Wilton was true to his intention, and rode over the next day to make the
promised inquiry, when he had the pleasure of spending half an hour with
Donald, but Ella Rivers never appeared. The boy was in one of his better
moods, although that was a poor consolation.
"I thought Ella was never coming back yesterday," he said, in his
plaintive, querulous voice. "I could not make out whether she had been
lost in the snow, or whether your cousin, that Mr. St. George Wilton,
had run away with her. Oh! I had such a miserable day!--Miss Walker
fussing in and out, and no one able to do anything for me! Where did you
pick up Ella?"
"On that piece of common half-way to Monkscleugh; and it is very
fortunate I did so, or perhaps you might have been obliged to do without
her for some time longer. I fear she would have lost her way
altogether."
"Oh, she knows the country, and has plenty of pluck."
"Still, she might have been wandering about for hours, and I fancy she
is not over strong."
"She is well enough! Every one is well enough but me!"
"I suppose," said Wilton, to change the subject, "the rest of your party
return to-morrow?"
"I am afraid they do! I wish they would stay away! They have taken me up
disgustingly since _you_ came to see me. I was much happier alone with
Ella! I don't mind _your_ coming--you are not a humbug; but I hate
Helen, she is so insolent; and that cousin of yours is detestable. He is
so conceited--so ready to make allowance for everyone. And then he
always speaks Italian to Ella, and worries her; I know he does, though
she will not tell me what he says."
The boy's words struck an extraordinary pang to Wilton's heart. Had Ella
met this diplomatic sprig in Italy? Had he the enormous advantage of
having known her and her father in their old free wandering days? If so,
why had she not mentioned him? The irrepressible answer to this sprang
up with the query--whatever her antecedents, Ella spoke out of the
depths of a true soul.
"Well," exclaimed Wilton, while these thoughts revolved themselves, "if
you do not like him, do not let him come in here. But I thought he was
a universal genius, and an utterly fascinating fellow!"
"The women think so," returned young Fergusson, with an air of superior
wisdom, "but I think him a nuisance. Will you ring the bell, Colonel
Wilton?"
"What has become of Miss Rivers?" to the servant, who quickly appeared.
"Tell her to come here."
Though disposed to quarrel with the terms of the message, Wilton awaited
the result with some anxiety. The reply was, "Miss Walker's compliments;
Miss Rivers was hearing Miss Isabel read Italian, and she could not come
just yet."
"It is infamous!" exclaimed Donald, working himself into a fury. "They
all take her from me--they don't care what becomes of me! Give me my
crutches, James. I will go to the school-room myself; so I shall say
good-by to you, Colonel."
He dragged himself out of the room with surprising rapidity, and Wilton
felt he must not stay.
The rest of the day was rendered restless and uncomfortable by Donald's
words. But Wilton, though of a passionate and eager nature, had also a
strong will, and was too reasonable not to determine resolutely to
banish the tyrannic idea which had taken such possession of his heart or
imagination. He noticed, with mingled resentment and amusement, the
sudden silence and reserve of his friend Moncrief on the subject of
Brosedale and its inhabitants. What an absurd, strait-laced old Puritan
he was growing! Wilton felt it would be a relief when he departed to pay
his promised visit in the South. So, as the weather, after the memorable
snow-storm, moderated, and proved favorable for sport, hunting and
shooting were resumed with redoubled vigor, and the Major's solemn looks
gradually cleared up.
"I shall be rather in the blues here when you are gone," said Wilton, as
they sat together the evening before the Major was to leave. "You have
not been the liveliest companion in the world of late, still I shall
miss you, old boy."
The Major gave an inarticulate grunt, without removing his cigar from
his lips.
"So," continued Wilton, "as Lord D---- asks me over to dine and stay a
few days while General Loftus and another Crimean man are there, I shall
go; and perhaps I may look up the 15th afterwards; they are quartered at
C----."
