Chapter VI: Part 6

"You wish, then, that Mr Charles Vining should be told that you decline to see him, and you beg he will not call again?" said Mrs Brandon softly, as she drew the fair girl nearer to her.

"I would not willingly hurt him," said Ella hoarsely; "but I have told you all, and what else can I do? It can never be!"

"My child," said Mrs Brandon tenderly, "I don't know how it is, but you seem to have even in this short time made yourself occupy the place of a daughter. You are quite right, and this gay gallant must be checked and kept in his place. We cannot have hawks here to flutter our dovecot. I will go and see him--that is, if it is indeed your honest wish and desire that he should see you no more."

"Yes, yes, it is indeed!" said Ella, with a sob that tore its way from her breast. "I can never see him more."

Mrs Brandon made a movement to leave the room, but Ella clung to her.

"Do you repent of what you have said?" Mrs Brandon quietly asked.

"No, no!" said Ella half hysterically: "but--it is very kind of you to see him--but--but you will speak gently to him--you will not be harsh or cruel; for he is good and noble, and true-hearted and manly, and I believe he feels all this deeply."

Mrs Brandon smiled incredulously, but there was pity in her words as she bent over Ella, and tried to calm her.

"Is it really then like that, my poor, weak, gentle little dove?" she whispered. "Has he then made so firm a footing in this poor soft yielding heart? But you are quite right; you must not see him, and the soreness will soon wear off. You do not know the ways of the world, and of these gay, insidious, smooth-tongued gallants, born with the idea that every pretty face beneath them in station, forsooth, is to minister to their pleasure. I see--I see; and I don't blame you for believing all he said."

"But I think you mistake his character," said Ella pleadingly.

"Perhaps so," said Mrs Brandon, smiling; "but will you leave your welfare in my hands, Ella?"

It was the first time Mrs Brandon had called her by her Christian name, and the young girl looked up with, a sad sweet smile.

"I am very young, very helpless, and quite alone in the world," she said softly; "and I have met here with kindness such as I have not before known since _they_ died. I was so happy, so hopeful, so trustful that happier days were coming; and, indeed. I wish to be grateful."

Mrs Brandon kissed her again, and made a movement once more to leave; but Ella made a clutch at her hand.

"Shall I stay?" said Mrs Brandon softly. "Will you see him yourself?"

Ella was silent for a moment, for there was a great, a wild struggle in her breast; but she conquered, and drawing herself up, she stood, pale and cast-down of eye, with one hand resting on a chair-back.

"Do I understand you, Miss Bedford?" said Mrs Brandon.

"Yes, yes," said Ella, in a calm sad voice. "I must never see him again."

Mrs Brandon moved towards the door, and laid her hand upon the lock, making it rattle loudly as she turned to gaze at Ella; but the latter never moved; and as the door closed, Mrs Brandon's last glance showed her Ella pale and motionless as a statue.

"Now for this lordly gallant!" muttered Mrs Brandon, as she stood for a moment in the gaunt hall; "now for this sportive disturber of young hearts! If I had my will," she exclaimed, her handsome matronly features flushing up, "I'd have them all banished--I would!"

Then, with a firm step, and her head drawn back, she crossed the hall, threw open the door, and entered the room where Charley Vining was impatiently walking up and down.

Volume 2, Chapter VIII.

MRS BRANDON'S RECEPTIONS: FIRST VISITOR.

Charley Vining started as, instead of Ella Bedford, he was confronted by a tall, handsome, middle-aged lady, who bowed stiffly, and motioned him to a seat, taking one herself at the same time.

"I have the pleasure of addressing--?" said Charley inquiringly.

"Mrs Brandon," was the reply.

"And Miss Bedford is not ill, I trust?" said Charley anxiously.

"Miss Bedford has requested me, as her particular friend, to meet you, and answer any questions upon her behalf."

"But she will see me, will she not?" said Charley earnestly. "Her leaving us was so sudden--I was taken so by surprise. You say, madam, that you are her friend?"

Mrs Brandon bowed, and Charley wiped the dew from his forehead.

"May I then plead for one interview, however short?"

Mrs Brandon frowned, and then rising, she stood with one hand resting upon the table.

"Young man," she said firmly--and Charley started as she looked down almost fiercely upon him, "you are the son of Sir Philip Vining, I believe?"

"I am," said Charley, slightly surprised.

"A worthy old country squire, whose name is known for miles round in connection with kindly deeds."

"My father," said Charley proudly, "is, in every sense of the word, a gentleman."

"Then why is not his son?" said Mrs Brandon fiercely.

"Me? Why am not I?" said Charley, in a puzzled voice.

"Yes, sir, you!" exclaimed Mrs Brandon angrily. "Why should not the only son be as the father?"

"Because," said Charley proudly, once more, "it does not befall that there should be two such men for many generations."

"It seems so," said Mrs Brandon bitterly; "but the son might learn something from the father's acts."

"Good heavens, madam! what does this mean? What have I done that you should speak to me thus?" cried Charley earnestly.

