This Picture and That. A novel

Front matter

THIS PICTTJKE AND THAT At all Libraries and Booksellers. Dedicated by Permission to the Abbe Liszt. A Left-Handed Marriage A Story of Musical Life. BY MRS. OSCAR BERINGER. Author of " Beloved of the Gods." 2 TolS., 21S. " The language in which the novel is written is facile, and even brilliant." — Daily Telegraph. "We have no hesitation in recommending the book to all who are in search of -a well-written novel of sus tained interest, and likely, if we mistake not, to hold its place among the successful fictions of the seasp'n." — Musical World. ■REMINGTON & CO., Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. THIS PICTURE AND THAT a jEtobel [ N THREE VOLUMES BY •MES. CHARLES CHAPMAN Author of " Some Time In Ireland " Lives interwoven, yet diverse they be, In mind, in morals, and in destiny. VOL III LONDON REMINGTON & CO PUBLISHERS HENRIETTA STREET fOVENT GARDEN 1886 [AU Rights Reserved] CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE I. The Mystery Solved 1 II. An Agreeable Surprise ... ... ... 18 III. Friends and Foes 39 IV. The Bride's First Reception 60 V. Eugenie Irrepressible ... ... ... 73 VI. Garwold Hall 95 VTI. A Disturbing Element 115 VIII. The Baronet Bewitched 129 IX. The Baronet Befooled 153 X. Separated but not Sundered ... ... 185 XI. Blue in the Sky 203 XII. Requiescat in Pace ... ... ... 217 XIII. One Touch of Nature 233 XIV. Elysium— Tartarus 253 XV. Woe Worth the Day 269 XVI. In the Midst of Life

Chapter I. The Mystery Solved

Colonel Vaudrey Petre and Eugenie parted from Olyffe at the Charing Cross Station on the first of October, the Colonel with warm expressions of regret, his daughter with an amount of indifference bordering on satis faction. The last link was severed which bound Eugenie to a semblance of being con trolled. Henceforward she would be her own mistress, supreme in her father's house, with no female authority to defer to. Mr. Ridley's brougham was in waiting at VOL. III. B THAT. 2 the station to convey his niece to Streatham Lodge. Olyffe was received by Aunt Joanna, who looked, if possible, more thin and angular, her scanty locks of a more indefinite hue, her steely, inquisitive eyes scanning her niece to detect what changes had been effected by her residence amongst a superstitious and semi-idolatrous people.

There was a grim satisfaction in the tone of her welcoming back the traveller to England, the only country where godly religion and bodily cleanliness were to be found together. " Your profession of the Protestant faith has not been tampered with by the Jesuits, I trust?" " I never met with a Jesuit, aunt, all the time I was abroad." ** Ah ! there lurks the danger ; they're mostly in ambush, and when they do show themselves it's the 'wolf in sheep's clothing.' " "You may be easy on the matter of my faith, aunt ; no one has ever tried to tamper with it." The day was chilly; orders had been issued by Mr. Ridley that good fires should be kept burning in all the sitting-rooms. Miss Joanna sniffed her disapproval of the wasteful concession to the cravings of the flesh. Counter-orders, however, would be sure to be disobeyed by the butler, who never failed, when Miss Joanna gave an opening, to flaunt his flag of defiance under her very nose.

During the time she remained in the drawing-room Olyffe's eyes would turn with an irresistible fascination towards the seat running round the bay window, where that ever-to-be-remembered interview with Bertie took place. How vividly that last scene rose up before her ! Alas ! was not her love for him as strong now as then ? But the recollection of the one great obstacle which separated them, like the singing in the ears premonitory of a fainting-fit, warned her against giving indulgence to it. On this occasion when she reached her room she found herself surrounded by every THA T. 4 possible English comfort, so she could brave the depressing influences of shivering trees, grey skies, and the gusts of October winds as well as the prospect of dull November wait ing to succeed chill October. There was a knock at the door, followed by the housemaid entering with a note and a bouquet.

" I was to be sure and give it into your own hands, miss," said the girl. '* My dear Miss Fancourt," wrote Mrs. Carr Glover, " Only a few lines to express my pleasure at your return to England. Come and see me as soon as possible. I have been deputed by a friend to present you with the accompanying bouquet." Olyffe looked all round ; not a flowervase in the room. " Do you think," addressing the maid, "you might bring me some vases from the drawing-room ? " ** There are none there to bring. Miss Joanna won't have cut-flowers in the drawing-room ; they make a mess, she says, and she can't abide the smell of them." She disappeared, and soon returned with some spare ones which Doran supplied her with. " Erom whom can these flowers come ? " mused Olyffe. " So choice, so exquisite their perfume ; they come from Bertie.

