UNTIL CHRISTMAS.
Mrs. Reade was accustomed not only to give advice and to see it taken,
but to see the wisdom of it justified in the success of its practical
application.
Nevertheless, she was more surprised than Mr. Kingston himself at the
great and good results which apparently followed her interference in his
affairs. Matters were a little critical for a week or two.
Of course he "saw" Rachel, and attacked the position which she had taken
up with all the forces at his command. He was, in his Mentor's judgment,
indiscreetly zealous and persevering; and the almost fierce obstinacy of
Rachel's resistance, which neither science nor brute force could
overcome, being an altogether anomalous demonstration of character, was
even more portentous.
But when presently Mr. Kingston, in a dignified and graceful letter,
accepted his defeat, while at the same time clearly intimating that the
withdrawal of his former pretensions in no way indicated any change in
his affections and fidelity, then everything seemed to go well.
The girl _was_ touched and grieved to the depths of her tender heart
for the wrong and the trouble that she had inflicted upon him, and was
in agonies of anxiety for his welfare.
"Do you think he will go back to Miss Brownlow?" she inquired one day of
Beatrice, with pathetic eyes full of tears; "and, oh, _do_ you think she
will make him happy?"
She was terribly taken aback when her cousin with much asperity
upbraided her with the heartlessness of the suggestion.
For a little while, having received her aunt's grudging acquiescence in
the dissolution of her engagement, having sent back all her jewels,
having surreptitiously despatched a note to her lover in Queensland
(which she implored him not to answer) to tell him that she was
honourably free, and living in the anticipation of his return, Rachel
began to blossom in beauty and brightness again, like a flower that
night had chilled in the warmth of morning sunshine.
It was, perhaps, a little discouraging to see how very much relieved and
refreshed she was in her freedom--that she did not even hanker after her
lost diamonds, and the riches and luxuries that had once been so
desirable and so precious; but Mrs. Reade, as was her custom, looked
below the surface of things, and found her compensations.
That the girl had recovered her balance, so to speak, and was in sound
health, mentally and physically, was of the first importance in this
sensible young woman's view of the case; and her eager friendliness to
Mr. Kingston whenever she met him--eager in proportion to the modesty of
his demands of course, and sometimes warm with impulsive tenderness such
as she had never voluntarily manifested in the days of her
engagement--seemed to foreshadow the most hopeful possibilities. Indeed,
if Mr. Kingston behaved well, Rachel, apart from her specific
misdemeanour, behaved even better.
Mrs. Hardy, outwardly conforming to her daughter's scheme, would not, or
could not, disguise her resentment at the failure of the original
enterprise, and visited it upon the girl, as perhaps was natural, more
roughly than she would have done had Rachel been her own child or less
deeply indebted to her.
She was ostentatiously cold and indifferent, or she was sarcastic, and
harsh, and rude; she was rigorous to the verge of tyranny in her
determination to allow no other man the smallest opportunity for
improving the occasion in the manner that Mr. Kingston had
indicated--withdrawing her niece from all the gay assemblies where she
had hitherto disported herself with so much enjoyment and _eclat_, and
keeping her to a petty routine of study and household duties that was
made as dull and irksome as possible.
Yet Rachel, always so sensitive to both kindness and unkindness, and as
much hurt by a snub as she would have been by a blow, took it all with
the sweetest patience and temper.
She devoted herself to her aunt's service as she never had done before,
compassing the sombre woman with every possible delicate attention that
tact and thoughtfulness could devise; and she not only persevered in
this amiable conduct, but kept a certain placid and gentle brightness
about her, under all discouragements, for weeks and weeks together.
Mrs. Reade, as a matter of course, was greatly touched and pleased; for
it was evident--as far as her sharp eyes could see--that Mr. Dalrymple
was not the source of inspiration _now_, seeing that he had been
effectually circumvented on his first attempt to renew her acquaintance,
and had never been seen or heard of since. It seemed to the anxious
little woman that the girl had only wanted her freedom for awhile, and
that, by and bye, by the mere drift of the current, she would be borne
back to the arms that were waiting for her.
Things seemed to be going on so well that Mrs. Reade, when the gaieties
of the "Cup" season were over, thought she might venture to leave town
for a few weeks. She wanted very much to pay a long-deferred visit to
Adelonga.
She had not been there since Lucilla was a bride, and of course she had
not seen the baby. She was also anxious to find out for herself "the
rights" of the story that her mother had told her concerning Rachel's
conduct and experiences while sojourning under her sister's roof, and
if possible to make the acquaintance of some of Mr. Dalrymple's people.
So, with customary promptitude, she made her preparations. She sent for
Mr. Kingston and gave him judicious advice and encouragement to direct
and uphold him in her absence.
Then she interviewed Mrs. Hardy, and expressed herself so strongly on
behalf of her own views as to what was right and proper in the
management of Rachel's case, that they nearly came to "words."
And, finally, having fortified the position to the best of her power,
she sought out Rachel herself, and, in the privacy of that little
chamber at the top of the house, bade her an affectionate and reluctant
good-bye.
"I don't know if my mother has told you, dear, that Lucilla wanted me
very much to bring you with me," she said, when they were sitting
together by Rachel's window, hand in hand.
"Did she? Dear Lucilla, how I should like to see her!" ejaculated
Rachel, but not in the tone of voice that Mrs. Reade had expected.
"And I begged very hard for permission, but mamma thought it better not
to interrupt your music and painting lessons again so soon. It is a
great disappointment to you not to go, isn't it? At first I thought I
would not tell you anything about it."
