AN EXPIRING CANDLE.
When Squire Cleverdon arrived at Hall, he found there awaiting him a man
booted, spurred, whip in hand, bespattered with mire. The old man asked
him his business without much courtesy, and the man replied that he had
ridden all day from Exeter with a special letter for Master Cleverdon,
which he was ordered to deliver into his hands, and into his alone.
Old Cleverdon impatiently tore away the string and broke the seal that
guarded the letter, opened it, and began to read. Then, before he had
read many lines, he turned ghastly white, reeled, and sank against the
wall, and his hands trembled in which he held the page.
He recovered himself almost immediately, sufficiently to give orders for
the housing and entertainment of the messenger; and then he retired to
his private room, or office, into which he locked himself. He unclosed
a cabinet that contained his papers, and, having kindled a light,
brought forth several bundles of deeds and books of accounts, and spread
them on the table before him. Some of the documents were old and yellow,
and were written in that set courthand that had been devised to make
what was written in it unintelligible save to the professionals. Squire
Cleverdon took pen and a clean sheet of paper and began calculations
upon it. These did not afford him much satisfaction. He rose, took his
candle, opened and relocked the door, and ascended the stairs to his
bedroom, where he searched in a secret receptacle in the fireplace for
his iron box, in which were all his savings. Thence he brought the gold
he had, and, having placed the candle on the floor, began to arrange the
sovereigns in tens, in rows, where the light of the candle fell. After
the gold came the silver, and after the silver some bundles of papers of
moneys due that had never been paid, but which were recoverable.
Having ascertained exactly what he had in cash, and what he might be
able at short notice to collect, the old man replaced all in the iron
case, and reclosed the receptacle.
In the mean while, during the evening, after darkness had set in, to
Bessie's great annoyance, Fox appeared. Directly he left Willsworthy, he
thought it advisable to visit Hall before going home, and forestall with
old Cleverdon the tidings of what had occurred. He did not doubt that
the story of his attack on Anthony would be bruited about--that Anthony,
or Luke, or both, would tell of it, to his disadvantage, and he
determined to relate it his own way at once, before it came round to the
ears of the Squire, wearing another complexion from that which he wished
it to assume.
"You desire to see my father," said Bessie. "He is engaged, he is in his
room; he would not be disturbed."
"I must see him, if but for a minute."
Bessie went to the door and knocked, but received no answer. She came
back to the parlour. "My father is busy; he has locked himself into his
room. You had better depart."
"I can wait," said Fox.
"Then you must pardon my absence. There has come a messenger this
evening for my father, with a letter that has to be considered. I must
attend to what is fitting for the comfort of the traveller."
When left to himself, Fox became restless. He stood up, and himself
tried the door of old Anthony's apartment. It was locked. He struck at
the door with his knuckles, but received no answer. Then he looked
through the keyhole; it was dark within. The old man was not there, but
at that moment he heard him cough upstairs. He was therefore in his
bedroom, and Fox would catch him as he descended. He returned to the
parlour.
Presently Bessie entered with Luke; she had gone to the door, had stood
in the porch communing with herself, unwilling to be in the room with
her tormentor, when Luke appeared, and asked to see her father.
"Verily," said she, with a faint smile, "he is in mighty request this
night; you are the third who have come for him--first a stranger, then
Fox----"
"Fox here?"
"Yes, he is within."
"I am glad. A word with him before I see your father, and do you keep
away, Bessie, for a while till called."
Fox started to his feet when Luke came in, but said nothing till Bessie
left the room, then hurriedly,
"You, raven--what news? But mark you. I did it in self-defence. Every
man must defend his own life. When he knew that I was to take his place
in Hall, he rushed on me, and I did but protect myself."
"Anthony's wound is trifling," said Luke, coldly.
"So! and you have come to prejudice me in the ear of his father."
"I am come with a message from Anthony to his father."
"Indeed--to come and see his scratch, and a drop of blood from it; and
then to clasp each other and weep, and make friends?"
"The message is not to you, but to his father."
"And--he is not hurt?"
"Not seriously hurt."
"I never designed to hurt him. I did but defend my own self. I treated
him as an angry boy with a knife."
"No more of this," said Luke. "Let the matter not be mentioned. I will
say naught concerning it, neither do you. So is best. As for Anthony, he
is away."
"Away? Whither gone?"
"Gone to-night to join Monmouth. Your father is gathering men for the
Protestant cause, Anthony will be with him and them."
Fox laughed. His insolence had come back, as his fears abated.
"Faith! he has run away, because I scratched him with a pin. At the
first prick he fainted."
Luke went to the door, and called in Bessie. He could not endure the
association with Fox.
"Bess!" he said, "can I see your father?--I have a message for him from
Tony."
"He is upstairs--in his bedroom," said Bessie. "I will tell him you are
here when he descends."
