions, not only from +himself, but his family. I believe mamma thought it selfish to be +glad, and that it was a failure in duty not to have performed that +weighty matter of marrying her daughter; feeling in some way +inferior to ladies who had disposed of a whole flock under five and +twenty, whereas she had not been able to get rid of a single one! + +Of Clarence's doings in China I need not speak; you have read of +them in the book for yourselves, and you know how his work +prospered, so that the results more than fulfilled his expectations, +and raised the firm to the pitch of greatness and reputation which +it has ever since preserved, and this without soiling his hands with +the miserable opium traffic. Some of the subordinates were so set +on the gains to be thus obtained, that he and Lawrence Frith had a +severe struggle with them to prevent it, and were forced conjointly +to use all their authority as principals to make it impossible. +Those two were the greatest of friends. Their chief relaxation was +one another's company, and their earnest aim was to support the +Christian mission, and to keep up the tone of their English +dependants, a terribly difficult matter, and one that made the time +of their return somewhat doubtful, even when Walter Castleford was +gone out to relieve them. Their health had kept up so well that we +had ceased to be anxious on that point, and it was through the +Castlefords that we received the first hint that Clarence might not +be as well as his absence of complaint had led us to believe. + +In fact he had never been well since a terrible tempest, when he had +worked hard and exposed himself to save life. I never could hear +the particulars, for Lawrence was away, and Clarence could not write +about it himself, having been prostrated by one of those chills so +perilous in hot countries; but from all I have heard, no resident in +Hong-Kong would have believed that Mr. Winslow's courage could ever +have been called in question. He ought to have come home +immediately after that attack of fever; for the five years were +over, and his work nearly done; but there was need to consolidate +his achievements, and a strong man is only too apt to trifle with +his health. We might have guessed something by the languor and +brevity of his letters, but we thought the absence of detail owing +to his expectation of soon seeing us; and had gone on for months +expecting the announcement of a speedy return, when an unexpected +shock fell on us. Our dear mother was still an active woman, with +few signs of age about her, when, in her sixty-seventh year, she was +almost suddenly taken from us by an attack of gout in the stomach. + +I feel as if I had not done her justice, and as if she might seem +stern, unsympathising, and lacking in tenderness. Yet nothing could +be further from the truth. She was an old-fashioned mother, who +held it her duty to keep up her authority, and counted over- +familiarity and indulgence as sins. To her 'the holy spirit of +discipline was the beginning of wisdom,' and to make her children +godly, truthful, and honourable was a much greater object than to +win their love. And their love she had, and kept to a far higher +degree than seems to be the case with those who court affection by +caresses and indulgence. We knew that her approval was of a +generous kind, we prized enthusiastically her rare betrayals of her +motherly tenderness, and we depended on her in a manner we only +realised in the desolation, dreariness, and helplessness that fell +upon us, when we knew that she was gone. She had not, nor had any +of us, understood that she was dying, and she had uttered only a few +words that could imply any such thought. On hearing that there was +a letter from Clarence, she said, 'Poor Clarence! I should like to +have seen him. He is a good boy after all. I've been hard on him, +but it will all be right now. God Almighty bless him!' + +That was the only formal blessing she left among us. Indeed, the +last time I saw her was with an ordinary good-night at the foot of +the stairs. Emily said she was glad that I had not to carry with me +the remembrance of those paroxysms of suffering. My dear Emily had +alone the whole force of that trial--or shall I call it privilege? +Martyn did not reach home till some hours after all was over, poor +boy. + +And in the midst of our desolateness, just as we had let the +daylight in again upon our diminished numbers round the table, came +a letter from Hong-Kong, addressed to me in Lawrence Frith's +writing, and the first thing I saw was a scrawl, as follows:- + + +'DEAREST TED--All is in your hands. You can do IT. God bless you +all. W. C. W.' + + +When I came to myself, and could see and hear, Martyn was impressing +on me that where there is life there is hope, though indeed, +according to poor Lawrence's letter, there was little of either. He +feared our hearing indirectly, and therefore wrote to prepare us. + +He had been summoned to Hong-Kong to find Clarence lying desperately +ill, for the most part semi-delirious, holding converse with +invisible forms, or entreating some one to let him alone--he had +done his best. In one of his more lucid intervals he had made +Lawrence find that note in a case that lay near him, and promise to +send it; and he had tried to send some messages, but they had become +confused, and he was too weak to speak further. + +The next mail was sure to bring the last tidings of one who had +given his life for right and justice. It was only a reprieve that +what it actually brought was the intelligence that he was still +alive, and more sensible, and had been able to take much pleasure in +seeing the friend of his youth, Captain Coles, who was there with +his ship, the Douro. Then there had been a relapse. Captain Coles +had brought his doctor to see him, and