I hope so! I trust so! said Honora, almost mournfully. It may be very good for her, as I believe it is for every woman of any soundness, to be taught that her follies tell upon mans greater aims and purposes. It may be wholesome for her and a check, but
Phœbe wondered that her friend paused and looked so sad.
Oh! Phœbe, said Honora, after a moments silence, speaking fervently, if you can in any way do so, warn your brother against making an idol! Let nothing come between him and the direct devotion of will and affection to the Higher Service. If he decide on the one or the other, let it be from duty, not with respect to anything else. I do not suppose it is of any use to warn him, she added, with the tears in her eyes. Every one sets the whole soul upon some one object, not the right, and then comes the shipwreck.
Dear Robin! said Phœbe. He is so good! I am sure he always thinks first of what is right. But I think I see what you mean. If he undertake the business, it should be as a matter of obedience to papa, not to keep Lucy in the great world. And, indeed, I do not think my father does care much, only he would like the additional capital; and Robert is so much more steady than Mervyn, that he would be more useful. Perhaps it would make him more important at home; no one there has any interest in common with him; and I think that moves him a little; but, after all, those do not seem reasons for not giving himself to Gods service, she finished, reverently and considerately.
No, indeed! cried Miss Charlecote.
Then you think he ought not to change his mind?
You have thought so all along, smiled Honor.
I did not like it, said Phœbe, but I did not know if I were right. I did tell him that I really believed Lucy would think the more highly of him if he settled for himself without reference to her.
You did! You were a capital little adviser, Phœbe! A woman worthy to be loved at all had always rather be set second instead of first:
I could not love thee, dear, so much,
Loved I not honour more.
That is the true spirit, and I am glad you judged Lucy to be capable of it. Keep your brother up to that, and all may be well!
I believe Robert knows it all the time, said Phœbe. He always is right at the bottom; but his feelings get so much tried that he does not know how to bear it! I hope Lucy will be kind to him if they meet in London, for he has been so much harassed that he wants some comfort from her. If she would only be in earnest!
Does he go to London, at all events?
He has promised to attend to the office in Great Whittington-street for a month, by way of experiment.
Ill tell you what, Phœbe, cried Honora, radiantly, you and I will go too! You shall come with me to Woolstone-lane, and Robin shall be with us every day; and we will try and make this silly Lucy into a rational being.
Oh! Miss Charlecote, thank youthank you. The quiet girls face and neck were all one crimson glow of delight.
If you can sleep in a little brown cupboard of a room in the very core of the Citys heart.
Delightful! I have so wished to see that house. Owen has told me such things about it. Oh, thank you, Miss Charlecote!
Have you ever seen anything in London?
Never. We hardly ever go with the rest; and if we do, we only walk in the square. What a holiday it will be!
We will see everything, and do it justice. Ill get an order for the print-room at the British Museum. I day say Robin never saw it either; and what a treat it will be to take you to the Egyptian Gallery! cried Honora, excited into looking at the expedition in the light of a party of pleasure, as she saw happiness beaming in the young face opposite.
They built up their schemes in the open window, pausing to listen to the nightingales, who, having ceased for two hours, apparently for supper, were now in full song, echoing each other in all the woods of Hiltonbury, casting over it a network of sweet melody. Honora was inclined to regret leaving them in their glory; but Phœbe, with the world before her, was too honest to profess poetry which she did not feel. Nightingales were all very well in their place, but the first real sight of London was more.
The lamp came in, and Phœbe held out her hands for something to do, and was instantly provided with a childs frock, while Miss Charlecote read to her one of Fouqués shorter tales by way of supplying the element of chivalrous imagination which was wanting in the Beauchamp system of education.
So warm was the evening, that the window remained open, until Ponto erected his crest as a footfall came steadily along, nearer and nearer. Uplifting one of his pendant lips, he gave a low growl through his blunted teeth, and listened again; but apparently satisfied that the step was familiar, he replaced his head on his crossed paws, and presently Robert Fulmorts head and the upper part of his person, in correct evening costume, were thrust in at the window, the moonlight making his face look very white, as he said, Come, Phœbe, make haste; it is very late.
Is it? cried Phœbe, springing up; I thought I had only been here an hour.
Three, at least, said Robert, yawning; six by my feelings. I could not get away, for Mr. Crabbe stayed to dinner; Mervyn absented himself, and my father went to sleep.
