UNDERCURRENTS
Undoubtedly the Coroner's expedient had prevented a riot in the village.
The police deferred execution of the warrant, and Mr. Stockwell,
recognizing the hopelessness of the situation, co-operated with them in
making arrangements which would serve to allay public excitement.
The dead man was removed unobtrusively to his Nottonby residence on
Sunday evening. Accompanying the hearse was a closed carriage in which
rode Mrs. Pickering and Kitty. At the door of Wetherby Lodge, Mr.
Stockwell met the cortege, and when the coffin was installed in the
spacious library the solicitor introduced the weeping servants to their
temporary mistress, since he and Mr. Herbert had decided that she ought
to reside in the house for a time. Such a fact, when it became known,
would help to mold public opinion.
An elderly housekeeper was minded to greet Betsy with bitter words. Her
young master had been dear to her, and she had not scrupled earlier to
denounce in scathing terms the woman who had encompassed his death.
But the sight of the wan, white face, the sorrow-laden eyes, the
graceful, shrinking figure of the girl-widow, restrained an imminent
outburst, and the inevitable reaction carried the housekeeper to the
other extreme.
"How d'ye do, ma'am," she said brokenly. "'Tis a weary homecomin' ye've
had. Mebbe ye'll be likin' a cup o' tea."
Betsy murmured that she had no wants, but Yorkshire regards food as a
panacea for most evils, and the housekeeper bade one of the maids "put a
kettle on."
So the ice was broken, and Mr. Stockwell breathed freely again, for he
had feared difficulty in this quarter.
On Monday Pickering was buried, and the whole countryside attended the
funeral, which was made impressive by the drumming and marching of the
dead man's company of Territorials. On Tuesday morning a special sitting
of the county magistrates was held in the local police court. Betsy
attended with her solicitor, the Coroner's warrant was enforced, she was
charged by the police with the murder of George Pickering, and remanded
for a week in custody.
The whole affair was carried out so unostentatiously that Betsy was in
jail before the public knew that she had appeared at the police court.
In one short week the unhappy dairymaid had experienced sharp
transitions. She had become a wife, a widow. She was raised from the
condition of a wage-earner to the status of an independent lady, and
taken from a mansion to a prison. Bereft of her husband by her own act
and separated from friends and relatives by the inexorable decree of the
law, she was faced by the uncertain issue of a trial by an impartial
judge and a strange jury. Surely, the Furies were exhausting their spite
on one frail creature.
On Sunday evening Mrs. Saumarez drove in her car through the rain to tea
at the White House. She was alone. Her manner was more reserved than
usual, though she shook hands with Mrs. Bolland with a quiet
friendliness that more than atoned for the perceptible change in her
demeanor. Her wonted air of affable condescension had gone. Her face
held a new seriousness which the other woman was quick to perceive.
"I have come to have a little chat with you," she said. "I am going away
soon."
The farmer's wife thought she understood.
"I'm rale sorry te hear that, yer leddyship."
"Indeed, I regret the necessity myself. But recent events have opened my
eyes to the danger of allowing my child to grow up in the untrammeled
freedom which I have permitted--encouraged, I may say. It breaks my
heart to be stern toward her. I must send her to the South, where there
are good schools, where others will fulfil obligations in which I have
failed."
And, behold! Mrs. Saumarez choked back a sob.
"Eh, ma'am," cried the perturbed Martha, "there's nowt to greet aboot.
T' lass is young eneuf yet, an' she's a bonny bairn, bless her heart. We
all hae te part wi' 'em. It'll trouble me sore when Martin goes away,
but 'twill be for t' lad's good."
"You dear woman, you have nothing to reproach yourself with. I have.
Your fine boy would never dream of rending your soul as Angele has rent
mine to-day--all because I wished her to read an instructive book
instead of a French novel."
"Mebbe you were a bit hard wi' her," said the older woman. "To be sure,
ye wouldn't be suited by this nasty inquest; but is it wise to change
all at once? Slow an' sure, ma'am, is better'n fast an' feckless. Where
is t' little 'un now?"
