Chapter 21
It was for the moment an inexpressible relief to Dolly, to recognise inthe person who forced himself into the path so abruptly, and now stooddirectly in her way, Hugh of the Maypole, whose name she uttered in atone of delighted surprise that came from her heart.
'Was it you?' she said, 'how glad I am to see you! and how could youterrify me so!'
In answer to which, he said nothing at all, but stood quite still,looking at her.
'Did you come to meet me?' asked Dolly.
Hugh nodded, and muttered something to the effect that he had beenwaiting for her, and had expected her sooner.
'I thought it likely they would send,' said Dolly, greatly reassured bythis.
'Nobody sent me,' was his sullen answer. 'I came of my own accord.'
The rough bearing of this fellow, and his wild, uncouth appearance, hadoften filled the girl with a vague apprehension even when other peoplewere by, and had occasioned her to shrink from him involuntarily. Thehaving him for an unbidden companion in so solitary a place, with thedarkness fast gathering about them, renewed and even increased the alarmshe had felt at first.
If his manner had been merely dogged and passively fierce, as usual,she would have had no greater dislike to his company than she alwaysfelt--perhaps, indeed, would have been rather glad to have had him athand. But there was something of coarse bold admiration in his look,which terrified her very much. She glanced timidly towards him,uncertain whether to go forward or retreat, and he stood gazing at herlike a handsome satyr; and so they remained for some short time withoutstirring or breaking silence. At length Dolly took courage, shot pasthim, and hurried on.
'Why do you spend so much breath in avoiding me?' said Hugh,accommodating his pace to hers, and keeping close at her side.
'I wish to get back as quickly as I can, and you walk too near me,answered Dolly.'
'Too near!' said Hugh, stooping over her so that she could feel hisbreath upon her forehead. 'Why too near? You're always proud to ME,mistress.'
'I am proud to no one. You mistake me,' answered Dolly. 'Fall back, ifyou please, or go on.'
'Nay, mistress,' he rejoined, endeavouring to draw her arm through his,'I'll walk with you.'
She released herself and clenching her little hand, struck him withright good will. At this, Maypole Hugh burst into a roar of laughter,and passing his arm about her waist, held her in his strong grasp aseasily as if she had been a bird.
'Ha ha ha! Well done, mistress! Strike again. You shall beat my face,and tear my hair, and pluck my beard up by the roots, and welcome, forthe sake of your bright eyes. Strike again, mistress. Do. Ha ha ha! Ilike it.'
'Let me go,' she cried, endeavouring with both her hands to push himoff. 'Let me go this moment.'
'You had as good be kinder to me, Sweetlips,' said Hugh. 'You had,indeed. Come. Tell me now. Why are you always so proud? I don't quarrelwith you for it. I love you when you're proud. Ha ha ha! You can't hideyour beauty from a poor fellow; that's a comfort!'
She gave him no answer, but as he had not yet checked her progress,continued to press forward as rapidly as she could. At length, betweenthe hurry she had made, her terror, and the tightness of his embrace,her strength failed her, and she could go no further.
'Hugh,' cried the panting girl, 'good Hugh; if you will leave me I willgive you anything--everything I have--and never tell one word of this toany living creature.'
'You had best not,' he answered. 'Harkye, little dove, you had best not.All about here know me, and what I dare do if I have a mind. If ever youare going to tell, stop when the words are on your lips, and think ofthe mischief you'll bring, if you do, upon some innocent heads that youwouldn't wish to hurt a hair of. Bring trouble on me, and I'll bringtrouble and something more on them in return. I care no more for themthan for so many dogs; not so much--why should I? I'd sooner kill a manthan a dog any day. I've never been sorry for a man's death in all mylife, and I have for a dog's.'
There was something so thoroughly savage in the manner of theseexpressions, and the looks and gestures by which they were accompanied,that her great fear of him gave her new strength, and enabled her by asudden effort to extricate herself and run fleetly from him. But Hughwas as nimble, strong, and swift of foot, as any man in broad England,and it was but a fruitless expenditure of energy, for he had her in hisencircling arms again before she had gone a hundred yards.