"Do!" said the Major, emphatically, and with unusual animation. "There's
nothing more mischievous than moping along and getting into the blue
devils!--nothing more likely to drive a man to suicide or matrimony, or
some infernal entanglement even worse! Go over to D---- Castle by all
means--go and have a jolly week or two with the 15th; and, if you will
take my advice, do not return here."
"My dear Moncrief," interrupted Wilton coolly, for he was a little
nettled at the rapid disposal of his time, "why should I not return
here? What mischief do you fear for me? Don't turn enigmatical at this
time of day."
"What mischief do I fear? The worst of all--a _fair_ piece of mischief!
Not so pretty, perhaps, but 'devilish atthractive,' as poor O'Connor
used to say."
Wilton was silent a moment, to keep his temper quiet. He felt
unspeakably annoyed. Anything less direct he could have laughed off or
put aside, but to touch upon such a subject in earnest galled him to the
quick. To be suspected of any serious feeling toward Ella necessitated
either appearing an idiot in the eyes of a man like Moncrief--an idiot
capable of throwing away his future for the sake of a freak of
passion--or as entertaining designs more suited to worldly wisdom, yet
which it maddened him to think any man dared to associate with a
creature that somehow or other had managed to establish herself upon a
pedestal, such as no other woman had ever occupied, in his imagination.
"I think," said he at last--and Moncrief was struck by the stern
resentment in his tone--"I think that too much shooting has made you
mad! What, in the name of Heaven, are you talking of? Do you think I am
the same unlicked cub you took in hand twelve or fourteen years ago? If
you and I are to be friends, let me find my own road through the jungle
of life."
"All right," said the Major, philosophically. "Go your own way. I wash
my hands of you."
"It is your best plan," returned Wilton, dryly; and the evening passed
rather heavily.
The next morning Major Moncrief took leave of his friend. They parted
with perfect cordiality, and Wilton drove him over to Monkscleugh.
It is by no means clear that the Major's well-meant warning did the
least good. The vexation it caused helped to keep the subject working in
Wilton's mind. Certain it was, that after returning from Monkscleugh and
writing two or three letters, he took advantage of a fine wintry
afternoon to stroll leisurely to the brae before mentioned, and beyond
it, to the piece of border ground between the Brosedale plantations and
the road, where he had held his horse for Ella Rivers to sketch; but all
was silent and deserted, so he returned to dress and drive over to D----
Castle.
It was a pleasant party, and Wilton was a most agreeable addition. He
felt at home and at ease with the Earl's kindly, well-bred daughters;
and perhaps they would have been a little surprised, could they have
read his thoughts, to find that he classed them as unaffected
gentlewomen almost equal to the humble companion of Sir Peter
Fergusson's crippled boy.
Parties like this, of which Ralph Wilton formed one, are so much alike
that it is unnecessary to describe the routine. The third day of his
visit the Brosedale family came to dinner, and with them St. George
Wilton. Notwithstanding Sir Peter's wealth and Lady Fergusson's fashion,
invitations to D---- Castle were few and far between; nor did Ralph
Wilton's position as a visitor in the house--a favored, honored
guest--seem of small importance in Helen Saville's eyes.
Wilton took her down to dinner, with a sort of friendly glow pervading
his manner, well calculated to deceive the object of his attentions. He
was dimly aware that, after all his reasoning, all his struggles for
self-control, his dominant idea was that if Miss Saville was not the
rose, she lived with her.
"I have never seen you since the coming of age at Brantwood; you have
been out when I called, and in when I rode about in search of you--in
short, you have scarce cast me a crumb of notice since my polyglot
cousin has taken up the running and left me nowhere," said Wilton, under
the general buzz of talk, while the chief butler whispered a
confidential query as to whether he would have hock or champagne.
"If you will not come in search of the crumbs, you cannot expect to get
them," said Miss Saville, looking boldly into his eyes with a smile.
"Mamma asked you to dinner the day after our return, but in vain."
