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diff --git a/76100-0.txt b/76100-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ca6bc2 --- /dev/null +++ b/76100-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10273 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76100 *** + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + + + _Odeyne's Marriage._ + + + BY + + EVELYN EVERETT-GREEN, + + AUTHOR OF "ARNOLD INGLEHURST"; "EUSTACE MARCHMONT"; + "HER HUSBAND'S HOME," ETC. + + + NEW EDITION. + + + _LONDON:_ + JOHN F. SHAW AND CO., + 48, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. + + + + + COPYRIGHT BOOKS UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME. + + THE CRUISE OF THE ARCTIC FOX . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + CLEARED FOR ACTION . . . . . . . W. B. ALLEN. + EXILES OF FORTUNE . . . . . . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + A REAL HERO . . . . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + A TANGLED WEB . . . . . . . . . E. S. HOLT. + BEATING THE RECORD . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + THRO' UNKNOWN WAYS . . . . . . . L. E. GUERNSEY. + IN SHIPS OF STEEL . . . . . . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + IN CLOISTER AND COURT . . . . . E. EVERETT-GREEN. + THE UGLY DUCKLING . . . . . . . HANS ANDERSEN. + ODEYNE'S MARRIAGE . . . . . . . E. EVERETT-GREEN. + ENGLAND'S HERO PRINCE . . . . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES . . . . . H. C. ANDERSEN. + FACING FEARFUL ODDS . . . . . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + SHOULDER TO SHOULDER . . . . . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + EDGAR NELTHORPE . . . . . . . . ANDREW REED. + WINNING AN EMPIRE . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + HONOUR NOT HONOURS . . . . . . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + IDA VANE . . . . . . . . . . . . ANDREW REED. + GRAHAM'S VICTORY . . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + THE END CROWNS ALL . . . . . . . EMMA MARSHALL. + HER HUSBAND'S HOME . . . . . . . E. EVERETT-GREEN. + FOSTER SISTERS . . . . . . . . . L. E. GUERNSEY. + DOROTHY'S STORY . . . . . . . . L. T. MEADE. + A TRUE GENTLEWOMAN . . . . . . . EMMA MARSHALL. + BEL MARJORY . . . . . . . . . . L.T. MEADE. + WINNING GOLDEN SPURS . . . . . . H. M. MILLER. + ON TO THE RESCUE . . . . . . . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + DASHING DAYS OF OLD . . . . . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + TWO SAILOR LADS . . . . . . . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + IN SEARCH OF FORTUNE . . . . . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + ENGLAND, HOME, AND BEAUTY . . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + HEARTS OF OAK . . . . . . . . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + OLD ENGLAND ON THE SEA . . . . . DR. GORDON STABLES. + + LONDON: JOHN F. SHAW & CO., + 48, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +ANTICIPATION + +CHAPTER II. + +ODEYNE'S HOME + +CHAPTER III. + +FAREWELLS AND GREETINGS + +CHAPTER IV. + +A LITTLE CLOUD + +CHAPTER V. + +THE RITCHIES AT HOME + +CHAPTER VI. + +AUTUMN DAYS + +CHAPTER VII. + +BEATRICE AT HOME + +CHAPTER VIII. + +AN ADVENTUROUS DRIVE + +CHAPTER IX. + +NEW FRIENDSHIPS + +CHAPTER X. + +CHRISTMAS + +CHAPTER XI. + +A SHOCK + +CHAPTER XII. + +LITTLE GUY + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE HOME-COMING + +CHAPTER XIV. + +A CHANGED LIFE + +CHAPTER XV. + +CLOUDS IN THE SKY + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE PACE THAT KILLS + +CHAPTER XVII. + +DARK DAYS + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE CRASH + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE TWO WIVES + +CHAPTER XX. + +A STRANGE CHRISTMAS + +CHAPTER XXI. + +HUSBAND AND WIFE + +CHAPTER XXII. + +CONCLUSION + + + + +ODEYNE'S MARRIAGE. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ANTICIPATION. + +"And so this is really Desmond's wedding-day?" remarked the dainty +invalid, as she donned a remarkably becoming cap, and settled herself +comfortably upon her pillows. "Well, to be sure, it is natural +enough, I suppose, but somehow he has always seemed such a boy. +Really I find it difficult to realise him with a wife. I wonder how +the poor girl will get on." + +"The _poor_ girl, mother; really I do not think she is to be pitied. +I think she has done uncommonly well for herself--a country +clergyman's daughter," answered Maud, with a lifting of the delicate +dark brows that showed a trace of superciliousness. + +"That is just the whole point of the matter, my dear. If he had +selected a bride out of his own world she would have known exactly +what to expect from her marriage--she would have understood the risk +she ran with a youth of Desmond's temperament; but this rustic maiden +probably knows nothing, and will not even be on her guard. It makes +me anxious for them both." + +Maud looked up quickly, knitting her brows somewhat. + +"But, mother, Desmond is steady enough now. He has never been more +than a little wild and extravagant at Oxford, and so many young men +are that. I am sure the last year or two he has been a model of +discretion, and his marriage will sober him down still more--at least +that is generally supposed to be the effect it has." + +"I hope it may--perhaps that is his best chance. Oh no, Maud, I am +not running down your brother--you need not give me such black looks. +But facts are stubborn things, and it is no use trying to blink them; +and the fact remains that your beloved Desmond has never yet stood up +with any success against temptation. When there is no special +inducement to take him out of the beaten path, he keeps to it pretty +steadily; but he cannot withstand temptation, and anyone can lead +him, who goes to work the right way." + +"You talk as if Desmond were a pitiably weak creature, and I am sure +he is anything but that." + +The mother smiled a little, and shrugged her shoulders with an almost +imperceptible gesture. + +"We will not discuss the matter further. Desmond is one of the most +attractive men I have ever seen in my life, though I am his mother +that say it. He is a great many charming things, as we all know. +Let us endow him with all the cardinal virtues as well, if you will. +I have no objection, certainly." + +Maud made no immediate reply. It was no new thing that her mother's +conversation irritated her a good deal more than she would ever have +admitted. But the friction was too chronic to be much noticed, and +it was not long before she spoke again. + +"I almost wish I had gone, after all. I think you could have spared +me for two days, mother." + +"I am sure I could. I told you so all along, but I thought you +rather wished for a valid excuse for staying away." + +"Well, I believe I did then, and now I am rather sorry. It seemed as +if Desmond were almost throwing himself away, to marry like that. He +could have made a really good match if he had liked, and this girl +has nothing, I suppose?" + +"She has a good old name and a charmingly pretty face, if her +photographs do not flatter her outrageously. Of course Desmond might +have done better; but then, again, he might have done worse--got into +some tiresome or dangerous entanglement, so we will not fall foul of +his engagement to Miss Hamilton. Why, they will be positively +getting married at this very moment--yes, I wish you had been there, +Maud. You could have told me all about it afterwards--how the bride +behaved, and what the dresses were like, though, to be sure, in a +place like that they would be nothing much to look at. Why, whoever +can that be, coming at this hour of the morning? Oh, very likely +only a friend to ask at the door after me." + +"I think it is surely Beatrice," said Maud a moment later. "I am +sure that is her step on the stairs." + +"Beatrice--impossible! Beatrice is in town----" + +"Is she indeed?" cried a clear, vibrating voice from without; and the +next moment the door was thrown open to admit the entrance of a very +stylish-looking figure, whose every movement was accompanied by the +rustle of silk and the sweeping sound of rich raiment. + +Beatrice Vanborough had the knack of producing an impression wherever +she went. She was decidedly good-looking, but many better-looking +women would attract less notice. Her figure was more perfect than +her face, and she had the art of dress almost in perfection--dress in +her own style, that is; and her style was to be rather extreme in +richness and abundance of adornment. Still, she contrived never to +look over-dressed in an ostentatious way, and was greatly admired +wherever she went. She spoke with a good deal of gesture, and had +several little mannerisms that some people called affectations; but +she was abundantly good-natured, and delighted to do anyone a +kindness, especially if it did not put her out at all personally, and +she was a marked contrast in most external ways to her quiet sister +Maud, albeit an excellent understanding existed between them. + +"Yes, here I am, you see. We ran down last night, Algy and I. Ascot +fairly knocked me up--it was so fearfully hot, I felt like being +grilled alive every hour of the day, and then Algy was unlucky, and +that made the dear boy a bit bearish; so on the whole we decided that +a week of country air would do us good, and here we are. And so +Desmond is really being married to-day? Why, Maud, it is too bad of +you not to be there. I did my best to get Algy to the scratch, but a +country parson's family was altogether too much for him. My lord +would not budge an inch, and I could not well go without him; but you +ought to be ashamed of yourself. It looks as if his family held +aloof, and really I am delighted that the dear boy has taken a wife +and settled down. And it will be such an advantage to get the Chase +inhabited again. I trust the little rustic maid will not be +altogether too ingenuous and rustic. I mean to make great friends +with her, and regularly initiate her into the mysteries of +fashionable life." + +"Well, it will be a very good thing if you do take her in hand; you +will do it better than Maud, and I must not attempt much, or I shall +get the character of the interfering mother-in-law directly. Yes, I +hope it will turn out happily for both; but I could wish he had taken +a fancy to someone of whom his family knew more." + +"Oh, do you think so? Now, I quite like the idea of the new element +about to be introduced. Give me novelty above all things! And is it +really true that Desmond is going into the business? That seems to +me the most wonderful thing of all. Our bright, careless Desmond to +turn into a City merchant! You should have seen how Algy and I +laughed when we heard the news. Algy gives him a month before he +throws the whole concern overboard." + +The mother smiled, and made one of her little indescribable gestures, +of which Beatrice's seemed the exaggerated copy; but Maud took up the +cudgels, and replied with grave directness-- + +"I do not see why you should laugh. I think it is a very sensible +thing to do. A man is always better for an occupation; and perhaps +in time there will be a family to provide for, and it would be much +better not to let the business slip out of his hands altogether." + +"Sensible! why of course it is sensible; it is the appalling +sensibility of the arrangement that is the joke of it. It seems to +me that the little bride must have an eye to the main chance, in +making such a stipulation, in which case I have hopes of her. She +will be better than a fortune to him, if she can only induce him to +stick to the collar, and interest himself in the mercantile house. I +know what idle men are like"; and she made a little expressive +gesture with her daintily-gloved hands. + +Maud said nothing, but let her sister rattle away as she would. It +was always rather entertaining to hear Beatrice talk, and it did her +mother good to be amused. Of course, if they would persist in +misunderstanding Desmond, and making jokes about him, it was not her +fault. She was the only one in the family who really appreciated him. + +"I sent her the loveliest wedding present--really when the time came +I took great credit to myself for making up my mind to part with it +at all. Algy did grumble at the bill; but one couldn't be stingy to +the bride of the only son of the house. It was the sweetest necklace +of pearls you ever saw in your life. If she has a complexion she +will be enchanted with them. She wrote me a very pretty letter of +thanks, but I don't think she had the least idea of the value of +them. I think she will turn out a dear little girl. I quite love +her already. I wish I could see her now. I offered to superintend +the making of the wedding dress at my own woman's; but no, the child +had the exquisite innocence to prefer her own dressmaker. I fear my +lady will find that she must have another wedding dress made, to face +the county in, but she can find all that out for herself in time. I +do not think we shall find her lacking in a species of sound +common-sense." + +"I sent her a dressing-bag," said Mrs. St. Claire, who was looking +roused and interested, "and Maud some silver, I don't exactly +remember what. Of course she will find more gifts of mine at the +Chase when she gets there. Have you seen the place since it was done +up for them, Beatrice? Really you ought to go; it looks charming. +Desmond has been mighty particular in his orders, I can tell you. He +has spent a lot of money over it, you may be sure." + +"And quite right too. He has plenty, and he ought to keep up his +position in the place. He cannot have spent his income these past +years, and he is right in making his home comfortable before settling +down. Seen it? No, how could I have seen it? I have not been in +these parts for an age. Happy thought! we will drive over there this +afternoon, Maud, whilst mother has her nap. I told Algy not to +expect me back to lunch. We will certainly go home _viâ_ the Chase." + +So after the midday meal Mrs. Vanborough's carriage was ordered, and +the two sisters set off for a visit to their old home. + +The Chase, though within thirty miles of the great metropolis, was +still to all intents and purposes a country house. It lay in the +midst of lovely scenery, not far from the valley of the Thames, was +surrounded by wooded hills and running water, and formed altogether a +charming retreat, despite the fact that mansions and villas showed a +disposition to crop up in the vicinity, and people began to +prognosticate that in the course of time the place might be much +spoilt by over-building. But for the present, at least, that danger +was not imminent, and in no case could the house itself suffer very +much, for it was surrounded by its own small but well-wooded park, +some fifty acres in extent, and nothing could be seen from the +windows of the living-rooms but the gardens and grass-land and fine +timber belonging to it. + +The Chase was a thorough-going, old-fashioned house, such as are +growing more and more scarce every year, with gable ends, twisted +chimneys, and great cross-way beams let into the brickwork at +intervals. + +It was by no means a very grand house, as such things go in these +days, for many of the rooms were low, some of the ceilings were +intersected by heavy rafters, and the oak panelling, of which there +was much in the house, was worm-eaten, and the carving a good deal +defaced. + +But for all that it was a home-like and comfortable place, +deliriously quaint, and not really gloomy, although some people might +be disposed to call it so. + +It was the kind of house that seemed to want young life about +it--children's footsteps pattering up and down the passages, +children's voices babbling in the still old rooms. It was a house +that would be a paradise for children, and seemed to cry out for +their presence. It had been built two or three centuries back, by a +remote ancestor of the St. Claires, but had passed out of their hands +for many generations, and known a variety of different owners. + +The father of Desmond and his sisters had started in life with the +resolve to buy back the old place, and with very tolerable hopes of +success. His father was then partner in a thriving mercantile house, +with the prospect of soon becoming the head. In time this +consummation was achieved. The business throve under the careful +management of an honest and hard-headed man of business. + +The son found himself a rich man whilst still comparatively young, +and as he was an only child he had things all in his own hands. + +The Chase was bought and restored, it was entailed in due course upon +the eldest son and his eldest son, and the proprietor quitted this +life when the call came with the feeling that he had at least lived +to fulfil the dream of his childhood. + +Into this fair inheritance young Desmond had stepped, and was about +to take up his abode in the home of his childhood. As the sisters +stepped across the threshold Beatrice looked round with her curious +eyes, for it was many years since she had seen her old home, and she +was eager to note what changes time had wrought in the place. The +people who had rented it after their father's death had not been in +the society affected by Beatrice after her marriage, and the tenancy +had only recently expired. + +"Ah, the dear old hall--that delightful square staircase--how I +remember it all again! Well, really, Desmond has a very pretty taste +if this decoration and furniture is his choice. That stained glass +is just what was wanted to give the dim religious light one expects +in such a place as this, and these skins and quaint old armour and +other accessories are delightfully in keeping with the old furniture +I remember so well. Were you his aide-de-camp, Maud? Really, it is +quite charming. I hope the little girl will have education to +appreciate it, and not hanker after apple-green hangings and magenta +table-covers. Not but what gay colours are rather coming to the +front once again. Well, every fashion has its day, and we are so +constituted that we all rave over the newest thing out, no matter how +intrinsically hideous it may be. Oh, not you, Maud; you go on in the +even tenor of your way, quite superior to all the fluctuations of +fashion. Gracious goodness, who are these? Surely people cannot +think that the bridal couple have already arrived? Who on earth can +be calling now?" + +"Pray don't agitate yourself, Beatrice; it's only some of the +Ritchies coming to see the house now that it's ready. I told them +they might. You know they will be Odeyne's nearest neighbours, so +naturally they take great interest in it all; and they were our +playfellows, too, you know." + +"Know--I should think I did know! My dear, it is a fact they never +allow us to forget. Well, they are excellent good folks, and will +doubtless suit Odeyne down to the ground. But I think if they are +coming round too, I will postpone the pleasure of a thorough tour +till another day. You will not mind walking back if I take the +carriage home? I really think I must be getting back to Algy now." + +Maud smiled, not without a touch of satire. + +"Oh, by all means satisfy your wifely instincts. The walk is +nothing. Don't let me stand in Algernon's way. Well, Cissy, so you +have found your way up, have you? Everybody seems to choose the +wedding-day to visit the house, you see." + +The girl thus addressed--a maiden with a demure little face and a +pair of merry, saucy-looking eyes, generally hidden beneath very long +black lashes--came towards the sisters with outstretched hand. She +was followed by a pair of brothers, both tall and well-grown, but +without any great share of external finish of manner. The trio were +the children of the doctor of the place, and the sons, who had both +elected to follow their father's profession, had been mainly brought +up at home, only leaving Harlington for the necessary hospital work +prior to examination. Cuthbert was by this time his father's junior +partner, whilst Tom was still studying and not yet qualified. Both +young men had the reputation of being very clever; but talent without +grace and finish of manner had no attractions for Mrs. Vanborough, +and she openly avowed that the Ritchies bored her to the verge of +distraction. + +But there was nothing of this to be detected in the greeting which +she bestowed on the young girl and her two brothers. Beatrice was +far too much the accomplished woman of the world to be betrayed into +the least _gaucherie_ or want of manner. She listened to Cissy's +outspoken raptures with the pleasantest possible of smiles. + +"It is perfectly lovely. I never saw anything more delicious. How +your little boy will like playing here, Beatrice! It is such a +perfect house for children. How well I remember the romps we had all +together here long ago!" + +Beatrice gave the least little look of amusement at her sister out of +the corner of her eyes, as she answered with admirable cordiality-- + +"Ah, perhaps he will; I had not thought of that. He is scarcely of +an age to discriminate much as to his surroundings." + +"Oh, I don't know. I think children are much more discriminating +than people think, and notice much more too. I know we all did----" + +But Beatrice was already on the way to her carriage, making gracious +little farewell gestures as she moved. + +To hear Cissy Ritchie's raptures or theories upon children was a +little too much. She felt she must escape at all costs. + +If there was one thing that bored her more than another it was to be +expected to give an account of the perfections of her handsome, +sturdy, year-old son. In her own way she was fond and proud of him, +but to get up any kind of enthusiasm about him was a thing she had +declined from the first. + +Possibly her absence was a relief to the rest. Mrs. Vanborough, with +her rustling silk, her elegance, and her vivid personality, had a way +of being a trifle overpowering; perhaps this was what she desired in +certain circumstances. + +At any rate, after she was gone Cissy grew more confidential and +eager, whilst "the boys," as it was the fashion to call the doctor's +two tall sons, seemed to come out of their shell of reserve, and +looked, in consequence, less awkward and shy. + +"I can't think how you could keep away, Maud. I should have been +dying of curiosity to see her." + +"Ah, that is a complaint of which you die daily," interpolated Tom in +his dry way; "Maud knows better." + +"Are you not in a dreadful hurry to see her? I don't know how I +should ever endure to let one of the boys marry a girl I had never +seen. Tom, why do you laugh? You might do such a thing, you know. +You are a dreadful boy for keeping a secret. Nobody can find out if +you don't mean them to." + +"Well, I am glad to hear that at any rate. I will take a leaf out of +Desmond's book one of these days, and bring you home a stranger for a +sister. I should like to see the meeting." + +"It would not be interesting," said Cuthbert. "Cissy would run into +her arms and swear an eternal sisterhood on the spot. Cissy has the +good old-fashioned family feeling finely developed. A relation is a +relation, to be swallowed whole without the least reservation. That +is the advantage of having Scotch blood in our veins. We can take to +anyone who bears our name." + +Whilst the boys rattled on in the half-nonsensical, half-speculative +way characteristic more or less of the whole family, Cissy stole a +furtive glance at Maud, as if to see how she was feeling on the +subject--whether she was prepared to take the new sister in this +unquestioning fashion. Perhaps Cissy's quick sympathies gave her a +greater insight into Maud's nature than most people possessed, and +enabled her to guess that the marriage of her brother was not a +source of unmixed pleasure to her. Truth to tell, Maud was not a +little disappointed at the turn matters had taken. She had never +fancied that Desmond would settle down to matrimony in his early +manhood, and she had indulged bright dreams of what life would be +like at the Chase, with Desmond the master and she his housekeeper +and companion. + +The girl had a love of power, as well as a passionate attachment to +her old home; and the news that her brother was engaged to a +stranger, of whom they knew nothing, brought with it a sense of +disappointment none the less keen because borne in utter silence. +And Cissy guessed at the existence of some such feeling, though she +was far too shrewd and tactful to betray any such knowledge, and so, +as they made the tour of the house together, Maud found something +soothing in her presence, and was glad to let her talk and indulge +pleasant little fancies about the coming bride, and the pleasure it +would be to both her and Desmond to have a sister so near at hand. + +Somehow, with Cissy at her side, Maud felt that it would not be hard +to love that new sister, and give her the welcome that would seal +their friendship at once; but when she was left alone in the shadowy +house, with the ghosts of departed fancies lingering all around, and +the sunny influence of a truly warm heart removed, then the old +soreness, akin to jealousy, came creeping back, and with it a +miserable feeling of antagonism towards the woman who had come +between her brother and herself. + +"I shall never care for her, I know I never shall, and that will make +it all the worse, because Desmond will be angry--he will never +understand. Besides, why should he? He never loved me as I loved +him. He would say that we were very good friends, and nothing more. +It is always the way with women, I suppose--some women, at any +rate--to give their all, and get nothing, or almost nothing, in +return. Well, I suppose I can bear it as well as anyone else; but +oh, Desmond, do not ask too much--do not expect me to love your wife +for your sake." + +But though Maud was thus open with herself she might not quite have +liked to hear the remark made by Tom Ritchie as the brothers and +sisters turned homewards again. + +"It strikes me," said that astute young man, "that however much in +love Mrs. Desmond St. Claire may be with her husband, and however +happy they are, and will be, together, that she will have rather a +rough time of it with Desmond's relations." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +_ODEYNE'S HOME._ + +Odeyne stepped out of the long French window which opened upon the +lawn, but instead of joining the family party, grouped together +beneath the sweeping boughs of the great cedar tree, she shrank away +into the friendly shadow of the willow arbour hard by, and looked +across the sunny vista, with eyes in which there was a sparkle of +suspicious moisture, albeit there was no look of unhappiness in the +girl's fair face, but rather an expression of deep content. + +And yet, now that the last day in the old home had really come, +Odeyne found it in her heart to wonder how she had ever made up her +mind to leave it, and to go out into the great unknown world, even +with Desmond at her side. It was a great mystery to her even now, +the strange, new, overpowering love which had crept into her life and +changed its whole tenor--had made her willing to leave her sheltered +home and all the tender associations of her childhood--father, +mother, sisters, and brothers, including even Guy, her dearly-beloved +twin, from whom she had vowed a hundred times that no power on earth +should ever part her. Sometimes it seemed as if it could only be a +dream, from which she should soon awake; but, then, Desmond was no +dream; he had grown to be as the girl's second self, and it had +become an impossibility to picture life without him. + +She wanted a little time for quiet thought. She had been indoors +writing the last letters (in all probability) that would ever be +signed Odeyne Hamilton, and she had promised to join the others at +afternoon tea beneath the old cedar; but the tray was not yet brought +out, though the party had all assembled in the cool retreat, and she +wanted to sit a few minutes looking at them all, herself unobserved, +so as to carry away with her a picture that would ever after be a +source of pleasure and tender satisfaction. + +For there was not one face missing in the dear group. There was the +father, with the snowy head--the typical clergyman, even to the +beautiful benevolent sweetness of expression, which surely ought to +characterise the faces of those whose lives are specially dedicated +to the feeding of Christ's flock; the mother, all gentle seriousness, +with unselfish love shining in her eyes, and making lovely the whole +countenance, even though some anxious fears could not but mingle in +sympathy with her child's happiness. Then there was tall, manly +Edmund--every inch the soldier--and Walter, his father's curate, so +good and steady, who had never given his parents one hour of real +anxiety or pain. There was bright, capable Mary, a model eldest +daughter and sister, and the three girls yet in the schoolroom and +nursery--Patty, Flossy, and Nesta, the pets and plagues of the house. +And last, though by no means least, there was Guy--Guy with the thin, +pale, intellectual face, the broad brow, beautiful dark eyes, and the +ever-changing lights and shades flickering always in them. + +It was upon Guy's face that Odeyne's glance rested most long and most +lovingly, for it was after all Guy who would miss her most. + +For Guy had lived always at home, on account of his delicate health, +and his twin sister had shared alike in his studies and his +amusements, had been his nurse in sickness and his comrade in health, +till the two had grown to be almost shadows of one another. + +It had always seemed to the girl as if Guy's lack of physical +strength had been in some sort her fault, as if she had taken an +undue share of it, rather to his detriment. + +One delicate child in a pair of twins was nothing uncommon; but it +seemed to her as if it ought to have been the girl, not the boy, who +should be called on to take the extra burden of ill-health, whereas, +in this case, she was endowed with an unusually strong physique, and +had hardly known a day's illness in her life, whilst Guy had gone +through pretty well every misery to which flesh is heir. + +There was a strong likeness between this brother and sister. Both +had the same straight level brows, the same expressive eyes of dark +grey, that looked almost black in shadow, and the same delicate, +regular features. + +But the smooth, rounded cheek of the girl was tinged with a beautiful +bloom, and her every movement spoke of an overflowing vitality and +power of enjoyment. + +It was pleasant to watch Odeyne walk, or carry on any active +employment: there was a dainty grace and precision in her movements, +as characteristic as it was unstudied, which gave a subtle +gratification to the spectator, and showed an amount of healthy +physical training of a perfectly feminine kind that it is refreshing +to meet with in these days of extremes. + +Guy's movements, on the contrary, were slow and languid, and his oval +face wore the pallor of confirmed ill-health. At the same time he +was stronger and better than he had ever been in his life before, +and, but for this marked improvement of the past year, it may be +doubtful whether even handsome and gallant Desmond St. Claire would +have urged his suit with any measure of success. + +It was Guy's keen eyes that detected his sister in her shady retreat, +and detaching himself unobserved from the group beneath the cedar, he +took a circuitous path that brought him at length to her side. + +"Well, Odeyne, in maiden meditation lost? A penny for your thoughts, +_Schwesterling mein_." + +But at the caressing touch of his hand upon her shoulder, and the +sound of the old familiar pet name, the moisture on the girl's long +eyelashes resolved itself into very decided drops, which made her +brother's face and the sunny garden swim before her in a golden mist. + +"Oh, Guy, I don't know how I have ever done it. I don't know how to +go through with it now. It seems almost wicked to go away and leave +you all. Am I right? Oh, I wish I were sure." + +"My dearest child, you must not encourage these foolish thoughts," +was the calm rejoinder, spoken in Guy's low, even tones, that despite +their quietness and evenness betrayed to the girl, who knew every +cadence of his voice, an amount of feeling that he would never openly +display. "You are only doing what every woman does at one time or +another in her life--or at least the great majority of them. What is +it that troubles you at the last? You have not quarrelled +desperately with Desmond since the morning?" + +But Odeyne's glance was serious and grave, and tinged with a sort of +wistful anxiety. + +"You know it is not that. It is no fear of Desmond. I think it is +fear of myself. Guy, do you remember how I so often grew almost +discontented and cross because our lives were so quiet, so shielded, +so far removed from the struggle and battle of life? Well, those +thoughts of rebellion are troubling me now--now that I am going out +into the world to be my own mistress, as people say. You do not know +what I would give to feel that there would always be mother to turn +to. I wish I had never been discontented. How is it one never +values what one has until it is going to be taken away?" + +Guy put his arm caressingly round her neck, as he knelt on one knee +beside her. The slanting light from the westering sun twinkled into +their leafy retreat in a myriad golden shafts, interspersed with +flickering shadows, the breeze rustled the leaves overhead, the birds +began to twitter softly after their midday silence. A sort of +restful hush seemed over all the world, and the sense of farewell was +fast stealing over the heart of brother and sister alike. + +"Odeyne," he said tenderly, "you have little enough to reproach +yourself with, I am sure. I suppose it is implanted in our very +nature--that longing to go out and try conclusions with the world. +Even I know something of it, though I should make so poor a figure +there. I think you will give us all reason to be proud of you. You +were always cut out more or less for the part of the great lady. You +must let me soon come to you in the new home. I want to see you at +the head of your own table, queening it in your own house." + +She smiled then, but the look on her face did not change. + +"That is part of the trouble, I think. It is only lately I have +realised that Desmond is rich, and has a large house, and a lot of +servants, and that things will be very different from what I have +been accustomed to here. I feel so small and inexperienced, and so +young. If only it were not so far away! If only I could have mother +to go to for advice!" + +"You will have Desmond." + +There was a soft light in the girl's eyes. She looked very lovely at +that moment, her brother thought. + +"Yes, I shall have Desmond; but that is not quite what I mean. I +want somebody who will tell home-truths to me--Desmond always says +everything I do is right. You will be a help when you come, Guy, in +many ways; but I shall want mother dreadfully sometimes, I know." + +"After you have been married some time, possibly Desmond will indulge +your taste for home-truths more freely." + +"Oh yes, I daresay he will. He has plenty of will of his own; I do +not like men who have not. But, Guy, I am so distrustful of myself. +I am afraid I may grow too fond of pleasure and luxury, and the +things that seem to be coming to me. Do you remember all my castles +in the air about the big house I was to have some day, and the horses +and carriages, and grand way of living, and how I always said that +that was just what I should like? Well, now that Desmond has talked +to me about the Chase, and all the things that go on there, and what +will be expected of us, it is just as if I were getting everything I +had coveted--if that is not too strong a word to use--and I am afraid +I may grow too fond of pleasure, and the bright, butterfly life that +we seem to be going to lead. You know, Guy, I am very fond of +pleasure--very fond of it indeed--though here, with father and mother +and all the influences round us, I have not done anything to make +them fear for me. Oh, I wish it did not seem all quite so strange! +Suppose I grow careless and vain and idle, and become a trouble to +you all, how sad it would be!" + +"I do not think there is very much fear of that, _Schwesterling_; you +have your sheet-anchor fast, I am sure." + +A new look crossed the girl's face. + +"Oh, I hope so, Guy; that is the great comfort of all. I could never +dare to go away but for that"; then after a little pause she added +very softly: "You will pray for me always when I am gone, Guy; for I +know there will be so many more temptations, and I feel so ignorant +and so weak." + +He pressed her hand by way of answer. Even to each other this +brother and sister were reserved as to their deeper feelings, though +they knew them to be in accord. Guy stood looking straight out +before him with a look of fine concentration on his face, whilst the +girl wiped the tears from her cheek, and presently looked up with a +smile in her sweet eyes. + +"There, I am better now. I think I just wanted a little talk with +you all to myself. Let us go to the others now. I must not be long +away. Every hour is precious to-day." + +"Ah, yes, let us come. We shall think of this afternoon when +to-morrow comes, and there is a great blank in the house. You will +be the best off; you will not be aware of it. No, no, little one, do +not look like that. It is all right, and I shall like to think of +you and Desmond having a good time together. You have been cooped up +quite long enough in one place. It is right that some of the birds +should leave the nest. Only I suppose you do not want me to say I +shall not miss you at first. It would be but a poor compliment after +all these long years of willing service. Am I to be allowed to thank +you for them before you take wing, little sister?" + +"Please not, Guy, unless you want to make me cry again, and I hate to +cry. If one once begins there is no leaving off, and tears are so +perilously near one's eyes to-night," with a tremulous little laugh. +"Besides, Desmond will soon be here, and he would be distressed. Men +cannot quite understand what leaving home is like to us." + +"And I do not think he has ever known a home like this either," +answered Guy, as they moved away together. "You will have to develop +the domestic instinct in him, Odeyne." + +There was laughter and the soft sound of happy voices round the +tea-table that evening, for all were determined that to-morrow's +bride should not be saddened on her last day at home, by the thought +of the regrets her absence could not but cause. + +She was marrying, with the full consent of her parents, a man who was +passionately attached to her, and of whom the whole family was very +fond. + +He had come for six months to the Rectory last year to read with Mr. +Hamilton for an examination, and had in that time made himself +beloved by all, for his never-failing flow of happy spirits, his +warm-hearted, affectionate disposition, and for the way in which he +had grown into the family circle, and shared their joys and sorrows +almost as if they were his own. Of his "people," as he called them, +and his prospects he had spoken but little. Not that there was any +mystery about the matter: he was very open about himself and his own +affairs. He had lost his father when he was seventeen, and his +mother had elected to go abroad with his two sisters whilst he spent +his time first at a tutor's and then at college. Meantime the family +house was let to strangers; for it was entailed on Desmond, the only +son, and he did not see any use in living there alone. Since his +coming of age things had not materially changed until about a year +ago, when Mrs. St. Claire had returned to England, and had settled +down in a smaller house, about half-way between her old home and the +house where her elder daughter spent much of her time. + +Beatrice St. Claire had made a fairly brilliant marriage, and was now +the Hon. Mrs. Vanborough, with a town house and a country house, +being herself a leader in a small social circle. Maud was still at +home with her mother, and both were naturally anxious that Desmond +should return and settle near them. They had never come to the +remote Devonshire village to see his future wife--they were very busy +at home, and shrank, as it seemed, from the long journey; but both +had written in a kind and genial fashion, and Maud would have +certainly been present at the wedding, had it not been that Mrs. St. +Claire had been overtaken by a sharp attack of illness the previous +week, which kept both her and her daughter at home. + +It was a disappointment to all parties, though not what it would have +been had Desmond known more of his nearest relatives. But though he +always spoke of them with warm affection he had been too much +separated from them and their life of late years, to have very much +in common; and the home of his betrothed was far more of a home for +him than the residence of his mother. Perhaps Mrs. Hamilton was the +most disappointed at the absence of Desmond's mother. She felt a +great anxiety to know what manner of woman it was who would be +henceforth the nearest confidante and adviser of her dearly-loved +daughter. She often found herself wishing that she knew more about +the life into which her child was about to step--more about the man +himself, into whose hands they were about to commit their treasure. +True, in one sense of the word, they knew everything--he kept nothing +back--not even the fact that at Oxford he had been more than a little +extravagant, and had been in serious disgrace more than once with the +authorities for his wild pranks and misdemeanours of various kinds. +No one could be more open than Desmond was, and no one could express +more contrition for past follies, or a livelier determination to +amend in the future. And then he and Odeyne loved one another. +There could be no manner of doubt as to that, and when all was said +and done there was nothing in the young man's past career to justify +the loving parents from withholding their consent, despite sundry +fears and forebodings on the part of the anxious mother. Indeed, +from a worldly standpoint, Odeyne was doing very well for herself, as +young Desmond was very well off, and would be likely to add to his +income as time went on, for he had finally decided, mainly through +the advice of his future father-in-law, to enter the large mercantile +house in which his own father's fortune had been made, and to be more +than a mere name upon the books. Mr. Hamilton had a not ungrounded +horror of an idle man, and as Desmond showed no special leaning +towards any profession the Rector strongly urged him to take the +place open to him in the business house, and make himself a power +there. He need not give his whole time to it; but at least it would +save him from some of the temptations that so closely beset a wealthy +man actually without employment. The Chase was so situated that it +was easy to run up to town from it three or four times a week, and +Desmond, after a little vacillating, and not unnatural distaste of +"harness," had decided to take the advice pressed upon him, and was +by this time quite pleased at the prospect, and full of the wonders +he was going to accomplish when once he had his hand on the reins. + +His bright, sanguine temperament was one of his great charms. +Perhaps he owed it in part to the Irish blood that ran in his +veins--though for several generations his immediate ancestors had +been English--at any rate he had a happy buoyancy of disposition that +made his company delightful, and endeared him to all with whom he +came in contact. + +There was certainly something peculiarly winning and attractive in +the face that was bent over Odeyne an hour later, as the lovers, so +soon to be united, stood together in the dewy garden, not talking +much, but pacing side by side in quiet contentment, glancing now and +then at each other with eyes that were eloquent of love. Desmond St. +Claire was just four-and-twenty, tall, broad-shouldered, but with +plenty of suppleness and grace in the free movements of his strong +limbs, as also in his whole bearing and carriage, particularly the +pose of the head, which had a very characteristic set of its own, +that might have been called haughty but for the open, smiling +brightness which was the prevailing expression of the handsome, +bronzed face. The young man looked like one of Fortune's favourites. +Guy used to tell him he also looked like an only son. + +"One can see you've had no brothers to bully you, or take you down a +peg every now and then," he said to him early on in their +acquaintance; "it's easy to see you have always been surrounded by +adoring women-folk." And though this last statement was hardly +correct in its literal sense, it was none the less true that Desmond +had been used from childhood to be made much of, and to consider +himself a personage of some importance; nor had his training done +very much, so far, to eradicate the idea; though it is but fair to +say the young man was hardly aware that he held it. There was no +bumptious self-assertion about him. On the contrary, he was more +disposed to under-value his own attainments, and to admire others +above himself. Still, notwithstanding all this, he could not rid +himself of the air of a prosperous and rather important personage, +and Odeyne found no fault with the little air of distinction that he +wore with so much of boyish ease and grace. She liked, too, above +all else, the tender, protecting manner he always assumed towards +herself when they were alone together. Odeyne had won the reputation +at home of being slightly independent, and anything but desirous of +constant protection in the little details of her daily life; indeed, +she seemed rather protector than in need of care herself, in her +relations not only with Guy, but also with her mother and little +sisters. Yet none the less did she find a great sweetness in +depending upon Desmond, and feeling that he was watching over her and +upholding her in all their mutual relations. Odeyne was too true a +woman not to delight in this feeling, however little it might seem to +some to be a part of her nature. + +To-night Desmond was in an unusually serious mood, but the girl was +content that it should be so. They walked for some time in silence, +and then he said tenderly and softly-- + +"You have had a very happy home here, my darling; sometimes I feel +half afraid of taking you away. Suppose I fail to make you happy. +Suppose the day should come when you should repent that you had ever +married me." + +"That day never could come, Desmond," answered the girl in clear, low +tones, with an upward glance more eloquent than words. + +"I trust not, dearest; but one never knows what may happen----" + +"Nothing that happens could bring that to pass," was the quick reply. +"I know we may have trouble and sorrow--no lives are quite exempt +from that; and why should we expect it? But do you not know that +trouble shared with you would be sweeter than any ease and pleasure +enjoyed alone? The more sorrow fell to your lot, the more I should +want to be with you to share it." + +He turned and clasped her in his arms. + +"God bless you, sweet love, for those words," he said, with a quiver +in his voice. "I only trust I may be worthy of the treasure I shall +take to myself to-morrow." + +"If God does bless us," answered Odeyne in a whisper, "we need not be +afraid of the future, or what it will bring. I am so glad you said +that, Desmond. I can't talk about things, but I want us--oh, so +much, to feel alike in everything." + +"My darling, we will. You shall teach me to be like your own sweet +self. This home has always been a living lesson to me. If we can +make our own like it I shall be content." + +"Oh, if we could!" cried the girl with beaming eyes. "Ah, Desmond, +let us try. We may come a good deal short of our ideal, but at any +rate we will try." + +He smiled as he caressed her curly hair. The old brightness had come +back to his face. Desmond's grave moods were seldom of long +continuance. + +"By all means, dearest, let us try. Only you may not find it quite +such an easy matter as you think now, to model our future household +upon that of a rustic rectory. Here we live in Arcadia; there it +will be--well, different." + +There was a sweet, grave brightness upon Odeyne's face on the morrow, +as she stood before the altar of the quaint little parish church +where she had been christened, and repeated after her father the +solemn words that made her the wife of Desmond St. Claire. Behind +her stood her sisters, and those nearest and dearest; whilst at her +side stood the man of her choice, and before her was the strange +future life, which seemed to stretch itself out in rainbow tints. + +The bells clashed out a merry peal as she left the church; all the +village was _en fête_ to see Miss Odeyne's wedding. In the absence +of the bridegroom's relations every face was familiar and +beloved--for Desmond was mighty popular in the little village he knew +so well. + +It seemed a wedding all smiles and no tears, and even when the moment +of farewell came the smiles predominated, despite the mist that +obscured the visions of some of the party who watched the departure +of the bride. + +"They are all your brothers and sisters now, Desmond," said the young +wife, leaning forward to take one last view of the crowd of dear, +familiar faces. + +"Of course they are," he answered, his fingers closing upon hers, his +hat in his hand, waving a glad farewell salute. "I never had any +brothers of my own, and all yours are mine now. We will have them +all down to the Chase for our first Christmas there, if we don't get +them before. You shall never feel that marriage has made the least +bit of a barrier between you, my loyal little wife; only you will +give yourself to me for just a little while without any rivals in +your heart, will you not?" + +At that question Odeyne turned to her husband with a beautiful light +in her eyes, and answered-- + +"Desmond, you know that you are always first now. Whatever lies +before us in the future you will always find me by your side. We +have taken each other for better for worse." + +He took her hand and carried it to his lips. + +"It shall never be for worse, my darling!" he cried, "I will promise +you that!" + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +_FAREWELLS AND GREETINGS._ + +"Oh, Miss Odeyne--I beg your pardon, I mean Mrs. St. Claire, but it +seems as if my tongue would never learn the new name rightly--I've +got a favour to ask of you that I've been longing all the time to +talk to you about, and now the time's come it seems as if I didn't +know how to say it rightly." + +"Why, Alice, have you turned shy all in a moment, or do you think I +have changed in a few weeks?" and Odeyne glanced at the girl's +downcast face with an encouraging smile. "Well, you shall have your +wish, and brush out my hair for me, and you can talk to me as you do +it, and let me hear what this wonderful favour is." + +Alice Hanbury was a pretty, neat-fingered damsel, who had been all +her life more or less at the Rectory, and had received her training +for domestic service under the kindly eye of the mistress. She had +of late years been employed chiefly in the capacity of sewing maid, +on account of her deftness with her fingers and love for her needle, +and it had been said from time to time in the family that Alice ought +to be a lady's maid, she had so much taste and cleverness in all the +details of the toilet. For the past year or more she had attached +herself especially to Odeyne, and it was her great delight to be +permitted to dress the girl's abundant hair, or to array her for any +simple festivity to which she might be going. So it had not +surprised Odeyne on this particular occasion that Alice should follow +her to her room to ask leave to assist her to dress for dinner, and +she had willingly consented, for her month of wifehood had not damped +in the smallest her interest in every detail connected with the old +life, and to that old life the maid entirely belonged. + +This unexpected visit to the old home on the conclusion of the +wedding tour had come as a delightful surprise to Odeyne--a surprise +planned by her husband, and valued tenfold as proof of the tender +love he bore her. It had been arranged between Desmond and her +parents without her knowledge, and only when the train was +approaching the well-known country had she suspected his purpose, or +understood the merry, mischievous glances and speeches which had been +perplexing her all day. And now, after a week of unalloyed +happiness, the last evening had once more come; but Odeyne was not +sad to-night, for Desmond was now her husband, and there was no room +in her faithful heart for anything but the truest love and confidence. + +"Well, Alice, I am waiting to hear what this wonderful favour can be. +You may be quite sure I will do anything for you that I can." And +there was a pleasant consciousness now in the girl's mind that she +had the power to do a good deal for her old friends or dependents. A +month's experience of life as a rich man's wife had not been lost +upon her. It could not help being a pleasant experience, and just +now everything was tinged with a golden halo. + +"Oh, miss--I mean ma'am--if you would only take me away with you +to-morrow! I could be quite ready, indeed I could, and I have so set +my heart upon it. They all say you must have a maid to wait upon you +in your grand new house, and though I may not be so fine as some you +could get, I know your ways, and no new maid would serve you as +faithful as I would. I've spoken to the missus and Miss Mary, and +they both approve if you do. And oh, Miss Odeyne, do take me! The +house isn't like itself without you, and I would so like to go with +you to your new home." + +"Well, Alice, if you really mean it, I shall be very glad. Your +mistress was speaking about it to me the other day, and we decided +that, as she can spare you, and as it is only right you should +'better yourself,' as they say, you should come to me at the Chase. +I shall be very glad, you may be sure, but I should like you to think +it over carefully first. It is a serious thing to leave home and the +place in which one's life has always been passed, and to begin again +in quite a new one. You will get larger wages, and your life may be +more lively and amusing, but, Alice, there will be more temptations +too, and you ought to think carefully before you make your decision. +I should be so very sorry if any harm came to you from having +followed me." + +"But, ma'am, I don't see how it could; I should be with you. It will +be almost the same as if I was here." + +"I am afraid it will be hardly that, Alice," answered the young wife, +with a smile and a sigh, "though I shall do my best to make it so. +But you must think it over and talk to your mother, and if you decide +that you really wish it, you can come to me any time that you like." + +"Oh, but, ma'am, I have spoken to mother already, and she is as +pleased as can be. She thinks I should be better away, because of +that Jim Rich, who won't let me alone"; and Alice tossed her head and +blushed a little, for that was the name of one of her admirers, and +she was conscious of having given him more encouragement than was +altogether fair, considering she never intended marrying him. "And +indeed, Miss Odeyne, it was she who bid me ask if I mightn't go away +with you to-morrow. I saw her this very afternoon, and it was that +that put it into my head. I could be quite ready, indeed I could, +and I should be so glad to get away quiet before anybody knew." + +Odeyne looked thoughtfully at the girl, half understanding her +eagerness, half afraid to gratify it. She saw that Alice was very +pretty. She suspected she had reasons for wishing to get away to a +new place, but she wondered if it would be really kind to take her. +Her innocent little vanities and coquetries were very harmless here, +but might they not get her into trouble elsewhere? + +"Well, is the weighty matter settled yet?" asked a clear voice at the +door, and Odeyne looked up, relieved to see her elder sister before +her. Mary always knew what to do for the best. + +"Ah, Mary, you have come in good time to give us your advice. This +foolish Alice wants to leave you all to come with me to-morrow. What +must I say to her?" + +Mary sat down and heard all that there was to hear, and, to the great +delight of the little Alice, decided in her favour. + +"It will be better for her to go, as she has set her heart on it," +she explained to her sister, as they went downstairs together. "She +is unsettled here and is anxious to go elsewhere, and she will be far +safer with you than anywhere else we could place her. My own opinion +is that she will get married before very long. She attracts a good +deal of notice with her pretty face and dainty little ways. She will +very likely marry rather above her own class, as she has rather grand +ideas, and is certainly hardly suited to the life of a working man's +wife. Poor little Alice! I hope she may be happy; at least she will +have a mistress who will look well after her, and more than that no +one can do." + +It was a happy evening for Odeyne. After dinner she sat in the +curtained nook beside the open window, and one and another of the +dear ones came and had a little quiet talk with her. She was so +happy, and Desmond so devoted, that the anxious fears experienced at +one time or another could not but be laid at rest, at least for a +while. Guy looked with keen scrutiny into his sister's face and then +smiled. + +"One needn't condole with you yet then, _Schwesterling_; you seem to +have found out 'how to be happy though married.'" + +Odeyne laughed softly to herself. + +"At least I shall not commit myself to any lamentations yet. I will +leave your sharp eyes to find out the domestic discord when you come +to see us. And when will that be, Guy? I shall not feel that the +Chase is quite a proper home until you have been to see us there." + +"Oh, I will come all in good time, never fear, but not just at once. +It is a mistake for the relations to be too thick on the ground at +first. You will want a few months to get settled down to the new +life. It would not be fair to Desmond to come crowding in too fast. +He will want his wife to himself for the first spell at any rate." + +"Desmond is too unselfish to be exacting, and he is so very fond of +you all too." + +"Well, you will have Edmund at any rate close at hand. How pleased +you must have been to hear of that appointment! Five years of him +almost at your gates. He will be quite a tame cat about your place." + +"It will be delightful," said Odeyne with shining eyes; "I have had a +lingering hope of something of the kind ever since I realised that +the regimental depot was so near the Chase. Desmond was almost as +pleased as I. You cannot think how anxious he is that I shall be +happy, and not miss you all too much. He is so good to me, Guy." + +It was almost the only time Odeyne had allowed herself to praise her +husband quite so openly as in these few words. She was not wont to +gush at all, and Desmond was too near and too dear for her to speak +much of him. So that though her happiness and his devotion were +tolerably patent to all, she had said little of it in words; and it +was not without a feeling of keen pleasure that the mother, seeking +the quiet retreat in which her child had ensconced herself, overheard +these last words, before she herself was seen. + +"I am pleased indeed to hear it, my darling," she said, as she took +the chair Guy had vacated in her favour. "I would not ask you such a +question, and indeed one has but to look at your face to read an +answer of the best kind there. Still, it is good hearing, and will +help us to send you on your way with lighter hearts; but, my darling, +there is one question your mother would like to ask you before you go +to begin the new life, but I will not do so unless you tell me I may. +I would not intrude----" + +"Mother, darling, how could you? As if there were anything in the +world I would not tell you. I love to talk everything over with you. +Only I don't want to bore people with my affairs, and I know it +sounds so silly to be always praising one's husband." + +"You need never fear tiring me either with praise or any kind of +confidence, little daughter. I love Desmond dearly; he is almost +like one of my own boys. What I wanted to ask you, my dear +child--just the one little doubt that troubles me sometimes--will +Desmond help you to rule your household in the fear and love of God? +Will he think of the welfare of others in the ordering of his daily +life? So much will depend upon the atmosphere, of your house--if you +understand what I mean by that. You will have responsibilities +resting upon you, darling, such as you have never known before. +There will be many lives in the future more or less influenced for +good or evil by yours. If you are lax and careless, others will +become so, almost as a matter of course, whilst in proportion as you +show a regard for what is of paramount importance, so will your +dependents be led to do the same. You cannot live for yourselves +alone--none of us can. We have duties towards others that we cannot +rid ourselves of, however much we may wish. You understand that, my +child? I know you wish to do right; but do you quite understand that +you will be in the position of one whose actions will be watched by +many, and who will have a wide-spreading influence over many lives?" + +"Mother dear, I think I do, and indeed I will try. I do want to do +what is right--to make our home like this." + +"And will Desmond help you?" + +"Oh, I think so. He is so kind and considerate whenever we make +plans together. Of course he is a little reserved--men always +are--and I am not very good at talking either; but he means well, I +know. He has very beautiful thoughts sometimes--only you know he has +never had a home of his own like ours, so it is hardly to be expected +for him to feel just as I do." + +"But you will help him and lead him? He loves you so dearly that he +will do much for your sake; and remember, my dear child, that +much--very much--depends on beginnings. Try to begin well, and the +habit once formed will, in itself, be a help. You will understand +better as you go on what I mean, and your mother's prayers will be +with you always that you may be guided right." + + +"Your home--our home--my darling. Do you think it will ever be as +dear as the old one?" + +Desmond looked with fond pride into the sweet face of his bride as he +put this question, and caught the look of sparkling happiness in her +dewy eyes. + +"Desmond, it is lovely--you never told me half. How I wish they +could all see it! I shall never be able to make them understand how +beautiful it all is. I am almost afraid of being mistress of such a +house. Oh! suppose I do not give you nice dinners--suppose I make a +dreadful muddle of the housekeeping? Whatever will you say?" + +He laughed and kissed her fondly. + +"Well, in that awful contingency we will get in a housekeeper to +relieve you of all the distasteful offices. My wife is not going to +be allowed to worry herself over disagreeable duties. She is to be a +lady at large, ready to do the honours of the Chase, and go about to +all the festivities, and make the county belles die of envy. Oh, +yes, my love, I shall say what I please now. You are my property; I +shall be as proud of you as ever I like. I am going to make my +little wife a very important person, and if you think that +housekeeping details will bore or worry you, we will get a woman in +forthwith to relieve you of the burden." + +"Now! Desmond, how can you talk such nonsense? as if I were quite a +goose! Why, I am appalled as it is at the number of servants we seem +to have--if those were the servants we saw drawn up in the hall to +welcome us. I do not think we can possibly want them all, let alone +another. Little Alice will be quite superfluous, I fear." + +"Not a bit of it. You must have your own maid. And as for the rest, +you will find you want them all. My mother