CHAPTER XI.
Mrs. Hazleton was looking as beautiful as she had been attwenty--perhaps more so; for the few last years before the process ofdecay commences, sometimes adds rather than detracts from woman'sloveliness. She was dressed with great skill and taste too; nay, evenwith peculiar care. The hair, which had not yet even one silver threadin its wavy mass, was so arranged as to hide, in some degree, thatheight and width of forehead which gave almost too intellectual anexpression to her countenance--which, upon some occasions, renderedthe expression (for the features were all feminine) more that of a manthan that of a woman. Her dress was very simple in appearance thoughcostly in material; but it had been chosen and fitted by the nicestart, of colors which best harmonized with her complexion, and in formsrather to indicate beauties than to display them.
Thus attired, with grace and dignity in every motion, she advanced tomeet Sir Philip Hastings, frankly holding out her hand to him, andbeaming on him one of her most lustrous smiles. It was all thrown awayupon him indeed; but that did not matter. It had its effect in anotherquarter. She then turned to the younger gentleman with a greaterdegree of reserve in manner, but yet, as she spoke to him and welcomedhim to her house, the color deepened on her cheek with a blush thatwould not have been lost to Sir Philip if he had been at all in thecustom of making use of them. They had evidently met before, but notoften and her words, "Good evening, Mr. Marlow, I am glad to see youat my house at length," were said in the tone if one who was reallyglad, but did not wish to show it too plainly.
"You have come with my friend, Sir Philip Hastings," she added; "I didnot know you were acquainted."
"Nor were we, my dear madam, till this evening," replied the Baronet,speaking for himself and his companion of the road, "till we met byaccident on the hill-side on our way hither. We had a somewhatunpleasant encounter with a notorious personage of the name of TomCutter, which brought us first into acquaintance; though, till youuttered it, my young friend's name was unknown to me."
"Tom Cutter! is that the man who poaches all my game?" said the lady,in a musing tone.
Nor was she musing of Tom Cutter, or the lost game, or of the sins andiniquities of poaching; neither one or the other. The exclamation andinquiry taken together were only one of those little half-unconsciousstratagems of human nature, by which we often seek to amuse the otherparties in conversation--and sometimes amuse our own outward mantoo--while the little spirit within is busily occupied with somequestion which we do not wish our interlocutors to have any thing todo with. She was asking herself, in fact, what had been theconversation with which Sir Philip Hastings and Mr. Marlow hadbeguiled the way--whether they had talked of her--whether they hadtalked of her affairs--and how she could best get some information onthe subject without seeming to seek it.
She soon had an opportunity of considering the matter more at leisure,for Sir Philip Hastings, with some remark as to "dusty dresses notbeing fit for ladies' drawing-rooms," retired for a time to thechamber prepared for him. The fair lady of the house detained Mr.Marlow indeed for a few minutes, talking with him in a pleasant andgentle tone, and making her bright eyes do their best in the way ofcaptivating. She expressed regret that she had not seen him morefrequently, and expressed a hope, in very graceful terms, that eventhe painful question, which those troublesome men of law had startedbetween them, might be a means of ripening their acquaintance intofriendship.
The young gentleman replied with all gallantry, but with duediscretion, and then retired to his room to change his dress. Hecertainly was a very good-looking young man; finely formed, and with apleasing though not regularly handsome countenance; and perhaps heleft Mrs. Hazleton other matters to meditate of than the topics of hisconversation with Sir Philip Hastings. Certain it is, that when thebaronet returned very shortly after, he found his beautiful hostess ina profound reverie, from which his sudden entrance made her start witha bewildered look not common to her.
"I am very glad to talk to you for a few moments alone, my dearfriend," said Mrs. Hazleton, after a moment's pause. "This Mr. Marlowis the gentleman who claims the very property on which you now stand;"and she proceeded to give her hearer, partly by spontaneousexplanations, partly by answers to his questions, her own view of thecase between herself and Mr. Marlow; laboring hard and skilfully toprepossess the mind of Sir Philip Hastings with a conviction of herrights as opposed to that of her young guest.
"Do you mean to say, my dear madam," asked Sir Philip, "that he claimsthe whole of this large property? That would be a heavy blow indeed."
"Oh, dear, no," replied the lady; "the great bulk of the property ismine beyond all doubt, but the land on which this house stands, andrather more than a thousand acres round it, was bought by my poorfather before I was born, I believe, as affording the most eligiblesite for a mansion. He never liked the old house near your place, andbuilt this for himself. Mr. Marlow's lawyers now declare that hisgrand-uncle, who sold the land to my father, had no power to sell it;that the property was strictly entailed."
"That will be easily ascertained," said Sir Philip Hastings; "and I amafraid, my dear madam, if that should prove the case, you will have noremedy but to give up the property."