Robin, only think, Miss Charlecote is so kind as to say she will take me to London!
It is very kind, said Robert, warmly, his weary face and voice suddenly relieved.
I shall be delighted to have a companion, said Honora; and I reckon upon you too, Robin, whenever you can spare time from your work. Come in, and let us talk it over.
Thank you, I cant. The dragon will fall on Phœbe if I keep her out too late. Be quick, Phœbe.
While his sister went to fetch her hat, he put his elbows on the sill, and leaning into the room, said, Thank you again; it will be a wonderful treat to her, and she has never had one in her life!
I was in hopes she would have gone to Germany.
It is perfectly abominable! It is all the others doing! They know no one would look at them a second time if anything so much younger and pleasanter was by! They think her coming out would make them look older. I know it would make them look crosser.
Laughing was the only way to treat this tirade, knowing, as Honor did, that there was but too much truth in it. She said, however, Yet one could hardly wish Phœbe other than she is. The rosebud keeps its charm longer in the shade.
I like justice, quoth Robert.
And, she continued, I really think that she is much benefited by this formidable governess. Accuracy and solidity and clearness of head are worth cultivating.
Nasty latitudinarian piece of machinery, said Robert, with his fingers over his mouth, like a sulky child.
Maybe so; but you guard Phœbe, and she guards Bertha; and whatever your sense of injustice may be, this surely is a better school for her than gaieties as yet.
It will be a more intolerable shame than ever if they will not let her go with you.
Too intolerable to be expected, smiled Honora. I shall come and beg for her to-morrow, and I do not believe I shall be disappointed.
She spoke with the security of one not in the habit of having her patronage obstructed by relations; and Phœbe coming down with renewed thanks, the brother and sister started on their way home in the moonlightthe one plodding on moodily, the other, unable to repress her glee, bounding on in a succession of little skips, and pirouetting round to clap her hands, and exclaim, Oh! Robin, is it not delightful?
It will be a more intolerable shame than ever if they will not let her go with you.
Too intolerable to be expected, smiled Honora. I shall come and beg for her to-morrow, and I do not believe I shall be disappointed.
She spoke with the security of one not in the habit of having her patronage obstructed by relations; and Phœbe coming down with renewed thanks, the brother and sister started on their way home in the moonlightthe one plodding on moodily, the other, unable to repress her glee, bounding on in a succession of little skips, and pirouetting round to clap her hands, and exclaim, Oh! Robin, is it not delightful?
If they will let you go, said he, too desponding for hope.
Do you think they will not? said Phœbe, with slower and graver steps. Do you really think so? But no! It cant lead to coming out; and I know they like me to be happy when it interferes with nobody.
Great generosity, said Robert, dryly.
Oh, but, Robin, you know elder ones come first.
A truth we are not likely to forget, said Robert. I wish my uncle had been sensible of it. That legacy of his stands between Mervyn and me, and will never do me any good.
I dont understand, said Phœbe; Mervyn has always been completely the eldest son.
Ay, returned Robert, and with the tastes of an eldest son. His allowance does not suffice for them, and he does not like to see me independent. If my uncle had only been contented to let us share and share alike, then my father would have had no interest in drawing me into the precious gin and brandy manufacture.
You did not think he meant to make it a matter of obedience, said Phœbe.
No; he could hardly do that after the way he has brought me up, and what we have been taught all our lives about liberty of the individual, absence of control, and the like jargon.
Then you are not obliged?
He made no answer, and they walked on in silence across the silvery lawn, the maythorns shining out like flaked towers of snow in the moonlight, and casting abyss-like shadows, the sky of the most deep and intense blue, and the carols of the nightingales ringing around them. Robert paused when he had passed through the gate leading into the dark path down-hill through the wood, and setting his elbows on it, leant over it, and looked back at the still and beautiful scene, in all the white mystery of moonlight, enhanced by the white-blossomed trees and the soft outlines of slumbering sheep. One of the birds, in a bush close to them, began prolonging its drawn-in notes in a continuous prelude, then breaking forth into a varied complex warbling, so wondrous that there was no moving till the creature paused.
It seemed to have been a song of peace to Robert, for he gave a long but much softer sigh, and pushed back his hat, saying, All good things dwell on the Holt side of the boundary.
A sort of Sunday world, said Phœbe.
