A Golden Autumn. A novel

Front matter

A NO VEL By MRS. ALEXANDER Author os " A tight With Fate, ' " Found Wanting," " For His Sake," Etc IN ONE VOLUME L O N DON F. V. WHITE & CO 14, BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, W.C CONTENTS. PAGE Chapter I. ••• 3 II 17 III 28 ,, .Hi. IV 40 ,, J. V . ... -t V 53 VI 61 ll VII 7° VIII 80 J) IX 90 II X ■•• I02 XI H2 w XII 119 J) XIII 130 XIV 142 XV 152 ,, ___.>. , ... ... j „ XVI 160 XVII 168 XVIII 176 „ XIX CONTENTS. PAGE Chapter XX. 200 ,, XXI. ... ... ... .. ...211 „ XXII. ... ... 217 „ XXIII. ... ... ... ,,, 229 XXIV 236 ,, XXV. ... ... ... ,,, __t 247 xxvi 255 XXVII 266 XXVIII 274 XXIX. ... , 2g2 » -X-AJi. ... ... ... ...

Chapter I

London was very full, Parliament had reassembled after the Easter recess, and "all the world" had returned to its town mansion with renewed appetite for pleasure and for business. It was a bright morning, and the tide of life in the streets had not yet reached its height, when two gentlemen nearly ran into each other at the corner of Charles Street, — one turn ing sharply towards Piccadilly, the other descending the hill at a good pace towards Pall Mall. The former was a tall, large framed man, with a strong face and dark -grey eyes. He had a soldierly carriage and an air of great distinction. The lat ter was shorter and slighter, with little or no colour, reddish hair, and light eyes. He was clean shaven, and as he smiled with evident pleasure, his rather wide, firm mouth expressed kindness and humour.

"Why, Rivers!" he exclaimed, while the other cried, " Preston, by Jove ! I was — I am on my way to look you up. ' ' They shook hands with great cordiality, and eagerly ex changed question and answer. " I heard vaguely last night that you had come back. I was going to call on Lady Mary this afternoon to find out where you are," returned Preston. " We have taken a house in C Square for three months. Come along ! I am on my way home to luncheon. Mrs. Rivers will be delighted to see you. She has heard of you often. She has an enormous admiration for writing-men." i* "Thanks. I shall be very happy." They walked on to gether down Waterloo Place, along Pall Mall into St. James's Park, and so into the Belgravian quarter, talking with much in terest of their doings in the last three or four months.

"I was awfully sorry not to have been in England when you were married," said Preston. "They tell me you have been so lucky as to find not only a wealthy, but a charming wife." " Fortune has certainly given me more than I deserve. It is well for some of us that the fickle dame wears winkers. My wife is a capital little soul. Wonderfully ignorant of the world." " She is not the worse for that, Rivers." " Xo— I suppose not. She is a baby in some ways, but a most observant, keen, young person in others. She has been brought up exclusively by women and among women. Her notions of men are very curious, but decidedly flattering," and he laughed good-humouredly. " I suppose if women knew us as we really are, it would be bad for us. ' ' "Not so sure! After all, we were made for each other. Women want us a deuced deal more than we want them.

It is hard to circumvent Nature. Eh! Preston?" " Impossible ! Nevertheless, I should prefer a good woman idealising me, to knowing me as I am. I am afraid, Rivers, you are not a chivalrous party." " Perhaps not; still, I'd do a good deal for a woman or a child. But I have never had much to do with either. Never was given to falling in love, though I had one or two sharp attacks years ago. Have you been away all the time since we met last?" " Not quite. I have been rambling along the south coast of the Mediterranean and also in Corsica. There are some very curious ruins in that island that puzzle me completely. I wonder they are so little known. I was recalled about a month ago by the death of my father. Poor old fellow, he had been paralysed for a long time." " Hope he left you a pot of money?"