it had been pronounced that +the best chance of saving him was a sea-voyage. The Douro had just +received orders to return to England, and Coles had offered to take +home both the friends as guests, though there was evidently little +hope that our brother would reach any earthly home. As we knew +afterwards, he had smiled and said it was like rehabilitation to +have the chance of dying on board one of H.M. ships. And he was +held in such respect, and was so entirely one of the leading men of +the little growing colony, and had been known as such a friend to +the naval men, and had so gallantly aided a Queen's ship in that +hurricane, that his passage home in this manner only seemed a +natural tribute of respect. A few last words from Lawrence told us +that he was safely on board, all unconscious of the silent, almost +weeping, procession that had escorted his litter to the Douro's +boat, only too much as if it were his bier. In fact, Captain Coles +actually promised him that if he died at sea he should be buried +with the old flag. + +We could not hope to hear more for at least six weeks, since our +letter had come by overland mail, and the Douro would take her time. +It was a comfort in this waiting time that Martyn could be with us. +His rector had been promoted; there was a general change of curates; +and as Martyn had been working up to the utmost limits of his +strength, we had no scruple in inducing him to remain with us, and +undertake nothing fresh till this crisis was past. Though as to +rest, not one Sunday passed without requests for his assistance from +one or more of the neighbouring clergy. + + + +CHAPTER XLV--ACHIEVED + + + +'And hopes and fears that kindle hope, +An undistinguishable throng, +And gentle wishes long subdued - +Subdued and cherished long.' + +S. T. COLERIDGE. + +The first that we did hear of our brother was a letter with a +Falmouth postmark, which we scarcely dared to open. There was not +much in it, but that was enough. 'D. G.- I shall see you all again. +We put in at Portsmouth.' + +There was no staying at home after that. We three lost no time in +starting, for railways had become available, and by the time we had +driven from the station at Portsmouth the Douro had been signalled. + +Martyn took a boat and went on board alone, for besides that Emily +did not like to leave me, her dress would have been a revelation +that ALL were no longer there to greet the arrival. The precaution +was, however, unnecessary. There stood Clarence on deck, and after +the first greeting, he laid his hand on Martyn's arm and said, 'My +mother is gone?' and on the wondering assent, 'I was quite sure of +it.' + +So they came ashore, Clarence lying in the man-of-war's boat, in +which his friend insisted on sending him, able now to give a smiling +response and salute to the three cheers with which the crew took +leave of him. He was carried up to our hotel on a stretcher by +half-a-dozen blue jackets. Indeed he was grievously changed, +looking so worn and weak, so hollow-eyed and yellow, and so +fearfully wasted, that the very memory is painful; and able to do +nothing but lie on the sofa holding Emily's hand, gazing at us with +a face full of ineffable peace and gladness. There was a misgiving +upon me that he had only come back to finish his work and bid us +farewell. + +Kindly and considerately they had sent him on before with Martyn. +In a quarter of an hour's time his good doctor came in with Lawrence +Frith, a considerable contrast to our poor Clarence, for the slim +gypsy lad had developed into a strikingly handsome man, still +slender and lithe, but with a fine bearing, and his bronzed +complexion suiting well with his dark shining hair and beautiful +eyes. They had brought some of the luggage, and the doctor insisted +that his patient should go to bed directly, and rest completely +before trying to talk. + +Then we heard that his condition, though still anxious, was far from +being hopeless, and that after the tropics had been passed, he had +been gradually improving. The kind doctor had got leave to go up to +London with us, and talk over the case with L---, and he hoped +Clarence might be able to bear the journey by the next afternoon. + +Presently after came Captain Coles, whom we had not seen since the +short visit when we had idolised the big overgrown midshipman, whom +Clarence exhibited to our respectful and distant admiration nearly +twenty years ago. My mother used to call him a gentlemanly lad, and +that was just what he was still, with a singularly soft gentle +manner, gallant officer and post-captain as he was. He cheered me +much, for he made no doubt of Clarence's ultimate recovery, and he +added that he had found the dear fellow so valued and valuable, so +useful in all good works, and so much respected by all the English +residents, 'that really,' said the captain, 'I did not know whether +to deplore that the service should have lost such a man, or whether +to think it had been a good thing for him, though not for us, that-- +that he got into such a scrape.' + +I said something of our thanks. + +'To tell you the truth,' said Coles, 'I had my doubts whether it had +not been a cruel act, for he had a terrible turn after we got him on +board, and all the sounds of a Queen's ship revived the past +associations, and always of a painful kind in his delirium, till at +last, just as I gave him up, the whole character of his fancies +seemed to change, and from that time he has been gaining every day.' + +We kept the captain to dinner, and gathered a good deal more +understanding of the important position to which Clarence had risen +by force of character and rectitude of purpose in that strange +little Anglo-Chinese colony; and afterwards, I was allowed to make a +long visit to Clarence, who, having eaten and slept, was quite ready +to talk. + +It seemed that the great distress of his illness had been the +recurrence--nay, aggravation--of the strange susceptibility of brain +and nerve that had belonged to his earlier days, and with it either +imagination or perception of the spirit-world. Much that had seemed +delirium had belonged to that double consciousness, and he perfectly +recollected it. As Coles had said, the sights and sounds of the +ship had been a renewal of the saddest time in his life; he could +not at night divest himself of the impression that he was under +arrest, and the sins of his life gathered themselves in fearful and +oppressive array, as if to stifle him, and the phantom of poor +Margaret with her lamp--which had haunted him from the beginning of +his illness--seemed to taunt him with having been too fainthearted +and tardy to be worthy to espouse her cause. The faith to which he +tried to cling WOULD seem to fail him in those awful hours, when he +could only cry out mechanical prayers for mercy. Then there had +come a night when he had heard my mother say, 'All right now; God +Almighty bless him.' And therewith the clouds cleared from his +mind. The power of FEELING, as well as believing in, the blotting +out of sin, returned, the sense of pardon and peace calmed him, and +from that time he was fully himself again, 'though,' he said, 'I +knew I should not see my mother here.' + +If she could only have seen him come home under the Union Jack, +cheered by sailors, and carried ashore by them, it would have been +to her like restoration. Perhaps Clarence in his dreamy weakness +had so felt it, for certainly no other mode of return to Portsmouth, +the very place of his degradation, could so have soothed him and +effaced those memories. The English sounds were a perfect charm to +him, as well as to Lawrence, the commonest street cry, the very +slices of bread and butter, anything that was not Chinese, was as +water to the thirsty! And wasted as was his face, the quiet rest +and joy were ineffable. + +Still Portsmouth was not the best place for him, and we were glad +that he was well enough to go up to London in the afternoon; +intensely delighting in the May beauty of the green meadows, and +white blossoming hedgerows, and the Church towers, especially the +gray massiveness of Winchester Cathedral. 'Christian tokens,' he +said, instead of the gay, gilded pagodas and quaint crumpled roofs +he had left. The soft haze seemed to be such a rest after the glare +of perpetual clearness. + +We were all born Londoners, and looked at the blue fog, and the +broad, misty river, and the brooding smoke, with the affection of +natives, to the amazement of Lawrence, who had never been in town +without being browbeaten and miserable. That he hardly was now, as +he sat beside Emily all the way up, though they did not say much to +one another. + +He told us it was quite a new sensation to walk into the office +without timidity, and to have no fears of a biting, crushing speech +about his parents or himself; but to have the clerks getting up +deferentially as soon as he was known for Mr. Frith. He had hardly +ever been allowed by his old uncle to come across Mr. Castleford, +who was of course cordial and delighted to receive him, and, without +loss of time, set forth to see Clarence. + +The consultation with the physician had taken place, and it was not +concealed from us that Clarence's health was completely shattered, +and his state still very precarious, needing the utmost care to give +him any chance of recovering the effects of the last two years, when +he had persevered, in spite of warning, in his eagerness to complete +his undertaking, and then to secure what he had effected. The +upshot of the advice given him was to spend the summer by the +seaside, and if he had by that time gathered strength, and +surmounted the symptoms of disease, to go abroad, as he was not +likely to be able as yet to bear English cold. Business and cares +were to be avoided, and if he had anything necessary to be done, it +had better be got over at once, so as to be off his mind. Martyn +and Frith gathered that the case was thought doubtful, and entirely +dependent on constitution and rallying power. Clarence himself +seemed almost passive, caring only for our presence and the +accomplishment of his task. + +We had a blessed thanksgiving for mercies received in the Margaret +Street Chapel, as we called what is now All Saints; but he and I +were unfit for crowds, and on Sunday morning availed ourselves of a +friend's seat in our old church, which felt so natural and homelike +to us elders that Martyn was scandalised at our taste. But it was +the church of our Confirmation and first Communion, and Clarence +rejoiced that it was that of his first home-coming Eucharist. What +a contrast was he now to the shrinking boy, scarcely tolerated under +his stigmatised name. Surely the Angel had led him all his life +through! + +How happy we two were in the afternoon, while the others conducted +Lawrence to some more noteworthy church. + +'Now,' said Clarence, 'let us go down to Beachharbour. It must be +done at once. I have been trying to write, and I can't do it,' and +his face lighted with a quiet smile which I understood. + +So we wrote to the principal hotel to secure rooms, and set forth on +Tuesday, leaving Frith to finish with Mr. Castleford what could not +be settled in the one business interview that had been held with +Clarence on the Monday. + + + +CHAPTER XLVI--RESTITUTION + + + +'Ah! well for us all some sweet hope lies +Deeply buried from human eyes.' + +WHITTIER. + +Things always happen in unexpected ways. During the little +hesitation and difficulty that always attend my transits at a +station, a voice was heard to say, 'Oh! Papa, isn't that Edward +Winslow?' Martyn gave a violent start, and Mr. Fordyce was +exclaiming, 'Clarence, my dear fellow, it isn't you! I beg your +pardon; you have strength enough left nearly to wring one's hand +off!' + +'I--I wanted very much to see you, sir,' said Clarence. 