With his grey hair starting out all over his head in a peculiarly fierce
way, Major Day was standing and musing just at the edge of the wood, and
a few yards from the path, very busy with one of those tortoise-shell
framed lenses so popular with botanists, one of those with its three
glasses of various powers, which, when superposed, form a combination of
great magnifying strength.
Major Day had come upon a tree whose beautifully smooth bark was dappled
with patches of brilliant amethystine fungus, a portion of which he had
carefully slipped off with a penknife, for the purpose of examining the
peculiarities of its structure under the glass.
The old gentleman was so rapt in his pursuit that he did not notice
approaching footsteps till Sir John came close up, making holes in the
soft earth with his walking-stick, and talking angrily to himself as he
hurried along.
The brothers caught sight of each other almost at the same moment, Sir
John stopping short and sticking his cane in the ground, as if to anchor
himself, and the major slowly lowering his lens.
"Hullo, Jem, what have you found?" cried Sir John; "the potato disease?"
"No," replied the major, smiling, "only a very lovely kind of
_Tremella_."
"Oh, have you?" growled Sir John.
"Yes. Would you like to examine it?" said the major.
"Who, I? No thank you, old fellow, I'm busy."
"Where are you going, Jack?" said the major, as a thought just occurred
to him.
"Over yonder--`The Firs.'"
"To Fort Science, eh?" said the major, smiling; but only to look serious
again directly. "Why, Jack, what for? Why are you going?"
"There, there, don't interfere, Jem; it would not interest you.
Precious unpleasant business, I can tell you. I must go, though."
"What is the matter, Jack?"
"There, there, my dear fellow, what is the use of worrying me about it.
Go on hunting for _pezizas_, or whatever you call them. This is a
domestic matter, and doesn't concern you."
"Yes it does concern me, Jack," replied the major. "You are going about
that communication which Rolph made to us last night after dinner."
"Well, hang it all, Jem, suppose I am; surely, as Glynne's father, if I
want to see the man who insulted her, and talk to him, there's no
occasion for you to interfere."
"Jack, you are out of temper," said the major. "You are going to make
a--"
"Fool of myself, eh? There, say it, man, say it," cried the baronet
hastily.
"I shall not say anything of the kind, Jack," replied the major
good-humouredly; "but let's talk sensibly, old fellow."
"Yes, of course, sensibly," cried Sir John sharply. "You are going to
turn advocate and speak on that telescopic scoundrel's behalf. What the
dickens do you mean by sticking yourself here when I'm going out on
business!"
"Tchut! tchut, Jack! don't be so confoundedly peppery," cried the major.
"Now, look here, boy, what are you going to do?"
"Going to do? I'm going to horsewhip that fellow, and make him write a
humble letter of apology to Rob. If he doesn't, Rob shall call him
out."
"Now, my dear Jack, don't talk nonsense!" cried the major.
"Nonsense, sir? It isn't nonsense. It's all very fine for you, with
your scientific humbug, to be making friends with the star-gazing
scoundrel. You fellows always hang together and back each other up.
But look here, Jem, I'm not going to be meddled with in this matter.
You have interfered enough."
"I only want you, as a gentleman, to behave like a gentleman to Mr
Alleyne."
"You leave me alone for that, Jem. Insolence! The poor girl came home
all of a tremble. She's quite white this morning, and looks as if she
ought to have a doctor to her. It's your fault too, Jem, 'pon my word
it is."
"My fault, my dear brother," said the major earnestly; "indeed, no. I
would not say a word that should interfere with Glynne's happiness."
"But you did, sir; you did when she was first engaged."
"Only to you, Jack. I did not like the engagement, and I don't like it;
but I have always since I got over the first shock--"
"Hang it, Jem, don't talk like that, man. Anyone would think that you
had been stricken down by some terrible trouble."
"It was and has been a terrible trouble to me, Jack," said the major
quietly. "But there, I have done. Don't be angry with me. Let's talk
about what you are going to do."
All this time Sir John had been moving slowly in the direction of The
Firs, with the major's hand resting upon his arm.
"There's no occasion to talk about it that I see; I'm going to have a
few words with that Mr Alleyne, and this I conceive it to be my duty to
do. There, there's an end to it."
"Well, but is it wise?" said the major. "It seems that Mr Alleyne has
formed a deep attachment to Glynne."
