"Send Mrs. McKollop here," cried Wilton, hastily and imperiously, to
Major Moncrief's servant, who advanced to the door. "One of the
Brosedale ladies has been caught in the snow, and is nearly wet
through."
He almost lifted Ella from the dog-cart as he spoke, and led her into
the warm, comfortable hall. While he removed the plaid that wrapped his
guest, the astonished Mrs. McKollop came quickly on the scene.
"Eh, my word! but ye're wet!" she exclaimed. "Come wi' me, missee, and
I'll see till ye; and you'd be the better of a drop of hot toddy
yerse'f, colonel."
"Oh, I shall be all right! Just look to Miss Rivers.--As soon as you
have got rid of your wet things we will have luncheon," he added,
addressing her. She bowed, and followed the portly Mrs. McKollop.
"I hope there is some place fit to take a lady into," said Wilton to
Major Moncrief's man, on whom the domestic arrangements devolved, for he
was barely acquainted with Mrs. McKollop's name. This important
functionary was attached to Glenraven Lodge, and let with the premises.
To this species of serfdom she was by no means averse, for the system
proved profitable, and, by a sort of mental inversion, she had grown to
regard the temporary proprietors as her guests and vassals.
"Yes, sir, I believe Mrs. McKollop keeps the top rooms pretty tidy."
"Well, get luncheon, will you? I hope the fire is good." So saying,
Wilton hastened to change his own damp clothes, and don a black velvet
shooting-jacket. His toilet was completed, and he was fully a quarter of
an hour in the dining-room before any one appeared. "Go and let Miss
Rivers know luncheon is ready." A few minutes more, and the door opened
to admit his guest. An expression of demure fun sparkled in her eyes as
she came in, holding up the voluminous drapery of Mrs. McKollop's best
dress--a strongly-pronounced Mac-something tartan, of bright red and
green and yellow--which was evidently a world too wide for her slight
waist. Above was the close-fitting gray jacket of her own dress, which
had been saved from wet by her water-proof.
"I trust you have been made tolerably comfortable?" said Wilton, placing
a chair for her, while he glanced with much satisfaction at the
fast-falling snow.
"Your house-keeper has been so good," she replied, with her sweetest,
frankest smile. "She exhausted all her resources to supply my wants,
and, I think, would fain have made me come to luncheon in her best
bonnet, which is the most wonderful thing you ever saw. It has feathers,
and flowers, and currants in it."
"I suppose carrots and turnips would be too much like the insignia of
office. But you must be exhausted. Pray sit down and have some
luncheon."
"Thank you. I do feel rather hungry."
It seemed almost incredible to be sitting _tête-à-tête_ with Ella, after
all his dreams and efforts; but even more surprising was her quiet,
unembarrassed manner. Had Wilton been her grandfather, she could not
have eaten with more composure, and, it must be added, zest, showing a
decided preference for cold game and sweets.
"Let me recommend some hot wine-and-water," said Wilton, as she put down
her knife and fork, after refusing a second supply of grouse.
"Thank you, no. I never take wine; but, if I might ask for something?"
"Certainly; anything within the resources of Glenraven and Mrs.
McKollop."
"Then may I have a cup of coffee?"
Wilton immediately ordered it; and, when it came, his guest expressed
high approval.
"Ah! your people have learned how to make this in France."
"From Frenchmen, at any rate. That was one accomplishment our servants
picked up."
"The coffee at Brosedale is so dead; it is not the least like coffee!
This reminds me of Italy and France."
"Then you have been a good deal abroad?"
"Nearly all my life." A full stop; and Wilton felt he had led up neatly
to the story of her past.
"As you will take nothing more, suppose we go into the next room?" She
rose, and then stopped.
"Oh! I have lost Mrs. McKollop's shoe under the table." Wilton laughed,
and assisted in the search.
"I wish we had anything nearer the mark to offer you," he said, as he
produced a huge, broad-soled thick shoe, tied on the instep. "They must
fit you like snow-shoes."
