Mrs. Dobbs had judged rightly as to the effect of May's letter on her
Aunt Pauline. That sorely tried lady was overwhelmed at this time by
various troubles. She did not write to May, but addressed a very long
and somewhat rambling letter to Mrs. Dobbs. After the strongest
expressions of dismay and horror at the rumour of her brother's
marriage, Pauline proceeded--
"I really cannot answer May's letter--at all events, not at
present. I am deeply distressed that she should have addressed
me on the subject at all. It is such terribly bad form in a
girl of her age to appear cognisant of _anything_ not brought
to her knowledge by the proper channels. I had heard a vague
report of the connection--which was bad enough. But who could
have supposed that Augustus would have degraded himself to the
point of _marrying_ such a person! But I ought not to trouble
you with my feelings on this matter, for I am very sure you
cannot imagine one tithe of the various distressing results to
the family which will flow from it. It is much to be regretted
that May so precipitately decided not to go to Glengowrie;
particularly under recent untoward circumstances. I learn from
a friend in town that my cousin, Mr. Lucius Cheffington, is
much better. I do not mean, of course, that this is an untoward
circumstance; but it alters the position of affairs. I scarcely
know what I write. You may not be aware--few persons are
aware--of the delicate state of my nervous system. I suffer
keenly from any mental pressure. And of late I seem to have had
nothing else! My cure at this place has been sadly interfered
with by anxiety for others. But, really whether poor dear
Lucius recover or not, if this story from Belgium is true, my
niece's position will be a most painful one. From the tone of
her letter to me, I can see that she does not at all take in
the situation. You can tell her one thing from me: If my
brother were to succeed to the title to-morrow, he would have
nothing but what the entail gives him. So if she imagines
otherwise it would be well to undeceive her. You won't mind my
saying that in this respect the circumstances of my brother's
first marriage were peculiarly unfortunate, since they
prevented any settlement being made for the children."
"Ay," said Mrs. Dobbs, interrupting her reading at this point, "not to
mention that by that time Augustus had nothing left to settle!"
Then she resumed the letter--
"You and I, my dear Mrs. Dobbs, must join our forces in face of
these new and trying circumstances. The more I think of it the
more I regret that my niece has missed the opportunity of going
to Glengowrie, especially since I have learned that Mrs.
Griffin is going to chaperon another young lady in her stead.
In society it is fatal to drop out of sight--you are forgotten
immediately--and I cannot expect Mrs. Griffin to do more than
she has done. Indeed, both she and the dear duchess have been
extraordinarily kind--I fear May scarcely appreciates _how_
kind; but the truth is that she is singularly--I scarcely know
what word to use--not dull, but indifferent on certain points.
There is an apathy about her sometimes which has caused her
uncle and myself a great deal of distress. But really she
_must_ rouse herself from it now. It is a great comfort to us
to know that you, my dear Mrs. Dobbs, take a sound view of my
niece's position, and have her best interests at heart.
"Believe me,
"Very truly yours,
"P. DORMER-SMITH.
"P.S.--I have _this moment_ received a letter from Miss Hadlow,
in which she mentions, amongst other items of news, that the
gentleman whom I wrote of as being interested in May has
declined his invitation to Glengowrie, and is now in
Oldchester! There appears to be something absolutely
providential in this. I know you have great influence over May.
Pray exert it to make her see what is right. I have never been
able to get her to look on her social position as involving
certain _duties_. But, indeed, in her case, the duty
immediately before her of obtaining a splendid settlement and a
fine position is an easy one. I have seen cases of real
_sacrifice_ to this social obligation endured without murmur.
Since they are both in Oldchester, it must surely be easy to
give the gentleman every opportunity of presenting his suit.
Indeed, there may be better opportunities than at Glengowrie.
The longer we live the more we realize how everything is
overruled for good.
"P. D. S."
"I reopen this to write an essential word:--The name of the
gentleman I have alluded to! You may form some conception of
the pressure on my brain from my having omitted to do so
before. He is a Mr. Bragg--a man of very large wealth, and
received everywhere. I know that my uncle has more than once
received him at Combe Park. And he would, I dare say, have got
some chaperon there, and had May down for a time; but, of
course, under the bereavement we have all just suffered in the
death of my cousin George, this cannot be at present. But there
surely must be, among the better families in Oldchester, some
whom Mr. Bragg visits? Possibly the bishop, if he is there; or,
perhaps the dean? I know Lady Mary slightly. Pray lose no time,
my dear Mrs. Dobbs, in ascertaining this."
Mrs. Dobbs pondered long after reading this epistle. In May's absence
she often turned over in her mind the advantages of an alliance with Mr.
Bragg; remembered favourable precedents; and taught herself to think
that it might be. The sight of the girl's face, and the sound of her
voice, were apt to scatter these fancies as sunrise scatters the mists.
