CHAPTER VI
A Departure
'The heart which like a staff was one For mine to lean and rest upon, The strongest on the longest day, With steadfast love, is caught away, And yet my days go on, go on.'--_E. B. Browning._
Miss Miller came to call with her brother a few days afterwards.Agatha and Elfie were busy putting some finishing touches to thedrawing-room when they arrived.
Miss Miller looked round the room, when she was seated, with someinterest; and then she said abruptly,--
'Too much furniture, and too many useless ornaments, my dears. Adrawing-room ought to be for use, and not for show. Who arranges yourflowers?'
She might well ask, for none but an artist's hand could have groupedtogether so harmoniously the daffodils and primroses, with trails ofivy and fern in their beds of moss.
'Clare does,' responded Elfie brightly, sitting down by her side,whilst Agatha turned to the vicar. 'She went out this morning andpicked them in a wood close to us. Aren't they lovely?'
'Not Major Lester's wood, I hope. He will not be best pleased to haveany one from this house trespassing in his places. Miss Dane, do youknow the history of your house?'
Agatha looked up, a little startled at the sharp voice. 'I did notknow it had any history,' she said.
'It is best you should know facts. No, Wilfrid, you need not stop me;they will hear our village gossip fast enough. To begin with--yourhouse used to be the old vicarage. It was built on the site of an oldmonastery. Our church is four hundred years old. The monastery cameto grief long before the church. When old Squire Lester died, most ofus thought the Hall would go to Mr. Tom. He had always been erraticand restless, spending most of his time abroad, and the squire neverforgave his marriage with a French artist's daughter. He disinheritedhim, and made his second son leave the army and come home. A couple ofyears after, Mr. Tom returned, having lost his wife, and bringing alittle son with him, a boy of four years. The old squire seemed torelent a little then, and was always having the child at the house.Mr. Tom, as we call him here, settled in this house, and was onfriendly terms with his father till his death. Major Lester then tookthe property. He had an only son, too; and the boys, being of the sameage, were much together; but their fathers would hardly speak to eachother, and were angry at the friendship between the boys. I rememberbeing at Major Lester's the very day of the sad event. I was callingon Mrs. Lester, and we heard a violent altercation going on in the hallbetween the brothers. Mr. Tom had come up for his son, who had madehim anxious by his non-appearance at home the night before. The ladshad been out for a night's rabbit-snaring with the gamekeeper, andAlick had slept at the Hall without the major's knowledge. I don'tknow why this should have led to such a violent quarrel, but Alick wassummoned from the stables, where he was found with his cousin Roger,and forbidden ever to put his foot on Major Lester's property again.Then and there the lads were separated; but as Mr. Tom marched off withhis son, he shouted out to his brother, "You'll live to see my sonstand in Roger's shoes yet, and the property will come back to therightful heir!"
'I remember Mrs. Lester turning to me, and trembling like a leaf: "Hewill murder Roger! The dreadful man!" she exclaimed; "that is the onlyway the property will come to Alick!"
'The very next day both boys were missing. Mr. Tom seemed quite asdistracted as his brother, but he declared he knew nothing of them, andfor a month no tidings were received, in spite of all the detectives atwork. Then came a letter from Alick, written for both of them, sayingthey had taken their passage together for Australia, and had alreadygot the promise of being taken on a farm; for they were made somiserable at home by the quarrels of their fathers, that they had"determined to clear out of it," and nothing would separate them fromeach other. They have not been in this neighbourhood since; but lastautumn news came that Roger had disappeared. Alick wrote, givingdetails:--"I think Roger was sent on some confidential errand by thefarmer, for he had money with him, and they fear that he was robbed,perhaps murdered on the way." Mrs. Lester, who was never very strong,took to her bed, and died a fortnight after the news was brought toher. But before she died she emphatically declared that Mr. Tom andhis son had decoyed Roger out of the country to make away with him; andAlick was solely responsible for his death. She persisted in thisuntil the major more than half believed it; and two days after thefuneral he came down here, and had another most violent quarrel withhis brother. It almost came to blows; and Mr. Tom decamped altogetherwithin a week from that time. I only tell you the story. Some peoplehere think badly of him, and his disappearance looks suspicious. Ofcourse he gave out that he was going to Australia to find out therights of it; but Major Lester does not believe this.'
'I wonder Major Lester does not go out himself,' said Agatha, feelingstrangely interested in this story.
'He is too crippled by gout to do so. He has put the matter into thehands of the police out there. It's a sad story. The major is mostregular at church, and highly respected in the neighbourhood. Mr. Tomis most erratic; I believe he has been seen in the Methodist chapeloccasionally, but won't put his foot inside our church; and he is noloss at all to the neighbourhood, for he lived the life of a recluse.I always look upon this house as an ill-omened place. I didn't tellyou that the last vicar who lived here died of delirium tremens. Hewas a disgrace to his profession, but that was thirty years ago. Thenew vicarage was built shortly after.' Miss Miller paused for breath,and her brother remarked, 'You must not prejudice the Miss Danes,Deborah, against their house. It is a quaint place, and its past neednot be recorded.'
'We are charmed with it,' said Agatha simply; 'and we have moved intoit at the right time. Spring in the country is always so delightful.'
Miss Miller was more agreeable when visiting than Agatha had hoped for,and though she insisted on the monopoly of the conversation, and gavethe good vicar little chance of putting in a word, yet Agatha felt thatthey would be pleasant neighbours. There was a good deal of discussionover the Lesters' history, but Gwen dismissed the subject in her usualway.
