It was Sunday morning at Atherstone. In the dining-room, breakfasting
alone, for he had come down late, was Sir Charles Danvers. His sudden
arrival on the previous Saturday was easily accounted for. When he had
casually walked into the drawing-room late in the evening, he had
immediately and thoroughly explained the reasons of his unexpected
arrival. It seemed odd that he should have come to Atherstone, in the
midland counties, "on his way" between two shooting visits in the north,
but so it was. It might have been thought that one of his friends would
have been willing to keep him two days longer, or receive him two days
earlier; but no doubt every one knows his own affairs best, and Charles
might certainly, "at his age," as he was so fond of saying, be expected
to know his.
Anyhow, there he was, leaning against the open window, coffee-cup in
hand, lazily watching the dwindling figures of Ralph and Evelyn, with
Molly between them, disappearing in the direction of Greenacre church,
hard by.
The morning mist still lingered on the land, and veiled the distance
with a tender blue. And up across the silver fields, and across the
standing armies of the yellowing corn, the sound of church bells came
from Slumberleigh, beyond the river; bringing back to Charles, as to us
all, old memories, old hopes, old visions of early youth, long
cherished, long forgotten.
The single bell of Greenacre was giving forth a slow, persistent,
cracked invitation to true believers, as an appropriate prelude to Mr.
Smith's eloquence; but Charles did not hear its testimony.
He was listening to the Slumberleigh bells. Was that the first chime or
the second?
Suddenly a thought crossed his mind. Should he go to church?
He smiled at the idea. It was a little late to think of that. Besides he
had let the others start, and he disliked that refuge of mildew and
dust, Greenacre.
There was Slumberleigh!
There went the bells again!
Slumberleigh! Absurd! Why, he should positively have to run to get there
before the First Lesson; and that mist meant heat, or he was much
mistaken.
Charles contemplated the mist for a few seconds.
Tang, teng, ting, tong, tung!
He certainly always made a point of going to church at his own home. A
good example is, after all, just as important in one place as another.
Tang, tong, teng, tung, _ting_! went the bells.
"Why not run?" suggested an inner voice. "Put down your cup. There! Now!
Your hat's in the hall, with your gloves beside it. Never mind about
your prayer-book. Dear me! Don't waste time looking for your own stick.
Take any. Quick! out through the garden-gate! No one can see you. The
servants have all gone to church except the cook, and the kitchen looks
out on the yew hedge."
"Over the first stile," said Charles to himself. "I am out of sight of
the house now. Let us be thankful for small mercies. I shall do it yet.
Oh, what a fool I am! I'm worse than Raca, as Molly said. I shall be
rushing precipitately down a steep place into the sea next. Confound
this gate! Why can't people leave them open? At any rate, it will remain
open now. I am not going to have my devotions curtailed by a gate. I
fancied it would be hot, but never anything half as hot as this. I hope
I sha'n't meet Brown taking a morning stroll. I value Brown; but I
should have to dismiss him if he saw me now. I could never meet his eye
again. What on earth shall I say to Ralph and Evelyn when I get back?
What a merciful Providence it is that Aunt Mary is at this moment
intoning a response in the highest church in Scarborough!"
_Ting, ting, ting!_
"Mr. Alwynn is getting on his surplice, is he? Well, and if he is, I can
make a final rush through the corn, can't I? There's not a creature in
sight. The bell's down! What of that? There is the voluntary. Easy over
the last fields. There are houses in sight, and there may be wicked
Sabbath-breakers looking out of windows. Brown's foal has grown since
July. Here we are! I am not the only Christian hurrying among the tombs.
I shall get in with 'the wicked man' after all."
Some people do not look round in church; others do. Mrs. Alwynn always
did, partly because she wished to see what was going on behind her, and
partly because, in turning back again, she could take a stealthy survey
of Mrs. Thursby's bonnet, in which she always felt a burning interest,
which she would not for worlds have allowed that lady to suspect.
