DOROTHY AND LORD WILTON.
Was Dorothy dreaming--could she really be awake--when she first stepped
into that lofty room, and gazed upon her magnificent surroundings--was
she in fairy land--was that the every day sun, that was pouring a flood
of wintry light upon gilded cornice and carved panel--upon inlaid
tables, covered with miniature gems of art, collected at great expense
from distant lands?
The best, the only oil paintings Dorothy had ever seen, were the
pictures on the door of the cupboard, in the hall at Heath Farm. She had
always thought them very terrible and beautiful--she did not know that
they once had formed a part of the collection, which now dazzled her
sight upon these walls. That persons competent to judge of their merit
would in after years pronounce them of priceless value.
"Oh, what a beautiful place. It is too grand to be inhabited by people
who have to work for their daily bread--who have to wear mean clothes,
and soil their hands with disagreeable labour."
A deep sigh--the first of unfeigned regret for her lowly
station--perhaps of envy--broke from the lips of the wondering girl.
She was just then standing before a large mirror, which not only
reflected her full length figure, but almost every other object in the
room.
Why does she start and gaze so intently into its magic depths. Is it the
reflection of that lovely face--so fresh and glowing from the hands of
the great life artist; which she has never beheld to such advantage
before; that brings the heightened colour to her cheeks and upon which
she gazes with such pride and pleasure? She stands spell bound. One hand
lightly raised, her eyes immoveably fixed upon the glass.
"Well, my pretty girl," said a rich mellow voice at her side, "what do
you think of the picture?" This was said half in jest, half in earnest.
Dorothy started. "It is very beautiful."
"I think so too," returned the stranger, who was no other than Lord
Wilton himself, smiling at the simplicity of his charming young visitor.
"Did you ever see it before?"
"Never!" said Dorothy, without removing her eyes from the mirror. "Is
not the likeness wonderful? It makes me feel half afraid, as if the soul
of the lady had returned to earth in me."
"I see, I see what you are looking at now; yes, it is the same face, the
same dark liquid eyes, the same rich wealth of raven hair," and he
pointed to one of the beautiful family portraits, suspended upon the
wall behind them; whose face was faithfully reflected in the glass, side
by side with that of the young country maiden.
"What a strange coincidence! can this be a mere freak of nature!" he
continued musingly. "My good girl who are you, and what is your name?"
There was an eager restless expression in the nobleman's melancholy dark
eyes, as he turned to Dorothy and gazed upon her with a glance which
penetrated to her inmost soul.
Dorothy rightly surmised that the stranger was Lord Wilton. Her
attention had been so forcibly drawn to the picture, that she only now
began to recognize the fact. She thought that he was displeased by the
familiar manner in which she had addressed him, and turning pale, began
visibly to tremble.
"Forgive me, my lord, for not calling you by your title; I meant to do
so, but indeed, you took me by surprise; I hardly knew to whom I was
speaking."
And poor frightened Dorothy stopped, overwhelmed with the consciousness
of her rudeness and presumption, and made several low and, for her, very
graceful curtseys.
Her companion regarded her with an amused but serious smile, "speak to
me as you would to any other gentleman, and now answer my question. What
is your name?"
"Dorothy Chance, my lord."
"Dorothy!" again he turned upon her that strange eager glance. "That
lady's name was Dorothy!" and he looked up at the picture with a sigh.
"She was the best of women. My dear and honoured mother--the Lady
Dorothy Granville. Who are your parents? Who in this neighbourhood bears
such an odd name as Chance?"
"No one, my lord, saving myself, and I come by it oddly enough. I am the
child of whom your lordship may have heard, who farmer Rushmere found
upon the heath fifteen years ago, clinging to the bosom of her dead
mother, who, it was supposed, perished during the night in a fearful
storm. I could only just speak a few broken words, and could tell
nothing about my poor mother, only that she called me her Dolly; so the
good farmer had me christened Dorothy Chance, to signify that I came to
him by _chance_. His wife adopted me as her daughter, and I have lived
with them ever since."
Lord Wilton listened with breathless attention. "Did your foster parents
ever find out who your mother was?"
"She was a stranger in these parts, no one had ever seen her before."
"Was there anything on her person, or in her appearance by which she
could be identified."
