sight of the Duke's livery the whole house was astir, and not a creature
there but will wait hand and foot upon the old man till other
arrangements for him can be made. The fellow saw him and gave him news
of you, and he was right well content. He said he should lack for
nothing; and the man did leave with the host two gold pieces sent by his
Grace, and told him that he would have to answer to the Duke if aught
went amiss with him. After that you need have no fear."
Grey's last anxiety thus set at rest, he seemed to have nothing left to
wish for. He drowsed away another hour in peaceful dreamy fashion, and
felt fully equal to the fatigue of being dressed by Dick, and walking
with the help of his arm into the adjoining room--a pleasant sunny
apartment, on the table of which stood a great bowl of pure white
snowdrops, at which Grey gazed with an infinite delight; for the sight
of white flowers always brought back to his mind one particular face and
form, and the very thought of his nearness to her last night set his
heart beating tumultuously within him.
He was lying back luxuriously in a deep armchair, beside the glowing
heat of the fire. The sunlight filtered in through the great mullions
of the window, and the light seemed to concentrate itself upon the
whiteness of the flowers near at hand. Dick had retired into the inner
room to set his master's things in order there. Grey was alone--alone
with his bewildering thoughts of happiness to come, scarce knowing how
much of all he had heard could be true, or what would be the outcome.
Had he slept as he sat there musing? What was that sound somewhere in
the room? He lifted his head and looked round. A tall, slender,
white-robed figure was standing outlined against the rich tapestry of
the wall behind. He had not heard the door open or the arras lifted.
But she was there; and somehow he was not astonished. It seemed only
natural to see her, the golden shafts of sunlight seeming to cling to
her, and to follow her as she came slowly forward with that inimitable
grace of movement he knew so well.
For one moment he sat spellbound, and then struggled to his feet,
holding out his hands.
In a moment she was beside him, holding them--holding them fast; for he
was weaker than he knew, and he swayed a little, a mist before his eyes.
Then he was back in his chair, and she was standing over him. She was
holding something to his lips. He drank, and his senses cleared.
"Forgive me," she said; "I should not have come yet; but I so longed to
thank you myself, and to be assured that you had not suffered too much
in my service."
"I could not suffer too much in such service," he answered. "And from
my heart I thank you for coming. I have been so hungry for the sight of
you, Geraldine."
"And I too," she answered in the lowest whisper, as she just touched his
hair lightly with her hand.
*CHAPTER XVIII.*
*"GOOD QUEEN ANNE."*
Sir Grey Dumaresq bent the knee before the little upright figure in the
great carved chair, and the courtiers and ladies pressed one upon the
other, as far as etiquette permitted, to get a sight of a personage who,
for the moment, was all the talk of the town.
In her gentle, rather thin and high-pitched voice the Queen spoke, and a
deep hush fell upon the great room.
"Rise, Sir Grey. I have sent for you here, inasmuch as I have heard
much of your story from both the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, my
very good friends; and I have desired to see you, and to hear somewhat
of many matters from your own lips."
"Your Majesty has but to speak, and I will answer."
"I hear that you did first encounter his Grace of Marlborough upon the
field of Ramillies, and that you did there render him no small succour
in a moment of personal peril."
"It was my good fortune, madam, to possess a horse of great courage, and
strength, and mettle; and when the Duke was for the moment surrounded by
a party of the enemy, and had to force his own horse to a perilous leap,
which caused him to fall and become useless, I was able, being close at
hand, to mount him upon my good steed, which carried him through that
day, which his own genius and courage has rendered for ever glorious."
"How came it that you did adventure yourself into the heart of the
danger, not being a soldier, or having any call to risk your life in the
cause?"
"Madam, I am an Englishman, and every true-born Englishman is called to
adventure himself wherever he may by happy chance be able to serve his
country. That is my excuse for being where perchance I had no right to
be, save the right of which I have spoken, and of which I pray that your
Majesty will not rob me. To serve his Queen and his country must needs
be the desire of every man worthy the name, be he soldier or be he
none."
