BAD TIDINGS.
On reaching Hall, the first person that came to meet them was Bessie.
She had returned, anxious about her father, and to collect some of her
clothes. On arriving, she had been told that he had not gone to bed all
night, that he looked ill and aged; that he had ordered his horse and
had ridden away without telling any one whither he was going, and that
some hours had elapsed without his re-appearing. Bess was filled with
uneasiness, and was about to send out the servants to inquire as to the
direction he had taken, and by whom he had been last seen, when the old
man returned on foot, leaning on Luke, who led the horse by the bridle.
"Has any accident happened?" she asked, with changing colour. The old
man gave a shy glance at her, then let his eyes fall to the ground. He
said nothing, and went into the house to his room. Bess's uneasiness was
not diminished. Luke spared her the trouble of asking questions. He told
her that he had met her father on the way, and that they had come to an
understanding, so that the estrangement that had existed between them
since Anthony's marriage was at an end.
Bessie's colour mounted to her temples, she was glad to hear this; and
Luke saw her pleasure in her eyes. He took her hand.
Then she lowered her eyes and said:--"Oh, Luke! what am I to do? Can I
withdraw the promise made yesterday? I cannot fulfil it. I did not know
it then. Now it is impossible. I can never love Fox--never respect him.
He has behaved to my father in a manner that even if forgiven is not to
be forgotten. And, indeed, I must tell you. He said he had struck
Anthony and half killed him. I do not know what to think. Urith----"
"I know what Urith says. I was present. I saw the blow dealt. Fox did
that--Urith bade him do it."
Bessie's breath caught. Luke hastened to reassure her.
"Anthony was not seriously hurt. Something he wore--a token on his
breast--turned the point of the knife; but I am to blame, I am greatly
to blame, I should have come and seen your father before your marriage
and told him what I knew, then you would not have been drawn into
this----"
"Oh, Luke!" interrupted Bessie, "I do not think anything you said would
have altered his determination. He was resolved, and when resolved,
nothing will turn him from his purpose. As we were married at Tavistock
and not in your church, you were not spoken to about it."
"No--but I ought to have seen your father. I shall ever reproach myself
with my neglect, or rather my cowardice, and now I have news, and that
sad, to tell you. It is vague, and yet, I believe, trustworthy. Gloine,
who went from my parish to join the Duke of Monmouth, has come back. He
rode the whole way on a horse that belonged to some gentleman who had
been shot. There has been a battle somewhere in Somersetshire. Gloine
could not tell me the exact spot, but it does not matter. The battle has
been disastrous--our side--I mean the side to which nearly all England
wished well, has been routed. There was mismanagement, quarrelling
between the leaders: bad generalship, I have no doubt; it was but a
beginning of a fight; and then a general rout. Our men--I mean the
Duke's--were dispersed, surrendered in batches, were cut and shot down,
and those who fled were pursued in all directions, and slain without
mercy. What has happened to the Duke I do not know, Gloine could not
tell me. But Mr. Crymes is dead. He passed the coach and saw the
soldiers plundering it, and the poor old gentleman had been shot and
dragged out of it, and thrown on the grass."
"But Anthony!"
"Of him, Gloine could not tell me much. He was greatly in favour with
the Duke and with Lord Grey. There was a considerable contingent of men
from Tavistock and the villages round, who had been collected by the
activity of Mr. Crymes and one or two others, whose names we will now
strive to keep in the background; and, as Mr. Crymes himself was
incapacitated by age and infirmity from officering this band of
recruits, Anthony was appointed captain, and I am proud to say that our
little battalion showed more determination, made a better fight, and was
less ready to throw away arms and run, than was any other. That is what
Gloine says."
"And he can say nothing of Anthony?"
"Nothing, Gloine says that when the rout was complete, he caught a horse
that was running by masterless, and mounting, rode into Devon, and home
as hard as he could, but of Anthony he saw nothing. Whether he fell, or
whether he is alive, we shall not know till others come in; but, Bess,
we must not disguise from ourselves the fact that, supposing he has
escaped with his life, he will stand in extreme danger. He has been one
of the few gentlemen who has openly joined the movement, he has
commanded a little company drawn from his own neighbourhood, and has
given the enemy more trouble than some others. A price will be set on
his head, and if he be caught, he will be executed--almost certainly. He
may return here if alive, he probably will do so; but he must be sent
abroad or kept in hiding till pursuit is over."
"O, poor Anthony!" said Bessie. "Will you tell my father?"
"Not at present. He has his own troubles now. Besides, we know nothing
for certain. I will not speak till further and fuller news reaches me.
But, Bess, you must be with him--he is not in a state to be left alone.
Now, may be, in his broken condition, he may feel your regard in a
manner he has not heretofore."
"Heigh, there. Have you heard?"
The voice was that of Fox. He came up heated, excited.
"Heigh, there! Luke, and you, Bess, too? Have you heard the tidings?
There's our man, Coaker, come back--came on one of the coach-horses.
There has been a pretty upset at the end, as I thought. My father is
dead--the soldiers shot him as he sat in the coach, and proceeded to
turn everything out in search of spoil. What a merciful matter," he
grinned, without an audible laugh, "that the five or six hundred pounds
had been lifted on Black Down instead of falling into the hands of the
Papist looters! Aye?"
Neither Luke nor Elizabeth answered him.
