"Well, said George to Mrs. Bellamy, as they drove home together after the great dinner party (do not be shocked, my reader, Bellamy was on the bow), "well, how shall we strike? Shall I go to the old man to-morrow, and show him my certified copy? There is no time to lose. He might die any day.
"No; we must act through Mrs. Philip.
"Why?
"It is more scientific, and it will be more amusing.
"Poor thing! it will be a blow to her. Dont you like her?
"No.
"Why not?
"Because she did not trust me, and because she eclipses me. Therefore I am glad of an opportunity of destroying her.
"You are a very ruthless woman.
"When I have an end in view, I march straight to it; I do not vacillate that is all. But never mind me; here we are near home. Go to town by the first train to-morrow morning and post another letter announcing what has happened here. Then come back and wait.
"Ay, reflected George, "that is a wonderful womana woman it is good to have some hold over.
* * *We left Hilda stretched on her face sobbing. But the fit did not last long. She rose, and flung open the window; she seemed stifled for want of air. Then she sat down to think what she should do. Vanish and leave no trace? No; not yet. Appear and claim her place? No; not yet. The time was not ripe for choice between these two extremes. Upbraid Philip with his faithlessness? No; not without proofs. What did that hateful letter say? "Wait and watch; yes, that was what she would do. But she could not wait here; she felt as though she must go somewhere, get some change of scene, or she should break down. She had heard Mrs. Jacobs speak of a village not more than two hours from London that a convalescent lodger of hers had visited and found charming. She would go there for a week, and watch the spring cast her mantle over the earth, and listen to the laughter of the brooks, and try to forget her burning love and jealousy, and just for that one week be happy as she was when, as a little girl, she roamed all day through the woods of her native Germany. Alas! she forgot that it is the heart and not the scene that makes happiness.
That evening she wrote a note to her husband, saying that she felt that change of air was necessary for her, and that she was going out of London for a few days, to some quiet place, from whence she would write to him. He must not, however, expect many letters, as she wanted complete rest.
On the following morning she went; and, if the sweet spring air did not bring peace to her mind, at any rate, it to a very great extent set up her in strength. She wrote but one letter during her absence, and that was to say that she should be back in London by midday on the first of May. This letter reached Philip on the morning of the great dinner-party, and was either accidentally or on purpose sent without the writers address. On the morning of the first of Maythat is, two days after the dinner-party, which was given on the twenty-ninth of AprilHilda rose early, and commenced to pack her things with the assistance of a stout servant girl, who did all the odd jobs and a great deal of the work in the old-fashioned farmhouse in which she was staying. Presently the cowboy came whistling up the little garden, bright with crocuses and tulips, that lay in front of the house, and knocked at the front door.
"Lawks! said the stout girl, in accents of deep surprise, as she drew her head in from the open lattice; "Jims got a letter.
"Perhaps it is for me, suggested Hilda, a little nervously; she had grown nervous about the post of late. "Will you go and see?
The letter was for her, in the handwriting of Mrs. Jacobs. She opened it; it contained another addressed in the character the sight of which made her feel sick and faint. She could not trust herself to read it in the presence of the girl.
"Sally, she said, "I feel rather faint; I shall lie down a little. I will ring for you presently.
Sally retired, and she opened her letter.
Fifteen minutes after the girl received her summons. She found Hilda very pale, and with a curious look upon her face.
"I hope youre better, mum, she said, for she was a kind-hearted girl.
"Betterah, yes! thank you, Sally; I am cured, quite cured; but please be quick with the things, for I shall leave by the nine oclock train.
Chapter X
The night of the dinner-party was a nearly sleepless one for Philip, although his father had so considerately regretted his wearied appearance, he could do nothing but walk, walk, walk, like some unquiet ghost, up and down his great, oak-panelled bedroom, till, about dawn, his legs gave way beneath him; and think, think, think, till his mind recoiled, confused and helpless, from the dead wall of its objects. And, out of all this walking and thinking, there emerged, after an hour of stupor, that it would be a misnomer to call sleep, two fixed results. The first of these was that he hated his father as a lost soul must hate its torturing demon, blindly, madly, impotently hated him; and the second, that he could no longer delay taking his wife into his confidence. Then he remembered the letter he had received from her on the previous morning. He got it, and saw that it bore no address, merely stating that she would be in London by midday on the first of May, that was on the morrow. Till then it was clear he must wait, and he was not sorry for the reprieve. His was not a pleasant story for a husband to have to tell.
