A QUARREL.
But instantly her manner changed. Just within the doorway of the passage
that cut the rambling cottage into two halves, and attached to a string
that was tied to the handle of the door, lay a small spaniel-gentle,
peacefully snoozing; and well Judith knew that the owner of the dog
(which she had heard, indeed, was meant to be presented to herself) was
inside. However, there was no retreat possible, if retreat she would
have preferred; for here was the aged grandmother--a little old woman,
with fresh pink cheeks, silver-white hair, and keen eyes--come out to
see if it were Judith's footsteps she had heard; and she was kindly in
her welcome of the girl, though usually she grumbled a good deal about
her, and would maintain that it was pure pride and wilfulness that kept
her from getting married.
"Here be finery!" said she, stepping back as if to gain a fairer view.
"God's mercy, wench, have you come to your senses at last?--be you
seeking a husband?--would you win one of them? They have waited a goodly
time for the bating of your pride; but you must after them at last--ay,
ay, I thought 'twould come to that."
"Good grandmother, you give me no friendly welcome," said Judith. "And
Willie here; have you no word for him, that he is come to see how you
do?"
"Nay, come in, then, sweetings both; come in and sit ye down: little
Willie has been in the garden long enough, though you know I grudge you
not the flowers, wench. Ay, ay, there is one within, Judith, that would
fain be a nearer neighbor, as I hear, if you would but say yea; and
bethink ye, wench, an apple may hang too long on the bough--your bravery
may be put on to catch the eye when it is overlate----"
"I pray you, good grandmother, forbear," said Judith, with some
asperity. "I have my own mind about such things."
"All's well, wench, all's well," said the old dame, as she led the way
into the main room of the cottage. It was a wide and spacious apartment,
with heavy black beams overhead, a mighty fire-place, here or there a
window in the walls just as it seemed to have been wanted, and in the
middle of the floor a plain old table, on which were placed a jug and
two or three horn tumblers.
Of course Judith knew whom she had to expect: the presence of the little
spaniel-gentle at the door had told her that. This young fellow that now
quickly rose from his chair and came forward to meet her--"Good-even to
you, Judith," said he, in a humble way, and his eyes seemed to beseech
her favor--was as yet but in his two-and-twentieth year, but his tall
and lithe and muscular figure had already the firm set of manhood on it.
He was spare of form and square-shouldered; his head smallish, his brown
hair short; his features were regular, and the forehead, if not high,
was square and firm; the general look of him was suggestive of a
sculptured Greek or Roman wrestler, but that this deprecating glance of
the eyes was not quite consistent. And, to tell the truth, wrestling and
his firm-sinewed figure had something to do with his extreme humility on
this occasion. He was afraid that Judith had heard something. To have
broken the head of a tapster was not a noble performance, no matter how
the quarrel was forced on him; and this was but the most recent of
several squabbles; for the championship in the athletic sports of a
country neighborhood is productive of rivals, who may take many ways of
provoking anger. "Good-even to you, Judith," said he, as if he really
would have said, "Pray you believe not all the ill you hear of me!"
Judith, however, did not betray anything by her manner, which was
friendly enough in a kind of formal way, and distinctly reserved. She
sat down, and asked her grandmother what news she had of the various
members of the family, that now were widely scattered throughout
Warwickshire. She declined the cup of merry-go-down that the young man
civilly offered to her. She had a store of things to tell about her
father; and about the presents he had brought; and about the two pieces
of song-music that Master Robert Johnson had sent, that her father would
have Susan try over on the lute; and the other twenty acres that were to
be added; and the talk there had been of turning the house opposite New
Place, at the corner of Chapel Street and Scholars Lane, into a tavern,
and how that had happily been abandoned--for her father wanted no
tavern-revelry within hearing; and so forth; but all this was addressed
to the grandmother. The young man got scarce a word, though now and
again he would interpose gently, and, as it were, begging her to look
his way. She was far kinder to Willie Hart, who was standing by her
side; for sometimes she would put her hand on his shoulder, or stroke
his long yellow-brown hair.
"Willie says he will have just such another as I, grandmother," said
she, when these topics were exhausted, "to be his sweetheart when he
grows up; so you see there be some that value me."
"Look to it that you be not yourself unmarried then, Judith," said the
old dame, who was never done grumbling on this account. "I should not
marvel; they that refuse when they are sought come in time to wonder
that there are none to seek--nay, 'tis so, I warrant you. You are
hanging late on the bough, wench; see you be not forgotten."
