THE WEB OF FATE.
Arrived on the door-mat of the little parlour, where Cardo Wynne was
coming to an end of a repast, which showed by its small remnants that
it had been thoroughly appreciated, Valmai fell into a tremor of
uncertainty. Was it Cardo? Yes, she could not be mistaken in the
voice; but how would he take her sudden appearance? Would he be glad?
Would he be sorry? And the result of her mental conflict was a very
meek, almost inaudible knock.
"Come in," shouted Cardo from within. Another pause, during which
Cardo said, "Why the deuce don't you come in?"
The door was slowly opened, and there appeared Valmai, blushing and
trembling as if she had been caught in some delinquency.
For a moment Cardo was speechless with astonishment, but not for long,
for, in answer to Valmai's apologetic, "Oh! Cardo, it's me; it's only
me, whatever!" she was folded in his arms, and pressed so close to his
heart that her breath came and went in a gasp half of fright and half
of delight.
"Gracious heavens! What does it mean?" he said, holding her at arms'
length. "My own little wild sea-bird! My little white dove! My
darling, my wife! Where have you flown from? How are you here?"
They were interrupted by a thundering knock on the floor above them.
Cardo started. "What is that?" he said.
Valmai laughed as she somewhat regained her composure.
"It is Uncle John," she said. "Wait while I run up to him, and then I
will come back and explain everything."
"Uncle John!" said Cardo in bewilderment, as he saw through the doorway
the graceful white figure flit up the narrow stairs. "Uncle John! Can
that be Captain Powell? Of course, old Essec's brother, no doubt. I
have heard they are Pembrokeshire people."
"Well, how is he getting on?" said the old man, as Valmai entered
blushing.
"Oh, all right, uncle! there isn't much of the fowl left, so I'm sure
he enjoyed it."
"That's raight, may gel, that's raight. Now make him as comfortable as
you can. May jar of tobacco is down there somewhere, and there's a
bottle of whisky in the corner cupboard. Ay hear Jim Harris coming to
the door; now don't disturb me any more, and tell Mr. Gwyn Ay'll be
happy to see him tomorrow. Now, mind, no larks."
"No what?" said Valmai, with puckered eyebrows.
"Larks, larks! Don't you know what 'larks' are, child? Ay bet you do,
with that pretty face of yours."
Valmai still looked puzzled.
"Well, 'high jinks,' then; flirtation, then; will that suit your
ladyship?"
"Oh, flirtation! Very well, uncle, good-night." And after a kiss and
another "good gel," Valmai passed Jim at the doorway, and went slowly
downstairs.
Cardo stood at the bottom awaiting her with wide open arms.
"Come, come, Valmai; how slow you are, fanwylyd. I am waiting for you.
What made you step so slowly down the stairs?" he said, as he drew her
towards him; "you should have flown, dearest."
"I was thinking," said Valmai.
"And of what?"
"Thinking whether I had told uncle an untruth. He said, 'no
flirtations,' 'larks;' he called it; and I said, 'Very well, uncle,'
and I was wondering whether husband and wife could flirt."
Cardo laughed heartily.
"Come and sit by me, Valmai," he said, "and let us see. Come and
explain to me how, in the name of all that is wonderful and delightful,
I find you here, with your head nestled on my shoulder, instead of
being separated from me by wind and wave, as, in the natural course of
events, you should have been?"
"Well, you see, Cardo, when you passed the stile on Thursday (oh, that
sad Thursday!)"--Cardo shared in the shiver which shook her--"I was
there, to catch a last glimpse of you; but I was afraid to show myself
because of the 'Vicare du,' so I shrank down behind the hedge till you
had passed, and then I stood up and waved my handkerchief, and then you
were gone; and I fell down on the moss, and cried dreadfully. Oh,
Cardo, I did feel a big rent in my heart. I never thought it was going
to be mended so soon; and I roamed about all day, and tried hard to
keep my sorrow out of my thoughts, but I couldn't; it was like a heavy
weight here." And she crossed her hands on her bosom. "All that day,
and all the next, I went about from place to place, but _not_ to the
Berwen, I could not walk there without you; and the next morning, when
I came back from Ynysoer, where I had been to see Nance, I found my
uncle reading a letter. It was from Jim Harris, the sailor, who does
everything for Uncle John, to say he had broken his leg, and would I
come and nurse him? And indeed, I was very glad, whatever, to have
something to do; so I came at once. Uncle Essec drove me to Caer
Madoc, and I thought what a dull, grey town Fordsea was, until this
morning when the doctor came and said the _Burrawalla_ had come back
for repairs; and then the sun seemed to shine out, and when I went out
marketing, I could not think how I had made such a mistake about
Fordsea. It is the brightest, dearest place!"