"But is not that very hard?" asked Mrs. Hazleton, "the Marlowscertainly had the money."
"That will make no difference," replied Sir Philip, musing; "thisyoung man's grand-uncle may have wronged your father; but he is notresponsible for the act, and I am very much afraid, moreover, that hisclaim may not be limited to the property itself. Back rents, Isuspect, might be claimed."
"Ay, that is what my lawyer, Mr. Shanks, says," replied Mrs. Hazleton,with a bewildered look; "he tells me that if Mr. Marlow is successfulin the suit, I shall have to pay the whole of the rents of the land.But Shanks added that he was quite certain of beating him if we couldretain for our counsel Sargeant Tutham and Mr. Doubledo."
"Shanks is a rogue," said Sir Philip Hastings, in a calm, equabletone; "and the two lawyers you have named bear the reputation of beinglearned and unscrupulous men. The first point, my dear madam, is toascertain whether this young gentleman's claim is just, and then todeal with him equitably, which, in the sense I affix to the term, maybe somewhat different from legal."
"I really do not know what to do," cried Mrs. Hazleton, with a slightlaugh, as if at her own perplexity. "I Was never in such a situationin my life;" and then she added, very rapidly and in a jocular tone,as if she were afraid of pausing upon or giving force to any one word,"if my poor father had been alive, he would have settled it all afterhis own way soon enough. He was a great match-maker you know, SirPhilip, and he would have proposed, in spite of all obstacles, amarriage between the two parties, to settle the affair by matrimonyinstead of by law," and she laughed again as if the very idea wasridiculous.
Unlearned Sir Philip thought so too, and most improperly replied, "Thedifference of age would of course put that out of the question;" norwhen he had committed the indiscretion, did he perceive the red spotwhich came upon Mrs. Hazleton's fair brow, and indicated sufficientlyenough the effect his words had produced. There was an ominous silentpause, however, for a minute, and then the Baronet was the person toresume the discourse in his usual calm, argumentative tone. "I do notthink," he said, "from Mr. Marlow's demeanor or conversation, that heis likely to be very exacting in this matter. His claim, however, mustbe looked to in the first place, before we admit any thing on yourpart. If the property was really entailed, he has undoubtedly a rightto it, both in honesty and in law; but methinks there he might limithis claim if his sense of real equity be strong; but the entail mustbe made perfectly clear before you can admit so much as that."
"Well, well, sir," said Mrs. Hazleton, hastily, for she heard a stepon the outer stairs, "I will leave it entirely to you, Sir Philip, Iam sure you will take good care of my interests."
Sir Philip did not altogether like the word interests, and bowing hishead somewhat stiffly, he added, "and of your honor, my dear madam."
Mrs. Hazle
ton liked his words as little as he did hers, and shecolored highly. She made no reply, indeed, but his words that nightwere never forgotten.
The next moment Mr. Marlow entered the room with a quiet, easy air,evidently quite unconscious of having been the subject ofconversation. During the evening he paid every sort of politeattention to his fair hostess, and undoubtedly showed signs andsymptoms of thinking her a very beautiful and charming woman. Whateverwas her game, take my word for it, reader, she played it skilfully,and the very fact of her retiring early, at the very moment when shehad made the most favorable impression, leaving Sir Philip Hastings toentertain Mr. Marlow at supper, was not without its calculation.
As soon as the lady was gone, Sir Philip turned to the topic of Mrs.Hazleton's business with his young companion, and managed the mattermore skilfully than might have been expected. He simply told him thatMrs. Hazleton had mentioned a claim made upon her estate by hislawyers, and had thought it better to leave the investigation of theaffair to her friend, rather than to professional persons.
A frank good-humored smile came upon Mr. Marlow's face at once. "I amnot a rich man, Sir Philip," he said, "and make no professions ofgenerosity, but, at the same time, as my grand-uncle undoubtedly hadthis money from Mrs. Hazleton's father, I should most likely neverhave troubled her on the subject, but that this very estate is theoriginal seat of our family, on which we can trace our ancestors backthrough many centuries. The property was undoubtedly entailed, myfather and my uncle were still living when it was sold, and performedno disentailing act whatever. This is perfectly susceptible of proof,and though my claim may put Mrs. Hazleton to some inconvenience, I amanxious to avoid putting her to any pain. Now I have come down with aproposal which I confidently trust you will think reasonable. Indeed,I expected to find her lawyer here rather than an independent friend,and I was assured that my proposal would be accepted immediately, bypersons who judged of my rights more sanely perhaps than I could."
"May I hear what the proposal is?" asked Sir Philip.
