FAIR OAKS
The home of Hugh Mainwaring was one of many palatial suburban
residences situated on a beautiful avenue running in a northerly
direction from the city, but it had not been for so many years in
his possession without acquiring some of the characteristics of its
owner, which gave it an individuality quite distinct from its elegant
neighbors. It had originally belonged to one of the oldest and
wealthiest families in the county, for a strictly modern house,
without a vestige of antiqueness lingering in its halls and with no
faint aroma of bygone days pervading its atmosphere, would have been
entirely too plebeian to suit the tastes of Hugh Mainwaring.
From the street to the main entrance a broad driveway wound beneath
the interlacing boughs of a double line of giant oaks, from which
the place had derived its name. Beautiful grounds extended in every
direction, and in the rear of the mansion sloped gently to the edge
of a small lake. Facing the west was the main entrance to the house,
which was nearly surrounded by a broad veranda, commanding a fine
view, not only of the grounds and immediately surrounding country,
but also of the Hudson River, not far distant.
The southwestern portion of the building contained the private rooms
of Hugh Mainwaring, including what was known as the "tower," and had
been added by him soon after he had taken possession of the place.
This part of the house was as far removed as possible from the large
reception-rooms, and the apartments on the second floor comprised
the suite occupied by Mr. Mainwaring. The first of these rooms,
semi-octagonal in form, constituted his private library, and its
elegant furnishings and costly volumes, lining the walls from floor
to ceiling, bespoke the wealth and taste of the owner. Across the
southwestern side of this room heavy portieres partially concealed
the entrance to what Mr. Mainwaring denominated his "sanctum
sanctorum," the room in the tower. This was small, of circular form,
and contained an immense desk, one or two revolving bookcases, and
a large safe, which held his private papers and, it was rumored, the
old Mainwaring jewels. Back of the library was a smoking-room, and
in the rear of that Mr. Mainwaring's dressing-rooms and sleeping
apartments.
This suite of rooms was connected with the remainder of the building
by a long corridor extending from the main hall, but there was on
the south side of the house an entrance and stairway leading directly
to these rooms, the upper hall opening into the library and
smoking-room. From this southern entrance a gravelled walk led
between lines of shrubbery to a fine grove, which extended back
and downward to the western shore of the small lake already mentioned.
But the especially distinguishing characteristic of Fair Oaks since
coming into the possession of Hugh Mainwaring was the general air of
exclusion pervading the entire place. The servants, with the
exception of "Uncle Mose," the colored man having charge of the
grounds, were imported,--the head cook being a Frenchman, the
others either English or Irish, and, from butler to chambermaid, one
and all seemed to have acquired the reserve which characterized
their employer.
Comparatively few servants were employed and few were needed, for
never, until the present occasion, had Fair Oaks been thrown open
to guests. Occasionally Mr. Mainwaring brought out from the city
two or three gentleman friends, whom he entertained in royal
fashion. Sometimes these guests were accompanied by their wives,
but such instances were extremely rare, as ladies were seldom seen
at Fair Oaks.
In the entertainment of these occasional guests Mr. Mainwaring was
frequently assisted by Mrs. LaGrange, known as his housekeeper, but
in reality holding a position much more advanced than is usually
implied by that term. Among those who had been personally
entertained by Mrs. LaGrange, this fact, of itself, excited little
comment; it being evident that she was as familiar with the
fashionable world as was their host himself, but surrounding her was
the same dim haze of mystery that seemed to envelop the entire place,
impalpable, but thus far impenetrable.
She had come to Fair Oaks some fifteen years previous to this time,
dressed in deep mourning, accompanied by her infant son, about three
years of age, and it was generally understood that she was distantly
related to Mr. Mainwaring. She was a strikingly handsome woman,
with that type of physical beauty which commands admiration, rather
than winning it; tall, with superb form and carriage, rich olive
skin, large dark eyes, brilliant as diamonds and as cold, but which
could become luminous with tenderness or fiery with passion, as
occasion required. To those whom she sought to entertain she could
be extremely charming, but to a few even of these, gifted with deeper
insight than the others, it seemed that beneath that fascinating
manner was a dangerous nature, a will that would brook no restraint,
that never would be thwarted; and that this was, in reality, the
power which dominated Fair Oaks.
After years of mysterious seclusion, however, the beautiful home of
Hugh Mainwaring, while maintaining its usual reserve towards its
neighbors, had thrown open its doors to guests from across the water;
and on the particular afternoon of the conference in the private
offices of Mainwaring & Co., there might have been seen on one of
the upper balconies of the mansion at Fair Oaks a group of five
English ladies, engaged in a discussion of their first impressions
regarding their host and his American home. The group consisted of
Mrs. Ralph Mainwaring and her daughter Isabel; Miss Edith Thornton,
the daughter of William Mainwaring Thornton and the fiancee of Hugh
Mainwaring, Jr.; Miss Winifred Carleton, a cousin of Miss Thornton;
and Mrs. Hogarth, the chaperone of the last named young ladies.
