A hasty supper had been got up in some large barns at the back of the
Court. When the Squire's carriage disappeared out of sight, Griffiths
rode hastily down to invite the villagers to partake of the hospitality
which had been arranged for them. He passed Hetty, was attracted by her
blooming face, and gave her a warm invitation.
"Come along, Mrs. Vincent," he said, "we can't do without you. Your
husband has promised to stay. I'll see you in the west barn in a few
minutes' time."
Vincent came up at this moment and touched Hetty on her shoulder.
"I thought we might as well go in for the whole thing," he said, "and
I'm a bit peckish. You'd like to stay, wouldn't you, Het?"
"That I would," she replied. "You'll come too, aunt?" she continued,
glancing at Mrs. Armitage.
"No, I can't be spared," replied Mrs. Armitage; "me and Armitage must
hurry back to the inn. We've been away too long as it is."
"Oh, George, I promised to help Aunt Fanny to-night," said Hetty, torn
by her desire to remain in the Squire's vicinity and the remembrance of
her promise.
"We'll let you off, Het," said the old uncle, laying his heavy hand on
her shoulder. "Go off with your good man, my girl, and enjoy yourself."
Armitage and his wife hurried down the avenue, and Hetty and Vincent
followed the train of villagers who were going along by the shrubbery in
the direction of the west barn. There were three great barns in all, and
supper had been laid in each. The west barn was the largest and the most
important, and by the time the Vincents reached it the building was full
from end to end. Hetty and her husband, with a crowd of other people,
remained outside. They all stood laughing and joking together. The
highest good humor was prevalent. The Squire's return--the pleasure it
gave the villagers--his personal appearance, the look of health and
vigor which had been so lamentably absent from him during the past
years, and which now to the delight of every one had so fully
returned--the death of the child--the look on Margaret's face--were the
only topics of the hour. But it was the subject of the Squire himself to
whom the people again and again returned. They were all so unaffectedly
glad to have him back again. Had he ever looked so well before? What a
ring of strength there was in his voice! And then that tone with which
he spoke to them all, the tone of remembrance, this it was which went
straight to the hearts of the men and women who had known him from his
boyhood. Yes, the Squire was back, a strong man in his prime, and the
people of Grandcourt had good reason for rejoicing.
"He'll be as good a Squire as his father before him," said an old man of
nearly eighty years, hobbling up close to Hetty as he spoke. "They did
whisper that the curse of his house had took 'im, but it can't be
true--there ain't no curse on his face, bless 'im. He's good to the
heart's core, and strong too and well. He'll be as good a Squire as his
father; bless 'im, say I, bless 'im."
"Het, you look as white as a sheet," said Vincent, turning at that
moment and catching his wife's eye. "There girl, eat you must. I'll
squeeze right into the barn and you come in ahind me. I'm big enough to
make way for a little body like you."
Vincent squared his shoulders and strode on in front. After some pushing
he and Hetty found themselves inside the barn. The tables which had been
laid from one end to the other, were crowded with eager, hungry faces.
Griffiths and other servants from the Court were flying here and there,
pressing hospitality on every one. Vincent was just preparing to
ensconce himself in a vacant corner, and to squeeze room for Hetty close
to him, when the door at the other end of the long barn was opened, and
Awdrey, Margaret, and some visitors came in.
Immediately all the villagers rose from their seats, and an enthusiastic
cheer resounded among the rafters of the old barn. Hetty standing on
tiptoe, and straining her neck, could see Awdrey shaking hands right and
left. Presently he would come to her, he would take her hand in his. She
could also catch a glimpse of Margaret's stately figure, of her pale,
high-bred face, of the dark waves of her raven black hair. Once again
she looked at the Squire. How handsome he was, how manly, and yet--and
yet--something seemed to come up in Hetty's throat and almost to choke
her.
"You ain't well, Het," said her husband. He had also risen from his
seat, and pushing out, had joined Hetty in the crowd. "The air in this
place is too close for you, Hetty. Drat that supper, we'll get into the
open air once again."
"No, we won't," answered Hetty. "I must wait to speak to Squire, happen
what may."
"Why, it'll be half an hour before he gets as far as here," said
Vincent. "Well," he added, looking back regretfully at his plate, which
was piled with pie and other good things; "if we must stay I'm for a bit
of supper. There's a vacant seat at last; you slip in by me, Het. Ah,
that cold pie is just to my taste. What do you say to a tiny morsel,
girl?"
"I could not eat, George, it would choke me," said Hetty, "I'm not the
least bit hungry. I had tea an hour ago down at the inn. You eat,
George, do, George; do go down and have some supper. I'll stand her and
wait for Squire and Madam."
"You are daft on Squire and Madam," said the man angrily.