"It is Paradise," said Cardo.
"There's Jim Harris going! I must go and lock the door."
"Everything is all raight, miss, and Ay wish you good-night," said Jim,
as he went out. He went through the same formula every night.
"Now for my part of the story," said Cardo, when she returned.
"First let me take the tea-things away, Cardo."
"No, no, bother the tea-things; let them be for a while, Valmai. I
forbid your carrying them away at present, and, you know, you have
promised to obey."
"Yes, indeed, and to love you, and no one ever did love anybody as much
as I love you. Oh, I am sure of it. No, indeed, Cardo. Not more,
whatever, but you know, you know," and her head drooped low, so that he
had to raise her chin to look into her face.
"I know what? I know you are my wife, and no earthly power can
separate us now. Where is your ring, dearest? It should be on this
little finger."
"No, it is here," and Valmai pressed her hand on her neck; "you know I
was to wear it here instead of on my finger until next year."
"Until I came back, darling; and until I took it off myself and placed
it on your finger. Come, wifie, where is it?"
Valmai allowed herself to be persuaded, and Cardo, undoing the white
satin ribbon, drew off the ring, and placed it on her finger. She
looked at it thoughtfully.
"Am I, then, really your wife, Cardo?"
"Really and truly, Valmai; signed, sealed, and delivered," he said;
"and let me see the man who dares to come between us!" and his black
eyes flashed with a look of angry defiance which Valmai had not seen
there before.
"Oh, anwl! I hope your eyes will never look like that at me," she said.
"But they will," said Cardo, laughing, "if you are the culprit who
tries to divide us. You don't know how fierce I can be."
"Please, sir, can I take the tea-things now?"
"On condition that you come back at once. No, let me carry them out
for you, dearest; you shall not begin by waiting upon me."
"Oh, but I must, Cardo, for old Mrs. Finch goes home when she has
brought the tea in always."
And she laughed merrily at Cardo's clumsy efforts at clearing away. As
she opened the door into the passage a tremendous roaring and snorting
filled the air.
"What on earth is that?" said Cardo.
"It is my uncle snoring, and if you dropped that tray (which I am
afraid you will) the clatter wouldn't awake him."
"Good old man! let him rest, then. You are not going to wash up those
things?"
"No, Mrs. Finch will do that in the morning. And now, Cardo, I must do
what my uncle told me to do," she said, as they returned into the cosy
parlour, glowing with the light of the blazing fire; and, holding up
her dress with her two fingers, she made a prim little curtsey, and
said:
"I hope your tea has been to your liking, sir? And now for the rest of
my duty. Here is his jar of tobacco, and here is the kettle on the
hob, and here is the bottle of whisky, and here are the slippers which
I had prepared for you."
"Little did I think, Valmai, it was you who had made everything look so
cosy and sweet for me--these flowers on the table and all those pretty
fal-lals on my dressing-table. Little did I think it was my little
wife who had prepared them all for me. But as I entered the front door
a strange feeling of happiness and brightness came over me."
"And I knew the first tone of your voice, Cardo. Oh, I would know it
anywhere--among a thousand."
There were innumerable questions for the one to ask and the other to
answer as they sat in the glowing firelight. First, there was the
description of the repairs required by Captain Owen's ship--"Blessed
repairs, Valmai!"--and the extraordinary special Providence which had
caused the ss. _Ariadne_ to collide at midships with the _Burrawalla_,
and, moreover, so to damage her that Cardo's berth and those of the
three other inmates of his cabin would alone be disturbed by the
necessary repairs.
