ALAS FOR TRIX!
"And after to-night we will all have a rest, thank Heaven! and _my_
pilgrimage will come to an end. A fortnight at Powyss Place before you
go up to London, my dear Mrs. Stuart--not a day less."
Thus Lady Helena Powyss, eight days later, seated luxuriously in the
first-class carriage, and flying along by express train between Dublin
and Kingston, _en route_ for Cheshire.
They had "done" the south of Ireland, finished the Lakes, spent a
pleasant half-week in Dublin, and now, in the light of the May
afternoon, were flying along to meet the channel boat.
Captain Hammond was of the party still, and included in the invitation
to Powyss Place. He sat between Lady Helena and Sir Victor now--Miss
Stuart, in charming travelling costume, in the sunny seat next the
window. On the opposite seat, at the other extreme end, sat Edith
Darrell, her eyes riveted upon the pages of a book.
Since that night in the boat Miss Stuart had quietly but resolutely
taken entire possession of Sir Victor. He was hers--she had the right.
If a gentleman is modest to a fault, mayn't a lady overstep, by an
inch or two, the line that Mrs. Grundy draws, and meet him half way?
There is an adage about helping a lame dog over a stile--that work of
mercy is what Trixy was doing now.
Before she left her room on the ensuing morning following that
never-to-be-forgotten night, Edith had entered and taken Trix in her
arms and kissed her.
"I was stupid and out of sorts last night, Trixy," she had said. "If I
seemed churlish, I ask your pardon, dear, with all my heart I was
surprised--I don't mind owning _that_--and perhaps a little, just a
little, envious. But all that is over now, and I _do_ wish you joy
and happiness from the bottom of my heart. You're the best and dearest
girl in the world, and deserve your fairy fortune."
And she had meant it. Trix _was_ one of the best and dearest girls
in the world, and if Sir Victor preferred her to herself, what right
had she to grudge her her luck. Against the baronet himself, she felt
anger deep and strong still. How dared he seek her out as he had done,
select her for his confidante, and look love in fifty different ways,
when he meant to marry Trix? What a fool she might have made of
herself had she been a whit less proud than she was. Since then she
had avoided him; in no marked manner, perhaps, but she _had_ avoided
him. He should pour no more family confidences into her ear, that she
resolved. He belonged to Trix--let him talk to Trix, then; she wanted
no other girl's lover. If he felt this avoidance, he showed no sign.
Perhaps he thought Miss Stuart had dropped some hint--girls, despite
their promises, have been known to do such things--and this change was
becoming maidenly reserve. Sir Victor liked maidenly reserve--none of
your Desdemonas, who meet their Othellos half way, for him. Trixy's
unremitting attentions were sisterly, of course. He felt grateful
accordingly, and strove to repay her in kind. One other thing he
observed, too, and with great complacency--the friendship between Miss
Darrell and her Cousin Charley had come to an end. That is to say,
they rather kept aloof from each other--beyond the most ordinary
attention, Mr. Stuart seemed to have nothing whatever to say to his
cousin. This was as it should be; certainly Beatrix must have dropped
that very judicious hint. He was glad he had spoken to her.
They reached Kingston in the early twilight, and embarked. It was
rough crossing, of course. Trix was seized with agonies of _mal de
mer_ once more. Edith waited upon her assiduously. Mrs. Stuart and
Lady Helena had a stewardess apiece. Happily, if severe, it was short;
before midnight they were at Holyhead, and on the train once more.
Then off--flying through Wales--whirling by mountains--illuminated
glass stations--the broad sea to their left, asleep under the stars,
the spray at times almost in their faces. Past villages, ruins,
castles, and cottages, and at two in the morning thundering into the
big station at Chester.
Two carriages awaited them at the Chester station. Into one entered Mr.
and Mrs. Stuart, Sir Victor, and Beatrix; into the other, Lady Helena,
Edith, Charley, and Captain Hammond. They drove away through quiet,
quaint Chester, "rare old city of Chester," with its wonderful walls,
its curious old streets--looking like set scenes in a theatre to
American eyes--glimpses of the peaceful Dee, glimpses of Curson Park,
with its stately villas; away for miles over a country road, then
Chesholm at three in the morning, silent and asleep. Presently an
endless stretch of ivied wall appears in view, inclosing a primeval
forest, it seems to Edith; and Lady Helena sits up and rubs her eyes,
and says it is Catheron Royals. The girl leans forward and strains her
eyes, but can make out nothing in the darkness save that long line of
wall and waving trees. This is to be Trixy's home, she thinks--happy
Trixy! Half an hour more of rapid driving, and they are at Powyss
Place, and their journey is at an end.
