THE PRODIGAL FATHER GOES ON FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
We will not follow all the steps of the Admiral's return and
installation, but hurry forward towards the catastrophe, merely
chronicling by the way a few salient incidents, wherein we must rely
entirely upon the evidence of Richard, for Esther to this day has never
opened her mouth upon this trying passage of her life, and as for the
Admiral--well, that naval officer, although still alive, and now more
suitably installed in a seaport town where he has a telescope and a flag
in his front garden, is incapable of throwing the slightest gleam of
light upon the affair. Often and often has he remarked to the present
writer: "If I know what it was all about, sir, I'll be----" in short, be
what I hope he will not. And then he will look across at his daughter's
portrait, a photograph, shake his head with an amused appearance, and
mix himself another grog by way of consolation. Once I have heard him go
further, and express his feelings with regard to Esther in a single but
eloquent word. "A minx, sir," he said, not in anger, rather in
amusement: and he cordially drank her health upon the back of it. His
worst enemy must admit him to be a man without malice; he never bore a
grudge in his life, lacking the necessary taste and industry of
attention.
Yet it was during this obscure period that the drama was really
performed; and its scene was in the heart of Esther, shut away from all
eyes. Had this warm, upright, sullen girl been differently used by
destiny, had events come upon her even in a different succession, for
some things lead easily to others, the whole course of this tale would
have been changed, and Esther never would have run away. As it was,
through a series of acts and words of which we know but few, and a
series of thoughts which any one may imagine for himself, she was
awakened in four days from the dream of a life.
The first tangible cause of disenchantment was when Dick brought home a
painter's arsenal on Friday evening. The Admiral was in the
chimney-corner, once more "sirrupping" some brandy-and-water, and Esther
sat at the table at work. They both came forward to greet the new
arrival; and the girl, relieving him of his monstrous burthen, proceeded
to display her offerings to her father. Van Tromp's countenance fell
several degrees; he became quite querulous.
"God bless me," he said; and then, "I must really ask you not to
interfere, child," in a tone of undisguised hostility.
"Father," she said, "forgive me; I knew you had given up your art----"
"Oh yes!" cried the Admiral; "I've done with it to the judgment-day!"
"Pardon me again," she said firmly, "but I do not, I cannot think that
you are right in this. Suppose the world is unjust, suppose that no one
understands you, you have still a duty to yourself. And, oh, don't spoil
the pleasure of your coming home to me; show me that you can be my
father and yet not neglect your destiny. I am not like some daughters; I
will not be jealous of your art, and I will try to understand it."
The situation was odiously farcical. Richard groaned under it; he longed
to leap forward and denounce the humbug. And the humbug himself? Do you
fancy he was easier in his mind? I am sure, on the other hand, that he
was actually miserable; and he betrayed his sufferings by a perfectly
silly and undignified access of temper, during which he broke his pipe
in several places, threw his brandy-and-water into the fire, and
employed words which were very plain although the drift of them was
somewhat vague. It was of very brief duration. Van Tromp was himself
again, and in a most delightful humour within three minutes of the first
explosion.
"I am an old fool," he said frankly. "I was spoiled when a child. As for
you, Esther, you take after your mother; you have a morbid sense of
duty, particularly for others; strive against it, my dear--strive
against it. And as for the pigments, well, I'll use them some of these
days; and to show that I'm in earnest, I'll get Dick here to prepare a
canvas."
Dick was put to this menial task forthwith, the Admiral not even
watching how he did, but quite occupied with another grog and a pleasant
vein of talk.
A little after Esther arose, and making some pretext, good or bad, went
off to bed. Dick was left hobbled by the canvas, and was subjected to
Van Tromp for about an hour.
The next day, Saturday, it is believed that little intercourse took
place between Esther and her father; but towards the afternoon Dick met
the latter returning from the direction of the inn, where he had struck
up quite a friendship with the landlord. Dick wondered who paid for
these excursions, and at the thought that the reprobate must get his
pocket-money where he got his board and lodging, from poor Esther's
generosity, he had it almost in his heart to knock the old gentleman
down. He, on his part, was full of airs and graces and geniality.
