LADY DAVENANT.
It was a frequent custom with Lady Davenant to sit with the girls in the
workroom in the morning. She liked to have a place where she could talk;
she took an ex-professional interest in their occupation; she had the
eye of an artist for their interpretation of the fashion. Moreover, it
pleased her to be in the company of Miss Kennedy, who was essentially a
woman's woman. Men who are so unhappy as to have married a man's woman
will understand perfectly what I mean. On the morning after Harry's
most providential birthday, therefore, when she appeared no one was in
the least disturbed. But to-day she did not greet the girls with her
accustomed stately inclination of the head which implied that, although
now a peeress, she had been brought up to their profession and in a
republican school of thought, and did not set herself up above her
neighbors. Yet respect to rank should be conceded, and was expected. In
general, too, she was talkative, and enlivened the tedium of work with
many an anecdote illustrating Canaan City and its ways, or showing the
lethargic manners of the Davenants, both her husband and his, to say
nothing of the grandfather, contented with the lowly occupation of a
wheelwright while he might have soared to the British House of Lords.
This morning, however, she sat down and was silent, and her head
drooped. Angela, who sat next her and watched, presently observed that a
tear formed in her eye, and dropped upon her work, and that her lips
moved as if she was holding a conversation with herself. Thereupon she
arose, put her hand upon the poor lady's arm, and drew her away without
a word to the solitude of the dining-room, where her ladyship gave way
and burst into an agony of sobbing.
Angela stood before her, saying nothing. It was best to let the fit have
its way. When the crying was nearly over, she laid her hand upon her
hair and gently smoothed it.
"Poor dear lady," she said, "will you tell me what has happened?"
"Everything," she gasped. "Oh, everything! The six months are all gone,
all but one. Nephew Nathaniel writes to say that, as we haven't even
made a start all this time, he reckons we don't count to make any; and
he's got children, and as for business, it's got down to the hard pan,
and dollars are skurce, and we may come back again right away, and
there's the money for the voyage home whenever we like, but no more."
"Oh!" said Angela, beginning to understand. "And ... and your husband?"
"There's where the real trouble begins. I wouldn't mind for myself,
money or no money. I would write to the Queen for money. I would go to
the workhouse. I would beg my bread in the street, but the case I would
never give up--never--never--never."
She clasped her hands, dried her eyes, and sat bolt upright, the picture
of unyielding determination.
"And your husband is not, perhaps, so resolute as yourself?"
"He says, 'Clara Martha, let us go hum. As for the title, I would sell
it to nephew Nathaniel, who's the next heir, for a week of square meals;
he should have the coronet, if I'd got it, for a month's certainty of
steaks and chops and huckleberry pie; and as for my seat in the House of
Lords, he should have it for our old cottage in Canaan City, which is
sold, and the school which I have given up and lost.' He says: 'Pack the
box, Clara Martha--there isn't much to pack--and we will go at once. If
the American Minister won't take up the case for us, I guess that the
case may slide till Nathaniel takes it up for himself.' That is what he
says, Miss Kennedy. Those were his words. Oh! Oh! Oh! Mr. Feeblemind!
Oh! Mr. Facing-Both-Ways!"
She wrung her hands in despair, for it seemed as if her husband would be
proof against even the scorn and contempt of these epithets.
"But what do you mean to do?"
"I shall stay," she replied. "And so shall he, if my name is Lady
Davenant. Do you think I am going back to Canaan City to be scorned at
by Aurelia Tucker? Do you think I shall let that poor old man, who has
his good side, Miss Kennedy--and as for virtue he is an angel, and he
knows not the taste of tobacco or whiskey--face his nephew, and have to
say what good he has done with all those dollars? No, here we stay." She
snapped her lips, and made as if she would take root upon that very
chair. "Shall he part with his birthright like Esau, because he is
hungry? Never! The curse of Esau would rest upon us.
"He's at home now," she went on, "preparing for another day without
dinner; groans won't help him now; and this time there will be no
supper--unless Mr. Goslett has another birthday."
"Why! good gracious, you will be starved."
"Better starve than to go home as we came. Besides, I shall write to
the Queen when there's nothing left. When Nathaniel's money comes, which
may be to-morrow, and may be next month, I shall give a month's rent to
Mrs. Bormalack, and save the rest for one meal a day. Yes, as long as
the money lasts, he shall eat meat--once a day--at noon. He's been
pampered, like all the Canaan City folk; set up with turkey roast and
turkey boiled, and ducks and beef every day, and buckwheat cakes and
such. Oh! a change of diet would bring down his luxury and increase his
pride."
Angela thought that starvation was a new way of developing pride of
birth, but she did not say so. "Is there no way," she asked, "in which
he can earn money?"
She shook her head.