"Ah! that day I knew we were to hunt with the ----, and I feared I
should not be able to reach Brosedale in time for dinner. Now, tell me,
how is everyone? Your sister--I mean the school-room one--I see my
opposite neighbor is flourishing. How is young Fergusson?"
"Isabel has a cold; but Donald has been wonderfully well. I think we
cheer him up! Benevolence seems to run in your family, Colonel Wilton.
You set the example, and Mr. St. George Wilton followed it up. Now, we
are so anxious to amuse Donald that we congregate on wet, stormy
mornings or afternoons in his room, and try to draw--are fearfully
snubbed by the young heir! and silently endured by his little companion,
who is such a strange girl! By the way your cousin seems to have known
some of her clique abroad. He says they were a dreadful set of
communists and freethinkers."
"Indeed," he returned carelessly, as he raised his glass to his lips and
made a mental note of the information. "And, pray, how much longer do
you intend to foster my delightful relative in the genial warmth of
Brosedale?"
"As long as he likes to stay; but he talks of leaving next week."
"Ah! he finds it difficult to tear himself away?"
"That I know nothing about. How long do you remain here?"
"Till the day after to-morrow."
"Then you had better dine with us on the twentieth. I know mamma intends
to ask you. The Brantwood party are to be with us, and some people we
met at Scarborough last autumn."
"Of course I shall be most happy."
Now there was nothing Wilton hated more than dining at Brosedale; the
artificial tone of the house was detestable, and he was always
tantalized by knowing that although under the same roof with Ella, he
had not the least chance of seeing her; nevertheless, he was impelled to
go by a vague, unreasonable hope that some chance might bring about a
meeting; and now as he had absolutely written to his old friends of the
15th to say he would be with them the ensuing week, he felt ravenously
eager to encounter the very danger from which he had determined to fly.
But Helen Saville's hint had filled him with curiosity and uneasiness.
It was as he feared. St. George Wilton and Ella Rivers had doubtless
many experiences in common which both might prefer talking about in a
tongue unfamiliar to the rest of the audience, for he did not, of
course, attach any value to Donald's remark that Ella did not like the
clever _attaché_. Why should she not like him? He looked across the
table and studied his kinsman's face very carefully while Ellen Saville
told him of a run she had enjoyed with the ----shire hounds while
staying at Brantwood.
St. George Wilton was occupied in the agreeable task of entertaining
Lady Mary Mowbray, so his cousin could observe him with impunity. He was
a slight, delicate-looking man, with high, aristocratic features, pale,
with fair hair and light eyes, thin-lipped, and nominally near-sighted,
which entitled him to use a glass. He wore the neatest possible
moustaches and imperial, and when he smiled, which was not often (though
his face was always set in an amiable key), he showed a row of very
regular white teeth, but rather too pointed withal, especially the
molars, which were slightly longer than the rest, and gave a somewhat
wolfish, fang-like expression to that otherwise bland performance. His
voice was carefully modulated, his accent refined, and his ease of
manner the perfection of art. St. George Wilton, an ambitious poor
gentleman, determined to push his way upwards and onwards, had no doubt
sufficient experience to sharpen and harden his faculties. The struggle
of such a career ought to be, and is invigorating; but there are
ingredients which turn this tonic to poison--the greed for wealth and
rank, the hunger for self-indulgence and distinction, the
carefully-hidden envy that attributes the success of others to mere
good-luck, and curses blind fortune while congratulating the competitor
who has shot ahead--the gradually increasing tendency to regard all
fellow creatures as stepping stones or obstacles--the ever-growing,
devouring self which, after rejecting every joy that gladdens by
reciprocity, slowly starves to death in the Sahara of its own creation.
Although the cousins had seldom met before, they had heard of each
other, forming their respective estimates from their special
standpoints--St. George heartily despising Ralph, as a mere stupid,
honest, pig-headed soldier, whose luck in coming somewhat to the front
was a disgrace even to the whims of that feminine deity, Fortune. How
such rapid promotion could be brought about without finesse, without
tact, without anything more extraordinary than simple duty doing, was
beyond the peculiar construction of St. George's mind to conceive. While
Ralph scarcely bestowed any consideration whatever on his kinsman--he
had heard of him as a clever, rising man, and also as a "keen hand;" but
now he had acquired a sudden importance; and Ralph, as he gazed at the
bland countenance opposite, and traced the hard lines under its set
expression, laughed inwardly at the notion of extracting any information
which St. George was disinclined to give.
