When We Two Parted [A tale] ... New edition, etc

Front matter

WHEN WE TWO PAETED I. THE CROWN LIBRARY OF BOOKS FOR GIRLS. Handsomely printed on good paper, crown 8vo, elegantly bound in cloth, with gilt edges. All fully illustrated. Price 5s. each ROSE MERVYN. By Anne Beale. NOTHING VFNTXTRE, NOTHING HAVE By Anne Beale THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER. By Anne Beale. AULD LANG SYNE. By Alice Weber. ANNABEL. By M. E. Burton. COMPETITORS. By Mrs. Seymour. DETHRONED. By Mrs. Seymour. GLADYS RAMSAY. By Mrs. M. Douglas. A W EEK IN ARCADIA. By Eleanor Holmes. " CROOKED S." By Austin Clare. POOR AT»D PLAIN. A Story for tha Elder Girls. By Mrs. Seymour. CATHEDRAL BELLS. By Vin Vincent. CHANGED LOTS; OR, NOBODY CARES. By Frances Armstrong. FAY ARLINGTON, By Anne Beale. ROSE RAYMOND'S "WARDS. By Margaret Vandegrift. "WAYS AND MEANS. Uy Margaret Vandegrift. A SAGS OF SIXTEEN.

By L. B. Walford. GRIFFITH, FARRAN & CO., NKWBEEY HOUSB, 39, CHARING CROSS ROAD, LONDON. " LOOK AT THE HAND-WRITING, AND SEE IF YOU RECOctNISE IT." WHEN WE TWO PARTED BY SARAH DOUDNEY, Author of "_4 Michaelmas Daisy," etc., etc. NEW EDITION, ILLUSTRATED. LONDON : GRIFFITH, FARRAN & CO. NEWBBRY HOUSE, 39, CHARING CROSS ROAD, W The rights of Translation and Repioduction reserved. CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. — The Beginning of the Feud • . . 7 II. — Under the Verandah . . , , .18 III. — Scheming ....... 27 IV.— After the Prater-Meeting ... 39 V. — Lydia 50 VI. — " Methought it was Very Sweet " . .61 VII. — "Whoever Loved, that Loved not at First Sight?" 69 VIII. —Making Progress 81 IX. — Kathleen at Home 91 X. — How the Week Went On . . . . 101 XL — " Whilst yet the Calm Hours Creep " .111 XII. — Mr. Murridge's Affliction . . . 121 XIII. — The Shade of the Cedars .... 132 XIV. — At Oakenhurst 142 XV.— Miss Wix's Visit 152 XVI. — TnE Eoot of Bitterness .... 163 XVII. — " I Never Saw a Better Fas.__io_s.__li (Jown ' 173 XVIIL— Sophy's Plain Speaking ... 183 XIX — Losses and Crosses 192 XX. — "They were Dangerous Guides, the Feelings" .203 XXI.—" Back, with the Quiet Face of Yore" . 214 XXII. — Misconceptions 225 XXIII.— Welcomed 235 XXIV.—" Thy Vows are all Broken " . .

VI CONTENTS. CHAP, PAGK XXV. — Jemima's Chance 256 XXVL— At the Wharf 263 XXVII.— Lovers 273 XXVIIL— Giles Gives In 283 XXIX.— Within his Grasp . . . . -. 292 XXX. — Mrs. Gibbon's Revelations . . . 303 XXXI. — The Minister's Answer .... 313 XXXIL— Not Parted 324 XXXIII. — A Morning Call 335 XXXIV— Two Letters 345 XXXV— A Lost Game 356 XXXVI. — "And their Revenge is as the Tiger's Spring" 366 XXXVII.— Zoe's Triumph 376 XXXVI1L— Darcy's Trust 386 XXXIX.— A Last Appeal . .397 XL. — Mrs Simpson's Night Watch . . . 407 XLI. — " Another Morn than Ours " . . .416 XLII. — " But Thou and I have Shaken Hands " . 427 XLIIL— In a Fog 438 XLIV. — The Deputation 448 XLV. — The Resignation 458 XLVI. — " After Long Years " ....