If the turning round had been all, it would have mattered little; but
Mrs. Alwynn suffered so intensely from keeping silence that she was
obliged to relieve herself at intervals by short whispered comments to
Ruth.
On this particular morning it seemed as if the comments would never end.
"I am so glad we asked Mr. Dare into our pew, Ruth. The Thursbys are
full. That's Mrs. Thursby's sister in the red bonnet."
Ruth made no reply. She was following the responses in the psalms with a
marked attention, purposely marked to check conversation, and sufficient
to have daunted anybody but her aunt.
Mrs. Alwynn took a spasmodic interest in the psalm, but it did not last.
"Only two basses in the choir, and the new _Te Deum_, Ruth. How vexed
Mr. Alwynn will be!"
No response from Ruth. Mrs. Alwynn took another turn at her prayer-book,
and then at the congregation.
"'I am become as it were a monster unto--' Ruth! _Ruth!_"
Ruth at last turned her head a quarter of an inch.
_"Sir Charles Danvers is sitting in the free seats by the font!"_
Ruth nailed her eyes to her book, and would vouchsafe no further sign of
attention during the rest of the service; and Dare, on the other side,
anxious to copy Ruth in everything, being equally obdurate, Mrs. Alwynn
had no resource left but to follow the service half aloud to herself, at
the times when the congregation were _not_ supposed to join in, putting
great emphasis on certain words which she felt applicable to herself, in
a manner that effectually prevented any one near her from attending to
the service at all.
It was with a sudden pang that Dare, following Ruth out into the
sunshine after service, perceived for the first time Charles, standing,
tall and distinguished-looking, beside the rather insignificant heir of
all the Thursbys, who regarded him with the mixed admiration and gnawing
envy of a very young man for a man no longer young.
And then--Charles never quite knew how it happened, but with the full
intention of walking back to the rectory with the Alwynns, and staying
to luncheon, he actually found himself in Ruth's very presence,
accepting a cordial invitation to luncheon at Slumberleigh Hall. For the
first time during the last ten years he had done a thing he had no
intention of doing. A temporary long-lost feeling of shyness had seized
upon him as he saw Ruth coming out, tall and pale and graceful, from the
shadow of the church porch into the blaze of the mid-day sunshine. He
had not calculated either for that sudden disconcerting leap of the
heart as her eyes met his. He had an idiotic feeling that she must be
aware that he had run most of the way to church, and that he had
contemplated the burnished circles of her back hair for two hours,
without a glance at the fashionably scraped-up head-dress of Mabel
Thursby, with its hogged mane of little wire curls in the nape of the
neck. He felt he still looked hot and dusty, though he had imagined he
was quite cool the moment before. To his own astonishment, he actually
found his self-possession leaving him; and though its desertion proved
only momentary, _in_ that moment he found himself walking away with the
Thursbys in the direction of the Hall. He was provoked, angry with
himself, with the Thursbys, and, most of all, with Mr. Alwynn, who had
come up a second later, and asked him to luncheon, as a matter of
course, also Dare, who accepted with evident gratitude. Charles felt
that he had not gone steeple-chasing over the country only to talk to
Mrs. Thursby, and to see Ruth stroll away over the fields with Dare
towards the rectory.
However, he made himself extremely agreeable, which was with him more a
matter of habit than those who occasionally profited by it would have
cared to know. He asked young Thursby his opinion on E.C. cartridges; he
condoled with Mrs. Thursby on the loss of her last butler, and recounted
some alarming anecdotes of his own French cook. He admired a pallid
water-color drawing of Venice, in an enormous frame on an enormous
easel, which he rightly supposed to be the manual labor of Mabel
Thursby.
When he rose to take his leave, young Thursby, intensely flattered by
having been asked for that opinion on cartridges by so renowned a shot
as Charles, offered to walk part of the way back with him.
"I am afraid I am not going home yet," said Charles, lightly. "Duty
points in the opposite direction, I have to call at the rectory. I want
Mr. Alwynn's opinion on a point of clerical etiquette, which is setting
my young spiritual shepherd at Stoke Moreton against his principal
sheep, namely, myself."