Preston smiled and shook his head. " He couldn't do that ; but Lam better off." " Here we are," said Rivers, pausing at a house midway on the south side of the square, the windows of which were full of flowers. " I hope Mrs. Rivers has not gone to lunch with her aunt. You know her people are thoroughgoing banking bourgeois. Her father was the head of the Sherrington Bank, — Raynor, Briggs, and Boyton. It's a big manufacturing place, and I fancy they have no rivals ; but my wife ' ' The door was here opened wide by a solemn-looking man in black, and Rivers paused in his speech, motioning Preston to enter. It was an ordinary London house ; the hall and staircase narrow as compared to the size of the rooms, and a conservatory on the first landing showed a profusion of flowers and ferns. " Mrs. Rivers at home?" asked the master of the house.

"Yes, sir. Mrs. Rivers is at luncheon." " Come along, Preston," and Rivers threw open the dining room door, preceding his friend, and exclaiming, "Celia, I have brought a chum of mine to be presented to you." A girlish-looking lady rose from her seat at the head of the tab'e, a girl rather below middle stature, but, though very slight, her figure was round and free from angles; her bright chestnut hair, abundant and fluffy, was fastened back by a lilac ribbon tied round her head; under her straight, delicately marked brows a pair of large, soft hazel eyes, well fringed, looked gladly forth as she recognised her husband ; a small, insignificant nose and wide, red-lipped mouth, pathetic in repose, but now showing a brilliant row of teeth as she smiled a welcome, completed a face which, though irregular, was attractive.

She wore a lilac muslin morning dress much trimmed with lace and ribbons, and her small fingers were crowded with sparkling rings. "Your chum is very welcome," she said, coming for ward with outstretched hand. " This is Preston, George Preston, of whom you have heard me speak. ' ' "Ah! yes. So glad to see you, Mr. Preston. I have read two of your delightful books, and tried another, but it was beyond my reach!" She shook hands writh him cordially, while a gentleman, who had been sitting on her right and had also risen, exclaimed, " Hullo, Derek !" and stretched out his hand to greet the host. " Why, Riversdale ! I did not know you were in town. Delighted to see you." "Why, I have come up on purpose to see how you and Mrs. Rivers stand the cares of matrimony. I was away in Northumberland, with old Grantley, when I heard you had arrived.

Preston, this is an unexpected pleasure. From what remote quarter of the globe have you turned up ?' ' The partie carree placed themselves at table, and luncheon proceeded with lively talk and ready laughter. Lord Riversdale was very like his cousin and heir presump tive, but shorter, broader, older, more good-humoured look ing, and much less distinguished, — more of a country gentle man than a man of fashion, and supposed to be a determined bachelor. Mrs. Rivers was surprised and even a little vexed to find herself more at home with him than with her husband. "To be sure," she thought, " I don't care whether I plea e him or not, that is a potent calmant." Meanwhile, her guest talked of hunting, politics, club gossip, topics unknown to her. She waited for a pause, having always plenty to say for herself.

" I hope you don't dislike country life?" said Lord Riyers dale, turning to her. " Do you ride to hounds?" "I never tried, and I do not think Derek has much hope of teaching me ; but I love life in every form, and fancy I should enjoy it in the country. I had a note from Aunt Sarah, this morning, Derek, ' ' addressing her husband ; ' ' she has heard of a charming place to be let or sold near Tunbridge Wells ; rather a bargain, too. It belongs to a Mr. Carter, who is member for some place in the north ; curiously enough he has married a former school-fellow of mine. There are beautiful gardens, and " " Tunbridge Wells ?' ' interrupted Rivers. " Oh, that would be a mere citizen's box. If I let fly at a stray partridge, I'd bring down my neighbour's favourite rooster, and be brought before the magistrates as a bad subject."