Chapter I

— INTRODUCTORY. THE BEGINNING OF THE FEUD. There was just wind enough to sway the lilac plumes, and swing the golden tassels of the laburnum ; and lilac and laburnum had been tossing their blended blossoms before Zoe Delmont's eyes all day. She was lying in the so-called sick chamber of the College, one of the pleasantest rooms in the large house ; but she hated the pretty hangings and neat furniture, and loathed the sight of those flowery boughs, always waving at the open window. " It's all sickening," she whined, in her fretful tone. " I want to get up and go miles away." Another girl, sitting patiently by the bedside, rose, and gently arranged the pillows. "Where do you want to go, dear?" she asked, in a soft, womanly voice. " I don't know ; I wish you wouldn't ask stupid questions. If I could have a thorough change, I'm sure that I should soon get quite strong.

It ia this dreadful sameness that wears me out, and makes me ill. I'm tired to death of all the dull ways of this house, and the weak tea, and the thick bread-und-butler. I want to see fresh places, and fresh people, and lose this horrid feeling of being always walled in." Kathleen Netherdale gave a little sigh. She was only sixteen, and not burdened with any great weight of premature wisdom and experience ; but she knew enough to be certain that Zoe never would lose that feeling of being walled in. To the end of her days she would go on bruising herself against invisible limits, sighing after impossible delights, seeking vainly and wearily for that unattainable thing called satisfaction. It was this knowledge which filled Kathleen's eyes with that look of sweet pity, and softened her voice when she spoke to the restless girl by her side.

Their schoolfellows had all gone out into the afternoon sunshine, and were disporting themselves, each in her own fashion, in the rich buttercup meadows near the house. But Kathleen chose to sit, as she had often sat before, beside the bed in the sick chamber, devoting herself with unfailing patience to the task of soothing its fractious occupant. "What was the secret of this devotion ? The other girls never ceased to wonder at it and talk over it among themselves. They could not understand the strong fascination that helplessness and suffering exert over some natures. Kathleen was liked ; but she had sacrificed a great deal of her popularity on the shrine of her romantic friendship. To be thoroughly popular one must have leisure to win all hearts ; Kathleen had no leisure, her idol absorbed her, body and soul.

Zoe, moaning for very weariness, turned away from the light, and then moved her head back into the old position. She was sick of the laburnum and lilac, it is true, but she was equally sick of the stupid little landscape in water-colours, framed and glazed, and hanging on the wall She had been told the history of that landscape ; it was the creditable performance of a model pupil, and she hated it. She was not a model pupil, and her performances were seldom creditable ; the drawing master shook his head over her im possible trees and crooked spires ; the music master patiently placed those helpless little hands on the keys, and yet they would strike wrong chords. She knew herself to be a failure, and did not want to hear that anybody else was a success. " Open the window wider," she said pettishly.

" I want to see more sky. How I do wish that those boughs were all cut away I " Kathleen obeyed, and the other followed her movements with a half mournful, half envying glance. " You are very healthy," she sighed. " I think it is vulgar to be strong. Aristocratic people are generally delicate ; I shouldn't like to have your red lips, and rosy milk-maid cheeks." Her friend's temper was quite unruffled by this little outburst of spite. Zoe was privileged to say rude things ; there was nothing that her faithful companion would not endure from the fragile creature she had taken into her warm heart. A soft breeze swept suddenly in through the open window, bringing a rush of fragrance, and scattering a few stray petals over tho bed. There was such refreshment in its breath that the sickly face brightened a little, and the fretful look vanished for a moment.

" You must'nt abuse the poor old lilacs, dear," said Kathleen. " They are very sweet." "Sweet!" echoed the other, scornfully. " You should go through the gardens and conservatories at Oakenhurst . I dare say you have never seen any but the commonest flowers ! "What a life I shall have when Oakenhurst comes to me 1 ' "Isn't it almost too delightful to dream of 1" Kathleen asked. " Why shouldn't I dream of it ? Uncle Wade has no nearer relation than I am ; and you know that we went to see him last Christmas, papa and L Oh, it is lovely at Oakenhurst ; rich people have no winter ! I wonder that mamma could ever have left such a place." " She left it to marry your father." " Well, it was very silly, and Uncle Wade never forgave her. But he has forgiven papa, and he was quite affectionate to me.

