MARION DECIDES
"Love is indestructible,
Its holy flame forever burneth,
From heaven it came, to heaven returneth.
"Love is the secret sympathy,
The silver link, the silken tie,
Which heart to heart, and mind to mind,
In body and in soul can bind."
After Donald left his father he went straight to his aunt's room and,
when she had finished making her pastry, she found him there, nursing
his anger and sorrow with passionate tears and words of
self-justification. He had kept a brave face to his father, but to his
aunt-mother he wept out all his trouble, and he was comforted as one
whom his mother comforteth. When Dr. Macrae asked her if she knew where
Donald was she had truthfully answered, "No," but she instantly
suspected, and shortened her work as much as possible in order to go to
him.
They talked cautiously of his plans and prospects and, when dinner time
arrived, she surreptitiously carried him a good meal upstairs; for she
was not willing that the servants should discuss Donald's quarrel with
his father--the Master being to them, first of all, an ecclesiastic with
a suggestion of the surplice ever around him. She knew their sympathy
would veer decidedly toward the Master, for Donald played the "wee
sinfu' fiddle" too much, and, as he went through the halls and parlors,
was always whistling some irreligious reel, or strathspey, forbye hardly
keeping himself from dancing it.
He was in his aunt's sitting-room while Marion related to her the
conversation she had just had with her father and, no doubt, Mrs.
Caird's short and rather indifferent attention to her niece's trouble
arose from the stress of his unacknowledged presence. For Donald had
begged not to see Marion that evening. "She will ask me all kinds of
questions about Richard," he said, "questions I cannot answer until I
see him." So Marion felt as if she had been snubbed and sent off to bed
with a little sermon just when she wanted to talk of Richard more than
she had ever before done. Mrs. Caird explained the circumstances to her
the following day, but she was more offended than satisfied by the
explanation.
"You supposed, Aunt," she answered, "that I was so selfish as to be
insensible to Donald's anxiety and trouble, and would put my own before
his. You must have a poor opinion of me. It hurts me."
"You are too sensitive, Marion. Donald is going away from us."
"Where is he going to?"
"He does not know until he hears from Richard."
"Where is Richard? I have not had a letter from him in two days."
"I do not know--exactly."
"Nor do I. He told me that he was going to see Lady Cramer about the
settlement of his debt to her. It is shameful in her to press it."
"Not at all. It is her right. He said that himself."
"I did not mind getting no letter yesterday, but here is another day
nearly gone, and I do not expect to sleep a moment to-night. I am so
anxious about him."
"Preserve us all! What are you talking about? It is fairly sinful of you
to be making trouble where there is none. That is the way to worry love
to death, if so be you want that result."
"You care for no one but Donald now, Aunt."
"You are not far wrong. Donald is in trouble."
"You love Donald best."
"I like Donald's way best. There is no shilly-shallying with Donald. I
like a definite 'Yes' and 'No' in answer to important questions."
"Women cannot get into passions and say unladylike words, especially to
their fathers. You taught me that yourself. 'Exceed in nothing. Be
moderate in all things.' These were among your regular advices."
"All right. Moderation is a very respectable word. I wish you would
apply it to the subject of letters."
"You are cross with me, Aunt, and without any reason."
"Reason enough when I see you worrying yourself--and me, also--about the
coming of a letter from your lover; and caring nothing about the going
away--perhaps forever--of your own brother. Kin is closer than all other
ties--ever and always, blood is thicker than water."
Then Marion was angry. "I am glad I was respectful and moderate with
Father," she said haughtily. "He is the best and greatest of men. He is
the Minister of God. I cannot be too respectful. I intend----"
"To marry Allan Reid and send away Richard Cramer. Good girl! I wish you
joy of your choice--such as it is."
For six days the partial estrangement lasted, but Marion and her father
seemed to enjoy the interval. They were much together, and Mrs. Caird
was frequently startled by the Minister's hearty laugh over some of
Marion's observations, and once by his actually joining her in singing
that tender little love song, "My Love's in Germany."