A smile played over the pleasant countenance of the Queen. The pale,
handsome face, the graceful bearing, the courtly address of the young
man, pleased her well. Simply attired, without any of the extravagances
of frippery which distinguished so many courtiers, and with his own
curly brown locks floating round his head, his appearance was striking
and prepossessing enough. To be sure, the Queen could resent any too
great easiness in dress amongst her courtiers; and when one of her
ministers, coming in haste, had appeared before her in a small wig, such
as gentlemen used at their toilets, rather than in full dress, she had
remarked to her ladies that she supposed his lordship would present
himself in his night-cap next! But there was nothing slovenly in the
rich plainness of Grey's attire; and he looked so much the poet and the
dreamer, with the pallor of illness still upon him, and that slimness of
figure partly due to privations now past, and partly to his active and
temperate life, that the Queen regarded him with increasing favour, and
a smile of decided approval was his reward.
"Well and bravely spoken, my young knight. And let me in my own person
thank you for the service rendered that day to one who has been, and
still will be, I doubt not, his country's most able defender. Had aught
befallen the Duke on the field of Ramillies, a glorious victory would
have become, I cannot doubt, a fearful defeat. France would have swept
the Netherlands with her victorious armies, and there would have been
none with genius and power to roll back the tide of battle. Wherefore
England herself owes you a debt of gratitude, Sir Grey, which must not
be forgotten."
"Madam, I have been richly repaid already for any poor service of
mine--first by the gracious favour of the Duke, and now in still fuller
measure by these words from your Majesty. Had fortune not so far
favoured me that I was close at hand at the moment, I cannot doubt but
that a score of others would have done what I was favoured by doing. To
serve the man who serves his country so well is its own reward."
"Ah, my young friend, it is easy to see you were never bred up in
courts," spoke the Queen, with a smile for Grey, and a quick searching
glance round at the knots of courtiers and gentlemen filling the room.
At this most of them shrank back, a little abashed at her look and her
words. Shameless place-hunting was all the fashion of the day; and for
any man to make light of service rendered, and to desire no reward, was
a thing almost unheard of.
But after having just launched this shaft, the Queen said no more on
that subject. She was by nature timid and gentle, and though not
lacking in wit or in a quiet penetration, which was not always
appreciated by those about her, was for the most part an indulgent
mistress, not disposed to overmuch blame even where she saw weakness.
"And I hear more of you than this, Sir Grey. You are not only a man of
prompt action, but you are also a dreamer and a poet. I have read with
pleasure your romance of pure chivalry, and I would that we could find
in these degenerate days more knights and gentlemen, more spotless
maidens and virtuous women, such as those of whom your pen delights to
tell, and my ears delight to hear."
The young man bowed low, the crimson flush, which praise of his courage
had not evoked, dyeing his cheek now that the child of his brain and
hand was praised. The Queen continued graciously,--
"I have heard the whole romance, and its beauty touches my heart, and
pleases also those amongst my ladies and gentlemen as are best able to
appraise the merits of such poetic work. I desire, Sir Grey, that you
will dedicate the tale to me, as one who has read and approved it, and
would desire it to be widely known and read in the land. To be a patron
of all true and beautiful art is the privilege of rulers, and therefore
do I give this charge to you. I desire that such a story as you have
conceived and penned should be circulated amongst my faithful subjects.
They will learn from it loyalty, love, purity, and singleness of heart,
and surely no nation can thrive or excel in which these virtues be
absent."
A little buzz of amaze and gratulation went round the room as the Queen
spoke thus. The young man's fortune as a writer was assuredly made. A
second Philip Sidney had suddenly come to light. All the world would
delight to honour the man approved of royalty.
Grey himself was speechless. Such a eulogy was altogether unexpected
and bewildering. If Dame Fortune had, in the past, showed an unkind
face towards him, surely she was atoning for her frowns by the most
gracious of smiles now.
Perhaps the young author's confused and blissful silence pleased the
Queen more than any florid words of gratitude such as she was used to
hear. She spoke again, still in her most gracious and kindly way.