And Charles took his departure, leaving golden opinions behind him, and
a determination to invite him once more to shoot, in spite of his many
courteous refusals of the last few years.
Mrs. Alwynn always took a nap after luncheon in her smart Sunday gown,
among the mustard-colored cushions of her high-art sofa. Mr. Alwynn,
also, was apt at the same time to sink into a subdued, almost apologetic
doze, in the old arm-chair which alone had resisted the march of
discomfort, and so-called "taste," which had invaded the rest of the
little drawing-room of Slumberleigh Rectory. Ruth was sitting with her
dark head leaned against the open window-frame. Dare had not stayed
after luncheon, being at times nervously afraid of giving her too much
of his society; and she was at liberty to read over again, if she chose,
the solitary letter which the Sunday post had brought her. But she did
not do so; she was thinking.
And so her sister Anna was actually returning to England at last! She
and her husband had taken a house in Rome, and had arranged that Ruth
should join them in London in November, and go abroad with them after
Christmas for the remainder of the winter. She had pleasant
recollections of previous winters in Rome, or, on the Riviera with her
grandmother, and she was surprised that she did not feel more interested
in the prospect. She supposed she would like it when the time came, but
she seemed to care very little about it at the present moment. It had
become very natural to live at Slumberleigh, and although there were
drawbacks--here she glanced involuntarily at her aunt, who was making
her slumbers vocal by a running commentary on them through her
nose--still she would be sorry to go. Mr. Alwynn gave the ghost of a
miniature snore, and, opening his eyes, found Ruth bent affectionately
upon him. Her mind went back to another point in Anna's letter. After
dilating on the extreme admiration and regard entertained for herself by
her husband, his readiness with shawls, etc., she went on to ask whether
Ruth had heard any news of Raymond.
Ruth sighed. Would there ever be any news of Raymond? The old nurse at
Arleigh always asked the same question. "Any news of Master Raymond?" It
was with a tired ache of the heart that Ruth heard that question, and
always gave the same answer. Once she had heard from him since Lady
Deyncourt's death, after she had written to tell him, as gently as she
could, that she and Anna had inherited all their grandmother had to
leave. A couple of months later she had received a hurried note in
reply, inveighing against Lady Deyncourt's injustice, saying (as usual)
that he was hard up for money, and that, when he knew where it might
safely be sent, he should expect her and her sister to make up to him
for his disappointment. And since then, since April--not a word. June,
July, August, September. Four months and no sign. When he was in want of
money his letters heretofore had made but little delay. Had he fallen
ill and died out there, or met his death suddenly, perhaps in some wild
adventure under an assumed name? Her lips tightened, and her white brows
contracted over her absent eyes. It was an old anxiety, but none the
less wearing because it was old. Ruth put it wearily from her, and took
up the first book which came to her hand, to distract her attention.
It was a manual out of which Mrs. Alwynn had been reading extracts to
her in the morning, while Ruth had been engaged in preparing herself to
teach in the Sunday-school. She wondered vaguely how pleasure could be
derived, even by the most religious persons, from seeing favorite texts
twined in and out among forget-me-nots, or falling aslant in old English
letters off bunches of violets; but she was old enough and wise enough
to know that one man's religion is another man's occasion of stumbling.
Books are made to fit all minds, and small minds lose themselves in
large-minded books. The thousands in which these little manuals are
sold, and the confidence with which their readers recommend them to
others, indicates the calibre of the average mind, and shows that they
meet a want possibly "not known before," but which they alone, with
their little gilt edges, can adequately fill. Ruth was gazing in absent
wonder at the volume which supplied all her aunt's spiritual needs when
she heard the wire of the front door-bell squeak faintly. It was a
stiff-necked and obdurate bell, which for several years Mr. Alwynn had
determined to see about.
A few moments later James, the new and inexperienced footman, opened the
door about half a foot, put in his head, murmured something inaudible,
and withdrew it again.