"Nothing, my lord. Father has often told me that she must have been
very poor; that he never saw a body so wasted by starvation and misery.
Her clothing was very scanty and ragged, and composed of the coarsest
materials, begged, he supposed, from some poor creature, not quite so
destitute as herself. She was very young, and he thought, at one time,
must have been very pretty. He cut off a lock of her hair--I have it
here, my lord," and Dorothy took from her neck a black ribbon, to which
was suspended a large old-fashioned silver locket, and put it into Lord
Wilton's hand. It contained a thick tress of golden brown hair.
He took the sad memento, all that remained to the poor girl of her
mother, with a trembling hand, and went to the window to examine it.
Over his pale face a more deadly pallor stole. He looked at it with a
long earnest gaze, then returned it with a deep sigh to the wondering
girl.
"And this is all."
"All but a plain wedding ring which I have on my finger."
"Oh! let me see that."
"It is just like any other ring of the sort, my lord. It can tell
nothing."
She held out her small sun-burnt hand.
He clasped it eagerly in his own, and with some difficulty, drew the
ring from her finger.
This underwent the same strict scrutiny that he had bestowed upon the
locket, but his countenance betrayed still deeper emotion.
"Keep that ring!" he said solemnly, replacing it upon her finger. "Keep
it as you would your life. It may be the means of restoring you to him
who put it on your mother's finger. And the locket--was that hers?"
"No, my lord; it was given to me by Mrs. Rushmere."
"And these people--these Rushmeres--are they kind to you, Dorothy?"
"Yes, very kind. The only friends I have in the world."
"And what brought you to see me this morning?"
"Oh, my lord, it was on their account I came. They have an only
son--Gilbert Rushmere. Last summer--it was just in the middle of the hay
tide, and we were very busy at the farm--Gilbert quarrelled with his
father about me." Dorothy looked down and blushed.
"Go on, my good girl!"
"We had loved each other from boy and girl; but the old man would not
give his consent to our marriage, and I would not marry Gilbert without.
Father was so angry that he told me to leave the house, and hoping to
make peace by so doing, I left and went to live at Hadstone with Mrs.
Barford. I did not stay away long. Gilbert went and listed for a
soldier, and I came back to comfort the old people in their trouble.
Father would have bought Gilbert off, but he did not get the bad news
until after he had sailed; and we have been so unhappy ever since."
Here Dolly's voice, which had sank almost to a whisper, failed her
altogether, and she turned from Lord Wilton to wipe away the tears that
were streaming down her rosy cheeks.
"Why did Mr. Rushmere object to his son marrying a good industrious girl
like you?"
"Ah, my lord, can you wonder at it?" sobbed Dorothy. "From my heart I
never blamed him. The old man is proud--is come of a good stock; Gilbert
is his only son; he could not bear that he should take for his wife the
child of some nameless beggar. It was too much for me to ask or expect
at his hands. After Gilbert was gone he relented, but it was too late
then. Gilbert wrote some time ago, and told us that he was reconciled to
his new life, and was serving in the ---- regiment under your son,
Captain Fitzmorris, whose servant he was; that they were hourly
expecting an engagement with the French. Oh, my lord, the battle has
been fought, and we have not heard from Gilbert."
Dorothy wrung her hands in uncontrollable anguish. "Mr. Rushmere is in
despair. He will believe that his son is killed; and I slipped away
unknown to him this morning to ask your lordship if you could tell me
anything about him."
"My poor girl, I will make inquiries respecting him, and let you know. I
am just writing to my son. God knows if he be still alive. I can only
hope and trust in his mercy. My mind, Dorothy, is just now overwhelmed
by the same horrible anxiety which you find so hard to bear. This cruel
suspense, this hope, which keeps alive despair, is the most painful of
human maladies."
He walked several times through the spacious apartment in deep thought,
then suddenly returning to the side of the weeping girl, he took her
hand and pressed it warmly between his own.
"Dry your tears, Dorothy; you have deeply interested me in your sad
history. You shall never want a friend while I live. If Gilbert Rushmere
returns, and money be the only obstacle that separates you, tell Mr.
Rushmere that I will give you a wedding portion that shall more than
satisfy him."
