Tea had been waiting for some time at the house before Richard Glaire
made his appearance--for he had of late insisted upon oversetting the
old-fashioned homely customs of his boyhood, and dined late.
The drawing-room looked pleasant, for it was well lighted; the
tea-service was bright and handsome: and Eve's hand was visible in many
places about the room, where flowers were prettily arranged in vases; in
the handsomely-worked cosy which covered the teapot; and in the various
pieces of needlework that had grown from her leisure time.
Mrs Glaire, still somewhat upset by the excitement of the day, was
lying on a couch, with her face screened from the lamp, whose soft light
fell upon Eve as she sat trying to read, but with her thoughts wandering
far away. In fact, from time to time she glanced towards the window,
and at every sound a bright look of pleasure took that of the anxiety
depicted upon her sweet young face.
Then the animation would die out, and she sat apparently listening.
A sigh from the couch aroused her; and, crossing the room, she bent down
to tenderly stroke the grey curls back from Mrs Glaire's forehead
before kissing her.
"Poor aunty," she cooed; "she does want her tea so badly. Let me give
you one--just one little cup."
"No, Eve," said Mrs Glaire; "I'll wait till Richard comes."
"Where can he be?" said Eve, anxiously. "How late he is." Then seeing
how her words had impressed her aunt, she hastened to add: "Don't
fidget, aunt dear; he's only stopping to have a cigar. He'll soon be
here."
"Eve, my child," said Mrs Glaire, who had been brooding over a trouble
other than that which had disturbed her during the day, "bring a stool
and sit down by me."
Eve hastened to obey, and, drawing the young girl's head down to her
breast, Mrs Glaire went on:
"My child, you must not think me strange; but I want to talk to you--
about Richard."
"Yes, aunt," said Eve, whose voice suddenly turned husky, as her heart
began to accelerate its motion.
"You love Dick, Eve?"
"Oh, aunt dear, yes," faltered the girl, with tears rising to her eyes.
"Of course you do, child. No girl could help loving my son."
"Oh no, aunt."
"I always meant him to marry you here, my dear; for it would be best for
both of you. You have always looked upon him as to be your husband."
"Yes, aunt dear, always."
"Yes, and it will be best for you both," said Mrs Glaire, repeating
herself, as if she found some difficulty in what she had to say.
There was silence then for a few minutes, during which the tea-urn went
on humming softly, and both women listened for the truant's footsteps,
but he did not come.
"Richard is quite a man now," said Mrs Glaire, after clearing her
throat. "Yes, aunt dear, quite."
"Does he--does he ever talk much to you about--about love?"
"Oh no, aunt dear," said Eve, in a surprised tone. "But he is always
very, very kind to me, and of course he does love me very much. He
would never think of talking about it, aunt dear; he shows it."
"Yes, yes, of course," said Mrs Glaire.
"But--but--does he ever talk to you about--being married?"
"Married, aunt? Oh no!"
"He ought to," said Mrs Glaire, with a sigh. "Eve, my child, I think
it would be better for you both if you were married."
"Do you, aunt; why?" said Eve, naively.
"It would be better for me too," said Mrs Glaire, evading the question.
"Would it, aunt?" said Eve, looking at her for a moment, and then
hanging her head as if in deep thought.
"Yes, my dear, I should feel happier--I should feel that Richard was
settled. That he had a good, true, dutiful wife, who would watch over
him and guide him when I am gone."
"Oh, aunty, aunty, aunty," cried the girl, turning and twining her arms
round her neck to kiss her tenderly, "you are low-spirited and upset
with that terrible trouble to-day. You must not talk like that. Why,
you look so young and bright and happy sometimes, that it's nonsense for
you to say dear Dick wants some one to look after him. Of course we
shall be married some day--when Dick likes; but we never think of such a
thing--at least, I'm sure I don't."
There was a pleasant, rosy flush on the girl's face as she spoke, and
just then a cough in the hall made her jump up, exclaiming--
"Here's Dick!"
Mr Richard Glaire swung the door open directly after, gave a scowl
round the room, nodded shortly at his mother, threw himself into an
easy-chair, picked up the book Eve had been reading, glanced at it, and
with an impatient "pish!" jerked it to the other side of the room.
Eve laughed, made a pretty little grimace at him, and, removing the
cosy, hastened to pour out the tea, one cup of which she held ready,
evidently expecting that Richard would come and take it to his mother.