"What have you done!" exclaimed Mrs Brandon, standing before him with flashing eyes. "You pitiful coward! you base scoundrel! how dare you come before me with your insidious, plausible, professing ways--before me, a mother--the wife of an English gentleman, who would have had you turned out of the house! Silence, sir!" she exclaimed, as Charley rose, now pale, now flashed, and looked her in the face. "You shall hear me out before you quit this room. I say, how dare you come before me here, and parade your interest, and the trouble you are in because _she_ has left the Elms? Do you think I do not know the ways of the world--of the modern English gentleman? You pitiful libertine! If I were a man, my indignation is so hot against you, that I should even so far forget myself as to strike you. Could you find no pleasanter pastime than to insinuate your bold handsome face into the thoughts of that sweet simple-minded country girl--a poor clergyman's daughter--a pure-hearted lady--to be to her as a blight--to be her curse--to win a heart of so faithful and true a nature, that once it has beaten to the command of love, it would never beat for another? I can find no words for the scorn, the utter contempt, with which you inspire me. But there, I will say no more, lest I forget myself in my hot passion; but I tell you this, she has been here but a few hours, and yet, few as they are, they have been long enough to show me that she is a pearl beyond price--a gem that your libertine fingers would sully. She has won from me a mother's love, I may say; and wisely trusting to me, she bids me tell you that she will see you no more!"

"She bade you tell me this?" said Charley hoarsely; "and have you poisoned her ears against me thus?"

"Poisoned her ears!" exclaimed Mrs Brandon, forgetting her _role_ in her excitement, "poor, innocent, weak child! She believes you to be perfection, and but a few minutes since was imploring me to be gentle with the gay Lothario who has so basely deluded her, though she had the good sense and wisdom to seek another home. What--what!" cried Mrs Brandon, "are you so hardened that you dare smile to my face with your nefarious triumph?"

"Smile!" said Charley slowly, and in a strange dreamy way; "it must be then the reflection of the heart that laughs within me for joy at those last words of yours. Mrs Brandon," he exclaimed, firing up, "but for the proud knowledge that your accusations are all false, the bitter lashing you have given me would have been maddening. But you wrong me cruelly; I deserve nothing of what you say, unless," he said proudly, "it is wrong to purely love with my whole heart that sweet gentle girl. Mrs Brandon, you are a woman--you must once have loved," he cried almost imploringly. "What have I done that I should be treated so? Why should she meet me always with this plea of difference of worldly position? You see I am not angry--you have made my heart warm towards you for the interest you take in her. It may be strange for me to speak thus to you, a stranger, but you broke down the barrier, and even if it be simple, I tell you that I am proud to say that I love her dearly-- that I can know no rest till she is mine. Indeed, you wrong me!" he cried, catching her hand in his. "Intercede for me. This indignation is uncalled for. Yes; look at me--I do not flinch. Indeed my words are honest!"

Mrs Brandon gazed at him searchingly, but he did not shrink.

"I am no judge of human hearts," said Charley earnestly, as he continued pleading; "but my own tells me that one so easily moved to indignation in a righteous cause must be gentle and generous. You have shown me how you love her, and that, in spite of your cruel words, draws me to you. Think of my pain--think of what I suffer; for indeed," he said simply, "I do suffer cruelly! But you will let me see her--you will let me plead my own cause once more, as I try to remove the impression she has that a union would blight my prospects. It is madness! But you will let me see her?"

For the last five minutes Mrs Brandon had been utterly taken aback. Prejudging Charley from her own experience, she had emptied upon his defenceless head the vials of her wrath, while ever since the first burst of indignation had been expended, the thought had been forcing itself upon her that she had judged rashly--that she was mistaken. No frivolous pleasure-seeking villain could have spoken in that way--none but the most consummate hypocrite could have uttered those simple sentiments in so masterly a fashion. And surely, her heart said, this could be no hypocrite--no deceiver! If he were, she was one of the deceived; for his upright manly bearing, his gentle appealing way, the true honest look in his eyes, could only have been emanations from a pure heart; and at last, overcome by her emotion, Mrs Brandon sank back in her seat, as, still grasping her hand tightly, Charley stood over her.

"Have I, then, wronged you?" she faltered.

"As heaven is my judge, you have!" cried Charley earnestly. "I never loved but one woman before."

"And who was that?" said Mrs Brandon anxiously.

"My dead mother; and her I love still!" said Charley earnestly.

"Mr Vining," said Mrs Brandon, "I beg your pardon!"

"What for?" cried Charley; "for showing me that Miss Bedford has found a true friend? Heaven bless you!" he said; and he raised her hand to his lips before turning away and walking to the window.

At the end of a minute he was back at her side.

"Mrs Brandon," he said, "will you also be my friend? Will you act as counsel and judge for us both? I will leave my fate in your hands. Think quietly over it all, talk to Ella, and see what is right. You will not judge me wrongly again," he said, smiling.

"I cannot think calmly now," she said; "I am agitated and taken aback. I thought to castigate a libertine, and I have been, I fear, lacerating the heart of a true gentleman! Go now, I beg of you!"

"But you will let me see her once--but for a minute?" pleaded Charley.

"No!" said Mrs Brandon firmly. "It is her wish, _and mine_, that you should not see her now."

"Now!" said Charley, catching at the word. "Then I may call again-- to-morrow--the next day?"

"No!" said Mrs Brandon thoughtfully; "no! be content. I am but a weak woman, and I have shown myself to be no judge of human character. I must have proof and the words of others; when, if you come scatheless from the ordeal, I will be your friend."

"You will!" cried Charley joyfully, as he caught her hands in his; and then what more he would have said was choked by his emotion. "When may I come again?" he said at last.

"To see _me_?" queried Mrs Brandon smilingly.

"Yes," replied Charley, with a sigh.

"This day week," said Mrs Brandon. And five minutes after Charley's mare was galloping at such a rate that her rider did not see the grinning face of Max Bray peering at him from over a hedge. In fact, Charley saw nothing but his own thoughts till he reached the Court, where he encountered his father on the steps.

