It was only at intervals that the sun’s rays pierced the leafy shade of
a long valley in the woods of Dalradern, where Sir Within and his ward
were riding. The tall beech-trees, which stood like the columns of a
gigantic cathedral, were met and interwoven above so densely, that
the light struggled with difficulty through the foliage, and fell in
fanciful patches on the smooth turf beneath.
With noiseless tread the horses moved over that even turf, so that, when
the riders were not speaking, not a sound broke the stillness, except
the rich carol of the blackbird, or the deep-voiced cooing of the
wood-pigeon.
Sir Within rode his strong dark-brown short-legged cob, a beast of grave
and dignified deportment, never startled nor surprised by the fretful
and uneasy performances of the mettlesome animal at his side, and whose
natural hot temper was alternately chafed and caressed at the fancy
of his rider; for it was her pleasure to be eternally correcting some
imaginary fault, or teaching some new accomplishment. Now, it was his
neck that wanted plasticity; now, he bore a little too heavily on the
hand; now, the off-shoulder was a thought too prominent in his canter;
or, more vexatious than these, he _would_ respond to a touch of the spur
by a sharp switch of the tail--a breach of good breeding she could not
tolerate.
Firmly seated on an animal that defied all sympathy in these mettlesome
feats, Sir Within had ample time to admire the exquisite grace with
which she rode. It was indeed the very perfection of the accord between
horse and rider, which makes the spectator unable to say to which of the
two he yields the palm of excellence. No bound nor spring ever took
her unawares; and when the animal seemed half mad with excitement, the
graceful caress she stooped to bestow appeared to subdue him like a
charm.
“Why are you so grave, my dear Gardy? You told me you should be yourself
again when that tiresome man was gone, and now he’s off-thank Heaven
for it!--but you look so depressed and dispirited as if you had not yet
tasted the relief.”
“True, Ma Mie, quite true. I have not quite convinced myself that we are
free of him. His son, however, remains, and is to stay till next week.”
“Yes, but how little we see of him. Your kind neighbour, Mr. Grenfell,
has him almost every day at dinner.”
“For which I owe him all my gratitude.”
“I take it, Mr. Grenfell invites him to please himself. He is very
lonely yonder at the Cottage. He says he has made no acquaintances, and
I suppose that even Mr. Adolphus Ladarelle is better than solitude--not
that I should think so myself.”
“But you show that too plainly, Ma Mie. There are no feelings we
ought so strictly to control, so far as the manifestations go, as our
distastes to people in society.”
“I think he hates _me_.”
“That would be impossible, child. He may be afraid of your wit; he may
not like to encounter your repartee; he may feel, and not unreasonably,
that he does not stand high in your favour, and this may impart a degree
of constraint to his manner.”
“I have not seen the constraint, Sir, but I have the dislike, and it was
so perfectly mutual, I was glad of it.”
“Another mistake, Ma Chere, and a great mistake. The people who really
like us need no caressing. The blandishments should be all reserved for
the doubtful--just as we administer cordials to the weak.”
“I do my best, Sir, but I own I do not approach it with a good grace. Do
you really wish me to become a favourite with this young gentleman?”
“Nay, Ma Mie, you go too far. Your nature is like a pendulum, that
swings if it be but breathed on. I did not say so much as that. I simply
meant, that I should prefer if he were to carry away from us a pleasant
impression of his visit. His father and I have had some discussions of
a kind I cannot easily forget. In a long life of affairs, I have not met
one, no, not one, who carries the virtue of candour to the pitch of
my respected relative, or who imparts home truths with a more telling
sincerity.”
“Well, Sir, if I understand you aright, I am to captivate Mr. Ladarelle,
but not to fall in love with him.”
“Mademoiselle,” said he, gravely, “there was not such a word as
love dropped in the entire discussion. I have told you that with the
relations which subsist between the elder Mr. Ladarelle and myself it
would be as well if a kindlier sentiment connected me with the young
man. We shall probably have matters to discuss to which each of us ought
to bring all the courtesy in his power.”
