BEE had passed the whole day with Charlie, the Friday of the dinner
party at Portman Square. She had resisted as long as she could writing
the letter which had brought so much excitement to Betty, and the
passion with which he had insisted upon this--the struggle between them,
the vehemence with which he had declared that he cared for nothing in
the world but to see Laura once again, to thank her for having pleaded
for him with his father, to ask her forgiveness for his follies--had
been bad for Charlie, who lay for the rest of the day upon the sofa,
tossing from him one after the other the novels that were provided for
his amusement, declaring them to be “rot” or “rubbish,” growling at his
sister when she continued to speak to him, and reducing poor Bee to that
state of wounded imbecility which is the lot of those who endeavour to
please an unpleasable invalid, with the conviction that all the time
they are doing more harm than good.
Bee was not maladroit by nature, and she had the warmest desire to be
serviceable to her brother, but it appeared that she always did the
wrong thing, not only in the eyes of Charlie, but in those of the nurse,
who came in from time to time with swift movements, bringing
subordination and quiet where there had been nothing but irritation and
resistance. And in this house, where she had been brought entirely for
the service of Charlie, Bee did not know what to do. She was afraid to
leave the rooms that had been given up to him lest she should meet
someone on the stairs, or be seen only to be avoided, as if her presence
there was that of a ghost or an enemy. Poor Bee--wearing out the long
hours of the spring afternoon with poor attempts to be useful to the
invalid, to watch his looks--which he resented by frequent adjurations
not to watch him as a cat watches a mouse--to anticipate his
wishes--which immediately became the last thing in the world he wanted
as soon as she found out the drink or got the paper for which he was
looking, heard or thought she heard steps coming to the street door,
subdued voices in the hall, comings and goings half stealthily, noises
subdued lest she should hear. What did it matter whether she heard or
not? Why should the master of the house be banished that she, so
ineffectual as she had proved, should be brought to her brother’s side?
She had not done, and could not do, any good to Charlie. All that she
had done had been to remind him of Miss Lance, to be the medium of
calling that disastrous person, who had done all the harm, back into
Charlie’s life--nay, of bringing her back to this house, the inmates of
which she had already harmed to the utmost of her power.
That was all that had been done by Bee, and now her presence kept at a
distance the one individual in the world who had the best right to be
here. He came almost secretly, she felt sure, to the door in the dusk
to inquire after his patient, or to get his letters; or stole in,
subduing his step, that she might not be disturbed.
Poor Bee! It was very bitter to her to think that Aubrey Leigh should
leave his own house because she was there. Sometimes she wondered
whether it was some remnant of old, almost-extinguished feeling in his
breast which had made him think that the sight of Bee would do Charlie
good--the sight of Bee, for which her brother did not care at all, not
at all; which was an annoyance and a fatigue to him, except when she had
betrayed what was the last thing in the world she should have betrayed,
the possibility of seeing again that woman who had harmed them all. If
Aubrey had thought so, with some remnant of the old romance, how
mistaken he had been! And it was intolerable for the girl to think that
for the sake of this unsuccessful experiment he had been sent away from
his own house. She placed herself in the corner of the room in which
Charlie (to whom she was supposed to do good and bring pleasure) could
see her least, and bitterness filled her heart. There were times in
which she thought of stealing away, leaving a word for Mrs. Leigh to the
effect that she was doing Charlie no good, and that Betty, who would
come to-morrow, might perhaps be of more use--and returning forlorn to
Kingswarden to renew the life, where perhaps nobody wanted her very
much, but where, at least, there were so many things which she and no
one else was there to do.
She was still in this depressed state when Mrs. Leigh (who had evidently
gone away that the brother and sister might be alone and happy together)
came back, looking into Charlie’s room to ask how he was on her way
upstairs to dress for dinner.
“Better,” the nurse said, with her eyebrows. “Peevish--young lady
mustn’t cross him--must be humoured--things not gone quite so well
to-day.”
“You will tell me about it at dinner,” said Mrs. Leigh, and Bee went
downstairs with a heavy heart to be questioned. Aubrey’s mother looked
cheerful enough; she did not seem to be unhappy about his absence or to
dislike the society of the girl who had driven him away. And she was
very considerate even in her questions about the patient.