"There is a good deal of stocking to fill up with," she replied, as she
managed to shuffle into the room on the opposite side of the hall, which
was somewhat more ornamental than the one they left. Sundry sporting
prints, a deer's head, various pipes, and plenty of writing-materials,
with a splendid fire, and several comfortable easy-chairs, made it a
pleasant apartment.
"And you live here?" said Ella Rivers, moving round the room with some
curiosity; "and you smoke very good cigars. I recognize the perfume."
"I hope it is not very disagreeable?"
"Disagreeable? Oh, no! I love it. But how it snows! There is no chance
of my getting back till it abates."
"Certainly not," returned Wilton, cheerfully, and adopting her easy,
friendly tone. "So, pray sit down near the fire, and permit me to enjoy
the fruit of my treasure-trove--I mean, a little talk with you."
"Yes--it is very nice to talk over a good fire," she said, returning
slowly from the window and seating herself in a large chair; "but I wish
it would clear."
"I suppose young Fergusson will be very anxious about you?" remarked
Wilton, taking advantage of her steady gaze at the fire to study the
graceful outline of her head, and ear, and neck, the pale, delicate oval
of her face. There was a wonderfully-patrician look about this
mysterious girl; how small and white were the hands she had carelessly
clasped upon her knee! and, simple as were her manners, too, they were
infinitely more refined than the superb Miss Saville's; and, at all
events, he would have her all to himself for the next two hours.
"Anxious about me?" she said, after a moment's silence; "not very. He
will be anxious about his parcel (which, after all, I did not get), and
vexed at my absence. But Donald is a strange boy. I know him."
"He must be an ungrateful young dog," said Wilton, carefully averting
his eyes as she turned to him. "You are so good to him."
"It is not what you would call grateful, though he is very fond of
me--that is, I have become a necessity to him; then he knows I am fond
of him, and I believe no one else is, not even his father. Poor, poor
fellow! Ah, how I feel for him!"
"He cannot be a pleasant companion."
"At times most unpleasant; then, again, wonderfully sympathetic, and so
dependent that _I_ feel a great, strong, free creature, rich in youth,
and health, and strength, all grand things that Sir Peter's gold cannot
buy, and I can do anything for him. Then I forget the dark side of my
own lot, and only see the wealth that nature has given me."
"You are, indeed, wealthy!"
"In some ways, yes; in others--" She stopped, shook her head, with a
smile, half-sad, half-mocking, and resumed her gaze at the fire.
There was a short pause, and Wilton said:
"Still, to so bold a spirit as yours, it must be imprisonment, indeed;
and I am not surprised that you seize every chance of momentary relief.
But--forgive me if I am presumptuous--it was no ordinary courage that
would take you so far afield that night I caught a glimpse of you
retreating in the moonlight--no ordinary inducement that would tempt you
to such a distance."
"I had inducement enough," she returned, with a slight sigh. "Donald had
been in one of his worst moods all day--one of his mean, suspicious
tempers, and I could not persuade him to go to bed till late. Then, I
opened the study window, and looked out to breathe and grow tranquil
before I tried to sleep then the memory of the moonlight nights long
ago, when I used to sit in a corner by the window, before the lamp was
brought, and listen to my father talking (rather dreaming aloud--oh, so
gloriously!) came over me with a wild, irresistible longing to be out in
the free air, alone and standing upright before heaven, with things
_really_ greater than myself about me--_such_ an intense longing that I
sprang down the steps and away." As she said the last word she unclasped
her hands and threw one out with a sudden, expressive gesture full of
grace, and not without a certain dignity. "But I suppose to you it seems
shocking?" And again she turned to the fire.
"By no means!" exclaimed Wilton, eagerly. "Pray do not imagine me a
slave to 'the shocking.' What you do seems right and natural in you to
an extraordinary degree; but every one may not view matters as I do, and
I confess I wished to escort you back, but dared not intrude--besides, I
was not alone."