"At home, crying her eyes out because I insisted that she should remain
there."
"Ay, I reckon she'd be wantin' te see Martin."
"Do you think I may have been too severe with her?"
"It's not for t' likes o' me to advise a leddy like you, but yon bairn
needs to be treated gently, for all t' wulld like a bit o' delicate
chiney. Noo, when Martin was younger, I'd gie him a slap ower t' head,
an' he'd grin t' minnit me back was turned. Your little gell is
different."
"In my place, would you go back for her now?"
"No, ma'am, I wouldn't. That'd show weak. But I'd mek up for't
te-morrow. Then she'll think all t' more o' yer kindness."
So the regeneration of Angele commenced. Was it too late? She was only a
child in years. Surely there was yet time to mold her character in
better shape. Mrs. Saumarez hoped so. She dried her tears, and, with
Bolland's appearance, the conversation turned on the lamentable weather.
She was surprised to hear that August was often an unsettled month,
though this storm was not only belated but almost unprecedented in its
severity.
Mr. Herbert went to Nottonby early next day. He attended the funeral,
heard the will read at Wetherby Grange in the presence of some
disappointed cousins of the dead man, visited Betsy to say a few
consoling words, and drove back to the vicarage through the unceasing
rain.
Tea awaited him in the drawing-room, but his first glance at Elsie
alarmed him. Her face was flushed, her eyes red. She was a most
woebegone little maid.
"My dear child," he cried, "what is the matter?"
"I want you--to forgive me--first," she stammered brokenly.
"Forgive you, my darling! Forgive you for what?"
"I've been--reading the paper."
He drew her to his knee.
"What crime is there in reading the paper, sweet one?"
"I mean that horrid inquest, father dear."
"Oh!"
The smiling wonder left his face. Elsie looked up timidly.
"I ought to have asked your permission," she said, "but you were away,
and auntie has a headache, and Miss Holland (her governess) has gone on
her holidays, and I was so curious to know what all the bother was
about."
Yet he did not answer. Hitherto his daughter, his one cherished
possession, had been kept sedulously from knowledge of the external
world. But she was shooting up, slender and straight, the image of her
dead mother. Soon she would be a woman, and it was no part of his theory
of life that a girl should be plunged into the jungle of adult existence
without a reasonable consciousness of its snares and pitfalls. So ideal
were the relations of father and daughter that the vicar had deferred
the day of enlightenment. It had come sooner than he counted on.
Elsie was frightened now. Her tears ceased and the flush left her
cheeks.
"Are you very angry?" she whispered. He kissed her.
"No, darling, not angry, but just a little pained. It was an unpleasing
record for your eyes. There, now. Give me some tea, and we'll talk about
it. You may have formed some mistaken notions. Tell me what you thought
of it all. In any case, Elsie, why were you crying?"
"I was so sorry for that poor woman. And why did the Coroner believe she
killed her husband, when Mr. Pickering said she had not touched him?"
The vicar saw instantly that the girl had missed the more unpleasing
phases of the tragedy. He smiled again.
"Bring me the paper," he said. "I was present at the inquest. Perhaps
the story is somewhat garbled."
She obeyed. He cast a critical glance over the leaded columns, for the
weekly newspaper had given practically a verbatim report of the
evidence, and there was a vivid description of the scene in the
schoolroom, with its dramatic close.
"It is by no means certain, from the evidence tendered, that the Coroner
is right," said Mr. Herbert slowly. "In these matters, however, the
police are compelled to sift all statements thoroughly, and the only
legal way is to frame a charge. Although Mrs. Pickering may be tried for
murder, it does not follow that she will be convicted."
"But," questioned Elsie, "Martin Bolland said he heard her crying out
that she had killed Mr. Pickering?"
"He may have misunderstood."
"Just imagine him fighting with Frank, and about Angele Saumarez, too."
