LIV
Arabella Again at Bragton
Arabella Trefoil had adhered without flinching to the purpose she had expressed of going down to Bragton to see the sick man. And yet at that very time she was in the midst of her contest with Lord Rufford. She was aware that a correspondence was going on between her father and the young lord and that her father had demanded an interview. She was aware also that the matter had been discussed at the family mansion in Piccadilly, the Duke having come up to London for the purpose, and that the Duke and his brother, who hardly ever spoke to each other, had absolutely had a conference. And this conference had had results. The Duke had not himself consented to interfere, but he had agreed to a compromise proposed by his son. Lord Augustus should be authorised to ask Lord Rufford to meet him in the library of the Piccadilly mansion—so that there should be some savour of the dukedom in what might be done and said there. Lord Rufford would by the surroundings be made to feel that in rejecting Arabella he was rejecting the Duke and all the Mayfair belongings, and that in accepting her he would be entitled to regard himself as accepting them all. But by allowing thus much the Duke would not compromise himself—nor the Duchess, nor Lord Mistletoe. Lord Mistletoe, with that prudence which will certainly in future years make him a useful assistant to some minister of the day, had seen all this, and so it had been arranged.
But, in spite of these doings, Arabella had insisted on complying with John Morton’s wish that she go down and visit him in his bed at Bragton. Her mother, who in these days was driven almost to desperation by her daughter’s conduct, tried her best to prevent the useless journey, but tried in vain. “Then,” she said in wrath to Arabella, “I will tell your father, and I will tell the Duke, and I will tell Lord Rufford that they need not trouble themselves any further.” “You know, mamma, that you will do nothing of the kind,” said Arabella. And the poor woman did do nothing of the kind. “What is it to them whether I see the man or not?” the girl said. “They are not such fools as to suppose that because Lord Rufford has engaged himself to me now I was never engaged to anyone before. There isn’t one of them doesn’t know that you had made up an engagement between us and had afterwards tried to break it off.” When she heard this the unfortunate mother raved, but she raved in vain. She told her daughter that she would not supply her with money for the expenses of her journey, but her daughter replied that she would have no difficulty in finding her way to a pawn shop. “What is to be got by it?” asked the unfortunate mother. In reply to this Arabella would say, “Mamma, you have no heart;—absolutely none. You ought to manoeuvre better than you do, for your feelings never stand in your way for a moment.” All this had to be borne, and the old woman was forced at last not only to yield but to promise that she would accompany her daughter to Bragton. “I know how all this will end,” she said to Arabella. “You will have to go your way and I must go mine.” “Just so,” replied the daughter. “I do not often agree with you, mamma; but I do there altogether.”
Lady Augustus was absolutely at a loss to understand what were the motives and what the ideas which induced her daughter to take the journey. If the man were to die no good could come of it. If he were to live then surely that love which had induced him to make so foolish a petition would suffice to ensure the marriage, if the marriage should then be thought desirable. But, at the present moment, Arabella was still hot in pursuit of Lord Rufford;—to whom this journey, as soon as it should be known to him, would give the easiest mode of escape! How would it be possible that they two should get out at the Dillsborough Station and be taken to Bragton without all Rufford knowing it. Of course there would be hymns sung in praise of Arabella’s love and constancy, but such hymns would be absolutely ruinous to her. It was growing clear to Lady Augustus that her daughter was giving up the game and becoming frantic as she thought of her age, her failure, and her future. If so it would be well that they should separate.
On the day fixed a close carriage awaited them at the Dillsborough Station. They arrived both dressed in black and both veiled—and with but one maid between them. This arrangement had been made with some vague idea of escaping scrutiny rather than from economy. They had never hitherto been known to go anywhere without one apiece. There were no airs on the station now as on that former occasion—no loud talking; not even a word spoken. Lady Augustus was asking herself why—why she should have been put into so lamentable a position, and Arabella was endeavouring to think what she would say to the dying man.
She did think that he was dying. It was not the purport of her present visit to strengthen her position by making certain of the man’s hand should he live. When she said that she was not as yet quite so hard-hearted as her mother, she spoke the truth. Something of regret, something of penitence had at times crept over her in reference to her conduct to this man. He had been