has made all the +arrangements of that kind, and she knows what the house wants; she +lived here long enough to be an authority on such points." + +"Your mother--Oh! Desmond, shall we go and see her this first +evening? Would she like it?" + +"Oh, she would like it well enough; but don't you think it would be +rather a bore for us? I want my wife all to myself." + +She gave him a quick kiss. She liked to hear him speak after this +fashion, but her answer was decided. + +"I think it would be nice to go. I want to see her so much; and you +know she must be so eager to see you again. Yes, let us go, Desmond +dear. You must really be impatient to see your mother." + +Desmond submitted, only stipulating that they should return home for +dinner. They had spent the previous night in London, and had come +down early to the Chase, so that there would be plenty of time for +the proposed visit. + +The young husband was very particular as to the appearance his wife +presented; hut, though her dresses were country made and very plain, +they fitted her to perfection, and suited her so well that even his +fastidious eye could find no fault. Odeyne was quite amused at his +anxiety as to what impression she made, but gradually came to +understand it better. + +It was a new thing to have out a carriage and pair of horses, to go a +distance of less than two miles, and to sit behind two men-servants; +but Odeyne could not help feeling a little innocent exaltation in her +grandeur--with a hope that it was not wrong to find it all so +delightful--and as they neared the abode of her mother-in-law, she +had other things to think of. + +Desmond's mother! How she would love her! She should never feel +that she had lost her son by his marriage. No wife ought ever to +stand between a mother and her son; but before she had got to the end +of her train of thought the carriage stopped, and she found herself +following Desmond into a lofty room, rather dim, and redolent of some +subtle perfume, but furnished in the sumptuous way that was quite new +to the inexperienced country girl. + +The next moment her hands were taken by a pair of thin, cold ones, +and she found herself kissed French-fashion on both cheeks; but +somehow she was not able to put her arms about her new mother's neck, +as she had always intended--not that there was any lack of cordiality +in the voice that said-- + +"And so you have come the very first day? Really, my dear children, +I am very much obliged to you." + +"That was Odeyne's doing. I could not get her to settle to anything +till she had seen you. She felt so certain you must be dying to see +me again. You see, we mean to practise the domestic virtues in the +most exemplary manner." + +"The more the better, Desmond. I am glad Odeyne has so much kindly +sense and sound, feeling. My dear, if this great boy of mine tries +to laugh you out of any of your charming old-world ways, do not pay +any attention to him. You are wiser than he will ever be--stick to +your own opinion, and bring him round to it." + +"You see what you have to expect, Odeyne--a life of constant +struggling and tyrannical opposition," cried Desmond merrily. "Never +mind, you will at least have an ally in my mother, and she is a host +in herself. Ah, here is Maud! Well, madam, you did not expect to +find this ceremony inflicted on you so early, did you? Pray let me +introduce my wife, and you must make your peace with her as best you +may, for I assure you she has never forgiven you your absence at the +wedding. Odeyne is a great stickler for etiquette, eh, wifie?" + +"Desmond, how can you?" But Desmond rattled away in the same +nonsensical fashion, whether to cover a species of nervousness, or +simply to try and put all parties at their ease, Odeyne did not feel +certain. The mood was new to her in this particular form, and she +was not quite sure that she liked it. She would rather have heard +something besides banter and nonsense from his lips at this first +interview with his relations. + +But whilst he rattled on to Maud, Odeyne had the opportunity to enjoy +a little quiet talk with his mother, which was just what she wanted. +She hoped the pretty old lady, with the bright eyes and dainty grace +of manner, would talk to her of her boy, and reveal, by little +nameless touches, the motherliness in her nature, but somehow the +interview failed to be quite satisfying, or, perhaps, Odeyne had +expected too much. + +Mrs. St. Claire was very gracious and affable. Notwithstanding the +fact that her eyes scanned the girl from head to foot in a way that a +shy person would have found rather disconcerting, she talked very +kindly, though at times with a touch of satire in her voice and +manner that jarred a little upon Odeyne. + +She paid her daughter-in-law many little compliments of a very +refined and graceful kind; but Odeyne would have liked a warm +pressure of the hand, or a tender look towards the son, better than +all these put together. She could not help feeling as if some kind +of a gulf lay between herself and these people, and as the feeling +was quite unknown to her in the life she had led at home, it was +disconcerting, and she was disposed to blame herself for it. + +Desmond did not stay long, nor did it seem expected that he should. + +Odeyne hardly spoke a word to the stately sister, of whom she felt a +considerable amount of awe. She ventured to ask her to come soon to +see her, but she was not sure that the invitation had not been rather +taken as an affront, it was so coldly responded to. + +"Well, no one can say we have not done our duty nobly," cried +Desmond, throwing himself backward in the carriage with a sigh that +sounded rather like one of relief. "Poor old Maud, she looks a bit +glum, but that was always the way with her. You seemed to hit it off +nicely with the mother, Odeyne. She is a mighty particular old lady, +too, so you are to be congratulated." + +Odeyne smiled and made no reply. She would not admit even to herself +that she had been damped or disappointed. She said that it was +foolish to expect every home party to be like the one she had just +left, and that she should soon learn to understand other people's +ways without feeling chilled. Desmond, almost as if he divined that +she had been a little disappointed, was tenderness itself all the +evening, and they had a wonderfully sweet time, walking in the quaint +old garden and wandering about the dusky rooms, planning the use for +each, and picturing the happy life they were about to commence +together. Even the grand dinner, with two men-servants in the room, +did not oppress Odeyne. She was not quite sure if she liked it as +well as the simpler mode of life to which she was accustomed, but at +least it interested and amused her, and she liked to watch and admire +the easy way in which her husband took his place and gave his orders. + +The evening, when they sat out together on the terrace and watched +the moon rise over the trees, was perfect, and the girl's heart was +very full of thanksgiving for the happiness of her future lot. + +"Shall we have prayers in the hall, dear? It seems the most suitable +place, I think," she said, rising to move indoors as the clock struck +ten. Desmond had risen too. Now he paused, and looked at her a +little oddly in the dim light. + +"Prayers! Oh, I had not thought about that. I don't think, dearest, +that we can manage evening prayers here." + +"Why not, Desmond dear?" + +"You see, Odeyne, we shall often be out in the evening, and often we +shall have people in the house who will not be used to that ceremony; +and I can't bear a parade, or making that kind of thing a bore to +people. I'm sure you would not wish it either. And it is no good +beginning unless one means to keep it up." + +Odeyne stood still thinking, with a little shadow upon her face. + +"Well, Desmond dear, I do not want to do anything to bring what we +prize into contempt; but we should not like to have no prayers in our +house. Shall we have them in the morning instead? We shall always +be at home then, and if people do not like them, as you seem to +think, they need not come down. But the household will meet together +regularly, as we did at home." + +Desmond seemed still to hesitate; but it was the first thing she had +asked him in the new home, and he loved her too well to deny any +request of hers willingly. + +"Well, darling, we will settle it so, though you know your ideas on +some points are rather antiquated. We will have prayers in the +mornings before breakfast, and the only stipulation I make is that if +I am not down in time, you read them yourself." + +Odeyne smiled and consented, but she thought the stipulation not +likely to be enforced, and the experience of the following week +proved her confidence to be well grounded. Desmond was everything +her heart could wish, and the days flew by one after another as if on +golden wings. + +The only small trouble was the coldness of Maud, with whom she had +resolved to make such friends, for Desmond had spoken several times +of Maud's devotion to himself. + +Odeyne was quite unable to comprehend that dumb, pained jealousy +which Maud experienced every time she saw Odeyne and her husband +together. How could she guess at the vague heart-hunger of one who +had never been ardently loved, whose lot it had always been to give, +rather than to receive, tokens of affection? + +"I want to show you something," she exclaimed one day, when Maud +chanced to drive across with some message from Mrs. St. Claire; "I +have been planning a surprise for Desmond, and it has just come. He +is in town, of course, and I have nobody to share my pleasure with. +I am so glad you have come!" and she put her arm within that of Maud, +trying hard not to think her irresponsive and cold. Surely she would +take pleasure in anything that was done for Desmond! + +Odeyne led the way across the hall to the little sanctum that was +Desmond's particular "den." Hitherto that place had been rather +sparsely furnished, but to-day it had been completely metamorphosed +by the introduction into it of a very beautiful carved and inlaid +bureau, a chair of the same sort of workmanship, an overmantel, and +some fine skin rugs laid down upon the floor. + +"There!" cried Odeyne, with innocent pride and pleasure, "now the +room looks worthy of Desmond, does it not?" + +Maud looked round with eyes that took in everything, and that +expressed a certain amount of surprise. + +"It is very handsome," she said. "That sort of work is very +uncommon, and----" + +She stopped, but Odeyne understood in a moment what the unfinished +sentence implied, and answered eagerly-- + +"It is rather expensive, but it is good, and I knew it was just +Desmond's taste, and that he would not get it for himself. You see, +I have an uncle in Australia, and he sent me a cheque to get myself a +wedding present. It did not come till after we were married, and so +I just kept my little secret from Desmond, and ordered these things +for a surprise. Do you think he will like them?" + +"Yes," answered Maud, but still in the same rather cool way; she +hesitated a moment, and then added in a hasty and almost nervous +fashion, "But you might have been wiser to keep your money, Odeyne. +You may want it for something more important some day. And I would +not encourage Desmond to be extravagant, if I were you. Don't let +him think he must needs have everything he sets his fancy on. It's +not the best thing for any of us!" + +Then she bid a hasty adieu to her sister-in-law, and beat a retreat, +leaving Odeyne standing in the middle of the beautified little room +with rather a startled look upon her face. + +What had made Maud say that? + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +_A LITTLE CLOUD._ + +"My dear, you are charming--perfect. I own that I have had +misgivings: but you have proved yourself the best judge. My own +treasured Madame could not have turned you out better. I am +delighted with you. Now you need not blush at a compliment from a +sister, not but what it is a remarkably becoming blush." + +"Now Beatrice--please----" + +"My dear child, if you think to stop my tongue, or to curb my freedom +of speech, you are attempting an utter impossibility, as your husband +will tell you, if you still take the trouble to apply to him for +information. Well, Odeyne, I hope you will enjoy your first +introduction to society. You must expect to have your measure taken +pretty freely by all the company, who are more or less dying of +curiosity to see Desmond's bride: but at least your appearance defies +criticism. It is as quaint and delicious and altogether charming as +your name, which nobody has ever heard before." + +Odeyne was standing before Beatrice, in one of the +elegantly-appointed rooms of Rotherham Park, the country residence of +the Hon. Algernon Vanborough. It was the first dinner-party which +had been given in honour of the bride, and Odeyne felt a little +excited, and perhaps a trifle nervous too, at the prospect of facing +a fashionable assemblage, met together in her honour, though +fortunately for her she was not either self-conscious or shy. The +long straight folds of her white silk wedding-dress hung in severely +classical lines about her slight, well-proportioned figure, giving it +additional height and grace. The dress was absolutely plain, without +a particle of trimming, and had originally been high to the throat +and wrists. Since then Alice's deft fingers had cut a small square +in front and arranged a high Medicis collar at the back, whilst the +sleeves were now short to the elbow and finished off with delicate +lace ruffles. Odeyne wore no ornaments save the string of +pearls--Beatrice's wedding gift--round her neck, and a spray of +stephanotis and maidenhair fern fastened on her shoulder. Starry +white blossoms nestled in her dusky hair, which was piled up on the +top of her head. She possessed a marked individuality of her own +that was not lost upon Beatrice. Not only was she decidedly +beautiful, but she had an air of distinction--a thing of which Mrs. +Vanborough thought a great deal more. + +Odeyne and her husband had come early, a good hour before other +dinner guests were likely to arrive. The young wife had taken a +liking to Beatrice, more because she found her so easy to get on +with, than for any great similarity in taste or feeling: and then +there was no doubt that Beatrice liked her--which was more than she +could say with certainty of the rest of Desmond's near relatives; and +it is easy under such circumstances to entertain warm feelings. +Odeyne was eager to like her husband's people and make herself one of +them, but Maud's coldness repelled her, whilst there was something in +the air and manner of the mother which always had the effect of +jarring on her sensibilities, though she could never exactly tell why. + +So Beatrice was a pleasant contrast, and she had accepted the +brother's wife as a sister from the first. Desmond, too, liked his +sister's house far better than his mother's, and was always ready to +ride or drive across, or to ask them over to the Chase. Odeyne had +seen Beatrice quite a number of times already, and the small amount +of natural constraint she had felt at first was rapidly vanishing +away. It was certainly rather hard to feel constrained with +Beatrice, unless she intended you to be so. + +As they turned to go downstairs together, Odeyne paused and said-- + +"Please may we go to the nursery first? I have not seen the boy for +such a long time." + +Beatrice laughed as she answered-- + +"Do you say that because you really wish to go, or because you think +it will please me to pretend you do?" + +"I say it because I want it. I think it bores you to go to your +nursery, Beatrice, but I can quite well go alone. I know the way by +this time." + +Again Beatrice laughed, shaking her head. + +"Your candour is delightful, and your eyes are sharp. Take care that +the combination does not get you into trouble one of these fine days, +fair sister. But I will go with you. You have a happy knack of not +boring me with your admiration of the boy. You do not expect me to +drivel over him, and really I cannot stoop to that." + +The nursery was dimly lighted, cool and empty. The rosy, beautiful +boy lay sleeping in his cot, with one round, fat arm flung over his +head. Odeyne bent over him and kissed him many times, a strange +thrill running through her as she did so. It seemed such a holy and +beautiful and wonderful thing to have a little innocent child all +one's own. She felt that if such a life should some day be given to +her, as a gift from heaven, she would hardly know how to prize or +cherish it enough. + +"Oh, Beatrice," she said, lifting herself up at last, "how good it +must make you try to be, to have a darling like that to think for! I +think it must be a great help, though of course it is a great anxiety +too." + +Her sister-in-law regarded her with a look of speculative curiosity, +in which amusement and something not altogether removed from sadness +were strangely blended. + +"A help?" she repeated questioningly. "In what way?" + +"Oh, you must know, you must feel it. Think how sad it would be if +one's own children saw the least thing to make them lose confidence +in one. I know if I had seen mother or father doing wrong, or being +careless or frivolous, it would have felt as if the very foundations +of the world were giving way. Don't you know what I mean? I think +you must. There are so many temptations in life, but nothing would +help to keep us clear of them like the thought that we might be +setting a bad example to the children who trusted us. It would be +too dreadful to think that we had perhaps given the first impetus in +a wrong direction." + +And Odeyne's face was turned upon her companion with a depth of sweet +seriousness upon it that for once seemed to silence the lively +Beatrice. + +"Well, dear, suppose we go down now," she said, after a little pause. +"Your ideas are beautiful--almost too beautiful for daily wear, I +fear--never mind, you shall set us all an example one of these days. +No, I am not laughing at you, I verily believe you will; though +whether we follow it is quite another matter. Ah, here is Maud, come +in good time also. Well, I will leave you together, and go down, for +people may be coming any time now, and Algy is always fussing over +the wine till the very last moment." + +Beatrice's dinner was a great success--most of her entertainments +were--for both she and her husband possessed the knack of getting the +right people together, and entertaining them well. + +Odeyne was the person of greatest importance that night, and she made +quite a little social success, which she enjoyed in the fresh, +spontaneous way of a young thing, to whom everything was new and +delightful. + +She saw that Desmond was pleased with her, and with everything, and +that added to her enjoyment; and then the talk was so bright and +lively, there was such sparkle and wit in the sallies and retorts, +that the girl was quite taken out of herself, and found it all most +entertaining; nor was she herself by any means a cypher either, but +showed that she could talk with a spice of originality that delighted +her neighbours. She was so fresh and bright and unsophisticated, +without being silly, that all were taken with her, and it was said on +all hands that the new Mrs. St. Claire was going to be an addition to +the county. + +So the dinner and the first part of the evening passed off +delightfully, and it was only after the gentlemen joined the ladies +later on in the drawing-room that anything occurred to mar the +pleasure of what had gone before. + +Odeyne gathered from the talk in the drawing-room that the Goodwood +races, which had hitherto been but a name to her, were shortly coming +off, and that everyone talked as if all were going as the veriest +matter-of-course. + +So far Desmond had not mentioned the matter to his wife, and Odeyne +was a little surprised that Beatrice should speak of her going as if +it were a settled thing. + +The girl had never seen a race in her life, and she thought it must +be a very pretty sight. + +At the same time she felt a misgiving as to whether her parents would +altogether like her to be there, and she wondered if there could be +anything wrong about it, for all these people evidently meant to go, +and saw no harm in it. + +Beatrice looked at her once or twice as the conversation proceeded, +as if to see how it affected her; but Odeyne was not one to air her +opinions too freely, especially when she was uncertain of her ground, +and she had implicit confidence in her husband's judgment. He would +never take her to any place she ought not to be seen at. + +Desmond seemed in a very lively mood when he came in. He stood +beside his wife's chair, as though he liked to feel her near; but he +continued his conversation with the men about him, and though Odeyne +listened to every word, she found that she understood very little. +It seemed to be about horses and racing, and that was about all she +made out. Sometimes note-books were produced, and entries +made--Desmond himself made a good many--but she did not understand +what it was about, and was half ashamed of the feeling of uneasiness +which came over her as she watched and listened. + +But before long the carriage was announced, and they took their +departure; and when she was once alone with her husband, felt his arm +about her waist, and heard his tender words of playful praise for the +impression she had made on the neighbourhood that night, she felt +perfectly happy again. He would never do the least thing that was +wrong; and, indeed, her confidence was such that she was not afraid +to put the question to him direct when they had got home, and were +sitting together for a chat before retiring for the night. + +"Desmond, what were you all doing with your note-books just now?" she +said, laying her hand caressingly on his coat-sleeve; "it looked +almost as if you were betting together. What was it?" + +"Well, you might have made a worse shot, little wifie; did you never +hear of fellows laying a little money upon coming events?" and he +laughed at his little pleasantry. + +"But, Desmond, I thought it was wrong to bet." + +He stooped and kissed her grave face. + +"So it can be, darling--very wrong indeed, as some men do it; but not +as your husband does. You may trust me, my sweet, never to cross the +line that divides a little innocent fun from what verges on actual +fraud and roguery. Why, what a serious face, to be sure! What is +the matter, Odeyne?" + +"I--I hardly know how to say it, Desmond; you know it is not that I +do not trust you--I know you would never do anything really wrong. +But I cannot help thinking it would be so much better not to bet at +all. You admit yourself that it can be very wrong indeed, and don't +you think in such a case it is safer to leave it alone altogether?" + +His pleasant smile beamed like sunshine over his face. It was almost +enough in itself to dissipate her fears. + +"My good, little, prudent wife, you speak with great seeming wisdom, +but with a good deal of inexperience too. We live in a world where, +unfortunately, every good thing and every pleasant thing is not only +used, but abused also--very shamefully abused in many cases; but that +is hardly a reason for not making a legitimate use of them. We +cannot cease clothing ourselves because sweaters' dens exist, nor can +we all feel it necessary to give up our glass of wine or beer because +some men will persist in getting drunk. We have to buy horses, even +though we know that dealers are cheating us, and we should have to +live in glass cases, and never do a thing, if we were to be deterred +by the thought that we were unconsciously encouraging vice in some +form or another in the actions of our daily lives. We can only take +care that all we do ourselves is upright and honest, and leave the +rest. We cannot possibly stop the evil in the world, but if we set a +good example of temperance in all things, and just and upright +dealing, we are doing good in a way--and nowhere is such temperate +example more needed than on the racecourse." + +Odeyne was silent. She had hardly given these matters a thought in +her past life, they had been so utterly removed from her range of +vision. She felt that there was a flaw in Desmond's specious +argument, but hardly knew how to detect or expose it. As her silence +did not appear to be of quite a consenting kind, Desmond continued +his little discourse. + +"You see, Odeyne, it does not do for a man to make himself peculiar. +If he does, he at once loses all influence over his friends, and is +put down at once as a milksop or a fool. I live amongst a very nice +set of fellows, I know their ways and like them, and we thoroughly +understand one another. Everyone admits that it is a right and +proper thing to spend a certain amount of one's income in amusement; +and so long as this sum can be well afforded, and is never exceeded, +there can be no reason alleged against spending it as one wishes. If +it amuses me to risk a few pounds over a little bet with a fellow, +just as well off as myself, what earthly harm can it do? We can both +of us afford to lose, and if I win his money one day, he will win +mine the next, and so in the long run things are pretty much where +they were, and we have had our little bit of fun. You wouldn't think +anything of playing a game for counters; and really, when one has a +little margin in money to throw about in that sort of way, there's +precious little difference that I can see. I admit that a man who +tries to get his living by betting is likely enough to turn rascal, +and, of course, it is simple idiocy the way clerks and fellows of +that class are betting nowadays. But, as I said before, with that we +have nothing to do. What I do promise, little wife, is that you +shall never have any cause to be anxious on my account; but to say I +would never lay a pound on a favourite horse would be absurd. We +should be the laughing-stock of the whole place, and lose every scrap +of influence we might otherwise possess. The moment you put yourself +on to an entirely different plane from the rest of your world, from +that moment your power ceases; and I should be really sorry to lose +what influence I have with Algernon Vanborough, for he is disposed to +be very reckless, and for poor Beatrice's sake I should be most +reluctant to cut myself off from the chance of keeping him steadier. +He is a very good fellow, and will listen to advice now; but if he +thought I had 'turned Puritan,' as he would call it, he would never +listen to another word I had to say." + +Even then it was some time before Odeyne answered, and her words were +prefaced by a sigh. + +"Well, Desmond, perhaps you know best, but I am sorry, for I can't +like it, or feel quite as you do. I know so little about these +things that I can't argue--I have no facts to go upon--only a vague +feeling that it can hardly be right to encourage any amusement that +leads to so much sin and misery. It isn't the racing itself I mean. +I think it must be a splendid sight to see the beautiful, strong +horses run. If you like me to go with you to Goodwood, or anywhere +else like that, I would go directly. But I do wish you would not +bet--I have such a strong feeling against it, though to you perhaps +it seems a foolish one. It seems to me almost like stealing, to take +another man's money without earning it--and you say yourself that it +is roguery in lots and lots of people. I'm afraid I don't quite see +the difference. How can what is wrong in one case be right in +another? The degree of wrong, I can see, may differ, but in kind it +is the same; it is still a wrong." + +"Well, dearest, I suppose I can hardly expect you, with your training +and antecedents, to take any but a rather narrow view of such a +complicated and difficult question. I admit that it is a very +difficult one, and that your heroic remedy, if it could be enforced, +would doubtless do an immense amount of good; but then, unluckily, it +can't. We have to take the world as we find it, not as we should +like it to be; and under these circumstances we have to accept a good +deal of evil with it. Believe me, darling, that I am really acting +for the best in not rushing to extremes either in one direction or +another. I have seen as much harm done by the one extreme as by the +other, and I am convinced that a middle course is the wisest and +best, as well as the kindest to Beatrice. You will try to trust me, +Odeyne, and believe that I act for the best?" + +"I will try, dear Desmond," she answered with one of her tenderest +glances. "You know that I trust you. But when a thing seems +dangerous to one's self, it is always difficult to be convinced that +the danger is imaginary. And you know, dear, if you do not mind my +saying it, it can never be really right to do evil that good may +come." + +His answer was a smile. Desmond was never angry--least of all with +his young wife, whom he so tenderly loved. Of course it was just +what was to be expected from her, a little fear at first, and a few +words of remonstrance; but she would soon learn that the danger was +purely imaginary, and cease to dread it, and he would never give her +one hour of real anxiety. He had had his lesson young, whilst still +a mere lad. He had suffered enough then, he told himself, for a +lifetime, and would be in no danger of falling into the trap again. +He had plenty of ballast on board now to keep him steady--his wife at +home, and his business abroad. If, to please her, he gave up a great +part of his time to uncongenial toil, it would not be fair on her +part to grudge him his fairly-won and innocent amusements. Odeyne +was not unreasonable; she would see this for herself, and meantime he +would keep all objectionable sights and sounds from her. She should +be as happy as the day was long. + +And there was no denying that the girl enjoyed Goodwood week +immensely. Desmond took her to the place before the racing began, +and showed her the country for miles round. They visited Arundel +Castle and the little watering-places in the vicinity, and to Odeyne, +to whom everything was new, it was altogether delightful. The +beautiful sweep of down, upon the crest of which the racecourse +stands, was in itself a joy to her. It was all so fresh, so breezy, +so open, even in the heat of summer, that it was hard to believe +anything very bad could go on there; and then the horses were so +beautiful and so noble-looking, and struggled so gallantly to respond +to the efforts of their riders when the time came, and it all seemed +so perfectly fair and honest, that the whole scene could not but be a +delight to the girl so keenly alive to beauty as Odeyne. She could +not believe that there was any cheating and rascality in such an +apparently simple thing as riding a race, and she was too far removed +from the betting-ring, and too ignorant of the meaning of much that +went on around her, to be enlightened or disillusioned to any great +extent. Her husband saw her looking animated and happy, and was +content, and the time passed away pleasantly for both. + +Occasionally the girl's happiness was damped by the sight of some +wretched, haggard face, and she would realise forcibly at such a +moment that there was a very black reverse to all this sunshine and +glamour. At such times she would long to be back in her quiet home, +and wonder if she were right in being here at all. She would fain +have given of her abundance to some of the broken-down wretches she +sometimes saw, crushed down to the ground with misery; but once when +she timidly suggested something of the kind to Desmond, he only shook +his head. + +"My dear child, where would be the use? he would only go straight to +some sharper and lose it all again. What can such fellows as that +know about racing? They are bound to lose. Nobody in the world can +help them. They merely help those rascally bookmakers to live and +thrive." + +At such moments Odeyne would feel sick at heart, and wonder in what +lay the almost miraculous attraction of the scene; but it was not +until the last day that she was in any way disturbed on her own +account, and then it was only by some chance words from Beatrice. + +"Well, Odeyne, it has been charming having you in our party, I have +enjoyed it double as much, so the advice I am going to give you is +the more disinterested. If I were you I would try to wean Desmond +away from such places. He is devoted to you and a very dear boy, and +you might be able to use your influence successfully. He hasn't the +head for this sort of thing. He is much too impulsive and generous +and easy-going. He hasn't got far out yet; but one of these days he +will get regularly dipped, if you don't keep him out of the way. +Algernon is past cure; all I can hope is that he will keep fairly +lucky, as he is for the most part, thank goodness. But then Algy has +twice Desmond's head, and a vast deal more knowledge to boot. So if +you take my advice, you will keep your boy away. He is young enough +now to learn better, but he will not be so long." + +Odeyne made but little reply, quietly thanking Beatrice for her +advice, but not dropping a hint as to her own anxieties--she was far +too loyal a wife; but she turned the counsel over many times in her +mind, and went home with the feeling that the first little cloud had +come into her sky to dim the sunshine of her great happiness. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +_THE RITCHIES AT HOME._ + +Despite the little warning clouds in the clear horizon of her sky, +Odeyne settled down to her life in the new home with a sense of deep +content and happiness. It was all so interesting, so novel, and the +interest rather increased than lessened as time went by. The house +in itself was a perpetual source of pleasure to its young mistress. +It was so delightful to be surrounded by pretty things, and to find +everything for which she had expressed a wish supplied as if by +magic. True, when Desmond began to go regularly to town the young +wife found the days a little long, and sometimes even a little +lonely; but Odeyne always had plenty of occupations, and was not one +to let time hang on her hands heavily. Desmond did not go up to +business more than three or four times in the week, and on the other +days he was with her all the day. They had much to plan on the +laying out of their garden, for the girl was devoted to flowers, and +it was not till August was losing itself in September that she ever +began to feel a little dull on the days she spent alone. + +The autumn came somewhat early that season, with driving rain-storms, +and frost that nipped the flowers, and drove Odeyne from her +favourite arbour in the garden to the fireside for comfort. There is +always something just a little bit sad in the death of the golden +summertide, and Odeyne, who had been accustomed to be one of a big +family, and to share in the abundant life of a household of noisy +young things, felt the silence of her home as something strange and +not altogether natural. And yet she saw little chance of improving +matters at once, for she was too much the new-comer to be able to +take the initiative with her neighbours, and just now many of the +houses were empty, for Scotland had drawn off the sporting men to the +grouse moors, whilst Switzerland and other foreign resorts had +claimed others. True, now that September was fairly in, people would +be coming home again fast; but just at the present time most of the +nearest houses were vacant, and Odeyne was thrown quite upon her own +resources. + +As she stood warming her hands over her cheerful fire of logs, after +having enjoyed the early cup of tea to which she was partial, looking +out the while over the park at the driving clouds chasing each other +across the blustery sky, she felt a wish to do or see something +instead of spending the remainder of the afternoon in the house, and +after a pause for consideration, she said aloud-- + +"I declare I will go and see the Ritchies. They are home again now, +I know. It seems ridiculous that I have never once seen my nearest +neighbours, though I have been living here so many weeks. And I have +a feeling that I should like them, though Desmond does laugh over +them with Beatrice." + +It was quite true that no meeting had so far been accomplished +between young Mrs. St. Claire and the doctor's household. When first +calls had been exchanged neither party had been at home, and not long +after Odeyne's arrival at the Chase, Mrs. Ritchie and her daughters +had gone for a month to the seaside, and were only just back now. It +was Odeyne's turn to call there, and it seemed a happy inspiration to +go this rather dreary afternoon, to fill up the time of Desmond's +absence. + +The walk was a short one, and Odeyne hurried over it, for a black +cloud was coming up from the south-west, and threatened to fall in +heavy rain before long--indeed, the first drops were plashing down as +she reached the friendly shelter of the porch; and when she was +informed that Mrs. Ritchie, though not at home, was expected in every +moment, and asked if she would not wait, she gladly assented, for she +had no wish either to be baulked again or to get a wetting. + +She was ushered through a homely-looking hall, rather like a parlour, +and into a low-ceiled room which bore traces of the constant +occupation of a family party. There was no blinking the matter that +the Ritchies' house was rather untidy; but there are two kinds of +untidiness, at least, one of which has a home-like and pleasant side, +altogether removed from slovenliness and dirt, and it was to this +class that the disorder in Mrs. Ritchie's house belonged. Indeed, +Odeyne's heart warmed at the sight of it. It recalled the old home +to her mental vision, as nothing at the Chase ever did. There was +something pleasant to her eyes in the worn and battered look of many +of the articles of furniture, in the threadbare patches on the +carpet, covered by rugs, and the pieces of unfinished needlework and +well-used books lying about on table, and chair. It was certainly +very charming to have all your surroundings harmonious and beautiful, +but it was more natural to see traces of economy and lack of means in +the ordering of the household, and Odeyne knew that she should feel +the more at home in this house for these little familiar touches. + +The room was rather dim and dark, for one window was shaded by a +little greenhouse into which it opened, and the black cloud had +spread over the sky by this time. Odeyne at first thought no one was +present, as she had been ushered in unannounced: but as she advanced +towards the cheerful fire that glowed in the grate, a figure raised +itself suddenly into a sitting posture upon the rug, and a voice out +of the shadow said-- + +"I beg your pardon. I believe I have been to sleep." + +Odeyne looked at the speaker, and in the uncertain light could not +make out whether it was a boy or a girl. The hair was short and +curly, the face, with its sharp, marked features, might have belonged +to either sex, and the dress was concealed by the heavy folds of an +old carriage rug which enveloped the semi-recumbent figure. + +"I hope you haven't been waiting long. I don't know who you are, or +if you've come to see father or mother; but it was sensible of the +girl to bring you in here, any way, for the consulting-room is +precious cold, I daresay." + +"I am not a patient," answered Odeyne with her sweet, low laugh; "I +am Desmond St. Claire's wife, and I have come to see you all. I am +very glad to have found somebody at home at last, and I should very +much like to know who you are." + +The answer was prefaced by an answering laugh. + +"Me? Oh, I'm only Jem. I don't count as anybody. I'm no good. +Mother will be in almost directly. She'll be awfully glad to see +you--so am I, for the matter of that. We've known Desmond ever since +he was a little boy--at least, the rest have. I don't profess to +remember much about it, for it's a great many years since we have +seen anything of him. I think he's got rather too grand for us, as +all the rest have, except, perhaps, Maud. It's no fun, you know, +when people get what Tom calls 'heavy swells.' I'd as soon not +pretend to be so very intimate. It looks as if one wanted to push +one's self where one isn't wanted." + +"Well, at any rate, Jem, I'm not a heavy swell in any sense of the +word, I hope; and I think you and I ought to be friends, as we both +like plain speaking. And then in my old home I had quite a +reputation for getting on with boys--hitting it off, I suppose Tom +would say." + +"To be sure he would. I'm glad you are not too grand to talk a +little slang in private. But I am not a boy, worse luck, only a +girl--and a girl with the awful name of Jemima, to boot. It's like +adding insult to injury, as I always tell them. I thought perhaps +you might have known our names; but of course Desmond would hardly +take count of me. I never played about with the others." + +And as the girl slowly raised herself into a more upright sitting +posture, Odeyne saw with compassion that there was some malformation +of the childish figure, though she could not detect exactly what it +was. The face had the marked cast that so often accompanies +deformity, but the features were good, and the expression decidedly +attractive. The eyes, too, were really beautiful, and there was +something pathetic in the underlying sadness of their clear depths, +none the less so because the girl was often laughing, and seemed to +have a more than common aptitude for fun. + +Odeyne bent forward and softly kissed the broad, pale brow. Jem +started, and then flushed as she caught the sweet look in the eyes +bent upon her. + +"I have a very dear brother, who was an invalid for a great many +years," said the young wife softly. "I know all about sick people +and their ways. You must often come to see me, if you can, and I +will come to see you, too. We shall be great friends, I know, though +you are only a girl." + +"Oh, I'm not an invalid," answered Jem quickly; "I'm only deformed; +and that makes my back ache a good deal, often. It ached all last +night, and kept me awake; so I went to sleep over the fire just now, +and didn't hear you come in. I hope you didn't think I was a +lunatic." + +"Then you can get about the house, and out of it too, I hope? That +is right. It will make it easier for us. And some day you will come +out driving with me, I hope; for it is very dull going all alone, +especially for anyone like me. I have been used to a large family of +brothers and sisters, till I married and left them all. I want to +have some friends here to see plenty of. I shall make a beginning +with you, I think." + +Jem's face beamed with pleasure. + +"Will you really? Well, you are a brick--if you don't mind my saying +so. And you will tell me about your brother, won't you?--the one who +was ill. I hope he did not die," with a quick, upward look. "You +did not look sad when you spoke of him." + +"Oh no, he is not dead; he is much better and stronger than he has +been ever since he was born. Some day soon, I hope, he will come and +see me; but I may have to wait till the spring, I am afraid, as it +might not do for him to leave home in the damp or cold, and +Devonshire is warmer in winter than this place. But I have my +soldier brother at Ashford, not five miles away. He is adjutant of +his depot, and he comes to see me as often as he can, which is very +nice. Now tell me about your brothers and sisters. Desmond has told +me their names, but he has talked to me about so many strangers that +I get a little confused amongst them all." + +"Oh, we are not a large family--there are only Cissy and Cuthbert and +Tom. Tom is my favourite, because he is nearer my age, perhaps, and +he amuses me the most, and we seem always to understand one another +without any words--you know what I mean, don't you? But I think we +are a very united family altogether. Sometimes I think we must be a +bore to people, for I know we do like talking of one another, and +praising up one another, and in my inmost soul I know that that is +what one might reasonably call bad form, but I go on doing it all the +same. I could talk to you about Tom by the hour together, and enjoy +it. It is a family failing, I believe." + +Odeyne was much entertained by her quaint little companion, but had +not the chance to make a rejoinder, for the door opened to admit Mrs. +Ritchie and her elder daughter, whilst a confusion of masculine +voices in the hall without bespoke the close proximity of the sons. +In another moment the room seemed full, and Odeyne had exchanged +greetings with the whole family. Thanks to what she had been told by +Jem and Desmond, she was able to distinguish one from another, and +though the light was still rather dim she could see enough to enable +her to make her observations with a certain amount of accuracy and +discrimination. + +Mrs. Ritchie she found delightful from the first. Not that she was +endowed with any great outward attractions, or shone in conversation. +On the contrary, she was stout and homely in manner and appearance, +and a little bit inconsequent at times in her speech, making remarks +that elicited peals of laughter from her quick-witted children, in +which no one joined more heartily than herself. But then she was +every inch the mother, with the mother's quick, kindly eye, the +mother's gentle restraining and encouraging influence. Her +children's faces lighted instinctively as they turned towards her. +They talked to her as if she were one of themselves, and familiar +with every detail of their lives. The tall sons waited on her, and +paid her little marks of attention, as if it were a privilege and +pleasure to do so, and her husband sat beside her, with his hand on +the back of her chair, in a way which plainly testified to the +satisfaction it was to feel her near. Different as many things were, +Odeyne was reminded of her old home again and again, and she felt for +the first time since leaving it the warm, comfortable sensation of +being in the midst of a thoroughly united family. + +Perhaps Jem was right in saying that they were fond of talking of +themselves and their own affairs, but if it were the case Odeyne was +not disposed to find any fault--indeed, she often found her attention +straying from the more or less conventional conversation carried on +by one or another with herself, to the free-and-easy chatter the sons +were indulging in, or the anecdotes the father was relating to his +"little girl," as he called Jem. + +And when it became evident to all that their guest enjoyed the +unrestrained converse of a family party they tried to let her share +in it; little domestic jokes and catch-words were explained, merry +sallies exchanged, and the new-comer showed herself so thoroughly up +to this style of conversation that she made her way with wonderful +rapidity, and was taken at once into the inner circle as a friend. + +"It is so nice that Desmond has married you," Jem remarked with the +quaint outspoken candour that seemed to be her prerogative in the +home party. "We have been so wondering what you would be like, and +if we should see more or less of Desmond after his marriage. Tom saw +you out riding the other day, and said----" + +"Shut up, young 'un!" here interposed Tom, though not with the air of +confusion that many lads would have betrayed under the circumstances; +"tales out of school ain't fair." + +"Tom said," continued Jem, perfectly unabashed, "that you were +awfully pretty, but looked altogether a cut above us, and were very +thick with Mrs. Vanborough and her set, of whom we see almost +nothing. But you're not a bit like any of them really, and I am very +glad. I do so hope you will like us. We have not got a great many +fashionable friends, you know; but it is nice sometimes to see people +who wear pretty things, and go out into the world. I do so like to +sit and listen to stories about what goes on, that none of us ever +see. I could talk to you all day----" + +"That I am sure you could do," put in Tom, _sotto voce_. "And what a +treat it would be for Mrs. St. Claire!" + +Jem gave him a reproving glance, and then laughed, not taking up the +thread of her ideas. The father turned and laid a hand upon her +curly head, saying caressingly-- + +"The little girl always was the family chatter-box; but she is none +the worse for that, is she, Jem?" + +"No, daddy, I hope not; one must assert one's self somehow, when one +is the youngest of the family." + +"And we have known dear Desmond from his childhood," put in Mrs. +Ritchie, in her placid way, turning towards Odeyne in more +confidential fashion. "He was always such a dear boy, and as a +little fellow he was always here, playing about with Cuthbert, who is +very much his own age. Of course we have seen but little of him +since his father's death; he has not been much in the neighbourhood, +and seven years is a big gap in a young life. Of course we were all +anxious to know if we should renew the pleasant acquaintance, when he +came to live so near us. I hardly know why it has been, but we never +seem to have got into the old easy terms with the girls since they +came back. Maud is a pretty constant caller, but not much more than +a caller, and Beatrice we hardly ever see. She has grown quite out +of our little world, poor girl." And Mrs. Ritchie sighed in a way +that would mightily have amused the Hon. Mrs. Vanborough had she +chanced to overhear it. + +But Odeyne understood better, and gave a quick look at the speaker. +A wordy battle was going on in another quarter, and under cover of +the noise the visitor drew a little nearer to her hostess. + +"I think I know partly what you mean about Beatrice. I have felt it +a little myself, though I could not say so to anyone but a very old +friend of the family. Do you know much about the people I meet at +her house? They are not a bit like those I have seen anywhere before +I married--but, then, I hardly saw anything or anybody. I am so +dreadfully inexperienced." + +"Oh, my love--I beg your pardon, I should say Mrs. St. Claire----" + +"Oh no, please not--please say Odeyne. It is so nice to hear one's +name sometimes, and you are Desmond's oldest friends, and will soon +be mine, I hope. But you were going to tell me about Beatrice. Oh, +it would be such a comfort to have someone to advise me! Desmond +cannot quite understand what I mean. He has grown used to it--but it +is a kind of atmosphere there is in the house--I do not know if I can +explain. I hope I am not wrong in saying so much--but sometimes I +feel as if it would be such a relief to talk to somebody who feels a +little as I do. Indeed, I do not want to find any fault." + +"My dear, I am sure you do not; and I know exactly what you mean. I +do not go often to the house, but one hardly needs to go there to +know what causes your anxiety. Perhaps our position of very old +residents, and my husband's profession, which takes him into so many +houses, gives us exceptional opportunities for knowing much that goes +on; but, at any rate, we do hear a good deal, and I am afraid it is +no secret now that Mr. Vanborough is almost entirely 'on the Turf,' +as they call it, and that it is a very fast company that assembles at +his house." + +And as Odeyne made no reply, but sat looking rather pale and grave, +the speaker continued eagerly-- + +"But, dear Odeyne--if I may really call you so--you must not run away +with the idea that there is anything bad about Beatrice or her house. +I believe many of her great friends are exceedingly nice +people--kind, open-handed, generous, and in many ways high-principled +too. You know how charming she is herself, and how she draws people +to her. Dear girl, my heart often aches for her, as I think of all +the temptations to which she is exposed. Still she married with her +eyes open, and she must take the consequences. But, oh, my dear--if +you will not think I am taking an unwarrantable liberty in saying +it--do not let Desmond go too much into that set, if you can help it. +It is hardly a safe one for a young man with plenty of money, and his +unsuspecting nature. At home with you, or in many houses round, he +will be safe; but I would not like, if I were his mother, to see him +too often at Mr. Vanborough's." + +Odeyne sat silent so long that her hostess took sudden alarm, and +added, in the humblest way-- + +"I hope I have not said too much, or offended you in any way. +Perhaps it was a liberty to have spoken so frankly about your +husband's relations; but I love him----" + +"Oh, Mrs. Ritchie, please do not think I am offended--indeed, I am +very grateful to you. I know it is because you love him that you say +all this. It is not about Desmond that I was looking grave. He goes +there very little now that he is so often in town, and the days are +getting shorter. He is very fond of his sister; but I do not think +he cares at all particularly for her friends. It was of poor +Beatrice herself I was thinking. I do feel so very sorry for her. +And that dear little boy. What will she do as he grows up, +if--if----" Odeyne paused there, hardly knowing how to finish the +sentence. "Ah, that poor darling child! I have asked myself the +same question many times; but there are some things that hardly bear +thinking of. Perhaps Beatrice will awake to the danger before he +gets of an age to know or notice much. Perhaps God may have sent you +here just now to be her guardian angel and his." + +The words were so very simple-spoken that Odeyne could have smiled, +yet the tears were near her eyes too. + +"I am afraid I am not much like a guardian angel," she answered with +equal simplicity; "but at least I will do my best, and if--if I am in +trouble or perplexity, may I come to you and tell you all about it? +I am so far away from my own mother, and this house reminds me so +much of my own dear old home." + +It was good to the girl to receive the warm, motherly kiss that Mrs. +Ritchie bestowed on her at parting. Certainly this visit had brought +about an intimacy little expected, and had been a very remarkable +introduction. It was hard to believe she had never seen these people +two hours ago, and stranger still that the first interview should +have been so confidential. But so it was, and as Odeyne walked back, +attended to her own gate by Cuthbert and Tom, she felt that it was +but the prelude to a very pleasant and satisfactory friendship. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_AUTUMN DAYS._ + +"What, Alice, so soon?" said Odeyne, with something of surprise and +gentle reproof in her tone. "I do not wish to stand in the way of +your happiness, as I think you know, but is it not rather sudden?" + +Pretty Alice stood before her young mistress, twisting the corner of +her apron in her fingers, her face rosy-red with the stress of her +feelings--shame, pleasure, and gratified vanity all blended +together--not unmixed, Odeyne hoped, with deeper and more lasting +emotion. + +"If you please, ma'am, it does not seem sudden to us. He has been +courting me a good while now. We met each other at Goodwood, where +you and the master went for the races. He is everything that is +respectable, and I think mother would be pleased. But I wanted to +tell you first of all, as you've always been so kind." + +"What is his name, Alice? and what do you know about him? Do you +quite understand what a serious step you are taking in thinking of +marriage? I only speak like this for your own good. It seems as if +I were in a manner responsible for you, as you are so far away from +your own relations, and have left them all to be with me." + +"Oh yes, ma'am, I know that, and I know you are always kind. But if +you were to see him, I am sure you would be satisfied. Why, he is +almost a gentleman, and he earns his two pounds a week regular. He +is what they call a clerk, and he wants, above everything, to get +into the master's office. He has very good references, he says, and +I thought maybe you would speak up for him." + +"Well, Alice, the master shall certainly hear all about it, and no +doubt he will do all that is kind and right, and I should be very +glad for your husband to be in our employ. But if he is a clerk, +what took him down to Goodwood in race week? It was not the best +place for him, surely?" + +"You see, ma'am, we like our little bit of amusement as well as our +betters. Poor folks have the same kind of feelings as rich ones, I +think. It isn't a bad place--you and the master were there. It was +as good a way of spending his little bit of holiday as any other." + +Odeyne made no reply. + +There were times when she felt a momentary sinking at heart, for +which she could not entirely account. + +Instead of answering, she asked a question. + +"What is his name? You have not told me that." + +"Walter Garth, ma'am; and if you would please see him I think you +would not object any more. He has no father or mother, and his +sisters and brothers are all married and scattered, and he has nobody +depending upon him. We should be very happy and comfortable. He has +saved a little money, and he says if I like it better, he will live +in the country and go into town every day. Oh, he is very, very +kind, and will do anything if I will only marry him. I do hope, +ma'am, that you will let me." + +Odeyne smiled a little at the girl's simplicity. + +"It is hardly for me to decide such a point, Alice. I will give you +the best advice in my power, but you must be the one to decide. All +I hope is that you will not act in a hurry, but will insist on at +least six or eight months' engagement. If he really cares for you he +will not mind the delay very much, if you ask it, and it will give +you time to know more of one another." + +Alice looked a little disappointed; she hesitated, and then said, as +she twisted her apron still more-- + +"He will think that a long time to wait. He wants to be married at +Christmas--and thought that rather long. Folks like us do not care +for waiting such a time. When it's all settled it seems more +sensible like to get it all over and done with--leastways Walter +thinks so--he said so the other day." + +"And are you in such a great hurry to leave me?" + +A different look came into the girl's face at once. She was not +really ungrateful or callous, and she loved her mistress dearly; but +she had been thinking of her own affairs of late to the exclusion of +all else, and at such a crisis of a woman's life such self-absorption +is natural and pardonable enough. + +"Oh no, ma'am; sometimes it half breaks my heart to think of leaving +you. But what can I do? I can't say I don't care for Walter when I +do, and if he would but let us live somewhere near here, where I +could see you often, I think I should be quite happy again. Oh, if +you would but see him yourself, I am sure you would help us." + +"Well, Alice, I will. You know I always wish to stand your friend. +And I should be very glad to have you near, if the distance from town +is not too great. I will certainly do what I can to promote your +happiness. You had better write to this Walter Garth to come over +next Saturday afternoon. I will pay his expenses." + +"Thank you, ma'am," said Alice, brightening up at once; "he is sure +to come. He often does run over for the Sunday. I know you will be +pleased with him, and he is truly fond of me." + +Then Odeyne finished her toilet quickly and went downstairs, for she +was expecting her mother-in-law and Maud on a visit of some days, and +they might arrive at any time now. + +Mrs. St. Claire and her daughter had been among the number of those +who had been absent from home during the past weeks, so that Odeyne +had seen but little of them. She had made the most of the +opportunities presented during the first month of life at the Chase, +and in many ways she seemed to know them pretty well; but so far no +real intimacy of thought or feeling had been established between +them, and she hoped that a residence beneath the same roof would +bring about this desirable consummation. + +But as she reached the hall a cry of pleasure escaped her lips, for +she saw her brother Edmund standing there, muffled up in a thick +overcoat and comforter, his portmanteau at his feet. + +She ran towards him with a face full of sunshine. She had seen +nothing of him for nearly a fortnight, and his visits had so far been +altogether too few and far between to satisfy her, though she knew +that he could not help it. + +"Edmund, delightful! And have you really come to stop? What a dear +boy you are! Do you know how pleased I am to see you?" + +He stooped and kissed her warmly. His face was very bright too. + +"Well, you see, I have taken you at your word. You said there would +always be a bed for me whenever I liked to turn up. I hope I have +not exceeded my prerogative in taking you by surprise." + +"Edmund, how hoarse you are! You must have a horrid cold." + +"I have, but do not scold it or me, for it has got me this unexpected +week's leave of absence. Yes, Odeyne, I have positively come for a +whole week, and you had better make up your mind to the infliction. +I am supposed to want a little nursing, so you see what you are let +in for." + +She laughed as she led him into the cosy drawing-room, and +established him in the armchair by the fire. He was in the best of +spirits, despite his hoarseness and trifling indisposition, and +neither brother nor sister were disposed to find fault with it, as it +had brought them so much pleasure. + +"I hope you will not mind, Edmund, but mamma and Maud are coming +to-day to stay for a little while. I am very glad to have you, for +mamma likes to be talked to and amused, and I am sure Desmond will be +delighted; for of course it is a little dull for him when my time is +taken up so much more by visitors. I do not think you have ever seen +any of Desmond's relations, have you?" + +"No, never. What kind of an old lady is she? Very formidable, eh? +Does she bully you?" + +"Oh no, Edmund. She is very kind. She makes us beautiful presents, +and is not the least bit captious or interfering. Sometimes I almost +wish she would make more criticisms. But she always says +complimentary things about all we do." + +"Ah, well, I think she would be rather hard to please if she found +fault with your _ménage_. Well, I will do my best to be civil to the +old lady. What is the sister like? Is she as pretty as Mrs. +Vanborough? I saw her once, driving with her husband in a very +extensive turn-out. She was a regular stunner." + +"Maud is not much like Beatrice--not nearly so easy to get on with at +first, but I am not sure that I should not really like her better if +I could only get to know her; but I do not think she likes me, and +that makes it more difficult." + +"She must have rum taste, then." + +Odeyne laughed and shook her head. + +"You think so, dear boy, but people are so different. I cannot hope +to please them all, I am afraid. Hark! that is Desmond's step. Oh, +how good of him! He has come home by an earlier train, to be here +when mamma arrives." + +Desmond it was, and as he entered the room his face lighted up with +pleasure, for he liked immensely to have a man-guest, and he had +already heard that his brother-in-law had arrived with luggage. + +"This is capital, isn't it, Odeyne? So the mater has not turned up +yet? Well, she will not be long now. And how does the world wag +with you, Edmund? You come in good time to give us the Ashford +gossip. My mother loves a little military news." + +The two men plunged into talk at once, and Odeyne sat listening, with +her face bright with pleasure and interest. She felt that it was a +very happy chance that had brought Edmund to the Chase at this +particular juncture. Mrs. St. Claire was sure to like him--she was +fond of anyone who would talk in a bright, animated way, and Odeyne +had a good deal of sisterly admiration of, and pride in, her handsome +soldier brother. Perhaps he was the one out of the whole family +group most likely to produce a favourable impression on the old lady, +and it was a relief to have him in the house upon this first visit. + +Nor was Odeyne disappointed by the result of her expectations. +Mother-in-law and sister-in-law alike seemed pleased and aroused by +the gaiety of the two young men, as they sat over the fire making +merry together and entertaining the