"Where have you been?" said the old gentleman sternly, but with a shade of sadness in his voice.

"To Copse Hall, Laneton," replied Charley boldly.

"Is that where Miss Bedford now resides?" said the old gentleman, watching the play of his son's features.

"Father," said Charley, "I never deceived you yet."

"No, Charley," said Sir Philip with trembling voice. "Is it there?"

"Yes!" replied the young man; and he turned away.

Volume 2, Chapter IX.

MRS BRANDON'S RECEPTIONS: SECOND VISITOR.

Mrs Brandon returned to the drawing-room after Charley Vining's departure, to find Ella as she had left her, standing cold and motionless, supporting herself by one hand upon the chair-back, but ready to confront Mrs Brandon as she entered the room.

"Has he gone?" whispered Ella, with a strange catching of the breath.

"Yes," said Mrs Brandon, who watched her keenly; and then, as a half-suppressed sob forced itself from the wounded breast, Ella turned and began to walk slowly from the room.

"My child!" whispered Mrs Brandon, hurrying to her side, and once more passing a protecting arm around her.

Ella turned her sad gentle face towards Mrs Brandon with a smile.

"Let me go to my own room now," she said. "You are very good. I am very sorry; but I could not help all this."

Mrs Brandon kissed her tenderly, and watched her as she passed through the door, returning herself to sit thoughtfully gazing at the floor, till, taking pen, ink, and paper, she wrote three hurried notes, and addressed them to various friends residing in the neighbourhood of Blandfield Court. One will serve as an example of the character of the others. It was addressed to an old intimate and schoolfellow--Mrs Lingon; and ran as follows:

"My dear Mrs Lingon,--Will you kindly, and in strict confidence, give
me _your_ opinion respecting the character and pursuits of a
neighbour--Mr Charles Vining. I have a particular reason for wishing
to know. With kind love, I am yours sincerely, Emily Brandon."

The answers came by the mid-day post on the second afternoon, when, Ella being pale and unwell, one of the upper servants had been sent with the children for their afternoon walk.

Mrs Brandon was evidently expecting news; for, after sitting talking to Ella in a quiet affectionate way for some time, she rang the bell, and the hard footman appeared.

"Has not Thomas returned from Laneton with the letter-bag?"

"Just coming up the lane as you rang, ma'am," said the man, who then hurried out, to return with several letters, three of which Mrs Brandon read with the greatest interest and a slight flush of colour in her cheeks, when, with a gratified sigh, she placed them in a desk, and closing her eyes, leaned back quiet and thoughtful, till her musing was interrupted by the reappearance of the footman, with salver and card.

"Gentleman wishes to see Miss Bedford," said the man, handing the card.

"Not the same gentleman?" exclaimed Mrs Brandon excitedly, and as if annoyed at what she looked upon as a breach of faith.

"No, 'm; 'nother gentleman--a little one," said the hard footman.

"That will do," said Mrs Brandon quietly; and the man left the room, as, with the colour mounting to her cheeks, Ella handed the card just taken.

"Mr Maximilian Bray," said Mrs Brandon, glancing at the delicate slip of pasteboard, enamelled and scented. "That is _the_ Mr Bray you named?"

Ella bowed her head, and then, as if transformed into another, she said hastily,

"Mrs Brandon, I think you give me credit for trying to avoid this unpleasantly; you know I cannot help these calls. It will be better," she said huskily, "that I leave here, and at once."

"Give you credit? Of course, child!" said Mrs Brandon quietly. "Sit down, you foolish girl. So, this is the dandy--the exquisite! I think we can arrange for his visiting here no more. That is," she said playfully, "unless _you_ wish to see him."

Ella's eyes quite flashed and her nostrils dilated as she recalled past insults; all of which was duly marked by Mrs Brandon, who smiled once more as she rose to leave the room.

"I need not spare his feelings, I presume?" she said.

"What excuses can I offer you?--what thanks can I give you?" cried Ella earnestly.

"Just as many as I ask you for," said Mrs Brandon, smiling, and then kissing her affectionately. "I believe you are a little witch, my child, and that you are charming all our hearts away. Why, the cook has been civil ever since you have been here; and Mary the housemaid has not said a word about giving warning; and as for Edward, he has not let the great passage-door slam once. But, bless me, child!" she said merrily, as she glanced at the mirror in front, "am I in fit trim to present myself before the great Mr Maximilian Bray?"

But Ella could not smile: her heart beat fast, and she was troubled; and, in spite of Mrs Brandon's affectionate behaviour, she feared that this persecution might tend to shorten her stay at Copse Hall. A sense of keen sorrow pervaded her at such a prospect--at a time too when it seemed that she had found a haven of peace, where she might bear the sorrows of the past; and as Mrs Brandon left the room, she sank down in her chair, and covered her face with her hands.

There was a smile upon Mrs Brandon's countenance as she entered the breakfast-room, to find Max busy before a glass, battling with a recalcitrant stud.

Most men would have been slightly confused on being found in such a position; but not so Max. He turned round slowly, displaying the manifold perfections of his exquisite toilet, smiled, showed his fine white teeth and pearl-grey gloves, and then advanced and placed a chair for Mrs Brandon, taking the one to which he was waved by the lady of the house, who was still smiling.

"Charming weather, is it not?" said Max in his most fascinating tones, as he caressed one whisker, and placed boot number one a little farther out in front, so that the fit might be observed. "Pleasure of addressing Mrs Brandon, I presume?"

Mrs Brandon bowed.