'Could you +be so good as to appoint a time?' + +'See you! We must always be seeing you of course. Let me think. +I've got three weddings and a funeral to-morrow, and Simpson coming +about the meeting. Come to luncheon--all of you. Mrs. Fordyce will +be delighted, and so will somebody else.' + +There was no doubt about the somebody else, for Anne's feet were as +nearly dancing round Emily as public propriety allowed, and the +radiance of her face was something to rejoice in. Say what people +will, Englishwomen in a quiet cheerful life are apt to gain rather +than lose in looks up to the borders of middle age. Our Emily at +two-and-thirty was fair and pleasant to look on; while as for Anne +Fordyce at twenty-three, words will hardly tell how lovely were her +delicate features, brown eyes, and carnation cheeks, illuminated by +that sunshine brightness of her father's, which made one feel better +all day for having been beamed upon by either of them. Clarence +certainly did, when the good man turned back to say, 'Which hotel? +Eh? That's too far off. You must come nearer. I would see you in, +but I've got a woman to see before church time, and I'm short of a +curate, so I must be sharp to the hour.' + +'Can I be of any use?' eagerly asked Martyn. 'I'll follow you as +soon as I have got these fellows to their quarters.' + +We had Amos with us, and were soon able to release Martyn, after a +few compliments on my not being as usual THE invalid; and by and by +he came back to take Emily to inspect a lodging, recommended by our +friends, close to the beach, and not a stone's throw from the +Rectory built by Mr. Fordyce. As we two useless beings sat opposite +to each other, looking over the roofs of houses at the blue expanse +and feeling the salt breeze, it was no fancy that Clarence's cheek +looked less wan, and his eyes clearer, as a smile of content played +on his lips. 'Years sit well on her,' he said gaily; and I thought +of rewards in store for him. + +Then he took this opportunity of consulting me on the chances for +Frith, telling of the original offer, and the quiet constancy of his +friend, and asking whether I thought Emily would relent. And I +answered that I suspected that she would,--'But you must get well +first.' + +'I begin to think that more possible,' he answered, and my heart +bounded as he added, 'she would be satisfied since you would always +have a home with US.' + +Oh, how much was implied in that monosyllable. He knew it, for a +little faint colour came up, as he, shyly, laughed and hesitated, +'That is--if--' + +'If' included Mrs. Fordyce's not being ungracious. Nor was she. +Emily had found her as kind as in the old days at Hillside, and +perfectly ready to bring us into close vicinity. It was not caprice +that had made this change, but all possible doubt and risk of +character were over, the old wound was in some measure healed, and +the friendship had been brought foremost by our recent sorrow and +our present anxiety. Anne was in ecstasies over Emily. 'It is so +odd,' she said, 'to have grown as old as you, whom I used to think +so very grown up,' and she had all her pet plans to display in the +future. Moreover, Martyn had been permitted to relieve the Rector +from the funeral--a privilege which seemed to gratify him as much as +if it had been the liveliest of services. + +We were to lunch at the Rectory, and the move of our goods was to be +effected while we were there. We found Mrs. Fordyce looking much +older, but far less of an invalid than in old times, and there was +something more genial and less exclusive in her ways, owing perhaps +to the difference of her life among the many classes with whom she +was called on to associate. + +Somersetshire, Beachharbour, and China occupied our tongues by +turns, and we had to begin luncheon without the Rector, who had been +hindered by numerous calls; in fact, as Anne warned us, it was a +wonder if he got the length of the esplanade without being stopped +half-a-dozen times. + +His welcome was like himself, but he needed a reminder of Clarence's +request for an interview. Then we repaired to the study, for +Clarence begged that his brothers might be present, and then the +beginning was made. 'Do you remember my showing you a will that I +found in the ruins at Chantry House?' + +'A horrid old scrap that you chose to call one. Yes; I told you to +burn it.' + +'Sir, we have proved that a great injustice was perpetrated by our +ancestor, Philip Winslow, and that the poor lady who made that will +was cruelly treated, if not murdered. This is no fancy; I have +known it for years past, but it is only now that restitution has +become possible.' + +'Restitution? What are you talking about? I never wanted the place +nor coveted it.' + +'No, sir, but the act was our forefather's. You cannot bid us sit +down under the consciousness of profiting by a crime. I could not +do so before, but I now implore you to let me restore you either +Chantry House and the three farms, or their purchase money, +according to the valuation made at my father's death. I have it in +hand.' + +Frank Fordyce walked about the room quite overcome. 'You foolish +fellow!' he said, 'Was it for this that you have been toiling and +throwing away your health in that pestiferous place? Edward, did +you know this?' + +'Yes,' I answered. 