We read, or talked, or quarrelled, as it chanced.
We were not lovers, nor even friends well-matched:
Say rather, scholars upon different tracks,
Or thinkers disagreed.
AURORA LEIGH.
With his usual forethought, Mr. Cranmer had made out in his own mind a
plan of the coming walk. He meant to walk from Poole to Edge with Elsa
Brabourne, the anachronism, and return from Edge to Poole with Wynifred
Allonby, one of the latest developments of her century.
He felt that there must needs be a piquancy about the contrast which the
dialogue in these two walks would necessarily present. No doubt one
great cause of his happy, contented nature was this faculty for amusing
himself, and at once becoming interested in whatever turned up.
It is scarcely a common quality among the English upper classes, who
mostly seem to expect that the mountain will come to Mahomet as a
matter of course, and so remain "orbed in their isolation," and, as a
natural consequence, not very well entertained by life in general. It
was this trait in Claud which drew him and his eccentric sister
together. She was every bit as ready as he to explore all the obscure
social developments of her day. Anything approaching eccentricity was a
passport to her favor, as to his; and these valley people had taken
strong hold on the fancy of both.
He was standing just outside the door, when Wynifred came down ready for
her walk, and he noted approvingly that the London girl was equipped for
country walking in the matter of thick shoes, stout stick, and shady
hat. On the shoes he bestowed a special mental note of approval. Lady
Mabel had once said that she believed the first thing Claud noticed in a
woman was her feet. Miss Allonby was intensely unconscious that her own
were at this moment passing the ordeal of judgment from such a critic,
and passing it favorably.
"Osmond is very quiet and comfortable, and nurse thinks I can well be
spared," she announced.
"I must reluctantly bid you all good-bye for the present," said Mr.
Fowler, regretfully. "I am obliged to go on to visit a farm up this way.
I wish you a pleasant walk."
He raised his hat with a smile, and stood watching as they started. Lady
Mabel, urged on by her active disposition, went first, and Wynifred went
with her. Claud dropped behind with Elaine, and this was the order of
the march all the way to the village. Mr. Cranmer was resolved to make
Elsa talk, and he began accordingly with the firm determination that
nothing should baulk him, and that he would not be discouraged by
monosyllables. It was well that this resolution was strong, for it was
severely tried.
The first subject he essayed was the beauty of the scenery, and the joy
of living in the midst of such a fine landscape. He could have waxed
eloquent on this theme, and shown his listener how much happier are the
dwellers in rural seclusion than they who exist in towns, and how it
really is a fact that the dispositions of those born among mountains are
freer and nobler than those of denizens of flat ground--with much more
of the same kind. But he soon became aware that he spoke to deaf ears.
The girl beside him was not interested: he could not even keep her
attention. Her feet lagged, her head seemed constantly turning, without
her volition, back towards the direction of Poole Farm.
"But perhaps you don't share my enthusiasm for the country?" he broke
off suddenly, with great politeness.
Elsa grew red, stretched out her hand for a tendril from the hedge, and
answered, confusedly:
"I hate living in the country!"
There was a note in her young voice of a defiance compelled hitherto to
be mute, and consequently of surprising force. The very fact of having
broken silence at last seemed to give her courage; after a minute's
excited pause, she went on:
"I want people--I want companions. I want to be in a great city, all
full of life! I want to hear people talk, and know what they think, and
find out all about them. Do you know that I have never met a girl in my
life till I saw Miss Allonby! And--and--" with voice choked with
shame--"I am afraid to speak to her. I don't know what to say. I should
show her my ignorance directly. Oh, you can't think how ignorant I am! I
know nothing--absolutely nothing. And I do so long to."
"Knowledge comes fast enough," said Claud, impetuously. "You will
know--soon enough. Don't fret about that. In these days you cannot think
what a rest it is to find anyone so fresh, so unspoiled--so--so
ingenuous as yourself, Miss Brabourne! You must forgive my venturing to
say so much. But, if you only knew what a power is yours by the very
force of the seclusion you have lived in, you would be overwhelmed with
gratitude to these wonderful ladies who have made you what you are!"