“Who cut down the large elm, Gardy?” cried she, suddenly pointing to a
clearing in the wood, where a gigantic trunk had just been felled.
“It was I, Ma Chere. I ordered it; intending to make a vista yonder,
so that we should see the great tower; but Mr. Ladarelle has stopped me
with a protest, and as I abhor a lawsuit, I think I shall submit.”
“Just watch how the Cid will take the timber; he’s glorious oyer a
stump!”
“Kate--my dear Kate--it’s too high; don’t do it. Come back, I entreat; I
order you to come back!” cried he, as she dashed into the open, and with
her horse beautifully in hand, cantered him at the tree. Perhaps it was
in the seeming carelessness of her hand--for horses have an instinct
rarely deceptive as to the intention of the rider--perhaps a mere
caprice, but the Cid swerved as he came up and refused the leap.
The bare thought of such rebellion raised the girl’s temper at once. She
wheeled him suddenly round, and rode back about fifty yards, and then
facing him once more in the direction of the tree, she dashed towards it
in speed.
“I command you--I order you to come back!” screamed Sir Within; but she
heeded nothing, heard nothing. The horse, now irritated and snorting
with passion, came too close before he rose to the leap, and though
he sprung madly into the air, he touched--a mere touch with his
fore-leg--and came tumbling over, headforemost, to the opposite side,
with his rider beneath him.
[Illustration: 322]
Sir Within had covered his eyes with one hand, not to see her take the
leap, and he remained thus for a few seconds, waiting to hear her voice
and the tramp of her horse as she joined him. At last he removed his
hand and looked around. She was not to be seen. He cried her name--he
screamed it in his agony.
“This way!” cried she; “I’m not hurt--don’t be frightened--come and help
me!”
Dismounting, he made through the tall ferns and the felled branches
and soon gained the spot, from which the horse had only now arisen, and
stood trembling over the fallen figure of the girl. “Oh, my life--my
darling--my heart’s dearest,” cried he, kneeling down beside her; “tell
me you are not crushed--not injured!”
“Only stunned, Gardy, nothing more. It was all my own fault. I rode him
at speed; he had no time to gather himself, and the martingale----” As
she spoke, her voice grew weak, she leaned her head on his shoulder and
fainted.
How did the deep woods resound to that poor old man’s prayers and cries
for help! He shouted--he screamed--he implored; he offered untold gold
to him who should come to his aid. He pledged to give half of all he
had in the world to any who should succour her. It was by a caprice of
Kate’s that they rode without a groom, and he inveighed against his own
folly now for the compliance. Madly mingling self-reproaches with his
cries for assistance, he grew at length hoarse and so faint with his
efforts, that he could with difficulty sustain her weight. Just then was
it that she rallied, and with a playful smile said, “Dear Gardy, just
pass your hand over Cid’s knee. I hope it is not touched!”
“What do I care for the horse; are you safe, my own darling--are you not
hurt?”
“Not in the least--I think not; my ankle is a little stiff--a mere
sprain--no more. This shoulder too---- There, don’t touch it, only
help me up. Yes, of course, I mean to mount again--do tell me if his
knee is all right?”
“Only think--without help--without a servant--not a creature near us,”
muttered he.
“Very dreadful,” said she, with an arch smile; “quite compromising, I
declare.”
“Oh, I have no heart for a jest now!” said he, with a heavy sigh, as he
assisted her to rise.
“My sweet little horse,” said she, patting him and throwing her arm
round his neck. “I did treat you very ill--very ill indeed. It was soft
spongy ground, too, and not fair in any way, and you were not in the
least to blame. Do you know, Gardy, it was a mere bit of bark that
caught his foot; for, after all, it is not above four feet high, is it?”
“I don’t know--I don’t care how high it is. It very nigh cost you your
life, and cost _me_ more than I wish to tell;” and he muttered these
last words beneath his breath.
“You have never helped me to mount, I think, Gardy! Mind, now, don’t
touch Cid’s bridle; he won’t bear it. Just give me a slight lift--that’s
it; thanks. Oh, how nice to be on the saddle again. If you wouldn’t
think very ill of me, I’d ask a favour?”