"My lord, I would rather you would not," said Dorothy, in a tone of
alarm, withdrawing her hand, and looking as proud as the lady whose
portrait she so strongly resembled. "If I am not worthy to be his
daughter, penniless as I am, money could never purchase the love and
respect I crave, and which could alone make me happy."
"Bravo! my little heroine," cried Lord Wilton, the kindling cheeks and
flashing eyes of Dorothy filling him with surprise and admiration. "Your
nobility exceeds mine; I am only noble by birth, but your lofty spirit
springs from a greatness of mind inherent in your nature."
"My lord!" said Dorothy, "you speak too highly of that which I only
consider my duty. I feel most grateful to you for your kindness, for
your generous sympathy in my sorrow, but I cannot accept your bounty.
And now I will leave you, and carry your gracious promise about Gilbert,
to his parents, which will dry their tears and make them very glad."
With a low reverence, the country girl glided from the room.
Lord Wilton remained standing by the table where she left him; his arms
folded, his eyes bent upon the ground, lost in profound thought. An
expression of intense mental suffering passed over his face; he clasped
his hands tightly together and spoke unconsciously aloud.
"At last the long search is over. The hope deferred--the agony of doubt
and fear has culminated in the grave. Death--and such a death! Oh, my
God! I see--I feel it all. Destitute--forsaken--alone. Her sole
attendants, starvation and despair--perhaps crime. Who can tell the
straits to which misery may have reduced its unfortunate victim. To die
amidst storm and darkness with a helpless little one clasped to the fond
heart growing cold and unconscious, in the chill embrace of the
destroyer. Alice, my beloved, my lost darling, such then was your
fate. * * *
"Were your last thoughts with me in that desolate hour? Did you forgive
me, for the sorrow and suffering which my selfish love had drawn down
upon that innocent head. If you can read my heart, pity me, oh pity me,
for I am desolate and in misery! Never, never can we meet again. Never
can I now make atonement for the wrongs I inflicted. Never hope for
peace or happiness again. The past irrevocable--the future a blank.
Remorse may punish--it cannot restore. The vain regrets--the unsatisfied
cravings of the tortured heart, have made earth a hell for the last
twenty years, and vengeance is now complete. Oh, my God, have mercy
upon me! I cry to Thee in the stilly night. I stretch my hands out to
Thee in the darkness, but no answer of peace comes to my agonized
prayers."
He bowed his head upon his trembling hands. The storm of conscience
swept on--all its waves went surging over his soul, and broke forth in
stifled moans, wrung from the depths of the bruised and tortured heart.
At length he grew calmer, and began to reason on the facts of the case.
"I may be mistaken. What proof have I that the nameless vagrant was my
lost love? A lock of sunny hair--a ring--the likeness of her child to me
and mine. The cold unfeeling men of the world would laugh such evidence
to scorn."
He glanced up at his mother's picture, and his thoughts took a new turn.
"Yes, that lovely girl is her child. Did not my heart burn within me,
while she was talking with me? Did I not long to clasp her in my arms
and claim her as my own--the all that is left me of my beloved?
"I will restrain my feelings. I will not take her from her happy
obscurity--separate her from the man she loves. The secret which her
mother kept so bravely for my sake, which she carried down with her to
the grave, shall rest there. I will keep down my swelling heart--will
chain my lips in eternal silence, and prove my love for her by
self-abnegation."
A low rap at the door was several times repeated before it was noticed
by Lord Wilton.
"My lord," said Mrs. Brand, presenting herself before him, with her
usual deep reverence, "Mrs. Martin is below, and wishes to speak with
you." Struck with the unusual paleness of her master's face, and its
melancholy expression, she said, with maternal anxiety.
"My lord, you are ill. You must not give way about Lord Fitzmorris. His
wounds may not be so dangerous as they are represented. Newspapers do
not always tell the truth."
"Mrs. Brand, he is my only son," returned the nobleman, not sorry to
find his grief attributed to a legitimate cause. "The uncertainty
respecting him depresses me greatly. If I knew the worst, I could bear
it like a man. Show Mrs. Martin up. I can speak to her now."
