Probably of all the persons in Oldchester who knew or cared anything
about the death of George Cheffington, May was the only one who did not
immediately begin to make some calculations based on that event. The
contingency of her father's succeeding to the family honours had not
occurred to her. And her thoughts and feelings were now occupied with
other things. But Oldchester gossips discussed it with gusto; or, at
least, that small minority of them who interested themselves in the
fortunes of the Castlecombe family. The old lord was little personally
known in Oldchester, and the city had long outgrown any sense of the
overweening importance of a Viscount Castlecombe of Combe Park, which it
might have had a century earlier. To most of the rich manufacturers of
the place (whether they really thought themselves "as good as a lord" or
not) a lord whom they never beheld, and into whose house neither they
nor their children had the remotest chance of being admitted, was, at
any rate, genuinely uninteresting.
In the rural parts of the county it was otherwise. People there could
not be indifferent to the domestic history of a large land-owner who
resided during the greater part of the year on his estate. In many a
country dwelling, from luxurious mansions down to mere labourers'
cottages, George Cheffington's untimely death was canvassed. From a
matrimonial point of view he had been considered the best match in the
county, and dowagers with daughters to marry had looked forward to the
time (often spoken of, but always postponed) when he should give up his
colonial appointment, settle down on his inheritance, and choose a wife.
And there was a large number of persons (tenants and dependents) to whom
the heir's character and conduct were matters of deep importance. To
these, Mr. Lucius Cheffington suddenly became an interesting personage.
Lucius had been very little at Combe Park since his boyhood, and the
report which gradually spread in the neighbourhood that he was a chronic
invalid, was received with many head-shakings and long faces. It seemed
impossible that a Cheffington should be delicate or weakly. "Look at the
old lord," people said; "why, he was sound and tough as a yew-tree!" And
the last time Mr. George was at home he had proved himself a true chip
of the old block by out-riding, out-walking, and out-cricketing all his
contemporaries.
But that was years ago. Now George was stricken down in his strength,
Lucius lay ill of a low fever in London, and Lord Castlecombe sat lonely
and sorrow-laden in the home of his fathers.
The old man was not one to seek for sympathy, nor even to tolerate much
manifestation of it. The only being to whom for many weeks he mentioned
his dead son's name was a superannuated stable-helper, who had set
"Master George" on his first pony, and in whose mind that somewhat
selfish and hardhearted individual had never outgrown the engaging
period of boyhood. "Master George" was the old man's idol, and "Master
George" had, to a great extent, reciprocated the man's liking, partly,
perhaps, from the sort of gratified vanity which makes us all prize the
exclusive attachment of any generally unamiable creature, biped or
quadruped. Old Dick was characterized by his fellow-servants as a crusty
old curmudgeon, and was notorious for a formidable power of swearing,
which he wielded freely, without much respect of persons.
The first day after receiving the news of his son's death, Lord
Castlecombe towards evening walked out in a very unfrequented part of
the grounds, a path between two high holly hedges, leading by a back way
to the stable-yard; and there, with his hat pulled low on his brow, his
head bent, and his hands clasped behind him, he paced slowly, plunged in
bitter meditation. When he came to the corner whence the stables were
visible, he caught sight of old Dick seated on an ancient horse-block,
and busily rubbing at something in his hand. Lord Castlecombe stopped
short, and looked at the man, who evidently saw him, but made no sign,
neither ceased a moment from his occupation. After a minute or so Lord
Castlecombe called to him to ask what he was doing, and received no
answer. He repeated his question. Still no reply. A third time he spoke,
in a harsh, angry tone. And then Dick turned round upon him, and, with a
tremendous volley of oaths, answered furiously, "What am I doing of? I'm
a rubbing up Master George's little silver spurs as you gave him first
time he ever rode to hounds. I've allus kep' 'em bright from that day to
this. And I arn't a-going to leave off now, because some d----d
blundering fool as didn't ought never to have been trusted with a gun--I
wish I'd the rewarding of him, curse him!--has been and put an end to
the boy. That's what I'm a doing of, if ye _must_ know!"
A tear fell on the little burnished spur; and then another, and another.
But old Dick rubbed on. And his master, after a short silence, came and
laid his hand upon his shoulder, and then walked away without a word.
After that Dick was privileged to do what the boldest parson's wife in
the county dared not attempt:--talk to Lord Castlecombe about his son
George.
Most of the letters of condolence which he received Lord Castlecombe
tossed aside contemptuously after glancing at the first line. But one
letter he read through, with a heavy frown on his face, and an
occasional drawing down of the corners of his mouth into a bitter smile,
far more sinister than the frown. It was from his niece Pauline; and its
composition had cost her much thought and anxiety. She flattered herself
that she had avoided saying a word which could jar on her uncle's
irascible temper. And the letter in itself was a good letter enough; but
it was a letter which should not have been written at all, if her object
were to soothe and conciliate Lord Castlecombe. Pauline did not allude
directly to her brother Augustus; but the very fact of her writing
seemed to bring his existence offensively into notice. She refrained
from expressing any special anxiety about the health of her cousin
Lucius. Yet the few words in which she "hoped to hear of his speedy
recovery," made the old man writhe as he read them. Pauline had tried to
combine duty with policy. It was, of course, her duty to condole with
her uncle in his bereavement, and it was clearly desirable not to
irritate the dislike with which, as she more than surmised, he regarded
Augustus. But the whole calculation was based on a misapprehension of
Lord Castlecombe's feeling towards her brother. It was neither more nor
less than hatred. And now jealousy was added to it:--a strange, savage
jealousy, on behalf of his sons. George--his strong, healthy, hardy
eldest-born--was gone. And Lucius--Lucius was not dying! No, no; not so
bad as that. But he was very weakly. And to think for one instant of the
possibility that Augustus Cheffington might some day reign in their
stead--might lord it over the heritage which he had so carefully
garnered for his own sons--was maddening. Any one but Augustus, he said
to himself. Any distant scion, the son of some impoverished far-away
cousin, parson, lawyer, apothecary. Any one, any one, but Augustus!
