About twelve months after what the newspapers called "The Mystery
in High Life at Naples," on a very bright day in June, the Earl of
Ferrers and Margaret, his wife, were standing at the open window of the
drawing-room at the court.
This window commands the best view of the drive, and it seemed by the
intentness with which the two pairs of eyes watched it that they were
expecting some one.
Leyton Court always looks at its best in June, and it has never looked
better than it did this year, for the earl had spent a great deal of
money on the place--"a small fortune," as it was said. A new wing had
been built; the old part of the house redecorated; but above and beyond
all, an addition had been made to the picture-gallery, which raised it
to the first rank in England.
This had been done "to pleasure" Margaret, the countess, whom the world
rightly regarded as one of its best and noblest artists. This same
world, too, had gone slightly mad over the countess, and would have
been delighted to make her the sensation of the season. For, consider!
she was not only the wife of a wealthy earl, but the heroine of as
romantic a history as the modern world wots of. Even now people did not
know the full particulars, did not know more than that the countess
was supposed to have died, and that the earl had, in all innocence,
married Violet Graham; and that Violet Graham had died of heart disease
at Naples, and Mr. Austin Ambrose had poisoned himself--for love of
her. All this the world knew, but it was still ignorant of the details,
of the diabolical plot which Austin Ambrose had woven, and so nearly
successfully. But it knew enough to make Margaret a "sensation," and it
was quite prepared to meet her in saloons and ballrooms, and point at
her in the park, and fight for introductions to her, and intrigue to
get her to its concerts and dinner-parties.
But Margaret had declined to be made a sensation of. Immediately after
the tragedy at the palace at Naples, both she and Blair disappeared,
not together, as the world hinted, but separately; and it was only
through the appearance of her pictures at the various European
galleries that people were made aware of her existence.
For months Margaret lived in a seclusion as impenetrable as that of
a Trappist, and it was not until Blair had fallen ill and sent for
her that she had gone to him. Then the rumor went round that Leyton
Court was being done up, and that the earl and countess were going to
live there just like an ordinary couple who had not been the hero and
heroine of romance.
"I hope they won't be late," said Blair, looking at his watch and then
staring down the drive.
"The trains are always late--unless you want to catch them, then they
are fatally punctual!" said Margaret. "I feel as if I were growing
_old_ waiting for them!"
He turned and looked at her with that smile of combined devotion and
admiration which the man wears who is both husband and lover.
"You don't look very old, Madge," he said. "In my eyes you seem younger
than when I saw you first. What is it you use? Some magical cosmetique,
eh?"
"I don't generally tell my toilet secrets, but I will just this
once. It is a capital preparation, Blair, and, but that you look so
ridiculously boyish yourself, I'd recommend you to use it. It is
_Cosmetique de Felicite_----"
"Which translated means----? You know I don't know two words of French."
"Which translated means 'Cosmetic of Happiness,' you ignorant young
man!" and she stole a little closer and looked up at him invitingly.
He put his arm round her and kissed her, and of course she pretended to
be indignant.
"Right, before the window, and these people likely to come at any
moment, sir!" she exclaimed.
"I wish they would come," he said. "I hate waiting for people. Let us
go out and meet them."
"Very well!" she responded, and dashed off for her hat.
In two minutes they were walking side by side down the avenue, and they
had not got very far before the Court carriage came bowling up the
smooth road.
"There they are, Blair! Hold up your hand or they'll pass us! Florence!
Florence!"
At the sound of her musical voice a girlish head appeared at the
carriage window, and a girlish voice shouted an eager greeting. The
coachman, looking rather scandalized at this want of ceremony, pulled
up, and Prince Rivani and the Princess Florence sprung out.
The two men shook hands warmly, each looking into the other's face
with that frank, steady glance which denotes a stanch friendship; and
the two girls embrace, and laugh, and almost cry in a breath.
"Oh, you dear creature!" exclaimed the princess. "Isn't this just like
you to come and meet us? And we thought it was only a young couple
love-making as they strolled along, for you had got hold of each
other's hand, just like two sweethearts; did you know that?"