"Then," said Elaine, shyly, stealing a wary glance at him, "you _do_ see
that I am very unlike any girl you ever met?"
Claud laughed a little, and hesitated.
"Yes, you are--in your bringing up, I tell you frankly," he said. "As
regards your disposition, I don't know enough to venture on an opinion."
They walked on a few minutes in silence, and then she said:
"Tell me about London, please."
He complied at once, but soon found out that it was not theatrical
London, nor artistic London, nor the London of balls and receptions
which claimed her attention, but the world of music, which to her was
like the closed gates of Paradise to the Peri.
When he described the Albert Hall, and the Popular Concerts, she drank
in every word. It was enchanting to have so good a listener, and he
talked on upon the same theme until the village was reached, when his
sister faced round, and said that Miss Allonby wished to stop at the
"Fountain Head," but she and Elsa must hasten on, so as not to be late
for the Misses Willoughby's tea-time.
It was accordingly settled that Claud should walk up with them as far as
the gate of Edge and return to fetch Wynifred in half-an-hour. On his
way back he called at the postman's cottage to see if there were any
letters for Poole Farm. They put two or three into his hands, and also a
packet which surprised him. It was addressed to Miss Allonby, and
obviously contained printer's proofs.
He stared at it. A big fat bundle, with "Randall and Sons, Printers,
Reading, Llandaff, and London," stamped on a dark blue ground at the top
left-hand corner.
"So she writes, among other things, does she?" said he, speculatively,
as he turned the packet over and over. "What does the modern young lady
not do, I wonder? what sort of literature? Fiction, I'll bet a
sovereign, unless it is an essay on extending the sphere of feminine
usefulness, or on the doctrine of the enclitic De, or on First Aid to
the Sick and Wounded. Strange! How the male mind does thirst after
novelty! I declare nowadays it is exquisitely refreshing to find a girl
like Miss Brabourne, who has never been to an ambulance lecture, nor
written a novel, nor even exhibited a china plaque at Howell and
James'!"
For Claud had that instinctive admiration for "intelligent ignorance" in
a woman which seems to be one of the most rooted inclinations of the
male mind. Theoretically, he hated ignorant woman; practically, there
were times when he loved to talk to them.
Wynifred was seated in the porch of the inn, talking to Mrs. Clapp, when
he came up. The subject of conversation was, needless to relate, the
missing pudding-basin.
"When we find that, miss, the murder'll be aout," was the good lady's
opinion.
Claud thought so too.
"First catch your hare," he murmured, as he paused at the door. "Have I
kept you waiting, Miss Allonby?"
"Scarcely a minute," she answered, rising, and nodding a "good evening"
to Mrs. Clapp.
"I called in at the postman's," he said, as they turned homewards, "and
have brought you this, as the result of my enterprise."
He produced the packet of proofs, with his eyes fixed on her. Her face
did not change in the least.
"Thanks," she said, "but what a heavy packet for you to carry--let me
relieve you of it."
"Certainly not; it goes easily in my pocket;" and he replaced it with a
curious sense of being baffled. Should he leave the subject, or should
he take the bull by the horns and tax her with it? It might be merely a
sense of shyness which made her unwilling to talk of her writings.
"I did not know you were an authoress, Miss Allonby," he said.
"No? I have not written very much," she answered, frankly.
"May I venture to ask what you write? Is it novels?" he asked,
tentatively.
"It is singular, not plural, at present," she answered, laughing. "I
have published a novel, and hope soon to bring out another."
"You seem to be a universal genius," he observed.
"That is the kind of speech I never know how to reply to," said
Wynifred. "I can't demonstrate that you are wrong--I can only protest:
and I do hate protesting."
