LADY DUNFORTH’S VISIT
Adrian Dredmond, as he had stated to his grandfather when he so
wrathfully opposed his marrying, was not quite a beggar; indeed, he was
entirely independent of Lord Dunforth as regarded pecuniary matters.
His mother’s settlement had been the generous sum of twenty thousand
pounds, which, of course, after her death became his.
His father also had accumulated quite a handsome property, so that, if
he never received a pound from Dunforth’s coffers, he was able to
surround his bride with every luxury, while nothing could prevent him
from inheriting the title and landed property upon the old gentleman’s
decease, since they were entailed.
The day after his marriage Adrian read in the _Times_ that his lordship
was in town for a few days, and he resolved to visit him, and acquaint
him with the step which he had taken, and have the worst over with at
once.
He was received kindly, yet with some coolness.
“Have you gotten over your folly, my son?” the old man asked, regarding
the bright, handsome face keenly.
“No, my lord; instead, I came to tell you that I have only gotten deeper
into it,” was the grave yet quiet reply.
“What do you mean, sir?” and Lord Dunforth got quite red in the face at
this answer.
“I mean, my lord, that I meant just what I said several days ago. I told
you that the happiness of two lives was at stake, and that I should
marry the lady I love. Sir, I found that she was being shamefully abused
and insulted in her situation, and I made her my wife yesterday.”
“And you dare come hither and tell me of it!” thundered the angry lord,
starting to his feet.
“I could not endure to be at variance with you, sir, and I know you
would honor me for the course I have taken if you would but consider the
circumstances.”
“Never!” he interrupted, white with passion; “you have braved my
displeasure, and now—begone! That a Dunforth should have stolen forth
like that to marry a beggar!” and he groaned aloud.
“But, grandfather, listen——”
“I will not, I tell you, and I command you to begone; you are of age,
and can henceforth manage your own concerns; but not one shilling of my
property shall revert to you more than I can help, and I would keep the
title and estate from you if I could. Go to your beggar-bride, and be
happy, if you can. You have ruined my life. Oh, God! I thought I had
suffered enough at the beginning without this last blow to crush me,”
and he turned away from him, with a gesture of despair.
The young man’s heart bled for him, and he longed to comfort him, but he
saw that his presence only excited him, and he withdrew, sad indeed, but
without a single regret for the step which he had taken. He knew he had
done right.
He was puzzled to know what his lordship had meant by saying he thought
he had suffered enough in the beginning. He had never heard the story of
his early disappointment, so he could not know to what he referred.
He sought his grandmother, and related his adventures and their
termination to her.
He found her very kind and willing to listen to him, and he told her all
about Brownie from the time of his first meeting with her; but she, too,
deemed it a _mésalliance_, and was deeply distressed on account of it,
as well as the rupture between him and his lordship.
But Adrian was her idol—the deed was done, and could not now be
undone—and he was so high in his praises of his bride that she was half
won over to his side before he left her, and she promised to visit them,
if she could do so without incurring the displeasure of her husband.
Three days later the happy husband and wife might have been seen sitting
in their luxurious drawing-room in the Langham Hotel, where everything
which love could suggest or money procure had been lavished upon the
lovely bride.
Adrian had insisted immediately following their marriage upon her
procuring an extensive and elaborate wardrobe, “befitting a lady of
rank,” as he laughingly said, although what that rank was he had not yet
seen fit to tell her, and she was too happy, as well as too delicate, to
question him upon such minor points.
Upon this particular morning, Brownie was exquisitely lovely in a soft,
trailing robe of white cashmere, trimmed with rose-colored silk, and
confined at the waist by a heavy cord and tassels of the same color.
Full ruchings of costly lace surrounded her neck and wrists, and from
beneath the folds of her dress peeped the tiniest kid slipper,
ornamented with bows of rose-colored satin. Her hair was arranged
simply, but very becomingly, for Milly took the utmost delight in her
new vocation, and spared no pains to make her fair young mistress look
beautiful; and no one could say, as she sits listening while her husband
reads to her from the morning paper, but that the lovely bride was
absolutely perfect, from the crown of her pretty head to the sole of her
dainty slipper.