'Softly, darling--gently--would you fly from rough Hugh, that loves youas well as any drawing-room gallant?'
'I would,' she answered, struggling to free herself again. 'I will.Help!'
'A fine for crying out,' said Hugh. 'Ha ha ha! A fine, pretty one, fromyour lips. I pay myself! Ha ha ha!'
'Help! help! help!' As she shrieked with the utmost violence she couldexert, a shout was heard in answer, and another, and another.
'Thank Heaven!' cried the girl in an ecstasy. 'Joe, dear Joe, this way.Help!'
Her assailant paused, and stood irresolute for a moment, but the shoutsdrawing nearer and coming quick upon them, forced him to a speedydecision. He released her, whispered with a menacing look, 'Tell HIM:and see what follows!' and leaping the hedge, was gone in an instant.Dolly darted off, and fairly ran into Joe Willet's open arms.
'What is the matter? are you hurt? what was it? who was it? where ishe? what was he like?' with a great many encouraging expressions andassurances of safety, were the first words Joe poured forth. But poorlittle Dolly was so breathless and terrified that for some time shewas quite unable to answer him, and hung upon his shoulder, sobbing andcrying as if her heart would break.
Joe had not the smallest objection to have her hanging on his shoulder;no, not the least, though it crushed the cherry-coloured ribbons sadly,and put the smart little hat out of all shape. But he couldn't bear tosee her cry; it went to his very heart. He tried to console her, bentover her, whispered to her--some say kissed her, but that's a fable. Atany rate he said all the kind and tender things he could think of andDolly let him go on and didn't interrupt him once, and it was a good tenminutes before she was able to raise her head and thank him.
'What was it that frightened you?' said Joe.
A man whose person was unknown to her had followed her, she answered; hebegan by begging, and went on to threats of robbery, which he was on thepoint of carrying into execution, and would have executed, but for Joe'stimely aid. The hesitation and confusion with which she said this, Joeattributed to the fright she had sustained, and no suspicion of thetruth occurred to him for a moment.
'Stop when the words are on your lips.' A hundred times that night, andvery often afterwards, when the disclosure was rising to her tongue,Dolly thought of that, and repressed it. A deeply rooted dread of theman; the conviction that his ferocious nature, once roused, would stopat nothing; and the strong assurance that if she impeached him, thefull measure of his wrath and vengeance would be wreaked on Joe, whohad preserved her; these were considerations she had not the courage toovercome, and inducements to secrecy too powerful for her to surmount.
Joe, for his part, was a great deal too happy to inquire very curiouslyinto the matter; and Dolly being yet too tremulous to walk withoutassistance, they went forward very slowly, and in his mind verypleasantly, until the Maypole lights were near at hand, twinkling theircheerful welcome, when Dolly stopped suddenly and with a half screamexclaimed,
'The letter!'
'What letter?' cried Joe.
'That I was carrying--I had it in my hand. My bracelet too,' she said,clasping her wrist. 'I have lost them both.'
'Do you mean just now?' said Joe.
'Either I dropped them then, or they were taken from me,' answeredDolly, vainly searching her pocket and rustling her dress. 'They aregone, both gone. What an unhappy girl I am!' With these words poorDolly, who to do her justice was quite as sorry for the loss of theletter as for her bracelet, fell a-crying again, and bemoaned her fatemost movingly.
Joe tried to comfort her with the assurance that dire
ctly he had housedher in the Maypole, he would return to the spot with a lantern (for itwas now quite dark) and make strict search for the missing articles,which there was great probability of his finding, as it was not likelythat anybody had passed that way since, and she was not conscious thatthey had been forcibly taken from her. Dolly thanked him very heartilyfor this offer, though with no great hope of his quest being successful;and so with many lamentations on her side, and many hopeful words onhis, and much weakness on the part of Dolly and much tender supportingon the part of Joe, they reached the Maypole bar at last, where thelocksmith and his wife and old John were yet keeping high festival.