Hetty did not answer. It is to be doubted if she heard him. One fact
alone was filling her horizon She felt quite certain now that the Squire
remembered. What then was going to happen? Was he going to be an
honorable man? Was he going to use the memory which had returned to him
to remove the cruel shame and punishment from another? If so, if indeed
so, Hetty herself would be lost. She would be arrested and charged with
the awful crime of perjury. The horrors of the law would fall upon her;
she would be imprisoned, she would----
"No matter," she whispered stoutly to herself, "it is not of myself I
think now, it is of him. He also will be tried. Public disgrace will
cling to his name. The people who love him so will not be able to help
him; he would suffer even, even to death: the death of the gallows. He
must not tell what he knew. He must not be allowed to be carried away by
his generous impulses. She, Hetty, must prevent this. She had guarded
his secret for him during the long years when the cloud was over his
mind. He must guard it now for himself. Doubtless he would when she had
warned him. Could she speak to him to-night? Was it possible?"
"Hetty, how you do stand and stare," said George Vincent; he was
munching his pie as he spoke. Hetty had been pressed up against the
table where he was eating.
"I'm all right, George," she said, but she spoke as if she had not heard
the words addressed to her.
"If you're all right, come and have a bit of supper."
"I don't want it. I'm not hungry. Do eat while you can and let me be."
"I'll let you be, but not out of my sight," muttered the man. He helped
himself to some more pie, but he was no longer hungry. The jealous fiend
which had always lain dormant in his heart from the day when he had
married pretty Hetty Armitage and discovered that she had no love to
give to him was waking up now into full strength and vigor. What was the
matter with Hetty? How queer she looked to-night. She had always been
queer after a certain fashion--she had always been different from other
girls, but until to-night, Vincent, who had watched her well, had never
found anything special to lay hold of. But to-night things were
different. There must be a reason for Hetty's undue excitement, for her
changing color, for her agitation, for the emotion on her face. Now what
was she doing?
Vincent started from his seat to see his wife moving slowly up the room,
borne onward by the pressure of the crowd. Several of the villagers,
impatient at the long delay, had struggled up the barn to get a
hand-shake from the Squire and his wife. Hetty was carried with the rest
out of her husband's sight. Vincent jumped on a bench in order to get a
view. He saw Hetty moving forward, he had a good glimpse of her profile,
the color on the cheek nearest to him was vivid as a damask rose. Her
whole little figure was alert, full of determination, of a queer
impulsive longing which the man saw without understanding. Suddenly he
saw his wife fall backward against some of the advancing crowd; she
clasped her hands together, then uttered a shrill, piercing cry.
"Take me out of this for the love of God, Squire," she panted.
"Is that young woman Mrs. Vincent?" suddenly cried another voice. "Then,
if so, I've something to say to her."
It was Mrs. Everett who had spoken. Hetty had not seen her until this
moment. She was walking up the room accompanied by Awdrey's sisters, Ann
and Dorothy.
"I can't stay--I won't meet her--take me away, take me away, into the
air, Squire," said Hetty. "Oh, I am suffocating," she continued, "the
room is rising up as if it would choke me."
"Open that door there to your right, Griffiths," said Awdrey, in a tone
which rose above the tumult. "Come, Mrs. Vincent, take my arm."
He drew Hetty's hand into his, and led her out by a side door. The crowd
made way for them. In another instant the excited girl found the cool
evening air blowing on her hot cheeks.
"I am sorry you found the room too close," began Awdrey.
"Oh, it was not that, sir, not really. Just wait a minute, please, Mr.
Robert, until I get my breath. I did not know that she--that she was
coming here."
"Who do you mean?" asked Awdrey.
"Mrs. Everett. I can't bear her. It was the sight of her, sudden-like,
that took the breath from me."
Awdrey did not speak for a moment.
"You are better now," he said then, in a stony tone. "Is your husband
here?"
"Yes, but I don't want him."
Hetty, in her excitement, laid both hands on the Squire's arm.
"Mr. Robert, I must see you, and alone," she panted.
Awdrey stepped back instinctively.
"You don't want me to touch you, you don't want to have anything to do
with me, and yet--and yet, Mr. Robert, I must see you by yourself. When
I can see you alone?"
"I cannot stay with you now," said Awdrey, in a hurried voice. "Come up
to the house to-morrow. No, though, I shall have no time to attend to
you to-morrow."
"It must be to-morrow, sir. It is life or death; yes, it is life or
death."
"Well, to-morrow let it be," said Awdrey, after a pause, "six o'clock in
the evening. Don't call at the house, come round to the office. I'll be
there and I'll give you a few minutes. Now I see you are better," he
continued, "I'll go back to the barn and fetch Vincent."
He turned abruptly. On the threshold of the door by which he had gone
out he met Mrs. Everett.
"Where is that young woman?" she demanded.