"Ah, but I am glad you told me," said Rachel; "for I must send a
message to Lucilla to thank her. She knows how I loved to be at
Adelonga--I think it is the sweetest place in the wide world."
"I wish I could take you," said Mrs. Reade; "but----"
"Oh, no, Beatrice, I cannot go, I know. Indeed, I would rather not. I
would rather stay with Aunt Elizabeth, and go on with my lessons."
Mrs. Reade was considerably astonished and disconcerted by this
evidently genuine sentiment. There was _something_ in so ready a
relinquishment of the pleasures of Adelonga, which had always been so
great, and also in the tremulous eagerness with which the girl put the
proposal from her--a proposal which Mrs. Reade had feared would be
cruelly tantalising at this time; but it was not immediately apparent.
Rachel could not stand the silent scrutiny of her cousin's brilliant
eyes. Blushing violently, she rose from the couch on which she had been
sitting, and rested her arms on the window-sill, and looked out upon the
sombre pine trees that stood perfectly motionless in the golden summer
air.
"Do you see how that house is getting on?" she said, breaking an awkward
pause. "The walls are simply _rushing_ up. They will be ready for the
roof directly."
Mrs. Reade stood on tiptoe and peeped over her shoulder.
"I wonder you have the heart to look at it," she replied.
"Oh, Beatrice!"
"I do, when you think what a wreck you have made of all the hopes and
plans that that poor dear man has been building with it."
"He will build some more, and better ones, by and bye, I hope."
"Not he. Men don't do that so easily at his age."
"Oh, yes," she persisted, imploringly, "I think he will, indeed. He did
it very easily with me."
"For an exceedingly good reason--because he loved you from the first.
Oh, you ungrateful little monkey, it's to be hoped you'll die an ugly
old maid!"
"That would be better than being the wife for years and years of a man I
did not love."
"Rubbish. As if one could have everything all at once in this world. You
girls think of nothing but yourselves. You don't take into account that
it might be worth while to make somebody else happy."
"How could I make him happy unless I loved him, Beatrice?"
"Oh, don't talk about it. You have pleased yourself, I suppose, and he
must do the best he can. He is terribly miserable as he is, poor fellow;
but I daresay he'll get over it."
"Is he miserable _now_?" inquired Rachel anxiously. "Have you seen him
lately?"
"I saw him yesterday, and he told me that his life had no value for him
now that he had lost you, and that he should never live in his house
unless you were the mistress of it. I shouldn't imagine he felt
particularly jolly under those circumstances. However, it is no use
worrying ourselves on his account," the little woman added cheerfully,
seeing tears in her cousin's gentle eyes.
"But I am so sorry for him!"
"That won't help him much, my dear. And if _you_ are happy, I suppose
that is all we need care about."
"Oh, no, Beatrice!"
"We haven't time to fret over other people's troubles," Mrs. Reade
proceeded, in what Rachel thought an exceedingly heartless manner; "life
is too short."
"But, Beatrice----"
"Now, I can't talk about Mr. Kingston any more. I have all my packing to
do yet, and I must run away and see after it. Good-bye, dearest child.
Mind you write often. I wish you were going with me--I can't bear to
leave you behind."
Rachel flung her arms round her small cousin with characteristic
fervour.
"When do you think you will come home again?" she inquired tremulously,
almost in a whisper.
"I can't say, dear, exactly."
"Before Christmas, won't you?"
"I think so; it will all depend on circumstances."
"Oh, _do_ be back by Christmas," Rachel pleaded, with an almost tragic
eagerness. "It would be dreadful if Christmas came and you were so far
away!"
"Am I so necessary to the festivities of the season?" laughed Mrs.
Reade, much touched and flattered. "Well, I'll see what I can do.
Suppose I try and bring Lucilla and the children back, and make a
regular family gathering of it?"
"Oh, if you _could_!" sighed Rachel.
All the terrors of her time of trial would be gone, she thought, if she
could have these two faithful cousins beside her.
So Mrs. Reade went off by the morning train, tolerably easy in her mind.
She took her big husband with her, "to keep him," as she said, "out of
mischief;" and she stayed away much longer than she had intended to do.
She was delighted with Adelonga, and with her sister's companionship.
Ned, also, while being kept in order, enjoyed himself excessively; and
as long as he was "good" in the matter of his besetting sin, his lady
and mistress liked him to enjoy himself. There were plenty of bush
gaieties in the shape of sporting meetings and balls, and the time
slipped away rapidly, as time at Adelonga usually did.
A dance at the Digbys' gave Mrs. Reade the desired opportunity for
making the acquaintance of Mr. Dalrymple's people, and she learned a few
facts with respect to that gentleman which, while considerably
aggravating her alarm, tended to modify and dignify the impressions of
him that her mother had given her.
Lucilla showed her a fine photograph of his powerful, melancholy,
highbred face, and she was quite overcome by it.
"Oh, dear me!" she said to herself, with a sort of angry dismay, "it is
no wonder that Rachel was infatuated. If _I_ had had attentions from
that man--little as I am given to falling in love--I think I should have
been as bad as she."
When Christmas came the sisters were still at Adelonga. Lucilla could
not leave home, and persuaded Beatrice not to leave her. They contented
themselves with sending pretty presents and many loving messages and
excuses to their relatives in Melbourne, and plunged into a series of
festive entertainments that lasted for several weeks.
Then suddenly, as she was dressing for a ball, Mrs. Reade was startled
to receive a letter from her mother, begging her to return to town at
once, as Rachel was very ill.