Mrs. Martin was a thin delicate looking woman, very pale, and very
care-worn, with an expression of patient endurance in her face, painful
to behold. She was no worshipper of rank or wealth, though a perfect
lady in her appearance and manners. Experience had taught her that money
was an imperative want, by no means to be despised; that without an
adequate supply the necessaries of life could not be procured. That love
in a cottage was a pleasant dream. The waking reality by no means so
agreeable.
"My lord," she said, addressing him with great candour and firmness, "I
have given your proposal the most careful consideration, and willing as
I am to oblige you, and to discharge a Christian duty, I find that I
cannot conscientiously undertake the management of your school. I have
six children. The eldest a boy of nine years old, the youngest a baby of
only three months."
Her pale cheeks flushed.
"We are too poor, my lord, to keep a servant. I take care of my own
children, and do the work of the house. Henry is too young to be
entrusted with the charge of so many little ones during my absence at
school, and my mind would be so full of anxiety about them, that I could
not attend to my scholars as I could wish. I hope you will take these
unfortunate circumstances as a sufficient apology for my declining the
situation."
"We are all called upon to make sacrifices for the good of our
fellow-creatures, Mrs. Martin, but we must not do so at the expense of
more sacred duties. I should be sorry to lay upon you, my dear madam, a
burthen greater than the one you have already to bear. Now listen to
what I have to propose, and I think we can arrange the matter to our
mutual satisfaction. Mr. Conyers, the vicar, allows your husband eighty
pounds a year for his ministerial services. A small remuneration for a
well-educated man, and a good preacher, who has to support a large
family and pay rent for the cottage in which he resides.
"The vicar draws from the parish an income of fifteen hundred per annum,
and could afford to give more. I now propose to allow you one hundred a
year for taking charge of my school. Will you accept my terms, and by so
doing confer upon me a great obligation?"
Mrs. Martin burst into tears. "Oh, my lord, it would make our desert
blossom as the rose, and give the poor children bread and meat, where
they now only get a scanty supply of bread and milk. In our daily
prayers, we shall not forget to ask our Heavenly Father to bless you for
your munificence."
"I am not quite so disinterested and benevolent as you think me,"
returned the lord of the manor, deeply moved by her tears, for Mrs.
Martin was the last person in the world from whom he would have expected
such a display of feeling.
"This school is a pet scheme of mine. I do not like to be disappointed.
The miserable ignorance of the peasantry is a disgrace to the landed
gentry, and loudly calls for reform. I want to lend a hand in washing
out this foul national blot, and the co-operation of the clergy and
their wives must be obtained, to do this in a proper Christian spirit.
Their example will provoke to emulation the wives and daughters of the
wealthy yeomanry; and after a few weeks you will find that we shall have
plenty of pupils and teachers to assist in the good work."
Lord Wilton spoke with enthusiasm, for the subject was very near his
heart. Mrs. Martin who knew the poorer classes better than he did, and
their decided aversion to book learning, looked rather incredulous. This
was not the only difficulty to be overcome. The prejudice that existed
in the minds of the agricultural employers to their servants being
taught, was yet stronger than the indifference and apathy manifested by
the poor people themselves.
"My lord, you have a harder battle to fight than you imagine. The
farmers prefer human machines to work for them, to rational thinking men
and women. They tell me it is none of your business to instruct the
poor. God made them so, and it is better for you to leave them as you
find them. They don't want their servants to know as much as they do
themselves."
"They prefer slaves to freemen," suggested Lord Wilton. "It is strange
how deeply that accursed system is implanted in the human heart. We need
not go to the West Indies, or to the slave states of America, to see how
it degrades the mind, and reduces man to the level of the brute. I hope
the day is not far distant when both countries will abolish for ever
this disgraceful traffic."
"It will not be in our day," said Mrs. Martin, who, in spite of her many
cares, possessed a considerable degree of humour, "without we should
attain to the age of Methuselah."
"God forbid. I do not covet length of days," returned Lord Wilton, "but
I do hope to see that accomplished in my day, and during this
generation. But I am rambling from the school altogether. It may be
necessary for you to have an assistant to help you, and take charge of
the younger classes. There was a nice amiable young girl here a few
minutes ago, to inquire of me if I could tell whether young Rushmere had
been killed in the battle of Corunna. Could you not press her into the
service? She called herself Dorothy Chance. Do you know her?"