They emerge from the chill darkness of dawning day into a blaze of
light--into a vast and stately entrance-hall. A long file of servants
are drawn up to receive them. And "Welcome to Powyss Place," Lady
Helena says with kind courtesy "I can only wish your visit may be as
pleasant to you as you made mine in New York."
Without changing their dresses, they are ushered into a lofty and
handsome dining-room. More brilliant lights, more silent, respectful
servants, a round table luxuriously spread. They sit down; forget they
are tired and sleepy; eat, drink, and are merry; and it is five, and
quite day, before they were shown up to their rooms. Then, hasty
disrobing, hasty lying down, and all are at peace in the land of
dreams.
Next day, somewhere about noon, Miss Stuart, clicking along in her
narrow-soled, preposterously high-heeled boots, over a polished oaken
corridor, as black as ebony, and several degrees more slippery than
ice, lost her footing, as might be imagined, and came down, with an
unearthly screech, on one ankle. Of course the ankle was sprained; of
course every one flew to the rescue. Sir Victor was first on the field,
and in Sir Victor's arms Miss Stuart was lifted, and borne back to her
room. Luckily it was near, or even Sir Victor's chivalry and muscular
development would not have been equal to it, for Trix was a "fine
woman." The ankle was bathed and bandaged, the invalid's breakfast
brought up--everything done for her comfort that it was possible to do;
and in the midst of their fussing, having cried a great deal, Miss
Stuart suddenly dropped off asleep. Edith came out of the room looking
pale and tired. In the slippery passage she encountered Sir Victor
waiting.
"I have waylaid you on purpose, Miss Darrell," he said, smiling, "lest
you should meet with a mishap too. A carpet shall be placed here
immediately. You look pale--are you ill?"
There was a solicitude in his face, a tremulous, suppressed tenderness
in the commonplace question, a look in his eyes that had no business
in the eyes of another young lady's betrothed. But Edith felt too
fagged and spiritless just at present to notice.
"I feel well enough; nothing is ever the matter with me; but I _am_
rather stupid. Stupidity," she said, with her old laugh, "is fast
becoming my normal state."
"You will come with me for a walk, will you not?" he asked. "The park
is very well worth seeing. To-morrow, Miss Stuart's sprain permitting,
we will all visit Catheron Royals. Do come, Miss Darrell; it will do
you a world of good."
She hesitated a moment, then went. What difference did it make? Trix
wouldn't be jealous now. What difference did anything make, for that
matter? She was dull and low-spirited; she needed a walk in the fine
fresh air. So they went on that fateful walk, that walk that was to be
like no other in all Edith Darrell's life.
It was a perfect May day, an English May day; the grass, green beyond
all ordinary greenness, the fragrant hawthorn hedges scenting the air,
the thrush and the linnet singing in the trees, cowslips and daisies
dotting the sward. A fresh, cool breeze swept over the uplands, and
brought a faint trace of life and color into Edith's dark pale cheeks.
"This is the Lime Walk--the prettiest at Powyss Place, to my mind."
This was the young baronet's first commonplace remark. "If you will
ascend the eminence yonder, Miss Darrell, I think I can point out
Catheron Royals; that is, if you think it worth the trouble."
It was all the same to Edith--the Lime Walk, the eminence, or any
other quarter of the park. She took Sir Victor's arm, as he seemed to
expect it, and went with him slowly up the elevation. Pale, weary,
listless, she might be, but how charmingly pretty she looked in the
sparkling sunshine, the soft wind blowing back her loose brown hair,
kindling into deeper light her velvety-brown eyes, bringing a sea-shell
pink into each creamy cheek. Beautiful beyond all ordinary beauty of
womanhood, it seemed to Sir Victor Catheron.
"It is a wonderfully pretty place," she said. "I should think you
English people, whose ancestors, time out of mind, have lived and died
here, would grow to love every ivy-clad stone, every brave old tree.
If I were not Alexander I would be Diogenes--if I were not an American
girl, I would be an English miss."
She laughed and looked up at him, her spirits rising in the sunshine
and the free, fresh air. His eyes were fixed upon her face--passionate
admiration, passionate love, written in them far too plainly for any
girl on earth not to read. And yet--he had proposed to Trix.
"You would?" he eagerly exclaimed. "Miss Darrell, do I understand you
to say you could live in England all your life--give up America and
your friends, and pass your life here?"
She shrugged her shoulders.
"It would be no great sacrifice. Apart from my father, there isn't a
soul in all wide America I care a farthing for, and your English homes
are very charming."