"Assuredly," replied Mr. Marlow, "it is this: that in the first placeMrs. Hazleton should appoint some gentleman of honor, either at thebar or not, as she may think fit, to investigate my claim, with myselfor some other gentleman on my part, with right to call in a third asumpire between them. I then propose that if my claim should bedistinctly proved, Mrs. Hazleton should surrender to me the lands inquestion, I repaying her the sum which my grand-uncle received, and--"
"Stay," said Sir Philip Hastings, "are you aware that the law wouldnot oblige you to do that?"
"Perfectly," replied Mr. Marlow, "and indeed I am not very sure thatequity would require it either, for I do not know that my father everreceived any benefit from the money paid to his uncle. He may havereceived a part however, without my knowing it, for I would rather erron the right side than on the wrong. I then propose that the rents ofthe estate, as shown by the leases, and fair interest upon the valueof the ground surrounding this house, should be computed during thetime that it has been out of our possession, while on the other handthe legal interest of the money paid for the property should becalculated for the same period, the smaller sum deducted from thelarger, and the balance paid by me to Mrs. Hazleton or by Mrs.Hazleton to me, so as to replace every thing in the same state as ifthis unfortunate sale had never taken place."
Sir Philip Hastings mused without reply for more than one minute. Thatis a long time to muse, and many may be the thoughts and feelingswhich pass through the breast of man during that space. They were manyin the present instance, and it would not be very easy to separate ordefine them. Sir Philip thought of all the law would have granted tothe young claimant under the circumstances of the case: the wholeproperty, all the back rents, every improvement that had been made,the splendid mansion in which they were then standing, without thepayment on his part of a penny: he compared these legal rights withwhat he now proposed, and he saw that he had indeed gone a great wayon the generous side of equity. There was something very fine andnoble in this conduct, something that harmonized well with his ownheart and feelings. There was no exaggeration, no romance about it: hespoke in the tone of a man of business doing a right thing wellconsidered, and the Baronet was satisfied in every respect but one.Mrs. Hazleton's words I must not say had created a suspicion, but hadsuggested the idea that other feelings might be acting between her andhis young companion, notwithstanding the difference of age which hehad so bluntly pointed out, and he resolved to inquire farther.
In the mean time, however, Mr. Marlow somewhat misinterpreted hissilence, and he added, after waiting longer than was pleasant, "Ofcourse you understand, Sir Philip, that if two or three honest mendecide that my case is unfounded--although I know that cannot be thecase--I agree to drop it at once and renounce it for ever. Mysolicitors and counsel in London judged the offer a fair one atleast."
"And so do I," said Sir Philip Hastings, emphatically; "however, Imust speak with Mrs. Hazleton upon the subject, and express my opinionto her. Pray, have you the papers regarding your claim with you?"
"I have attested copies," replied Mr. Marlow, "and I can bring them toyou in a moment. They are so unusually clear, and seem to put thematter so completely beyond all doubt, that I brought them down tosatisfy Mrs. Hazleton and her solicitor, without farther trouble, thatmy demand at least had some foundation in justice."
The papers were immediately brought, and sitting down deliberately,Sir Philip Hastings went through them with his young friend, carefullyweighing every word. They left not even a doubt on his mind; theyseemed not to leave a chance even for the chicanery of the law, theywere clear, precise, and definite. And the generosity of the youngman's offer stood out even more conspicuously than before.
"For my part, I am completely satisfied," said Sir Philip Hastings,when he had done the examination, "and I have no doubt that Mrs.Hazleton will be so likewise. She is an excellent and amiable person,as well as a very beautiful woman. Have you known her long? have youseen her often?"
"Only once, and that about a year ago," replied Mr. Marlow; "she isindeed very beautiful as you say--for a woman of her period of liferemarkably so; she puts me very much in mind of my mother, whom I inthe confidence of youthful affection used to call 'my everlasting.' Irecollect doing so only three days before the hand of death wrote uponher brow the vanity of all such earthly thoughts."
Sir Philip Hastings was satisfied. There was nothing like passionthere. Unobservant as he was in most things, he was more clear-sightedin regard to matters of love, than any other affection of the humanmind. He had himself loved deeply and intensely, and he had notforgotten it.
It was necessary, before any thing could be concluded, to wait forMrs. Hazleton's rising on the following morning; and, bidding Mr.Marlow good night with a warm grasp of the hand, Sir Philip Hastingsretired to his room and passed nearly an hour in thought, ponderingthe character of his new acquaintance, recalling every trait he hadremarked, and every word he had heard. It was a very satisfactorycontemplation. He never remembered to have met with one who seemed soentirely a being after his own heart. There might be little flaws,little weaknesses perhaps, but the confirming power of time andexperience would, he thought, strengthen all that was good, andcounsel and example remedy all that was weak or light.
"At all events," thought the Baronet, "his conduct on this occasionshows a noble and equitable spirit. We shall see how Mrs. Hazletonmeets it to-morrow."
When that morrow came, he had to see the reverse of the picture, butit must be reserved for another chapter.