Under the Rose. A prose idyl

Chapter I

" A joy in flowers, Bedewed his spirit in his calmer hours." Byron. I am only a floAver — a Gloire de Dijon Rose — but in among my creamy petals a story lies which all who will may know. The old law binds not now ; and you have but to look deep enough into my flovver-heart — forgetting' for a Avhile the sordid Avorld in Avhich you live — and it shall seem as though I tell to you the folloAving tale in my own words. Yet not altogether mine ; for of some matters uncomprehended in our floAver realm I perforce must speak in the common parlance of your own. A hot August sun shone through the lattice windoAv where I bloomed. In the room itself a man lay back in an invalid chair. He Avas a large man, with a frame that had once been poAverful ; but noAv he Avas a cripple for the remaining days of his life.

His face betokened power ; power living, not power dead, like that of the rest of his body. He had handsome rugged features and an open, cheerful expres sion habitually, though there Avere moments when a shadoAv of cynicism or sarcasm Avould darken the whole. In the cottage room Avere many comforts, even luxuries, and in its adornment the taste of the occupier Avas clearly discernible. Sporting pictures, surmounted by foxes' heads and brushes, each labelled Avith a date, hung on every side. A silver hunting-horn, Avith an inscription, occupied an honourable position over the mantle-shelf, sundry old saddles, spurs, and AA7hips hung in odd corners, and just beloAv the silver horn AA7as a little card, daintily illuminated by some fair hand, which told the " meets" and "kills " of the past year.

The restless eyes of the invalid Avandered about the room, but Avithout fixing themselves for long on any of the objects there. At length, having finished the pipe Avhich he was smoking, he shook the ashes out and laid it carefully on its bracket, and I kneAv, from the expression his face assumed, that he was about to speak. It was an old custom of his, in some moods, Avhen alone, to mutter his thoughts aloud, and he never did so without, either by name or gesture, addressing himself to me. In this instance his eyes looked at me with umvonted earnestness. I felt, therefore, that he had more than usual to say, and I listened eagerly, drinking in his words. " You're all right then, little Rose, eh ?" he commenced ; " plenty of light, and warmth, and Avater, and pretty comfortable on the Avhole ?

Ah ! Avell ; I hope they'll take care of you Avhen I'm gone. I've aboutlived my time, little Rose, that's the fact. Heigho ! it's a queer world, and the longer one lives in it the queerer it seems. One does not get any more used to its ways, nor to the way it's managed. Six years since I had that fall, and took to lying here . . . and all that time Avhat have I done but think ? What else could I do ? What good for ? Nothing ! Let me hark back to the beginning. 'Tis sixty years or thereabouts since I was born. I was nursed in luxury, they tell me, till misfortunes came ; of that time I remember nothing, nor wish to do. i — I learned to read and AA'rite, and could speak at least my mother tongue. Horses I always loved ; and when I accompanied young Mr. Harcourt to Paris as second groom, it Avas my first start in life.

He Avas ever a hasty man. Aye, he Avas young then, and now he is old. But the same nature is there still. I told him I loved horses more than men ; he engaged me, and I Avent. The horse he had entered for the race — it Avas long before the Grand Prix days — did not Avin ; my master AA-as disgusted, and never ran a horse again. I remained abroad for nine — or Avas it ten years ? By merest chance I heard of an English gentleman AA'ho wished to start some foxhounds at Rome. Least said the better of hoAv the scheme succeeded ! I got the post of second ' Avhip,' and at Rome I led a fairly happy life. 'TAvas there Annetta's dark eyes snared me. I married her : but when my son Avas born she died. I loved her ? Yes — and sorrowed Avhen I lost her. I forget Avhat happened next ; a dark cloud closed it in.

I hated Rome and quitted it, leaving my child behind among his mother's friends. I laid no plans, but somehoAv found myself at Bycester, and went to see the. squire. His father Avas noAv dead and all belonged to him. Upon some small pretence he dismissed his huntsman. I took his place. I soon got to know my country. It Avas very different to that I'd had at Rome : but my heart was in my work, and I lived now Avith but one object — to shoAv sport. My horses and my hounds were turned out in a way that gained me fame both far and near. My place liked me, and I liked my place, and if the squire Avas a bit hasty at times, Ave all have our faults, and hang it, I'd stick to him. He'd been my first friend : maybe he'll prove my last. All things went smooth with him until his Avife died. He hadn't had many troubles, and didn't take well Avith them.

