FATHER AND CHILD.
Janetta had set off on her expedition to Brand Hall out of an impulse of
mingled pity and indignation--pity for the little boy, indignation
against the mother who could desert him, perhaps against the father
too. This feeling prevented her from realizing all at once the difficult
position in which she was now placing herself; the awkwardness in which
she would be involved if Mr. Brand declared that he knew nothing of the
child, or would have nothing to do with it. "In that case," she said to
herself, with an admiring glance at the lovely little boy, "I shall have
to adopt him, I think! I wonder what poor mamma would say!"
She found her way without difficulty to the front-door of the long, low,
rambling red house which was dignified by the name of Brand Hall. The
place had a desolate look still, in spite of its being inhabited.
Scarcely a window was open, and no white blinds or pretty curtains could
be seen at the casements. The door was also shut; and as it was one of
those wide oaken doors, mantled with creepers, and flanked with seats,
which look as if they should always stand hospitably open, it gave the
stranger a sense of coldness and aloofness to stand before it. And,
also, there was neither bell nor a knocker--a fact which showed that few
visitors ever made their appearance at Brand Hall. Janetta looked about
her in dismay, and then tapped at the door with her fingers, while the
child followed her every movement with his great wondering eyes, and
finally said, gravely--
"I think they have all gone to sleep in this house, like the people in
the 'Sleeping Beauty' story."
"Then you must be the Fairy Prince to wake them all up," said Janetta,
laughingly.
The boy looked at her as if he understood; then, suddenly stooping, he
picked up a fallen stick and proceeded to give the door several smart
raps upon its oaken panels.
This summons procured a response. The door was opened, after a good deal
of ineffectual fumbling at bolts and rattling of chains, by an old,
white-haired serving man, who looked as if he had stepped out of the
story to which Julian had alluded. He was very deaf, and it was some
time before Janetta could make him understand that she wanted to see
Mrs. Brand. Evidently Mrs. Brand was not in the habit of receiving
visitors. At last he conducted her to the dark little drawing-room where
the mistress of the house usually sat, and here Janetta was received by
the pale, grey-haired woman whom she had seen fainting on the
Beaminster road. It was curious to notice the agitation of this elderly
lady on Janetta's appearance. She stood up, crushed her handkerchief
between her trembling fingers, took a step towards her visitor, and then
stood still, looking at her with such extraordinary anxiety that Janetta
was quite confused and puzzled by it. Seeing that her hostess could not
in any way assist her out of her difficulty, she faced it boldly by
introducing herself.
"My name is Janetta Colwyn," she began. "I believe that my mother was a
relation of Mr. Brand's--a cousin----"
"Yes, a first cousin," said Mrs. Brand, nervously. "I often heard him
speak of her--I never saw her----"
She paused, looked suspiciously at Janetta, and colored all over her
thin face. Janetta paused also, being taken somewhat by surprise.
"No, I don't suppose you ever saw her," she said, "but then you went
abroad, and my dear mother died soon after I was born. Otherwise, I
daresay you would have known her."
Mrs. Brand gave her a strange look. "You think so?" she said. "But
no--you are wrong: she always looked down on me. She never would have
been friendly with me if she had lived."
"Indeed," said Janetta, very much astonished. "I always heard that it
was the other way--that Mr. Brand was angry with _her_ for marrying a
poor country surgeon, and would not speak to her again."
"That is what they may have said to you. But you were too young to be
told the truth," said the sad-faced woman, beginning to tremble all over
as she spoke. "No, your mother would not have been friends with me. I
was not her equal--and she knew I was not."
"Oh, indeed, you make a mistake: I am sure you do," cried Janetta,
becoming genuinely distressed as this view of her mother's character and
conduct was fixed upon her. "My mother was always gentle and kind, they
tell me; I am sure she would have been your friend--as I will be, if you
will let me." She held out her hands and drew those of the trembling
woman into her warm young clasp. "I am a cousin too," she said, blushing
a little as she asserted herself in this way, "and I hope you will let
me come to see you sometimes and make you less lonely."
"I am always lonely, and I always shall be lonely to the end of time,"
said Mrs. Brand, slowly and bitterly. "However"--with an evident attempt
to recover her self-possession--"I shall always be pleased to see you.