Yes; after this wood one is in another atmosphere.
Yet you have carried your cares there, poor Robin.
So one does into Sunday, but to get another light thrown on them. The Holt has been the blessing of my lifeof both our lives, Phœbe.
She responded with all her heart. Yes, it has made everything happier, at home and everywhere else. I never can think why Lucilla is not more fond of it.
You are mistaken, exclaimed Robert; she loves no place so well; but you dont consider what claims her relations have upon her. That cousin Horatia, to whom she is so much attached, losing both her parents, how could she do otherwise than be with her?
Miss Charteris does not seem to be in great trouble now, said Phœbe.
You do not consider; you have never seen grief, and you do not know how much more a sympathizing friend is needed when the world supposes the sorrow to be over, and ordinary habits to be resumed.
Phœbe was willing to believe him right, though considering that Horatia Charteris lived with her brother and his wife, she could hardly be as lonely as Miss Charlecote.
We shall see Lucy in London, she said.
Robert again sighed heavily. Then it will be over, he said. Did you say anything there? he pursued, as they plunged into the dark shadows of the woodland path, more congenial to the subject than the light.
Yes, I did, said Phœbe.
And she thought me a weak, unworthy wretch for ever dreaming of swerving from my original path.
No! said Phœbe, not if it were your duty.
I tell you, Phœbe, it is as much my duty to consult Lucillas happiness as if any words had passed between us. I have never pledged myself to take Orders. It has been only a wish, not a vocation; and if she have become averse to the prospect of a quiet country life, it would not be treating her fairly not to give her the choice of comparative wealth, though procured by means her family might despise.
Yes, I knew you would put right and duty first; and I suppose by doing so you make it certain to end rightly, one way or other.
A very few years, and I could realize as much as this Calthorp, the millionaire, whom they talk of as being so often at the Charterises.
It will not be so, said Phœbe. I know what she will say; and as Robert looked anxiously at her, she continued
She will say she never dreamt of your being turned from anything so great by any fancies she has seemed to have. She will say so more strongly, for you know her father was a clergyman, and Miss Charlecote brought her up.
Phœbes certainty made Robert catch something of her hopes.
In that case, he said, matters might be soon settled. This fortune of mine would be no misfortune then; and probably, Phœbe, my sisters would have no objection to your being happy with us.
As soon as you could get a curacy! Oh, how delightful! and Maria and Bertha would come too.
Robert held his peace, not certain whether Lucilla would consider Maria an embellishment to his ideal parsonage; but they talked on with cheerful schemes while descending through the wood, unlocking a gate that formed the boundary between the Holt and the Beauchamp properties, crossing a field or two, and then coming out into the park. Presently they were in sight of the house, rising darkly before them, with many lights shining in the windows behind the blinds.
They are all gone up-stairs! said Phœbe, dismayed. How late it must be!
Theres a light in the smoking-room, said Robert; we can get in that way.
No, no! Mervyn may have some one with him. Come in quietly by the servants entrance.
No danger that people would not be on foot there! As the brother and sister moved along the long stone passage, fringed with labelled bells, one open door showed two weary maidens still toiling over the plates of the late dinner; and another, standing ajar, revealed various men-servants regaling themselves; and words and tones caught Roberts ear making his brow lower with sudden pain.
Phœbe was proceeding to mount the stone stairs, when a rustling and chattering, as of maids descending, caused her and her brother to stand aside to make way, and down came a pair of heads and candles together over a green bandbox, and then voices in vulgar tones half suppressed. I couldnt venture it, not with Miss Julianabut Miss Fulmortshe never looks over her bills, nor knows what is in her drawersI told her it was faded, when she had never worn it once!
And tittering, they passed by the brother and sister, who were still unseen, but Robert heaved a sigh and murmured, Miserable work! somewhat to his sisters surprise, for to her the great ill-regulated household was an unquestioned institution, and she did not expect him to bestow so much compassion on Augustas discarded bonnet. At the top of the steps they opened a door, and entered a great wide hall. All was exceedingly still. A gas-light was burning over the fire-place, but the corners were in gloom, and the coats and cloaks looked like human figures in the distance. Phœbe waited while Robert lighted her candle for her. Albeit she was not nervous, she started when a door was sharply pushed open, and another figure appeared; but it was nothing worse than her brother Mervyn, in easy costume, and redolent of tobacco.