'Clarence has intended this ever since he found +the will.' + +'As if that was a will! You consented.' + +'We all thought it right.' + +He made a gesture of dismay at such folly. + +'I do not think you understand how it was, Mr. Fordyce,' said +Clarence, who by this time was quivering and trembling as in his +boyish days. + +'No, nor ever wish to do so. Such matters ought to be forgotten, +and you don't look fit to say another word.' + +'Edward will tell you,' said Clarence, leaning back. + +I had the whole written out, and was about to begin, when the +person, with whom there was an appointment, was reported, and we +knew that the rest of the day was mapped out. + +'Look here,' said Mr. Fordyce, 'leave that with me; I can't give any +answer off-hand, except that Don Quixote is come alive again, only +too like himself.' + +Which was true, for Clarence took long to rally from the effort, and +had to be kept quiet for some time in the study where we were left. +He examined me on the contents of my paper, and was vexed to hear +that I had mentioned the ghost, which he said would discredit the +whole. Never was the dear fellow so much inclined to be fretful, +and when Martyn restlessly observed that if we did not want him, he +might as well go back to the drawing-room, the reply was quite +sharp--'Oh yes, by all means.' + +No wonder there was pain in the tone; for the next words, after some +interval, were, when two happy voices came ringing in from the +garden behind, 'You see, Edward.' + +Somehow I had never thought of Martyn. He had simply seemed to me a +boy, and I had decided that Anne would be the crown of Clarence's +labours. I answered 'Nonsense; they are both children together!' + +'The nonsense was elsewhere,' he said. 'They always were devoted to +each other. I saw how it was the moment he came into the room.' + +'Don't give up,' I said; 'it is only the old habit. When she knows +all, she must prefer--' + +'Hush!' he said. 'An old scarecrow and that beautiful young +creature!' and he laughed. + +'You won't be an old scarecrow long.' + +'No,' he said in an ominous way, and cut short the discussion by +going back to Mrs. Fordyce. + +He was worn out, had a bad night, and did not get up to breakfast; I +was waiting for it in the sitting-room, when Mr. Fordyce came in +after matins with Emily and Martyn. + +'I feel just like David when they brought him the water of +Bethlehem,' he said. 'You know I think this all nonsense, +especially this--this ghost business; and yet, such--such doings as +your brother's can't go for nothing.' + +His face worked, and the tears were in his eyes; then, as he partook +of our breakfast, he cross-examined us on my statement, and even +tried to persuade us that the phantom in the ruin was Emily; and on +her observing that she could not have seen herself, he talked of the +Brocken Spectre and fog mirages; but we declared the night was +clear, and I told him that all the rational theories I had ever +heard were far more improbable than the appearance herself, at which +he laughed. Then he scrupulously demanded whether this--this (he +failed to find a name for it) would be an impoverishment of our +family, and I showed how Clarence had provided that we should be in +as easy circumstances as before. In the midst came in Clarence +himself, having hastened to dress, on hearing that Mr. Fordyce was +in the house, and looking none the better for the exertion. + +'Look here, my dear boy,' said Frank, taking his hot trembling hand, +'you have put me in a great fix. You have done the noblest deed at +a terrible cost, and whatever I may think, it ought not to be thrown +away, nor you be hindered from freeing your soul from this sense of +family guilt. But here, my forefathers had as little right to the +Chantry as yours, and ever since I began to think about such things, +I have been thankful it was none of mine. Let us join in giving it +or its value to some good work for God--pour it out to the Lord, as +we may say. Bless me! what have I done now.' + +For Clarence, muttering 'thank you,' sank out of his grasp on a +chair, and as nearly as possible fainted; but he was soon smiling +and saying it was all relief, and he felt as if a load he had been +bearing had been suddenly removed. + +Frank Fordyce durst stay no longer, but laid his hand on Clarence's +head and blessed him. + + + +CHAPTER XLVII--THE FORDYCE STORY + + + +'For soon as once the genial plain +Has drunk the life-blood of the slain, +Indelible the spots remain, +And aye for vengeance call.' + +EURIPIDES--(Anstice). + +Still all was not over, for by the next day our brother was as ill, +or worse, than ever. The doctor who came from London allowed that +he had expected something of the kind, but thought we must have let +him exert himself perilously. Poor innocent Martyn and Anne, they +little suspected that their bright eyes and happy voices had +something to do with the struggle and disappointment, which probably +was one cause of the collapse. As to poor Frank Fordyce, I never +saw him so distressed; he felt as if it were all his own fault, or +that of his ancestors, and, whenever he was not required by his +duties, was lingering about for news. I had little hope, though +Clarence seemed to me the very light of my eyes; it was to me as +though, his task being accomplished, and the earthly reward denied, +he must be on his way to the higher one. + +His complete quiescence confirmed me in the assurance that he +thought so himself. He was too ill for speech, but Lawrence, who +could not stay away, was struck with the difference from former +times. Not only were there no delusions, but there was no anxiety +or uneasiness, as there had always been in the former attacks, when +he was evidently eager to live, and still more solicitous to be told +if he were in a hopeless state. Now he had plainly resigned himself +- + + +'Content to live, but not afraid to die;' + + +and perhaps, dear fellow, it was chiefly for my sake that he was +willing to live. At least, I know that when the worst was over, he +announced it by putting those wasted fingers into mine, and saying - + +'Well, dear old fellow, I