"My love's in Germany,
Send him hame! Send him hame!
My love's in Germany,
Fighting for loyalty,
He may ne'er his Jeannie see,
Send him hame! Send him hame!"
The enthralling longing and sweetness of this melody doubtless echoed
the dearest wish of both hearts; for, if Marion was watching for Richard
Cramer, the Minister had an equal fervor of desire for his beautiful
Ada.
For a week there appeared to be no change in affairs, but the slight
feeling of separation or estrangement did not trouble Mrs. Caird. She
knew that Donald was with his Uncle Hector, and would be there until
Richard's return; then, it would be time enough for her to interfere, if
interference was necessary. But during this interval, Donald had
requested her to give no one any information as to his whereabouts. For,
though his uncle had sheltered him readily and kindly, he had also said:
"Mind this, Donald. You are to keep a close mouth about Uncle Hector. I
could not endure every woman in the Church of the Disciples clacking
with their neighbor concerning the sin of my encouraging you in your
disobedience against your father. You are freely welcome, laddie, but
you must be quiet for a few days. I have written to Richard to hurry
himself here, for reasons of my own, as well as yours. I see you are
wondering at my writing to Lord Cramer."
"I did not know you were friendly--that is all."
"I knew the present Lord Cramer when you were in petticoats and ankle
bands. The late Lord Cramer and I fished in Cromarty Bay, and hunted on
Cromarty Hills together half a century ago. When he got the estate into
trouble it was my care and skill saved it from roup and rent rack. Then
he married his second wife, a butterfly of a woman who wasted and helped
her stepson to waste, and I knew well things were going wrong long
before the old lord died."
"Richard told me," said Donald, "that it was not so much the amount he
was owing as the people to whom it was due that had made him resolve to
retire for awhile and let the income of the estate have time to pay its
debts."
"He is right. His stepmother is a large creditor and she bores him. The
Jews come next and, sleeping or waking, they are robbing him. We are
going to stop all such plundering; then, if he will be quiet a short
time, he will be in comfortable circumstances. He tells me he is going
to marry Marion, and I am bound to make things as pleasant as possible
for my niece. Forbye I have a liking for the young man on his own
account."
"You will then be uncle to a lord, if you are caring for such mere
words."
"I am uncle to _the Macrae_, that is honor enough. The Macraes are a far
older and more honorable family than the Cramers; 'by our permission'
they settled in Cromarty--well, well, this is old world talk, and means
nothing to the matter in hand. You will stay quietly here till I have
done with Richard."
"Will you require him long, Uncle?"
"A day will be sufficient. I only want his authority to use his name to
papers necessary to carry out my plans for his relief." Then he laughed
and, clapping his hands resoundingly, cried out, "Great Scot! How amazed
he will be to learn of his good luck!"
"Oh, I hope he has some good luck! He is such a fine fellow!"
"Luck! Wonderful luck! Undreamed of good luck. But that is the way
godsends come--steal round a corner of your life, and stand at your
door, and never sign or whisper before them."
"If I have to stay a few days, Uncle, is there not something I can do to
earn my bread while I wait?"
"Plenty of writing you can do; only, you'll not write a line to your
sister. If you do, she will come with her own answer, all smiles and
tears and compliments, things I can't stand against, and won't try to."
"I will not write to Marion at all. I must write to my aunt. She will
tell no one. I will swear it for her."
"As far as I know, your aunt is a prudent, douce woman; but crooked and
straight are all women, uncertain, Donald, uncertain as the law."
"Not so with aunt. Jessy Caird is straight all through and at all
times."
"I'll take your word for her. It is only for an odd occasion; one
promise at a time is as far as I durst trust myself with any woman."
So Mrs. Caird was not astonished when, one morning in the early part of
the following week, Lord Cramer entered the Minister's parlor while the
family were at breakfast. He held Marion's hand while he offered his
other hand to Dr. Macrae; and Dr. Macrae took it, though Mrs. Caird
noticed that he left the table while doing so, saying he had finished
his breakfast and, when Lord Cramer had done likewise, he would be glad
if he would come into his study for a little conversation. "And, pray,"
he added, "how was Lady Cramer when you left her?"
