"Mother!--father! Oh, in heaven's name, speak to me! I cannot bear it.
My heart is broken. What shall I do?"
"My poor darling!" sobbed Mrs Luttrell, holding her child to her breast
and rocking to and fro, while the doctor sat with wrinkled face nursing
and caressing Julia, who clung to him in a scared fashion, not having
yet got over the terrors of the past night.
She had her arms about her grandfather, and nestled in his breast, but
every now and then she started up to gaze piteously in his face.
"Would my dolls all be burnt, grandpa?"
"Oh, I hope not, my pet," he said soothingly; "but never mind if they
are: grandpa will buy you some better ones."
"But I liked those, grandpa, and--and is my little bed burnt too?"
"No, my pet; I think not. I hope not. They put the fire out before it
did a great deal of harm."
The child laid her head down again for a few moments, and then looked up
anxiously.
"Thibs says the bad men tore the place all to pieces last night and
broke all the furniture and looking-glasses. Oh! grandpa, I--I--I--"
Suffering still from the nervous shock of the nocturnal alarm, the poor
child's breast heaved, and she burst into a pitiful fit of sobbing,
which was some time before it subsided.
"Don't think about it all, my pet," said the doctor, tenderly stroking
the soft little head. "Never mind about the old house, you shall come
and live here with grandpa, and we'll have such games in the old garden
again."
"Yes, and I may smell the flowers, and--and--but I want our own house
too."
"Ah, well, we shall see. There, you are not to think any more about
that now."
"Why doesn't Mr Bayle come, grandpa? Did the bad people hurt him very
much?"
"Oh no, my darling: he's all right, and he punished some of them."
"And when will papa come?"
"Hush, child," cried Millicent in a harsh, strange voice, "I cannot hear
to hear you."
The child looked at her in a scared manner and clung to her grandfather,
but struggled from his embrace directly after, and ran to her mother,
throwing her arms about her, and kissing her and sobbing.
"Oh, my own dear, dear mamma!"
"My darling, my darling!" cried Millicent, passionately clasping her to
her breast; and Mrs Luttrell drew away to leave them together, creeping
quietly to the doctor's side, and laying her hand upon his shoulder,
looking a while in his eyes as if asking whether she were doing wisely.
The doctor nodded, and for a few minutes there was no sound heard but
Millicent's sobs.
"I wish Mr Bayle would come," said Julia all at once in her silvery
childish treble.
"Silence, child!" cried Millicent fiercely. "Father dear, speak to me;
can you not help me in this trouble? You know the charge is all false?"
"My darling, I will do everything I can."
"Yes, yes, I know, but every one seems to have turned against us--Sir
Gordon, Mr Bayle, the whole town. It is some terrible mistake: all
some fearful error. How dare they charge my husband with a crime?"
She gazed fiercely at her father as she spoke, and the old man stood
with his arms about Mrs Luttrell and his lips compressed.
"You do not speak," cried Millicent; "surely you are not going to turn
against us, father?"
"Oh! Milly, my own child," sobbed Mrs Luttrell, running to her to take
her head to her breast, "don't speak to us like that; as if your father
would do anything but help you."
"Of course, of course," cried Millicent excitedly; "but there, I must
put off all this pitiful wailing."
She rose in a quiet, determined way, and wiped her eyes hastily,
arranged her hair, and began to walk up and down the room. Then,
stopping, she forced a smile, and bent down and kissed Julia, sending a
flash of joy through her countenance.
"Go and look round the garden, darling. Pick mamma a nice bunch of
flowers."
"Will you come too, grandpa?" cried the child eagerly.
"I'll come to you presently, darling," said the doctor nodding; and the
child bounded to the open window with a sigh of relief, but ran back to
kiss each in turn.
"Now we can speak," cried Millicent, panting, as she forced herself to
be calm. "There is no time for girlish sobbing when such a call as this
is made upon me. The whole town is against poor Robert; they have
wrecked and burnt our house, and they have cast him into prison."
"My darling, be calm, be calm," said the doctor soothingly.
"Yes, I am calm," she said, "and I am going to work--and help my
husband. Now tell me, What is to be done first? He is in that dreadful
place."
"Yes, my child, but leave this now. I will do all I can, and will tell
you everything. You have had no sleep all night; go and lie down now
for a few hours."
"Sleep! and at a time like this!" cried Millicent. "Now tell me. He
will be brought up before the magistrates to-day?"
"Yes, my child."
"And he must have legal advice to counteract all this cruel charge that
has been brought against him. Poor fellow! so troubled as he has been
of late."
The doctor looked at her with the lines in his forehead deepening.
"If they had given him time he would have proved to them how false all
these attacks are. But we are wasting time. The lawyer, father, and he
will have to be paid. You will help me, dear; we must have some money."
The doctor exchanged glances with his wife.
"You have some, of course?" he said, turning to Millicent.
"I? No. Robert has been so pressed lately. But you will lend us all
we want. You have plenty, father."
The doctor was silent, and half turned away.
"Father!" cried Millicent, catching his hand, "don't you turn from me in
my distress. I tell you Robert is innocent, and only wants time to
prove it to all the world. You will let me have the money for his
defence?"
The doctor remained silent.
"Father!" cried Millicent in a tone of command.
"Hush! my darling; your poor father has no money," sobbed Mrs Luttrell,
"and sometimes lately we have not known which way to turn for a few
shillings."
"Oh, father!" cried Millicent reproachfully. "But there's the house.
You must borrow money on its security, enough to pay for the best
counsel in London. Robert will repay you a hundredfold."
