GWENDA'S PROSPECTS
"I am going to walk into town," said Dr. Owen one morning as he turned
over the sheets of his newspaper; "is anyone inclined for a walk?"
He was sitting in the sunny bay-window of the breakfast-room at
Llwynelen, a large country house about a mile out of Llaniago.
"I am," answered Gwenda Vaughan, who sat at work near him. "Such a
lovely day! I was longing for a walk."
"And I too," said Mrs. Trevor, their hostess. "I have some shopping to
do, and will come with you."
"Do. Will you be ready in half an hour, ladies? I am going to call
upon my nephew; I can go to his rooms while you are doing your
shopping."
"Yes," said Mrs. Trevor, "and bring him back to lunch with us. I shall
be glad to make his acquaintance. I hear he is a very promising young
man."
"Thank you. I am sure he will be delighted to come. I think you will
like him; but I forgot that you, Miss Vaughan, have already seen him."
"Oh, yes!" said Gwenda. "He once saved my life; so of course I am very
grateful."
"Saved your life, child; how," asked Mrs. Trevor.
And Gwenda related the story of the runaway bull, and the manner in
which Will had gone to her rescue.
"Dear me," said Dr. Owen, "he never mentioned it to me! Well! I'll go
and look him up today."
Noontide found Will seated at lunch at Llwynelen, Mr. Trevor plying him
with questions concerning his studies and college life; Dr. Owen not a
little pleased with his nephew's self-possessed, though unobtrusive,
manner. He was pleased, too, to see that he made a favourable
impression upon the genial host and hostess.
Gwenda was as delightfully agreeable as she knew how to be, and that is
saying a good deal. Her naïve remarks and honest straightforward
manner had made her a favourite with Dr. Owen, and it gratified him to
see an easy acquaintance springing up between her and his nephew.
"It is Will's twenty-fourth birthday to-day, he tells me," he said.
"How odd!" said Gwenda; "it is my twenty-second."
"That is strange," said Mrs Trevor; "and you never let me know! But
you need not tell everyone your age."
"Why not?"
"Oh! well, young ladies don't usually tell their ages; but you are not
quite like other girls."
Gwenda laughed; and Will thought how charming were the dimple in her
chin, the perfect teeth, the sparkling black eyes! Yes, she was very
pretty, no doubt!
"Is that remark meant to be disparaging or complimentary?" asked the
girl.
"Oh! a little of both," said Mrs. Trevor; "girls are odd nowadays."
"Yes; I think the days are gone by when they were all run into the same
mould," remarked Dr. Owen.
"And I'm afraid the mould got cracked before I was run into it,"
replied Gwenda.
"Well, you are not very misshapen," said the Dr. warmly, "and if you do
run into little irregularities, they are all in the right direction."
"Let us hope so," said the girl.
Will said nothing; but Gwenda, catching the look of ardent admiration,
blushed vividly, and looked down at her plate.
"In the meantime," she remarked, "no one has wished me or Mr. Owen many
happy returns of the day."
"Bless me, no!" said Mr. Trevor; "but I do so now, my dear, with all my
heart."
"And I--and I," echoed the others.
"Let us drink the health of the two young people," said the host.
"Thank you very much for your kind wishes," said Will.
"Yes, thank you very much," echoed Gwenda. Will was in danger of
losing his head as well as his heart. To have his name (from which, by
the by, he had dropped the plebeian "s") bracketed with Miss Gwenda
Vaughan's was a state of things which, though occasioned only by a
simple coincidence, elated him beyond measure. He had indeed, he
thought, stepped out of the old order of things and made his way into a
higher grade of life by an easy bound. He was careful, however, to
hide his gratified pride entirely from those around him.
After lunch, Mrs. Trevor proposed a stroll through the conservatories,
and while the elders stopped to admire a fern or a rare exotic, Will
and Gwenda roamed on under the palms and greenery to where a sparkling
fountain rose, and flung its feathery spray into the air.
"Will you sit down?" said Will, pointing to a seat which stood
invitingly near. "You must be tired after your long walk."
"Tired? Oh no, I love walking, and am very strong, but we can rest
till the others come up."
And sitting down together they watched the gold fish in the fountain's
rustic basin. Through the glass they could see the sparkling frosty
branches outside against the pale blue sky of a winter's day, the sun
shining round and red through the afternoon haze.
"What a glorious day," said Gwenda at last.
"Yes," answered Will, adding a little under his breath, "one I shall
never forget."
There was something in the tone of his voice which caused a little
flutter of consciousness under Gwenda's fur necklet. She made no
answer, and, after a moment, changed the subject, though with no
displeasure in her voice.
"Do you see those prismatic colours in the spray?"
"Yes, beautiful!" answered Will, rather absently.
He was wondering whether all this was a dream--that he, Will Owen of
Garthowen Farm, was sitting here under the palms and exotics with Miss
Gwenda Vaughan of Nantmyny. At last Gwenda rallied him.
"You are dreaming," she said playfully.
"I am afraid I am."
At this moment the rest of the party appeared, and they all returned to
the house together.
Will looked at his watch.
"I think I must go," he said. "I have a lecture to attend."