Nurse Clum has returned to West Malling, since she is no more needed for
propriety’s sake; but she did not go empty-handed by any means, for
Adrian crowded her poor little purse to its fullest capacity, while
Brownie bought the very nicest black silk for a dress which she could
find as a testimonial of her appreciation of the kindness which she had
done her.
The little golden clock upon its bracket of carved marble chimed the
hour of eleven, and scarcely had it ceased when there came a knock upon
the door.
Another instant it was swung open, and the waiter announced:
“Lady Dunforth!”
Brownie colored violently at the name, and glanced in surprise at her
husband, wondering how it happened that she, of all others, should be
the first to call upon her.
Much pleased, Adrian rose to greet her ladyship, and, leading her to
Brownie, said, to her increasing surprise:
“Grandmother, this is my darling. Will you love her for my sake first,
until you come to know her, when, I am sure, you will love her for her
own?”
The old lady had hardly seen Brownie when she was at the castle, she had
been so much engaged with her company, and she would never have
recognized her as the same being as she stood before her now in all her
bright loveliness.
She was charmed with her!
Her quick eye took in at a single glance every item of her tasteful
toilet, and even the narrow little foot, with its arching instep; and
she knew at once that she was in the presence of a true and well-born
lady.
Her heart, which had been filled with dread and distress ever since she
had first known of her boy’s marriage, instantly settled down into a
state of restful satisfaction and delight.
She greeted the young bride with the utmost graciousness, and said,
sweetly, as she kissed her:
“My dear, I do not think I shall even need Adrian’s recommendation to
make me love you.”
Brownie concealed her amazement at this new development as best she
could.
She had never dreamed that Adrian was the grandson of Lord Dunforth
until that moment, and the knowledge brought with it various conflicting
emotions.
She gave him one quick, surprised look, and then devoted herself to the
entertainment of her distinguished guest.
As she kissed Brownie again at parting, Lady Dunforth put into her hands
a large velvet case.
“I do not know what you may have already, dear,” she said, “but I like a
bride to wear pearls. Please accept these, with my love.”
Brownie touched the spring, and her lovely face flushed with pleasure as
the cover flew back.
Upon their blue velvet cushion there lay a most exquisite and complete
set of pearls in the loveliest design—necklace, bracelets, earrings,
with a beautiful spray for the hair.
Adrian was very much gratified at this token of remembrance, and added
his thanks to his wife’s.
“I do not know how soon we shall return to Dunforth Castle, but I wish
you might come to West Malling before very long,” Lady Dunforth said,
wistfully, when she went away, but she did not invite them to call upon
her while she remained in town. She knew it would not do.
Delicately as she had worded the sentence, Brownie felt it with a sudden
pain, and knew that no invitation was conveyed in the words, and her
brow grew troubled and her face very grave when they were alone again.
Adrian at once divined the cause, and knew that he must explain his
position; he could not keep it from her longer.
“My Brownie is looking troubled; were you not pleased with Lady
Dunforth?” he asked, drawing her into his arms.
“Oh, yes. I think she is very lovely; but, Adrian, I never dreamed that
you were anything to Lord Dunforth.”
“You never asked me, did you?” he asked, with mock gravity.
“Of course not; I did not like to be questioning you as to your
ancestry; I supposed you would tell me all in good time of your own
accord. I have heard that you were connected with a titled family, but
never supposed you were a descendant of his, and would occupy such a
high position,” she said, looking rather uneasy.
“Then it can never be said that you schemed for me on that account,” he
replied, with twinkling eyes and an amused smile, “while I, on the other
hand, have had the advantage of you all along. I have known ever since
the day I first saw you that you were a descendant of royalty.”