"Dear Dick," he said, taking his arm, "this is neighbourly of you; it
shows your tact to meet me when I had a wish for you. I am in pleasant
spirits; and it is then that I desire a friend."
"I am glad to hear you are so happy," retorted Dick bitterly. "There's
certainly not much to trouble _you_."
"No," assented the Admiral, "not much. I got out of it in time; and
here--well, here everything pleases me. I am plain in my tastes. _A
propos_, you have never asked me how I liked my daughter?"
"No," said Dick roundly; "I certainly have not."
"Meaning you will not. And why, Dick? She is my daughter, of course; but
then I am a man of the world and a man of taste, and perfectly qualified
to give an opinion with impartiality--yes, Dick, with impartiality.
Frankly, I am not disappointed in her. She has good looks; she has them
from her mother. She is devoted, quite devoted to me----"
"She is the best woman in the world!" broke out Dick.
"Dick," cried the Admiral, stopping short; "I have been expecting this.
Let us--let us go back to the 'Trevanion Arms,' and talk this matter out
over a bottle."
"Certainly not," said Dick. "You have had far too much already."
The parasite was on the point of resenting this; but a look at Dick's
face, and some recollections of the terms on which they had stood in
Paris, came to the aid of his wisdom and restrained him.
"As you please," he said; "although I don't know what you mean--nor
care. But let us walk, if you prefer it. You are still a young man; when
you are my age----. But, however, to continue. You please me, Dick; you
have pleased me from the first; and to say truth, Esther is a trifle
fantastic, and will be better when she is married. She has means of her
own, as of course you are aware. They come, like the looks, from her
poor, dear, good creature of a mother. She was blessed in her mother. I
mean she shall be blessed in her husband, and you are the man, Dick, you
and not another. This very night I will sound her affections."
Dick stood aghast.
"Mr. Van Tromp, I implore you," he said; "do what you please with
yourself, but, for God's sake, let your daughter alone."
"It is my duty," replied the Admiral, "and between ourselves, you rogue,
my inclination too. I am as match-making as a dowager. It will be more
discreet for you to stay away to-night. Farewell. You leave your case in
good hands; I have the tact of these little matters by heart; it is not
my first attempt."
All arguments were in vain; the old rascal stuck to his point; nor did
Richard conceal from himself how seriously this might injure his
prospects, and he fought hard. Once there came a glimmer of hope. The
Admiral again proposed an adjournment to the "Trevanion Arms," and when
Dick had once more refused, it hung for a moment in the balance whether
or not the old toper would return there by himself. Had he done so, of
course Dick could have taken to his heels, and warned Esther of what was
coming, and of how it had begun. But the Admiral, after a pause, decided
for the brandy at home, and made off in that direction.
We have no details of the sounding.
Next day the Admiral was observed in the parish church, very properly
dressed. He found the places, and joined in response and hymn, as to the
manner born; and his appearance, as he intended it should, attracted
some attention among the worshippers. Old Naseby, for instance, had
observed him.
"There was a drunken-looking blackguard opposite us in church," he said
to his son as they drove home; "do you know who he was?"
"Some fellow--Van Tromp, I believe," said Dick.
"A foreigner too!" observed the Squire.
Dick could not sufficiently congratulate himself on the escape he had
effected. Had the Admiral met him with his father, what would have been
the result? And could such a catastrophe be long postponed? It seemed to
him as if the storm were nearly ripe; and it was so more nearly than he
thought.
He did not go to the cottage in the afternoon, withheld by fear and
shame; but when dinner was over at Naseby House, and the Squire had gone
off into a comfortable doze, Dick slipped out of the room, and ran
across country, in part to save time, in part to save his own courage
from growing cold; for he now hated the notion of the cottage or the
Admiral, and if he did not hate, at least feared to think of Esther. He
had no clue to her reflections; but he could not conceal from his own
heart that he must have sunk in her esteem, and the spectacle of her
infatuation galled him like an insult.