"Escort me back!" she replied, with a low, sweet laugh of genuine
merriment. "That would have put a climax to my misdoings, and also
(pardon the rudeness) destroyed the sense of freedom. As it was, my
outbreak was severely rebuked by Miss Walker, who was informed of my
absence, and talked yards of sense and propriety before I escaped to
bed. Ah, what a degrading _finale_ to a moment's outbreak into light and
liberty! But I must not quarrel with Miss Walker. She is 'Madonna dell'
Esperanza.'"
There was a wonderful charm in her voice and manner, a curious mixture
of softness and daring.
"And pray why do you dignify that iron-gray woman with so romantic a
title? I should not imagine her in the least hopeful."
"She found me when I was at a very low ebb, and placed me with Donald."
"Indeed! Then he ought to consider her his 'Dame de bon Secours.'"
"He thinks I am fortunate."
"And, when you found yourself so far from human aid that night, did you
not feel uncomfortable?" resumed Wilton, hoping to lead her back to her
reminiscences.
"Yes. When I turned to go back the fire had nearly burnt out in my
heart; but, you see, I have never been with women, so their fears are
not mine. I fear what they may think of me when I act differently from
them."
"I suppose, then, you have numerous brothers?"
"I have neither brother nor sister. My father--" She paused. "Ah, if you
could have known my father! He was a great politician, a great
philanthropist, a true man; and he was surrounded by men like himself,
devoted to humanity. They were all very good to me--when they remembered
my existence, which was not always, you know." A little arch smile, that
made Wilton burn to tell her how irresistibly she absorbed his mind,
heart, imagination!
"Well, your father," said he, with wonderful composure, rising as he
spoke to arrange the fire--"your father, I presume, adored you?"
"Alas, no!" There was great forgiving tenderness in her voice. "He
perhaps remembered me least of all; and when he did, I brought bitter
thoughts. My mother, whom he adored, died when I was born; so you see I
have been quite alone. Yet I grew to be of importance to him; for just
before he died he told me to take her ring, which he had always worn,
and wear it for both their sakes. See, there it is."
She held out her right hand to show where it encircled her slender third
finger.
"Then you lived in Italy?" said Wilton, to lead her on.
"Yes, my first memories are of Italy--a great, half-ruined villa on a
hill-side near Genoa; and my nurse, a Roman woman, with such grand,
black eyes. I used to love to look into them, and see myself in them.
How she loved me and spoiled me! My father must have had money then, for
he came and went, and seemed to me a great person; but I feared him,
though he was gentle and beautiful, for he shunned me. Oh, yes, how
noble he looked! None of the others were like him; and he was English on
his father's side, so he said, when he told me to keep the name of
Rivers; but we had many names: one in Italy, another in Paris, another
in Germany. I did not like Paris. The first time we were there I had a
_gouvernante_; she taught me a little and tormented me much; but still I
do know French best. I can write it well; but, though I speak Italian
and German, I cannot read or write either."
She had again clasped her hands over her knee, and went on softly and
dreamingly, as if to herself. Wilton still keeping silence, and gazing
intently at the speaker, earnestly hoping nothing would interrupt or
turn her from her spoken musing.
"But you evidently learned to draw," he suggested, softly.
"My father was a great artist--would have been acknowledged as a great
artist had he not been gradually absorbed in schemes for raising the
poor and ignorant and oppressed, for giving them political life. There
were many artists among our friends, and all were willing to teach me
and help me. To draw seemed to me as natural as to breathe, and if I
ever had a moment of personal ambition it was to be a true, a recognized
artist; but I had scarcely any. You, even you, patrician Englishman as
you are!" turning to him with sudden animation, "you would have admired
my father. He was my ideal of a true knight, so simple, so noble, so
refined; with such a deep, fervent faith in his fellow-men. Of course,
he and all our friends were hunted, proscribed; so I never knew a
relation. And he, my father, never could bear to speak of my mother; so
I only know from her picture that she was fair and sweet-looking."
"What a strange, sad life for a girl!" said Wilton, with genuine
sympathy.