believe we shall jog on together, after +all.' + +That attack, though the most severe of all, brought, either owing to +skilful treatment or to his own calm, the removal of the mischief, +and the beginning of real recovery. Previously he had given himself +no time, but had hurried on to exertions which retarded his cure, so +as very nearly to be fatal; but he was now perfectly submissive to +whatever physicians or nurses desired, and did not seem to find his +slow convalescence in the least tedious, since he was amongst us all +again. + +It was nearly a month before he was disposed to recur to the subject +of his old solicitude again, and then he asked what Mr. Fordyce had +said or done. Just nothing at all; but on the next visit paid to +the sick-room, Parson Frank yielded to his earnest request to send +for any documents that might throw light on the subject, and after a +few days he brought us a packet of letters from his deed-box. They +were written from Hillside Rectory to the son in the army in +Flanders, chiefly by his mother, and were full of hot, angry +invective against our family, and pity for poor, foolish 'Madam,' or +'Cousin Winslow,' as she was generally termed, for having put +herself in their power. + +The one most to the purpose was an account of the examination of +Molly Cox, the waiting-woman, who had been in attendance on the +unfortunate Margaret, and whose story tallied fairly with Aunt +Peggy's tradition. She declared that she was sure that her mistress +had met with foul play. She had left her as usual at ten o'clock on +the fatal 27th of December 1707, in the inner one of the old +chambers; and in the night had heard the tipsy return home of the +gentlemen, followed by shrieks. In the morning she (the maid) who +usually was the first to go to her room, was met by Mistress Betty +Winslow, and told that Madam was ill, and insensible. The old nurse +of the Winslows was called in; and Molly was never left alone in the +sick-room, scarcely permitted to approach the bed, and never to +touch her lady. Once, when emptying out a cup at the garden-door, +she saw a mark of blood on the steps, but Mr. Philip came up and +swore at her for a prying fool. Doctor Tomkins was sent for, but he +barely walked through the room, and 'all know that he is a mere +creature of Philip Winslow,' wrote the Mrs. Fordyce of that date to +her son. And presently after, 'Justice Eastwood declared there is +no case for a Grand Jury; but he is a known Friend and sworn Comrade +of the Winslows, and bound to suppress all evidence against them. +Nay, James Dearlove swears he saw Edward Winslow slip a golden +Guinea into his Clerk's Hand. But as sure as there is a Heaven +above us, Francis, poor Cousin Winslow was trying to escape to us of +her own Kindred, and met with cruel Usage. Her Blood is on their +Heads.' + +'There!' said Frank Fordyce. 'This Francis challenged Philip +Winslow's eldest son, a mere boy, three days after he joined the +army before Lille, and shot him like a dog. I turned over the +letter about it in searching for these. I can't boast of my +ancestors more than you can. But may God accept this work of yours, +and take away the guilt of blood from both of us.' + +'And have you thought what is best to be done?' asked Clarence, +raising himself on his cushions. + +'Have you?' asked the Vicar. + +'Oh yes; I have had my dreams.' + +They put their castles together, and they turned out to be for an +orphanage, or rather asylum, not too much hampered with strict +rules, combined with a convalescent home. The battle of sisterhoods +was not yet fought out, and we were not quite prepared for them; but +Frank Fordyce had, as he said, 'the two best women in the world in +his eye' to make a beginning. + +There was full time to think and discuss the scheme, for our patient +was in no condition to move for many weeks, lying day after day on a +couch just within the window of our sitting-room, which was as +nearly as possible in the sea, so that he constantly had the +freshness of its breezes, the music of its ripple, and the sight of +its waves, and seemed to find endless pleasure in watching the red +sails, the puffs of steam, and the frolics of the children, simple +or gentle, on the beach. + +Something else was sometimes to be watched. Martyn, all this time, +was doing the work of two curates, and was to be seen walking home +with Anne from church or school, carrying her baskets and bags, and, +as we were given to understand, discussing by turns ecclesiastical +questions, visionary sisterhoods, and naughty children. At first I +wished it were possible to remove Clarence from the perpetual +spectacle, but we had one last talk over the matter, and this was +quite satisfactory. + +'It does me no harm,' he said; 'I like to see it. Yes, it is quite +true that I do. What was personal and selfish in my fancies seems +to have been worn out in the great lull of my senses under the +shadow of death; and now I can revert with real joy and thankfulness +to the old delight of looking on our dear Ellen as our sister, and +watch those two children as we used when they talked of dolls' +fenders instead of the surplice war. I have got you, Edward; and +you know there is a love "passing the love of women."' + +A lively young couple passed by the window just then, and with +untamed voices observed - + +'There are those two poor miserable objects! It is enough to make +one melancholy only to look at them.' + +Whereat we simultaneously burst out laughing; perhaps because a +choking, very far from misery, was in our throats. + +At any rate, Clarence was prepared to be the cordial, fatherly +brother, when Martyn came headlong in upon us with the tidings that +utterly indescribable, unimaginable joy had befallen him. A +revelation seemed simultaneously to have broken upon him and Anne +while