CHAPTER XXII
DEEPENING TROUBLE
'The web of our life is a mingled yarn, Good and ill together.'
As the year advanced, Mr. Vaughan found that his troubles by no meansdecreased. Mr. Norton, urged on by his solicitor, was a hard creditor,and would allow neither time nor mercy. He had taken a fancy to theplace, it seemed, and hearing that some of the neighbouring propertieswould probably soon be on sale, wished to settle down at Gorswen and letit form the nucleus of a large new estate. Unless the whole of themortgages could be paid up by the end of July, the property must fallinto his hands, and the black cloud which had hung for so long over theAbbey seemed on the verge of breaking.
Mr. Vaughan had tried by every means in his power to meet hisdifficulties, but all the channels he had counted upon had failed him,and as he sat over his account-books late into the night blank ruinstared him in the face. So impossible did it seem in any way to raise solarge a sum of money that he began quietly to make arrangements torealize what he could on the stock and furniture, to enable him to makea fresh start in a fresh place. It would be too trying, he decided, tosettle down anywhere in the neighbourhood of his old home, and it wouldbe better for both himself and his children to seek their fortune in anew country, where his practical knowledge of farming should stand himin good stead. He had thought at first of Kansas or Nebraska, but havinga friend in Australia, who might help him considerably in the choice ofland, he determined to give the preference to the colonies, and to tryhis luck under the Southern Cross. It would be impossible to take muchmore than their personal belongings with them, so everything else wouldhave to be sold on previously. Already an auctioneer had been sent forto the Abbey to inspect the furniture, and give some idea of what itmight be likely to realize. It made Lilian's blood boil to see himappraising the old oak, examining the curtains and carpets, and takingnotes of the pictures and books.
'There's grand stuff here for a sale,' he said to her enthusiastically,rubbing his hands as if he expected her to share in his joy. 'We shallhave dealers from all over the kingdom. It's not often one gets thechance of genuine antiques which have been known to be in one family forsuch a length of time. I shouldn't wonder, now, if that Chippendalesuite were to run into three figures; it's a very scarce pattern, andmuch sought after. There's some china, too, that will attract many ofthe buyers, and should go for a fair price, and that Romney portraitought to be quite a catch. I think you will find that in our experiencedhands the very utmost will be made of everything. Of course, we shalladvertise the sale in good time, and have catalogues printed anddistributed in every likely quarter.'
'It seems quite bad enough to have to sell the things at all,' saidLilian afterwards. 'But to hear him talk of putting all our dear oldtreasures down in a catalogue made me feel absolutely ill. I can't bearto have the Romney picture go, either, because it's just like Peggy; itmight have been painted from her'--the vision of the family portraitsand the armour of her ancestors being turned over and valued by oilygentlemen of the Hebrew persuasion adding a double sting to the trial.
Bobby was still too young to fully understand everything that was takingplace, but to the two girls it was a time of bitter trouble andhumiliation. To Peggy, the mere fact that it should be Phyllis Nortonwho would take her place at the Abbey seemed as hard as anything tobear, and she knew her old home would pass to a family who would carenothing for its ancient traditions and associations. Mr. Norton hadspoken freely of his plans in the neighbourhood, and it was well knownthat he intended to almost rebuild the house, pulling down the ruins andall the more early portion, and turning the whole into a handsome modernresidence. Of romance and respect for the past he possessed not a whit,and valued the estate for its shooting and horse-rearing capabilitiesalone.
'All the things which we care for most will be done away with,' grievedPeggy--'the dear old tower pulled down, the ruins destroyed, the gardenuprooted, and the woods cleared away. I should not have minded so muchif we could have given up the place to someone who would have kept itjust as it is. It seems so hard we should be turned out when we love itso. I feel as if, when we leave the Abbey, there will be nothing left!'
'We shall still have each other, Peggy,' said Father. 'And while ourlittle circle is unbroken, I think we shall be able to make a home againsomewhere. It is hard to be torn up by the roots, but you must not letit spoil your young lives, at any rate. I hope my children may get on aswell in the new country as they would have done in this, though an oldfellow like I am may find it difficult to settle down again.'
