Lady Rosalind, or, Family Feuds

Front matter

LADY ROSALIND Lady Ro.,e called Lion sor a lasl walk Frontispiece. LADY ROSALIND OR FAMILY FEUDS BY EMMA MARSHALL AUTHOR OF "ONLY SUSAN," "THE CLOSE OF ST CHRISTOPHER'S," " UNDER SALISBURY SFIRE," "WINCHESTER MEADS," ETC. ETC. " The crooked shall be made straight, And the rough places plain." ILonDon JAMES NISBET & CO., LIMITED 21 BERNERS STREET Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson &■ Co. At the Ballantyne Press v CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. PERPLEXITY I II. HAZELDINE l8 III. UNVEILED 34 IV. MANŒUVRES 52 V. AT THE ROCKS HOTEL, CLIFTON .... 64 VI. ON THE QUEST 83 VII. TO RIGHT THE WRONG 99 VIII. PROPOSALS 119 IS. QUIET AFTER STORM 1 33 X. THE CHILDREN'S COLLOQUY 1 42 XI. DECISION 159 XII. ADVICE SOUGHT AND GIVEN . '. . . -175 XIII. TANGLES l86 XIV. AN UNWELCOME ARRIVAL 199 XV. CONSULTATION 213 XVI. AT HIGH CROSS 228 XVII.

A QUESTION 240 XVIII. CHRISTMAS-TIDE 257 XIX. A MEETING CONTENTS VI chap. PAGE XX. CHRISTMAS EVE 282 XXI. WHAT NEXT? 3°3 XXII. WHAT IT WAS • • 3lc* XXIII. LOST AND WON '. 33 l XXIV. THE ROUGH PLACES PLAIN 346 XXV. L'ENVOI LADY ROSALIND

Chapter I Perplexity

" No joy so great, but runneth to an end, No hap so hard, but may in time amend ; Not always fall of leaf, nor ever spring, Not endless night, yet not eternal day ; The saddest birds a season find to sing, The roughest storm a calm may soon allay. Thus with succeeding turns God tempereth all, That man may hope to rise, yet fear to fall." — Robert Southwell. (17th century.) The sunshine of a radiant morning of early June lay upon the eastern slopes of Penbury Park and, piercing the dark plumes of the belt of fir-trees which made a sombre background to the old home of the Earls of Penbury, played upon the figure of a woman who was seated on the fallen trunk of one of the trees, with a letter in her hand. She was not reading the letter ; her whole attitude told of weariness and an almost listless indifference to anything that was pass ing around her.

A LADT ROSALIND In vaiu for her was the music in the topmost branches overhead, like the murmur of far eoas upon a level strand. In vain the plaintive coo of the wood-pigeon, the scamper of the merry little squirrel as he climbed a tree before her and performed a series of gymnastics, as he swung from one branch to another. A pair of " Brides," as the children in thb village called the white butterflies, danced before her, in the gladness of their ephemeral life, but she did not see them. Aud the busy bumble-bee, with his gold and brown body and hie drowsy hum, did not attract her notice as he settled to rest after his morning's work on a tuft of grass close by. Lady Rose Penfold had passed her first youth, but was still in the full bloom and vigour of womanhood. Her face, now raised as she heard advancing footsteps, wore an expression of sorrowful perplexity rather than sadness ; she sprang to her feet, still holding the letter in her hand, and tightening her grasp on it. as a young man came up to the place where she stood.

"What do you want?" she asked, in a quick, abrupt manner. " Uan't I have peace even here ? " "We could not think where you had gone, Rosalind. You must kuow the lawyers want to see you. There b so much to talk over." "I don't want to hear it," she said impatiently; - why should I have to sit and listen to this story ot PERPLEXITY 3 disgrace, and feel — oh ! that I must say it — ashamed of my father ! Ah ! if I had only known all these years the double life he led — and all the time I was proud of him — think of it, proud of him ! " " Well, I can't see that you need take it so much to heart. Hundreds and thousands of people get into debt, and then take any means that comes handy to try to get out of it." " Look here, Geoffrey, you don't understand what I feel ; it is not in you to understand, so let us say no more about it."

"That's all very well, Rose, but we shall have to say a great deal about it. I am sure I am ready to do all I can for you, and I bear my poor old uncle no ill-will. It is a misfortune for me to come in for this title, and to find nothing but debts and mortgages and hear unpleasant rumours " " Unpleasant ! " Lady Rose said bitterly. " Is that how you take it ? No, Geoffrey, we shall never agree, nor understand each other. My one desire is to get away with poor mother, and perhaps by work of some sort I may leam in time to forget that I am the daughter of a man to whom honour was only a name, and who deceived every one, myself most of all." " You are welcome to stay here if you like." " Stay here ! Nothing will tempt me to do so. How could I meet the people every day who have been deceived — and — robbed ?