Mrs. Rivers laughed. "It is a pretty country round Tun bridge Wells, and very convenient for town. Mrs. Carter is coming to see me, so she will tell me all about it." " Do you know anything of Carter?" said Rivers to Preston, who was a good deal in political society. "I have met him. He got in for Oldcastle last year. He is an advanced Liberal, a clever man, and a politician in the rough ; might be a troublesome fellow. They say he worked in the mines, and a little coal-dust clings to him naturally." "He has managed to turn it into gold-dust," cried Mrs. Rivers; "and I suppose he has some heart, for he married Milly Saunders after her father had died a bankrupt and left his family without a penny. I like a man who makes a dis interested marriage of that kind." This speech was received in total silence for a moment, and then Lord Riversdale remarked, — "Yes.

I respect the man or woman who casts aside any mercenary ideas in matrimony." ' ' Of course, people must have money, ' ' said Mrs. Rivers, gaily ; " but it's of no consequence who has it, so long as it's there. ' ' She spoke in utter unconsciousness, so thoroughly did she consider as her husband's what belonged to herself; so it seemed to Preston, who was a keen and habitual observer. "I would not be drawn into an acquaintance with these people, if I were you, Celia," said Rivers, coldly. "Carter seems to be an objectionable type of man, and ought to be kept in his place." " What is his place ? He must have worked hard and been very steady ; why should he not reap the fruit of his toil, and have the position he has earned?" "Your wife is a sound Liberal, I see," said Preston, smiling indulgently on his bright young hostess, who seemed to him very charming.

" Indeed, Mr. Preston, I do not know what I am," she ex claimed. "My mind swings to and fro like a pendulum. I sympathise with the poor and lowly, and think it is a shame they should be chained down to their original station, do and de serve what they may. Then I delight in the idea of long descent, and lovely ancestral homes, and elegant chivalrous men and women. The image of their best-looking forefathers, and, can you say foremothers ?" " You can say anything you like, when you say it so well," said the earl, smiling. ' ' Why, Riversdale ! I never heard you flatter any one before," cried Rivers, with a slightly contemptuous laugh, which brought the quick blood to his wife's cheek. " Don't be ill-natured," she exclaimed; " true or not, it is pleasant to hear." " You are a philosopher Mrs. Rivers "Oh, don't call me Mrs. Rivers.

As you are Derek's cousin, you may say Celia." "A thousand thanks, my dear Celia," he replied. " Why the devil is she so familiar?" thought Derek. "But you have idealised the English aristocracy consider ably. You will be disappointed with Riversdale. It is rather new. An unfeeling great-grandfather rebuilt the hall de novo a hundred years ago. You'll be charmed with Damer Court, and we shall be charmed to welcome you." Celia's fair young face was radiant with the pleasure these words gave her. " She fancies this acceptance by the head of his house will please Derek, but his pride is of the crooked kind," mused Preston ; " though he is not a bad fellow." " Well, I have a lot to do ; for I want to go down to Riversdale on Friday, so I must bid you good-morning," said the earl. "Yes, I fear we have kept you from your drive," said Preston, and both gentlemen rose.

"Are you going to call on Mary Damer?" asked Rivers. " I should like to do so, but I fear there is hardly time. I promised to take my aunt out to drive at four. ' ' "Pray, try and manage it. I may meet you there," urged Rivers, his brow contracting slightly. "Very well; I will try." Good-byes were exchanged and the men left the room. At the door Rivers paused and looked back at his wife; with a coquettish little smile, she made a movement to hold out her arms to him. He laughed, shook his head, and departed. Having bid his guests good-bye, Captain Rivers hailed a hansom and drove to one of the new range of mansions ad joining Cadogan Place, where he ascended to the third story, and asked "if Lady Mary Damer was at home." He was immediately admitted. A tall, willowy woman, slight and colorless save for a pair of very large dark eyes, rose from a writing-table in the window of a pretty comfortable room, and came forward with a look of kindly welcome.