"Come here," exclaimed Fox, who had recovered all his audacity, and with
it boisterous spirits. "Come here, Bess, my dear, and let Cousin Curate
Luke know how we stand to each other."
"And, pray," said Bessie, colouring, "how do we stand to each other?"
"My word! you are hot. We shall be asking him ere long to join our
hands--so he must be prepared in time--he will have a pleasure in
calculating the amount of his fee."
"Cousin Luke," said Bessie, "I am not sorry that he has mentioned this,
for so I can answer him in your presence, and give him such an answer
before you as he has had from me in private, but would not take. Never,
neither by persuasion, nor by force, shall I be got to give my consent."
In spite of his self-control, Fox turned livid with rage.
"Is that final?" he asked.
"It is final."
"We shall see," sneered he. "Say what you will, I do not withdraw."
"For shame of you!" exclaimed Luke, stepping between Bessie and Fox. "If
you have any good feeling in you, do not pester her with a suit that is
odious to her, and after what has happened to-night, should, to
yourself, be impossible."
"Oh!" jeered Fox, "you yourself proposed silence, and are bursting to
let the matter escape."
"Desist," said Luke. "Desist from a pursuit that is cruel to her, and
which you cannot prosecute with honour to yourself."
"I will not desist!" retorted Fox. "Tell me this. Who first sought to
bring it about? Was it I? No. Magdalen Cleverdon was she who prepared
it, then came the Squire himself. It's the Cleverdons who have hunted
me--who try to catch me; not I who have been the hunter. You call me
Fox, and you have been hue and tally ho! after me."
"There is my father!" gasped Bessie, and ran from the room. She found
the old man in the passage with his candle, unlocking his sitting-room
door.
"Oh, father!" she said, breathlessly, for the scene that had occurred
had taken away her breath, "here is Luke come--he must see you."
"What! at night? I cannot. I am busy."
"But, father, he has a message."
"A message? What, another? I will not see him."
"For a moment, uncle. It is a word from Anthony," said Luke, entering
the passage. "One word, shall I say it here, or within?"
"I care not--if it is one word, say it here; but only one word."
He was fumbling with the key in the lock. His hand that held the candle
shook, and the wax fell on his fingers and on the cuff of his coat. He
had the key inserted in the door, and could not turn it in the wards.
"Very well," said Luke. "You shall have it in one word--Never."
The old man let the key fall--he straightened himself. His voice shook
with anger. "It is well. It is as I could have wished it. I take him at
his word. Never. Never--let me say it again. Never, and once again,
never; and each never shuts a door on him for all time. Never shall he
have my forgiveness. Never shall he inherit an acre or a pound of mine.
Never will I speak to him another word. Nay, were he dying, I would not
go to see him; could I by a word save his life, I would not do it. Go
tell him that. Now go--and Elizabeth, hold the candle. I will open the
door; go in before me to my room; I'll lock the door on us both. Now all
is plain. The wind has cleared away the mists, and we must settle all
between us this night, with the way open before us."
He managed to unfasten the door, and he made his daughter pass in,
carrying the light. Then he turned the key in the lock.
The little table was strewn with deeds and papers and books. Bessie cast
a glance at it, and saw no spot on which she could set the candle. She
therefore held it in her hand, standing before her father, who threw
himself into his chair. She was pale, composed, and resolved. He could
have nothing further to urge than what had been urged already, and she
had her answer to that. The candle was short, it had swaled down into
the tray, and could not burn for more than ten minutes.
"Elizabeth," said her father, "I shall not repeat what has been said
already. I have told you what my wishes, what my commands are. You can
see in Anthony what follows on the rebellion of a child against the
father. Let me see in you that obedience which leads to happiness as
surely as his disobedience has brought him to misery. But I have said
all this before, and I will not now repeat it. There are further
considerations which make me desire that you should take Anthony Crymes
without delay." He drew a long breath, and vainly endeavoured to conceal
his agitation. "I bought this place--Hall--where my forefathers have
been as tenants for many generations; I bought it, but I had not
sufficient money at command, so I mortgaged the estate, and borrowed the
money to pay for it. Then I thought soon and easily to have paid off the
debt. The mortgagee did not press; but having Hall as mine own was, I
found, another thing to having Hall as a tenant. My position was
changed, and with this change came increased expenditure. Anthony cost
much money, he was of no use in the farm, and he threw about money as he
liked. But not so only. I rebuilt nearly the whole of the house; I might
have spent this money in paying off the mortgage, or in reducing it, but
instead of that I rebuilt and enlarged the house. I thought that my new
position required it, and the old farmhouse was small and inconvenient,
and ill-suited to my new position. But I had no fear. The mortgagee did
not require the money. Then of late we have had bad times, and I have
had the drag of the mortgage on me. A little while ago I had notice
that I must repay the whole amount. I did not consider this as serious,
and I sought to stay it off. The messenger who has now come from Exeter,
comes with a final demand for the entire sum. The times are precarious.