He felt her loss keenly. He had only one child, a girl. Yes ! my Rose, I know she gave you to me. I've not forgotten what a little slip of a thing you Avere then, either. But I am speaking of Avhen I first knew her, when she Avas but a slip of a thing herself — bless her ! She Avas very young when her mother died, and too much left to herself. Many's the time I've noticed her Avandering about in a lost sort of way. At last I said, 'Squire, Miss Constance should have a pony and learn to ride.' " ' Get her one at once, Roy, and teach her yourself,' was his reply ; and how proud I Avas of my little pupil ! " Heigho ! there's my boy noAv — Avhy couldn't he love riding as that girl did ? He might have succeeded me when I'm done for — a better life than the one he's chosen. Books ? Why were they ever written, the great bulk of them ?

There are too many books in the world ! Who Avas it said, ' A little learning is a dangerous thing ' ? He Avas a fool. It isn't true. A little learning is a useful thing if folks would stop there, but they Avon't ; they get drunk upon it — mad upon it. What good have books and the love of them ever done Gerard ? Just unfitted him for every situation that Avas likely to come in his way ! He's a good lad, too, but a fool all the same, and will never come to any good. No, I can't last long noAv. That man the squire had doAvn from London told me so to-day. Not suffer much ? What odds ? A little pain more or less Avould be better to bear than this utter helplessness. I'd take the pain and be thankful sometimes. It Avould break the drear monotony, . . . Aye . . . I see your sly old head . . . Yes, Reynard, you were lively enough that April morning ; a fine run you led us.

But I wasn't in at your death . . . old Cato fell and crushed me first . . . You'll never lead them another chase. No more shall I, and so we're quits ; but you've the best of it, old felloAv . . . Halloo! Avho's there ? Come in !" he cried in a cheery voice, as a Avell-knoAvn knock sounded at the door. " Good-day, Roy ! any better ?" asked Mr. Harcourt, as he entered and closed the door behind him. "What does the doctor say of you r " Say ? Oh, just the usual thing, squire. Why trouble about me ? What's the good of your fine London doctors to me ? Why, bless you, that rose tree in the windoAv is more good than all the lot of the doctors put together ! Don't I knoAv Avell enough the stages through Avhich I must pass ? Don't I knoAv that as the numbness mounts so will my light go out in this world ?

Don't bother yourself any more, sir. When the candle's burnt doAvn it's no use applying the light." " Tut, tut, tut, Roy ! it's something new to hear you talking this way. Didn't you tell my daughter only yesterday you were not dead yet, and that you meant to be out Avith us the first cub-hunting morning ?" " Aye, bless her heart ! and so I did ; and I'd SAvear it this very minute if she Avas standing there. But it's no use fooling you, squire, nor myself; and if the doctor hadn't said Avhat he did to-day, I knew well enough hoAv the land lay ; and hang it, I don't care ! Don't take on, sir," he added, as the squire's eyes fora moment grew dim, and he brushed his hand hastily across them. " We must all die sometime. I'm sorry to leave the hounds just noAv, for though I haven't cared to say it before, that felloAv Mills hasn't fallen into his work as I should like to see him.

His heart's not in it, sir ; that's the rub. But I can give him a few hints yet before I'm gone ... It isn't over pleasant lying here, squire. More than six years, you see. I don't know Avhat I'm going to, but I'm about tired of this life in death." And the poor man turned aAvay his face for a moment Avith a slight shudder. " I wish I could do you any good, Roy, my dear fellow," said the squire, laying his hand kindly on the invalid's shoulder. " I'm no use at talking church. But look here, I'll send the parson to you. Talk to him, talk to him, Roy ; it's their trade, you know, and they often say the right thing." " Well, sir, you sent the fine London doctor, and noAv you'll send the priest. All right. He'll just tell me Avhat I kneAv before. They use a lot of grand-sounding w7ords, these parsons, and they mean well — no doubt they mean Avell — ■ but they don't hit it !

Now, if one of them would just come to me and say, ' Roy, you'll meet your Avife Avhere you are going,' and if I could believe him, I Avouldn't want to hear much more . . . you're Avith me there, squire —eh ?" Mr. Harcourt grasped his hand Avarmly for a moment : there Avas a pause, and then he asked : " When do you expect your son ?' A change passed over Roy's face : he seemed to gather himself together. " Oh, Gerard can easily be sent for when I feel the end is near. I heard from him yester day." " He's a fine young fellow — a bit over fine, I hear, for his position ; but that's no fault of yours. I wish I could do something for him." " Do something ? Why, you've proposed no end of things, and he Avould accept none of them. My son has vexed me sorely, Mr. Har court. He writes to tell me he's just got the appointment he has been hankering after — librarian at Bycester.