He seemed dreadfully feeble, and had a bad cough. Nurse says that old men often have bad coughs just before they die." Kathleen was a little disturbed at the hardness of the tone. She gave a questioning look at the speaker's face. It was a delicately-cut face, and the features were small and regular ; but the softly-rounded outlines of youth were wanting, and the extreme paleness was unnatural. The hair was dark and smooth ; the eyes, light blue, were shaded by dark lashes, and it was in those sad eyes that the charm of the face was found. They had a strange expression of seeking, of asking mutely for help or love. Sometimes when the pale lips said cruel things, the eyes had another language, the true language, perhaps, of the souL It was this look that always had an irresistible power to draw Kathleen to Zoe's side.

It was one of those involuntary con fessions of weakness which a stronger nature, if it have a touch of divinity, will never fail to answer and understand. Kathleen was well acquainted with the history of Zoe's vast expectations ; but to her they seemed vague dreams. It was impossible to regard the poor little invalid as an heiress ; and yet more unlikely things had come to pass. A hundred times the whole school has been told that Zoe's dead mother was tha niece of the great Mr. "Wade of Oakenhurst. Mr. "Wade was a self-made man ; unmarried, and intensely proud of himself and his possessions. His orphan kinswoman (educated at his expense) became the mistress of his house, and his favoured and petted companion. Not one word did he ever say about the disposal of his wealth ; but Hilda "Wade, flattered and caressed on all sides, persuaded herself that the bulk of his property would certainly come to her, and imagined, too, that she was indispensable to his comfort.

Then came Mr. Delmont'3 proposal, and the suitor frowned upon by the uncle, was encouraged by the niece. He was handsome and well-bred, but poor. It was an old, old story ; the girl, carried away by a wave of strong feeling, cast prudence to the winds, and married him in the belief that she would be speedily forgiven. But men of John Wade's type are not easily moved to for giveness, and Hilda found the doors of Oakenhurst closed against her for ever. It was not a happy marriage, but it would have been unhap pier still if Mr. Delmont's temper had been less perfect. There were only the ashes of an extinguished passion on the hearth stone of Hilda's home ; her sentimental emotion had soon burnt itself out. She fretted perpetually for the luxuries she had lost, and wasted her feeble strength in bewailing the great mistake of her life.

It all ended soon after the baby came. The mother's wail ceased, but the child took up the moan ; and Mr. Delmont found himself left with the fragile little girl, who was so like poor Hilda in all her looks and ways. Lonely and sorrow-stricken as he was, he derived much real comfort from a cheerful companion. One of his neighbours was an old college friend, a man of sunny temperament, and con siderable intellectual power. Poor Delmont, conscious of his own inferiority, was heartily grateful to this comrade of happier days, and clung to him for support and guidance. Henry Netherdale was a widower like himself. Both were poor ; Mr. Netherdale, a hardworking curate, was straining every nerve to educate a son and daughter ; and so it came to pass that Zoe and Kathleen became friends, and were sent to the same school.

" "Why are you looking at me ? " demanded the sick girl, with a quick little frown. " I suppose you think Uncle Wade will live longer than I shall ? But he won't. I'm getting stronger aud stronger every day ; papa says my health is wonderfully improved. You always make me feel worse when you fix your eyes on me in that strange way. I don't like your eyes ; they are too big and bright, like the wolf's in Red Riding Hood." " Shall I go away ?" Kathleen softly asked. " No, no, no, stay with me, Kathie ; I am going to sleep. You know that I can never do without you." This was said with the old pathetic look of entreaty ; and Kathleen felt a pang of pity for her of which Zoe had no con ception. With all the romantic yet genuine love of her girl's heart, she sat and watched her sleeping companion.

There is always something touching in sleep ; something that disarms resent ment, and appeals dumbly against blame. Zoe slept deeply and sweetly ; the delicate features, now perfectly at rest, looked as if they were sculptured in marble ; the sideline ss and fretful ness had given place to intense repose. It seemed almost a pity that she should ever wake up, and begin again her fractious little life in the every-day world. In sleep Zoe was quite beautiful ; awake, her face sometimes assumed a malevolent expression, which made the girls say she had the look of a witch. It was a fleeting look ; but even Kathleen had seen it, and was haunted with it longer than she liked. It was the last time that she was ever to keep watch by Zoe in that quiet room. The morrow would bring changes to them both, and open a great gulf between the two young lives ; but no presentiment of parting troubled her simple heart.