Then, seeing that he did not pay any heed to her look, she carried the
cup herself, round by the back of the young man's chair, giving his hair
a playful twitch as she went by.
"Don't!" shouted Richard, angrily, and then in an undertone muttered
something about "confounded childishness," while Eve bent over her aunt
and whispered softly--
"He'll be better when he has had some tea, aunt dear. He's upset with
thinking about to-day."
Mrs Glaire nodded, and watched the pretty, graceful form as Eve tripped
back, to stand for a moment or two behind Richard's chair, resting her
hands upon his shoulders as she whispered tenderly--
"Does your face hurt you, Dick dear?"
"Bother!" growled Dick, pouring the cup of tea to which he had helped
himself down his throat. "Here, fill this."
Eve took the cup and saucer, only smiling back at him, and refilling it,
said playfully--
"Dick's cross, aunty. I'm going to give him double allowance of sugar
to sweeten his temper."
"I wish you'd pour out the tea, and not chatter so," he cried,
impatiently. "What with your tongue and hers, there isn't a bit of
peace to be had in the place."
Eve looked pained, but the look passed off, and without attending to her
own wants, she took some bread and butter across to where Richard sat
scowling at the wall.
"Won't you have something to eat, Dick dear?" she said, affectionately.
"NO!"
There are a good many ways of saying "no." This was one of the most
decisive, and was uttered so sharply that Eve forbore to press that
which she had brought upon her cousin, and carried it to her aunt.
The rest of the time before retiring was passed in about as agreeable a
way, till, at a nod from Mrs Glaire, Eve said, "Good night," being
affectionately embraced by her aunt, and then turning to Dick, she bent
over him.
"Good night, dear Dick," she whispered, holding her cheek to be kissed,
as she rested her hands upon his shoulders.
"There, good night. For goodness' sake don't paw one about so."
Eve remained motionless, with the tears gathering in her eyes, for a few
moments, before bending down and kissing the young man's forehead.
"Good night, dear darling Dick," she whispered. "I'm very sorry about
all your troubles; but don't speak like that, it--it hurts me."
The next moment she had taken up her candlestick and glided from the
room.
Richard Glaire gave himself an impatient twist in his chair, and lay
back thinking of the warm, glowing beauties of Daisy Banks, when he
started up in affright, so silently had his mother risen from her couch,
advanced, laid her hands upon his shoulder, one crossed over the other,
and said in a low, clear voice--
"Dick, you are thinking of Daisy Banks."
"I--I thought you were asleep." he stammered.
"I was never more wide awake, Richard--to your interests," said Mrs
Glaire.
"I don't know what you mean," he said, petulantly, as he gave the
lamp-shade a twist, so that its light should not fall upon his face, and
then changed his position a little.
"Yes, you do, Richard--perfectly," said Mrs Glaire. "I said just now
that you were thinking of Daisy Banks."
"Yes, I heard you say so; and I said, I don't know what you mean."
An angry retort was upon Mrs Glaire's lips, but she checked the hasty
expression, and pressing her hands a little more firmly upon her son's
shoulders, she went on--
"You know perfectly well what I mean Richard, and I must speak to you
about that, as well as about the business."
"Look here," exclaimed the young man, impatiently; "I'm tired and
worried enough for one day. I'm going to bed."
He started up, crossed to the side table, took a candle, and advancing
to the lamp, was about to light it with a taper, when, to his surprise,
his mother, who of late years had given up to him in everything, took
candle and taper from his hands and pressed him back unresisting into
his seat.
"Richard, you are not going to bed till you have heard what I have to
say."
"I tell you I'm worn out and worried!" he exclaimed.
"You were not too tired to go out and keep engagements," said Mrs
Glaire, firmly.
"Who told you I had been out to keep engagements?" retorted Richard,
sharply.
"My heart, Richard," said his mother. "I know as well as if I had seen
you that you have been to-night to meet Daisy Banks."
"What stuff, mother!"
"As you have often been to meet her, Richard; tell me, do you wish to
marry her?"
"I marry that hoyden--that workman's daughter! Mother, are you mad?"
"You are only a workman's son, sir."
"My father made me a gentleman, mother," said Richard, taking out a
cigarette, "and I have the tastes of a gentleman. May I light this?"
