MRS. WARDEN passed away before midnight; only the doctor and her
husband were with her at the last moment, for Hardcastle, bare-headed
and trembling with excitement, had followed the hound out into the dark
night.
“Find, ‘Presto,’ find,” he exclaimed, urging the dog forward. But
“Presto” needed no urging, he bounded rather than ran over the sodden
grass and under the dripping trees; no stars, no moon, no light
anywhere, and Hardcastle, breathless and stumbling, with difficulty
kept up with the eager hound, who turns neither to the right nor to the
left, but makes straight for the deep rushing stream, straight on to
the low, sloping bank; and there the dog stops and trembles.
“Which way, ‘Presto?’ Forward, forward!” shouts Hardcastle. But the dog
will not stir a step now, and stands quivering on the brink of the
stream; Hardcastle mounts the bank after him, and, bending forward,
looks up and down the river. Not a sound save the rush and whirl of the
waters, the moaning of the wind in the dark trees, and the pitiless
splash, splash of the rain. Not a sign of life nor death in the flood,
but as he turns to descend the slippery bank, something lying in the
roots of an overhanging willow tree catches his eye. One arm clinging
to a low bough, one arm in the cold, dark waters, and in another
instant he holds in his hand a girl’s low-crowned felt hat, with
pale-blue ostrich feather. “My God! and is this the end?” He cries out
in the bitterness of his heart, then, feeling how utterly useless and
helpless he is alone and single-handed in the dark, he rushes back to
the house.
“I want men, I want lights,” he calls in a hoarse voice; “quickly, in
Heaven’s name, down to the stream!” Down to the stream they follow him,
with lights, and ropes, and drags. No time is lost in setting to work;
lanterns are swung on ropes across the river, the men, with Hardcastle
at their head, are wading through the swollen waters—hand in hand,
throwing ropes, dragging, shouting, lest some poor soul might still be
struggling in the dark flood.
What does it matter? There she lies, face downwards, among the reeds
and tall rushes in the river’s mud. What does it matter! The men may
shout—the waters rush—aye, and her warm, true-hearted lover kneel by
her side, and call her by her sweet name, never more will those dark
eyes open to the light of day, nor those red lips be unsealed to tell
their story of sorrow and wrong! Clasp her tight, and clasp her long,
Lord Hardcastle, then yield her up for ever to the shadows, the doubt,
the darkness of the grave.
They brought her in, and laid her on her own dainty little bed. The
storm had ceased now; day dawned, the birds carolled and twittered at
the casement, and the bright sunshine streamed in through Amy’s
rose-coloured curtains, and fell sideways on her pale, grey face.
Silent, hopeless, and awe-stricken the father and lover gazed upon
their darling; the search is ended now—there she lies in her blue silk
dress, all torn and mud-stained; her dark hair unwound and lying round
her in long, damp coils; her tiny hands still clasped as though in
prayer, and a look of agony and terror in her half-closed eyes. Alas!
how changed. What terrible ordeal can she have passed through since she
last lay sleeping here. There are lines on her brow, and dark circles
beneath her eyes which tell of tears and sorrow; a pained look about
the chiselled mouth which the Amy of old days never wore. Lord
Hardcastle bends over her reverently—he will not even kiss her
forehead, dead as she lies, for he dared not have done so living.
Kneeling as he would to his sovereign, he takes her damp, cold
hand in his to press to his lips; as he does so, something glittering
on the third finger of her left hand catches his eye. What is it! Not
the antique ruby ring with its quaint motto, “_sans espoir je meurs_,”
only a plain gold band encircles the tiny finger—a simple wedding-ring!
They buried Mrs. Warden and Amy on one day—on one day, but not in one
grave. People in Harleyford wondered much at this; and they wondered
still more, when, shortly afterwards a splendid granite monument was
placed over the mother’s grave, with name, age, date, birth, and death
engraved in clear-cut letters; while Amy’s resting-place was shadowed
only by a simple marble cross with but one word inscribed, “_Aimée_.”