The flowery branches swayed on, casting flickering shadows over the bed ; there was a sweet whisper of leaves and blossoms, a twitter of birds, and a soft murmur in the air. To Kathleen it seemed as if the whole chamber were filled with summer and peace. Next morning everybody in the college knew that something had happened. The Lady Principal had gone herself to Zoe Delmont's own room, carrying a letter, and looking just a shade less composed than usual. The girls were full of curiosity ; Kathleen a little startled and anxious, crept up to the English teacher with a whispered question. " There is no bad news," Miss Mervin answered with a re assuring smile. " Mr. Delmont is coming by-and-by. It seems that an uncle is dead, and Zoe inherits a fortune." " Her dream has come true ! " cried Kathleen in a tumult of delight.

Mr. Delmont was expected to arrive in the afternoon. The morning wore away, and then came the play-hour. Full of eager joy Kathleen hastened to join her friend, and met her coming downstairs leaning on Miss Mervin's arm. " I am so happy, dear," said the worshipper, flushing with gladness and holding out both hands. Zoe drew back a step and slightly tossed her head. " I don't know why you should rejoice ; my affairs don't concern you," she said in a clear, cold tone. Kathleen stood still, her lips apart, her bright young face almost colourless. The heiress passed on with a faint flush on her pale cheeks, and a triumphant light in her eyes. Miss Mervin watched her in silence. Mr. Delmont came and went, and it was soon understood that Zoe was to leave the college and go to Oakenhurst, there to finish her education under the care of a governess.

She remained only a fortnight longer among her schoolfellows, holding herself proudly aloof from all, and pointedly avoiding Kathleen. "My old friend Delmont has got a thousand a year for life," wrote Mr. Netherdale to his daughter. " I suppose you are wild with joy about Zoe's fortune. No doubt she will want you to spend all your holidays at Oakenhurst ; but I cannot spare you altogether, my child." Kathleen read this letter with a bitter little smile ; then folded it up and put it away with a long sigh. It was noticed that she made no complaints of Zoe to the other girls. Many of them came forward with offers of sympathy, and there was a great deal of strong feeling against the un grateful heiress ; but Kathleen did not want to be condoled with. People have different methods of dealing with a shattered idol ; some will stamp passionately upon the fragments and grind them to powder ; others will pick them up and piece them together, and construct a new god out of the ruins of the old ; but Kathleen did neither of these things.

She simply left tha broken image alone, and went her way. She stayed two more years at the college, and spent her holidays in the curate's home. There were worries there ; Ralph, her brother, was not absolutely a bad lad, but he was a very troublesome one, and seemed to have no power of sticking to an occupation. He had Bohemian tendencies, and declared himself best fitted for the life of a strolling minstrel, roving about the world with a wallet and a guitar. One of his favourite books was " Wilhelm Meister." Kathleen, in her holidays, had been made acquainted with the doings of the merry band of wandering players with whom "Wilhelm had cast in his lot, and rather wondered at her brother's taste. She was a sober-minded girl, and could not appreciate the daring fun of Philina and Laertes ; and even the wild grace of Mignon failed to charm her fancy.

She loved Ralph dearly ; but, although he was several years older than herself, she could not look up to him. In her opinion he was more than half a child, in spite of his manhood. While Ralph dreamed, and sang, and twanged accompani ments on divers stringed instruments, his bills came in to Mr. Netherdale, and the curate's heart sank within him. And when Kathleen, at eighteen, said a final good-bye to school, and took her place as mistress at home, she found her father a changed man. He was not soured nor hardened, but saddened to the last degree. His hair had turned rapidly from brown to silver : his tall figure had acquired a slight stoop ; he walked as if he carried some invisible burden that could never be laid aside. With his flock he was more popular than he had ever been before ; and his preaching was attracting a great deal of attention.