I wish you'd refused him your support there, sir ! And now he's been writing some nonsense or another, and some infernal newspapers have spoken well of it, and turned his head. I wish you'd talk to him a bit, squire. I'll send him to the Hall Avhen he comes to see me. He enters on this appointment immediately, so he can easily run over from Bycester — that is, if he will leave those confounded books." " Well, good-bye, take care of yourself," said the squire heartily ; and Avith a friendly nod he left the cottage to cross the road and enter his own park gates, Avhich Avere almost opposite. But another visitor arrived. A light tap on the door, a bright face peeping in, and a SAveet voice saying, " Papa here ? Ah no ! then I have missed him. I must not stay a minute. I have brought you some eggs.

See ! I will place the little basket here till Jenny comes across from the lodge to give you your tea. But hoAv lovely your roses are !" She \A'alked to the AvindoAV and touched one of my blossoms tenderly Avith her little hand. I liked her touch — it thrilled me. " There are not many blossoms on your tree yet, but in a year or two it Avill have reached perfection." She stopped abruptly. I knoAV Avhat she thought ; that he Avould not be here to see it. " I brought my new ponies to shoAv you, Roy, and they are at the door noAv. If you just raise your head Avhen I have left, you shall see me drive them in at the lodge gates. Be sure you look. I will come to-morroAv for a long chat. Good-bye." She had abstained from inquiring concerning his health. She Avas excited, nervous, restless. She kneAv hoAv it Avas with him, this girl !

Hoav easily I could read her ! Yes, I was right ; Avhen she reached the door, the brightness died out of her face, and a strangely sad expression took its place as she left the cottage. But he did not see it. " Happy youth !" he murmured, and it Avas as Avell. I forgot to notice Avhether he raised his head for a sight of the ponies. My thoughts were with the girl. I felt as if there were a strange and subtle sympathy betAveen us, AA'hich time Avould probably more fully develop. I Avas quite a young plant, you must remember, and this was my first summer for blooming. You may not have thought of the matter, and therefore I must explain that before our blossoms expand we have comparatively little to do with human affairs. Before that time Ave attract less, and therefore are less attracted rewards mankind.

This girl had come to me, had touched me, had awakened my flower-soul within me, and I loved her. Some day I Avould tell her so. We have a language of our own, we flowers, and there are many women and some men who understand us — but not all — not to all is it given. I scarce knoAV how to describe my heroine. She was not beautiful ; I have dreamt of beau tiful Avomen and so I knoAv. She AA7as not tall, she was not short, nor dark, nor fair, nor grave, nor gay ; and I knoAv not hoAv she Avas dressed. But there was a charm about her that baffles all description. She was just herself, SAveet Con stance Harcourt, and she was loved by — a Rose!

Chapter II

Time, stern huntsman ! who can baulk, Stanch as hound, and fleet as hawk." Scott. I — the Rose, you knoAv — could see the park gates from my place in the AvindoAv, and I was always watching the coming and going of Con stance, who was to me as the sunshine at this time, when all Avithin the cottage room looked sad and sombre with death so near. Roy got rapidly Avorse. Each day the hand of death pressed more heavily upon him. Many came to see the sufferer. Now it Avas the squire, noAv the doctor, noAv the clergyman. At last the lawyer came ; for Roy had saved a little money, and he Avished to set all right while there Avas still time. But the end was not yet. His son had not been summoned. I felt sad, and my blossoms languished, for I had never seen a human being die — it seemed Avorse than the death of a floAA'er — more painful.

One day there was an unusual stir outside : the whole pack of hounds Avas brought in for Roy to look at. He spoke to some of them, and they seemed to knoAv him. His A7oice was Ioav and tender to them, and they licked his hands and looked at him Avith their expressive eyes Avith almost human mourniulness. At length a young man appeared upon the scene — a stranger to me. It Avas Gerard. Then I knew the end Avas not far off. He Avas a handsome felloAv, this Gerard ; the lineaments of the Italian race, inherited from his mother, Avere clearly discernible in his face and form. Judging from him, she must have been a wonderfully handsome Avoman. I Avas glad Roy's son had come ; that day by sunset the huntsman was dead. He had been a faithful servant, and was gone. The shadows of the summer night closed in, and Gerard was left alone in the cottage.