Fortunately for Philip, there was an engagement of long standing for this day, the thirtieth of April, to go, in conjunction with other persons, to effect a valuation of the fallows, &c., of a large tenant who was going out at Michaelmas. This prevented any call being made upon him to go and see Maria Lee, as, after the events of the previous evening, it might have been expected he would. He started early on this business, and did not return till late, so he saw nothing of his father that day.
On the morning of the first of May he breakfasted about half-past eight, and then, without seeing his father, drove to Roxham to catch a train that got him up to London about twenty minutes to twelve. As he steamed slowly into Paddington Station, another train steamed out, and had he been careful to examine the occupants of the first-class carriages as they passed him in a slow procession, he might have seen something that would have interested him; but he was, not unnaturally, too much occupied with his own thoughts to allow of the indulgence of an idle curiosity. On the arrival of his train, he took a cab and drove without delay to the house in Lincolns Inn Fields, and asked for Mrs. Roberts.
"She isnt back yet, sir, was Mrs. Jacobs reply. "I got this note from her this morning to say that she would be here by twelve, but its twenty past now, so I suppose that she has missed the train or changed her mind; but there will be another in at three, so perhaps you had best wait for that, sir.
Philip was put out by this contretemps, but at the same time he was relieved to find that he had a space to breathe in before the inevitable and dreadful moment of exposure and infamy, for he had grown afraid of his wife.
Three oclock came in due course, but no Hilda. Philip was seriously disturbed; but there was now no train by which she could arrive that day, so he was forced to the conclusion that she had postponed her departure. There were now two things to be done, one to follow her down to where she was staying for he had ascertained her address from Mrs. Jacobs; the other, to return home and come back on the morrow. For reasons which appeared to him imperative, but which need not be entered into here, he decided on the latter course; so leaving a note for his wife, he drove, in a very bad temper, back to Paddington in time to catch the five oclock train to Roxham.
Let us now return to the Abbey House, where, whilst Philip was cooling his heels in Lincolns Inn Fields, a rather curious scene was in progress.
At one oclock, old Mr. Caresfoot, as was his rule, sat down to lunch, which, frugal as it was, so far as he was concerned, was yet served with some old-fashioned ceremony by a butler and a footman. Just as the meal was coming to an end, a fly, with some luggage on it, drove up to the hall-door. The footman went to open it.
"Simmons, said the squire, to the old butler, "look out and tell me who that is.
Simmons did as he was bid, and replied:
"I dont rightly know, squire; but its a lady, and she be wonderful tall.
Just then the footman returned, and said that a lady, who would not give her name, wished to speak to him in private.
"Are you sure the lady did not mean Mr. Philip?
"No, sir; she asked for Mr. Philip first, and when I told her that he was out, she asked for you, sir. I have shown her into the study.
"Humph! at any rate, she has come off a journey, and must be hungry. Set another place and ask her in here.
In another moment there was a rustle of a silk dress, and a lady, arrayed in a long cloak and with a thick veil on, was shown into the room. Mr. Caresfoot, rising with that courteous air for which he was remarkable, bowed and begged her to be seated, and then motioned to the servants to leave the room.
"Madam, I am told that you wish to speak to me; might I ask whom I have the honour of addressing?
She, with a rapid motion, removed her hat and veil, and exposed her sternly beautiful face to his inquiring gaze.
"Do you not know me, Mr. Caresfoot? she said, in her foreign accent.
"Surely, yes, you are the young lady who lived with Maria, Miss von Holtzhausen.
"That was my name; it is now Hilda Caresfoot. I am your son Philips wife.
As this astounding news broke upon his ears, her hearers face became a shifting study. Incredulity, wonder, fury, all swept across it, and then in a single second it seemed to freeze. Next moment he spoke with overpowering politeness.
"So, madam; then I have to congratulate myself on the possession of a very lovely daughter-in-law.
A silence ensued that they were both too moved to break; at last, the old man said, in an altered tone:
"We have much to talk of, and you must be tired. Take off your cloak, and eat whilst I think.
She obeyed him, and he saw that not only was she his sons wife, but that she must before long present the world with an heir to the name of Caresfoot. This made him think the more; but meanwhile he continued to attend to her wants. She ate little, but calmly.