The change that was so noticeable in himself had passed into his sermons ; he had always been a good preacher, but now he had risen to eloquence. His pleadings were more impassioned ; his warnings more earnest ; his words of consolation had taken a deeper tone. "What was tho secret of this change ? Ralph had vexed and sorely disappointed him, but letters came frequently, saying that the young man was happy and well. Kathleen did not think that Mr. Netherdale was still grieving about his son. Ralph had been foolish and thoughtless, but he was gradually paying back the money his father had paid for him. He had always been one of those lads who find it hard to endure the restraints and conventionalities of ordinary life, and Mr. Netherdale had wisely let him take his liberty. " I am not over-anxious about him now," he said in answer to Kathleen's earnest questions.

"I think it best not to inquire too closely into his occupation. Somehow he manages to gain a livelihood, and I know that he is not a vicious character. There is far less evil in him, Kathie, than in many who have turned out more creditably. I do not fear that he will ever put us to shame." "But you have been troubled and lonely for a long while, father,'' she replied. " I am glad I have done with school. We must be everything to each other." There was a faint ring of sadness in her tone. A first wound takes long to heal, and she had never forgotten the ending of the school friendship. Mr. Delmont still kept up a correspondence with his old companion, but the two men had ceased to meet, and it was pretty well known that Zoe's caprices completely governed her kind, weak-minded father. He had never in plain words said that the heiress would not receive the Netherdales at Oakenhurst ; but they knew that she had decreed their exclusion.

Her wealth had made her inexpres sibly arrogant ; she had assumed the airs of a queen, demand ing homage, exacting servile obedience from all around her. Rumours of her arbitrary and whimsical ways sometimes reached Kathleen's quiet home, and made her think about the Zoe of the old time. And then came news of the sudden death of Mr. Delmont, and Henry Netherdale mourned for him as for a brother. C When Wre Two Parted.

Chapter II. Under The Verandah

Tub church bells of Nettleford were ringing their Sunday after noon chime, filling the summer air with their deep tones, and silencing for a little while the talk that had been going on under the Wigmore's verandah. Round about the lawn the Gloire de Dijon roses were opening their rich hearts to the bees ; masses of honeysuckle clung to the garden wall ; the place was flooded with perfume and sunshine. Every house in the old High-street had its garden, and the windows of Mrs. Wigmore's back drawing-room opened upon a Uttle paradise of sweets, well-kept, and sheltered from prying eyes by thick shrubs and fruit trees. The verandah was furnished with osier chairs and rustic tables ; and here the mistress of the house loved to drink her five o'clock tea, and discuss confidential matters with her chosen friends.

She was one of the cosiest little women in the world. To her men confided their losses and crosses .: to enter her presence was to come within the region of armchairs, pleasant beverage, and perfect ease and comfort. She was small and plump, with a clear white skin, kindly blue eyes, an undignified little nose, and smiling mouth. Women came to her with their perplexities, and had great confidence in her sagacity ; children sought her as a natural playfellow ; old sulks found that she understood all their ailments and grievances. The heart of her husband did safely trust in her ; and the course of Charles Wigmore's wedded life was likely to run smoothly from the altar to the grave. Not even their nearest relations had ever managed to raise up the ghost of a quarrel between this happy couple.

The mellow voices of the bells had lulled Mr. Wigmore to lepose. He slumbered profoundly in his comfortable wicker chair, and a climbing dog-rose shot out an impertinent tendril within an inch of his nose. His wife, with her feet on a foot stool, and her glance roving placidly over the bright little lawn, was thinking how good it was to live. The third chair, in close proximity to her own, was occupied by her brother, Captain Bosworth. "You are in one of your day-dreams, Darcy," she said, suddenly touching his shoulder. " Come, rouse up, and tell me your thoughts. You know I always like to pry into the depths of your dear old mind ! " " There are no depths," he answered, looking at her with a smile that made a likeness between them. But the resemblance was only in expression, not in feature ; his Greek nose claimed no kinship with her pretty little snub ; hi3 eyes, although blue, were of a deeper colour than hers.