He has not forgotten me then ! True to me all along, true to me still ! " On her way to the drawing-room she met her uncle in the hall. He was evidently pleased to see her, responding with a kindly smile to his niece's expressions of gratitude for his great kindness and liberality to her, not omitting his thoughtfulness in sending his brougham to fetch her from the Charing Cross Station. Though fully appreciating her recognition of the services he had rendered her, Mr. Ridley was not demonstrative in his response to her expressions of gratitude. He was evidently more intent on scanning her appearance, closely examining her face. The result was satisfactory. " Looking well, I should say ; better than when you left; eyes bright, complexion clear." " You would not have reported so well of me, Uncle James, had you seen me when I landed at Folkestone yesterday.

Such a rough crossing we had." " I am afraid I was the cause of that, bringing you back this month. Storms are more prevalent in October.'' " No, uncle ; I should have had to cross anyhow. Cui'iously enough, Colonel Vau drey Petre had previously fixed on his arriving in London on this very day." During dinner Miss Joanna gave vent to what she considered a great grievance, namely, the drain of money going on from this country owing to the annual migration of so many thousands of its inhabitants to foreign lands. " I suppose,'' answered her brother, "it's the old question of supply and demand. The English want sun, and as it refuses to shine in their own country they go to others in search of it." It did not escape Olyffe that though generally her uncle's face did not betray his thoughts, it wore on this occasion an ex pression which she was unable to divine the meaning of; it was not grave nor thoughtful, but there was an element of quiet humour in it.

During the interval of silence it crossed Olyffe's thoughts that perhaps after all she might have been de ceiving herself in expecting that any dis closures her uncle had to make would extend beyond the announcement that now that she was legally her own mistress she was free to choose her own path in life. She was following her aunt out of the room. As she passed her uncle he detained her for a moment. " I wish you to come to me in the library in half an hour," he said. It seemed to Olyffe one of the longest half hours she had ever passed. She paced up and down the drawing-room, and all un consciously found herself occupying the very seat she had occupied on that wellremembered Sunday evening when she had refused to sanction an engagement of marriage between Bertie and herself. How vividly that scene again rose up before her !

But she must brace herself for what was coming, whatever it might be ; she would not allow her thoughts to dwell upon the irrevocable past, for irrevocable she was con vinced it must be. She got up and sat down beside her aunt, and forced her atten tion to Miss Joanna's explanation of a newly-invented crotchet stitch, by which petticoats and shawls could be crotcheted with half the consumption of wool and double the amount of warmth. The chimes of the clock on the mantle piece sounded nine. She counted every stroke. The half-hour had expired. In her hasty exit from the room she had nearly upset the tea-tray which Doran was bringing in. Miss Joanna Ridley took her tea alone that evening, her brother only coming in to wish her good-night, leaving a message of excuse from Olyffe. " I have a matter of great importance to communicate to you, Olyffe.

Do you wish me to defer it until to-morrow morning ? " " Ob! uncle, to-night — now — at once ! ' "Very well, my dear; don't blame me if you have a sleepless night." " Dear Uncle James, no ! " She had been standing ; her uncle drew an arm-chair beside his own. " Sit down, my dear." She sat down, and he went on. " Olyffe, this day twenty-two years ago your parents were married. Your maternal grandfather was then living. He exacted one promise before he gave his con sent to his daughter's marriage, which was assented to by your father and duly carried out. The promise was this. Your mother's fortune was twenty thousand pounds ; a similar sum was to be brought into settlement by my late brother-in-law. This capital sum of forty thousand pounds was to be invested in the name of two trustees, of whom I am now the sole survivor, the interest to accumulate for the benefit of my sister and her children.

If she survived her husband the income of the fund would be paid to her; if she predeceased him her children would in herit. Only in the event of your father being the sole survivor would he have been en titled to the fund, of which you are now the sole inheritor in virtue of being the sole survivor." "Forty thousand pounds, uncle!" ex claimed Olyffe, quite bewildered by such an unexpected revelation of her being the possessor of such an amount. Her uncle smiled at the girl's simplicity. " You are no arithmetician, my dear." " But you did say forty thousand pounds, you know ! " " Invested twenty-two years ago, with interest, and compound interest." But this was quite beyond Olyffe's com prehension. At that moment certainly she was too flurried and excited to be able, even with the aid of her uncle, to arrive at the amount of her fortune.

