The Old, Old Story. A novel

Front matter

THE OLD, OLD STOEY THE OLD, OLD STORY 9 0ofacl BY EOSA NOUCHETTE CAEEY — y AUTHOR OF ' NELLIE'S MEMORIES,' ' NOT LIKE OTHER QIRLS,' * sir Godfrey's granddaughters,' etc. A NEW EDITION LONDON RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET Publishers in ©rSinarg to p?rr fMajcstg tfje ©item 1897 All rights reserved CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Mk. Lorimer's Trouble Chiefly retrospective 1 9 II. III. Mr. Hamerton meets an Old Friend The Curate of Eltringham 18 IV. •J 7 V. Gloden . 36 VI. Still Waters run Deep ' you have made a mistake ' Harvey scores One 45 VII. 55 VIII. 65 IX. 'You are very good, Aunt Clemency' In Silcote Park 76 X. 85 XI. The Squire's Hospitality ' I am a Working Woman ' Violet Winter 94 XII. 104 XIII. XIV. XV. 115 ' Were you thinking of Hamerton ? ' An Evening in Chapel Street 125 134 Gloden's First Pupil XVI.

XVII. XVIII. 143 ' You worldly-minded Person ' The Gate House 152 160 XIX. The Young Violin-player A Fireside Circle 170 1S0 XX. XXI. XXII. XXIII. XXIV. ' I am not Free ' 190 Gabrielle de Brienne 202 ' You have my best wishes, Monsieur ' A Lost Paradise 212 vi PAGE

CHAPTER XXV.

Chapter I Me

LOEIMER'S TROUBLE ' The leaves of memory seem to make A mournful rustle iu the dark.' Longfellow. When Lady Car died, it was understood that her husband was a broken-hearted man; that for him the joys and ambitious of life had crumbled to pieces in his wife's grave. ' Reggie will never get over it,' observed Mrs. Wyndham, mournfully. She was his only sister, and until her marriage he had been her one absorbing interest. Few women loved their brothers as Constance Wyndham had loved hers ; and, though her affection had not always been discreet, it was at least devoid of selfishness. ' He will never get over it,' she repeated emphatically to her usual confidant, who was Reggie's friend, and knew all the ins and outs of the family history. Mr. Hamerton was a privileged person, and it was certainly in his favour that no censorious tongue, no inquisitorial glance, ever conveyed an impression that the warm friendship between him and his friend's sister was not utterly commendable.

Felix Hamerton was a part of Constance's earlier life. Reggie's friend had been hers. However much they differed in opinion, they were agreed on this point — that Reggie was the dearest fellow in the world ; and that they were ready to do battle on his behalf to the best of their powers. Blr. Hamerton had never fallen in love with the beautiful girl who had been the life and sunshine of her brother's home ; though they had danced and ridden together, and played tennis and laughed and talked through scores of summer afternoons ; neither did he tear his hair or cover himself with ashes when Harcourt Wyndham quietly carried her off. 'He will do better than most men, but there is no one worthy of her,' he had observed, with philosophical phlegm. ' He is strong, and she worships strength ' — by which Mr. Hamerton by no means meant mere brute force.

Felix Hamerton always spoke of himself as a non-marrying man. ' My ideal is too high,' he would affirm in one of his serious and least cynical moments ; ' " the noble woman nobly planned " has not yet reached my plane. Reg calls me a con firmed old bachelor — and, upon my word, he is right. I know you will endorse that opinion, Mrs. Wyndham.' When Constance put her handkerchief to her eyes and made this little speech about her bereaved brother, Mr. Hamerton shifted uneasily in his seat. ' It is a bad business,' he returned gloomily ; and then he stared at the fire. He hated to see any woman in tears, but especially this bright, warm-hearted creature who had filled for him the place of a sister. ' It is worse than bad ; it is utterly miserable,' she replied, with a trifle of impatience in her voice, which said very plainly, 'You men never know how to express your feelings properly.' ' He and Car were all in all to each other ; and then she managed everything so beautifully, and now what will he and Tottie do without her 1 ' ' I forgot the child ' — in a conscience-stricken tone — ' I was only thinking of him, poor beggar !