'You're not old, Father,' said Lilian, stroking the hair which had showntell-tale streaks of gray lately among the brown.
'I feel old, my dear, after all I have gone through. It is worry, notyears, which ages people. But there's life in the old dog yet, and we'llmake a brave push for it in Australia.'
'I wish Aunt Helen were here,' said Peggy. 'She would have been _such_ acomfort in all this trouble!'
'No, no!' cried Father hastily. 'Thank God she's out of it, at any rate!I feel it one of my blessings to know she was safely settled before thiscame upon us. Aunt Helen has had too much trouble in her life, withouttaking any more upon her shoulders. She'll be grieved enough about it asit is, even out there in India with her husband to console her.'
In spite of all possible care, the secret of the state of affairs at theAbbey soon leaked out in the neighbourhood, causing the utmostconsternation and regret, for the Vaughans were universally liked andrespected, while for Mr. Norton nobody could find a good word. Thematter was much discussed at the Bluebell Inn, where old Ephraim, havingserved the family for forty years, was considered an authority on thesubject, and graciously allowed himself to be treated by the assembledcompany while he gave voice to his opinions.
'It's not as I holds by pride of birth,' he argued, 'and me a Radicalfifty year and more. When I were a lad, there were a talk o' choppin' upth' land, an' givin' share and share alike to all, but they never doneit. It come up sure enough at election times, as regular as free tradeor the income-tax. "Three acres o' land and a cow," was what waspromised th' poor man if he'd give his vote to th' Liberal candidate;but it weren't nothing but talk, and came to naught.'
'They be mostly windbags, they candidates,' observed Tom Slater, thevillage blacksmith, settling himself more easily in a corner of thebench by the fireside, and holding up a stalwart finger for the pot-boy.
'Ay, as empty as a glass wi' naught in it!' replied Ephraim, shaking hishead, and gazing reflectively at his empty tumbler.
Taking the hint, Tom ordered gin-and-water hot for two, and gentlyturned the conversation back to the Vaughans.
'If there's to be property,' said the old man, 'let them have it, sez I,as is used to it, and knows what's due to other folk. There's MesterVaughan would always do a good turn to a poor body if it lay in his way,but this here Mester Norton's as tight-fisted a screw as ever looked ata penny twice afore he parted with it.'
'Ay, he be that, and scant honest,' cried the stout miller, with alively remembrance of sundry hard transactions with grain for thedistilleries, in which, to his chagrin, he had had distinctly the worstside of the bargain. 'It be the same with all they that make haste toget rich,' he added piously. 'But they'll take their place with Diveswhen other folk has gone to Abraham's bosom.'
'You hain't done badly yourself, Mester Griffiths,' suggested TomSlater, 'if it come to a matter o' that. Folks say you've a tidy sumlaid by in Warford Bank.'
'Earned by the sweat o' my brow, Tom,' said the miller, puffing away athis long churchwarden pipe. 'The work o' my hands has been blessed andprospered. Ay, the Lord's been very good to me, and I've done Himcredit, too!'
For Ebenezer Griffiths was deacon of Salem Chapel, and accustomed toregard himself as the main bulwark and pillar of the religious and moralwelfare of the village.
'I've not any grudge against them as has money,' observed old Ephraimoracularly, 'but when it's used to turn them as hasn't out of their own,it's t
ime them Socialists had a innings and stepped in. There was MesterVaughan givin' interest fair on them mortgages, and I've heard as th'lawyer hisself said as he were safe as th' bank to pay regular, and whatcall had Mester Norton to buy 'em up, and ask for th' principal back,when it weren't in reason as he could raise it?'
'A case of Naboth's vineyard,' sighed the miller. 'He coveted the land,and is using foul means to get it.'
But Ephraim's knowledge of Scripture being limited, the allusion waslost upon him.
'Let th' Government take it up, sez I,' he declared, waxing excited, andthumping his fist on the table. 'It 'ud be a sight better nor passingland bills for Ireland, where no one's satisfied i' th' end, do what unmay. Let Mester Vaughan go up to Lunnon, and put it fair afore th' Houseo' Commons, like th' deputations as th' newspapers tell on, and they'dlisten to un, and see un to his rights.'
