at tea, so I hope that you--er--you will fulfil the intention with which
you came!" and the speaker smiled at the pretty girl with a sudden
lighting of the sleepy eyes. He was thinking to himself what a
marvellous difference her coming had made in the aspect of the dim,
solemn room. All day long he had roamed about the house and grounds
with the eerie feeling of being alone in an enchanted castle, where a
spell of sleep was laid on the occupants. Wherever the eye lighted,
some rare and costly treasure greeted the sight; the great rooms opened
one into the other, while rare Venetian mirrors reduplicated the
tapestries on the walls and seemed to open out fresh vistas before the
eye. It was a palace among houses, a very storehouse of treasures, but
the want of life chilled the blood in the young man's veins. Not a
human soul to be seen but the silent-footed servant with his foreign
tongue, and the crippled master, dead already to all that makes life
worth living! All day long he had been alone, struggling with a
depression which seemed to close more and more heavily around him; but
here, at last, was a creature like himself, young, radiant, full of
life, with the glow of health and happiness on her rosy cheek. His
glance was so undisguisedly friendly that Nan responded to it with a
smile, and seated herself forthwith on her accustomed chair. Shyness
not being a complaint by which she was troubled, she saw no reason for
refusing the stranger's invitation, or for disguising the keen interest
which she took in his own individuality.
"Thank you; I'd like to stay," she said frankly. "I am so pleased to
meet you, for I know all about you. `Gervase Farrington Vanburgh',"--
she checked off each word on uplifted fingers, and nodded her head with
an air of triumph at the completeness of her information.
"`The Boundaries, Lipton, Devonshire.' I have posted ever so many notes
to you, and once I addressed an envelope. Perhaps you remember my
scrawly writing, with long tails to the letters? We were dreadfully
disappointed that Mr Vanburgh had no daughters, for we have not many
friends of our own age, but he tried to console us by saying that you
were coming to pay him a visit. I asked him especially to arrange it
for June, for we shall have our brother home then, and several things
going on which will make it livelier than usual. We have made all sorts
of plans for your amusement!"
"That is kind; I appreciate it very much. I have heard of you too, and
of the pleasure which your acquaintance has given my uncle. He was
giving me an account of you all last night, from which I have no
difficulty in recognising you from your sisters. You are Miss Lilias!"
"Lilias!--I! Good gracious! Whatever made you think that?" gasped Nan,
staring at him with eyes so clear and honest, that, though an adept in
the gentle art of flattery, Gervase Vanburgh found himself incapable of
explaining the reason of his mistake. He could not tell Nan Rendell
that, after hearing Lilias described as the beauty of the family, he had
at once identified her with the charming figure whose presence had
brought sunshine into the gloomy house. He murmured some vague excuse,
while Nan proceeded to expatiate on the difference between herself and
her sister. "Lilias is fair, and I am dark; she has golden hair, and is
quite grown up and staid and proper. I am supposed to be grown up too,
in the afternoons and in the evenings, but the mornings are my own, and
then I am disgracefully young, and behave as badly as if I were a child
again. I wish I were! I shall never be so happy again as I was in the
dear old school-days." Nan's eyes roamed wistfully across the road to
the porch room, where Elsie's sleek head could be seen bent over her
work, with Agatha and Christabel vaguely outlined at the table; then
suddenly her face lit up with mischievous smiles. "If they could only
see me!" she told herself ecstatically. "If the girls could see me
sitting here talking to this strange young man! They'd have a fit!
They'd go crazy with excitement! I must, I must lure him to the window,
and let them see us together! They will never believe me unless I do."
She looked up, to meet Gervase's eyes fixed upon her, and found
inspiration in his first remark.
"You are looking at your own house, are you not? It is exactly opposite
this, I think. My uncle pointed it out to me last night."