"In the finest of health and spirits," was the answer. "Indeed, sir, you
would vow she was but twenty years old. She is the gayest of the gay,
and outdresses the Parisians."
Dr. Macrae bowed, but made no answer, and Mrs. Caird, who knew every
phase and mood of the man's temper, was quite sure that no words could
have translated that silence. It was like a black frost. For he had in
his breast pocket a letter from Lady Cramer, received an hour
previously, in which she described herself as really ill with longing
for him, having no heart for the follies and gaieties of Paris and
seldom going out. Further, she declared that nothing but the wretched
climate of Scotland kept her from flying back to Cramer and to him; but
her cough troubled her in damp weather, and she felt herself frail, and
wished to get well and strong for his sake.
"And I have been believing and pitying this lying woman!" he said in an
awful whisper, as he took the false message from his breast, and with a
silent rage savagely placed his foot upon it. "I will never write
another word to this shameless creature! I will never speak to her
again! If she sought her pardon at my feet, I would spurn her from me,"
and to such passionate evil promises he trod the lying letter under his
foot. Then he sat down, erect and motionless, with eyes fixed and arms
folded across his breast. For, though trouble with the majority runs
into motion, with Dr. Macrae it gathered itself together, and in a
still, dumb intentness thought out how best to suffer or to do.
Fortunately Richard had so much to say to Marion that his breakfast
occupied him nearly a couple of hours, and by that time Dr. Macrae had
decided on his course. He was now more than ever determined to prevent
his daughter's marriage to Lord Cramer. How could he permit her to come
under the influence of a woman so wicked as Lady Cramer? She would
either alienate his daughter from him or she would alienate her husband,
and make his child a wronged and miserable wife. To prevent this
marriage had suddenly become the most imperative duty of his life.
Really, from Dr. Macrae's point of view, there was nothing favorable for
Marion in it. He held his uncle's ideas with regard to the superior
nobility of the Macraes; he did not like Lord Cramer personally, and he
believed him to be much poorer than he really was. With the pertinacity
of his race he still clung to the Reid alliance. He told himself that
circumstances have a kind of omnipotence, and that any day they might
alter affairs so radically that Marion might come to see things as he
did. "If Cramer would only go to the other side of the earth," he
whispered, "it would leave a vacuum in Marion's life. Nature abhors a
vacuum; she would hasten to fill it, and there is the possibility--yes,
the likelihood--that Allan might slip into that other man's place, or
the other man might be killed--or he might see someone he liked better
than Marion--if Richard Cramer would only go away--if he would only go
forever--yes, forever! It is no sin to wish a bad man to his deserts."
At this reflection Richard Cramer entered the room, and the first words
he uttered seemed to promise a realization of Dr. Macrae's desire.
"Well, sir," he said, as he took the chair Dr. Macrae indicated, "well,
sir, I am going with the Enniskillen Dragoons to India next week, but
our route is far north, and so we shall doubtless escape the cholera."
"But not the warlike native tribes?"
"We are going to turn them into peaceable tribes."
"Not an easy task."
"It will be done."
"Yes--finally."
"Sir, you must know that I have loved your daughter ever since I first
saw her. I ask your permission to make her my wife."
Dr. Macrae remained silent.
"I cannot bear the idea of waiting for nearly two years."
"You will be compelled to wait."
"Sir?"
"It is my will that you wait."
"Marion wishes to go with me."
"Have you asked her to go with you?"
"Not definitely, but----"
"Ah! I thought so."
"I will ask her to go with me now, and she will go."
"She will not. I forbid it. She will be her own mistress in twenty
months. She can marry you then--if she wishes. But I advise you to give
her up."
"Never! Until Marion gives me up I will never give Marion up. I swear
it!"