'Major Lester is another Jacob. There's nothing more to be said, andMr. Tom is a much-abused and misunderstood man!'
Agatha began to settle into her new life very happily. She becameengrossed in housekeeping for several hours every morning, and wasdelighted to hear of a seamstress who could come in and work by theday. Deb Howitt was sent for, and she proved a skilful and industriousneedlewoman, and amused and interested all who came in contact with herby her quaint remarks.
'Yes,' she remarked to Gwen, who had strolled into Agatha's bedroom onemorning, and found Deb seated on the floor shaping a refractory carpetthat would not fit, 'my sister is the stay-at-home, and I bring her thenews of the world as I pick it up when I'm out visitin'. It'ssurprisin' the stories of high and low life that I hear. I take it allin, and think it over while I'm stitchin', and come to many a wiseconclusion before I take it back with me and talk it over with Patty.'
'And what conclusion will you come to about us?' asked Gwen.
The old woman nodded her head with a meaning smile.
'Ay, well, ye're a house full of women, and there's an astonishin'little scoldin' and quarrellin'. I should say, taking the cluster ofyou together, that the one at either end keeps the peace in the middle.'
Gwen laughed delightedly. 'You are right: Agatha and Elfie are thepeace-makers, Clare and I the disturbing elements! What else?'
But Deb shook her head, and would say no more.
Clare and Gwen shared the study very amicably together, but both wereout of doors a great deal--Gwen tackling the untidy garden with a greatdeal of energy, but little experience; and Clare wandering about thelanes and fields, doing little, and dreaming much. Then came CaptainKnox's farewell visit, and it was a very short one. He appeared atseven o'clock one evening, just as the sisters were sitting down totheir high tea, which meal they had substituted for the orthodox dinnerto which they had been accustomed in London.
Clare's cheeks grew pale as she greeted him. 'How long have you?' sheasked, a little breathlessly.
'Till eight o'clock to-morrow morning. I must catch the 8.30 trainfrom Brambleton. We sail to-morrow afternoon.'
It was rather a silent meal, and being a rough, stormy night Clare tookhim off to the study directly afterwards. She was in the mood thatpleased her lover best: sweet and gentle, and showing more affectionthan she was wont to do, for she was not demonstrative usually.
'Hugh,' she said later in the evening, after sitting still and lettinghim do most of the talking, 'I wish I were going with you. I feel asif this parting is going to be a long one. I can't bear this wind andrain to-night--it makes me feel as if something awful is coming; it wasjust the same the first night we were here. I have a kind ofpresentiment about your going, as if something evil is coming upon us.Couldn't you give it up?'
Captain Knox smiled a little, though his face looked troubled as hedrew her closer to him.
'My darling, you would not really wish me to. We must look forward tosix months hence, when I return, and then, Clare, I shall wait nolonger. You must come to me for good and all.'
Clare did not reply for a minute, then gently slipping her hand intothe strong one near her, she said, very wistfully, 'Hugh, don't youthink we should both have more comfort if we had more religion? Ihaven't enough of it to satisfy me, I think. Now Agatha trustseverything in her life to--to God, and is never worried or anxious. Ican't do that, and oh, I'm so unsatisfied! You don't know how restlessand wretched I feel sometimes! I should like to be able to pray foryou properly when you are away, and feel that you were praying for me.'
Captain Knox was silent for a little, then he said quietly,--
'I have a certain amount of religion, as you know, and you couldn'thave too much for me, at least as long as you keep it to yourself. Ithink every woman is the better for being truly religious; but we menwho knock about amongst all kinds of evil, well, we can't expect to bevery devout. It is soon knocked out of one. Pray for me as much asyou like, darling; I need it!'
'I can't help thinking of Nannie's verse she gave me one evening,' saidClare, with a little sigh: '"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently forHim." It sounds so nice; but I don't know how to do it. And I am sureI shall need patience till you come back again!'
'We must write to each other, and think of next autumn. I shall notforget to send you the translation of those characters on that oldcupboard. I am convinced they are Arabic.'
'Oh, bother the cupboard!' was Clare's petulant retort. 'It is too badyou are going away for so long, and you take it so coolly. I don'tbelieve you mind a bit!'
Here she burst into a passion of tears, and poor Captain Knox, who wascontrolling his feelings for her sake, almost gave way himself.
It was not a happy evening, and Clare cried herself to sleep thatnight, feeling that she was the most unfortunate, wretched girl in theworld. She crept down the next morning with a white face to give himhis early breakfast, and then drove to Brambleton station with him; sono one saw the last parting. When she returned, she went upstairs toher room, and shut herself up for the rest of the morning.
'It is a pity Clare did not show her affection for him more when shewas with him,' said Gwen impatiently, when Agatha came to her in thestudy, and wondered if she should go up and try to comfort her. 'Ioften marvel at Hugh's infatuation for her. I don't believe she knowswhat real love is. She is so taken up with her own feelings and moods,that she has no time for his, and I think he is far too good for her.If she is so discontented before marriage, what will she be afterwards?He will have a miserable time of it, I am afraid!'
'You are too hard upon her! I daresay his absence will prove to herhow truly she loves him, for I am quite sure she does.'
'I have no patience with her!' said Gwen shortly; and then she buriedherself in her book again, whilst Agatha went away and shed some tearsherself over Captain Knox's departure.