"Everybody in the parish knows Dorothy Chance, my lord. She is rather a
remarkable person. Did you ever hear how she got her odd name?"
"Yes, yes," cried his lordship impatiently, dreading a repetition of
what had occasioned him such intense pain. "It is not of that sad story,
but of the girl's capabilities as a teacher, I want to speak. Can she
read and write?"
"Indifferently."
"My dear Mrs. Martin," he now spoke with great earnestness, "will you
increase my obligations to you, by giving this young girl, this Dorothy
Chance, an hour's instruction daily in the usual branches of English
education. She is very intelligent, and will make an excellent
assistant, if properly trained for the work."
"I respect Dorothy, and will do so with the greatest pleasure. When
shall her schooling commence?"
"Directly you can make the necessary arrangements. You shall not be the
loser, Mrs. Martin, by the attention you may pay to this poor orphan
girl. I cannot think of her strange history without emotion."
"Lord Wilton is an angel of goodness," thought Mrs. Martin, "the most
benevolent of men. It is seldom we meet with such in this hard world.
Dorothy Chance has lived in the parish from a baby, but who among her
neighbours ever thought of doing her a real service, uninfluenced by
interested motives?"
Lord Wilton had made two people supremely happy that morning. Dorothy
had left his presence grateful for the kind sympathy he had expressed in
her welfare, and confident that he would perform his promise in
reference to Gilbert Rushmere; and Mrs. Martin felt the heavy load of
poverty, that was crushing her to the earth, suddenly removed. Visions
of peace and plenty, of warm clothing and sufficient food for her
family, cheered and elevated her heart. When once alone in the park, she
returned thanks to the Almighty for his goodness.
"It is not in man," she cried, "to do acts of kindness and generosity
like this. It is of God, from whom all goodness, directly, or
indirectly, flows, who has influenced the mind of this noble gentleman
to help us in our present distress."
The school project that had filled her with such dismay, now appeared in
the light of a blessing. She was glad that Dorothy had been selected for
her assistant. She knew the kindly disposition of the girl, who had
often left a roll of nice fresh butter, or a cream cheese, at her humble
dwelling, as a small token of her respect; and she had often wished she
had the power to show her some small favour in return, for her
offerings of love.
At the park gates she overtook Dorothy, who had sauntered leisurely
homewards, recalling to memory every word that had passed between her
and Lord Wilton. Marvelling at the grandeur of the Hall, and still more
at the gracious reception he had given her--
"Mrs. Martin," she said, when that lady joined her, "is not Lord Wilton
a kind good man? I feel as if I could love him with my whole heart. I
felt so afraid of him before I saw him--and he treated me as politely as
if I had been a lady. How can people call him proud and cold? I shall
never think of him without coupling his name with a blessing."
"He deserves it, Dorothy. He has made me very happy. He has promised to
give me a hundred a year for superintending his school. A hundred a
year--think of that. It appears quite a fabulous sum to me. It will
double our income. And do you know, Dorothy, he wants you to be my
assistant?"
"But," and Dorothy stopped suddenly, "I am not qualified for undertaking
such an important situation. My knowledge is so limited, it would be the
blind leading the blind. I can read a chapter to father in the Bible,
but the hard names sadly puzzle me. I write a poor cramped hand, which I
can hardly make out myself, and know very little about figures. I can
cast up little sums in my own head better than I can on paper. It has
always been the cherished wish of my heart to get a little more
education.
"There are a heap of old books in a closet at the Farm, upon which I
cast a longing eye, but they are all Greek and Hebrew to me. You know,
dear Mrs. Martin, how I am situated. I have all the work of the house
upon my hands; and when night comes, I am so tired and sleepy, that I am
glad to go to bed; and father, at any rate, would not allow me to set
up, and waste the candles in reading."
"You must persuade the old people to hire a girl to help you, Dorothy.