I wanted to stay with him to-night ; but no, he said he would rather be alone.' ' He said the same to me yesterday,' returned Mrs. Wyndham, with a sigh ; ' but of course I should have taken no notice of that, only Ninian was so poorly that Harcourt said I had better come back with him. It is only a little feverish attack, but I could not have stayed away. If all goes well I shall go down again to-morrow. How is one to leave him in that great house alone 1 ' 'You had better bring him back with you. The chano-e will do him good.' 'I am afraid he could not leave,' she replied thoughtfully • ' there is so much to be done. Poor Car died so suddenly • it was so unexpected. Oh, how wretched it all is, Felix ! Who MR. LORIMER'S TROUBLE 3 would have thought of such a thing happening? she was so strong, so full of life and energy, so ' And here Constance struggled with her emotion. ' Yes, it is awfully sad.' Felix had a notion that women liked to talk about their troubles ; that speech was a sort of safety-valve with them for pent-up feelings.

But, with all his good-will and sympathy, he found it difficult to respond. He and Reginald had sat opposite each other a whole evening, and had spoken no word, though the bereaved widower had indeed uttered one brief sentence — ' You may smoke. Don't mind me ' — and the words had been pregnant with consolation to Felix. Silence ceased to be op pressive when one could puff at one's pipe in comfort; and somehow, so strange are the ways of men, that even Reginald Lorimer felt insensibly soothed as he watched the filmy smoke rise between him and his friend. When they had parted for the night, he had wrung Felix's hand with unusual feeling — ' You have done me good, old fellow. Thanks awfully.' And yet no word of sympathy had passed Felix's lips. But now silence seemed misplaced. Mrs. Wyndham was evidently yearning to pour out her heart ; she seized on his scanty speech, and dilated on it with womanly scorn. ' "Awfully sad."

That is all you men can find to say; and yet how absurdly inadequate it sounds ! Car gone, and poor Reggie left with his broken heart, and that darling child de prived of a mother. Felix,' she continued, after a pause, which he did not stir to break, ' you were always a little satirical with poor Car. In your jargon, you and she did not quite hit it off. She always said you were too clever for her. But even you could not say that Car was not a pattern wife and mother.' ' I am quite sure that she was awfully good to Reg.' ' Good ! I should think so ' — half starting from her chair in her quick way, and then flinging herself back against the cushions. ' She managed everything for him. He never had to think of anything. People used to say it was wonderful, and she such a young woman. I don't think there was ever a word between them all those five years.' 'Lady Car was remarkably even tempered,' was Mr. Hamerton's reply. 'It was you who always wanted Reg to marry her ; I remember he told me so himself.' ' Yes, indeed ; Car was my friend, and I was always so fond of her.

I knew she and Reggie were cut out for each other. I told him so a hundred times before he believed me ; but he owned it himself afterwards. "She suits me down to the ground, Con." I can hear him say it now.' _. - ,.,. 1st! ' Were they married when he made that speech . ' ' No, only engaged ; but he had found it out then ' — with a little conscious triumph breaking through her sadness. ' Oh, he had found it out then ! ' repeated Mr. Hamerton, but his tone was a trifle enigmatical. While this conversation was taking place between his sister and his friend, Reginald Lorimer sat beside his lonely fireside in the warm spacious library that was always called the master's room. It was here that he wrote his letters, and read papers and magazines, or translated a page or too of Greek verse by way of keeping up his classics, and indulged in the miscellaneous literature which he called cultivating his mind.

He was not a great reader, but he had plenty of intelligence, and, his moral digestion being in fine working order, he was able to assimilate his mental food so that it nourished him sufficiently. 'Lorimer is a clever fellow,' his friends would say; 'he seems well up on most subjects.' But Reginald, who was no hypocrite, always spoke very humbly of his own abilities. ' Hamerton puts me to shame,' was his frequent observation. ' I am like a schoolboy beside him.' When there were no guests staying at Silcote Hall, Lady Car refused to use either her drawing-room or the music-room in the evening, and had always sat with her husband in the library. ' Reginald is fond of the room, and so am I,' she would say ; ' it is the most comfortable room in the house. In the winter it is so free from draughts.

