CHAPTER XXXVII
SOME ANSWER TO IT
Hasty indignation did not drive me to hot action. A quiet talk withMrs. Price, as soon as my cousin's bad hour arrived, was quite enough tobring me back to a sense of my own misgovernment. Moreover, the eveningclouds were darkening for a night of thunder, while the silver Thameslooked nothing more than a leaden pipe down the valleys. Calm words fallat such times on quick temper like the drip of trees on people whohave been dancing. I shivered, as my spirit fell, to think of my weakexcitement, and poor petulance to a kind, wise friend, a man of manysorrows and perpetual affliction. And then I recalled what I hadobserved, but in my haste forgotten--Lord Castlewood was greatly changedeven in the short time since I had left his house for Shoxford. Pale hehad always been, and his features (calm as they were, and finely cut)seemed almost bleached by in-door life and continual endurance. Butnow they showed worse sign than this--a delicate transparence of faintcolor, and a waxen surface, such as I had seen at a time I can not bearto think of. Also he had tottered forward, while he tried for steadfastfooting, quite as if his worried members were almost worn out at last.
Mrs. Price took me up quite sharply--at least for one of herwell-trained style--when I ventured to ask if she had noticed this,which made me feel uneasy. "Oh dear, no!" she said, looking up fromthe lace-frilled pockets of her silk apron, which appeared to my mindperhaps a little too smart, and almost of a vulgar tincture; and I thinkthat she saw in my eyes that much, and was vexed with herself for notchanging it--"oh dear, no, Miss Castlewood! We who know and watchhim should detect any difference of that nature at the moment of itsoccurrence. His lordship's health goes vacillating; a little up now,and then a little down, like a needle that is mounted to show the dipof compass; and it varies according to the electricity, as well as themagnetic influence."
"What doctor told you that?" I asked, seeing in a moment that thishousekeeper was dealing in quotation.
"You are very"--she was going to say "rude," but knew better when shesaw me waiting for it--"well, you are rather brusque, as we used to callit abroad, Miss Castlewood; but am I incapable of observing for myself?"
"I never implied that," was my answer. "I believe that you are mostintelligent, and fit to nurse my cousin, as you are to keep hishouse. And what you have said shows the clearness of your memory andexpression."
"You are very good to speak so," she answered, recovering her temperbeautifully, but, like a true woman, resolved not to let me know anything more about it. "Oh, what a clap of thunder! Are you timid? Thishouse has been struck three times, they say. It stands so prominently.It is this that has made my lord look so."
"Let us hope, then to see him much better to-morrow," I said, verybravely, though frightened at heart, being always a coward of thunder."What are these storms you get in England compared to the tropicaloutbursts? Let us open the window, if you please, and watch it."
"I hear myself called," Mrs. Price exclaimed. "I am sorry to leave you,miss. You know best. But please not to sit by an open window; nothing ismore dangerous."
"Except a great bunch of steel keys," I replied; and gazing at her niceretreating figure, saw it quickened, as a flash of lightning passed,with the effort of both hands to be quit of something.
The storm was dreadful; and I kept the window shut, but could not helpwatching, with a fearful joy, the many-fingered hazy pale vibrations,the reflections of the levin in the hollow of the land. And sadly Ibegan to think of Uncle Sam and all his goodness; and how in a storm,a thousandfold of this, he went down his valley in the torrent of thewaves, and must have been drowned, and perhaps never found again, if hehad not been wearing his leathern apron.
This made me humble, as all great thoughts do, and the sidelong drizzlein among the heavy rain (from the big drops jostling each other in theair, and dashing out splashes of difference) gave me an idea of the sortof thing I was--and how very little more. And feeling rather lonely inthe turn that things had taken, I rang the bell for somebody; and upcame Stixon.
"Lor', miss! Lor', what a burning shame of Prick!--'Prick' we call her,in our genial moments, hearing as the 'k' is hard in Celtic language;and all abroad about her husband. My very first saying to you was, notto be too much okkipied with her. Look at the pinafore on her! Lord bewith me! If his lordship, as caught me, that day of this very same monthfifty years, in the gooseberry bush--"
"To be sure!" I said, knowing that story by heart, together with all itsembellishments; "but things are altered since that day. Nothing can bemore to your credit, I am sure, than to be able to tell such a tale inthe very place where it happened."
"But, Miss--Miss Erma, I ain't begun to tell it."
"Because you remember that I am acquainted with it. A thing soremarkable is not to be forgotten. Now let me ask you a question ofimportance; and I beg you, as an old servant of this family, toanswer it carefully and truly. Do you remember any one, either here orelsewhere, so like my father, Captain Castlewood, as to be taken forhim at first sight, until a difference of expression and of walk wasnoticed?"
Mr. Stixon looked at me with some surprise, and then began to thinkprofoundly, and in doing so he supported his chin with one hand.