"Such insolence! A man in his position!"
"And, carried away by his feelings, he declared his love for her."
"As if such a man as he has a right to force himself upon a girl in
Glynne's position. It is preposterous."
"It was in bad taste--a mistake, for a man who knew of Glynne's
engagement to speak as he did. But young men do not always think before
they speak, nor old ones neither, Jack."
"Tchah! nonsense. There, go on and hunt fungi. Be off now, Jem."
"Be off? No; I'm coming with you as far as The Firs."
"What! Coming with me?"
"Yes; I shall come and be present at the meeting. I don't want my
brother to forget himself."
"Jem!"
"There, my dear Jack, it is of no use for you to be cross--I mean what I
say. It will not do for you to get into one of your passions."
"My passions?"
"Yes, your passions. It will cause trouble with Alleyne."
"A scoundrel!"
"No, he is not a scoundrel, Jack. It will upset his little sister."
"A confounded jade!" cried Sir John. "If I had known what I know now,
the minx should never have entered my doors."
"Steady, Jack."
"I am steady, sir. A little heartless flirt, setting her cap at every
man she sees. Rolph won't own to it, but I have it on very good
authority that the poor fellow could not stir without that vixen being
on the watch for him, and meeting him somewhere."
The major was silent.
"And all the time she knew that he was engaged to Glynne, and she was
professing to be the best of friends to the poor child."
The major drew his breath very hard.
"There, you'd better be off now, Jem," cried Sir John. "I'm going just
to let that fellow Alleyne have a bit of my mind, and then I shall be
better."
"But Mrs Alleyne is a most estimable lady. Had you not better give the
matter up? Let it slide, my dear Jack. These troubles soon die a
natural death."
"I'm going to kill this one, Jem. Then we'll bury it," said Sir John
grimly. "Now, you be off. I sha'n't upset Mrs Alleyne. I won't see
her."
"Nor yet Lucy Alleyne?"
"Not if she keeps out of my way. Ugh! I haven't patience with the
smooth-spoken little minx. It's horrible: such depravity in one so
young."
The major sighed, and kept tightly hold of his brother's arm. Two or
three times over he had turned rather red in the face, the flush playing
to and fro as if an angry storm were arising, but he mastered himself,
and held his squadron of angry words well in hand.
"Now, look here, Jem," said the baronet at last, as they came in sight
of The Firs, "I don't want to be hampered with you. Do go back."
"My dear Jack, as an old soldier, let me tell you that it is next to
impossible to make an advance without being hampered with baggage and
the commissariat. You may call me which you please, but if you are
going to attack the people at The Firs, you must have me on your back,
so take it as calmly as you can."
Sir John uttered an angry grunt, and was disposed to explode, but, by a
strong effort, he got over his fit.
"If you will insist upon having a finger in the pie, come on then," he
cried.
"Yes, I'll come on," said the major, "and I know I need say no more to
you about being calm and gentlemanly. There, I won't say another
syllable."
In fact neither spoke a word till they had climbed up the sandy path and
reached the gate at The Firs, where Sir John set the bell clanging
loudly, and Eliza hurried down.
Yes; master was at home, and missus and Miss Lucy, the girl hastened to
reply.
"I want to see Mr Alleyne," said Sir John sharply, and Eliza showed them
into the drawing-room, up and down whose faded carpet Sir John walked,
fuming, while the major bent down over a few pretty little water-colour
sketches, evidently the work of Lucy at some idle time.
Meanwhile Eliza had hurriedly made a communication to Mrs Alleyne, and
terribly alarmed Lucy, who was for preventing Alleyne from meeting the
brothers.
"No," said Mrs Alleyne sternly, "he must see them. If he is to blame,
let him frankly own it. If the fault be on their side, let them
apologise to my son."
The result was that at her earnest prayer Lucy was allowed to run into
the observatory to her brother, to prepare him for the visitors.
"Sir John--Major Day," said Alleyne, calmly. "I will come to them. No:
let them be shown in here."
Perhaps he felt that he would be stronger on his own ground, surrounded
by his instruments, than in the chilly drawing-room, where he knew he
was out of place.
"But, Moray, dear, you will not be angry and passionate. You will not
quarrel with Sir John."
"Angry?" said Alleyne calmly. "I cannot tell. He might say things to
me that will make me angry; but do not be afraid, I shall not quarrel."
