With people in Bet Granger's class the time between the wooing and the
wedding is seldom long. Will would not go to sea until Bet was his
wife, and so it was decided by the two that they would go to church as
soon as ever the parson could be found who would be willing, as they
expressed it, to tie the knot between them. Certain preliminaries had
to be gone through, of which they were profoundly ignorant; and Will
discovered, when he made inquiries, that a short delay was, after all,
inevitable.
In some way, girls in Bet's class look upon marriage more solemnly than
those who are born in higher grades. To them the marriage itself is all
in all,--they have neither time nor money to give to dress and
presents, and wedding paraphernalia. Bet would go to Will Scarlett in
her poor, neatly-mended gown and when she gave herself to him she would
bring him nothing else,-no outward adornings, no household
furniture--nothing but just her steadfast spirit, her heart filled to
overflowing with the greatest love she had ever known, and her great
beauty. Will and Bet would have to live from hand to mouth, and would
be still quite regarded as the poorest of the people; but love on such
an occasion as this is very apt to laugh at poverty, and these two
during the few days that followed were perhaps the happiest pair in the
great city.
As was to be expected, Bet had confided to Will and to Hester the whole
story of Dent's proposal, and of her father having sold away her beat,
and so deprived her of the means of earning bread for herself and her
little brothers. Will and Hester between them had provided her with a
little money for present necessaries, and Will told her that on the day
they were married he meant to buy another newspaper beat for her.
"When I'm at sea you must be earning something, Bet," he said; "and
though every girl can't hold her own and be good and respectable as you
are, yet there ain't no fear for one like you, and you may as well go
on selling newspapers to the gentlemen, and show them what a Liverpool
lass can be when she likes."
"But the best beat is gone," said Bet, mournfully--"there ain't another
to be had for love or money like that what mother bought for me round
by the clubs."
Will's disposition was very sanguine.
"We'll find a beat nearly as good," he said in a confident voice.
"There's a great club being built at the far end of Castle Street, and
there'll be a lot of gas and light about, and the gentlemen will want
their papers. I can buy a boat for you there for ten shillings, Bet,
and you can earn a tidy penny. What with that, and what I can send you
from sea, you and the lads won't fare so bad."
Bet smiled at these words, and was somewhat comforted--she had no idea
of being a burden on the man who was to be her mate, and in particular
was determined to support Nat and Thady entirely by her own exertions.
After a great deal of consultation, it was decided that during Will's
first voyage after their wedding Bet was to remain in Paradise Row with
Mother Bunch. This worthy Irishwoman took an enormous fancy to Will,
clapping him on the back, cheering him on with his wooing, and assuring
him that that "purty darling blossom of a wife of his" should be her
first care, day and night, all the time the waves were washing under
him; "and not a hair of her head should be hurt," said Mother
Bunch--"and them mischeevous little varmints of hers shall come to no
harm, naythur,--oh, will ye then, ye rogues! Why then 'tis you that
bates the heart out of Molly O'Flaherty entirely."
With that she gave chase to the captain and general, who were dodging
round the corner, and making anything but polite faces at her.
It is a very trite proverb, and a sadly worn truth, exemplified over
and over again at all times and seasons, and in all places of the
earth, that the course of true love never ran smooth; and alas!
notwithstanding all the pleasant preparations being made for them,
these two poor lovers were no exception to the rule.
Bet and Will both had enemies, and these enemies were neither inactive
nor inclined to forbear from mischief.
On the very day after her engagement Bet came across her father--she
came upon him suddenly, and as if by accident; but in truth he had been
looking out for her, as he was intensely curious to know how the
starving process suggested by Dent was answering, and how soon, in
consequence, he might hope to receive Dent's promised gold. No one knew
better than Granger the depressing effects of starvation; he had gone
through them himself, and was therefore an excellent judge. He expected
to see Bet with her hair untidy, her eyes red and dull, and her face
heavy,--he expected to be greeted with a torrent of withering anger and
sarcasm, or to be assailed by a burst of violent woman's tears and
reproaches. Instead of this state of things he saw coming to meet him a
trim lass, dressed with remarkable neatness--her hair in a great
shining coronet on her head, her eyes bright and yet soft, and a happy
smile playing about her lips. Her face changed when she saw him, but it
did not get angry, only a little pale, and the eyes took an expression
of sadness.
"It weren't worth your while father?' she said. It were a mean, mean
trick to play. It were a stab in the dark, father, and it took my
breath away for a time, and I were mad with ye. Yes, Father--I was
'most quite mad in earnest; and ef I had met you last night, maybe I'd
ha' done you an injury. I can't rightly say, only that I know that my
brain was going round, and I was fairly choking with rage--it was as if
you had put a devil into me, father."
"That's a nice way to speak to your own father, what give you your
being," said Granger, in a puzzled, would-be indignant voice, for he
could not understand Bet's speaking of all her trouble and rage in the
past tense. "What's come to you, lass?" he continued. "You was in a
rage--ain't you in a rage still?--the beat's gone for aye and aye, you
knows."
