Down by the Drawle

Chapter I

The pleasant anticipations of the preceding evening were, however, doomed to be dis appointed, for Lady Jane got up next morning apparently more determined than ever to make herself disagreeable ; and hardly was breakfast over, and Sir Anthony out of the room than referring to the cousins having gone together the day before to the " Willows," she was good enough to remark, that she considered their behaviour quite improper. "But, Lady Jane," said Claude half amused at the attack, which he at once took as if 1 meant for himself, "if I committed any indiscretion you must recollect my grandfather was aware that I was with Muriel yesterday." "Your grandfather's notions of what is correct are not mine," replied this virtuous female. "You, of course, Sir, being a man can do as you like ; but I am, I confess, surprised that Miss Revell should have so far forgotten herself !

" " I think, Lady Jane," said Aluriel very distinctly, " you hardly know what you are talking about ; and in any case I must beg you to be a little more guarded in what you say." " And permit me to remark," broke in Claude, " that your interference at all is mis placed and uncalled for. Neither Aliss Reveb nor I desire your advice, nor do we care what your opinions may be on our actions." " Oh, no ! " rephed Lady Jane changing her tone to one of mocking banter, " you w^on't allow me to say what I choose in my own house;" and then breaking into a furious tempest of rage : " With you, Sir, I will have nothing to do, but I am responsible for this young lady's behaviour " "You are not so in the least," interrupted Claude. " I am, and I am not going to allow her to go walking about with you day after day.

Do you think I didn't see her making eyes at Captain Velters, and going on in such a way with him that I was perfectly ashamed of her, and not at all surprised at his suddenly leaving." " Enough, Lady Jane ! " said Miss Revell haughtily. " I shall put it out of your power to make such speeches again," and proudly turning she left the room. "May I ask," said Claude, white with anger, " the reason for these most ridiculous impu tations ! and why you should thus go out of your way to insult a young defenceless girl who is a guest in your house." " Don't question me, Sir ! I've got some- 1 * thing better to do," said her ladyship descend ing to common-place, " than to interest myself in the doings of a boy and girl." Revell stared at her in astonishment, and determining to have this matter settled one way or another, immediately went in search of his grandfather whom he found in his study.

" I come to you, Sir," he said with a temper thoroughly roused, " to inform you that Lady Jane has just most cruelly insulted Muriel, and this without cause or warrant of any sort." " Insulted Aluriel ! " " Insulted her most grossly, charging her with going about too much with me, and with having endeavoured to entrap that precious fellow Velters ! How, I ask you, is Muriel to remain in this house when she is subjected to such treatment." Sir Anthony received this information with ma nifest displeasure. " Surely you must — at least I trust, Claude, that you are — exaggerating ! " " Far from it. I did not tell you of what occurred yesterday, because I hoped nothing of the sort would occur again, but Lady Jane was then exceedingly rude to Muriel, and was nearly as violent as she has been again just now."

" Good Heavens ! " said the Baronet now fast getting angry. " What did she say ? " " She told Muriel she had come here in the hope of turning you out of your property, with some other polite speeches which need not be repeated." " And what led to her thus expressing herself?" " Who can say, Sir ! But this question must be taken up seriously ; for indeed it will be quite impossible for Muriel to remain here, if she is to be daily exposed to these attacks. Lady Jane " Here the door was burst open and that lady herself appeared on the scene. " Here is Lady Jane ! and now, Sir," turning to Claude, " what have you to say of her ? " " I say before her face," rephed Claude confronting her, " what I said behind her back, that her conduct to the young lady staying in her house has been most cruel and unjust."

" How dare you speak like this ? and you, Sir Anthony, can sit still and hear your wife so abused ! " " Did you speak to Muriel as Claude describes ? " asked the Baronet sternly. " I said no more than I had a right to say. And I'd say it over and over again; and as for this fine grandson of yours you ought to order him off the premises this instant." " Stay a moment, Lady Jane," said Claude, who was now cool and collected. " I will spare my grandfather the pain of taking the step you contemplate. And pray listen well to what I am now going to say. I leave this house to-day, and never, so help me Heaven, will I re-enter it again while you are in it, unless you first make me a full apology for your behaviour of to-day." And he turned to go passing at the door Doctor Fernshawe, who had entered unannounced, Sir Anthony having asked him to come up, although he had quite forgotten he had done so.

