"Yes, my darling," said Mr. Paget, two hours later; his arms were round
his daughter, and her head was on his shoulder. "Oh, yes, my dear one,
certainly, if you wish it."
"And you'll go with me, father? Father, couldn't you come too? Couldn't
we three go? Yes, that would be nice, that would be happiness."
"A good idea," said Mr. Paget, reflectively. "But really, Val, really
now, don't you think Wyndham and I rather spoil you? You discover at
the eleventh hour that you can't live without your husband, that as he
must cross to the other side of the world, you must go there too. And
now in addition _I_ have to accompany you. Do you think you are worth
all this? That any girl in the world is worth all this?"
"Perhaps not, father."
Valentine was strangely subdued and quiet.
"I suppose it would be selfish to bring you," she said; "and we shall
be back in six months."
"True," said Mr. Paget in a thoughtful voice; "and even for my
daughter's sake my business must not go absolutely to the dogs. Well,
child, a wilful woman--you know the proverb--a wilful woman must have
her way. I own I'm disappointed. I looked forward to six months all
alone with you. Six months with my own child--a last six months, for of
course I always guessed that when Wyndham came back you'd give yourself
up to him body and soul. Oh, no, my dear, I'm not going to disappoint
you. A wife fretting and mourning for her husband is the last person I
should consider a desirable companion. Run upstairs now and get your
maid to put your things together. I shall take you down to Southampton
by an early train in the morning, and in the meantime, if you'll excuse
me, Valentine, I'll go out and send a telegram to your husband."
"To tell him that I'm coming?"
"Yes, are you not pleased?"
"No, don't do that. I will meet him on board the boat. I know exactly
what the scene will be. He'll be looking--no, I shan't say how he'll be
looking--but I'll steal up behind him, and slip my hand through his
arm, and then--and then! Father, kiss me. I love you for making me so
happy."
Mr. Paget pressed his lips to his daughter's forehead. For a brief
moment his eyes looked into hers. She remembered by-and-bye their queer
expression. Just now, however, she was too overwrought and excited to
have room for any ideas except the one supreme longing and passion
which was drawing her to her husband.
"Shall we have dinner?" said Mr. Paget after another pause.
Valentine laughed rather wildly.
"Dinner? I can't eat. Had not you better go home and have something?
Perhaps I did order dinner, but I can't remember. My head feels queer;
I can't think properly. Go home and have something to eat, father. You
can come back later on. I am going upstairs now to pack."
She left the room without a word, and Mortimer Paget heard her light
step as she ran up to her bedroom. He began to talk vehemently to
himself.
"Does that child, that little girl, whom I reared and fostered--that
creature whom I brought into existence--think she will checkmate me now
at the supreme moment. No, there are limits. I find that even my love
for Valentine has a bottom, and I reach it when I see the prisoner's
cell, solitary confinement, penal servitude, looming large on the
horizon. Even your heart must suffer, little Valentine, to keep such a
fate as that from my door. Poor little Val! Well, the best schemes, the
most carefully laid plans sometimes meet with defeat. It did not enter
into my calculations that Val would fall madly in love with that
long-faced fellow. Pah! where's her taste? What men women will admire.
Well, Valentine, you must pay the penalty, for my plans cannot be
disturbed at the eleventh hour!"
Mr. Paget went softly out of the house, but he did not go, as Valentine
innocently supposed, home to dinner. No, he had something far more
important to attend to. Something in which he could be very largely
assisted by that confidential clerk of his, Jonathan Helps.
Meanwhile, Valentine and her maid were having a busy time. Dresses were
pulled out, trunks dusted and brought into the middle of the room, and
hasty preparations were made for a journey.
Valentine's low spirits had changed to high ones. She was as happy as
some hours ago she had been miserable. Her heart was now at rest, it
had acknowledged its own need--it had given expression to the love
which was fast becoming its life.
"You are surprised, Suzanne," said Mrs. Wyndham to her maid. "Yes, it
is a hurried journey. I had no idea of going with Mr. Wyndham, but
he--poor fellow--he can't do without me, Suzanne, so I am going. I
shall join him on board the _Esperance_ in the morning. You can fancy
his surprise--his pleasure. Put in plenty of dinner dresses, Suzanne.
Those white dresses that Mr. Wyndham likes--yes, that is right. Of
course I shall dress every evening for dinner on board the _Esperance_.
I wonder if many other ladies are going. Not that it matters--I shall
have my husband. What are you saying, Suzanne?"
"That it is beautiful to lof," replied the maid, looking up with
adoring eyes at her pretty animated young mistress.