“We must expect these fluctuations,” she said; “you must not be cast
down if you are not quite so triumphantly successful to-day.”
“Oh, Mrs. Leigh, I am deceiving you. I have never been successful at
all. He did not want me--he doesn’t care for me, and to stay here is
dreadful, upsetting the house--doing no good.”
“My dear, this is a strange statement to make, and you must not expect
me to believe you in the face of facts. He was much better after seeing
you last night.”
“Doing no good,” said Bee, shaking her head, “but harm, oh, real harm!
It was not I that did him good, it was telling him of someone, of a
lady. Oh, Mrs. Leigh, how am I to tell you?”
“My dear child, anything that you yourself know can surely be told to
me. We were afraid that something about a woman was at the bottom of it,
but then that is always the thing that is said, and typhoid, you know,
means bad drains and not a troubled mind--though the one may make you
susceptible to the other. Don’t be so distressed, my dear. It seems more
to your inexperience than it is in reality. He will get over that.”
“Mrs. Leigh,” said Bee, very pale, “he has made me write to ask her to
come and see him here.”
It was now Mrs. Leigh’s turn to change colour. She grew red, looking
astonished in the girl’s despairing face.
“A woman to come and see him, here! But your brother would never insult
the house and you---- I am talking nonsense,” she said, suddenly
stopping herself, “and misconstruing him altogether. It is some lady who
has jilted him--or something of that kind.”
Bee had not understood what Mrs. Leigh’s first idea was, and she did not
see any cause for relief in the second.
“I don’t know what she did to him, or what she has done to them all,”
the girl said, mournfully. “They are all the same. Papa, even, who does
not care very much for ladies, generally---- But Charlie, poor Charlie!
Oh, I believe he is in love with her still, though she is twice as old
as he is and has almost broken his heart.
“My dear,” said Mrs. Leigh, “this must be something very different to
what we thought. We thought he had got into some very dreadful trouble
about a--an altogether inferior person. But as it seems to be a lady,
and one that is known to the family, and who can be asked to come
here--if you can tell me a little more clearly what the story is, I
shall be more able to give you my advice.”
Bee looked at her questioner helpless, half distracted, not knowing how
to speak, and yet the story must be told. She had written that fatal
invitation, and it could not be concealed who this possible visitor was.
She began with a great deal of hesitation to talk of the lady whom
Charlie had raved about at Oxford, and how he was to work to please her;
and how he did not work, but failed in every way, and fled from Oxford;
and how her father went to inquire into the story; and how the lady had
come to Colonel Kingsward at the hotel, to explain to him, to excuse
Charlie, to beg his father to forgive him.
“But, my dear, she can’t be so very bad,” said Mrs. Leigh, soothingly.
“You must not judge her hardly; if she thought she had been to blame in
the matter, that was really the right thing to do.”
“And since then,” resumed Bee, “I think papa has thought of nobody else;
he writes to her and tells her everything. He goes to see her; he
forgets about Charlie and all of us; he has taken Betty there, and Betty
adores her too. And to-night,” cried Bee, the angry tears coming into
her eyes, “she is dining in Portman Square, dining with the Lyons as a
great friend of ours--in Portman Square.”
Mrs. Leigh drew Bee to her and gave her a kiss of consolation. I think
it was partly that the girl in her misery should not see the smile,
which Mrs. Leigh, thinking that she now saw through this not uncommon
mystery, could not otherwise conceal.
“My poor child,” she said, “my dear girl! This is hard upon you since
you dislike her so much, but I am afraid it is quite natural, and a
thing that could not have been guarded against. And then you must
consider that your father may probably be a better judge than yourself.
I don’t see any harm this lady has done, except that perhaps it is not
quite good taste to make herself so agreeable both to the father and
son; but perhaps in Charlie’s case that was not her fault. And I see no
reason, my dear--really and sincerely as your friend, Bee--why you
should be so prejudiced against a poor woman whose only fault is that
everybody else likes her. Now isn’t it a little unreasonable when you
think of it calmly yourself?”
“Oh, Mrs. Leigh!” Bee cried. The situation was so intolerable, the
passion of injury and misconception so strong in her that she could only
gasp in insupportable anger and dismay.