"You may take it from me that Martin behaved very well indeed. Angele is
a little vixen, a badly behaved, spoilt child, I fear. Young
Beckett-Smythe is a booby who encouraged her wilfulness. Martin thrashed
him. It would have been far better had Martin not been there at all; but
if he were my son I should still be proud of him."
The girl's face brightened visibly. There was manifest relief in her
voice.
"I am so glad we've had this talk," she cried. "I--like Martin, and it
did seem so odd that he should have been fighting about Angele."
"He knew she ought to be at home, and told her so. Frank interfered, and
got punched for his pains. It served him right."
She helped herself to a large slice of tea-cake.
"I don't know why I was so silly as to cry--but--I really did think Mrs.
Pickering was in awful trouble."
The vicar laid the paper aside. His innocent-minded daughter had not
even given a thought to the vital issues of the affair. He breathed
freely, and told her of the funeral. Nevertheless, he had failed to
fathom the cause of those red eyes.
A servant clearing the tea-table bethought her of a note which came for
Mr. Herbert some two hours earlier. She brought it from the study. It
was from Mrs. Saumarez, inviting him and Elsie to luncheon next day.
"Angele will be delighted," she wrote, "if Elsie will remain longer than
usual. It is dull for children to be cooped within doors during this
miserable weather. I am asking Martin Bolland to join us for tea."
Mr. Herbert was a kind-hearted man, yet he wished most emphatically
that Mrs. Saumarez had not proffered this request. To make an excuse for
his daughter's non-attendance would convey a distinct slight which could
only be interpreted in one way, after the publicity given to Angele's
appearance at the inquest. He shirked the ordeal. Bother Angele!
He glanced covertly at Elsie. All unconscious of the letter's contents,
the girl was looking out ruefully at the leaden sky. There might be no
more picnics for weeks.
"Mrs. Saumarez has invited us to luncheon," he said.
"When?" she asked unconcernedly.
"To-morrow. She wishes you to spend the afternoon with Angele."
Elsie turned, with quick animation.
"I don't care to go," she said.
"Why not? You know very little about her."
"She seems to me--curious."
"Well, I personally don't regard her as a desirable companion for you.
But there is no need to give offense, and it will not hurt you to meet
her for an hour or so. Your friend Martin is coming, too."
"Oh," she cried, "that makes a great difference."
Her father laughed.
"Between you, you will surely manage to keep Angele out of mischief.
And, now, my pet, what do you say to an hour with La Fontaine, while I
attend to some correspondence? Where are my pupils?"
"They went for a long walk. Mr. Gregory said they would not be home
until dinner-time."
Next morning, for a wonder, the clouds broke, and an autumn sun strove
to cheer the scarred and drowned earth. Mrs. Saumarez met her guests
with the unobtrusive charm of a skilled hostess. Angele, demure and
shrinking, extended her hand to Elsie with a shy civility that was an
exact copy of Elsie's own attitude.
During luncheon she behaved so charmingly and spoke with such sweet
naturalness when any question was addressed to her that Mr. Herbert
found himself steadily recasting his unfavorable opinion.
The conversation steered clear of any reference to the inquest. Mrs.
Saumarez was a widely read and traveled woman, and versed in the art of
agreeable small talk.
Once, in referring to Angele, she said smilingly:
"I have been somewhat selfish in keeping her with me always. But, now, I
have decided that she must go to school. I'll winter in Brighton, with
that object in view."
"Will you like that?" said the vicar to the child.
"I'll not like leaving mamma; but school, yes. I feel I want to learn a
lot. I suppose Elsie is, oh, so clever?"
She peeped at the other girl under her long eyelashes, and made pretense
of being awe-stricken by such eminent scholastic attainments in one of
her own age.
"Elsie has learnt a good deal from books, but you have seen much more of
the world. If you work hard, you will soon make up the lost ground."
"I'll try. I have been trying--all day yesterday! Eh, mamma?"
Mrs. Saumarez sighed.
"I ought to have engaged a governess," she said. "I cannot teach. I have
no patience."
