THE LYCH-GATE.
The old church, standing on a bluff above the river, is well placed for
looking up and down the fertile valley. Flashes of the water on its
westward course may be caught from this point of vantage, amidst the
tranquillity of ancient trees and sunny breadths of pasture. For there
the land has smoothed itself into a smiling plain, casting off the
wrinkles of hills and gullies, and the frown of shaggy brows of heather.
The rigour of the long flinty range is past, and a flower can stand
without a bush to back it, and the wind has ceased from shuddering.
But the Perle has not come to these pleasures yet, as it flows on the
north of the churchyard, and some hundred feet beneath it. The broad
shallow channel is strewn with flint, and the little stream cannot fill
it, except in times of heavy flood; for the main of its water has been
diverted to work the woollen factory, and rejoins the natural course at
the bridge two or three hundred yards below. On the further side, the
land rises to the barren height of Beacon Hill, which shelters Sir
Thomas Waldron's house, and is by its conical form distinct from other
extremities of the Black-down Chain. For the southern barrier of the
valley (which is about three miles wide at its mouth) is formed by the
long dark chine of Hagdon Hill, which ends abruptly in a steep descent;
and seeing that all this part of the vale, and the hills which shape it,
are comprised in the parish of Perlycross, it will become clear that a
single Parson, if he attempts to go through all his work, must have a
very fine pair of legs, and a sound constitution to quicken them.
Mr. Penniloe, now well advanced in the fifth decade, was of very spare
habit and active frame, remarkable also for his springy gait, except at
those periods of dark depression, with which he was afflicted now and
then. But the leading fault of his character was inattention to his
victuals, not from any want of common sense, or crude delight in
fasting, but rather through self-neglect, and the loss of the one who
used to attend to him. To see to that bodily welfare, about which he
cared so little, there was no one left, except a careful active and
devoted servant, Thyatira Muggridge. Thyatira had been in his employment
ever since his marriage, and was now the cook, housekeeper, and general
manager at the rectory. But though in the thirty-fifth year of her age,
and as steady as a pyramid, she felt herself still too young to urge
sound dietary advice upon her master, as she longed to do. The women of
the parish blamed her sadly, as they watched his want of fattening; but
she could only sigh, and try to tempt him with her simple skill, and
zeal.
On the morrow of that sad anniversary which had caused him such
distress, the Curate was blest with his usual vigour of faith and
courage and philanthropy. An affectionate letter from his mother,
enclosing a bank-order for ten pounds, had proved that she was no
willing partner in the father's harshness. The day was very bright, his
three pupils had left him for their summer holidays, and there happened
to be no urgent call for any parochial visits. There was nothing to stop
him from a good turn to-day among trowel and chisel and callipers; he
would see that every man was at his work, and that every stroke of work
was truthful.
Having slurred his early dinner with his usual zest, he was hastening
down the passage for his hat and stick, when Thyatira Muggridge came
upon him from the pantry, with a jug of toast-and-water in her hand.
"Do'e give me just a minute, sir," she whispered, with a glance at the
door of the dining-room where the children had been left; and he
followed her into the narrow back-parlour, the head-quarters of his
absent pupils.
Mr. Penniloe thought very highly of his housekeeper's judgment and
discretion, and the more so perhaps because she had been converted, by a
stroke of his own readiness, from the doctrines of the
"Antipæedo-Baptists"--as they used to call themselves--to those of the
Church of England. Her father, moreover, was one of the chief tenants on
the North Devon property of Mr. Penniloe the elder; and simplicity,
shrewdness, and honesty were established in that family. So her master
was patient with her, though his hat and stick were urgent.
"Would you please to mind, sir,"--began Thyatira, with her thick red
arms moving over her apron, like rolling-pins upon pie-crust--"if little
Master Mike was to sleep with me a bit, till his brother Master Harry
cometh back from school?"
"I dare say you have some good reason for asking; but what is it, Mrs.
Muggeridge?" The housekeeper was a spinster, but had received
brevet-rank from the village.
"Only that he is so lonesome, sir, in that end hattick, by his little
self. You know how he hath been, ever since his great scare; and now
some brutes of boys in the village have been telling him a lot of stuff
about Spring-heel Jack. They say he is coming into this part now, with
his bloody heart and dark lantern. And the poor little lamb hath a
window that looks right away over the churchyard. Last night he were
sobbing so in his sleep, enough to break his little heart. The sound
came all across the lumber-room, till I went and fetched him into my
bed, and then he were as happy as an Angel."