The music-room is too large ; we little people are lost in it,' which was merely a figure of speech, as Lady Car had been a tall woman, and measured exactly her husband's height. It was late in the afternoon, and the butler, who was an old servant, and had lived at the Hall ever since Reginald's birth, had taken infinite pains to promote outward cheerfulness by shutting out the faint wintry twilight, with its tiny crescent of a moon, and drawing the heavy plush curtains across the big bay window, and had lighted the tall standard lamps and his master's particular reading lamp. 'When one is very low down, there is nothing like a brio-lit fire and plenty of light to hearten one,' thought Norton, as he MR. LORIMER'S TROUBLE 5 threw on another pine log ; and then he stood and hesitated. George would appear in another moment with the tea-tray.

The table had always been placed beside the low easy-chair that Lady Car had appropriated for her own use. ' We must shift it to the other side,' he muttered. ' Lord bless us ! the changes and chances of this mortal life ! ' and the moisture gathered to Norton's honest eyes as he made the change. The tea-tray was in its place, but still Norton lingered. Perhaps he had a dim sort of notion that even his familiar homely figure might detract somewhat from the loneliness of the scene ; and the next moment a small fox terrier made its appearance, and walked straight to the centre of the bearskin hearthrug. ' Ah, so he has come in, Lassie ! I do believe,' moralised Norton, as he made a pretence of readjusting the reading-lamp, ' that even that dumb creature knows there is a death in the house. Another time she would have rushed in with a bark to tell us her master was coming ; but you knew better than that, eh, old girl V But Lassie only moved her tail feebly, and peered at him with her bright eyes as she sat up quivering with expectation and excitement, which culminated in a low whine of pleasure as her master's footfall was heard outside.

Mr. Lorimer walked in wearily, with the gait of a man who was physically and mentally fatigued, and threw himself down in his easy-chair, while Lassie jumped up and fawned on him. ' Is there anything else I can do for you, sir 1 ' asked Norton, anxiously. But Mr. Lorimer shook his head as he mechanically caressed the dog. ' No, thank you, Norton ; I have all I want.' And then he poured himself out a cup of tea, but forgot to drink it until it was cold. Reginald Lorimer was a slight, fair-haired man, singularly young-looking for his age, which was nine-and-twenty. He was by no means tall, but, on the other hand, there was a well-bred air about him that redeemed him from insignificance ; and before his trouble he had been distinguished by a certain brightness and alertness of manner, which made him pleasant to contemplate.

But on this afternoon the heaviness of his aspect added years to his age ; in these eight days he seemed to have grown eight years older. In his stunned condition, when a sudden earthquake had reduced his little world to chaos, he yearned painfully for solitude. He must be alone ; he must think ; he must try to understand this terrible thing that had come to pass, and what he was expected to do under the circumstances. Constance had been very kind, but her tears and caresses troubled him ; he did not want to see her sitting in Car's chair, crying over him. Hamerton was better — Hamerton understood him, and left him in peace ; but even Hamerton, good old sort as he was, was in his way. When one has to think a difficult matter out, it is necessary to be alone. Even Lassie's sharp paws scratching lovingly at his knee irritated him, and he bade her lie down somewhat sternly.

Lassie whimpered a little, but her master did not relent, and she lay down obedient and unhappy, with her black nose on her slender paws, watchiDg him with unreasoning and slavish devotion after the manner of her kind, while he resumed the weary thread of his cogi tation. He had walked far that afternoon, hoping that exercise would quicken his clouded faculties; but the grey sky and leafless hedges and wide tracts of desolate country had only added to his depression, and the dull weight on him had grown heavier. It was far better by his own fireside, with his mother's face smiling on him from the wall. True, Car's chair was empty ; she had sat there opposite to him for five years. Good heavens ! had they been married five years . Yes ; Tottie was three, and if the boy had lived he would have been four.