"Ah! ya-as, bai Jove! mutual acquaintance, and all that. Heard the Lingons speak of you, and being riding this wa-a-ay, took the liberty--"

"Yes!" said Mrs Brandon rather sharply.

"Ya-as, just so, bai Jove!" said Max obtusely. "Took the liberty of giving you a call. Country's ra-ather dull just now: don't you find it so?"

"Not at all," said Mrs Brandon, who was evidently highly amused.

"Just so! ya-as, bai Jove!--of course!" said Max. "Miss Bedford be down soon, I suppose? Hope you like her--most amiable girl."

"I quite agree with you," said Mrs Brandon.

"Ya-as, just so--of course!" drawled Max, who either could not or would not see the half-amused, half-contemptuous way in which his remarks were received. "Thought I'd call and see her," he continued. "We all thought a deal of her; but she would go."

"Indeed!" said Mrs Brandon.

"Ya-as," drawled Max. "Fancy it was some annoyance she met with from young Vining: not that I wish to say anything--bai Jove, no!"

"I'm sure Miss Bedford will be delighted to hear of the kind interest you take in her," said Mrs Brandon.

"O, I don't know so much about that!" said Max; "but we were always very good friends."

"You puppy!" muttered Mrs Brandon.

"Always liked her because of the interest she took in a sister of mine. Down soon, I suppose?"

"Who--Miss Bedford?" said Mrs Brandon.

"Ya-as," drawled Max; "should like to have a quiet chat with her;" and he directed one of his most taking glances at the lady, who, all smiles and good-humour, had been studying his manners and dress in a way that Max set down for admiration, and presuming thereon, he grew every moment more confidential. "You see, when she was at home, Mrs Brandon, I felt a natural diffidence."

"I beg your pardon," said Mrs Brandon.

"Natural diffidence--kind of drawing back, you know," explained Max. "Didn't seem the sort of thing, you see, to be too attentive to the governess; but--er--er--must own to a sort of weakness in that direction. Nature, you see--bai Jove!--and that sort of thing, for she is a dooced attractive girl."

"Very," said Mrs Brandon; and Max went on, for he was in his blind-rut mood--a rut in which he could run on for hours without ever seeing that he was being laughed at.

"Glad you think so--I am, bai Jove! Very kind of you too, to be so cordial and--"

"Pray do not imagine--" began Mrs Brandon.

"No, no. Don't make any excuses, pray," said Max, interrupting her. "You see, I've been candid, and I've no doubt that you'll give me your permission to call frequently.--But is Miss Bedford coming down?"

Mrs Brandon did not reply; but still smiling pleasantly, she rose, rang the bell, and then resumed her seat.

"Bai Jove! don't trouble yourself--I can wait," said Max. "Ladies' toilets do take a long while sometimes."

Mrs Brandon smiled, and then rose again, as the hard-faced footman opened the door.

"Edward," she said in the coolest and most cutting manner, "do you see this gentleman?"

"Yes, ma'am, I see him," said the astonished servant.

"He has made a mistake in coming here."

"Yes, ma'am," said the footman.

"Show him to the door; and if ever he has the impertinence to call here again, either to ask for Miss Bedford or me, order him off the premises; and if he does not immediately go, send for the policeman."

"Bai Jove!" drawled the astonished Max, "what does this mean?"

"You will show him out directly," said Mrs Brandon, who would not turn her face in his direction, but continued to address the man; "and give him fully to understand what will be his fate if he should have the insolence to call any more."

"Yes, ma'am," said Edward, trying to keep back a grin.

"Bai Jove, she's mad!" ejaculated Max.

"Now then, sir; this way, please," said the hard-faced footman, whose countenance, if stony before, was now adamantine.

"Hyar, I say, you--Mrs Brandon!" ejaculated Max, "what does this mean?"

"Air you coming, sir, or airn't you?" said the footman angrily. Then, opening the door to its widest extent, he placed a chair against it, and advanced so fiercely towards the unwelcome visitor, that, to give him his due, more from dread of a disarrangement of his attire than fear of the man, he retreated round the table, stumbling once over a chair as he did so, and then in his confusion halting in the doorway. The next moment he was hurried into the great hall, and backed out by Edward, who, enjoying his task, proved himself to be the most uncompromising of footmen, and slightly exceeded his duty by slamming the hall-door after his discomfited guest with all his might, just as his mistress crossed and entered the drawing-room, where, pale and excited, Ella sat awaiting her.

"There, my child, that's over!" exclaimed Mrs Brandon; and then, in spite of Ella's troubled face, she leaned back in her chair, and burst into an uncontrolled fit of laughter, till, seeing how disturbed her companion looked, she sat up once more.

"I meant to have been angry, and given him a tremendous snubbing," she said; "but, as he says, `bai Jove!' it was impossible. Of all the consummate puppies I ever beheld, I think he is the quintessence. And he is so dense too, he seems to have not the slightest idea when you are laughing at him. There, my dear Ella, never wear that troubled face about the donkey. He is not worthy of a moment's thought; and besides, he will never show his face here again."

"I cannot help feeling troubled about him," said Ella slowly, and as if she were telling her thoughts. "I fear him; and, dear Mrs Brandon, you do not know his character. It seems to me that that artificial glaze covers much that is gross, and unprincipled, and relentless. It has been my misfortune to have attracted his notice, and I never think of him without a shiver of dread. He seems to have cast a shadow across my path; and a dread of coming evil in some way connected with him--a strange undefined sense of peril--haunts me again and again."