Nevertheless, when they joined the ladies, Wilton approached his cousin,
and opened the conversation by inquiring for a mutual acquaintance, one
of St. George's brother _attachés_; this naturally led to other topics,
and their talk flowed easily enough. "I am told you were received by our
eccentric relative, Lord St. George," said his namesake, at last;
"rather an unusual event for him to see any one, I believe?"
"Yes; he sent for me, or I should never have thought of presenting
myself. He looks very old and worn--and not particularly amiable."
"Well, he has had enough to sour him. How did he receive you?"
"With tolerable civility."
"He would not let me in! I wonder what he will do with all his property.
If he dies intestate, I suppose you will inherit everything?"
"I suppose so; but I strongly suspect he will not leave me a _sou_. I am
not pliant enough; and that unfortunate daughter of his may have left
children to inherit, after all. I fancy I heard she was dead."
"So have I," said St. George. "Who did she marry?"
"I believe a Spaniard--an adventurer, with fine eyes and a splendid
voice; I forget the name. Old Colonel du Cane, who was about town in
those days, remembers the affair and the scandal, but the whole thing is
forgotten now. I wonder old St. George did not marry and cut out every
one."
"Unless he makes a very distinct will, you will have to spend a large
slice of your fortune in defeating the pretenders who are sure to spring
up."
"Or you will," returned Wilton, laughing; "for he is as likely to leave
it to one as the other, or to some charity."
"To some charity? That is surely the last of improbabilities."
"It is impossible to say," returned Wilton; and there was a short pause,
during which he revolved rapidly in his own mind how he could best
approach the topic uppermost in his mind. "How long do you stay at
Brosedale?" he resumed abruptly, as St. George looked round, as if about
to move away.
"Perhaps a week longer. I have already paid a visitation, but the house
is comfortable, the girls agreeable, and the _padrone_ unobtrusive."
"If you had not been in such luxurious quarters, and enjoying such
excellent sport, I should have asked you to try a day or two on the moor
I have at Glenraven."
"Thank you; I should have been most happy, but am engaged to Lord
Parchmount after the twenty-fifth."
"Did you ever meet any of Lady Fergusson's people, the Savilles she is
so fond of talking about; I fancy there was a brother of hers in the
--th Hussars?"
"A brother of her former husband's, you mean. I don't believe Lady
Fergusson ever had a brother or a father, or any blood tie of any kind,
but sprang up full-blown, lovely, ambitious, aristocratic, at the touch
of some magic wand; or, to come to a commonplace simile, in a single
night's growth, like a toad-stool. She has been eminently successful
too. What a catch Sir Peter was! Now, if that wretched boy were to
die--for which consummation, no doubt, her ladyship devoutly prays--and
Helen Saville would play her cards with the commonest discretion, she
might secure the fortune for herself and her sisters; but she is a very
uncertain person, a woman on whom no one could count." And St. George
shook his head, as though he had given the subject mature consideration.
"I suppose you have seen the son and heir?" asked Wilton.
"Frequently. He dislikes me, and I am amused at the elaborate display he
makes of it. I also like to air my Italian with his interesting little
companion."
"You knew her in Italy; I think Miss Saville said," remarked Wilton.
"Knew her? Never. I fancy, from what she says, I have met some of the
people her father associated with--a very disreputable set."
"Sharpers and blacklegs, I suppose," said Wilton carelessly.
"No; politically disreputable; dreamers of utopian dreams, troublesome
items to governments; amiable men, who will make martyrs of themselves.