They can well afford it. Lord Wilton wishes me to instruct you, and it
is too good a _chance_," she continued, laughing, "to let slip through
your fingers. If you do not like to speak to them on the subject, I
will. I shall feel only too happy to teach you, Dorothy, and Henry will
add his valuable instructions to mine. I feel quite excited by the good
news I have to tell him," she said, forgetting Dorothy, and once more
reverting to her own affairs. "I left him in such low spirits this
morning. We had not money to buy a loaf for breakfast, the children were
hungry and discontented with only potatoes, and it was difficult to
pacify them. I walked up to the Hall with such a heavy heart--but you
see, Dorothy, how sinful it was to doubt the mercy of the Heavenly
Father, who has almost miraculously supplied the daily bread my poor
husband prayed for so earnestly this morning, and which my good Henry
felt so certain would be provided to meet our wants."
Dorothy's eyes were overflowing. As to Mrs. Martin, she sobbed aloud.
The two women walked together in silence until they had crossed the
heath. Their path here separated, Mrs. Martin following the downward
course of the sandy lane, and Dorothy climbing the hill. They shook
hands warmly as they parted, the curate's wife promising to call at the
Farm next day, and have a talk with the old folks.
"Poor thing," sighed Dorothy, looking after her, "we have our cares, but
we never know what it is to lack an abundant supply of wholesome food.
Now here is a lady, well educated and delicately nurtured, who is
destitute of the common necessaries of life. This ought to be a lesson
to me, to be contented with my lot."
Dorothy did not feel quite satisfied with herself on this point. She
struggled hard to suppress a regretful sense of inferiority--a growing
disgust and aversion to her laborious life, which had stolen into her
mind since she had seen the interior of that lordly mansion, and beheld
the beautiful works of art it contained; the taste and elegance
displayed in the costly furniture, and the luxurious comfort which
reigned everywhere.
She looked down upon her coarse garments and sun-burnt hands, and
contrasted them painfully with the regal beauty and costly apparel of
the titled lady whose portrait she so strangely resembled.
Why should the mere accident of birth, which neither could command, make
such a startling difference? It was a mystery Dorothy could not
comprehend? It seemed to her unjust--that made of the same flesh and
blood, their situations should be so widely dissimilar, their lives lie
so far apart. Then the words of the wise St. Paul came in to comfort
her--"One star differeth from another star in glory,"--and she was
terrified at the presumption that dared to question the wisdom and
justice of the great Sovereign of the universe.
"Still, it would be so pleasant to be a lady," thought Dorothy, "to have
leisure to acquire knowledge. To be able to read all those splendid
books I saw in my lord's library. To examine, whenever I liked, those
beautiful pictures, to play on that golden harp that stood in the corner
near one of the large windows, and to live surrounded by such
magnificence--never to be obliged to work in the fields, exposed to a
hot sun, or to be addressed familiarly by rude vulgar people, who
consider that they have a right to command your services."
Poor Dorothy had unwittingly gathered that morning the fruit of the
forbidden tree, and found the knowledge it imparted very bitter and
indigestible.
"This is downright wickedness!" she cried at last. "I am a foolish
ungrateful creature, to try and measure the wide gulf that lies between
the rich and educated, and the poor and ignorant by my feeble intellect.
God has apportioned to each their lot; and why should I feel envious and
discontented, that the best lot did not fall to my share?
"What do I know of the joys and sorrows of these great people? I do not
see the poisonous serpent lurking among the flowers in their gay
gardens, or the shadows that may darken the glory of their day. Lord
Wilton's rank does not exempt him from care. His handsome face is full
of trouble and anxiety. Tears were in his eyes when he mentioned his
son. He felt just as uneasy about him, as father does about Gilbert. A
lord, after all, is but a man."
Having arrived at this conclusion, the cloud passed from Dorothy's
bright face, her step grew lighter, and nature again smiled upon her
like a divine picture, fresh from the hands of the Creator.
She found dinner over at the farm-house, and the old people growing
uneasy at her absence.
"Where ha' ye been, Dorothy, lass?" asked Mr. Rushmere, in no gentle
tone. "The red cow ha' calved, an' no one here to see 'un, an' mother
had to carry her a hot mash hersel'."
"I am sorry and glad," returned Dorothy, throwing her hat and shawl upon
the table. "Sorry, that dear mother had to go out in the cold, and glad
that old Cherry has got a calf. Is it a pretty one?"
"A real fine heifer," said Mrs. Rushmere. "It's a mortal pity it came so
early in the winter. I fear we can never rear it--an' the mother such a
splendid cow, an' comes o' such a good stock."