"But, good grandmother," said Judith, with some color in her cheeks (for
this was an awkward topic in the presence of this youth), "would you
have me break from the rule of the family? My mother was six-and-twenty
when she married, and Susan four-and-twenty; and indeed there might come
one of us who did not perceive the necessity of marrying at all."
"In God's name, if that be your mind, wench, hold to it. Hold to it, I
say!" And then the old dame glanced with her sharp eyes at the pretty
costume of her visitor. "But I had other thoughts when I saw such a fine
young madam at the door; in truth, they befit you well, these braveries;
indeed they do; though 'tis a pity to have them bedecking out one that
is above the marrying trade. But take heed, wench, take heed lest you
change your mind when it is too late; the young men may hold you to your
word, and you find yourself forsaken when you least expect it."
"Give ye thanks for your good comfort, grandmother," said Judith,
indifferently. And then she rose. "Come, Willie, 'tis about time we were
going through the fields to the town. What message have you,
grandmother, for my father? He is busy from morning till night since his
coming home; but I know he will be over to visit you soon. The flowers,
Willie--did you leave them on the bench outside?"
But she was not allowed to depart in this fashion. The old dame's
discontents with her pretty granddaughter--that was now grown into so
fair and blithe a young woman--were never of a lasting nature; and now
she would have both Judith and little Willie taste of some gingerbread
of her own baking, and then Judith had again to refuse a sup of the ale
that stood on the table, preferring a little water instead. Moreover,
when they had got out into the garden, behold! this young man would come
also, to convoy them home on their way across the fields. It was a
gracious evening, sweet and cool; there was a clear twilight shining
over the land; the elms were dark against the palely luminous sky. And
then, as the three of them went across the meadows toward Stratford
town, little Willie Hart was intrusted with the care of the
spaniel-gentle--that was young and wayward, and possessed with a mad
purpose of hunting sparrows--and as the dog kept him running this way
and that, he was mostly at some distance from these other two, and
Judith's companion, young Quiney, had every opportunity of speaking with
her.
"I sent you a message, Judith," said he, rather timidly, but anxiously
watching the expression of her face all the time, "a token of
remembrance: I trust it did not displease you?"
"You should have considered through whose hands it would come," said
she, without regarding him.
"How so?" he asked, in some surprise.
"Why, you know that Prudence would have to read it."
"And why not, Judith? Why should she not? She is your friend; and I care
not who is made aware that--that--well, you know what I mean, dear
Judith, but, I fear to anger you by saying it. You were not always so
hard to please."
There was a touch of reproach in this that she did not like. Besides,
was it fair? Of course she had been kinder to him when he was a mere
stripling--when they were boy and girl together; but now he had put
forth other pretensions; and they stood on a quite different footing;
and in his pertinacity he would not understand why she was always
speaking to him of Prudence Shawe, and extolling her gentleness and
sweet calm wisdom and goodness. "The idle boy!" she would say to
herself; "Why did God give him such a foolish head that he must needs
come fancying me?" And sometimes she was angry because of his dulness
and that he would not see; though, indeed, she could not speak quite
plainly.
"You should think," said she, on this occasion, with some sharpness,
"that these idle verses that you send me are read by Prudence. Well,
doubtless, she may not heed that----"
"Why should she heed, Judith?" said he. "'Tis but an innocent part she
takes in the matter--a kindness, merely."
She dared not say more, and she was vexed with him for putting this
restraint upon her. She turned upon him with a glance of sudden and
rather unfriendly scrutiny.
"What is this now that I hear of you?" said she. "Another brawl! A
tavern brawl! I marvel you have escaped so long with a whole skin."
"I know not who carries tales of me to you, Judith," said he, somewhat
warmly, "but if you yourself were more friendly you would take care to
choose a more friendly messenger. It is always the worst that you hear.
If there was a brawl, it was none of my seeking. And if my skin is
whole, I thank God I can look after that for myself; I am not one that
will be smitten on one cheek and turn the other--like your parson
friend."
This did not mend matters much.
"My parson friend?" said she, with some swift color in her cheeks. "My
parson friend is one that has respect for his office, and has a care for
his reputation, and lives a peaceable, holy life. Would you have him
frequent ale-houses, and fight with drawers and tapsters? Marry and
amen! but I find no fault with the parson's life."
"Nay, that is true, indeed," said he, bitterly: "you can find no fault
in the parson--as every one says. But there are others that see with
other eyes, and would tell you in what he might amend----"
"I care not to know," said she.
"It were not amiss," said he, for he was determined to speak--"it were
not amiss if Sir Parson showed a little more honesty in his daily
walk--that were not amiss, for one thing."
"In what is he dishonest, then?" said she, instantly, and she turned and
faced him with indignant eyes.
