THE BATH.—THE HOUSEKEEPER.
It was scarcely light when the rector of Saint David's rose from a couch
where visions of a most voluptuous nature had filled his sleep.
Having hastily dressed himself, he descended from his room with the
intention of seeking the fine frosty air of the garden to cool his
heated brain.
But as he proceeded along a passage leading to the landing of the first
flight of stairs, he heard a light step slowly descending the upper
flight; and the next moment, the voice of Ellen speaking fondly to her
child, fell upon his ear.
For nurses and mothers will talk to babes of even a few months
old—although the innocents comprehend them not!
Reginald stepped into the recess formed by the door of one of the
bed-chambers in that spacious mansion; and scarcely had he concealed
himself there when he saw Ellen, with the child in her arms, pass across
the landing at the end of the passage, and enter a room on the other
side.
She wore a loose dressing-gown of snowy whiteness, which was confined by
a band round her delicate waist, and was fastened up to the throat: her
little feet had been hastily thrust into a pair of buff morocco
slippers; and her long shining hair flowed over her shoulders and down
her back.
The licentious eyes of the clergyman followed her from the foot of the
stairs to the room which she entered; and even plunged with eager
curiosity into that chamber during the moment that the door was open as
she went in.
That glance enabled him to perceive that there was a bath in the
apartment to which Ellen had proceeded with her child.
Indeed, the young lady, ever since her residence at Markham Place, had
availed herself of the luxury of the bathing-room which that mansion
possessed: and every morning she immersed her beautiful person in the
refreshing element, which she enjoyed in its natural state in summer,
but which was rendered slightly tepid for her in winter.
When the rector beheld her descend in that bewitching _negligee_,—her
hair unconfined, and floating at will—her small, round, polished ankles
glancing between the white drapery and the little slippers,—and the
child, with merely a thick shawl thrown about it, in her arms,—and when
he observed the bath in that chamber which she entered, he immediately
comprehended her intention.
Without a moment's hesitation he stole softly from the recess where he
had concealed himself, and approached the door of the bath-room.
His greedy eyes were applied to the key-hole; and his licentious glance
plunged into the depths of that sacred privacy.
The unsuspecting Ellen was warbling cheerfully to her child.
She dipped her hand into the water, which Marian had prepared for her,
and found the degree of heat agreeable to her wishes.
Then she placed the towels near the fire to warm.
Reginald watched her proceedings with the most ardent curiosity: the
very luxury of the unhallowed enjoyment which he experienced caused an
oppression at his chest; his heart beat quickly; his brain seemed to
throb with violence.
The fires of gross sensuality raged madly in his breast.
Ellen's preparations were now completed.
With her charming white hand she put back her hair from her forehead.
Then, as she still retained the child on her left arm, with her right
hand she loosened the strings which closed her dressing-gown round the
neck and the band which confined it at the waist.
While thus occupied, she was partly turned towards the door; and all the
treasures of her bosom were revealed to the ardent gaze of the rector.
His desires were now inflamed to that pitch when they almost become
ungovernable. He felt that could he possess that charming creature, he
would care not for the result—even though he forced her to compliance
with his wishes, and murder and suicide followed,—the murder of her, and
the suicide of himself!
He was about to grasp the handle of the door, when he remembered that he
had heard the key turn in the lock immediately after she had entered the
room.
He gnashed his teeth with rage.
And now the drapery had fallen from her shoulders, and the whole of her
voluptuous form, naked to the waist, was exposed to his view.
He could have broken down the door, had he not feared to alarm the other
inmates of the house.
He literally trembled under the influence of his fierce desires.
How he envied—Oh! how he envied the innocent babe which the fond mother
pressed to that bosom—swelling, warm, and glowing!
And now she prepared to step into the bath: but, while he was waiting
with fervent avidity for the moment when the whole of the drapery should
fall from her form, a step suddenly resounded upon the stairs.
He started like a guilty wretch away from the door: and, perceiving that
the footsteps descended the upper flight, he precipitated himself down
the stairs.
Rushing across the hall, he sought the garden, where he wandered up and
down, a thousand wild feelings agitating his breast.
He determined that Ellen should be his; but he was not collected enough
to deliberate upon the means of accomplishing his resolution,—so busy
was his imagination in conjuring up the most voluptuous idealities,
which were all prompted by the real scene the contemplation whereof had
been interrupted.
He fancied that he beheld the lovely young mother immersed in the
bath—the water agitated by her polished limbs—each ripple kissing some
charm, even as she herself kissed her babe!
Then he imagined he saw her step forth like a Venus from the ocean—her
cheeks flushed with animation—her long glossy hair floating in rich
undulations over her ivory shoulders.
"My God!" he exclaimed, at length, "I shall grow mad under the influence
of this fascination! One kiss from her lips were worth ten thousand of
the meretricious embraces which Cecilia yields so willingly. Oh! Ellen
would not surrender herself without many prayers—much entreaty—and,
perhaps, force;—but Cecilia falls into my arms without a struggle!