“Bee! Bee! this feeling is natural but you must not let it carry you
away. Have you seen her? Let me come in when she is here and give my
opinion.”
“I have seen her three times,” said Bee, solemnly, “once at the Baths,
and once at the Academy, and once at Oxford;” and then once more
excitement mastered the girl. “Oh, when you know who she is! Don’t
smile, don’t smile, but listen! She is Miss Lance.”
“Miss Lance!” Mrs. Leigh repeated the name with surprise, looking into
Bee’s face. “You must compose yourself,” she said, “you must compose
yourself. Miss----? My dear, you have got over excited, you have mixed
things up.”
“No, I am not over-excited! I am telling you only the truth. It is Miss
Lance, and they all believe in her as if she were an angel, and she is
coming here.”
Mrs. Leigh was very much startled, but yet she would not believe her
ears. She had heard Charlie delirious in his fever not so long ago. Her
mind gave a little leap to the alarming thought that there might be
madness in the family, and that Bee had been seized like her brother.
That what she said was actual fact seemed to her too impossible to be
true. She soothed the excited girl with all her power. “Whoever it is,
my dear, you shall not take any harm. There is nothing to be frightened
about. I will take care of you, whoever it is.”
“I do not think you believe me,” said Bee. “I am not out of my mind, as
you think. It is Miss Lance--Miss Laura Lance--the same, the very same,
that--and I have written, and she will be coming here.”
“This is very strange,” said Mrs. Leigh. “It does not seem possible to
believe it. The same--who came between Aubrey and you? Oh, I never meant
to name him, I was never to name him; but how can I help it? Laura, who
was the trouble of his house--who would not leave him--who went to your
father? And now your father! I cannot understand it. I cannot believe
that it is true.”
“It is true,” said Bee. “But, Mrs. Leigh, you forget that no one cared
then, except myself; they have forgotten all that now, they have
forgotten what happened. It was only my business, it was not their
business. All that has gone from papa; he remembers nothing about it.
And she is a witch, she is a magician, she is a devil--oh, please
forgive me, forgive me--I don’t know what I am saying. It has all been
growing, one thing after another--first me--and then Charlie--and then
papa--and then Betty. And now, after bringing him almost to death and
destruction, here is Charlie, in this house, calling for her, raging
with me till I wrote to call her--me!” cried Bee, with a sort of
indignant eloquence. “Me! Could it go further than that? Could anything
be more than that? Me!--and in this house.”
“My dear child,” said Mrs. Leigh, “I don’t wonder, I don’t wonder--it is
like something in a tragedy. Oh, Bee! Forgive me for what is first in my
thoughts. Was she the reason, the only reason, for your breach with my
poor Aubrey? For at first you stood by him--and then you turned upon
him.”
“Do not ask me any more questions, please. I am not able to answer
anything. Isn’t it enough that all these things have happened through
this woman, and that she is coming here?”
Mrs. Leigh made no further question. She saw that the girl’s excitement
was almost beyond her control, and that her young mind was strained to
its utmost. She said, half to herself, “I must think. I cannot tell in a
moment what to do. I must send for Aubrey. It is his duty and mine to
let it go no further. You must try to compose yourself, my dear, and
trust us. Oh, Bee,” there were tears in her eyes as she came up to the
girl and kissed her, “if you could but have trusted us--in all things!
I don’t think you ever would have repented.”
But Bee did not make any response. Her hands were cold and her head hot.
She was wrapt in a strange passion and confusion of human chaos and
bewilderment--everything gone wrong--all the elements of life twisted
the perverse way; nothing open, nothing clear. She was incapable of any
simple, unmingled feeling in that confusion and medley of everything
going wrong.
Mrs. Leigh, a little disappointed, went into the inner room, the little
library, to write a letter--no doubt to consult or summon her son--from
which she was interrupted a few minutes later by a faint call, and Bee’s
white face in the doorway.
“Mrs. Leigh, papa will come to-morrow, and he will take us away; at
least he will take me away. I--I shan’t be any longer in anyone’s way.
Oh, don’t keep him apart from you--don’t send anyone out of the house
because of me!”