Margaret blushed.
"We are two sweethearts," she whispered, almost piteously.
Then Margaret turned to the prince, who was waiting for his share of
the greeting.
The prince looked older than when we saw him last, but as he took
Margaret's hand in his and pressed it warmly, he was able to meet her
clear, pure eyes without a trace of embarrassment or reserve. Good
blood has many advantages over the ignoble sort, and not the least is
the power to conquer self. In the twelve months that had passed since
he stood opposite Blair, and sought to take his life, Prince Rivani
had fought a sterner fight even than that memorable one at Naples; the
fight with a passion which had threatened to absorb his life, and he
had conquered so completely that he could return the gentle pressure of
Margaret's hand with one of brotherly affection.
"If I cannot have her for lover and wife," he had sworn to himself, "at
least, I will have her for friend!"
It was a noble and unselfish vow, and he fought for strength until he
had accomplished it.
"And now, when you can tear yourselves apart, you two," said Blair,
with a smile, addressing the two ladies, who displayed a great
disposition to linger under the trees, and talk for the remainder of
their lives, "perhaps we'd better go to the house."
"And what a lovely place it is!" exclaimed the princess. "I always
thought the Villa Capri the beautifulest house in the world, but it is
a _hovel_ compared to this. Oh how happy you must be, dear!" she added
in a whisper.
"Yes," said Margaret, with her quiet smile; "yes I am very fond of the
Court, but I think I am happy because I am the wife of its master!"
Florence glanced at Blair as he strode along beside the prince in
earnest conversation.
"What a splendid fellow he is, dear," she said in a low voice, not
altogether free from awe. "Do you know, if I weren't so fond of
him--you aren't jealous?--I think I should be a little afraid of him.
The stories we are always hearing about him since we came to England!
It is always how Lord Blair--they always call him Blair!--rode in such
and such a race, and how he swam such and such a river, and fought such
and such a man, and what a magnificent place Leyton Court is, and how
lovely and famous the Countess of Ferrers had become! Why, when some
people heard we were coming to stay with you they looked at us as if we
were going down to Windsor Castle!"
Margaret laughed with all her old light-heartedness.
"You always were a terrible flatterer, Florence!" she said.
"Now, that's a shame, for it prevents me saying what I was going to
remark; but I'll say it all the same. Margaret, do you know that I
should scarcely have known either of you?"
"Really? We have both grown so gray!"
"You have both grown so ridiculously _young_!" retorted the princess
emphatically. "I don't mean that you ever looked old, that's absurd of
course; but you were so grave and quiet and sad. Don't you remember
the first day I saw you I said you reminded me of mamma? That you were
so--so--what is the word you English are so fond of?--so sober! That's
it! And now you speak and laugh like a young girl again!"
And Margaret answered her almost as she had answered Blair.
"Do I, dear? It must be because I am so happy!"
And indeed it was a very happy little party in the small dining-room
that night. Blair was like the old Blair, full of stories of his wild
youth, ready with the old light laughter; just the same Blair who used
to win the hearts of old and young in the time before Austin Ambrose
had commenced to set his snares.
They were so merry in a wise fashion, so light-hearted, that they
had forgotten the past entirely; and it was not until the two ladies
had left the room--the princess beseeching the two gentlemen not to
leave them alone in the drawing-room _too_ long, in case they should
quarrel--that Blair grew suddenly quiet.
"I can't tell you how I have looked forward to this visit, Rivani," he
said. "I have been looking forward to it since that day in Florence
when we shook hands at parting, and you promised to come and stay with
us."
"I am very glad to come," said the prince, with sincere earnestness.
"Gladder still to see you so well--and the countess."
"You thinks she looks well?" said Blair, his face lighting up at once.
"She looks the picture of youth and health and happiness," said the
prince, quietly, "and more beautiful--you will pardon me--than ever in
my eyes."
"And in mine, old fellow!" said Blair, holding out his hand.