"She is my daughter for twenty months longer. Time is sure to bring
changes. Even now she would not leave me to go with you to India. You
must be mad to imagine such a thing."
"I am in love. I trust her love by my own. She will do as I wish."
"She will keep faith with her father. You shall see that," and he rose,
threw open the door of the room, and called imperatively,
"_Marion!_"
"Yes, Father," was the ready answer. "Do you want me?"
"Yes. Come quickly."
Lord Cramer had followed him into the hall, and when Dr. Macrae
perceived this some innate, in-born sense of courtesy due the stranger
within his gate caused him to return at once to his study. In two or
three minutes Cramer followed. He had Marion's hand in his, and Mrs.
Caird was but a few steps behind. She entered the room with them, and
Dr. Macrae looked at her not very pleasantly.
"I did not call you, Jessy," he said.
"I am aware of that fact, Ian," she answered. "I called myself."
"We are not requiring your presence."
"I was never more needed. What for are you wanting Marion?"
"You can stay and hear, if you wish."
Then Dr. Macrae took the chair at his desk, and Marion and Lord Cramer
stood before him. Their hands were still clasped, and unconsciously
Marion leaned slightly toward her lover. The transfiguration of love
suffused her face, and she stood smiling in all its glory. Dr. Macrae
was struck afresh by a beauty he had hitherto regarded too little. He
saw in her at this hour the noblest type of Celtic loveliness--its
winning face, splendid form, rich coloring, all vivified by a
well-cultivated intellect, and made charming and winsome by childlike
confidence and simplicity. For a moment his heart swelled with pride as
the sense of his fatherhood flashed over him.
"Marion," he said not unkindly, "Marion, Lord Cramer tells me you are
willing to go to India with him. I cannot believe it."
"I have promised Richard to be his wife, so then, wherever he dwells,
there my home will be. Is not that right, Father?"
"Yes, under proper conditions. But a promise made out of law and time is
no promise. The law of your native land forbids you to make that
promise, without my consent, until you are twenty-one years old."
"What right has the law of England to interfere with my marriage?" Then
she laughed cheerfully, and said, "But it is no matter, dear Father, for
you are above the law in this case. You have only to say, 'I do not want
to delay or spoil your happiness, Marion; I am quite willing you should
marry----'"
"Marion, it would be impossible for me to say such words. How can I be
willing for you to go to a country so far off--a country full of deadly
diseases and constant fighting--where the heat is intolerable and savage
beasts, treacherous men and deadly serpents abound everywhere--yes,
where even the insect life makes human existence a constant torture."
"Father, many delicately nurtured women brave all these things, for
their husbands' sakes."
"Yes, and the majority die in doing so. That is, however, your side of
the question. But I also have a definite right in this matter, a direct
ethical right, which in the stress of this unhappy hour I feel fully
justified in claiming. In my favor the law considers that for nineteen
years I have had all the care, anxiety and expense of your feeding,
clothing and education--that I have provided you with teachers and
physicians, and looked after your religious instruction."
"I cannot see that there was any necessity for the law of the land to be
looking after your rights in respect to the care and education of the
children," said Mrs. Caird. "The interest of Marion's money paid both
Marion's and Donald's expenses excepting----"
"I am stating the conditions and provisions of a law, Jessy, not any
particular application of it."
"Then what for are you naming its application to yourself?"
Dr. Macrae ignored Mrs. Caird's question, and continued: "This law
argues, and very justly, that a girl who has received nineteen years of
unlimited love and attention of all kinds should remain until she is
twenty-one to brighten her parents' home, learn how to estimate their
affection and goodness to her, and get some ideas concerning the world
into which she may finally go. It permits her parents, also, to bring
proper lovers to her notice, and to point out the faults of those not
worthy of her regard. It is a law that all girls with money of their own
should rigorously observe;" and in making this last remark Dr. Macrae
looked so pointedly at Lord Cramer that he was quite justified in
defending himself.
