The Mistress of Brae Farm. A novel

Front matter

THE MISTRESS OF BRAE FARM THE MISTKESS OF BKAE FABM & 0ofacl i:y EOSA NOUCHETTE CAREY AUTHOR OF ' NELLIE'S MEMORIES,' ( BARBARA HEATHCOTE'a TRIAL,' 'NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS,' ETC. LONDON RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET in ©rtrinarg to gtr fHajtstg thr ©ueen CONTENTS CHAP. pAQE 1 . The Mistress op Bkae Farm ..... 1 2. Colonel Trevor is surprised ..... 7 3. Lorraine . . . . . . .16 4. ' Good Rest ' . . . . . . .23 5. Tedo makes a New Friend . . . . .30 6. A Contented Woman . . . . . .39 7. A Study in Black and White . . . . .47 8. Muriel ........ 54 9. A Morning Walk . . . . . .64 10. The Turret-Boom and Admiral Byng . . .73 11. The Thin End of the Wedge . . . . . 83 12. Mother and Daughter . . . . .93 13. Between the Lilies ...... 101 14. A New Excitement in Highlands .... 110 15.

The Shadow of the Sword ..... 117 16. The Locum Tenens . . . . . .126 17. Eric's little Brother ...... 133 18. The Redlands Woods ...... 142 19. Colonel Trevor resolves to do it . . . . 150 20. At the ' Waggon and Horses ' 159 21. Mother Hubbard again ! . . . . .167 22. Miss Bretherton has her say .... 175 23. An Evening at Brae House ..... 183 24. At the Gate of Woodlands ..... CONTENTS vi CHAP. PAGE 25. Bairn loses his Mistress . 198 26. The two Culprits ....•• 204 27. Sam Brattle speaks his Mind . . • .213 28. An Angel unawares ....•■ 222 29. A painful Enigma ....■• 229 30. In the Dovecote ...... 237 31. * It is a Sorrowful World ' . . . . 244 32. He must dree his Weird too ..... 252 33. Ellison's Letter ...... 259 34. The Clouds return ...... 266 35. ' I have not had my share of Pain ' . . . • 273 36.

Gavin's Decision ...... 281 37. Ellison's return Home ..... 290 38. ' Have you guessed it ? ' . . . . . 297 39. Sir Percy's Letter ...... 305 40. ' How am I to bear it ? ' ..... 313 41. ' It is only Bates ' ...... 321 42. Madge Wildfire ...... 328 43. Post-mark, Nefydd Madoc . . . . . 336 44. 'Did you tell him ?' ...... 344 45. ' It is for you to decide '..... 352 46. Black Nest . . . . . . .359 47. Mother Hubbard at Home ..... 366 48. An unexpected Invitation ..... 374 49. Nora's Holiday House ..... 382 50. Revenge is sweet ...... 389 51. ' There is always Light ' ..... 397 52. Royal Arms, Croes-fford ..... 405 53. Recalled ....... 413 54. Green Pastures and Still Waters ....

Chapter I The Mistress Of Brae Farm

'Tranquillity is a good thing.' — Periander. 'Misfortunes are common to all.' — Phocylides. The young mistress of Brae Farm was looking over the little green gate that divided the garden from the big farmyard. It was still early in the afternoon, and there was a hush and stillness over the whole place as though a universal siesta prevailed. Presently from the long green meadow the cows would come slowly in single file to the milking-shed, and later on the cart-horses clattering heavily down the lane on their way to the pond. The turkeys and geese and even the cocks and hens were all afield, only the pigeons sat in rows on the red roof of the granary sunning themselves in the sweet May sunshine ; and the sole occupants of the farmyard below were an old grey pony with paniers, dozing peacefully with his feet embedded in the clean yellow straw, and an infant asleep in one of the paniers. 'Mattie Renshawe come for some more new-laid eggs,' observed Ellison to herself, but she spoke aloud, for the fine collie sitting erect beside her uttered a low whine of pleasure at his mistress's voice. ' Hush, Bairn, we must not wake the baby ! ' and the dog was at once silent, as though he understood her, and then , he and his mistress resumed their quiet watching.