But they returned when May disappeared again, and haunted all the old
woman's lonely hours.
One morning, after an evening spent at Garnet Lodge, when Mrs. Dobbs was
alone with her grandchild, and was meditating how she should approach
the subject chiefly in her thoughts, May unexpectedly began--
"Granny, do you know I have something to say that will surprise you."
"Have you, May? Nothing ought to surprise me at seventy odd. But,
somehow, things do surprise me still."
"Of course they do, granny! I think it is only blockheads who are never
astonished, because one thing is much the same to them as another."
"Well, I'm glad I can prove myself no blockhead at such an easy rate.
What is your surprise about, May?"
"It's about--Mr. Bragg."
The colour came into May's cheeks as she looked up with a bright, shy
glance from her favourite low seat beside granny's knee. But it was
nothing to the deep, sudden flush which dyed Mrs. Dobbs's face. She
looked at her grandchild almost vacantly for a moment, and then grew
paler than before. But May did not observe all this. She sat smiling to
herself, with the colour varying in her face, as it so easily did on the
very slightest emotion, her hands clasped round her knees, and her
bright head bent down, as she continued--
"I have had my suspicions for some time past; but I said nothing until
last night. Then, when I went into Clara's room to put my hat on, I just
gave her a tiny hint; and she said very likely I was right, and did not
laugh at me a bit. But I dare say you will laugh at me, granny."
"Let us hear, my lass," said Mrs. Dobbs, moistening her lips, which felt
parched.
"Well--_I_ think that Mr. Bragg has a motive in coming so often to
Garnet Lodge."
"I suppose he has."
"Ah, but a very special motive--a _matrimonial_ motive. There, granny!"
Mrs. Dobbs looked down with a singular expression at the shining brown
hair so near to her hand which rested on the elbow of her easy-chair.
But she did not caress it as she habitually did when within reach. She
sat quite still, and merely said--
"So you think it surprising that Mr. Bragg should have matrimonial
intentions, do you?"
"Oh no. It isn't _that_. Mr. Bragg is a very kind-hearted man, and would
be sure to make a good husband. And, do you know, he is very far from
stupid, granny."
"I dare say. Joshua Bragg always had his head screwed on the right way."
"His manner is against him. Of course, he is uneducated; and rather
slow. But, after all, that doesn't matter so very much."
"And he's rich," added Mrs. Dobbs in a dry tone.
"Ever so rich! I am sure he must have heaps and heaps of money, or else
Aunt Pauline would not approve of him so highly."
"And not quite decrepit."
"Decrepit! What a word to use, granny! No; I should think not, indeed!"
"H'm! Neither a brute, nor in his dotage; and immensely rich--I don't
know what a woman can wish for more!" said Mrs. Dobbs, with increasing
bitterness.
"Why, granny!" exclaimed May, looking up. "I thought you rather liked
Mr. Bragg! I have always heard you speak well of him."
The hand on the chair-arm clenched and unclenched itself nervously, as
Mrs. Dobbs answered in short, jerky sentences, and as though she were
forcing herself with an effort to utter them, "Oh, so I do. Joshua Bragg
is an honest kind of man. I've nothing against him. Don't think that, my
lass."
"Well, granny, but now for the surprise. I wonder you have not guessed
it by this time. Who do you think is the lady?"
"I can't guess. Tell it out, May, and have done with it."
"To be sure there is not much choice. If it were not one, it _must_ be
the other! But I have made up my mind that Mr. Bragg and Miss Patty will
make a match of it! What do you say to _that_, granny?"
Mrs. Dobbs said nothing; but gasped, and laid her head back on the
cushion of her chair.
"I thought you would be surprised! But when one comes to think of it, it
seems very suitable, doesn't it? Mr. Bragg admires Miss Patty's cookery
above everything. And she is such a kind, charitable soul, she would do
worlds of good with riches. And they agree on so many points--even their
crotchets. And, do you know, Miss Patty would look ten years younger if
she would leave off that yellow wig. She has such nice soft grey hair
that she brushes back! I have settled that she is to leave off the wig
when she marries Mr. Bragg, and take to picturesque mob caps. I have
been arranging all sorts of things in my own mind. I'm quite coming out
in the character of a matchmaker, granny!"
In the midst of her chatter the girl looked up, and uttered an
exclamation of dismay. Her grandmother's head still lay back against the
cushion of the chair; her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be
laughing to herself. But the tears were pouring down her cheeks. At
May's exclamation she opened her arms wide, and then pressed the girl's
bright brown head against her breast, saying brokenly--
"Don't be feared, child! I'm all right. I couldn't help laughing a bit.
It's so--so funny to think of old Joshua and--and Miss Patty!"
"But you are crying, too, granny! Is anything the matter? Do tell me."