"Yes, just opposite. It stands on the road, as this one does, but we
have a lovely garden behind. You can see a little bit of it from here!"
and wily Nan led the way to the window, secure of bringing Gervase in
her train, and keeping him in evidence until it pleased her to finish
her explanations. The appearance of her own light dress was sufficient
to attract Elsie's attention; but what of the agitation of the three at
sight of her companion? Elsie fled into the background--"The better to
see you, my dear,"--and Nan's keen eyes could discern the three patches
of white made by the gaping faces, the while she smiled and posed, far
more for their benefit than that of her companion. Presently Elsie
disappeared, and Nan knew as well as if she had heard the words spoken,
that the object of her flight had been to bring the opera-glasses from
the drawing-room, when the three would take turns to stare at the
stranger, and speculate as to his identity. In the first mischievous
enjoyment of the moment she found it impossible to face her companion,
but when at last she did venture to meet his glance she was vastly
impressed by his appearance. A superfine specimen indeed, this Gervase
Vanburgh, with his frock-coat, well-creased trousers, and immaculate
linen. Even Nan, the unnoticing, noted the faultlessness of detail
which characterised his attire, and had an instant perception that Ned
Talbot would look rough and countrified by his side, and even Jim
himself suffer from the contrast. Evidently this was a dandy of the
first water; yet, despite his languid bearing, his face was full of
intelligence, and decision of character was proclaimed in the large nose
and square, clean-cut chin.
"What a mercy I tidied my hair!" sighed Nan to herself; and at that
moment the door opened, and in came the Italian servant, pushing his
master before him in the wheeled chair in which he was moved from one
room to another. The invalid was looking more death-like than ever, but
his face lighted with pleasure at the sight of Nan, while she ran to the
sofa and arranged his cushions with loving solicitude. When he was
settled she knelt beside him to exchange greetings, putting her hand on
his with a caressing gesture, and he held it firmly while he replied, as
if gaining strength from the contact. Gervase Vanburgh thought he had
never seen so typical a picture of youth and age as that made by his
uncle and the bright-faced girl, and mentally contrasted this welcome
with the one given to himself the day before. His uncle had never shown
such pleasure on his arrival; but he felt no jealousy of the girl who
was so evidently preferred before himself; for, whatever his faults
might be, he was free at least from any tinge of self-seeking. The lazy
smile lingered on his face as he listened to the exchange of question
and answer.
"This is a pleasant surprise, little woman! When did you come across?
I did not hear of your arrival."
"Bounced in ten minutes ago, and had such a fright to find a stranger
here instead of you. Why didn't you send at once to tell me that you
were worse?"
"Because I could not have seen you if you had come. On my bad days I am
best alone; but I am pulling round again, and am glad to have Gervase's
company. You have made each other's acquaintance, I see! I suppose
neither had much difficulty in guessing the identity of the other."
"He thought I was Lilias!" said Nan, glancing at Gervase with laughing
eyes. "Think of that! He will be surprised when he sees her, won't he?
But I knew who he was in a moment. Now, tell me honestly, would you
rather I went away? I came meaning to stay to tea, but if you don't
feel able to talk to two people at once I'll come again when you are
alone. I won't be a scrap offended!"
Mr Vanburgh smiled.
"I am sure you would not, but I should like you to stay, please. We
want you to pour out tea for us; and I won't attempt to talk, but just
lie still and amuse myself listening to you."
"But I never can be amusing when I try,--can you?" said Nan, appealing
to Gervase with a friendly smile. "The girls at home think I am
amusing, because I generally say the wrong thing at the wrong moment,
which may be entertaining to them, but is very poor fun for me. Maud
says I speak first and think afterwards; but what can I do? I once made
a vow to cure myself of being impetuous by counting twenty slowly before
I began to speak, and I kept it religiously two whole days. They seemed
like a month; and if I had persevered I should have become dumb, for by
the time I had counted twenty the conversation had hopped on to another
subject, and any remark was hopelessly out of date! So now I have gone
back to my old ways, and say my say, and take the consequences."
"You don't look to me as if you were given to making painful remarks,"
Gervase remarked in a conciliatory tone, and Nan straightened her back
in defence of her own behaviour.
"Wouldn't hurt a fly! That's the worst part of it. For I am so soft-
hearted over other people's woes, that I shed tears regularly every time
I meet a tramp, and he tells me that he is a discharged seaman who has
lost his certificate, and only needs four and sixpence to take him to a
port where he is certain to find fresh work. They always have lost
their certificates and want a railway fare, but I can't help relieving
them and handing-over last Saturday's money. But a tender heart is not
much use if you make awkward remarks and quote people's own doings to
their faces, as capital jokes against somebody else! I got into
terrible trouble in that way with a caller only the other day, and if I
had had any sense I should have stopped in time, for I had plenty of
warning. Her face grew all stiff and rigid, and I wondered what in the
world had given Elsie such a cough all of a sudden. Is there any cure,
do you think, for a habit like this--anything I could do to make myself
careful?"
There was a pause while the two men looked at the eager face, smiled,
and grew sober, as the question awoke memories from their own past.