The Duke of Monmouth has landed. No one knows what will happen, and the
mortgagee calls in his money. I have not got it."
"Then what is to be done?"
Bessie became white as the wax of the candle, and the flame flickered
because the candle shook in her hand.
"Only one thing can be done. Only you can save Hall--save me."
"I! Oh, my father!" Bessie's heart stood still, she feared what she
should hear.
"Only you can save us," pursued the old man. "You and I will be driven
out of this place, will lose Hall, lose the acres that for three
centuries have been dressed with our sweat, lose the roof that has
covered the Cleverdons for many generations, unless you save us."
"But--how, father?" she asked, yet knew what the answer would be.
"You must marry Anthony Crymes at once. Then only shall we be safe, for
the Crymes family will find the money required to secure Hall."
"Father," pleaded Bessie, "ask for help from some one else! Borrow the
money elsewhere."
"In times such as this, when we are trembling in revolution, and none
knows what the issue will be, no one will lend money. I have no friend
save Squire Crymes. There is no help to be had anywhere else.
Here"--said the old man, irritably--"here are a bundle of accounts of
moneys owed to me, that I cannot get back now. I have sent round to
those in my debt, and it is the same cry from all. The times are against
us--wait till all is smooth, and then we will pay. In the mean time my
state is desperate. I offered to Anthony but this day to forgive the
past and receive him back to Hall--but the offer came too late. Hall is
lost to him, lost to you, lost to me, lost forever, unless you say yea."
"Oh, Luke! Luke!" cried Bessie; "let me speak first with him;" then
suddenly changed her mind and tone,
"Oh, no! I must not speak to him--to him above all, about this."
"Bessie!" said the old man; his tone was altered from that which was
usual to him. He had hectored and domineered over her, had shown her
little kindness and small regard, but now he spoke in a subdued manner,
with entreaty. "Bessie! look at my grey hairs. I had hoped that all
future generations of Cleverdons would have thought of me with pride, as
he who made the family; but, instead, they will curse me as he who cast
it forth from its home and brought it to destruction."
Bessie did not speak, her eyes were on the candle, the flame was nigh on
sinking, a gap had formed under the wick, and the wax was running down
into the socket as water in a well.
"I have hitherto commanded, and have usually been obeyed," continued the
old man, "but now I must entreat. I am to be dishonoured through my
children, one--my son--has left me and taken to himself another home,
and defies me in all things. My daughter, by holding out her hand, could
save me and all my hopes and ambitions, and she will not. Will she have
me--me, an old grey-headed father, kneel at her feet?" He put his hands
to the arms of his seat to help him to rise from the chair that he might
fall before her.
"Father!" She uttered a cry, and, at the shock that shuddered through
her, the flaming wick sank into the socket, and there burnt blue as a
lambent ghost of a flame. "O father!--wait!--wait!"
"How long am I to wait? The answer must be given to-night; the doom of
our house is sealed within a few hours, or the word of salvation must be
spoken. Which shall it be? The messenger who is here carries my answer
to Exeter, and, at the same time, if you agree, the demand for a
licence, that you may be married at once. No delay is possible."
"Let me have an hour--in my room!"
"No; it must be decided at once."
"Oh, father--at once?" She watched the blue quiver of light in the
candle socket. "Very well--well--when the light goes out you shall have
my answer."
He said no other word, but watched her pale face, looking weird in the
upward flicker of the dying blue flame, and her eyes rested on that
flame, and the flicker was reflected in them--now bright, then faint,
swaying from side to side as a tide.
Then a mass of wax fell in, fed the flame, and it shot up in a golden
spiral, revealing Bessie's face completely.
"Father! I but just now said to Fox Crymes 'Never! never! never!'"
She paused, the flame curled over.
"Father! within a few minutes must I go forth to him and withdraw the
'Never?'"
He did not answer, but he nodded. She had raised her eyes from the dying
flame to look at him.
Again her eyes fell on the light.
"Father! If I withdraw my 'Never,' will you withdraw yours about
Anthony?--never to forgive him--never to see him in Hall--never to count
him as your son?"
The flame disappeared--the old man thought it was extinguished, but
Bessie saw it still as a blue bead rolling on the molten wax; it caught
a thread of wick and shot up again.
"Father! I do not say promise, but say perhaps."
"So be it--Perhaps."
The flame was out.
Bessie walked calmly to the door, felt for the key, turned it, went
forth, still holding the extinguished candle in her hand. It was to her
as if all that made life blessed and bright to her had gone out with
that flame.
She went into the parlour and composedly put out her hand to Fox.
"Take me," she said. "I have withdrawn the 'Never.' I am yours!"