Tom Slater shook his head. He had little opinion of Parliament, havingsupported the wrong candidate at the last election, and pinned hisfaith to purely local measures.
'We might boycott Norton, may be,' he observed thoughtfully, 'and mekthe place too hot to hold him.'
'Ay, Tom, that be a good notion, surely,' put in little Sam Andrews, thejoiner. 'Send him a letter with a coffin drawed out at the top, or askull and cross-bones, to say as how that's what's waitin' for un, if hecomes to Gorswen.'
'Ye'll be gettin' into trouble, Samuel,' said the miller. 'Norton wouldput the police on your track, and clap you in Warford Gaol forthreatening his life.'
'But it wouldn't be me alone if we made a round robin o' it,' said Samhastily, who had by no means anticipated carrying out the scheme on hisown responsibility. 'Or I'd send un wi'out puttin' a name to un--aunanimous letter they calls un, I believe.'
'Anomalous?' suggested Tom Slater.
'Anonymous be the word,' said the miller. 'But it's agin the law,Sam--agin the law. Nay, it's a case where the wicked do prosper. I bemain sorry for Mester Vaughan, I be, but the ways o' Providence be darkand past findin' out.'
If there was sympathy for Mr. Vaughan's trouble among the patrons of theBluebell Inn, nearer home it waxed both keen and practical.
'Take me with you, sir,' begged poor Joe, dissolving into tears at thethought of parting with the family to whom he was so much attached. 'I'dserve you faithful, and never ask a penny of wages, but just my keeptill you got settled and started. I've got eight pound ten laid by inthe savings-bank, which would go towards my passage-money, and my grannywould lend me the rest. I'd be glad to try my luck over the seas, andmaybe it 'ud seem more homelike to Master Bobby and the young ladies tofind a face they knew about 'em in a place where all was strangers.'
Warm-hearted Nancy was in a perpetual tempest of regret, and assuredLilian that if she had not faithfully promised to marry Tom Higgins shewould have packed her box and insisted upon joining the party.
'But he have took the farm, Miss Lilian, and bespoke three cows, and apig, and twelve hens, and he be such a fule he'd no more know what to dowith 'em than a babe, so I must have him, if it's for naught but thesake of the poor beasts'--which certainly seemed a most convincingreason.
Perhaps to David the anticipated change meant as much as to anyone, forhe was growing too old to seek a new master, and dreaded the inevitabletime when he would be shelved from work, and placed on the parish list,to the self-respecting poor always the bitterest sting of old age. Theday of possible emigration for him had long gone by, and his must be theharder part of remaining to watch the Abbey pass into the hands of 'aPharaoh who knew not Joseph,' and who could not be counted upon foreither kindness or charity in his dealings with the poor around him.
As it was such an open secret, Peggy did not feel she was betraying anyconfidence by discussing their affairs with Archie when he came over forhis brief half-term holiday, and in the seclusion of the stack-yard shepoured out her troubles into his sympathetic ear.
'Oh, I say, look here, you know,' cried the boy, ruffling up hischestnut locks with both hands, which was a way he had when upset, 'ifyou go out to Australia, I shall come too! I could persuade aunt to goin a jiffey--the doctor said she'd be a million times better in a drierclimate--and we'd take the farm next to yours. Now my poor old dad'sgone, and my mother's married again, and the boys all trading off ontheir own account, I don't want to go back to Colorado; but I likecolonial life, and farming would be a lot jollier than school, any way,for the fellows in my house are awful Johnnies, they can talk of nothingbut games, and laugh at one for a crank if one tries to make things.'
'It would be nice if you went too,' said Peggy, quite brightening at theprospect, for not the least part of her trouble had been the thought ofleaving her friends.
