|Next morning, several letters arrived at Ouselcroft, and were brought
by Laura to Mrs. Calverley's dressing-room.
The first opened by the lady was one from Lord Courland, as full of
ardour and passion as his last letter, but considerably shorter.
Its chief object was to mention that he and Scrope Danvers would make
their appearance in plenty of time for dinner. But he added, as a
postscript, that he was dying with curiosity to behold Ouselcroft.
“The place is not yet mine,” thought Teresa. “But rest easy. You shall
not be disappointed. My project is only deferred.”
The next letter opened was from Lady Thicknesse. This was quite
unexpected. Her ladyship had talked of coming to Ouselcroft, but at a
later date. She now volunteered a visit. But we must give her own words:
“You have pressed me so strongly to come to you, dear Mrs. Calverley,
that I cannot resist. I propose to come to you to-morrow about mid-day.
I have got a surprise for you. You will wonder what it is; but as you
will never guess, I must tell you I am bringing with me my _chef_,
Zephyrus, and I place him at your disposal.”
“Charming!” exclaimed Teresa. “This will be a great delight to
Lord Courland. I know how highly he appreciates Monsieur Zephyrus's
performances. Nothing could please me better. But he is not the only
one, it seems. I shall have an entirely new household.”
“I shall also venture to bring with me my butler, Higgins. He is a very
clever man, and I think you will find him useful; but if he is at all in
the way, he can go on to Brackley.”
“Oh, I am so glad Higgins is coming!” cried Mrs. Calverley. “He will be
of the greatest use, and will enable me to get rid of that suspicious
old Norris, whose eye seems ever upon me. But stop! I must not offend
old Norris, or I shall arouse another enemy. He must be kept in the
background as much as possible. So far, my letters have been very
satisfactory. Here is another, and I think it is from Sir Bridgnorth
Charlton. Let us see what he says.”
“Since Chetwynd does not seem disposed to return, I must come to
Ouselcroft. Have you room for me for two or three days?”
“Plenty of room, and shall be delighted to see him!” remarked Mrs.
Calverley. “Here's a note from Captain Danvers,” she added, with
indifference. “They all seem resolved to come here. Well, I dare say I
shall be able to accommodate him.”
But, besides these, there was one person on whom nobody counted.
This was Mr. Tankard. He had written a letter to Chetwynd, saying he
was coming with his friend, Mr. Higgins, and hoping it might not be
considered a liberty.
Chetwynd went at once to Norris; and the old butler, glad to find that
Higgins was coming to see him, undertook that beds should be prepared
for that important personage and Tankard--to say nothing of Harry
Netterville, Tom Tankard, and Zephyrus.
With such a party below stairs, it seemed more than probable that some
of the gaieties of Belgrave-square might be repeated at Ouselcroft.
Having ascertained the train by which Lady Thick-nesse must of necessity
arrive, Mrs. Calverley met her at the station in her pony-carriage.
The whole of the luggage, which was rather cumbrous, together with
Zephyrus, Higgins, and Tankard, came by a special omnibus.
Lady Thicknesse was one of the very few persons whom Mrs. Calverley
really liked, and she showed she was glad to see her. The day happened
to be fine, so they had an extremely pleasant drive of five or six miles
to Ouselcroft.
Lady Thicknesse was in high good humour, and disposed to be pleased with
everything. The approach to the house charmed her. Properly speaking,
there was no park, but there was a good deal of land that had a very
park-like character, being tolerably well timbered, while all the hedges
were taken down.
As the carriage was stopped for a moment at a good point of view. Lady
Thicknesse exclaimed:
“You are most fortunate, dear Mrs. Calverley. This is just the house to
live in! I am sure Lord Courland will be of my opinion.”
But her ladyship was quite as much pleased with the house on a nearer
inspection, as she had been on a more distant survey. The gardens and
grounds were perfection; and, as she looked out on the smooth lawn from
her chamber window, she thought she had never seen a lovelier place.
Mrs. Calverley had an interview with Zephyrus soon after his arrival,
and expressed her great satisfaction at having the advantage of his
services.
Flattered by her compliments, the distinguished _chef_ promised her an
excellent dinner, but, to achieve his object, he declared he must have
absolute control of the kitchen. This was readily accorded him, and
everything else he required; so he proceeded to make his arrangements,
and struck terror into the breast of the cook and her assistants by his
arbitrary manner.
Pursuing her policy of conciliation, Mrs. Calverley was very kind and
courteous in her manner to Mr. Higgins and Mr. Tankard, begged them
to make themselves at home, and desired Norris to show them every
attention.
Harry Netterville and Tom Tankard likewise came in for a share of her
civilities. They had just been to Knutsford to attend the examination
of Romney and his companion who were sentenced by a full bench of
magistrates to six months' imprisonment. Mrs. Calverley expressed
her great satisfaction at the result, and took the opportunity of
complimenting the young men on their prowess. Her observations were very
simple; but Tom was greatly elated by them.
“There! did you see how sweetly she smiled on me?” he said to
Netterville: “I told you I was high in favour.”
Tom was not particularly gratified by his father's unlooked-for
appearance on the scene, thinking, perhaps, his own importance might be
diminished.
“What the deuce has brought the guv'nor down here?” he remarked to
Netterville. “We could have done very well without him.”
“He's come to look after you, I've no doubt, Tom,” observed Netterville,
laughing.
“No; it's Higgins!” cried Tom. “He can't live without Higgins. Where
Higgins goes, Tankard must go too. I believe if Higgins set off for
Jerusalem by next train, if there is a railway to Jerusalem, Tankard
would set off after him. But I must shut up! Here come the guv'nor and
Higgins. I hope they didn't overhear my remarks.”
But it seemed they did, for they both shook their hands at him.