"You know that now I am owner of the little estate in Buckland," said
he, "such as it is--a poor, mean scrap that remains of what we
Crymes----"
"You are now a Cleverdon," said Luke, dryly.
"But not for long. I shall change my name back, if it cost me fifty
pounds. There is something more that I am. I am trustee for Julian till
she marries--I step into my father's place. How do you suppose she will
like that? How will she find herself placed under my management?" He
laughed.
"Your father dead," said Luke, "one might expect of you some decent
lamentation."
"Oh! I am sorry, I assure thee! But Lord! what else could I expect? And
I thank Heaven it is no worse. I expected him to be drawn to Tyburn,
hung, and disembowelled as a traitor. I swear to thee, Luke, I was
rejoiced to hear he died honourably of a shot, since die he must. And
Anthony dead----"
"Anthony! Have you heard?"
"Nay--I cannot swear. But Coaker says it is undoubted. The troopers were
in full pursuit of our Tavistock company of Jack-Fools, cutting them
down and not sparing one. Anthony cannot escape. If he ran from the
field, he will be caught elsewhere. If they spitted the common men, they
will not spare the commanding officer."
"Poor Anthony!" sighed Bess.
"Ay! poor Anthony, indeed, with nothing left at all now--not even the
chance of life! But never mind poor Anthony, Bess; please to consider
me. I know not but what now I shall be able at my ease to pay that
attorney from Exeter--if I choose; but that shall only be to make Hall
my own, and no sooner has my money passed hands than out turns your
father. He and I will never be able to pull together. He has his notions
and I mine. No man can serve two masters, as Parson Luke will tell thee;
and neither can a land be held by and serve two masters, one choosing
this and t'other that. No sooner is Hall cleared with my money than out
walks the old Squire. Then you and I Bess----"
"You and I will remain as separate as we are at present," answered
Elizabeth. "I go with my father. Never will I be with you."
"As you will," said Fox, contemptuously. "Your beauty is not such as to
make me wish to keep you."
"Then so let it be. We have been married, only to part us more than
ever," said Bess. Then, turning to Luke, she said, "I cannot help
myself. I swore with good intention of keeping my oath, but I cannot
even attempt to observe it. He--" she pointed to Fox, "he has shown me
how impossible it is."
Luke did not speak. The words of Fox had made him indignant; but he said
nothing, as any words of his he felt would be thrown away, and could
only lead to a breach between him and Fox, in which he must get the
worst, as unable to retort with the insolence and offensiveness of the
latter. He looked with wonder at Bessie, and admired her quiet dignity
and strength. He could see that, with all his rudeness to her, Fox stood
somewhat in awe of her.
"Yes," said Fox, "Anthony is dead; I do not affect to be sorry, after
having received from him a blow that has half blinded me--a continuous
reminder of him."
"His sister strove to make amends for that yesterday," said Luke, unable
further to control his wrath. "You then demanded of her an atonement far
more costly than any wrong done you."
Fox shrugged his shoulders. "A pretty atonement--when she flouts me, and
refuses to follow me."
Bessie, shrinking from hearing her name used, entered the house, and
went into her father's room.
She found the old man there, lying on a long leather couch against the
wall, asleep.
She stood watching him for a moment in silence, and without stirring.
His hair was certainly more grey than it had been, and his face was
greatly changed, both in expression and in age. The old hardness had
given way, and distress--pain, such as never before had marked his
countenance, now impressed it, even in sleep. He had probably hardly
closed his eyes for many nights, as he had been full of anxiety about
the fate of Hall, and the success of his scheme for its preservation.
The last night had been spent in complete and torturing wakefulness. Now
Nature had asserted her rights; weary to death, he had cast himself on
his couch, and had almost immediately lost consciousness.
After observing her father for some little while, Bessie stepped lightly
back into the passage, closed the door, then sought Luke, who was
standing before the house with his finger to his lips, a frown on his
brows, looking at the ground steadily. Fox was gone.
Bessie touched him, and beckoned that he should follow, then led him to
her father's parlour, opened the door gently, and with a sign to step
lightly and keep silence, showed him the sleeping Squire. A smile
lighted her homely but pleasant face; and then she gave him a token to
depart.
For herself, she had resolved to remain there, her proper post now was
by her father. She knelt at his couch, without touching him, and never
turned an eye from him. In her heart swelled up a hope, a belief, that
at length the old man might come to recognise her love, and to value it.
An hour--then another passed, and neither the sleeper nor the watcher
stirred; when suddenly the old man opened his eyes, in full wakefulness,
and his eyes rested on her. He looked at her steadily, but with growing
estrangement; then a little hectic colour kindled in his pale face, and
he turned his head away.
Then Bessie put her arm under his neck, and drew his head to her bosom,
pressed it there, and kissed him, saying,
"My father! my dear, dear father!"
He drew a long and laboured breath, disengaged himself from her arms,
and putting down his feet, sat up on the couch. She was kneeling before
him, looking into his face.
"Go--" said he, after a while, "I have been hard with thee, Bess! I have
done thee wrong."
She would have clasped and kissed him again, but he gently yet firmly
put her from him, and yet--in so doing kept his eyes intently,
questioningly, fixed on her. Was it to be--even as Luke said, that in
losing Hall he was to find something he had not prized hitherto?