You have no idea in England what a nuisance these fellows are; of course
there are plenty of desperate fanatics mixed up with them. I do not
remember the name of Rivers among those I have met, but I imagine that
picturesque girl at Brosedale was among the better class. She really
looks like a gentlewoman; with her knowledge of language and air of
refinement she would make a charming travelling companion."
As the accomplished _attaché_ uttered this with a soft arch smile, as
though it were an infantine jest, he little thought what a large amount
of self-control he called into action in his cousin's mind. To have
seized him by the collar, and shaken him till he retracted the insulting
words, would have been a great relief; to have rebuked him sternly for
speaking lightly of a girl of whom he knew no evil, would have been some
satisfaction; but modern manners forbade the first, and a due sense of
the ridiculous the second. Control himself as Wilton might, he could not
call up the answering smile which St. George expected, but instead
stared at him with a fixed haughty stare, which, although rather
unaccountable to its object, seemed sufficiently disagreeable to make
him turn away and seek more congenial companionship.
Wilton, too, talked and laughed, and played his part with a proper
degree of animation; but a bruised, galled sensation clung to him all
the evening. There is a large class of men for whom such a remark as St.
George Wilton's would have been fatally destructive to the charm and
romance enfolding an object of admiration. To find what is precious to
them, common and unholy in the eyes of another, would destroy the
preciousness and desecrate the holiness! But there is another, a
smaller, though nobler and stronger class, whom the voice of the
scoffer, scoff he never so subtly, cannot incite to doubt or
disloyalty--to whom love is still lovely, and beauty still beautiful;
although others apply different terms to what they have recognized as
either one or the other. These are the men who see with their own eyes,
and Wilton was one of them. It was with the sort of indignation a
crusader might have felt to see an infidel handling a holy relic, that
he thought of his cousin's careless words. Nay, more, reflecting that
St. George was but one of many who would have thus felt and spoken of a
girl to whom he dared not address a word of love lest it might check or
destroy the sweet, frank friendliness with which she treated him, he
asked himself again, what was to be the end thereof? Then he for the
first time acknowledged to himself what he had often indistinctly felt
before, that to tell her he loved her, to ask her to be his wife, to
read astonishment, perhaps dawning tenderness, in her wonderful eyes, to
hold her to his heart, to own her before the world, to shelter her from
difficulty so far as one mortal can another, would be heaven to him!
She had struck some deeper, truer chord in his nature than had ever been
touched before; and his whole being answered; all that seemed impossible
and insurmountable gradually faded into insignificance compared to his
mighty need for that quiet, pale, dark-eyed little girl!
The day after Wilton's return from D---- Castle, feeling exceedingly
restless and unaccountably expectant, he sallied forth with his gun on
his shoulder, more as any excuse than with any active sporting
intentions. As he passed the gate into the road, a large half-bred
mastiff, belonging to Sir Peter Fergusson, rushed up, and Wilton,
knowing he was an ill-tempered brute, called his own dogs to heel, but
the mastiff did not notice them; he kept snuffing about as though he
had lost his master, and then set off in a long, swinging gallop toward
Brosedale.
Wilton, deep in thought, went on to the brae he so often visited in the
commencement of his stay at Glenraven. He had not long quitted the high
road, when he perceived a well-known figure, as usual clothed in gray,
walking rather slowly before him, and looking wonderfully in accordance
with the soft, neutral tints of sky and stones and hill-side--it was one
of those still, mild winter days that have in them something of the
tenderness and resignation of old age; and which, in our variable
climate, sometimes come with a startling change of atmosphere
immediately after severe cold. As he hastened to overtake her, Wilton
fancied her step was less firm and elastic than usual; that her head
drooped slightly as if depressed; yet there was a little more color than
was ordinary in her cheek, and certainly an expression of pleasure in
her eyes that made his heart beat when she turned at his salutation. She
wore a small turban hat of black velvet, with a rosette in front, which
looked Spanish, and most becoming to her dark eyes and pale, refined
face.