Well, after all perhaps it was as well that little Fred was gone. He was not much of a hand for managing children, and Car would have him. Though she said very little about it, he knew how she had missed the boy ; she had so longed for him to have a son and heir. Yes, they had been married five years ; and on the whole he had been very happy. Car had made him so comfortable ; she had taken all the worries off him. He supposed he should have nothing but worries now. ' Go to Lady Car ' — that had always been his cry when complaints had been brought to him ; ' your mistress will see to all that.' What a manager she had been ; how capable and clever ! He had never ceased wondering at her. Constance had been right when she told him that if he married Lady Car Glenyon he would never repent it. ' Mark my words, Reg,' she had said to him, ' Car is the MR. LORIMER'S TROUBLE 7 woman you ought to marry.

You are a careless, indolent boy, and hate trouble, and she will smooth everything for you.' ' Smooth everything ! ' Con had been right, as usual, and yet he had hesitated long before he had brought himself to propose to her. Lady Car had been handsome, with a certain fair placidity that people thought reposeful ; a fine woman, too, with a low, smooth voice ; and yet with shame he confessed that he had never been in love with her. Violet Winter had been more to his taste ; but he was not very far gone on her either. He wondered even now how the thing had been brought about. It had been owing to Con's persistence and Car's softness and cleverness, he supposed ; but of course it had turned out splendidly. She had been very nice to him during their brief engagement ; her tact had been exquisite, and somehow she always said the right thing.

She was not exacting, either, and had never teased him by expecting too much attention, and she had always looked handsome and well dressed. She had been five years his senior, and perhaps this had made her specially careful of her appearance. And then, what a good wife she had made him ! He had never seen her out of temper all these years. True, he always knew when she was displeased, by a certain solemnity and precision of voice, and a marked access of dignity. Lady Car was always dignified, and her 'Reginald, please do not be absurd,' when he differed from her in opinion, always carried a note of warning to his ear. It could not be denied, however, that Lady Car loved to have her own way in most things ; but, as she carefully pointed out to him, hers was generally the right way. Neither could it be denied that, from the earliest of their married days, her will quietly but effectually dominated the household.

Felix Hamerton once told him half-jokingly that he was henpecked, but Reginald answered him quite seriously. 'I leave things to Car,' he explained, 'because she is so sensible, and always knows what to do. You see, she takes the trouble to make up her mind beforehand about things, and I hate any planning and arranging, and so she always carries the day.' 'That means that you give in to her, like a submissive husband,' returned his friend, with a half-concealed sneer ; for Felix never worshipped blindly at any woman's shrine, and certainly not the fair, self-satisfied mistress of Silcote Hall ; 'but you are not in Parliament yet, old fellow,' he added mischievously, and Reginald winced. It was the one thing in which he had withstood his wife. Lady Car's great ambition had been to see her husband on the benches of the House of Commons, but Reginald Lorimer had no yearning for a political life and a house in town.

He was country-bred, and had simple country tastes, as his father had before him. To preserve his game, look after his farms, breed prize oxen, and do his duty as a justice of the peace, were sufficient occupations for any man, he thought. ' You ought to have married Hamerton,' he said once, when her plausible arguments had pressed him sore. ' Hamerton would have done you credit ; he made quite a fine speech in the Richmond case ; Rupert told me so. You did not show your usual good taste, Car. You ought to have hooked Hamerton.' ' Please do not be absurd, Reginald,' had been Lady Car's sole reply ; but, though her voice was perfectly unruffled, Reginald felt somehow rebuked for his flippancy. This little conversation had taken place three months before, but Lady Car had by no means given up her intention of seeing her husband in Parliament ; only a stronger will than hers had interfered. ' Sister Death,' in Francis of Assisi's quaint phrase ology, suddenly laid her cold hand on the busy brain and heart, and called Lady Car to work in other spheres.