" Come, that's going too far," the young man said. " I will try to pay back some of the borrowed money, though I don't know on earth where it is to come from. It's a mercy poor Aunt Grace's money is settled on her in Chancery. You have got that to depend upon ; eight hundred a year, isn't it ? But, Rose, you must come and see these lawyers. They want to see Aunt Grace, but I told them they could not do so. She was too knocked up. Come now, there's a good girl. Indeed, you had better not make a fuss about it." Lady Rosalind said no more. She turned and walked silently down out of the sunshine into the shadow, as they took the path leading to the back of the house where the bright beams of the sun could not penetrate.' Profound stillness reigned as Lady Rose and her cousin, the new Earl of Penbury, entered the low roofed hall, where a boarhound was lying with his nose on his paws guarding the entrance.

For the big, heavy door, studded with nails, was open, and Lion was ready to resent the entrance of any strangers ; but he rose at once to greet his mistress, putting his nose in her hand and rubbing his rough head against her arm, asking for an answering caress. " Poor old Lion ! " Lady Rose said. " Poor old fellow ! No, go back," as he was preparing to follow her up the wide shallow stairs at the farther side of the hall. " Back, Lion ! " and Lion obeyed at PERPLEXITY 5 once, resuming his position before the open door, with a deep sigh. " Shall I tell them you will come to the library in a few minutes ? " Rose nodded, and then pursued her way to her mother's room. " Is that you, Rose ? How long you have been away from me ! Have you seen the lawyers ? " " Not yet ; but I shall do so directly."

" I don't think I can get up to-day, I feel so weak. And Rose, my gown is quite wrong. They have not put the crape entirely over the skirt. I must have it done properly. Birkett says it is wrong." Then bursting into a wailing cry, Lady Penbury said — " I don't want to get up and put on those dreadful things. I don't want ever to be seen again. Rose, what did your poor father do with the money ? He can't have spent it — he lived like a hermit, shut up in that study, never seeing any one." " Don't go over it all, mother," Rose said. " It does no good. We have just got to face what lies before us, and do the best we can. You and I can live very well on what is your settlement — it will be quite enough for us. I have just come to see if you had had your beef-tea. Dr. Watson said we were to keep up your strength with plenty of nourishment.

Now I am going to the library, and I will come back and tell you what they say." " Rose ! " Lady Penbury said, " Rose, come back for a minute ! Geoffrey says you and I may stay on here if we like. Won't it be best ? " " Mother ! I would not entertain such an idea for a moment ! How can you think of it ? " Lady Penbury lay back on the pillow, crying, as she said — " You are so sharp to me, Rose. I — I don't know how to bear it." " I am sorry I vexed you, mother," Rose said ; but she did not return to the bed to kiss her mother as a sign of peace, but gently closing the door, went to her own room for a few minutes to brace herself for what lay before her. The letter, crumpled in her hand, was now smoothed out and read for the third time. It was from a man, between whom and herself there had been what is commonly called " an under standing."

Though Lady Rose and Mr. Mainwaring were not actually engaged to each other, the fact was accepted, certainly by Lady Rose, that they had become necessary to each other's happiness. Time had been when Lady Rose Penfold had been admired and sought after, but that time was past. Of late the old Earl had withdrawn into complete seclusion, and those who wish to be left alone by their neighbours generally succeed in accomplishing that wish. For the last five years very few people had come to Penbury Castle. It lay far from the trodden highways of the world, and was so remote, that no- PERPLEXITY 7 thing was easier than to forget it and its inhabitants, unless there was any especial reason for remembering them. Penbury was more than ten miles from a station ; a coach running once a week from the village to Mattingford Junction was found enough to satisfy the village needs for locomotion.

Excursionists and cheap-trippers were unknown at Penbury, and the district was so thinly peopled that very few strangers were ever seen in the neighbourhood. Now and again, two or three rooms in the quaint and picturesque farmhouses on the outskirts of the village were let for the summer to those who liked to get " beyond railways " (a difficult matter in these days), but chiefly to artists who made sketches of the old Castle and the broken moorland lying beyond it, and were perhaps the only strangers who had appeared there for a long time. Mr. Mainwaring was one of these artists. He was an amateur — that is to say, he did not live by his profession, and only followed it in the half-hearted fashion which is never likely to ensure success. He had haunted Penbury now for two years, and had, as was natural, made the acquaintance of Lady Rose, meeting her in her walks with her constant friend and faithful escort Lion, and finding her a companion with whom he had much in common.