But of the passionate intensity of this hatred Pauline had no suspicion.
A cleverer and more acute woman than she might not have guessed it. No
one, in fact, ever guessed it; unless it were Lucius, and he only in
part. His own sensitive antipathy to Augustus was an incomparably
feebler sentiment. Lucius had no strain of his father's vigour, whether
for good or ill.
Mrs. Dormer-Smith had also written by the same post to May. This epistle
was more hastily dashed off, and faithfully reflected the wavering mood
of the writer. One of her first preoccupations was whether, under the
circumstances, it would or would not be desirable for May to pay the
promised visit to Glengowrie at this juncture. She did not disguise from
herself that George Cheffington's death opened up the possibility of a
very different future for May from any which could hitherto have been
contemplated. It became a question whether it would be prudent to accept
Mr. Bragg. At all events it would be well to avoid precipitation. Mr.
Bragg was a fine match for a dowerless girl:--even for a (dowerless)
Miss Cheffington. But what if May's father were destined to become a
wealthy Peer of the realm? That might be still but a distant
possibility. Lucius was not thought to be in any present danger, and
certainly might recover. Of course he might recover. And he might marry,
and transmit the title and estates in the direct line. But--Pauline felt
that there was a "but" of vast import.
And then there were minor cares connected with that great duty towards
"society" which she so diligently endeavoured to perform.
"I am _most_ anxious about your mourning," she wrote to May.
"It is positively preying on my mind. Of course, nothing could
be in worse taste than any assumption of woe in this case. You
never saw poor George, and the kinship is not a very close one.
In fact, had it been one of the Buckinghamshire Cheffingtons,
to whom you are related in exactly the same degree, I do not
know that any mourning at all would have been necessary for
you. But, of course, the heir to the head of our family
occupies a different position. At any rate, do not err on the
side of exaggeration. White, with _noeuds_ of pale
heliotrope, and jet ornaments; or some black fabric of light
texture, with a little jet beading, would probably meet the
case. But it is impossible for me to give you precise
directions. I am too far away to know what is _bien porte_ at
this moment. Would that I could be near you! But I cannot break
my 'cure' at this point. Carlsbad has done me good, on the
whole; although, of course, the anxiety on your account,
connected with this painful news, has to some extent thrown me
back. Mrs. Griffin's taste might be thoroughly trusted; and, if
she would undertake to order your mourning from Amelie----. But
now I think of it, Mrs. Griffin will not return to England
until she leaves the Engadine for Glengowrie. And here, again,
I am greatly perplexed what to advise in your best interests.
_All things considered_, it might be well for you to put off
going to the Duchess. There will be the excuse of this terrible
news about poor George, you know.
"I fear that I have written in a sadly _decousu_ fashion; but I
cannot help it, and my poor head warns me to leave off. As
usual, I have to pay for intense mental effort. Carlsbad has
not altered that." And the letter concluded with a postscript:
"Pearl-gray gloves."
The only clear idea which May gathered from this letter was that her
aunt virtually held her released from her promise to go to Glengowrie,
and left her free to do as she pleased. She carried the letter to her
grandmother, saying, "Granny, I shall not go to Scotland after all. I
shall stay with you, whether you like it or not. Oh, don't ask me to
_explain_. I often feel with regard to Aunt Pauline like a deaf person
watching dancers. There is something which regulates her movements, no
doubt. But it is generally mysterious to me."
Mrs. Dobbs privately thought that in this case she held a clue to the
mystery. "Ay," she said to herself, "Mrs. Dormer-Smith sees, just as I
saw from the first hearing of it, that great changes may come to pass
from this poor man's death. And she don't want May to commit herself too
soon. Lord save us! 'tis a sad, low, worldly way of looking at such a
matter." At this point some scarcely-articulate whisper of conscience
made Mrs. Dobbs's brow redden; and she added mentally, "Well, but if May
likes him? If the man's in earnest, and she likes him, it'll all come
right in the end." Nevertheless, Mrs. Dobbs had begun to entertain
shrewd doubts as to May's caring one straw for the unknown gentleman of
princely fortune.
May, meanwhile, made haste to put her escape beyond the danger of Aunt
Pauline's changing her mind. She wrote to Mrs. Griffin, saying that she
should not be able to accept the Duchess's kind invitation to
Glengowrie. She gave no reason. The excuse which Aunt Pauline had
suggested she could not find it in her conscience to put forward. "If I
had wished very much to go, that would not have stood in my way," she
said to herself. "And it would be base and shocking to play the
hypocrite about such a tragedy."
Neither did she think for a moment of refusing Miss Piper's invitation.
There had not been wanting a hint that she ought to do so. Mrs. Bransby
asked her if she meant to go to the musical party at Garnet Lodge; and,
being answered in the affirmative, said, "Well, it seemed to me that it
would be quite overstrained to refuse. But Theodore persisted that you
would not go; said it would be _inconvenable_. He almost quarrelled with
me about it. You know Theodore's infallible way of laying down the law."
It need scarcely be said that if anything could have strengthened the
young lady's determination to attend Miss Piper's party, it would have
been hearing that Theodore Bransby took upon himself to object to her
doing so.