"There, there; what nonsense!" laughed Mrs Brandon merrily. "We'll watch over you like dragons, and no one shall molest you; or, if it should come to the worst, we will set one chivalrous knight against the other--in plain English, Mr Charles Vining shall trounce, or call out and shoot, or do something to Mr Maximilian, the scented. Bah! he is in my nostrils now! But who is to be the next? Really, I am hard set to keep my little acquisition. How many more visitors of the masculine gender will there be, Miss Bedford?"

Ella looked at her so pitifully, that she directly ceased her light bantering tone, and changed the subject; while, perfectly astounded at the unexpected termination of his reception, Max Bray rode slowly home.

Volume 2, Chapter X.

MRS BRANDON'S RECEPTIONS: THIRD VISITOR.

Mrs Brandon's was a genuine feeling of affection for the gentle motherless girl who strove so hard and not unsuccessfully to gain the love of her pupils. She had called herself a poor judge of human nature, and had doubtless erred with regard to Charley Vining; but her estimation of Ella Bedford's worth, quickly as it was arrived at, was correct; and many an hour were her thoughts devoted to the best means of serving her protegee.

It need hardly be stated that Charley Vining too occupied no slight share of her thoughts--thoughts that now inclined in one, now in the other direction. They loved; that was evident. Both were young, true-hearted, handsome. They would make an admirable couple. Why should there not be an engagement? Then the balance was on the other side--of difference of position, the slighting treatment that might be met with from wealthy relations; and all at last ended with a sigh, as she told herself that the only way in which she could act was to be a watchful friend to her protegee, and to let matters shape themselves as they would, hoping always that the course they would take would be the best.

Meanwhile, during one of her walks with the children, Ella had a narrow escape from an encounter with Max Bray; and after staying within doors for a couple of days, she again had to hurry back; but this time not without his company for a part of the distance--a fact which Ella was not slow in announcing to her protectress, who bit her lip with annoyance, and tried to form some plan for putting a stop to these importunities; but, strangely enough, all Mrs Brandon's plans ended with thoughts of Charley Vining--when she gave up.

The day at last came when, in accordance with the given consent, Charley was to call; and Mrs Brandon sat turning matters over in her mind as to what she should do--what plan she should adopt. The week had slipped away, and, in spite of her cogitation, she was still undecided. "What should she do?" she asked herself for the hundredth time. She had not even acquainted Ella with the fact that he was coming again; and in a few hours he would certainly be there, beseeching her to stand his friend.

"What should she do?" she asked herself again; and she was just about to send to request Ella to come to the drawing-room when a carriage drove up to the door, there was a peal at the bell, and directly after Mrs Brandon felt that matters had indeed now come to a crisis; for the footman came in and announced Sir Philip Vining.

"To see Miss Bedford, Edward?" she asked eagerly.

"No, ma'am; to see you."

And this time, with no slight feeling of trepidation, Mrs Brandon requested that the visitor might be shown in there, and prepared herself for what she conceived would be an anxious scene.

The old baronet bowed with all a courtier's grace, and then, taking the indicated seat, immediately opened the business upon which he had come.

"You are doubtless surprised at this call, Mrs Brandon," he said, "for we are not acquaintances, and our homes are far removed; but I will be frank with you. You have a young lady here as governess--a Miss Bedford?"

"Yes," said Mrs Brandon quietly, as she waited to see what course she ought to pursue.

"I come to ask your permission for an interview with that young lady," said Sir Philip.

"It was unnecessary, Sir Philip Vining," said Mrs Brandon, rising. "I will at once send Miss Bedford to you."

"Stay, stay a little, I beg of you," said Sir Philip; and Mrs Brandon resumed her seat. "I must tell you, in the first place, that my son--my only son--has formed a most unfortunate attachment in that quarter--an attachment which it seems to me will blight his prospects in life. Mind, madam," he added hastily, "I make no attack upon the lady, who may be one of the most estimable of women; but it would grieve me sorely if such an alliance were to be formed. It may seem to be weak, but I have a certain pride in our old pedigree, and it is the earnest wish of my heart that my son should marry well."

He paused for a moment.

"I was aware of this," said Mrs Brandon quietly.

"Indeed!" said Sir Philip. "But I need not be surprised: Miss Bedford has, perhaps, confided to you my son's offer."

"Yes," said Mrs Brandon, "and so did your son."

"He was here a week ago," said Sir Philip. "Has he been since?"

"I expect him this afternoon to ask my cooperation; and I confess I am much troubled thereby."

"Your cooperation," said Sir Philip; "but I see, the lady is perhaps coy. Mrs Brandon, I must ask your aid on my side. This marriage is impossible--it would be an insane act, and can never take place. Will you ask that Miss Bedford may be sent here?"

"Will you see her alone?"

"No, no! I would rather you were present, Mrs Brandon. You know all; and perhaps, as a mother, you may be able to sympathise with another parent."

"Sir Philip Vining, you are placing me in a most difficult position. How am I to divide sympathies that are with all of you? But I will ring. Let us have Ella here; and I tell you candidly that I am glad to be free from a responsibility that threatened to fix itself upon my shoulders."

"Ask Miss Bedford to step this way," said Mrs Brandon as the man appeared.

And five minutes after, very pale, but quite collected, Ella was ushered into the room.

Mrs Brandon advanced to meet her, and led her to Sir Philip, who saluted her gravely, and then placed for her a chair.

Then for a few minutes there was an embarrassed silence, broken at last by Sir Philip Vining.

"Miss Bedford," he said, "I am an old and prejudiced man; proud of my wealth, proud of my estate, proud of my position in the county. I have, too, an only son, whose life and future are dearer to me than my own. For many years past my sole hope has been that he would form some attachment to a lady of his own rank in society; one who should be to him a loving wife--to me a daughter in whom I could feel pride."