"Moreover, Sir Grey, I have heard somewhat of your history from his
Grace of Marlborough, and it doth appear to me that you have been
scurvily treated with respect to your rightful inheritance, the manor of
Hartsbourne, which, though your property, you are debarred from
enjoying. I have made strict inquiry into this matter, and have sent
down special commissioners to seek speech with your kinsman now in
possession, and to make some settlement with him for the restitution to
you of the estate. It is not fitting that one to whom the country and
its Queen owe a debt of gratitude should be ousted from his inheritance
either by the cunning craft of a greedy miser, or for lack of means to
satisfy a creditor and release his lands from debt. From what hath been
told me, I misdoubt that unscrupulous means have been employed to oust
you from possession and enjoyment of your house and lands. But whether
or not this be so, it is not fitting that things should longer continue
as now. Sir Grey Dumaresq of Hartsbourne Manor must live upon his
hereditary acres in becoming style. That fiat hath already gone forth.
England's Queen and people will have it so. It were shame to both if the
preserver of her great General should go unrewarded."
Grey, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the grace bestowed upon him, could
only sink upon his knees before the Queen, murmuring some confused but
heartfelt words of gratitude and loyalty. The royal lady gave him her
hand to kiss, and looked smilingly upon him.
"Sir Grey," she said gently, "had you come hither to the Court at once
on your return, boasting of what you had done, displaying the Duke's
token, and seeking fame and fortune for yourself, belike I should have
thought but little of the matter. I am for ever hearing the petitions
of those seeking great things for themselves--seeking place, preferment,
emoluments, with or without desert. Had you come thus, you had been
lost in a crowd. I perchance should scarce have heard your name. But
you have asked nothing for yourself. You endured hardship, privation,
misery; you thought not scorn to win your bread--and the bread of
another who had befriended you--by following a humble vocation. With
that in your possession which would have at least placed you above want,
you faced want itself rather than stultify your noble act by seeking to
trade upon it. You rather sought to win the fame you merit by using
those great gifts of poetry and art which it hath pleased God to bestow
upon you. Therefore are you different from others; therefore hath your
story touched the heart of your Queen; therefore is her favour won, in
that she can value a man who seeks and asks nothing for himself, but
rather desires that the glory of a noble deed shall be its own reward."
Again she tendered her hand, which Grey kissed in deepest reverence and
gratitude. Then at a sign from the Duchess, who had all this time been
standing behind the Queen's chair, he rose and made a deep inclination.
"I thank your Majesty a thousand times," he said in a very low voice.
"I have no words in which to tell my gratitude, but I pray Heaven that
in the future I may have the opportunity to show how deep and true that
gratitude is."
"Deeds, and not words, will be your motto through life, I take it, Sir
Grey; and in such fashion shall you best please your Queen and serve
your country."
Then Grey found himself, he scarce knew how, in the outer room, thronged
by courtiers and nobles and gentlemen, all eager to make his
acquaintance, all agog to hear such parts of his story as were yet
unknown to them, and above all eager to read the book of which it had
pleased the Queen to speak in such high praise. To these worthies Grey
was already a rising star, and they longed to bask in the light of his
rays.
Quietly and courteously Grey replied to direct questions and to the
advances showered upon him by the Court; but he disengaged himself as
quickly as he could, and was glad to find himself in the coach which had
brought him, and on his way to Marlborough House, where he was still a
guest. For although he had quickly mended from his hurts, his hosts
would not hear of his returning to his old quarters; and the Old Lion
had been equally insistent on this point when Grey visited him, which he
did on the first opportunity, to tell in person his marvellous tale.
"Nay, nay, my boy; you are now Sir Grey Dumaresq, and your life will run
in different grooves. I did guess from the first that you were not what
you seemed, and ever have I hoped that you would be restored to your
rightful position in the world. As for me, I am well content. I have
no lack of tendance--thanks to the liberality of the Duke, and to that
wonderful personal visit he did pay me, which has raised me to a
pinnacle of glory in the eyes of all men here. It contents me well to
know that I am not forgotten, that you still have kindly thought to
spare for the Old Lion. But for us to dwell beneath the same roof would
not now be fitting or seemly. So think of that no more."
"When I have a roof of mine own I shall think of it much," spoke Grey
with quick decision; "but for the nonce I am naught but a guest beneath
that of the hospitable Duke. Well, let it remain so in the present; but
for the future I make no pledge."
