The dinner passed as these formal lonely dinners had passed for years at
Marchmain. There was no perceptible shade of difference in the manner of
Mr. Scarsdale, who addressed to his daughter polite questions about the
dishes she preferred, as he had been used to do to Horace, driving his
son wild; and himself sat upright and stiff at the head of the table,
dining, as usual, without any symptoms of the passion which he had
exhibited to Susan. He was deeply angry, it is true, still, but he was
entirely without alarm, believing, as a matter of course, that Susan
must have taken his letter, and contemptuously receiving that instance
of dishonourable conduct merely as a visible specimen of the womanish
meanness and cunning which belonged to such creatures, and which,
perhaps, was scarcely to be considered guilt. He believed she would
return it to him that evening. He did not believe she had boldness
enough to retain any copy for Horace, and he knew that to herself it
would disclose nothing; therefore, he showed no more passion, was no
more repulsive than he always was, and scarcely deigned to turn his eyes
more than usual upon his unfortunate child.
_She_ sat there at table, with the light shining on her, answering him
in humble monosyllables when he spoke--for Susan's heroics had failed
long ere now--receiving humbly what he sent to her, but unable to eat a
morsel, her heart almost choking her as it beat against her breast. It
was not now the desolate moor, nor the forlorn idea of being thrust out
homeless upon it to wander where she would, that oppressed Susan. It was
the terror of being put to further question, of her father once more
addressing her, as he was sure to do, about the theft, of which she no
longer felt herself quite innocent. She could scarcely restrain her
start and thrill of terror when he turned his head towards her; her
frame trembled throughout with desperate apprehensions; she feared
herself, and her own ignorance of all the arts of concealment; she
feared to say something or do something which would betray Horace; and
she feared her father--that bitter tone of passion, that terrible
incredulity of truth. The poor girl sat still, rigidly, upon her chair,
with a feeling that this was her only safeguard, and that she must
infallibly drop down upon the floor if she tried to move. When Peggy
removed the cloth, and placed Mr. Scarsdale's little reading-desk, his
glass and decanter, upon the table, Susan still sat there in spite of
many a secret touch and pull from her humble and anxious friend. Peggy
was alarmed, but durst not say anything to call the attention of her
master; and at last brought Susan's work to her, and thrust it into the
poor child's trembling fingers, with a look and movement of anxious
appeal. Susan took the work mechanically, and applied herself to it
without knowing what she did; and thus the evening went on with a
thrilling, audible silence, of which, dreary and long though she had
felt these nights many a time before, she had never been sensible till
now. The long, gleaming, polished table, with the two candles reflecting
themselves in its surface in two lines of light; the solemn figure of
Mr. Scarsdale in his formal evening dress, seated upright at the head,
turning with mechanical, automaton regularity the leaves of his book;
the dead blank of the surrounding walls, no longer diversified even by a
flicker of firelight; and Susan, almost as rigid and motionless as her
father, afraid to breathe, lest it should call his attention to her; her
ears tingling to the dreadful silence, and her heart fainting at thought
of the words which some time this evening were sure to break it. Looking
upon this evening scene, it was strange to believe that Susan Scarsdale
could tremble at the idea of being thrust out of this cold and gloomy
refuge, or find no comfort in the thought of trying rather the strange
world and the solitary moor, which, unknown as they were, were still
crossed by paths which led to human homes.
But she thought neither of the world nor the moor at the present moment.
She would have been glad if she had been sufficiently courageous to fly
out into the darkness and lose herself for ever rather than meet this
impending interview; but it was not in her to escape or run away.
Susan's mind was the womanly development of that steady British temper
which cannot deliver itself by violence, but must wait orderly and
dutiful for the natural accomplishment of its destinies. She sat
trembling but still, afraid of what she had to bear, doubtless, but
incapable of running away.