Enjoyment with her is not increased by previous bashfulness;—she does
not fire the soul by one moment of resistance. But Ellen—so coy, so
difficult to win,—so full of confidence in herself, in spite of that one
fault which accident betrayed to me,—Ellen, so young and inexperienced
in the ways of passion,—Oh! she were a conquest worth every sacrifice
that man could make!"
The rector's reverie was suddenly interrupted by the voice of
Whittingham summoning him to the breakfast-room.
Thither he proceeded; and there Ellen, now attired in a simple but
captivating morning-dress, presided.
Little did she imagine that the privacy of her bath had been
invaded—violated by the glance of that man who now seated himself next
to her, and whose sanctity was deemed to be above all question.
Little, either, did her father and friend suppose that there was one
present who had vowed that she should be his, and who, in connection
with that determination, had entertained no thought of marriage.
The ramble in the garden had so far cooled the rector's brain, that
nothing in his behaviour towards Ellen was calculated to excite
observation; but, from time to time, when unperceived, he cast upon her
a glance of fervent admiration—a long, fixed, devouring glance, which
denoted profound passion.
At length the hour for departure arrived; and his carriage drove round
to the front door.
The rain of the preceding evening had changed to frost during the
night;—the morning was fine, fresh, and healthy, though intensely cold;
there was hence no shadow of an excuse for a longer stay.
The rector expressed his thanks for the hospitality which he had
experienced, with that politeness which so eminently characterised his
manners; and when he shook hands with Ellen, he pressed hers gently.
She thought that he intended to convey a sort of assurance that the
secret which he had detected on the previous day, was sacred with him;
and she cast upon him a rapid glance, expressive of gratitude.
Reginald then stepped into the carriage, which immediately rolled
rapidly away towards London.
Upon his arrival at home, he proceeded straight to his study, whither he
was immediately followed by the old housekeeper.
"Leave me—leave me, Mrs. Kenrick," said the rector; "I wish to be
alone."
"I thought something had happened, sir," observed the old woman,
fidgetting about the room, for with senile pertinacity she was resolved
to say what she had upon her mind: "I thought so," she continued,
"because this is the first time you ever stayed out all night without
sending me word what kept you."
"I am not aware that I owe you an account of my actions, Mrs. Kenrick,"
said the rector, who, like all guilty persons, was half afraid that his
conduct was suspected by the old woman.
"Certainly not, sir; and I never asked it. But after all the years I
have been with you, and the confidence you have always reposed in
me—until within the last week or two," added the old housekeeper, "I was
afraid lest I had done something to offend you."
"No such thing," said the rector, somewhat softened. "But as the cares
of my ministry multiply upon me——"
"Ah! sir, they must have multiplied of late," interrupted the old woman;
"for you're not the same man you were."
"How do you mean?" demanded Reginald, now once more irritated.
"You have seemed restless, unsettled, and unhappy, for some two or three
weeks past, sir," answered the housekeeper, wiping away a tear from her
eye. "And then you are not so regular in your habits as you were: you go
out and come in oftener;—sometimes you stay out till very late; at
others you come home, send me up to bed, and say that you yourself are
going to rest;—nevertheless, I hear you about the house——"
"Nonsense!" ejaculated Reginald, struck by the imprudence of which he
had been guilty in admitting Lady Cecilia into his abode. "Do not make
yourself unhappy, Mrs. Kenrick: nothing ails me, I can assure you.
But—tell me," he added, half afraid to ask the question; "have you heard
any one else remark—I mean, make any observation—that is, speak as you
do about me——"
"Well, sir, if you wish for the truth," returned the housekeeper, "I
must say that the clerk questioned me yesterday morning about you."
"The clerk!" ejaculated Reginald; "and what did he say?"
"Oh? he merely thought that you had something on your mind—some
annoyance which worried you——"
"He is an impertinent fellow!" cried the rector, thrown off his guard by
the alarming announcement that a change in his behaviour had been
observed.
"He only speaks out of kindness, sir—as I do," observed the housekeeper,
with a deep sigh.
"Well, well, Mrs. Kenrick," said the rector, vexed at his own
impatience: "I was wrong to mistrust the excellence of his motives. To
tell the truth, I have had some little cause of vexation—the loss of a
large sum—through the perfidy of a pretended friend—and——"
The rector floundered in the midst of his falsehood; but the old
housekeeper readily believed him, and was rejoiced to think that he had
at length honoured her with his confidence in respect to the cause of
that restlessness which she had mistaken for a secret grief.
"But no one else has made any remark, my dear Mrs. Kenrick?" said the
rector, in a tone of conciliation "I mean—no one has questioned
you—or——"
"Only Lady Cecilia Harborough sent yesterday afternoon to request you to
call upon her, sir."
"Ah!—well?"
"And of course I said to her servant-maid that you were not at home. She
came back in the evening, and seemed much disappointed that you were
still absent. Then she returned again, saying that her mistress was ill
and wished to consult you upon business."
"And what did you tell her, Mrs. Kenrick?"
"That you had not returned, sir," answered the housekeeper, surprised at
the question, as if there were any thing else to tell save the truth.
"The servant-maid seemed more and more disappointed, and called again as
early as eight o'clock this morning."
"This morning!" echoed Reginald, seriously annoyed at this repetition of
visits from Lady Cecilia's confidential servant.