"Nothing, child; I'm all right. Poor Joshua! He was a good lad when he
worked for your grandfather. And--and--I remember _her_ a little miss in
a white frock and blue sash. It brings up old times, that's all, May.
Lord, what fools we are when we try to be cunning!" and Mrs. Dobbs went
off again into a fit of laughter, interspersed with sobs.
"I didn't try to be cunning!" said May indignantly.
"_You_, my lamb! Whoever thought you did?" returned her grandmother,
wiping her eyes and kissing May's forehead.
By and by she resumed her usual solid self-possession. She told May that
she did not agree in her view of the state of the case, and advised her
not to hint her matchmaking project to any one. "You have said a word to
Miss Bertram, and that can't be taken back; but she is wise beyond her
years, and will not chatter."
"But there's nothing wrong in the idea, granny," protested May, who was
considerably puzzled by her grandmother's unusual demeanour.
"No, no, nothing wrong; only Mr. Bragg might not like it--he might be
looking after a young wife, who knows? Anyway, we will keep our ideas to
ourselves."
As she spoke, the latch of the garden-gate clicked, and, following May's
glance, Mrs. Dobbs saw from the open window Owen Rivers advancing up the
path towards the house.
The "gentleman of princely fortune," whose image had interposed between
her shrewd apprehension and the facts before her, having melted away
like a phantom, she perceived that here was a new influence to be
reckoned with--a new force which, whether for good or ill, might help to
shape her grandchild's future.
"May I come in?" asked Owen.
"Come in, Mr. Rivers."
Mrs. Dobbs felt as though she had invited embodied Destiny to cross her
threshold--Destiny, in the prosaic guise of a blue-eyed, square-built
young man, in a shooting-jacket and a wide-awake hat. But that Power
does not often appear to mortals with much outward pomp and
circumstance. We are like children who think a king must needs go about
in royal robes, crowned and sceptred. But the decree which changes our
lives is mostly signed by some plain figure in everyday clothes, whom we
should not turn our heads to look upon.
Owen entered the little parlour, and came and stood opposite to Mrs.
Dobbs's chair, without any of the customary salutations. "Well," said he
eagerly; "I have some news for you."
"Lord, ha' mercy! This is a day of news," muttered Mrs. Dobbs under her
breath. Then she said aloud, "I hope it's good news?"
"I have found some work to do. Is that good?"
Mrs. Dobbs clapped her hands softly. "Very good," she said. Half an hour
ago her approbation would have been more heartily expressed; but she was
looking at him now with different eyes, and considering his prospects
with a new and serious interest.
"You haven't asked me what the work is," said Owen, just a little
disappointed by her quietude.
"I suppose it is _not_ stone-breaking? But if it is, I stick to my
colours. Better that than nothing."
"You will say, Mrs. Dobbs, that I am luckier than I deserve to be. I am
engaged as secretary to a man who is about to travel in Spain. I happen
to know Spanish. Luck again; for I learnt it merely to amuse myself."
"Yes; I do think that isn't bad for a beginning, and I hope it will lead
to something more. Who is the gentleman, if I may ask?"
Before Owen could answer, May, who had perched herself on the elbow of
Jo Weatherhead's vacant chair, said, "I think I can guess. It's Mr.
Bragg."
"Mr. Bragg!" echoed her grandmother, as if doubtful of having heard
aright.
"I remember hearing him talk of a journey into Spain, and of wanting to
find a gentleman to go with him. Am I not right?"
"Quite right," answered Owen.
"Mr. Bragg! Well, that _is_ strange!" whispered Mrs. Dobbs to herself.
Owen had taken a chair, and sat bending forward, with his elbows on his
knees, pleating and puckering in his fingers the brim of his soft felt
hat. He had not hitherto so much as looked towards May; now he
straightened himself in his chair, and, fixing his eyes on her
earnestly, asked--
"And what do _you_ say to my news, Miss Cheffington?"
"I say, as granny says, that I am very glad," she answered, smiling, but
speaking in a subdued tone.
"It's more to the purpose to ask what Canon and Mrs. Hadlow say to it,"
put in Mrs. Dobbs. "I hope they are pleased?"
"I dare say--I have no doubt--I--I have not seen Aunt Jane yet. The fact
is, I am on my way to College Quad; but I thought I would look in here
as I passed, and tell you that I have followed your advice, Mrs. Dobbs."
The direct road from Owen's lodgings to College Quad was a short, and
nearly straight, line. To visit Jessamine Cottage "on the way" from one
to the other was analogous to going round by Edinburgh on a journey from
London to Leeds.
"I wanted a little patting on the back and cheering up, you see,"
continued Owen.
"Cheering up!" cried May. "Oh! but I remember that Mrs. Hadlow said you
always liked to be pitied for having your own way. You must require a
great deal of consolation, truly, for the prospect of travelling in that
delightful country!"