ladies by their jokes and stories. + +Edmund did his best, for his sister's sake, to please her new +relations, and Mrs. St. Claire remarked, as Odeyne accompanied her to +her room that night, that it must be a great advantage to have her +brother so near at hand. Odeyne assented warmly, and listened to her +mother-in-law's little compliments about Edmund with far more +pleasure than when the soft speeches were addressed to herself. + +Even Maud had been quite lively and talkative that evening, and +Desmond, who had been a little disposed to grumble about the visit of +his relatives, now declared that Odeyne had been quite right in +suggesting it, and that she was a first-rate little mistress and +hostess. + +Odeyne was still almost childishly pleased at any compliments from +her husband, and glowed with a happy satisfaction. Then, as they sat +over their fire sociably together, she told him of little Alice's +petition of that afternoon, and asked him what he thought of it. + +Desmond listened, and seemed struck by a happy idea. + +"Tell you what it is, Odeyne, if that fellow Garth is any good, and +_has_ a good character, and all that, it strikes me he might be +uncommonly useful to me. And in that case I would engage him almost +at once." + +"Oh, Desmond, I am so glad. Have you really an opening for him? How +very fortunate." + +"You see, it's like this. I want a trustworthy fellow to act as a +sort of confidential clerk, to live near here and go up with messages +and letters on the days I don't go in to business. Several of these +horrid, wet, foggy days I might have stayed cosily at home with my +little wife, if I could have sent a confidential messenger up to the +City house. And now, with the hunting just beginning, I may be a +little less regular again, and it would be no end of a convenience +then to have a fellow like that at one's own gates, to send in every +morning with instructions for the day. And in the winter, when the +weather may be perfectly beastly, it would be a great relief to feel +less tied, eh, wifie? You would be glad sometimes to keep me at +home, when the snow was on the ground, and the whole place reeking in +frost-fog?" + +"I should indeed, Desmond. I cannot bear you going by rail when it +is foggy. I am not so used to trains as people who have lived +amongst them all their lives. And I should be very pleased indeed to +keep Alice still under my eye, so to speak; only you know, dearest, I +should not like to see you grow slothful over your business on the +strength of this new arrangement." + +Desmond laughed lightly as he bent to kiss her. + +"No danger of that, so long as I have so faithful a monitor as my +little wife at home. Are you in such a great hurry to get rich, +dearest, that you are determined I shall not let the grass grow under +my feet?" + +Odeyne smiled and shook her head, but made no other answer. She had +no wish to put into words the vague feelings that prompted her to +urge her husband to keep as far as possible to some steady +occupation, be it what it might. + +Next day the young wife took Mrs. St. Claire all over the house. She +had never really seen it since she had left it many years ago, and it +interested her to note all that had been done in the intervening +time. Odeyne was half afraid that there might be something painful +to her in thus going over the place; but either she did not feel it +so, or else she was most successful in hiding the feeling. She +admired and praised--not without a few shrewd comments that partook +of the nature of criticism--and Odeyne was both glad and grateful for +any hints, both because she knew her own inexperience, and because +she felt it more like real intimacy to be criticised as well as +praised. In the course of their peregrinations they reached the +nurseries, which had been left almost untouched since the elder Mrs. +St. Claire's time. They were bright, cheerful rooms, with plenty of +light and space, and Odeyne paused here and hesitated, the colour +rising in her face as she looked round her, for she had a little +confidence she wished to make to Desmond's mother, and it seemed +almost easier to make it now. + +"We have done nothing here so far, but I wanted to ask you--do you +think they should be freshly papered and painted? I think they look +a little dingy and neglected, and I think--I hope--if all goes well, +that we shall want them in the spring." + +Mrs. St. Claire was much pleased and gratified, though she said +little. There was just one quick, bright glance, and warm pressure +of the hand that brought the blood to the girl's face, and nearly +brought the tears to her eyes too, and then the mother-in-law turned +into the woman of business, and began to give very sound and +practical advice as to what would be needed in the doing up of the +rooms themselves. + +Certainly, after that morning a better understanding existed between +the elder and younger Mrs. St. Claire. Odeyne was always ready to +meet advances more than half way, and the feeling that she had become +more to Desmond's mother, and had risen in her estimation, was very +pleasant. Maud was not sensibly changed; she spent every available +moment with Desmond, and when he was out, Edmund showed a disposition +to monopolise her. When Maud was in her better moods she could be +very amusing and interesting, with her quick observation, keen +tongue, and remarkably vivid descriptive powers. But in Odeyne's +presence she seldom unbent like this, and it was only by hearsay that +she learned how different others found her. + +Edmund was of great service at this time, and the days flew by only +too fast. His cold mended apace, and he was deprived, as he said, of +the only decent excuse he might have alleged as the reason for an +extension of his absence from duty. + +"By-the-by, do you hunt?" asked Desmond, on the last day of Edmund's +stay at the Chase; "if you do we shall often meet. The season will +begin almost directly." + +Edmund laughed at the question. + +"Soldiers who have little but their pay to live on, can't afford to +hunt." + +"Oh, if that is all, I can give you a mount any day you like to +arrange to be at the meet, if you will give me a day's notice. You +must ride half a stone lighter than I. Any of my horses would carry +you easily." + +Edmund's face brightened. Like all country-bred men he enjoyed a day +with the hounds immensely; but it was a pleasure that was very rarely +attainable. + +"It's awfully good of you to say so, but really I should hardly like +to take advantage of your offer. You must want your hunters +yourself." + +"Oh, I've more than I want. I have a couple coming down from +Leicestershire next week. I meant to give my old hunter, whom I can +trust down to the ground, to my wife to hunt this season; but she +does not approve of ladies in the hunting-field--and perhaps she is +right--so really I have a spare animal very much at your service. It +will be a charity to ride him, for he loves the work, and would take +it very ill to be left time after time in his stable when the hounds +were out. You'll really do me a favour if you'll use him as often as +you can. Send me a line at any time and he shall be brought to the +meet for you, unless you will come overnight and ride him across +yourself." + +"Well, really you are awfully kind. I don't know what to say. +Suppose I bring the animal to grief?" + +"Well, we'll put it down to Odeyne's account. One always reckons to +lose one horse a season if a lady hunts it. If it doesn't go lame, +it gets a sore back, and anyway is no more good." + +"Well, Desmond, if you persist in making such good offers you can't +expect a fellow to decline them--it's not in human nature. I shall +be only too pleased to come as often as I have the chance. What kind +of runs do you get round here?" + +"Well, regular hunting men from the Midlands would call them +execrable--not worth calling runs at all; but we residents try to +make the best of things, and enjoy our sport very well. Of course it +isn't hunting country, it doesn't take two eyes to see that; but all +the same we get very fair runs from time to time, and it is always +pleasant to meet one's friends, and all that kind of thing. You will +get to know a lot of jolly fellows, and that alone is worth +something. And I shall like introducing you and making you feel at +home here. If you have five years of it, it is worth while to know +the people about, and soldiers are always popular, eh, Odeyne?" + +Odeyne looked back with a smile, yet her husband's last words had +caused her a momentary anxiety. Would this hunting throw Desmond +into the company of Beatrice and her set once more? And would Edmund +make friends amongst them too? She had felt so pleased to hear the +offer which was to give him so much pleasure, and already her +satisfaction was a little damped. But then she took heart again, for +if Edmund were with him surely Desmond would not be so dependent on +Beatrice and her friends. Perhaps all would turn out for the best, +and she must not encourage idle fears, but rather resolve that his +home should be full of sunshine, so that he always came back to it +with renewed pleasure. + +When their visitors had left them, husband and wife turned their +attention to Alice Hanbury's love affairs. Walter Garth presented +himself duly, and produced a most favourable impression. He was +good-looking in a manly fashion, and was evidently very much in +earnest in his courtship. He was better educated than most men of +his class, and far more refined in manner. Alice had had some cause +to speak of him as "almost a gentleman," though at the time Odeyne +had thought it anything but in his favour. However, his refinement +proved to be that of nature, not a mere veneer assumed for a purpose; +and as Desmond took a decided fancy to him, and his employers gave +him an excellent character, all went smoothly for the lovers. It was +arranged that they should live at one of the lodges, that Alice +should continue certain little offices for her mistress as long as +she cared to do so, and that Garth himself should go up daily to town +in the capacity of Desmond's confidential clerk. His salary was +liberal, his duties more responsible than onerous, and nothing could +have seemed more delightful to the happy Alice. The wedding was +fixed for Christmas, as Desmond took the part of the sighing swain, +and declared that it would be cruel to ask him to defer his happiness +longer; and Alice looked forward to her future life without the +smallest misgiving of any kind. + +Even Beatrice was quite interested in this new plan. + +"It's a capital idea!" she cried in her decisive fashion. "For +really it is rather absurd for Desmond to be tied so much by the +business. He is never to be had when wanted, and it is always the +office that is the excuse. A confidential man on the spot will be an +immense help, and now we shall see more of you both, I hope. We have +let you enjoy a preternaturally secluded honeymoon all these months, +as you are both such babies and so refreshingly fond of each other. +But you must not live always shut up as you are doing now. So I give +you fair warning!" + +"I am sure we come to see you very often, Beatrice," said Odeyne, +with a slightly heightened colour. + +"Oh yes, dear, you drop in pretty often, and it is very nice of you; +but you decline invitations to stop in the house because of the +distance from the station for Desmond. I don't care much for +afternoon calls. I like people who come and stay--and so does Algy. +He is very fond of Desmond, and has been quite cross that he is so +hard to get hold of. But this new plan will make all easy." + +Odeyne smiled, trying hard to keep down a dull sense of reluctant +pain that would assert itself, she hardly knew why. + +"We shall be having visitors of our own very soon," she remarked, +looking at her sister-in-law with brightening eyes. "We have planned +to ask quite a houseful of my people down for Christmas. I don't +know how many will come, but I am sure we shall get some of them." + +"That will be very delightful for you," answered Beatrice cordially; +"I am sure I shall be very pleased to make the acquaintance of one +and all. Your brother Edmund is delightful. Algy has taken quite a +fancy to him, and we hope to see a good deal of him. If the rest are +at all like him they will be very popular here--as you are yourself, +my dear. But we are some way off Christmas yet, and I hope we shall +be able to show you a little social gaiety before then. I shall +arrange something with Desmond soon about getting you across." + +Beatrice sailed away to her carriage, all smiles and graciousness and +good temper. She treated Odeyne in a far more sisterly fashion than +Maud ever dreamed of doing, and was sincerely fond of her; and yet +she had a way of leaving behind her a curious sense of oppression, +which Odeyne tried in vain to shake off. + +"I love Beatrice dearly," she said to herself, giving a little shake, +as though to get rid of some unwelcome impression; "but somehow I +don't want to go and stay at her house. We are so happy here. I +wonder what Desmond will say about it?" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_BEATRICE AT HOME._ + +Desmond decided that they ought to accept the invitation. + +"The fact is, darling, we are in danger of growing selfish in our +happiness," he said. "But it won't do to shut ourselves up +altogether at home; and I particularly want to be useful to Beatrice +if I can. Poor Algy is a rattling good fellow, in his way; but he is +going the pace altogether too fast. I want to put a spoke in his +wheel if I can, for her sake and the boy's. I think she looks to me +to do it. You see she has no father, and her brother is naturally +the person she would depend on." + +Desmond spoke with perfect sincerity and good feeling. In the +plenitude of his own happiness and prosperity, he would fain have +stretched out a friendly hand to all the world within reach. He felt +so very staid and sober himself, going into business with a +commendable regularity, and really showing an aptitude for such +matters which he had hardly expected at the outset. He began to feel +that he could look with a certain friendly compassion and solicitude +upon a man like Algernon Vanborough, who was getting more and more +deeply "dipped," and whose affairs were becoming unpleasantly +involved. He promised himself that he would speak plainly with his +brother-in-law when they were alone together, and he explained to +Odeyne that he hoped great things from their joint influence with +their relatives. + +"For Beatrice wants a word of caution too," he said. "She is a bit +extravagant herself, you know; must have everything in tip-top style, +and all that sort of thing, and goes the pace in her way almost as +fast as Algy in his. It would be no end of a good thing for her to +make a friend of you, and unless she fills the house too full for the +hunting, you ought to have a good many opportunities of getting +intimate. She has taken a great liking for my little wife!" + +Alice the maid was very pleased to hear of the proposed visit. + +"You will be able to wear all your new dresses there, ma'am, and here +we are so very quiet," she remarked, rather to Odeyne's amusement, +seeing that until a few months ago Alice had known nothing but the +still, peaceful life of the Rectory. "The master brings you home +such lovely things; and some of them you've hardly so much as put on +yet." + +This was true enough, for Desmond was constantly bringing home from +town boxes full of finery for his wife. Anything that took his eye +as he walked the streets he must have for Odeyne, and Alice had quite +a gift for adapting these purchases to suit her mistress's figure. +Nor was the girl herself forgotten. Desmond took a good-natured +interest in her and her affairs, and would often bring some little +thing back for her as well, and laughingly remark that it would "do +for the trousseau." + +Odeyne sometimes remonstrated a little at the rather over-lavish way +in which her husband spent his money, but he would only laugh and +call her a little miser, and declared that if she persisted in +sending him to "money-grub" in the City day by day, she must not +grudge him the satisfaction of spending a small portion of these +earnings on people who showed them off to such advantage. Then +Odeyne had to smile and be kissed into compliance. She was too happy +and too fond and proud of her husband to entertain any serious +misgivings where he was concerned. + +And now Desmond promised himself some relaxation. + +"What is the good of having this new man if you do not let him save +you a little more?" Beatrice asked, soon after they had been +established in her luxurious house. "I'm going to have him over, and +put him up at the Vanborough Arms whilst you are here. I want you to +take a holiday and have a good time. We shall be having some friends +down soon, and you mustn't always be rushing off to town, Desmond. +You are wanted much more here." + +Beatrice spoke gaily, but Odeyne thought there was a slight undertone +of anxiety in her voice, and the next time they were alone together +she said to her, almost entreatingly-- + +"Don't grudge Desmond to us whilst you are here. He is much more +wanted by Algy than by the office. He is fond of Desmond, and that +keeps him away from other places and people. Sometimes I am awfully +wretched about him, Odeyne; and I don't seem able to hold him back +one bit. He is fond of me, but I have no power over him. It is not +with us as it is with you and Desmond. You could bring him back to +your side with a single glance. He would forego anything sooner than +grieve you." + +Odeyne smiled a little happy smile, for she felt that these words +were true. She was more drawn towards Beatrice this time than she +had been before, for she felt that she stood in need of help and +sisterly comforting. On the surface she was bright and sparkling, +but when alone with her "sister," as she always called Odeyne, she +often permitted some of the fears and anxieties which preyed upon her +to come to the surface. + +"It is such a relief to speak of these things sometimes," she said; +"I believe I might get morbid about them if I had no outlet. And +mamma is such a Job's comforter. She did not much want me to marry +Algy; she thought him fast then, and now she thinks in her heart that +I am only reaping what I have sown; and Maud thinks of nothing but +Desmond, and that Algy will hurt him and draw him into his set. +Sometimes I feel quite alone in the world amongst them all. But you +understand better than anybody, though you are a stranger, and +Desmond's wife too. He is a dear boy, and shows his good sense and +good taste in choosing you out of all the world!" + +Alice was very delighted by the arrangement which brought her lover +so near to her during these days of enjoyment at Rotherham Park. + +Walter Garth had to come daily to the Park to report to the youthful +head of the firm, and to take orders and messages for the morrow. +After that business was completed he generally spent an hour with +Alice, whilst Desmond read the letters brought, after which he was +summoned again, and took notes and instructions for answering these +on the morrow. His quickness of comprehension and ready skill with +his pen commended him much to Desmond, who was not himself fond of +letter-writing, and he soon began to put more and more of his own +work upon Garth, and to use him for increasingly confidential +correspondence. + +This was exactly what the young man wanted, and his face used to be +very bright and well-satisfied as he talked with pretty Alice in some +secluded corner of the grounds, or in the privacy of the +housekeeper's room. + +"I mean to get on in the world," he would say; "I feel it in me to +succeed. Some fellows just plod along the same beaten way all their +lives; but that won't do for me. I'm going to get on. I mean to die +a rich man. There's plenty to be made, even in bad times, by fellows +who have their eyes open. I'll make a lady of you, my pretty one, +all in good time. There's many a fine lady would give her ears for +your face and figure. And when your husband has made his pile you'll +be able to queen it with the best of them! You are learning every +day what fine ladies say and do. You'd like to ride about in your +own carriage, and wear silks and satins, and have servants to wait on +you, eh?" + +Alice blushed and laughed at these questions, and sometimes told +Walter he was trying to fly too high; yet when he told her of men now +rolling in money, who had begun life as quite poor boys, she could +not but listen with sparkling eyes, for she was learning a great many +things in Mrs. Vanborough's house, and the thirst for pleasure and +luxury which had made her desire to follow Odeyne to her new home was +working more and more strongly in her, so that the idea of some day +being mistress of a fine house of her own was like an intoxicating +draught of wine to her lips. + +"Oh, but, Walter, it takes such a while to get rich!" + +"Sometimes it does, but not always. One can have more than one iron +in the fire, you know. Why, you know, there are some men who can +make a fortune by a stroke of the pen--on the Stock Exchange--and +even fellows like myself can do a little in a quiet way by watching +the markets. I've trebled my little savings this year, for instance, +just by getting a hint, and buying and selling at the right moment." + +Alice did not understand a word of this; but it was quite enough that +Walter did, and that he was making money in more ways than one. +Alice had come to the conclusion that there was nothing so nice in +the world as to be rich, to have fine clothes and jewels to wear, and +nothing to do but amuse one's self from morning till night. + +"I wish you could see Mrs. Vanborough's jewels," she remarked one +day. "They are beauties, and no mistake! They must have cost a mint +of money. Her maid says she used to have more than she has now. But +the master sometimes gets horribly close for a bit, and then Mrs. +Vanborough has to sell some of her things to pay her bills. +Sometimes she buys them back, and sometimes she doesn't. But she's +got a lot of beauties still. I wish you could see them. They do +shine when she puts them on!" + +"They'd shine just as much if somebody else put them on, would they +not?" suggested Walter laughingly. "Suppose you dress up in them +some day, when they have all gone out to dinner, and come and show +yourself to me in them. I should like to see how my little +sweetheart would look, dressed up as I mean to dress her up some of +these days!" + +Alice laughed and blushed and disclaimed. A short time since she +would have been horrified at the notion of taking advantage of the +good nature or carelessness of a lady, and obtaining surreptitious +access to her jewel case in her absence; but of late she had been +breathing in a different atmosphere, and it did not require any very +great pressure on the part of Walter Garth to induce her to make the +experiment. + +He hardly knew himself why he felt a curiosity about the family +jewels; but he was one of those men who desire to leave no stone +unturned for his advancement. He had an instinct that it might be an +advantage to him to know as intimately as possible the affairs of all +these fine folks. He was hearing a great deal about them at the inn +where he lodged, and he made a mental note of the information thus +gained. His position as Desmond's confidential clerk gave him great +advantages for obtaining information, and he was very much of the +opinion that knowledge and power went hand in hand. + +Choosing a night when the Vanboroughs and their guests were out, he +got pretty little vain Alice to dress herself up in sparkling jewels, +and whilst she was delighting in her own reflection in the glass, he +was taking a mental inventory (afterwards to be placed on paper) of +the gems; for he was something of a connoisseur already as to their +value, having one of those retentive and inquiring minds which never +lose an opportunity of gaining information, no matter what the +subject may be. + +When Mrs. Vanborough's had been duly shown off and catalogued, he +asked about Mrs. St. Claire's. Alice hesitated a little. She was +still deeply attached to Odeyne, and she had a vague shrinking from +anything that could be thought disloyal towards her. She knew that +were her mistress at home, she would never dare display the contents +of her jewel case even to Walter, her lover. Of course it was +natural that Walter should like to see pretty things, and Alice felt +a secret pride in all the beautiful trinkets her mistress now +possessed. She would like him to be duly impressed by them; yet she +disliked doing anything that would make her feel ashamed before +Odeyne on her return. + +But the Rubicon had been crossed when she had clasped Mrs. +Vanborough's jewels upon her neck and arms, and had heard her lover +praising them and her alike. A little judicious coaxing, and the +girl tripped away to find her mistress's jewel case. She would not +put on the sparkling ornaments, but she unlocked the case, and +displayed with pride and delight the glittering contents. + +Odeyne had come in for the St. Claire family jewels, some of which +were very fine ones. Her husband and his friends had made +considerable additions to this collection upon her marriage, and, as +Walter Garth was quick to note, the young wife possessed a remarkably +fine collection of gems, many of which were family heirlooms. + +His remarks and appreciation of the stones pleased Alice, although +her conscience smote her a little, and she was glad to get the jewel +box safely locked up again in its accustomed drawer. When she went +back to Walter, she found him drumming thoughtfully upon the table +with his fingers, looking out straight before him. + +He rose when she came in and carefully shut the door behind them. + +"I want to give you a word of caution, Alice," he said. "In a house +like this, or indeed in any other place, you must be uncommonly +careful of such a costly case of jewels as that one. I had no idea +Mrs. St. Claire had such fine things. They ought to be kept always +in a regular safe." + +"So they are at home," answered Alice. "There is a safe in the +master's dressing-room, and they always lie there, and he has the +key. But of course when they are on a visit things are different. +But the case is kept locked up in a drawer, and I have the key in my +pocket generally." + +"Well, just you be careful, dear, that's all, and don't get gossiping +with other maids about those jewels. One hears of ugly things +happening in houses where there is a haul of that sort to be had; and +it's our business to protect our employers' property all we can. +That's why I wanted to see what sort of things you had under your +care. You are such an innocent, unsuspecting child, you would never +think any harm of talking about them." + +Alice blushed a little nervously. She was rather fond of chattering +about the glories of her place, which were so much greater than +anything she had known before. But this caution from Walter was +quite enough. Already she began to think of burglars and murderers. + +"Oh, I wish we were safe at home again! Then I should not have the +care of the things!" + +"Now, don't be a foolish child. I did not say all this to frighten +you, but just that you might be cautious. Burglars aren't so +numerous as some people think. You needn't be the least afraid just +because I've given you a caution. I'm glad I know, myself; and I'll +keep my eyes and ears open whilst I'm about here. But don't you go +and get into any sort of fright. And now tell me about our own +little home, and how soon it is going to be ready for us. For I am +wanting very badly to settle down, with my own little wife all to +myself." + +Alice had a great deal to say about the pretty lodge at one of the +gates, and the additions and improvements that were being made to it. +In the pleasure of talking of their future home she forgot all her +other anxieties, and parted from Walter in the best of spirits. She +had already begun to think that so long as she might still be +permitted to perform a few offices for her beloved mistress, she +would like the independence of a little home of her own, and the +freedom to wear a gayer style of dress while still in Odeyne's +service. She had blossomed out into a very dainty little +waiting-maid of late, but she was meditating a higher flight when she +should be Mrs. Walter Garth; and there were a few garments on which +she had spent a good deal of time and thought, which she had not +cared to show to her mistress when completed. + +The house was very gay now. Algernon Vanborough had asked some of +his friends and associates, and sport and amusement were the order of +the day. + +Desmond was a keen sportsman, and whether it were shooting or hunting +that was the day's programme, he was always ready, and always held +his own with his companions. His bag was always one of the heaviest +after a day in the stubble; and he generally managed to be in at the +death when the fox had been run to bay. + +He would come in healthily tired from his day's sport, and after +dinner would sit dozing in an easy-chair beside the fire, and retire +early to bed, whilst the other men adjourned to the billiard-room, +and were often hours in dispersing. + +Odeyne often felt keenly for Beatrice, as she noted the half-wistful +way in which she sometimes looked at her husband, as though +entreating him to leave his guests for once and follow the earlier +members of the household. But of course, as host, he had easy excuse +to make, and she would sometimes take Odeyne's arm and say, with a +laugh which was sadder than tears, "If only I had my husband in such +good order as you have yours, things would be very different with us. +How do you manage him, my dear?" + +Once Odeyne, after a visit to the nursery, made a great effort over +her natural reserve, and answered-- + +"Desmond and I always read and say our prayers together, Beatrice. +It began from the very first, directly after we were married. He +told me that he had got into careless ways, that he had almost +forgotten how to pray; and he said I must teach him again. It has +been such a link, for we have never missed yet. He knows I wait for +him, if he does not come up with me. It is only just a few minutes +morning and night; but I think it hallows the whole day." + +Beatrice turned her face a little away, and there was a certain +huskiness in her voice as she answered-- + +"I wonder what you would say if I were to tell you that I don't know +how long it is since I said any prayers!" + +And after a short pause Odeyne answered-- + +"I think it would make me understand a great many things!" + +Desmond was immensely in love with his young wife still, and never +more so than when he saw her amongst Beatrice's friends. She seemed +to him like a pure stately lily amongst them all, so fair and calm +and innately feminine and refined. There might be more beautiful +women there--Beatrice herself was far more brilliant; but there was a +charm to him about Odeyne's gentle presence and feminine sweetness of +which he was keenly conscious, day by day and hour by hour. And in +the evenings when she would sit at the piano and sing to them, when +her clear, sweet, pathetic voice roused the admiration and delight of +the whole company, he would place his chair where he obtained the +best view of her face, and would tell himself a hundred times over +what a happy man he was to have won such a treasure for himself. + +But Desmond was not the man to be satisfied with mere inward +admiration of his wife, nor even with those endearments which he +lavished upon her in private. He wanted her to have the best of +everything that the world possessed, to see her surrounded by all +that heart could desire, and in spite of her loving remonstrances, he +was always heaping upon her presents of every description, although +since he was now taking a holiday from his labours in town, he had +not the same opportunity for bringing home gifts with him from day to +day. + +Nevertheless, neither mind nor thoughts were idle. He had observed +on several occasions of late, that when the ladies drove out to meet +the sportsmen, or to see the hounds throw off, Odeyne was not amongst +the number. He discovered by side winds that there was not quite +enough carriage accommodation to contain all the house party, and +that Odeyne was always eager to give up her place to someone else, if +any sort of difficulty arose at the start. + +He said nothing about this, even to Odeyne herself, who always told +him she was glad of a quiet time to write home, or see to other +little things, or to play with Beatrice's boy, who was beginning to +look upon her as his best friend. But he had in his head a plan of +his own, and worked quietly to bring about its fulfilment. + +It had been a wet and stormy day, so that the house party had not +done anything more adventurous than a little shooting over the home +covers. All had returned to lunch, and were lounging about +afterwards discussing the prospect of any further attempt at facing +the long, wet grass, when Desmond came in with a smile upon his face +and went straight up to his wife. + +"Odeyne," he said, "do you mind coming round to the stable-yard? I +want to show you something." + +At that word the company all looked interested. Beatrice's face +beamed with arch fun, the men (so to speak) pricked up their ears, +and Algernon cried out-- + +"What is that, eh? The stable-yard? Well, I hope you don't confine +the invitation to your wife alone. Mayn't the rest of us come too?" + +"To be sure, to be sure; the more the merrier!" cried Desmond, with a +laughing look round him. He was in excellent spirits, and as pleased +as a boy about something. The ladies got their hats and wraps, the +men took their caps, and all moved in a body towards the great paved +stable-yard, upon which, it was commonly rumoured, Algernon +Vanborough had spent a fabulous sum of money. + +Desmond led the way, leading his wife by the hand. The little +lover-like ways of the young husband were rather amusing to the other +visitors, most of whom, though not old in years, had lived through a +number of illusions, and counted true love as one of these. + +In the centre of the great square yard stood a dainty little +pony-phaeton upholstered in dark green morocco, with every fitting of +the most costly and luxurious kind. The little carriage was drawn by +two small and very handsome black cobs, who stood with arched necks +and pawing feet, wonderfully well-matched and showy. The harness was +all new and the best of its kind, the silver plating shining in the +gleam of sunlight that lit up the scene as the party approached. + +Odeyne uttered a little cry of pleasure and admiration. She had +never seen such a pretty turn-out in her life; yet she did not +realise for a moment what was the meaning of her husband's action, as +he led her up to it and placed her in the carriage. + +"What do you think of it, darling?" he asked. "You will not be +afraid to drive yourself sometimes, when I have taken you about a +little to show you how gentle and tractable the cobs can be?" + +Then she looked up and understood, and the blood rushed to her face. + +"Oh, Desmond!--how could you? Oh, you are too kind. But we have so +many horses as it is!" + +"My wife must have her special carriage--I have always intended +that," he answered, giving the reins into her hands and taking his +seat beside her. "Come, dear, and let us just see how they obey +their new mistress. Let them go, James, we will take a turn through +the park." + +The little carriage vanished amid admiring comments from the knot of +visitors; all had some approving remark to make upon the beauty of +the carriage or the horses. + +No adverse criticism was passed by any of these, but one of the +grooms, belonging to a guest, looked after the carriage as it +vanished round a bend in the park, and remarked as he took a straw +from his lips and turned to one of his companions-- + +"Nice turn-out enough, but them two black cobs look to me uncommonly +like the pair that nearly killed Lady Mashingham in the spring!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_AN ADVENTUROUS DRIVE._ + +"Oh, Tom, do look! What carriage is that coming up the drive? I +don't know it." + +Jem craned up from her couch to peer through the window, whilst Tom, +who was writing letters at the table, gave a good look and replied +over his shoulder-- + +"I don't know the turn-out. But it looks like Mrs. St. Claire +driving. She is still at Mrs. Vanborough's, is she not?" + +"Yes; I wonder if it is she. Oh, I hope it is! It's such a long +time since I saw her! Oh, I do believe it is! I wonder what she has +come for so early. It is not quite eleven, is it? There is the +bell. I hope they will show her in here." + +Jem occupied her favourite place, curled up on a corner of the big, +battered, dining-room sofa, with a pile of books beside her. She was +an omniverous reader, and her studies took the form of unlimited +reading, as her weak back prevented much writing or any attendance at +classes. At this hour she was generally alone, for Mrs. Ritchie had +her household duties to attend to, Cissy was a good deal occupied by +giving music lessons to some of the children of the neighbourhood, +whilst the doctor and one or both of his sons would be out in the +interest of patients. Occasionally Tom took possession of the +writing-table in the bay window, and gave a qualified attention to +Jem's talk, when she was not engrossed by her books. + +The carriage had swept round the corner out of Jem's range of vision; +but Tom craned his head round as it turned, and remarked-- + +"It certainly is Mrs. St. Claire, and she is going to get out. I +think I shall slope. This smoking jacket isn't fit to face the +county in!" + +But before the young man could escape the door was thrown open, and +Odeyne came forward, with flushed and smiling face and outstretched +hands, and bent over Jem and kissed her warmly, quite like an old +friend. Tom suddenly forgot all about the shabby old jacket, and +decided not to make a bolt. + +"I came to ask Jem if she would like a drive this morning," said +Odeyne, looking from one to the other; "it is such a bright, +exhilarating sort of day, and the hounds are to meet on Hackwell's +Down. I am to drive over and see them. I thought perhaps it would +be a treat to this little girl to go with me." + +Jem's eyes were alight in a moment. + +"Oh, I should love it! It would be heavenly! I haven't had a drive +for such an age; for one horse has been lame, and daddy has had to +spare the other all he could. You are a darling, Mrs. St. Claire! +Do let me run and ask mother; and then I'll be ready in a +twinkling--you'll see!" + +There was not much run in poor little Jem, but she was away with all +possible speed, and Tom said, gratefully, to Odeyne-- + +"It is awfully kind of you, Mrs. St. Claire. It will be a real +charity, for poor Jem sees almost nothing of what goes on outside +these walls, and she has the almost morbid craving after sensations +and experiences which goes with her temperament." + +Mrs. Ritchie came in almost immediately, with a happy face and words +of gratitude on her lips. Hitherto none of their friends had taken +special notice of poor little Jem. Her weakness, her rather +abnormally sharp powers of observation, and her too free and ready +tongue had been somewhat against her. Some people thought her +spoiled and forward, children were half afraid of her, and she had +been shut up within herself, and within the family circle, almost +more than was good for her. + +To be noticed and taken out by Mrs. St. Claire of the Chase was a +novel and delightful experience. Odeyne had driven mother and both +daughters out once in the luxurious landau, and all had enjoyed it +greatly; but this special invitation to see the meet of the hounds +was something altogether more delightful and wonderful. + +"Oh, what a lovely carriage!--what beautiful little horses!" +exclaimed the excited girl, as she stood looking at the handsome +pair, pawing their dainty hoofs on the gravel, as the smart-looking +lad stood at their heads awaiting his mistress. + +"Yes, Desmond gave me the whole turn-out a week ago," answered +Odeyne, with a little smile of pleasure on her face. "He has taken +me out every day since, and taught me how to manage a pair, for at +home we had only a nice old pony to drive, and there was never any +trouble with him. These little fellows are spirited, but they are +very gentle too. You will not be afraid, Jem dear?" + +Jem laughed to scorn the idea of feeling afraid. It was not a +sensation with which she had much acquaintance. + +"I should like to have an adventure--I really should!" she answered +as they arranged the great fur carriage-rug cosily round their feet. +"Nothing of that sort ever comes in my way. When I read about heroes +and heroines having such thrilling and delightful squeaks for their +lives, and always coming safe through in the end, I always wish that +something like that would happen to me! It must be so interesting to +think about afterwards, even if one did not enjoy it at the time--and +I think I should do that!" + +Mrs. Ritchie smiled and half shook her head as she kissed her child +before the carriage drove away. + +"You are a sad little madcap at heart, Jem; you will shock Mrs. St. +Claire! She will be quite content to bring you homo without any +startling adventure, I am sure." + +Odeyne smiled and nodded; the horses shook their handsome heads and +went off at a fine pace. Tom and his mother stood looking at the +vanishing carriage, and then the young man said-- + +"I've half a mind to take the short cut and make for Hackwell Down +myself. I've nothing very pressing on hand, and I should like to see +Jem's pleasure over the sight of the field, and all the horses and +dogs. I'll get a bit of a run myself, I daresay. I know the line +the foxes generally take hereabouts. I'll just finish the letter I +have in hand and be off." + +"Yes, do, dear," answered Mrs. Ritchie; "I shall be more comfortable +if you are there. Those horses looked to me very spirited. But of +course Desmond would not give anything to his wife to drive without +being sure it was safe." + +"Desmond is a bit of a feather-brain," muttered Tom under his breath, +as he strode back to finish the letter he was writing. + +Meantime Jem was enjoying herself immensely. She had never had such +a delightful drive in all her life. She fell over head and ears in +love with the horses; the carriage went so easily on its springs that +she felt no vibration. The sun shone, and the keen feel of the +autumnal morning was bracing and exciting. She chattered away in +great style, telling all the news of the place in a racy and +entertaining fashion, nodding gaily at all the cottagers as she +passed them by, and feeling very grand and elated at her position as +Odeyne's companion. + +"I hope you are soon coming home again," she said. "It is so much +nicer when you are at the Chase, and there is a chance of seeing you +any day. Rotherham Park is such a long way off, and you seem quite +out of our world when you go there. And, oh, I wanted to ask you +what you are doing to the lodge by the queer old gate that isn't much +used? Cuthbert says the old cottage is being quite altered, and such +a pretty sort of picturesque house going up, with timber and gables +and ever so many nice things. I've been wondering ever since what +you were doing it for, because the road and the gate are hardly ever +used. Nobody goes down Water Lane if they can help it--not with a +carriage, you know." + +"Yes, I know. We are not thinking of using the lodge as a lodge +exactly; as you say, since the new road was made through the place, +Water Lane hardly counts. But we want a nice cottage near the house +for Desmond's confidential clerk to live in. He is going to marry my +maid, and, as she comes from my old home, I want if possible to keep +her near me. She is a very pretty and refined sort of girl. I think +perhaps it will be a good thing for her to be married and settled. +She is a good deal noticed and admired when she goes about to strange +houses. And Desmond is making the house rather larger than +necessary, for he thinks we may sometimes want an extra bedroom or +two in the summer or the shooting season, if our house were to +overflow. One or two of the rooms will be kept for that purpose. +The Chase is not really a large house--not so large as it looks. The +hall and corridors take up more space than you would think, and we +have not a great many bedrooms." + +"I wish you'd take me on in Alice's place when she marries," laughed +Jem; "I should like to live in a big house, and see all that goes on +there, and hear how the servants gossip behind their master's back. +Don't you think I should look the part very well, dressed up in cap +and apron? And I'd report to you quite faithfully all that went on. +I think I should make rather a good spy." + +"I don't know that I particularly want a spy, dear," answered Odeyne, +"but you shall come to the Chase one of these days as my little +friend and companion. When the winter comes, and you and I are both +rather shut up, we will keep each other company; for the days are +often long when Desmond is away; and I want to overhaul the library +books as one of my tasks, and I think you could help me at that sort +of thing." + +Jem's eyes sparkled brilliantly at the bare thought. + +"You are a darling!" she cried in her frank, free way. "I am glad +that Desmond didn't marry a cut-and-dried creature like Maud, or a +fine fashionable madam like Beatrice! Oh, I beg your pardon! +Perhaps I should not have spoken like that of your sisters-in-law. +But I don't think you can be so very fond of them!" + +"I want them to be sisters-in-love, not sisters-in-law," replied +Odeyne with a sweet gravity in her smile. "Desmond and I are one +now, and everything that is his belongs to me." + +For once Jem found nothing to reply. Her over-ready tongue had +betrayed her, as she felt, into remarks she was scarcely justified in +making. Odeyne had not taken them amiss; yet the girl felt that she +had been unconsciously rebuked. + +But all such thoughts were quickly driven away by the gay scene that +met her eager gaze as they approached Hackwell Down. Jemima had +never seen anything so pretty before, and exclaimed with delight as +her eye roved over the wide expanse of level turf. + +Upon the crest of the green ridge stood a knot of huntsmen in their +scarlet coats, with the whippers-in keeping in order the pack of fine +hounds, whose waving tails looked like a forest of tiny saplings in a +high wind. Scattered about the level plateau were horsemen and +footmen, a motley assembly all on pleasure bent. Grooms led up and +down handsome hunters whose masters were driving across; ladies were +leaving their carriages and mounting their horses; bold little +fellows on small ponies were prancing round, in a mighty hurry to be +off. The field was dotted with men in the pink, some already +mounted, others talking to each other or to the ladies in the +carriages. Some of these approached Odeyne and exchanged greetings +with her. Jem took stock of them with her sharp glances, and summed +them up for Odeyne's benefit when they had bowed themselves off. She +was much more delighted with the horses than with the riders. + +"They are dear things! I should like to kiss them all, and the dogs +too. I think the world would be a much nicer place if the horses and +dogs and nice animals were left, and about three-quarters of the +people killed off! I'm sure we could spare most of them--and have a +much nicer time without them!" + +Odeyne did not try to bring her carriage very close up to the others +assembled there, partly because the horses were restless and excited, +partly because Jem was visibly anxious not to be made to face +Beatrice and all her fine friends. The girl was not shy, but she +appeared to feel a sort of instinctive antagonism to fashionable +society, and when Desmond rode up to his wife's carriage, looking +very handsome and gallant in his faultless get-up, he was much amused +by Jem's sallies and retorts, and persisted in introducing several of +his friends for the entertainment of hearing her snub them, which she +was not slow to do. + +But before long the field began to move; Desmond waved his hand to +his wife, and rode off. He had instructed her how to drive, so as to +see as much as possible of the run; and Odeyne was not sorry when she +could give her restless little horses their heads, and set them in +motion along the road in a parallel direction to that taken by the +hunt. + +For a time all went well; the road was wide and smooth; they passed +all the other carriages, to Jem's great satisfaction--skimmed by them +at a delightfully rapid pace, and left them far behind. Odeyne +fancied that Beatrice and her coachman had both of them called out +something to her as she trotted by; but she could not hear what was +said, and Jem had rather urgently begged her not to pull up to listen. + +"They will want us to stay by them," she cried pleadingly, "and that +will spoil all our fun. Do go on!--do go on! It is lovely racing +along like this!" + +Odeyne was willing to gratify the girl, the more so because she was +herself enjoying the exhilaration of the rapid movement, and because +she was conscious that the horses would not be easy to pull up in +their present excited mood. They seemed to know that the hunt was +sweeping on in advance, and to be resolved not to be left far behind. + +The road trended upwards for a considerable distance, and then the +descent commenced. For some distance it was only gentle in +character, and the road continued firm and good. But towards the +foot of the hill there were several steep pitches, and as Jem had +heard from report, the water channelled down it in the winter, and +there were always loose stones which sometimes caused accidents to +horses and riders. So as they flew down the hill she said to Odeyne, +half regretfully-- + +"I think you had better pull them in a little now. It will be +steeper soon, and there is a nasty turn farther on I know, besides +the road gets bad too." + +Odeyne made no reply, and the carriage continued its rather +perilously rapid descent. Jem looked at her and saw that she was +straining rather hard at the horses; but they appeared to take no +manner of notice of her efforts to check them. They were only going +at a very rapid trot as yet. They could not be said to be exactly +bolting, but there was a stubborn look in the way in which their +heads were bent down, as though they had made up their minds as to +their course of action, and intended to have their own way. + +"Jem, dear," said Odeyne, still quite quietly, "the horses are +pulling rather hard. Just tell the groom to lean forward and help me +to check them. My arms are growing tired." + +Jem spoke to the groom, who was a smart-looking youth, but only a lad +himself. He was looking a little scared himself, for the awkward +descent was very near now, and the horses appeared on the verge of +breaking into a gallop. + +It is always rather a risky thing for two persons to try and pull +upon one pair of reins. The moment the horses felt the jerk of the +new hands brought to bear upon them, they broke simultaneously into a +hard gallop, shaking their heads as though to seek to free themselves +from the pressure on their mouths, but too excited now to be checked +by it. + +Jem's face grew rather pale as she felt the sudden swaying movement +as the carriage oscillated from side to side. + +"Sit still, dear," said Odeyne quietly; "perhaps it is really safer +for them to canter down the hill than trot. There is nothing in the +way, and if we reach the bottom safely there is a good road beyond +us." + +Jem sat very upright, her eyes taking in everything, every faculty on +the alert. She was having her wish with a vengeance now, and even in +the midst of her fears for the safety of the whole party, there was a +certain dim sense of elation in the thought that here she was +actually in the midst of a coveted adventure! + +Down the hill plunged the carriage, bumping and swaying in a fashion +that made Jem cling tightly to the seat, but maintaining its +position, even though the road was rough and rutty and the pitch of +the hill steep. Now they had all but reached the bottom. They saw +the wider, better road lying before them. Jem gave a gasp of relief, +and the groom muttered something that sounded like a rude exclamation +of thankfulness. In another minute, and Jem believed that all peril +would be past, when suddenly across the road swept some half-dozen +belated huntsmen, hot on the track of the field, dashing in front of +the excited horses without so much as a glance in their direction, +and frightening the already startled creatures almost out of their +senses. + +Plunging and snorting with terror, they instinctively paused for a +moment, one of them backing almost upon its haunches, the other +rearing till he looked as though he would have fallen backwards upon +the carriage, and then, with a simultaneous bound, they sprang +forward at redoubled speed, swerved from the road, dashed through the +gate after the retreating riders, and commenced a wild gallop across +the meadow in the wake of the hunt. + +At that moment the groom lost his head, loosed his grasp upon the +reins, and threw himself out of the carriage. + +Jem and Odeyne were left alone, unable even to cast back a look and +ascertain whether or not the lad was hurt. Odeyne still retained her +grasp of the reins, but all control of the horses had been lost. Her +face was very set and white, but her voice was still calm and +controlled. + +"Would you rather try the jump, dear?" she asked; "I am afraid we +shall have an accident. I can do nothing with the horses. And +something might break any minute; or they may take up against a +gate-post and dash the carriage to pieces." + +"I have no jump in me," said Jem, still looking straight ahead. "I +think I should do for my back if I were to try. Perhaps they will +run into a hedge and stick fast, and we can get out before they kick +the carriage to pieces. Oh, there is Tom! Look! He is racing +towards us! But what can he do?" + +Odeyne looked and saw. Tom Ritchie was undoubtedly scudding towards +them diagonally over the field. The rough nature of the ground was +beginning to tell upon the cobs. They were panting and straining, +but the pace had slackened. They could not make the same running +here as over the hard road. But still they were resolutely running +away. The reins dragged hopelessly against them. They seemed to +have mouths of iron. Odeyne's strength was deserting her. She felt +a strange dimness of vision, and knew that her grasp on the reins was +relaxing. + +Jem's eyes took everything in: Odeyne's sudden faintness, the rapid +approach of Tom, the exhaustion but stubborn determination of the +horses. What would happen next? What could Tom do to save them? + +Tom was a trained athlete. In feats of agility and daring he had +always excelled. He was not gifted with any very remarkable muscular +strength, but he was lithe and active as a cat. + +Measuring his distance, and coolly biding his time, he made a quick, +sharp rush, and vaulted cleverly upon the back of the nearest cob, +clutched the reins of the pair, and by throwing his whole weight and +strength upon them succeeded bit by bit and inch by inch in checking +their mad career. The horse upon which he had sprung, encumbered by +this heavy and unexpected weight, checked its course to plunge and +try to dislodge the unwelcome burden. The other, thus left to pull +alone, quickly felt its exhaustion and the drag of its companion, and +began to think better of the matter. Tom sat like a centaur, and +tugged manfully at the reins. The boundary hedges of the extensive +field were nearly reached. This obstacle seemed to bring the +runaways to their scattered senses. To rush themselves into a trap +would be painful and humiliating. They appeared to take this view of +the case themselves, and with only a small show of resistance +permitted Tom to bring them to a standstill. + +Then Tom leaped down, and still holding the reins in his hands, +approached the carriage. Jem was sitting white, but wide-eyed and +erect. Odeyne, with an ashy face, was leaning back against the +cushions almost, though not quite, unconscious. She strove to make a +sign of gratitude to Tom, but pressed her hand to her side and gave a +little gasp. The groom was running up in a great fright, unhurt, +though a good deal torn and battered from his fall. + +"Don't leave us with him, Tom; don't let him have the horses!" +pleaded Jem in sudden alarm; and Tom gave the shame-faced youth a +cool and stern glance. + +"A pretty sort of fellow you are, to be sent out in charge of +ladies!" he remarked. "However, that is your master's business, not +mine. Go straight to Mrs. St. Claire's house, just across that gap, +and tell her that Mrs. Desmond St. Claire has been very near a bad +accident, and is coming to her house for shelter till she is well +enough to go home. Go quickly. I will stay with the ladies, and +bring the carriage there as soon as possible." + +The youth slunk away feeling thoroughly ashamed of himself, and Tom, +with another look into Odeyne's face, took possession of the horses, +turned them round, and led them back over the meadow, now in a very +meek and subdued state. + +He hardly spoke a word till they were upon the road again, when he +turned Jem into the groom's dickey behind, and himself took the reins +and seated himself beside Odeyne. + +"You will not be afraid to let me drive you, Mrs. St. Claire? I +think there is no fear of any farther misbehaviour on the part of +your horses." + +Odeyne roused herself to give a faint smile and say-- + +"You are very kind. I am not at all afraid. I have been just a +little tired and shaken. I hope Jem is none the worse for it." + +"Jem will be all right," answered Tom briefly; and putting the horses +into a rapid trot, he quickly drove them up to the door of Mrs. St. +Claire's house. + +It was evident that the battered appearance of the groom, together +with his agitated and confused story, had spread consternation and +dismay in the household. Servants were standing about in the hall; +and as the carriage drove up, Maud appeared with a very pale +frightened face, and on seeing Odeyne's state of pallor and +exhaustion, uttered a little exclamation of anxious grief. + +"Mrs. St. Claire has been a good deal frightened and shaken," said +Tom, as he helped her to alight and assisted her into the hall. +"Take good care of her, and I will try and find Desmond and let him +know. He will be certain to come immediately. If you want my +father, he will be at Holler's Farm about two o'clock; but I think +rest and care will be all that are needed to put you all right again." + +Odeyne had felt like one in a dream for some time. Now she seemed to +wake up to find herself lying upon a sofa in Maud's own private +little room, which she had only once penetrated to before, whilst her +sister-in-law, ordinarily so cold and unsympathetic, was hanging over +her with tears in her eyes, seeking to restore her, not by cordials +and essences alone, but by tender caresses, loving words, and kisses +that came so strangely from those lips. + +Odeyne sat up, and laid her head against her sister's shoulder. + +"Oh, Maud, how good you are!" she cried, taking her hand and carrying +it to her lips; and Maud's tears suddenly ran over as she kissed +Odeyne again and again, saying-- + +"Oh, my darling, let us be sisters always now. I shall never forget +the terrible thought that came over me when for one moment I thought +they said that Desmond's wife had been killed; and I knew I had never +spoken one loving word to her all the time she had been my sister!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_NEW FRIENDSHIPS._ + +Desmond appeared white-faced and agitated, having heard the tidings +of some disaster, but not the details. His greeting to his wife was +pretty to see, and her calm and smiling face quite reassured him as +to her safety. But when his anxiety was allayed, his anger blazed up +more fiercely than his wife had seen it since her marriage. She had +heard of Desmond's gusts of passion in old days from her brothers; +but well as she knew him now, she had never seen him so angry as on +this occasion. + +His anger was chiefly directed against the friend from whom he had +purchased the turn-out for his wife. + +"I wouldn't have believed it of Garston. He shall hear of it +again--and so shall others. The lowest, dirtiest trick! And when I +was doing him a kindness and all! They are all saying now that those +are the same cobs as brought Lady Massingham to nearly fatal grief! +And he sold them to me for a pair of perfectly trustworthy horses for +my wife to drive! A fellow like that wants horsewhipping, and the +cobs want shooting! I've a great mind to do both horsewhipping and +shooting with my own hands--I have, indeed!" and Desmond ground his +teeth. + +"No, don't do that, Desmond, dear," said Odeyne soothingly. "Indeed, +the fault was partly mine. I was not driving carefully enough. The +rapid motion was pleasant, and they were eager, and it was easier to +let them have their heads than to keep them in hand. But I know it +was bad driving; and I have had my lesson. I will take care never to +let them get beyond themselves again." + +"As though I should ever let you sit behind them again, my precious +darling!" cried Desmond. "No, I'll have it out with Garston, and he +shall either take them off my hands at the price I paid for them, or +I'll expose the whole transaction at the club, if I don't horsewhip +him too! The way I made things easy for him; and to be treated like +this!" + +"What do you mean about making things easy for him and doing him a +kindness in the transaction?" asked Maud. + +"Why, just this, that he got pretty heavily dipped at the St. +Leger--and partly through bets to me; and hearing that I was looking +out for a handsome turn-out for my wife, he came and told me of the +one he had lately bought for his own, and which must now go to help +pay his debts. He begged me to take the thing off his hands at a +valuation, and, like a fool, I took his word and did so. It wiped +off his debt to me, and I gave him a cheque in addition. I behaved +really handsomely to him, because he was an old friend, and rather +down on his luck--and this is how he serves me!" + +Desmond broke away to go and write an indignant letter to the man +against whom his anger was so stirred; whilst Odeyne and Maud were +left together, looking into each other's faces with a certain veiled +anxiety. + +"Oh, Maud," exclaimed Odeyne suddenly, "I don't wonder now at what +happened to-day!" + +"What do you mean, dear?" + +"How can one expect a blessing upon things obtained in such a way? +The price of a bet!" and Odeyne hid her face. + +"I hoped that Desmond had given up that sort of thing on his +marriage," said Maud gravely. "But don't you think it is a little +superstitious to speak in that way?" + +"I don't know," answered Odeyne still very gravely; "I have thought a +great deal about these things since--since--since they have been +brought before me so much. It cannot be God's way of giving us +riches--I think everybody would admit that. And what does not come +of God, comes of evil; I cannot see it in any other light. And if we +take and use the devil's gold, how can we expect a blessing to follow +it?" + +Maud was silent awhile, and then said thoughtfully-- + +"That is a broad way of stating it, and an unconventional way of +looking at things; yet I am not sure that there is not an element of +sound sense and truth in what you say. I have seen enough to know +that the gambler's wealth is not blessed to him! Ah, Odeyne--can you +not save Desmond from his besetting sin?" + +Odeyne was almost startled by the earnestness, the almost anguish of +Maud's tone. Hitherto the sister had been so reserved and cold, and +above all had spoken so little to her of Desmond, that this appeal +came with strange force and power. + +"What do you mean?" she asked, a little startled. + +"I have always tried to shut my eyes to it," continued Maud in the +same strained voice; "I have always loved Desmond better than +anything in the world, although he has not specially cared for me. I +have stood his champion through everything. I have tried not to +believe in his faults and in his weaknesses. I have almost +quarrelled with our mother for seeing them so clearly. I have always +declared them just youthful follies, which he would speedily outgrow. +Although I was jealous and unhappy at hearing of his marriage, I was +glad to believe that it would be a turning point in his life, and +that that and the office would sober him down. Ah, Odeyne!