There was silence after that significant meeting of the palms, then
Blair said, "Any news?"
The prince was silent a moment.
"No, not much," he answered, after a pause. "All you wished done I have
had carried out."
He referred to two graves in the cemetery at Naples which he had
undertaken to keep in order--two graves covered with huge slabs of
black marble, one bearing the initials "A. A." and the other "V. G."
Blair nodded, and his face grew cloudy for a moment.
"And Lottie?"
"Lottie doesn't need your generous assistance any longer," said the
prince, with a smile. "She is now one of the most famous young ladies
in Italy. I forgot to send you the paper containing an account of her
great success in the new spectacular play"--he had not forgotten, but
had remembered with some consideration that the paper would only recall
the past and its old bitterness--"she took them by storm, I assure
you, and for weeks our volatile people were raving about her; for that
matter they are raving still," and he laughed.
Blair smiled, but his face was still clouded, and the prince laid a
hand on his shoulder.
"Blair, forgive me, but I think the time has now come when the past may
be allowed to bury its dead. That it may do so the more completely I
want you and Lady Ferrers to assist me in a short ceremony."
Blair looked at him inquiringly.
"Will you ask her ladyship if she will kindly show me round her
studio?" said the prince gravely. "She knows how devoted I am to the
art of which she is so great a mistress!"
"Certainly," said Blair, rising, and still puzzled.
They went into the drawing-room, where Margaret and the princess
were sitting very close together, and Blair whispered a few words to
Margaret.
She got up directly, and drew the princess' arm through her own.
"Follow me," she said; and she led them to the magnificent studio which
Blair had built for her.
Here, amongst costly pictures and rare statues gleaming in the
reflected light of antique curtains of deep reds and blues of Oriental
dyes, she showed them her latest work.
"Beautiful!" exclaimed the prince. "Beautiful! Ah! if Alfero could but
be here! Do you know what he said when I told him that I was coming to
see you?"
"No," said Margaret; "but everything that was kind and thoughtful I am
sure," she added.
"He told me to convey his devotion to you, and say that he looked
forward to the hour when he should be able to kiss your hand; then he
sighed and added, 'and tell her not to forget that she is an artist as
well as a great English lady. Anybody can be a countess, but Heaven
only sends us such a painter as she is at long intervals. Tell her to
put the paint-brush and the palette first and her coronet afterward!'"
"That was like him!" said Margaret softly. "How much I owe him! You
shall take my answer back, prince. But, see; do you think I have been
idle?" and she looked modestly at the pictures on the wall and on the
easel.
"No," he said. "No," then he was silent a minute; "but there is one
thing I wish you would do--it is for myself. I want you to alter a
picture of yours I have got."
"Really!" she cried eagerly. "Of course I will!"
"Thanks!" he said gravely, "I knew you would not refuse me. I will go
and fetch it, for I have brought it with me."
He left the room, and the other three waited expectantly. While he was
gone, Margaret took up her palette and brush, and absently began mixing
some colors.
He re-entered the room presently with a canvas-inclosed case, and,
unlocking it, placed upon the easel the famous picture of the Long Rock.
Blair uttered an exclamation, but Margaret stood and regarded it in
silence, though her face was very pale.
"I want you to alter this for me," said the prince, gravely and gently.
"Can you not guess how?"
She looked up at him inquiringly, then, reading his meaning in his
eyes, she took up a large brush, filled it with black paint, and in
another minute the picture had disappeared.
Florence uttered an exclamation of dismay, but the prince inclined his
head, and as Margaret turned and hid her face on Blair's breast, he
said:
"That is what I wanted. Now, in deed and in truth, my friends, we may
say that the past is blotted out; not even the shadow of it can mar the
happiness of your future; a future made bright with a love that has
been tried in the furnace and found not wanting."
And this is the reason why Lady Ferrers' great masterpiece, which set
all Italy talking and made her famous, can never be found, and some
art critics are beginning to doubt whether, after all, it could have
been so good as Signor Alfero and others declared it to have been; and
whether some of her later pictures, which dealt with the bright side
of nature, may not be far better than the mysterious work which has
disappeared so strangely.