" Ah, Derek ! How glad I am to see you !" she exclaimed, her quiet eyes lighting up with pleasure. " Thanks, my dear cousin. I have been longing for a con fidential talk with you ; but you were out the only day I could manage to call, and I was not at home when you came to see Celia." Lady Mary had taken a low arm-chair as she spoke, and Captain Rivers placed himself on a sofa near and almost opposite her. " Now you must tell me all your news. I can hardly believe you are a steady married man. Why did you not write to me during your wanderings ? I seem to have lost sight of you altogether. You have had a long honeymoon, — nearly five months." "Oh, as to letter-writing, you knowr I rarely write to any one except yourself, and I have beeu on deuced hard duty. Celia has an enviable thirst for sight-seeing, and, by Jove ! we have done Italy most thoroughly.

My brain is one wild confusion of pictures and churches and museums, and God knows what. She enjoyed it all immensely, however, so I don't suppose she will ever want me to go back again. She knows the country blindfold and can manage by herself. How is Damer and the youngsters ?' ' " George has been remarkably well since he recovered the attack of bronchitis that frightened us so much in January. Indeed, looking back for the last five or six years, I see that he has steadily gained in strength. I am very glad I persuaded him to take this flat. He stays longer in London, and takes up the ravelled social skein, renews old acquaintances, and makes new ones. Then he does not feel 'out of it all.' Now tell me, Derek, how is it with you ? You look well, so I trust the tremendous experiment has been successful ?' ' Captain Rivers laughed, a laugh not quite free from embar rassment, and said, " Oh, I have been rather a lucky fellow ; and I am an ungrateful beggar, I suppose, but I am bored now and then.

I really think I miss the excitement of my debts, of wondering who will be worrying me next, and whether I shall get a tolerable haul on the next race. Life is hung on C springs for me now, and the wheels so admirably greased that I never feel a jolt ! But if we can get a nice place in a good hunting country, it will be a great help." His voice was rich and deep and his accent refined. " Yes ; you do not care much for town life ; but does Airs. Rivers care for the country?" " It seems to me she cares for everything, for and against, you know. She is always on the go, delighted and disgusted every hour of the day ; she constantly reproaches me with my cold indifference. I wish, Mary, you would take her in hand ! It would be one more service added to the many you have i already done me !" "How do you mean, Derek?"

Her large eyes darkened with the earnest attention she gave his speech. " Well, teach her how to dress. She wears the most ghastly gowns. I know they are all wrong ; but I' m hanged if I can tell her how to make them right. She somehow puts on too much of everything. And then — don't think me a confounded sneak to grumble in this way behind my wife's back, but you are the only creature I can trust, and she is rather sensitive — you see she talks at the full pitch of her voice. It's not a bad voice, rather sweet and deucedly clear ; but she always starts on some ' C in alt', I think singers say, and, by George ! you'd hear her at the other side of a crowded room ! She rattles on about every mortal thing she likes and dislikes, as if her hearers cared a rap for what she liked or thought ! I didn't mind it all so much abroad ; foreigners shout generally; but here it won't do !"

""I his will all tone down after a season or two," said Lady Mary, gently. " Oh, very likely ! but then we have to live through those seasons, and, you see, she has been brought up by the worst kind of barbarians, civilised city barbarians! You don't know her Aunt Sarah ! my Aunt Sarah, too, by Jove ! No, I cannot stand that woman ! You must, for my sake, come and meet her at dinner some day, and then you'll see she is a sort of hag that no fellow could possibly stand. If she were a regular typical hag, — with wild grey elf-locks, a broom stick, and a cauldron, and if she cursed the company. at inter vals, — she would be something distinguished. But there's a smug, suburban self-satisfaction about her, an uncertainty about her h's, a certainty as to the power of her money, that's absolutely intolerable ! and this appalling female dines with us twice a week ! ' ' ' ' My poor Derek ! could you not persuade Mrs. Rivers to lighten the punishment?" asked Lady Mary, with a smile.