He knocked and was admitted. The room looked very much as on his last
visit, with Esther at the table and Van Tromp beside the fire; but the
expression of the two faces told a very different story. The girl was
paler than usual; her eyes were dark, the colour seemed to have faded
from round about them, and her swiftest glance was as intent as a stare.
The appearance of the Admiral, on the other hand, was rosy, and flabby,
and moist; his jowl hung over his shirt-collar, his smile was loose and
wandering, and he had so far relaxed the natural control of his eyes,
that one of them was aimed inward, as if to catch the growth of the
carbuncle. We are warned against bad judgments; but the Admiral was
certainly not sober. He made no attempt to rise when Richard entered,
but waved his pipe flightily in the air, and gave a leer of welcome.
Esther took as little notice of him as might be.
"Aha! Dick!" cried the painter. "I've been to church; I have, upon my
word. And I saw you there, though you didn't see me. And I saw a
devilish pretty woman, by Gad. If it were not for this baldness, and a
kind of crapulous air I can't disguise from myself--if it weren't for
this and that and t'other thing--I--I've forgot what I was saying. Not
that that matters, I've heaps of things to say. I'm in a communicative
vein to-night. I'll let out all my cats, even unto seventy times seven.
I'm in what I call _the_ stage, and all I desire is a listener, although
he were deaf, to be as happy as Nebuchadnezzar."
Of the two hours which followed upon this it is unnecessary to give more
than a sketch. The Admiral was extremely silly, now and then amusing,
and never really offensive. It was plain that he kept in view the
presence of his daughter, and chose subjects and a character of language
that should not offend a lady. On almost any other occasion Dick would
have enjoyed the scene. Van Tromp's egotism, flown with drink, struck a
pitch above mere vanity. He became candid and explanatory; sought to
take his auditors entirely into his confidence, and tell them his inmost
conviction about himself. Between his self-knowledge, which was
considerable, and his vanity, which was immense, he had created a
strange hybrid animal, and called it by his own name. How he would plume
his feathers over virtues which would have gladdened the heart of Caesar
or St. Paul; and anon, complete his own portrait with one of those
touches of pitiless realism which the satirist so often seeks in vain.
"Now, there's Dick," he said, "he's shrewd; he saw through me the first
time we met, and told me so--told me so to my face, which I had the
virtue to keep. I bear you no malice for it, Dick; you were right; I am
a humbug."
You may fancy how Esther quailed at this new feature of the meeting
between her two idols.
And then, again, in a parenthesis:
"That," said Van Tromp, "was when I had to paint those dirty daubs of
mine."
And a little further on, laughingly said, perhaps, but yet with an air
of truth:
"I never had the slightest hesitation in sponging upon any human
creature."
Thereupon Dick got up.
"I think, perhaps," he said, "we had better all be thinking of going to
bed." And he smiled with a feeble and deprecatory smile.
"Not at all," cried the Admiral, "I know a trick worth two of that.
Puss here," indicating his daughter, "shall go to bed; and you and I
will keep it up till all's blue."
Thereupon Esther arose in sullen glory. She had sat and listened for two
mortal hours while her idol defiled himself and sneered away his
godhead. One by one, her illusions had departed. And now he wished to
order her to bed in her own house! now he called her Puss! now, even as
he uttered the words, toppling on his chair, he broke the stem of his
tobacco-pipe in three! Never did the sheep turn upon her shearer with a
more commanding front. Her voice was calm, her enunciation a little
slow, but perfectly distinct, and she stood before him, as she spoke, in
the simplest and most maidenly attitude.
"No," she said, "Mr. Naseby will have the goodness to go home at once,
and you will go to bed."