"Captain Owen thinks we shall be ready to sail in three days, so it is
not worth while writing to my father," said Cardo. "The thick fog
which looked so dismal as I drove into Caer Madoc with him--how little
I guessed it would culminate in the darkness which brought about the
collision, and so unite me with my beloved wife. Valmai, if Providence
ever arranged a marriage, it was yours and mine, dearest."
"But, Cardo--"
"'But me no buts,' my lovely white sea-bird. Nothing can alter the
fact that you are my own little wife."
"Yes, I know," said Valmai, "but if you love me as much as you say you
do, grant me one request, Cardo."
"A hundred, dearest; what is it?"
"Well, we have had to be deceitful and secret--more so than I have ever
been in my life. We could not help it; but now, here, let us be open.
Give me leave to tell my uncle the truth."
"Valmai! he will write at once to his brother, and the news will reach
my father, and it will break his heart to find I have deceived him.
No, let me be the first to tell him. I shall have no hesitation in
doing so when I return this time next year."
"But, Cardo, dear old Uncle John is quite a different sort of man to my
Uncle Essec or to your father. I know he would never, never divulge
our secret; he is kindness itself, and would, I know, feel for us. And
it would be such a comfort to me to know that we had been open and
above-board where it was possible to be so. Cardo, say yes."
"Yes, yes, yes, dearest, I know, I feel you are right, so tell him the
whole truth. Oh, how proud I should be to tell the whole world were it
possible, and how proud I _shall_ be when I return, to publish abroad
my happiness. But until then, Valmai, you will keep to your promise of
perfect secrecy? for I would not for all the world that my father
should hear of my marriage from any lips but my own. You promise,
dearest?"
"Cardo, I promise," and Valmai looked pensively into the fire. "A year
is a long time," she said, "but it will come to an end some time."
"Don't call it a year. I don't see why I should not be back in eight
or nine months."
The kettle sang and the bright fire gleamed, the old captain snored
upstairs, and thus began for Valmai and Cardo that fortnight of
blissful happiness, which bore for both of them afterwards such bitter
fruits; for upon overhauling the _Burrawalla_ it was discovered that
she had sustained more injury than was at first suspected, and the two
or three days' delay predicted by Captain Owen were lengthened out to a
full fortnight, much to the captain's chagrin and the unspeakable
happiness of Cardo and Valmai.
Next day at eleven A.M. Captain Powell was lying in state, not with the
trappings of mourning around him, but decked out in a brilliant scarlet
dressing-gown, a yellow silk handkerchief bound round his head for a
night-cap. Jim Harris had just shaved him, and as he left the room had
said:
"There, capting, the Prince of Wales couldn't look no better."
Valmai flitted about, putting the finishing touches to her uncle's
gorgeous toilet.
"Do Ay look all raight, may dear?"
"Oh, splendid, uncle, only I would like you better in your plain white
night shirt and my little gray shawl pinned over you."
"Oh, go 'long! with your shawls and your pins! You wait another month
and Ay'll be kicking may heels about on the quay free from all these
old women's shawls and dressing-gowns and things. Now, you go and call
the young man up."
And Valmai went and soon returned, bringing Cardo with her.
"Well, Mr. Gwyn, and how are you? Very glad to see you, sir, under may
roof. Hope you slept well, and that the lil gel has given you a good
breakfast."
"Oh, first rate, sir," said Cardo, shaking hands and taking the chair
which Valmai placed for him beside the bed.
"Well, now, here's a quandary, the _Burrawalla_ is in! but it's an ill
wind that blows nobody any good, and since you must be delayed, Ay'm
very glad it has landed you here."
"The delay is of no consequence to me; and it's a wind I shall bless
all my life."
"Well, Ay don't know what Captain Owen would say to that nor the owners
nayther. They wouldn't join in your blessings, I expect."
Cardo felt he had made a mistake, and looked at Valmai for inspiration.
"Mr. Wynne was rather hurried away, uncle, so he was not sorry to come
back."