The last barrier broke down. He had not meant to speak--he had meant
to be very prudent and formal--to tell Lady Helena first, to refer the
matter to Mr. Stuart next. Now all prudence and formality were swept
away. Her hands were in his--he was speaking with his whole heart in
every word.
"Then stay and share an English home--share _mine_ Edith, I love
you--I have loved you, I think, since I saw you first. Will you be my
wife?"
Alas for Trix!--that was Edith's first thought. To burst out
laughing--that was Edith's first impulse. Not in triumph or
exultation--just at this moment she felt neither--but at the awful
blunder Trix had made; for Trix had made a blunder, that was clear as
day, else Sir Victor Catheron had never said those words.
"I meant to have spoken to Lady Helena and Mr. Stuart first," Sir
Victor went on; "but that is all over now. I can't wait longer; I must
take my sentence from your lips. I love you! What more can I say? You
are the first my lips have ever said it to--the first my heart has
ever felt it for. Edith, tell me, may I hope?"
She stood silent. They were on the summit of the hill. Away, far off,
she could see the waving trees and tall chimneys of a stately
mansion--Catheron Royals, no doubt. It looked a very grand and noble
place; it might be her home for life--she who, in one sense, was
homeless. A baronet stood beside her, offering her rank and
wealth--she, penniless, pedigreeless Edith Darrell! All the dreams of
life were being realized, and in this hour she felt neither triumph
nor elation. She stood and listened, the sunlight on her gravely
beautiful face, with vague wonder at herself for her apathy.
"Edith!" he cried out, "don't tell me I am too late--that some one has
been before me and won your heart. I _couldn't_ bear it! Your cousin
assured me that when I spoke the answer would be favorable. I spoke
to her that night in Killarney--I did not mention your name, but she
understood me immediately. I told her I meant to speak as soon as
we reached England. I asked her if she thought there was hope for me,
and she--"
The passionate eagerness, the passionate love and fear within him
checked his words suddenly. He stopped for a moment, and turned away.
"O Trixy! Trixy!" was Edith's thought; and ridiculous and out of place
as the emotion was, her only desire still was an almost uncontrollable
desire to laugh outright. What a horrible--what an unheard-of blunder
the child had made!
She stood tracing figures on the grass with the point of her parasol,
feeling strangely apathetic still. If her life had depended on it, she
could hardly have accepted Sir Victor then. By and by she might feel
half wild with exultation--not now.
He waited for the answer that did not come. Then he turned from her,
pale with despair.
"I see how it is," he said, trying, not quite successfully, to steady
his voice; "I am too late. You love your cousin, and are engaged to
him. I feared it all along."
The brown starry eyes, lifted slowly from the grass and looked at him.
"My cousin? You mistake, Sir Victor; I am engaged to no one. I"--she
set her lips suddenly and looked away at the trees and the turrets of
Catheron Royals, shining in the brilliant sun--"I love no one."
"No one, Edith! Not even me?"
"Not even you, Sir Victor. How could I? Why should I? I never dreamed
of this."
"Never dreamed of this!" he repeated, in amaze; "when you must have
seen--must have known--"
She interrupted him, a faint smile curling her lips.
"I thought it was Trixy," she said.
"Miss Stuart! Then she has told you nothing of that night at
Killarney--I really imagined she had. Miss Stuart has been my kind
friend, my one confidante and sympathizer. No sister could be kinder
in her encouragement and comfort than she."
"O poor Trix--a sister!" Edith thought, and in spite of every effort,
the laugh she strove so hard to suppress dimpled the corners of her
mouth. "_Won't_ there be a scene when you hear all this!"
"For pity's sake, Edith, speak to me!" the young man exclaimed. "I
love you--my life will be miserable without you. If you are free, why
may I not hope? See! I don't even ask you to love me now. I will wait;
I will be patient. My love is so great that it will win yours in
return. O darling! say you will be my wife."
Her hands were in his. The fervor, the passion within him almost
frightened her.
"Sir Victor, I--I hardly know what to say. I wonder that you care for
me. I wonder you want to marry me. I am not your equal; I have neither
rank, nor wealth, nor descent."
"You have the beauty and the grace of a goddess--the goodness of an
angel; I ask nothing more. You are the mate of a prince; and I love
you. Everything is said in that."
"Lady Helena will never consent"
"Lady Helena will consent to anything that will make me happy. The
whole happiness or misery of my life lies in your hands. _Don't_ say
no, Edith--don't, for Heaven's sake. I could not bear it--I cannot
lose you; I _will_ not!" he cried, almost fiercely.
She smiled faintly again, and that lovely rose-pink blush of hers
deepened in her cheeks. It was very nice indeed to be wooed in this
fiery fashion.