"Poor little man! I should have thought of it, since he became so
nervous. But I have always tried to make my children feel that the Lord
is ever near them."
"He compasseth the righteous round about," Mrs. Muggeridge replied with
a curtsey, as a pious woman quoting Holy Writ; "but for all that, you
can't call Him company, sir; and that's what these little one's lacks
of. Master Harry is as brave as a lion, because he is so much older.
But hoping no offence, his own dear mother would never have left that
little soul all by himself."
"You are right, and I was wrong;" replied the master, concealing the
pain her words had caused. "Take him to your room; it is very kind of
you. But where will you put Susanna?"
"That will be easy enough, sir. I will make up a bed in the lumber-room,
if you have no objection. Less time for her at the looking-glass, I
reckon."
Mr. Penniloe smiled gravely--for that grievance was a classic--and had
once more possessed himself of his hat and stick, when the earnest
housekeeper detained him once again.
"If you please, sir, you don't believe, do you now, in all that they
says about that Spring-heeled Jack? It scarcely seemeth reasonable to a
Christian mind. And yet when I questioned Mr. Jakes about it, he was not
for denying that there might be such a thing--and him the very bravest
man in all this parish!"
"Mrs. Muggeridge, it is nonsense. Mr. Jakes knows better. He must have
been trying to terrify you. A man who has been through the Peninsular
campaign! I hope I may remember to reprove him."
"Oh no, I would beg you, sir, not to do that. It was only said--as one
might express it, promiscuous, and in a manner of speaking. I would
never have mentioned it, if I had thought----"
Knowing that her face was very red, her master refrained from looking at
it, and went his way at last, after promising to let the gallant Jakes
escape. It was not much more than a hundred yards, along the chief
street of the village, from the rectory to the southern and chief
entrance of the churchyard; opposite to which, at a corner of the road
and partly in front of the ruined Abbey, stood an old-fashioned Inn, the
_Ivy-bush_. This, though a very well conducted house, and quiet enough
(except at Fair-time), was not in the Parson's opinion a pleasing
induction to the lych-gate; but there it had stood for generations, and
the landlord, Walter Haddon, held sound Church-views, for his wife had
been a daughter of Channing the clerk, and his premises belonged to the
Dean and Chapter.
Mr. Penniloe glanced at the yellow porch, with his usual regret but no
ill-will, when a flash of bright colour caught his eye. In the outer
corner he described a long scarlet fishing-rod propped against the wall,
with the collar and three flies fluttering. All was so bright and spick
and span, that a trout's admiration would be quite safe; and the
clergyman (having been a skilful angler, till his strict views of duty
deprived him of that joy) indulged in a smile of sagacity, as he opened
his double eye-glass, and scrutinised this fine object.
"Examining my flies, are you, Reverend? Well, I hope you are satisfied
with them."
The gentleman who spoke in this short way came out of the porch, with a
pipe in his hand and a large fishing-creel swinging under his left arm.
"I beg your pardon, Dr. Gronow, for the liberty I am taking. Yes, they
are very fine flies indeed. I hope you have had good sport with them."
"Pretty fair, sir; pretty fair"--the owner answered cheerfully--"one
must not expect much in this weather. But I have had at least three
rises."
"It is much to your credit, so far as I can judge, under the
circumstances. And you have not had time to know our water yet. You will
find it pretty fishing, when you get accustomed to it."
The angler, a tall thin man of sixty, with a keen grave face and wiry
gray hair, regarded the Parson steadfastly. This was but the second time
they had met, although Dr. Gronow had been for some while an important
parishioner of Perlycross, having bought a fair estate at Priestwell, a
hamlet little more than a mile from the village. People, who pretended
to know all about him, said that he had retired suddenly, for some
unknown reason, from long and large medical practice at Bath. There he
had been, as they declared, the first authority in all cases of
difficulty and danger, but not at all a favourite in the world of
fashion, because of his rough and contemptuous manners, and sad want of
sympathy with petty ailments. Some pious old lady of rank had called
him, in a passionate moment, "the Godless Gronow;" and whether he
deserved the description or not, it had cleaved to him like a
sand-leech. But the Doctor only smiled, and went his way; the good will
of the poor was sweeter to him than the good word of the wealthy.
"Let me say a word to you, Mr. Penniloe," he began, as the Curate was
turning away; "I have had it in my mind for some short time. I believe
you are much attached to Sir Thomas Waldron."
"He is one of my oldest and most valued friends. I have the highest
possible regard for him."
"He is a valuable man in the parish, I suppose--comes to church
regularly--sets a good example?"