Some one had opened the casement Avhen the spirit fled ('tis often done, especially among the poor). A gentle breeze came in and played among my branches, and I felt revived and comforted. There were a feAv dead ashes in the grate, and Gerard sat before it gazing blankly. The moon arose and sent her rays athwart my flowers, and my shadoA\7, lengthened, lay across the bed, beside the dead. The night was so still, you could have heard a leaf fall. Presently footsteps approached the cottage and paused ; there Avas a gentle tap at the door, and Gerard, startled, opened it to find tAvo girlish figures there. One, taking a basket from the other, said : " Wait for me at the lodge, Clare," and the one addressed retreated. The other made as though to enter the cottage, but Gerard seemed to bar the Avay.

" I Avish to see poor Roy," she faltered. " You are " " His son. And he is gone." Gerard spoke in English and with the clearest accent : but the tones of his voice Avere full and rounded with the richness of Italian melody. She raised her lustrous eyes and fixedthem full upon him. " I am Constance Harcourt," she said gently, and then her eyes left the study of his face and rested on the flowers that filled the basket Avhich she carried. He drew aside and boAved. The girl passed in. She approached the bed and trembled ; I doubt if she had ever looked on death before. She knelt down and hid her face, and Gerard watched her stealthily from the window, where he stood. She had thrown some white gos samer covering about her head. It enveloped her whole figure, and he thought hoAv like she looked to one of those light fleecy clouds that sometimes flit across the moon.

Presently she raised her head. " Come !" she said, and placed some flowers in his hands and signed to him to help her. "Ah me!" I sighed, "can I not help her too ?" And as I sighed a breeze came in and lifted from my topmost branch my first-blown, full-blown rose, and took its petals right across and laid them on the dead. Constance saw something significant in this ; they both were startled. " Let those poor petals stay Avith him," she whispered to Gerard. " He loved that rose tree ; will you give it me ?" She held out both her hands to him : and he, what could he do but clasp them and promise ? " Tell no one I came here," she Avhispered ; and she was gone almost before he kneAv it. Gerard was bewildered. The girl's visit, her departure, had all come upon him so suddenly that he felt half inclined to imagine it a freak of fancy that she had been there at all.

Per haps it Avas only a stray moonbeam that had taken shape ; but there Avere the floAvers. He turned back to the bed and stood there, raising the blossoms gently in his hand, and look ing at them as though he doubted their reality. Next, he came close to the lattice and looked at me. He touched me too, as she had done ; and I think my heart Avent out to him almost as it had done to her : but I could not read his soul as I did hers. If I dAvell too much on my OAvn thoughts and feelings, I pray you bear Avith me ; and remember ahvays that 'tis the Gloire de Dijon Rose, Avho tells this tale. Does not all nature speak in its OAvn Avay ? But men and AA7omen hearken not, or, hearing, will not understand. They see too often but the outward form of things, and think not of the inner life, Avhich speaks a language of its OAvn. In a thousand Avays Ave floAvers speak to men, and yet they heed us not, or, if they do, hoAv seldom do their thoughts and ours ever tarry !

Chapter III

" Seeing I saw not, hearing not I heard : Tho' if I saw not, yet they told me all So often that I speak as having seen." Tennyson. Gerard performed his promise. He gave me to Constance, and I Avas installed in a pretty boudoir adjoining her bedchamber ; among many other plants I AA7as the favoured one of all. I thus not only could read the inner and outward life of my dear mistress, but I had also many opportunities of hearing Avhat Avent on in the outside Avorld. Roy's funeral Avas the talk of the country side for man}7 a day, simply because it Avas conducted without the hideous trappings and bought or hired symbols of grief that seem to make real sorroAv almost a mockery. The body was carried to the churchyard, and the squire walked side by side with Gerard. The prejudiced and narrow-minded made more than a nine days' AAronder of the fact that the hounds formed a part, and a prominent one, ot the funeral cortege ; and many persons there Avere Avho cried " shame " at such a proceeding.

For months afterwards the incident AA7as raked up to fill any vacant corner of a neAvspaper, until at length it ceased to be a " wonder " and was forgotten. Gerard settled doAvn at Bycester, and found plenty of occupation in cataloguing and re arranging the large library that had come under his charge. How so small a toAvn became possessed of such a compendious library Avas the AA7onder of every stranger who ever came there ; and no less surprise Avas frequently expressed at the handsome building that contained it. The facts Avere these : A rich old worthy, who had spent much of his fortune, and all his time and energies, in collecting these books together, died, and, to the disgust of his feAv surviving relations, he bequeathed them, together Avith the large, old fashioned house in Avhich he had lived, to his native toAvn.