" I hope I am not intruding," said the Doctor, as he hesitated at the entrance to the room. " Oh, Fernshawe ! " exclaimed the Baronet, " here's the very mischief and all to pay. I'm half driven out of my wits." Lady Jane began again with a noisy ex postulation, but catching Fernshawe's eye fixed upon her, she subsided into a dis contented murmur. "I think," said the Doctor, who still gazed at Lady Jane in a steady way, " that this sort of excitement is good for none of us. Perhaps, Sir Anthony, you and I had better see each other alone." "Yes, I think so. Now, my dear," urged the Baronet quite gently to his wife, "you had much better leave us." Lady Jane had a retort ready, but thinking better of it as she again caught the Doctor's eye, she indistinctly murmured something and withdrew. Sir Anthony in a complete state of per plexity repeated as much of Claude's com munication as he could recobect.

" So very awkward, you know," he added, " all this occurring just as the matter of the lost marriage certificate, as I informed you, had been so happily settled. And now Claude has gone off in high dudgeon." " He seems to have had legitimate cause for annoyance." " I can't deny it. I only wish you had been here a little earlier; for you seem to have more influence over my wife than anyone else has," said the Baronet querulously. "Do you think so. Well, for your own peace, and in her ladyship's own interest, I must tell you that these scenes are doing her positive harm." " Are they ? they are certainly not very pleasant to me." " Of course not; but Lady Jane will end by making herself downright ill, and the quieter you can keep her the better. She is most unnaturally excited, and perhaps I had better see her."

" I wish to goodness, my dear fellow, you would," said Sir Anthony rising. " I declare that no sooner is one out of one trouble than up starts another to take its place." Meanwhile Claude had gone towards Aluriel' s room, and calling to her to come out he told her in a few hasty sentences that the only course for her now to pursue would be to leave the Abbey without further delay. His cousin raised no objections, for she felt that any longer residence in the house was an impossibility, and they soon after made their appearance at the " Willows." In the course of the day Sir Anthony received the following letter from his niece. Mt dear Uncle, I believe you are aware of the very cruel behaviour I have sustained at the hands of Lady Jane. A further residence under the roof of one who could so causelessly insult me is quite impossible, and I have, therefore, come down to the Temples, with whom I shall stay for the present.

It is with very great regret, dear Uncle, I leave you, for you have ever been most kind to me, but you must yourself perceive that I cannot subject myself any longer to the treatment I have of late experienced at the Abbey. I trust, and I say this from my heart, that you will still love me, and that our relations with each other may remain on the same affectionate footing they were on before this unhappy misunderstanding took place. To me you will always be the same. Tour very affectionate niece, Mueiel Revell. Strange to say Sir Anthony was not al together dissatisfied at his niece's going away, as he believed but for a short time ; for a renewal of the strife of the morning was about the last thing he cared to encounter, and he also felt that if Aluriel remained in the Abbey, his wife would be almost certain to do her best to make her stay uncomfortable.

He was, however, /very sorry to lose his niece's company, and believing she had acted wisely, wrote her a very kind and cordial letter, trusting, as he said, that ere long the unfortunate occurrences of the day, would be buried in oblivion ; assuring her, at the same time, that in any case he should ever continue to be her " most affectionate uncle." Captain Revell left his cousin at the Temples, and taking the evening train to Furzedown, reported his arrival the same evening much to the surprise of his Colonel who had not expected him back for another week at least. Claude had rather looked forward to a return to regimental duty, but now that he was once again in the barrack square, he somehow felt less satisfied than a few days back he could have dreamt was possible. Having little incbnation to join the mess, he took refuge in his own room.

Everything appeared to him to look awry. The cold DOWN BI THE DRAWLE. draughty passage, with its flagstones not yet dry from the afternoon washing, and the faint odour of soap-suds, sand and wet wood, affected him as it never had before ; and the solitary gas-burner flaring against the yellow wall, but added to his disgust and the dreariness of the scene, and caused him to hasten as rapidly as he could up the stairs. But his rooms, at any rate, were warm and cosy, for his bat-man had lighted his fire, the night having turned cold and rainy, and had made the place look as snug as possible under the circumstances. Throw ing off his great-coat, and from mere force of habit putting on his forage-cap, he drew a roomy arm-chair close to the blaze, and with his feet on the hearth, was incbned to take a more cheerful view of matters.

