Part 25 (1/2)

”D---- Mr. Greenwood!” said the Marquis. He certainly did say the word at full length, as far as it can be said to have length, and with all the emphasis of which it was capable. He certainly did say it, though when the circ.u.mstance was afterwards not unfrequently thrown in his teeth, he would forget it and deny it. Her ladys.h.i.+p heard the word very plainly, and at once stalked out of the room, thereby showing that her feminine feelings had received a wrench which made it impossible for her any longer to endure the presence of such a foul-mouthed monster. Up to that moment she had been anything but the victor; but the vulgarity of the curse had restored to her much of her prestige, so that she was able to leave the battlefield as one retiring with all his forces in proper order. He had ”bothered” his own children, and ”d.a.m.ned” his own chaplain!

The Marquis sat awhile thinking alone, and then pulled a string by which communication was made between his room and that in which the clergyman sat. It was not a vulgar bell, which would have been injurious to the reverence and dignity of a clerical friend, as savouring of a menial's task work, nor was it a pipe for oral communication, which is undignified, as requiring a man to stoop and put his mouth to it,--but an arrangement by which a light tap was made against the wall so that the inhabitant of the room might know that he was wanted without any process derogatory to his self-respect. The chaplain obeyed the summons, and, lightly knocking at the door, again stood before the lord. He found the Marquis standing upon the hearth-rug, by which, as he well knew, it was signified that he was not intended to sit down. ”Mr. Greenwood,” said the Marquis, in a tone of voice which was intended to be peculiarly mild, but which at the same time was felt to be menacing, ”I do not mean at the present moment to have any conversation with you on the subject to which it is necessary that I should allude, and as I shall not ask for your presence for above a minute or two, I will not detain you by getting you to sit down. If I can induce you to listen to me without replying to me it will, I think, be better for both of us.”

”Certainly, my lord.”

”I will not have you speak to me respecting Lady Frances.”

”When have I done so?” asked the chaplain plaintively.

”Nor will I have you speak to Lady Kingsbury about her step-daughter.” Then he was silent, and seemed to imply, by what he had said before, that the clergyman should now leave the room. The first order given had been very simple. It was one which the Marquis certainly had a right to exact, and with which Mr. Greenwood felt that he would be bound to comply. But the other was altogether of a different nature. He was in the habit of constant conversation with Lady Kingsbury as to Lady Frances. Twice, three times, four times a day her ladys.h.i.+p, who in her present condition had no other confidant, would open out her sorrow to him on this terrible subject.

Was he to tell her that he had been forbidden by his employer to continue this practice, or was he to continue it in opposition to the Marquis's wishes? He would have been willing enough to do as he was bidden, but that he saw that he would be driven to quarrel with the lord or the lady. The lord, no doubt, could turn him out of the house, but the lady could make the house too hot to hold him. The lord was a just man, though unreasonable, and would probably not turn him out without compensation; but the lady was a violent woman, who if she were angered would remember nothing of justice. Thinking of all this he stood distracted and vacillating before his patron. ”I expect you,” said the Marquis, ”to comply with my wishes,--or to leave me.”

”To leave Trafford?” asked the poor man.

”Yes; to leave Trafford; to do that or to comply with my wishes on a matter as to which my wishes are certainly ent.i.tled to consideration.

Which is it to be, Mr. Greenwood?”

”Of course, I will do as you bid me.” Then the Marquis bowed graciously as he still stood with his back to the fire, and Mr.

Greenwood left the room.

Mr. Greenwood knew well that this was only the beginning of his troubles. When he made the promise he was quite sure that he would be unable to keep it. The only prospect open to him was that of breaking the promise and keeping the Marquis in ignorance of his doing so.