"Let me see--like the Captain?" He reflected slowly: "Did I ever see agentleman like poor Master George, as was? A gentleman, of course, itmust have been--and a very tall, handsome, straight gentleman, to betaken anyhow for young Master George. And he must have been very likehim, too, to be taken for him by resemblance. Well then, miss, to thebest of my judgment, I never did see such a gentleman."
"I don't know whether it was a gentleman or not," I answered, withsome impatience at his tantalizing slowness; "but he carried his chinstretched forth--like this."
For Stixon's own attitude had reminded me of a little point in JacobRigg's description, which otherwise might have escaped me.
"Lor', now, and he carried his chin like that!" resumed the butler, withan increase of intelligence by no means superfluous. "Why, let me see,now, let me see. Something do come across my mind when you puts out yourpurty chin, miss; but there, it must have been a score of years agone,or more--perhaps five-and-twenty. What a daft old codger I be getting,surely! No wonder them new lights puts a bushel over me."
"No," I replied; "you are simply showing great power of memory, Stixon.And now please to tell me, as soon as you can, who it was--a tall man,remember, and a handsome one, with dark hair, perhaps, or at any ratedark eyes--who resembled (perhaps not very closely, but still enough tomislead at a distance) my dear father--Master George, as you call him,for whose sake you are bound to tell me every thing you know. Now try tothink--do please try your very best, for my sake."
"That I will, miss; that I will, with all my heart, with all my mind,with all my soul, and with all my strength, as I used to have to saywith my hands behind my back, afore education were invented. Only pleaseyou to stand with your chin put out, miss, and your profield towards me.That is what brings it up, and nothing else at all, miss. Only, not tosay a word of any sort to hurry me. A tracherous and a deep thing is thememory and the remembrance."
Mr. Stixon's memory was so deep that there seemed to be no bottom to it,or, at any rate, what lay there took a very long time to get at. And Iwaited, with more impatience than hope, the utterance of his researches.
"I got it now; I got it all, miss, clear as any pictur'!" the old mancried out, at the very moment when I was about to say, "Please to leaveoff; I am sure it is too much for you." "Not a pictur' in all of ourgallery, miss, two-and-fifty of 'em, so clear as I see that there man,dark as it was, and a heavy wind a-blowing. What you call them things,miss, if you please, as comes with the sun, like a face upon the water?Wicked things done again the will of the Lord, and He makes them fadeout afterwards."
"Perhaps you mean photographs. Is that the word?"
"The very word, and no mistake. A sinful trespass on the works of God,to tickle the vanity of gals. But he never spread himself abroad likethem. They shows all their ear-rin
gs, and their necks, and smiles. Buthe never would have shown his nose, if he could help it, that stormynight when I come to do my duty. He come into this house without so muchas a 'by your leave' to nobody, and vexed me terrible accordingly. Itwas in the old lord's time, you know, miss, a one of the true sort, aswould have things respectful, and knock down any man as soon as look.And it put me quite upon the touch-and-go, being responsible for allthe footman's works, and a young boy promoted in the face of my opinion,having my own son worth a dozen of him. This made me look at the natureof things, miss, and find it on my conscience to be after every body."
"Yes, Stixon, yes! Now do go on. You must always have been, not onlyafter, but a very long way after, every body."
"Miss Erma, if you throw me out, every word goes promiscuous. In aheffort of the mind like this it is every word, or no word. Now, didI see him come along the big passage?--a 'currydoor' they call it now,though no more curry in it than there is door. No, I never seed him comealong the passage, and that made it more reproachful. He come out ofa green-baize door--the very place I can point out to you, and theselfsame door, miss, though false to the accuracy of the mind that knowsit, by reason of having been covered up red, and all the brass buttonslost to it in them new-fangled upholsteries. Not that I see him comethrough, if you please, but the sway of the door, being double-jointed,was enough to show legs, had been there. And knowing that my lord'sprivate room was there, made me put out my legs quite wonderful."
"Oh, do please to put out your words half as quickly."
"No, miss, no. I were lissome in those days, though not so very stiffat this time of speaking, and bound to be guarded in the guidance of thetongue. And now, miss, I think if you please to hear the rest to-morrow,I could tell it better."
A more outrageous idea than this was never presented to me. Even if Icould have tried to wait, this dreadful old man might have made up hismind not to open his lips in the morning, or, if he would speak, theremight be nothing left to say. His memory was nursed up now, and my onlychance was to keep it so. Therefore I begged him to please to go on, andno more would I interrupt him. And I longed to be ten years older, so asnot to speak when needless.