Owen nodded, and carefully fitted one pleat of his hat-brim into
another, as he answered, "I dare say my appetite for consolation is
bigger than you imagine."
"I think it is Mr. Bragg who needs cheering up. Poor man, he little
knows what a peremptory, protestant, and positive secretary he will
have!" retorted May, with a half shy, half saucy, wholly mischievous,
glance.
"Not at all! Now, that is just the kind of mistake which Aunt Jane so
often makes. But if I serve, I mean to serve honestly, and to be
thoroughly obedient; I have told Mr. Bragg so." And Owen proceeded to
justify himself, and to develop his views as to the duties of a
secretary, with superfluous energy and earnestness.
The old woman sat watching them, and, as she looked, she was amazed at
her own previous blindness. How could she--how could any one--have seen
them together without perceiving that they were falling over head and
ears in love with each other? These two young creatures seemed, in her
old eyes, like a couple of children playing in a pleasure-boat. But she
knew that the river was running towards the sea--widening and deepening
with an irrevocable current. There was room for anxiety about the
future, no doubt. Yet a sense of relief in her mind--as if she had
escaped out of some oppressive atmosphere--revealed more and more
distinctly how repugnant the idea of May's marrying Mr. Bragg had really
been to her.
"Sarah Dobbs," said she to herself severely, "you're a worldly, false
old woman! You're a nice one to find fault with that poor creature
Pauline! What were _you_ doing, pray, but sacrificing your conscience to
the mammon of unrighteousness? The Lord be praised, the dear child is
better, and purer, and honester than either of us old harridans!"
Then she broke into the conversation between May and Owen, which by this
time had sunk into a low murmur, and asked abruptly whether the
engagement with Mr. Bragg was to lead to any further employment.
Owen repeated what Mr. Bragg had said to him, as nearly as he could
remember it; and Mrs. Dobbs thought it hopeful.
"Joshua Bragg is an honest man--a man to be relied on: one of the few
who generally means what he says, all that he says, and nothing but what
he says," said she, nodding thoughtfully.
May was glad to find granny doing justice to Mr. Bragg; and remarked to
herself that, if it were possible to conceive granny's ever being
capricious, she would have called her capricious to-day in her varying
tone about that worthy man.
"I shouldn't wonder," pursued Mrs. Dobbs, "if he put you in the way of
getting permanent employment--supposing you please him. He might get you
a place out in South America with his son. Young Joshua is in a great
way of business there, I'm told. Would you go if you had the chance?"
she asked suddenly, looking at Owen with a searching gaze.
"Undoubtedly," he replied at once.
"And you wouldn't mind being--being banished like from England?"
"Mind? Oh, well, of course I should prefer a thousand a year and a villa
on the Thames; but a fellow who has been an idler up to four and twenty
must take any chance of earning something, and be thankful for it."
"_That's_ right." Mrs. Dobbs drew a long breath of relief.
"It would only be for a year or two; I should come back," added Owen
wistfully.
Then he shook hands and went away, and Mrs. Dobbs and her grand-daughter
were left to discuss the news he had told them. May chatted away
cheerfully, even gaily. When Mr. Weatherhead arrived the subject was
talked over again. Jo's pleasure in the prospect opening before Mr.
Rivers was somewhat tempered by his sense of the incongruity involved in
"a gentleman like that, brimful of learning, and belonging to the old
landed gentry," being under the orders of Joshua Bragg!
"There's no contradiction at all, Jo, if you look at it fairly," said
Mrs. Dobbs. "Mr. Bragg will command where he has a right to--that is, in
matters that he knows better than Mr. Rivers, for all his book-learning.
It isn't as if Joshua wanted to teach the young man how to be a
gentleman. I don't say it's not a good thing to be a gentleman, but it
ain't exactly a paying business nowadays, if ever it was, which I
doubt."
"Ah, more's the pity!" said Jo, shaking his head.
"Why, if I was a gentleman--or a lady--I shouldn't agree with you there,
Jo. If gentlehood don't mean something above and beyond what can be paid
for, 'tis a poor business. It seems to me just as pitiful for gentry to
expect money's worth for their old family, high breeding, and fine
manners, as it is for the grand workers of the world to grumble because
they can't have power over the past, as well as the present and the
future. Mr. Bragg ain't one of that sort. You'll never catch _him_
inventing a family crest, or painting wild beasts on his carriage."
Jo took his pipe out of his mouth, and looked with solemn approbation at
his old friend. "Sarah," said he, "you're right; and I believe you're a
better Conservative than me, when all's said and done."
May had been silent during this discussion. She held some needlework in
her hands; but they were lying idly on her lap, and she was gazing out
of the window as intently as though the small suburban garden offered a
prospect of inexhaustible interest. The cessation of the voices roused
her. She looked round, and said softly--
"It's a good climate, isn't it, granny? Where Mr. Bragg's son lives, I
mean."