"At last, Miss Rivers! I thought you must have abjured this brae since
Moncrief and myself became temporary proprietors. I began to fear I
should never meet you out of doors again."
"I have not been out for a long time alone," she replied; "but to-day
some great man from London, a doctor, was to see poor Donald, and I was
free for awhile, so I rambled away far up that hill-side. It was
delightful--so still, so grave, so soft."
"You have been up the hill," cried Wilton, infinitely annoyed to think
he had been lounging and writing in the house when he might have had a
long walk with his companion. "I wish I had been with you. I imagine it
must double one's enjoyment of scenery to look at it with a thorough
artist like yourself."
Miss Rivers did not reply at once, but, after a moment's pause, asked,
"Are you going out now to shoot?"
"Well, yes--at least it is my first appearance to-day."
"Would it be very inconvenient to you to walk back to Brosedale, or part
of the way, with me?" She spoke with a slight, graceful hesitation.
"Inconvenient! No, certainly not," returned Wilton, trying to keep his
eyes and voice from expressing too plainly the joy her request gave him.
"It is a charity to employ me. You know I have lost my chum, Major
Moncrief, and I feel somewhat adrift. But I thought young Fergusson was
better. Miss Saville said so."
Miss Rivers shook her head. "They know nothing about it. He will never
be better; but it is not because he is worse that this great doctor
comes. He pays periodical visits. Donald always suffers; and I think he
frets because his step-sisters and that cousin of yours come and sketch
and talk in our room so often; it does him no good."
"Am I wrong in interpreting your emphasis on '_that_ cousin of yours' as
an unfavorable expression?"
"Do you like him?" she asked, looking straight into his eyes.
"No," replied Wilton, uncompromisingly; while he gave back her gaze with
interest.
"It is curious," she said, musingly, "for he never offends; he is
accomplished; his voice is pleasant. Why do you not like him?"
"I cannot tell. Why don't you?"
"Ah! it is different. I--I am foolish, perhaps, to be so influenced by
unreasoning instinct; but I fancy--I feel--he is not honest--not true.
Are you really kinsmen?--of the same race, the same blood?"
"Yes, I believe so! And may I infer from your question that you believe
I am tolerably honest--beyond deserving to be intrusted with the forks
and spoons, I mean?"
"I do--I do, indeed." She spoke quite earnestly, and the words made
Wilton's heart beat. Before, however, he had time to reply, a gentleman
came round an angle of broken bank, crowned by a group of mountain ash,
which in summer formed a very picturesque point, and to Wilton's great
surprise he found himself face to face with St. George. Involuntarily he
looked at Ella Rivers, but she seemed not in the least astonished;
rather cold and collected. Suddenly it flashed into his mind that she
had asked his escort to avoid a _tête-à-tête_ with the agreeable
_attaché_, with a crowd of associated inferences not calculated to
increase his cousinly regard. St. George raised his hat with a gentle
smile.
"I did not expect to have the pleasure of meeting you, Colonel, though I
had intended paying you a visit. Miss Rivers, one has seldom a chance of
finding you so far afield. I presume it is a favorable indication of the
young laird's health that you can be spared to enjoy a ramble with
Colonel Wilton."
There was just the suspicion of a sneer about his lips as he spoke,
which completed the measure of Wilton's indignation. But Miss Rivers
replied with the most unmoved composure that Donald was as usual, and
then walked on in silence. After a few remarks, very shortly answered by
Wilton, the bland _attaché_ accepted his defeat.
"Did you see a large brown dog along here? I had the brute with me this
morning, and he has strayed. I do not like to return without him, for
he is rather a favorite with Sir Peter."
"Yes, I saw him just now further up the road, close to my gate,"
returned Wilton quickly, without adding what direction the animal had
taken.
"Thank you. Then I will prosecute my search instead of spoiling your
_tête-à-tête_"--with which parting shot St. George left them.