"As a teacher he was generally allowed to be learned, but sleepy. In our
city, however, the boys and girls didn't expect too much, and it's a
sleepy place. In winter they sit round the stove and they go to sleep;
in summer they sit in the shade and they go to sleep. It's the sleepiest
place in the States. No, there's no kind o' way in which he can earn any
money. And if there were, did you ever hear of a British peer working
for his daily bread?"
"But you, Lady Davenant? Surely your ladyship would not mind--if the
chance offered--if it were a thing kept secret--if not even your husband
knew--would not object to earning something every week to find that
square meal which your husband so naturally desires?"
Her ladyship held out her hands without a word.
Angela, in shameful contempt of political economy, placed in them the
work which she had in her own, and whispered:
"You had better," she said, "take a week in advance. Then you can
arrange with Mrs. Bormalack for the usual meals on the old terms; and if
you would rather come here to work, you can have this room to yourself
all the morning. Thank you, Lady Davenant. The obligation is entirely
mine, you know. For, really, more delicate work, more beautiful work, I
never saw. Do all American ladies work so beautifully?"
Her ladyship, quite overcome with these honeyed words, took the work
and made no reply.
"Only one thing, dear Lady Davenant," Angela went on, smiling: "you must
promise me not to work too hard. You know that such work as yours is
worth at least twice as much as mine. And then you can push on the case,
you know."
The little lady rose, and threw her arms round Angela's neck.
"My dear!" she cried with more tears, "you are everybody's friend. Oh!
yes, I know. And how you do it and all--I can't think, nor Mrs.
Bormalack neither. But the day may come--it shall come--when we can show
our gratitude."
She retired, taking the work with her.
Her husband was asleep as usual, for he had had breakfast, and as yet
the regular pangs of noon were not active. The case was not spread out
before him, as was usual ever since Mr. Goslett had taken it in hand. It
was ostentatiously rolled up, and laid on the table, as if packed ready
for departure by the next mail.
His wife regarded him with a mixture of affection and contempt.
"He would sell the crown of England," she murmured, "for roast turkey
and apple fixin's. The Davenants couldn't have been always like that. It
must be his mother's blood. Yet she was a church-member, and walked
consistent."
She did not wake him up, but sought out Mrs. Bormalack, and presently
there was a transfer of coins and the Resurrection of Smiles and _Doux
Parler_, that Fairy of Sweet Speech, who covers and hides beneath the
cold wind of poverty.
"Tell me, Mr. Goslett," said Angela, that evening, still thinking over
the sad lot of the claimants, "tell me: you have examined the claim of
these people--what chance have they?"
"I should say none whatever."
"Then what makes them so confident of success?"
"Hush! listen. They are really confident. His noble lordship perfectly
understands the weakness of his claim, which depends upon a pure
assumption, as you shall hear. As for the little lady, his wife, she
has long since jumped to the conclusion that the assumption requires no
proof. Therefore, save in moments of dejection, she is pretty confident.
Then they are hopelessly ignorant of how they should proceed and of the
necessary delays, even if their case was unanswerable. They thought they
had only to cross the ocean and send in a statement in order to get
admitted to the rank and privilege of the peerage. And I believe they
think that the Queen will, in some mysterious way, restore the property
to them."
"Poor things!"
"Yes, it's rather sad to think of such magnificent expectations.
Besides, it really is a most beautiful case. The last Lord Davenant had
one son. That only son grew up, had some quarrel with his father, and
sailed from the port of Bristol, bound for some American port, I forget
which. Neither he nor his ship was ever heard of again. Therefore the
title became extinct."
"Well?"
"Very good. Now the story begins. His name was Timothy Clitheroe
Davenant, the name always given to the eldest son of the family. Now,
our friend's name is Timothy Clitheroe Davenant, and so was his
father's, and so was his grandfather's."
"That is very strange."
"It is very strange--what is stranger still is, that his grandfather was
born, according to the date on his tomb, the same year as the lost heir,
and at the same place--Davenant, where was the family-seat."
"Can there have been two of the same name born in the same place and in
the same year?"
"It seems improbable, almost impossible. Moreover, the last lord had no
brother, nor had his father, the second lord. I found that out at the
Heralds' College. Consequently, even if there was another branch, and
the birth of two Timothys in the same year was certain, they would not
get the title. So that their one hope is to be able to prove what they
call the 'connection.' That is to say, the identity of the lost heir
with this wheelwright."
"That seems a very doubtful thing to do, after all these years."
"It is absolutely impossible, unless some documents are discovered
which prove it. But nothing remains of the wheelwright."
"No book? No papers?"
"Nothing, except a small book of songs, supposed to be convivial, with
his name on the inside cover, written in a sprawling hand, and misspelt,
with two v's--'Davvenant,' and above the name, in the same hand, the day
of the week in which it was written, 'Satturday,' with two t's. No
Christian name."