--don't +let us all be disappointed after all! He loves you very dearly. +Can't you get him to give up that one pernicious habit--for your +sake?" + +"I hoped he had," answered Odeyne in a very low voice. "At least he +spoke very reasonably about it, and said that with him it was a mere +trifle he risked--just to keep himself from being peculiar, and not +to lose all influence over Algernon, which he would do if he set up +for what he called a saint." + +Maud smiled a little bitterly. + +"That is always the way--they have always some good reason, and each +one thinks that he individually is exempt from danger. But O, my +dear child, don't you be led into thinking that Desmond cannot be led +away himself. Algernon and his friends are notorious. That is why I +hate you and Desmond to be in their house. Beatrice ought not to ask +you. But poor Beatrice tries to shut her eyes to what she is +powerless to stop, and to live on the surface of things, hoping that +the evil day will somehow be staved off. I pity Beatrice from the +bottom of my heart (though she would not be grateful for any token of +sympathy), but her house is not the place for you or Desmond. Do +take him home and keep him there!" + +"I will try," answered Odeyne, not a little startled at this sudden +outbreak from Maud, putting into words the vague thoughts and fears +which had haunted her for so long. It was a great relief to be able +to speak freely to Maud, and to feel that the barrier between them +was broken down; yet she was made more anxious on Desmond's account +after this talk with his sister, than she had ever been before. + +One good thing resulted from the threatened accident, and that was +that the visit to Beatrice's house came to an abrupt conclusion. +Quiet and rest were ordered for Odeyne after the shock she had +suffered. She remained at her mother-in-law's house for a few days, +and then went home to the Chase with Desmond, who had been so fully +occupied during these days in inquiries and arrangements about the +cobs, that he had no time for anything else, beyond petting his wife +and teasing his mother and sister whenever he was at home. + +It was proved that only one of the cobs had belonged to Lady +Massingham, and that the quieter of the pair. There was no actual +vice in the creatures, only a superabundance of energy, and Desmond +soon succeeded in selling the spirited pair to a horsey lady in the +neighbourhood, who laughed the thought of fear to scorn. A sound and +quiet horse was bought for Odeyne's pretty phaeton, a handsome +creature that would give her no trouble or alarm, and Desmond, in +high good humour with himself and with his purchase, took his wife t +home, having had for the time being enough of gaiety, and feeling +ready for a quieter life and for the routine of the office. + +"Yes, dear, you are quite right, I believe," he said to Odeyne, when +she strove to speak to him seriously of the peril he ran into, and of +her abhorrence of practices which were too familiar to him to strike +him with any great disgust. "That sort of thing does make beasts and +cads of men. Look at Garston, for instance; the fellow won't even +apologise, but declares everything he did was square and above-board, +and as good as tells me that my wife is a fool and that I am a liar! +And even Algy, who is a good sort of fellow in his way, was inclined +to take his part and only laugh at the whole thing. I'm not at all +pleased with him and his set. I'm sorry for poor Beatrice, but I +can't stand everything for her sake. We'll keep away from that house +for a bit." + +Odeyne's heart rejoiced at these words. If only she had Desmond to +herself, and could keep him away from Beatrice and her set, she felt +certain all would be well. He was so tender and affectionate at +home, and so regular in his attendance at business, that she hoped +everything for his future. If he could but see the deterioration of +character that must of necessity follow upon the indulgence of +vicious habits, surely he would of his own accord revolt from those +habits and break the yoke from his neck. + +Odeyne might have been rather lonely at this time, had it not been +that Cissy Ritchie came to stay with her for a while. This +arrangement was practically made by Mrs. St. Claire, who did not +think Odeyne ought to be quite alone just now, and who decided that +one of the Ritchie girls would do very well to wait on her, and fetch +and carry, until some of Odeyne's own people could come to be with +her. Mrs. St. Claire believed in cheerful companionship, and was +also decidedly averse to Odeyne's driving about alone. She spoke to +Dr. Ritchie on the subject, and he gladly gave permission for Cissy +to stay for a while at the Chase. Jem would have loved to be the one +selected, but her father knew that Odeyne would wait upon her and +look after her, rather than suffer the lame child to save her steps. +So Cissy was the one in the end selected; and Odeyne found it +pleasant to have in the house a quick-witted, sensible, and +sympathetic companion, who was always on the spot if wanted, but who +had the knack of effacing herself quickly and completely whenever +husband and wife wanted to be together. + +Maud would have liked to be Odeyne's companion now, but she could not +be spared by her mother, who was always something of an invalid, +especially during the winter months. Cissy Ritchie, however, was +delighted to come, and after a very short time Odeyne found that she +liked and trusted her most fully. + +The chief interest and excitement of those days was the approaching +marriage of pretty Alice, the maid, and the renovation of the lodge +which was to be her future home. + +Odeyne drove down very often to see how it was getting on, and Cissy +became keenly interested in the place and its future occupants. She +helped Alice with some of her trousseau garments, a little amused +sometimes at the daintiness of them for a girl in her position. + +"You will be quite a fine lady one of these days, Alice," she +remarked, as Alice displayed to her a hat and cape which she had had +given to her by her _fiancé_ only a few days before. And Alice +blushed and bridled a little as she answered-- + +"That is what Walter hopes, ma'am, in a few years. He means to make +his way in the world, and he says he will make a lady of me before we +grow so very much older." + +"And how is he going to set about that, Alice?" asked Cissy, with one +of her quick little penetrating glances. + +"He means to be rich one of these days, you see, ma'am," answered +Alice, "and then it'll all be easy." + +"Come Alice," said Cissy with a little laugh, "you know better than +that. Why it was only the other day you told me yourself that Mrs. +Bennet and her daughters would never be ladies as long as they lived! +Yet they are rich enough to curl their fringes with bank-notes if +they had a mind to!" + +Alice blushed again, but lifted her pretty head with a gesture that +meant a good deal. + +"I don't think that those poor ladies have ever been used to good +society--not till it was too late to learn. One has to be brought up +with ladies to understand the ways of them!" And Alice plainly +considered that she had had that sort of education, and could hold +her own in any society! + +"At least, Alice, believe me that money has nothing to do with it," +said Cissy gravely. "Some of the best and truest ladies in the world +are poorer than you and your husband will be, even when you first set +up. A true lady, Alice, is born, not made. And the truest test I +know of real refinement is the gift of putting aside self for the +sake of others." + +Alice did not look as though she thought much of that as a test; but +she was fond of Miss Ritchie, and did not argue with her. Cissy was +very quiet, but she had a way of speaking straight to the point, of +supporting her words if need be with pregnant arguments. Odeyne had +begun to find her interesting as well as kind and useful, and her +knowledge of the neighbourhood and all the people there was both +useful and entertaining. + +One day, as they were sitting together in that comfortable sanctum of +Desmond's, which Odeyne had beautified for him, and which on cold and +blustery days was the cosiest corner of the house, a note was brought +in to them which proved to be of some importance. Walter Garth was +the bearer, and in it Odeyne was asked to give him some important +papers which were locked up in the safe in this very room. Odeyne +had a duplicate key in her possession; but she was not clear from +Desmond's rather vague directions what the papers were that were +wanted. + +"I think I must have the man in. Very likely he will know. Desmond +always says he is so observant and quick. He saves him a great deal +in time and trouble." + +Cissy leant back in her chair and surveyed the new-comer as he +entered. Although she had heard a good deal about Walter Garth, she +had never seen him before, and as Alice's future husband she took a +considerable interest in him. + +She watched him closely all the time he was in the room talking with +Odeyne. He knew all about the papers; was very quiet and courteous +in his manner. In accent and voice he could have passed as a +gentleman in any ordinary society, and yet he could not justly be +accused of giving himself airs; he was far too quiet and respectful. + +"So that is Alice's _fiancé_," said Cissy when the visitor had taken +his departure. + +"Yes; what do you think of him?" asked Odeyne, who had come to have a +considerable respect for Cissy's powers of discrimination. + +"I didn't take to him," answered Cissy briefly. + +"Didn't you?" asked Odeyne, rather surprised. "Most people have +formed a very favourable impression of him." + +"Oh, I should think he was clever, if that was what was wanted, and +as quick as they make them, as the boys would say. I should think he +could be a very useful servant and a very trustworthy one, so long as +it was in his interest to be so. But I wouldn't trust him beyond +that point." + +Odeyne felt just a little hurt. Walter Garth was rather a _protégé_ +of hers, for Alice's sake. + +"Don't you think you are rather harsh in your judgments, dear Cissy?" +she asked. "What makes you think such things?" + +"It's a kind of instinct I have," answered Cissy. "I can't help it; +it was born in me. I have a feeling about people the very first time +I see them. I sometimes wander away from my first impression for a +time; but almost, if not quite invariably, I come back to it in the +end." + +"I have heard people talk like that before," said Odeyne. "I have +not that kind of gift myself. Sometimes I think it may be rather a +dangerous one. It must give rise to a certain amount of prejudice." + +"Yes," answered Cissy readily, "it does. One judges beforehand on +instinct, without waiting for development and reason. I have had my +qualms about it. Once, when I had the chance of talking to a very +holy man, I asked him what he thought about that sort of intuition." + +"And what did he say?" asked Odeyne with interest. + +"He said it all a great deal more beautifully than I can do; but the +gist of it was this--that these instincts were often given us by God, +for our defence and guidance; but that like every God-given thing, it +was liable to abuse, and that the enemy would be certain to strive +and make us abuse it; so we must watch ourselves very carefully, and +above all avoid judging and condemning our brethren, and so missing +that bond of perfect love which should be strong enough to embrace +all mankind, even though over some we may have to weep tears of blood +for their wickedness and unbelief." + +"Yes, I like that sort of answer," said Odeyne, "and I am sure God +does give us instincts to help us to avoid evil. Think how little +children shrink away from wicked persons without knowing why. I have +so often noticed that, and thought how beautiful it was. But tell +me, have you any reason rather than this instinct for distrusting +Walter Garth?" + +"Not exactly," answered Cissy. "I did not quite like the way he +examined the key of the safe when he had locked it up, or the sort of +stock he seemed to take of everything in the room; but perhaps he has +trained himself to habits of observation, and does it unthinkingly; +for I suppose he has been inside this room before to speak to Desmond. + +"Desmond generally sees him in the little waiting-room opposite, +where Garth has a writing-table, and sometimes writes a few letters +for him. He may have been in here before; but I don't know. As you +say, he is one of those observant men who takes in everything. +Perhaps it is not quite an agreeable habit, but Desmond has found it +very useful." + +Cissy said no more. She had no wish to be disagreeable, and the fact +that Walter Garth's face had struck her rather unpleasantly was not a +matter of much consequence. Alice was satisfied with him as a lover, +and Desmond as a clerk. He had many good qualities to recommend him, +and even if there were possibilities of an ugly kind in his nature, +perhaps nothing would ever arise to call them forth, or perhaps the +influence of his wife and home would gradually eradicate them. + +"If Alice were not such a vain, feather-brained chit herself," mused +Cissy, as she thought over the situation. "Her real devotion to +Odeyne is her best point; except for that she seems to me but a +flighty little thing, bent on being a fine lady in so far as it is +possible. They are going to keep a servant, and she plainly intends +to go about very smart, when she is not up at the house looking after +Odeyne's things. Perhaps the responsibilities of matrimony will +sober her down; but her one leading idea seems to be to have a good +time and enjoy herself thoroughly." + +Odeyne had decided not to engage another maid at once. She had never +been used to much personal attendance, and did not care for it. She +needed some help in the care of her rather extensive wardrobe, and +that Alice was eager to give still. She did not want to sever her +connection with the big house and all its attendant gaieties, nor did +her husband wish this either. He told her that she would find it +very lonely all day at the lodge, and encouraged her to continue her +duties in so far as it was possible. This arrangement pleased and +suited Odeyne very well, and was to be adopted for the present, at +any rate. The wedding was to take place as soon as the additions to +the lodge were made, and that would certainly be before Christmas, so +there was not much time to make others. + +Desmond's ideas just now were rather on a large scale. The prospect +of the nurseries at the Chase being wanted shortly, gave him an idea +that they would find the house rather small when visitors arrived for +such occasions as the shooting and hunting, or a county ball. He had +therefore taken a great fancy to his plan of enlarging the lodge, +which was never used as a lodge, and making it at once a comfortable +home for the Garths and a sort of overflow house, where his own +guests could be accommodated when necessary. + +Odeyne was always ready to fall into any project of his, and although +she was a little astonished at the elaborate plans and heavy +estimates submitted, Desmond assured her that he could well afford to +carry out his scheme in his own way, and added that there was never +any real extravagance in improving a property. It would be an +advantage to the family, in the long run. + +He went to work all through in an open-handed and lavish way. +Everything, even the furnishing, was done at his own expense, and in +a style that Cissy frankly told him was rather absurd for such people +as Garth and his wife. + +But Desmond only laughed. This lodge was his pet hobby just now, and +as it kept him at home when he was not at business, and was certainly +a safer way of spending money than others in which he was fond of +indulging, nobody seriously opposed him, and the delight of Alice +with her pretty home was quite amusing to see. + +The house was divided practically into two parts, the one being an +exceedingly comfortable and even elegant cottage for the Garths, the +other forming a quaint suite of rooms for bachelor guests, including +a smoking-room, a bathroom, and two good bedrooms, with a +dressing-closet or boxroom wedged between them. Two, or even three +men could be comfortably accommodated here, and Desmond was as +pleased with the appearance of the furnished and embellished rooms as +a child with a new toy. + +The wedding of Alice and Garth came off in due course, just a +fortnight before Christmas. The bride had insisted upon white for +her own wear, although Odeyne had gently suggested that grey would be +more serviceable, and would be more comfortable and suitable for the +season of the year. But that did not meet Alice's views at all, nor, +as she said, those of Walter. She should not feel properly married, +she declared, if she were not married in white. So Odeyne was +prepared for something rather fine, but not for the sweeping white +silk and the flowing veil with which Alice astonished the church upon +the morning of her wedding-day. + +Desmond had ruled that she should be married from the house, and have +a carriage to convey her and two of the other maids, who were to act +"bridesmaids" for her. Odeyne, knowing that Alice's besetting sin +was vanity and love of display and admiration, would much have +preferred to have everything more quiet and suitable; but Desmond was +in a gay, benignant, and almost rollicking mood, encouraged Alice and +Garth in all their ideas of future grandeur, and laughed at Odeyne's +scruples as out of date in these liberal and levelling days. + +So Alice swept up the aisle in robes as fine as many ladies wear on +such occasions, and she looked altogether so dainty, so pretty, so +refined, that she might be pardoned for the idea that she was on the +high road to becoming a "real lady." + +She was a little shy of the thought of meeting her mistress's eye; +but for the rest she was glad that all the world should see her in +her finery and grandeur. She was going away with Walter as soon as +she had changed her dress after church; and before she saw her lady +again the impression of her foolish grandeur would surely have worn +away. + +So she escaped without any real leave-taking from her mistress, and +when Odeyne, a little hurt, spoke of it to Desmond, he only laughed +and said-- + +"The little puss was afraid of a scolding for all that finery. Never +mind, wifie; it was rather absurd, but it made her very happy, and I +suppose she could afford it. She has had a lot of things given to +her. Let's walk down and look at the lodge again. I am looking +forward to seeing it inhabited." + +And when they stood inside the pleasant rooms, and spoke of using +them later on, Desmond broke into one of his gay laughs and cried-- + +"You see, wifie, it really is a capital move having a place like +this; for when your careless husband has ruined himself over +horseracing, and who knows what beside, we shall be able to let the +Chase, and live cosily here ourselves, until our fortunes mend again. +Really it wouldn't be half bad!" + +He laughed and kissed her as he spoke; but Odeyne shivered a little, +and drew her fur cloak closer round her. + +"I don't like you to say such things, even in jest, Desmond," she +answered, and she wished that he had not laughed again as they +sallied forth. + +"If he would take life just a little more seriously!" was the +unspoken cry of her heart. "I wish he had not said that about the +lodge. He has spoilt it for me now!" + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +_CHRISTMAS._ + +"Guy, Guy! oh, dearest Guy! Can it really be you? It seems too good +to be true!" + +"Very much myself, _Schwesterling mein_, and very delighted to be +here at last, and to see you in all your glory!" + +"Oh, Guy, it is delightful! It is like a dream! Why did you not +tell me you were coming?" + +"Because I am rather an uncertain mortal in the winter, and I would +not have had you disappointed for anything. I knew you would be +anxious about the mother, and I did not want you to have any more +bothers. Besides, I like a surprise." + +"So do I when it takes this form! Oh, Guy, it is so good to see your +dear face, and to have somebody here for Christmas! How pleased +Desmond will be when he comes home! Edmund will run over just for +the few days he can get away; but when his leave is due he will go +home, of course. Now tell me about all the dear ones at home. Make +yourself comfortable in that big chair, and I will get you your tea. +It is so good to have you there! Now tell me about them all--mother +in particular." + +"She is much better; it was just a sharp attack of bronchitis. We +think she took a chill. Of course Mary has been busy nursing her and +looking after things, so it was impossible for us to think of a +family gathering here--even if father and Henry could have got away. +Nor did it seem a very advisable thing, all round, to have you and +Desmond across to us. Then I made up my mind that if mother were +really convalescent, and they could spare me, I would come here +myself to be your companion during some of these dull winter days. +They all thought it a capital plan, and here I am, you see!" + +"It is delightful!" cried Odeyne, with shining eyes. "It will make +Christmas just perfect. There will be a few quiet gaieties to +enliven you. I keep rather quiet, because I prefer it; but you can +have a good deal of fun if you like it. It is rather a gay little +place in its way." + +"My fun will be sitting at home with you, I think, little sister. +That's rather more my idea of enjoyment than gadding about, though, +of course, I want to know Desmond's people, and will make one of any +family gathering to which I am asked. Now tell me every single thing +about yourself, and your life, and all that you do. You have been +very good about writing long letters; but after all letters only give +a rather dim and distant idea of the real thing." + +To have a long and confidential talk with Guy was just the luxury +most desired by Odeyne. To her second self she could pour out all +that was in her heart about her new life and the people by whom she +was surrounded. Long before the story was done an interruption came +in the arrival of Desmond; and his cordial welcome to his wife's +brother put Guy perfectly and entirely at his ease in this house. +Desmond had always been very fond of Guy, and to have him on a visit +of indefinite length suited him exactly. + +Desmond was in almost boyishly high spirits all the evening, and upon +the next morning. He laughed, and made obscure remarks to Odeyne, +not altogether comprehensible to her; till at last she turned +laughingly to Guy, and said-- + +"He is up to some mischief--I know he is! He always betrays himself +like that when it is coming!" Then turning to Desmond and shaking +her finger at him, she said, "Take care, you bad boy, and don't you +get into trouble, or you'll be well hen-pecked when you come back to +me, I can tell you!" + +And as Desmond went off laughing and bubbling over with mirth, after +kissing his wife as he always did, she turned to her brother and +said-- + +"He is such a boy still in some of his ways, but he really is growing +to be a very good man of business, they say. We had a dinner for +some of the other members of the firm not long ago. They were heavy +City men, not the sort of people we meet in society as a rule, but +very worthy in their way. Several of them said very complimentary +things about Desmond's abilities to me. I am so glad he has that +regular occupation as a sort of ballast, for he has such high spirits +that if he had nothing to do but enjoy himself I should be almost +afraid for him." + +"He seems wonderfully young for his years and position," said Guy; +"but it is nice to see him so happy; and if he works hard, too, no +one need fall foul of his high spirits." + +Odeyne spent a very happy morning showing Guy all over her house and +garden. Cissy Ritchie had gone home the day before the arrival of +the brother, as Odeyne felt it would be selfish to keep her away +during all the pleasant bustle of the Christmas preparations at home. +And now, having Guy, she wanted no one else; and they spent a +charming morning together, his interest and pleasure in her +possessions giving them an added value in her eyes. + +"Desmond must be a richer man than he told us," was his comment as +they sat at lunch together, the servants having handed the dishes and +retired. "We knew by the settlements that he had a very fair fortune +of his own; but there is something almost princely in the way he +spends his money here. Does it feel at all strange to you to be the +queen of so much grandeur?" + +"It did at first; but I have grown used to it. You don't mean you +think Desmond extravagant, do you, Guy?" + +"I certainly meant no criticism of that sort," answered Guy. "You +know extravagance is to my thinking spending more than a man has a +right to do--more than he can really afford. If he is living within +his income, giving a fair proportion to those who need it, and +keeping a margin for a less prosperous day, then, according to my +ideas, he has a full right to do as he will with the remainder, so +long as he does not fritter it away in follies and vanities, or, of +course, in vicious pleasures. But I am sure Desmond has no +tendencies of that sort." + +"Indeed, I hope and trust not; but I do sometimes wonder if he is not +a little more fond of spending money than is quite wise. He is very +generous to everybody; he gives away liberally to a number of good +objects, and likes me to help in the parish and subscribe to all the +local charities. I am more afraid of his being indiscriminate in his +charities than niggardly. He is always so sorry for people in +trouble. He is a very dear fellow, though I suppose it is not for me +to praise him!" + +"Never mind, I like to hear you," answered Guy. "And now tell me +about little Alice! I have a box of presents for her from her people +and friends at home. They were rather taken by surprise at the +suddenness of the marriage, and had not got the things all done in +time. Shall we take them to her this afternoon, if you have nothing +more important on hand?" + +"I should like that very much," answered Odeyne. "I have only just +seen her since she got home. They had a little trip after the +wedding; but they arrived home three days ago. Alice had hardly got +settled down then, but now she will be ready for visitors. She will +be delighted to see anyone from the old home. We will order the +carriage and go." + +This was accordingly done; and the brother and sister reached the +pretty lodge early in the afternoon. There was a small maid-servant +with ribbons in her cap to open the door, greatly to Guy's amusement. +This damsel showed them into the parlour, where she said her mistress +would see them directly; she had run out a few minutes before, but +would certainly not be long gone. She was doing up her dress, the +girl informed them, with an air of pride, for a ball at the Royal +George that evening. + +This fact explained the remarkable state of the parlour, which was +littered from end to end with odds and ends of white ribbons and bits +of silk. Upon the table lay Alice's wedding dress, upon which she +was plainly at work, taking out the sleeves, and cutting it low in +the neck, in obvious imitation of some of Odeyne's Paris gowns, which +had filled Alice with boundless admiration. Long white gloves lay +upon the table, together with what Odeyne did not at all like to +see--some sham diamond ornaments--a clever enough imitation of the +real thing; but only a trumpery imitation, yet too costly all the +same for Alice to buy. + +Guy took in all this as quickly as Odeyne herself, and uttered a +long, low whistle. + +"This is an odd sort of development for that quiet little dainty +Alice. How comes it all about?" + +"I don't know," answered Odeyne, with tears in her eyes. "I am +afraid I have not done my duty by her. I was always fond of her, and +she seemed like a little bit of home. I talked to her, and perhaps +made too much of her, and she is so pretty that when she went about +with me she was always noticed and made much of. I am afraid that +vanity has always been her besetting sin, and that I have not done +enough to combat it." + +At this moment Alice came hurrying in with her hands full of sprays +of delicate ivy. Odeyne remembered that one of her Paris dresses was +trimmed and adorned with ivy sprays, and that Alice had always +particularly admired it. The inference was obvious. The ex-maid was +going to appear at this local festivity in a dress closely imitating +one of her mistress's. It was not the imitation itself that troubled +Odeyne, but the incongruity of the whole thing--Alice dressed up to +the eyes, going to a ball, when she would have been so much better +and happier sitting at home with her husband, mending his stockings +and cooking his supper! + +The girl crimsoned from brow to chin on seeing her visitors, and +hastily invited them into the other room, where there was not all +that litter about. + +"Jane was so stupid," she grumbled, with a toss of the head; "really, +servants were more trouble than they were worth!" + +Odeyne made no comment on what she had seen. She knew very well that +any remonstrance would be thrown away. Alice was now a married +woman, free of all control in her own house, save that of her +husband. If he approved this kind of thing it was not for others to +interfere, and Odeyne contented herself with inquiries about the +little holiday trip, and whether the lodge was a comfortable place to +live in. + +Then the box was brought in, and Guy gave her the key, and quite a +number of messages from her mother and friends. Alice grew more like +herself at this point, and opened the box with natural curiosity; but +her face fell somewhat as she drew out its contents, and there was +something like a supercilious curl on her pretty mouth as she laid +the things out on the little sofa. + +A year ago she would have been delighted by the quiet and neatly-made +dresses and the comfortable, warm shawl that her mother and sisters +had made for her, and her brother sent from his manufactory. To +Odeyne's eyes they looked far more suited to the young wife's +position than the finery in the next room. But Alice was evidently +of quite another opinion. + +"It's kind of mother, to be sure; but folks right away in the country +don't know anything about fashions and style. Why, those things +might have come out of the ark! But then poor mother would never be +any the wiser!" + +"They are nice, serviceable dresses," answered Odeyne, "and your +mother and sisters' beautiful needlework would make any of their +handiwork valuable. I think you will find their presents very +useful, Alice." + +"I can wear them up at the house when I come," said Alice, as if this +were rather a bright idea; and it gave Odeyne the opportunity of +saying-- + +"You have not found your way up there since you came back." + +"No, ma'am, I have been so very busy. It takes time to get settled +and in order; but I shall come very soon--perhaps to-morrow." + +Odeyne looked at her rather gravely. + +"I think you will be too tired to-morrow, Alice, after the ball +to-night." + +Alice coloured up, but answered rather hastily and defiantly-- + +"Well, ma'am, I can't help the ball. It's got up partly for +us--Walter having been a guest there so long, and me being a bride, +and all that. I don't see why we shouldn't have our bit of fun as +well as our betters. Everything's going to be done in first-class +style, and I'm to open the ball with the master of the house--just as +you did, ma'am, when you went as a bride to Lord Altrincham's." + +"I was not finding fault with you, Alice," said Odeyne with gentle +gravity. "You have a husband now to take care of you. If he +approves of this sort of thing I have nothing to say." + +"Oh, Walter likes to see me dressed like a lady and everybody +admiring me," answered Alice with the freedom of one to whom a +considerable liberty of speech has been granted. + +"To be sure, he is often a bit jealous--that's the way with men--but +he likes it all the same, and was pleased for us to go. Most of the +guests pay for their tickets, but Walter and I go free, because it's +our wedding ball, you know." + +Odeyne did not stay long. She felt rather sorrowful and anxious, and +yet altogether helpless as regards Alice, and she had an uneasy +feeling that perhaps it had not been a good thing for her, this +transporting of her from the quiet Rectory to the gayer life of the +Chase. But Guy tried to cheer her up. + +"She would never have stayed there. She was resolved to go and see +life for herself elsewhere. She might have done much worse. She is +married now to a man of whom all speak well. It is the fashion +nowadays to ape the gentry in everything. It is a pity they cannot +take their pleasures more simply; but we have to take things as they +are, not as we should like to see them. Alice will play her little +game of vanity and display, and enjoy it; let us be thankful she has +a husband at her side all the while. When she has a few babies to +look after she will think of things differently. The +responsibilities of life will come upon her quite fast enough." + +When Desmond came home that afternoon it was by an earlier train than +usual; and out of the back of the dog-cart came a large box and a +number of parcels, and as he flung them down gaily on the +drawing-room sofa he exclaimed-- + +"There, little wifie! I told you I would look after the presents for +'home.' You see if I have chosen right, and give me credit for being +a good shopper!" + +"Oh, Desmond! how delightful of you! I was beginning to think you +had forgotten. Let us have the lamp in and examine everything! We +ought to send them off to-night, or first thing to-morrow, for it is +the twenty-first--and traffic is always crowded just now." + +It was indeed a grand show of presents that was displayed when the +lamps were brought in. Desmond had forgotten nobody, and seemed to +have intuitions as to the taste of all. For the Rector there were +rare old books on divinity, and some modern works which were exciting +no small stir amongst thinking men, and which Odeyne was certain her +father would delight in possessing. For the mother there was a +beautiful soft Indian shawl, just such a wrap as her children would +love to see her in; for Mary a fur-lined cloak that would enable her +to resist the cold, even in the severest weather; and for Henry, who +did all the long tramps over the scattered parish in the snow, and +all the night-work too, a fur-lined coat--just such a one as Desmond +wore himself up to town in cold weather. + +"Henry and I could always wear each other's things," said Desmond, as +he undid the bundle, "so if it fits me it will fit him. I should +have liked to get one for the father too, but I knew he was so wedded +to his wonderful Inverness that I don't believe he would ever wear +it." + +"I don't think he would," answered Odeyne; "he will never put on +anything with sleeves. But for Henry this will be splendid; he will +not mind the weight, and he does feel the cold a good bit." + +For the three little girls there were wonderful boxes of bonbons, +story-books, and dolls. For the old servants, shawls, tea-caddies, +and so forth. Then he had bought a plated tea-pot and sugar basin +for Alice and her husband, and various small things for old people on +the estate. + +"I sent things off for the mother, and Maud, and Beatrice, and Algy, +straight from the jewellers," he explained; "I always think that +women-folk like jewellery better than anything else; and they will +show you them all in good time, if you care to see. Don't you expect +anything yourself, wifie, after all this outlay? I'm about bankrupt +now, till the next quarter begins"; and Desmond laughed gaily as he +bent to kiss Odeyne. + +"I don't want anything but you, Desmond," she answered, with a happy +light in her eyes, "and I told you all along that my Christmas +present was to be the _carte-blanche_ you gave me to make a nice +Christmas for all the poor people on the estate." + +Odeyne was in fact very busy all these next days with her +distribution of doles and gifts. She took great interest in the +people about them, those who were her husband's tenants, and those +who belonged to the parish also. From the Ritchies and from the +clergyman's wife she had learned much about them; and Christmas Eve +was quite given over to the pleasure of seeing the people all going +happily away with the gifts of good things provided. + +But when Odeyne came down on Christmas morning to find her plate +piled with parcels--many of them brought by Guy from home, others +come by post, some left at the house by friends in the +neighbourhood--there was one suspicious-looking packet which she +could not but open first, and there, within the morocco case, lay a +wonderful diamond necklace and pendant, that even Odeyne's experience +told her must have cost a small fortune. + +"To my dear wife," were the words inscribed upon a little scrap of +paper inside the lid; and when Odeyne lifted her dazzled eyes there +was Desmond standing over her, to put his arm about her and press +kisses on her lips. + +"Darling, I won't be scolded!" he cried gaily. "It is my good little +wife who keeps me from bad habits, and sends me into the City day by +day, making a richer man of me than I ever thought to be! I will +have my own little whims as to how I spend the money she has helped +me to earn. Even the careful Guy will say that that is all fair and +square!" + +Guy and Edmund were both at table, and both struck dumb by the +magnificence of Desmond's gifts. Guy's was a splendid dressing-bag +with every accessory heart could wish, and silver monograms on +everything; and Edmund's a complete hunting rig--scarlet coat, white +breeches, top boots, and immaculate hat--all from one of the first +tailors in London (Edmund understood now why he had been badgered +into leaving a suit of clothes at the Chase on the pretence of its +making his visits easier), and a fine set of golf tools, which he had +been desiring for some time, but had not yet thought himself +justified in buying. + +"Really, Desmond, you are too generous!" they cried, pressing up to +thank him; but he waved them gaily off, saying-- + +"Don't thank me. Thank Odeyne; it's all her doing, I assure you. +And, besides, a man and his wife are one; so she must never be left +out of anything you attribute to me." + +Odeyne looked at her bright-faced young husband with a world of love +in her eyes, and wondered whether ever woman was so happy as herself +that day. + +Upon the morrow was a grand ball at Beatrice's house. Odeyne had +begged off, and had been permitted to stay quietly at home; and Guy +would now be her companion, as late hours and dancing were alike +injurious to him; but Edmund and Desmond of course must be there; and +Odeyne had promised to drive Guy over earlier in the day, to +introduce him to her sister-in-law, and look round at the +flower-decked rooms and at the preparations for the evening's +festivity. Guy had been introduced before this to Mrs. St. Claire +and Maud, and had been very cordially received there. But, so far, +he had not seen Beatrice, and was glad of the opportunity. + +It was impossible to catch Mrs. Vanborough at a disadvantage. +Although she had been busy all the morning superintending the +arrangement of the rooms, and although her hair was tumbled, and she +had on, for her, quite an old dress, she managed to look bewitchingly +bright and pretty as she came sailing down the staircase to meet +them; and Odeyne noticed in a moment that the slightly forced +mirthfulness of her laugh and the haggard expression of her eyes had +quite vanished, leaving her all sparkle, and brightness, and life. + +"You delightful creature! I was afraid you might be afraid of the +snow. And I am dying to thank you and Desmond for your lovely +present. Algy says opals are unlucky; but I don't care if they are. +I am not superstitious, thank goodness, and I love them and dote on +them. I am going to wear them to-night. I have a lovely new dress I +want you to see. Oh yes, and Guy shall come too! I'm not foolish +enough or inexperienced enough not to know that men like to see +pretty things just as well as we do, and often have just as good +taste. Come and see my dress and my flowers--I have had three +splendid bouquets sent me, and I hardly know which to wear. You +shall help me to decide. I'm sorry you won't be there to-night; but +I shan't bother you to come. I believe you will be better at home, +really; and you will have Guy to take care of you." + +Beatrice's friendly way of adopting Odeyne's brothers almost as her +own, gave them a feeling of intimacy with her almost at once; and Guy +was quite pleased to follow her into the luxuriously-appointed +upstairs room, where the beautiful ball-dress lay spread out upon a +couch. + +"It's a real Worth dress. I haven't been able to afford one for +quite an age; but Algy said I really might this time. My dear +Odeyne, I don't know how to be grateful enough to you for what you've +done for us. It has just made all the difference in the world to us." + +Odeyne raised a puzzled face and said-- + +"I don't know what you mean, Beatrice." + +"Oh, don't you know that Desmond has taken Algy in hand, and is +teaching him some sort of business. He never could have done that, +if you had not got him to take up the work himself first." + +"I didn't know," answered Odeyne eagerly. "Desmond never said +anything about Algernon. Is he going into the business house?" + +"I don't know exactly what it is," answered Beatrice; "I am so +ignorant about business. All I know is that Algy goes into the City +two or three days a week, and that things have been ever so much +better with us ever since. And it's all dear Desmond's doing. He +has taught Algy everything, and put him in the way of things. We +have paid off no end of our debts, and are quite flourishing again." + +Odeyne was delighted. She wondered why Desmond had never told her, +and she wondered why Guy looked rather grave and said nothing. +Perhaps it was because he did not know Beatrice well enough to join +in a conversation about her private affairs. + +Then after they had looked at the dress and the opals, and had gone +downstairs and admired the rooms with their great banks of flowering +plants, Beatrice took them into her boudoir, which was the only +really comfortable room in the house, and gave them tea, and told +them racy stories, till they all laughed heartily together and felt +quite like old friends, and Guy promised to come again soon, and not +make a stranger of Desmond's sister. + +"There is something about Beatrice that fascinates me always," said +Odeyne as they drove home, "and the little boy is sweet, though I did +not like to ask for him to-day, as they were all so busy. Algernon +is the one I can never quite like. He gives me the impression of +being a fast man--not a good one. But I was so glad to hear that he +had taken to business ways. I wonder why Desmond never spoke about +it. Why do you look like that, Guy? Don't you think it's a very +good thing?" + +"That depends upon what he does," answered Guy gravely. "I do not +quite understand how such elasticity of means can have been made in +so short a time. I don't profess to understand business, but common +sense tells me it is not likely that it has been done in the ordinary +course of business." + +"But, Guy, how else could it be done?" + +"It sounds much more like gambling in stocks and shares. You know +there are fortunes won and lost every day on the Stock Exchange. It +is another form of gambling, and rather a terrible one. I hope that +Desmond is not dabbling in that sort of thing in the way of business. +Keep him from it with all your might, Odeyne, if there is any danger; +for it generally ends in one thing, and that is--ruin." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +_A SHOCK._ + +Guy and Odeyne spent the evening of Beatrice's grand ball quietly +together at the Chase, as planned. It was a great delight to both to +be once more under one roof, and living the same life. And this was +the first occasion on which they had had leisure and opportunity for +one of their long confidential chats. + +Odeyne had been looking forward to it for quite a long time, the +other days having been so full of employment and the calls of +friendship. Yet now that it had come, the young wife was not so +uncloudedly happy as she had expected to be. Although she asked +innumerable questions about the old home and friends there--questions +she had been treasuring up against the time when she and Guy could be +alone and at leisure--yet she often felt her attention straying as +she talked, and was conscious of a dull indefinite weight at her +heart that she hardly wished to drag into the light of day. + +And yet as time went on, and the old familiar relations between +herself and Guy re-established themselves without any effort on +either side, the desire to confide in and consult him became too +strong for resistance; and suddenly breaking in upon what he was +telling her, she said almost abruptly for her-- + +"Guy, dear, you won't think it unwifely of me, will you, if I talk to +you a little about Desmond?" + +"Not a bit," he answered; "you know Desmond and I were always fond of +one another. Sometimes I think it was his goodness to me when I was +ill and good for nothing that made the first link between you two." + +"I think it was. Guy, Desmond is the dearest of husbands. I don't +think any two people could be happier than he and I; and yet every +now and then I have such a strange feeling of misgiving. It comes +over me that perhaps I am not the best wife he could have chosen. +There are times when I feel that I have not the influence over him +that I ought to have. He will give me everything I want. I am +almost afraid of admiring anything, lest he should at once send for +it, whether we need it or not. But sometimes I wonder whether he +would give up things for me if I asked it--and then I do not feel so +sure." + +Guy looked grave and thoughtful. Few as had been the days he had +spent at the Chase, they had given him time to observe many things, +and he understood Odeyne almost more fully than she expected him to +do. + +"He does spend a good deal of money, Odeyne--generously and kindly, +to be sure, but rather over-lavishly. It might be a good thing if +you could put a check upon that." + +"I do try very often," she answered, "but you heard how he answered +me the other day; and if business is so good----" + +"That is just my puzzle," answered Guy. "I do not know so very much +about business; but I have never looked upon a berth like Desmond's +as such an immensely lucrative thing. No doubt it is very +advantageous to him to have it. He will probably in time build up a +solid little supplementary fortune to leave behind him. But I do not +quite understand how it puts him in command of such large sums of +ready money; and yet when I chaffed him the other day about the bills +he was running up, he declared everything was paid for on the spot. +He had had enough of debts, he said, at college. He never meant to +contract any more. And I was very glad to hear him say that, +although it left the other puzzle untouched." + +Odeyne said nothing for a while, but looked into the fire, and when +she spoke there was a certain hesitation in her tones. + +"Guy, what were you saying this afternoon--about Algernon Vanborough, +you know--and the Stock Exchange?" + +"Why, that it looked rather as though he must be dabbling in +speculation in stocks and shares, going into the City, and suddenly +having command of money again. No doubt there is a great deal to be +made in that way; but it needs a cool and clever head, and I should +not think Algernon Vanborough had that." + +"I do not like him much," said Odeyne. "But Beatrice spoke as if +Desmond were helping him. I thought it was in the way of business." + +"Yes, some kind of business; but Beatrice was very vague about it +herself. It is a word that carries a wide meaning." + +"Oh, Guy!" exclaimed Odeyne, with sudden anxiety and distress, "do +tell me, is there anything wrong in that sort of speculation--and do +you think that Desmond is speculating too?" + +"I confess it looks a little like it," answered Guy; "but as to +whether or not such speculation is honest, I hardly know how to +answer. Of course 'men of the world' would laugh at the notion of +calling it anything else. And there is a certain buying and selling +of stock that is perfectly fair and legitimate; but undoubtedly there +can be a shady side to it; and in any case I should shrink from +gaining large sums of money without doing honest work for it. Your +gain is somebody's loss. It seems a perilous pastime to indulge in. +It draws men on and on into deeper places. In its essence it is a +form of gambling, Odeyne, although it may not be recognised as such +at the outset." + +At that word Odeyne caught her breath a little. It filled her with a +vague terror and distress. More than once she had been warned about +Desmond's tendency towards that perilous amusement, but she had +fondly thought that her influence was holding him back from it. + +"Then, Guy, would you have me speak to him about it? Do you think I +should warn him?" + +"I am rather shy, Odeyne, of giving advice where husband and wife are +concerned. I think you are the best judge of what you should say to +Desmond. His love for you is very true and deep. If he knew that +anything in his conduct distressed you, surely he would give it up?" + +Odeyne sighed, and a little pucker furrowed her brow. + +"Some things he would directly; but I do not feel so sure about it +when it seems to be business. He would be very kind, and he would +explain it all so that I should see it was all right, but I don't +feel so certain that he would give it up. That is where it sometimes +comes over me that another woman might have made him a better wife. +I am not strong-willed enough to have the influence I sometimes want." + +"There is influence of another kind," said Guy thoughtfully after a +long pause. "A man with a very high standard before his eyes--the +highest standard of all--shrinks back from all such doubtful things +with an instinct of repulsion, and does not argue about them. He +feels the evil possibilities, and lets it alone. Try and win Desmond +to such a standard as that, and the rest will follow of itself." + +Odeyne drew a deep sigh. + +"If only I could!" she answered. "If only I could! But, Guy, I am +sometimes in danger of growing careless and forgetful myself, and +Desmond does not care for being talked to." + +"I don't think talking ever does much good," answered Guy in the same +thoughtful way. "You must live your lessons, _Schwesterling_, not +talk them. And then there is always the power of prayer. I often +think we forget what a mighty weapon that is if used regularly, and +used aright." + +Odeyne covered her face with her hands, and there was a sound of +tears in her voice as she answered-- + +"Oh, Guy, it is not so easy to be good, to think of all these things, +to keep unspotted from the world, here, in this big house and amongst +the people I live with, as in the dear old home. I do try; but there +is always so much to distract my thoughts. You will pray for us, +Guy, will you not, dear brother? For me as well as for him; for +indeed--indeed I need it!" + +Very soon after that Guy persuaded Odeyne to go to bed. She had +intended to sit up for her husband; but she was really tired, and Guy +opined that they might be very late, since a light snow had fallen, +and travelling would be heavy. He would sit up and see that there +was a blazing fire, and some hot soup ready for them as ordered; and +presently Odeyne let herself be persuaded, and went off to bed. + +Although rather anxious and troubled in mind, she strove to put aside +gloomy thoughts, and to reassure herself by thinking of the many +lovable traits in her husband's character. She could not expect +perfection, of course; and when she contrasted him with Algernon +Vanborough and some of his associates, she felt that she had cause +rather for thankfulness than disquiet, although, to be sure, Desmond +was just a little too easily led. + +She had dropped asleep, with her door half open, that she might hear +her husband's voice when he returned, and feel assured of his safety, +when she was roused by a stir in the hall, and sat up in bed to +listen. + +The hall being two stories high, and her bedroom door opening upon +the gallery just at the head of the staircase, she could hear any +sound there, and even any words spoken in a loud voice, and to-night +as she sat up listening, she was perfectly certain that she heard +Edmund say in answer to words spoken by Guy-- + +"It's all right--don't make a fuss or wake Odeyne. They'll bring him +in directly. We'll have him all right before she sees him." + +In a moment Odeyne was out of bed, trembling in every limb. Desmond +had been hurt. There had been an accident on the slippery roads. He +always _would_ take his dog-cart and drive so fast. She was hurrying +into a rather elaborate wrapper, which would pass for a tea-gown, and +was hastily coiling up her abundant hair as these thoughts passed +through her brain. She must go to him, and see to his hurts. She +was afraid of nothing but suspense. In another moment she was out +upon the gallery, and looking down into the hall below, saw Desmond +being supported into the hall between Edmund and the footman, an +idiotic grin upon his face, a babble of thick and incoherent talk +proceeding from his lips. + +"It is a head injury!" she said to herself, her heart almost standing +still. "He must get to bed at once, and I will attend to him"; and +she flew down the staircase. + +Guy suddenly glanced up and saw her, and came striding to meet her, +looking almost stern in his gravity. + +"Odeyne, don't come down--don't let the servants see you. Go back to +your room. I will come to you there if you like. Desmond would +rather that you did not see him now--with the men-servants about and +all." + +Then she understood. She gave a low wail that went to Guy's heart; +and turning she went back to her own room, and threw herself into the +chair beside the fire, feeling as though the foundations of the earth +were giving way beneath her. + +How long she remained thus she knew not. A light tap at the door +aroused her. She started up and heard Edmund's voice asking if he +might come in. She lighted the candles upon the toilet table, wiped +the traces of tears from her face, and went to the door trying to +appear as calm as possible. + +Her soldier brother came a few paces into the room, and put her back +into her chair. + +"I'm awfully sorry, Odeyne; I feel half to blame myself; but I've +come to tell you it's not nearly so bad as you may perhaps think--the +sort of thing that might happen to anybody who hadn't a very strong +head. It was Algy Vanborough's fault. That fellow is a great fool. +It was an awfully jolly ball, and Desmond had been Beatrice's right +hand all through, dancing with all the wall-flowers, and trotting out +little first-season misses whom some of the fellows turned up their +noses at. Nobody could have been nicer and kinder all along. And at +supper it was the same. He was everywhere, looking after +everybody--a hundred times more good than Vanborough. I daresay he +got thirsty, and perhaps he may have drunk rather more champagne than +was quite wise; but he was not the least excited or anything at the +house--make yourself quite easy about that." + +"Then when was it?" asked Odeyne with dry lips. + +"As I say, it was that fool Algy's fault. We were getting into the +dog-cart; Desmond was in already, and he came out with glasses of +'something hot, just to keep out the cold, you know.' Well, it was a +bitter night; one couldn't altogether fall foul of him for that. But +when I tasted my glass it was so horribly strong--whisky punch or +some heady mixture like that--that I wouldn't drink it. I was going +to warn Desmond, but he had already drained his glass; and of course, +after the champagne, and with the change into the cold air, it got +into his head; and I had to take the reins before we'd gone two +miles. That's the whole story, Odeyne. I'm awfully sorry you saw +him, but really it was the sort of accident that might happen to the +soberest fellow living. Don't you remember when Mary came in +dripping that day of the thunderstorm last summer year, how we gave +her some hot brandy and water, and she couldn't walk straight after +it?" + +"Yes, I remember," said Odeyne with rather dry lips. "Thank you for +coming and explaining it, Edmund. I suppose it was only an accident. +But I wish it hadn't happened! Oh, I wish it hadn't happened!" + +"So do I," answered Edmund sincerely. "But, honestly, Odeyne, I +don't think it's anything to trouble over seriously. Desmond hasn't +a very strong head, and Algy had no business to give him that fiery +stuff. He didn't think what he was doing when he drank it. It +wasn't as if he had the least craving. It was forced upon him when +he was in a merry, rollicking mood, and he took it without a thought, +as I was nearly doing myself." + +"I will try not to make too much of it," answered Odeyne. "I should +not mind quite so much if the servants had not seen. I am afraid it +will be all over the place soon." + +"I'm afraid servants see such much worse sights than that in many +houses that this won't make much impression on them," answered +Edmund. "All your people are fond of Desmond. He is a very kind and +considerate master. Now go to bed, little sister, and we will look +after Desmond. A headache to-morrow will be all the result of +to-night's mischance--and probably a resolve not to be careless in +such a fashion in the future." + + +Walter Garth walked up from the station in the snow-lighted darkness, +to see welcoming ruddy gleams shining out of the window of his pretty +cottage home. His footstep outside was apparently heard from within, +and Alice opened the door, standing looking out into the darkness--a +pretty picture of homely prosperity and cheerful affection. + +"Is that you, Walter? How late you are!" + +"Yes, it was the train. There was a bad fog in town. I thought we +should never get out. Glad we don't have to live in that choking +reek, little wife. One can breathe down here!" + +Alice relieved him of his coat, went through what was evidently a +little daily pantomime of searching his pockets, and brought out a +box of bonbons from one of them. It seemed as though Garth had taken +a leaf out of Desmond's book, for he seldom returned home without +some little trifling gift for his wife. Often enough it was a small +household requisite he had been asked to buy, but a parcel of some +sort he almost always had, and Alice had come to look upon it as her +rightful due. + +"Anything happened up at the house?" asked Walter, as he sat warming +himself before the fire luxuriously. + +"What sort of thing do you mean?" asked Alice, who was bending over +the tea-pot, kettle in hand. + +"Why, the master wasn't in town to-day; and yet he hadn't sent for me +to go to him for orders this morning. Of course I thought he would +be there himself, and told them so; but he didn't come, and Mr. Drake +was rather put out. He said there were letters waiting to be +answered, and that the master had them, and should have sent them in +if he wasn't coming himself. They rather jumped upon me. But I +couldn't help it." + +"Of course not," answered Alice. "Well, it's just like this; the +master came home screwed from Mrs. Vanborough's ball last night. +This morning he had a tremendous headache, and couldn't think about +business anyhow. He didn't get up till twelve, and then they say he +was as cross as a bear. It's a shame! because it puts about the +mistress so. She has looked like a ghost all day." + +Walter Garth gave vent to a low whistle. + +"I hope that's not a failing of the master's though! I had no idea +of it!" + +"Oh no, it isn't now," answered Alice quickly. "Thomson says there +was a time once, when he was at college and got into a fast set, when +he would take too much now and again; but he's been quite better of +that for ever so long now. It was just an accident last +night--nothing more." + +Walter looked rather grim. + +"It's the sort of accident that may cost him dear if he does not look +out. Mr. Desmond St. Claire has a good deal of quick cleverness, and +he's been uncommonly lucky, I will say--partly because I've looked +sharp after things too. But he hasn't too much ballast on board; and +he'd be one to lose his head pretty badly if he took to losing. +Besides, he can't afford to play fast and loose with all the irons he +has in the fire just now. That headache of his to-day will cost him +several hundred pounds, and perhaps lose him as much more." + +Alice looked quite aghast. + +"Oh, Walter, is that possible?" + +"To be sure it is. He's been speculating in several things, and has +had rather a lot in the Chou-Chou mines, which are being boomed just +now. He ought to have sold to-day. I did, and my little speculation +brought me twenty-five pounds profit. He has hundreds where I have +tens. I expected a telegram all day, but never got one. I believe +the boom's over now, and that they will come tumbling down like a +house of cards! Well, he can afford to lose now and again. He's +been piling up money in fine style lately. Sometimes I'm half afraid +of his luck--lest it should make him reckless, or that it should get +whispered about in the office. And that would never do!" + +A great deal of this was as Greek to Alice, but she understood very +well that her husband had made twenty-five pounds in a day, and her +eyes sparkled at the thought. + +She asked a good many questions that made Walter laugh a good deal, +and finally she said in a puzzled voice-- + +"But I don't still understand where all the money comes from." + +"Oh, out of the pockets of poor fools, who speculate without +understanding what they are about. They think these boomed affairs +are going to turn into something very wonderful, and rush in and buy +when they are very high. Then we, who know how the thing really +stands, sell high what we've bought for almost nothing, get our +money, and then down they go with a crash, and the fools are left +lamenting, with waste-paper certificates for their proceedings!" + +"Oh, but, Walter, isn't that rather hard on them?" + +"Gives them a very good lesson, which, if they take to heart, may +save them from further losses. People who don't know what they're +about shouldn't gamble in stocks." + +"But, then, if there were none of these fools, as you call them, +left, how would you make your money?" asked Alice ingenuously, and +Walter laughed. + +"Well, it seems a merciful arrangement or provision of Providence +that the race of fools never becomes extinct," he answered. "As fast +as one set collapses another rises up. It is seldom that dupes are +not to be had--if only the wirepullers know what they are about." + +"Is it quite honest to take their money and give them only waste +paper in return?" asked Alice. + +"They get their money's value when they buy. Of course, if they +choose to hold on too long--till the thing drops to half, or bursts +up altogether--that is their affair. In all buying and selling the +purchaser takes a certain risk that the goods may be accidentally +destroyed. It's the same on the Stock Exchange. They can get good +things for their money if they try. But if ignorant fools dabble in +risky speculations--well, they deserve to come to grief." + +"I hope you won't come to grief," said Alice anxiously. "I should +hate to be poor, and to have people making remarks. They would be +sure to be spiteful, because they are jealous of me for having got +such a pretty home and such nice clothes. They say I have been made +a favourite of, and that favourites never come to a good end." + +"Who say so?" asked Walter quickly. + +"Oh, the girls up at the house. They have always been rather jealous +of me, because the mistress has me about her and talks to me. They +don't quite like it because I've married better than they can expect +to do. And the master thinking so much of you doesn't please them +much either. I take them presents of chocolates and things, just to +show I bear no malice, and that I am rich enough to buy such things. +But they would be delighted, I know, if we came down in the world. +So take care you don't, Walter dear." + +"Not I!" he answered confidently. "I go about with my eyes open, and +I have plenty of irons in the fire. I always do say it doesn't do to +have all your eggs in one basket. And now, wifie, what did you say +about that diamond necklace the mistress had given her on Christmas +Day? Did you say you had set your heart upon having one like it for +your next ball?" + +Alice opened her eyes wide; she had not said or even thought of any +such thing, that she could remember, but her face flushed at the bare +idea. + +"Farmer Blackthorne's eldest daughter is going to be married early in +the spring, and I've heard that there'll be a fine to-do when that +happens. Now, if you'd like a necklace made just like the +mistress's--in my sort of diamonds--well, I think I could manage that +out of my little winnings! I like my wife to put them all to shame, +and if the diamonds aren't real, at least they sparkle just as much, +and look as pretty." + +"Oh, Walter, you are good! I should like that! And the mistress +will never know. She won't be much about at that time. Can you +really get it made?" + +"Of course I can, if you can take the pattern of the necklace very +carefully for me, or bring it down here some evening for me to take +the pattern myself, which would be almost better. Then I could have +one made to look just like it, and you can copy one of her dresses +too, and play my lady for all the world." + +Alice looked delighted. She had been called "my lady" half in +derision, half in admiration, at the last ball she had attended, and +her vain little head was almost turned with the compliments received. +It was delightful to think of figuring again in even finer trim on +another occasion, and Alice had tried on her mistress's jewels often +enough to know that they looked most becoming and beautiful clasped +round her slender neck. + +"Oh, I'll bring it down to-morrow evening. I'll just manage to bend +the clasp, or something, cleaning them, and ask leave to take them +down for you to mend. Everybody knows how clever you are with your +fingers. You won't want it long, I suppose? I can run back with it +in an hour or so?" + +"Oh yes, a few minutes will be enough for what I want, and then you +shall have your facsimile necklace, little wife!