"Yes, sir; and when I said that you had not been home all night, she
appeared quite surprised," continued the housekeeper.
"And you told her that I had not been home all night?" mused Reginald.
"What must Lady Cecilia think?"
"Think, sir?" cried the housekeeper, more surprised still at her
master's observations. "You can owe no account of your actions, sir, to
Lady Cecilia Harborough."
"Oh! no—certainly not," stammered the rector, cruelly embarrassed: "I
only thought that evil tongues——"
"The Reverend Reginald Tracy is above calumny," said the housekeeper,
who was as proud of her master as she was attached to him.
"True—true, Mrs. Kenrick," exclaimed the rector. "And yet—but, after all
no matter. I will go and call in Tavistock Square at once; and then I
can explain——"
Up to this moment the housekeeper had spoken in the full conviction that
annoyance alone was the cause of her master's recent change of behaviour
and present singularity of manners; but his increasing embarrassment—the
strangeness of his observations relative to Lady Cecilia—his anxiety
lest she should entertain an evil idea concerning his absence from
home,—added to a certain vague rumour which had reached her ears
relative to the lightness of that lady's character,—all these
circumstances, united with the fact of Cecilia having sent so often to
request Mr. Tracy to call upon her, suddenly engendered a suspicion of
the truth in the housekeeper's mind.
"Before you go out again, sir," said the housekeeper, wishing to discard
that suspicion, and therefore hastening to change the conversation to
another topic, "I should mention to you that yesterday afternoon—between
one and two o'clock—Katherine Wilmot arrived here——"
"Indeed! What, so soon?" exclaimed the rector.
"And as she assured me that you had only a few hours before offered her
a situation in your household," continued Mrs. Kenrick, "I did not
hesitate to take her in. Besides, she is a good girl, and I am not sorry
that she should leave her uncle's roof."
"Then you approve of my arrangement, Mrs. Kenrick?" said Reginald.
"Certainly, sir—if I have the right to approve or disapprove," answered
the old lady, who, in spite of the natural excellence of her heart, was
somewhat piqued at not having been previously consulted upon the
subject: then, ashamed of this littleness of feeling, she hastily added,
"But the poor girl has a sad story to tell, sir, about the way in which
she left her uncle; and, with your permission, I will send her up to
you."
"Do so," said the rector, not sorry to be relieved of the presence of
his housekeeper, in whose manner his guilty conscience made him see a
peculiarity which filled his mind with apprehension.
In a few minutes Katherine Wilmot entered the rector's study.
Her story was brief but painful.
"After you left, sir, I sate thinking upon your very great kindness and
that of Mr. Markham, and how happy I should be to have an opportunity of
convincing you both that I was anxious to deserve all you proposed to do
for me. The hours slipped away; and for the first time I forgot to
prepare my uncle's dinner punctually to the minute. I know that I was
wrong, sir—but I had so much to think about, both past and future! Well,
sir, one o'clock struck; and nothing was ready. I started up, and did my
best. But in a few minutes my uncle and cousin came in. My uncle, sir,
was rather cross—indeed, if I must speak the truth, very cross; because
his son had absolutely refused to assist him in his morning's work. I
need not say, sir," continued the girl, with a shudder, "what that work
was. The first thing my uncle did was to ask if his dinner was ready? I
told him the whole truth, but assured him that not many minutes would
elapse before it would be ready. You do not want to know, sir, all he
said to me; it is quite sufficient to say that he turned me out of
doors. I cried, and begged very hard to part from him in friendship—for,
after all, sir, he is my nearest relation on the face of the earth—and,
then, he brought me up! But he closed the door, and would not listen to
me."
Katherine ceased, and wiped her eyes.
The poor girl had said nothing of the terrific beating which the
executioner inflicted upon Gibbet the moment they returned home, and
then upon Katherine herself before he thrust her out of the house.
"Have you brought away your mother's letter with you, Katherine?"
inquired the rector, who during the maiden's simple narrative, had never
taken his eyes off her.
"My uncle sent round all my things in the evening, by my unfortunate
cousin," replied Katherine; "and amongst the rest, my work-box where I
keep the letter. It is safe in my possession, sir."
"Take care of it, Kate," observed the rector; "who knows but that it may
some day be of service?"
"Oh! sir, and even if it should not," ejaculated the girl, "it is at all
events the only memento I possess of my poor mother."
"True—you told me so," said Reginald, prolonging the conversation only
because the presence of an interesting female had become his sole
enjoyment. "And now, my dear," continued the rector, rising from his
seat, and approaching her, "be steady—conduct yourself well—and you will
find me a good master."
"I will not be ungrateful, sir," returned Katherine.
"And you must endeavour to relieve Mrs. Kenrick of all onerous duties as
much as possible," said the rector. "Thus, you had better always answer
my bell yourself, when the footman is not in the way."
"I will make a point of doing so, sir," was the artless reply.
The rector gave some more trivial directions, and dismissed his new
domestic to her duties.
He then hastened to Tavistock Square, to appease Lady Harborough, whose
jealousy, he suspected, had been aroused by his absence from home.