"Strange, but not sad. Oh, no! I was ignorant (I am ignorant, by your
standard), and not a little neglected. But what delight it was to listen
to the men my father knew, to hear the grand schemes they planned; the
noble, tender pity for the suffering and oppressed; the real brotherhood
they acknowledged to all mankind, and the zest of danger; for often a
well-loved comrade was missing, and some never returned. Imprisonment in
Italy or Prussia for a political offence is a serious matter.
"The first time I ever won real notice from my father was at Naples.
There was a man we loved much; he was called Diego--it was not his real
name. He was very much suspected by the government. My father found out
he was to be seized that day, and he knew not whom to trust to send him
word; so I begged to be honored by his permission to carry the message,
and I managed it all. I borrowed a costume from my maid's niece; I went
alone on the Corso, and offered bunches of violets to every one--oh! I
had heaps of _paoli_--till I met him and said the word, which sufficed."
"You did this?" cried Wilton.
"Yes; I had but thirteen years then. Oh! my father always noticed me
after; and I would have dared much for that. Then we were in London, and
in many places--we grew poorer and poorer. I think my father helped the
cause largely. Two years ago we were in Paris, and then I saw my father
was dying. There were very few of our clique there, for the emperor's
spies were legion. I did not stop to think of fear or grief; I only
wanted to keep him quiet and content to the last, for, you see"--with a
sort of exultation very touching--"I was now very important to him--he
thought more of me, and I have always believed it was in the hope of
arranging some shelter, some refuge, for me that he came to London, now
more than two years ago. Diego came to see us. He had a long talk with
my father, who said to him, when he was going, 'Do your best for her
sake!'
"Two days after, Diego came again, and demanded to see my father alone.
Presently there was a cry; they called me, and, when I went in, my
father lay in Diego's arms, the blood streaming from his mouth. He died
two days after." An instant's pause, and she resumed, quickly: "I was
quite alone, and had but a few shillings. Poor Diego, how good he was!
He did much for me. My father had a diamond ring; they sold it, and so
things were paid for. Diego, poor fellow! he was rich then--he had five
gold-pieces--sovereigns. He left me two. He was obliged to go away; he
promised Mrs. Kershaw to come back for me, but he never came. He is no
doubt imprisoned or killed."
"Who was Mrs. Kershaw?" asked Wilton, huskily; "and how old is this
Diego?"
"Diego? Oh, fifty--sixty--I am not sure. Mrs. Kershaw is the landlady of
the lodgings where my father died. Such a strange woman! Not unkind--at
all events, to me. There was a lady in the rooms above ours who was very
kind to me, and felt for me; and nearly five months after I was left
quite alone. Miss Walker came to stay with this lady, and so they
managed to have me engaged as companion to Donald. Ah, it was all so
wretched! Nothing reconciled me to Brosedale but the scenery--that made
me remember there was a world of life and beauty beyond Donald's study."
She stopped, and leaning back, pressed both hands over her face, as if
to shut out the present. Wilton scarce knew how to speak to her without
saying too much. He had sufficiently delicate instincts to feel that he
must not, when she was in such a mood, show, by the slightest
indication, that he was her lover; nay, his deep sympathy made him for
the moment forget the fair woman in the lonely, suffering girl.
"And had none of your father's friends a wife or a sister with whom you
might have taken shelter? Brosedale, under such circumstances, must have
been a real _inferno_."
"No; I have met one or two ladies abroad connected with our cause, and
they were far away. But Brosedale was more astonishing than anything
else. Miss Walker, who likes me, although I shock her every hour in the
day, warned me of the respect I must show to 'miladi' and her daughters,
and I never dreamed of disrespect toward them; but they were--they are
so strange; they are so ignorant; they belong to the middle ages. When I
spoke to them of the scenery, when I asked them questions about their
country, when I addressed them as my fellow creatures, they were
petrified--they were indignant; they went through a little comedy of
insulted majesty, very droll, but not pleasant. Then I began to know
what it is to believe that you are made of different clay from certain
others of your fellows. Alas! what wide gulfs still yawn between man and
man, and what precious things must be cast in before they are filled
up!"