She was both young and pretty herself, and she sympathized with
Valentine, and admired her immensely for her sudden resolve.
"Yes, love is beautiful," answered Valentine gravely. Her eyes filled
with sudden soft tears of happiness. "And there is something better
even than love," she said, looking at Suzanne, and speaking with a
sudden burst of confidence. "The highest bliss of all is to give joy to
those who love you."
"And you will do that to-morrow, madame," replied Suzanne fervently.
"Oh, this lof, so beautiful, so rare--you will lay it at monsieur's
feet--he is goot, monsieur is, and how great is his passion for
madame."
The young Swiss girl flitted gaily about, and by-and-bye the packing
even for this sudden voyage was accomplished.
"You will take me with you, madame?" said Suzanne.
"No, Suzanne, there is no time to arrange that, nor shall I really want
you. We may have to rough it a little, my husband and I; not that we
mind, it will be like a continual picnic--quite delicious."
"But madame must be careful of her precious health."
The color flushed into Valentine's cheeks.
"My husband will take care of me," she said. "No. Suzanne, I shall not
take you with me. You will stay here for the present, and my father
will arrange matters for you. Now you can go downstairs and have some
supper. I shall not want you again to-night."
The girl withdrew, and Valentine stood by the fire, gazing into its
cheerful depths, and seeing many happy dream pictures.
"Yes, I shall certainly go with him. Even if what I dread and hope and
long for is the case, I shall be with him. I can whisper it first to
him. I ought to be with _him_--I ought to be with my husband then. Why
did Suzanne speak about my health? No one will take such care of me as
Gerald. Even my father cannot approach Gerald for tenderness, for
sympathy when one is out of sorts. How soothing is Gerald's hand; how
quieting. Once I was ill for a few hours. Only a bad headache, but it
went when he made me lie very still, and when he clasped my two hands
in one of his. Yes, I quite believe in Gerald. Even though I do not
understand that night at the Gaiety, still I absolutely believe in my
husband. He is too noble to tell a lie; he had a reason for not
explaining what looked so strange that night. He had a right reason,
probably a good and great one. Perhaps I'll ask him again some day.
Perhaps when he knows there's a little--little _child_ coming he'll
tell me himself. Oh, God, kind, good, beautiful God, if you are going
to give me a child of my very own, help me to be worthy of it. Help me
to be worthy of the child, and of the child's father."
Mr. Paget's ring was heard at the hall door, and Valentine ran down to
meet him. He had made all arrangements he told her. They would catch
the 8.5 train in the morning from Waterloo, and he would call for her
in a cab at a sufficiently early hour to catch it.
His words were brief, but he was quite quiet and business-like. He
kissed his daughter affectionately, told her to go to bed at once, and
soon after left the house.
Valentine gave directions for the morning and went back to her room.
She got quickly into bed, for she was determined to be well rested for
what lay before her on the following day. She laid her head on the
pillow, closed her eyes, and prepared to go to sleep. Does not
everybody know what happens on these occasions? Does not each
individual who in his or her turn has especially desired for the best
and most excellent reason a long sleep, a deep sleep, an unbroken and
dreamless sleep found it recede further and further away--found eyes
more watchful--brain more active, limbs more restless, as the precious
moments fly by? How loud the watch ticks, how audible are the minutest
sounds!
It was thus with Valentine Wyndham that night. No sleep came near her,
and by slow degrees as the fire grew faint and the night deepened in
silence and solemnity, her happy excitement, her childish joy, gave
place to vague apprehensions. All kinds of nameless terrors came over
her. Suppose an accident happened to the train? Suppose the _Esperance_
sailed before its time? Above all, and this idea was agonizing, was so
repellant that she absolutely pushed it from her--suppose her father
was deceiving her. She was horrified as this thought came, and came. It
would come, it would not be banished. Suppose her father was deceiving
her?
She went over in the silence of the night the whole scene of that
evening. Her own sudden and fierce resolve, her father's opposition,
his disappointment--then his sudden yielding. The more she thought, the
more apprehensive she grew; the more she pondered, the longer, the more
real grew her fears. At last she could bear them no longer.
She lit a candle and looked at her watch. Three o'clock. Had ever
passed a night so long and dreadful? There would not be even a ray of
daylight for some time. She could not endure that hot and restless
pillow. She would get up and dress.
All the time she was putting on her clothes the dread that her father
was deceiving her kept strengthening--strengthening. At last it almost
reached a panic. What a fool she had been not to go to Southampton the
night before. Suppose Gerald's ship sailed before she reached it or
him.