There are some moments in bfe when the most cheery men will get a trifle discontented, and Revell could not but now give way to a somewhat brooding melancholy, when he contrasted the pleasant house he had just left his cousin at, with the dull solitude in which he now found himself. Not that his rooms were anything but comfortable and well-appointed. The accommodation in the barracks was certainly nothing out of the common, and the officers' quarters at Furzedown were no more extensive than they are in other places. But every man has it in him to make his habitat a tolerably agreeable one, and Claude Revell who liked good pictures and furniture, and something in the way of ornamentation, had succeeded in converting his den into a very comfortable retreat. And as do most of us he liked to get back again to his belongings, and to mentally count over each well-remem bered object, and to feel that once again he had his household gods around him.

Just behind the owl tobacco-jar he found the old black pipe that had been bis faithful companion in many a hot day's work, either in the desperate battles that grew out of autumn manœuvres, or in more peaceful occasions in the hunting-field, or in pursuit of the wily partridge ; and regarding the " cutty " with quite a friendly glance, this mechanicaby as it were assumed its usual place in his mouth, as with his back to the fire-place, and his forage-cap shoved off his forehead, he pro ceeded in a more equable frame of mind to take in all there was in the room. But his moody fit soon returned. First and fore most he missed his cousin. He could not tell whether she cared for him, — probably she didn't — and certainly, as he bitterly thought, he had not tried very much to win her favour. What his own feelings were with regard to her it would be difficult to say.

He liked her in this fashion that he was savage at the idea of anyone else winning her, but so much had occurred to put him out of sorts when latterly at the Abbey that his state of mind with regard to Muriel was somewhat of a negative character. Then he could not conceal from himself that his breaking with his grandfather, as he in a manner had done, might be fraught with some unpleasant con sequences. His own income was something short of £600 a year, and if his grandfather chose to cut off his allowance, which he very grudgingly gave him, it might be hardly possible for him to stay in his present ex pensive regiment. But, as he said to himself, if the thing had to be done over again he would do it, and with a half-stifled execration on the Baronet's wife, he again threw him self into his chair, and sat buried in thought.

His meditations were, however, broken in upon by a cheery voice at the door asking for admittance. " Come along," shouted Claude, glad to get rid of the blue-devds that were worrying him. "How are you, old man!" said the new comer. "Delighted to see you again among us. But I thought you were to be away ever so much longer. Why didn't you come into mess ? " "Which question am I to answer first?" said Reveb laughing. " Firstly, I'm all serene ; secondly, the business I had in hand was finished sooner than I expected ; and thirdly, it was late and I was tired. Ab the same it was a toss up that I did not join you all." " It's a pity you didn't. I've news for you, lad!" " Out with it." " That beggar Velters has sent in his papers ! " " The deuce he has ! Delighted to hear it. AVTiat induced him to go ?

" " Heaven knows ! I suppose he saw we didn't want him. By-the-bye he has been down at your place ? " " He has, Walrond. He was thrown when riding, and my grandfather insisted on having him at the Abbey." " A delightful guest he must have been ! " " Cela va sans dire. He was no guest of mine, please to recollect, and I was precious glad to see the last of him. He may be a gentleman by birth, aud saying that is all you can say for him. You know I hardly saw much of him in the Regiment, and when he had been asked up to the Abbey I was bound to look after him, and to be with him." " Cheerful for you truly." " I assure you he so disgusted me, I over and over again when sitting up in his room with him, which for my sins was next to my own, felt inclined to strike him on the mouth, or chuck him out of the window."

" I understand, and it's a pity you could not have polished him off. I've seen more of him than you have. He is a bad lot, and a fellow no gentleman can consort with." " Web, I could do nothing. The man was our guest, and soon after he was able to come downstairs and go about by himself I left him ii. DOWN Bf THE DRAWLE. to his own devices — ancl more fool I ! " he added moodily. "How?" " AY ell, you see," continued Revell in some confusion, "there's a cousin of mine at the Abbey. Don't imagine that I am going in for jealousy, but by the However, that's neither here nor there. I suppose if the lady had liked him he would hardly have left us so suddenly as he did. But he angered me daily by his attentions, which I objected to, for he is not the man who with my consent should ever have married my cousin."