Well, he did not quail. His blood was up. This championship of the
parson, that he had scarce expected of her, only fired anew certain
secret suspicions of his; and he had no mind to spare his rival, whether
he were absent or no.
"Why, then, does he miscall the King, and eat the King's bread?" said
he, somewhat hotly. "Is it honest to conform in public, and revile in
private? I say, let him go forth, as others have been driven forth, if
the state of affairs content him not. I say that they who speak against
the King--marry, it were well done to chop the rogues' ears off!--I say
they should be ashamed to eat the King's bread."
"He eats no King's bread?" said Judith.--and alas! her eyes had a look
in them that pierced him to the heart: it was not the glance he would
fain have met with there. "He eats the bread of the Church, that has
been despoiled of its possessions again and again by the Crown and the
lords; and why should he go forth? He is a minister; is there harm that
he should wish to see the services reformed? He is at his post; would
you have him desert it, or else keep silent? No, he is no such coward, I
warrant you. He will speak his mind; it were ill done of him else?"
"Nay, he can do no harm at all--in your judgment," said he, somewhat
sullenly, "if it all be true that they say."
"And who is it, then, that should speak of idle tales and the believing
of them?" said she, with indignant reproach. "You say I welcome evil
stories about you? And you? Are you so quick to put away the idle gossip
they bring you about me? Would you not rather believe it? I trow you
would as lief believe it as not. That it is to have friends! That it is
to have those who should defend you in your absence; but would rather
listen to slander against you! But when they speak about women's idle
tongues, they know little; it is men who are the readiest to listen, and
to carry evil reports and lying!"
"I meant not to anger you, Judith," said he, more humbly.
"Yes, but you have angered me," said she (with her lips becoming
tremulous, but only for a second). "What concern have I with Parson
Blaise? I would they that spake against him were as good men and honest
as he----"
"Indeed, they speak no ill of him, Judith," said he (for he was grieved
that they were fallen out so, and there was nothing he would not have
retracted that so he might win back to her favor again, in however small
a degree), "except that he is disputatious, and would lead matters no
one knows whither. 'Tis but a few minutes ago that your grandmother
there was saying that we should never have peace and quiet in Church
affairs till the old faith was restored----"
Here, indeed, she pricked up her ears; but she would say no more. She
had not forgiven him yet; and she was proud and silent.
"And though I do not hold with that--for there would be a bloody
struggle before the Pope could be master in England again--nevertheless,
I would have the ministers men of peace, as they profess to be, and
loyal to the King, who is at the head of the Church as well as of the
realm. However, let it pass. I wish to have no quarrel with you,
Judith."
"How does your business?" said she, abruptly changing the subject.
"Well--excellently well; it is not in that direction that I have any
anxiety about the future."
"Do you give it your time? You were best take heed, for else it is like
to slip away from you," she said; and he thought she spoke rather
coldly, and as if her warning were meant to convey something more than
appeared.
And then she added:
"You were at Wilmecote on Tuesday?"
"You must have heard why, Judith," he said. "Old Pike was married again
that day, and they would have me over to his wedding."
"And on the Wednesday, what was there at Bidford, then, that you must
needs be gone when my mother sent to you?"
"At Bidford?" said he (and he was sorely puzzled as to whether he should
rejoice at these questions as betraying a friendly interest in his
affairs, or rather regarded them as conveying covert reproof, and
expressing her dissatisfaction with him, and distrust of him). "At
Bidford, Judith--well, there was business as well as pleasure there. For
you must know that Daniel Hutt is come home for a space from the new
settlements in Virginia, and is for taking back with him a number of
laborers that are all in due time to make their fortunes there. Marry,
'tis a good chance for some of them, for broken men are as welcome as
any, and there are no questions asked as to their having been intimate
with the constable and the justice. So there was a kind of merry-meeting
of Daniel's old friends, that was held at the Falcon at Bidford--and the
host is a good customer of mine, so it was prudent of me to go
thither--and right pleasant was it to hear Daniel Hutt tell of his
adventures by sea and shore. And he gave us some of the tobacco that he
had brought with him. And to any that will go back with him to Jamestown
he promises allotments of land, though at first there will be tough
labor, as he says, honestly. Oh, a worthy man is this Daniel Hutt,
though, as yet his own fortune seems not so secure."
"With such junketings," said she, with ever so slight a touch of
coldness, "'tis no wonder you could not spare the time to come and see
my father on the evening of his getting home."
"There, now, Judith!" he exclaimed. "Would you have me break in upon him
at such a busy season, when even you yourself are careful to refrain? It
had been ill-mannered of me to do such a thing; but 'twas no
heedlessness that led to my keeping away, as you may well imagine."