Mr. Herbert did not know that Angele's educational efforts of the
preceding day consisted in a smug decorum that irritated her mother
exceedingly. This luncheon party had been devised as a relief from
Angele's burlesque. She termed it "jouer le bon enfant."
After the meal they strolled into the garden. The storm had played havoc
with shrubs and flowers, but the graveled paths were dry, and the lawn
was firm, if somewhat damp. Mrs. Saumarez had caused a fine swing to be
erected beneath a spreading oak. It held two cushioned seats, and two
propelling ropes were attached to a crossbar. It made swinging a luxury,
not an exercise.
"By the way," cried Mrs. Saumarez to the vicar, "do you smoke?"
He pleaded guilty to a pipe.
"Then you can smoke a cigar. Francoise packed a box among my
belongings--the remnants of some forgotten festivity in the Savoy. Do
try one. If you like it, may I send you the others?"
The vicar discovered that the gift would be costly--nearly forty Villar
y Villars, of exquisite flavor.
"Do you know that you are giving me five pounds?" he laughed.
"I never learn the price of these things. I am so glad they are good.
You will enjoy them."
"It tickles a poor country vicar to hear you talk so easily of Lucullian
feasts, Mrs. Saumarez. What must the banquet have been, when the cigars
cost a half-crown each!"
"Oh, I am not hard up. Colonel Saumarez had only his army pay, but my
estates lie near Hamburg, and you know how that port has grown of
recent years."
"Do you never reside there?"
Mrs. Saumarez inclined a pink-lined parasol so that its reflected tint
mingled with the rush of color which suffused her face. Had the worthy
vicar given a moment's thought to the matter, he would have known that
his companion wished she had bitten her tongue before it wagged so
freely.
"I prefer English society to German," she answered, after a slight
pause.
Oddly enough, this statement was literally true, but she dared not
qualify it by the explanation that an autocratic government exacted
heavy terms for permitting her to draw a large revenue from her Hamburg
property.
Blissfully unaware of treading on anyone's toes, Mr. Herbert pursued the
theme.
"In my spare hours I take an interest in law," he said. "Your marriage
made you a British subject. Does German law raise no difficulty as to
alien ownership of land and houses?"
"My family, the von Edelsteins, have great influence."
This time the vicar awoke to the fact that he might be deemed unduly
inquisitive. He knew better than to apologize, or even change the
subject abruptly.
"Land tenure is a complex business in old-established countries," he
went on. "Take this village, for example. You may have noticed how every
garth runs up the hillside in a long, narrow strip. Ownership of land
bordering the moor carries the right of free grazing for a certain
number of sheep, so every freeholder contrives to touch the heather at
some point."
"Ah!" said Mrs. Saumarez, promptly interested, "that explains the
peculiar shape of the Bolland land at the back of the White House. An
admirable couple, are they not? And so medieval in their notions. I
attended what they call a 'love feast' the other evening. John Bolland
introduced me as 'Sister Saumarez.' When he became wrapped up in the
service he reminded me, or, rather, filled my ideal, of a high priest in
Israel."
"Was Eli Todd there?"
"The preacher? Yes."
"He is a fine fellow. Given to use a spiritual sledge-hammer, perhaps,
but the implements of the Lord are many and varied. Far be it from me to
gainsay the good work done by the dissenting congregations. If there
were more chapels, there would be more churches in the land, Mrs.
Saumarez."
They had strolled away from the girls, and little did the vicar dream
what deeps they had skirted in their talk.
Angele led Elsie to the swing.
"Try this," she said. "It's just lovely to feel the air sizzing past
your ears."
"I have a swing," said Elsie, "but not like this one. It is a single
rope, with a little crossbar, which I hold in my hands and propel with
my feet. It is hard work, I assure you."
"Grand Dieu! So I should think."
"Oh!" cried Elsie, "you shouldn't say that."
"Vous me faites rire! You speak French?"
"Yes--a little."