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +_LITTLE GUY._ + +Winter had given place to spring; the first bright coldness of that +fitful season had yielded to the balmier airs and warmer suns of May. +All the world seemed astir with happiness and life, and there was joy +within the walls of the Chase, because a beautiful little boy had +been born to Odeyne, and it seemed as if the little heir had indeed +the prospect of every happiness and indulgence that wealth and love +could bestow. + +Who more proud and glad than Desmond when the glad news was told? He +quite won afresh the heart of Mrs. Hamilton by his tenderness to his +wife and child. And when the doctor, not quite satisfied with the +tardiness of Odeyne's recovery, suggested change of air for her, no +one could more unselfishly have set his own comfort aside, and +forwarded the scheme for mother and child to pay a visit to the +Rectory House in Devonshire, than did Desmond. + +Of course it was a sacrifice; for he could not come too. It was +impossible to leave business for any length of time. He promised +visits as they could be managed--a run down now and then, whenever he +could get away. But he would not let Odeyne consider his loneliness, +or make any arrangements for a speedy return. She was to stay with +her own people till she was really strong again. Her health was to +be the first consideration in everything. + +"It is so good of Desmond to make my way easy," said Odeyne to Mrs. +St. Claire, who was paying one of her periodic visits to her +grandson, of whom she was immensely proud. "I do want to get strong +again; and if they think the change will do it, of course there is +nowhere I should like so well to be; but it is hard to leave Desmond. +I suppose," with a little appealing glance at her visitors, "that you +and Maud could not come to stay here till I get back?" + +Odeyne observed that Maud flushed from brow to chin, and bent over +the baby to hide it. Maud was now very tender and gentle to Odeyne, +and they felt that a strong bond united them, although they seldom +had opportunity for intimate talks. She was rather surprised at this +sudden flush, and looked at Mrs. St. Claire, who replied in her +slightly incisive way-- + +"Well, my dear, that did occur to me; but perhaps it was not a +well-judged thought. It does not do to change the mistress of the +house too often; and as Desmond pointed out, whilst thanking us for +the kind proposal, it is quite possible you may soon be able to come +back yourself, and perhaps it is making rather a needless fuss over +the matter." + +"Then you did suggest it to Desmond? He did not tell me." + +"No, my dear. You are not to be troubled about arrangements. +Desmond evidently has ideas of his own, and will not be solitary +altogether. He has some bachelor friends he wants to ask down. The +house has been rather shut up for some time now. He will enjoy a +little male society again, and, of course, Maud might be rather in +his way." + +"He has had Guy all this time," said Odeyne. "He has not spoken of +being dull; but then Desmond is so unselfish!" + +"A very good quality in a man, my dear," said Mrs. St. Claire +briskly, as she rose to go. "Take care you keep him up to it. Well, +I suppose I shall not see you again before you leave; but mind you +come back well and strong, for you will have to pick up the reins of +government with a strong hand when you return. Don't spoil the boy! +Though he is too young yet to be much the wiser if you do. I always +think I spoiled Desmond--my only boy--and I have repented it since." + +She took the child from Maud and gazed at him long and earnestly. + +"More like a Hamilton than a St. Claire, I should say," she remarked. +"Well, perhaps it is best so." + +Odeyne did not quite hear; she was talking to Maud. + +"You think you cannot come down for the christening? Do if you can! +I should so like it!" + +"I will if I can leave mother; but she is more dependent on me than +she will allow. However, I shall be godmother, whether I am there or +not! You won't cheat me out of that?" + +"Of course not. Mary shall be sponsor for you; and you don't mind +his being Guy Desmond? It is Desmond's wish that the Guy shall come +first. He won't have two Desmonds in the house." + +"No, it makes confusion. Guy is a pretty name. And it is natural +you should like your father to christen him. Well, good-bye, dear; I +will come if I can, and I will look after Desmond in your absence as +well as he will let me!" + +Odeyne thanked her and took her boy into her arms. She was not a bit +uneasy or unhappy. She had been upstairs for many weeks now. She +had her mother with her; Guy was in the house to be a companion to +Desmond; and he was tenderness itself when he paid his frequent +visits to her. His punctuality and regularity at business had evoked +much praise from Mrs. Hamilton, and as she lived almost entirely with +her daughter, she had seen nothing to excite any uneasiness. + +Little Guy could not fail to be the object of the most absorbing +interest to mother and grandmother; and Desmond himself was proud of +his son to an extent that was amusing to see. + +He brought him the costliest corals and bells, as though he expected +him to begin to cut his teeth forthwith, and provoked peals of mirth +from the fat, comfortable nurse by his remarks and suggestions for +his son's comfort, as well as by the extraordinary medley of +offerings he brought. + +"Sir, sir, you'll kill the blessed lamb!" was the exclamation +constantly heard from the inner room; but little Guy grew and +flourished apace notwithstanding. + +Of course it was a wrench to Odeyne to contemplate leaving husband +and home for a slightly indefinite period; but there was joy in the +thought of seeing all the dear home faces, and showing her boy in the +old place; and she intended to get strong very fast, so that she +might soon return to her duties here. Moreover she confidently +expected Desmond would make a way of coming to see her for a week or +two later on, when the present press of business was over. Maud had +smilingly said that Desmond, like men in general, could mostly find a +way of carrying out any pet project; and what could be nearer his +heart than a visit to the Rectory, to see wife and son, and perhaps +fetch them home? + +Odeyne had several callers during the last days before she quitted +home. She had not yet been downstairs, but she saw her friends in +the pleasant room which had been turned into a boudoir for her during +these last weeks, and which was very near her own room. + +Here it was that Guy would come and sit with her, whilst her mother +took an airing, looked a little after household matters, or paid +calls on those who had called upon her. Guy was with her when the +Ritchie sisters were announced, and as Jem immediately took almost +forcible possession of Odeyne, Cissy fell to the lot of Guy to +entertain. + +Jem was disconsolate at Odeyne's threatened absence. + +"Just as we thought you would be coming out again, and the Chase open +to all the world! We all looked forward to the garden parties you +would give, and the nice things that would go on when you were about +again! It's not been half so amusing since you have been shut +up--and now you are going away altogether for ever so long!" + +"Not for ever so long, only for a few weeks; and we will try to make +up for it later on, and have plenty of parties. And you shall go on +having your drives, Jem. I will see about that. You are looking all +the better for them, I think." + +"Father says they are the making of me," answered Jem, who was +decidedly stronger than she had been in the winter. "And it's +angelic of you to send the carriage for us as you do. It does mother +a lot of good too, I can tell you. But it isn't the same as when +you're there! I wish you weren't going away. I don't like it a +bit--nobody does." + +Odeyne laughed. Jem's girlish adoration of herself was well known to +her by this time, and was not unwelcome. Moreover, Jem's frankness +of speech often gave her an insight behind the scenes which was +sometimes useful. She had learnt a good deal from her free-spoken +little friend, albeit Jem had sometimes been cautioned against a +freedom that bordered on impertinence. + +And now her unruly tongue betrayed her into a remark which an older +and wiser person would have hesitated to make. + +"I do hope you won't stay away too long! They all say that it will +be so bad for Desmond if you do! There has been a difference in him +since you have been shut up so many weeks." + +And then Jem, catching the look in Odeyne's eyes, suddenly stopped +and grew crimson. + +"I beg your pardon, I don't think I ought to have said that." + +"No, dear, I don't think you ought," answered Odeyne quietly; "but +never mind, little harum-scarum. I know your tongue runs away with +you too fast sometimes! We will not quarrel, you and I, this last +day. You want to see little Guy, don't you? Run and tell nurse to +bring him." + +Jem went with a crimson face, but soon forgot her confusion in the +delight of baby-worship. Hitherto Jem had dubbed all babies alike as +"nasty little red-faced things--as like as peas in pods!" But Guy +was in her eyes the noble exception. He was like nobody but his +darling self; and certainly he was an exceptionally pretty and +good-tempered baby. + +Odeyne forgot her momentary vexation and uneasiness in watching the +pretty play between the pair on the floor; and she also observed +something else between the pair in the window, which caused her to +look at them somewhat more closely, with a curious thrill at heart. + +When at last Cissy rose and said good-bye, she held her hands rather +long, and said-- + +"If Desmond should not be able to come and fetch me home when the +time comes, and I want a companion, do you think you could spare time +to run down and see us all, and take care of baby and me on the +return journey?" + +Cissy's face was instantly flooded with bright colour, and the +confused delight of her reply caused Odeyne to look steadily at Guy, +when the door had closed behind the sisters, to find an answering +glow upon his cheek. + +"Guy, is it so?" she asked gently. + +He came forward and put his hand upon her shoulder. + +"I don't know how to answer you," he said; "I never thought of +anything at first, except what a sweet unselfish girl she was. She +used to come in and out so often, and was so fond of you. We +generally talked of you when we got together--of you or of Desmond, +and somehow we grew intimate very quickly. But you know I have never +looked upon myself all these years as anything but a rickety old +bachelor. I hardly know how I have let myself dream of anything +different. Certainly I am much better and stronger than I used to +be, but----" + +"You are as strong now as many men who marry and enjoy quite +reasonably good health!" cried Odeyne eagerly. "Oh, Guy, it would be +delightful if you would come and live near us. When you get Uncle +Godfrey's money----" + +"Yes, I know," interrupted Guy quickly, "but somehow I don't like +waiting for dead men's shoes. I wish I could do something for +myself." + +"I don't think you are strong enough for that," said Odeyne, "and you +know dear old Uncle Godfrey made you his heir just because you were +the delicate one of the sons, and could not go out into the world. +I'm sure if you were to tell him all about yourself and Cissy it +would please him very much. He has always called you 'his boy,' and +been so fond of you." + +"I would tell him gladly, if there were anything to tell," answered +Guy; "but you know I have not spoken a single word yet. She may +perhaps have guessed something--one can't be always quite as careful +as one intends. Oh, Odeyne, do you really think there would be a +chance for me, and that it would not be selfish to try and get her? +You know I have been a very troublesome fellow in my time, and might +be so again. You had a good dose of it, and know what it is like!" + +"If you don't give her a worse time than you gave me, you need have +no fears," answered Odeyne with shining eyes. "Oh, I am very +pleased. I like all the Ritchies, and Cissy is particularly +unselfish and sweet. Some day we will drive across to Uncle Godfrey +and tell him all about it; you know Desmond is sending down one of +the carriages and a pair of horses for my use at home; and then we +will have Cissy over and take her to see him. His dear old heart +will make room for her at once in its warm depths." + +So now Odeyne had another and very vivid new interest with reference +to this visit home. For the old great-uncle, who lived not far away, +and who was Guy's godfather, and had made the boy his heir long ago, +was now very aged and in a critical state of health, and Odeyne was +desirous to see him again, as her father was of opinion that he would +hardly last through the summer. At his death Guy would succeed to a +modest independence of about five hundred a year--certainly not a +large income according to Desmond's ideas, but enough for persons of +modest tastes and inexpensive habits to set up housekeeping in a +quiet way. Guy had talents which might be turned to account to +augment that income by a little, and Cissy had a thousand pounds of +her own (though Guy did not know that), Dr. Ritchie having set aside +this sum for each of his children, to be paid over on their making an +independent start in life. The idea of Guy's setting up near to her, +as she believed he would if he should succeed to his inheritance, was +a source of the greatest pleasure to Odeyne, and helped her to forget +Jem's hasty words about Desmond, which occurred to her once or twice, +and which she had some thoughts of naming to Guy, asking if he +thought they required explanation. + +And now the day of departure had come, and Desmond was helping his +wife into the carriage with the greatest tenderness and care, kissing +away her starting tears, promising to run down very soon to visit +her, and indulging fond hopes of seeing her back well and strong +before many weeks had passed. + +Odeyne clung to him passionately, her heart almost failing her at the +last, begging him to take care of himself, to send for her if he +wanted her, to be all that he had been since their marriage. Not +more openly than this would Odeyne allude even to him to the +anxieties that sometimes preyed upon her in secret; and Desmond +kissed her again, pressed her hands, and promised, bidding her dry +her eyes, and not set little Guy howling by the force of example. + +Alice was standing by the carriage with the baby in her arms, her own +tears falling slowly one by one. + +There had been a little discussion once as to whether she should +accompany Odeyne in the capacity of nurse; but it had been decided +that it would not be right to take her from her husband, even though +he was obliging and accommodating when the plan had been proposed. + +Alice had not been specially eager to go, although greatly devoted to +Odeyne and little Guy; so the monthly nurse had been retained, +pending other arrangements, and now Alice almost wished that she were +going after all. + +It was so hard to part from her mistress and the darling boy, and her +life would be a lonely one without the house to come to. + +"You must look a little after the master's comforts, Alice," said +Odeyne; "keep his clothes in nice order, and write to me about things +at home sometimes." + +And Alice promised through her tears, and watched the departure of +the carriage with blinded eyes, feeling somehow (although she could +never have expressed it in such words) as though the good angel of +the house were flying away from it, leaving it open to other and more +baneful influences. + +Two days later, when her husband came back from the City, he said to +her gaily-- + +"How would you like to live up at the great house, wifie, whilst the +mistress is away? The master has been talking to me about it. He +thinks it would be a very good plan." + +"To live at the house?" questioned Alice, "but why? What should we +do there?" + +"Well, he is going to have a good deal of company down, one way or +the other, and of course that means he will not be able to go into +business quite so regularly. So to have me on the premises will be a +great advantage, he thinks, and save a lot of time and trouble. It +really may be a good thing in other ways, Alice; for the master does +want a bit of looking after, more ways than one; and he's got into +the way of talking very freely to me, and taking what I say in very +good part." + +"But what should I do there all day, not having the mistress to see +to?" asked Alice. + +"Oh, you could look after things a bit--put flowers in the rooms, and +see to the gentlemen's mending and washing. You could make yourself +useful in lots of little ways, and have a good time too. It would +save us all housekeeping expenses, and it might be a good thing for +us other ways too." + +Alice was not quite sure that she thought it a comfortable plan; but +she liked variety, and rather dreaded the dulness of the lodge in the +absence of her mistress. She had friends as well as enemies amongst +the servants at the house, and on the whole she thought it might be +an amusing change. + +"What sort of company is the master going to keep?" she asked with +some interest. "I didn't hear anything about that from the mistress." + +Garth laughed a little. + +"Gentlemen like the master don't tell everything to their wives, my +dear, whatever some good folks may do. The master has been a very +exemplary husband, but he has had a precious dull time of it lately, +and now he's going to have his little fling. I don't blame him +either. It must be rather dull work tied to a sort of saint, like +the mistress, and not a clever one either. I often wonder what he +finds in her to be so fond of. She's not a patch upon my wife, now, +in the matter of looks, and she hasn't got that little spice of the +devil in her which makes a woman ten times more irresistible, and +which my little Alice can display at the right time." + +Alice pouted, and called him a bad man to say such things; but a +little flattery went far with her, and greatly as she loved her +mistress, she was always a little flattered at being favourably +compared with her. + +Two days later the Garths removed to the quarters assigned them in +the big house; and already Alice noted a difference in the atmosphere +that reigned there. A little relaxation of rules had taken place +during the time that the mistress was unable to take an active part +in domestic government; but so long as Mrs. Hamilton was in the house +to give orders by proxy, nothing very remarkable had happened. A +little more waste, a little more extravagance, irregularity at +church, later hours than there was need for, had crept in; but things +had gone pretty much in the old grooves so long as there were ladies +in the house; but with only gentlemen to look after, things at once +became different. + +To begin with, the cook was sent on a holiday on full wages, whilst +her place was taken by a French man-cook, who, it was whispered, +received wages large enough to keep a curate and his family in +clover. A smart-looking housekeeper was added to the +establishment--only till the return of the mistress--and she and the +cook carried on an endless flirtation together; but as they were both +excessively polite to Alice and her husband, and treated them almost +as though they were guests in the house, the girl was very well +content with the life and the variety of her daily round, kept all +the rooms bright with flowers, decorated the dinner-table day by day, +and gave all those dainty touches to the house which in the absence +of the mistress it would otherwise have lacked. + +As for the guests, she soon ceased to keep count of them and their +names. They came and went in a confusing medley. Sometimes the +house was full from basement to attic. Sometimes it would empty out, +and Desmond and his guests would all depart upon a drag and be absent +several days. When at home they kept very late hours, playing +billiards or cards, often until daylight broke in upon them. +Sometimes the master went up to London, but more often he sent Garth +in his place; and Alice would often notice a shadow of uneasiness +upon her husband's face. + +"Is anything the matter?" she asked him one day. + +"Nothing special, but I'm afraid the master is going it too fast. +He's broken out worse than I thought for. He does not have bad luck +on the whole--and he is uncommonly good at billiards. I can watch +him there, for they have me in to mark for them. But he's going the +pace altogether too fast. He wasn't made for it. He hasn't the head +to stand it. I look after everything for him as sharp as I can; and +he's very good about taking hints from me--I will say that for him. +But it would do him a world of good to go down to the country for a +spell. He's been drinking more wine than is good for him these last +few nights, and that I dread more than anything. He can't stand it, +and if he once takes to it, it'll ruin everything, sooner or later." + +Alice looked rather frightened. + +"It would break the mistress's heart if he took to drink," she said. +"O, Walter, don't you think I'd better write and ask her to come +back?" + +He turned upon her almost roughly-- + +"Don't be a little fool, Alice! Can't you see that no power on earth +could stop the master just in the middle of his little fling, and +with all the race meetings and everything coming off? No, the only +chance is to wait till they are over, till he has had a sharpish +lesson perhaps, or is a bit sickened with the crew he is getting +about him. That will happen by-and-by, I daresay; and then if the +mistress comes back--well, she may just have a chance of putting a +spoke in the wheel. It is a thousand pities some men can never keep +their heads! Why, with care and prudence, going on quietly and +steadily, the master might have died a millionaire; but the way he's +going now he's more likely to die in a ditch!" + +"O, Walter, but can't anything be done?" + +"I'm doing all I can, and that's a good bit, I can tell you; for it +wouldn't suit my plans at all for the master's affairs to bust up (as +the Yankees say) just yet awhile. But they are getting suspicious +about him at the office, wonder why he doesn't come, and what the +rumours mean which get about. He'll have to be a bit more quiet and +prudent if he means to keep out of trouble. I wish Mrs. Vanborough +and her set were farther! It's they who do half the mischief. +Things wouldn't be nearly so bad but for them. If it doesn't end in +the Hon. Algernon coming an awful mucker, and dragging the master +down with him--well, I shall be very much surprised." + +Nevertheless, in spite of gloomy prognostications, there was plenty +of fun in the house. In the absence of the master and his guests at +the races the servants got up balls, and invited their friends, and +Alice figured on one occasion in one of Odeyne's ball +dresses--slightly worn it is true, but very fine for the maid, and in +the imitation set of diamonds, which the envious maids declared that +nobody would know from the real. And Alice's giddy little head was +soon turned by all the flattery she received, though letters to her +mistress only spoke of bright and pleasant topics such as village +gossip afforded. + +"Mrs. St. Claire can tell her other things, if she thinks she ought +to know them," she reflected, and held her peace. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +_THE HOME-COMING._ + +"I am so sorry that Desmond has never found time to come over, mother +dear; it has been quite a disappointment to us both. But you +understand how it has been, and that business has to be considered; +and he has had friends to entertain at home, too. I am very glad he +has not been alone all the time; but, oh, how I do want to see him +again!" + +"I am sure you must, dear child. We have enjoyed having you more +than I can say, and we shall miss you and the boy terribly. But now +that you really are well and strong, I would not keep you away from +Desmond longer. A large house wants its mistress at the helm. You +must not be discouraged if you find things gone a little out of gear +during your absence. Desmond is too easy-going to be quite the best +master, and bachelor ways are not our ways. Still, a little firmness +and a patient, cheerful, prayerful spirit will help you along +wonderfully, and there is always little Guy for your comfort and +solace." + +"And Desmond, mother dear," said Odeyne, with her old bright smile; +"Desmond must come even before little Guy." + +"Yes, my love, I hope so indeed; and having a little child to think +for and to train up ought to be dear Desmond's great help and motive +in setting a good example to his household and the world. I know you +will help him all you can, my dear. But the unconscious influence of +a little child is often an immense power." + +Odeyne did not altogether understand some of her mother's words. +Mrs. Hamilton was parting from her daughter with some uneasiness of +spirit; for she had had a long letter from Mrs. St. Claire a few days +before, and since then she had seemed in haste to send Odeyne and the +boy back to the Chase. + +They had paid a long visit at the Rectory, for Odeyne had not made +the rapid progress hoped for, and Desmond kept insisting that she +should not be hurried, that she must get quite strong before she +returned, and that he was getting along very comfortably. His +letters were full of affection, and Odeyne fully believed that it was +business and business alone which kept him from running down as +promised. She was very happy in her present life with her brothers +and sisters, her parents, and her child. She was always looking +forward to the expected visit which never came; and now she was going +back to her husband and her home with a happy heart, quite prepared +for a few difficulties and worries in the household, but confident +that her husband's loving support would be hers in whatever might +arise. + +She had engaged a very nice gentlewoman as nurse for little Guy, and +she was eager beyond words to present the beautiful boy to his +father. She was full of this thought as they neared the familiar +country, and when every landmark became known to her, and she could +almost see the woods and chimneys of the Chase as the train flew +onwards towards the station, she took the baby into her own arms, and +leaned eagerly out of the window to catch the first glimpse of +Desmond as the train steamed up. + +There were several persons on the platform, but for a moment she did +not see her husband. Then one of the figures made a rapid sign and +movement towards her. It gave Odeyne a momentary shock to realise +that she had seen her husband without recognising him! + +"Oh, Desmond!" she cried, as he flung open the carriage door, "I +hardly knew you with a moustache! It seems to have changed you +somehow." + +"Does it? Oh, you will soon learn to know me with it! Well, how are +you, my darling? Quite strong and well again? That is right. What, +am I to kiss that little rogue too?--and in face of all the railway +porters? Have you taught him to say 'Daddy' yet, eh?" + +"Desmond! he is only four months old!" + +"Too young to talk? Well, he will learn quite fast enough, I dare +say. Give him to nurse, love, and come to the carriage. She and the +child will follow in the station brougham with the luggage. Well, +how are they all at the old home? And has Guy come into his fortune +yet?" + +"Don't talk of it quite so lightly, Desmond dear; we all love Uncle +Godfrey, and shall grieve for him when he goes. I saw him to say +good-bye, and he looked terribly frail. Guy is staying in the house +with him. It is a comfort to all of us, and he likes it. It will +not be long now, I fear." + +"Well, well, he is very old, you see; and it will be a good thing for +Guy. So you had little Cissy down, did you? And they got matters +squared up between them? I never thought Guy would be the first +brother to marry; but then he has really the best prospects. I've +got my suspicions about Edmund here; but an army man has to think +twice about matrimony in these days. Not but what Maud's got a tidy +little fortune of her own." + +"Oh, Desmond!" cried Odeyne, her breath rather taken away by +Desmond's rattling talk, "do you really mean that?" + +"I mean I have my suspicions. I notice they always gravitate +together in society, and all that sort of thing. It may be my fancy, +but I've got the notion that he's rather smitten by old Maud. I +never thought her fascinating myself, but other fellows may have +different tastes." + +"Maud has always been your great champion, Desmond," said Odeyne, +with just a touch of reproach in her voice. + +Somehow she felt a little vague sense of chill and jar in this first +meeting with Desmond. He seemed more inclined to rattle on in a half +nonsensical fashion, than either to ask or answer the questions that +seemed so all-important to her. + +And then, had he really changed, or was it only her fancy? Of course +the moustache made a difference; but was there nothing else? + +She looked at him again and again, and seemed to miss something that +had once been there. What it was she could not say, but she felt she +missed something in his face, and something in his manner towards +herself, that had always been there before. + +It was not affection exactly; he was full of welcoming words and +affectionate speeches, but his manner was a little boisterous; there +was a lack of softness and tenderness about it. He laughed and made +jokes all the way home, and put aside any inquiries of hers with a +jesting response. + +Somehow Odeyne had pictured a different kind of meeting, and was just +a little chilled. Then she reproached herself, and argued that the +fault was her own for staying so long away from home. + +Desmond had been thrown upon bachelor society, and it had had this +slight and passing effect upon his outward man. + +Then they drove up, and Odeyne found herself at home again. + +There were changes in the house, too, which her quick eyes noted at +once. + +Butler and footman were both strangers to her. There was a good deal +of new furniture in the house, but yet it did not look as +well-furnished as of yore, for there was a certain indefinable +appearance of confusion and disorder. Moreover, the whole house was +permeated by a smell of tobacco smoke. It seemed to cling about the +draperies in spite of any number of open windows and the scent of the +flowers; and it certainly gave a little shock to Odeyne to realise +that her dainty drawing-room, in which she took such pride and +pleasure, had not been kept sacred from the entrance of smokers. + +Upstairs, things were more like themselves, save for the +all-pervading scent of tobacco. Alice was awaiting her mistress with +an eager welcome. + +Odeyne thought that she also was changed. She looked rather pale and +thin, her eyes were very bright, and she was dressed, perhaps, a +little too much for her position; but Odeyne had always been lenient +to Alice's little vanities. + +She would have liked to ask a good deal about the master and the +household, but somehow Alice gave her no satisfaction. Her answers +were vague and unsatisfactory; and she seemed to be listening all the +while for the arrival of little Guy and her lady's luggage. + +When the child did come, Odeyne herself forgot everything in the +interest of inducting him into his nurseries, and Alice's delight in +the boy atoned for all else. + +Then she had to go down to give Desmond his tea, and surely now, she +thought, they would take up their old sweet relations together. + +She would tell him all she had done at home, and hear all the details +of his life during her absence. + +Odeyne talked on about the home-life at the Rectory, and gave him +innumerable messages sent by old friends there, or recounted the +sayings of the local wiseacres about the beauty and promise of little +Guy; and Desmond laughed and made semi-nonsensical replies, but +seemed somehow as though he hardly took in all that she was saying. +His attention kept wandering off, she knew not whither, and at last +she asked gently-- + +"Is anything the matter, Desmond?" + +He started and looked hard at her, saying almost roughly-- + +"What do you mean? What should be the matter?" + +"Nothing, dear; I only thought you seemed preoccupied, and not quite +like yourself. But perhaps it is only my fancy." + +"You always were rather given to fancy things, weren't you?" he +answered, laughing. "You'd better give up the habit, it's rather a +tiresome one. Of course a man always has his own cares." + +"Yes, and you have had my share too, all this while, dear; I am +afraid you have had trouble with the household. I see you have +different servants. I hope Thomson has not left altogether. Perhaps +he is away for a holiday?" + +"Oh, no! He took himself off, and so did several more. You will +find a good many of the upper servants new. I've got a housekeeper, +too, but, of course, if you don't like her, you can send her packing. +But I think she understands her business, and will be useful. You +see, dear, we must live a little differently now, and entertain and +go out altogether more than we have done. We have had a very +delightful honeymoon sort of time, but we must not make ourselves +ridiculous. You are quite well now, and we have our position to keep +up. We must begin now to do as other people of our position do. It +does not answer to be odd." + +"I did not know we were odd," said Odeyne, with a little smile, +though there was a strange sinking at her heart. "But, of course, if +you want things to be different you have only to say so. I will do +my best to please you." + +"Of course you will; you are a capital little woman, and only want to +see a little more of life to be quite perfect. You see we shall soon +be having the shooting upon us, and then we shall have the house +full; or else pay visits ourselves to other houses, where there are +pleasant gatherings; and when the season comes, we must have our +house in town for a while. Beatrice has her eye upon one quite near +theirs. You must be presented, and all that. I don't consider that +you've seen anything of the world yet, little wife. I mean to +introduce it to you now." + +Desmond rattled on in that vein all through the day. + +He wandered by Odeyne's side through the gardens after tea, talking +the whole time, and speaking of so many new friends and acquaintances +that she grew quite bewildered. + +He came with her to the nurseries to see the child when she asked +him; but he very soon had enough of the boy, and bore her off with +him, declaring that it was his turn now, and that he wasn't going to +be ousted by his son; and Odeyne smiled through all, and tried to +think that soon she would get into the swing of things here, and that +it was only her fancy that they had so greatly changed. + +The dinner was rather a surprise to her; it was served with a quiet +elaboration that was altogether new. All the dishes were handed, and +the variety and richness of these was quite a revelation. It was +beautifully dainty, but she knew enough of housekeeping to feel a +qualm at the cost of such cookery. + +"Oh, it's not poor old Masters!" answered Desmond with a laugh, when +she spoke to him afterwards. "I sent that good soul packing some +time ago; indeed, I let her go for a holiday directly, and then wrote +and told her to get another situation elsewhere. This fellow is +quite an artist in his way. He is a first-rate chef. And you +needn't bother any more with ordering the dinners, little wife. He +does all that, and the housekeeper gets him all he wants. It's far +more comfortable than the old way." + +"But, Desmond, the expense!" + +"Oh, well, until I begin to grumble at the bills you needn't trouble +your economical little head about that! All I want of my wife is to +dress up and look pretty and bright, and be charming to my friends. +The rest of the things can take care of themselves. You needn't +bother, my darling." + +But Odeyne herself felt that the foundations of domestic life were +giving way with her; nor was she reassured upon the morrow, when +Desmond kept warning her that she need not hurry over her toilet, as +they seldom breakfasted before ten. + +"But your train to the City, Desmond," she said. "And we ought to +have prayers before the servants disperse to their work." + +"Oh, my dear child, we never have prayers now. It's quite out of +fashion. People don't understand that sort of thing now, and it +doesn't do to make ourselves ridiculous, or to ram those antiquated +customs down the throats of our friends. I'm sure you would never +get your present establishment into that function. Don't look so +scandalised, my love. I assure you that you hardly ever find a house +of any pretensions whatever where they have family prayers!" + +"I do not think I quite believe that, Desmond," answered Odeyne very +gravely. "But even if it were true, I cannot see that it is any +excuse for us, who have been taught better, to omit the gathering +together of our household to ask God's blessing. Do you think we +shall not be in danger of losing that blessing, to a greater or less +extent, if we are ashamed to ask it openly because of the sneers of a +portion of society?" + +"My dear girl," said Desmond a little sharply, "you have been brought +up so strictly that you cannot weigh these things. In a household +such as ours, prayers would be simply a mockery, and be thought a +fearful nuisance by every person except yourself. I don't intend +religion to be rammed down reluctant throats in my house, so let us +have no more discussion about the matter." + +Odeyne was silenced, but the smart of tears was in her eyes. Desmond +had never taken that tone with her before, and it cut her to the +heart. + +There were other troubles in store for her that day. Desmond took +the eleven o'clock train to town--he always used to go by the earlier +one--and she was left alone to make discoveries for herself. She +wished to learn something of the life that went on below stairs, but +was quickly made to feel herself an intruder upon a province with +which she had no concern. + +The fine housekeeper was courteous, but freezing, and evidently not +accustomed to take orders save in the most general way from the +mistress. The French cook was obsequious and bland, but altogether +overpowering. There were only a few of the under-servants left whom +Odeyne had engaged or known, and these had grown smart and pert in +their appearance and manner. She felt as though she would never +again be mistress in her own house, and was thankful in the extreme +that she had at least one servant of her own choosing in the nursery, +and resolved to keep that department under her strict surveillance. +The housekeeper graciously permitted her to give orders of her own +for the feeding of the child, remarking that she knew very little +about such matters herself, but would take care that Mrs. St. +Claire's orders were carried out. + +Then Odeyne departed, and went to her own boudoir, where she sat down +and indulged herself in a quiet cry, from which she was roused by the +sound of voices and steps in the corridor outside. + +She rose quickly, dashing away her tears; but Mrs. St. Claire's sharp +eyes instantly detected them. She and Maud were her visitors, and +they made no attempt to talk pleasing trivialities; but, after +exchanging warm kisses, the mother at once drew Odeyne to her side +and said-- + +"My dear, I know you must feel it. It cannot be otherwise. But you +must not give way, or think that nothing can be done. Desmond's head +has been turned by his successes. He has more cleverness than we +have any of us given him credit for, and when a man is successful he +is often extravagant and self-willed. But now that he has got his +good little wife back, all will be well. You have always been his +good angel, and you will continue so to the end, I am sure." + +"Oh, if I had never gone away!" sobbed Odeyne, breaking down more +under sympathy than she would have done had her mother-in-law spoken +less kindly. + +"My dear, you were sent away. It was no fault of yours. It has +turned out badly, I admit; but, after all, things are not past +mending. Now, dear, you know I have never intermeddled with your +private affairs before, but will you tell me a little what is +troubling you chiefly now? Perhaps if we take counsel together we +can help and cheer one another up. And then I must see the boy; but +let us get disagreeables over first." + +Odeyne was only too glad to pour out her troubles into sympathetic +ears, and was relieved to find that Mrs. St. Claire did not take +quite so serious a view of the domestic difficulties as she had done +herself. + +"My dear, I am sorry your nice old-fashioned ways of household +management have been disturbed; but, as things are now, I should be +disposed to keep on the housekeeper to direct matters, only taking +care that I held the place of her mistress. Desmond is quite bent +upon having his fling at high life. And if he can afford it, perhaps +he is justified in desiring it, and may settle down quietly +afterwards. Probably he will tire of it in time, for stability has +never been Desmond's strong point, and he takes everything in such a +headlong fashion, that the recoil is usually to be reckoned on as +pretty safe." + +"Perhaps he is recoiling now from the quiet life we led together," +said Odeyne sadly; "I was so happy all the time. I never thought +that it could be tedious to him." + +"I am sure it was not," said Maud, taking Odeyne's hand and caressing +it covertly. "He was very happy, too. But he has got into a bad +set, and they have led him on. Half of it is Algy's fault. It is +his friends that do Desmond so much harm." + +"And your task, my dear," said Mrs. St. Claire briskly, "is to seek +to exercise a wise discretion with regard to Desmond's friends. I +will give you all the help I know. Some may be encouraged and +entertained, but some he should be weaned from by every possible +means. You will have to go to work cautiously with Desmond, as all +rather weak men have a curious strain of obstinacy in their +composition, as I dare say you know. I am afraid I make you wince, +my love; but I speak a truth that bitter experience has taught me. +Desmond is a great many charming things, and has more wits than I +gave him credit for; but he is weak and vain and obstinate, and I, +his mother, may say so, though I would not suffer anybody else to do +so." + +Odeyne understood and could not resent the words. She talked long +and earnestly with the mother and sister, who, whilst loving Desmond +so devotedly, had gradually come to a knowledge of his weaknesses and +vicious tendencies. + +It had been very bitter to Maud to watch her brother's downward +progress of late; but she had not shut her eyes to it, and she did +not seek to condone his offences now. Odeyne heard things which +filled her with sadness and dismay; yet she was comforted and +strengthened by the visit of her husband's relatives, and the +half-hour spent in the nursery made amends for much. The grandmother +was delighted with little Guy, and thought him immensely improved and +grown. She liked the nurse, and approved all Odeyne's arrangements. +She stayed to lunch at the Chase, and left Odeyne a good deal happier +than she found her, although the cloud had not lifted altogether from +her spirit. + +An hour or two later in sailed Beatrice, actually leading her little +toddling boy by the hand. + +"My dear, I could not let the day pass without coming to see you! I +am delighted to get you back! How do you find Desmond looking? He +is the dearest, cleverest fellow, and we make a great deal of him in +our set, I can tell you! Really you have a treasure of a husband, +and I hope you appreciate him. If you knew what some wives have to +go through, you would!" + +Odeyne had the little boy on her lap, and caressing him saved her the +necessity of a direct reply. Somehow she felt she could not discuss +Desmond with Beatrice, as she had done with her visitors of the +morning. Beatrice was looking remarkably well and elegant, and had +the air of a woman who has not a care in the world. + +"We have such delightful plans. Has Desmond been telling you about +them? Just a few garden parties and dull local functions, to do our +duty to the neighbourhood, and then delightful house parties here and +at our place, and with other friends through the autumn, and perhaps +a run to Monte Carlo, or some nice sunny place in mid-winter. They +say that Grindelwald is all the rage now for tobogganing; but we +shall see. And then a real London season--I was cheated out of mine +this last spring and summer, for Algy had let the house when we were +in such low water, and really it did seem best to pay off the debts +first. But we will change all that now, and be really extra gay. +You will have a delightful time, Odeyne. I almost wish I could be +you, to go through so many delightful first experiences." + +"But, Beatrice," said Odeyne in a puzzled voice, "you talk of +impossibilities. Desmond has his business to attend to, and I have a +baby to consider. What do you think is to become of either if we go +gallivanting about like that?" + +"Oh, Desmond has his own ways of seeing to business now he is such a +great man. Garth looks after things a great deal. As for the baby, +my dear, you will soon find that Desmond will not let you make a +slave of yourself to the child. You will have to turn into a +fashionable mother, my dear, and leave him to his nurse. I have +never been tied by little Gus there, and yet he is a pretty thriving +specimen!" + +"I do not intend to leave little Guy to the nurse," said Odeyne +quietly. "I suppose you do not care to see him, Beatrice?" + +"Frankly, my dear, I don't think I do," answered Beatrice laughing. +"I have had enough of babies for one day, bringing mine across. When +they reach the age for asking questions they become rather terrible. +Thank goodness you are some way off from that yet. Ah, here is +Desmond coming in. How delightful of him. Desmond, dear boy, I have +a hundred things to ask you! May I stay? Or do you feel that you +must have Odeyne all to yourself this first day?" + +Was it Odeyne's fancy that Desmond was delighted to have a third +person at their tea out on the terrace?--that he had no great desire +for _tête-à-têtes_ with his wife? The question brought a pang with +it, yet it came again and again as she noticed the eager way in which +he and Beatrice plunged into talk about people and things quite +unknown to her. She could often hardly understand the drift of the +conversation, and presently took little Gus up to the nursery to be +introduced to his cousin there. + +Beatrice turned rather curiously to Desmond and asked, "What does she +make of it all?" + +He laughed, not quite easily. + +"I hardly know. I think she is puzzled; but she is a loyal little +soul, and will get used to it all in time." + +"I hope so. You won't let her turn you puritan again?" + +"I don't think that was ever my line," answered Desmond, with an odd +inflexion in his voice. "Anyhow, if it was, that day has gone for +good now!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +_A CHANGED LIFE._ + +"Oh, how lovely you look! What a beautiful dress! I never saw +anything so exquisite! It must have been made in fairyland! Oh, I +wish I were out and could go and see all the people. Everybody says +it will be such a sight!" + +Jem was the speaker, and she was sitting on a corner of the sofa in +Odeyne's spacious bedroom, watching Alice's deft movements as she +robed her mistress for a grand fancy ball, to which she was going +that night in the character of Titania, the Queen of the Fairies. + +Cissy had been invited, to her great delight, and was to go under the +chaperonage of Odeyne. Since it had become known that Cissy Ritchie +was engaged to the brother of Mrs. Desmond St. Claire, she had risen +in importance in the eyes of the neighbourhood. Guy had been much +liked during his long stay at the Chase, and people were glad to hear +that he intended coming to live near to his sister upon his marriage, +although, as Cissy took care to inform all her friends, they should +only have a small house, and live in quite a modest way. + +Cissy was dressed to represent one of Titania's attendant fairies, +and looked very pretty in her own way. Odeyne had had her hair +redressed by Alice, and had lent her several sparkling ornaments to +light up her dress and give a touch of fairylike brilliance to it. +She herself was glittering from head to foot. A veritable fairy +queen could scarcely have had a more splendid show of gems. Jem was +entranced at her appearance, but upon Odeyne's face there rested a +little shadow--a shadow that was often to be detected there now, +although her gay and busy life seemed one long scene of enjoyment and +success. + +"What splendid jewels you have, Odeyne," said Jem, approaching the +toilet table and looking into the various cases with which it was +strewn. "It is like a jeweller's shop." + +"Yes, I have more than I want; it is Desmond's extravagance to load +me with them," answered Odeyne, smiling. "But, Alice, I don't know +why you brought up all these cases from the safe. I told you I +should only wear diamonds and pearls to-night." + +"I did not like to trouble the master to wait whilst I looked them +through," answered Alice, who, like her mistress, looked a little +pale and troubled. "And you know he never lets anyone go to the safe +without being there himself. So I just took all the large cases and +brought them away. I am going to stay here till you come back, +ma'am. I shouldn't like anybody else to undress you, and I couldn't +be comfortable leaving all these things about in the room, without I +was there to see after them." + +Odeyne could very well understand that Alice was afraid to leave +valuable jewellery lying about, even locked up in a bedroom, with the +present miscellaneous household. She looked relieved as she heard +the girl's words. + +"Oh, if you can stay I need not trouble the master again to open the +safe till we get home. But are you sure you can be spared from home, +Alice? We may be very late." + +"Walter is coming to do some work for the master, ma'am, and he will +be writing in the study till quite late, he says. I would rather +wait for him here, if I may; I don't like trusting things out of my +sight or his." + +"Very well, I leave all in your charge," said Odeyne; and at this +moment Desmond knocked at the door and asked if he might come in and +show himself. He came in, looking an Oberon worthy of Odeyne's +Titania, his handsome, careless face wreathed in smiles as he turned +round for his wife's inspection, and surveyed himself in the long +mirror opposite. + +No one could regard him without admiration, and yet it often came +over Odeyne with a pang that this was not the old Desmond she had +known in the days of yore. He was as gay, as merry, even as +affectionate, as ever, but there was something lacking which she +missed terribly and yet which defied definition--something there +which she wished away, and which she yet found it impossible to +complain of, so subtle and indefinite was it in essence. + +In the gay life they led there was not overmuch time for thought and +analysis. Desmond's idea of pleasure seemed to be always more or +less in a whirl. Odeyne found her circle of acquaintances enlarging +every day, and invitations poured in, which her husband insisted on +accepting, and which involved them in return hospitalities on a +grander scale than anything Odeyne had contemplated during her first +year of wifehood. + +She was often entertained and amused. She had a large capacity for +enjoyment. There was a natural innocent pleasure in the grandeur of +her present life, which was often present with her. But she had her +troubles too; she felt very sadly the godlessness of her household, +the absence of the gathering of the household for prayer in the +morning, the increasing difficulty of getting her servants and even +her husband to church, the hindrance sometimes placed in her own way +from regular attendance there. + +She strove to be patient. She prayed earnestly for guidance, and +sought to combine gentleness with firmness in her dealing with +others, and in her relations with her husband when differences arose. +Alas! these differences were arising fast now, and Odeyne was +sometimes cut to the heart to note how little Desmond seemed aware of +it. He would turn the matter off with a laugh and a kiss, and seemed +to think it settled; and Odeyne was learning by rather bitter +experience, that fond as her husband was of her, he was by no means +easily led or influenced. He had a way of slipping away from an +argument, or evading a definite answer, which made it almost +impossible to bring any moot point to an issue, and he went his own +way with a careless obstinacy and persistency that left Odeyne +feeling strangely helpless. + +His good humour and gay spirits were, however, rarely impaired, and +to-night he was in the merriest of moods. He wanted to dress up Jem +in some sort of extemporised costume and carry her off with them. He +teased Cissy about her betrothal, and made much of his wife, and even +accompanied her on her final visit to the nursery, which she never +omitted to pay. + +All through the long drive in the pleasant cool of the summer evening +he rattled away most amusingly, looking so handsome and distinguished +in his bravery that Cissy thought him the most delightful of men, +although in the Ritchie family there was a good deal of discussion as +to whether or not Desmond St. Claire was not in danger of going the +pace dangerously fast. No one could well help liking him, for his +personal charm was considerable, but, as Tom Ritchie occasionally +observed, it was often the most charming men who turned out the +greatest scamps in the end. + +The ball was a very grand affair, at the house of one of the county +magnates. Cissy had never seen anything so fine before, the flowers, +the lights, the magnificence of the liveried servants, and the blaze +of jewels and gorgeous raiment were quite dazzling to her. + +She kept close to Odeyne, who moved along with the self-possession +and grace of manner which had always been characteristic of her. She +seemed to know a great many people, Cissy thought, and Desmond was +hailed on all sides, and seemed popular alike with men and women. +Cissy did not know one-tenth of the company, but was content to look +on and admire the fine folks; although when the dancing began she was +pleased to find partners, and being a pretty girl, light of foot, and +merry of tongue, and under the wing of Mrs. St. Claire, she did not +lack notice, and enjoyed herself amazingly. + +Odeyne danced a little, but often excused herself. She soon found +herself a seat upon the balcony, where she could watch the dancing +and keep an eye on her charge, yet enjoy the clear cool stillness of +the summer's night. + +Here it was that Edmund found her, wandering out in a pause of the +dancing. He was in uniform, looking very handsome and gallant. +Odeyne had twice remarked him in the room, dancing with Maud--who was +there under Beatrice's nominal care. Now he too had to come out for +a breath of air, and Odeyne rose at once and took possession of him. + +"Edmund, I was hoping I should see you to-night. You come so little +to the Chase now." + +There was a slight accent of reproach in her voice, and he looked +down at her quickly as he said-- + +"But, Odeyne dear, you understand why I stay away?" + +Her eyes were turned upon him with a doubtful expression. + +"I am not quite sure--I don't want to know too much--yet, Edmund, I +think I should like to know. I have been wondering about it. I +asked Desmond once, but he only laughed and said he supposed you +found metal more attractive elsewhere. I think he meant Maud." + +"Desmond has a right to say what he likes to you, but he knows quite +well that there is a very good reason why I should not come often to +the Chase now that it is always full of company. In plain words, I +cannot afford it." + +"What do you mean, Edmund?" + +"Desmond knows well enough. It began whilst you were away, but it +goes on just the same after the ladies have retired. They play very +high play there, no matter whether it is cards or billiards. Most of +them are rich men, and all are very careless. It may do for them, +but it does not do for me. I soon saw what it must end in, and I +took myself off. I don't care to come to a place and make myself +conspicuous. Desmond meant very kindly in asking me. He thought I +should win money by my billiard playing, which is rather good, though +I say it. I did win a little, and that set me thinking. I couldn't +make that sort of thing fit in with our father's teaching, nor with +the sort of standard I've always tried to live up to. One doesn't +want to sit in judgment on others, but I saw it wouldn't do for me, +so I've been keeping aloof, as you see. But don't misunderstand me, +Odeyne. It's not that I love you the least little bit less. If you +were in trouble, and would send for me, I'd go through fire and water +for you." + +Tears had sprung to Odeyne's eyes. She could not command her voice, +but she pressed Edmund's hand. His words had cut her to the heart, +little as he had meant them to. The cry of her heart was, "Oh, why +cannot Desmond feel that too? Why cannot he be content with all the +good things God has given us?" But she could not speak these words +aloud, and the next minute their retreat was invaded by Beatrice, who +came sweeping down upon them in a gorgeous Cleopatra-like robe, +jewels blazing upon her bare neck and arms, and her rich draperies +rustling yards behind her on the floor. How she contrived to dance +in them was a mystery, but she did dance when she had a mind to--not +else. + +"Well, what mischief are you two hatching out here together? Odeyne, +why don't you dance more, and show yourself? Everybody is raving +about your dress, and you hide yourself away, and don't half look +after that giddy boy of yours. He's carrying on all sorts of +flirtations with dowagers and wallflowers promiscuously. Have you +seen the picture gallery? Well, you really should. I know this +house very well. I'll do the honours for you. Come along." + +She took Odeyne by the arm and led her out, saying, laughing, as they +got a little way off-- + +"We must contrive a few happy moments for those lovers. He's so +diffident, and she's so cold, that they will never pull it off unless +we help them. And really I should like to see poor Maud with a lover +at last. It has always been her fate to be passed over in life, and +there's a lot of good stuff in her, if one could only get beneath the +crust." + +"I did not know whether that idea was Desmond's fancy," said Odeyne; +"but I'm afraid nothing can come of it for a long time yet. Edmund +has very little but his profession, and you know Maud has been +brought up in luxury all her life." + +"Yes, but she has money. She must have a good fortune by now. It +has been accumulating for her ever since she came of age--she has +hardly spent anything. Maud isn't like me. She doesn't want a gay +life and everything that money can buy. Perhaps she's all the +happier for it," and Beatrice suddenly broke off and heaved a long +sigh. + +"I think happiness has very little to do with being rich," answered +Odeyne; and Beatrice gave her a quick sidelong glance. + +"I know what you mean--people can overdo it," she said in a rather +rapid way. "Odeyne, I wanted to ask you--I wanted a moment with you +in private. Do you think Desmond is going the pace too fast, and +getting reckless? I'm half frightened sometimes at the way things +go. It's delightful, of course, and I never had Algy in so good a +temper month after month before. He's always perfectly certain that +everything is right--but then that's his way. He doesn't understand +business a bit. He takes the good the gods send, and asks no +questions. But Desmond is clever--they all say that--and he is the +leading spirit. Is he ever gloomy and restless at home? Does he +seem anxious or troubled? Does he go on like a man upon whom dark +care is secretly preying?" + +"No, indeed," answered Odeyne. "He is always gay and lively. My +difficulty with him is that he can never be grave for two minutes +together. He turns everything into joke. One would think he did not +know the meaning of care." + +Beatrice's face cleared at once. + +"Oh, I am so glad--for Desmond is very transparent. You would soon +know if anything were amiss. He would let it out directly. +Sometimes I have been afraid, from your manner, that something was +wrong. I am so glad.'" + +"There are other troubles in the world sometimes besides money +troubles," said Odeyne; but Beatrice only laughed. + +"Ah, my dear, other troubles are very easily gilded and charmed away +by the power of gold. Believe me, if you have plenty of money you +can keep trouble and sorrow very effectually at bay." + +Odeyne winced, but made no reply. Beatrice, like Desmond, had +changed a little during these past months, and not for the better. +There was no pleasure in talking to her of anything beyond the +trivialities of life. She seemed to have no interest beyond them. + +Edmund and Maud were still out upon the balcony. There was a slight +pause in the dancing. The room was suffocatingly hot, and the +company had streamed out upon one of the great terraces, where ices +and lemonade were to be had, as well as cups of all sorts. Maud and +Edmund could see the gay shifting throng, lighted up by the glow of a +myriad coloured lanterns. + +Maud said, as though continuing a train of thought, or some talk that +had gone before-- + +"Do you wonder that I am tired of a life that has seemed nothing but +a shifting sort of show--like that?" + +"You have had your mother to care for, Maud. Has not that been a +sweet and sacred charge? How could I ask you to leave it for what I +have to offer?" + +"My mother has never really cared for me," answered Maud sadly yet +steadily; "it is Desmond and Beatrice who really have her heart, +though they give her so much anxiety. I think it is always the +prodigal son who is the real favourite. And I would not have it +otherwise. I love Desmond with all my heart; although I know now +that mother judged him better than I, and that he will make a +terrible mess of his life before he has learnt his lesson!" + +"You think that, too?" + +"How can anybody who knows anything of life help thinking it? Is it +not always the way with temperaments like his? He will be led on +from step to step. He will plunge more and more deeply, believing in +his cleverness and his luck. He may be very lucky for a time, +because he is careful; but he will get reckless at last--and then +will come a crash!" + +"And can nothing be done to hold him back?" + +"Nothing, I fear. His marriage seemed just at first as though it +would influence him. But, like everything else, he got used to it, +and to Odeyne; and she is too inexperienced and gentle to exercise +much restraining power. But were she the strongest woman in the +world I believe the result would be the same. Our mother is no +weakling, but she could never hold back Desmond. When the fit is on +him he will go his way." + +"And your life has been shadowed through him," said Edmund gently. +"It seems as though all the greatest suffering in life came through +those we love best." + +Maud was silent a moment, and then looked up bravely at him. + +"It is so often, Edmund; but not always--ah! I trust not always!" + +Something in the appeal of her tone made him put out his hand and +take hers in a close clasp. + +"Maud, I never intended it should come to this; but love is too +strong. I cannot help telling you how I love you!" + +"And why should you not tell me, Edmund? Ah, if you knew how hungry +my heart has been for love, year after year, year after year!