" It must be someihing more, Uncle James." "I see there's no use my setting you the sum to work out. I'll do it for you. In round numbers the fund amounts to one hundred and sixty thousand pounds." It seemed almost beyond the bounds of belief. " Oh ! if poor papa had lived until now," and the tears stole down her cheeks. " It would have made no difference, my dear, if he had. Your grandfather was aware of your father's mania for speculation, and had arranged for every possible contin gency. You have only a life-interest in the capital. You are even debarred from an ticipating the income arising from it, and large as the sum may appear to you, it would have been as a drop in the ocean compared to his liabilities. You may remember, Olyffe, that evening when I saw your father for the last time ; he left me to go to you.

You may remember, too, his last words condemn ing me for refusing him this money. I had no power to give it, except by a breach of trust, exposing me to a criminal prosecution. One thing more, which I know will give you great satisfaction. I bought in the Priory, which I consider to be a good investment, and will eventually, I expect, fetch more than the purchase money. It is yours, but you have the power of reselling it." " Uncle James, this is indeed the running over of my cup. I never could bear to think of the Priory being inhabited by strangers. I love the place dearly. And the Ire tons — how astonished they'll be ! And I shall be once more their nearest neighbour. Oh ! indeed, it seems almost too much ! " With difficulty she restrained her tears. " Then I have done well in both ways, for your personal enjoyment and as a matter of business.

Hurston Priory is not an expen sive place to keep up ; your father always calculated that it kept itself — that is," in explanation, " the rent of the land, over and above the interest of the purchase-money and the outlay for gardeners and labourers. There are not more than five hundred acres sur rounding the mansion. When the outlying property came into the market your father intended buying it, but in these times it is only a millionaire that can afford to invest in land." " Uncle James, may I ask you a question ?'' " Yes, my dear, if you will allow me the option of replying to it or not." " When poor papa died I only wanted a year and a half of being of age — " " Precisely so. I see the drift of your question. Why did I not tell you then what I have told you now ? " " I should like to know why not ?

" " Well Olyffe, I felt that I stood in my relation to you in a two-fold capacity — as parent and guardian. I acted as I judged best for your present and future happiness. You had been suddenly launched into a world of fashion and frivolity, which — pardon me for reminding you — neither your birth nor your antecedents prepared you for or entitled you to move in. You were hedged within a circle who looked upon you as the lawful prize of a titled spendthrift. Had it been known even that your fortune had diminished to its present amount you would still be a prize worth the pursuit. I foresaw the danger that when smarting under the loss of your position you might have succumbed to the blandishments of an impecunious lord ling, young and inexperienced as you were in the wiles of an artificial society.

I resolved to keep you in ignorance of the fortune you were entitled to upon coming of age, that you might practically learn what measure the world metes to those who possess neither wealth, rank, nor brilliant talents. Don't set me down as a harsh cynic when I ask you what has been your experience of your fashionable acquaintances ? Did they court your society or make advances to intimacy with you ? " " Quite the contrary, uncle ; they have ignored my very existence," with a touch of bitterness in the tone of her voice. She went on, " It is too true that I have seen through the motives of many since I have fallen out of the ranks of fashionable society, and far more than that, I have been grieved and pained to find that more of censure than of pity has been bestowed upon me. I have been credited with thrusting myself under false pretences into exclusive circles."

" Hunters for prey, when they miss their quarry, are glad to vent their disappointment upon the defenceless animal who has escaped pursuit. It's much the same in the social hunt when a prize is withdrawn or disappears." Though confused, with her brain in a whirl, Olyffe was able, as she pressed her uncle's hand, to say, " You acted wisely, and for my best interests. I shall never, never forget all you have done for me. Dear Uncle James, good-night." He retained her hand in his. " One moment, my dear. Have you formed any idea what yearly income this fund pro duces ? " " Indeed I have not." "A clear six thousand a year, exclusive of the Priory ! " She could realize to the full the blessed ness of having been loved for herself alone apart from mere worldly motives. " Uncle James judged rightly," she said to herself, " else I should never have known there was one whose motives were pure and disinterested ; for the same feeling which kept him aloof, when I was known as the great London heiress, would have operated to keep us asunder when it was known that I was entitled upon coming of age to the possession of Hurston Priory and six thousand a year."

As the hours of the night stole away life in its practical aspect rose up before her. The Priory must be her home, but how could she live there alone ? Her friends were few in number; shecouldonly count upon theDanbys and the Iretons. True the latter resided in the Rectory for many months in the year. A letter should be despatched by the early post, and, with her uncle's consent, she would go down to them by an afternoon train. " Mr. and Miss West — how will they receive the news of my accession of fortune ? With mingled feelings no doubt. Miss Petre, she will be so taken up with her own individual interests there will be no place in her thoughts for aught which concerns me." And now it would come to the front — now that the sole obstacle which kept them apart had been so unexpectedly removed — the dis tressing question, Had she acted wisely and well when she had refused her consent to Bertie's reiterated and passionate entreaties for an engagement between them ?