" Sure you are not jealous ! " " Old man, what is jealousy ? — No, I think I may honestly say there was nothing of that sort. If Muriel — that is, my cousin — were to fall in love with a good fellow I should have no cause to interfere ; but my gorge rises at the very thought of a fellow like this winning her." " You don't think she cared for him ! " "No," said Claude thoughtfully. " At one time I had a dim idea she liked him, but I believe now I was mistaken. However, I may be wrong. But apart from ab this, Velters proved himself anything but an agree able companion, and made himself particularly offensive not merely to me, but to others at a picnic we got up. AVell, now he's gone, and I suppose we have seen the last of him. Who has his troop ? " " Carruthers." " I heard you fellows making no end of a row.

What was up ? " " Drinking success to the new Captain." " I ought to have been there to give him a bumper. Fdl up, there's baccy on the table, and the liquor is somewhere near." " No, thanks ! nothing to drink, but I'll have a smoke." " Why have you got all your war-paint on ?" "Duty, my dear Sir. England expects every man, etc., etc., and this evening my 2 * beloved country has called upon me, and I have responded to the call." " What's the news ? " " Oh, news ! whenever is there any. Stay ! Last night as I was dressing at my window, I saw a London shoppy and his missus looking in at the mess, where the table was all set out with the windows wide open. And this is what he said, ' Yer knows we gives 'em their wine, but they pays for their grub their selves.' " " Capital ! a sort of dim idea of the Prince Regent's allowance."

" I suppose so. But come tell me what you have been up to. The Colonel hinted you had some family troubles. Nothing serious I hope ? " " At first they promised to be troublesome. The long and short of it was my great grandfather — with all due respect — seems to have been a great donkey. He ran away with his wife, and then, after two sons were born, married her again to satisfy some scruples she had as to the validity of the first marriage ; and the certificate of this first marriage had, it seems, been purloined." " Awkward ! " " It was the very mischief and all; for if any one had risen up to contest my grandfather's rights I should have been in no end of a bat." " And how was it settled ? " " Temple — you know Temple who only left us a few years ago, and who came down here with me once?

" — "Perfectly," said Walrond " His little girl found the paper in a book which I had actually myself taken down to his house from the Abbey." " What a bit of luck. So it's all square now? " " Yes, I'm glad to say it is. But, come, give me an account of what you've been doing." "What is there to tell, it's been the old thing, as Punch says, 'Right turn, left turn, take the beggar's name down.' Stay though, we had some rather good fun one day. The general got up a sham battle, and, by gad, Sir, we ran him in ! " " No ! " "Yes, we took him prisoner ! " " How did you manage that ? " " When all was arranged, Charley Lovatt who was out with his troop in advance of our force " " Then old Blazes was against you? " " Yes, the Colonel commanded our army. Well, Charley rode up in the most simple way to Blazes, and saluting, asked him some humbugging question about how far he might go.

The General was taken in, and began expounding his views, and you know he jaws so, he could talk the hind leg of an armchair. Apparently deeply interested in ab that Blazes said, Charley got him gradually away from his staff, when at a given signal his men came down in force, and poor old Blazes was a captive." "How did he stand it?" " That was the grandest part of the enter tainment. When Charley requested him in the gravest way to give up his sword, he protested it wasn't fair, and that they hadn't yet begun ! " "How rich; but I suppose Charley let him go ! " " Indeed, he did not. He carried him off to the Colonel, who with difficulty could keep his countenance. But the beautiful thing was to see Blazes comporting himself proudly as a captive. We heard, however, he gave it to his staff no end when he was released."

" Then Cureton allowed him to depart ? ' " Oh yes, we didn't want to keep him. By Jove," exclaimed Walrond, looking at his watch, "how late it is. I must be off. Ta, ta, old man ; " and snatching up his sword, which, on entering, he had flung against the wall, he rapidly made his exit. The lights in the mess-room had long been extinguished, and no sound but the brisk tread of the trooper outside, or the far-away challenge of some sentry, broke the quiet of the night, and Claude having seen his friend to the doorway, soon followed the good example that was being set on every side of him, and was almost immediately buried in profound slumber. The days passed on, and in the regular round of regimental pursuits and amusements, and in the companionship of old friends Claude's moodiness took flight, and he began again to think that a soldier's bfe was after all not such a very dull affair, and if the truth must be told, time did not indeed hang very heavily on his hands.

He heard occasionally from the " Wfllows," and would have run down there for a day, but the coming regimental inspection kept all the officers at head-quarters, and having been so long away already, he hardly cared to ask his good-natured Colonel for more leave.