they were copying out the Sunday School Registers, that what +they had felt for each other all their lives was love--'real, true +love,' as Anne said to Emily, 'that never could have cared for +anybody else.' + +Mrs. Fordyce's sharp eyes had seen what was coming, and accepted the +inevitable, quite as soon as Clarence had. She came and talked it +over with us, saying she was perfectly satisfied and happy. Martyn +was all that could be wished, and she was sincerely glad of the +connection with her old friends. So, in fact, was dear old Frank, +but he had been running about with his head full, and his eyes +closed, so that it was quite a shock to him to find that his little +Anne, his boon companion and playfellow, was actually grown up, and +presuming to love and be loved; and he could hardly believe that she +was really seven years older than her sister had been when the like +had begun with her. But if Anne must be at those tricks, he said, +shaking his head at her, he had rather it was with Martyn than +anybody else. + +There was no difficulty as to money matters. In truth, Martyn was +not so good a match as an heiress, such as was Anne Fordyce, might +have aspired to, and her Lester kin were sure to be shocked; but +even if Clarence married, the Earlscombe living went for something +(though, by the bye, he has never held it), and the Fordyces only +cared that there should be easy circumstances. The living of +Hillside would be resigned in favour of Martyn in the spring, and +meantime he would gain more experience at Beachharbour, and this +would break the separation to the Fordyces. + +After all, however, theirs was not to be our first wedding. I have +said little of Emily. The fact was, that after that week of +Clarence's danger, we said she lived in a kind of dream. She +fulfilled all that was wanted of her, nursing Clarence, waiting on +me, ordering dinner, making the tea, and so forth; but it was quite +evident that life began for her on the Saturdays, when Lawrence came +down, and ended on the Mondays, when he went away. If, in the +meantime, she sat down to work, she went off into a trance; if she +was sent out for fresh air, she walked quarter-deck on the +esplanade, neither seeing nor hearing anything, we averred, but some +imaginary Lawrence Frith. + +If she had any drawback, good girl, it was the idea of deserting me; +but then, as I could honestly tell her, nobody need fear for my +happiness, since Clarence was given back to me. And she believed, +and was ready to go to China with her Lawrence. + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII--THE LAST DISCOVERY + + + +'Grief will be joy if on its edge +Fall soft that holiest ray, +Joy will be grief, if no faint pledge +Be there of heavenly day.' + +KEBLE. + +We did not move from Beachharbour till September, and by that time +it had been decided that Chantry House itself should be given up to +the new scheme. It was too large for us, and Clarence had never +lived there enough to have any strong home feeling for it; but he +rather connected it with disquiet and distress, and had a longing to +make actual restitution thereof, instead of only giving an +equivalent, as he did in the case of the farms. Our feelings about +the desecrated chapel were also considerably changed from the days +when we regarded it merely as a picturesque ruin, and it was to be +at once restored both for the benefit of the orphanage, and for that +of the neighbouring households. For ourselves, a cottage was to be +built, suited to our idiosyncrasies; but that could wait till after +the yacht voyage, which we were to make together for the winter. + +Thus it came to pass that the last time we inhabited Chantry House +was when we gave Emily to Lawrence Frith. We would fain have made +it a double wedding, but the Fordyces wished to wait for Easter, +when Martyn would have been inducted to Hillside. They came, +however, that Mrs. Fordyce might act lady of the house, and Anne be +bridesmaid, as well as lay the first stone of St. Cecily's restored +chapel. + +It was on the day on which they were expected, when the workmen were +digging foundations, and clearing away rubbish, that the foreman +begged Mr. Winslow to come out to see something they had found. +Clarence came back, very grave and awe-struck. It was an old oak +chest, and within lay a skeleton, together with a few fragments of +female clothing, a wedding ring, and some coins of the later +Stewarts, in a rotten leathern purse. This was ghastly +confirmation, though there was nothing else to connect the bones +with poor Margaret. We had some curiosity as to the coffin in the +niche in the family vault which bore her name, but both Clarence and +Mr. Fordyce shrank from investigations which could not be carried +out without publicity, and might perhaps have disturbed other +remains. + +So on the ensuing night there was a strange, quiet funeral service +at Earlscombe Church. Mr. Henderson officiated, and Chapman acted +as clerk. These, with Amos Bell, alone knew the tradition, or +understood what the discovery meant to the two Fordyces and three +Winslows who stood at the opening of the vault, and prayed that +whatever guilt there might be should be put away from the families +so soon to be made one. The coins were placed with those of +Victoria, which the next day Anne laid beneath the foundation-stone +of St. Cecily's. I need not say that no one has ever again heard +the wailings, nor seen the lady with the lamp. + +What more is there to tell? It was of this first half of our lives +that I intended to write, and though many years have since passed, +they have not had the same character of romance and would not +interest you. Our honeymoon, as Mr. Fordyce called the expedition +we two brothers made in the Mediterranean, was a perfect success; +and Clarence regained health, and