The doctor turned away and walked to the window.
"Father!" cried Millicent, "am I your child?"
"My child! my darling!" he groaned, coming quickly back, "how can you
speak to me in such a tone?"
"How can you turn from me at such a time, when the honour of my dear
husband is at stake? What are a few paltry hundred pounds to that? You
cannot, you shall not refuse. There, I know enough of business for
that. The lawyers will lend you money on the security of this house.
Go at once, and get what is necessary. Why do you hesitate?"
"My poor darling!" cried Mrs Luttrell piteously, "don't, pray don't
speak to your father like that."
"I must help my husband," said Millicent hoarsely. "Yes, yes, and you
shall, my dear; but be calm, be calm. There, there, there."
"Mother, I must hear my father speak," said Millicent sternly. "I come
to him in sore distress and poverty. My home has been wrecked by last
night's mob, my poor husband half killed, and torn from me to be cast
into prison. I come to my father for help--a few pitiful pounds, and he
seems to side with my husband's enemies."
"Milly, my darling, I'll do everything I can," cried the doctor; "but
you ask impossibilities. The house is not mine."
"Not yours, father?"
"Hush! hush, my dear!" sobbed Mrs Luttrell. "I can't explain to you
now, but poor papa was obliged to sell it a little while ago."
"Where is the money?" said Millicent fiercely.
"It was all gone before--the mortgages," said Mrs Luttrell.
"And who bought it?" cried Millicent.
"Mr Bayle."
There was a pause of a few moments' duration, and then the suffering
woman seemed to flash out into a fit of passion.
"Mr Bayle again!" she cried.
"Yes, Mr Bayle, our friend."
At that moment there came a burst of merry laughter from the garden, the
sounds floating in through the open window with the sweet scents of the
flowers, and directly after Julia, looking flushed and happy, appeared,
holding Christie Bayle's hand.
Bayle paused as he saw the group within, and then slowly entered.
"Mamma, I knew Mr Bayle would come!" cried Julia excitedly. "But, oh,
look at him, he has hurt himself so! He is so--so--oh, I can't bear it,
I can't bear it!"
The memories of the past night came back in a flash--the hurried awaking
from sleep, the dressing, the sounds of the mob, the breaking windows,
the fire, and the wild struggle; and the poor child sobbed hysterically
and trembled, as Bayle sank upon his knees and took her to his breast.
There she clung, while he caressed her and whispered comforting words,
Millicent the while standing back, erect and stern, and Mrs Luttrell
and the doctor with troubled countenances looking on.
In a few minutes the child grew calm again, and then, without a word,
Millicent crossed to the fireplace and rang the bell. It was answered
directly by the doctor's maid.
"Send Thisbe here," said Millicent sternly.
In another minute Thisbe, who looked very white and troubled, appeared
at the door, gazing sharply from one to the other.
"Julie, go to Thisbe," said Millicent in a cold, harsh voice.
The child looked up quickly, and clung to Bayle, as she gazed at her
mother with the same shrinking, half-scared look she had so often
directed at her father.
"Julie!"
The child ran across to Thisbe, and Bayle bit his lip, and his brow
contracted, for he caught the sound of a low wail as the door was
closed.
Then, advancing to her, with his face full of the pity he felt, Bayle
held out his hand to Millicent, and then let it fall, as she stood
motionless, gazing fiercely in his face, till he lowered his eyes, and
his head sank slowly, while he heaved a sigh.
"You have come, then," she said, "come to look upon your work. You have
come to enjoy your triumph. False friend! Coward! Treacherous
villain! You have cast my husband into prison, and now you dare to meet
me face to face!"
"Mrs Hallam! Millicent!" he cried, looking up, his face flushing as he
met her eyes, "what are you saying?"
"The truth!" she cried fiercely. "He knew you better than I. He warned
me against you. His dislike had cause. I, poor, weak, trusting woman,
believed you to be our friend, and let you crawl and enlace yourself
about our innocent child's heart, while all the time you were forming
your plans, and waiting for your chance to strike!"
"Mrs Hallam," said Bayle calmly, and with a voice full of pity, "you do
not know what you are saying."
"Not know! when my poor husband told me all!--how you waited until he
was in difficulties, and then plotted with that wretched menial Thickens
to overthrow him! I know you now: cowardly, cruel man! Unworthy of a
thought! But let me tell you that you win no triumph. You thought to
separate us--to make the whole world turn from him whom you have cast
into prison. You have succeeded in tightening the bonds between us.
The trouble will pass as soon as my husband's innocency is shown, while
your conduct will cling to you, and show itself like some stain!"
A look as angry as her own came over his countenance, but it passed in a
moment, and he said gravely: "I came to offer you my sympathy and help
in this time of need."
"Your help, your sympathy!" cried Millicent scornfully. "You, who
planned, here, in my presence, with Sir Gordon, my husband's ruin!
Leave this house, sir! Stay! I forgot. By your machinations you are
master here. Mother, father, let us go. The world is wide, and heaven
will not let such villainy triumph in the end."
"Oh, hush! hush!" exclaimed Bayle sternly. "Mrs Hallam, you know not
what you say. Doctor, come on to me, I wish to see you. Dear Mrs
Luttrell, let me assist you all I can. Good-bye! God help you in your
trouble. Good-bye!"
He bent down and kissed the old lady; and as he pressed her hand she
clung to his, and kissed it in return.
"Good-bye, Mrs Hallam," he said, holding out his hand once more.
She turned from him with a look of disgust and loathing, and he went
slowly out, as he had come, with his head bent, along the road, and on
to the market-place.