"Bai Jove! she's about the most skittish little filly I ever met with in
the whole course of my experience," muttered Max Bray; and then he went
over mentally the many rebuffs he had encountered. Forbidden Mrs
Brandon's house, he had all the same gone over day after day to Laneton,
for the purpose of impressing Ella with a sense of the value of his
attentions; but still, though he displayed as much effrontery as a
London rough, all went against him, and he found that, so far from
meeting with a kindly greeting, his appearance was ever the signal for
an immediate retreat.
"But you won't tire me--bai Jove, you won't!" said Max. "I've set my
mind, and it will keep set."
And still day after day he rode over to Laneton, till not a walk could
Ella take without catching sight of his mincing step and
gracefully-attired figure; while, in spite of every effort, there were
times when she could not avoid his addresses, as he stubbornly persisted
in walking by her side.
"Bai Jove! it's of no use for you to harry and worry me," drawled Max to
Laura. "I'm getting on as fast as I can."
"But are your visits having any effect?" said Laura eagerly.
"Well, I'll be candid with you," said Max. "Not so much as I could wish
in one quarter; but, bai Jove! I'm doing you a good turn in the other
direction. He's as jealous as Othello--he is, bai Jove! He meets me
now with a scowl like a stage villain, confound him! But he gets on no
better there than I do."
Max Bray was very decided in what he said; but though debarred from
visiting, like himself, at Copse Hall, Charley Vining was under the
impression that he did get on much better than friend Max. The very
sight of Ella, even at a distance, was to him a pleasure; and in spite
of many disappointments, he was never weary of his twenty-four-mile
ride, counting himself a happier man when, by a lucky chance, he was
able to catch a glimpse of Ella, if but for a minute. While upon the
day when Max made the above remarks, Charley Vining had not only seen,
but spoken to Ella--not only spoken to, but won from her--But stay--we
are premature.
Weeks had passed since, exactly as had been described by Edward the
hard-faced footman, Charley Vining had had an interview with Mrs
Brandon, to learn that in future he must never call there, nor expect
the slightest aid to be given to him, or even to have his suit
countenanced; and then it was that, angry and determined, the young man
had left, the house with the intention of leaving no stone unturned to
win an answer to his love.
To this end, day after day he would watch the house, thinking nothing of
the weary waiting hours, though it seemed that as little heed was paid
to the distance by Max Bray, who now made no secret of his pursuit,
carrying it on in open defiance of his rival--the two meeting
constantly, but never speaking. In fact, Charley was rather glad of
this; for after the last interview with Laura, it had seemed to him that
he must be for the future upon unfriendly terms with the Bray family,
though Laura, whenever they met, was more gentle and pleading than ever,
although she must have seen that Charley shrank from her.
"_Nil desperandum_" seemed to be the motto adopted by all; and at length
came the day when Charley's heart leaped, for he told himself that his
perseverance was to have its reward.
He had ridden over as was his custom, put up his horse at Laneton, and
was then listlessly strolling towards Copse Hall, in the hope that he
might be favoured by, at all events, a glimpse of Ella, when he turned
from the road, leaped a stile, and took a path which led through the
copse from which the Hall was named.
There was no especial reason for going that way, only that he was as
likely to encounter Ella walking--which was not often--in one direction
as another; so he made up his mind to go through the copse by the broad
winding path which led round the back of the Hall, then to make his way
into the lane by Croppley Magna, walk on and see the old lady who had
received him into her house when he had his bad hunting fall, and then
return to where his horse awaited him.
He had entered the copse, walking very slowly, and thinking deeply of
the unsatisfactory state of affairs, when suddenly he was awakened from
his musing by the sound of merry childlike laughter. A little girl
dashed round a bend of the walk, closely followed by another, and then,
passing him quickly, they were out of sight in an instant, just as,
dreamy and thoughtful, Ella, with her head bent down, came round the
bend of the path--came slowly on, nearer and nearer to where Charley
stood, with palpitating heart; and the next moment, as she started from
her reverie, it was with Charley holding her hand tightly in his.
