Part 93 (1/2)

A moment or two of wavering hesitation and then he drew to him a sheet of paper, wrote a few words, and folded it. ”Take this yourself with all speed to the telegraph station,” he said to Mr. Hurde. ”Send the message up at once, and wait there for the answer. It will not be long in coming. And if you meet Mr. George, tell him I wish to see him.”

”And now I dare say you will be glad to get rid of me,” remarked Lord Averil, as Mr. Hurde hastened out. ”This is not a day to intrude upon you for long: and I dare say the fellow to whom I intrusted my horse is thinking something of the sort.”

He shook hands cordially and went away, leaving Thomas G.o.dolphin to battle alone with his care. Ah me! no human aid, henceforth, could help him, by so much as a pa.s.sing word, with the terrible battle already set in. G.o.d alone, who had been with Thomas G.o.dolphin through life, could whisper to him a word of comfort, could shed down a few drops of sustaining strength, so that he might battle through and bear. That G.o.d had been with him, in the midst of the deep sorrows He had seen fit to cast upon him, Thomas knew: he knew that He would be with him always, even unto the end.

”You had better accept my offer of a.s.sistance,” Lord Averil turned back to say.

”No,” broke from Thomas G.o.dolphin in a sharp tone of pain, very different from the calm, if grateful, answer he had previously given to the same proposition. ”What sort of justice would it be, if I robbed you to pay the claims of others?”

”You can refund me when the panic's over,” returned the viscount, somewhat surprised at the nature of the reply.

”Yes. But--but--it might be a risk,” was the rejoinder, given with unwonted hesitation. ”In a crisis, such as this, it is, I believe, impossible to foresee what the end may be. Thank you greatly, Averil, all the same.”

Mr. Hurde was not very long before he returned, bringing with him an answer to the last message. Colder and moister became Thomas G.o.dolphin's brow as he read it; colder and colder grew his hand. It appeared to be only a confirmation of the one received before.

”I cannot understand this,” he murmured.

Mr. Hurde stood by. That some ominous fear had arisen, he saw. He was an old and faithful servant of the house, entirely devoted to its interests. His master said a few words of explanation to him.

They aroused Mr. Hurde's fears. Had some deep-laid treachery been at work?--some comprehensive scheme of duplicity been enacting for some time past, making a bankrupt house appear to be still a flouris.h.i.+ng concern? If so, it could only have been done by falsifying the books: and that could only have been done by George G.o.dolphin.

Mr. Hurde did not dare to give vent to his thoughts. Indeed, he did not seriously contemplate that they could be realities. But, in the uncertainty created, he deemed himself perfectly justified in mentioning to Mr. G.o.dolphin the untoward occurrence of the previous day; the rude demand of the man for money, and the unpleasant expressions he had used of the state of Mr. George G.o.dolphin's affairs. He was clearing his throat to begin in his usual slow fas.h.i.+on, when Mr. G.o.dolphin spoke.

”I shall go to town by the first train, Hurde. The express. It will pa.s.s through in half an hour.”

Then Mr. Hurde told his tale. It did not tend to rea.s.sure Thomas G.o.dolphin.

He rang the bell. He caused George to be inquired for. But George was not in the house. He had not returned since that errand of his, ostensibly to the telegraph office.

Themas could not wait. He wrote a note to George, and sealed it. He then charged a servant with a message for Miss G.o.dolphin at Ashlydyat, gave a few directions to Mr. Hurde, proceeded on foot to the station without further preparations, and started on his journey.

Started on his journey, strange doubts and fears making havoc of his beating heart.

CHAPTER XIX.

BOBBING JOAN.

Maria G.o.dolphin was in her own pretty sitting-room upstairs. She had been sitting there ever since breakfast: had not yet stirred from it, though noon had pa.s.sed, for she was very busy. Not fond of sewing in a general way, she was plying her needle quickly now: some work of fine intricate braiding, to be converted into a frock for Miss Meta. Maria worked as if her heart were in it: it was for her child.

The door was closed, the window was open to the summer air. The scent of the flowers ascended from the garden below, the gentle hum of the insects was heard as they sported in the sun, the scene altogether was one of perfect tranquillity. There was an air of repose about the room, about Maria in her cool muslin dress, about the scene altogether. Who, looking at it, would have suspected the commotion that was being enacted--or that had been enacted so recently--in another part of the house?

It is a positive fact that Maria knew nothing yet of the grievous calamity which had fallen--the stoppage of the Bank. The servants knew it fast enough; were more correctly acquainted with its details (to hear them speak) than the Bank itself. They stood about in groups and talked in whispers, letting their work go. But not one of them had presumed to acquaint their unconscious mistress. They knew how ignorant of it all she was: they felt certain that not a suspicion of anything going wrong had ever crossed her. Indeed, it had not crossed their own inquisitive selves, and the blow had burst upon them that morning as a thunder-clap.

As a thunder-clap, it was soon to burst upon Maria. A few minutes'

respite yet, ere it should come. She certainly had heard the visitors'-bell ring three or four times, which was somewhat unusual, considering that no message for her had followed upon it. That bell in the daytime generally heralded guests for herself. Once, when Pierce came in, bringing a small parcel for her from the bookseller's, Maria had inquired who it was that had just rung at the hall-door. Pierce answered that it was Lord Averil; his lords.h.i.+p had asked to see Mr.

G.o.dolphin. Maria could not remember afterwards, when looking back on the circ.u.mstances of the day, whether or not it had occurred to her to wonder why Lord Averil should come to the private door, when his visit was to the Bank and Thomas G.o.dolphin. Pierce ventured not another word.

He put down the parcel and hurried off, very much after the manner of one who is afraid of being asked questions.

And yet, the man, in his sober judgment, believed that there was little danger of any troublesome questions being put by his mistress. There was none. Of all people living, none were so completely unconscious that anything wrong was looming, as Mrs. George G.o.dolphin. If there was one house in the kingdom more safe, more staid, more solid than other houses, she believed it to be theirs. Yes, it was a notable fact, that Maria, sitting there so serenely tranquil, knew nothing of what was stirring Prior's Ash, from one end of it to the other, to the highest point of excitement. Perhaps it would not be too much to say that she was the last person in it whom the news reached.