"No, I ain't in a rage now," said Bet. "It's over--seems as if there
was a spring day in my heart, and I ha' no room to be in a rage. You
meant it for bitter bad, father, but maybe 'twas God. I do think as it
must have been Him--He meant it all contrariwise, and just because you
sold my beat, as I were burning and mad with rage--I--I--never mind
that part--only I'm the happiest lass in the whole of Liverpool to-day."
"You air," said Granger with a great oath. "It's like your impidence to
defy me more and more. What do you mean by words such as them, you bad
disobedient girl? Don't you know as there's a curse on them as don't
obey their parents?"
"No, father; there's no curse on a girl who won't go your way; and
though it ain't nothing to you, and I ain't nothing to you, yet I may
as well tell you that I give myself to Will Scarlett last night, and
I'm going to be his lawful wedded wife as soon as ever the law can tie
us up."
With that Bet turned on her heel, and walked rapidly away. She had said
her say, and did not want to listen to any of Granger's ill-timed
comments.
Her quick steps soon took her out of the man's sight; he ground his
teeth, and, choking with rage, went to find Dent.
"I could prevent it," he said, as he concluded his story. "The gel's
not of age, so I could put my spoke in, and make it rare and
troublesome for her. I will, too, ef you'll only put me up to the
straight tip, Dent."
To Granger's surprise, Dent took all this information with wonderful
equanimity.
"I wouldn't try that on," he said. "Scarlett's of age, if the gel
ain't, and you'd have to make a deal of statements, and maybe more 'ud
come out than you'd like, and you mightn't gain your point in the end,
for there's lots of ways of being married, and once the knot was tied
you couldn't do nothing."
"You takes it mighty cool for one who wants the gel yourself," said
Granger, who felt ready to dance with vexation.
"Bless yer 'art," said Dent, "you don't suppose as I mean to give her
up? Not a bit of it. You keep yourself cool, old man; we'll divide the
money, and I'll have my pretty bride yet. Why, Granger, you can never
see beyond the stone wall you're gazing at; you haven't, so to speak,
no perception at all. Now this don't surprise me, and I'll tell you
why. I knew that Will wanted the gel--ay, and haven't I played him a
trick on that very account?--and anyone could see with half an eye that
she wanted him; and what more like than that they should make it up
atween them. Yes, but wooing ain't wedding, and there's many a
slip--oh, yes, many and many. Don't you fret, Granger--didn't I tell
you as I had checkmated that low fellow, Scarlett? You won't never be
demeaned by that marriage, my man."
With these words Dent left his companion; he had managed to comfort him
a good deal, and he was certainly by no means depressed himself.
"Nothing could please me better," he muttered. "The thing's moving at
last. Yes, my pretty Bet--you'll know what to think of that fine lover
of yourn by-and-bye; you'll say to yourself then that there are worse
men in the world than honest Isaac Dent."
Here Dent laughed immoderately--the idea of taking up the _role_ of an
honest man seemed to tickle his humor to a remarkable extent.
"I mustn't leave a stone unturned, all the same," he continued; and
after meditating deeply for a moment he strode rapidly away in the
direction of the Eastern Docks. Here he entered a small shop, whose
owner specially laid himself out to supply all kinds of heterogeneous
things to sailors. There was scarcely anything that a sailor could
possibly require which Higgins, the owner of this small shop, could not
furnish him with. From wedding-rings to second-hand slop clothes he was
up to all emergencies. There was no other shop exactly like Higgins'
near this particular part of the docks; and because he was obliging in
the matter of credit, and had a very jovial, free-and-easy manner, he
was immensely popular with all the sailors who came that way, and in
consequence did a roaring trade. Dent knew Higgins well, and was
perfectly aware that his virtue was not above contamination. Higgins
had, in short, such a keen eye for profit that he thought very little
of stepping over the boundary line of strict honesty to obtain it. When
Dent entered the shop it was, as usual, full of customers, but
presently these cleared off, and Dent and the owner could indulge in a
little confidential talk. They spoke in low tones, and Higgins'
assistant, strain his ears as he might, could not overhear a word of
their conversation. Several customers came in from time to time and
interrupted them; nevertheless, when Dent went away he felt abundantly
satisfied that he was laying his little trap with consummate care. Did
Higgins know a sailor of the name of Scarlett? Of course--did a lot of
business with him; as honest a fellow as ever breathed. Honest--oh!
Dent raised his eyebrows, and contrived by various innuendoes to convey
a contrary impression to the astute Higgins. They talked a little
longer. Suddenly Dent became intensely confidential.
"Look here, Higgins," he said, "a word to the wise is enough"--here he
pressed that worthy's palm with the hard, delicious pressure which an
accompanying crown-piece can bestow--"look here, Higgins, if Scarlett
brings you any Bank of England notes to change, be sure you get him to
put his full name and address on them." Emphatic head-shakes, profound
winks, unutterable contortions, accompanied this piece of sound advice;
and Dent left the shop, having conveyed the impression which he meant
to convey--that Scarlett had stolen some Bank of England notes, and
that Dent for a private motive of his own, which it did not behove
Higgins to inquire into, wanted to get him into trouble about them.