"Well," said his uncle, "we won't detain you from that. Quite right,
my boy, never neglect your lectures. I shall see you again to-morrow."
"Now, don't wait for an invitation," said Mrs. Trevor hospitably, "but
come and see us as often as you can. Your uncle is quite at home here,
and we shall be delighted if you will make yourself so too!"
"I shall only be too glad to avail myself of your kindness."
"I will come with you to the gate," said his uncle, and Will went out
in a maze of happiness.
"My dear boy," said Dr. Owen, taking his arm as they passed together up
the broad avenue, "I have done a good thing for you to-day. I have
introduced you to the nicest family in the neighbourhood. Keep up
their acquaintance, it will give you a good standing."
"You are very good to me, sir," said Will. "I don't know how to thank
you."
"By going on as you have begun, William. I am very pleased to find you
such a congenial companion. I mean to be good to you, better than you
can imagine. I am a lonely old man, and you must come and brighten up
my home for me."
"Anything I can do," said Will warmly.
"Well, well, no promises, my dear boy. I shall see how you go on. I
believe we shall get on very well together. Good-bye, I shall see you
tomorrow."
"You evidently take a great interest in your nephew," said Mrs. Trevor,
on the Dr.'s return to the house, "and I am not surprised. He seems a
very nice fellow, so natural and unaffected, and so like you in
appearance; he might be a son of yours."
"Yes," said Dr. Owen thoughtfully, "I am greatly pleased with him. You
see I am a lonely man. I have no one else to care for, so I shall
watch the young man's career with great interest. He will be
everything to me, and with God's help I will do everything for him."
"He is a lucky fellow indeed," said Mrs. Trevor.
"Well, yes, I think he will be."
Gwenda was sitting quietly at work in the bay window, where not a word
of this conversation was lost upon her. Was it possible that bright
hopes were dawning even for her, who had been tossed about from early
girlhood upon the sea of matrimonial schemes? Schemes from which her
honest nature had revolted; for Gwenda Vaughan had within her a fund of
right feeling and common sense, a warmth of heart which none of the
frivolous, shallow-minded men with whom she had come in contact had
ever moved. Attracted only by her beauty, they sought for nothing
else, while she, conscious of a depth of tenderness waiting for the
hand which should unseal its fountain, turned with unsatisfied
yearnings from all her admirers and so-called "lovers." She had felt
differently towards Will from the day when he had, as she thought,
saved her life, and when he had ridden home with her foot in his hand.
A strange feeling of attraction had inclined her towards him, all the
romance in her nature, which had been stunted and checked by the
manoeuvres and manners of country "society," turned towards this
stalwart "son of the soil" who had so unexpectedly crossed her path.
She had not thought it possible that her romantic dreams could be
realised; such things were not for her! In her case everything was to
be sacrificed to the duty of "making a good match," of settling herself
advantageously in the world, but now what did she hear? "I will do
everything for him," surely that meant "I will make him my heir!" For
wealth and position for their own sakes she cared not a straw, but
Will's "prospects," the sickening word that had been dinned into her
ears for years, began to arouse a deep interest in her mind. Her heart
told her that he was not entirely indifferent to her, and experience
had taught her that when she laid herself out to please she never
failed to do so. All day she was very silent until at last Mrs. Trevor
said:
"You are very quiet to-day, love; I really shall begin to think you
have fallen in love with Dr. Owen's nephew. A charming young man,
certainly, and I should think his prospects--"
"Oh, stop, dear Mrs. Trevor! _Prospects_! I am sick of the word.
Shall I play you something?" And in the twilight she sat down to the
piano.
"Do, dear; I love to see you on that music stool," said the good lady;
and well she might, for Gwenda was a musician from the soul to the
finger tips, and this evening she seemed possessed by the spirit of
music, for long after the twilight had faded into darkness, she sat
there pouring her very heart out in melody, and when she retired to
rest her pillow was surrounded by thoughts and visions of happiness,
more romantic and tender than had ever visited her before.
As the year sped on its course, Will's college life became more and
more absorbing. The greater part of his vacations were always spent at
Isderi, his uncle's house, situated some twenty miles up the valley of
the On. Invited with his uncle to all the gaieties of the
neighbourhood, he frequently met Gwenda Vaughan. Their attraction for
each other soon ripened into a deeper feeling, and in the opinion of
her friends and acquaintances Gwenda was a fortunate girl, Will being
regarded only as the nephew and probable heir of the wealthy Dr. Owen,
very few knowing of or remembering his connection with the old
grey-gabled farm by the sea.
A hurried scrap-end of the time at his disposal was spent at Garthowen,
where his father was consumed alternately by a feverish longing to see
him, and a bitter disappointment at the shortness of his visit. He was
beginning to find out that the love--almost idolatry--which he had
lavished upon his son did not bring him the comfort and happiness for
which he had hoped.