Would it not have been more considerate of her to have left the matter to his decision, trusted all to the judgment and experience of a man so superior to hers as a woman ? But she could not have erred when she recalled what Lady Danby had said. " Had you yielded, Olyffe, there would have been the mistake of two lives — an irrepar able misfortune to both of them." VOL. in. c:

Chapter II. An Agreeable Surprise

•' A letter from Olyffe Fancourt ! " exclaimed Mrs. Ireton, who was confined to the sofa with a sprained ankle. When she had read it, she asked her husband if he could explain its meaning, for it fairly puzzled her — the fact of the writer arriving at the station by the 4.30 train. " Pray read it to me ; how else can I possibly explain its meaning ? " " Of course — of course, Godfrey, I quite meant to do so." " Streatham Lodge, "October 21 "My Dear Mrs. Ireton, " I was twenty-one yesterday ! In the evening my uncle put an end to my suspense. I am my own mistress, and inde pendent ! All the details of his unexpected communication I must reserve until we meet. I feel that it is due to you and Canon Ireton, who have proved such real friends to me, that you should be the first to hear from my own lips what has occurred.

I shall hope to reach Hurston Station at 4.30. " Your ever affectionate, " Olyffe Fancourt. " P.S. — I hope you won't object to my bringing my maid ? " " * Own mistress and independent,' taken in their natural sense, can only mean that Olyffe has come into possession of an income which relieves her of the necessity of depending upon her relations, her friends, or on her own exertions for her maintenance and support. There is no reason to suppose that she has been deluded by her imagination into believing that she can be her own mistress — as ordinarily understood, or in dependent — with inadequate means at her disposal for the position. Her own good sense and her uncle's shrewdness would save her from entertaining such an idea." " It seems to me," said Mrs. Ireton, " unac countably strange that all at once she should be able to conquer her feeling of repugnance to come here.

So many times, when I pressed her to visit us, she used to beg of me not to think her foolish or ungrateful, but she felt that never could she bear to see the Priory inhabited by strangers. It was the house of her earliest and dearest recollections and associations — of her unspoilt country life contrasted with her town life which was so largely composed of the unreal and artificial." "And more strange still that what she shrunk from encountering is on the point of occurring. Orders were received this morning that everything should be in readiness for the owner of the Priory, who was to arrive by the same train that Olyffe comes by." " Is nothing further known of whom the family consist ? '' " No ; there seems to be intentional con cealment, and no orders have been sent beyond what I told you.

Elizabeth Minton showed me the letter, which was evidently written and signed by the head clerk of a London firm." " Well, we shall soon have the mystery cleared up. I am afraid the place will have been bought by a self-made man ; such are the only buyers of estates in these days." " Let us hope, if it be so, he may be as good a specimen of the class as the late Mr. Fancourt. As the air is chilly, I will order the brougham to be sent to meet the down express. I must be off now on my parish rounds, but I shall not fail to be back in time for the coming explanation." Miss Joanna Ridley was rather relieved than otherwise when on the following morning Olyffe informed her "that she had seen her uncle before he left for town, and that he quite approved of her wish of going to stay at Hurston Rectory, and that she had already despatched a letter to Mrs .

Ireton announcing her intention of arriving by the afternoon train." Her niece's presence in the house involved a much greater amount of self sacrifice than she was at all willing to make; then there would be an increase in the usual lavish household expenditure, and the thwart ing tactics of the servants when any inter ference on her part was attempted. Her brother's very evident admiration of Olyffe excited a jealous feeling, added to the con viction that there was an invincible prejudice against her own religious views, which would convert their daily intercourse into a battle for supremacy and consequent defeat of the weaker of the two combatants. Olyffe had been further fortified in her desire of personally informing the Iretons of the change in her position by her uncle's ready response to the proposition on her side.

Mr. Ridley would himself write to Colonel Vaudrey Petre, who had throughout acted with consistent kindness during the whole period of his niece's stay under his protec tion. This was a relief to Olyffe; she felt that it would not accord with her feelings to have to explain in writing the means of her becoming possessed of a considerable fortune. A lawyer's pen would best explain the details of so important and unexpected an event. Fond as Mr. Ridley had become of his niece, proud as he was of her beauty, her many winning and attractive natural endow ments, it would be a weight upon his mind her being exposed to the daily friction of such an irritant as his sister must prove. Nor, indeed, would it be right for him to subject either of them to the ordeal of a daily com panionship with such marked dissimilarities of character.