Some one once remarked that if he were asked who was the most contented woman he had ever known, he should name Ellison Lee. ' Of course,' he went on, ' in this sorry old world of ours there is <V /— i no such thing as perfect contentment ; the thing is impossible, an anomaly — altogether absurd ; but if you wish me to name a person who is in thorough harmony with her environment, who has the three greatest blessings ever vouchsafed tu humanity — good sense, good temper, and a good digestion — that person is my cousin once removed, Ellison Lee.' Colonel Trevor was not alone in this opinion ; most people admired and envied the young mistress of Brae Farm, and, indeed, if one were to add up her numerous advantages, the list would be a fairly large one. Young, for surely seven-and-twenty may be called young, with easy means, good health, and no encumbrances in the shape of idle brothers to be settled in the world, or troublesome young sisters ; with a moderate share of good looks and sufficient cleverness to enable her to hold her own even in these days of multitudinous examinations and high culture ; and, above all, witli a natural aptitude for doing the right thing at the right moment, without selfish reserves or morbid dread of consequences ; surely, with all these qualifications, Ellison Lee might be called a fortunate person.

No, wdiatever were her faults — and most certainly she had her share of them in common with other true daughters of Eve — there was nothing morbid about her. One might wish perhaps that she had more imagination, that she were a little less satisfied with her own decisions ; but these were merely specks and Haws, to be smiled over and forgiven, for few unmarried women in her solitary inde pendent circumstances could have given less occasion for the enemy to blaspheme. ' Yes ; she is a bit proud, and she does not like to be contra dicted,' Mrs. Drake, the blacksmith's wife, would say to her gossips, ' and when she has made up her mind there is no turning her ; but at the bottom she is sound and sweet as the kernel of a nut, and there is no nonsense about her. I like a woman who has a head on her shoulders, and who can put down her foot when the right time comes.

How do you suppose she would manage with that young bailiff, Sam Brattle, and all those men if she was afraid of opening her mouth and putting down her foot? — and it is a solid foot too ! ' The mistress of Brae Farm was an authority in Highlands, although that favoured little place, set so snugly in its cup-like hollow amid heather-covered hills and climbing fir-woods, hail half a dozen big houses scattered here and there — Brae House to wit, and Redlands, and Price's Folly, not to mention Ferncliffe, where old Mrs. Langton lived ; but, nevertheless, Miss Lee at Brae Farm could hold her own even with her wealthier neighbours Ellison Lee was certainly no beauty, but her face was a pleasant one. She was a tall, strong young woman, somewhat heavilv moulded, but she carried herself well ; she had calm, serious blue eyes, that always looked straight at one, and the smooth coils of light brown hair set off a well-shaped head.

People always called her a fine woman, and somehow the term suited her. She had matured early, and neTer thought or spoke of herself as a girL ■ I always envy Ellison her repose of manner,' Mrs. Trevor would say ; * she is the most restful person I know : nothing ever flurries her ; my pet name for her is " Fairy Order," and as I often tell you, Gavin could not do better,' and here a glance of mutual under standing would pass between the ladies. Highlands, in spite of its being an earthly paradise, was not free from the gossip and tittle tattle and small babblement common to a village. Highlands had long ago made up its mind that Colonel Trevor would one day marry Ellison Lee. His wife had been dead more than eight years. He wa_ forty at least ; very young ladies were not to his taste — he never knew how to say pretty things to them — and the friendship between him and his cousin was a deep and true one.