"You promise me that, dear?"
"I promise you."
Lucy threw her arms about his neck and kissed him, and then ran out of
the observatory, into which Sir John and the major were introduced a few
minutes later.
Alleyne was right. He was stronger in his own place, for, surrounded as
he was by the various strange implements used in his studies, he seemed
to Sir John someone far more imposing than the simple dreamy man, whom
he had come, as he called it, to put down.
Alleyne came from where he was standing with his hand resting upon some
papers, and, bowing formally, he pointed to chairs, for it needed no
words to tell that this was no friendly visit.
"I've called, Mr Alleyne," said Sir John, giving his stick a twist, and
then a thump down upon the floor, "to ask for some explanation."
The major laid a warning hand upon his arm, for Sir John's voice was
increasing in volume. In fact he had been impressed with the fact that
his task was not so easy a one as he had imagined, and hence he was glad
to have the sound of his own words to help work up the passion necessary
to carry out his purpose.
He lowered his tone directly, though, in obedience to his brother's
hint, and continued his discourse angrily, but still as a gentleman
should; and he afterwards owned to his brother that he forgot all about
the horse-whipping he had designed from the moment he entered the room.
"Those telescopes and the quicksilver trough and instruments put it all
out of mind, Jem," he afterwards said. "One couldn't thrash a man who
looks like a sage; whose every word and tone seems to say that he is
your superior."
Sir John finished a sufficiently angry tirade, in which he pointed out
that Alleyne had met with gentlemanly courtesy, that he had been treated
with every confidence, and made the friend of the family. Miss Day had
made a companion of his sister, and nothing had been wanting on his
part; while, on the other hand, Alleyne's conduct, Sir John said, had
culminated in what was little better than an outrage.
"There, sir," he exclaimed, by way of a finish, with his face very red
and with a tremendous thump of his stick upon the floor. "Now, what
have you to say?"
Alleyne stood before them deadly pale, and with a fine dew glistening
upon his forehead; but there was no look of shame or dread upon his
face, which rather bore the aspect of one lately smitten by some severe
mental blow from which he had not yet recovered.
He gazed straight before him without meeting the eyes of either of his
visitors, as if thinking of what reply he should find to a question that
stung him to the heart. Then his eyes fell, and the wrinkles that
formed in his brow made him look, at least, ten years older.
Just then, as Sir John was chafing, and without thoroughly owning to it,
wishing that he had let matters rest, the major said softly,--
"I thought I would come over with my brother, Mr Alleyne. I am sorry
that this visit was deemed necessary."
"Hang it all, Jem, don't take sides with the enemy! And you a soldier,
too."
"I take no sides, John," replied the major, quietly. "Had we not better
end this interview?"
"I am waiting to hear what Mr Alleyne has to say to the father of the
lady he insulted," cried the baronet warmly; and these words acted like
a spur to Alleyne, who turned upon him proudly.
"It was no insult, Sir John, to tell her that I loved her," he said.
"But I say it was, sir, knowing as you did that she was engaged to
Captain Rolph. Confound it all, sir, it was positively disgraceful. I
am her father, sir, and I demand an apology--a full apology at once."
Alleyne looked at him for a few moments in silence, and then, with his
lips quivering, he spoke in a low deep voice,--
"Tell her, Sir John, that in answer to your demand I humbly ask
forgiveness if I have given her pain. I regret my words most bitterly,
and that I would they had been unsaid--that I ask her pardon."
"That is enough, I think," said Sir John, with a show of importance in
his speech, but with a look in his eye that betokened more and more his
dissatisfaction with his task.
"Quite," said the major gravely. "If an apology was necessary, Mr
Alleyne has made the _amende honorable_."
"Exactly," said Sir John impatiently, as if he were on the magisterial
bench, and some poacher had been brought before him. "And now, sir,
what am I to say to Captain Rolph?"
The major laid his hand upon his brother's arm, but he could not check
his words, and he turned round directly after, almost startled by the
vehemence with which Alleyne spoke, with his keen eyes first upon one
brother, then upon the other.
"Tell Captain Rolph, gentlemen, if he wishes for an apology to come and
ask it of me himself."
"Sir," began Sir John; but the major quickly interposed.
"Mr Alleyne is quite right, John," he said. "He has apologised to the
father of the lady he is accused of insulting; that ought to be
sufficient. If Rolph feels aggrieved, it should be his duty to himself
apply for redress."