"Hear me out," he continued, rising and standing before Ella, in almost a piteous and pleading attitude, while Mrs Brandon sank upon her knees by the fair girl's side, and placing one hand around her, took Ella's with the other.

"Hear me out," said Sir Philip; "and forgive me if my words sound harsh and cruel. On an unfortunate day he beheld you--fair, beautiful, as was his sainted mother--a woman to be seen but to be loved; and though I came here hot and angered against you, I tell you frankly that I am weak and disarmed. Had it been some proud scheming woman, I could have acted; but I find you sweet, gentle, pure-hearted, and one who gains the good word and love of all with whom you come in contact. He tells me boldly that he loves you. I do not ask you if you love him. No one could know his frank honest heart without giving him their love. But I ask you, hoping that any affection you may bear him may be slight, to make some sacrifice for his sake--for my sake--the sake of an old man who will give you his blessing. You must esteem him, even if you do not love. Think, then, of his prospects--think of his position. You see I humble myself, for his sake, to plead to you--to implore that this may go no farther. I came as a last hope; for I find that he has sought you out--that he will be here again to-day."

"He here to-day!" exclaimed Ella, starting, her wounds reopened by the cruel ordeal she was called upon to suffer. Then calmly rising, she stood before the old man, looking down at his feet, as, clearly and distinctly, she said, "Sir Philip Vining--his father!--I love him too well--with too pure a love--a love that I dare here avow to you--to wrong him either in thought or deed! I have told him it is impossible; I have avoided--I have fled from him. I have done all that woman can do to prove to him that we are separated by a gulf that cannot be crossed. I came here seeking rest and peace; but it was not to be: and in a few days I will go--go somewhere where he shall see me no more! You need not fear for me. I would not listen to him--I will not listen to him; and I thought that all that was at an end. It is nothing!" she said with a gasp, turning with a smile to Mrs Brandon. "I think I am weak. I wish to be alone. Sir Philip Vining will excuse me perhaps; but I have had much trouble lately. Thanks; I am better now!"

She tried to withdraw her hand; but Sir Philip took it, and raised it to his lips.

"Heaven bless you, my child!" he said, his voice trembling as he spoke. "I have wronged you bitterly in thought; but you must pardon me. I came, thinking to meet an ambitious aspiring woman; but I find an angel. Would to heaven that it could have been otherwise--or," he muttered, "that this pride was humbled! I feel," he continued aloud, "that I am playing a hard part; but you will forgive me."

Ella turned her face towards him with a sad and weary smile, and then one arm was thrown over Mrs Brandon's shoulder, the little head drooped down as droops some storm-beaten flower, and, as it touched Mrs Brandon's breast, there was a faint gasping sigh, and Sir Philip started forward.

"You had better leave us, Sir Philip Vining," said Mrs Brandon gravely; "the poor child has fainted."

And pale, trembling, and looking years older, Sir Philip walked with tottering steps to the door, paused, looked round, came back, and then kneeling, pressed his lips twice upon Ella's glossy hair, before, with a sigh, he tore himself away, and was rapidly driven off.

At that self-same hour, light-hearted and hopeful, Charley Vining mounted his favourite mare to ride over to Laneton.

Volume 2, Chapter XI.

KITCHEN CANVASSING.

"Now do tell us, there's a dear man," said cook, alias Sarah Stock, to Edward, the hard-faced footman, as he sat in front of the kitchen fire at Copse Hall, gently rubbing his shins and ruminating; while the housemaid, with her workbox on the table, was pretending to be busy over some piece of useful needlework, though she was watching Edward the hard-faced with all her might.

For it was that cosy half-hour after supper when all was at peace in the mansion; when the late dinner things had all been washed up, the kitchen tidied, and cook had performed the operation which she called setting herself straight--a manifest impossibility, for she was a circular woman of at least sixteen stone weight. All the same, though, she had changed her dress, polished her face till it shone, and then crowned herself with a gorgeous corona of lace and bright-hued ribbons and net-work, an edifice which she called her cap. The cat sat and purred upon the round smooth centre of the bright steel fender, winked at the fire, twitched its ears, and purred and ruminated at intervals; for it was fast nearing the hour when it would be shown the door for the night; so that it was getting itself thoroughly warmed through. The firelight danced in the bright tin dish-covers hung upon the wall, and then gleamed off, and dodged about from bright stewpan to brass candlestick, and back again to the clean crockery and the dresser; the old Dutch clock swung its pendulum busily to and fro, as if labouring under the mistake that it had nearly done work for the day; and altogether the place looked bright and snug, and spoke of the approaching hour of rest, when cook, having tapped the fire playfully here and there, to the destruction of several golden caverns in the centre, and taking up an apparently interrupted conversation, said, as above:

"Now, do tell us, there's a dear man;" when the housemaid gave her head a toss, as much as to say, "What indelicacy!--don't think I endorse that expression!"

Then she smiled with a kind of pitying contempt, for, according to her notions, cook and Edward were courting; and of course, if he chose to prefer a great fat coarse woman like that, he had a right to. An the slim maiden of thirty-eight bridled and looked almost as hard-faced as Edward himself. For though cook called him a dear man, it almost seemed at first as if she were bantering him, till it was taken into consideration that every eye forms its own beauty. In fact, just then Edward looked more hard-faced and grim than ever.

"You will tell us all about it, now won't you?" said cook, for Edward remained silent.

"'Tain't likely," said Edward at last.