'Then we'll go. Cheer up, Pegsie; you'll see it won't be so bad as youimagine. Australia's a fine place to get on in, and there'll be queertrees and flowers, and kangaroos, and natives, and all sorts of newthings to see. Of course, I know it's an awful wrench leaving the Abbey;but, after all, there are other places in the world to locate in.There's no end of jolly fun going on on board ship, I can tell you, andyou'll have a real good time on the voyage out, and at the ports,especially with me to show you around; and when we get fixed up on ournew ranches I guess you'll allow that things are pretty first-rate!'
'It would never be the Abbey, though, however jolly it was. I had meantto live here all my life, and be buried in the transept when I die. Ihave a feeling as if the Crusaders and the Elizabethan lady andgentleman on the monuments would miss us when we go away,' said Peggy,relapsing into pensiveness once more.
But Archie had been brought up in a democratic country, and had littlesympathy for the ties of race.
'Oh, bother the ancient Crusaders, and the other folks under thetombstones! If they could get up again and chop off old Norton's head,and fight anyone who laid a finger on the Abbey, they'd be of some useto you. I believe there are a pile of old Forsters lying under elaboratetombs somewhere in Northumberland, but what have they ever done for me?It's no use being sentimental about old times. I'll undertake there wasprecious little sentiment about them in those days. Didn't they comesailing over from Denmark and Normandy, and all sorts of places, tosettle down in England, which was a new country then, just as we'rethinking of going out to Australia? Five hundred years hence we shall bequite ancient history ourselves, and folks can romance over ourtombstones if they feel inclined. And after all, why should one'sancestors do everything for one? I guess I'd rather make my mark in theworld for myself,'--for the boy had all the enthusiasm of a pioneerabout him, added to a sturdy spirit of independence.
This was quite a new gospel to Peggy, and though she could notaltogether reconcile it with her clinging love for the home of so manygenerations of Vaughans, it did her good in that it gave her a freshaspect of life, for it is always wise to look at things from anotherperson's point of view, as well as your own, and she had a great respectfor Archie's opinions.
In the meantime things went on at the Abbey just as though the familywere not, metaphorically speaking, sitting on the edge of a volcano.Daily duties must be done, however sore your heart may be, and the workof a farm can never be stopped for your private troubles. So Lilianreared fluffy chickens and yellow ducklings which would probably nevergrace her poultry-yard, and Father cultivated the fields, though hemight not be there to gather in the harvest. It seemed hard to Peggy tothink that the trees would bud and the flowers blossom, and the cropsgrow, when they were not there to watch it all, for most of us have akind of feeling that we are the important centre around which Natureturns, instead of only mere spectators of her varying moods, andsometimes it felt so impossible that such an utter upheaval in theirlives could really come to pass that she would have to shake herself tobelieve that it was not all a bad dream; but as she noticed the quietpreparations that went on, and the added worry on Father's face, sherealized that it was only too true, and that every day was bringing themnearer to that terrible twenty-fifth of July when the mortgages wouldfall due.
There
is always a silver lining, however, to every cloud, and I thinkthis trouble, hard as it was to bear, made one of the stepping-stones inPeggy's character. At first she had been inclined to grumble and repine,and say that life was using them hardly, but something which the Rector(always the family confidant) wrote to her in one of his frequentletters made her stop and think.
'If you are really anxious to be a help and comfort, Peggy, here is yourgrand opportunity. Now that the sky is so overcast at home, suppose youput your own part of the trouble quite on one side, and let your brightways make the family sunshine. One cheerful person in a sad house canwork wonders, and by being specially gentle and loving just now you canmake Father remember that his children are more to him than his oldhome, and that, after all, love is the best thing in this life, andworth more than houses, or lands, or any goods which the world mayoffer us. A really bright, sunny disposition is as much a talent as anyother of God's good gifts, so be thankful, child, you possess it, andmake the best use you can of it in the Master's service.'
Peggy put the letter by among the treasures in her work-box. She did notspeak about it, or show it to anyone, but after that not a furthergrumble escaped her, and she managed to find such a bright side to thequestion, and talked so often and so hopefully of the future, thatFather said she was as good as a tonic, and began to find his littledaughter such a comfort to him, and so different to the old thoughtlessPeggy of former days, that I scarcely know how he would have got throughthat trying time without her.