When Mrs. Earnshaw of Price's Folly walked up to Brae House Mrs. Trevor would speak quite openly, for, being old schoolfeUows, they were great cronies. 'You see, Hermione,' she would say, •' now Gavin has retired from active service he ought to marry again and settle down. A man wants more than a mother and sister. Ellison suits him down to the ground, every one can see what he thinks of her.' ' Yes, and their lands march together,' returned her companion sympathetically. ' It would be a fine thing for the Colonel to have the Brae-lands united ; he would leave a grand estate to his children.' 'Aren't we counting our chickens before they are hatched?' observed Mrs. Trevor, smiling, and then she sighed ; her infant grandson lay with his young mother in an Indian grave. While the two ladies sat and gossiped softly over the Colonel's future in the pleasant Brae drawing-room, Colonel Trevor was revolving the same thoughts as he rode up the long meadow, with his face set as usual in the direction of the Brae Farm, where Ellison was waiting for him at the green gate.

Gavin Trevor was a thin soldierly-looking man ; he had a brown weather-beaten face and a dark moustache ; but the hair on his temples was already turning grey ;_ he had keen searching eyes that could soften pleasantly at times, and the slight brusquerie of manner that strangers noticed at first, soon wore off when people knew him better. To a close observer his face bore traces of past troubles. He had married early, and his choice had been a fortunate one, and for two years he considered himself the happiest of men. He loved his profession, he was respected and liked in the regiment, and he and his wife were looked upon as a model couple. When she died, and he stood beside the bed and looked at her with the dark downy head of their new-bom child nestled close to her cold breast, the springs of happiness seemed to dry up within him, and he went out of that death-chamber a stricken man.

But he struggled on bravely, and in a year or two people began to say that Major Trevor would marry again, but he only frowned when any such hint reached his ears. Death had been rife in the regiment, and he got his promotion early ; but soon afterwards he had an attack of the deadly Indian fever, and though he fought it gallantly, and stuck to his post, there were recurring attacks, and his doctor began to look grave ; sorrow had undermined the fine constitution, and he was no longer fit for his work. ' You must go back to England, Colonel, and be sharp about it too, if you do not want to be buried here,' for Doctor Morton could speak the truth brutally when he chose, and he chose to do so now. ' Do you mean that I shall never be fit for active service again . ' asked Trevor sharply ; ' speak plainly, man, for heaven's sake.' ' I mean that India has played the deuce with you, and it will be years before you are quite to rights again ; take my advice, Colonel, you are young yet, go back to England and settle down quietly for a year or two,' he was going to say ' get a wife,' but a look in his patient's eyes checked him ; ' take life easily and you will make an old man yet,' and though Colonel Trevor pooh-poohed him as an alarmist, he took his advice in the end.

During his long absence in India, his father had died ; he was now the owner of the Brae, and there, on his return, he found his widowed mother and his sister Muriel. When the first few months had passed, and the sweet country air had already told favourably on him, and he looked less hollow-eyed and emaciated, Mrs. Trevor suggested that the Dower House, as it was called, a comfortable, unpretentious house about a mile away, should be put in order for her and Muriel. ' I do not mean that we should go and live there now, and leave you alone in this great house, Gavin,' she continued, somewhat alarmed by the same stony look in his dark eyes that Dr. Morton had noticed. ' But the Dower House is in such a dilapidated state — Robinson was saying so when he came over here — it will take months to make it really habitable.' ' Yes, mother, I am well aware of that.

I meant to speak to Robinson myself, and have it done up next spring for letting, that is, if you will give me permission to do so. Ellison agreed with me that it would be a good investment.' ' But if you let it, Gavin, what is to become of me and Muriel 1 The poor girl is not likely to marry — you must see that for yourself ; and if you ever Don't frown so, Gavin ! poor dear Helen has been dead over five years now, and she would be the first to wish you to be happy.' ' Mother ! ' returned Gavin, hoarsely, ' you mean it well, of course, I know that, and I am not going to be such a fool as to quarrel with you ; but if you love me, you will never drop this sort of hint again. A man knows best how to manage his own affairs ; we will leave the question of the Dower House for you and Muriel until I seriously make up my mind to marry again ; to the best of my belief that day will never come.' And so the Dower House was done up and decorated from garret to basement, and re-christened Ferncliffe, and in due course of time a tenant for it was found ; and though three years more had elapsed since that conversation, Mrs. Trevor still remained mistress of Brae House, and still gossiped gently to her crony, Mrs. Earnshaw, of the time when Gavin would at last make up his mind to marry again, and she and Muriel wTould have to turn out and live in the Dower House.