"It is difficult to know the reasons when friends hold aloof," said she.
"You have not been near the house for two or three weeks, as I reckon."
And here again he would have given much to know whether her
speech--which was curiously reserved in tone--meant that she had marked
these things out of regard for him, or that she wished to reprove him.
"I can give you the reason for that, Judith," said this tall and
straight young fellow, who from time to time regarded his companion's
face with some solicitude, as if he fain would have found some greater
measure of friendliness there. "I have not been often to New Place of
late because of one I thought I might meet there who would be no better
pleased to see me than I him; and--and perhaps because of another--that
I did not know whether she might be the better pleased to have me there
or find me stay away----"
"Your reasons are too fine," said she. "I scarce understand them."
"That is because you won't understand; I think I have spoken plain
enough ere now, Judith, I make bold to say."
She flushed somewhat at this; but it was no longer in anger. She seemed
willing to be on good terms with him, but always in that measured and
distant way.
"Willie!" she called. "Come hither, sweetheart!"
With some difficulty her small cousin made his way back to her, dragging
the reluctant spaniel so that its head seemed to be in jeopardy.
"He _will_ go after the birds, Cousin Judith; you will never teach him
to follow you."
"I?" she said.
"Willie knows I want you to have the dog, Judith," her companion said,
quickly. "I got him for you when I was at Gloucester. 'Tis a good
breed--true Maltese, I can warrant him; and the fashionable ladies will
scarce stir abroad without one to follow them, or to carry with them in
their coaches when they ride. Will you take him Judith?"
She was a little embarrassed.
"'Tis a pretty present," said she, "but you have not chosen the right
one to give it to."
"What mean you?" said he.
"Nay, now, have not I the Don?" she said, with greater courage. "He is a
sufficient companion if I wish to walk abroad. Why should you not give
this little spaniel to one that has no such companion--I mean to
Prudence Shaw?"
"To Prudence!" said he, regarding her; for this second introduction of
Judith's friend seemed strange, as well as the notion that he should
transfer this prized gift to her.
"There, now, is one so gentle and kind to every one and everything that
she would tend the little creature with care," she continued. "It would
be more fitting for her than for me."
"You could be kind enough, Judith--if you chose," said he, under his
breath, for Willie Hart was standing by.
"Nay, I have the Don," said she, "that is large, and worldly, and
serious, and clumsy withal. Give this little playfellow to Prudence, who
is small and neat and gentle like itself; surely that were fitter."
"I had hoped you would have accepted the little spaniel from me,
Judith," said he, with very obvious disappointment.
"Moreover," said she, lightly, "two of a trade would never agree: we
should have this one and the Don continually quarrelling, and sooner or
later the small one would lose its head in the Don's great jaws."
"Why, the mastiff is always chained, and at the barn gate, Judith," said
he. "This one would be within-doors, as your playfellow. But I care not
to press a gift."
"Nay, now, be not displeased," said she, gently enough. "I am not
unthankful; I think well of your kindness, but it were still better done
if you were to change your intention and give the spaniel to one that
would have a gentler charge over it, and think none the less of it, as I
can vouch for. Pray you give it to Prudence."
"A discarded gift is not worth the passing on," said he; and as they
were now come quite near to the town, where there was a dividing of
ways, he stopped as though he would shake hands and depart.
"Will you not go on to the house? You have not seen my father since his
coming home," she said.
"No, not to-night, Judith," he said. "Doubtless he is still busy, and I
have affairs elsewhere."
She glanced at him with one of those swift keen glances of hers.
"Where go you to spend the evening, if I may make so bold?" she said.
"Not to the ale-house, as you seem to suspect," he answered, with just a
trifle of bitterness; and then he took the string to lead away the
spaniel, and he bade her farewell--in a kind of half-hearted and
disappointed and downcast way--and left.
She looked after him a second or so, as she fastened a glove-button that
had got loose. And then she sighed as she turned away.
"Sweetheart Willie," said she, putting her hand softly on the boy's
shoulder, as he walked beside her, "I think you said you loved me?"
"Why, you know I do, Cousin Judith," said he.
"What a pity it is, then," said she, absently, "that you cannot remain
always as you are, and keep your ten years forever and a day, so that we
should always be friends as we are now!"
He did not quite know what she meant, but he was sufficiently well
pleased and contented when he was thus close by her side; and when her
hand was on his shoulder or on his neck it was to him no burden, but a
delight. And so walking together, and with some gay and careless prattle
between them, they went on and into the town.