The broken fragments of pipe fell from the Admiral's fingers; he seemed
by his countenance to have lived too long in a world unworthy of him;
but it is an odd circumstance, he attempted no reply, and sat
thunder-struck, with open mouth.
Dick she motioned sharply towards the door, and he could only obey her.
In the porch, finding she was close behind him, he ventured to pause and
whisper, "You have done right."
"I have done as I pleased," she said. "Can he paint?"
"Many people like his paintings," returned Dick, in stifled tones; "I
never did; I never said I did," he added, fiercely defending himself
before he was attacked.
"I ask you if he can paint. I will not be put off. _Can_ he paint?" she
repeated.
"No," said Dick.
"Does he even like it?"
"Not now, I believe."
"And he is drunk?"--she leaned upon the word with hatred.
"He has been drinking."
"Go," she said, and was turning to re-enter the house when another
thought arrested her. "Meet me to-morrow morning at the stile," she
said.
"I will," replied Dick.
And then the door closed behind her, and Dick was alone in the darkness.
There was still a chink of light above the sill, a warm, mild glow
behind the window; the roof of the cottage and some of the banks and
hazels were defined in denser darkness against the sky; but all else was
formless, breathless, and noiseless like the pit. Dick remained as she
had left him, standing squarely on one foot and resting only on the toe
of the other, and as he stood he listened with his soul. The sound of a
chair pushed sharply over the floor startled his heart into his mouth;
but the silence which had thus been disturbed settled back again at once
upon the cottage and its vicinity. What took place during this interval
is a secret from the world of men; but when it was over the voice of
Esther spoke evenly and without interruption for perhaps half a minute,
and as soon as that ceased heavy and uncertain footfalls crossed the
parlour and mounted lurching up the stairs. The girl had tamed her
father, Van Tromp had gone obediently to bed: so much was obvious to the
watcher in the road. And yet he still waited, straining his ears, and
with terror and sickness at his heart; for if Esther had followed her
father, if she had even made one movement in this great conspiracy of
men and nature to be still, Dick must have had instant knowledge of it
from his station before the door; and if she had not moved, must she not
have fainted? or might she not be dead?
He could hear the cottage clock deliberately measure out the seconds;
time stood still with him; an almost superstitious terror took command
of his faculties; at last, he could bear no more, and, springing through
the little garden in two bounds, he put his face against the window. The
blind, which had not been drawn fully down, left an open chink about an
inch in height along the bottom of the glass, and the whole parlour was
thus exposed to Dick's investigation. Esther sat upright at the table,
her head resting on her hand, her eyes fixed upon the candle. Her brows
were slightly bent, her mouth slightly open; her whole attitude so still
and settled that Dick could hardly fancy that she breathed. She had not
stirred at the sound of Dick's arrival. Soon after, making a
considerable disturbance amid the vast silence of the night, the clock
lifted up its voice, whined for a while like a partridge, and then
eleven times hooted like a cuckoo. Still Esther continued immovable and
gazed upon the candle. Midnight followed, and then one of the morning;
and still she had not stirred, nor had Richard Naseby dared to quit the
window. And then about half-past one, the candle she had been thus
intently watching flared up into a last blaze of paper, and she leaped
to her feet with an ejaculation, looked about her once, blew out the
light, turned round, and was heard rapidly mounting the staircase in the
dark.
Dick was left once more alone to darkness and to that dulled and dogged
state of mind when a man thinks that Misery must have done her worst,
and is almost glad to think so. He turned and walked slowly towards the
stile; she had told him no hour, and he was determined, whenever she
came, that she should find him waiting. As he got there the day began to
dawn, and he leaned over a hurdle and beheld the shadows flee away. Up
went the sun at last out of a bank of clouds that were already
disbanding in the east; a herald wind had already sprung up to sweep the
leafy earth and scatter the congregated dewdrops. "Alas!" thought Dick
Naseby, "how can any other day come so distastefully to me?" He still
wanted his experience of the morrow.