"Minister Macrae," he said, "I have never supposed that Marion had any
fortune; if she has, I want none of it. You ought to know that. Not a
penny piece." And he raised his head proudly and drew Marion closer to
his side, and whispered a word or two, which she answered by a bright,
loving smile, and an emphatic, "No!"
"Marion has twenty thousand pounds from her mother," said Dr. Macrae.
"She has a very wealthy uncle who will not forget her--and other
relatives."
"You need not count Jessy Caird among 'the other relatives,' Ian. My
money is all going to Donald--every bawbee of it."
Dr. Macrae looked at her, and then continued: "My dear Marion, the case
is now fully stated to you. You are your own judge. I am at your mercy";
and he stood up and regarded the poor girl with eyes from which his
passionate soul radiated an influence that it was almost impossible to
resist.
"O Father!" she cried, "what is it you wish?"
"That you should deal justly with me. If you have no love left for your
father, at least give him justice."
"You mean that I must pay you the toll of two years' love service for my
support and education?"
"Yes."
Then she turned to her lover and put her hands upon his shoulders. Her
cheeks were flaming and her eyes brimming with tears. "Good-bye,
Richard!" she cried. "Good-bye, dearest of all! I must pay this debt. My
Father refuses to release me. I must free myself."
"This decision is what I expected from my daughter," said Dr. Macrae,
and he rose and went to her side and took her hand.
"One moment, sir!" said Richard, with all the scorn imaginable; "and,
Marion, my darling, remember in one year, seven months and eleven days I
shall come for you. It is dreadful to leave you so long in the power of
a man so cruel and so wickedly selfish, but----"
"Our interview is over, Lord Cramer, and I do not forget that abuse is
the privilege of the defeated."
Richard was holding Marion's hands, looking into her dear face,
listening to her short, quick words of devotion, and he never answered
Dr. Macrae one word, but the look on Lord Cramer's face, his defiant
attitude, and his marked and intentional silence were the most
unbearable of repartees. He glanced then at Mrs. Caird, and, putting
Marion's arm through his own, they passed out of the room together. Dr.
Macrae was furious, but Mrs. Caird stepped between him and the lovers,
and, while Richard was kissing and comforting his betrothed, and
promising to come again that night for a last interview, there were some
straight, never-to-be-forgotten words passing between the Minister and
his sister-in-law.
No one that day wanted dinner. Mrs. Caird and Marion had a cup of tea in
Mrs. Caird's parlor, and the Minister refused to open his door or answer
anyone that spoke to him. But the maids in the kitchen, as they ate an
unusually long and hearty meal, were sure the Minister was right and
Mrs. Caird and Miss Marion wrong. In those days Scotchmen were always
right in any domestic dispute, and the women always wrong. For six
thousand years of strict wife culture had taught women not only to give
three-fourths of the apple to man, but also to assume all the blame of
their enjoyment of it.
What the Minister suffered and did in those lonely hours between morning
and evening no one but God knew. There was not a movement in the room
nor any sound of a human voice, either in prayer or complaint. Dr.
Macrae was not a praying man--what Calvinist can be? If all this trouble
had come of necessity, if it had been foreordained, how could he either
reason with God or entreat Him for its removal? It was in some way or
other necessary to the divine scheme of events; it would be a grave
presumption to desire its removal.
Always questions of this kind had stood between God and Dr. Macrae, so
that he considered private prayer a dangerous freedom with the purpose
of the Eternal. Alas! he did not realize that we are members of that
mysterious Presence of God in which we live and move and have our being;
and that, as speech is the organ of human intercourse, so prayer is the
organ of divine fellowship and divine training. He had long ceased to
pray, and they who do not use a gift lose it; just as a man who does not
use a limb loses power in it. Poor soul! How could he know that prayer
prevails with God? How could he know?