"But--" began Sir John.
"That will do, my dear John," said the major firmly. "You have
performed the duty you came to fulfil; now let us go. Mr Alleyne, for
my part, I am very sorry this has happened--good-day."
Alleyne bowed, and Sir John, who was feeling beaten, allowed the major
to lead him out of the house, the latter feeling quite relieved when
they were in the lane, for he had been dreading the coming of Mrs
Alleyne or Lucy for the last ten minutes of their visit.
"Hah!" he ejaculated, breathing more freely, "I am glad that is over."
"But it isn't over," cried Sir John, who was exceedingly unsettled in
his mind. "Why, Jem, your confounded interference has spoiled the whole
affair."
"Nonsense, Jack, he apologised very handsomely; what more would you
have?"
"What more would I have! How am I to face Rob? What am I to say when
he asks me what apology the fellow made?"
"My dear Jack," said the major, "I may be wrong, but I look upon Mr
Alleyne as a thorough gentleman."
"Oh, do you?"
"Yes, my boy, I do; and it is very unseemly, to my way of thinking, for
you to be speaking of him as `that fellow' or `the fellow.' If your
chosen son-in-law were one half as much of a gentleman in his conduct I
should feel a great deal more happy over this match."
Sir John's face flushed of a deeper red, and it looked as if fierce
words would ensue between the brothers; but as much ire as could dwell
in Sir John's genial spirit had been used up in the encounter with
Alleyne, and it required many hours for the reserve to be refilled.
Hence, then, he bore in silence several rather plain remarks uttered by
his brother, and walked back to the park, where they encountered Rolph
coming rapidly down the long drive.
"Seems in a hurry to hear our news," said Sir John.
"Pshaw!" ejaculated the major; "he has not seen us. He is training for
something or another."
"Nonsense, Jem. How spitefully you speak. He is coming to meet us, I
tell you."
Sir John's words did not carry conviction with them, for it was strange
that if the captain were coming to meet them, he should be running in a
very peculiar manner, with his fists clenched and his eyes bent upon the
ground; and, in fact, as he reached something white, which proved to be
a pocket handkerchief tied to a cane stuck in the ground, he turned
suddenly, and ran off in the opposite direction.
"Humph!" grumbled Sir John; "it does look as if he were having a run."
"Very much," said the major, "five hundred yards run along the carriage
drive. What is he training for now?"
"Tchah!" ejaculated Sir John; "don't ask me. Here, hi! Rob! Hang the
fellow: is he deaf?"
Rolph seemed to be. He ran, growing more distant every moment, while,
as Sir John trudged on, he was evidently fretting and fuming, the more,
too, that the major seemed to be in a malicious spirit, and to enjoy
worrying him about his choice.
"Poor fellow!" he said; "he is overdone with impatience to hear the
result of your visit, and can only keep down his excitement by running
hard."
"Look here, Jem, if you want to quarrel, say so, and I'll take another
path to the house, for I'm not in the humour to have words."
"I am," said the major, "a good many. I feel as if there is nothing
that would agree with me better than a deuced good quarrel with
somebody."
"Then hang it, man, why didn't you quarrel with Alleyne--take your
niece's part?"
"Alleyne is not a man I could quarrel with," said the major sharply.
"There, I'll go and have a few words with Rolph about the cool way in
which he takes a quarrel that you look upon as almost vital."
"No, no, for goodness sake don't do anything of the kind," cried Sir
John sharply, and he caught his brother by the shoulder. "My dear Jem,
don't be absurd."
The major muttered something that was inaudible, and struck right across
the park towards the house, by the lawn, while Sir John, feeling out of
humour with his brother, with Rolph, and even with himself, went on
along the carriage drive to encounter his prospective son-in-law after a
few minutes, perspiring and panting after running fifteen hundred yards
towards a mile.
"Hullo! back?" panted Rolph.
"Yes," said Sir John abruptly.
"Well, what did he say?"
"I'll tell you after dinner," replied Sir John sourly; "your training
must be too important to be left."
"What did he mean?" said Rolph to himself as he stood watching Sir
John's retreating form. "Why, the old boy looks as if he had been
huffed. Bah! I wish he wouldn't come and stop me when I'm running; he
has given me quite a chill."
Volume 3, Chapter II.