Suddenly an idea came like a ray of light. Why should she wait for her
father? Why should she not take an earlier train to Southampton? The
relative depths of Valentine's two loves were clearly shown when she
did not reject this thought. It mattered nothing at all to her at this
supreme moment whether she offended her father or not. She determined
to go to Southampton by the first train that left Waterloo that
morning. She ran downstairs, found a time-table, saw that a train left
at 5.50, and resolved to catch it. She would take Suzanne with her, and
leave a message for her father; he could follow by the 8.5 train if he
liked.
She went upstairs and woke her maid.
"Suzanne, get up at once. Dress yourself, and come to me, to my room."
In an incredible short time Suzanne had obeyed this mandate.
"I am going to take you with me to Southampton. Suzanne. I mean to
catch the train which leaves here at ten minutes to six. We have plenty
of time, but not too much. Can you make some coffee for us both? And
then either you or Masters must find a cab."
Suzanne opened her bright eyes wide.
"I will go with you, my goot madam," she said to herself. "The early
hour is noting, the strangeness is noting. That olt man--I hate that
olt man! I will go alone with you, mine goot mistress, to find the goot
husband what is so devoted. Ach! Suzanne does not like that olt man!"
Coffee was served in Valentine's bedroom. Mistress and maid partook of
it together. Masters was aroused, was fortunate enough in procuring a
cab, and at five o'clock, for Valentine's impatience could brook no
longer delay, she and Suzanne had started together for Waterloo.
Once more her spirits were high. She had dared something for Gerald. It
was already sweet to her to be brave for his sake.
Before she left she wrote a short letter to her father--a constrained
little note--for her fears stood between her and him.
She and Suzanne arrived at Waterloo long before the train started.
"Oh, how impatient I am!" whispered Mrs. Wyndham to her maid. "Will
time never pass? I am sure all the clocks in London must be wrong, this
last night has been like three."
The longest hours, however, do come to an end, and presently Valentine
and Suzanne found themselves being whirled out of London, and into the
early morning of a bright clear March day.
The two occupied a compartment to themselves. Suzanne felt wide awake,
talkative, and full of intense curiosity; but Valentine was strangely
silent. She ceased either to laugh or to talk. She drew down her veil,
and establishing herself in a corner kept looking out at the swiftly
passing landscape. Once more the fear which had haunted her during the
night returned. Even now, perhaps, she would not be in time!
Then she set to work chiding herself. She must be growing silly. The
_Esperance_ did not leave the dock until noon, and her train was due at
Southampton soon after eight. Of course there would be lots of time.
Even her father who was to follow by the later train could reach the
_Esperance_ before she sailed.
The train flew quickly through the country, the slow moments dropped
into space one by one. Presently the train slackened speed--presently
it reached its destination.
Then for the first time Valentine's real difficulties began. She had
not an idea from which dock the _Esperance_ was to sail. A porter
placed her luggage on a fly. She and Suzanne got in, and the driver
asked for directions. No, the _Esperance_ was not known to the owner of
the hackney coach.
When the porter and the cabman questioned Mrs. Wyndham she suddenly
felt as if she had come up against a blank wall. There were miles of
ships all around. If she could afford no clue to the whereabouts of the
_Esperance_ the noon of another day might come before she could reach
the dock where it was now lying at anchor.
At last it occurred to her to give the name of her father's shipping
firm. It was a great name in the city, but neither the porter nor the
cabman had come under its influence. They suggested, however, that most
likely the firm of Paget Brothers had an office somewhere near. They
said further that if there was such an office the clerks in it could
give the lady the information she wanted.
Valentine was standing by her cab, trying not to show the bewilderment
and distress which had seized her, when a man who must have been
listening came up, touched his hat, and said civilly:--
"Pardon, madam. If you will drive or walk down to the quay, this quay
quite close, there is an office, you cannot fail to see it, where they
can give you the information you desire, as they are always posted up
with regard to the out-going and in-coming vessels. That quay, quite
near, cabby. Messrs. Gilling and Gilling's office."
He touched his hat again and vanished, being rewarded by Valentine with
a look which he considered a blessing.
"Now," she said, "now, I will give you double fare, cabman, treble
fare, if you will help me to get to the _Esperance_ in time; and first
of all, let us obey that good man's directions and go to Messrs.
Gilling and Gilling."
The quay was close, and so was the office. In two minutes Valentine was
standing, alas, by its closed doors. A sudden fierce impatience came
over her, she rang the office bell loudly. Three times she rang before
any one answered her summons. Then a rather dishevelled and
sleepy-looking boy opened the door wide enough to poke his head out and
asked her her business.
"I want to get news of the ship called the _Esperance_."
"Office don't open till nine."