Sketching has often proved a bond of interest and sympathy, and Lady Rose soon showed herself en thusiastic about Mr. Mainwaring's work, and he was delighted to give her lessons. Insensibly these sketch ing excursions in the summer and autumn grew to be a part of her life, a solace amidst many anxieties, and when Mr. Mainwaring had been absent during the previous winter a correspondence had been set up, growing more and more intimate and confidential, and letters had passed between the two friends which were scarcely less tender in their tone than if they had been written by acknowledged lovers. It was dangerous ground, and as Lady Rose stood in her room, bracing herself for the coming interview with the lawyers in the library, and once more read the letter in her hand, her face betrayed more of wounded pride than disappointed love.

During those sad days preceding her father's death, and those sadder still which had followed them, she had been unconsciously building her hopes on Mr. Mainwaring's coming. He had generally appeared early in June, and she had counted securely on his sympathy, and had thought how gladly she would confide in him all her terrible anxieties and sorrow. Now, in reply to her letter telling him of her father's death, she received a few brief lines just to say how deeply he felt for her, and that instead of coming to Penbury this summer he was going to Normandy with a friend to sketch. How he should miss their de lightful intercourse he could not express. She would understand this without words, and believe how sin cerely he was ever her friend. PERPLEXITY 9 " My friend ! " she exclaimed, her lips curled, her eyes flashing. '* My fair-weather friend !

Yes, I do understand." And then hastily thrusting the letter into the drawer of her dressing-table, she smoothed back her hair from her forehead and went to the library. In the hall she met her cousin. " I have been waiting for you," he said. " I thought you would like me to be with you," and the young Earl's frank blue eyes were full of real sympathy as he saw Lady Rose's face. " I say," he began, " don't look like that, Rosalind ; I will do all I can. I wish you would trust me. I can't help coming in for this. Upon my word, I would sooner be left as I was. It will be an awful bother for me ; but I am sorry for you." " Don't," was the answer, "don't say anything more. We must get through the business before us, and the sooner the better." " Very well ; I won't say any more, then," the young man said.

" Come along/' The great library table was covered with papers, and two lawyers sat before it, the grey-haired agent of the estate standing by, his hand grasping the back of a chair, his face betraying great emotion. Lady Rose bowed gravely to the two gentlemen, and then going up to the old man gave him her hand, taking the chair against which he was leaning, and finding some comfort in the assurance of his sympathy, expressed by the fervent grasp of his rough, strong fingers and the smothered sigh which accompanied it. " I think, madam," one of the lawyers began, " your ladyship is aware that the will of your father, the late Earl, is valueless. It is dated twenty years ago, and he makes over in it to you and the Countess moneys which are not now available. We are sorry to have to say that we find his lordship's affairs in great dis order, and numerous claims are brought against the estate for moneys borrowed in larger or smaller sums.

We have a letter here from Sir William Henderson, informing us that he holds a mortgage of ten thou sand pounds, and there are liabilities which have not hitherto been pressed, it may be from feelings of respect for an honoured name, which are now brought forward. Mr. Sharpe paused, and then turning to his com panion, said, " I think I am correct in my statement, Mr. Pearson ? " " Perfectly correct," was the reply. " I believe, Mr. Cornish," Mr. Sharpe continued, turning to the agent — " I believe you are a creditor to the amount of two hundred pounds ? " " Yes, sir, that is so, but I do not desire to press my claim, for the sake of my lord's daughter here, whom I have known since she was an infant in arms." " We must respect your feelings, Mr. Cornish, but I am sure, if it is possible, Lady Rose will desire that you have such compensation as the other creditors PERPLEXITY 11 accept.

His lordship," Mr. Sharpe said, turning to the young Earl, " is willing that the value of the household furniture, books, carriages, horses, and the like should be realised, and the creditors receive the benefit. Of course there are heirlooms, pictures, old family plate and jewels, which pass with the Castle and lands to the heir. These cannot be touched, but all that was distinctly the personal property of the late Earl can be sold for the benefit of his creditors." "Mr. Pearson has my instructions," the Earl said, " and I am ready to make any arrangements which will lighten my cousin's burden. Upon my word, I don't see what can be done about Sir William Henderson's mortgage, but I should think there ought to be enough to pay up the small debts. I shall shut up the Castle, and leave Mr. Cornish in charge.