"Well, and Donald--how did you get on with Donald?"
"He was inclined to treat me like a petted animal; but, no! _Per
Baccho!_ that should not be. I said, 'If you are good, you shall call me
Ella, and I will call you Donald.' He replied, 'I am Master Fergusson;'
and I said, 'Not so--it is too long. Besides, I am your superior in age
and in knowledge, so between us there shall be kindness and freedom.'
Now I mark my displeasure by calling him Master Fergusson. Ah! how
astonished were Miss Walker and 'miladi,' but I laughed."
"I am surprised he can bear you out of his sight," exclaimed Wilton,
warmly, and checked himself; but she only noticed his words.
"He does not like me to be away. I am often imprisoned for weeks. Last
August I grew weak and languid; so Lady Fergusson gave me a holiday. I
had nowhere to go but to Mrs. Kershaw's; then she was taken ill--a bad
fever--so I nursed her, thankful to be of use. Then Donald summoned me
back, and"--turning with the peculiar air of gracious acknowledgment
which Wilton had before noticed, she added--"it was on my journey back I
met you. Oh, how weary I was! I had been awake night after night. I was
stupefied with fatigue, and you were so good. Could Death then have come
to me in sleep, I should have held out my arms to him. Yet you see I was
terrified at the idea of being hurt or torn when the train was overset."
"You behaved like--like an angel, or rather like a true, high-souled
woman."
She laughed softly, and rising, attempted to walk to the window.
"Ah!" she exclaimed, "I forgot my shoes;" then, resuming her seat, went
on: "There, I have told you all my life. Why, I cannot say; but, if I
have wearied you, it is your own fault. You listened as if you cared to
hear, while to me it has been sad, yet sweet, to recall the past, to
talk of my father to one who will not mock at his opinions--his dreams,
if you will. But, ah! what dreams! what hopes! Thank God! he lived to
know of Garibaldi's triumph--to see the papal throne tremble at the
upheaval of Italy! These glimpses of light gladdened him at the last;
for never was Christian martyr upheld by faith in a future world more
steadfastly than my father by his belief in the political regeneration
of this one. Yet I have, perhaps, forgotten myself in speaking so much."
She turned toward Wilton as she spoke, and, placing her elbow on the arm
of the chair, rested her chin in the palm of her hand, looking at him
with the large, deep-blue eyes which had so struck him at first, her
long lashes wet with tear drops, of which she was unconscious.
"At least," said Wilton, "you must feel that no speaker ever riveted
attention more than you have. As for the accuracy of the opinions so
disinterestedly upheld, I neither combat nor assent to them. I can only
think of you--so young, so alone?"
It is impossible to say how much passionate sympathy he was about to
express, when a sudden change in Ella Rivers's face made him stop and
turn round. To his infinite annoyance there stood Major Moncrief, with
the door in his hand, and an expression of utter blank astonishment on
his countenance, his coat covered with fast-melting snow, and evidently
just dismounted.
"Hallo, Moncrief!" cried Wilton, his every-day, sharp senses recalled in
a moment by this sudden, unwelcome apparition. "Wet to the skin, I
suppose, like Miss Rivers"--a wave of the hand toward her--"and myself.
I most fortunately overtook her half-way from Monkscleugh, and brought
her here for shelter."
"Oh!" ejaculated Moncrief: it sounded like a groan.
"You have met my chum, Major Moncrief, have you not, Miss Rivers?"
She shook her head. "You know I am always with Donald."
"Oh, ah, I see!" muttered Moncrief. "No, I have never had the pleasure
of meeting the young lady before; and so, Wilton, I will not interrupt
you. I will go and change my clothes."
"Interrupt!" said Ella, as he left the room. "What does he mean by
interrupt? Who is he?--your uncle--your guardian?"
"Do you think I require a guardian at my age?" replied Wilton, laughing,
though greatly annoyed at Moncrief's tone.
"How old are you?" asked Ella, but so softly and simply that the
question did not seem rude.