It was more than a week now since those words had been spoken, but they
recurred to Grey's mind as he was driven homewards through the sunny
streets. Hartsbourne! The name seemed to thrill in his ears like a
clarion note of joy. Hartsbourne--his own old home--so well-beloved, so
fair! Could it be possible that he would be master there again? The
thought filled him with a sense akin to intoxication. The blood mounted
to his head; he almost laughed aloud in his joy. Hartsbourne and its
revenues his own! His romance published, and bringing him gold as well
as fame! What might he not accomplish? How often had he dreamed in
bygone years of what he would do for the restoration and adornment of
the beautiful old house, and how he and his mother would live there in
peace and happiness! True, that last part of the dream could not be
realized now. His mother lay sleeping beneath the churchyard sod. Her
eyes beheld, he doubted not, fairer sights than these. But yet, must
his dream be altogether without fulfilment? Was there none
other--nearer, dearer, if possible, than a mother--who might be the
sharer of his joys? Had he not read something dazzling, wonderful,
well-nigh unbelievable, in one pair of sweet eyes whose light seemed
shining on him now? His lips had not dared to frame as yet either
question or protestation; but did they not understand each other? His
heart beat high with rapture. Perfect love had cast out fear. He knew
that they belonged to each other for time and for eternity. And now
what hindered him from taking her to his heart, and telling her that he
had loved her from the first moment of their meeting?
The Duke sat in his private closet, where he transacted his more
important business, and Grey stood before him, having been summoned
thither from his own apartments. He was received with a pleasant smile,
and bidden to be seated.
"Well, my young friend," questioned the Duke, who, having been absent
from home for a few days, had not seen his guest in private just
recently, "and how has the world been serving you? And how goes the
matter of the book?"
"Ah, I must tell you of that. I had, as your Grace did warn me, quite a
levee of publishers desiring to issue it, each with some tempting offer
as to payment. But I did as you bade me, and referred the matter to Mr.
Poysner, by whose advice, I told them, I should be guided. And, in
sooth, methinks he hath advised well; for not only have I received a
handsome sum in gold already for the work, but I shall receive more
according to the sale; and it is even now being printed as fast as the
presses can work. Her Majesty is to have the first copy, bound with the
choicest skill that can be brought to bear upon such work. Other
choicely-bound volumes are to be reserved for my friends, after which it
will be sold to the public; and already they say that the book is being
eagerly asked for. Truly the word of a Queen and the patronage of the
great are mighty factors in the world of letters!"
"As men of letters are fast learning, my young friend," replied the Duke
with a smile. "Genius without a patron is like (as some wag remarked
not long since) 'Paradise Lost' without the devil! It falls flat and
unfruitful on unheeding ears. But now for another matter of import to
yourself. Have you had news from Hartsbourne since her Majesty did
speak to you anent that matter?"
"No, my lord; I have heard nothing. My servant Dick was sent thither by
request to answer certain questions made by her Majesty's messengers,
but he hath not yet returned, and I know nothing of what has transpired
there."
His face expressed a keen desire for information, and the Duke at once
satisfied this wish.
"Something strange has happened there which simplifies matters not a
little. Your kinsman, Mr. Dumaresq, when questioned by the Queen's
Commissioners as to his rights and position there, showed a number of
papers which seemed on the face of them fair and right; but his
uneasiness was manifest, and awoke suspicion. Also it was not clear
that he possessed all the rights he claimed over the estate, or that Sir
Hugh had signed all the papers; for upon some the writing of the name
looked to practised eyes little like his. The more Mr. Dumaresq was
questioned, the more uneasy did he become. So they left him that day,
saying that they would come again on the morrow and finish the inquiry.
By that time your man Dick had arrived, and he with an old man upon the
place had long talk with the messengers that night in the old man's
room. It seems as though Mr. Dumaresq or his servant must have had some
way of listening to what passed. A terrible suspicion was broached that
your father's end was hastened by foul means. This was a point which
the Commissioners declared must be thoroughly investigated later. They
went away, but on the morrow returned--to find Mr. Dumaresq dead in his
bed. His servant said he had been subject to seizures of late, and that
agitation had probably caused the attack. Old Jock Jarvis and your man
Dick are, however, strongly of opinion that he precipitated his own end
by the use of perhaps the very same drug which he is suspected of having
employed in your father's case. Be that as it may, the man is dead, and
he has died without a will, so that whether or not he was ever legally
entitled to what he so long held, you are now absolute master of
Hartsbourne and all its revenues, without the need of any action or
interference upon the part of the lawyers of the Queen."
