XXVII
All night the astronomer's mind was on the stretch with curiosity as towhat the Bishop could wish to say to him. A dozen conjectures enteredhis brain, to be abandoned in turn as unlikely. That which finallyseemed the most plausible was that the Bishop, having become interestedin his pursuits, and entertaining friendly recollections of his father,was going to ask if he could do anything to help him on in the professionhe had chosen. Should this be the case, thought the suddenly sanguineyouth, it would seem like an encouragement to that spirit of firmnesswhich had led him to reject his late uncle's offer because it involvedthe renunciation of Lady Constantine.
At last he fell asleep; and when he awoke it was so late that the hourwas ready to solve what conjecture could not. After a hurried breakfasthe paced across the fields, entering the churchyard by the south gateprecisely at the appointed minute.
The inclosure was well adapted for a private interview, being bounded bybushes of laurel and alder nearly on all sides. He looked round; theBishop was not there, nor any living creature save himself. Swithin satdown upon a tombstone to await Bishop Helmsdale's arrival.
While he sat he fancied he could hear voices in conversation not far off,and further attention convinced him that they came from LadyConstantine's lawn, which was divided from the churchyard by a high walland shrubbery only. As the Bishop still delayed his coming, though thetime was nearly eleven, and as the lady whose sweet voice mingled withthose heard from the lawn was his personal property, Swithin becameexceedingly curious to learn what was going on within that screenedpromenade. A way of doing so occurred to him. The key was in the churchdoor; he opened it, entered, and ascended to the ringers' loft in thewest tower. At the back of this was a window commanding a full view ofViviette's garden front.
The flowers were all in gayest bloom, and the creepers on the walls ofthe house were bursting into tufts of young green. A broad gravel-walkran from end to end of the facade, terminating in a large conservatory.In the walk were three people pacing up and down. Lady Constantine's wasthe central figure, her brother being on one side of her, and on theother a stately form in a corded shovel-hat of glossy beaver and blackbreeches. This was the Bishop. Viviette carried over her shoulder asunshade lined with red, which she twirled idly. They were laughing andchatting gaily, and when the group approached the churchyard many oftheir remarks entered the silence of the church tower through theventilator of the window.
The conversation was general, yet interesting enough to Swithin. Atlength Louis stepped upon the grass and picked up something that had lainthere, which turned out to be a bowl: throwing it forward he took asecond, and bowled it towards the first, or jack. The Bishop, who seemedto be in a sprightly mood, followed suit, and bowled one in a curvetowards the jack, turning and speaking to Lady Constantine as heconcluded the feat. As she had not left the gravelled terrace he raisedhis voice, so that the words reached Swithin distinctly.
'Do you follow us?' he asked gaily.
'I am not skilful,' she said. 'I always bowl narrow.'
The Bishop meditatively paused.
'This moment reminds one of the scene in _Richard the Second_,' he said.'I mean the Duke of York's garden, where the queen and her two ladiesplay, and the queen says--
"What sport shall we devise here in this garden, To drive away the heavy thought of care?"
To which her lady answers, "Madam, we'll play at bowls."'
'That's an unfortunate quotation for you,' said Lady Constantine; 'for ifI don't forget, the queen declines, saying, "Twill make me think theworld is full of rubs, and that my fortune runs against the bias."'
'Then I cite _mal a propos_. But it is an interesting old game, andmight have been played at that very date on this very green.'
The Bishop lazily bowled another, and while he was doing it Viviette'sglance rose by accident to the church tower window, where she recognizedSwithin's face. Her surprise was only momentary; and waiting till bothher companions' backs were turned she smiled and blew him a kiss. Inanother minute she had another opportunity, and blew him another;afterwards blowing him one a third time.
Her blowings were put a stop to by the Bishop and Louis throwing down thebowls and rejoining her in the path, the house clock at the momentstriking half-past eleven.
'This is a fine way of keeping an engagement,' said Swithin to himself.'I have waited an hour while you indulge in those trifles!'
He fumed, turned, and behold somebody was at his elbow: Tabitha Lark.Swithin started, and said, 'How did you come here, Tabitha?'
'In the course of my calling, Mr. St. Cleeve,' said the smiling girl. 'Icome to practise on the organ. When I entered I saw you up here throughthe tower arch, and I crept up to see what you were looking at. TheBishop is a striking man, is he not?'
'Yes, rather,' said Swithin.
'I think he is much devoted to Lady Constantine, and I am glad of it.Aren't you?'
'O yes--very,' said Swithin, wondering if Tabitha had seen the tenderlittle salutes between Lady Constantine and himself.
'I don't think she cares much for him,' added Tabitha judicially. 'Or,even if she does, she could be got away from him in no time by a youngerman.'
'Pooh, that's nothing,' said Swithin impatiently.
Tabitha then remarked that her blower had not come to time, and that shemust go to look for him; upon which she descended the stairs, and leftSwithin again alone.
A few minutes later the Bishop suddenly looked at his watch, LadyConstantine having withdrawn towards the house. Apparently apologizingto Louis the Bishop came down the terrace, and through the door into thechurchyard. Swithin hastened downstairs and joined him in the path underthe sunny wall of the aisle.
Their glances met, and it was with some consternation that Swithin beheldthe change that a few short minutes had wrought in that episcopalcountenance. On the lawn with Lady Constantine the rays of an almostperpetual smile had brightened his dark aspect like flowers in a shadyplace: now the smile was gone as completely as yesterday; the lines ofhis face were firm; his dark eyes and whiskers were overspread withgravity; and, as he gazed upon Swithin from the repose of his stablefigure it was like an evangelized King of Spades come to have it out withthe Knave of Hearts.