Chapter II Chiefly Retrospective

' How sharp the point of this remembrance ! ' Tempest. Mr. Lorimer's musings had become vague and desultory. He found it difficult to concentrate his thoughts ; they seemed to move obliquely hither and thither, instead of going straight to the point. He wanted to grasp the situation — What were he and Tottie to do in the future ? to solve the problem, how a man was to live without his right hand. But, instead of this, his thoughts meandered and lost themselves ; snatches of con versations, broken-off threads of discussion, even soft tones tempted him from the right track. A sort of morbid idea seized on him, that in this new and wholly inexplicable grief it was his bounden duty to live through the past again. He tried to recall the day, not so long ago, when they broke the news to him of Car's danger.

She had been ill — not so very ill ; at least, there had been no anxiety in either of their minds, though Dr. Arnitt's face had daily grown graver, and he had at last somewhat brusquely expressed his wish that a well known specialist should be consulted. He had felt a momentary surprise at hearing this, and a vague feeling of uneasiness made him go up to his wife's room. She looked a little more flushed than usual, but she greeted him cheerfully. Tottie was sitting on the bed, with a large picture-book to keep her quiet. ' Why does Dr. Arnitt want Robertson to come down and see you, Car ? ' he had asked anxiously. ' In my opinion you look decidedly better ; you have quite a colour this afternoon.' ' Tottie tires me a little,' she returned, with her usual quiet sedateness ; ' she is a good girl, but it is natural for children to fidget.

AVill you take her to the nursery, Reginald?' ' Yes, in a moment ; but about Robertson ? ' ' Oh, Dr. Arnitt thinks that it will be as well to have him. He is a little bit fussy, perhaps, but if you don't mind the expense, dear.' 'Expense be .' Mr. Lorimer's answer had been unnecessarily energetic, and Car looked at him a litle reprov ingly ; latitude of speech was unbecoming inher eyes. 'You have no occasion to put yourself out, Reginald,' she returned, closing her eyes wearily. 'I told Dr. Arnitt you would not mind. I suppose we must do as he wishes. Doctors know best about these things. But now will you take Tottie away, please ? Kiss mamma, Tottie, and go with father, like a good little girl.' ' I am more comfy here,' pouted Tottie, with a shrug of her fat shoulders and an unmistakable droop of her lip. 'Go away, dad.' But Reginald, seeing his wife's tired face, carried off the rebel, smothering her with kisses as he went, and as Lady Car turned on her pillow she could hear childish shrieks of merriment. ' If I do not take care he will spoil Tottie,' she thought, as she composed herself and tried to sleep.

He remembered this little scene, and the romp that followed in the nursery, in which Lassie had joined ; but there had been no romps with Tottie since. The next afternoon — was it the next, or the day after, the consultation had been held? — he remembered how he came in earlier from shooting to hear the result, and the long time they kept him waiting, while he walked up and down the hall talking to Lassie and chafing at their delay. He had been impatient enough — patience was not one of his virtues — but no anxiety or foreboding kept him restless ; on the contrary, he had taken a great deal of interest in a mock tournament between Lassie and a small black kitten that went by the name of the Fiend, and in which the Fiend was dis tinctly victorious. It had just ended when Dr. Arnitt opened the library door and beckoned to him, aud then — the rest was hopelessly blurred and confused.

He was trying to take in something that the physician was telling him with a very grave face. Dr. Robertson was sorry to say Lady Car was very ill; her state was most unsatis factory. An unusual complication had taken place, and nothing could be done ; but he was thankful to say there would be little suffering. He caught these few fragments, and tried to piece them together lucidly into a whole. ' A complication ! Nothing to be done ! ' What on earth did the pompous old fogie mean, with his long-drawn-out sentences ? What was the use of having a second opinion, if Car were getting well without them? Stop, he had said nothing about getting well. ' It would be dishonest on my part, my dear sir,' continued the physician, ' to hold out any hope ; both Dr. Arnitt and I would think it false kindness.