“Anything in the whole world, Ma Mie; what is it?”
“Then, like a dear kind Gardy, let me ride him at it again; I’ll do it
so quietly--”
“Not for a dukedom--not if you went on your knees to beg it. I declare,
you can have but little feeling in your heart to ask it. Nay, I
didn’t mean to say that, my sweet child; my head is wandering, and I
know not what I say.”
“I hope you’ll not tell of my disaster, Gardy,” said she, as they rode
slowly along towards home. “A fall brings one down at once to the level
of all the people who do nothing but fall. Don’t smile; I mean simply
what I say as applied to matters of horseflesh, not morals, and promise
you’ll not tell of me.”
“The doctor must hear of it, certainly.”
“No, Gardy, I’ll have no doctor.”
“I insist upon it--you shall--and you must, Kate. Surely, when I say it
is for my happiness, you will not refuse me.”
She made no answer, but passing her reins to her right hand, she laid
her left hand over his, and so they rode on without a word on either
side.
“Is it not strange that a crush and a tumble over a big tree should make
one so very--very happy; but I declare to you, Gardy, I never knew my
heart so full of delight as at this moment. Tell me, what’s the meaning
of it?”
“Gratitude for your escape, Ma Mie; the thankfulness that even the most
thoughtless feel for preservation through danger.”
“No, it’s not that; the sort of ecstacy I feel is something quite
different from all this. It has nothing to do with peril, and just as
little with gratitude. It has more in it of pride--that’s not the word,
but it will do--of pride, then, that you made so much account of me.”
“For a moment I thought I had lost you!” said he, and his voice
trembled, and his very cheek shook with emotion as he spoke.
“And would the loss have been a deep sorrow--a very deep sorrow?”
He pressed her hand to his heart, and said in a low voice, “The
deepest--the heaviest that could befal me!”
“Was it not worth a fall to learn this?” said she, laughingly.
“Nay, rather will it not teach you to take more care of a life of such
consequence to others?”
“Don’t say others, Gardy--say one other, and I am content.” As she
said this, she drew her hand hurriedly away, for they were already
approaching the great entrance, on the terrace of which Grenfell and
young Ladarelle were talking and laughing. “Mind, Sir, not a word of my
accident!” And with this she sprang to the ground before he could offer
his hand, and, hurrying up the steps, disappeared within the building.
“Won’t you ask Grenfell to stop to dinner, Sir?” whispered Dolly, as Sir
Within, after a few cold common-places, was about to pass on.
“Not to-day.”
“But I have half done it already, Sir. It was a great liberty on my
part, but I blundered into it.”
“Will you give us your company at dinner to-morrow, Mr. Grenfell?”
said Sir Within, without the hesitation of a moment.
Grenfell accepted, and, as Sir Within moved on, turning to Dolly, he
said, “Did you remark his agitation--did you notice the embarrassment of
his look and manner? Take my word for it, he has made her an offer.”
“Do you know it was passing through my mind the very same thought; for
as they turned the angle of the copse yonder, I saw her snatch her hand
from him.”
“Come back and dine with me. Common delicacy forbids you to spoil a
_tête-à-tête_.”
“I can’t take the thing as coolly as you do, Grenfell. It’s no laughing
matter to me.”
“Don’t laugh then, that’s all. There can be no reason, however, that you
should not dine; so step in, and let’s be off.”
“I suspect you are right,” said Dolly, as they drove away. “The old fool
has capped his folly. I whispered to him to ask you to dine.”
“I heard you, and I marked the eager way he put it off till tomorrow.
His confusion got the better of all his tact, and showed me plainly
enough that something had occurred to excite him greatly.”
“She passed in, too, without ever looking up; she never bowed to us--did
you notice that?”
“I saw it all, and I said to myself that Master Dolly’s next dealings
with Joel will entail heavy sacrifices.”
“It’s not done yet,” said Ladarelle, with an affected boldness.
“No, nor need be for some weeks to come; but let us talk no more of it
till we have dined. Vyner sent me his cellar-key this morning, and we’ll
see if his old wine cannot suggest some good counsel.”