"A practical kindness of heart, Nan, which is not satisfied with facile
tears and offerings, but takes continual thought of the feelings of
others!"
"Or a severe lesson!" added the younger man thoughtfully. "If you
wounded some one very near and dear, and saw them suffer through your
thoughtlessness, you could never forget it. I learnt that for myself
long ago, when--"
But Nan heard no more of what he said, for, with a flash, her eager mind
had leapt to the solution of the mystery. More love! That was what was
needed. Love, the cure for every human fault. She applied the test to
her own experience, and found it abundantly proven. Had any word or
deed of hers hurt Maud through the period of ultra-sensitiveness through
which that dear sister had passed? Ten thousand times, no! On the
contrary, she had been quick to ward off blows, to turn dangerous
conversations into new channels, to stand between the sufferer and the
world. Where she loved it was obvious that she could show both care and
tact; it was want of love which lay at the root of her thoughtless acts
and speeches. Gervase looked up at the conclusion of his story, to find
the girl staring blankly across the room, with a glimmer of tears in the
brown eyes, and was at a loss to guess the meaning.
"I'll begin this instant, and love every one in this world!" Nan was
saying to herself determinedly. "It will be fatiguing, but so good for
my character. I'll think of what they will like, and what I can do for
them, and spend my time in good works. What can I do now for these two
men? It's no credit pouring out tea, for I want some myself; but I
might do something for that poor Gervase to-night, when Mr Vanburgh
goes to bed, and he is left alone. He looked dolefully dull when I came
in, and I believe he would enjoy coming across and seeing us all, as he
has heard so much about us. I'll ask him anyway, and see what he says."
The idea was so pleasant that the dimples came back to greet it; she
looked across at Gervase with a brilliant smile, and struck amazement to
his heart by inquiring blandly--
"Would you like to come to dinner with us tonight?"
Gervase Vanburgh stared, as well he might, at so informal an invitation.
His uncle also struggled with a smile, and Nan, tardily conscious of
her lack of formality, plunged headlong into explanations--
"I meant to say that it will be lonely for you after Mr Vanburgh goes
to bed, and I am sure mother would be delighted to see you. We have Ned
Talbot, a friend of Lil--of my brother Jim staying with us, so that
there would be two other men to keep you company. When father and Jim
are away, we never ask gentlemen to the house, for mother says seven
women at one time are too great a tax on any man's nervous system; but
you wouldn't be afraid of us when there were two other men, would you?
The schoolroom girls don't come down until after dinner, so we are
really only three."
Gervase Vanburgh laughed aloud, and Nan looked up with a quick flash of
approval, for a laugh has a tell-tale sound, and this one rang
unmistakably honest and true.
"I am not in the least afraid," he cried boldly. "I'd like to see you
all, school-girls included. It is most kind of you to think of it, and
if Mrs Rendell will really allow me, I shall be delighted to accept
your invitation."
So Nan ran across the street, and entered the house with the great news
that Gervase Vanburgh had arrived, and--given a formal invitation--was
coming that very evening to make the acquaintance of the family.
CHAPTER TWENTY.
AMONG THE ROSES.
By no one was the news of Gervase Vanburgh's advent greeted with more
enthusiasm than by Lilias herself, for, truth to tell, the day had
seemed interminably long in the company of a depressed and anxious
lover. The points of view from which Ned and herself regarded his
position seemed to grow more hopelessly far apart the more it was
discussed, and the consciousness that he was disappointed by her lack of
sympathy did not tend to raise Lilias's spirits. If the question at
stake had not touched the all-important subject of future comfort, she
would have been willing to sacrifice her own wishes in order to preserve
Ned's approval, but in this crisis of their fate she would allow no such
weakness. If her own parents seemed to place Ned's scruples before her
interests, if Ned himself were so ignorant of what was due to his
_fiancee_ as to talk calmly of accepting the position of a clerk on a
few hundreds a year, it behoved her to be firm, and make Ned understand
that she would never be his wife until he could provide something more
than the bare necessaries of life. Nevertheless, the task of opposition
was far from pleasant, and the grave wonder of his glance cut like a
knife into her vain little heart.