Brownie lifted her head, and gave him a perplexed look.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean,” and he laughed, mischievously, “that I have heard Miss Douglas
was very proud of having descended from Queen Margaret Tudor. Have you
the genealogical tree, Brownie?”
“Poor auntie! But you are laughing at me, and who told you all this?”
“My friend Gordon, of course; so you see, I took care to find out all
about you before I made any advances.”
She smiled at his pleasantry, but she was not to be diverted from the
subject which occupied her thoughts.
“But—but, Adrian, why did Lady Dunforth speak in just the way she did?
And why did not his lordship call with her? It would have been the right
thing to do,” and she searched his face with her clear eyes.
He told her as gently as he could then that when he went to seek his
grandfather’s consent, that, knowing something regarding the
circumstances of her leaving Mrs. Coolidge, he had imbibed a sudden and
unjust prejudice, and had withheld his consent to their marriage.
“Did you know of this before you announced our engagement at Lady
Randal’s?” she demanded, when he had finished.
“Yes, darling; and, if the whole world had opposed, it would have made
no difference. I am not a slave, nor a vacillating boy, that any one
should choose my bride for me; and you are the only woman I have ever
seen whom I would willingly make my wife. If my grandfather would only
have listened to me while I explained your position, he would never have
been so unreasonable.”
“But I——” Brownie began, haughtily, but he stopped her with a kiss.
“Yes, I know, my own, that the pride of that royal race is so strong
within you that you never would have wedded me had you known of this
opposition; therefore, I took care that you should know nothing of it
until it was too late.” Then he added, more seriously, as he saw that
her face was still overcast: “But, my darling, what is birth or caste,
compared with our future happiness, even if you were not my equal,
socially speaking, which I contend you are? We love each other, and have
no right to make ourselves miserable over what the world might think or
say. You and I are satisfied with each other, are we not?” he asked,
fondly.
The look which she gave him told him that she, at least, was content
with him; but, still knowing all that she did regarding Lord Dunforth,
the knowledge that he was opposed to her marrying Adrian still rankled
in her heart, though she forgot to consider that he could not know who
she was, or that she had any connection with his former love.
“But, Adrian,” she said, some time after, and when he had supposed the
matter dropped entirely, “Lord Dunforth need not have been so very
particular, for he himself was once betrothed to auntie, and would have
married her if——”
It was now the young husband’s turn to look surprised and puzzled, and
he interrupted her in astonished tones:
“Dearest, what is this that you are saying?”
“It is true,” she answered, smiling at his incredulity, “that he wanted
to marry her, and would, but for some treachery on the part of Miss
Helen Capel, who is now Lady Randal, I believe; and poor auntie loved
him till the last minute of her life.”
“Who told you of this?”
“Auntie herself, the very day she died, and the jewels which Isabel
Coolidge has were, most of them, given to her in honor of her
approaching marriage with his lordship.”
More and more amazed, Adrian was now eager to hear the whole story, and
Brownie, nothing loth, went over the whole ground, and then proved her
position by reminding him of Lord Dunforth’s recognition of the jewels
she wore the night she attended the opera.
When she had concluded, he said, with a little touch of triumph in his
tone:
“I think, Mrs. Dredmond, that we are about to turn the table upon my
proud-spirited grandsire finely, and we will prove to him that there is
such a thing as being ‘more nice than wise.’”
With which trite quotation he immediately sat down and wrote out a
complete history of Miss Mehetabel Douglas and Brownie, and dispatched
it at once to Lord Dunforth, feeling assured that this explanation would
make everything all right, and bring his lordship to them in rather a
more humble frame of mind than when he last saw him.
His chagrin can be imagined when the epistle was returned to him
unopened, and without a word, thus showing that henceforth he wished no
communication with him; and while his indignation for the moment got the
better of him, he was still deeply grieved to be thus alienated from his
grandfather in his old age.
But Brownie, all her pride aroused to arms, vowed within herself that
the haughty earl should yet sue for her favor.