"I am very sorry--I didn't know what to say," apologised he, lamely.
"Then why did you introduce the subject?" she answered, lightly. "You
can't accuse me of doing so. Let us now talk of something on which you
are more fluent."
He laughed.
"Do you know you are most awfully severe?"
"Am I? I thought you were severe on me. But, if you really wish to know,
I will tell you that I don't care to talk of my writings, because I
always prefer a subject I can treat impartially. I can't be impartial
about my own work--I am either unjust to myself or wearisome to my
audience. I don't want to be either, so I avoid the topic as much as
possible. This letter is from my sisters at Ryde--will you excuse me if
I just peep to see if they are quite well?"
"Most certainly," replied Claud, strolling meditatively on, with a
glance now and then towards his companion, who was absorbed in her
letter. He thought he had never beheld such an ungirlish girl in his
life. That total absence of consciousness annoyed him more than ever.
Elsa Brabourne was one mass of consciousness, all agitated with the
desire to please, all eager to know his opinion of her. It really did
not seem to matter in the least to Wynifred whether he had an opinion
concerning her at all. Evidently he did not enter into her calculations
in any other relation than as her brother's benefactor. Her burst of
gratitude had been very pleasant to the young man's vanity; he had hoped
at least to arrest her attention for a few days, to make her sensible of
his presence, intolerant of his absence; but no. He had to confess that
she was new to him--new and incomprehensible. He could not know that her
state of impartiality and unconsciousness was an acquired thing, not a
natural characteristic, the result of a careful restraint of impulse, a
laborious tutoring of the will. It sprang from a conviction that, to do
good work as a novelist, one must be careful to preserve the moral
equilibrium, that no personal agitations should interfere with quiet
sleep at night, and the free working of ideas. She met everybody with
the pre-conceived resolution that they were not to make too deep an
impression. They were to be carefully considered and studied, if their
characters seemed to merit such attention; but this study was to be of
their relation to others, not herself. She, Wynifred, was to be a
spectator, to remain in the audience; on no account was she to take an
active part in the scenes of passion and feeling enacting on the stage.
No doubt this was not a normal standpoint for any young woman to occupy;
but she was scarcely to be judged by the same standards as the average
girl. If blame there were, it should attach to the circumstances which
compelled her, like an athlete, to keep herself continually in training
for the race which must be run.
"Hilda and Jacqueline are quite well," she said, folding her paper with
a smile. "They are having great fun. There is a mysterious yacht at Ryde
which is causing great excitement; have you heard about it, by chance?"
"I wonder if it is the same that I heard about from a man I know at
Cowes? Is it called the _Swan_?"
"Yes, that is the name. It belongs to a Mr. Percivale, of whom nobody
seems to know anything, except that he is very rich and very
retiring--nobody can get up anything like an intimacy with him. He
speaks English perfectly; but they do not seem to think that he is
English in spite of his name. It is interesting, isn't it?"
"Yes, I think it is; but I expect, after all, it is nonsense. Why should
a man make a mystery about his identity, if you come to think of it,
unless he's ashamed of it? But, as a novelist, I suppose you have an
appetite for mystery?"
"Yes, I do think I must own to a weakness that way; you see mystery is
rare in these days," said Wynifred, meditatively.
"Well, I don't know; we have a good rousing mystery up here in the Combe
just now--a mystery that I don't think we shall solve in a hurry," said
Claud, with a baffled sigh, as they drew near the fatal spot in the
lane.
The girl's face grew grave.
"Yes, indeed," she said, abstractedly.
As if by mutual consent they came to a stand-still, and stood gazing,
not at the grassy road-side where the crime had been perpetrated, but
down the fair valley, where the long crescent of the waxing moon hung in
the dark-blue air over the darkening sea.
"The worst of an untraceable crime like this seems to me," she said, "to
consist in the ghastly feeling that what has been once so successfully
attempted, with perfect impunity, might be repeated at any moment--on
any victim; one has no safeguard."