Did--did--your father send you here to-night?"
"No," said Janetta, remembering her errand. "He does not know----"
"Does not know?" The pale woman again looked distressed. "Oh," she said,
turning away with a sigh and biting her lip, "then I shall not see you
again."
"Indeed you will," said Janetta, warmly. "My father would never keep me
away from any one who wanted me--and one of my mother's relations too.
But I came to-night because I found this dear little boy outside your
grounds. He tells me that his name is Julian Wyvis Brand, and that he is
your son's little boy."
For the first time Mrs. Brand turned her eyes upon the child. Hitherto
she had not noticed him much, evidently thinking that he belonged to
Janetta, and was also a visitor. But when she saw the boy's sweet little
face and large dark eyes, she turned pale, and made a gesture as of
warning or dislike.
"Take him away! take him away," she said. "Yes, I can see that it is
_her_ child--and his child too. She must be here too, and she has been
the ruin of my boy's life!" And then she sank into a chair and burst
into an agony of tears.
Janetta felt, with an inexpressible pang, that she had set foot in the
midst of some domestic tragedy, the like of which had never come within
her ken before. She was conscious of a little recoil from it, such as is
natural to a young girl who has not learnt by experience the meaning of
sorrow; but the recoil was followed by a rush of that sympathy for which
she had always shown a great capacity. Her instinct led her instantly to
comfort and console. She knelt down beside the weeping woman and put one
arm round her, drawing the little boy forward with her left hand as she
spoke.
"Oh, don't cry--don't cry!" she murmured. "He has come to be a joy and a
comfort to you, and he wants you to love him too."
"Won't you love me, grandmamma?" said the sweet childish voice. And
Julian laid his hand on the poor woman's shaking knee. "Don't cry,
grandmamma."
It was this scene which met the eyes of Wyvis Brand when he turned the
handle of the drawing-room door and walked into the room. His mother
weeping, with a child before her, and a dark-haired girl on her knees
with one arm round the weeping woman and one round the lovely child. It
was a pretty picture, and Wyvis Brand was not insensible to its beauty.
He stood, looking prom one to another of the group.
"What does all this mean?" he asked, in somewhat harsh tones.
His mother cried aloud and caught the child to her breast.
"Oh, Wyvis, be kind--be merciful," she gasped. "This is your child--your
child. You will not drive him away. She has left him at our door."
Wyvis walked into the room, shut the door behind him, and leaned against
it.
"Upon my word," he said, sarcastically, "you will give this lady--whose
name I haven't the pleasure of knowing--a very fine idea of our domestic
relations. I am not such a brute, I hope, as to drive away my own child
from my door; but I certainly should like to know first whether it is my
child; and more particularly whether it is my son and heir, as I have no
doubt that this young gentleman is endeavoring to persuade you. Did
_you_ bring the child here?" he said, turning sharply to Janetta.
"I brought him into the house, certainly," she said, rising from her
knees and facing him. "I found him outside your fence; and he told me
that his name was Julian Wyvis Brand."
"Pretty evidence," said Mr. Brand, very rudely, as Janetta thought. "Who
can tell whether the child is not some beggar's brat that has nothing to
do with me?"
"Don't you know your own little boy when you see him?" Janetta demanded,
indignantly.
"Not I. I have not set eyes on him since he was a baby. Turn round,
youngster, and let me have a look at you."
The child faced him instantly, much as Janetta herself had done. There
was a fearless look in the baby face, an innocent, guileless courage in
the large dark eyes, which must surely, thought Janetta, touch a
father's heart. But Wyvis Brand looked as if it would take a great deal
to move him.
"Where do you come from?" said Mr. Brand, sternly.
"From over the sea."
"That's no answer. Where from?--what place?"
The boy looked at him without answering.
"Are you dumb?" said Wyvis Brand, harshly. "Or have you not been taught
what to say to that question? Where do you come from, I say?"
Mrs. Brand murmured an inarticulate remonstrance; Janetta's eyes flashed
an indignant protest. Both women thought that the boy would be dismayed
and frightened. But he, standing steady and erect, did not flinch. His
color rose and his hands clenched themselves at his side, but he did not
take his eyes from his father's face as he replied.