"How stupid of me not to guess. I can say what I like before Martin
Bolland. He is a nice boy--Martin."
"Yes," agreed Elsie shortly.
She blushed. They were in the swing now, and swooping to and fro in long
rushes. Angele's black eyes were searching Elsie's blue ones. She
tittered unpleasantly.
"What makes you so red when I speak of Martin?" she demanded.
"I am not red--that is, I have no reason to be."
"You know him well?"
"Do you mean Martin?"
"Sapristi!--I beg your pardon--who else?"
"I--I have only met him twice, to speak to. I have known him by sight
for years."
"Twice? The first time when he killed that thing--the cat. When was the
second?"
Angele was tugging her rope with greater energy than might be credited
to one of her slight frame. The swing was traveling at a great pace. Her
fierce gaze disquieted Elsie, to whom this inquisition was irksome.
"Let us stop now," she said.
"No, no. Tell me when next you saw Martin. I _must_ know."
"But why?"
"Because he became different in his manner all at once. One day he
kissed me----"
"Oh, you _are_ horrid."
"I swear it. He kissed me last Wednesday afternoon. I did not see him
again until Saturday. Then he was cold. He saw you after Wednesday."
By this time Elsie's blood was boiling.
"Yes," she said, and the blue in her eyes held a hard glint. "He saw me
on Wednesday night. We happened to be standing at our gate. Frank
Beckett-Smythe passed on his bicycle. He was chased by a groom--sent
home to be horsewhipped--because he was coming to meet you."
"O la la!" shrilled Angele. "That was nine o'clock. Does papa know?"
Poor Elsie crimsoned to the nape of her neck. She wanted to cry--to slap
this tormentor's face. Yet she returned Angele's fiery scrutiny with
interest.
"Yes," she said with real heat. "I told him Martin came to our house,
but I said nothing about Frank--and you. It was too disgraceful."
She jerked viciously at her rope to counteract the pull given by Angele.
The opposing strains snapped the crossbar. Both ropes fell, and with
them the two pieces of wood. One piece tapped Angele somewhat sharply on
the shoulder, and she uttered an involuntary cry.
The vicar and Mrs. Saumarez hurried up, but the swing stopped gradually.
Obviously, neither of the girls was injured.
"You must have been using great force to break that stout bar," said Mr.
Herbert, helping Angele to alight.
"Yes. Elsie and I were pulling against each other. But we had a lovely
time, didn't we, Elsie?"
"I think I enjoyed it even more than you," retorted Elsie. The elders
attributed her excited demeanor to the accident.
"If the ropes were tied to the crossbeam, they would be safer, and
almost as effective," said the vicar. "Ah! Here comes Martin. Perhaps
he can put matters right."
"I don't want to swing any more," vowed Elsie.
"But Martin will," laughed Angele. "We can swop partners. That will be
jolly, won't it?"
Blissfully unaware of the thorns awaiting him, the boy advanced. To be
candid, he was somewhat awkward in manner. He did not know whether to
shake hands all round or simply doff his cap to the entire company.
Moreover, he noted Elsie's presence with mixed feelings, for Mrs.
Saumarez's note had merely invited him to tea. There was no mention of
other visitors. He was delighted, yet suspicious. Elsie and Angele were
flint and steel. There might be sparks.
Mrs. Saumarez rescued him from one horn of the dilemma. She extended a
hand and asked if Mr. Bolland were not pleased that the rain had ceased.
"Now, Martin," said the vicar briskly, "shin up the pole and tie the
ropes to the center-piece. These strong-armed giantesses have smashed a
chunk of timber as thick as your wrist. Don't allow either of them to
hit you. They'll pulverize you at a stroke."
"I fear it was I who broke it," admitted Elsie.
"Then it is you he must beware of."
The vicar, in the midst of this chaff, gave Martin a "leg-up" the pole,
and repairs were effected.
When the swing was in order he slid to the ground. Mr. Herbert resumed
the stroll with Mrs. Saumarez. There was an awkward pause before Martin
said:
"You girls get in. I'll start you."