"Almost four and thirty; and, _en revanche_, how old are you?"
"Almost twenty."
"I should not have thought you so much: yet there are times you look
more. However, Moncrief is an old brother-officer of mine; really a
friend, but a queer fellow, a little odd."
"I see; and I do not think he likes me to be here. Can I not go?" said
Ella, starting up and making her way to the window, although she left a
shoe behind her in her progress.
"Not like you! More probably fascinated at first sight," returned
Wilton, attempting to laugh off the impression she had received, though
feeling terribly annoyed at Moncrief's manifestation. "And, as to
returning, you cannot stir just yet; the snow has only just cleared off
and may recommence."
"Still I should so much like to return; and I am sure I could manage to
walk very well."
"I do not wish to be oppressively hospitable, so I will leave you for a
moment to inquire what will be the best mode of reaching Brosedale."
So saying, he quitted the room and followed Major Moncrief.
He found that excellent soldier in his dressing-gown, and wearing a
more "gruesome" expression than could be accounted for by his
occupation, viz., sipping some scalding-hot whiskey-and-water.
"Have you had anything to eat?" asked Wilton, amiably. "I believe
luncheon is still on the table."
"No, it is not," replied the major, curtly; "and I do not want anything.
I had a crust of bread and cheese at that farmer's below the mill, so
you can go back to your charming guest."
"And you must come with me, Moncrief. Never mind the dressing-gown, man;
it is quite becoming. You frightened Miss Rivers, you looked so 'dour'
just now. I want her to see what a pleasant fellow you can be."
"Thank you; I am not quite such a muff as to spoil a _tête-à-tête_."
"Come, Moncrief, you know that is bosh. I overtook Miss Rivers as she
was struggling through the snow, and I do not suppose you or any other
man would have left her behind. Then I couldn't possibly pass my own
gate in such a storm; besides, the poor girl was so wet. Be that as it
may, you shall not be uncivil; so finish your grog, and come along."
"Let me put on my coat. If I am to play propriety, I must dress
accordingly. How in the name of Fortune did you come to know this Miss
Rivers?" growled Moncrief.
"Why, at Brosedale, of course. Whenever they dragged me in to see that
poor boy she was there, and one can't be uncivil to a woman, and a
pretty girl to boot."
"Pretty!" ejaculated the major, thrusting himself with unnecessary
vehemence into his coat. "I did not see much prettiness about her; she
has big eyes, that's all."
"Come and have another look then, and perhaps you will find it out,"
said Wilton, pleasantly, as sorely against his will Moncrief followed
him down stairs.
"I have much pleasure in introducing two such admirable representatives
of two great opposing systems. Major Moncrief is conservative among
conservatives; Miss Rivers revolutionary among democrats!" said Wilton.
"You say so for me; I myself scarce know enough to be anything," she
replied, in a low tone, turning from the window at which she was
standing when they entered, acknowledging the introduction and
Moncrief's "boo," as he would have called it, by a slight, haughty
courtesy, which even Mrs. McKollop's plaid dress did not spoil, as she
spoke.
"A young lady confessing ignorance on any subject is a _rara avis_
nowadays," returned Moncrief, gloomily.
Ella Rivers looked earnestly at him as he spoke, and then glanced, with
a sort of mute appeal, to Wilton, who felt instinctively that, in spite
of her composed, brave air, her heart was beating with sorrowful
indignation at the major's unfriendly aspect.
"You must know, Miss Rivers," said Wilton, with his pleasantest smile,
longing all the time to fall upon and thrash desperately his good friend
and comrade--"you must know that my friend Moncrief is the gloomy
ascetic of the regiment, always available for the skeleton's part at the
feast, that is, the mess, a terror to lively subs, and only cheerful
when some one in a terrible scrape requires his help to get out of it;
but one grows accustomed even to a skeleton. I have been shut up with
him for nearly six weeks, and, you see, I have not committed suicide
yet; but he is a first-rate old Bones after all!" (slapping the ungenial
major on the shoulder).