Colonel Trevor was reviewing the last three years as he rode slowly up the Darley Road ; his reins had dropped on the mare's neck ; on the whole, the review was a satisfactory one. He had grown stronger, and had almost attained his normal condition of health. Though the old energy and pluck were wanting, he no longer fretted for his work, but he still kept up his interest in his old regiment ; he had grown reconciled to his quiet, country life ; it suited him, and he found plenty of occupation ; and then it was so near town, he could run up to his club whenever he wished, and be in touch with the last new question of the day ; when he was to be met so often in St. James's and Piccadilly, no one could accuse him of being buried alive. And then he had developed a new talent, or, to speak pro perly, revived an old taste ; he had taken to sketching and painting, and during his visits to town he had begun to haunt sundry studios. ' There is nothing like having a hobby ! ' Mrs. Trevor would say briskly to her pale daughter. ' Look at Gavin, how busy he is from morning to night ; this new craze of his for painting is so good for him, that is why Ellison encourages him so, she wants him to turn the octagon room into a studio, and we could surely spare it.

You might take some lessons yourself, Muriel, and then you could go out sketching with him.' ' You forget, mother, that I have no taste for drawing, and that I could not draw a straight line to save my life.' Muriel spoke in a tone of quiet exasperation ; when would her mother understand that an artist could not be made to order . But Mrs. Trevor only sighed and shrugged her shoulders — was there any possible thing in which Muriel would consent to interest ' herself ' . ' I have jogged on pretty comfortably all these years,' thought Colonel Trevor, passing his hand lightly over the mare's mane. ' Don't go to sleep, Miss Alice, for I can see Ellison at the gate.' It was evident that Miss Alice saw her too, for she pricked up her dainty ears and quickened her pace. ' Yes, I have not had a bad time,' thought Gavin, thinking, as he had often done before, how much comfort of mind and hours of pleasant, kindly companionship he owed to Ellison.

From the first she had been his trusty comrade and friend ; her tact and strong common-sense had often helped him over the rough places of daily life. It was rather difficult to avoid friction with his mother. Mrs. Trevor was a warm-hearted, affectionate woman, but she was over sensitive and excitable, and Muriel ' was a thing of moods and tenses,' as her cousin once observed. Gavin never professed to understand his sister, though he was very kind to her ; but he could talk freely on all subjects to Ellison. He waved his hand to her gaily, and then lifted his hat, and Ellison leaned over the gate to pat Miss Alice's glossy brown neck, while Bairn leapt up against the bars with joyous barks of welcome. ' She is in splendid condition, Gavin,' observed Ellison, looking at the mare with critical approving eyes. ' Sam Brattle wras right when he advised you to buy her ; it is sometimes cheapest to pay a long figure for a thing you want.' ' I paid a precious long figure for Miss Alice,' laughed Colonel Trevor ; ' but in spite of her skittishness, I would not part with her for double her price ; she is like the rest of her sex, full of tricks, and with plenty of virtues.

Well, Ellison, how long are you going to keep that gate shut ? Is not the mistress of Brae Farm at home this afternoon ? ' Ellison drew back slowly, but there was a slight blush on her fair sedate face. ' I am always at home to my friends, Gavin, and I have so much to tell you ; will you take Miss Alice round to the stable ? you will find some one about — and I will go in and make tea.'

Chapter II Colonel Trevor Is Surprised

' Teach me to feel another's woe. To hide the fault I see ; The mercy I to others show, That mercy show to me.' Pope. As Colonel Trevor led his mare away, Ellison walked quickly back to the house. It was an irregular low grey house, without any pretension ; but in summer-time its weather-beaten old walls were smothered in creepers. Glorious Gloire de Dijon roses peeped in at the bed room windows ; honeysuckle and starry clematis draped the stone porch, and clusters of blue -grey wisteria festooned the dairy window. All round the house lay a delightful old garden, for it was one of Ellison's peculiarities that she would cultivate none but old fashioned flowers. Rows of white and orange lilies and gorgeous hollyhocks lined the border, with deep blue delphiniums and the humbler larkspur ; heart-shaped beds of small yellow and purple pansies studded the lawn, and straggling masses of London pride and sweet-smelling pinks were everywhere.