--and it +never came to me." + +"It is good of you not to blame me for my precipitation, for I have +still my way to make in life, and we may have long to wait. Will +that be hard, Maud? Will it, by-and-by, seem to you unfair that I +spoke so soon?" + +"Edmund, if you knew how happy it makes me to know that there is one +to love me and care for me above all others! Rather it is I who +should feel that I am the unworthy one. No shadow hangs upon your +name. No threatened cloud of misfortune gathers in your sky! But +look at Desmond! look at Beatrice! Who knows what may overtake them +in a few short years? May it be nothing worse than poverty, when it +comes!" + +There was a pause, and then Maud spoke slowly and thoughtfully. + +"I have often thought that some day Beatrice will come back with her +boy to live with our mother. I am afraid for Algernon. He is a man +I could never trust. Mother and Beatrice would get on better without +me----" + +She stopped suddenly, and he knew what she would say. Then she +should come to him. + +"My darling, if you do not mind poverty." + +"We should not be so _very_ poor," she answered quietly. "My father +left me twenty-five thousand pounds." + +He stood and looked at her in surprise. He knew, of course, that +Mrs. St. Claire was a wealthy woman, but it had never entered his +head that Maud had a fortune of her own. + +"I am glad I did not know that before," he said. + +"So am I, if it would have made a barrier between us," she answered. +"We both had that when we came of age, but I fear poor Beatrice's is +all gone. It was not tied up as it ought to have been--at least not +nearly all. It was a great mistake--especially with a man like +Algernon." + +So if Odeyne did not specially enjoy the ball, it may be gathered +that others did. It was a very brilliant affair, and the local +papers were full of it afterwards. But Desmond came home a good deal +flushed and excited, talking rapidly and in a very nonsensical +fashion the whole time of the drive, and making Cissy open her eyes +very wide at some of his remarks. + +Odeyne said nothing till they reached their room that night, when she +put her hand upon his arm and said softly-- + +"Desmond dear, I wish you would not!" + +He understood her, and his face flushed hotly. + +She did not know for a moment whether he was going to be angry; but +then he put his arms round her suddenly and said-- + +"Oh, my dear little wife, you are ten thousand times too good for me! +Why cannot I be the sort of man that you would make of me, if I gave +you the chance?" + +She put her hands upon his shoulders, and her loving eyes looked full +into his. + +"No, Desmond darling--not that--but the kind of man God would make of +you if you would let Him. But how can you expect it when you never +ask Him, and never seek to learn His ways?" + +He knew what she meant--that the old habit of prayer, which had been +dropped when she was ill, had never been resumed. He hung his head +as he replied-- + +"Odeyne, I'm not worthy to pray for myself; but go on praying for me, +my faithful little wife, for I need it more than you can well +understand." + +"I never do forget to pray for you, dear husband," she answered. +"But you, my darling, pray for yourself too; pray to be kept from +temptation and evil. God is never deaf to the weakest prayer." + +He made a strange sound between a laugh and a sob; but when Odeyne +knelt in prayer that night, Desmond, for the first time for many a +long month, came and knelt silently beside her. + +After that, for a little while, matters were better at the Chase. +For a time they were without visitors, and there was a little lull in +the round of social gaieties. Desmond, who liked variety above +everything, enjoyed even the variety of domestic life by way of a +change. He made much of Odeyne and little Guy, resumed some of his +old habits of earlier rising and quiet evenings at home, and cheered +Odeyne's heart by his tenderness to her--real tenderness, not just +boisterous affection. + +A good many of his less desirable friends were going abroad just now. +He spoke once or twice of taking Odeyne away for a Continental trip; +but she pleaded so hard to remain at home after her long absence, and +the weather was so exceptionally hot and pleasant, that he was +content to let her have her way. + +So although he talked of a gay autumn, a big house party and plenty +of shooting at their own and other places, he was for the present +content to remain at home with wife and child, contenting himself +with an occasional run to town, or a short visit paid to Beatrice, or +some friend in the neighbourhood. + +Odeyne began to restrain the extravagance in the household as she had +not ventured to try and do at first. She got rid of some of the +servants with whom she was most displeased, and began to feel that +the reins of government had not altogether slipped from her hands. + +She could not get Desmond to recommence family prayers, or to +discharge any of the new men-servants, whom Odeyne disliked and +distrusted; but at least things were better and more orderly than +when she came back, and the reforms had been made without one angry +word having passed between her and her husband. + +Mrs. St. Claire expressed open satisfaction with her daughter-in-law. + +"My dear, you are doing most excellently. A nagging or a whining +woman would drive Desmond wild. But your tact and your judgment do +you immense credit. No one could have shown more skill in dealing +with a very critical and difficult situation. I hope Desmond +appreciates the treasure he has got. For if he escapes, without a +crash, it will be to his wife that he owes it." + +"Tact!--judgment!--skill!" said Odeyne to herself, when she was +alone, "ah no!--if I have done any good at all, it is just because I +have never stopped praying for Desmond, and for guidance to do aright +myself! And if this dreaded crash is avoided, it will be no doing of +mine--but just God's mercy. Yet even if it should come I would try +to bear it bravely. For it might be His way of answering my prayers +for Desmond, though the world might not see or understand!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +_CLOUDS IN THE SKY._ + +"Desmond, dear, is it really necessary?" + +"Of course it is necessary, you foolish child! Why, you have never +spent a week in town in your life. You have not seen a London +season, or been presented, or anything! You know it is part of the +programme of the year. I think you will like the house I have +chosen; but of course you can go up and inspect it, and see if there +are any objections." + +Odeyne looked at her husband with something of appeal in her eyes. +As she did so she wondered again for the hundredth time whether it +was her fancy that a change was slowly, but surely, passing over +Desmond. She had fought all through the autumn against her growing +fears. She had striven by every loving artifice in her power, and by +the strength of her own true love, to keep him as far as possible the +Desmond of old, the husband she had wedded with such hope and +confidence two short years ago. + +They had been gay during the past months; visiting other houses +occasionally, more often entertaining a large house party at the +Chase (an alternative greatly preferred by Odeyne, on account of +little Guy), their domestic life had, of course, been much interfered +with. They lived, as it were, in public, and had little time for +confidential intercourse--a thing which Desmond appeared, if +anything, rather to shirk--but Odeyne's patient love and tenderness +never failed her, and seemed to act in a measure as a restraining +influence upon her husband. She had striven to believe that things +were well with him, that he was returning to those more legitimate +occupations and interests which had once been his. She had rejoiced +when the house emptied itself, and she was free from the obligation +to associate with men whom in her heart of hearts she dreaded and +disliked. She strove in all things to play the part of hostess +courteously, but she heartily disliked and feared some of her guests, +and was rejoiced to see them go. + +Earnestly did she hope that now they might resume a life of quiet +domestic happiness. Little Guy was just reaching the fascinating age +when walking and talking begin to be attempted, and Odeyne looked +forward to seeing the father taking a fond pride and delight in his +beautiful boy. + +Desmond was affectionate by nature. With all his faults he had never +failed her there. She was sure that the little one would win his +way, when once the father had time and opportunity to notice him. Of +course he had not wanted the little fellow shown off and brought down +with so many bachelor guests in the house. He dreaded being +ridiculed as the fond father and doting parent, and had given pretty +strict orders that little Guy was to be kept to his own quarters. +Nor had Odeyne desired it otherwise with the company they had +recently entertained. But, oh, how she had looked forward to the +time when they would be alone together, with the bright spring days +before them! How happy they would be then! Desmond was always +different when he got away from the influences of those fast and +loud-voiced fashionable people to whom he seemed to have taken such a +fancy. Odeyne lived through the winter in the hopes of better days +in store, and just when these seemed about to commence, up cropped +the old talk of the London season, and although Odeyne had said all +along that she did not desire to go in the least, and much preferred +the quiet of the Chase, Desmond seemed to take no note of her words, +although from time to time she hoped that the plan would fall to the +ground. + +He had not spoken of it all the last week, though he had been a great +deal in town--up every day from early morning till quite the late +evening train. Still he had not spoken of moving there until to-day, +when he came home full of pride and delight in the house he had +found, and the gay times they were to have. + +Had he forgotten, or did he simply ignore what Odeyne had so often +said on the subject? As she looked at him, asking herself the +question, she was struck anew with the sense that Desmond had +changed--was changing month by month--that she could no longer reckon +upon influencing him, pleading with him, modifying his ideas by +showing him how little they accorded with her own. The loving give +and take which had characterised their early married life was slowly +but surely giving place to the arbitrary rule of the husband, to +which the wife must submit whether she would or no. Perhaps Odeyne +had never realised this so keenly as at the present moment, and the +pang it brought with it was sharp and deep. + +"It is not likely that I shall find fault with any house you have +chosen, Desmond," she answered gently, for she never permitted +herself to speak a sharp or angry word to her husband. "You are a +great deal more particular than I am. But you know I did not want to +go to town at all. I have said so all along." + +He laughed in the boisterous but mirthless way which had grown upon +him of late. + +"Oh, that is all nonsense, you know. You must have a London season +and see the world. You must be presented and see something of life. +One only vegetates down here." + +"I have seen a good deal of life even down here latterly, Desmond, +and as for being presented, and seeing a little of London Society, a +visit to Beatrice would be amply sufficient. I am sorry that you are +determined upon taking a house for ourselves. I think it is a +needless expense." + +"Oh, bother your everlasting talk about expense!" cried Desmond, more +roughly than Odeyne had ever heard him speak before. "What does it +matter to you so long as I have money to meet it? Your economical +scruples are really rather trying, my dear." + +"I am sorry you are vexed with them," answered Odeyne with quiet +dignity. "But you know I was brought up so differently." + +"Yes, but you need not for ever play the country parson's daughter! +I wish you would brisk up and be a little more lively and _chic_--if +you know what that means! One gets tired of hearing one's wife +always dubbed the fair Puritan, or the uncloistered nun, or even the +patient Griselda!" + +Odeyne was more deeply hurt than she had ever been before. Something +in her husband's tone and look cut her to the heart. It was with +difficulty she was able to command her voice and to speak naturally. +She would not attempt any reply to his last words; she went back to +the question of the house. + +"I hope there are pleasant rooms that will make into nurseries for +Guy," she said. "I care more about that than anything. I am sorry +for the child's sake that it is necessary to go to town at all; but +if it must be, the great thing is to be sure that we have suitable +quarters for him." + +Desmond looked rather taken aback. + +"Why, you don't think of taking the boy, do you?" + +"Did you think of leaving him behind?" + +"Why, yes, to be sure. Haven't you always said how bad London is for +country-bred children?" + +"I fear it is. But it is still worse for a child to be taken from +his mo--from his parents for an indefinite time." + +"Oh, nonsense! He would be much better down here." + +"No, Desmond, he would not!" answered Odeyne, with unwonted firmness. +"If things were as they used to be in this house, if we had our +respectable, faithful servants--those whom your mother engaged for us +at the outset, some of whom had lived in your family before--if our +old household were here now, I might be able to consider the point +with different feelings. As it is, it is out of the question. It +was all Hannah could do to get along at all, just those few days we +have been away at different times on our visits--never more than ten +days at any one time. I told you when we came back what sort of +goings on there were in our absence, but you only laughed and made +light of it, and said it was the way of the world nowadays. You know +that I cannot cope with it single-handed, when I have not the power +to dismiss the ringleaders. I would no more leave Guy in the house +when we are away, now that he is beginning to notice and understand, +than I would put him in a den of wild beasts. Nor would Hannah bear +it, if I wished to do it. If we go to London for the season the +child must come too. I have given way to you so far in everything, +as you well know; but in this I cannot and will not. I have my +duties as a mother as well as those as a wife." + +It was almost the first time that Odeyne had asserted herself in this +way, and it was not without its effect upon Desmond. He did not +gainsay her--perhaps he was a little ashamed at having the condition +of his household so clearly set before him; he only shrugged his +shoulders and said-- + +"Well, I think you will find a young child a great hamper and fetter +in London, and if he gets ill you will only have yourself to thank. +Why not send him to the mother and Maud, as Beatrice is going to send +Gus?" + +"Mamma would not have room for two children and two nurses," answered +Odeyne. "Gus is quite sufficient of a handful alone, as Maud has +said." + +She did not like to add that Gus had learnt from his father and his +father's associates words that she would not for anything hear from +Guy's innocent little lips. It went to her heart to hear how the +unconscious, sturdy little fellow rattled out his ugly vocabulary, +with the air of one who expects his audience to laugh. Odeyne felt +more like crying sometimes when she had the child in her company. +Doubtless the best possible thing for him would be a residence under +his grandmother's roof, with Maud's firm hand upon him. For since he +had grown to the engaging and prattling age, Beatrice had suddenly +become immensely proud of showing him off, and he had been +outrageously spoiled all through the past winter. Neither parent, +however, desired to be bothered with a young child in London, so he +was to be sent to his grandmother's safe keeping, as the Vanboroughs +had an offer of a tenant for Rotherham Park, and, let matters be +never so well with them, the Hon. Algernon never refused an offer +that would bring grist to the mill. + +Odeyne went up to look at the town house next day. It was a very +sumptuously furnished place, with a good hall and staircase, and fine +reception-rooms. The other parts of the house were less to her +liking, and it was not at all easy to find quarters for the child and +his nurse, as Desmond was exceedingly averse to giving up any of the +best bedrooms for that purpose. He and Odeyne came nearer to a real +dispute upon that point than they had ever done in their lives +before. It required all Odeyne's patience, tact, and firmness to get +the matter settled without harsh words being spoken. + +Fortunately Desmond quickly put away from him any vexed question, +and, as he was very much delighted with the house, and with the +prospect of his London season, he soon forgot his annoyance, and was +quite merry and chatty as they sat at lunch in a fine shop, where he +said the best meals in town were to be had. + +"It will be such a capital thing to be so near to business!" he said. +"It's all very well for you down at the Chase to talk of the delights +of the country; but when one has to spend a couple of hours a day in +a grilling railway carriage the joy is considerably modified, I can +tell you. I do want to be in the City a good deal now. There are a +great many very important things going on wanting my constant +presence. I shall be exceedingly glad to be within half-an-hour's +drive of the--of the office; and you have the Park so near that you +will hardly feel cooped up at all. It's almost like living in the +country." + +Odeyne smiled, without exactly agreeing to the proposition, but +answered that if Desmond had business that required a sojourn in +town, she would do her best to be happy. + +"When you put it on the ground of amusement, well I know that I +should be happier at home; but if your duties require more of your +time, why, that is another thing altogether." + +"Well, they really do," answered Desmond eagerly. "I don't bother +you with details, you know." + +"No, sometimes I wish you would tell me a little more. Everything +that you do would be interesting to me." + +"Oh, you wouldn't understand details. They are only for men. But I +assure you I have a great many things going on that need much +personal overlooking. It doesn't do to be too far away. Not even +Garth and the telegraph can do all that is necessary. It will be an +immense boon to be so near the spot. You will have your reward, +little wife. If you don't like London so very much, you will like to +think that your husband is growing to be a really wealthy and +important man of business!" + +Odeyne smiled a little sadly. + +"I do not think that wealth and happiness have a very close +connection, Desmond, dear. Sometimes looking back, it seems to me +that we were happier before we were so rich. The old days were very +sweet, and we had all that we could want then." + +For a moment a shadow fell across Desmond's face, and then he turned +to Odeyne with something like the old look in his eyes. + +"Little wife, I'm not sure but what you're right," he said, with +sudden energy. "But look here, let's make a sort of bargain. You go +through this one season my way, and leave me a free hand with my +undertakings. Then at the end of that time we will go home; and if +things have turned out as I expect, I shall be able to retire upon my +laurels, and not trouble myself with money-grubbing any more! If we +are not millionaires we shall be rich enough for all practical +purposes; and we will settle down like staid married people, and turn +over a new leaf--or rather, perhaps, turn back to the old one, and +make that our model." + +Odeyne felt the tears very near to her eyes as she said-- + +"Oh, Desmond, if we only could!" + +"Well, why not? I declare we will! This sort of thing is a +tremendous strain. I couldn't stand too much of it. I might even +lose my nerve, and that would be fatal. No, no! we will go through +with it this time, and then we will retire from the world, and live +for one another--and the boy!" + +Storm clouds had long been hanging in Odeyne's sky, but as she heard +these words, and felt indeed that Desmond was sincere in speaking +them, she trusted that the sunshine was not far away, and that if she +could but be hopeful and brave better times might yet be in store for +them. + +She went home happier than she had started out, although the three +months' residence in town was an inevitable thing. + +* * * * * * + +"You have heard of the master's latest idea?" said Walter Garth a few +days later, coming in upon his wife after the close of his day's work. + +Alice looked up with a rather troubled face. She had altered a good +deal of late. Her pretty face had grown pale and rather thin. In +her eyes there was often a startled, hunted look, as though she were +suffering from some undefined terror. She was still dainty and +pretty, with a lady-like air and way of speaking, but she had laid +aside a good deal of her old archness and affectation. She looked as +though she had other matters to think of than just the adornment of +her own person. + +Walter Garth had changed very little in outward appearance, save that +he looked increasingly respectable and gentleman-like. His manner +was still very quiet, but it had acquired an ease and decision which +showed that he was accustomed to give advice and to meet with +respectful hearing. He dressed well, and spent his evenings now +almost invariably in reading, and in the study of some foreign +language. + +Alice used to wonder at this, and ask what good it was to him: but +she never got anything from him but a rather sardonic smile, and the +reply that foreign travel was often a pleasant relaxation, and that +when he had made his fortune he might like to show his wife something +of the world. + +Truth to tell, Alice had grown just a little bit afraid of her +husband of late. She was certain that he had plans and projects in +his head of which he never consciously spoke. He was affectionate +and indulgent to her in his way, but she always felt that one half of +his life was a sealed book to her. + +The only glimpses she ever got of it were at night sometimes, when he +would talk in his sleep, and utter mysterious phrases, the import of +which she never fully understood, but which filled her with a vague +sense of dismay. + +He appeared at these times to be like a man walking on the verge of a +precipice, or upon ice so dangerously thin that it may at any moment +give way beneath the feet. + +How she obtained this idea she never could actually say, for it is +always strangely difficult to recall the words of a person speaking +in sleep, when once the moment has passed by. Here and there a +phrase would remain with Alice, and once she asked Walter if he could +tell her what it meant; but he gave her such a strange, stern, +startled look, and asked her so sharply where she had picked up the +words, that she never dared repeat the experiment, and had to make up +some false explanation of having seen them in a newspaper; and even +so she was certain that he was only partially satisfied. + +Yet there was one sentence, often repeated, that always stayed with +her, do as she would to forget it. He often spoke it in his sleep, +when evidently troubled by bad dreams, and lying tossing to and fro. + +"And at worst there are always the jewels--always the jewels!" he +would keep saying; and Alice, as she heard him, would shiver all +over, and ask herself timidly what he could mean. So a certain +reserve had grown up between the pair, and Alice was not the proud +and happy wife she had once been. + +At her husband's question she looked troubled and said-- + +"Do you mean about going to London with them? But you won't do that, +will you, Walter?" + +"Why shouldn't I?" he asked quickly. + +"Why, we live here, and you can go up every day. What does the +master want beyond that?" + +Alice could hardly have said herself why she dreaded the idea of +anything which would bring Walter into closer relations with his +master, but dread it she did. She had hoped that the move to London +would break that constant intercourse, and transform him more to the +office clerk again, and keep him away from Desmond St. Claire; but it +seemed that it was not to be. + +"We can live anywhere where my work lies, for that matter," he +answered rather curtly, "and my work is where Mr. St. Claire is. In +point of fact he rather begins to want a private secretary, and there +is nobody who could do the work for him half so well as myself." + +"But you belong to the office, Walter." + +He gave a little dry laugh. + +"I belong, if you like to employ that phrase, to Mr. St. Claire, and +have done this long while. The office has seen precious little of us +these last months, I can assure you. We have business on hand of +which the office knows nothing, although we keep up a sort of +attendance there." + +Alice looked troubled and perplexed, though she remained silent. She +was a little afraid of questioning Walter. + +"The long and the short of it, Alice, is that Mr. St. Claire can't do +without me. He is going the pace altogether too fast, and it is all +he can do to keep his nerve. He is wonderfully quick and clever, but +he lacks stamina, if you know what I mean. He can set things going, +but they would often go to pieces if I were not at his elbow to look +after him, and see that he forgets nothing. If he would be content +to give himself unreservedly to the business, he might do a lot, but +he is a bit of a fool too, and he will have his pleasures. He will +burn his candle at both ends. I've spoken till I'm tired of +speaking. He's a man that will go his own way; but he knows that he +can't do without me, and now he wants me to give up everything else +and live in the house as his private secretary, and really I believe +I must do it, at least if things are to have any chance of pulling +through. I can tell you it is not child's play that is before us +these next weeks; but if we can pull through we shall land a big +fish, and no mistake!" + +"And if you can't?" asked Alice, her face growing rather pale at the +thought. + +Walter slightly shrugged his shoulders. + +"Oh, we don't think about that--it's better not. We want all our +wits and our nerve. Now, Alice, don't you babble about these things +to anybody in this world, least of all to Mrs. St. Claire. You know +how many times I've told you that men have been ruined before this by +the gossiping tongues of foolish wives." + +"I shall not say a word, Walter, you may be quite sure of that," +answered Alice a little bitterly. "Mrs. St. Claire has quite enough +troubles of her own without my adding to them. But if you go with +the family to London, what am I to do?" + +"Well, that you can arrange with your lady. If she likes you to come +too, so much the better. I am not a proud man. I never profess to +be other than I am. I have married a lady's-maid, and if my wife +likes, under the circumstances, to go on with her attendance upon her +mistress, I shall not interfere." + +"If you go, I would rather be with you," said Alice; and in her heart +she felt that she would rather be near her mistress if trouble were +to fall upon them than anywhere else in the world. + +Of late Alice had begun to cling more and more closely to her lady. +Odeyne was the one person in the world in whom she felt a perfect +confidence and trust. She was always the same--always kind and +considerate, and the girl was acute enough to see that there were +troubles and clouds at the great house as well as those at her own +home. + +It was an extra trouble to Odeyne to leave the Chase just now, +because Guy's wedding with Cissy was to take place soon, and she felt +that Desmond should have postponed the London visit till afterwards. + +But Desmond seemed to think it absurd to pay any heed to that event. +They would run over for it if possible; and of course Guy and any of +his family might make what use they liked of the Chase in the absence +of its owners. But as for making any sacrifice of his own personal +convenience, that plainly never entered into his head. + +It hurt Odeyne to have to write home with nothing better than the +offer of an empty house for the home party; but perhaps Edmund had +prepared them beforehand, for they made no lamentations or +remonstrances; and yet Odeyne felt that she would almost sooner they +had done so. It seemed so strange to feel that a little barrier of +reserve had crept up between them. Yet how could either she or they +speak words which should cast any reflection upon Desmond? + +It was a comfort to Odeyne to hear that Alice could and would +accompany her as maid. She had feared that Garth would think it +derogatory to his wife's dignity that she should continue in this +capacity. + +Alice and Hannah, the nurse, were fully to be trusted where little +Guy was concerned, and Odeyne, who knew her life would be a very full +one, was greatly relieved that Alice would be near to Hannah when she +had to leave the child. + +"It is only for three months, Alice," she said, trying to speak +cheerfully. "We country people do not like the thought of London; +but the days will go by very fast, and then we shall come home and +settle for good, and forget all the disagreeables, and be happy +again!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +_THE PACE THAT KILLS._ + +Odeyne sat in her well-appointed carriage, being rapidly driven from +one grand house to another, leaving cards, paying short calls, or +presenting herself for a few minutes at some fashionable reception. + +Her manner was gracious and free from any shadow of constraint or +anxiety; she spoke with her customary gentle amiability. She fancied +that some amongst her friends looked at her with curiosity, and threw +into their manner a shade of compassionate concern when they +addressed her, but if she were conscious of this she gave no sign. + +Nevertheless her heart was strangely heavy within her, and as she +drove homewards through the westering sunlight, her duties all done, +she lay back in her carriage with a cloud of care upon her brow, and +the shadow deepening in the eyes which now looked as though they were +no strangers to vigils or tears. + +What was going on about her? What was the meaning of the strange +sense of pressure and peril that seemed to be advancing upon them +step by step? She had striven to fight against this feeling as a +delusion of a wearied and jaded mind, but latterly it had become +urgent and intense. + +Why was Desmond so strangely preoccupied that he could neither eat +nor sleep? Why could he never even spare the time to accompany her +into society as he used to do, and yet was more urgent than ever that +she should go, and that she should appear in all the richest +trappings that wealth could buy? + +Only this morning he had been almost fiercely insistent that she +should carry out a very long programme of social duties; he had +sketched out himself exactly where he wished her to show herself, and +had charged her to be very gay and bright. + +"Mind you let everybody see that you are well and happy, and that +nothing is the matter," he said more than once, "and don't forget the +ball at the Mastermans' in the evening. If I am not back in time, +Beatrice will call for you and take you. I will settle all that with +her. I have to step across to see Vanborough before I go to the +City." + +"Not back before ten o'clock, Desmond?" Odeyne had said. "Surely +business cannot keep you all those hours. It is not good for you. +You are looking terribly haggard and jaded as it is." + +He turned upon her almost roughly, although as he continued to speak +his manner grew gentler-- + +"Nonsense! whatever you do, don't go saying things like that about me +if people ask questions. It's only the hot weather, and being cooped +up in town so long. I thought we should have been able to get back +sooner. I tell you what, Odeyne, once let me get these few +transactions pulled through and we'll go home and shut ourselves up +there together, and not see a soul but our own people for as long as +ever you like. I'm sick to death with noise and bustle and the sea +of faces about one. Sometimes I wish I'd never come at all--never +begun this sort of thing. I don't think the game is worth the +candle--I don't indeed!" + +Something in the underlying bitterness and weariness of the tone in +which these words were spoken touched Odeyne to the heart. She had +gone over to her husband and kissed him tenderly, and he had suddenly +clasped her in his arms almost passionately and had said-- + +"You deserve a better husband, my loyal and precious little wife! +Oh, if I had only been worthy of you! But you will try to think +kindly of me and forgive me all the pain and trouble I have +brought--when once we are free again." + +"Forgiveness is no word between husband and wife, dearest Desmond," +Odeyne had said gently, "because we are one, you know." + +His parting kiss and clasp had been balm to her heart, and yet the +day had dragged slowly along, although she had carried out to the +letter her husband's wishes, and a strange presage of coming +misfortune weighed upon her heart. + +She reached home to find Desmond still absent, and she sat down to +her solitary dinner alone. For once she did not even take the +trouble to dress. She would have to dress for the ball later. She +wondered if Desmond would return to take her. She heartily wished +she need not go. But she would do nothing at such a time to thwart +his lightest wish. She was afraid that something terribly wrong was +threatening. What it could be she had no idea. Of his business +matters Desmond never spoke a word, but she was certain from a number +of things that he was engaged in some very large and hazardous +transactions, and that for some time he had been exceedingly and +increasingly anxious. + +Apparently some crisis was near at hand, and after it had passed +there was a hope of better and quieter days. It seemed as though he +were as weary as she of the round of the treadmill of business and +pleasure, and was panting for the freedom and quiet of their own home. + +The hope that buoyed up Odeyne's heart all through the day was that +the return home was near at hand, and that Desmond had learnt a +lesson which might remain with him throughout his life. Tired as she +was, she prepared cheerfully to carry out her husband's wishes in the +minutest detail. She chose her most becoming ball-dress, and let +Alice arrange her hair in the newest mode. It was patent that a good +deal depended upon her keeping a brave face before the world, and if +so, Desmond should never have to say that she had failed him at a +pinch. + +She was nearly dressed, when the sound of rustling draperies, and a +short, sharp knock at the door, announced the arrival of a visitor, +and Beatrice came hastily in. + +She was dressed with her usual elaborate care and richness, but her +face was strangely pale, and had an odd, drawn look that startled +Odeyne as she caught sight of it in the mirror. + +"Beatrice!" she cried, releasing herself from Alice's hands and +turning quickly round, "something is the matter!" + +"Yes," answered Beatrice, in a voice not quite like her own, "my +jewels are gone!" + +"Your jewels? Do you mean they have been stolen?" + +"Yes--it must have been yesterday whilst we were at dinner. But I +only found it out this afternoon! I have had a detective. Every +inquiry has been made, but at the present moment there is no clue as +to the thief. Probably somebody who knew his business very well." + +"Oh, Beatrice!--taken from your room whilst you were at dinner, you +say?" + +"That seems the most probable solution, for there is no trace of +violence anywhere. The man must have slipped in during the arrival +of the guests, whilst the door was standing open. All we know is +this. Your man, Garth, came with a note for Algernon whilst we were +at dinner, and had to wait for the answer. He was put into the +little alcove just at the head of the first staircase, and as he was +waiting he noticed a man coming downstairs with a bag in his hand, +who let himself quietly out at the front door. He thought nothing +much of it at the time, supposing it to be some hair-dresser or +person of that kind, who had preferred to make use of the front +rather than the back staircase, knowing that all the guests were at +dinner. But it is supposed that that was the burglar, and Garth +thinks he could identify him if he saw him again, and has described +him pretty minutely to the police. Whether I shall ever see my +jewels again is quite another matter," and Beatrice bit her lips +nervously as though to try and bring back the blood to them. + +Odeyne saw that she was trembling all over. She had never seen +Beatrice so unnerved before. + +"What does your husband say?" she asked. + +"Oh, he had hardly time to take it in at all. Desmond telegraphed +for him just after the discovery was made, and he went off in a +tearing hurry, leaving me to think of everything. I have not seen +him since. He telegraphed that he could not get back, but that I was +to go to the ball with you." + +"You do not look fit, Beatrice," said Odeyne. + +"Fit! what does that matter? Alice shall rouge me up--if you have +such a thing as a rouge-pot amongst your toilet accessories! And you +must lend me jewels to-night, Odeyne, it won't do to appear without +them at the Mastermans'. We must both of us make a brave show, my +dear--just to prove to all the world how gay and prosperous we are. +Go and get your mistress's jewels out, Alice, and dress me up as +cleverly as you know how. Oh, I am not going to throw up the cards +till the game is lost. I will at least die game--as the men call it!" + +"Beatrice, how wildly you talk," said Odeyne, as Alice went into the +dressing-room to get the jewel-cases. There was no safe in this +house, but they were securely locked up in a strong cupboard with a +Bramah lock. + +"Do I?" she queried with a short laugh. "I suppose it is a way we +all of us have, when life or death hangs upon the next throw of the +dice! Come, Odeyne, don't look at me like a scared creature. You +must know by this time as well as I that something very critical is +at hand. It is going to be neck or nothing, I take it, with a +vengeance!" + +Odeyne did not understand; but Alice was coming in with the +jewel-boxes, and she made no reply. + +"Take what you want," she said; "I am going to wear the string of +pearls you sent me for a wedding present, Beatrice, and some +ornaments that Desmond gave me soon afterwards." + +"Well, make yourself grand enough, that is all; and I will have your +diamonds, I think. I hope they will not be recognised as yours. I +hardly think so. I was always rather great at diamonds myself--when +I could get them." + +Beatrice approached the table and opened some of the cases, and then, +suddenly bending close down over them, uttered a sharp, startled cry. + +"What is the matter?" asked Odeyne, who suddenly felt as though she +were walking through a bad dream, not knowing from moment to moment +what might happen next. "What is the matter?" she cried, coming up. + +"Look!" cried Beatrice, whose face was as white as paper, and whose +hands shook like aspens. "Look at your diamonds, Odeyne." + +Odeyne looked, but could see nothing wrong. + +"They are all there safe," she said, thinking that Beatrice had gone +temporarily off her head with excitement. "What is the matter with +you?" + +"With me? You mean with them!" answered Beatrice, holding up case +after case and closely examining them. "Odeyne, don't you +see?--don't you understand?" + +"See what? Understand what?" asked the girl, half frightened in +spite of herself at her sister's words and looks. + +"Somebody has been tampering with your jewels, Odeyne," said +Beatrice. "These are not diamonds at all--they are only clever +imitations. Somebody has done a very clever thing--has had +duplicates made of your real stones in paste, and has quietly +substituted the sham for the real! You have been even more +shamelessly robbed than I have, my dear, for there has been a +diabolic cunning and preparation over this fraud." + +Odeyne stood silent and thunderstruck. If she had had time to +observe anything else she would have noticed that Alice had suddenly +turned as white as ashes, and put her hand to her heart as though +some blow had been struck home there. She clutched at the back of a +chair as though to save herself from falling; but neither her +mistress nor Mrs. Vanborough had thoughts for her just then. + +"What does it mean?" asked Odeyne, putting up her hand to her head in +bewilderment. "What does it mean?" + +"I think it means that there are traitors in the camp," answered +Beatrice in a strange, dry voice. "I think it means that the rats +are deserting the sinking ship, and human rats have the cleverness to +carry off booty before they leave for ever." + +But Odeyne could make nothing of these words. Her head was in a +whirl. She stood looking down stupidly at the glitter of the sham +gems, and all she could think of to say was-- + +"Are you sure they are not right, Beatrice? They look just the +same--to me." + +"You are not the first person who has been deceived by false gems, my +dear," answered Beatrice, pulling herself together with a short, +sharp laugh. "I think you have rather a faculty for taking glitter +for gold. Don't be too much startled, my dear, when the truth comes +home to you." + +Odeyne heard these words without fully understanding them. + +"Ought I to do anything?" she asked. + +"I wouldn't trouble to-night. Let us see first what the night is +going to bring forth," answered Beatrice. "There may be wheels +within wheels that we know nothing about. Desmond himself may know +all about it. Men have been driven to stranger shifts before this, +than borrowing their wife's jewels for a while to tide them over a +crisis." + +Odeyne's pale face suddenly flushed crimson. + +"Beatrice!" she exclaimed, almost fiercely. "You forget yourself, I +think!" + +"Perhaps I do," answered Beatrice, without a shadow of offence in her +tone. "I think I have had enough to send me silly to-night. But +come, Odeyne, we must not stay staring at these paste things like two +blind owls. Paste or no, I must wear them to-night. They will pass +muster in the throng we shall meet. Mrs. Vanborough's present +reputation stands well enough to admit of the fraud undetected. +Here, Alice, clasp this thing on my neck, please. It is at least +lighter to wear than the original. Why, girl, your hands are like +blocks of ice. You give me the shivers! You needn't be frightened +at what you've heard. Your mistress is not the kind who will turn +upon you, and accuse you of complicity with the robber." + +"Alice, you are ill," said Odeyne. "But you must not give way. I +should never think of blaming you. Indeed you have very little to do +with my jewellery. We have always kept it locked away ourselves. It +is probably the same gang that have robbed Mrs. Vanborough. Now +don't tremble and look so white, but go to bed quietly. I can do +very well without you when I come back, and I may be late. I do not +feel sure of anything." + +Time was getting on, and little as the two sisters-in-law felt +disposed for the scene of gaiety which lay before them, loyalty to +their husbands kept them to their appointment. + +They put the finishing touches to their toilets, and then went down +to the carriage. + +"You don't think that girl knows anything about it, I suppose?" said +Beatrice as they drove off. "She looked like a ghost, and was +shaking like an aspen." + +"I would trust Alice with untold gold!" answered Odeyne warmly. "I +have had my fears for her. At first I was afraid she was going to +have her head turned by all the admiration she received. She did try +for a little while to play the fine lady rather too much. But she +has good feeling and right principle, and of late she has been quite +her own self again. I am certain she would die sooner than rob me. +You must nob wrong her by a doubt, Beatrice." + +"I think I have reached the stage when I doubt everybody," answered +Beatrice a little bitterly. "I know Algy might be capable of getting +up a plant like this, and keeping the jewels safe and snug somewhere; +and I should not be certain of Desmond for that matter. Men often +want a reserve fund to fall back upon in case of emergency. I don't +think I could doubt you, Odeyne, but as for Alice and that husband of +hers--I would not make too sure of their honesty, my dear. That man +Garth is much too clever not to be a bit of a villain at heart!" + +Odeyne was silent. She shivered a little at the recklessness of +Beatrice's tone. Then a remembrance flitted across her brain of some +words spoken long, long ago by Cissy Ritchie--now Cissy Hamilton, +Guy's wife, her own sister--respecting the man Garth. She had not +liked his face. She had thought it untrustworthy. But Desmond had +always found him most faithful. + +It seemed as though Beatrice was following out a similar train of +thought, for she spoke suddenly aloud, though almost as one who +speaks to herself. + +"It might have been he. He knows the house. He was there some time, +and there was nobody about. His description of another man may be +just a clever bit of lying, to put us on a false scent. I should not +be surprised in the least." + +Odeyne knew what she meant, but said nothing. The dream-like feeling +was coming over her again. A sort of numbness settled down upon her +faculties. It gave her temporary relief from the terrible tension of +the past day. She did not wish to be roused. She would sooner go on +feeling it all a dream. + +They arrived at the house whither they were bound. It belonged to +one of the City princes, and the gathering included a great many +persons who were more or less connected with the City and Stock +Exchange. Others were there from a higher sphere. It was a very +large assembly and a rather mixed one. + +There was dancing in one great room, and the entertainment was called +a ball; but great numbers of persons made no attempt to dance, but +moved about the other rooms, talking together, and watching those who +came in with more or less of interest. + +It seemed to Odeyne as though the arrival of herself and Beatrice +excited a certain amount of interest and attention. Was it fancy +that they were both regarded rather closely, and that there was more +than met the ear in some of the words addressed to them? + +She felt also as though Beatrice were acting a part all the while, +although she could not have explained why. She was so gay, so racy, +so brilliant. She made sallies that convulsed her listeners, and her +_grande dame_ air had never been more striking than to-night. + +When questioned about husband or brother she unhesitatingly declared +that they would soon be here. They had been detained by business +rather late, and must dine, poor things, and have a smoke before +turning out; but they were probably on their way now to answer for +themselves; and so on, and so on; whilst Odeyne, who was certain that +Beatrice knew no more of their movements than she did herself, +listened in amaze, and was thankful that her sister-in-law's quick +readiness saved her from the necessity of answering any of these +embarrassing questions. + +Yet what did it matter whether Desmond and Algernon appeared or not? +And why did so many persons ask for them? Once she heard a whisper +behind her quite distinct and clear. + +"I think it must be all right after all. Those are Mrs. St. Claire +and Mrs. Vanborough. They would hardly have shown their faces +to-night if----" + +A burst of music from the ball-room drowned the conclusion of the +sentence. Odeyne felt her heart beating almost to suffocation, and +she moved away from Beatrice's side and made her way out into a +little covered balcony which she thought was quite empty. It was, +however, tenanted by one person, a slight, girlish young creature, +the young wife of an acquaintance of Desmond's, just known to Odeyne +by sight and name. + +As she sat down wearily, Mrs. Neil came up to her with a hesitating +and almost deprecating air, and, sinking down upon the lounge beside +her, clasped her hands nervously together, forgetting in her visible +embarrassment to go through the ordinary form of greeting. + +"Oh, Mrs. St. Claire," she said, "I am so glad to see you here. I +have been so unhappy these last days; but you will tell me if I am +wrong. It is all right, is it not? It is only wicked people who +call it all a gigantic swindle? It will be all right in the end, +will it not?" + +Odeyne felt her lips growing dry. She had some trouble in framing +her question. + +"What are you talking about, Mrs. Neil?" + +"Oh, don't mind keeping up before me--I know all about it. My +husband has lots of shares; he says he will be ruined if--but of +course that will never be! It is only a horrid calumny! Only I +should be so glad to hear you say that you knew it was all right and +a real genuine thing." + +"If you would tell me what you mean," said Odeyne, "I should, +perhaps, be better able to answer you; but----" + +"Oh, Mrs. St. Claire, _of course_ I mean the mine--the gold mine they +are all going wild about in the City. Mr. St. Claire and Mr. +Vanborough are two of the directors, and they say they know all about +it. You must have heard them talk. They say they have got up the +whole thing." + +"My husband never talks to me about business," answered Odeyne, +trying to speak very calmly. "I have never heard him mention any +mine. But I think--I hope--that if he is concerned in any scheme it +will at least be honourably conducted. No one can be certain of +success; but I think you may be sure that there will be upright +dealing." + +"That's what I said!" cried the little wife eagerly. "I was sure it +would not turn out a swindle. Oh, I am so much obliged to you. You +have made me happy again. I have been so wretched all day. It is so +hard to be ruined in one night by some terrible crash--and +disagreeable people frightened Alfred so, and said he had been a fool +to trust his money in the hands of a known speculator. But I am sure +your husband would never do a wicked thing, would he, Mrs. St. +Claire?" + +There was such childish appeal and such earnestness in the +girl-wife's manner that Odeyne could have cried aloud in the anguish +of her spirit. + +Why could she not say that Desmond was above all reproach? Why could +she not assure her that there was nothing to fear? She had said all +she dared to do, but she could not go on repeating that assurance. +Each moment that she reflected more upon the situation, the less +assured did she feel that something terribly wrong was not hanging +over them. + +She rose suddenly to her feet and moved away. + +"I hope all will be right, Mrs. Neil," she said; "but I do not +understand business. Misfortune sometimes falls upon the most +honourable." + +And then she found herself face to face with Beatrice, who, +underneath the rouge she had found and put on, was looking ghastly +pale. + +"Come, Odeyne, we have done our duty; we can be going now," she said. +"There is a great rush for supper. We shall not be noticed. Do not +say good-night to a single soul, but just come away. If they notice +our departure they will think we are going somewhere else. We have +done what we were sent here to do. Now we had better go and see if +there is any news at home of our respective husbands." + +She gripped Odeyne's arm almost fiercely. Together they went down +the staircase and had their carriage called up. When they were +within its friendly shelter Beatrice suddenly broke into dry, +tearless sobs. + +"This is the last of it--this is our last appearance in public, +Odeyne," she said. "The next time we try to show our faces we should +be hooted away as the wives of the men who are posted on the Stock +Exchange as a pair of swindlers!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +_DARK DAYS._ + +Home at last!--the house looking as usual; the butler and footman +ready to admit their mistress on her return. + +Yes, the master of the house had returned, she was informed; he was +upstairs waiting for her. Odeyne drew a deep breath of relief. +Somehow she had had an awful presentiment creeping over her that she +would find Desmond gone--where or why she could not have said. + +With a sense of unspeakable relief she mounted the stairs, but before +she had reached her room she was met by a message from the nursery. + +"Master Guy is rather poorly. Hannah says will you please come and +see him at once? She wanted to tell you before you left, but you did +not come to the nursery as usual, and had gone before she knew." + +Odeyne's heart smote her. For once in her life she had omitted her +parting visit to the child before starting forth for her evening's +entertainment. Beatrice's loss, coupled with the strange and +disquieting discovery as to her own jewels, had for the moment driven +all else from her mind. She had not remembered the nursery visit +till she was just about to enter the carriage, and then Beatrice had +said almost sharply-- + +"Oh, never mind. The boy will survive the loss of one kiss. We have +more important matters on hand to-night than cuddling babies. It is +high time we showed ourselves. You cannot go back now." + +So Odeyne had not seen the child since afternoon, and was quite +unprepared for the news of indisposition. + +Without pausing at her own door she went straight up to the nursery, +to find the boy wide awake, fretting and a little feverish. Hannah +was disturbed, because Guy was generally so bright and well. + +"But there, ma'am," she said, "it's this nasty London does it. The +blessed lamb has been used all his life to be out of doors half his +time. How can he be expected to thrive cooped up in hot rooms and +baking streets?" + +This was exactly Odeyne's feeling. Since the hot weather had set in +with such unwonted sultriness she had been very anxious about the +child. She was not surprised to see him a little out of sorts. It +did not make her very anxious, for it seemed to her a thing to be +expected. But she did make a resolve there and then that Guy at +least should go home to the Chase upon the morrow. Whether she could +do so immediately was a point upon which she must consult Desmond, +but the boy should leave London at once, and Cissy would look after +him and see that no harm befell him till her return. Desmond had +been speaking of returning home very soon for some little while now. +Surely after to-night they might safely go back, and leave behind +them, like a bad dream, all these cares and worries which had of late +gathered round them. + +Odeyne kissed and crooned over the little crib till Guy began to be +drowsy, soothed by her presence, and weary with his long vigil. The +nursery was very hot. Odeyne sent for ice, and by a judicious +arrangement of windows and doors soon had a better atmosphere about +the boy. She believed he would sleep now, and to-morrow he should go +home. She would send a letter to Guy and Cissy, and they would be +father and mother to him for a little while, if she could not +accompany him. How good it was to picture Guy so near! What a +difference it would make to her. He was always such a help and +comfort--a tower of strength when there was need. It hardly even +struck her as strange now that she should think rather of the brother +than the husband, as a stay and support at this time. There had been +that about Desmond of late which had put it out of her power to +regard him as any bulwark between her and the waves of anxiety and +trouble. + +She descended the stairs to her room. Desmond was there. His face +was deadly pale. There was a strange, hunted look in his eyes, and +yet, as she approached him with a slight exclamation of concern, his +thin lips tried to form themselves into a natural smile, as though to +allay anxiety on his account. + +"Desmond, dear! are you ill? You look worn out. Why did you not go +to bed when you came in? That is the only place you are fit for." + +Her eyes wandered round the room as she spoke, and noted certain +signs of disorder. They fell upon a portmanteau strapped up as if +for immediate travelling. Desmond, too, was not in the clothes he +had left the house in that morning. He was in an inconspicuous +travelling suit of grey tweed. He was holding his pocket-book in his +hand. + +"I have some work still to see to, dearest," he said. "There is a +little hitch in some of our business matters, and I have to go off at +once to set things right. What money have you in the house? It is +too late to get a cheque cashed to-night; but give me what you have, +and I will leave you a cheque to present at the bank first thing in +the morning; and perhaps you had better go home then, and wait for me +there." + +"Oh, Desmond! that is just what I am longing to do! The child is not +well; I want to take him home. But can't you come with us, dear? I +don't like leaving you here." + +A strange little spasm passed over Desmond's face. + +"I shall not be here. I have to go away on business immediately; but +I will join you at the Chase as soon as ever I can--trust me for +that. Look here, Odeyne; you just have Alice down, and get packed up +as sharp as ever you can, and be off by the first train. It will be +far the best thing for you and the boy both. Take everything that +belongs to us with you, for I shall write and give up the house +immediately; and call at the bank on your way to the station, and +draw out a good sum to carry on with. Give me all that you have, and +I think I'll have your jewels to take care of, too. I may +perhaps----" + +"Oh, Desmond, I must tell you about that! Something rather terrible +has happened. Beatrice has been robbed of her jewels, and a great +many of mine--nearly all my diamonds--have been taken too, and false +ones left in their place. I don't know when it can have happened, +for I should not have known the difference if Beatrice had not found +it out." + +A strange grey pallor overspread Desmond's face, and he uttered a +startled exclamation. + +"What!" he cried; "tell me again!" + +Odeyne told him all, not surprised that he should be horrified and +amazed, yet feeling that she did not entirely understand his frame of +mind. When he had heard her to the end he exclaimed sharply-- + +"And where is Garth? Let him be called at once." + +"He had not come back when I left home," said Odeyne. "Alice was +asking me if I had had any message from you about him. The servants +would know if he had come in since." + +"Find out instantly!" said Desmond, with a rather wild light in his +eyes. "I sent him back at six o'clock to wait here for me. They did +not tell me he had not come. I have been expecting him ever since I +arrived." + +Odeyne hurried away and made the needful inquiries; but no one had +seen Garth. Last of all she went to the door of their room and +knocked. Instantly it was opened by Alice, who looked like a ghost, +but had made no attempt to undress or go to bed. + +"No, she had seen nothing of her husband, she said, nor had any +message or note reached her. She was shaking like an aspen, but +denied being ill. + +"Then if you are not ill, Alice," said Odeyne, "come down and help +me. I am not going to bed at all. Master Guy is poorly, and I shall +take him home to the Chase first thing to-morrow. We shall not come +back here any more, so there will be plenty for us to do. Your +master has to go away on business, and will join us later. You and I +will have all the arrangements to make, so we shall have our hands +full." + +Odeyne had no room in her mind for troubling herself over the missing +jewels; it seemed to her that it was only one bubble upon a whole sea +of mystery and trouble. Alice crept, white and trembling, after her +mistress, and was closely and sharply questioned by Desmond as to her +husband's movements; but it was plain she knew nothing, and was +consumed by fears she dared not put into words. Desmond turned away +from her with a few bitter words, the meaning of which was not +understood by Odeyne, though Alice shrank at them as though struck by +a sharp blow. + +"Give me those pearls you wear," he said abruptly, "and anything of +value that may be left you. And let me have the money quick. I must +not delay longer now." + +With a terribly sinking heart Odeyne opened her cash-box and jewel +drawer, unfastened the string of pearls from her throat, and taking +the stars from her hair at the same time. Desmond thrust the notes +and valuables into a small bag he carried with him, and then took up +the portmanteau himself and carried it from the room, staggering a +little, like a man walking in a dream. + +Odeyne sprang after him, closing the door behind her. There was a +light burning on this landing, but the rest of the house was dark, +Odeyne having dismissed the servants to bed by her husband's desire, +when she went to inquire for Garth. + +"Desmond, Desmond," she cried piteously, "what is it? Oh, what is +it? Have not I, your wife, the right to share the trouble, whatever +it may be?" + +He took her suddenly in his arms and kissed her passionately again +and again. + +"So you will, my poor innocent darling--so you will!" he answered. +"God forgive me; for I can never forgive myself! Would to heaven I +had listened to you before, my faithful little wife! To think that +it has come to this. O my God!