For some paces Wilton and his companion walked on in silence. He stole a
glance at her face; it was composed and thoughtful. "I suppose you were
not surprised by that apparition? Perhaps it was a choice of the smaller
evil that induced you to adopt a _tête-à-tête_ with me, instead of with
him?" He looked earnestly for her reply.
"It was," she said, without raising her eyes to his. "He passed me just
now in the dog-cart with another gentleman, and I thought it possible he
might return; so, as you have always been kind and friendly, I thought I
might ask you to come with me."
Another pause ensued, for Wilton's heated imagination conjured up an
array of serious annoyances deserving the severest castigation, and he
scarcely dared trust himself to speak, so fearful was he of checking her
confidence, or seeming to guess too much of the truth. At last he
exclaimed, with a sort of suppressed vehemence that startled Miss
Rivers into looking at him quickly, "By heaven, it is too bad that you
should be bored, in your rare moments of freedom, with the idle chatter
of that fellow."
"It is a bore, but that is all. It amuses him to speak Italian with
me"--an expression of superb disdain gleamed over her face for an
instant, and left it quiet and grave. "Though wonderfully civil, even
complimentary, he conveys, more than any one I ever met, the hatefulness
of class distinctions."
"I feel deeply thankful for the doubt you expressed just now that he
belonged to the same race as myself."
"You are quite different; but I dare say you have plenty of the
prejudices peculiar to your caste."
"I wish you would undertake my conversion. It might not be so difficult.
Your denunciation of soldiers has rung in my ears--no--rather haunted my
imagination ever since you showed me your sketch-book in that desolate
waiting-room."
"I remember," said she, gravely. "No, I shall never convert you; even if
I wrote a political thesis for your benefit." After a short pause, she
resumed abruptly, "Do you know, I fear poor Donald has not much of life
before him?"
"Indeed! What induces you to think so?"
"He is so weak, and feverish, and sleepless. He often rings for me to
read to him in the dead of the night. And then, with all his ill temper
and selfishness, he has at times such gleams of noble thought, such
flashes of intellectual light, that I cannot help feeling it is the
flicker of the dying lamp. I shall be profoundly grieved when his sad,
blighted life is over. No one knows him as I do; and no one cares for me
as he does. I have ventured to speak to Lady Fergusson, but she cannot
or will not see, and forbids my addressing Sir Peter on the subject."
"And if this unfortunate boy dies, what is to become of you?" asked
Wilton, too deeply interested to choose his words, yet a little
apprehensive lest he might offend.
"I do not know; I have never thought," she replied, quite naturally. "I
suppose I should go back to Mrs. Kershaw. She is fond of me in her way,
especially since I nursed her through that fever."
"And then," persisted Wilton, looking earnestly at her half-averted face
with an expression which, had she turned and caught it, would probably
have destroyed the pleasant, friendly tone of their intercourse.
"I do not know; but I do not dread work. To do honest service is no
degradation to me. I have always heard of work as the true religion of
humanity. No. I have very little fear of the future, because, perhaps, I
have so little hope."
"You are a strange girl," exclaimed Wilton, with a certain degree of
familiarity, which yet was perfectly respectful. "I fancy few men have
so much pluck I dare say Lady Fergusson would not like to lose so
charming a companion for her daughters."
"Lady Fergusson does not think me at all charming; and Miss Saville does
not like me, nor I her. But whether they like it or not, I shall not
remain if Donald dies."
"Mrs. Kershaw is the person in whose house your father died?" said
Wilton softly, and in the same confidential tone their conversation had
taken.
Miss Rivers bent her head.
"Where does she live?"
"At Kensington."
"Whereabouts? I know Kensington pretty well."
"Oh! in H---- Street. There is a little garden in front, so it is called
Gothic Villa, though there is very little that is Gothic about it." Here
Miss Rivers stopped.
"Yes!" exclaimed Wilton; "I see we are within the Brosedale boundaries;
but you must not dismiss your escort yet; that diplomatic relative of
mine may be on our heels."
"Do not imagine I fear to encounter him," said she, with an arch smile.