"I come with mammy from Paris."
"And pray where is your mother?"
"Gone back again. She told me to find my father. Are you my father?"
said the child, with the utmost fearlessness.
"What is your name?" asked Wyvis, utterly disregarding the question.
"Julian Wyvis Brand."
"He's got the name pat enough," said Wyvis, with a sardonic laugh.
"Well, where did you live in Paris? What sort of a house had you?"
"It was near the church," said the little boy, gravely. "The church with
the big pillars round it. There was a bonnet shop under our rooms, and
the rooms were all pink and white and gold--prettier than this," he
said, wistfully surveying the gloomy room in which he stood.
"And who took care of you when your mother was out?" asked Mr. Brand.
Even Janetta could see, by the swift, subtle change that had passed over
his face, that he recognized the description of the room.
"Susan. She was my nurse and mammy's maid as well. She was English."
The man nodded and set his lips. "He knows what to say," he remarked.
"Oh, Wyvis!" exclaimed his mother, as if she could repress her feelings
no longer; "don't you see how like he is to you!--don't you _feel_ that
he is your own child?"
"I confess the paternal feelings are not very strong in me," said her
son, dryly, "but I have a fancy the boy is mine for all that. Haven't
you a letter or a remembrance of some sort to give me, young man?"
The boy shook his head.
"There may be something amongst his things--some book or trinket that
you would remember," said Janetta, speaking with timidity. Mr. Brand
gave her a keen look, and Mrs. Brand accepted the suggestion with
eagerness.
"Oh, yes, yes, let us look. Have you a box, my dear, or a bag?--oh, a
bundle, only: give it me, and let me see what is inside."
"It is unnecessary, mother," said Wyvis, coldly. "I am as convinced as
you can wish me to be that this is Juliet's child."
But Mrs. Brand, with trembling fingers and parted lips, was helping
Janetta to unfasten the knots of the big handkerchief in which the
child's worldly goods were wrapped up. Wyvis Brand stood silently beside
the two women, while little Julian pressed closer and pointed out his
various treasures as they were one by one disclosed.
"That's my book," he said; "and that's my best suit. And that's--oh, I
don't know what _that_ is. I don't know why mammy put it in."
"_I_ know," said Wyvis Brand, half under his breath.
The object that called forth this remark was a small morocco box,
loosely wrapped in tissue-paper. Wyvis took it out of his mother's hand,
opened it, and stood silently gazing at its contents. It held a ring, as
Janetta could easily see--a hoop of gold in which were three opals--not
a very large or costly-looking trinket, but one which seemed to have
memories or associations connected with it--to judge, at least, by the
look on Wyvis Brand's dark face. The women involuntarily held their
breath as they glanced at him.
At last with a short laugh, he slipped the little case into his pocket,
and turned upon his heel.
"I suppose that this is evidence enough," he said. "It is a ring I once
gave her--our engagement ring. Not one of much value, or you may be sure
that she would never have sent it back."
"Then you are convinced--you are certain----" His mother did not finish
the sentence, but her son knew what she meant.
"That he is my son? my wife's child? Oh, yes, I am pretty sure of that.
He had better be put to bed," said Wyvis, carelessly. "You can find a
room for him somewhere, I dare say."
"There is the old nursery," said Mrs. Brand, in breathless eagerness. "I
looked into it yesterday; it is a nice, cheerful room--but it has not
been used for a long time----"
"Do as you like; don't consult me," said her son. "I know nothing about
the matter." And he turned to the door, without another look towards his
son.
But little Julian was not minded to be treated in this way. His large
eyes had been fixed upon his father with a puzzled and rather wistful
expression. He now suddenly started from his position at Mrs. Brand's
knee, and pursued his father to the door.
"Say good-night, please," he said, pulling at Mr. Brand's coat with a
fearlessness which amused Janetta and startled Mrs. Brand.
Wyvis looked down at him with a curious and indescribable expression.
"You're not shy, at any rate," he said, drily. "Well, good-night, young
man. What?"--the boy had held up his face to be kissed.