"If all my parishioners were like him, it would be a comfort to me,
and--and a benefit to them."
"Well said--according to your point of view. I like a straightforward
man, sir. But I want you to be a little crooked now. You have an old
friend, Harrison Gowler."
"Yes,"--Mr. Penniloe replied with some surprise, "I was very fond of
Gowler at Oxford, and admired him very greatly. But I have not seen him
for some years."
"He is now the first man in London in his special line. Could you get
him to visit you for a day or two, and see Sir Thomas Waldron, without
letting him know why?"
"You astonish me, Dr. Gronow. There is nothing amiss with Sir Thomas,
except a little trouble now and then, caused by an ancient wound, I
believe."
"Ah, so you think; and so perhaps does he. But I suppose you can keep a
thing to yourself. If I tell you something, will you give me your word
that it shall go no further?"
The two gentlemen were standing in the shadow of the lych-gate, as a
shelter from the July sun, while the clergyman gazed with much alarm at
the other, and gave the required promise. Dr. Gronow looked round, and
then said in a low voice--
"Sir Thomas is a strong and temperate man, and has great powers of
endurance. I hope most heartily that I may be wrong. But I am convinced
that within three months, he will be lying upon this stone; while you
with your surplice on are standing in that porch, waiting for the
bearers to advance."
"Good God!" cried the Parson, with tears rushing to his eyes; then he
lifted his hat, and bowed reverently. "May He forgive me for using His
holy name. But the shock is too terrible to think of. It would certainly
break poor Nicie's heart. What right have you to speak of such a
dreadful thing?"
"Is it such a dreadful thing to go to heaven? That of course you
guarantee for your good friends. But the point is--how to put off that
catastrophe of bliss."
"Flippancy is not the way to meet it, Dr. Gronow. We have every right to
try to keep a valuable life, and a life dear to all that have the sense
to feel its value. Even a scornful man--such as you appear to be, unable
to perceive the childish littleness of scorn--must admire valour, sense
of duty, and simplicity; though they may not be his own leading
qualities. And once more I ask you to explain what you have said."
"You know Jemmy Fox pretty well, I think?" Dr. Gronow took a seat upon
the coffin-stone, and spoke as if he liked the Parson's vigour--"Jemmy
is a very clever fellow in his way, though of course he has no
experience yet. We old stagers are always glad to help a young member of
our Profession, who has a proper love for it, and is modest, and
hard-working. But not until he asks us, you must clearly understand. You
see we are not so meddlesome as you Reverends are. Well, from the
account young Fox gives me, there can, I fear, be little doubt about the
nature of the case. It is not at all a common one; and so far as we know
yet, there is but one remedy--a very difficult operation."
Mr. Penniloe was liable to a kind of nervous quivering, when anything
happened to excite him, and some of his very best sermons had been
spoiled by this visitation.
"I am troubled more than I can tell you,--I am grieved beyond
description,"--he began with an utterance which trembled more and more;
"and you think that Gowler is the only man, to--to----"
"To know the proper course, and to afford him the last chance. Gowler is
not a surgeon, as I need not tell you. And at present such a case could
be dealt with best in Paris, although we have young men rising now, who
will make it otherwise before very long. Sir Thomas will listen to
nothing, I fear, from a young practitioner like Fox. He has been so
knocked about himself, and so close to death's door more than once, that
he looks upon this as a fuss about nothing. But I know better, Mr.
Penniloe."
"You are too likely to be right. Fox has told me of several cases of
your wonderful penetration. That young man thinks so much of you. Oh,
Dr. Gronow, I implore you as a man--whatever your own opinions are--say
nothing to unsettle that young fellow's mind. You know not the misery
you may cause, and you cannot produce any happiness. I speak--I speak
with the strongest feelings. You will think that I should not have
spoken at all--and I dare say it is unusual. But you will forgive me,
when you remember it is my duty as a clergyman."
"Surely you are responsible for me as well"--replied the doctor with a
kinder tone; "but perhaps you regard me as beyond all cure. Well, I will
promise what you ask, good sir. Your sheep, or your foxes, shall not
stray through me. Will you do what I suggest about Gowler?"
"I will try to get him down. But from all that I hear, he is one of the
busiest men in London. And I dislike procuring his opinion on the sly.
Excuse me--I know how well you meant it. But perhaps, through Lady
Waldron, he may be brought down in the regular course, and have the
whole case laid before him."
"That would be the best thing, if it could be managed. Good-bye! I go
a-fishing, as your prototypes expressed it."