"That woman has nerve, said he to himself.
Then he rang the bell, and bade Simmons wait till he had written a note.
"Send James to Roxham at once with this. Take this ladys things off the fly, and put them in the red bedroom. By the way, I am at home to nobody except Mr. Bellamy; and then, turning to Hilda, "Now, if you will come into my study, we will continue our chat, and he offered her his arm. "Here we are secure from interruption, he said, with a ghost of a smile. "Take this chair. Now, forgive my impertinence, but I must ask you if I am to understand that you are my sons legalwife?
She flushed a little as she answered:
"Sir, I am. I have been careful to bring the proof; here it is; and she took from a little hand-bag a certified copy of the register of her marriage, and gave it to him. He examined it carefully through his gold eye-glass, and handed it back.
"Perfectly in order. Hum! some eight months since, I see. May I ask why I am now for the first time favoured with a sight of this interesting document in short, why you come down, like an angel from the clouds, and reveal yourself at the present moment?
"I have come, she answered, "because of these. And she handed him two letters. "I have come to ascertain if they are true; if my husband is a doubly perjured or a basely slandered man.
He read the two anonymous letters. With the contents of the first we are acquainted; the second merely told of the public announcement of Philips engagement.
"Speak, she said, with desperate energy, the calm of her face breaking up like ice before a rush of waters. "You must know everything; tell me my fate!
"Girl, these villanous letters are in every particular true. You have married in my son the biggest scoundrel in the county. I can only say that I grieve for you.
She listened in silence; then rising from her chair, said, with a gesture infinitely tragic in its simplicity:
"Then it is finished; before God and man I renounce him. Listen, she went on, turning to her father-in-law, "I loved your son, he won my heart; but, though he said he loved me, I suspected him of playing fast and loose with me, on the one hand, and with my friend, Maria Lee, on the other. So I determined to go away, and told him so. Then it was that he offered to marry me at once, if I would change my purpose. I loved him, and I consentedyes, because I loved him so, I consented to even more. I agreed to keep the marriage secret from you. You see what it has led to. I, a Von Holtzhausen, and the last of my name, stand here a byword and a scorn; my story will be found amusing at every dinner-table in the country-side, and my shame will even cling to my unborn child. This is the return he has made me for my sacrifice of self- respect, and for consenting to marry him at all; to outrage my love and make me a public mockery.
"We have been accustomed, broke in the old squire, his pride somewhat nettled, "to consider our own a good family to marry into. You do not seem to share that view.
"Good; yes, there is plenty of your money for those who care for it; but, sir, as I told your son, it is not a family. He did me no honour in marrying me, though I was nothing but a German companion, with no dower but her beauty. I,and here she flung her head back with an air of ineffable pridedid him the honour. My ancestors, sir, were princes, when his were plough-boys.
"Well, well, answered the old man, testily, "ten generations of country gentry, and the Lord only knows how many more of stout yeomen before them, is a good enough descent for us; but I like your pride, and I am glad that you spring from an ancient race. You have been shamefully treated, Hilda is not your name Hilda?but there are others, more free from blame than you are, who have been treated worse.
"Ah, Maria! then she knows nothing?
"Yes, there is Maria and myself. But never mind that. Philip will, I suppose, be back in a few hoursoh, yes! he will be back, and his eyes glinted unpleasantly, "and what shall you do then? what course do you intend to take?
"I intend to claim my rights, to force him to acknowledge me here where he suffered his engagement to another woman to be proclaimed, and then I intend to leave him. He has killed my respect; I will not live with him again. I can earn my living in Germany. I have done with him; but, sir, do not you be hard upon him. It is a matter between me and him. Let him not suffer on my account.
"My dear, pray confine yourself to your own affairs, and leave me to settle mine. There shall be no harshness; nobody shall suffer more than they deserve. There, dont break down, go and rest, for there are painful scenes before you.
He rang the bell, and sent for the housekeeper. She came presently, a pleasant-looking woman of about thirty years of age, with a comely face and honest eyes.
"This lady, Pigott, said the old squire, addressing her, "is Mrs. Philip Caresfoot, and you will be so kind as to treat her with all respect. Dont open your eyes, but attend to me. For the present, you had best put her in the red room, and attend to her yourself. Do you understand?