--forgive me my wickedness, and visit +not my sin upon her innocent head!" + +A great terror came over Odeyne, and she clung to him with frantic +hands. + +"Desmond!--Desmond!--don't leave me! Take me with you! I am your +wife. We took each other for better for worse. I have the right to +be at your side through everything! Take me with you, if you must +go!" + +He clasped her to his breast, and yet after one long embrace he put +her from him. + +"It cannot be. I will come back--if I can--if I dare. But you must +stay here--with the boy. He will comfort you for the evil your +husband has done you. For better for worse; when was it you spoke +those words before, and I made such a confident boast? Was it in +this life, or in another I have almost forgotten? Oh, my wife, that +it should come to this! Why, why was I such an arrant fool?" + +He smote his brow with his hand. The bitterness of his remorse was +pitiful to see. The longing to comfort him gave to Odeyne strength +in the midst of her weakness and bewilderment. + +"Dearest," she said, "I think you trusted too much in yourself; you +did not look to God for help, guidance, strength to resist +temptation. Perhaps this trouble will bring you to Him, as happiness +never did. Oh, my darling, I pray it may be so! Do you pray also +for yourself. God is very good; He punishes, but He forgives. I +shall pray for you night and day till you come back to me. But oh, +Desmond--husband--do not leave me long! I cannot bear it!" + +The strain was becoming too much. Odeyne felt a mist rising before +her eyes; her head swam; she hardly knew when Desmond laid her upon a +couch on the landing and hastily called to Alice. What happened +after that she never clearly remembered, but presently knew that the +grey light of the summer dawn was stealing through an open window +near her head, and that Alice was chafing her hands and holding a +glass to her lips; but Desmond was gone. + +Now they were in the train, rushing swiftly through the smiling +country, back to the home towards which Odeyne's heart had turned +with such longing all these past weeks, but which would be terribly +empty and lonely now till Desmond came back. + +Alice and Hannah were with her, and little Guy, looking roused and +better already for getting beyond the region of London smoke. The +men-servants had remained behind. Odeyne had paid them their wages +and dismissed them. They appeared perfectly prepared for this, and +some instinct warned her that she had better reduce her establishment +as quickly as possible. She was not able to think connectedly yet; +but in her heart of hearts she was aware that some financial crash +had taken place, and that she must prepare herself for changed +circumstances. That was in itself a matter of small consequence to +her. Great wealth had brought little real joy to Odeyne. She could +live more happily in a cottage than she had lived in her grand London +house. But oh, if others should suffer loss and poverty from any act +of her husband's! That was the thought which kept her in an agony of +trepidation and anguish. She thought of the words heard last night +(could it have been only last night?--it seemed years ago now), and +of the cloud of pitiful anxiety in the eyes of the young wife. Oh, +it was impossible that Desmond could have done anything to involve +others in trouble! He so kind and friendly to all! Oh, no!--that +was altogether unbelievable! + +But Guy would be there to meet her--Guy would tell her all. A little +while ago she had felt almost embarrassed at the thought of the first +meeting with Guy and Cissy; but that feeling was entirely swallowed +up in the present pressing distress. + +For Guy and Cissy had been married, and the Chase had been full of +her own family and their guests, and yet she herself had only run +down for the day, just to witness the ceremony, and to fly back to +her many engagements, which Desmond would not or could not forego. +She had done her utmost to arrange differently, but circumstances (or +her husband's will) had been too strong for her; and although nobody +had blamed her by so much as a look or a word, she had felt herself +to be acting a heartless part, like some fine fashionable madam--not +like the loving sister Guy had a right to expect in her. + +But Guy would never think of that now. As soon as he knew she was in +trouble he would come to her. She would send for him as soon as she +got home. She felt she needed some strong presence near her; but she +was startled to see him on the platform waiting for her, his face +full of kindly concern, his eyes brimful of love, asking no +questions, but seeing to everything for her, as though he were now +her rightful protector. + +Not till they were in the carriage together, the servants and child +having been put into the luggage brougham, did she speak a word; and +then she turned her white face and heavy eyes towards him and asked-- + +"Guy, how did you know?" + +"Desmond wired from Dover early this morning. I had been prepared by +Edmund two days before. He had heard things that made him very +uneasy, and went to town on purpose to see Desmond and ask. After +that he came to me here. My poor darling! what can I say to comfort +you?" + +Odeyne put her hand to her head. + +"I don't understand, Guy; I don't know now what has happened. Only +that we have been robbed, that Desmond has gone away for a little, +and that something is wrong about the business." + +Guy gave her a quick glance, and answered gently-- + +"Yes, there is something wrong about the business. I do not know the +details myself yet. Perhaps you need never know them. We must just +wait and see what happens. Sometimes things turn out better in the +end than people think for. I hope you will not think that Cissy and +I have been very officious, but we had Desmond's authority. Some of +the superfluous servants have gone--including the housekeeper and the +man-cook. They began to be very insolent and overbearing, and to +spread damaging reports in the place. So they have been sent away." + +"I am so glad," said Odeyne, rather wearily. "Desmond had so much to +think of he forgot to name it. I seem only to want to be quiet, and +to have you, Guy, and the boy--and--and--Desmond!" and then Odeyne's +tears suddenly ran over, and she leaned back in the carriage and +sobbed as though her heart would break. + +He let her alone; and she was quiet and outwardly calm when they drew +up at the familiar door. There was no retinue of servants to greet +her to-day; but the warm clasp of Cissy's arms was more to her than +any outward show of hired service, and Odeyne was so utterly worn out +in body and mind that she let Cissy undress her and put her to bed, +and quickly fell into the dreamless sleep of exhaustion, from which +all hoped that she would not wake till outraged nature had recouped +herself for all the pressure put upon her. + +It was only after Odeyne was sound asleep in the darkened room that +Cissy had time to turn her attention to Alice, who had utterly +collapsed upon their arrival at the Chase, and was lying on her bed +shaken, by storms of hysterical sobbing that seemed to tear her to +pieces when they came upon her. + +Cissy, as a doctor's daughter, knew how to treat the physical +symptoms of the disorder, and Alice became more herself in time; but +there was such despair in her eyes that Cissy's heart was touched, +and bending over her she said-- + +"What is the matter, Alice? Is anything troubling you, beyond your +mistress's troubles?" + +Alice suddenly sat up and pushed the masses of damp hair out of her +eyes. + +"Oh, miss--I mean ma'am, I don't know how to bear it! I feel as +though the shame and misery of it would kill me!" + +"Now be calm, Alice; you will make yourself ill if you go on so; and +for your mistress's sake you must bear up. She will need your loving +care through this time of trouble. She has depended so upon you." + +Alice wrung her hands together in mute misery. + +"That is just it, ma'am--that is just it! She has been such a +loving, gentle, trusting mistress, and I have deceived her--I have +betrayed her trust!" + +"Alice, what do you mean? I do not understand." + +For a moment there was a great struggle in the girl's mind. Must she +keep her terrible secret, or was it her duty to speak? She swayed to +and fro in the tumult of her feelings; but the desire for human +sympathy and counsel prevailed over all other considerations, and she +cried out-- + +"Oh, ma'am, I am afraid--oh, I am terribly afraid--that it is my +husband who has robbed them. He was always on at me about the +jewels. He would have me let him have them to study the pattern. I +was silly and vain past belief. I thought some day I would have such +things to wear myself, and sometimes he would bring me home a necklet +or bracelet just like one of the mistress's, and I would wear it at +some party, and think I looked like her. Of course they were all +shams, and I knew it, but they were very clever shams. I used to +think he did it to please me, but I begin to see he had another +purpose now. I couldn't make it out always--he was so keen to know +so many things where the jewels were concerned; and I told him +everything, and showed him everything, and contrived often to have +them in my keeping for a bit, that I might please him by a sight of +them. And so, ma'am--I fear now that he has got the real ones, and +left the sham ones in their place. There's lots of times he could +have done it, for I never would have suspected him of such a +thing--never!--never!" + +She broke down into sobbing again, and Cissy, who had heard something +of the loss of the stones and the manner of their disappearance, was +lost in astonishment at the tale. True, she had always felt an +instinctive distrust of the man Garth, but she had never supposed him +capable of such deliberate treachery as this. She felt deeply sorry +for the unhappy wife, who, with all her little faults and vanities, +had been loyal and devoted to her mistress all her life through. + +"But, Alice, I am dreadfully sorry to hear this. And if this is so, +where is your husband? Has he told you? How do you know?" + +"My heart tells me," said Alice, with a mournful certainty that was +more eloquent than any burst of tears. "Did you not hear? He has +gone too. He was sent back with a message to my lady, but he never +came. Nothing has been heard of him since. He did not even say +good-bye to me. He had the jewels; he cared for nothing else. I +shall never see him again! He used me to get his wicked will--and +then he left me. He never really loved me--I have known that for a +long time now. He admired me, and thought I should be a useful tool +and dupe--that is all! He has said so in his sleep. He has showed +me his evil heart. He has done now what will make him afraid ever to +come back--unless he is caught and brought back! I shall never see +him again, unless I see him in a felon's dock. And once I thought he +loved me!" + +She covered her face with her hands, and turned it to the wall. Her +tears were all shed now; a dull lethargy was creeping over her. +Cissy knew not whether to speak or to leave her alone, but the +question was decided for her by a knock at the door; she opened it to +find a maid standing without, who said-- + +"If you please, ma'am, the Captain and Miss St. Claire are here. I +am afraid to disturb the mistress. I thought I had better tell you." + +"The Captain" was the name Edmund went by in the household, where he +was a great favourite. Cissy already felt as though she had gained a +brother in him. + +"I will come immediately," she said, and hastened downstairs. + +The drawing-room door stood open, and within were Edmund and Maud, +standing with grave, expectant faces, as though either the bearers or +recipients of evil tidings. Maud moved hastily forward. + +"Mother sent me, Cissy. She heard they had come back. She could not +rest a moment; and Edmund drove me across. What has happened? and +where is Desmond?" + +"I don't know," answered Cissy gravely. "Odeyne does not know. I +dare not say much--she is on the verge of a nervous fever. Desmond +is gone off somewhere--she does not know where. Guy had a wire from +him from Dover early this morning--that is the last we have heard of +him." + +Edmund whistled. Maud threw up her hands with a little gesture as of +despair. + +"He has absconded!" she exclaimed in a tone that was little above a +whisper. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +_THE CRASH._ + +"Where has he gone, Odeyne? Where has he gone? He could not have +left you without a word, as Algernon has left me. They have gone +together--and surely you know where they are!" + +It was Beatrice who spoke these words; but such a white, wild-eyed +Beatrice, that Odeyne hardly knew her. + +She broke in upon her at dusk, on that strange day of confusion and +bewilderment, and her haggard face bespoke the mental suffering +through which she had passed during the past four-and-twenty hours. + +Odeyne turned upon her quickly, and took her by the hands. + +"Of whom are you speaking, Beatrice? Has Algernon gone too? What +does it mean? Oh, what does it mean?" + +"It means that we are ruined, ruined, ruined!" cried Beatrice, +sinking into a chair and covering her face with her hands. "But, +Odeyne, speak, tell me--where is Desmond? You must at least know +that!" + +"I do not know," answered Odeyne in a very low voice. "He went +away--I think he has gone abroad--on business. He will no doubt +write soon. Is Algernon gone too?" + +"They went together. So much we know, but nothing else. It is +terrible, terrible, terrible! Odeyne, I went back home to Rotherham +Park to-day to see if there was any trace of Algy there. Do you know +what I found there? Bailiffs in possession--the place and all its +contents up for sale...." She paused and uttered a strange +hysterical laugh. "Will that be the fate of the Chase next? Has +Desmond, too, absconded, leaving a mountain of debt behind? Are we +both to be left to the mercy of our own relations, whilst our +husbands have to flee the country for safety?" + +"Beatrice, what do you mean?" asked Odeyne almost sharply, conscious +of a pang at her heart that she could not understand or subdue. "Why +do you speak such terrible words? Tell me what has happened. I do +not understand." + +With a great effort Beatrice commanded herself, and made Odeyne sit +down beside her. + +"How much do you know of this wretched business?" she asked. + +"I do not understand anything. Desmond never spoke to me of his +affairs. I know that something is terribly wrong; but I think he has +gone away to try and set it right." + +"He has gone away because it can never be set right," said Beatrice, +"and because he is involved in a fraudulent scheme, which has +involved a number of persons in ruin. I can't tell how far he and +Algernon have been dupes, or how far they have duped others. I +believe that man Garth has been at the bottom of a great deal of the +villainy of this last bubble. They got to trust him more and more. +Sometimes I told Algy they left too much to him. It began by merely +dabbling in stocks and shares--speculating on the Stock Exchange +people call it; and Desmond was very quick, and made great sums, and +Algy too, by his advice. But men never know where to stop, and one +thing led to another. I don't understand details, but it is some +great mining scheme that has ruined us all. It has broken now like a +bubble--and what will be the end no one knows. Meantime Desmond and +Algy and Garth have all disappeared. That gives it a very ugly look. +Oh, if I were a man I would stay and face things out! I would never +run away like a coward, and let all the misery and shame fall upon +the defenceless women at home!" And Beatrice's eyes flashed as she +wrung her hands together half in angry scorn, half in despair. + +"And your house, Beatrice, what did you say about that?" + +"Algy's creditors have taken possession of it, my dear. I am a +homeless outcast. My mother will give me an asylum for the present; +and I believe there is a small pittance settled upon me which will +just keep me and the boy from starvation! You may thank your stars, +Odeyne, that the Chase is entailed, and that Desmond made a handsome +settlement upon you. His creditors will not be able to fleece you +and the boy. You will live in clover, whoever else loses." + +Odeyne drew her brows together in perplexity. + +"But if Desmond has debts--I don't think he has--but if he has, of +course I shall pay them. I would not touch the money till every +claim was satisfied." + +Beatrice uttered a mirthless little laugh. + +"My dear, I fancy that before Desmond's claims were all +satisfied--claims upon him, I should say, from those whom he has +involved in his ruin, there would be nothing left at all! It is +generally the way when men lose their heads over some scheme of +fabulous wealth and it topples about their ears. Be thankful that +you are placed above want, and stick to everything you can. That is +my advice; and if you can't help me to any news of our husbands I +will go back to mother again. One mercy is that she gauged the +characters of both Desmond and Algy pretty correctly. She is not +crushed with horror at this catastrophe as Maud is. She has been +preparing herself for it all along." + +Beatrice was too restless and excited and unnerved to remain long +anywhere, and Odeyne did not seek to detain her. The day had been +one long series of shocks, and she wanted time for thought. She had +sent Guy and Cissy back to their home an hour ago, wishing to be +quiet that evening; and they had left her, hoping she would not fully +realise all that had come upon her. Perhaps she had not done so till +the arrival of Beatrice; but now she felt that her eyes had been +opened, and that she could not close them any more. She must think +out the thing that had befallen, and decide upon her own line of +action. + +She went up to the nursery, to find the child sleeping the sound, +dreamless sleep of healthy childhood. He had responded at once to +removal into the pure air of his home. All the feverish fretfulness +had left him since his midday nap; he now looked as well as even his +mother could desire. + +Thankful that one threatened source of anxiety was removed, Odeyne +dismissed the nurse to her supper, and sat down beside the open +window, in a position where she could command a view of the sleeping +child, to review the situation, and put together the different items +of news dropped by one and another, so as to get a clear idea of the +exact position of affairs. + +But she had hardly composed herself to the task before the door +opened softly, and a wan, white face peered in, and Odeyne, after +looking at it a moment as if hardly recognising it, suddenly held out +her hand, exclaiming-- + +"My poor Alice, come here to me. We are both suffering the same +trouble. I fear, my poor child, it was a bad day for you when you +elected to follow me out into the world." + +Alice's face quivered, but her tears had all been shed. She was calm +now, though she looked like a ghost. She came forward and stood +before Odeyne, her eyes upon the ground. + +"I wanted to see you, ma'am; I wanted to tell you everything. The +fault is mine. I was deceived. I let myself be made a tool of. It +was vanity that did it--I wanted to be finer than my right station. +I see it all now; but that will not bring back the jewels--and it is +my husband who robbed you!" + +She covered her face with her hands and trembled. Odeyne had begun +to suspect this before, so Alice's statement did not take her by +surprise. Beatrice had plainly spoken her opinion of Garth; and the +disappearance of the confidential clerk at such a moment looked ugly. +Yet all that Odeyne said was-- + +"My poor Alice, I feel for you from the bottom of my heart. We are +both in great trouble and perplexity. Sit down, my poor child, and +let us talk together. There is so much I want to know. We are both +ignorant and inexperienced; but perhaps, if we compare notes, we +shall come to a clearer understanding of what has happened. Tell me, +Alice, do you know the nature of the work in which my husband and +yours have been engaged of late? It has nothing to do with the +business house where Mr. St. Claire has been connected. It is +something altogether independent of that." + +Alice did not know much, nor was she very clear; but bit by bit +Odeyne seemed to see the thing piecing itself together before her +eyes. Desmond had begun by small speculations, and had been very +fortunate. He had employed Garth a good deal in these transactions, +and the quickness of the subordinate had been very useful. Their +ventures had turned out well time after time. Algernon Vanborough, +to whom gambling in some form or another was as the salt of life, had +been drawn in--good nature prompting Desmond to try and share any +good thing with his luckless brother-in-law. Algernon had been +terribly unlucky of late upon the turf; but for a considerable time +he was very fortunate in this new sort of speculation. + +Then came a repetition of a state of affairs between the two men with +which Odeyne had never been conversant, but which was well known to +the rest of the family. + +Desmond had once before posed as Algernon's reformer, and the +experiment had led to his being drawn into the losses of that +extravagant young man, which might have led both of them to ruin, had +it not been for Desmond's sudden successes on the Stock Exchange. He +believed himself stronger than Vanborough and his associates. In +reality he was far weaker, as those who understood his real +disposition were well aware. + +So it had proved in this case. Vanborough had been bitten by a +hundred dreams of wealth, and had plunged into speculations of the +wildest nature. Desmond was only too easily induced to follow; and +their trusted tool, Garth, was plainly nothing better than an +unscrupulous sharper. How far any one of the three had become +criminally involved could not at this moment be decided. The fact +that all three had fled in one night looked ugly, and aroused +Odeyne's keenest anxiety. But not even to Alice would she speak of +her most terrible fear. That must be locked away in the recesses of +her own heart. + +"But, ma'am, you are safe, and the Chase is safe," Alice said eagerly +at the end. "Walter always told me that nothing could hurt you, +because of the settlements and the entail. The master's creditors +can't touch that. He always said that it was such a pity Mrs. +Vanborough's money had not been tied up fast too." + +Odeyne looked round her, and then out of the window, at the expanse +of dewy park and gardens. She had come to love her beautiful home +very dearly; yet she spoke with great composure. + +"That may be the law, Alice; but there are moral obligations to think +of as well as mere legal ones. If I find that others are suffering +loss through any action of my husband's I shall make every +restitution in my power. Master Guy is too young as yet to +understand or feel any change in position. The Chase will some day +be his, but it will not hurt him to leave it for a time. Unless +things turn out very differently from what I fear, I shall try to +find a tenant for it, and let it furnished, and live somewhere myself +on as little as possible, till all the claims that are just and right +have been settled." + +Alice looked at her in mute admiration and amaze. It was some while +before she ventured upon the next question. + +"But where could you go, ma'am? Back home again?" + +"I think not," answered Odeyne quietly; "I do not think that would +quite answer. And I should like to be in some place where the master +could easily find me if he wanted me. I have been thinking about it +a good deal. I think I shall remove, with baby and nurse, to those +rooms in your lodge, Alice, which were built on before you married. +Hannah would come with me, and you would not leave me, Alice. There +we could hide ourselves in obscurity, and wait till our husbands +return to us!" + +Alice sank down upon her knees beside Odeyne, bursting once more into +bitter weeping. + +"Yours will come back to you some day, ma'am; for he loves you, he +loves you. But I shall never see Walter again. He has gone for +ever. I do not think he ever cared for me. I was useful to him; but +that was all. He left me without a word or a sign. He will never +come back!" + +"Oh, Alice, do not say that! I thought he was always an affectionate +husband, and that you were so happy together." + +"At first I was happy, because he promised me all sorts of fine +things, and dressed me up and made a fool of me. But I never got any +hold upon him, ma'am. I was always afraid to say a word. If I +thought him wrong, I dared not say so. I wasn't true to my better +self, nor to the things I'd been brought up to. I let him coax me to +do what I knew was wrong; and though he praised me for obeying him, I +see now that he despised me in his heart. I lost his respect, and I +think when that goes, love soon follows. If I'd been a truer woman, +maybe I'd have been a happier one, and have held him back from that +great last wrong." + +Odeyne was silent, casting her mind back over the past years, and +wondering whether she, perhaps, had erred in like manner. Had she +been always true to her better judgment? Could she have done more +than she had attempted to withhold her husband from his perilous +courses? Humbly she admitted her shortcomings and failings, humbly +she took upon herself freely and fully her share in the punishment; +but one ray of comfort gilded the retrospect. She had never lost her +husband's love, her husband's confidence and respect. He had always +called her his "good angel," his "guiding star." Often she had told +him that he must not thus speak and regard her--that she was no +angel, no safe guide; but his answer had always been one so full of +love that she could not chide him over-much. + +Yes, he had loved her all through; nothing had changed that; and he +had always been looking forward to a time when this feverish race +after wealth should be over, and they could enjoy a quiet life +together as of old. + +Ah, how happy they could have been in some humble little home, with +each other and the child, if he had only been able to see it! But +the thirst for gold was upon him, and he could heed nothing else +whilst it lasted; and when once the tide of fortune seemed to have +turned against him he lost his head, as too many men of his calibre +do in like case; then things had gone desperately wrong, and he had +become involved in all manner of ways before he realised his own +position, or the peril looming over him. + +Bit by bit Guy and Edmund made all this out. Things were in a +terrible tangle. There were angry creditors to meet, and, what was +harder still, broken-hearted dupes, who had been tempted to follow +Desmond's lead, believing him to be some great financial light, and +then had awoke to find themselves cheated by the veriest +will-o'-the-wisp, and landed in a quagmire of poverty and loss. + +The legitimate claims upon Desmond's estate were sufficiently heavy +in all conscience; but these could gradually be met and discharged by +incomings from the business house, the partners in which showed +themselves very well disposed and kindly at this juncture of affairs. +Although of late Desmond's attendance at the office had been +irregular and meagre, he had done some good service by his quickness +and energy, when he had really given his mind to the matter before +him, and they were ready to stand his friend now. They thought he +had made a great mistake in disappearing like a criminal, as though +his affairs could not bear the light of day. True enough, there were +some shady transactions among them, but nothing which could actually +bring him under the ban of the law. Nor were his affairs in such +desperate condition as those of his brother-in-law. There seemed +reason enough why that gentleman had given his country a wide berth +at this juncture; but Desmond would have done better to stay, and +face the thing out to the bitter end. + +This was the opinion of those who strove to look into the ugly +business and unravel the many tangled skeins; but Odeyne, hearing bit +by bit how matters stood, understood better than her brothers how +terrible a thing it would be to Desmond to face the situation he had +brought upon himself. + +She remembered the strained, anxious face of Mrs. Neil at that +hateful ball. It had haunted her almost ever since. The Neils were +persons who had been tempted to their ruin by Desmond's name as +director of this luckless mining venture. He might have encouraged +them to place their money in it; and there were many others in like +case with them. Oh yes, Odeyne could understand his disappearance +and his silence. Desmond had a tender heart and a sensitive nature. +He could not bear to see sorrow and suffering about him. She had +often reproved him gently for his almost reckless liberality, when +any case of distress came personally beneath his notice. How could +he bear to meet the people whom he had (consciously or unconsciously) +helped to ruin? It was not wonderful to her that he should have +fled. There had always been a vein of moral cowardice in Desmond's +nature. She had not realised it as fully before as she did now; but +this knowledge helped her to understand Desmond's desperate flight at +this juncture better than many persons understood it. They thought +he believed himself more deeply incriminated than he was. Odeyne did +not. She believed he was kept away by the dread of seeing and +hearing of suffering which his blind confidence had occasioned. + +"Edmund," said Odeyne, as her brothers laid before her the state of +affairs some three weeks after the first shock, "you say that I have +an income of twelve hundred a year--apart from the business, which is +going to pay off the legal debts in instalments--and this house to +live in. What rental should I get for the Chase if I were to let it +furnished for two or three years?" + +"Odeyne! what do you mean?" he asked quickly. + +"I mean what I say. I am not going to live here without Desmond. +You say he may come back any day when he sees by the papers (if he +does see them) that there is no danger to himself in doing so; but I +know him better. I do not think he will come. He is gone because he +cannot bear to see and hear of the misery of the people who have been +ruined through following his lead in those wretched mines. Guy, you +have seen some of those people. Tell me, if I were to sell off some +of the expensive things here that Desmond bought for me--the house +has been perfectly crowded with them--and let the house furnished for +three years, and live at the lodge with little Guy and two servants, +on a couple of hundreds a year, how soon would there be something to +give back to these people--enough to save them from ruin? Desmond +has spent hundreds, if not thousands, upon ornaments and curios and +beautiful things that the house does not really want. If I were to +send a lot of them up to Christie's--they are all presents to me that +I am speaking of--and sell them off, would not that go some way +towards starting some of these poor things in life again? And then, +as money came in, it would go towards refunding a part of their lost +capital. Edmund, don't stare at me as though I were out of my +senses. Guy understands. I am not going to do anything very wild +and rash; but I cannot--I cannot live on here alone in every luxury, +whilst people like the Neils, and others, are ruined, and all by +trusting Desmond's advice. With the rest I have nothing to do, only +those who trusted him with their money, and lost it through him." + +Edmund whistled softly to himself. Guy laid his hand upon Odeyne's +hand, and said gently-- + +"I will help you, _Schwesterling_--I think I know them all; there are +not so very many; but some few have lost their all. It has been very +sad to see them; but it will be new life for them to know that +something will be done. There is no legal obligation upon you, but I +think you will be happier, and there is room in our little house for +you and the boy, till you can return to the Chase again." + +There were tears of gratitude in her eyes as she answered-- + +"Thank you, dear Guy. It will be sweet to have you so near, but I +would rather go to the lodge, and have my own little home there, and +a place for Desmond always ready. I think he will come and seek me +there some day. Till then I shall be happier there than I could be +here. Edmund, dear, you are not vexed with me. Indeed I am trying +to do what is really the most right thing, and to clear my husband's +name and good fame from any shadow that may have fallen across it." + +Edmund bent over her and kissed her again and again. + +"I think you are the best wife and the best woman in the world. +People may say you are doing a Quixotic thing, but I truly believe +you will be the happier for doing it, and I know that Maud will bless +you for clearing Desmond's name. She is taking it very hard, poor +darling. It has come upon her, and you, as a greater blow than upon +many." + +"Thank you, dear Edmund; and you will help me to sell such things as +I can part with at once, and to find a tenant for the house as +quickly as possible?" + +"There will be no trouble about that," said Edmund quickly. "General +Mannering was asking me only the other day if there would be any +chance of getting such a house in this neighbourhood. I believe he +would jump at the Chase, and give a good rental as a yearly tenant. +He would not care for any sort of lease, as his movements are rather +uncertain." + +Odeyne's face brightened as it had not done for many days. + +"Ah, how nice that would be! Dear Edmund, do see about it as quickly +as possible. I cannot be happy here, missing Desmond so terribly, +and feeling that all this display and expense are such a mockery. I +want to get away into a smaller place as soon as possible, and to +feel that I am doing something towards paying off what I can only +call Desmond's 'debts of honour.'" + +If Odeyne met no opposition from her brothers, she was not destined +to come off scatheless in other quarters. + +Upon the next day, as she stood surrounded by a collection of +articles she was selecting to send up to be sold at the first +possible date, Beatrice suddenly burst in upon her in a state of the +greatest excitement. + +"Odeyne! what is this I hear? You must be mad! You must not dream +of such a thing! Let the Chase, indeed! Sell all your valuables! +It is sheer madness! What people like you and I have to do is just +to stick to everything--everything! Defy the world, and throw +sentiment of every kind to the winds! Why, if I had your +opportunities I would add to my establishment, and flaunt about in +grand style, just to show I had nothing to be ashamed of! To go and +hide your head in a hole and give up everything to pay imaginary +debts! Odeyne, you must not do it! It is absurd! it is wicked!" + +Odeyne turned round with a sweet smile in her sad eyes. + +"I am so sorry you are vexed, Beatrice; but I think you would do the +same if you were in my position." + +Beatrice gave a hard laugh. She had changed very much during the +past weeks. She looked older, thinner, less brilliant; as if +something had gone out of her life which could never come back to it. + +"I ever give up anything for a sentimental scruple! That shows how +much you know!" + +"Not for a sentimental scruple, but for my dear husband's honour," +answered Odeyne quietly. "If you loved Algernon as I love Desmond +you would do the same for him--I know you would, Beatrice, whatever +you say." + +Beatrice was silent, biting her lips, and looking from place to place +in the familiar room with strange, restless glances. Then suddenly +flinging her arms about Odeyne's neck, she cried-- + +"Oh, we are two miserable, unhappy creatures, Odeyne; but if only I +could be like you!--if only I could be like you! Teach me how, if +you can." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +_THE TWO WIVES._ + +"Jem, dear, is this your handiwork? How good of you! I have been +wanting to see you often, but there has been so much to think of. My +poor child, you look worn out. You have been tiring yourself making +it all so pretty for me here." + +Jem's face was quivering all over; she was striving to laugh and be +gay, whilst all the time she felt as though the sadness of everything +was altogether too much for her. + +She turned round with a rather startled face when first Odeyne's +voice fell upon her ear. She had been working now for two days in +the pleasant rooms at the lodge, striving might and main to make them +look as much like Odeyne's favourite rooms at the Chase as human +hands could do. She had decorated the place with flowers till it +looked like a bower, and from the little personal knick-knacks sent +down from the house she had selected such as were most suitable for +each room, and produced a very home-like and artistic effect. She +had half meant to disappear before Odeyne should herself arrive; but +she had lingered on, putting an additional touch here and there, to +be sure that everything looked its best; and here was Odeyne actually +on the spot without warning of any kind. + +Odeyne saw the struggle in the sensitive countenance of her little +loving admirer, and just opened her arms, into which Jem rushed with +a strangled sob; and the next minute they were sitting side by side +upon the sofa, Jem sobbing as though her heart would break, Odeyne +striving to soothe and comfort her. + +Jem loved Odeyne with that passionate, almost adoring love which very +young girls often feel towards women older than themselves. The +troubles at the Chase had been heart-rending to her, and she had +shrunk from seeming to pry into the sorrow of the young wife, +although she had longed with a great and ardent longing to see her +again, and try and express her sympathy and love. + +An outlet for her energies had been found in the adornment of these +new quarters for Odeyne and her child. Guy and Cissy were almost all +their time at the Chase, helping in the task of setting it in order +for the new tenants. The majority of the servants had left. Things +were rather in confusion and disorder up there; and as General +Mannering desired possession as quickly as could be, and Odeyne was +equally eager to quit, things had gone forward at a great rate; but +nobody (save Jem) had had thought or time to give to the setting in +order at the Lodge of the various goods and chattels sent down there. +Odeyne had said that she could see to all that later, and had not +troubled herself in any way about that part of the business. + +Nobody, perhaps, save the loving and rather over-bold Jem, would have +had the assurance to unpack and set in order Odeyne's private +possessions and treasured articles, endeared to her by association. +But Jem's love was of that kind which ignores all minor scruples in +its desire to do service to the object of devotion; and she had +toiled and worked with a will for two long days, and now the result +was such that Odeyne looked about her with shining eyes, and +exclaimed-- + +"Dearest Jem, how pretty you have made it! What put it into your +head to be such a sweet little fairy? I am so much obliged to you, +my child! I thought I should never have the heart to do it for +myself; but this is lovely!" + +This tribute to her success dried Jem's tears, and she looked into +Odeyne's face (as she had not dared to do before) to seek to read +there an answer to questions she must not put. But Odeyne rose with +a tiny shake of the head, as though she half knew what Jem's +beseeching gaze meant, and busied herself by admiring the pretty +rooms and their wealth of flowers. + +Then arrived the pony phaeton, with Alice and Hannah and the boy. +Jem rushed at little Guy and caught him in her arms. They were fast +friends now, for Jem had made a practice of waylaying him on his +airings and ingratiating herself with him. Little Guy was the +happiest of one-year-old mortals, with a laugh and a funny name of +his own for everybody. Jem had been dubbed "Polly," for no reason +that the adult mind could fathom, and when in an extra merry mood +this would be turned into "Pretty Poll, Pretty Poll!"--to the immense +delight of Jem, who would make parrot noises and parrot faces, till +both she and the child were weary of laughing. + +Guy evidently considered Pretty Poll one of the adjuncts of the new +home. He trotted from room to room holding fast by her hand, +chattered unceasingly if not very intelligibly the whole time, and +took to his new domain like a duck to water. + +Jem had everything ready for an inviting tea. The kitchen-maid from +the Chase had been retained by Odeyne as cook at the lodge, and Alice +had eagerly volunteered to do all the housework with a little +assistance from Hannah. These three servants were very devoted to +their mistress, and were resolved that she should never suffer from +lack of personal and loving tendance. But for the wearing anxiety +caused by the absence and total silence of Desmond, Odeyne felt that +she could be far happier in this simple little home than she had +often been at the Chase, surrounded by every luxury. As it was, the +cloud rested upon her night and day. She could not lose the sense of +her husband's wrong-doing and weakness. She was confronted daily +with the results of his recent practices; and, though she might +strive hard to make restitution, she could never undo the past, or +forget how grievously he had fallen. + +Yet her love could triumph over all else, and her prayer went up for +him night and day--that prayer which brings its answer in time, +because it is the prayer of faith. + +The first night spent by Odeyne in her new home was not an unhappy +one, despite the strangeness of the change which had come into her +life. Guy came in for an hour in the evening, for the little house +he had taken for himself and his bride was less than half a mile from +the lodge. It was so comforting to Odeyne to have this special +brother so close at hand, that it made amends for much. Edmund she +had not seen for many days; but that did not surprise her, as he was +a busy man, and already he had given more time than he could well +afford into the examination of her affairs. + +"I saw him three days ago--he was looking very seedy," said Guy; "but +he would not allow anything was the matter. I hope he has not been +in any way involved in Desmond's unlucky speculations. His manner +was certainly a little strange; but I think he would have told me +before if he had been in any embarrassment. We talked so freely of +the business in all its bearings, and Edmund is very open about his +affairs." + +Odeyne was easily roused to anxiety now; she had had only too much +reason to be; but Guy quieted her fears, and left her tranquil and +composed; and upon the morrow she was destined to learn something +which fully accounted for the change in Edmund. + +Mrs. St. Claire had hardly seen Odeyne during these past weeks. +Although not so taken by surprise as some others by this sudden +crash, it had affected her health somewhat, and she had had little +energy or strength for getting about; but now that Odeyne had +actually taken up her abode at the lodge, Desmond's mother was +resolved to pay her an early visit; and upon the following afternoon +she and Maud were ushered up into the pleasant flower-scented room, +which had been made so trim and comfortable by Jem's loving fingers. + +Mrs. St. Claire began by striving to retain her customary alert +manner, and by passing some spicy remarks about the lodge, and +Desmond's forethought in preparing it all so thoughtfully against +this catastrophe; but suddenly catching the look in Odeyne's eyes, +she stopped suddenly, and put her hands upon the girl's shoulders, +kissing her almost passionately again and again. + +"My dear," she said, "I hate scenes. I do not want to make things +worse; and sympathy is often the most trying thing to bear. But I +should like to tell you how I admire and respect you. I should like +to thank you for what, in your unconventional bravery, you are doing +to save my son's honour and good name in the eyes of men who look +below the bare legal side of the matter." + +Odeyne only said simply, as she returned Mrs. St. Claire's embraces-- + +"He is my husband." + +"Would to God he were worthy of such a wife!" exclaimed the mother in +a voice that broke in spite of her efforts after calmness. "My dear, +I do not think I could do it in your place; but I can recognise +nobility and true unselfishness when I see it. He is your +husband--you want no thanks of mine, I know. But yet I must tell you +how I appreciate such conduct, though the world may call it foolish." + +Long did Desmond's wife and mother talk together, feeling more drawn +towards each other than ever before. Maud meantime sat a little +apart, looking pale and inanimate, and speaking no word. Odeyne +glanced at her two or three times, but always saw her looking out of +the window with the same absorbed gaze. She felt that something was +amiss, but knew Maud too well to seek to force her confidence; but +she did hope she might have the chance of speaking to her alone +before the pair left. + +Nor was she disappointed in this. The grandmother must pay a visit +to the boy before leaving, and see where he was lodged. Odeyne took +her to the nursery-room, but did not enter with her, returning to the +other apartment, where Maud still sat in the same listless way, +seemingly unheeding what went on. + +"Maud, dear, is anything the matter?" she asked. + +"You have not heard, then? You have not seen Edmund?" + +"No," answered Odeyne with a sense of comprehension, "he has not been +here for some time. Maud, what is the matter?" + +"Nothing so very much, after all; it was hardly an engagement. There +were many uncertainties and difficulties. But it is all over now. I +shall never marry." + +Odeyne looked at her in astonishment. It was true that the tacit +engagement between her brother and Desmond's sister had been little +spoken about, and was looked upon as rather indefinite; but those who +best knew them had never doubted for a moment that there was warm +love on both sides, and that before long some way would be found by +which difficulties would be overcome, and the marriage consummated. +Therefore this passionately spoken reply of Maud's perplexed her not +a little. + +"But what has happened to change you? I can't understand you, Maud." + +"Can you not? I should have thought it was so easy. How have the +marriages with my family turned out so far?" burst out Maud with the +bitterness of long pent-up feeling. "How has Desmond treated you, +Odeyne? What of Beatrice and Algernon? It is not for me to sit in +judgment upon my own flesh and blood, yet I always maintain that if +Beatrice had been a different woman she might have held Algernon back +from much that has worked his ruin. But she wanted to be rich as +much as he did, and now what has it come to? She has to come back to +mother--to be a drag and a constant source of worry to her. Nothing +but ill follows a marriage with a St. Claire. Edmund had better be +thankful for his dismissal. We do not want a third fiasco in one +family." + +"Maud! Maud!" cried Odeyne in distress, "do you know you are talking +very wildly? Is Edmund's happiness in life and his trust in +womanhood to be wrecked because Desmond has been wild and +ill-advised, and because Beatrice is--what we have always known her +to be?" + +Maud clutched at Odeyne's hand and wrung it in her pain. + +"Edmund will get over it--men always do. He will soon see that he +has had a good escape. He knows how near Desmond trod to the borders +of--disgrace." + +Odeyne went white to the lips. Her voice shook as she asked-- + +"Maud, do you know what you are saying--and to me?" + +"I do," answered Maud almost passionately. "Would that I did not +know! They have been merciful to you. They have put everything in +the best possible light, but I have heard all. And I, who loved him +only second-best to you--I know that only by the skin of his teeth +has he saved himself from the clutches of the law. His flight shows +that he knew himself morally guilty, though they say he is just safe +from arrest. Algernon can never return home; Desmond may. But +knowing what I do, and that Edmund knows all--oh, I cannot!--I +cannot! It humbles me to the very dust! He shall not link his name +with one that is all but smirched and sullied!" + +Odeyne felt as though a sword were running through her heart. What +others had sought to hide from her, or to put in the gentlest way, +Maud in her pain had spoken out in almost merciless frankness. It +was terrible; and yet Odeyne still kept her mind upon the question of +Maud and Edmund, leaving herself and her anguish in the background of +her thoughts. + +"Is Edmund to suffer for Desmond's sins?" + +"It cannot be helped. It is always so. It is the inexorable way of +the world," answered Maud, speaking now more calmly, with a sort of +quiet desperation. "But there is another reason also, Odeyne. +Hitherto I have always had the uncontrolled use of my own fortune. I +have been, in a modest way, a well-to-do woman. Had I married Edmund +we could have lived in comfort on our joint means, but now all is +changed. Beatrice and her child are thrown back upon mother's hands; +Beatrice, with her expensive habits and her load of private debts for +a whole season's extravagances. What you are doing for your husband, +Odeyne, I must do for my sister; and there is her future to think of +too." + +Odeyne was silent. She saw very plainly that the maintenance of +Beatrice and the boy would be no light burden. + +"Mother has never been a saving woman," continued Maud in the same +steady monotonous way. "There was no reason why she should not live +up to her income. We were provided for, and there would be more for +us, in any case, at her death. She has grown used to her comfortable +manner of life; one cannot expect her to alter at her age; and there +is no margin for so expensive an addition to her household as +Beatrice, with nurse and child. The cost of these additions must +come out of my purse. Nor could I leave mother alone with such a +charge upon her hands. That was always a difficulty in thinking of +marriage--now it has become insuperable." + +"Edmund would wait----" began Odeyne, but Maud interrupted almost +fiercely. + +"Wait--what for? Till Algernon is whitewashed--which will be never! +Till Beatrice has learned to live upon the pittance still secured to +her?--though we believe that Algernon will contrive to get hold of +that still! No, no, no! I have made up my mind. I know what is +right, and I have done it. It is kind to be cruel sometimes. Try +not to hate me--to hate us all, Odeyne--for the misery we have +brought to you and yours! Oh, Desmond, Desmond! I loved and trusted +you so long and faithfully!" + +Odeyne took Maud in her arms and kissed her again and again; but she +felt that words were powerless here. Moreover, what to say she knew +not; the whole question was so difficult. Maud had a hard and bitter +way of doing things, but Odeyne was not sure that she had not judged +rightly and well. If things were indeed in such a case, marriage did +seem out of the question, and an engagement under such circumstances +became little better than a mockery. + +But could Beatrice sit down quietly and see such a sacrifice made on +her behalf? That was the question which presented itself to Odeyne +after her visitors had left her alone. Beatrice had clung about +Odeyne's neck only the other day, seeming to be longing after +something higher and better than her former code. Surely, if she +gave her nobler nature scope, she would come to understand that it +was not right for Maud's future happiness (to say nothing of +Edmund's) to be sacrificed to her present ease and comfort. She +would surely be roused, to a different sort of existence. She would +not long b& content to be a burden upon her sister. + +Odeyne waited with some impatience for a visit from Beatrice, that +she might learn from her frank lips how things were going. She had +some little while to wait, for Beatrice did not come for some +considerable time and then Odeyne was surprised to find her most +elegantly dressed, looking almost as blooming as in days of old, all +her sunny good-temper restored, and her aspect as bright and beaming +as though nothing were amiss. + +"I have had to do duty for us both in the neighbourhood, Odeyne," she +cried. "I suppose you could not help it--you are made like that; but +it is always a mistake for people in our circumstances to shut +themselves up, as if they could not face the world. I have been +going about everywhere and making the best of things--not ignoring +our misfortunes, of course, they are too well known for that--but +putting the best face on them, and showing that we have no cause to +hide our heads. That is what a good wife does for her husband. You +are doing your share in another way; but I am not as careless of +Algernon's good name as you might think. Already I am much better +received than I was at first. I assure you I have been very clever +and diplomatic. Really things might have been much worse. It is +such peace now, living in mother's house, with everything provided +for one, and no worries. She enjoys all the life and brightness I +bring. Poor dear Maud never had any animation, and she and mother +never got on too well together, though they hide their little +differences from the world very well." + +Beatrice was always a good one to talk. Odeyne had nothing to do for +a long time but sit and listen to her in a species of amaze. She +could hardly believe this was the same woman who a week or two back +had come to her with despair in her eyes and terror in her heart. +Already it seemed as though the pleasant life of Mrs. St. Claire's +house was making amends for all that had gone before. Beatrice +seemed to feel real relief in the absence of her husband, and hardly +troubled to conceal the fact. The weary heartache which Odeyne +suffered daily through Desmond's absence did not appear to be known +to Beatrice. + +"And you know, I suppose," she said at last in the midst of her +stream of animated talk, "that it is all over between Maud and +Edmund?" + +Odeyne flashed a wondering look at her. Surely she could not be as +callous as she appeared! + +"Maud told me so," she said; "I think it is terribly sad. They are +both heart-broken. Beatrice, can nothing be done?" + +Beatrice slightly shrugged her shapely shoulders. + +"I always think it is very dangerous work interfering in other +people's love affairs. Maud decided with open eyes. For my part, I +think she has chosen very wisely. The marriages in our family have +not turned out brilliantly successful so far; and Maud is very +comfortable as she is--the practical mistress of a pleasant house. +You will not take it amiss if I say that, as the wife of an officer +with little but his pay, she might have had a much less easy and +pleasant life of it." + +"But then ease and pleasure are not everything, Beatrice; love has +its part to play too." + +"Love has a way of flying out at the window when poverty looks in at +the door," said Beatrice, rather cynically, "and Maud was always a +cold-blooded creature. I think Edmund might do much better for +himself, such a handsome, attractive man as he is." + +Odeyne could not find words in which to frame her thoughts. She had +been hoping that Beatrice would grow gentler, softer, more unselfish +and womanly; and here she was finding her more heartless than ever +she had thought her before. Trouble seemed to have seared rather +than softened her nature. Every word she spoke grated upon Odeyne's +ears. Perhaps Beatrice was shrewd enough to see something of the +impression she had produced, for she looked rather intently into +Odeyne's face, and said-- + +"You seem to think that I have something to do with this affair of +Maud's ruptured engagement." + +Odeyne was silent, not knowing what to say. Beatrice paused for a +while, but receiving no reply, broke out again-- + +"Well, and if I have, can I help it? I must have a home somewhere, +and my mother's house is the natural asylum for me under the present +state of affairs. How can I help myself? I am grateful to Maud for +helping to pay my bills, although I have told her that since Algy +will have to be made a bankrupt, she really need not trouble herself +so very much. But she can't see things in that light. I can't live +upon nothing. And after all, she is my sister. I am grateful to +her--I really am--but you know what Maud is--one can't gush to a +block of marble! She keeps one at arm's-length, even while she is +doing kind actions. It's a great misfortune to have such a +temperament, and really I think Edmund is well off his bargain." + +"That is not Edmund's own opinion," said Odeyne, a little coldly. +"When people understand and love each other, they see in one another +what is hidden from the world. I would rather live in a cottage and +toil with my own hands, than stand in the way of the happiness of +others, and make shipwreck of two lives." + +She had not meant to speak like this, but a sudden wave of feeling +swept over her and carried her away in spite of herself. + +Beatrice eyed her reflectively and presently said-- + +"That is what you are doing already--for the sake of Desmond's good +name, is it not? Well, people like you who can practise, have a +right to preach. But I was never a heroine in any sense of the word. +Honestly, I can't see, under existing circumstances, how Maud could +marry, and take herself and her fortune away with her. And really, +with the sort of cloud hanging over all of us, I think we are better +without rushing into any more marriages. One hopes one has got to +the bottom of the slough by this time; but there is no knowing. I +think one Hamilton-St. Claire marriage is enough for the present." + +Odeyne turned a little away. This sort of talk jarred very much upon +her, as did Beatrice's hollow, selfish cynicism whenever she assumed +that manner. Was it assumed sometimes as a cloak and disguise? Was +Beatrice sometimes half afraid of letting her better warmer nature +get the upper hand, lest it should urge her to sacrifices she was not +really prepared to make? Odeyne had striven to think this before, +but to-day she began to have her doubts about there being any +unselfish side to Beatrice's nature. She was glad that the door +opened that moment to admit little Guy, who came toddling in after +his afternoon walk. He ran straight up to his mother, and then +stretched up his arms towards a picture of Desmond, which hung upon +the wall, and cried-- + +"Daddy!--Daddy!" + +It was evident that he expected to be lifted up to the +picture--evident that Odeyne was seeking to keep warm in the heart of +the baby-boy the love of the "Daddy" who had been of late but little +more than a name to him. + +Beatrice looked on, and suddenly bit her lip, rising abruptly to her +feet. Her little son never spoke of his father--hardly seemed to +seek out or to care for his mother. He was fond of his granny, and +devoted to his aunt Maud; but the sacred tie between parent and child +had hardly been formed as yet. How was it likely to be, when that +between husband and wife was so very slack? + +"Good-bye, Odeyne," she said suddenly, "you deserve to be happy, and +I hope there will be better days for you in store. I would give +something to be in your place, I can tell you. But the leopard +cannot change his spots. Perhaps there will be a chance for the boy +now, with somebody besides his mother to bring him up. Desmond was a +wise man to choose such a treasure of a wife. Whether you were wise +to take him is quite another matter; but I think the magnet of such a +wife would draw any man back, even from the ends of the earth!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +_A STRANGE CHRISTMAS._ + +"Here is Maud!" cried Cissy, springing up from the breakfast table, +the little bow-window of which looked out over the road, though in +summer a screen of greenery shut in the quaint little house from +being itself overlooked. The next minute she was out in the tiny +hall, hands outstretched and face alight with smiles. + +"A happy Christmas, Maud! a happy Christmas! You are early abroad. +Come in and have a cup of hot coffee. Have you had any proper +breakfast yet? Come and share ours!" + +Maud let herself be led into the homely little room, where she +received a further welcome from Guy. + +"Thank you," she said, "I have had a cup of tea, but I am ready for +something more substantial. As Beatrice has a cold and is +breakfasting in bed, I dispensed with that meal myself. I am on my +way to Odeyne. I wanted to be there when the post arrived, in +case--in case----" + +She paused and seemed to turn her attention to the food placed before +her. Cissy's face was full of sympathy, Guy's questioningly grave. + +"Maud," he said, "do you really share Odeyne's unspoken hope? Do you +think she will hear from Desmond to-day?" + +Maud pressed her hands together. Her lips quivered before she opened +them to speak. A change had passed over Maud during the past six +months. Her face had lost colour and was thinner than of old, yet it +had gained much in expression. The statuesque hardness had melted +into something much sweeter and tenderer. There was a wistful +softness in the eyes that was very appealing in its unconsciousness. +Maud had always been handsome, but in old days she had met with scant +admiration in her circle. Now there were many who thought her very +beautiful, and she was more beloved than she had been at any previous +stage of her existence. This consciousness was the drop of sweetness +to her in the bitter cup she had been schooling herself to drink. + +"How can I tell?" she said in answer to Guy's question; "I am +perplexed beyond measure at his long silence. It is not like Desmond +to give needless pain to those whom he loves, and yet only one +message has reached us all these months. We have done everything to +let him know that he may come back safely; yet he gives no sign. It +is wearing Odeyne out, though she is always brave and hopeful. But +he ought not to leave her in this uncertainty. He ought not!