"_Fortes fortuna juvat_," she said, laughing. "I learned enough Latin,
you see, to know that fortune assists the brave. People who won't
have 'no' for an answer must have 'yes,' of course."
"And it is 'yes!' Edith--"
"Be quiet, Sir Victor; it is not 'yes' just yet, neither is it 'no.'
You must let me think all this over; my head is giddy with your
vehemence. Give me--let me see--until to-morrow. I can't answer now."
"But, Edith--"
"That much is due to me," she interposed, proudly; "remember, I have
not expected this. You have surprised me this morning more than I can
say. I am proud and grateful for your preference and the honor you
have done me, but--I am honest with you--I don't love you."
"But you love no one else. Tell me that again, Edith!"
She grew pale suddenly. Again she looked away from him over the sunlit
slopes before her.
"I am a very selfish and heartless sort of girl, I am afraid," she
answered. "I don't know that it is in me to love any one as I
ought--certainly not as you love me. If you take me, you shall take me
at my true value. I am not an angel--ah, no; the farthest in the world
from it--the most selfish of the selfish. I like you very much; it is
not hard to do that. To be your wife would be my highest honor, but
still I must have time. Come to me to-morrow, Sir Victor, any time,
and you shall have your answer. Don't say one word more until then.
Now let us go back."
He bowed and offered his arm. She took it, and in profound silence
they walked back. The one topic that filled him, heart and soul,
strength and mind, was forbidden--it was simply impossible for him to
speak of any other. For Edith, she walked calmly beside him--her mind
a serene blank.
They reached Powyss Place--they entered the drawing-room. All were
there--Trixy lying on a sofa, pale and interesting, Lady Helena beside
her, Charley lounging in the recess of a sunny window. All eyes turned
upon the newcomers, Trix's with suspicious jealousy. If Sir Victor
were in love with herself, was not his fitting place by her side in
this trying hour, instead of meandering about with Dithy? And what
business had Dithy monopolizing another girl's lover?
"I think I shall ride ever to Drexel Court between this and dinner,"
Sir Victor said. "I promised Hampton--"
Lady Helena laughed and interrupted:
"And Lady Gwendoline is there--I understand. Go by all means, Victor,
and give Gwendoline my love. We shall expect you back to dinner."
The young man colored like a girl. He glanced uneasily at Edith, but
Miss Darrell had taken up a photograph book of literary celebrities,
and was immersed therein.
Would she understand him, he wondered--would she know it was because
he could not endure the suspense at home? How should he drag through
all the long, heavy hours between this and to-morrow? And when
to-morrow came, if her answer were _no_? He set his teeth at the
thought--it could not be no--it _should_ not! She loved no one
else--she must learn to love him.
Captain Hammond and Charley betook themselves to the billiard room.
Trixy turned her suspicious eyes upon her cousin.
"Where were you and Sir Victor all day, Edith?"
"I and Sir Victor have not been any where all day, Beatrix. During the
last hour we have been walking in the grounds."
"What were you talking about?"
"Many things," Miss Darrell responded, promptly. "The beauty of the
prospect--the comfort of English homes, and the weather, of course. If
I understood short-hand, and had been aware of your anxiety on the
subject, I might have taken notes of our conversation for your
benefit."
"Did you talk of _me_?"
"I believe your name was mentioned."
"Dith!" in a whisper, and raising herself on her elbow, "did Sir
Victor say any thing about--about--you know what."
"He did not say one word about being in love with you, or marrying you,
if that is what you mean. Now please stop catechising, and let me look
at the pictures."
Twilight fell--dinner hour came; with it Sir Victor. He looked pale,
anxious, tired. He answered all his aunt's inquiries about the Drexel
family in the briefest possible manner. His over-fond aunt looked at
him a little uneasily--he was so unlike himself, and presently drew
him aside, after dinner, and spoke.
"Victor what is the matter? Are you ill?"
"Ill? No. My dear aunt," smiling, "don't wear that alarmed face--there
is nothing the matter with me."
"There is something the matter with you. You are pale, you are silent,
you eat nothing. Victor, what is it?"
"I will tell you to-morrow," he answered. "Spare me until then. I am
anxious, I admit, but not even to you can I tell why to-night. You
shall know all about it to-morrow."
No glimmer of the truth dawned upon her as she left him. She wondered
what it could be, but she would not press him further.
For Edith--she was in that mood of serene recklessness still. Of
to-morrow she neither cared to think, nor tried to think. The tide of
her life was at its flood; whither the stream might bear her after
this night, just now, she neither knew nor cared. For the present she
was free, to-morrow she might be a bondwoman. Her fetters would be of
gold and roses; none the less though would they be fetters.