The long night passed in this pause and silence, without a word said on
either side. The tea came in, and was made and swallowed without any
interruption of the blank. And still Susan's fingers moved at the work
which she could scarcely see, and her father turned over the pages of
his book. He perceived beyond doubt, as he sat mechanically reading to
the bottom of every page, with that dull, steady attention which had
neither life nor interest in it, the state of extreme emotion,
excitement, and desperate self-restraint in which his young daughter sat
before him; but pity found no entrance into his heart. He permitted her
to remain so, sitting late and beyond the usual hour of retiring, with a
kind of diabolical patience on his own part, which checked the words a
dozen times on his lips. He was satisfied to see the entire power he had
over her, and at the present moment had no thought of his threat, or of
carrying it out. Perhaps even to him the room would have been more
desolate, the dismal evening longer, had there been no young figure
there, humbly ministering to him when occasion was, keeping respectful
silence, bearing, without a complaint or effort to enliven them, these
tedious, miserable hours; but he had no objection to see her suffer. At
length, when the chill of almost midnight began to creep into that room
where they had ceased to have any fire, Mr. Scarsdale's own physical
sensations moved him. He closed his book, and as he closed it, saw Susan
shiver in the climax of her agonies of anticipation. She should not be
balked this time, and at last he spoke.
"I presume, Susan," he said, with a little solemnity, "that you have
made up your mind."
"Papa?" said Susan, with a gasp of inquiry. Made up her mind to what? He
so seldom addressed her by her name that some forlorn hope of his heart
relenting towards her entered her head. Perhaps some lingering touch of
compunction had taken him at the thought of sending her away.
"Must I speak plainer?" he said. "I presume you have decided what you
are going to do. Are you ready to restore my letter, or to leave my
house? Which? You understand the alternative well enough, and you know
that I am not to be trifled with--have you the letter here?"
"Oh, papa!" cried Susan, clasping her hands, "I have not the letter here
nor anywhere! I never had it! I never saw it! Oh, papa, did I ever tell
you a lie, that you will not believe me now? And how can I give it back
when I never took it?--when I do not know what it is? Will you not
believe me? I am speaking the truth."
"Where is my letter?" cried Mr. Scarsdale once more, growing white with
passion.
Susan sat looking at him, trembling, unable to speak; her lips moved,
but he could not hear what she said. She could hardly hear herself say
under her breath, "I cannot tell! I do not know!" Her terror had taken
breath and voice away from her. How could she answer such a
question?--she did not know--and yet she did know. Oh, Horace! She could
have been so much bolder, so much stronger, if she had never known of
his coming there.
"You are obdurate, then, and determined!" cried the father. "You think,
perhaps, your brother will take up your cause and protect you. Fool! do
you suppose he cares for you more than for an instrument; or your
meddling uncle, who has made perpetual mischief since his prying visit
here. Think! I give you one opportunity more: will you restore me that
letter--once for all, yes or no?"
Susan staggered up to her feet, hysterical and overwhelmed.
"You may turn me away out of the house!" she cried; "you _may_ do it,
for you have the power--you may kill me, if you please; but you cannot
make me give back what I never saw and never touched in my life!"
Mr. Scarsdale looked at her intently, as if thinking that his eyes,
fiery and burning, could overcome her if nothing else would. "In that
case," he said, with cold passion, "this is our last meeting--the last
occasion on which I shall have anything to say to you. I am now alone,
and shall remain so while I live. Be good enough to give Peggy
directions where your wardrobe is to be sent. In consideration of your
youth, I give you the shelter of my roof to-night; but I trust I shall
not need to encounter another such interview. Good-bye--I wish you
better fortune in your future life than you have had here."
Susan held up her hands, overpowered, in spite of herself, by the
position in which she stood.
"Father, where can I go?" she cried, with a wild appeal. He looked at
her once more, fixedly and firmly.
"You know that much better than I can tell you. Good-bye," he said; and
so left the room, with those long, silent, passionate steps, the light
he carried gleaming upon his passionate face. Susan sank down where he
had left her, alone and desolate. It was all over now!