It was a relief to know that the presence of a stranger would prevent
further reference to the subject for this evening at least, while the
Vanburgh nephew and heir was in himself a sufficiently interesting
person. Lilias put on her prettiest dress, and sat trifling with a book
until the company had assembled in the drawing-room, and the time was
ripe for an effective entrance, when she glided into the room, and
smiled sweetly at the stranger, while Nan watched his face with
mischievous enjoyment. He was surprised--there was no mistake about
that! When Lilias raised her face to his, he gave a distinct little
start of surprise, and the sleepy eyes looked for once quite wide-awake
and animated.
"And the stupid fellow actually mistook me for her!" chuckled Nan to
herself, with that pride in her sister's beauty which the Rendell girls
shared so loyally, looking upon it as a family possession which
reflected credit on one and all. "That's one mistake he will never make
again, however much confused he may get among six sisters!"
Conversation at the dinner table was of a general character; but every
now and then Nan found an opportunity of exchanging a few quiet remarks
with Gervase Vanburgh, who sat next herself, the result of which was to
assure her that she had found a character as diametrically different
from her own as it was possible to imagine. She was full of energy, he
was languid to the verge of apathy; she had hard and fast opinions to
offer on every topic, known or unknown, while his "Don't know!" and
"Couldn't say!" repeated themselves with wearisome echo. She was afire
with ardour, with enthusiasm, with the burning desire to right all
wrongs, redress all evils, bring peace on earth, and start the
millennium without a moment's delay; judging from appearances, he seemed
incapable of any sort of emotion, and possessed with the conviction that
nothing was really worth taking any trouble about.
Nan grew irritated beyond measure, wriggled about on her seat, shrugged
her shoulders, and crumbled her bread, unconscious alike of her father's
smiles and her mother's frowns, and, when actions failed to relieve her
feelings, was forced into emphatic speech.
"Nothing interests you, nothing gives you pleasure! You care for
nothing, you hope for nothing! I wouldn't be like you for the whole
wide world!" she declared; and Gervase Vanburgh fixed his melancholy
eyes upon her, and said tragically--
"And I would give the whole wide world if I could once more care and
hope like you!"
This was disconcerting. Nan had not expected so speedy a concession,
and she followed her mother from the room oppressed by the remembrance
of that melancholy look, and consumed with curiosity as to its cause.
Money anxiety it could not be, seeing that Mr Vanburgh's heir need
never fear want; but a broken home, disappointed love, and faithless
friendship held out wide avenues for speculation. Nan sat and pondered,
listening meekly to her mother's reproofs, while inside the dining-room
Mr Rendell could not resist putting a home question to his visitor.
"You were amused by my little girl's enthusiasm! I saw her growing hot
and eager, and had a strong suspicion that you were leading her on! She
is a most fervent young person, and cannot understand being less than in
deadly earnest over any question."
"She is er--refreshingly young!" replied Gervase in his soft, drawling
voice. He took no notice of the charge made against himself, but went
on peeling his fruit with an air of pensive exhaustion, at which the two
elder men exchanged glances of amusement. He looked at once so young,
so healthy, and so prosperous, that this affectation of depression had
somewhat of a ludicrous air to men who knew the world and had
acquaintance with real and pressing anxieties. Ned Talbot looked across
the table at the handsome youngster, and heaved a sigh to the memory of
the good old days when he also was happy enough to invent troubles, and
philosophise darkly concerning unknown woes. He had come south with a
heart heavy with care, yet with an expectation of comfort which had
taken away half the sting, but that hope had been doomed to
disappointment, and on the morrow he must return to his work with an
added fear in his heart. Could it be that he had been mistaken in
Lilias? As a man eating a soft bloomy peach jars his teeth suddenly
against its stone, so had Ned found himself confronted with a hardness
in his _fiancee's_ nature which had brought with it a shock of
disillusionment. Surely, surely, if a girl were ever to be sweet and
sympathetic to the man whom she had promised to marry, it was when he
was threatened by misfortune; but Lilias evidently refused to believe in
his version of affairs, and cherished a grudging conviction that he was
sacrificing her to romantic scruples. He had talked, and pleaded, and
reasoned--it was like hitting one's self against a wall. She never
swerved from her position, her voice never lost its tone of studied
toleration; and now he sat, the poor fellow! listening dreamily to the
conversation between the other two men, too weary and depressed to take
any active share in it himself.
When a movement was made towards the drawing-room half an hour later,
however, Lilias was discovered leaning against the lintel of the window,
looking so young, so sweet and fragile, that every chivalrous instinct
rose up in her defence. Such a girl was not made to endure hardships,
Ned reflected tenderly. The man who was lucky enough to own her should
be prepared to carry all burdens on his own shoulders. He was ready!