The father hesitated. Then a better and softer feeling seemed to pass
over his face. He stooped down and let the child put his arms round his
neck, and press a warm kiss on his cheek. A short laugh then escaped his
lips, as if he were half-ashamed of his own action. He went out of the
room and shut the door behind him without looking round, and little
Julian returned to his grandmother's knee, looking well satisfied with
himself.
Janetta felt that she ought to go, and yet that she hardly liked
trusting the child to the sole care of Mrs. Brand, who was evidently so
much unnerved as to be of little use in deciding what was to be done
with him. And at the first hint of departure grandmother and child both
clung to her as if they felt her to be their sheet-anchor in storm. She
was not allowed to go until she had inspected the nursery and pronounced
it too damp for Julian's use, and seen a little bed made up for the
child in Mrs. Brand's own room, where a fire was lighted, and everything
looked cosey and bright. Poor little Julian was by this time half-dead
with sleep; and Janetta could not after all make up her mind to leave
him until she had seen him tucked up and fast asleep. Then she
bethought herself of Nora, and turned to go. Mrs. Brand, melted out of
her coldness and shy reserve, caught her by the hand.
"My dear," she said, "what should we have done without you?"
"I don't think that I have done very much," said Janetta, smiling.
"You have done more than I could ever do. If I had brought that child to
my son he would never have acknowledged it."
"He does not look so hard," said the girl involuntarily.
"He _is_ hard, my dear--hard in his way--but he is a good son for all
that--and he has had sore trouble, which has made him seem harder and
sterner than he is. I cannot thank you enough for all that you have done
to-day."
"Oh, Mrs. Brand, I have done nothing," said Janetta, blushing at the
elder woman's praise. "But may I come to see you and little Julian
again? I should like so much to know how he gets on."
"You may come, dear, if your father will let you," said Mrs. Brand, with
rather a troubled look. "It would be a blessing--a charity--to me: but I
don't know whether it would be right to let you--your father must
decide."
And then Janetta took her leave.
She was surprised to find that Mr. Brand was lounging about the hall as
she came out, and that he not only opened the door for her but
accompanied her to the garden gate. He did not speak for a minute or
two, and Janetta, not seeing her way clear to any remarks of her own,
wondered whether they were to walk side by side to the gate in utter
silence. Presently, however, he said, abruptly.
"I have not yet heard to whom I am indebted for the appearance of that
little boy in my house."
"I am not exactly responsible," said Janetta, "I only found him outside
and brought him in to make inquiries. My name is Janetta Colwyn."
"Colwyn? What? the doctor's daughter?"
"Yes, the doctor's daughter," said Janetta, smiling frankly at him, "and
your second cousin."
Wyvis Brand's hand went up to his hat, which he lifted ceremoniously.
"I wish I had had the introduction earlier," he said, in a much
pleasanter tone.
Janetta could not exactly echo the sentiment, and therefore maintained a
discreet silence.
"You must have thought me a great brute," said Wyvis, with some
sensitiveness in his tone.
"Oh, no: I quite saw how difficult it was for you to understand who I
was, and how it had all come about."
"You saw a great deal, then."
"Oh, I know that it sounds impertinent to say so," Janetta answered,
blushing a little and walking a trifle faster, "but I did not mean it
rudely, I assure you."
He seemed to take no notice. He was looking straight before him, with a
somewhat sombre expression in his fine dark eyes.
"What you could not see," he said, perhaps more to himself than to her,
"was what no one will ever guess. Nobody knows what the last few years
have been to me. My mother has seen more of it than any one else, but
even to her my life has been something of a mystery--a sealed book. You
should remember this--remember all that I have passed through--before
you blame me for the way in which I received that child to-day."
"I did not blame you," said Janetta, eagerly. "I only felt that there
was a great deal which I could not understand."
He turned his gloomy eyes upon her. "Just so," he said. "You cannot
understand. And it is useless for you to try."
"I am very sorry," Janetta faltered, scarcely knowing why she said so.
Wyvis laughed. "Don't trouble to be sorry over my affairs," he said.
"They are not worth sorrow, I assure you. But--if I may make one
request--will you kindly keep silence (except, of course, to your
parents) about this episode? I do not want people to begin gossiping
about that unhappy woman who has the right, unfortunately, to call
herself my wife."
Janetta promised, and with her promise the garden gate was reached, and
the interview came to an end.