"Is he really unhappy?" asked Ella, with such genuine wonder and
curiosity that the "dour" major yielded to the irresistible influences,
and burst into a gracious laugh, in which Wilton joined, and the cloud
which Moncrief brought with him was almost dispersed--not quite, for
Ella was changed pale, composed, silent, with an evidently unconscious
drawing to Wilton's side, that did not help to steady his pulse or cool
his brain.
"It is quite clear," said Miss Rivers, anxiously; "may I not return?
for in another hour night will close. I must go!"
"Certainly!" cried Wilton, who was feeling dreadfully bored by the
flagging conversation and general restraint of Moncrief's presence;
"your dress will be dry by this time, and while you put it on I will
order the dog-cart. I will drive you over to Brosedale in half an hour,
snow or no snow."
"You--drive me--oh, no! I can walk quite well; I am not the least
afraid. Do not come out again."
"My dear Miss Rivers! allow you to walk alone? Impossible! Even this
stern Bones, this incarnation of inexorable Fate, would not demand such
a sacrifice.--Moncrief, ring the bell; summon Mrs. McKollop from the
vasty deep to attend our fair guest.--You must know, Miss Rivers, my
brother-in-arms is part proprietor of this sylvan lodge."
"Then will he forgive my intrusion," said their guest, with an air so
deprecating as to a man of his age, so certainly dignified as to
herself, yet so simple withal, that the hidden spring of chivalry far
down in the man's nature was struck and pushed to the surface all the
more strongly for the depth of the boring.
"You must think me 'a skeleton of the feast,' indeed, as Wilton has been
good enough to describe me, if I were not ready to welcome the chance
visit of a charming young lady; I am not quite so hopeless an old
'Bones' as you both make out."
"Bravo!" cried Wilton, highly pleased at his change of tone.
"Thank you!" said Miss Rivers, simply; and then the door opened to admit
Mrs. McKollop, who wore upon her arm a mass of drapery, and in her hand
a very small pair of boots, evidently the garments she had been drying.
"They are all nice an' weel aired, if you be going," said the benign
ruler of the roost. "It's a wee bit clear just noo, but I'm thinking the
frost is coming on, so the snaw will be harder by-an'-by; an' if the
major don't mind having dinner an hour before his usual time, a drap o'
hare soup and a cut out of a loin o' mountain mutton will warm ye up
weel, an' mak' ye ready for the road," or, as she pronounced it, "rod."
"Mrs. M'Kollop, you are a most sensible woman," said Wilton, gravely.
Moncrief looked alarmed; and Miss Rivers merely observed, "I will come
with you," and left the room, accompanied by the friendly cook. Wilton
followed immediately, to give orders about the dog-cart, and Major
Moncrief was left alone. He walked once or twice up and down the room
with a troubled and irate expression; he then stirred the fire
viciously, threw down the poker with a clang, and, drawing a chair close
up, thrust his feet almost against the bars. How long he sat in gloomy
reverie he knew not, but he was roused by the entrance of Wilton, who
ushered in their guest, saying, "Miss Rivers wants to say good-by,
Moncrief."
"Yes, good-by!" said she, in her soft yet clear voice, which always
seemed to fix attention. "Thank you--thank you both for your kind
hospitality."
With a slight, touching hesitation she held out her hand, and Moncrief
took it with much politeness and an altered expression.
"Good-by, then, as you will not stay for the hare soup and a cut of the
mountain mutton. I hope you will not take cold. Have you nothing to put
round your throat? You must have this muffler of mine, if you will
condescend to wear it.--Jump up, Wilton. I will help Miss Rivers."
So spoke the Major, in his joy to speed the parting guest. Wilton
obeyed, somewhat amused, and they started. But the drive was a silent
one on Miss Rivers's side; all Wilton's dexterous observations and
thoughtful care could not win a look--scarce a word. "Does she regret
she opened her heart to me?" he thought; and, as they neared the great
house, he could not refrain from saying, "I shall often think of the
interesting sketch you have given me of your wanderings in many lands,
Miss Rivers, though I shall only speak of them to yourself."