[THE END.]
[Illustration]
Transcriber's Notes:
This e-text is derived from the hardcover Columbus Series edition,
where the book was used as filler following Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller's
_A Dreadful Temptation; or, A Young Wife's Ambition_.
Added table of contents.
Italics are represented with _underscores_.
Some inconsistent hyphenation retained (e.g. "dressing gown" vs.
"dressing-gown", "maidservant" vs. "maid-servant").
The inconsistent spelling of General Tralani vs. General Trelini
appears to be an error, but as both spellings appear just once, and the
error is found in multiple editions of this book, it is impossible to
determine which is the correct version.
Page 6, added missing quote before "Tell the man."
Page 9, moved misplaced quote inside "Don't interfere, my men."
Page 17, added missing quote before "I thought."
Page 25, added missing em-dash before "that his lordship."
Page 26, removed extraneous quote before "Well, let's go now, grandma."
Page 28, changed "mussical" to "musical."
Page 32, changed "Say" to "Stay" in "Stay, if you please."
Page 34, added missing quote before "What a beautiful bouquet."
Page 37, added missing quote after "old one."
Page 44, changed "juyous" to "joyous."
Page 50, changed comma to period after "at any rate."
Page 51, changed comma to period after "stopped short."
Page 52, removed extraneous comma from "perfectly absorbed."
Page 55, removed extraneous quote after "To keep it!" Changed "It in
mine" to "It is mine."
Page 72, changed "hers ketch-block" to "her sketch-block."
Page 76, removed superfluous quote before "Not sure?"
Page 78, adjusted capitalization/punctuation at start of "What did she
say?"
Page 79, changed incorrect nested quotes at end of final paragraph.
Page 83, added missing quote after "you're right, Austin."
Page 84, added missing quote after "I dare say."
Page 86, added missing quote after "take this."
Page 93, removed superfluous quotation mark after "from the room."
Page 105, changed "sauvely" to "suavely."
Page 123, added missing comma after "need not wait."
Page 127, added missing "o" to "all of their."
Page 130, changed "Mrs. Blair" to "Mrs. Day."
Page 132, added missing quote before "Well, the tide."
Page 140, changed "all-devoring" to "all-devouring."
Page 151, changed "keep if" to "keep it."
Page 161, added missing quote after "out in this storm."
Page 168, changed "Met me help" to "Let me help."
Page 174, removed superfluous quote after "Rose of Devon."
Page 179, added missing quote before "Some people's."
Page 181, added missing quote after "Prince Ferdinand Rivani."
Page 182, italicized "salon" for consistency.
Page 193, changed "camllias" to "camellias."
Page 196, added missing quote after "dear Lucille."
Page 199, changed "faint fry" to "faint cry" and "sholders" to
"shoulders" and added missing quote after "she murmured huskily."
Page 208, changed "acccount" to "account."
Page 215, changed ! to ? in "Oh, what have I said?"
Page 217, changed "sufficed for the signor" to "sufficed for the
signora."
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Page 230, changed "require some preparations" to "requires some
preparations."
Page 242, changed comma to period after "favorable position."
Page 246, changed "addresss" to "address."
Page 251, changed ! to ? in "Do you think I am dreaming?"
Page 257, added missing close quote after "could require."
Page 258, changed "forgotton" to "forgotten."
Page 259, removed superfluous quote after first "It is true!" Changed !
to ? in "And if I refuse?" Removed superfluous quote after "I have told
you."
Page 261, changed "husband wife" to "husband and wife" and added
missing quote before "I will go."
Page 263, changed "signoria" to "signorina" (twice in last paragraph).
Page 266, removed superfluous quote after "Ambrose" in "Austin Ambrose!
The cruellest."
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Page 273, changed "possessses" to "possesses."
Page 281, removed superfluous quote after "he had accomplished it."
Page 284, added missing single close quote after "coronet afterward!"