All the summer long it was a garden of delights. The air would be fragrant with the heavy scent of syringa and the spicy fragrance of the deep red carnations. How the bees and birds loved that garden ; there were nests by the score in the shrubbery that led to the kitchen garden, and the row of bee-hives under the south wall — where the peaches grew — brought in a goodly amount of honey. All round the house and gardens lay a ring of sloping meadows, and from her bedroom window Ellison could catch a glimpse of the chimneys of the Brae House, and beyond that the dark foliage of the Brae Woods. From early spring to late autumn the front door always stood open. Through the porch one passed into a small square hall, somewhat dark from its heavy wainscoting. In winter a glorious fire burnt in the big open grate, but in summer it was filled with honesty, or branches of may and rhododendron ; an oak settle, black with age, a grandfather's clock, and a chest big enough to hold the unfortunate bride in the ' The Mistletoe Bough,' gave it an air of comfort.

On one side of the hall was the dining-room, on the other Ellison's sitting-room ; two red-baized doors shut off the staircase and the other offices. Ellison's sitting-room — for she always sternly refused to call it her drawing-room — was a long handsome room, extending from the front to the back of the house. One could not look round it without recognising at once that it was the heart and nucleus of the home, that it was the living room of its mistress ; every corner had traces of her taste and various occupations. One wall was lined with bookcases, chiefly filled with standard works of a solid description ; fiction, except in the shape of Dickens and Thackeray and Sir Walter Scott, was not largely represented ; clearly utility, not sentiment or imagination, was the salient characteristic of the young mistress of Brae Farm.

A writing-table and a business-like looking bureau, bristling with papers, stood at one end. This was where Ellison wrote her letters and kept her weekly accounts. A Japanese screen shut off this part of the room. A couch, a round table, and two or three comfortable-looking chairs filled up the centre, and the deep front bay-window, with its cushioned seat and small square tea-table, was evidently where Ellison entertained her friends. There were no useless nicknacks to be seen anywhere, only the shelves of fine old china near the fireplace, and one or two good pictures gave it the colouring it needed. It was in this room that Ellison lived her busy useful life — except for meals she never entered her dining room, unless it was to interview her bailiff, Sam Brattle ; her humbler visitors and pensioners were always received in a small room leading out of the kitchen, called the still-room.

There stood the great presses and cupboards where Ellison kept her groceries and jams and wonderful syrups, and the small stock of drugs that were always at her neighbours' service. The nearest doctor lived at Bramfield, two miles away ; even when his services were urgently needed, it might be hours before he returned from his rounds to receive the message. The villagers in Highlands doctored themselves and their children a great deal with Miss Lee's help. It was through her exertions that the National Health Committee sent down a lecturer to deliver a course on ' First Aid to the Injured and Sick,' in the Iron room below the vicarage, which was called the Institute, that had been built by the late Mr. Trevor as a thank-offering for his wife's recovery from a dangerous illness. When Ellison's small stock of drugs were exhausted, they could always be procured at Tom Brattle's, or ' Brattle's ' as it was called.

Tom was Sara Brattle's elder brother, and drove a thriving trade in Highlands. You might buy anything at Brattle's — from a straw hat and a cambric dress to moist sugar and onions, or a pennyworth (jf sweets. Books, photographs, music, bacon, and fat pork ; ginger beer and every kind of children's toys, beads, soap, and ribbons were all in this wholesale depot for the village. Although it was May, a small bright fire was burning cheerily in the sitting-room, and a kettle was singing lustily on its trivet. When Ellison had made the tea out of the old-fashioned tea-caddy that stood ready to hand, she rang for the hot cakes, of which there was always a liberal supply at Brae Farm, then she took her usual seat and began rinsing the cups in a careful methodical way, and every now and then glancing towards the gate. ' Gavin was a long time,' slie thought ; ' surely Joe Brand must be in the yard ' ; then a smile came to her lips as she saw the Colonel's tall spare figure approaching the house. ' Well, this is pleasant,' he said, looking round him contentedly as he threw himself down on the cushioned seat opposite Ellison. ' I never knew any room to beat this for comfort.