" I shall try. But she is fond of this terrible woman. She says she acted a mother's part to her, which consisted in put ting her at an expensive second-rate school, where any well bred instincts were suffocated ! I think she is very fond of Celia, and I fancy she is not fond of Mr. " "Probably! people you do not like, seldom are!" " But, Mary, I am awfully civil to the creature ! I am, by Jove ! Though I know quite well that she looks on me as a poor devil who owes everything to his wife. Then I suspect she is a mischief-maker ; she'll set my wife against me !" " I am inclined to believe she can't do that. It struck me that Mrs. Rivers is very fond of you, and I hope you are of her." "Yes, yes! I am all right. She is a pretty fresh little thing!" " You ought to speak more seriously, Derek.

But I don't think you ever cared much about women ; you don't under stand us a bit." " N — no, though I am not so sure. At any rate, I am not a sentimental chap." Lady Mary looked at him with thoughtful, dreamy eyes, and sighed. "But I have always got on with women, and even made a fool of myself about one or two. I think I have been fonder of you than of any other girl. You are so sensible and real ! Though I don't think I should ever have been what is called in love with you. You are too good or some thing." " How very mortifying ! I expected at least an avowal of hopeless affection. Well, Derek, you must bear with the aunt at present, and gradually undermine her influence." There was a pause, during which Lady Mary looked thought fully, with a certain degree of compassion, at her kinsman.

" I have been looking for a lady's horse at Tattersall's this morning. They are asking big prices," resumed Rivers; " but Celia has a fancy for riding, though I do not think she will make much of it." "Why, Derek?" " Didn't begin early enougn. Hasn't pluck enough. Still, I don't like to put her off, so I am going to make her a hand some present of a 'gee' — out of her own money!" and he Laughed; there was a tinge of bitterness in the laugh. "By Jove, Mary, I have been a miserable spendthrift ! and am properly punished, though, mind you, I believe Celia is a great deal too good for me ! There, you have heard the last of my whimpering ; but you will take my wife in hand, won't you, and train her in the way she should go ?' ' "My dear Derek! don't you feel that by doing this, by ■even attempting it, I should ensure your wife's deadly dislike?

I must win her confidence first, and then I hope you have not recommended me as a ' guide, philosopher, and friend?' " interrupting herself. "Well — not exactly. I did suggest " " I suspect you have done the mischief!" " Oh, she will be sure to take to you ! The women all like you." " I hope she will, for ' ' Here the door was thrown open and Mrs. Rivers entered. She wore a gown of grey gauzy material over pink silk, with an elaborately trimmed corsage, abounding in pink and white bugles and festoons of fine white lace. Her hat was extensive, and loaded with pink and white feathers ; her pale tan suede gloved hand held a parasol of pink silk covered with white lace, its ivory and gold stick studded with pink topaz, and a oouple of pale pink roses were fastened at her throat. It was a gorgeous costume, and not unbecoming.

"Ah, Derek, I did not expect to find you here !" she ex claimed; then holding out her hand to Lady Mary, "I in tended to have called long ago, but I have been very busy, and had such heaps of visits to pay." " You are very welcome whenever you can come," said Lady Mary, kindly, as she drew a chair forward, and started the con versation by saying how pleased she was to see Captain Rivers looking so well and happy, at which a sort of cloud passed over the young wife's face, and she looked earnestly at her husband. "He is very delighted to be back in London, I fancy. He got sick of sight-seeing ; now, I was so sorry to leave Italy. He had seen it before, but it was all new to me, and I didn't want to come here. Then, of course, he was so glad to see you and his old chums." "Yes. Derek and I were brought up like brother and sister, and I hope you, my dear Mrs. Rivers, will accept me on the same terms."

"I am sure you are very good, Lady Mary." A quick flush passed over the younger lady's face as she spoke. "I shall try not to feel like an outsider, but everything seems very strange to me as yet." "Oh, you'll soon feel yourself at home," said Rivers. "I've been looking for a mount for you to-day. There's a nice bay horse at Tattersall's that might do, but I don't quite like his eye, and you must have a well-tempered animal. Do you remember the bay mare that I had broken in for you, Mary? What a curious temper he had ! but he couldn't throw you. You must know, Celia, that my cousin is a first-rate horsewoman. She must come with us and help me to teach you. Eh, Molly?" " I should not like to trouble Lady Mary. I shall be quite satisfied with your instruction, Derek," returned his wife quickly.

