The spring returned; the intimate relations between the two families
were each day more confirmed. Lady Annabel had presented her daughter
and Plantagenet each with a beautiful pony, but their rides were at
first to be confined to the park, and to be ever attended by a groom.
In time, however, duly accompanied, they were permitted to extend
their progress so far as Cadurcis. Mrs. Cadurcis had consented to
the wishes of her son to restore the old garden, and Venetia was his
principal adviser and assistant in the enterprise. Plantagenet was
fond of the abbey, and nothing but the agreeable society of Cherbury
on the one hand, and the relief of escaping from his mother on the
other, could have induced him to pass so little of his time at home;
but, with Venetia for his companion, his mornings at the abbey passed
charmingly, and, as the days were now at their full length again,
there was abundance of time, after their studies at Cherbury, to ride
together through the woods to Cadurcis, spend several hours there, and
for Venetia to return to the hall before sunset. Plantagenet always
accompanied her to the limits of the Cherbury grounds, and then
returned by himself, solitary and full of fancies.
Lady Annabel had promised the children that they should some day
ride together to Marringhurst, the rectory of Dr. Masham, to eat
strawberries and cream. This was to be a great festival, and was
looked forward to with corresponding interest. Her ladyship had kindly
offered to accompany Mrs. Cadurcis in the carriage, but that lady was
an invalid and declined the journey; so Lady Annabel, who was herself
a good horsewoman, mounted her jennet with Venetia and Plantagenet.
Marringhurst was only five miles from Cherbury by a cross-road,
which was scarcely passable for carriages. The rectory house was a
substantial, square-built, red brick mansion, shaded by gigantic elms,
but the southern front covered with a famous vine, trained over it
with elaborate care, and of which, and his espaliers, the Doctor was
very proud. The garden was thickly stocked with choice fruit-trees;
there was not the slightest pretence to pleasure grounds; but there
was a capital bowling-green, and, above all, a grotto, where the
Doctor smoked his evening pipe, and moralised in the midst of his
cucumbers and cabbages. On each side extended the meadows of his
glebe, where his kine ruminated at will. It was altogether a scene as
devoid of the picturesque as any that could be well imagined; flat,
but not low, and rich, and green, and still.
His expected guests met as warm a reception as such a hearty friend
might be expected to afford. Dr. Masham was scarcely less delighted at
the excursion than the children themselves, and rejoiced in the sunny
day that made everything more glad and bright. The garden, the grotto,
the bowling-green, and all the novelty of the spot, greatly diverted
his young companions; they visited his farmyard, were introduced to
his poultry, rambled over his meadows, and admired his cows, which he
had collected with equal care and knowledge. Nor was the interior of
this bachelor's residence devoid of amusement. Every nook and corner
was filled with objects of interest; and everything was in admirable
order. The goddess of neatness and precision reigned supreme,
especially in his hall, which, though barely ten feet square, was a
cabinet of rural curiosities. His guns, his fishing-tackle, a cabinet
of birds stuffed by himself, a fox in a glass-case that seemed
absolutely running, and an otter with a real fish in its mouth, in
turn delighted them; but chiefly, perhaps, his chimney-corner of Dutch
tiles, all Scriptural subjects, which Venetia and Plantagenet emulated
each other in discovering.
Then his library, which was rare and splendid, for the Doctor was one
of the most renowned scholars in the kingdom, and his pictures, his
prints, and his gold fish, and his canary birds; it seemed they never
could exhaust such sources of endless amusement; to say nothing of
every other room in the house, for, from the garret to the dairy,
his guests encouraged him in introducing them to every thing, every
person, and every place.
'And this is the way we old bachelors contrive to pass our lives,'
said the good Doctor; 'and now, my dear lady, Goody Blount will give
us some dinner.'
The Doctor's repast was a substantial one; he seemed resolved, at one
ample swoop, to repay Lady Annabel for all her hospitality; and he
really took such delight in their participation of it, that his
principal guest was constrained to check herself in more than one
warning intimation that moderation was desirable, were it only for the
sake of the strawberries and cream. All this time his housekeeper,
Goody Blount, as he called her, in her lace cap and ruffles, as
precise and starch as an old picture, stood behind his chair with
pleased solemnity, directing, with unruffled composure, the movements
of the liveried bumpkin who this day was promoted to the honour of
'waiting at table.'
'Come,' said the Doctor, as the cloth was cleared, 'I must bargain for
one toast, Lady Annabel: "Church and State."'
'What is Church and State?' said Venetia.
'As good things. Miss Venetia, as strawberries and cream,' said the
Doctor, laughing; 'and, like them, always best united.'
After their repast, the children went into the garden to amuse
themselves. They strolled about some time, until Plantagenet at length
took it into his head that he should like to learn to play at bowls;
and he said, if Venetia would wait in the grotto, where they then were
talking, he would run back and ask the Doctor if the servant might
teach him. He was not long absent; but appeared, on his return, a
little agitated. Venetia inquired if he had been successful, but he
shook his head, and said he had not asked.
'Why did you not?' said Venetia.
'I did not like,' he replied, looking very serious; 'something
happened.'
'What could have happened?' said Venetia.
'Something strange,' was his answer.
'Oh, do tell me, Plantagenet!'
'Why,' said he, in a low voice, 'your mamma is crying.'
'Crying!' exclaimed Venetia; 'my dear mamma crying! I must go to her
directly.'
'Hush!' said Plantagenet, shaking his head, 'you must not go.'
'I must.'
'No, you must not go, Venetia,' was his reply; 'I am sure she does not
want us to know she is crying.'
'What did she say to you?'
'She did not see me; the Doctor did, and he gave me a nod to go away.'
'I never saw mamma cry,' said Venetia.
'Don't you say anything about it, Venetia,' said Plantagenet, with a
manly air; 'listen to what I say.'
'I do, Plantagenet, always; but still I should like to know what mamma
can be crying about. Do tell me all about it.'
'Why, I came to the room by the open windows, and your mamma was
standing up, with her back to me, and leaning on the mantel-piece,
with her face in her handkerchief; and the Doctor was standing up too,
only his back was to the fireplace; and when he saw me, he made me a
sign to go away, and I went directly.'
'Are you sure mamma was crying?'
'I heard her sob.'
'I think I shall cry,' said Venetia.
'You must not; you must know nothing about it. If you let your mamma
know that I saw her crying, I shall never tell you anything again.'
'What do you think she was crying about, Plantagenet?'
'I cannot say; perhaps she had been talking about your papa. I do not
want to play at bowls now,' added Plantagenet; 'let us go and see the
cows.'
In the course of half an hour the servant summoned the children to
the house. The horses were ready, and they were now to return. Lady
Annabel received them with her usual cheerfulness.
'Well, dear children,' said she, 'have you been very much amused?'
Venetia ran forward, and embraced her mother with even unusual
fondness. She was mindful of Plantagenet's injunctions, and was
resolved not to revive her mother's grief by any allusion that could
recall the past; but her heart was, nevertheless, full of sympathy,
and she could not have rode home, had she not thus expressed her love
for her mother.
With the exception of this strange incident, over which, afterwards,
Venetia often pondered, and which made her rather serious the whole of
the ride home, this expedition to Marringhurst was a very happy day.