CHAPTER FORTY ONE.
A wild, despairing cry escaped Kate Wilton's lips, as the firm grasp ofa man's hand closed upon and prisoned her wrist.
"Hush, you foolish girl," was whispered, angrily, and she was caught bya strong arm thrown round her, the wrist released, and a hand wasclapped upon her lips. "Do you want to alarm the house?"
Her only reply was to struggle violently and try to tear the hand fromher mouth, but she was helpless, and the arm round her felt like iron.
"It is of no use to struggle, little bird," was whispered. "Are you notashamed to drive me to watch you like this, and prevent you fromperpetrating such a folly? What madness! Try to leave the house atmidnight, by the help of that wretched idiotic girl, and trust yourselfalone in the street. Truly, Kate, you need a watchful guardian. Now,as you prefer the darkness, come and sit down with me; I want a quiettalk with you. Kate, my dear, you force me to all this, and you mustlisten to reason now. There, it is of no use to struggle. Come with mequietly and sensibly, or I swear that I will carry you."
Her answer was another frantic struggle, while, wrenching her headround, she freed herself from the pressure of his hand, and utteredanother piercing scream.
"Silence!" he cried, fiercely; and he was in the act of raising her fromthe floor, when she writhed herself nearly free, and in his effort torecover his grasp, he caught his foot on the mat and nearly fell.
It was Kate's opportunity. With one hand she thrust at him, with theother struck at him madly, ran to the stairs, and bounded up, justreaching her room as a light gleamed from above and showed Garstang adozen steps below, too late to overtake her before her door was dashedto and fastened.
Then, as she stood there, panting and ready to faint with horror, sheheard Garstang's angry voice and the whining replies of the housekeeper,while, though she could not grasp a word, she could tell by the tonesthat the woman was being abused for coming down, and was trying to makesome excuse.
How that night passed Kate Wilton hardly knew, save that it was onegreat struggle to master a weak feeling of pitiful helplessness whichprompted her to say, "I can do no more."
At times, from utter mental exhaustion, she sank into a kind of stupor,more than sleep, from which she invariably started with a faint cry ofhorror and despair, feeling that she was in some great peril, and thatthe darkness was peopled with something against which she must strugglein spite of her weakness. It was a nightmare-like experience,constantly repeated, and the grey morning found her feverish and weak,but in body only. Despair had driven her to bay, and there was a lightin her eyes, a firmness in her words, which impressed the housekeeperwhen she came at breakfast time.
"Master's compliments, ma'am, and he is waiting breakfast," she said;"and I beg your pardon, ma'am, but I thought I ought to tell you he isvery angry. I never saw him like it before; and if you would be ruledby me, I'd go down and see him. You have been very hard to him, I know;and you can't, I'm sure, wish to hurt the feelings of one who is thebest of men."
Kate sat looking away from her in silence, and this encouraged the womanto proceed.
"He was very cross when he found out that you had been persuading poorBecky to post a letter for you. He suspected her, and had her into thelib'ry and made her confess; and then he took the letter away from her.But that was nothing to what he was when he found that instead of goingto bed Becky had come down again and was waiting to try and let you outI thought he would have turned her into the street at once. But oh, mydear, he is such a good man, he wouldn't do that. But he said it wasdisgracefully treacherous of her. And between ourselves, my dear, itwas quite impossible. Master has, I know, taken all kinds ofprecautions to keep you from going away. He told me that it was only asilly fit of yours, and that you didn't mean it; and, oh, my dear, dopray, pray be sensible. Think what a good chance it is for you to marryone of the noblest and best of--"
Sarah Plant ceased speaking, and stood with her lips apart, gazingblankly at the prisoner, who had slowly turned her head and fixed herwith her indignant eyes.
"Silence, you wretched creature!" she said, in a low, angry whisper."How dare you address me like this! Go down to your master, and tellhim that I will see him when he has done his breakfast."
"Oh, please come now, ma'am."
"Tell him to send me word when he is at liberty, and I will come."
Kate pointed to the door, and the woman hurried out.
She returned in a few minutes, though, with a breakfast tray, which sheset down without a word, and once more Kate was alone; but she startedat a sound she heard at the door, and darted silently to it to slip thebolt; but before her hand could reach it there was a faint click, andshe knew that the key had been taken out and replaced upon the otherside. She was for the first time locked in, and a whispering told herthat Garstang was there.
The struggle with her weakness had not been without its result. Anunnatural calmness--the calmness of despair--had worked a change in her,and she was no longer the frightened, trembling girl, but the woman,ready to fight for all that was dear in life. She knew that she wasweak and exhausted in body, and sat down with a strange calmness to thebreakfast that had been brought up, eating and drinking mechanically,but thinking deeply the while of the challenge which she felt that shehad sent down to Garstang, and collecting her forces for the encounter.
Quite an hour had passed before she heard a sound; and then the key wasturned in the lock, and the housekeeper appeared.
"Master is in the library, ma'am," she said, "and will be glad to seeyou now."
This was said with a meaning smile, which said a great deal; but Katedid not even glance at her. She walked calmly out of her room,descended the staircase, and went straight into the library, whereGarstang met her with extended hands.
"My dearest child," he began.
She waved him aside, and walked straight to her usual place, and satdown.
"Ah!" said Garstang, as if to himself; "more beautiful than ever, in heranger. How can she wonder that she has made me half mad?"
"Will you be good enough to sit down, Mr Garstang?" she said, gazingfirmly at him.
"May I not rather kneel?" he said, imploringly.
"Will you be good enough to understand, Mr Garstang," she continued,with cutting contempt in her tones, "that you are speaking to a womanwhose faith in you is completely destroyed, and not to a weak, timidgirl."