She had always declared it was a shame that the boy should be the beauty of his family. "Don't pretend to be shallow," she cried, shaking her head at him. "Never try to put me off with any of your fashionable shams ; I won't have you assuming man-of-the-period airs here ! Now what were you thinking about when I touched you ? " " About a girl's face." " How interesting ! I guessed that there was a woman in your brain ; I am never deceived in these cases. You may now Dour all your heart-secrets into my willing ear. Charlie is in the middle of his Sunday afternoon nap, and nothing ever wakes himnot even a fly on his talented forehead. Go on ; I am all attention. How long have you been in love ? " He laughed quietly. " Ever since half-past eleven this morning," he said, in his laziest tone. " She was quite alone, sitting in the corner of a big square pew.

I think we had got to the Te Dewm. when 1 first caught sight of her hazel eyes." " What was she dressed in ? " " How can I tell ? Something that looked cool and greyish, I believe. She wore a bunch of scarlet geranium." " Kathleen Netherdale," said Mrs. Wigmore, in a tone of con. viction. " Our vicar's daughter." " The vicar is a lucky man. I hope she is a friend of yours, Nina ; you used to have the gift of gathering nice girls around you." " Yes, she is one of my favourites ; you will see a great deal of her. The poor child has no mother, and comes to me with her little household worries. But I wish you had looked at the girl in the next pew." " I did look at her, but not long." "You must have heard of her, of course," Mrs. Wigmore went on. " She is our great heiress, Miss Delmont. Fifteen thousand a year, and one of the prettiest places in the country."

" Ah, yes ; I have heard Warden talk of her ; he is the mammon worshipper of our regiment. I believe he has not succeeded in catching a glimpse of her yet. We must have him here, Nina, and give him a chance." The sister made a little grimace. " You must have your chance first," she said, lightly. " Miss Delmont really is an attractive girl, elegant and refined. The drawback is her extreme delicacy ; a great doctor often runs down from town to patch her up. But that only deepens my interest in her." " Good old Nina, you always did take kindly to sickly people," said Captain Bosworth, with an indulgent and provoking smile. " Now I have a decided preference for rude health ; I like red lips, a rounded form, and an abundance of vitality. My tastes are of the earth earthy. I never admired ethereal charms."

" I remember," she laughed. " Your first passion was for Miss Norris, a fine girl of thirty-five. She came to call once, and broke the poor mother's pet cane chair. How furious you were when we made sportive remarks ou her substantial person ! " " I was justly incensed. She was a charming woman. Do not jest about my young affections." The bells had come to the end of their chime, and the afternoon stillness reigned unbroken. Mrs. Wigmore, in her turn, had fallen into a reverie. Gazing abstractedly at a group of white bell-flowers, she began to build a delightful castle in the air. Darcy married to the heiress and established at Oakenhurst ; her own managing powers constantly called into play ; the delicate young wife instinctively turning to the sister-in-law. Her brother broke in upon the tranquil little dream with an abrupt observation.

" Nina, I have made up my mind to go to your flower show," he said. " You are a good boy," she answered, well pleased. " Miss Delmont will be there. She has a passion for flowers. Of course, the Oakenhurst gardener always takes the first prize. You may win her heart with praises of her roses." "I'm not going to flatter Miss Kilmansegg," he said, impatiently. " Let Warden grovel at her feet if he likes. For my part I can find ' metal more attractive.' " " So be it," responded Mrs. Wigmore, with perfect amiability. " By the way, it is curious that there is an old feud between our heiress and Miss Netherdale. It began in their school-days, and has never died out." Here Charlie Wigmore, suddenly waking up, stretched his long limb3, shook himself, and took his part in the conversation. " Nina has got upon the everlasting theme," he said.

" You cannot spend ten minutes in Nettleford without hearing of the great feud. It is really sickening. Why should we all concern ourselves with a quarrel between two nice girls ? It's in the nature of women to quarrel." "But this is not an ordinary woman's quarrel," Mrs. Wigmore replied. " It has lasted for years, and it does seem as if some mysterious fatality were always bringing those two girls into collision." " Mysterious fatality ! When you use fine words, Nina, it is a sign that you are going beyond your depth. What is the mystery ? Nothing but the simplest kind of rivalry. The new vicar is immensely popular ; his daughter is the prettiest girl in Nettleford ; and Miss Delmont is the sworn foe of popularity and beauty. She wants to reign supreme." " The perpetual arrogance of wealth !