"Does it not seem as if the absence of the Christian name would point to
the assumption of the title?"
"Yes: they do not know this, and I have not yet told them. It is,
however, a very small point, and quite insufficient in itself to
establish anything."
"Yes," Angela mused. She was thinking whether something could not be
done to help these poor people and settle the case decisively for them
one way or the other. "What is to be the end of it?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders.
"Who knows how long they can go on? When there are no more dollars, they
must go home again. I hear they have got another supply of money: Mrs.
Bormalack has been paid for a fortnight in advance. After that is
gone--perhaps they had better go too."
"It seems a pity," said Angela, slightly reddening at mention of the
money, "that some researches could not be made, so as to throw a little
light upon this strange coincidence of names."
"We should want to know first what to look for. After that, we should
have to find a man to conduct the search. And then we should have to pay
him."
"As for the man, there is the professor; as for the place, first, there
is the Heralds' College, and secondly, there are the parish registers of
the village of Davenant; and as for the money, why, it would not cost
much, and I believe something might be advanced for them. If you and I,
Mr. Goslett, between us, were to pay the professor's expenses, would he
go about for us?"
She seemed to assume that he was quite ready to join her in giving his
money for this object. Yet Harry was now living, having refused his
guardian's proffered allowance, on his pay by the piece, which gave
him, as already stated, tenpence for every working hour.
"What would the professor cost?" she asked.
"The professor is down upon his luck," said Harry. "He is so hard up at
present that I believe we would get it for nothing but his expenses.
Eighteen shillings a week would buy him outright until his engagements
begin again. If there were any travelling expenses, of course that would
be extra. But the village of Davenant is not a great way off. It is
situated in Essex, and Essex is now a suburb of London, its original
name having been East-End-seaxas, which is not generally known."
"Very well," she replied gravely. "That would be only nine shillings
apiece, say eleven hours of extra work for you; and probably it would
not last long, more than a week or two. Will you give two hours a day to
his lordship?"
Harry made a wry face, and laughed. This young person had begun by
turning him into a journeyman cabinet-maker, and was now making him work
extra time. What next?
"Am I not your slave, Miss Kennedy?"
"O Mr. Goslett, I thought there was to be no more nonsense of that kind!
You know it can lead to nothing--even if you desired that it should."
"Even? Miss Kennedy, can't you see----"
"No--I can see nothing--I will hear nothing. Do not--O Mr. Goslett--we
have been--we are--such excellent friends. You have been so great a help
to me: I look to you for so much more. Do not spoil all; do not seek for
what you could never be: pray, pray, do not!"
She spoke with so much earnestness; her eyes were filled with such a
frankness; she laid her hand upon his arm with so charming
_camaraderie_, that he could not choose but obey.
"It is truly wonderful," he said, thinking, for the thousandth time, how
this pearl among women came to Stepney Green.
"What is wonderful?" she blushed as she asked.
"You know what I mean. Let us both be frank. You command me not to say
the thing I most desire to say. Very good, I will be content to wait,
but under one promise----"
"What is that?"
"If the reason or reasons which command my silence should ever be
removed--mind, I do not seek to know what they are--you will
yourself----"
"What?" she asked, blushing sweetly.
"You will yourself--tell me so."
She recovered her composure and gave him her hand.
"If at any time I can listen to you, I will tell you so. Does that
content you?"
Certainly not, but there was no more to be got; therefore Harry was fain
to be contented whether he would or not. And this was only one of a
hundred little skirmishes in which he endeavored to capture an advanced
fort or prepared to lay the siege in form. And always he was routed with
heavy loss.
"And now," she went on, "we will get back to our professor."
"Yes. I am to work two extra hours a day that he may go about in the
luxury of eighteen shillings a week. This it is to be one of the
horny-handed. What is the professor to do first?"
"Let us," she said, "find him and secure his services."
It has been seen that the professor was already come to the period of
waist-tightening, which naturally follows a too continued succession of
banyan-days.
He listened with avidity to any proposition which held forth a prospect
of food. The work, he said, only partly understanding it, would be
difficult, but, therefore, the more to be desired. Common conjurers, he
said, would spoil such a case. As for himself, he would undertake to do
just whatever they wanted with the register, whether it was the
substitution of a page or the tearing out of a page, under the very eyes
of the parish clerk. "There must be," he said, "a patter suitable to the
occasion. I will manage that for you. I'm afraid I can't make up as I
ought for the part, because it would cost too much, but we must do
without that. And now, Miss Kennedy, what is it exactly that you want me
to do?"
He was disappointed on learning that there would be no "palming" of
leaves, old or new, among the registers; nothing, in fact, but a simple
journey, and a simple examination of the books. And though, as he
confessed, he had as yet no experience in the art of falsifying parish
registers, where science was concerned its interests were above those of
mere morality.