Understanding, as they did, the occasion of this their first visit
to the western world, and being personally interested in the happy
event so soon to be celebrated, they naturally felt great interest
in their new surroundings. The young ladies were especially
enthusiastic in their expressions of admiration of the house and
grounds, while Mrs. Mainwaring, of even more phlegmatic temperament
than her husband, remarked that it was a fine old place, really much
finer than she expected to see, which was quite an admission on her
part.
"It is just as lovely as it can be!" said Winifred Carleton, coming
from the railing, where she had been watching the broad expanse of
ocean visible in the distance, and seating herself on a divan beside
her cousin. "I do think, Edith, you are the most fortunate girl in
the world, and I congratulate you with all my heart."
"Thank you, Winnie," replied Miss Thornton, a pronounced blonde
like her father, with large, childlike blue eyes; "but it will be
yours to enjoy as much as mine, for you will always be with me; at
least, till you are married, you know."
"That is a very reckless declaration on your part, for I am likely
never to marry," responded Miss Carleton, lightly. She was an
orphan and an heiress, but had a home in the family of William
Mainwaring Thornton, who was her uncle and guardian.
Isabel Mainwaring, reclining in a hammock near Miss Thornton, smiled
languidly. She was tall, with dark hair and the Mainwaring cold,
gray eyes. "You seem to ignore the fact," she said, "that our cousin
is likely to live in the exclusive enjoyment of his home for many
years to come."
"You mercenary wretch!" retorted Miss Carleton; "are you already
counting the years before Mr. Mainwaring's death?"
"Isabel, I am shocked!" exclaimed Mrs. Mainwaring.
"I don't know why," replied that young lady, coolly. "I was only
thinking, mamma; and one is not always accountable for one's
thoughts, you know."
"But," said Miss Thornton, wonderingly, raising her large eyes, full
of inquiry, to Mrs. Mainwaring, "after our cousin has announced his
intention of making Hugh his heir, don't you think he will be likely
to extend other invitations to visit Fair Oaks?"
"Undoubtedly, my dear," replied Mrs. Mainwaring, "there will probably
be an exchange of courtesies between the two branches of the family
from this time. Though I must say," she added, in a lower tone, and
turning to Mrs. Hogarth, "I do not know that I, for one, will be
particularly anxious to repeat my visit when this celebration is once
over. So far as I can judge, there seems to be no society here.
Wilson has learned from the servants that Mr. Mainwaring lives very
quietly, in fact, receives no company whatever; and, I may be
mistaken, but it certainly seems to me that this Mrs. LaGrange
occupies rather an anomalous position. She is here as his housekeeper,
a servant, yet she entertains his guests, and her manners are anything
but those of a servant."
"Why shouldn't she, mamma?" inquired Isabel, rather abruptly. "Cousin
Hugh has never married,--which is a very good thing for us, by the
way,--and who would help him entertain if his housekeeper did not?"
"It is not her position to which I object so much," remarked Mrs.
Hogarth, quietly, "though I admit it seems rather peculiar, but there
is something about her own personality that impresses me very
unfavorably."
"In your opinion, then, she is not a proper person," said Mrs.
Mainwaring, who was fond of jumping at conclusions; "well, I quite
agree with you."
"No," said Mrs. Hogarth, with a smile, "I have not yet formed so
decided an opinion as that. I am not prepared to say that she is
a bad woman, but I believe she is a very dangerous woman."
"Dear Mrs. Hogarth, how mercilessly you always scatter my fancies
to the winds!" exclaimed Miss Thornton; "until this moment I admired
Mrs. LaGrange very much."
"I did not," said Miss Carleton, quickly; "from my first glimpse of
her she has seemed to me like a malign presence about the place, a
veritable serpent in this beautiful Eden!"
"Well," said Isabel Mainwaring, with a slight shrug, "I see no
reason for any concern regarding Mrs. LaGrange, whatever she may be.
I don't suppose she will be entailed upon Hugh with the property;
and I only hope that before long we can buy back the old Mainwaring
estate into our own branch of the family."
"That is just what your father intends to have done whenever the
property comes into Hugh's possession," replied Mrs. Mainwaring,
and was about to say something further, when a musical whistle
attracted the attention of the ladies, and, looking over the
balcony railing, they saw Hugh Mainwaring, Jr., approaching the
house, on his return from a day's fishing, accompanied by Walter
LaGrange, a young sophomore, home on his vacation.
The former was a typical young Englishman, with a frank, pleasant
countenance. The latter, while inheriting his mother's beauty and
resembling her in a marked degree, yet betrayed in his face a
weakness which indicated that, lacking ability to plan and execute
for himself, he would become a ready tool to aid in carrying out the
designs of others.
The ladies, having discovered the hour to be much later than they
supposed, and knowing that the gentlemen would soon return from the
city, speedily adjourned to their dressing-rooms to prepare for
dinner.