" It is best, my dear," said her uncle, as Olyffe presented herself on the point of his leaving for his office, and asked his permis sion for her going down to the Iretons by the afternoon express, " that you should go at once to your friends who have known you from childhood. They will prove your best advisers under these changed conditions in your position." "I should like to see Mrs. Carr Glover. I had a note from her yesterday, asking me to come and see her." " By all means, my dear ; the brougham can take you on your way to the station. Don't forget to tell the lady that I shall please myself by challenging her to a game of chess on my return from town." He kissed Olyffe affectionately, asked her when she had fixed upon any plan to write at once and tell him of it, and went off to join a party of business men, who chartered a special omnibus for taking them up at their respective residences and conveying them to and from their offices.

It was a satisfactory conclusion for all parties. It was best for his sister that she should continue as usual to preside over the Streatham Lodge household, and best for his niece that she should occupy the position of mistress at the Priory. Thus the difficulty was removed which almost up to the time of her appearance Mr. Ridley had not quite solved. Olyffe was cordially welcomed by Mrs. Carr Glover. " Only a short visit, en route elsewhere — there to remain goodness knows how long ! " — when she heard that Olyffe was on her way to Hurston Rectory. " Had enough of Miss Joanna Ridley's company, is that it?" " Not exactly." Mrs. Carr Glover looked inquisitively at her visitor. Olyffe fell back upon her uncle's message, adding — " And I quite expect he will explain to you my reason for leaving his house so directly.

But I must not forget to thank you for your note, and " — blushing — " I have a request to make to you. Will you say for me to the sender of the beautiful bouquet that it reminded me of similar ones I used to receive in former times?" "Yes, my dear. Shall you remain long ?J9 " Impossible to say. You shall hear from me very shortly — as soon as my plans are fixed." " And you will remember, Miss Fancourt, that I shall be always delighted to welcome you here. There are intervals in one's engage ments, or a need for change of air and scene, when a friend's house is a godsend." " Indeed, I shall be only too glad to avail myself of your kind offer." " Was not this lady the friend and hostess of Bertie ? Might there not be a chance of meeting him under her roof, in the very room she was in ? " Possibilities had dawned and opened upon her which she was at no pains in the present, as she had been in the past, to dismiss as quickly as they ai-ose.

She was now independent, free to marry the man she loved without the fear of ruining his prospects in life. She herself could make no advances, and he, too, might think it incom patible with an ideal disinterestedness to do so, but others might effect what neither could carry out for themselves by bringing about a rapprochement. She was on the point of saying — " I shall look forward to seeing you at the Priory," when she checked herself, got up, took a warm and affectionate leave of Mrs. Carr Glover, and was driven off to the station. " Nothing serious, I hope ? " said Olyffe, on entering the drawing-room at the Rectory, and finding Mrs. Ireton lying on the sofa. " Only a slight sprain, my dear, which is yielding to treatment," raising herself and embracing Olyffe with her old motherly affection.

The Canon laid down the Times, which he had been reading aloud to his wife, and warmly welcomed his guest. Olyffe, though impatient to get over the communication she had to make, nevertheless trembled, and was agitated. The sight of the too well-remembered room, the atmos phere and sweet perfume that always surrounded Mrs. Ireton, recalled the old days, dating from her earliest recollections ; and though with a break in time, and one gone never to return, yet she seemed as if spellbound, whilst the desire to unburden herself was powerfully present. She sat down in a low chair, which Mr. Ireton had placed for her beside his wife's sofa. She got as far as " I am the owner of the Priory—" Then she broke down. " My dear Olyffe ! " exclaimed Mrs. Ireton. " Thank God ! " ejaculated the Canon. " Yes," recovering herself, " the Priory belongs to me, and six thousand a year besides."

Now that the astounding intelligence had been given — for astounding she saw it was to both her hearers — she had less difficulty in explaining how it had come about. "Grandpapa gave mamma twenty thousand pounds on her marriage, and required that poor papa should add another twenty thou sand to it. The interest has been accumulating ever since, and the fund now amounts to a hundred and sixty thousand pounds. Uncle James is the sole trustee, and he bought in the Priory for me." " Now the secret is out, and we know the real owner of the Priory. Oh ! my dear Olyffe ! " exclaimed the Canon, " this is, indeed, far, far beyond what I could have expected." " Or I imagined," rejoined Mrs. Ireton. " How self-controlled you have been through out ! Not worth mentioning, my dear, that little breakdown.