A tall figure appeared in the door-way, and advanced to meet her, then
stopped midway. Ruth rose hastily, and stood where she had risen, her
eyes glancing first at Mr. and then at Mrs. Alwynn.
The alien presence of a visitor had not disturbed them. Mrs. Alwynn, her
head well forward and a succession of chins undulating in perfect repose
upon her chest, was sleeping as a stout person only can--all over. Mr.
Alwynn, opposite, his thin hands clasped listlessly over his knee, was
as unconscious of the two pairs of eyes fixed upon him as Nelson
himself, laid out in Madame Tussaud's.
Charles's eyes, twinkling with suppressed amusement, met Ruth's. He
shook his head energetically, as she made a slight movement as if to
wake them, and stepping forward, pointed with his hat towards the open
window, which reached to the ground. Ruth understood, but she hesitated.
At this moment Mrs. Alwynn began a variation on the simple theme in
which she had been indulging, and in so much higher a key that all
hesitation vanished. She stepped hastily out through the window, and
Charles followed. They stood together for a moment in the blazing
sunshine, both too much amused to speak.
"You are bareheaded," he said, suddenly; "is there any"--looking
round--"any shade we could take refuge under?"
Ruth led the way round the yew hedge to the horse-chestnut; that
horse-chestnut under which Dare had once lost his self-esteem.
"I am afraid," said Charles, "I arrived at an inopportune moment. As I
was lunching with the Thursbys, I came up in the hope of finding Mr.
Alwynn, whom I wanted to consult about a small matter in my own parish."
Charles was quite pleased with this sentence when he had airily given it
out. It had a true ring about it he fancied, which he remembered with
gratitude was more than the door-bell had. Peace be with that door-bell,
and with the engaging youth who answered it.
"I wish you had let me wake Mr. Alwynn," said Ruth. "He will sleep on
now till the bells begin."
"On no account. I should have been shocked if you had disturbed him. I
assure you I can easily wait until he naturally wakes up; that is," with
a glance at the book in her hand, "if I am not disturbing you--if you
are not engaged in improving yourself at this moment."
"No. I have improved myself for the day, thanks. I can safely afford to
relax a little now."
"So can I. I resemble Lady Mary in that. On Sunday mornings she reflects
on her own shortcomings; on Sunday afternoons she finds an innocent
relaxation in pointing out mine."
"Where is Lady Mary now?"
"I should say she was in her Bath-chair on the Scarborough sands at this
moment."
"I like her," said Ruth, with decision.
"Tastes differ. Some people feel drawn towards wet blankets, and others
have a leaning towards pokers. Do you know why you like her?"
"I never thought about it, but I suppose it was because she seemed to
like _me_."
"Exactly. You admired her good taste. A very natural vanity, most
pardonable in the young, was gratified at seeing marks of favor so well
bestowed."
"I dare say you are right. At any rate, you seem so familiar with the
workings of vanity in the human breast that it would be a pity to
contradict you."
"By-the-way," said Charles, speaking in the way people do who have
nothing to say, and are trying to hit on any subject of conversation,
"have you heard any more of your tramp? There was no news of him when I
left. I asked the Slumberleigh policeman about him again on my way to
the station."
"I have heard no more of him, though I keep his memory green. I have not
forgotten the fright he gave me. I had always imagined I was rather a
self-possessed person till that day."
"I am a coward myself when I am frightened," said Charles, consolingly,
"though at other times as bold as a lion."
They were both sitting under the flickering shadow of the already
yellowing horse-chestnut-tree, the first of all the trees to set the
gorgeous autumn fashions. But as yet it was paling only at the edges of
its slender fans. The air was sweet and soft, with a voiceless whisper
of melancholy in it, as if the summer knew, for all her smiles, her hour
had wellnigh come.
The rectory cows--the mottled one, and the red one, and the big white
one that was always milked first--came slowly past on their way to the
pond, blinking their white eyelashes leisurely at Charles and Ruth.