It would be out of his power not to follow any lead in conversation which the Marchioness might give him. But it might be possible to make the Marchioness understand that her husband must be kept in the dark as to any confidence between them. For, in truth, many secrets were now discussed between them, as to which it was impossible that her ladys.h.i.+p should be got to hold her tongue. It had come to be received as a family doctrine between them that Lord Hampstead's removal to a better world was a thing devoutly to be wished. It is astonis.h.i.+ng how quickly, though how gradually, ideas of such a nature will be developed when entertainment has once been given to them. The Devil makes himself at home with great rapidity when the hall door has been opened to him. A month or two back, before her ladys.h.i.+p went to Konigsgraaf, she certainly would not have ventured to express a direct wish for the young man's death, however frequently her thoughts might have travelled in that direction. And certainly in those days, though they were yet not many weeks since, Mr. Greenwood would have been much shocked had any such suggestion been made to him as that which was now quite commonly entertained between them.

The pity of it, the pity of it, the pity of it! It was thus the heart-broken mother put the matter, reconciling to herself her own wishes by that which she thought to be a duty to her own children. It was not that she and Mr. Greenwood had between them any scheme by which Lord Hampstead might cease to be in the way. Murder certainly had not come into their thoughts. But the pity of it; the pity of it!

As Lord Hampstead was in all respects unfit for that high position which, if he lived, he would be called upon to fill, so was her boy, her Lord Frederic, made to adorn it by all good gifts. He was n.o.ble-looking, gracious, and aristocratic from the crown of his little head to the soles of his little feet. No more glorious heir to a t.i.tle made happy the heart of any British mother,--if only he were the heir. And why should it be denied to her, a n.o.ble scion of the great House of Montressor, to be the mother of none but younger sons?

The more her mind dwelt upon it, the more completely did the iniquity of her wishes fade out of sight, and her ambition appear to be no more than the natural anxiety of a mother for her child. Mr.

Greenwood had no such excuses to offer to himself; but with him, too, the Devil having once made his entrance soon found himself comfortably at home. Of meditating Lord Hampstead's murder he declared to himself that he had no idea. His conscience was quite clear to him in that respect. What was it to him who might inherit the t.i.tle and the property of the Traffords? He was simply discussing with a silly woman a circ.u.mstance which no words of theirs could do aught either to cause or to prevent. It soon seemed to him to be natural that she should wish it, and natural also that he should seem to sympathize with her who was his best friend. The Marquis, he was sure, was gradually dropping him. Where was he to look for maintenance, but to his own remaining friend? The Marquis would probably give him something were he dismissed;--but that something would go but a short way towards supporting him comfortably for the rest of his life. There was a certain living in the gift of the Marquis, the Rectory of Appleslocombe in Somersets.h.i.+re, which would exactly suit Mr. Greenwood's needs. The inc.u.mbent was a very old man, now known to be bed-ridden. It was 800 a year. There would be ample for himself and for a curate. Mr. Greenwood had spoken to the Marquis on the subject;--but had been told, with some expression of civil regret, that he was considered to be too old for new duties. The Marchioness had talked to him frequently of Appleslocombe;--but what was the use of that? If the Marquis himself were to die, and then the Rector, there would be a chance for him,--on condition that Lord Hampstead were also out of the way. But Mr. Greenwood, as he thought of it, shook his head at the barren prospect. His sympathies no doubt were on the side of the lady. The Marquis was treating him ill. Lord Hampstead was a disgrace to his order. Lady Frances was worse even than her brother. It would be a good thing that Lord Frederic should be the heir. But all this had nothing to do with murder,--or even with meditation of murder. If the Lord should choose to take the young man it would be well; that was all.

On the same afternoon, an hour or two after he had made his promise to the Marquis, Lady Kingsbury sent for him. She always did send for him to drink tea with her at five o'clock. It was so regular that the servant would simply announce that tea was ready in her ladys.h.i.+p's room up-stairs. ”Have you seen his lords.h.i.+p to-day?” she asked.

”Yes;--I have seen him.”

”Since he told you in that rude way to leave the room?”

”Yes, he called me after that.”

”Well?”

”He bade me not talk about Lady Frances.”

”I dare say not. He does not wish to hear her name spoken. I can understand that.”

”He does not wish me to mention her to you.”

”Not to me? Is my mouth to be stopped? I shall say respecting her whatever I think fit. I dare say, indeed!”

”It was to my talking that he referred.”