But not a bough of them was visible, a cloak of blackness covering everything

netherward; while overhead the windy sky looked down with a strange and

disguised face, the three or four stars that alone were visible being so

dissociated by clouds that she knew not which they were. Under any other

circumstances Lady Constantine might have felt a nameless fear in thus

sitting aloft on a lonely column, with a forest groaning under her feet,

and palaeolithic dead men feeding its roots; but the recent passionate

decision stirred her pulses to an intensity beside which the ordinary

tremors of feminine existence asserted themselves in vain. The

apocalyptic effect of the scene surrounding her was, indeed, not

Advertisement..

inharmonious, and afforded an appropriate background to her intentions.

After what seemed to her an interminable space of time, quick steps in

the staircase became audible above the roar of the firs, and in a few

instants St. Cleeve again stood beside her.

The case of the homestead was serious. Hannah's account had not been

exaggerated in substance: the gable end of the house was open to the

garden; the joists, left without support, had dropped, and with them the

upper floor. By the help of some labourers, who lived near, and Lady

Constantine's man Anthony, who was passing at the time, the homestead had

been propped up, and protected for the night by some rickcloths; but

Swithin felt that it would be selfish in the highest degree to leave two

lonely old women to themselves at this juncture. 'In short,' he

concluded despondently, 'I cannot go to stay in Bath or London just now;

perhaps not for another fortnight!' 'Never mind,' she said. 'A fortnight hence will do as well.' 'And I have these for you,' he continued. 'Your man Green was passing my

grandmother's on his way back from Warborne, where he had been, he says,

for any letters that had come for you by the evening post. As he stayed

to assist the other men I told him I would go on to your house with the

letters he had brought. Of course I did not tell him I should see you

here.' 'Thank you. Of course not. Now I'll return at once.' In descending the column her eye fell upon the superscription of one of

the letters, and she opened and glanced over it by the lantern light.

She seemed startled, and, musing, said, 'The postponement of our--intention

must be, I fear, for a long time. I find that after the end of this

month I cannot leave home safely, even for a day.' Perceiving that he

was about to ask why, she added, 'I will not trouble you with the reason

now; it would only harass you. It is only a family business, and cannot

be helped.' 'Then we cannot be married till--God knows when!' said Swithin blankly.

'I cannot leave home till after the next week or two; you cannot leave

home unless within that time. So what are we to do?' 'I do not know.' 'My dear, dear one, don't let us be beaten like this! Don't let a well-

considered plan be overthrown by a mere accident! Here's a remedy. Do

_you_ go and stay the requisite time in the parish we are to be married

in, instead of me. When my grandmother is again well housed I can come

to you, instead of you to me, as we first said. Then it can be done

within the time.' Reluctantly, shyly, and yet with a certain gladness of heart, she gave

way to his proposal that they should change places in the programme.

There was much that she did not like in it, she said. It seemed to her

as if she were taking the initiative by going and attending to the

preliminaries. It was the man's part to do that, in her opinion, and was

usually undertaken by him.




Most Popular