Marion had, however, the promise of a farewell visit in the evening, and
what had not been said in the morning's interview could then be
remedied. For this visit she prepared herself with loving carefulness,
putting on the pale blue silk, with pretty laces and fresh ribbons,
which was Richard's favorite, and adding to its attractions a scarlet
japonica in her black hair. She knew that she had never looked lovelier,
and after her father had left the house she began to watch for her
lover. Richard was aware that the Minister was due at his vestry at
half-past seven, and Marion was sure that Richard would be with her by
that time. He was not. At eight o'clock he had neither come nor sent any
explanation of his broken tryst. By this time she could not speak and
she could not sit still. At nine o'clock she whispered, "He is not
coming. I am going to my room."
"Wait a little longer, dear," said Mrs. Caird.
"There is no use, Aunt. He is not coming. I can feel it."
And Marion's feelings were correct. Richard neither came nor sent any
explanation of his absence, and the miserable girl was distracted by her
own imaginations. In the morning she was so ill her aunt would not
permit her to rise. Hour after hour they sat together, trying to evoke
from their fears and feelings the reason for conduct so unlike Richard
Cramer's usual kindness and respect.
"He has concluded to decline a marriage so offensive to my father," said
Marion. "I have thought of his behavior all night long, Aunt, and this
is the only reason he can possibly have."
By afternoon Mrs. Caird was weary of this never-ceasing iteration, and
finally agreed with her niece. Then Marion had a pitiful storm of
weeping, and, after she had been a little comforted, Mrs. Caird suddenly
said, with a voice and expression of hope, "I know what to do. Why did I
not think of it before?"
"What will you do, Aunt? What will you do?"
"I will go and see your uncle. He can clear up the mystery--if there is
one. It is now two o'clock. I will go straight about the business. At
the worst I can but fail, and I never do fail if there is any
probability to work on. Wait hopefully for an hour or two, and I will be
back with good news, no doubt."
Then she dressed herself with some care, and, calling a cab, drove to
Major Macrae's house in Blytheswood Square. It was a handsome,
self-contained dwelling with business offices at the back. There was no
intimation of this purpose, but the visitors who went there on business
knew the plain green door that admitted them to chambers about which
there was an atmosphere of great concerns and aristocratic
business--perhaps also of some mystery. The latter distinction suited
Macrae; it was necessary to the class of clients with whom he did the
most of his business.
It clung also to himself, almost as if it was a natural characteristic.
No man of wealth and prominence was so little known and so much
misunderstood, but he was amused, rather than annoyed, by the variety of
opinions concerning him, holding himself always a little apart, so as to
be in important matters a final judge or director. He had quite as much
temper as his nephew, but it was better in kind and surer in control.
His intellect was broad and clear, his love of literature knew no
limitation, and in religious matters he trusted no living man. He was a
master among his fellows, and he did not give women any opportunities to
influence him. It was known that he had positively refused to attend to
the business of ladies of high birth and great wealth, and even his
house servants were all young men, noiseless, silent, thoroughly trained
for the work they had to do.
All these real peculiarities, with many others not as real, were
familiar to Mrs. Caird, and at a little earlier date she would never
have thought of calling on him. But Donald's opinion of his uncle had
entirely changed her own, and she looked forward with a pleasant
curiosity to an opportunity to form her own estimate. She found him in a
fortunate mood. He was taking his afternoon smoke when her card was
given to him, and it roused instantly in his mind a curiosity to see
whether Donald's love and lauding of Aunt Caird were worth anything.
Also he liked to know the innermost coil of an untoward or unhappy
circumstance, and he was not sure that either Donald or Richard had made
a naked confession to him. In this family affair he felt sure Mrs. Caird
might be the key to the situation.
So he rose with great cordiality to meet her, and a moment's glance at
the pretty woman so handsomely dressed, so well poised, so smiling and
good-mannered, thoroughly satisfied him. With the grace and courtesy of
a man used to the best society, he placed a chair near his own for her,
and during that act Mrs. Caird made a swift but correct estimate of the
man she had to manage. Physically he had the great stature and dark
beauty of his family. His hair was still black, his eyes large and gray,
with a courageous twinkle in the iris, his figure erect, his walk
soldierly, his manner commanding. He impressed a stranger as tough,
unconquerable, fearless, like an ash tree, yielding very slowly, even to
time.