Grey stood like one in a dream. He could scarce take in the meaning of
it all. He had known that Hartsbourne was to be restored to him--he had
had the Queen's word for that--but he had expected vexatious delays,
complications, and difficulties. He had not dared to let himself hope
to escape these. And now the Gordian knot had been cut--cut in a rather
terrible fashion, perhaps, but still effectually cut. He was absolute
master of his own again. He could ride to Hartsbourne and take
possession so soon as his kinsman was laid to rest in the grave, where
all enmity and all unhallowed secrets are buried. He had not found his
tongue to express his feelings before the door opened and a secretary
glided in and whispered something into the Duke's ear.
"He comes in good time," spoke Marlborough; "let him enter at once.
Probably he brings news of the matter in hand."
Grey looked up, and behold there was Dick, travel-stained and
bespattered with mud, but with a glowing, eager face, evidently full of
news.
"Well, sirrah," spoke the Duke, smiling, "so you have come post haste
with news. What wonderful tidings do you bring?"
The man made his semi-military salute, first to the Duke and then to his
master. He needed no further encouragement in order to unburden himself
of his tale.
"May it please your Grace, and you, my master, I have news of a
wonderful discovery made by Jock and myself at Hartsbourne at dawn
to-day. We have had our eye sharp upon old Judas, as we call Mr.
Barty's wall-eyed Peter; and we have known right well that he has been
up to some trick of his own ever since his master died. He has been
prowling like a wild beast all about the house. We have heard him
knocking and even sawing, when he thought himself alone there. It was
old Jock to whom the thought first came. 'The old man has some secret
hoard; and Judas knows of it, but not the place. He is looking for it,
trying to find it ere he is turned out. Well, that is a game that two
can play at. You and I will look too, Dicon.' That is what old Jock
said. Whilst Mr. Dumaresq was buried, and his man must for decency's
sake go and stand beside the grave, we searched the house from basement
to garret; but we had no more luck than Judas had."
"But you have had luck ere this, honest fellow; I see it in your eyes,"
spoke Marlborough with a laugh. "Come, let us know what you found, and
what is the value of the treasure."
"It was to me the thought came," spoke Dick, with honest pride. "I was
lying awake at night puzzling and pondering, when suddenly I remembered
that first and only night you spent there, master, and how that you saw
the old man suddenly appear behind your bed with a shining knife in his
hand, and that he vanished ere you could grapple with him, and it seemed
more like a vision than a reality. But I sprang from my bed, and I
roused old Jock, and I yelled in his ear, 'Man, man, I know where the
treasure is hid! Behind the wall of the tapestried guest-chamber, where
my master slept, and where the wall did move from behind the bed head,
and let his foe steal upon him unawares!'"
"Good thought!" ejaculated Grey excitedly; "and was it so?"
"We rose and dressed, and made our way into the house and up to the
bed-chamber, and a tough job we had. And, my master, you must pardon us
for the havoc we have made of woodwork and panelling; for the trick of
the opening we could not find till all had been hewn away. But when it
was at last laid bare, we saw the spring, and then the wall swung
inwards with a noiseless, ghostlike motion, and within was a secret
chamber well-nigh filled with coffers, some containing jewels--Dumaresq
jewels, I doubt not--some gold pieces, some silver vessels. We did not
open all. We had found enough. Master, there are the savings of
years--the revenues of the broad lands which were paid to him--stowed
away in yonder chamber. Oh, I can almost forgive him his villainies,
now that all hath come to you! It is all there: it is all safe. We did
pack Judas off with his wages and his belongings, and his master's
clothes, which, I trow, none will grudge him; and we did get in a few
trusty fellows from the place who hate Barty and long to see Sir Grey
reigning at Hartsbourne again. And having made all safe, and the house
in charge, under Jock, of these trusty lads, I did take horse forthwith
to bring the news to my master, and here am I."
"And you shall not lose your reward, my trusty Dicon," spoke Grey with
fervour; "for the love and trust of a loyal heart is worth more than
treasure and gold."
*CHAPTER XIX.*
*LOVE'S TRIUMPHING.*