She played chess with Sir Victor--_his_ hand trembled--hers was
steady. Captain Hammond asked her for a Scotch song. She went to the
piano and sang, never more clearly and sweetly in her life.
"Sing 'Charley he's my darling,'" suggested Trix, maliciously; "it's
one of your favorites, I know."
Charley was reposing on a sofa near--the waxlights streaming over his
handsome, placid face.
"Yes, sing it, Dithy," he said; "it's ages since you sang it for me
now."
"And I may never sing it for you again," she answered, with a careless
laugh; "one so soon grows tired of these old songs."
She sang it, her eyes alight, her cheeks flushing, thrilling spirit
and life in the merry words. Sir Victor stood beside her, drinking in
until he was intoxicated by the spell of her subtle witchery.
"And Charley he's my darling--
My darling, my darling!"
Edith's contralto tones rang out. She had never looked so really
beautiful, perhaps, before in her life--suppressed excitement lent her
such sparkle and color. She finished her song and arose. And presently
the evening was over, and it was half-past eleven, and one by one they
were taking their candles, and straggling off to bed.
Edith Darrell did not go to bed. She put the lights away on the
toilet-table in the dressing-room, wrapped something around her and
sat down by the window to think it out.
Should she marry Sir Victor Catheron, or should she not?
She cared nothing for him--nothing whatever--very likely she never
would. She loved Charley Stuart with all the power of her heart, and
just at present it seemed to her she always must. That was how the
problem stood.
If she married Sir Victor, rank and wealth beyond all her dreams would
be hers, a life of luxury, all the joys and delights great wealth can
bring. She liked pleasure, luxury, beauty, rank. For love--well, Sir
Victor loved her, and for a woman it is always better, safer, to be
loved than to love.
That was one phase of the case. Here was the other: She might go to
Charley and say. "Look here--I care for you so much, that life without
you, isn't worth the living. I will marry you, Charley, whenever you
like." He would make her his wife. Alone in darkness, her heart
thrilled as she thought of it--and the intensest joy of life would be
hers for a while. For a while. They would be poor--his father would
cast him off--he must, for the first time in his life, begin to
work--the old story of pinching and poverty, of darning and mending,
would commence over again for her, poor food, poor clothes, all the
untold ugliness and misery of penury. Love is a very good and pleasant
thing, but not when bought at the price of all the glory and pleasure
of the world.
She turned from the life she pictured with a shudder of abhorrence.
And Charley was not of the stuff the toilers of the earth are made.
She would never spoil his life for him as well as her own--not if her
heart broke in giving him up. But it would not break--who breaks her
heart in these days? She would say "Yes" to-morrow to Sir Victor
Catheron.
Then for a moment the thread of thought broke, and she sat looking
blankly out at the soft spring night.
On the day she pledged herself to Sir Victor she must say good-by
forever to Charley--so it began again. One house must not contain them
both; her word, her plight must be kept bright and untarnished--Charley
must go.
She tried to think what her life would be like without him. It seemed
to her, she could think of no time, in which he had not belonged to
her; all the years before that night in the snow were blank and void.
And now, for all time, she must give him up.
She rose, feeling cold and cramped--she undressed with stiffened
fingers, and went to bed. She would think no more, her head ached--she
would sleep and forget.
She did sleep, deeply, dreamlessly. The sunlight was pouring into her
room, flooding it with golden radiance, when she awoke.
She sprang up; her heart gave one bound of recollection and rapture.
Sir Victor Catheron had asked her to be his wife.
Doubt was at an end--hesitation was at an end.
"Colors seen by candlelight
Do not look the same by day."
Last night a hair might have turned the scale and made her say "No,"
reckless of consequences--to-day a thousand Charleys would not have
influenced her. She would be Lady Catheron.
She sang as she dressed. Not the May sunshine itself was brighter than
her face. She left her room, she walked down the corridor, down the
stairs, and out upon the emerald green lawn.
A well-known figure, in a gray suit, stood a few yards off, pacing
restlessly about and smoking. He flung away his cigar and hurried up
to her. One glance at her smiling face, was enough, his own flushed
deep with rapture.
"I have come for my answer," he cried. "O Edith, my darling, don't let
it be 'No.'"
She laughed aloud at his vehemence--it was the sort of wooing she
liked.
"I should like to please you, Sir Victor--what, then, shall it be?"
"Yes! a thousand times, yes! Edith, my love--my love--yes!"
She was smiling still--she looked him frankly in the eyes as no woman
on earth, in such an hour, ever looked at the man she loved. She laid
in his one slim, brown, ringless hand.
"Since you wish it so much, Sir Victor, let it be as you please. Yes!"