better spirits than had ever been +his; while contriving to show me all that I was capable of being +carried to see. It was complete enjoyment, and he came home, not as +strong as in old times, but with fair comfort and capability for the +work of life, so as to be able to take Mr. Castleford's place, when +our dear old friend retired from active direction of the firm. + +You all know how the two old bachelors have kept house together in +London and at Earlscombe cottage, and you are all proud of the +honoured name Clarence Winslow has made for himself, foremost in +works for the glory of God and the good of men--as one of those +merchant princes of England whose merchandise has indeed been +Holiness unto the Lord. + +Thus you must all have felt a shock on finding that he always looked +on that name as blotted, and that one of the last sayings I heard +from him was, 'O remember not the sins and offences of my youth, but +according to Thy mercy, think upon me, O Lord, for Thy goodness.' + +Then he almost smiled, and said, 'Yes, He has so looked on me, and I +am thankful.' + +Thankful, and so am I, for those thirty-four peaceful years we spent +together, or rather for the seventy years of perfect brotherhood +that we have been granted, and though he has left me behind him, I +am content to wait. It cannot be for long. My brothers and +sisters, their children, and my faithful Amos Bell, are very good to +me; and in writing up to that mezzo termine of our lives, I have +been living it over again with my brother of brothers, through the +troubles that have become like joys. + + +REMARKS. + + +Uncle Edward has not said half enough about his dear old self. I +want to know if he never was unhappy when he was young about being +LIKE THAT, though mother says his face was always nearly as +beautiful as it is now. And it is not only goodness. It IS +beautiful with his sweet smile and snowy white hair. ELLEN WINSLOW. + +And I wonder, though perhaps he could not have told, what Aunt Anne +would have done if Uncle Clarence had not been so forbearing before +he went to China. CLARE FRITH. + +The others are highly impertinent questions, but we ought to know +what became of Lady Peacock. ED. G. W. + + +REPLY. + + +Poor woman, she drifted back to London after about ten years, with +an incurable disease. Clarence put her into lodgings near us, and +did his best for her as long as she lived. He had a hard task, but +she ended by saying he was her only friend. + +To question No. 2 I have nothing to say; but as to No. 1, with its +extravagant compliment, Nature, or rather God, blessed me with even +spirits, a methodical nature that prefers monotony, and very little +morbid shyness; nor have I ever been devoid of tender care and love. +So that I can only remember three severe fits of depression. One, +when I had just begun to be taken out in the Square Gardens, and +Selina Clarkson was heard to say I was a hideous little monster. It +was a revelation, and must have given frightful pain, for I remember +it acutely after sixty-five years. + +The second fit was just after Clarence was gone to sea, and some +very painful experiments had been tried in vain for making me like +other people. For the first time I faced the fact that I was set +aside from all possible careers, and should be, as I remember +saying, 'no better than a girl.' I must have been a great trial to +all my friends. My father tried to reason on resignation, and tell +me happiness could be IN myself, till he broke down. My mother +attempted bracing by reproof. Miss Newton endeavoured to make me +see that this was my cross. Every word was true, and came round +again, but they only made me for the time more rebellious and +wretched. That attack was ended, of all things in the world, by +heraldry. My attention somehow was drawn that way, and the study +filled up time and thought till my misfortunes passed into custom, +and haunted me no more. + +My last was a more serious access, after coming into the country, +when improved health and vigour inspired cravings that made me fully +sensible of my blighted existence. I had gone the length of my +tether and overdone myself; I missed London life and Clarence; and +the more I blamed myself, and tried to rouse myself, the more +despondent and discontented I grew. + +This time my physician was Mr. Stafford; I had deciphered a bit of +old French and Latin for him, and he was very much pleased. 'Why, +Edward,' he said, 'you are a very clever fellow; you can be a +distinguished--or what is better--a useful man.' + +Somehow that saying restored the spring of hope, and gave an +impulse! I have not been a distinguished man, but I think in my +degree I have been a fairly useful one, and I am sure I have been a +happy one. E. W. + + +'Useful! that you have, dear old fellow. Even if you had done +nothing else, and never been an unconscious backbone to Clarence; +your influence on me and mine has been unspeakably blest. But pray, +Mistress Anne, how about that question of naughty little Clare's?' +M. W. + +'Don't you think you had better let alone that question, reverend +sir? Youngest pets are apt to be saucy, especially in these days, +but I didn't expect it of you! It might have been the worse for you +if W. C. W. had not held his tongue in those days. Just like +himself, but I am heartily glad that so he did. A. W.' + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg eBook Chantry House *** Corrected and +fully spell-checked to here *** + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, CHANTRY HOUSE *** + +This file should be named chhs10.txt or chhs10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, chhs11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, chhs10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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