I should die of the blues if I lived here. I have got a little place down in the south of England, which I shall inherit from my mother, and I shall live on there for the present." Lady Rose now spoke for the first time since the discussion began. " Who are the principal creditors to whom my father owed money ? " " This is the list," Mr. Sharpe said, " if your lady ship likes to glance at it, but I am afraid you will not gain much information about some of the names. There are several Jews, who have been charging exor bitant rates of interest, and now sue for the principal. The others are small farmers in this district, and the doctor who attended the Earl ; but these are small amounts, and our friend Mr. Cornish is, I think, the largest of these." Lady Rose returned the paper to Mr. Sharpe, saying in a low tone, " So many ; it is dreadful !

" " We asked you to give us the interview," Mr. Sharpe said, "that we might know if the Countess or yourself had any wishes which we could carry out. We shall be most anxious, I assure you, to meet them." "I only wish, and I am sure my mother wishes, that every possible effort should be made to pay my father's debts. I shall do my best to persuade my mother to set apart a portion of her income for the purpose, and I hope to succeed. I don't think I need say any more," she said, rising, " but before I go I should like to thank you for your good intentions, and to beg you to do all you can to let every one have their just claims satisfied. My father " — and her voice faltered — " my father kept everything from me. I had no idea of what was going on ; if I had only known ! During the last four months I have been uneasy, but more about his sleeplessness and his failing health than anything else.

And my poor mother is as much taken by surprise as I am. I leave all in your hands, and that of my cousin, who is very kind and considerate to us. I shall make arrangements to leave the Castle as quickly as possible, and you can at once take measures for the sale of what can be sold." Then, with another inclination of PERPLEXITY 13 her head, Lady Rose moved towards the door, Lord Penbury opening it for her and, as she passed, saying — " Cheer up, Rose, it will all come right ! " A happy, easy-going nature like the young Earl of Penbury's is in some ways a blessing, though in others a misfortune. As he said, he took life easily, and found it answered in the long-run. The only son of the old Earl's brother, who had improved his fortune by marrying the heiress of a small estate in Somersetshire, he had reached the age of eight-and-twenty with no great event to mark his life.

He had no ambitions, and would have been well content to remain as he was, instead of succeeding to the Earldom of Penbury. If ever he had thought of it at all, it was as a distant prospect. His father was many years younger than his brother, and there was every probability of his surviving him. But an accident in the hunting-field had taken him away, when scarcely more than fifty, and Geoffrey was thus next in succession, and had now come into the title, and tbe encumbrances connected with it, which had been left with it by Lord Penbury to his heir. The relations between the two brothers had been strained for many years, and of late there had been no intercourse whatever between the two houses. Thus Geoffrey had never seen his cousin till he had been summoned to Penbury Castle when the old Earl died, and was as much a stranger to her, and to her mother, as if there had been no family tie existing between them.

His cousin Rose took him by surprise : he had been accustomed to a very different type of woman. His mother was brisk and alert, full of life, and the enjoyment of life ; his sisters, happy in their position and entering into all the little pleasures of a country neighbourhood with zest. They played tennis and cricket, and were very popular in that part of the country in which Hazeldine Manor was placed. " The girls would not hit it off with Rosalind," the young Earl thought, as he lighted a cigar, and strolled out on the terrace before the house after his interview with the lawyer. " She is a cut above Janet and Marcia in every way. And a cut above me, too, for that matter. I can't quite make her out. She is awfully grave and solemn, and snubs me if I try to make myself agreeable. Yet she is very handsome.

Such a good figure ; and it was fine to see her walk out of the library just now, with the dignity of a queen. Well, I daresay she has got enough to make her solemn, poor girl ! And I am awfully sorry for her, though, from all accounts, the old man is no loss to any one. Ah ! " he said, turning at the sound of footsteps behind him. " Ah ! Mr. Cornish ; I wanted to see you. Let us take a look round and see if there is anything you can instruct me about. You know I PERPLEXITY 15 am ignorant about rents and crops and the like, but I am willing to learn." Mr. Cornish was taken, like every one else, by the young man's frank, honest manner. " I am sure, my lord, I will do my best for your interests ; but things are in a neglected condition : two farms unlet because of the buildings being in a ruinous condition, and there has been no ready money.

It is a wonder how we have pulled on at all. For the last three years I have not taken a shilling of salary as agent. Not that I mind ; my wife has a little income, and, well, in spite of all his faults, I loved the late lord and was ready to serve him." "What on earth did he do with his money, Cornish ? " " Ah, my lord, that's a question I can't answer, nor Mr. Sharpe neither. It was muddled away some how, and a grievous thing it is. A bad job for us all, but worse for Lady Rose than for any one. I had my misgivings for a long time, but as to her, God bless her ! she never thought of anything wrong. The horses were sold — her riding-horse and the cobs — two years ago, and only the pony left for her ladyship's carriage ; but as folks seldom come here, and the family don't visit, Lady Rose said it was no use letting the horses eat their heads off in the stable.