He spoke collectively, but addressed Elsie. He wondered why her air was
so distant.
"No, thank you," she said. "I've done damage enough already."
"Martin," murmured Angele, "she is furious because I said you kissed
me."
This direct attack was a crude blunder. Mischievous and utterly
unscrupulous though the girl was, she could not measure this boy's real
strength of character. The great man is not daunted by great
difficulties--he grapples with them; and Martin had in him the material
of greatness. He felt at once that he must now choose irrevocably
between the two girls, with a most unpromising chance of ever again
recovering lost ground with one of them. He did not hesitate an instant.
"Did you say that?" he demanded sternly.
"Ma foi! Isn't it true?"
"The truth may be an insult. You had no right to thrust your schemes
into Elsie's knowledge."
"My schemes, you--you pig. I spit at you. Isn't it true?"
"Yes--unfortunately. I shall regret it always."
Angele nearly flew at him with her nails. But she contrived to laugh
airily.
"Eh bien, mon cher Martin! There will come another time. I shall
remember."
"There will come no other time. You dared me to it. I was stupid enough
to forget--for a moment."
"Forget what?"
"That there was a girl in Elmsdale worth fifty of you--an English girl,
not a mongrel!"
It was a boyish retort, feeble, unfair, but the most cutting thing he
could think of. The words were spoken in heat; he would have recalled
them at once if that were possible, but Angele seized the opening with
glee.
"That's you!" she cried, stabbing her rival with a finger. "Parbleu! I'm
a mixture, half English, half German, but really bad French!"
"Please don't drag me into your interesting conversation," said Elsie
with bitter politeness.
"I am sorry I said that," put in the boy. "I might have had two friends.
Now I have lost both."
He turned. His intent was to quit the place forthwith. Elsie caught his
arm with an alarmed cry.
"Martin," she almost screamed, "look at your left hand. It is covered
with blood!"
Surprised as she, he raised his hand. Blood was streaming down the
fingers.
"It's nothing," he said coolly. "I must have opened a deep cut by
climbing the swing."
"Quelle horreur!" exclaimed Angele. "I hate blood!"
"I'm awfully sorry--" began Martin.
"Nonsense! Come at once to the kitchen and have it bound up," said
Elsie.
They hurried off together. Angele did not offer to accompany them.
Martin glanced at Elsie through the corner of his eye. Her set mouth had
relaxed somewhat. Anger was yielding to sympathy.
"I was fighting another wildcat, so was sure to get scratched," he
whispered.
"You needn't have kissed it, anyhow," she snapped.
"That, certainly, was a mistake," he admitted.
She made no reply. Once within the house she removed the stained bandage
without flinching from the ugly sight of half-healed scars, one of which
was bleeding profusely. Cold water soon stopped the outflow, and one of
the maids procured some strips of linen, with which Elsie bound the
wound tightly.
They had a moment to themselves in recrossing the hall. Martin ventured
to touch the girl's shoulder.
"Look here, Elsie," he said boldly, "do you forgive me?"
Something in his voice told her that mere verbal fencing would be
useless.
"Yes," she murmured with a wistful smile. "I'll forgive, but I can't
forget--for a long time."
On the lawn they encountered Mrs. Saumarez. Learning from Angele why the
trio had dispersed so suddenly, she was coming to attend to Martin
herself.
The vicar joined them.
"Really," he said, "some sort of ill luck is attached to that swing
to-day."
And then Francoise appeared, to tell them that tea was ready.
"What curious French she talks," commented the smiling Elsie.
"Yes," cried Angele tartly. "Bad French, eh? And I know heaps and heaps
of it."
She caught Mr. Herbert's eye, and added an excuse:
"I'm going to change all that. People think I'm naughty when I speak
like a domestic. And I really don't mean anything wrong."
"We all use too much slang," said the tolerant-minded vicar. "It is
sheer indolence. We refuse to bother our brains for the right word."