Mr Willet received the intelligence of Dolly's trouble with thatsurprising presence of mind and readiness of speech for which he was soeminently distinguished above all other men. Mrs Varden expressed hersympathy for her daughter's distress by scolding her roundly for beingso late; and the honest locksmith divided himself between condoling withand kissing Dolly, and shaking hands heartily with Joe, whom he couldnot sufficiently praise or thank.
In reference to this latter point, old John was far from agreeing withhis friend; for besides that he by no means approved of an adventurousspirit in the abstract, it occurred to him that if his son and heir hadbeen seriously damaged in a scuffle, the consequences would assuredlyhave been expensive and inconvenient, and might perhaps have proveddetrimental to the Maypole business. Wherefore, and because he lookedwith no favourable eye upon young girls, but rather considered that theyand the whole female sex were a kind of nonsensical mistake on the partof Nature, he took occasion to retire and shake his head in private atthe boiler; inspired by which silent oracle, he was moved to give Joevarious stealthy nudges with his elbow, as a parental reproof and gentleadmonition to mind his own business and not make a fool of himself.
Joe, however, took down the lantern and lighted it; and arming himselfwith a stout stick, asked whether Hugh was in the stable.
'He's lying asleep before the kitchen fire, sir,' said Mr Willet. 'Whatdo you want him for?'
'I want him to come with me to look after this bracelet and letter,'answered Joe. 'Halloa there! Hugh!'
Dolly turned pale as death, and felt as if she must faint forthwith.After a few moments, Hugh came staggering in, stretching himself andyawning according to custom, and presenting every appearance of havingbeen roused from a sound nap.
'Here, sleepy-head,' said Joe, giving him the lantern. 'Carry this, andbring the dog, and that small cudgel of yours. And woe betide the fellowif we come upon him.'
'What fellow?' growled Hugh, rubbing his eyes and shaking himself.
'What fellow?' returned Joe, who was in a state of great valour andbustle; 'a fellow you ought to know of and be more alive about. It'swell for the like of you, lazy giant that you are, to be snoring yourtime away in chimney-corners, when honest men's daughters can't crosseven our quiet meadows at nightfall without being set upon by footpads,and frightened out of their precious lives.'
'They never rob me,' cried Hugh with a laugh. 'I have got nothing tolose. But I'd as lief knock them at head as any other men. How many arethere?'
'Only one,' said Dolly faintly, for everybody looked at her.
'And what was he like, mistress?' said Hugh with a glance at youngWillet, so slight and momentary that the scowl it conveyed was lost onall but her. 'About my height?'
'Not--not so tall,' Dolly replied, scarce knowing what she said.
'His dress,' said Hugh, looking at her keenly, 'like--like any of oursnow? I know all the people hereabouts, and maybe could give a guess atthe man, if I had anything to guide me.'
Dolly faltered and turned paler yet; then answered that he was wrappedin a loose coat and had his face hidden by a handkerchief and that shecould give no other description of him.
'You wouldn't know him if you saw him then, belike?' said Hugh with amalicious grin.
'I should not,' answered Dolly, bursting into tears again. 'I don't wishto see him. I can't bear to think of him. I can't talk about him anymore. Don't go to look for these things, Mr Joe, pray don't. I entreatyou not to go with that man.'
'Not to go with me!' cried Hugh. 'I'm too rough for them all. They'reall afraid of me. Why, bless you mistress, I've the tenderest heartalive. I love all the ladies, ma'am,' said Hugh, turning to thelocksmith's wife.