We dare not tell you that Lady Car will recover ; but I can assure you that there will be scarcely any suffering.' And then, as he had looked up in his bewilderment and horror, he had caught a grave, pitying glance from Dr. Arnitt. ' I think he understands now,' Dr. Arnitt said. ' Sit down, Mr. Lorimer ' ; and he put his hand kindly on his shoulder. ' You have had a heavy blow.' A heavy blow ! He remembered once that he had been struck in the chest by a cricket-ball, and how the breath had seemed all driven out of his body, and strange zigzag lights had danced before his eyes ; he was almost as breathless and sick and giddy as he had been then. He remembered, too, how Lassie, with a dog's unerring instinct, had jumped up and licked his hand, and how he had pushed the little beast away ; and then Dr. Arnitt had brought him some wine, and Dr. Robertson had shaken hands with him very kindly, but he had spoken to neither of them until he found himself alone with his old friend. ' Will it be long ? ' he had asked, and his voice seemed to come dully from a distance, almost as though he were speaking underground. 'We think not' — Dr. Arnitt hesitated a little — 'I may say we hope not.

If it were prolonged it would mean suffering, but, from what Dr. Robertson has ascertained, Lady Car will be mercifully spared this.' ' Doe's she know ? ' Oh, how hoarsely he spoke ! His throat seemed lined with fur. 'We think she guesses. Dr. Robertson was very careful, very guarded, but I noticed how she watched our faces. Lady Car is very self-controlled ; it is not easy to read her thoughts. If you would take my advice, Mr. Lorimer, you will leave her to rest for a while. She has an excellent nurse in Mrs. Francis. I will look in again this evening, just to see how things are going on, though there is nothing to be done.' Good heavens ! how they harped on that string, nothing to be done ! They were dinning it into his ear purposely, as though they were determined to tear all hope to shreds before his eyes ; but he had not the spirit to remonstrate at this cruelty.

He sat with downcast eyes as Dr. Arnitt uttered a few more kind commonplaces, and when at last he was left alone, he sat there still and motionless, with Lassie curled up into a shivering ball at his feet. The first thing that roused him was the footman coming in to attend to the fire, and then by and by a message was brought him. Lady Car was asking for him. He rose at once and shook himself, and as he stumbled up the staircase the clock chimed a quarter -past seven, and he wondered vaguely what Car would think at seeing him still in his tweed shooting-coat ; they always dined at half-past seven, and at this hour he had generally left his dressing-room ready for the evening. Car was a great stickler for etiquette and the minor morals of life. But he forgot all about his negligence when he saw her worn face.

It seemed to have grown older and thinner all at once, and there was a strained look in her eyes. As he stood irresolutely a moment holding her hot hand, she beckoned to him to sit down. ' I have been expecting you the last two hours. Why have you kept away so long ? I thought you would have come to me at once.' Then, as she saw his face more distinctly, 'Ah, I see, they have told you. They tried to hide it from me, but I was too sharp. Say something to me, Reggie.' To his knowledge she had never called him Reggie before. ' It is so dull lying here thinking — thinking about you and Tottie.' ' Good heavens, how can you take it so calmly ! ' and then he checked himself. They must not agitate her ; he remem bered Dr. Arnitt had told him that over and over again. ' I take everything calmly — it is my nature ; you ought to know that by this time; and somehow ' here her voice changed a little, and her fingers pressed his — 'I cannot believe it— that I shall have to leave you.

I do not feel ill enough.' _ ' Why did you not tell them that ? Perhaps it is ali a mistake ; even clever doctors are wrong sometimes. We will have another opinion. In the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom — eh, Car?' 'No, dear, there is no mistake. I have been talking to nurse ; you know my mother died of the same thing. If one could only believe it.' Her lips looked blue and dry. ' But there, we will not talk about it. Stop with me a little this evening, Reggie. I like to see you there. Oh, I forgot ; you have not had your dinner yet, poor boy ! ' ' Do you think I care about my dinner, Car, with you in this state ? ' ' But I care, and if you will please me you will go down at once. Yes, do, dear ; perhaps I should only talk too much if you stayed ' ; and he was compelled reluctantly to obey her.