Cardo nodded his thanks to Valmai, and the captain and he were soon
chatting unconstrainedly, and when at last Cardo accepted a cigar from
a silver case which the captain drew from under his pillow, his
conquest of the old man's heart was complete.
"If Ay _am_ cooped up here in bed," he said, "Ay'm not going to be
denied may smoke, nor yet may glass of toddy, though the doctor trayed
hard to stop it. 'Shall Ay mix it a little weaker, sir?' sez Jim
Harris. None of your tarnished nonsense, Ay sez, you mix it as usual.
Ay've stuck to my toddy (just one glass or two at naight) for the last
thirty years, and it's not going to turn round on me, and do me harm
now. Eh, Mr. Gwyn?"
Cardo lighted his cigar with an apology to Valmai.
"Oh, she's used to it," said the captain, "and if she don't like it,
she can go downstairs; you'll want to see about Mr. Gwyn's dinner, may
dear."
"No, no, sir," said Cardo, "certainly not. I dine every day with all
the other passengers on board the _Burrawalla_. I shall come back to
my tea, and I hope your niece will always sit down to her tea and
breakfast with me."
"Oh, well, if you laike. She's quaite fit to sit down with any
nobleman in the land."
Later on in the day, Valmai, sitting on the window-seat reading out to
her uncle from the daily paper, suddenly laid it aside.
"Rather a dull paper to-day, uncle!"
"Yes, rather, may dear; but you are not reading as well as usual;" and
she wasn't, for in truth she was casting about in her mind for a good
opening for her confession to her uncle. "Suppose you sing me a song,
may dear!"
And she tried--
"By Berwen's banks my love hath strayed
For many a day in sun and shade,
And as she carolled loud and clear
The little birds flew down to hear."
"That don't go as well as usual, too," said her uncle, unceremoniously
cutting short the ballad. "Haven't you any more news to give me?"
"Shall I tell you a story, uncle?"
"Well, what's it about, may dear? Anything to pass the taime! Ay'm
getting very taired of lying abed."
"Well then, listen uncle; it's a true story."
"Oh, of course," said the old man. "'Is it true, mother?' Ay used to
ask when she told us a story. 'Yes, of course,' she'd say, 'if it
didn't happen in this world, it happened in some other,' so, go on, may
dear."
"Well," said Valmai, laughing rather nervously, "this happened in this
world, whatever! Once upon a time, there was a young girl who was
living on a wild sea-coast. It was very beautiful, but she was very
lonely sometimes, for she had no father nor mother, nor sister nor
brother."
"Poor thing," said the old man.
"Yes, certainly, she was very lonely," continued Valmai; "but one day
she met a young man, bright and brave and true."
"Handsome?"
"Yes, handsome, with sparkling black eyes, and--and--oh, very handsome!
and they loved each other truly, and--and--"
"Yes, yes! skip that. Ay know that. Go on."
"You can imagine that the poor lonely girl gave all her heart to her
lover, as there was no one else who cared for it; and so the days were
going by, and they were all in all to each other. But he had a stern,
morose father, and she had a cold and selfish uncle; and these two men
hated each other with a deadly hatred, just like a story book."
"Yes, Ay know," said the old man; "like Romeo and Juliet, you know."
"Perhaps, indeed," said Valmai; "but anyway, they dare not tell anyone
of their love, for they knew that the old father would never agree to
their being married, and the young man was very fond of his father,
although he was so dark and dour. At last, suddenly, he told his son
that he wanted him to go a long way off on business for him, and,
wishing to please him, he agreed to go."
"More fool he!" said the captain. "Ay wouldn't 'a gone."
"But he promised, and he hoped that when he had given his father this
proof of his love, he would give his consent to his marriage."
"Was he rich?"
"Yes, rather, I think."
"Well, why in the name of common sense didn't he defy his tarnished old
father, and marry the girl he liked?"
"You'll see, uncle; wait a minute. The days passed on, and their
parting was drawing near, and the nearer it came the more miserable
they were; and at last the lover begged his sweetheart to marry him, so
that he might feel, when he was far away, that she was really his wife
whatever might happen. Well, they were married the very morning on
which he left; married in an old, deserted church by a young clergyman,
who was a good and true friend to them."