"Smoke if you wish to, Richard," said Mrs Glaire, quietly. "I have
never stood in your way when that was a just one."
Richard lit his cigarette, threw himself back in his chair with one leg
over an arm, and said negligently--
"Well, if I am to be lectured, go on."
"I am not going to lecture you, my son," said Mrs Glaire, firmly; "I am
only interposing when I see you hesitating on the brink of a precipice."
"Look here, mother," cried Richard; "do you want to quarrel?"
"No, Richard, to advise."
"Then don't talk stuff, mother."
"I shall not, Richard, neither shall I let you put me off in what I wish
to say. I am going to speak to you about Joseph Banks' daughter, and
about the business."
"Now, look here, mother," cried the young man, who, with all his desire
to go, felt himself pinned down in his chair by a stronger will--"look
here. What stuff have you got in your head about that little girl?"
"The stuff, as you call it, that is the common talk of the town."
"Oh, come, that's rich," cried Richard, with a forced laugh. "To keep
me up here and scold me about the common talk of scandal-mad Dumford.
Mother, I thought you had more sense."
"And I, Richard, thought that you had more honour; that your father had
brought you up as a gentleman; and that you really had the tastes of a
gentleman."
"Come, I say, this is coming it too strong, you know, mother," said the
young man, in a feeble kind of protestation. "It is too hard on a
fellow: it is indeed, you know."
"Richard," continued Mrs Glaire, with her words growing more firm and
deep as she proceeded, "I have had Daisy Banks in this house off and on
for years, as the humble companion of Eve, who is shut out here from the
society of girls of her own age. It was a foolish thing to do, perhaps,
but I was confident in the honour and gentlemanly feeling of my son, the
wealthiest and greatest man in Dumford--in the honour of my son who is
engaged to be married to his second cousin, Eve Pelly, as good,
pure-minded, and sweet a girl as ever lived."
"Oh, Eve's right enough," said Richard, roughly, "or she ought to be,
for I'm sick of hearing her praises."
"A girl who loves you with her whole heart, and who only waits your
wishes to endow you with the love and companionship that would make you
a happy man to the end of your days."
"Oh yes," said Richard, yawning. "I know all about that."
"And what do I wake up to find?"
"Goodness knows, mother; some mare's nest or another."
"I wake up to find what Joseph Banks, our trusty old foreman, also wakes
up to find."
"What!" roared Richard, thrown off his balance; "does he know?"
"Yes," said Mrs Glaire; "he, too, knows. Does that touch you home?"
"Damn!" muttered Richard, between his teeth.
"Yes, Banks too has woke up to the fact that you are frequently seen
alone, and in a clandestine manner, with his only child; but he believes
that you love her, that you, in spite of your position, remember that
you are only a workman's son, and that you mean to marry a workman's
daughter, and bring her home here as the wife of the master of Dumford
Works."
"Confound it all!" muttered Richard, biting his nails.
"He smiles at the notion of your being engaged to Eve, for he believes
you to be honourable and a gentleman, while I, your mother, am obliged
to know that your designs are evil, that you plot the ruin of a poor,
weak girl--I wake up, in short, to know that my son is behaving like a
scoundrel."
"Hold your tongue!" cried Richard, hoarsely; and leaping up, he took two
or three turns backwards and forwards in the room, before throwing
himself once more in his chair.
"But you've not spoken to Joe Banks?" he cried.
"I have, this morning," said Mrs Glaire, and then, her voice trembling,
and the judgelike tone giving way to one of appeal, she threw herself at
the young man's knees, clasping them with her arms, and then catching at
and holding his hand. "Dick, my boy--my darling--I was obliged to
speak--I _am_ obliged to speak to you. You know how, since you became
of age, I have delivered everything into your hands--how I have kept
back from interfering--how I have been proud to see the boy I brought
into the world rich and powerful. You know I have never stood in the
way, though you have poured out like water on your betting and gambling
the money your father and I saved by dint of scraping and saving."
"Oh, that's it, is it?" said Richard, with a sneer.
"No," cried his mother, appealingly, "it is not, Dick, my boy; it is
that I wish to make you see your danger before it is too late. You mad,
infatuated boy, can you not see that by what you have done you have set
all your workmen against you? You see how you are treated to-day!"
"Oh yes," said Richard; "and I've got the marks upon me."