He also left a handsome sum of money to be spent in adapting the building to the exigencies of the case. The generous donor forbade that his name should in any way be attached to the gift. His OAvn librarian, as long as his health and age permitted it, was to be retained, Avhose position Avas to be con sidered honorary, and a younger man engaged to do the Avork. When the secretary of the institution adver tised for a librarian, applications poured in from far and Avide ; but chiefly through the influence of Mr. Harcourt, who was a trustee under the benefactor's will, and one of the first vice presidents of the library, young Roy secured the position. It Avas congenial to his taste as a student in art, for the library was rich in art literature. During the first feAv weeks of his engagement the young librarian devoted himself Avith energy to classifying and re-cataloguing the books, and to simplifying the clumsy, laborious system of book-keeping generally practised in public libraries ; but Avhen his first great labours were over, his duties became light and easy.

We shall have a good deal to do Avith this library by-and-by, but must noAv move to the Hall and see what is going on there. The greatest grief Constance had knoAvn was the death of Roy. But in a Aveek or two the cloud that hung upon her elastic spirits seemed dispelled, and she Avent singing about the Hall, and laughed as merrily as before — a bright, young, joyous creature, as yet uncontaminated by the world, believing not in evil because she kneAv of none, and ready to enjoy the good things that life contained. 2 — The guests who came for the first week in September had nearly all departed. During their stay I had seen less of Constance. TAvice a day only could I reckon upon obtaining notice from her : in the mornings, when, fresh as a rose herself, she came out of her chamber and Avatered and tended me ; and last thing at night, at Avhich time she Avould occasionally look a little Avearied, pressing her lips on one of my blossoms as she passed to seek her rest.

My surroundings Avere not of satin, glass, and gilding • no bright colouring or gorgeous priceless gems of art Avere there ; but a Avonder ful feeling of repose seemed to pervade the Avhole, and, where harmony so completely reigned, there was nothing to startle, and scarcely any one thing to attract the eye. Hoav Avell I remember one September even ing ! The sun had set and the shadows were gathering to form darkness, Avhen I heard foot steps approaching. One step I kneAv, but not the other. And of the voices one also AA7as strange to me. " This is my sanctum ! And, in the name of all my household gods, I bid you AA7elcome, Sir Arthur Talbot," said Constance. She had thrown open the door, and with a graceful movement signified a mock ceremony of introduction to the surrounding objects. Her companion, humouring the fancy, glanced around, and bent his head, then, turning to her, said : "Thank you, Miss Harcourt.

You have been long in according me this privilege ; now I must make the most of it, and become as closely acquainted as I can with your lares and penates. Your books, I think, would claim my first attention ; may I begin with them ?" " Oh, they are a heterogeneous assortment, and I had almost rather you did not examine them too closely ; still, I will ring for lights if you desire it." " By no means. I see sufficient to have a tolerably accurate idea of their nature, and I infinitely prefer this light. It is pleasanter for talking ; we shall become more confidential perhaps. Which is your favourite chair ?" " This, and here is one for you close by. Now what are we to talk about ?" " I shall begin by observing that if these are all the books you read, you have not a very wide range of subjects."

" There I agree with you, so we shall not have the pleasure of an argument." " Pardon me. I Avish you to tell me next why your reading is not more extensive ?" " Oh, there are so many other pleasures. You know I lead a very active life. I ride so much, and drive, and draAA7, and visit my poor pensioners, and attend to my floAvers and — papa's guests," she added in a playful tone. " And Avhen I Avant a change from all these, there is something I like better than reading — / think!' " You prefer thinking to reading ?" " Certainly." " Why ?" " It is so much more amusing. " Really, Miss Harcourt, I shall be interested to hear you prove your case. It never struck me before that one's OAvn thoughts Avere so amusing. Explain," he said, eagerly leaning forAArard, and trying to see her face distinctly in the twilight.

She hesitated a moment, and then spoke slowly : " It is not so interesting to me to read as to think, because Avhen I take up a book I have the feeling that everything in it has not only been thought of by the Avriter, but that it has been read by others ; this makes a book common-place : it is public property. Noav my thoughts are all my OAvn." " I Avish you Avould tell them to me." " But if I told them they Avould no longer be my own exclusive property." " Do you hold so much to having your pro perty thus secured ?" he said ; but Avithout waiting for an answer he continued, gravely and earnestly, " Do you not know that a pleasure, shared in by a friend, is enhanced thereby ; and a sorrow confided to a friend may also be lessened ? In all your reveries, have you never thought of this ?" " N — -n — o," hesitatingly; " I do not think I have."