"A jolly nice man he must have bin!"
"Yes, indeed, he was."
"You are making it all up in your head, Ay know. But what did they do
next?"
"Well, as soon as they were married, they kissed and said good-bye with
breaking hearts."
"Oh, dash it!" said the captain, "Ay'd have managed it better than
that, anyhow."
"But they didn't. The bridegroom sailed away, for the country he was
going to was miles and miles and miles over the sea, and the poor bride
was left at home with her sorrow. But soon afterwards she went to live
with another relation, a dear old man--the best, the kindest, the
tenderest, the jolliest old man in the world. In fact, he had only one
fault, and that was that he sometimes used a bad word."
"Poor old chap!" said the captain. "You mustn't be too hard upon him
for that, Valmai, becos Ay dare say he couldn't help it. P'r'aps you
wouldn't believe it now, but there was a taime when Ay swore like a
trooper; and it grew upon me so much that Ay d--d everything!--even the
milk for breakfast--and Ay'm dashed if Ay could stop it, Valmai. May
poor mother was alive then, and she sez to me one day with tears in her
eyes, 'Tray, may boy, to leave off swearing; it is killing me,' she
sez, with her sweet, gentle voice. So Ay sez to mayself, 'John,' Ay
sez, 'you are a d--d fool. You're killing your mother with your
foolish swears. Pull up short,' sez Ay, 'and tray and faind some other
word that'll do.' So Ay fixed upon 'tarnished,' and Ay'm dashed if may
mother wasn't perfectly satisfayed. It's a grand word! Puts you in
mind of tar and 'tarnal and tarpauling, and lots of shippy things.
'Twas hard to get used to it at first; but 'pon may word now, may dear,
it comes as nat'ral as swearing. But there! go on with the story.
Where were we?"
Valmai was a little bewildered by the captain's reminiscences.
"Well, we had just come to where the girl, or rather the young wife,
had gone to live with her other uncle. Here she would have been as
happy as the day is long, had it not been for the continual sorrow for
her lover."
The captain began to look a little suspicious, but Valmai hastened to
prevent further interruptions.
"But now comes the wonderful part of the story, uncle. A dreadful
storm arose, and a thick fog came on, and the ship in which the
bridegroom sailed was so damaged that she had to put back for repairs.
The young man found lodgings in the town, and what house do you think
he came to? but the very one where the bride lived with her dear old
uncle, and they made up their minds to tell him everything, and to
throw themselves on his generosity. Dear uncle, what do you think of
my story?"
"Dashed if Ay didn't begin to think it was me you meant by the old man.
But child, child, you are not going to cheat that kind old uncle, and
tell him a pack of lies, and laugh at him. You are not the bride?"
"Yes, uncle," said Valmai, with blushing face and drooping eyelids.
"And Mr. Gwyn is the bridegroom?"
"Yes. His name is Wynne, not Gwyn."
"And you knew nothing about it until he came here yesterday?"
"Nothing; but that he had sailed in the _Burrawalla_, and when I heard
she had returned a wild hope came to me, and when I heard his voice in
the passage I could have fainted with joy."
"And you are both united under may roof? and are man and wife?"
"Yes. Oh, uncle, don't be angry! It was not our own doing. It was
Providence who sent him back to me from the storm and fog. _Don't_ be
angry."
"Angry, child!" said the old man, almost lifting himself up in his bed;
"why Ay'm tarnished if anything so jolly ever happened in may laife
before. And to think we have dodged the old father! and the old uncle!
Why, that must be Essec!" and this discovery was followed by a burst of
rumbling laughter, which set Valmai more at her ease.
"But never mind who he is, here you are, and here you shall be happy.
Ay'll take your parts, may dears. Ay'll see that nothing comes between
you any more."
"And you will keep our secret, uncle, until Cardo comes back?"
"Of course, child. We mustn't tell anyone, for fear it will get round
to the old father's ears. Bay the bay, who is he?"
"Mr. Wynne, the Vicar of the parish, the 'Vicare du' they call him,
from his black looks."