She made no trouble of that. She was so full of her sketching and painting, and all last summer she lived out of doors, you may say, driving her ladyship in the afternoon and coaxing his lordship to take a turn on the terrace after dinner. There was an artist in these parts last year — indeed he has been here for two years — and he was always at Lady Rose's heels. I can't say I cared to see it. He made too free, according to my notions, but the people at the farm where he lodged say he was a real gentleman and behaved like one, and his letters had a good crest on them." " What was his name ? " the Earl asked. He felt a sudden curiosity about the " artist gentleman." " Mainwaring, my lord," Mr. Cornish said. " Mannering ? Oh ! people of that name live in our part of the country." " Ah ! I daresay you call it Mannering, but it isn't spelt like that, for I have seen it written scores of times."

" A lot of names are pronounced differently from their spelling," the Earl said. " So this Mr. Main waring was no favourite of yours ; in fact, you did not like him." " Well, I would not go so far as to say that, my lord. I don't know that I had any call to dislike him. But Lady Rose was lonely and, as you may say, unprotected, and I didn't like to see him lounge into the hall as if it were his own. And I have heard him speak in an off-hand manner to the Countess, and walk along with Lady Rose as if he had a right to do it, just as a brother might have PERPLEXITY 17 done, or you might do, my lord ; and it would be proper and right if you did." The Earl said nothing more on the subject. He threw the end of his cigar away, and said, " Let us go round to the gardens, and then across to the Home Farm."

" Very good, my lord. You must please to re member that we only keep a man and a boy about the gardens, and the greater part of them is a wilderness. I just got enough reclaimed to grow vegetables for the household, and a corner for flowers. It would take half-a-dozen able-bodied men to keep this place as it ought to be kept, and as it was kept when my father was agent to the last Earl ; then things were very different and not left to go to rack and ruin. I hope the day may come, my lord, when we shall see you here, and living as an Earl of Penbury should live." " It is a far cry to that time, Cornish, I am afraid, but I must see what can be done to clear off encum brances, and I shan't come here to live till I can start clear, even if I am a grey-headed old fellow first ! " B

Chapter II Hazeldine

" The desire to be the object of attention is weak, but the excessive dread of it is but a form of vanity and over self-contem plativeness." — Sara Coleridge. " It must be very exciting to expect your brother this afternoon. I think I had better go before tea. You won't want me here when he arrives." " Why not ? " Janet Penfold asked as she twisted a spray of Banksia roses, and made a wreath of them for her shady garden hat. " You know you are like one of the family," she said, laughing. " Other people don't think so," was the reply. " I know the Mainwarings and Walkers think me pushing because I am here so often." " What nonsense ! I hope you don't care what such idiots say. If we like to have you, what does it matter ? " " Well, it is very kind of you to say so, Janet, and I know I feel very grateful to you for all you do for me, and so does mother."

" Grateful! I should say we ought to be grateful to have such a dear little friend. Geoffrey called you Sunshine ' that wet day when you came, and we were HAZELDINE 19 all so cross because the cricket-match was spoiled. You were quite good-tempered and kept up our spirits." Marcia now joined her sister and Hessie Selworthy, saying, " The carriage is late. Geoff ought to have been here by this time. Are they not going to bring tea out here ? It is so dreadfully hot in the drawing room, and the hall is not much cooler." " Marcia," Hessie said, as Janet went to order the tea to be brought out, " I don't think I ought to stay. You will like to be alone when the Earl comes." " The Earl ! " Marcia said, laughing — " I can't get accustomed to the change yet, in dear old Geoff's style and title — and why should you be afraid of staying ?

Geoff is never alarming." " It's not that," Hessie said, looking down, and examining a little bunch of the yellow roses which had fallen from Janet's hat on her white frock. " It is not that, but I don't want to be in the way. You will have so much to hear and ask about." " All of which you are welcome to hear also. I don't know what has come over you of late, little Hessie ; you are always trying to get off being with us ! Are you tired of us ? " The poor child's eyes filled with tears. "0 Marcia ! " she said, in real distress, " as if that were possible ; but Miss Mainwaring said such a disagreeable thing to mother last week, and Mrs. Walker was present and agreed with her. I can't tell you what they said — but — but it made me feel so unhappy." " I think you are very silly to care what a woman like Mrs. Walker says.