I Say No

'Of course I do! Tell me—is Mr. Mirabel's sister older or younger than he is?'

'Older.'

'Is she married?'

'She is a widow.'

'Does she live with her brother?' Alban asked.

'Oh, no! She has her own house—far away in Northumberland.'

'Is she near Sir Jervis Redwood?'

'I fancy not. Her house is on the coast.'

'Any children?' Cecilia inquired.

'No; she is quite alone. Now, Cecilia, I have told you all I know—and I have something to say to Mr. Morris. No, you needn't leave us; it's a subject in which you are interested. A subject,' she repeated, turning to Alban, 'which you may have noticed is not very agreeable to me.'

'Miss Jethro?' Alban guessed.

'Yes; Miss Jethro.'

Cecilia's curiosity instantly asserted itself.

'We have tried to get Mr. Mirabel to enlighten us, and tried in vain,' she said. 'You are a favorite. Have you succeeded?'

'I have made no attempt to succeed,' Emily replied. 'My only object is to relieve Mr. Mirabel's anxiety, if I can —with your help, Mr. Morris.'

'In what way can I help you?'

'You mustn't be angry.'

'Do I look angry?'

'You look serious. It is a very simple thing. Mr. Mirabel is afraid that Miss Jethro may have said something disagreeable about him, which you might hesitate to repeat. Is he making himself uneasy without any reason?'

'Without the slightest reason. I have concealed nothing from Mr. Mirabel.'

'Thank you for the explanation.' She turned to Cecilia. 'May I send one of the servants with a message? I may as well put an end to Mr. Mirabel's suspense.'

The man was summoned, and was dispatched with the message. Emily would have done well, after this, if she had abstained from speaking further of Miss Jethro. But Mirabel's doubts had, unhappily, inspired a similar feeling of uncertainty in her own mind. She was now disposed to attribute the tone of mystery in Alban's unlucky letter to some possible concealment suggested by regard for herself. 'I wonder whether I have any reason to feel uneasy?' she said—half in jest, half in earnest.

'Uneasy about what?' Alban inquired.

'About Miss Jethro, of course! Has she said anything of me which your kindness has concealed?'

Alban seemed to be a little hurt by the doubt which her question implied. 'Was that your motive,' he asked, 'for answering my letter as cautiously as if you had been writing to a stranger?'

'Indeed you are quite wrong!' Emily earnestly assured him. 'I was perplexed and startled—and I took Mr. Wyvil's advice, before I wrote to you. Shall we drop the subject?'

Alban would have willingly dropped the subject—but for that unfortunate allusion to Mr. Wyvil. Emily had unconsciously touched him on a sore place. He had already heard from Cecilia of the consultation over his letter, and had disapproved of it. 'I think you were wrong to trouble Mr. Wyvil,' he said.

The altered tone of his voice suggested to Emily that he would have spoken more severely, if Cecilia had not been in the room. She thought him needlessly ready to complain of a harmless proceeding—and she too returned to the subject, after having proposed to drop it not a minute since!

'You didn't tell me I was to keep your letter a secret,' she replied.

Cecilia made matters worse—with the best intentions. 'I'm sure, Mr. Morris, my father was only too glad to give Emily his advice.'

Alban remained silent—ungraciously silent as Emily thought, after Mr. Wyvil's kindness to him.

'The thing to regret,' she remarked, 'is that Mr. Morris allowed Miss Jethro to leave him without explaining herself. In his place, I should have insisted on knowing why she wanted to prevent me from meeting Mr. Mirabel in this house.'

Cecilia made another unlucky attempt at judicious interference. This time, she tried a gentle remonstrance.

'Remember, Emily, how Mr. Morris was situated. He could hardly be rude to a lady. And I daresay Miss Jethro had good reasons for not wishing to explain herself.'

Francine opened the drawing-room door and heard Cecilia's last words.

'Miss Jethro again!' she exclaimed.

'Where is Mr. Mirabel?' Emily asked. 'I sent him a message.'

'He regrets to say he is otherwise engaged for the present,' Francine replied with spiteful politeness. 'Don't let me interrupt the conversation. Who is this Miss Jethro, whose name is on everybody's lips?'