"You are quite right, Mrs. Rivers!" Rivers rose and paced the room. " I was writing to you when Derek came in just now," resumed Lady Mary. " I want to catch you before the toils of the season close round us all. Will you dine with us on the 29th? I think Riversdale will be in town." " That will be capital ! Of course, we'll come," said Rivers. "I should be most happy," put in Mrs. Rivers, coldly. " I will look at our engagement list as soon as I go home." " Pooh ! nonsense, Celia. We haven't such a lot on hand. We are not more than a fortnight in town. I'd give up any thing to have a cosy dinner with you and Damer, Mary." "That can be easily managed," she returned, smiling. "You are going to make some stay in town, are you not?" "Yes; we have taken the house in Chester Square till the end of July ; by that time I hope we shall find something that will suit us in the country.

Indeed, my Aunt Sarah, Mrs. Twiss, advises me to take a ready-furnished place with the option of buying, which is a good idea." "Aunt Sarah has not advised me on the matter yet!" remarked Rivers, drily. "It is a good suggestion," said Lady Mary. "You appear to have enjoyed Italy very much," she added, addressing Mrs. Rivers. "It was quite too delicious !" cried that lady, and ran on praising the places she specially liked, the churches, pictures, statues, scenery, with some genuine enthusiasm, and a good deal of guide-book knowledge. She seemed to express all she had thought and felt with an abandon which surprised her hearer, who was accustomed to the self-suppression of hereditary social training. "You are going over old ground, Celia," broke in Rivers. " Mary has been in Italy, and done all the sights thoroughly."

" But such a long time ago, Derek, that I am glad to hear of them again. We must talk of these things when we are alone. I am afraid my cousin is a typical Englishman ; his soul does not rise to art." " Except music," returned his wife. " He is really fond of music." "We have been keeping you at home in the most incon siderate way," cried Rivers. "Come, Celia, let's be going. You might drop me in Pall Mall. I promised to meet my old colonel at the United Service Club." "And I promised to call for Aunt Sarah to take her to the park ; she will dine with us afterwards." "Very glad to hear it," returned Rivers, hastily, " for the colonel wants me to join him and one or two of ' ours' at dinner." " Why, Derek ! are you not coming to Mrs. Tracey 's ball ? I could not go alone," said Mrs. Rivers, and there was a sound of tears in her voice.

" Of course not ! I shall come back to escort you, and see that you have lots of partners," replied her husband, good humouredly. " Is it not strange," exclaimed Celia, " although Derek really enjoys music, he does not care for dancing, not one bit ! and I love it !" ' ' I know many men who love music, and yet do not like dancing. Well, if you will go, good-bye. I shall send you mv invitation, however, as, among all the others, you might forget a verbal one." The smart victoria, which Rivers had hired until their own establishment was organised, rolled away, and it was some minutes before either husband or wife spoke. At length Celia said, "That cousin of yours had no business to doubt that I had plenty of engagements, quantities, in fact." ' ' But she does not doubt you. Why should you fancy she does?"

" Did you not remark what she said about forgetting her invitation among all the others I had?" " Nonsense ! Don't let your imagination run away with you. Mary is incapable of these ill-bred insinuations. I do hope you will appreciate her. She can be a most useful friend to you. ' ' His tone was contemptuous. "I don't want useful friends," returned Celia. "Why should I ?' ' and she tossed up her chin indignantly. " Well, don't be a baby !" impatiently. "Thank you!" she said, with sudden composure, and re mained silent till they reached Waterloo Place, where Rivers left her, saying, " I'll be with you about ten or half past." "To Bayswater, Mandeville Terrace," was his wife's order to the coachman, aud the horses' heads were turned due west.