Part 42 (1/2)

”No, no, mother; you are wrong there,” cried Mr. Fanning; ”she does not belong to us at present.”

”It's all the same,” said Mrs. Fanning; ”don't talk nonsense to me.

When a girl is engaged to a man--”

”Engaged! Good heavens!” I heard Lady Thesiger mutter, and then she sat very still, and fixed her eyes for a moment on my face, with a sort of glance which seemed to say, ”Are you quite absolutely mad?”

”Yes, engaged,” continued Mrs. Fanning. ”It is a very queer engagement, it seems to me, but it is a _bona fide_ one for all that.”

”As _bona fide_,” said Mr. Fanning, with a profound sigh, ”as there is a sky in the heavens. As _bona fide_ as there is a day and a night; as _bona fide_ as that I am in existence; but the marriage is not to be consummated until the 1st of June of next year. That is in the bond, and we have nothing to complain of if--if Westenra”--here his voice dropped to a sound of absolute tenderness--”if Westenra would rather not come with us now.”

”Please explain,” said Lady Thesiger. ”I knew nothing of this. Do you mean to tell me, madam, that my friend Westenra Wickham is engaged to--to whom?”

”To my son Albert,” said Mrs. Fanning, with great emphasis and with quite as much pride as Lady Thesiger's own.

”Is that the case, Westenra?” continued Jasmine, looking at me.

I bowed my head. I was silent for a moment; then I said, ”I am engaged to Albert Fanning. I mean to marry him on the 1st of June next year.”

”Then, of course, I have nothing to say. Do you wish to go away with the Fannings, Westenra? You must do what you wish.”

I looked at her and then I looked at Mrs. Fanning, and then I looked at Albert, whose blue eyes were fixed on my face with all the soul he possessed s.h.i.+ning out of them. He came close to me, took my hand, and patted it.

”You must do just as you please, little girl,” he said; ”just exactly as you please.”

”Then I will write and let you know,” I answered. ”I cannot tell you to-day.”

”That is all right--that is coming to business,” said Mrs. Fanning; ”that is as it should be. Albert, we are not wanted here, and we'll go. You'll let us know to-morrow, my dearie dear. Don't keep us waiting long, for we have to order rooms in advance at the big hotels in Switzerland at this time of year. Your ladys.h.i.+p, we will be wis.h.i.+ng you good morning, and please understand one thing, that though we may not be quite so stylish, nor quite so up in the world as you are, yet we have got money enough, money enough to give us everything that money can buy, and Westenra will have a right good time with my son Albert and me. Come, Albert.”

Albert Fanning gave me a piteous glance, but I could not reply to it just then, and I let them both go away, and felt myself a wretch for being so cold to them, and for their society so thoroughly.

When they were gone, and the sound of wheels had died away in the street, Jasmine turned to me.

”What does it mean?” she cried. ”It cannot be true--you, Westenra, engaged to that man! Jim Randolph wants you; he loves you with all his heart; he has been chivalrous about you; he is a splendid fellow, and he is rich and in your own set, and you choose that man!”

”Yes, I choose Albert Fanning,” I said. ”I can never marry James Randolph.”

”But why, why, why?” asked Jasmine.

CHAPTER XXIX

HAVE I LOST YOU?

I told her everything, not then, but on the evening of the same day.

She came into my room where I was lying on a sofa, for I was thoroughly prostrated with grief for my mother and--and other great troubles, and she held my hand and I told her. I described Jane's anxiety in the boarding-house, the debts creeping up and up, the aspect of affairs getting more and more serious; I told her about Mrs.

Fanning and Albert, and the chocolate-coloured brougham, and the drive to Highgate, and the rooms all furnished according to Albert's taste, and the garden, and the proposal he made to me there, and my horror.

And then I told her about mother's gradual fading and the certainty that she would not live long, and the doctor's verdict, and the one caution impressed and impressed upon me--that she was to have no shock of any sort, that everything was to be made smooth and right for her.