"The 'Vicare du!'" said the captain, "why! he is rolling in money!
You've done a tidy little job for yourself, may gel, and your old Uncle
John will befriend you."
Here Mrs. Finch opened the door, and, with a sniff, said, "The
gentleman's come back, and he wants to know can he see Miss Powell?"
The captain fell into another fit of laughter, while Mrs. Finch stared
at him in astonishment.
"Tell him to come up," he said, at last, "you gaping old gudgeon, what
you standing staring there for? Send Mr. Wynne up. Tell him the lady
is here, and Ay want to see him."
In a few moments Cardo bounded up, three steps at a time, but not
without fears as to the effect of Valmai's revelation, for she had
whispered to him as she had let him out at the front door:
"I am going up to tell him now."
"Well Ay never!" said the Captain, with pretended severity; "how dare
you show your face to me after stealing may lil gel from under may very
nose? Come here, you rascal, and shake hands over it! Wish you joy,
may dear fellow! And the lil one, where is she? Come here, you lil
fool! What are you hiding there for? Come and put your hand in your
husband's. There now! that's something like it. And God bless you.
So you're husband and wife, are ye?" looking critically from one to the
other. "Well, ye're a jolly good-looking pair! And so ye're married,
are ye?"
"With your permission, sir," said Cardo, laughing, "and with your
blessing upon us. I am so thankful to feel I shall not be leaving
Valmai without a friend when I sail."
"No, no, not without a friend. Ay'll stick to her. But, look here,
keep it all dark from old Finch!" And he seemed bursting with the
importance and pleasure of his secret. "You go down to your tea, may
dears; Ay ain't going to be a selfish old uncle. No, no, go along with
you, both of you, and send old Finch up to me. But look here!" he
called after them, in a hoarse whisper, "mum's the word!"
The sun shone brilliantly, and the weather seemed to repent of its late
burst of temper. Never had there been such a lovely September! Never
had the harbour glistened so brightly in the sunshine, and never since
he had broken his leg had the captain laughed so heartily or enjoyed
himself so thoroughly as he did during the fortnight which followed,
when Cardo read to him out of the newspaper and Valmai sang at her work
about the house.
Captain Owen came in every day with news of the repairs.
"Well, Mr. Wynne," he said one morning, "I am happy to tell you we
shall sail to-morrow afternoon."
Cardo's heart sank, and Valmai turned very pale.
"Your cabin is being refitted to-day, and I shall be glad if you can
come on board by four o'clock to-morrow afternoon. There's every
promise of fine weather. No more fogs, no more collisions, I hope."
"I'll take care to be on board in good time," Cardo said.
"Tarnished if Ay won't be awful dull without you!" said Captain Powell.
"He's been as jolly, and as much at home here as you would yourself,
Owen! He's read to me and he's brought me cigars, and always with a
smile on his face; and Ay hope he's bin comfortable here."
"Thoroughly, indeed," said Cardo. "I shall never forget the fortnight
I have passed under your roof."
"The lil gel has done her best, Ay know," said his host.
"A year I think you said you were going out for," said Captain Owen.
"Well, I hope to be away only eight or nine months; certainly not
longer than a year," said Cardo.
And while the two old sea captains bade their last good-byes and good
wishes to each other, Cardo slipped out to find Valmai, who had quietly
disappeared.
She was sitting on the old red sofa in the little back parlour in an
abandonment of grief.
"Oh! Cardo, Cardo, it has come! Now in reality it has come!"
Cardo drew her towards him.
"Cheer up, darling," he said. "You'll be brave for my sake, won't you?"
"Yes," she said, trying to check her sobs, "this is the last time I am
going to be weak and childish. To-morrow I will be strong and brave
and womanly. You will see, Cardo, a bright, courageous wife to cheer
her husband at parting, and to bid him look forward with hope to
meeting again. Oh! I know quite well what I ought to be."
"You are perfection in my eyes, f'anwylyd--that is what makes the
parting with you so cruel. Gwynne Ellis was quite right when he said
that it would be much harder to part with a wife of a week than a
sweetheart of a year."