"Ella!" he said, the word being as it were forced from his panting
breast.
"Mr Vining!" she exclaimed softly, as for a moment she met his gaze,
starting not from him, neither struggling to release her hands, but
looking up at him with a soft pleading look, that seemed to say, "You
know all that I have promised. Why do you persecute me?"
"Ella," he said again, "at last!"
"Mr Vining," she said wearily, "please loose my hands and let me
return. This is folly; it is unjust to me and to Sir Philip Vining.
You know what I have promised to him."
"I know what was cruelly wrung from you," he said bitterly; "but I
cannot think that you will adhere to it. Ella, dearest Ella, do you
doubt my love?"
She turned her eyes sadly to his for a moment, as he still held her a
prisoner.
"You believe me, then! You know how earnest I am!" cried Charley.
"Yes--yes!" she answered, her face bearing still the same sad weary
expression.
"Listen to me, then," continued Charley, his words sounding deep and
husky. "If we were what you would call equals in station--an utterly
false position--if I were some poor penniless tutor or curate telling
you of my love, pleading to you earnestly, showing you in every way how
dear you were to me, would you then--could you then--return that love?"
There was a silence for a few moments, and then, in a weak unguarded
moment, Ella raised her eyes once more to his, to gaze, in spite of
herself, fondly and earnestly, as she faintly breathed the one word
"Yes."
The next moment she had repented; for he had clasped her in his arms, to
kiss her fondly again and again, as frightened and struggling she strove
to escape.
"Pray--pray, Mr Vining," she sobbed; "this is cruel--it is unfair to
me;" and then she upbraided herself for her weakness.
But the next moment he was walking by her side, holding one hand still
captive, as he urged and pleaded with a love-awakened earnestness, while
Ella thought of all she had promised to Sir Philip Vining, and upbraided
herself bitterly for not leaving Copse Hall, though the blame, if any,
was not hers, since Mrs Brandon had again and again refused to hear of
her departure. At last she roused herself, and for the next five
minutes it was another spirit that contended with that of Charles
Vining.
"Mr Vining," she said, as quietly but firmly she withdrew her hand; and
he saw that, though deeply moved, there was a quiet determined will in
existence--"Mr Vining, you tell me that you love me."
"And you believe me," cried Charley hastily.
"And I believe you," said Ella steadily and hurriedly. "For the sake,
then, of that love--for my sake and my future welfare in this world,
leave me--try to see me no more--strive to forget all the past, and let
these words of yours be to you as some sad dream."
"If I forget all this--"
"Hush!" she exclaimed firmly; "and remember my prayer to you. I ask you
to do all this for my sake--for the sake of the love you bear me. I
have promised that I would meet you no more, and that promise I must
keep."
"Stop!" cried Charley angrily, for she had turned to go. "I love you
well, as you know--too well to accede to what you ask--and I tell you
now, as I have told those who have importuned me so to do, that I will
never, so long as I can see the faintest spark of affection for me, give
you up. I go now, Ella, to wait--to wait patiently, even if it be for
years. If rumours, set afloat by interested people, meet your ears,
credit nothing that tells of want of faith on my part to you. I will be
patient, and wait till you are less cruel--till you relent towards me:
for now you are to me, I may say, harsh. But recollect this: by your
treatment you condemn me to a life of misery and wretchedness, for I can
never again know peace. You wish me to leave you?"
"Yes," said Ella hoarsely; and without another word, he turned and
strode away, his brow knit, and the veins swollen and knotted; but had
he turned then, in the midst of his hot anger and disappointment at what
he called her cold heartless cruelty, he would have seen so pitiful, so
longing a look in Ella's eyes, that he would the next moment have been
asking pardon at her feet.
But he did not turn; and the next moment the bend in the pathway hid him
from her sight, as with a sigh that seemed to cut its way from her
heart, she, too, slowly turned, pressed her hands together, and walked
sadly back to Mrs Brandon's, closely followed by her charge.
Volume 2, Chapter XIII.