'I am afraid you must be disappointed, for my brother is with his regiment at Windsor, and my sister is still so weak that she ought to have no excitement.'
'And we have only a few hours in town. The inexorable claims of business have recalled us to Wrangerton.'
The Earl looked up surprised, as if the word had recalled him from the clouds.
'You have been in Wales, I think,' said Theodora. 'Were you pleased?'
'Oh, I was enraptured!' exclaimed the bride; 'the sublime and romantic could be carried no higher! It makes me quite discontented with our home scenery.
'Your sister would not approve of that,' said Theodora to Albert;' she can bear no slight to Helvellyn.'
'I forget--is there a view of Helvellyn from Wrangerton?' said Lord St. Erme, still somewhat dreamily.
Mrs. Moss started at hearing such good English from the German master, and patronizingly said, 'Yes. Helvellyn is monarch of our picturesque. Do you ever come northwards?'
'Not so often as, perhaps, I ought. I am afraid I know more of the Alps than of Helvellyn.'
'I am sure,' continued the voluble lady, 'if ever you thought of such a scheme when the season is over, it would be well worth your while. I could reckon up many respectable families, who with such introductions--let me see, there are the Joneses, and the Dunlops, and the Evelyns, to say nothing of my new sisters, the Miss Mosses.'
'I have no doubt it is a very good neighbourhood,' said Lord St. Erme, rising. 'I must go, or we shall miss the train. Can you tell me how soon you expect Lord Martindale?'
'About the tenth or eleventh,' said Theodora.
'Thank you. Then I must wish you good-bye--'
'And I must thank you in my sister's name for the pleasure she will take in what you have done for her little boy. Remember me to Lady Lucy.'
That name was a revelation to Albert, and the door had scarcely closed before he exclaimed--'Surely, Miss Martindale, that could not be Lord St. Erme!'
'Yes, it was.'
'Well!' cried Mrs. Moss, 'there was something decidedly the aristocrat in his moustache!'
Albert could not recover from his vexation at having missed such a chance, and was nearly setting off in pursuit of his lordship. Theodora was glad to escape for a moment, on the plea of seeing whether Violet could receive a visit.
In her absence the bride began--'I can't see that she is so handsome, after all! And I should be ashamed to wear such a dress as that!'
'Distinguished people have freaks, my love. Bless me! if I had but known the Earl!'
'I see how it is,' said the wife; 'a proud Countess we shall have.'
'If one of the girls had but been here! Every one of them is prettier than this Miss Martindale. Who knows?'
'Ah! I shall take care in a friendly way to let your sister know how her own family feel at her keeping aloof--'
'I do not believe it is her fault, poor child,' said Albert. 'Martindale has set this haughty young lady to keep guard over her--'
'We shall see,' said the bride. 'I am not used to be refused, and once with your sister, I will discover all her secrets.'
Fortunately for Violet, Theodora had found her so much exhausted by the fatigue of dressing, that she thought it safest, considering what a bride it was, not to divulge her presence in the house; and she came down with this intelligence, trying to compensate for it by civility, and by showing the children.
Mrs. Moss was not easily repulsed, she begged Miss Martindale to reconsider her verdict.
'I must not relent; I am accountable to the doctor and to my brother.'
'It shall not be your fault. You shall know nothing of it. I will find my way. Ah! I'm a giddy young thing. Nothing can stop me!' and she stepped forward, laughing affectedly, and trying to look arch.
'I cannot permit this. It might do serious harm,' said Theodora, obliged to stand in her path, and to put on such a look of haughty command, that she was positively subdued and frightened, and went back to her seat in a meek state of silence, whence she only recovered to overwhelm poor Johnnie with her attentions. He cried and was sent away, and Mrs. Moss was obliged to be satisfied with the baby, though she looked as dignified and as little to be taken liberties with as any Martindale of them all.
They lingered on, hoping to weary out Miss Martindale's patience, or that some chance might reveal their presence to Violet; but in vain; Theodora's politeness was exemplary, and she endured Mrs. Albert Moss's familiarity so well, that when at length they departed, the last words were a parting whisper, 'Good morning, Miss Martindale. If we had known what we interrupted--but ah! I have gone through those things so lately, that I know how to feel for you, and can keep your secret.'
'There is no subject of secrecy that I know of,' said Theodora, more coldly than ever.
Hateful woman! Poor Violet! There, now, it will be all over the country that I am engaged to him! I must take him now, or I hope he will give it up on discovering my connections! Then I can despise him. Foolish man! why could he not say what he wanted? I should have got rid of him then; I was in the mood! However, he is out of the way for the present. Now to make the best of it with Violet.
Violet was grieved, both for her own sake and the vexation at home, but she so sweetly acquiesced in its having been right, and was so sure that her sister meant nothing but kindness, that Theodora, knowing that she herself could not have submitted with anything like patience, admired and loved her more than ever.
The gentleness and quietness of her demeanour were a refreshment to Theodora's tossed and undecided mind; and in administering to her comfort and pleasure, the anxieties and remorse subsided into a calm like her own. How delightful was the day of her introduction to Johnnie's portrait; her admiration, and tearful gratitude to the kind deviser of the gift, were the greatest pleasure Theodora had known for months; the discussion of every feature, the comparison of Johnnie with it, the history of the difficulties, and of his papa's assistance, seemed a never-ending treat to both giver and receiver. The poem, too; it was very amusing to see how she could hardly believe that original verses could possibly be written on her boy, and then when set to guess whose they were, she began with a hesitating 'Miss Marstone is the only person near who makes verses, and these are too pretty to be hers.'
'Ah! if you would follow Emma's advice, and call the baby Osyth, after the first Prioress, you might have a chance from that quarter.'
It could not be Mr. Fotheringham, the only poet she could think of, and she could only beg to be told.
'There is one whom a Wrangerton woman should not forget.'
'Lord St. Erme! You ARE laughing at me, Theodora. He never even saw Johnnie!'
Theodora explained the two meetings, anxious to see her way of thinking. 'It is a wonderful thing!' was her first remark. 'Who would have told me how it would be three years ago? They are very pretty.'
'I do not think you like them the better for being his,' said Theodora.
'I ought,' said Violet; 'no other great man ever seems to me so grand as our own Earl.'
'I want your real feeling.'
'You know,' said Violet, smiling, 'I cannot think them done only for Johnnie's sake--'
'And, therefore, they do not please you.'
'Not exactly that; but--if you don't mind my saying so, I feel as if I had rather--it might be better--I don't want to be ungrateful, but if you were getting into a scrape for the sake of pleasing me, I should be sorry. Forgive me, Theodora, you made me say so.'
'You are consideration itself,' said Theodora, affectionately. 'Never mind, he is out of the way. We will let him go off poetizing to Germany; and under your wing at home, I will get into no more mischief.'
That was a pleasant prospect, and Violet reposed on the thought of the enjoyment of Martindale without its formidable inhabitants; trying in it to forget the pain of parting with her husband for a month, and her longings to spend it at her own home, and see Johnnie strengthened by Helvellyn breezes; while to Theodora it seemed like the opening into peace and goodness.
One forenoon, Violet, on coming down-stairs, found her sister writing extremely fast, and seeing an envelope on the table in Lord Martindale's writing, asked if it was his answer to Theodora's plan.
'Yes.'
'Ah!' said Violet, perceiving something was amiss, 'they have spared you to me a long time already.'