Will was affable and sometimes affectionate in his demeanour while he
was present with his father; but he showed no desire to prolong his
visits beyond the time allotted him by his uncle, who seemed more and
more to appropriate to himself the nephew whose acquaintance he had so
lately made. This in itself chafed and irritated Ebben Owens, and he
felt a bitter anger against the brother who had ignored him for so
long, and was now stealing from him what was more precious to him than
life itself. He tried to rejoice in his son's golden prospects, and
perhaps would have succeeded had Will shown himself less ready to drop
the old associations of home and the past, and a more tender clinging
to the friends of his youth; but this was far from being Will's state
of feeling. More and more he felt how incongruous were the simple ways
of Garthowen with the formal and polished manners of his uncle's
household, and that of the society to which his uncle's prestige had
given him the entrée. He was not so callous as to feel no pain at the
necessity of withdrawing himself entirely from his old relations with
Garthowen, but he considered it his bounden duty to do so. He had
chosen his path; he had put his hand to the plough, and he must not
look back, and the dogged persistence which was a part of his nature
came to his assistance.
"_I_ could pay all your expenses, my boy," said his father, with a
touching humility unnoticed by Will. "I have been saving up all my
money since you went to college, and now there it is lying idle in the
bank."
"Well, father, it would only offend my uncle if I did not let him
supply all my wants; and as my future depends so much upon him, would
it be wise of me to do that?"
"No, no, my boy, b'tshwr, it wouldn't. I am a foolish old man, and
must not keep my boy back when he is getting on so grand. Och fi! Och
fi!" and he sighed deeply.
"Och fi!" laughed Ann and Will together.
"One would think 'twas the downward path Will was going," said the
former.
"No, no!" replied the old man, "'tis the path of life I was thinking
of, my children. You don't know it yet, but when you come to my age
perhaps you will understand it," and he sighed again wearily.
He had altered much of late, a continual sadness seemed to have fallen
on his spirit, the old pucker on his forehead was seldom absent now, he
was irritable and ready to take offence, and if not spoken to, would
remain silently brooding in the chimney corner.
On the contrary, Ann's whole nature seemed to have expanded. Her happy
married life drew out the brightness and cheerfulness which perhaps had
been a little lacking in her early girlhood.
Gwilym Morris was an ideal husband; tender and affectionate as a woman,
but withal firm and steady as steel; a strong support in worldly as
well as spiritual affairs. Latterly the extreme narrowness of the
Calvinistic doctrines, which had made his sermons so unlike his daily
practice, had given place to broader views, and a more elevating
realisation of the Creator's love. Many hours he spent with Sara in
her herb garden, on the moor, or sitting by the crackling fire,
conversing on things of spiritual import; and the well-read scholar
confessed that he had learnt much from the simple woman, the keen
perception of whose sensitive soul, had in a great measure separated
her from her kind, and had made her to be avoided as something uncanny
or "hyspis."
And what of Morva? To her, too, time had brought its changes. She was
now two years older, and certainly more than two years wiser, for upon
her clear mind had dawned in unmistakeable characters of light, the
truth, that her relations with Will were wrong. She knew now that she
did not love him--she knew now it would be sinful to marry him, and she
sought only for a way in which she could with the least pain to him,
sever the connection between them. She saw plainly, that Will had
ceased to love her, and she rejoiced at the idea that it would not be
difficult therefore to persuade him to release her from her promise.
When one day she met him on the path to the moor, and he tried as of
old to draw her nearer and imprint a kiss on her lips she started from
him.
"No, Will," she said, "that must not be. You must let me go now. Do
you think I do not see you have changed, that you have ceased to love
me?"
Will noticed at once the dropping of the familiar "thee" and "thou";
and in his strange nature, where good and bad were for ever struggling
with each other, a fierce anger awoke. That she--Morva! a shepherdess!
a milkmaid! should dare to oppose the wishes of the man who had once
ruled her heart, and at whose beck and call she would have come as
obediently as Tudor--that she should now set her will in opposition to
his, and dare to ruffle the existence which had met with nothing but
favour and success, was unbearable.
"What dost mean by these words, lodes?[1] how have I ever shown that I
have forgotten thee? Dost expect me, who have my studies to employ me,
and my future to consider--dost expect me to come philandering here on
the cliffs after a shepherdess?"
"No," said Morva, trying to curb her hot Welsh temper, which rushed
through her veins, "no! I only ask you to free me from my promise. I
have sworn that I would keep it, but if you do not wish it, He will not
expect me to keep my vow. I see that plainly. It would be a sin--so
let me go, Will," and her voice changed to plaintive entreaty; "I will
be the same loving sister to you as ever--set me free!"
"Never," said Will, the old cruel obstinacy taking possession of him, a
vindictive anger rising within him against the man whom he suspected
had taken his place in the girl's heart. Gethin--the wild and roving
sailor! No! he should never have her.
"Thou canst break thy promises," he said, turning on his heel, "and
marry another man if thou wilt, but remember _I_ have never set thee
free. I have never agreed to give thee up;" and without another word
he passed round the broom bushes, leaving Morva alone gazing out over
the blue bay.
As he returned to the farm he was filled with indignation and anger.
The obstinacy which was so strong a trait in his character was the real
cause of his refusal to give Morva her freedom, for the old love for
her was fast giving place to his new-born passion for Gwenda Vaughan,
which had grown steadily ever since he had first met her.
[1] Girl.