"Why not?" said cook.

"There was two buttons off my shirt in the very worst places on Sunday morning."

"I _am_ sorry!" exclaimed cook.

"Don't believe it!" said Edward; "and it's mean and unfair. Didn't you say, if I'd always get your coals in, you'd always see to my buttons and darn my stockings? And at this present moment there's a hole as big as a shilling in them as I've got on."

"But it shan't never occur again, Eddard, if you'll only tell us; for Mary and me is as interested as can be."

"O, I don't care about knowing, if Mr Edward don't choose to tell," said the housemaid, with a toss of her head.

"Who's trying to pick a quarrel now?" retorted Edward; "when missus said we was always to be peaceful and orderly in the kitchen."

"Not me, I'm sure," said the housemaid. "I wouldn't bemean myself to quarrel."

"Now don't, dear," said cook; "Mr Eddard's agoin' to tell us all about it, and really, you know, if it ain't for all the world like chapters out o' that book as missus had from Mugie's libery--the one you brought up out of the drawin'-room, and read of a night when we was in bed."

"Stuff!" said the housemaid tartly.

"Now, don't say so, dear," said the cook, who was particularly suave for once in her life. "There she is, just like a herrowine, and a nice-looking one too."

"Get out! call her good-looking?" said the housemaid.

"Well, 'taint to be denied as she has what some folks would call good looks. Then you see she's pussycuted by one lover, and another loves her to distraction, and his father won't hear of it; and first one comes and then another, and then the father, and frightens the poor dear into fits, and goes away fainting--no, I mean goes away leaving her fainting away, and wanting salts and burnt feathers, and all sorts. Why, it's for all the world like a real story in a book, that it is; and I declare the way Mr Eddard has told us all about it has been beautiful."

"There's soft soap," growled the hard-faced footman, smiling grimly.

"That it ain't now, I'm sure," said cook. "It really was beautiful, and almost as good as seeing or reading it all. I'm sure I never lived in a house before where there was such goings on. I declare that bit where you told us about how you took the dandy by the scruff of his neck, and says to him, `Now, out you go, or I'll stuff you up the chimney!' was as exciting as could be. And so it was where you dragged him across the hall, and pitched him neck and crop down the front steps. I could a'most see it; and we both of us did hear the door slam."

"Mr Eddard," who had been slightly adding to the history of Ella's visitors, smiled a little here, and his face relaxed somewhat from its stern expression.

"Lor', what a nice clear fire!" said cook, who had detected the melting sign. "Let me hot you a sup of beer in a little stoopan, with a bit of nuckmeg and ginger, and a spoonful of sugar. Don't say no, Eddard."

"Yes, I shall," said Edward, who was tightening up again. "I sha'n't have none unless you two join with me."

"Well, if it comes to that," said cook, "sooner than you should go without, I'll have the least taste in the world."

The housemaid shook her head as if despising such excuses; but ten minutes after, when a mug of the hot sweet-scented compound was placed before her by cook, who winked at Edward as she did so, the lady of the dustpan and brush condescended to simper, and say, "O, the very idee!" Then she smiled, and at the end of another ten minutes the trio were all smiling as they sat with their feet on the fender, Edward regaling himself and his fellow-servants with an account of what had taken place during the afternoon.

"I should say it was as near as could be three o'clock," said Edward punctiliously; "it might have been a little after, though I hadn't heard it strike, or it might have been a little before: I ain't certain. Anyhow, it was as near as could be to three o'clock when the front-door bell rings.

"`Visitor for Miss Bedford,' I says to myself, laughing like, and meaning it as a joke; for as we'd had one that day, I didn't of course expect no more."

"What time was it as Sir Philip Vining went away?" said cook, who was deeply interested.

"O, that was before lunch," said Edward.

"To be sure, so it was," said the housemaid.

"Well, I slips on my coat--for I was dusting the glasses over before going to lay the dinner-cloth--and up I goes."

"And up you goes," said cook; for Edward had paused to soften his hard face with a little more of the stewpan decoction.

"Yes, up I goes, to find it was Mr Charles Vining, looking as bright and happy as could be--quite another man to what he was when he come last week.

"`Ah,' I says to myself, `you don't know about your governor being here afore lunch, young man, or you'd be laughing the other side of your mouth.' But I says aloud:

"`To see Miss Bedford, sir?'

"`No, my man,' he says; and he looked at me very curious and hesitating, as if he'd like to have said `yes.'

"`Show me in to your mistress,' he says."

"Now it's a-coming!" said cook, rocking herself to and fro with excitement, and rubbing her hands softly together.

"Now what's a-coming, stoopid?" said Edward gruffly. "What d'ye mean?"

"I--I only meant that the interesting bit was now coming--the denowment, you know," said cook humbly, and seeking to mollify the insulted narrator by emptying the little stewpan, cloves, bits of ginger, and all into his mug.

"If you're so precious clever, you'd better tell it yourself," growled Edward fiercely, "instead of keeping on interrupting like that. Who's to go on, I should like to know?"

"O, I'm sure cook didn't mean nothing, Mr Eddard," said the interested housemaid. "Do go on!"

"What's she want to say anything for, if she don't mean anything then, eh?" grumbled Edward. "I hate such ways."

Cook looked at housemaid, and slightly raised her hands, while the offended dignitary sipped and muttered, and muttered and sipped, and his audience waited, not daring to speak, lest they should miss the rest of the expected treat.

"I wouldn't say another word if I hadn't begun, that I wouldn't!" growled the hard-faced one. "Now, then, where'd I got to?"