"You seem to have frightened her," said Awdrey. "You had better not go
to her now, she was half-fainting, but I think the fresh air has put her
right again."
His face looked cool and composed.
"Fainting or not," said Mrs. Everett, "I must see her, for I have
something to say to her. The fact is, I don't mind telling you, Mr.
Awdrey, that I accepted your wife's kind invitation more with the hope
of meeting that young woman than for any other reason."
Awdrey raised his brows as if in slight surprise.
"I left Mrs. Vincent outside," he repeated.
"Then pray let me pass."
"If you want my wife I'll take you to her," said Vincent's voice at that
moment.
"Glad to see you again, Vincent," said Awdrey. He held out his hand to
the farmer, who stepped back a pace as if he did not see it.
"Obliged, I'm sure, sir," he said awkwardly. "You'll excuse me now,
Squire, I want to get to my wife."
"Is that young woman really your wife?" demanded Mrs. Everett, in an
eager voice.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Then I've something very important I wish to say to her."
"I'll find out if she's well enough to see you, ma'am. Hetty is not to
say too strong."
The man pushed by, elbowing his way to right and left. Mrs. Everett
followed him. He quickly reached the spot where Awdrey had left Hetty.
She was no longer there.
"Where is she?" asked Mrs. Everett, in an eager tone.
"I can't tell you, ma'am. She is not here."
"Do you think she has gone home?"
"That's more'n I can say. May I ask what your business is with my wife?"
"Your wife is in possession of a secret which I mean to find out."
Vincent's face flushed an angry red.
"So others think she has a secret," he muttered to himself.
Aloud he said, "May I ask what yer name is, ma'am?"
"My name is Mrs. Everett. I am the mother of the man who was accused of
murdering Horace Frere on Salisbury Plain six years ago."
"Ah," said Vincent, "it's a good way back since that 'appened; we've
most forgot it now. I'm main sorry for yer, o' course, Mrs. Everett.
T'were a black day for yer when your son----"
"My son is innocent, my good sir, and it is my belief that your wife can
help me to prove it."
"No, you're on a wrong tack there," said Vincent slowly. "What can Hetty
know?"
"Then you won't help me?"
"I say nought about that. The hour is late, and my wife ain't well.
You'll excuse me now, but I must foller 'er."
Vincent walked quickly away. He strode with long strides across the
grass. After a time he stopped, and looked to right and left of him.
There was a rustling sound in a shrub near by. Hetty stole suddenly out
of the deep shadow.
"Take me home, George, I've been waiting for you," she said.
"Well, these are queer goings-on," said the man. "There was a lady, Mrs.
Everett, and she said--never mind now what she said. Tell me, Het, as
you would speak the truth ef you were a-dying, what did yer want with
Squire?"
"Nothing. What should I want with him? I was just glad to see him
again."
"Why did you turn faint?"
"It was the heat of the room."
"Come on. Take my arm. Let's go out o' this."
The farmer's tone was very fierce. He dragged Hetty's hand through his
big arm, and strode away so quickly that she could scarcely keep up with
him.
"It hurts my side," she said, at last panting.
"You think nothing hurts but your side," said the man. "There are worse
aches than that."
"What do you mean, George? How queer and rough you speak!"
"Maybe I know more'n you think, young woman."
"Know more than I think," she said. "There's nothing more to know."
"Ain't there? P'raps I've found out the reason why your 'eart's been
closed to me--p'raps I've got the key to that secret."
"Oh, George, George, you know I'd love you ef I could."
"P'raps I've got the key to that secret," repeated the farmer. "I'm not
a bad feller--not bad to look at nor bad to live with--and I gived yer
all I got--but never, God above is witness, never from the day I took
yer to church, 'ave yer kissed me of your own free will. No, nor ever
said a lovin' word to me--the sort of words that come so glib to the
lips o' other young wives. You're like one who carries sum'mat at her
heart. Maybe I guess to-night."
"But there's nothing to guess," said Hetty. She was trembling, a sick
fear took possession of her.
"Ain't there? Why did you make an appointment to meet Squire alone?"
"What in the world do you mean?"
"None o' your soft sawder, now, Hetty. I know what I'm a-talking of. I
crep' out of barn t'other way, and I 'eard what you said."
"You heard," said Hetty, with a little scream. Then she suppressed it,
and gave a little hysterical laugh. "You're welcome to hear," she
continued. "There was nothing in it."
"Worn't there? You seemed mighty eager to have a meetin' with 'im; much
more set on it, I take it, than he wor to have a meetin' wi' you. Gents
o' that sort don't care to be reminded o' the follies o' their youth. I
seed a big frown coming up between his eyes when you wor so masterful,
and when you pressed and pressed to see 'im. Why did yer say t'was life
or death? I've got my clue at last, and look you 'ere, you meet Squire
at your peril. There, that's my last word. You understand me?"