Chapter II

Fbom Sir Anthony Revell to Captain Revell. 28th June 1872, Dormer Abbey. Mt dear Claude, The occurrences that led to your quitting the Abbey in such a summary fashion have caused me not a little pain, though I can scarcely bring myself to censure you for your abrupt departure, as I must allow you were much provoked ; but to this day I cannot conceive how it is that Lady Jane should have so completely misappre hended the object of your cousin's visit, and so vehe mently attacked you and her. I feel lonely and solitary now that I am left to myself ; for of Muriel I see but little. Since you went away Lady Jane has been com pletely confined to her room, and Fernshawe, who is in daily attendance on her, considers she must be left as much as possible to herself. I trust his treatment may bring her round to better health and a sounder frame of mind, but her illness causes me grave anxiety, for although Fernshawe has not positively said anything to alarm me, I have fears that I hardly dare put on paper.

If possible I wish you would obtain leave, and come to see your Affectionate grandfather A. R. From Captian Revell to Sir Anthony Revell. Furzedown Barracks, 29th June 1872. Mt dear Geandfathee, I need scarcely say I was very glad to get your letter of the 28th, and to learn by it that whatever offence I may have most unwittingly given elsewhere, I am still held by you in the same regard as before. I trust Lady Jane will herself acknowledge that she has been needlessly severe in her language, and has been led away by fancies which are perfectly shadowy and unreal. I shall hope soon to hear better accounts of her health, and she certainly cannot be in better hands than she is at present. I regret to say it is quite impossible for me to get away just now, for an inspection is coming off, and leave would never be granted unless I could plead a case of very pressing emergency.

Tour affectionate grandson, Claude Revell. " I call that rather a diplomatic letter," said Captain Revell reading it over to himself. " I don't repeat what I before declared to, about not re-entering the Abbey while her ladyship is in it unless she apologizes, but I adhere to my determination come what may ; at any rate for the present I can avoid actually declining my grandfather's invitation ; and now for news from the " Willows ; " and so say frig he opened the letter from Mrs. Temple that had come by the same post. The " Willows," 28th June 1872, Mt deae Claude, Tour last did not give us a very cheerful account of you, but I don't quite believe all you say, and have no doubt you are leading a very enjoyable Use, and are not giving too much thought to those you left behind you. We all want to see you back again, and Ess says you are to come !

That is her message to you. But I have a plan in my head. I know quite well you will not go to the Abbey, at any rate for the present, and I hardly think it would be much for your interest with your grandfather if you were to come to us and never go near him, so what I propose is that you should join us at Shanklin, where we shall go in August. Muriel and I have taken to riding pretty frequently, and we may perhaps soon surprise you in your quarters. Do you think we could trench on your hospitality for lunch, if some day we made our appearance at 2 o'clock ? I should like to see how you get on in barracks, and what your rooms are like. Geoff says you live the life of an anchorite, but that I don't believe one bit. We were asked yesterday to go to the christening of Mrs. Doveton's baby, and the Rector ran through the service as rapidly as he does through his sermons.

Ess went with us, and it seems she had come to some previous arrangement with the Doveton httle girls as to the proper name for the infant; for after the ceremony, and before leaving the church, she gravely announced that the baby had not been properly christened. Geoff tried to silence her, but she calmly remarked, that though Mr. Vencome had ariven Catherine Rosa as the name, ' he had never told the people we were going to call her Kitty.' The Rector, I must tell you, was so taken aback with this criticism on his performance, that he never opened his mouth till we got to the gateway. Tou will be sorry tc hear, although you are not on very good terms with Lady Jane that she is seriously ill. The Doctor only shakes his head when questioned, and seems to regard her case as a very peculiar one.

Write and tell me if you can manage to join us at Shanklin. I think Muriel, Ess, and I, may probably go down there alone first, as Geoff has some business in hand that ne cessitates his going to town frequently ; but he will be with us as soon as he can. Muriel joins in all that's kindest and best, as does Geoff; and I am Tours ever sincerely Clarice Temple. Airs. Temple's proposal just suited Captain Revell ; for it enabled him to see his cousin and her hosts without coming to a positive breach with his grandfather. He was delighted at the idea of Mrs. Temple and Muriel coming to see him, and he at once wrote begging them to name an early day. And now we must again glance at the "Willows." The change to Muriel from the dulness and solitude of the Abbey had been a most pleasant one, and nothing was wanting on the part of host or hostess to convince ber that she was truly an honoured guest.