"It is almost as hot as that Sunday in July when we walked over from
Atherstone. Do you remember?" said Charles, suddenly.
"Yes."
She knew he was thinking of their last conversation, and she felt a
momentary surprise that he had remembered it.
"We never finished that conversation," he said, after a pause.
"No; but then conversations never are finished, are they? They always
seem to break off just when they are coming to the beginning. A bell
rings, or there is an interruption, or one is told it is bedtime."
"Or fools rush in with their word where you and I should fear to tread,
and spoil everything."
"Yes."
"And have you been holding the wool and tying up the flowers, as you so
graphically described, ever since you left Atherstone in July?"
"I hope I have; I have tried."
"I am sure of that," he said, with sudden earnestness, then added more
slowly, "I have not wound any wool; I have only enjoyed myself."
"Perhaps," said Ruth, turning her clear, frank gaze upon him, "that may
have been the harder work of the two; it sometimes is."
His light, restless eyes, with the searching look in them which she had
seen before, met hers, and then wandered away again to the level meadows
and the woods and the faint sky.
"I think it was," he said at last; and both were silent. He reflected
that his conversations with Ruth had a way of beginning in fun, becoming
more serious, and ending in silence.
The bells rang out suddenly.
Charles thought they were full early.
"Mr. Alwynn will wake up now," said Ruth; "I will tell him you are
here."
But before she had time to do more than rise from her chair, Mr. Alwynn
came slowly round the yew hedge, and stopped suddenly in front of the
chestnut-tree, amazed at what he saw beneath it. His mild eyes gazed
blankly at Charles through his spectacles, gathering a pained expression
as they peered over the top of them, which did not lessen when they fell
on Ruth.
Charles explained in a few words the purport of his visit, which had
already explained itself quite sufficiently to Mr. Alwynn; and
mentioning that he had waited in the hope of presently finding Mr.
Alwynn "disengaged" (at this Mr. Alwynn blushed a little), asked leave
to walk as far as the church with him to consult him on a small matter,
etc. It was a neat sentence, but it did not sound quite so well the
third time. It had lost by the heathenish and vain repetitions to which
it had been subjected.
"Certainly, certainly," said Mr. Alwynn, mollified, but still
discomposed. "You should have waked me, Ruth;" turning reproachfully to
his niece, whose conduct had never, in his eyes, fallen short of
perfection till this moment. "Little nap after luncheon. Hardly asleep.
You should have waked me."
"There was Aunt Fanny," said Ruth, feeling as if she had committed some
grave sin.
"Ah-h!" said Mr. Alwynn, as if her reason were a weighty one, his memory
possibly recalling the orchestral flourish which as a rule heralded his
wife's return to consciousness. "True, true, my dear. I must be going,"
as the chime ceased. "Are you coming to church this afternoon?"
Ruth replied that she was not, and Mr. Alwynn and Charles departed
together, Charles ruefully remembering that he had still to ask advice
on a subject the triviality of which would hardly allow of two opinions.
Ruth watched them walk away together, and then went back noiselessly
into the drawing-room.
Mrs. Alwynn was sitting bolt upright, her feet upon the floor, her gown
upon the sofa. Her astonished eyes were fixed upon the dwindling figures
of Mr. Alwynn and Charles.
"Goodness, Ruth!" she exclaimed, "who is that white waistcoat walking
with your uncle?"
Ruth explained.
"Dear me! And as likely as not he came to see the new screen. I know
Mrs. Thursby tells everybody about it. And his own house so full of
beautiful things too. Was ever anything so annoying! We should have had
so much in common, for I hear his taste is quite--well, really quite out
of the way. How contrary things are, Ruth! You awake and me asleep, when
it might just as well have been the other way; but it is Sunday, my
dear, so we must not complain. And now, as we have missed church, I will
lie down again, and you shall read me that nice sermon, which I always
like to hear when I can't go to church; the one in the green book about
Nabob's vineyard."