"I can only think one thing," he whispered, earnestly, "that I am in thepresence of the woman I worship, one who will forgive me everything, andbecome my wife."
"Your wife, sir? I have come here this morning, repellent as the taskis, to tell you what you refuse to see--that your proposals areimpossible, and to demand that you at once restore me to the care of myguardian."
"To be forced to marry that wretched boy?" he cried, passionately;"never!"
"May I ask you not to waste time by acting, Mr Garstang?" she said,with cutting irony. "You call me `My dear child!' You are a man ofsufficient common sense to know that I am not the foolish child you wishme to be, and that your words and manner no longer impose upon me."
"Ah, so cruel still!" he cried; but she met his eyes with such scathingcontempt in her own that his lips tightened, and the anger he feltbetrayed itself in the twitching at the corners of his temples.
"You have unmasked yourself completely now, sir, and by this time youmust understand your position as fully as I do mine. You have beenguilty of a disgraceful outrage."
"My love--I swear it was my love," he cried.
"Of gold?" she said, contemptuously. "Is it possible that a mansupposed to be a gentleman can stoop to such pitiful language as this?Let us understand each other at once. Your attempts to replace thefallen mask are pitiful. Come, sir, let us treat this as having to dowith your scheme. You wish to marry me?"
"Yes; I adore you."
She rose, with her brow wrinkling, her eyes half closed, and the look ofcontempt intensifying.
"Perhaps I had
better defer what I wished to say till to-morrow, sir?"
He turned from her as if her words had lashed him, but he wrenchedhimself back and forced himself to meet her gaze.
"In God's name, no!" he cried, passionately; "say what you have to sayat once, and bring this folly to an end."
She resumed her seat.
"Very well; let us bring this folly to an end. I am ready to treat withyou, Mr Garstang."
"Hah!" he cried, with a mocking laugh. "An unconditional surrender?"
"Yes, sir; an unconditional surrender," she said calmly. "You have beenplaying like a gamester for the sake of my fortune."
"And your beautiful self," he whispered.
"For my miserable fortune; and you have won."
"Yes," he said, "I have won. I am the conqueror; but Kate, dearest--"
She rose slowly from her seat.
"Will you go on speaking without the mask, Mr Garstang?" she said,coldly; and she heard his teeth grit together, as he literally scowledat her now, with a look full of threats for the future.
"I am your slave, I suppose," he said, bitterly; but she remainedstanding.
"I wish to continue talking to Mr Garstang, the lawyer," she said,coldly. "If this is to continue it is a waste of words."
He threw himself back in his chair, and she resumed hers.
"Now, sir, you are a solicitor, and learned in these matters; can youdraw up some paper which will mean the full surrender of my fortune toyou? and this I will sign if you set me at liberty."
"No," he said, quietly, "I can not draw up such a paper."
"Why?"
"Because it would be utterly without value."
"Very well, then, there must be some way by which I can buy my liberty.The money will be mine when I come of age."
"Yes, there is one way," he said, gazing at her intently.
"What is that, sir?"
"By signing the marriage register."
"That I shall never do," she said, rising slowly. "Once more, MrGarstang, I tell you that this money is valueless to me, and that I amready to give it to you for my liberty."
"And I tell you the simple truth--that you talk like the foolish childyou are. You cannot give away that which you do not possess. It is inthe keeping of your uncle, and the law would not allow you to give itaway like that."
"Does the law allow you to force me to be your wife, that you may, asmy husband, seize upon it?"
"The law will let you consent to be my wife," he said, wincing slightlyat her words.
"I have told you my decision," she said, coldly.
"Temporary decision," he said, smiling.
"And," she continued, "I shall wait until your reason has shown you thatwe are not living in the days of romance. Your treatment would behorrible in its baseness if it were not ridiculous. I own that I wasfrightened at first, but a night's calm thought has taught me how Istand, has given me strength of mind, and I shall wait."
"And so shall I," he said, gazing at her angrily as he leaned forward;but she did not shrink from his eyes, meeting them with calmcontemptuous indifference; and he sprang up at last with an angry oath.
"Once more, Kate," he said, "understand this: you must and shall be mywife. You may try and set me at defiance, shut yourself up in yourroom, and keep on making efforts to escape, but all is in vain. Iweighed all this well before I put my plans in execution. You hear me?"
"Every word," she said, coldly. "Now hear me, Mr Garstang. I shallnever consent to be your wife."
"We shall see that," he cried.
"I shall not shut myself up in my room, and I shall make no furtherattempt to leave this house. It would be too ridiculous. Sooner orlater my uncle will trace me, and call you to account. I shall keepnothing back, and if he thinks proper to prosecute you for what you havedone I shall be his willing witness."
"Then you would go back to Northwood?" he said, with a laugh.
"Yes; if my uncle were here I should return with him at once. I was animpressionable, weak girl when I listened to you that night I had faithin you then. Events since have made me a woman."
She rose again, and took a step or two to cross the room, and he sprangup to open the door.
"We shall see," he said, with an angry laugh.
"Thank you," she said, calmly. "I was not going upstairs." And to hisutter amazement she passed beyond him to one of the bookshelves, tookdown the volume she had been studying, and returned to her seat.
He stood gazing at her, utterly confounded; but she calmly opened thebook, and, utterly ignoring his presence, sat reading and turning overthe leaves.
There was a profound silence in the room for a few minutes, save thatthe clock on the chimney-piece kept on its monotonous tick; and thenGarstang strode angrily to the door, went out, and closed it heavilybehind him, while Kate uttered a low, deep sigh, and with her faceghastly and eyes closing, sank back in her chair.
The tension had been agonising, and she felt as if something in herbrain was giving way.