* * * * *
To return for a moment to Louis Glanville. He had been somewhat struckwith the abruptness of the Bishop's departure, and more particularly bythe circumstance that he had gone away by the private door into thechurchyard instead of by the regular exit on the other side. True, greatmen were known to suffer from absence of mind, and Bishop Helmsdale,having a dim sense that he had entered by that door yesterday, might haveunconsciously turned thitherward now. Louis, upon the whole, thoughtlittle of the matter, and being now left quite alone on the lawn, heseated himself in an arbour and began smoking.
The arbour was situated against the churchyard wall. The atmosphere wasas still as the air of a hot-house; only fourteen inches of brickworkdivided Louis from the scene of the Bishop's interview with St. Cleeve,and as voices on the lawn had been audible to Swithin in the churchyard,voices in the churchyard could be heard without difficulty from thatclose corner of the lawn. No sooner had Louis lit a cigar than thedialogue began.
'Ah, you are here, St. Cleeve,' said the Bishop, hardly replying toSwithin's good morning. 'I fear I am a little late. Well, my request toyou to meet me may have seemed somewhat unusual, seeing that we werestrangers till a few hours ago.'
'I don't mind that, if your lordship wishes to see me.'
'I thought it best to see you regarding your confirmation yesterday; andmy reason for taking a more active step with you than I should otherwisehave done is that I have some interest in you through having known yourfather when we were undergraduates. His rooms were on the same staircasewith mine at All Angels, and we were friendly till time and affairsseparated us even more completely than usually happens. However, aboutyour presenting yourself for confirmation.' (The Bishop's voice grewst
ern.) 'If I had known yesterday morning what I knew twelve hourslater, I wouldn't have confirmed you at all.'
'Indeed, my lord!'
'Yes, I say it, and I mean it. I visited your observatory last night.'
'You did, my lord.'
'In inspecting it I noticed something which I may truly describe asextraordinary. I have had young men present themselves to me who turnedout to be notoriously unfit, either from giddiness, from being profane orintemperate, or from some bad quality or other. But I never remember acase which equalled the cool culpability of this. While infringing thefirst principles of social decorum you might at least have respected theordinance sufficiently to have stayed away from it altogether. Now Ihave sent for you here to see if a last entreaty and a direct appeal toyour sense of manly uprightness will have any effect in inducing you tochange your course of life.'
The voice of Swithin in his next remark showed how tremendously thisattack of the Bishop had told upon his feelings. Louis, of course, didnot know the reason why the words should have affected him precisely asthey did; to any one in the secret the double embarrassment arising frommisapprehended ethics and inability to set matters right, because hisword of secrecy to another was inviolable, would have accounted for theyoung man's emotion sufficiently well.
'I am very sorry your lordship should have seen anything objectionable,'said Swithin. 'May I ask what it was?'
'You know what it was. Something in your chamber, which forced me to theabove conclusions. I disguised my feelings of sorrow at the time forobvious reasons, but I never in my whole life was so shocked!'
'At what, my lord?'
'At what I saw.'
'Pardon me, Bishop Helmsdale, but you said just now that we arestrangers; so what you saw in my cabin concerns me only.'
'There I contradict you. Twenty-four hours ago that remark would havebeen plausible enough; but by presenting yourself for confirmation at myhands you have invited my investigation into your principles.'
Swithin sighed. 'I admit it,' he said.
'And what do I find them?'
'You say reprehensible. But you might at least let me hear the proof!'
'I can do more, sir. I can let you see it!'
There was a pause. Louis Glanville was so highly interested that hestood upon the seat of the arbour, and looked through the leafage overthe wall. The Bishop had produced an article from his pocket.
'What is it?' said Swithin, laboriously scrutinizing the thing.
'Why, don't you see?' said the Bishop, holding it out between his fingerand thumb in Swithin's face. 'A bracelet,--a coral bracelet. I foundthe wanton object on the bed in your cabin! And of the sex of the ownerthere can be no doubt. More than that, she was concealed behind thecurtains, for I saw them move.' In the decision of his opinion theBishop threw the coral bracelet down on a tombstone.
'Nobody was in my room, my lord, who had not a perfect right to bethere,' said the younger man.
'Well, well, that's a matter of assertion. Now don't get into a passion,and say to me in your haste what you'll repent of saying afterwards.'
'I am not in a passion, I assure your lordship. I am too sad forpassion.'
'Very well; that's a hopeful sign. Now I would ask you, as one man ofanother, do you think that to come to me, the Bishop of this large andimportant diocese, as you came yesterday, and pretend to be somethingthat you are not, is quite upright conduct, leave alone religious? Thinkit over. We may never meet again. But bear in mind what your Bishop andspiritual head says to you, and see if you cannot mend before it is toolate.'
Swithin was meek as Moses, but he tried to appear sturdy. 'My lord, I amin a difficult position,' he said mournfully; 'how difficult, nobody butmyself can tell. I cannot explain; there are insuperable reasons againstit. But will you take my word of assurance that I am not so bad as Iseem? Some day I will prove it. Till then I only ask you to suspendyour judgment on me.'
The Bishop shook his head incredulously and went towards the vicarage, asif he had lost his hearing. Swithin followed him with his eyes, andLouis followed the direction of Swithin's. Before the Bishop had reachedthe vicarage entrance Lady Constantine crossed in front of him. She hada basket on her arm, and was, in fact, going to visit some of the poorercottages. Who could believe the Bishop now to be the same man that hehad been a moment before? The darkness left his face as if he had comeout of a cave; his look was all sweetness, and shine, and gaiety, as heagain greeted Viviette.