--he +ought not!" + +"But surely--at Christmas," began Cissy. + +"Yes, that is what Odeyne is saying in her heart--what we are all +saying and hoping. But I know Desmond so well--so well. It is like +this with him--he cannot realise what he does not see with his own +eyes. If he is somewhere far away, seeking to retrieve the past, and +to make amends for it--if he has made some plan of his own to stay +away a certain time, and then return and surprise us all, he may go +on month after month believing that his one cheerful message will be +enough to keep Odeyne from fretting--living himself in the present, +and looking forward to some future happy time when they will be +together again." + +"But surely, surely he must write!" + +"Of course he might! Of course he should. But I can quite believe +that he might not--might never realise all that we are suffering, +might think he was doing right and expiating his sins by hiding his +head for a time, and keeping away in exile. Oh, he has done things +like that before--on a much smaller scale. We have had days and +weeks of terrible anxiety about him in his boyhood and early manhood; +and the wondering excuse has always been, 'I never thought you would +worry so--of course I was all right. You would precious soon have +heard if I had not been!' That is Desmond all over; and now when he +has been overwhelmed with shame, and feels so utterly unworthy of +Odeyne's trust and love, and probably thinks that coming back would +bring him face to face with a mass of misery of his own making--why I +can understand in a measure that he keeps away and works out some +plan of his own. But he ought to write--he ought indeed!" + +"Let us hope he will--for Christmas," said Guy, "he and Algernon too. +Perhaps they are together, taking care of one another. But Beatrice +bears the uncertainty better than Odeyne." + +"The love is not the same, for one thing," said Maud. "Yet Beatrice +cares more than I gave her credit for once. She has been very +different latterly. The quiet life has given her time to think; and +when all is said and done, the marriage tie is a very solemn and +sacred thing. Poor Algernon had given her so much anxiety and +trouble, that for a time it was almost a relief to think of him as +out of harm's way somewhere. But she wants news of him badly now. +The suspense is telling upon her." + +"And your mother, how is she?" + +"Pretty well--not very bright. Sometimes I am afraid she is really +failing. She has never been quite herself since the troubles in +June. But she does not complain; only she is much more the invalid +than ever before. She has not left the house for nearly a month. +But the little maiden was taken to see her yesterday. It was a great +delight, and has done her good. But oh, to think that Desmond does +not know! It ought not to be! No, it ought not to be!" + +Cissy and Guy both prepared to accompany Maud to the lodge, to be +there before the arrival of the postman, who was always late on +Christmas Day morning. + +There had been both anxiety and rejoicing at that little home within +the last fortnight, for a little daughter had been born to Odeyne--a +frail, tiny morsel of humanity, who had made her appearance before +she was expected--but she was thriving well in spite of drawbacks, +and had already done something towards comforting the heart of her +mother. + +"She will be a little Christmas present for Desmond," had been her +remark when first the tiny creature had been placed in her arms. +"Desmond will come back for Christmas, you know. We could not spend +Christmas apart, and he must come and see his precious little +daughter." + +Words like this had often passed Odeyne's lips during the past days, +causing some anxiety to those about her, who were almost nervous of +the way in which she seemed to have made up her mind that Desmond +would return at this season. + +When her brothers or friends had asked her what she really thought +about this, and if she had any grounds to go upon, she would smile +peacefully and say-- + +"I feel it in my spirit somehow. I cannot put it into words, but +something tells me he is near. He is coming back to us. He would be +sure to do so for Christmas. He may have far to come. He may not +come just to the day or hour, but he is coming--surely--surely. +Perhaps we shall have a letter on Christmas Day to say when." + +This confident hope had been a powerful factor in Odeyne's rapid and +satisfactory recovery. They had never been anxious about her, only +about the little babe, whose flame of life burnt so feebly at the +first. Now the child was thriving apace too, and it was pretty to +see Odeyne's pleasure in it, and little Guy's wide-eyed interest and +curiosity. + +Odeyne had both children upon the bed with her, when Maud and Cissy +entered with their loving greetings. She was looking very young and +bright and pretty, with her hair rather pulled about by Master Guy's +mischievous fingers, and the light of expectant happiness shining in +her eyes. + +"I had such happy dreams about him last night," she said, as they sat +talking together. "It seemed when I awoke as though we had been +together, and I still heard the echo of his voice. Oh, it is going +to be a very happy Christmas! I am to get up to-day, you know, for a +few hours. That will be delightful; and then, when--I mean +if--Desmond comes, it will give him such a much better welcome!" + +Maud and Cissy exchanged furtive glances. They did not quite like to +hear her building so much upon this fancy of hers. If it were to +meet with disappointment, might not the reaction be bad for her? Yet +her confidence could not but have some effect upon them; and there +was at least a reasonable hope of a letter; only if it came from +far-off lands, it might not reach upon the very morning of the +festival. + +Alice entered the room with a tray in her hands, and Odeyne gave a +little cry; for here was the post--letters, parcels, cards, all +heaped up together; some for Desmond, some for the children--for even +Miss St. Claire had her share now--and the bulk for the mother +herself. + +Odeyne sat up with a flushed face, and hastily turned them all over; +but Maud had asked Alice a question with her eyes, and had received a +sorrowful shake of the head in reply. There was nothing in Desmond's +hand amongst all these. + +"Letters are often delayed at this time," said Odeyne cheerfully, as +she made this discovery for herself. "Besides, if he should be +coming himself, he would not perhaps care to write. Desmond was +never fond of the pen." + +Then she turned her attention to little Guy, opening his parcels and +admiring his treasures with all the patience and fondness of a young +mother with her firstborn. + +Maud slipped away into the other room, where Alice was standing +beside the window with tears in her eyes. + +"Poor Alice!" said Maud gently, "I fear this is a sorrowful time for +you also. You have heard nothing, I suppose?" + +"No, ma'am, and I didn't expect it," answered Alice, turning round +and wiping her eyes; "I do not expect to ever hear of him again. +They all say he has got away to Spain, where he cannot be fetched +back, and there he will stay, I am sure. He is too clever to do +anything which would put him into danger." + +"But he might write to you, at least." + +"I don't expect it, ma'am. I might almost say I don't wish it. I +did love him once, and meant to make him a true and loving wife; but +he has killed the love out of my heart by betraying trust and robbing +those who put their faith in him. He made a fool of me, and then +cast me off. I don't want to think hard things of one whose name I +bear, but I can't love where I can't respect. If he were to send for +me, I would go, if you all thought it right, for I've learnt that +God's way is for us to do what is right, and leave the result to Him; +but I don't think he will. I think a wife would only be a trouble to +him. Sometimes he used to tell me he was disappointed in me. That +was when he wanted me to get at papers and things which were +sometimes put in my care. I wouldn't do that--not towards the +end--and then I used to get hard words from him." + +"Poor Alice!" said Maud gently, "you have been through a great deal." + +"Not more than I needed, ma'am, to show me the truth of things," +answered Alice earnestly. "I can see plainly now, looking back, how +vain and frivolous and giddy I was. I thought of nothing but myself, +and how to get on (as I thought) in life. I wanted to be a 'lady'--a +fine sort of lady I should have made! I believe it was that in me +that took Garth's fancy. He thought I might help him on. When I +began to see through it all, and knew that I should be a better and +happier woman without trying after such things as that, he changed to +me very soon. He left me with never a word. I don't want to think +harshly of him. He is my husband still. But I never want to see him +again. I want to belong always to my dear mistress and the sweet +children. Nobody knows what she has been to me all this time. And +yet she knew everything about me--she knows more than I can tell +anybody else--and it has never made one bit of difference. We always +did say down at home that there was nobody like our Miss Odeyne in +all the world." + +Maud went off to church alone, for Guy and Cissy were going to pay a +visit to her family on the way, and join forces with them. Maud, +always fearful of intruding, took herself off early; and as she had +time and to spare, she made a _détour_, and found herself in a little +copse, which was endeared to her through certain associations, of +which she did not often allow herself to think at this time. + +Oddly enough, it seemed as though somebody else had had a similar +motive for prowling into that place to-day. Certainly it looked very +pretty, with its carpet of brown and yellow leaves, coated with a +crisp white frost. The sky overhead was blue, necked with fleecy +white clouds, and the winter sunshine flooded the place with shafts +of pale gold light. + +Maud walked thoughtfully through the leafless trees, listening to the +pleasant plash of the little stream, till suddenly she turned a +corner and came face to face with Edmund! + +They both started and stood for a moment gazing speechlessly at one +another. They had not met since the day when Maud had broken the +engagement between them. Their eyes met and did not turn away. It +seemed as though they could not help devouring each other in that +fashion after the long separation. + +Maud was the first to recover herself. She held out her hand and +said in tones which she strove to make steady and cheerful-- + +"May I wish you a happy Christmas, Captain Hamilton?" + +He clasped her hand--he almost seized it; and his voice shook +unmistakably as he answered-- + +"You can give me one if you will, Maud." + +She did not speak, but she trembled all over, and he felt it, and +would not relinquish the hand he held. + +"Maud," he said, "I want no pledge. I want no promise. I ask +nothing from you whatever. But just let me hear you say that you +love me still, and my Christmas will be a happy one, even though we +may be no nearer than we have been all these past sad months." + +She looked at him with a yearning wistfulness in her eyes. + +"To what purpose, Edmund?" she asked, "to what purpose? Is it not +better to forget?" + +"Have we either of us forgotten so far? Are we of the sort of stuff +that forgets? Maud, Maud, do you not think I can honour and love you +for your self-denial? Do you not think I can share it too? I will +never ask you to neglect a nearer duty--a prior claim--for my sake. +But tell me, sweetheart, do you love me still? and if the obstacles +were to be removed, would you come to me then?" + +The tears rushed to her eyes. + +"Oh, Edmund, you know I do! you know I would!" + +He stooped and kissed her on the lips. + +"That is all I wanted to hear you say. Now you have given me my +happy Christmas. I have got all I wanted--and more." + +After that they walked to church together, but they hardly spoke +another word all the way. + +Odeyne got up that day for the first time, and lay upon the couch in +the adjoining room, whence she could command a view over the park, +lying white and beautiful beneath its mantle of sparkling frost. + +Her only visitor after Edmund had left, which he did almost +immediately after luncheon, was Beatrice; who, in spite of her cold, +drove over to see Odeyne, and to bring some little presents for the +boy. + +Maud was not the only person who had seen a change in Beatrice during +the past six months. Others had begun to see it too. It might have +been the illness of the mother, it might have been the unconscious +influence and example of Odeyne, or even that of Maud; but whatever +the cause Beatrice certainly seemed different. She did not crave for +a ceaseless round of amusement. She was more content to live a quiet +life at home, and to interest herself in her boy. She was more +gentle in her manner towards Maud and her mother, and when she spoke +of her husband it was no longer in that half bitter, half flippant +way which had often distressed Odeyne in days gone by. She had her +ups and down, she had her varying moods, and her fits of waywardness +and selfishness, but on the whole she was a much improved Beatrice, +and to-day she had not been long with Odeyne before she suddenly +burst out with some quite unexpected words. + +"Odeyne, do you think anything could be done to bring Maud and Edmund +together again?" + +Odeyne, who had an inkling that something had happened only that very +day, smiled and thought it might be possible if---- + +"Oh yes, I know what you would say, that the situation has not +changed. But sometimes I think it has. I don't say it heartlessly, +Odeyne; I feel it terribly; but I can't blind my eyes to the fact. +Mother is dying slowly, and she knows it herself. I think we all +know it except Maud, who seems in this instance to be strangely +blind." + +Odeyne looked very grave. She had suspected that her mother-in-law +ailed more than was admitted, but she had not put her fears into such +plain language. + +"She was talking to me about the future only the other day. She +tells me she has willed to me all her own little private property, +and what comes under her settlement is divided between Maud and me. +I believe I should have quite enough to live upon in a quiet way with +the child. Or if it seemed better, I might go out to Algernon, if we +hear anything about him. I have not been a good wife to him all +these years; but I think after what has happened we might both do +better if we were to start afresh." + +Odeyne said nothing, but her eyes were eloquent of sympathy. + +"And in any case Maud ought to be free to make her own life. You +were quite right in all you said six months ago. I had no right to +let her sacrifice herself to me. Her duty towards mother is another +thing. But from that she will soon be released. When that happens +she must not let anything that I have ever said or done keep her away +from Edmund." + +"Dear Beatrice," said Odeyne, with a kindling smile, "it makes me +very happy to hear you speak so--for I am sure Edmund and Maud were +made for one another." + +"Maud will be a better wife than I have ever been," said Beatrice, +with a little sigh. "I have not lived with her all these months for +nothing. It is always the unselfish people who go to the wall in +their youth: but by-and-by wise folks come to know their merits, and +then they get the pick of everything, as they deserve to do." + +"But I am grieved by what you say of mamma," said Odeyne anxiously; +"I had the impression that something was wrong, but----" + +"Yes, she never liked it spoken about; and we have got used to it all +these years. But you know she is a much older woman than she looks. +And once or twice before she has had very slight strokes, though they +have never been called by that name. This anxiety about Algernon and +Desmond has been very bad for her. I only hope she may live to see +Desmond again. But sometimes I fear, if he does not soon come, she +will quietly slip out of life before we well know it." + +"He will come very soon now," said Odeyne quietly. "He must be quite +close now, or he would have written." + +Beatrice knew her sister-in-law's "delusion" on this subject, and +therefore asked no questions. + +She sincerely hoped her presentiment might be true, but did not feel +any confidence in it. + +She had a profound distrust by this time of men and their ways, and +perhaps she had some reason for it. + +"Well, dear, let us hope he will," she said as she rose to go. "I +must not stay out longer now, as it gets dark so soon, and my cold +has been rather bad. But I could not let the day pass without coming +to see you. I am glad to find you looking so well and bright, and +the baby so flourishing. You really manage to turn out very pretty +babies, Odeyne. My Gus was a little monster for the first six months +of his life!" + +"He is a dear little fellow now," said Odeyne warmly. "Mind you send +him to see me very soon. Guy delights in his society, and he is so +good to him! I think it is quite pretty to see them together. Gus +is always ready to give up to Guy, because he is the smaller and +weaker." + +"Long may it continue!" breathed Beatrice as she drew on her furs. +"That is not the way with men-folk as a rule. It is the weak who +have to go to the wall! I suppose it is the influence of pretty well +a year of Maud's training. He used to be a little Turk under the old +_régime_." + +Beatrice was gone, and Odeyne lay looking out into the dying day. + +Alice came in and out softly, and presently brought her mistress some +tea. + +Odeyne would not have the curtains drawn; she liked to look out, even +though the room got dark, and only the light of the fire gleamed upon +the walls, and flickered on the diamond lattice-panes. + +The moonlight shining on the white frosty ground was a beautiful +sight to see. + +Odeyne must have fallen asleep, and must have slept long and soundly. +Perhaps that was why Alice had not disturbed her to get her to return +to bed, or even to light the lamp and draw the curtains. + +Even through her sleep she became conscious at last of certain +strange, unwonted sounds. It was as though feet were hurrying past +her window, and as though the owners of these feet were talking +excitedly amongst themselves as they did so. + +These sounds mingled with Odeyne's dreams, and she fancied that +Desmond was coming hastening back, that they were all running to tell +her he was coming; she woke with a start to find herself alone in the +fire-lit room, speaking his name aloud; whilst beneath her window, +along the road towards the Chase--so seldom trodden by the feet of +passers-by--there seemed to be a continuous rush of hurrying feet. + +Odeyne sat up and looked out, and gave a great start, uttering a +stifled exclamation of alarm and amaze. + +The sky was all in a glow; the very windows of her room reflected +back the ruddy glare. + +"It is a fire at the Chase!" she cried. "General Mannering had a +great party there. Something has gone wrong!" And, forgetting all +but her excitement and wonder, Odeyne suddenly rose to her feet, and +went and stood at the window to try and see what was going on. + +The trees, leafless as they were, blocked her view of the actual +house-building, but the palpitating light in the sky told its own +unmistakable tale; and the rush of feet under her windows showed that +all the village was hastening by the shortest cut to the scene of +action. + +Odeyne looked down and saw the glow of the fire upon the eager, +hurrying crowd. It illumined their rugged faces (many of which were +known to her), and showed her that all the place had taken the alarm. +She heard disjointed exclamations about the engine and the fire +brigade, but nothing connected reached her ears, though the red glare +grew fiercer each moment. + +Suddenly Odeyne started violently, leaned forward with her face +pressed against the window, and then, with a face as white as ashes, +began striving to unfasten the latch. + +But it resisted her efforts. She was weak, and the spring was +strong. Upon her face there was an extraordinary expression--a look +so strange and wild that Alice, coming suddenly and softly in, +started forward with an exclamation of alarm-- + +"Oh, ma'am--you should not be here!" + +Odeyne pointed out of the window in the direction of the Chase. Her +words came in panting gasps. + +"Alice, after him!--after him! Your master has just passed by. He +has gone to the fire. He thinks we are there! After him! after him! +and bring him back. Do not stand staring at me! I am not mad! Your +master--my husband--went past this window only three seconds ago. +You must follow him and bring him here to me!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +_HUSBAND AND WIFE._ + +Alice stood rooted to the spot, utterly confounded by the words and +look of her mistress. Surely she had been dreaming, and had fancied +this strange thing! Or could it be that there was fever coming on, +and that this was the outcome of some delirious fancy? She did not +know what to do, for she felt she must not leave her lady, and yet +Odeyne's mood was imperious and excited. It was a great relief to +hear steps upon the stairs, and to know that others had entered the +house. + +Guy, Cissy, and Jem came breathlessly in, evidently anxious to know +whether Odeyne was alarmed by the news of the fire at the Chase. The +sight of her face was enough to show them that she knew what had +happened. Guy came quickly forward, and placed her upon the couch +again. + +"Do not be frightened, _Schwesterling_," he said. "It is not the +house itself, only some of the outbuildings, they say. I will go and +see, and bring you word again, and Cissy and Jem shall stay and take +care of you." + +"Guy, Guy, Desmond is there! I saw him just now! He ran past with +such a look on his face. Go and tell him where we are. Bring him +back to me. You will find him. You will see him. He is not much +changed. Don't lose a moment. I am not dreaming, and I am not +ill--though I can see you all think so. It really was Desmond. I +have made no mistake. It is not so very strange either, is it? He +was on his way back--I always said so; and, seeing the fire, of +course he would think we were in danger, and would run to our rescue. +He does not know we are here. Go and find him and tell him. Bring +him back to me, quickly! Never mind anything else, only bring +Desmond back." + +Guy gazed at her in amaze; but Cissy, with her quick feminine +instincts, took all in in a moment, and believed. + +"Come, Guy, come!" she cried in excitement. "We will go together. +We will find Desmond! Yes, Odeyne, darling, be quiet and patient. +We will find him and bring him to you. Jem, you must stay with +Odeyne; but we will not be long gone. Come, Guy, don't let us waste +a moment! We will go and find him, and tell him where to find +Odeyne." + +Guy let himself be hurried away, though considerably perplexed as to +what could have happened. Jem came up and sat down beside Odeyne, +her face kindling and flushing with excitement. + +"Is it really, really he, Odeyne?" she asked. + +"Really and truly it is. I saw him as plainly as I see you, Jem. I +don't wonder they think I was dreaming; but I know I am not mistaken. +Desmond is there. They will find him and bring him to me. I always +said he would come back at Christmas-time! I felt it all over me!" +and her eyes kindled with happy tears. + +Jem could not remain quiet; she moved to the window, and then to and +fro between that and the next room, where a better view of the glow +from the fire could be obtained. + +"They say it isn't the house, but they are afraid for the stackyard," +she said, coming back, after having interviewed some passers-by from +the window. "General Mannering has a big party to-night to dinner, +and probably everybody was busy, so the fire was not noticed at +first. But if it isn't the house it won't matter so much. I hope +the stables are all right, and the poor dear horses!" + +Odeyne lay on her couch; Alice could not persuade her to go to bed; +and Jem ran hither and thither collecting scraps of news, to which +Odeyne scarcely listened. + +She seemed absorbed in one thought; all her faculties seemed +concentrated into the act of listening for certain sounds, for one +particular voice. + +Jem by-and-by ceased to worry her with information, but went down to +the door and peered out into the dark night, wondering what was +happening, and whether they had found Desmond, or if it were all a +strange delusion and mistake of Odeyne's. + +How long they had been gone! Why did not somebody come back? It was +bad for Odeyne, being kept in suspense so long. + +Jem had a mind to scud away up to the Chase herself, and see if she +could not learn something there. But she was not used to being out +alone after dark, and she felt a certain shrinking from encountering +the rough village lads and other curious spectators that the glow in +the sky was drawing from all quarters. So she stood in the doorway +hesitating and listening, whilst the flickering redness in the sky +seemed, she fancied, to decrease a little. + +Hark! what was that? Surely those were familiar voices. Yes, she +was certain she heard Guy speaking; and there was another voice, +Edmund's she fancied, answering him. + +Of course Edmund might be there. Was he not one of General +Mannering's guests? She was sure she had heard so. What were they +saying? Why did they come so slowly? + +"Somebody had better prepare her." Surely that was Edmund who spoke +those words. "You go, Guy. She will take it best from you. Don't +alarm her--but let her be prepared." + +Jem was quivering all over by that time. What was it that had +happened? Why did not Desmond speak, if he were there? + +What was the thing that must be broken to Odeyne? Was it that she +had been mistaken? That there was no Desmond after all? Oh, it +would be a cruel blow if this were so. + +"Guy, what is it? What has happened? Come quick and tell me!" she +cried, as Guy's figure suddenly loomed up before her as he strode +rapidly forward. "Have you found Desmond? What is it? Don't say he +is not there! I don't know what Odeyne will do if she is +disappointed of her hope." + +Guy came forward out of the darkness with a rather strange look upon +his face. + +"Hush, Jem!" he said, "Desmond is close behind. But I must see +Odeyne instantly; you run and tell Alice to get a bed ready +immediately, and have everything ready for a patient. Desmond has +been hurt, but nobody knows yet how much. Now, don't delay me, for I +can tell you nothing more. Go to Alice, and I will go to Odeyne." + +Jem was her father's daughter all over. Let there be something to do +for the sick, and she was full of energy and resource. In a moment +all her quiverings and excitements were over, and she went about with +Alice making ready a room for Desmond with a self-control and +quickness that would have astonished many persons, who looked upon +her as something between an invalid and a harum-scarum. + +Guy went straight up to Odeyne, met the eager glance of her eyes with +a smile, and came across taking her hands in his as he said in quiet, +even tones-- + +"Desmond has come back--you were quite right. It was he whom you +saw"; but when she would have sprung to her feet he held her gently +back, and continued in the same composed fashion, "Wait a moment, +_Schwesterling_, I have something else to say not quite so welcome. +Desmond was rather rash in his mistaken zeal. He has had a fall, and +is rather hurt. But he is being brought back here, for you to have +him under your care. However, he will not be here for a few minutes +yet; and you must not get excited, or we shall have two patients to +nurse instead of one." + +Odeyne bit her lip, and a little shiver passed through her frame; but +the old confidence in Guy, which had always been such a strong factor +in her life, enabled her to conquer herself now. + +"He is not--dead--nor dying?" she breathed. + +"Oh no, there are no fears of that sort. Be calm, darling. I quite +hope he is not even badly hurt; but you know what the confusion is at +such a time. Edmund and Cuthbert and Tom are bringing him back, and +when once we get him to bed we shall soon see what ails him; and your +face (if you can be calm and good) will be his best medicine when he +comes to himself." + +"I will be quite calm," said Odeyne, clasping Guy's hands in her own; +"but tell me what has happened." + +"It was a curious thing," answered Guy. "Just one of those accidents +that come from people losing their heads. The fire itself was +confined to the outbuildings and some of the stacks. It has been +rather disastrous there, though everything is fully insured. The +house itself was not thought even in danger and was in no danger; and +yet through the carelessness of some servant your little boudoir, +Odeyne, has been nearly burnt out." + +"My little room over the porch?" + +"Yes, it seems that when the alarm of fire was given, some foolish +maid was up there. She must have drawn back the curtains and thrown +up the window to look what was going on, and then have rushed off +without closing them again. The consequence was that some light +drapery was blown across the lamp upon the table, and whilst +everybody was out at the other side of the house busy with the real +fire, this minor conflagration blazed away merrily and unheeded." + +"Yes, yes; but about Desmond?" + +"You see, Desmond must have come rushing up--just as you +described--and he apparently was the first to catch sight of the glow +from the window which he supposed yours. We think he must have +believed that you were in some danger; for he commenced climbing up +the ivy towards the window, like a cat, and had nearly reached it, +when he suddenly lost his foothold, or a branch broke, and he came +down with a rush and a fall of brick rubble. He was stunned by the +fall; and by that time there were plenty of people on the spot. We +got him away, and before we were able to have him carried here we saw +that they had got the secondary fire well under. That is the whole +story; there is nothing behind. Desmond has been hurt, but probably +not badly; and we knew you would rather have him brought here than +taken anywhere else, though there are plenty of houses open to him, +as I need not tell you." + +Odeyne nipped Guy's hand in token of gratitude; but her ears had +caught the sound of heavy footsteps in the house, and she sat up, her +colour coming and going. Guy still held her gently back. + +"You shall go to him as soon as ever they have got him to bed. Just +now you would only hinder; and you know you must not do what will +throw you back yourself. You have baby to think for as well as +Desmond. I will not keep you from him a moment longer than is good +for you both." + +Odeyne lay back submissively, the flitting colour in her face alone +telling her excitement. Jem came in softly with shining eyes, but +very quiet and calm. + +"Tom says he has managed the journey capitally. They will make him +comfortable in bed, and then you shall go to him, Odeyne. He is not +himself yet; but Tom says he spoke once, and asked, 'Is Odeyne all +safe, and the boy?' So you see he does know where he is, and that he +has got home." + +It seemed long before Odeyne was summoned, but she bore the waiting +well. To feel that Desmond was back--was beneath the same roof--was +her own once more, went far to keep up her heart and courage. +Perhaps the very knowledge that he could not again disappear from her +side as he had done six months before, kept her quiet and at rest. +When Dr. Ritchie and his sons came in to reassure her, they found her +wonderfully calm and tranquil. + +"He will do very well, my dear," said the doctor kindly. "He has a +broken ankle, which will keep him to his bed for some time, but that +is the worst that has befallen him; the bruises outside and in will +have ample time to set themselves to rights whilst he is tied by the +leg. Yes, you may go and sit beside him for a little while; but +don't talk much--for both your sakes. And then you will let Alice +put you to bed--like a good child; for we did not mean you to have +had quite such an exciting Christmas Day." + +Odeyne smiled her thanks to all, but had no words for any. + +She took Guy's arm and passed on to the room where Desmond lay. + +She had no thoughts now save for him; and when she saw him lying +there with half-closed eyes and white cheek, she bent over him and +kissed him, saying softly-- + +"Desmond! Dear husband, do you know me?" + +He stirred a little, opened his eyes for a moment, and moved his hand. + +"Odeyne!" he breathed faintly, and returned the kiss she pressed upon +his lips. + +She sat beside him holding his hand, and he sank into a quiet sleep. + +Then she let Alice take her away, for Cissy had declared her +intention of sitting up through the night with Desmond; and Cissy was +known as one of the best of nurses, so there was no fear of any harm +coming during her vigil, and Guy would remain in the house, getting +snatches of sleep upon the sofa, and always within call if anything +should be wanted. + +But the night passed quite tranquilly, Desmond and Odeyne sleeping +peacefully in the consciousness of their close proximity; and before +Desmond had fully roused himself to a consciousness of his +surroundings, Odeyne was at his side once again, with the little new +daughter lying upon her lap, ready to be introduced to her father. + +The sun shone brightly into the room. Everything was beautifully +neat and in order. Flowers had been sent to Odeyne from many +quarters since her illness, and the best and sweetest of these were +collected to make bright this particular room. + +Desmond had been sleeping fitfully for some while; suddenly his eyes +flashed open, and met those of Odeyne bent earnestly upon him. He +lay gazing at her, almost as though afraid to break the spell, and +then said softly-- + +"Is it really you, my darling?" + +She laid her hand in his, and he carried it to his lips. + +"Oh, my dearest, dearest love--how good it is to see you once more +after this weary while of waiting!" + +"Why did you wait so long, Desmond dear? It was such a weary waiting +for us!" + +"Was it? I thought it would be nothing but relief to you. I had +been so unworthy, so wicked, so reckless. I thought the best and +kindest thing that I could do for those who had ever cared for me was +to vanish out of their lives, and give no sign. I was humbled to the +very dust!" + +"Did you think I should love you less because you had been through +deep waters, and were in trouble?" + +"I don't know what I thought! I think I was mad with the shame and +the horror. I wanted to hide my head for ever. I could not bear to +face those whom I had injured. I don't know how I have the courage +to face them now. But it seemed as though I were being drawn back +home by cords I could not break. I had to come. I could struggle no +longer." + +"You see, so many people were praying for your return," said Odeyne +simply. "That was the power, I think." + +He gazed at her with hungry eyes; and then he saw the white bundle +upon her lap, and his face flushed and changed. + +"It is your little daughter," she said, holding up the wee face, so +that he could look at it. "She has been with us a fortnight now, and +is doing very well, though she was the very tiniest of tiny things +when she appeared. Shall we have little Guy in to see you, dearest? +Or will it be too much?" + +"The little chap! Oh, let us have him by all means," answered +Desmond, who had been much moved at the sight of the child, of whose +existence he had not been aware till now. He could not speak of it +even to his wife; but Odeyne understood the silent pressure of his +hand, and her heart swelled within her as she realised that there had +come a change over Desmond during these months of absence. Suffering +had taught him lessons which he had never learnt in prosperity, and +had probed depths in his nature which had never been ruffled before. +Instinctively Odeyne felt that this was a new Desmond come back to +her--the old love deepened, and purified, and mingled with something +that she had looked for in vain of old. + +Little Guy came in in great excitement, for he had been told that +Daddy had come home, and was eagerly impatient to see him again. He +was a very fine little fellow by this time, with a considerable +command of words; and Desmond was delighted with him, and found it +hard to let him go. + +Later in the day, when husband and wife were again alone together, +the first sense of strained emotion having merged into gentler and +quieter happiness, Desmond began to ask questions. + +"Where are we, Odeyne? I do not remember this room, nor the view +from the window, though the furniture is familiar." + +"We are at the Lodge, dearest. I have been living here since June. +It makes such a comfortable home for us, and there is plenty of room +for us all." + +"The Lodge! why so it is! Those new rooms we built on. But why here +instead of the Chase, Odeyne? You had ample means to keep that on." + +"Yes, dear; but I had no desire to do so. It was so big and so +lonely; and I wanted to help others who--who--had suffered through +the same crash that brought this trouble to us. I could not have +been happy living like that--when others had lost their all. Edmund +saw them, and heard what they had to say; and we reckoned that by +selling a good deal off, and letting the Chase for three years +furnished, and living quietly here, all could be put right, and +people set going and kept going, who had any moral claim upon us. +There were not so very many. The poor Neils and a few others--just +friends who had trusted us, and who owed their ruin to our advice. I +could not bear to go on living as though nothing had happened, when +they were driven to desperation. You are not angry, Desmond, dear? +Of course I would have asked your leave if I had known where you +were." + +Desmond had turned his head away, and was biting his lips. + +"My brave, noble, true-hearted wife!" he exclaimed at last, in tones +of deep emotion. "I had not dreamed of such a thing--and yet I might +have known--knowing what a treasure I had won! And the thought of +the misery of those poor things has been weighing me down like a +nightmare. They had trusted me with their money, and I had lost +it--lost it almost with open eyes. Legally I was not guilty; but in +my heart I was. For when I took it I thought of nothing but my own +gain; I threw it away in the wild hope of propping up what I ought to +have known by that time was nothing but a gigantic swindle. I had my +suspicions, but I would not listen or think. I let myself be led and +driven on and on. And you, my wife, have borne the brunt of it all!" + +"It would have been easier had you been here to share it, Desmond," +answered Odeyne; "but it seemed little enough to do, and Guy and +Edmund stood by me through it all. And to see the happy face of +little Mrs. Neil when a great part of their money was refunded to +them! That made up for much. She was the only one I saw myself. +The others were strangers; but I had been so sorry for her. I felt +her claim came first." + +"It did. Poor Neil! I have been in despair thinking of him; just +married, and then to find himself ruined. But how did you manage to +get the money? Surely the trustees did not let you sacrifice +capital?" + +"No, they had not the power, they said. We talked everything over. +But you know all the money you had thrown about on me and the house +in those two years! I told you all the time what an extravagant +creature you were! But how glad I was when the sale of all those +extravagances, and some of the horses and carriages, brought in such +a fine large sum! The hunters sold very well, and General Mannering +bought in all that he wanted for himself--he is our tenant at the +Chase, you know. I soon had enough to satisfy the Neils--for, of +course, as everybody said, speculators must put up with some loss. +They cannot expect to come off scot free. I think myself that it +would perhaps be hardly right to treat these claims just like +ordinary debts. They all knew they were speculating, although they +thought to win and not to lose. After all, Desmond, it is only +gambling in another form. Dear husband, you will not let yourself be +tempted again? Believe me, it is not riches that make our happiness. +We were more happy when we were less rich." + +Desmond clasped his wife's hand closely in his as he replied-- + +"I dare not say 'Trust me, Odeyne,' any more. I have only too often +made promises and asseverations which have been lamentably broken; +but I pray God to give me strength to keep from such things in the +future. I have learned at least this lesson--that wealth brings as +many troubles and more temptations than modest affluence. My wife +has set me an example which I shall diligently follow. Whether or no +the world will laugh at us, we will go on as you have begun. We will +not return to our home and to our old life, until all claims which +are morally just and right have been settled. We will not have the +burden upon us of feeling that whilst we live in ease and comfort +others, by my folly, are fighting the grim battle with dire poverty +and despair. What you have begun I will carry on; and we will live +happily and contentedly in this little home until we can return to +the Chase with hearts at ease, and look every man in the face without +the feeling that he has the right to curse us in his heart." + +Odeyne heard these words with a strange thrill of happiness and +relief. This, indeed, was a different Desmond from the careless, +reckless one of old. Time was when her scruples would have been +laughed or argued away. Now they were admitted and respected, and +self no longer took the place of honour in Desmond's heart. + +Perhaps he read something of her thought, for he answered almost as +though she had spoken, + +"Yes, Odeyne, I hope I am a different man.. My darling, I have often +thought what I must have made you suffer in old days. I would not +let your gentle counsels guide me, and you thought them lost and +quite wasted. But, believe me, the example you set me of patient +love and ceaseless dutiful obedience was not quite wasted. When I +had time to think--when I saw everything in a different light--then I +knew what my wife had been to me all this while, and how unworthy I +had been of such love and so many prayers. Yes, Odeyne, I thought of +the days when we prayed together, and my heart smote me for that time +when I prayed no more, and refused to gather our household together +to ask a blessing upon it. I saw how, little by little, the blessing +had been taken away--and yet not altogether, for were you not always +praying? But I had dishonoured God, privately and publicly, and He +had turned in a measure away from me. I saw it all. I was humbled +to the very dust. Shame and sorrow took hold upon me, and I knew not +which way to turn. It seemed to me that I must fight out the battle +alone between myself and God before I could come back. I may have +been wrong, I may have been selfish. But that was what it seemed to +me. I was like the prodigal son in the far country. I was miserable +and deserted and wretched; but at last there came the day, even for +me, when a voice in my heart bid me arise, and go back whence I had +come; and I obeyed it, and here I am." + +There were tears upon Odeyne's cheek as she bent down and kissed him +again and again; and then lifting her head suddenly in a listening +attitude she exclaimed-- + +"Here are visitors. That is Beatrice's voice. She has come to see +you and to ask news of Algernon, which I have not had time to do yet. +Oh, Desmond, it is all like a dream; but I shall begin to understand +it soon." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +_CONCLUSION._ + +There was a rustle of drapery outside the door; then it opened wide, +and Beatrice came forward with outstretched hands and quivering lips. +But she was not alone. Close behind followed Maud, who supported the +feeble steps of her mother. Odeyne started up in astonishment at +seeing Mrs. St. Claire, and was painfully struck even in that first +moment by the change that the past weeks had worked in her. She +looked worn, and ill, and old--and till quite recently she had never +looked anything like her true age. She came forward rather feebly, +but with a strange hungry eagerness of manner; and all drew a little +away from the bed where Desmond lay, whilst mother and son exchanged +a long, silent embrace. Beatrice had turned to the window and was +biting her lips as though to keep back the tears. Odeyne looked at +her, and felt cut to the heart on her account. She, herself, had her +husband back, a repentant and changed man. But where was poor +Algernon?--what had become of him? She almost took shame to herself +that she did not know. They had had so little time together, and +there had been so much to say. + +Maud put her mother into Odeyne's vacated chair by the bed. She bent +over Desmond herself, and there were loving whispers passing between +them. For several minutes Odeyne and Beatrice stood apart, not even +looking at the others; but after a while Beatrice's impatience could +no longer be curbed. She wheeled round and came forward. + +"Desmond, where is Algernon?" she asked, in a shaking voice. + +"In Florida, and in a fair way of doing pretty well, I hope. I left +him very hopeful and sanguine. It is rather a rough life, but he has +taken to it; and being out in the open air all day seems to suit him, +and sends him early to bed, where he sleeps instead of sitting up +playing and drinking more than is good for him. He is looking +another creature, and is really happier than I have ever known him. +I have heaps of messages for you, and he will begin to write now." + +"Why did he not before?" + +"I will tell you. Perhaps we were wrong. But when we made tracks +and got clear away out of the smash, I can tell you we were pretty +well ashamed of ourselves. We saw clearly enough by that time that +we had been dupes and fools, and had fooled others who trusted us. I +shall never clearly remember those last days, or know how far we were +really wicked, and how far only confused and weak. One thing, we had +played into Garth's hands from first to last, and he had fooled us to +the top of our bent. That man was an unmitigated scamp--as probably +you all know by this time." + +"Yes, we were pretty sure of that. What has become of him, do you +know?" + +"I don't _know_; but one can be pretty certain that he got safe to +Spain, where he will very likely live in regal pomp on his ill-gotten +gains, unless he gambles them away there. But he had a good head, if +you like. He knew what he was about. He was at the bottom of every +piece of villainy going. We thought him our tool, whilst we were +really his. Well, never mind all that. You have probably a better +notion of the state of affairs than I have. What happened was that +when Algy began to see how things really were, he got into a fearful +state of funk, came to me, and we both saw there was nothing for it +but to disappear! We did not know what the penalty might be of +remaining, and it seemed the best thing we could do to make a bolt." + +"That is what men generally do in such a case," said Beatrice, with a +little touch of almost unconscious sarcasm in her voice. "I am not +sure if it always answers as well as staying and facing it out." + +"I don't know," answered Desmond rather wearily. "All that part of +the business seems like a black nightmare. I cannot recall details. +I remember that we thought it the only thing to do, and we did it. +We got away to the Continent. Algy was for trying to break the bank +at Monte Carlo, but I said we had had enough of gambling for a +lifetime. I would not let him go. We had some money; and I had +Odeyne's pearls, and in Paris we sold them well. Algy had withdrawn +all his balance from the bank. Altogether we had a small capital; +and I think perhaps it was Providence that threw us across this +Florida planter, and put the chance in our way." + +"Who was he?" + +"An Englishman--a capital fellow. Ridgmont is his name. He had +married a French wife, and they were over in Paris for a holiday. +They were at the same hotel, and we struck up an acquaintance. He +was looking out for a partner with a little money, someone who would +be willing to live out there and look after the place regularly, for +he himself has to travel a good bit, as his wife is delicate, and +thinks she wants change pretty often. Algy just jumped at it. I +never saw him so keen after anything. I think he was sick to death +of the old life, and was bent on beginning afresh somewhere +altogether out of the old beat. The idea of orange groves and all +that fascinated him, and Ridgmont had taken a great fancy to him. We +told him everything--kept nothing back; and of course he looked +rather grave, and spoke pretty straight to Algy. But in the end he +said he'd take him back with him, and they'd see how the thing +worked. There was no mistaking that Algy was really in earnest that +time, and Ridgmont got that sort of influence over him which seemed +as though it might really be a factor in keeping him straight. + +"But why didn't you write?" + +"At first I think we were afraid. We did not exactly know how far +our creditors could or would pursue us; we wanted to get clear away +from Europe before we let anyone know anything. And then we were +desperately, horribly ashamed. Perhaps we were wrong, but we both +had a strong feeling that we would do something to redeem the +past--something to show that all was not vain words, before we showed +our faces again. I know for my own part I felt like that. I had +made promises and asseverations again and again, only to break them. +I felt that Odeyne had cause to curse the day when she married me, +and to bless that on which she saw the last of me! Dearest, I know +now that I was wrong--that I had never understood you; but that is +how I felt in the bitterness of my soul. And Algy was just the same. +'They will be better without us. They will be happier too,' he would +say; 'Beatrice will have her mother's house to go to, and Odeyne will +live happily at the Chase, not knowing a care or a want.' That was +Algy's way of looking at it, and I felt that I richly deserved the +punishment of banishment for a time. I forgot to consider that +others would suffer. It seemed impossible that they could continue +to love anyone so unworthy as myself." + +Maud gave a quick glance at Odeyne. She had thought as much herself, +and had said it several times. The reaction from his moods of blind +confidence had always been one of almost equally blind and +exaggerated self-abasement, in which his own shame and remorse had +blinded his eyes to any but his own side of the question. Desmond +seemed to read her thoughts, and answered them with a faint smile-- + +"That was always the way, was it not, Maud? You always used to tell +me, from childhood, that I was 'nastier' when I was trying to be +good, than when I was regularly naughty. I have been a blunderer +from first to last. I only wonder you have, any of you, such a +welcome for me." + +"But Algy," urged Beatrice eagerly, "what of him?" + +"Well, Algy is out at this orange farm (if one can use such an +expression) in Florida. We put our small joint capital into the +concern, and I went out with them to see what it was like. It is a +splendid climate and lovely country--a regular fairyland at some +seasons of the year. Ridgmont has built himself a fine airy house, +with lots of room in it for all of us. Algy took to the life at +once. Of course he has to learn his work; but for the present +Ridgmont will be there, and he seems satisfied with the progress he +is making. The people like Algy, he has the sort of manner and air +that go down with them. Algy always had abilities if he chose to use +them, and his horsemanship and knowledge of horses stands him in good +stead. It is a lonely life, of course, and in a sense rather a rough +one; but he likes it, and as long as the Ridgmonts are there he is +happy enough. The rub will be when they make another trip to Europe, +and he is left all alone on the place. That will be a bit solitary +for him. But I hope he won't get into mischief." + +"Wouldn't it be better for me and the child to go out to him before +that?" asked Beatrice quietly. "Algy never liked too much of his own +society." + +Desmond looked at her earnestly. + +"I believe it would be the making of him, if you could make up your +mind to it, Beatrice. But remember there is no society out there--no +balls, or concerts, or morning calls. The nearest house is ten miles +off--and a bad road to it!" + +"I feel as though I had had enough of society to last me a lifetime," +answered Beatrice with an air of finality which a year ago would +merely have provoked a smile. Now nobody smiled, all looked +earnestly and almost eagerly at her. "If Algy stays there, it seems +to me that my place is certainly with him. I have never posed as a +model wife, but I know my duty better than to remain here, if he is +alone over there wanting me." + +"I don't think it had ever occurred to him to ask such a thing of +you," said Desmond. "But Ridgmont and I talked it over together, and +came to the conclusion that that would be out-and-out the best thing. +Of course I didn't know how it would strike you, and I told him so. +But he seemed to have a truer estimate of women than I had; for he +said he believed nine women out of ten would follow their husbands +over the world if need be, and he was kind enough to say that he +didn't seem to think my sister was going to prove herself the tenth +who wouldn't." + +"And you have come home to see about all this?" + +"I came home because I could not help myself. I could not bear it +any longer. I had sent one message which I hoped would satisfy you +that all was well, but I did not write, because Algy and I had both +agreed to wait a few months, and then have a good account to give. +After that I was resolved to come home, but was delayed through +Ridgmont's getting an attack of fever. I had to nurse him through +that, Algy being engaged with the outdoor things. That detained me +from week to week. But I was resolved to be home for Christmas. I +felt something dragging and pulling at me. I could not bear it any +longer. I came across in what ought to have been good time; but we +met fogs at the last, and lost a lot of time. I was glad then that +Odeyne was not expecting me--and when I did land I had trouble in +getting on. The Christmas traffic had thrown everything more or less +out of gear. Now you know all. Here I am, a battered +good-for-nothing, turned up like a bad halfpenny--to find that my +wife has been taking my burdens upon her brave shoulders, and doing +what I might have lacked the courage to do, whilst I have been +picturing her leading a life of ease and enjoyment, relieved from the +incubus of a worthless husband!" + +Desmond looked more like himself as he spoke these last words, and +Maud smiled as she parted the hair upon his brow, and said-- + +"Nevertheless Odeyne was expecting her worthless husband back for +Christmas all the time. We were seriously afraid that the +disappointment would throw her back. But she was right after all!" + +"And what shall you do now that you have returned, Desmond?" asked +his mother. "Will you remain here, or return to the Chase, when you +can get rid of your tenant?" + +"We shall remain here till Odeyne's plans are all carried out," +answered Desmond firmly. "I can never be grateful enough for her for +a scheme which will enable me to take my place in the world again, +without going in fear of encountering certain persons who might well +regard me as the cause of their ruin. When I am able to be about +again I shall go to the office and ask for a subordinate place there, +if they can make room for me. I gave them ample cause for distrust +and displeasure, but I believe, for my father's sake, they will try +me again. I never tampered with the money of the firm. I was kept +from that temptation by the knowledge that it would be so speedily +detected that the game would not be worth the candle. I was careless +and useless, but that was all. They know enough about me to have +many qualms. Yet I think they will help me to regain my old +standing. Please God, I will not disappoint them again." + +Mrs. St. Claire pressed her son's hand, but did not speak. After a +moment Desmond continued-- + +"We shall live in a very quiet way here for a few years. We shall be +very happy, and I shall learn a great many lessons which I stand +badly in need of. I hope by the time that we can return to the Chase +with a clear conscience, I shall know better how to rule our +household there than I have ever done before. I think it will be the +best possible thing for me to live humbly for a while. I have never +known till just lately what it was to deny myself anything I wanted. +I shall have to learn that lesson now, and it will be a very good +thing for me." + +This kind of talk sounded strangely from Desmond's lips, but it was a +joy to those who heard it. The change in him was marked indeed. +Odeyne's face showed the happiness which she experienced in the +change. She looked like another woman. + +Mrs. St. Claire's visit was not a long one. Maud was plainly anxious +that she should return home soon. She was very frail and feeble, +Odeyne thought, as she was assisted down the staircase, and as she +kissed her daughter-in-law and the little new granddaughter, before +leaving the house, she said, in an audible whisper-- + +"Now I can say my 'nunc dimittis.'" + +And in truth this proved to be the last time that she ever left her +own house. She went to bed upon her return, and never left it again. +Probably there was a very slight paralytic seizure of some sort in +the night, but there was no exact certainty as to this. Only a week +later, just as the New Year was ushered in, she passed away in the +night, without a sigh or a struggle, and was found so by Maud when +she rose before daybreak to visit her as was her wont. The door +between the two rooms had been open all the while, and she was a very +light sleeper, yet she had not known the moment of departure, it had +taken place so silently and suddenly. + +Desmond felt the blow keenly, being so little prepared. The +daughters had known it was coming, yet they had not thought it would +be so soon. + +Beatrice found herself a fairly well-to-do woman when Mrs. St. +Claire's will was read; and was in a position, if she chose to do so, +to recall her husband and live on at her mother's house in modest +affluence. But this she appeared to have no desire to do. + +"I think it would be dangerous to bring him back to England and to +the old neighbourhood so soon again," she said. "I would rather go +out to him there, and while we are both young and strong we will +remain where his work lies. It will be better for him, I am sure; +and perhaps it will be better for me too. I don't want the old life +to begin again. Algy and I will do better out there, with just each +other and the child to live for. I shall go to him." + +"I believe you will do wisely and well," said Desmond, when he heard +her decision. "We have both of us had something too much of self in +this world hitherto. We must learn to live up to a higher standard +now." + +"That is what I want," answered Beatrice with unwonted gravity. "I +want to live up to Odeyne's standard--which is a very different +thing!" + +So Beatrice made ready her simple outfit, and another for her husband +and child, and went bravely out to the new life awaiting her across +the wide Atlantic. + +They missed her from the old home, and yet were glad to see her go. + +Algernon wanted her, and her place was with him; and the letters they +received regularly from them were all bright and encouraging. +Novelty always had attractions for Beatrice, and she began to find +interests and pleasures even in the life of a Florida settler. + +Maud was left alone in her old home. She was a woman of some +substance now, rather grave and old for her years, but with the +chance (as Desmond told her) of growing younger as time went on. + +Nor was she long alone. Edmund would sooner have had her without so +large a fortune, and she had suggested handing over a share of it to +Beatrice; but Desmond pointed out that their mother had already done +for Beatrice what she thought right, and had given her the elder +daughter's portion in consideration of previous losses; and Beatrice +had declared that she was tired of riches, and would rather live upon +modest means than tempt Algernon to idleness by large ones. + +So Edmund's bride was a well-dowered woman, and some men wondered +whether he would leave the army and settle down as a private +gentleman. But he had no desire to do this, nor did Maud wish him to +quit his profession. She was tired of idle men, she said; she would +rather be an officer's wife, and find work amongst the men and their +wives. Edmund told her there was a large field of usefulness opened +to her in this way; and she quickly found that he spoke the truth. +She became a busier and happier woman than ever she had been in her +life before, and, as Desmond had prophesied, grew steadily younger +and brighter. + +As for Desmond and Odeyne, they lived happily in the Lodge, with +gentle, pale-faced Alice as their faithful attendant, and the two +bright and merry children growing up round them. Nothing more was +ever heard of Walter Garth, and Alice seldom spoke his name, +gradually learning to forget the painful past, though the shadow of +it would hang upon her all her life. + +Cissy and Guy lived almost within hail of the Lodge, and Jem and the +Ritchies generally were the kindest of neighbours and friends. + +Desmond found no difficulty in getting a place once again at the +office, and now went steadily to business in a very different mood. +He won confidence and good-will, and was presently promoted to the +place of trust which he had occupied before, and saw his way to a +partnership in due course. + +But however his income increased, they made no alteration in their +manner of life, putting everything they could spare aside to pay off +what both had agreed to consider as just and lawful debts. Little by +little the claims were met and dealt with. The grateful letters they +received testified to the thankful relief their conduct caused, and +were the best of rewards. Odeyne had been brought up simply, and +found no difficulty in ordering her reduced household with careful +economy; and never had her life been so happy as now, when Desmond +was her kind, true, faithful adviser and friend, and they walked hand +in hand (as it were) through life, sharing every hope, every joy, +every care and sorrow, and at one, at last, even in faith and hope, +ordering their lives in the fear of God, and seeking in all things to +do His good pleasure, and rule even the thoughts of their hearts in +accordance with His precepts. + +* * * * * * + +"At last, my darling, at last! Welcome home once again!" + +Desmond sprang from the carriage that had brought them back after a +month's holiday at the seaside, and was now leading Odeyne up the +familiar steps to the open door of the Chase. + +Within stood the servants, smiling their welcome; and Odeyne +recognised many old familiar faces in the ranks, though her eyes were +dim with unshed tears. + +The day of probation and waiting was over. Desmond's honour had been +redeemed. He stood a free man, able to look the whole world in the +face; and he was bringing back his wife to their own home once +again--that home in which Odeyne had seen so much of happiness and so +much of trouble. + +But the clouds had all passed away now. The sun was shining without +and within. Husband and wife spoke kind words to those awaiting +them, and received many glad and kindly welcomes in response. The +excited children--now three in number--the youngest being led about +between the other two--ran hither and thither in great wonder and +delight; whilst the servants hastened to prepare a banquet, for the +master had said that they would sit down six at table that night, as +of course Guy and Cissy and Maud and Edmund must come. But till then +they were alone in the dear old home, to look about and enjoy it +together. + +"It is so beautiful, Desmond. I think I never quite knew before how +much I loved it. We have been very, very happy all these years down +there, have we not, dearest? And yet this seems like a sort of +promised land!" + +Desmond put his arm about her, as they stood looking over the dear +familiar gardens, now a blaze of summer-tide beauty, and to the hills +and woods beyond, and drew her very close to him. + +"Truly the promised land--the goal of our earthly hopes. God has +been wonderfully good to us, and has brought us back, when but for +His restraining hand, it might have been impossible for me ever to +face the world again. Odeyne, there is one thing in the past that I +have never told you yet--let me tell it to you now. I was once +terribly tempted--as near the verge of crime as ever man stood. It +was upon that last awful day, when I knew not what would befall, and +I thought I saw a way, if I just gave way to this temptation. My +mind was almost made up; I was about to leave the house, when I +remembered something I had forgotten, and I went back softly for it. +I opened the door of our room--and there were you upon your knees. +You were wrestling in prayer--I knew it--I felt it in every chord of +my being. You were praying for me--and God had sent me back that I +might know it. That saved me, Odeyne. That brought me to my senses. +I was restrained from an act that would have made of me an outcast +and an alien for ever. And it was my wife's prayers that withheld +me. My own precious, precious wife, it is through your faith and +love and piety that we stand together here to-day. It is to you, +under God and His guiding Providence, that we owe our happy return to +the Chase. How can we do less now than dedicate our lives and our +home to Him and His service? You would have done so from the first, +but I would not. Let us start afresh from this day, and our home +will indeed become as a land of promise to us!" + + + +FINIS + + + + + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76100 *** |