Part 16 (1/2)

”I think you owe him a good deal,” said Miss Barrington.

”Yes,” said her niece, with a little laugh which appeared to imply a trace of resentment. ”I believe I do, but he seemed unusually anxious to relieve me of that impression. He was also good enough to hint that nothing he might have done need prevent me being--the right word is a trifle difficult to find--but I fancy he meant unpleasant to him if I wished it.”

There was a little twinkle in Miss Barrington's eyes. ”Are you not a trifle hard to please, my dear? Now, if he had attempted to insist on a claim to your grat.i.tude you would have resented it.”

”Of course,” said the girl reflectively. ”Still, it is annoying to be debarred from offering it. There are times, aunt, when I can't help wis.h.i.+ng that Lance Courthorne had never come to Silverdale. There are men who leave nothing just as they found it, and whom one can't ignore.”

Miss Barrington shook her head. ”I fancy you are wrong. He has offended, after all?”

She was pleased to see her niece's face relax into a smile that expressed unconcern. ”We are all exacting now and then,” said the girl. ”Still, he made me promise to give him a fair trial, which was not flattering, because it suggested that I had been unnecessarily harsh, and then hinted this morning that he had no intention of holding me to it. It really was not gratifying to find he held the concession he asked for of so small account. You are, however, as easily swayed by trifles as I am, because Lance can do no wrong since he kissed your hand.”

”I really think I liked him the better for it,” said the little silver-haired lady. ”The respect was not a.s.sumed, but wholly genuine, you see, and whether I was ent.i.tled to it or not, it was a good deal in Lance's favor that he should offer it to me. There must be some good in the man who can be moved to reverence anything, even if he is mistaken.”

”No man with any sense could help adoring you,” said Maud Barrington.

”Still, I wonder why you believe I was wrong in wis.h.i.+ng he had not come to Silverdale?”

Miss Barrington looked thoughtful. ”I will tell you, my dear. There are few better men than my brother, but his thoughts, and the traditions he is bound by, are those of fifty years ago, while the restless life of the prairie is a thing of to-day. We have fallen too far behind it at Silverdale, and a crisis is coming that none of us are prepared for. Even Dane is scarcely fitted to help my brother to face it, and the rest are either over-fond of their pleasure or untrained boys. Brave lads they are, but none of them have been taught that it is only by mental strain, or the ceaseless toil of his body, the man without an inheritance can win himself a competence now. This is why they want a leader who has known hards.h.i.+p and hunger, instead of ease, and won what he holds with his own hand in place of having it given him.”

”You fancy we could find one in such a man as Lance has been?”

Miss Barrington looked grave. ”I believe the prodigal was afterwards a better as well as a wiser man than the one who stayed at home, and I am not quite sure that Lance's history is so nearly like that of the son in the parable as we have believed it to be. A residence in the sty is apt to leave a stain which I have not found on him, though I have looked for it.”

The eyes of the two women met, and, though nothing more was said, each realized that the other was perplexed by the same question, while the girl was astonished to find her vague suspicions shared. While they sat silent, Colonel Barrington came in.

”I am glad to see you looking so much better, Maud,” he said, with a trace of embarra.s.sment. ”Courthorne is still resting. Now, I can't help feeling that we have been a trifle more distant than was needful with him. The man has really behaved very discreetly. I mean in everything.”

This was a great admission, and Miss Barrington smiled. ”Did it hurt you very much to tell us that?” she asked.

The Colonel laughed. ”I know what you mean, and if you put me on my mettle, I'll retract. After all, it was no great credit to him, because blood will tell, and he is, of course, a Courthorne.”

Almost without her intention, Maud Barrington's eyes wandered towards the photograph, and then looking up she met those of her aunt, and once more saw the thought that troubled her in them.

”The Courthorne blood is responsible for a good deal more than discretion,” said Miss Barrington, who went out quietly.

Her brother appeared a trifle perplexed. ”Now, I fancied your aunt had taken him under her wing, and when I was about to suggest that, considering the connection between the families, we might ask him over to dinner occasionally, she goes away,” he said.

The girl looked down a moment, for realizing that her uncle recognized the obligation he was under to the man he did not like, she remembered that she herself owed him considerably more, and he had asked for something in return. It was not altogether easy to grant, but she had tacitly pledged herself, and turning suddenly she laid a hand on Barrington's arm.

”Of course, but I want to talk of something else just now,” she said.

”You know I have very seldom asked you questions about my affairs, but I wish to take a little practical interest in them this year.”

”Yes?” said Barrington, with a smile. ”Well, I am at your service, my dear, and quite ready to account for my stewards.h.i.+p. You are no longer my ward, except by your own wishes.”

”I am still your niece,” said the girl, patting his arm. ”Now, there is, of course, n.o.body who could manage the farming better than you do, but I would like to raise a large crop of wheat this season.”

”It wouldn't pay,” and the Colonel grew suddenly grave. ”Very few men in the district are going to sow all their holding. Wheat is steadily going down.”

”Then if n.o.body sows there will be very little, and shouldn't that put up the prices?”