"`Show me in to your mistress,'" exclaimed cook; when "Mr Eddard," turning round upon her very sharply, she shrunk as it were into her shell, and nipped together her lips.

"I tell you what it is," said Edward viciously; "if I'm to tell this here, I tells it, but I ain't going to be driven wild with vexatious interruptions. Do you both want to know it, or don't you?"

"O yes, please, Mr Eddard, we do indeed," exclaimed the two domestics; "so please go on!"

Thus adjured, and apparently mollified by the respect paid to him, as much as by the stewpan essence, "Mr Eddard" continued: "Well, I shows him into the breakfast-room, and then goes in to missus, who had just come down from Miss Bedford's room; and looking all white and troubled, she goes across the hall, and I opens the door for her, and up comes my gentleman with a rush, catches her hand in his, and kisses it.

"`That's making yourself at home anyhow, young man,' I says to myself, backing-out of the room; and I can't say how it happened, but the corner of the carpet got rucked up, so that I was ever so long before I could get the door shut, and they would keep talking, so that I couldn't help hearing what they said."

"And what did they say?" said cook.

"Ain't I a-coming to it as fast as I can?" said Edward angrily. "What an outrageous hurry you always are in with everything, except getting the dinner ready in time!"

"Now don't be cruel, Mr Eddard," said the housemaid, tittering, when "Mr Eddard" himself condescended to laugh at what our Scotch brethren would call his own "wut," to the great discomfiture of cook, who wanted to fire-up and give them a bit of her mind, but did not dare, for fear of losing the end of the coveted history. The consequence of her reticence, though, was that "Mr Eddard" grew exceedingly amiable, and went on with his account.

"That door being shut," he said, with a grim smile, which was meant to be pleasant, but was the very reverse, "I didn't want to go; for I put it to you now, under the circumstances, was it likely as he'd stay long?"

"Of course not!" said cook.

"Not likely!" said the housemaid.

"Well, then," continued Edward, "where was the use of me going back to my pantry only to be called directly? So I took his hat and brushed it, and when I'd brushed it and set it down, I set to and brushed it again, and so on half a dozen times, while--it was very foolish of them if they didn't want other people to hear--they kept on talking louder and louder.

"`Mr Vining,' says missus, `I must ask you as a gentleman to come no more.'

"`But, in 'evin's name,' he says, `what have I done that you should turn upon me like this?'

"`Nothing,' says missus; `nothing at all. I pity you from the bottom of my heart, as much as I pity that sweet girl; but it cannot be. You must come here no more.'

"`Are you a woman?' he says. `Have you feeling? Can you form any idea of the pain your words are giving me?'

"`Yes, yes, yes,' says missus. `Mr Vining, why do you force me to speak? I do not wish to cause trouble, but you drive me to do so.'

"`Speak, then,' he says, quite in another voice, `unless you wish to drive me mad, or to something worse--' There, I'm blessed," continued Edward, breaking short off in his narrative, and pointing to the cook, "did you ever see such a woman? Why, what are you snivelling about?"

"I--I--I c-c-c-can't help it, Eddard, when I think of what those poor things must be suffering," sobbed cook, with a liberal application of her apron to her eyes.

"Suffer, indeed--such stuff!" said Edward.

"Ah, Eddard," said cook, turning upon him a languishing look, "if I have saved up forty-seven pound ten in the savings bank, I've a heart still, and know what it is for it to bleed when some one says a hard word to me."

The housemaid sniffed.

"I'm a going on," said Edward, who was evidently moved by the culinary lady's remarks.

"`Drive you,' says Mr Vining, `to speak! Why, stay!' he says excitedly, as if a thought had struck him. `Why, yes; I'm sure of it. My father has been here to-day.'

"`He has,' says missus solemnly.

"`It was cowardly and cruel!' cries Mr Vining, quite shouting now, for his monkey was evidently up. `And pray, madam, what is the result of his visit? There, I can answer it myself: Miss Bedford refuses to see me; you decline to receive me into your house.'

"`Mr Vining,' says missus softly, and I could fancy that she took his hand, `I grieve for you, as I do for that suffering girl.'

"`What!' cries Mr Vining, `is she ill? Let me--let me see her--only once--for a minute, dear Mrs Brandon! Pray--on my knees I beg it of you! You cannot be so cruel, so hardhearted, as to refuse!' And then I heard a loud sobbing wail as of a woman crying, and--There, I'm blest if I go on, if you will keep on snivelling. Why, blame the women, you're both on you at it!"

"We--we--we--we--we're--only a-blowin' our noses," sobbed the housemaid.

"Never see such noses!" growled Edward, who then continued:

"Well, directly after, as if in a passion, Mr Vining says:

"`Mrs Brandon, this is cruel and harsh. I left you last week with my hopes raised; to-day you dash them to the ground.'

"`Mr Vining--Mr Vining!' she says softly.

"`I tell you this,' he says, shouting again; and hearing his words, you could almost see him stamping up and down the breakfast-room--`I tell you this. Mrs Brandon: the ties of duty are strong, but the ties formed by the heart of a man newly-awakened to love are stronger. To win Ella Bedford, my own love, I will give all--time, hope, everything; I will leave no stone unturned--I will stop at nothing! I see that she has been coerced--that she has been, as it were, cruelly stolen from me by external pressure; and it shall be my task to win her back. I had hoped to have had you on my side; as it is, I must begin my battle by myself. I thank you for your patient hearing of my words; but before I go I tell you this--that _till I learn that, by her own act, she gives herself to another_, I will never cease from my pursuit.'