"Now, Mrs. Caird," he said, as he seated himself beside her, "I know you
have not come to call on me without a reason. Is it about the children?"
"Just that, Major, and thank you for coming to the point at once. I am
very unhappy about Donald."
"Let me tell you Donald has taken the road of happiness to his own
desires. To ware your sympathy on Donald is pure wastrie. The lad is
happy."
"Where is he?"
"I could not tell you, unless I was at sea, and taking his latitude and
longitude."
"Where is he going?"
"To New York--perhaps."
"America?"
"Ay, America is the second native land of all not satisfied with their
first one."
"Have you any address through which a letter would reach him in New
York?"
"Ay, I have."
"I want to send him one hundred pounds. Will you send it for me?"
"No, I will not. There will be three hundred pounds lying in the Bank of
New York for him when he gets there, and he had sixty pounds with him.
That is enough at present. He can make a spoon or spoil the horn with
that."
"Is he going to stop in New York?"
"Not long. New Yorkers are very easy with their money. They'll give it
away for a song that pleases them--or a lilt on the wee fiddle--or even
a few steps of clever dancing."
"I know someone, not far from me, just as easy with their money--under
the same circumstances."
Then the Major laughed. "You are right, Mrs. Caird," he said. "I declare
you are right. Oh, but you are a quick woman!"
"Well, after he has done with New York, where is he then going?"
"Straight west as far as the Mississippi River. What he will do on the
way to the river no one knows--but luck is waiting for him."
"Perhaps he will go to California."
"No. California gold does not tempt him. He is going down the
Mississippi to New Orleans. A good many Scotch boys are there. I gave
him letters to three whom I sent to New Orleans fourteen years ago. They
are well-to-do cotton merchants now."
"You help a great many men, Major?"
"These three smoked their pipes with me in the trenches at Redan; and we
rode together down the red lanes of Inkerman. I was making friends for
Donald then."
"But Donald will not stay in the city of New Orleans?"
"Would Donald stay in any city? As soon as he wishes it he will journey
for that land of God called Texas. If I had been twenty years younger, I
would have gone with him--just for a sight of the place. Glorious
things are told of it--you would think it was the New Jerusalem itself."
"Once I heard Richard Cramer say that he was going there to stay with a
friend. Why did you send him to the army?"
"Did I send him?"
"He told us you advised the army."
"Ay, but _sending_ and _advising_ are very different terms."
"In your mouth, Major, they would be the same."
Then the Major laughed again and answered: "You have a wonderful
perception, Mrs. Caird. I dare say Cramer told you to what locality in
Texas he was going? Donald is now going there for him."
"He spoke most of the immense ranch of Lord Thomas Carew. He said he had
bought with his inheritance as a younger son a dukedom of the richest
and loveliest land in the world--somewhere on the Guadaloupe River, not
far from San Antonio. It was like listening to a fairy tale to hear him
describe its beauties. And he said that last summer the ladies, Alice
and Annie Carew, accompanied by their eldest brother, visited Lord
Thomas; and that, after four months' stay in his handsome bungalow, when
they had to return to England, Lady Alice refused to leave Texas. He
thought she was still there."
"She is. I had a letter from her father a week ago, and he told me Lord
Thomas and Lady Alice were yet living in Paradise. They are just 'Tom
and Alice Carew' there. Their life is absolutely free, simple and happy.
Titles would be too big a burden to carry, but they will be glad of
Donald's company, and make much of him, doubtless."
"They will that. Oh, the dear, dear, joyful singing lad!" and, though
Mrs. Caird's voice was low and soft, there was a caress in every word
she spoke.
The Major looked at her with pleasure, and then asked, "How is Donald's
sister? Is she as lovable and handsome as her brother?"
"Whiles--in a woman's way--yes. Her father's heart is set on her, and
she is breaking her heart about Richard Cramer's going to India. What
for, at all, did you send him?"
"Me send him?"
