第20章 A TRAGEDY OF TWO AMBITIONS(7)

As soon as Rosa had been fetched away by her friends at the manor-house her brothers started on their expedition,without waiting for dinner or tea.Cornelius,to whom the millwright always addressed his letters when he wrote any,drew from his pocket and re-read as he walked the curt note which had led to this journey being undertaken;it was despatched by their father the night before,immediately upon his liberation,and stated that he was setting out for Narrobourne at the moment of writing;that having no money he would be obliged to walk all the way;that he calculated on passing through the intervening town of Ivell about six on the following day,where he should sup at the Castle Inn,and where he hoped they would meet him with a carriage-and-pair,or some other such conveyance,that he might not disgrace them by arriving like a tramp.

'That sounds as if he gave a thought to our position,'said Cornelius.

Joshua knew the satire that lurked in the paternal words,and said nothing.Silence prevailed during the greater part of their journey.

The lamps were lighted in Ivell when they entered the streets,and Cornelius,who was quite unknown in this neighbourhood,and who,moreover,was not in clerical attire,decided that he should be the one to call at the Castle Inn.Here,in answer to his inquiry under the darkness of the archway,they told him that such a man as he had described left the house about a quarter of an hour earlier,after making a meal in the kitchen-settle.He was rather the worse for liquor.

'Then,'said Joshua,when Cornelius joined him outside with this intelligence,'we must have met and passed him!And now that I think of it,we did meet some one who was unsteady in his gait,under the trees on the other side of Hendford Hill,where it was too dark to see him.'

They rapidly retraced their steps;but for a long stretch of the way home could discern nobody.When,however,they had gone about three-quarters of the distance,they became conscious of an irregular footfall in front of them,and could see a whitish figure in the gloom.They followed dubiously.The figure met another wayfarer--the single one that had been encountered upon this lonely road--and they distinctly heard him ask the way to Narrobourne.The stranger replied--what was quite true--that the nearest way was by turning in at the stile by the next bridge,and following the footpath which branched thence across the meadows.

When the brothers reached the stile they also entered the path,but did not overtake the subject of their worry till they had crossed two or three meads,and the lights from Narrobourne manor-house were visible before them through the trees.Their father was no longer walking;he was seated against the wet bank of an adjoining hedge.

Observing their forms he shouted,'I'm going to Narrobourne;who may you be?'

They went up to him,and revealed themselves,reminding him of the plan which he had himself proposed in his note,that they should meet him at Ivell.

'By Jerry,I'd forgot it!'he said.'Well,what do you want me to do?'His tone was distinctly quarrelsome.

A long conversation followed,which became embittered at the first hint from them that he should not come to the village.The millwright drew a quart bottle from his pocket,and challenged them to drink if they meant friendly and called themselves men.Neither of the two had touched alcohol for years,but for once they thought it best to accept,so as not to needlessly provoke him.

'What's in it?'said Joshua.

'A drop of weak gin-and-water.It won't hurt ye.Drin'from the bottle.'Joshua did so,and his father pushed up the bottom of the vessel so as to make him swallow a good deal in spite of himself.It went down into his stomach like molten lead.

'Ha,ha,that's right!'said old Halborough.'But 'twas raw spirit--ha,ha!'

'Why should you take me in so!'said Joshua,losing his self-command,try as he would to keep calm.

'Because you took me in,my lad,in banishing me to that cursed country under pretence that it was for my good.You were a pair of hypocrites to say so.It was done to get rid of me--no more nor less.But,by Jerry,I'm a match for ye now!I'll spoil your souls for preaching.My daughter is going to be married to the squire here.I've heard the news--I saw it in a paper!'

'It is premature--'

'I know it is true;and I'm her father,and I shall give her away,or there'll be a hell of a row,I can assure ye!Is that where the gennleman lives?'

Joshua Halborough writhed in impotent despair.Fellmer had not yet positively declared himself,his mother was hardly won round;a scene with their father in the parish would demolish as fair a palace of hopes as was ever builded.The millwright rose.'If that's where the squire lives I'm going to call.Just arrived from Canady with her fortune--ha,ha!I wish no harm to the gennleman,and the gennleman will wish no harm to me.But I like to take my place in the family,and stand upon my rights,and lower people's pride!'

'You've succeeded already!Where's that woman you took with you--'

'Woman!She was my wife as lawful as the Constitution--a sight more lawful than your mother was till some time after you were born!'

Joshua had for many years before heard whispers that his father had cajoled his mother in their early acquaintance,and had made somewhat tardy amends;but never from his father's lips till now.It was the last stroke,and he could not bear it.He sank back against the hedge.'It is over!'he said.'He ruins us all!'

The millwright moved on,waving his stick triumphantly,and the two brothers stood still.They could see his drab figure stalking along the path,and over his head the lights from the conservatory of Narrobourne House,inside which Albert Fellmer might possibly be sitting with Rosa at that moment,holding her hand,and asking her to share his home with him.