"I ought, perhaps, to apologize to you for taking you out of your way
for so slight a cause; but even if a fly alights on one's brow or hand,
the impulse is to brush it away."
"Do not dismiss me so soon, however. I am going away the day after
to-morrow, and may not see you again before I leave."
"You are going! I am sorry." She spoke with a simple sincerity that at
once charmed, and yet mortified him.
"You have always seemed more like an old friend than a stranger," she
continued; "and I shall miss you."
"If I could be of the smallest use--the slightest comfort to you," said
Wilton--his tones deepening unconsciously while he drew nearer to her,
feeling still fearful of awakening any consciousness of the passionate
feeling with which he regarded her--"I would willingly renounce my visit
to A----; but I am only going there for a few days, and hope to return
in time for some entertainment which is to take place in honor of Sir
Peter's birthday."
"Oh, yes; it was the same last year. A ball for the near neighbors and
tenants and dwellers in the house. I had no heart to see the last, but I
have promised Isabel to be present at this."
"Indeed! then, pray, make another promise--to dance with me."
"Yes; I will dance with you, if you remember about it, and come to claim
me."
"If!" repeated Wilton with eloquent emphasis; "If I am in life you will
see me there, even though I risk another railway smash to keep the
tryst."
There was a fervor and depth in his voice beyond what the mere words
required that struck his companion. She turned to him with a startled,
wondering expression in her eyes, which met his fully for a moment, and
then sank slowly, while a faint flitting blush came and went on her
cheek, the sweet curved lips quivered, and an unmistakable look of pain
and gravity stole over her face. Wilton was ready to curse his own want
of self-control for thus disturbing her, and yet this touch of emotion
and consciousness completed the potent spell she had laid upon him. He
burned to complete with his lips the confession his eyes had begun, but
he must not, dare not then; so, with an immense effort over himself, he
managed to say somewhat at random, "I suppose they have a good
band--good enough to dance to?"
"Yes, I believe so;" and then again she stood still. "You have come
quite far enough. I must say good-by. I do not wish to take you any
further." She again raised her eyes to his with a sort of effort, but
gravely and resolutely.
"I obey," replied Wilton as gravely, all anxiety to win her back to her
former easy, confidential tone; he raised his hat and looked in vain for
a movement on her side to hold out her hand. "Then I may count on you
for the first waltz at the birthday fête. I shall come for it, rest
assured; so remember if you let St. George or any one else persuade you
to break your promises, the results may be--fatal." He endeavored to
assume a light tone, but could not judge of its effect, for Miss Rivers
merely said in a low voice, "Good-by. I shall not forget."
Wilton sought for another glance in vain. She bent her head as he stood
aside to let her pass, and vanished quickly among the trees.
The walk back was accomplished almost unconsciously, so deeply was
Wilton absorbed in thought. Involuntarily he had torn away the veil
which had hitherto hidden the real character of their intercourse from
that proud, frank, simple girl, and how would she take it? With a woman
of her calibre anything like indirectness, of parleying with generous
impulses, would consign him to the limbo of her contempt; and the grand
scorn of her face when she spoke of St. George Wilton amusing himself
with her, flashed back upon him. Of that he could not bear to think, nor
of giving her up and seeking safety in flight, nor of tormenting himself
by hanging about her vaguely. There was but one way out of it all--wild,
imprudent, insane as it must appear, even to decent worldlings like
Moncrief--and that was to go in gallantly and dauntlessly for marriage
at all risks. Wilton's pulses throbbed at the idea; once certain of
himself and his motives, he felt that he could break down any barrier of
reserve Ella Rivers might erect against him, and, at least, ascertain
what were his chances, or if he had any.
In this mood the next day's dinner at Brosedale was a great trial,
though a slight increase of friendliness toward St. George, who had
evidently held his tongue about their rencontre. All passed over
serenely, and promising faithfully to return in time for the ball, he
bid the Brosedale party "good-night." Not sorry to try his own
impressions by the test of change, both of scene and company, he started
for A---- the next morning.