"Yes, you."
"Well, as you are a wise woman, and love all of the three youngsters,
I'll tell you. I sent Richard Cramer out of my way. I sent him where he
could not meddle or interfere with what I am doing to make him solvent
and happy. And I wanted him to be under authority a little before I put
him in full possession of a big estate, free of debt. He has had too
much of his own way--he is obeying orders now--that's good for him."
"But when you set him free, what then?"
"He will marry Marion Macrae, and I count on a Macrae--man or
woman--getting their full share of their own way in all things."
"Why did he not come and bid Marion good-bye last night? She is fairly
ill this morning. Why did he not come?"
"Because, while the Minister and he were explaining themselves, a
telegram came ordering him to join his ship without a moment's delay.
She was going to sail Thursday, instead of Saturday. I had two men
seeking him, and his valet had packed his valise, and he had twenty
minutes to reach his train. He could not have written her, even a line,
if someone had not been thoughtful enough to have paper and pencil ready
to push into his hand."
"Then he did write to her?"
"Ay, he wrote to her. Poor lad, he was near to crying as he did so."
"She never got that letter."
"My certie! I forgot it! Will you take it?"
"Will I take it? It is what I came for. Goodness! Gracious! Only to
think of you keeping what may be his last message to her! O man, how
could you? It is a cruel-like thing to do. It was that."
"I am very sorry for it. I quite forgot. I am not used to sending love
letters. I never was in love in my life."
"I am not believing you. No, sir! I am sure some good woman's love
sweetened the dour, ill-tempered Macrae blood in your heart. Think
backward a matter of forty years and you will maybe remember her name."
He looked at Mrs. Caird in amazement, and then lifted her hand, "You are
right," he answered slowly. "I remember her, a dear, sweet girl, fresh
and pure as the mountain bluebells she had in her hand when we first
met. She died one morning--whispering my name as she went. I loved her!
Yes, I loved her!"
"Good man! I am glad you told me. I know you now, and I am not feared
for you any longer. Give me Marion's letter."
"Cannot you stay half an hour longer?"
"Not now."
"I want to talk to you about Ian."
"You had better talk to him. He is requiring some one to do so. He is
spelling life now with a woman's name."
"Marion's?"
"No."
"The lovely widow Grant's?"
"No. You must look higher up."
"You don't--you can't mean Lady Cramer?"
"Just Lady Cramer."
"The mischief! Is it true?"
"True? I should say so. I am living at his side, and love and a cold
can't be hid. Forbye, he is reading books he has no business to read,
and writing letters he ought not to write--love letters."
"Why should he not write love letters if he wishes to do so?"
"Because I am sure my Lady Cramer is only making a fool of him."
"It would be most like her--though mind you, Mrs. Caird, she is playing
with fire. Ian is a very fascinating man. She will likely get the
heartache herself she is sorting out for him. I'll have a talk with the
Minister. Think of him trusting that woman! the blind fool! the mortal
idiot!"
"Not as bad as that."
"Ay, and worse, if I had the words I want for his folly. Here is
Marion's letter. Tell her I am perfectly annoyed at myself for
forgetting it. She must forgive me."
"Good-bye, Major. I am glad I came."
"Good-bye. You are welcome here. I hope you will come again--soon."
And oh, how welcome she was when she reached home. Marion was watching
for her, and when Mrs. Caird, as she left the cab, held up the letter
Marion was at the door to take it from her hand. Her eyes dilated with
rapture when she saw Richard's writing, and, after kissing and thanking
her aunt, she ran away with it to her room. There was no offense in
that--Mrs. Caird both understood and sympathized with the movement. And
when she went into the parlor, an hour afterward, she found Marion
rocking gently in the firelight and, with closed eyes, singing softly to
herself:
"My heart is like a singing bird,
Whose nest is in a watered shoot;
My heart is like an apple-tree,
Whose boughs are bent with sweetest fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell,
That paddles in a halcyon sea;
My heart is gladder than all these,
Because my love has come to me."