"Pray, pray, put it all out of your mind! I am half ashamed of having
talked so much of myself. Think no more of it."
"Suppose the subject will not be banished? I cannot. At least," resumed
Wilton, after a moment's pause to tighten the reins of his self-control,
"I shall look upon liberal politics with a new light, after the glimpse
you have given me of their inner life."
"If, when you have power, you will think of the people, I am not sorry I
spoke." She said it very softly, almost sadly.
"I shall look in to-morrow, to know if you are all right," he replied.
They had now reached the entrance. Wilton sprang down, and, as Miss
Rivers was muffled in plaids, nearly lifted her from the carriage,
though with all the deference he would have shown a princess.
"Good-by! I hope you will not be the worse."
"Adieu!" For a moment she raised her eyes to his with a frank, kind
glance, and vanished into the house.
For a moment Wilton hesitated, then mounted the dog-cart, and drove back
as fast as circumstances would allow. He was conscious of an angry,
uncomfortable sensation toward Moncrief--a feeling that it would be a
great relief to avoid dining with him--of a curious, uneasy strain of
dissatisfaction with himself--with the routine of life--with
everything! It was so infernally stupid, smoking and reading, or
listening to Moncrief's prosings, all the evening; while that cranky,
tiresome boy, Fergusson, would be talked to, and soothed, and petted by
Ella Rivers. And she--would she wish to be back at Glenraven, telling
the story of her simple yet stirring life to an absorbed listener? Yes,
without a shadow of conceit he might certainly conclude that she would
prefer an intelligent companion like himself to that cross-grained boy;
but he had very little to nourish conceit upon in the recollection of
the delightful _tête-â-tête_ he had enjoyed. Never before had he met a
woman so free from the indescribable consciousness by which the gentler
sex acknowledge the presence of the stranger. She must have been much in
the society of men, and of men, too, who were not lovers. Yet stop! How
much of her composure and frankness was due to the fact of her being
already wooed and promised to one of those confounded _carbonari_
fellows? The very idea made Wilton double-thong his leader--for tandem
stages had been thought necessary--to the infinite surprise of his
servant. However, he reached his destination at last, and as he threw
off his plaid in the hall Mrs. McKollop's broad and beaming face
appeared at a side-door.
"Aweel, sir, din ye win ower a' right to Brosedale wi' the young leddy?
I've been aye watching the weather; for I don't think she is just that
strong. Eh, sir! but she is a bonnie bird--sae saft and kind! When she
was going, after I had red up her things for her, she says, 'If you are
as good a cook as you are a ladies' maid, I am sure Major Moncrief must
be pleased with his dinners,' says she; an' wi' that she takes this
neckerchief from her pretty white throat, and says she, so gentle and so
grand, 'Wear this for me, Mrs. McKollop,' putting it round my neck her
ainsel'. 'Think, whenever ye put it on,' says she, 'that I shall always
remember your motherly care.' The bonnie bird! I'm thinking she has nae
mither, or they wouldn't let her be worrit wi' that ill-faured,
ill-tempered bairn at Brosedale."
"I left Miss Rivers quite safe, I assure you, and, as far as I could
observe, quite well, at the door," said Wilton, who had listened with
much attention to this long speech, looking all the time at the pretty
violet necktie held up in triumph by Mrs. McKollop, and conscious of a
boyish but strong inclination to purchase it, even at a high premium,
from the worthy house-keeper. "I am sure you did your best for our
charming visitor."
"That I did; an' I tauld her that it was a pleasure to cook for the
colonel; for though she spoke of the major, it was aye _you_ she thocht
on."
"Oh, nonsense!" returned Wilton, good-humoredly, and he left the
eloquent Mrs. McKollop, to join the moody Moncrief, with whom he
exchanged but few remarks, till dinner thawed them. The evening passed
much as usual, but neither mentioned their guest--a fact by no means
indicating that she was forgotten by either.