"Don't be afraid, I mean to try," cried Dorothy, laughing. "You remember
Ruby, what a fine beast he made, and father sold him for twenty pounds.
He was a January calf."
"Please yoursel', Dorothy. But, bless me, child, where ha' ye been all
the while? I sought for you in the house and byre, and began to think
you had left us altogether."
"I have been up to the Hall."
There was a slight elation in Dorothy's voice, and her eyes sparkled in
anticipation of the surprise that she well knew her answer would call
forth.
"The Hall! What did a' want at the Hall, Dorothy?" asked Rushmere,
taking the pipe from his mouth, while a dark cloud descended on his
brow. "Never dare to go to the Hall again without my leave."
"It was on your account I went, father," said Dorothy, turning pale and
looking very much frightened, at the very different manner to that
which she expected, in which her announcement had been received. "I went
because I thought Lord Wilton could tell us something about Gilbert."
"And did you see my lord?" asked Mrs. Rushmere, with a look of intense
curiosity mingled with awe upon her simple face.
"My lord," said Rushmere, with an ironical smile, contemptuously
repeating his wife's words. "Surely he be no lord o' thine."
"Lawrence, you always do speak so disrespectful of Lord Wilton. It does
not become poor folk like us to despise our betters."
"I owe him no favour, wife. I want no favours from him. It vexes me that
the lass went to him on my affairs. As to his being better than me, I
ha' still to learn that. My name is as good as his--in what do we
differ? In the wealth, which by right belongs to me, of which a
rascally king robbed my brave ancestors to reward his unprincipled
favourite. It grieves my heart that a son of mine should be a servant to
his son--an' that girl must bring me still lower, by reminding Lord
Wilton of the degradation."
When the blood of the old man waxed warm, and he felt wrathy, he forgot
half his provincialisms, and spoke and looked more like a gentleman. His
wife felt little sympathy in her good man's anger, still less in his
pride, which she was wont, behind his back, to speak of as perfectly
ridiculous.
"Dorothy," she whispered, "what did my lord say about Gilbert?"
"He promised to write to Lord Fitzmorris, and obtain all the information
he could respecting him. Oh, mother," she added, in a low voice, "he was
so kind."
"But were you not afraid of speaking to a lord. I never spoke to a lord
in my life. Lawrence is listening to what I am saying. Come upstairs,
Dorothy, an' tell me all about it."
Dorothy was not sorry to escape from the storm that was lowering upon
the yeoman's brow, to pour into Mrs. Rushmere's attentive ear all that
she had seen and heard at the Hall.
She dwelt at great length upon the generous offer made by Lord Wilton,
through Mrs. Martin, to give her a good education, and fit her for an
assistant in his school.
"Mr. Rushmere will never give his consent to that, Dorothy. It will
anger him more than your going to the Hall," said Mrs. Rushmere, shaking
her head. "If the proposal comes from Mrs. Martin, an' she does not go
to contradict any of his notions, he may, perhaps, listen to her, for he
thinks her a good woman, an' her husband an excellent preacher, though
little he profits by the parson's sermons, I must say that."
"It would not be just to Lord Wilton not to give him the credit due to
his generosity."
"I am sure he would prefer it, Dorothy. I don't think he likes to make
his charities public. If you are a wise child, you will keep his share
in the business a profound secret. Were it known, it would set all the
ill-natured tongues in the parish at work. Such women as Letty Barford
and Nancy Watling would neither spare you nor your noble patron."
Dorothy thought over the matter for a few minutes. She had had a bitter
experience of what Mrs. Grundy could say, and felt a wholesome dread of
that slanderous individual.
"You are right, dear mother, as you generally are. I will not mention
the subject to father, or any one else. Let him and Mrs. Martin fight it
out. She is such a sensible woman, she is very likely to get the better
of his prejudices; and I know him so well, that he would rather yield to
a stranger than to us."
Mrs. Rushmere laughed heartily.
"Aye, Dolly, he would call that our attempting to wear his breeches.
Good lack! I never tried to put them on in my life, but he'll come
fussing about my work, perking into pots and pans, and hunting up dust
in odd corners, but I durst not tell him that he has put on my
petticoats, which would be only fair, an' just as true as t'other
thing."