"So then, Miss Erma, if I must go on," resumed the well-coaxed Stixon,"if my duty to the family driveth me to an 'arrowing subjeck, no wordscan more justly tell what come to pass than my language to my wife. Shewere alive then, the poor dear hangel, and the mother of seven children,which made me, by your leave comparing humble roofs with grandeur, alittle stiff to him up stairs, as come in on the top of seven. For Isaid to my wife when I went home--sleeping out of the house, you see,miss, till the Lord was pleased to dissolve matrimony--'Polly,' Isaid, when I took home my supper, 'you may take my word for it there issomething queer.' Not another word did I mean to tell her, as behoovedmy dooty. Howsoever, no peace was my lot till I made a clean bosom ofit, only putting her first on the Testament, and even that not safe withmost of them. And from that night not a soul has heard a word till itcomes to you, miss. He come striding along, with his face muffled up,for all the world like a bugglar, and no more heed did he pay to me thanif I was one of the pedestals. But I were in front of him at the door,and to slip out so was against all orders. So in front of him I stands,with my hand upon the handles, and meaning to have a word with him, toknow who he was, and such like, and how he comes there, and what he hadbeen seeking, with the spoons and the forks and the gravies on my mind.And right I would have been in a court of law (if the lawyers was putout of it) for my hefforts in that situation. And then, what do youthink he done, miss? So far from entering into any conversation with me,or hitting at me, like a man--which would have done good to think of--hesend out one hand to the bottom of my vest--as they call it now in allthe best livery tailors--and afore I could reason on it, there I wasa-lying on a star in six colors of marble. When I come to think on it,it was but a push directed to a part of my system, and not a hitunder the belt, the like of which no Briton would think of delivering.Nevertheless, there was no differ in what came to me, miss, and myspirit was roused, as if I had been hit foul by one of the prizemen.No time to get up, but I let out one foot at his long legs as a' wasslipping through the door, and so nearly did I fetch him over that helet go his muffle to balance himself with the jamb, and same moment astrong rush of wind laid bare the whole of his wicked face to me. For abad wicked face it was, as ever I did see; whether by reason of the kickI gave, and a splinter in the shin, or by habit of the mind, a proud and'aughty and owdacious face, and, as I said to my poor wife, reminded mea little of our Master George; not in his ordinary aspect, to be sure,but as Master George might look if he was going to the devil. Prayexcoose me, miss, for bad words, but no good ones will do justice.And so off he goes, after one look at me on the ground, not worthconsidering, with his chin stuck up, as if the air was not good enoughto be breathed perpendiklar like."
"And of course you followed him," I exclaimed, perceiving that Stixonwould allow me now to speak. "Without any delay you went after him."
"Miss Erma, you forget what my dooty was. My dooty was to stay by thedoor and make it fast, as custodian of all this mansion. No littlecoorosity, or private resentment, could 'a borne me out in doing so. Asan outraged man I was up for rushing out, but as a trusted official, andresponsible head footman, miss--for I were not butler till nine monthsafter that--my dooty was to put the big bolt in."
"And you did it, without even looking out to see if he tried to set thehouse on fire! Oh, Stixon, I fear that you were frightened."
"Now, Miss Erma, I calls it ungrateful, after all my hefforts to obleegeyou, to put a bad construction upon me. You hurts me, miss, in mytenderest parts, as I never thought Master George's darter would 'adoed. But there, they be none of them as they used to be! Master Georgewould 'a said, if he ever had heard it. 'Stixon, my man, you have actedfor the best, and showed a sound discretion. Stixon,' he would havesaid, 'here's a George and Dragon in reward of your gallant conduck.'Ah, that sort of manliness is died out now."
This grated at first upon my feelings, because it seemed tainted withselfishness, and it did not entirely agree with my own recollectionsof my father. But still Mr. Stixon must have suffered severely in thatconflict, and to blame him for not showing rashness was to misunderstandhis position. And so, before putting any other questions to him, I feltin my pocket for a new half sovereign, which I hoped would answer.
Mr. Stixon received it in an absent manner, as if he were still in thestruggle of his story, and too full of duty to be thankful. Yet Isaw that he did not quite realize the truth of a nobly philosophicproverb--"the half is more than the whole." Nevertheless, he stowed awayhis half, in harmony with a good old English saying.
"Now, when you were able to get up at last," I inquired, with tenderinterest, "what did you see, and what did you do, and what conclusiondid you come to?"
"I came to the conclusion, miss, that I were hurt considerable.Coorosity on my part were quenched by the way as I had to rub myself.But a man is a man, and the last thing to complain of is the exercise ofhis functions. And when I come round I went off to his lordship, as ifI had heared his bell ring. All of us knew better than to speak till himbeginning, for he were not what they now call 'halfable,' but very muchto the contrary. So he says, 'You door-skulker, what do you want there?'And I see that he got his hot leg up, certain to fly to bad language.According, I asked, with my breath in my hand, if he pleased to see anyyoung man there just now, by reason that such likes had been observatedgoing out in some direction. But his lordship roared to me to go inanother direction, not fit for young ladies. My old lord was up to everyword of English; but his present lordship is the hopposite extreme."
"Is that all you have to tell me, Stixon? Did you never see that fearfulman again? Did you never even hear of him?"
"Never, miss, never! And to nobody but you have I ever told all as Itold now. But you seems to be born to hear it all."