"Oh, don't say that," he said, hurriedly, "it sounds like a prophecy."
She started, and looked for a moment into his dilated eyes, her own full
of expression. For the first time in their mutual acquaintance he
thought her pretty. In the isolation of the twilight lane, rendered
deeper by the shadow of the tall ash-trees, with the memory of a
horrible crime fresh in her mind, a momentary panic had seized her. She
came nearer to him; instinctively he offered his arm, and she took it.
He could feel her fingers close nervously on it.
"It is so dreadful," she said, in a whisper, "to think of wickedness
like--like _that_, in such a beautiful world as this."
"It is," he answered, in sober, reassuring tones, "therefore I forbid
you to think about it. I ought not to have brought you home this way; I
am an idiot."
"It is I who am an idiot," said the girl, smiling at her own weakness.
"Ever since I have known you--I mean, you have grown to know me at an
unfortunate time. I suppose I am a little overdone; you mayn't believe
it, but I--I hardly ever lose my head like this."
"I can believe it very well," was the prompt reply. "You will be all
right again in half a minute." He had turned so that their backs were
towards the fatal spot; and, as if absently, he strolled back a little
way down the road, her hand still on his arm. He began to speak at once,
in his easy tones. "Look!" he said, "what a superb night it is! I
thought I saw a sail, just going behind that tree. Ah! there it is! How
bright! The moon just catches it."
"Perhaps it is the _Swan_," she answered, struggling valiantly for a
natural voice. "The girls said I was to look out for it--it is going to
cruise westward."
"Perhaps it is," he answered. "How phosphorescent the water is in its
trail--do you see? How the little waves are full of fire!"
"'The startled little waves, that leap
In fiery ringlets from their sleep,'"
she managed to quote, with a feeling of amazement that she should have
re-conquered her self-possession enough to be able to speak and think at
all.
Her whole heart was going out to Claud in gratitude for his most
delicate consideration. The whole affair had lasted but a few moments,
but she had been very near a breakdown that evening--nearer than she
herself knew. She had needed to say nothing--one look into her eyes had
told him just what she was feeling, and instantly all his care had been
to help her. She had no time to apply any of her habitual restraints to
the spontaneous rush of kindness with which she was regarding him. All
of a sudden she had discovered in him a delicacy of sympathy which she
had never met with in his sex before. He appeared to know exactly what
she stood in need of.
It seemed to give her whole nature a species of electric shock; the
carefully-preserved moral equilibrium was being severely strained.
"Will you come now?" he said, presently, in her ear. "I think it would
be better for you afterwards if you can walk quietly past; but don't if
you had rather not; we will go the other way round."
"I will walk past, please."
He turned, and walked at her side.
"I heard an anecdote of the mysterious owner of the _Swan_ the other
day," said he. "I fancy it was worth repeating;" and proceeded to relate
said anecdote in even tones, making it last until they stood at the gate
of the farm. There he broke off abruptly.
"I have brought you home just in time to say good-night to your
brother," said he, brightly.
She turned, and gave him her hand.
"Thank you with all my heart," said she. "You don't know how grateful I
am. Good-night."
She was gone--her tall slim form darting into the shadow of the doorway.
Claud propped himself against the gate, slowly drew out his cigar-case
and matches, and lighted up. Then he turned, and leaning both arms on
the topmost rail, smoked placidly, with his eyes fixed on the vanishing
white sail, and its track on the phosphorescent water. Presently he
withdrew his weed from his mouth a moment, and turned to where the
lights of Edge gleamed in the valley.
"Elsa Brabourne," he mused. "A pretty name: and a lovely girl she will
be in a year or two. Even if her brother allows her nothing, she will
have more than two hundred pounds a year of her own, and the Misses
Willoughby are sure to leave her every penny they possess. A younger son
might do worse."