He would have pushed the door to, but Suzanne stepping forward deftly
put her foot in.
"Mine goot boy, be civil," she said. "This lady has come a long way,
and she wants the tidings she asks very sore."
The office boy looked again at Valentine. She certainly was pretty; so
was Suzanne. But the office really did not open till nine, and the boy
could not himself give any tidings.
"You had better step in," he said. "Mr. Jones will be here at nine. No,
I don't know nothing about the ship."
It was now twenty-five minutes past eight. Valentine sank down on the
dusty chair which the boy pushed forward for her, and Suzanne stood
impatiently by her side.
Outside, the cabman whistled a cheerful air and stamped his feet. The
morning was cold; but what of that? He himself was doing a good
business; he was certain of an excellent fare.
"Suzanne," said Valentine suddenly. "Do you mind going outside and
waiting in the cab. I cannot bear anyone to stare at me just now."
Suzanne obeyed. She was not offended. She was too deeply interested and
sympathetic.
The slow minutes passed. Nine o'clock sounded from a great church near,
and then more gently from the office clock. At three minutes past nine
a bilious-looking clerk came in and took his place at one of the desks.
He started when he saw Valentine, opened a ledger, and pretended to be
very busy.
"Can you tell me, at once, please, from which dock the _Esperance_
sails?" asked Mrs. Wyndham.
Her voice was impressive, and sharp with pain and waiting. The clerk
thought he might at least stare at her. Things were slow and dull at
this hour of the morning, and she was a novelty. He could have given
the information at once, but it suited him best to dawdle over it.
Valentine could have stamped with her increasing impatience.
The clerk, turning the leaves of a big book slowly, at last put his
finger on an entry.
"_Esperance_ sails for Sydney 25th inst., noon. Albert and Victoria
Docks."
"Thank you, thank you," said Valentine. "Are these docks far away?"
"Three miles off, madam."
"Thank you."
She was out of the office and in the cab almost before he had time to
close his book.
"Drive to the Albert and Victoria Docks, instantly, coachman. I will
give you a sovereign if you take me there in less than half an hour."
Never was horse beaten like that cabby's, and Valentine, the most
tender-hearted of mortals, saw the whip raised without a pang. Now she
was certain to be in time; even allowing for delay she would reach the
_Esperance_ before ten o'clock, and it did not sail until noon. Yes,
there was now not the most remote doubt she was in good time. And yet,
and yet--still she felt miserable. Still her heart beat with a strange
overpowering sense of coming defeat and disaster. Good cabman--go
faster yet, and faster. Ah, yes, how they were flying! How pleasant it
was to be bumped and shaken, and jolted--to feel the ground flying
under the horse's feet, for each moment brought her nearer to the
_Esperance_ and to Gerald.
At last they reached the dock. Valentine sprang out of the cab. A
sailor came forward to help with her luggage. Valentine put a sovereign
into the cabman's hand.
"Thank you," she said, "oh, thank you. Yes, I am in good time."
Her eyes were full of happy tears, and the cabman, a rather hardened
old villain, was surprised to find a lump rising in his throat.
"Which ship, lady?" asked the sailor, touching his cap.
"The _Esperance_, one of Paget Brothers' trading vessels. I want to go
on board at once; show it to me. Suzanne, you can follow with the
luggage. Show me the _Esperance_, good man, my husband is waiting for
me."
"You don't mean the _Experiance_, bound for Sydney?" asked the man.
"One of Paget Brothers' big ships?"
"Yes, yes; do you know her? Point her out to me."
"Ay, I know her. I was helping to lade her till twelve last night."
"Just show her to me. I am in a frightful hurry. She is here--this is
the right dock."
"Ay, the Albert and Victoria. The _Experiance_ sailing for Sydney,
noon, on the 25th."
"Well, where is she? I will go and look for her by myself."
"You can't, lady, she's gone."
"What--what do you mean? It isn't twelve o'clock. Suzanne, it isn't
twelve o'clock."
"No, lady."
The old sailor looked compassionate enough.
"Poor young thing," he soliloquized under his breath, "some one has
gone and done her. The _Experiance_ was to sail at noon," he continued,
"and she's a bunny tidy ship, too. I was lading her up till midnight;
for last night there came an order, and the captain--Captain Jellyby's
is his name--he was all flustered and in a taking, and he said we was
to finish and lade up, and she was to go out of port sharp at eight
this morning. She did, too, sharp to the minute. I seen her weigh
anchor. That's her, lady--look out there--level with the horizon--she's
a fast going ship and she's making good way. Let me hold you up,
lady--now, can you see her now? _That's_ the _Experiance_."