Mrs Varden opined that if he did, he ought to be ashamed of himself;such sentiments being more consistent (so she argued) with a benightedMussulman or wild Islander than with a stanch Protestant. Arguing fromthis imperfect state of his morals, Mrs Varden further opined that hehad never studied the Manual. Hugh admitting that he never had, andmoreover that he couldn't read, Mrs Varden declared with much severity,that he ought to be even more ashamed of himself than before, andstrongly recommended him to save up his pocket-money for the purchaseof one, and further to teach himself the contents with all convenientdiligence. She was still pursuing this train of discourse, when Hugh,somewhat unceremoniously and irreverently, followed his young masterout, and left her to edify the rest of the company. This she proceededto do, and finding that Mr Willet's eyes were fixed upon her with anappearance of deep attention, gradually addressed the whole of herdiscourse to him, whom she entertained with a moral and theologicallecture of considerable length, in the conviction that great workingswere taking place in his spirit. The simple truth was, however, that MrWillet, although his eyes were wide open and he saw a woman beforehim whose head by long and steady looking at seemed to grow biggerand bigger until it filled the whole bar, was to all other intents andpurposes fast asleep; and so sat leaning back in his chair with hishands in his pockets until his son's return caused him to wake up witha deep sigh, and a faint impression that he had been dreaming aboutpickled pork and greens--a vision of his slumbers which was no doubtreferable to the circumstance of Mrs Varden's having frequentlypronounced the word 'Grace' with much emphasis; which word, enteringthe portals of Mr Willet's brain as they stood ajar, and coupling itselfwith the words 'before meat,' which were there ranging about, did intime suggest a particular kind of meat together with that description ofvegetable which is usually its companion.
The search was wholly unsuccessful. Joe had groped along the path adozen times, and among the grass, and in the dry ditch, and in thehedge, but all in vain. Dolly, who was quite inconsolable for her loss,wrote a note to Miss Haredale giving her the same account of it that shehad given at the Maypole, which Joe undertook to deliver as soon as thefamily were stirring next day. That done, they sat down to tea in thebar, where there was an uncommon display of buttered toast, and--inorder that they might not grow faint for want of sustenance, andmight have a decent halting-place or halfway house between dinner andsupper--a few savoury trifles in the shape of great rashers of broiledham, which being well cured, done to a turn, and smoking hot, sent fortha tempting and delicious fragrance.
Mrs Varden was seldom very Protestant at meals, unless it happened thatthey were underdone, or overdone, or indeed that anything occurred toput her out of humour. Her spirits rose considerably on beholding thesegoodly preparations, and from the nothingness of good works, she passedto the somethingness of ham and toast with great cheerfulness. Nay,under the influence of these wholesome stimulants, she sharply reprovedher daughter for being low and despondent (which she considered anunacceptable frame of mind), and remarked, as she held her own plate fora fresh supply, that it would be well for Dolly, who pined over the lossof a toy and a sheet of paper, if she would reflect upon the voluntarysacrifices of the missionaries in foreign parts who lived chiefly onsalads.
The proceedings of such a day occasion various fluctuations in the humanthermometer, and especially in instruments so sensitively and delicatelyconstructed as Mrs Varden. Thus, at dinner Mrs V. stood at summer heat;genial, smiling, and delightful. After dinner, in the sunshine of thewine, she went up at least half-a-dozen degrees, and was perfectlyenchanting. As its effect subsided, she fell rapidly, went to sleep foran hour or so at temperate, and woke at so
mething below freezing. Nowshe was at summer heat again, in the shade; and when tea was over, andold John, producing a bottle of cordial from one of the oaken cases,insisted on her sipping two glasses thereof in slow succession, shestood steadily at ninety for one hour and a quarter. Profiting byexperience, the locksmith took advantage of this genial weather to smokehis pipe in the porch, and in consequence of this prudent management, hewas fully prepared, when the glass went down again, to start homewardsdirectly.
The horse was accordingly put in, and the chaise brought round to thedoor. Joe, who would on no account be dissuaded from escorting themuntil they had passed the most dreary and solitary part of the road,led out the grey mare at the same time; and having helped Dolly into herseat (more happiness!) sprung gaily into the saddle. Then, after manygood nights, and admonitions to wrap up, and glancing of lights, andhanding in of cloaks and shawls, the chaise rolled away, and Joe trottedbeside it--on Dolly's side, no doubt, and pretty close to the wheel too.