"Who stood by you, faithfully and true, as he has always stood by our
house in similar times of danger--danger not brought on by folly?--
Banks, your father's old fellow-workman--a man as true as steel."
"Oh yes, Joe Banks is right enough," muttered Richard.
"And yet you, Dick--oh, Dick, Dick, my boy, think what you are doing--
you would reward him for his long services by doing him the greatest
injury man could do to man. Are you mad?"
"If I'm not, you'll drive me mad," cried Richard, trying to shake off
his mother's tight embrace.
"No, no, Dick, you shall not leave me yet," cried Mrs Glaire, in
impassioned tones, as the tears now streamed down her cheeks. "You
must--you shall listen to me. Can you not see that besides maddening
the poor man by the cruel wrong you would do, you will make him your
deadly enemy; that the works would be almost helpless without him; and
that he is the strong link that holds the workpeople to our side? For
they respect him, and--"
"Go on. They don't respect me, you were going to say," said Richard,
petulantly. "Oh, mother, it's too bad. You've got hold of some
cock-and-bull bit of scandal, set about by one of the chattering fools
of the place--old Bullivant, very likely--and you believe it."
"Richard, my boy," said Mrs Glaire, rising and standing before him,
"can you not be frank and candid with your own mother?"
"You won't let me," he said; "you do nothing but bully me."
"When I tell you of your danger; when I remind you that you are standing
on the edge of a precipice--"
"Oh, hang the precipice!" he cried; "you said that before."
"When I warn you of the ruin, and beg of you on my knees, my boy, if you
like, not to pursue this girl--not to yield to a weak, mad passion that
will only bring you misery and regret to the end of your days, for you
would never marry her."
"Well, it isn't likely," he said, brutally.
"Dick--Dick," cried Mrs Glaire, passionately, roused by the callous
tone in which he spoke, "are you in your right senses, or have you been
drinking? It cannot be my boy who speaks!"
"Well, there, all right, mother, I'll own to it all," he said,
flippantly, and then he winced as the poor woman cast her arms round his
neck, and strained him to her breast.
"I knew you would, my boy, as soon as the good in your nature got the
upper hand. And now, Dick, you'll promise me you won't see Daisy Banks
any more."
"All right, mother, I won't."
"Thankyou, Dick. God bless you for this. But I must talk to you a
little more. I have something else to say."
"What, to-night?" he said, with a weary yawn.
"Yes, to-night. Just a few words."
"Go on then, only cut it short."
"I wanted to say a few words to you about Eve."
"Oh, bother Eve," he muttered. "Well, go on."
"Don't you think, Dick, my boy, you've been very neglectful of poor Eve
lately?"
"Been as attentive as I ever have."
"No, no, Dick; and listen, dear; try and be a little more loving to
her."
"Look here, mother," cried Richard, impatiently; "I've promised all you
want."
"Yes, yes, my boy."
"Well, if you get always trying to thrust Eve down my throat, I shall go
away."
"Richard!"
"I'm tired of being bored about her."
"But your future wife! Dick, my boy--there, only a few more words--will
you take my advice?"
"Yes--no--yes; well, there, I'll try."
"Don't you think, then, _that_ had better come off soon?"
"_That_! What?"
"Your marriage."
"No, indeed I don't, so I tell you. I don't mean to be tied up to any
woman's apron-string till I have had my fling. There, good night; I'm
going to bed."
Mrs Glaire made an effort to stay him, but he brushed by her, turned at
the door, said, "Good night," and was gone.
As the door closed, Mrs Glaire sank into the chair her son had so
lately occupied, and sat thinking over their conversation.
Would he keep his word? Would he keep his word? That was the question
that repeated itself again and again, and the poor woman brought forward
all her faith to force herself to believe in her son's sense of honour
and truth, smiling at last with a kind of pride at the victory she had
won.
But as she smiled, lighting her candle the while, and then extinguishing
the lamp, a shiver of dread passed through her at the recollection of
the events of the day; and at last, when she passed from the room a
heavy shadow seemed to follow her. It was the shadow of herself cast by
the light she carried, but it seemed to her like the shadow of some
coming evil, and as she went upstairs and passed her son's door, from
beneath which came the odour of tobacco, she sighed bitterly, and went
on wondering how it would end, for she had not much faith in his
promise.
Volume 1, Chapter XII.