I often make my mother cross by telling her so. You know you love it yourself, Ellison. Would you change it for one of ours at the Brae ? No ; I thought so ' — as she shook her head ; ' the drawing-rooms are too big for comfort, and the library too dark ; the morning-room is so so, but the billiard-room is a barrack ; as for my sanctum ' 'Now, Gavin,' interrupted his cousin, 'how can you have the baseness to find fault with all those beautiful rooms ? The drawing rooms are charming ! they beat Redlands, and as for Price's Folly, they could put two of their rooms into one of yours. It is simply blarney to be praising up my poor sitting-room at their expense ; let me give you some more milk — that tea is too strong — but you kept me so long waiting.' ' I suppose people's ideas of comfort differ,' he returned, as he held out his cup, ' but you always seem so snug, I suppose because you live here from morning to night ; now my mother spends her mornings in the octagon room, or in her big dressing-room, and her afternoons and evenings in the inner drawing-room, only sometimes she takes a fancy to use the other one ; in fact, you never know where to find her.' ' I see what you mean,' replied Ellison, as she unrolled a large piece of knitting.

This was one of her habits, never to let her fingers be idle while she talked ; countless were the socks and cross-overs and comforters she knitted during stray quarters-of-an hour. ' Yes, I know I do love my sitting-room, but I have never enjoyed it more than during the last six weeks.' ' For shame, Ellison — poor Miss Lockwood ; after all, she was a good-natured, harmless creature.' 'Ah, you may call her that if you like. Letitia was not without her good points. She certainly made herself extremely useful, and her needlework was beautiful ; but how was one to endure her endless chatter and trivialities 1 You know very well, Gavin, that Cousin Louise often declared it would have driven her wild to be in my place.' ' Yes, I know, from morning to night — " It was Letty's delight To chatter and talk without stopping," etc. etc' ' No, but seriously, Gavin, I never knew I had nerves before ; but I understand now what you mean when you say you feel quite jumpy.

I was prickly all over. If it had only been sensible talk, but it was everlasting chit-chat ; the droning of a wasp, or the buzzing of a blue-bottle against the glass, would have conveyed as much sense to my mind. No, no, Letitia Lockwood is a good creature and an excellent Christian ; but she has the smallest amount of brain-power that I ever knew in any woman. I was obliged to tell her, at last, that we did not suit each other. Poor soul, she had a good cry over what she called my hard-heartedness and want of feeling ; but if you knew how delicious my first solitary evening was to me.' 'But, Ellison,' looking at her keenly, 'has not my mother con vinced you yet that you are too young to live alone ? ' ' No one would ever convince me of that,' returned Ellison obstinately, ' but I am willing to give in for the sake of peace ; besides,' her decided tone faltering a little, ' my dear father always wished me to have a companion ; he told me the night he was taken ill, that at my age it was better not to brave conventionality.

Poor old dad ! I daresay he was right.' 'And you are looking out for some one to replace Miss Lockwood 1 ' ' No,' she returned quietly, ' there is no need for me to look out. My cousin, Lorraine Herbert, needs help ; her husband died about a year and a half ago. She is in sadly straitened circumstances, and I have offered a home to her and her child.' Colonel Trevor looked extremely surprised. He was well aware that Ellison never asked advice, and that she seldom mentioned any fresh arrangement until she had made up her mind that it was feasible and desirable. She had too much backbone and decision of character to talk over pros and cons in the usual feminine fashion ; nevertheless, in his masculine judgment, this was rather a serious step to take ; surely it would have been better to have spoken to his mother first.