Oh yes; if Lilias would but love him faithfully, he would work for her
with the strength of twenty men. He was eager to tell her so, to
apologise for his harshness of the afternoon; and, stepping past into
the garden, he caught her hand in his, and tried to draw her away.
"Come, dear, come! Let us walk round the garden. I want to speak to
you alone."
Lilias laughed, gave a caressing little squeeze to his hand, but stood
firmly in her position. Gervase Vanburgh and her father were
approaching, and a general conversation seemed at the moment more
interesting than a _tete-a-tete_ with her lover. So far she had had
little opportunity of speaking to the stranger, and his appearance both
interested and perplexed her. The air of languid elegance which
provoked Nan, filled her sister with admiration, yet there was something
baffling in the expression of the sleepy eyes. Lilias had an
uncomfortable impression that those eyes might be very keen on
occasions, and would have suspected a quizzical expression at the
present moment, had the idea not been so palpably absurd. Why should
Gervase find anything amusing in her attitude? It was surely a most
natural thing that she, as the eldest daughter at home, should wait for
the gentlemen, while her sisters went out into the garden, and, that
being so, where should she stand, if not by the window? Nevertheless,
the slow, quiet smile which followed his glance around, sent the blood
into her cheeks, and seemed to intimate that he was as well aware as
herself of the appropriateness of the background, and the care which had
devised that seemingly careless pose! So disconcerted was she that she
would have been inclined to retire in Ned's company had he pressed his
request a second time, but he was silenced by the first refusal, and the
little group stood together exchanging commonplaces, until a white dress
appeared among the rose-bushes, and Nan's voice called out an unabashed
summons--
"I thought you were never coming! Why don't you come out? It's
perfectly lovely here. The roses smell so delicious in the dusk; and
oh, father, there are two whole flowers on the little pink-belled
saxifrage you brought home from Norway!"
"No!" cried Mr Rendell in tones of incredulous ecstasy, which stamped
him on the spot as one of the noble army of gardeners. He hurried
forward to inspect the new treasures, while Nan went down on her knees
to hold up their tiny heads and expatiate on their fragile beauty. When
she arose five minutes later, she found two surprises awaiting her, the
first being the presence of Mr Vanburgh by her side, and the second,
alas! two large green stains on her white skirt, in the middle of the
front seam, where she had knelt on the dewy grass. Her face of dismay
as she pointed downwards evoked a laugh from the two men, but Mr
Rendell checked himself, glanced over his shoulder towards where his
wife paced to and fro, and said quickly--
"Better run upstairs, dear, and change it. No need to be distressed;
you have plenty more, I suppose, and it will wash."
Nan groaned in a sepulchral fashion, and shook her head.
"You don't understand! It's an evening skirt with trimmings, not an
ordinary pique. My very best too! I put it on because Mr Vanburgh was
coming, and now it's spoilt!"
"Oh, surely not! Don't say that; it makes me feel so horribly guilty.
Let me try if I can rub it off," cried the visitor eagerly; and, before
Nan could protest, out came a superfine hemstitched handkerchief, and
Gervase began rubbing the damaged skirt with such vigour, that the
stains grew larger and larger, and increased their borders so rapidly
that they met and blended in one great whole. His face lengthened with
horror as he withdrew his handkerchief, and gazed upon the results of
his labour; and Nan said dismally--
"Thank you so much! It's much worse now! Wish I were old enough to
wear black always, and not be bothered. My life's a burden to me
because of my clothes!"
"For the mother's pride the child must suffer pain!" cried Mr Rendell,
laughing. "That is what Kitty said, isn't it, when her mother insisted
on pinning down the end of her collar? Better confess at once, Mops,
and get it over! Tell your mother she can send it to the cleaner's, and
I'll stand the racket."
"Come and tell her yourself. D-oo, ducky darling! Sweetest father in
all the world, come and plead for me!" coaxed Nan, hanging on to his
arm, and rubbing his face with her soft cool cheek, while he affected to
push her away, and in reality allowed himself to be led where she would
take him.
Mr Vanburgh followed, stroking his moustache to conceal his smile, and
Mrs Rendell's quick eyes saw their approach, and fixed themselves
sternly upon Nan's ruined skirt.
"Another accident, Edith, worse luck! The grass would get damp, and
Mops and I were so interested in looking at our plant that we forgot
everything else, and--"