Guy Mervyn. A novel

Chapter I

" Confound all tutors !" said Sir Guy Mervyn, impatiently kicking the stones before him, as he strode along the country road. " What next, I wonder ? I suppose they'll suggest chartering a dancing-master to put me through my paces, and a parson to teach me the Catechism ! The long and short of it is, I won't have one ; and, if he comes, by Jupiter, I'll make the place too hot for him !" Sir Guy was thoroughly ruffled, and being a young man whose language was at all vol. i . I times somewhat highly seasoned, he proceeded to solace himself with a few remarks too strong to record, in which he consigned the whole race of tutors to a place even Avarmer than he threatened to make Mervyn Hall. Then he felt better. His fair young face deared and brightened ; he left off viciously kicking the stones, and whistling to his dog, Avho had carefully kept at a respectful distance during his master's fit of ill-temper, he threw himself down on a mossy bank by the side of the road, and looking up into the green depths of an old oak overhead, laughed aloud at the unreasonableness of his short lived anger.

" Sweet little mother of mine !" he said, and the smile on his handsome mouth was full of tenderness ; " I hope she did not know I was vexed. Anyhow, it was not Avith her. It is always Gertrude, with her confounded interference, who puts her up to plaguing me about my mind and manners. Save a man from his elder sisters, say I ! Never mind, Bidger," as a cold nose Avas pushed anxiously into his hand ; " I Avasn't cross with you, old dog. If they set a dozen white-tied tutors on us, you and I would give them the slip, Avouldn't we, Bidger ? And they might scour the country after us till they Avalked off their reverend legs !" Bidger wagged his tail in energetic assent, and looked gratefully into his master's face, as though the fault had been his, and he had just been forgiven. The next moment he pricked up his ears at the sound of approaching aa heels, and gave a short, sharp bark.

Sir Guy raised himself on his elbow, just as an open landau, drawn by a magnificent pair of greys, swept round the corner. In it a lady sat alone, leaning listlessly back against the cushions, apparently paying little or no heed to anything around her ; but, at I another sharp bark from Bidger, she turned her head and glanced at the young man and his dog. Involuntarily, Guy sprang to his feet, and stood looking after the carriage, till a turn in the road hid it from sight. Then, with a long, Ioav whistle : "Bless us, Bidger!" he said. "What a beauty ! You and I are a highly favoured couple. I bet you a mutton-bone we've seen the Oueen of Sheba !" The Lady Elaine Monk, of The Towers, sat in the draAving-room at Mervyn Hall, paying her first call on its new owners. Mrs. Mervyn sat opposite her, an affable smile on her kind face, but thinking, inwardly, how exceedingly difficult it was to oet on Avith a visitor whose thoughts seemed to be so far aAvay from her present sur roundings.

Gertrude, cudgelling her brains for some interesting remark with which to revive the flagging conversation and attract Lady Elaine's attention to herself, secretly won dered at her rare loveliness, and noted it with that pang of jealousy which rather pretty girls are apt to feel at sight of queenly beauty. Beryl, summoned from the schoolroom, and hurriedly arrayed in her best frock, sighed deeply at intervals, as she sat looking out of the windoAv, wondering what Guy was doing, and heartily wishing stupid people Avould not call just as she had nearly finished her lessons and was going out to find him. At this moment an opportune, if not entirely desirable, interruption occurred. " Yes, we like this place very much," Mrs. Mervyn Avas saying ; " though it is a great contrast to our Highland home ;" when, as if to illustrate the remark, the door burst violently open, and in dashed a rough Scotch collie, making straight for Beryl, and jumping round her in a high state of excited delight, his quick short bark saying, as plainly as Avords could speak : " Come out, little mistress ; come out and play."

" DoAvn, Bidger ; down, sir !" cried Beryl, Avhose face had brightened at sight of Guy's dog; "go out, old doggie, at once, and I only wish I could go too. Tell Guy I'm coming soon, and he is to wait." Bidger wagged his tail, and dashing out of the French window, bounded across the lawn, and disappeared in the shrubbery. " Bidger ?" said Lady Elaine. " What a very uncommon name." "Is it not hideous!" cried Gertrude in dignantly. " He is a nice dog, in spite of his bad manners, so / named him Bijou ; but Guy said a Scotch dog should not have a stupid French name, so " " Guy said a beastly French name," inter rupted Beryl. So," continued Gertrude, frowning at her sister, " Guy calls him Bidger, which he says is the only sensible way to pronounce Bijou ; but I wish he had taken altogether another name, for he tells everyone that I named him Bidger!"

" You never could have thought of half such a nice name," began Beryd indignantly, but stopped short at a look from her mother. Lady Elaine seemed nearer smiling than she had hitherto been during her visit; but she only said : And is Sir Guy very fond of his dog ?" "Very," answered Mrs. Mervyn; " they are quite inseparable. Whenever you see Bidger, you may be quite sure his master is not far off." At that moment Guy emerged from the shrubbery, crossed the lawn, and, only seeing his mother and Beryl sitting near the window, called out in his clear young voice : "I say, mother; I've seen such a phiz driving down the road behind a pair of greys! Bidger and I both thought it could be no less a personage than the Queen of She " He stopped short in blank dismay, as he reached the window and saw the other occu pants of the room ; then — for poor Guy Avas no courtier — "Jupiter Ammon !" he said, beneath his breath, and vanished even more suddenly than he had appeared.

An aAvkward silence in the drawing-room ; then Mrs. Mervyn, ignoring with womanly tact the most aAvkward part of Guy's perform ance, apologized to her visitor for his abrupt appearance and departure. " I hope you will excuse my boy, Lady Elaine. Having lived all his life in the Highlands, he has yet to learn what is re quired of him in his new position." And then she went on to inquire Avhether Lady Elaine knew of a good tutor, as she Avas seeking one to coach Sir Guy for college. Meanwhile, Gertrude slipped out into the garden to scold her brother. " Guy, how could you ? It is the worst blunder you ever made, which is saying a great deal. A ploughboy Avould not have been so rude ; and when you saAv her you could easily have pretended you meant some one else." " I couldn't," said honest Guy, " for there she sat as large as life ; and I leave the elegant accomplishment of fibbing to my eldest sister, Avho does enough for the whole family.

But who on earth is she ?" " Lady Elaine, from The ToAvers !" said Gertrude, smothering her wrath, that she might announce the crushing fact. " And there Ave expected to meet all the best society in the county ; and she has called so soon, which was most gratifying to mamma and me ; and then you come and insult her, and talk about her phiz — her phiz, indeed!" " I am awfully sorry, and I'll go in and tell her so ; and I only meant that she was very beautiful. I'll tell her that, too — women ahvays like to be admired ; and I'll beg her, on my bended knee, to ask you to The ToAvers all the same, or I shall never have another day's peace in my life." And Guy turned toAvards the house. " Guy, stop ! You will do nothing of the kind ; you would only make matters worse. No doubt mamma is apologizing for you.

I dare say she will be quite as friendly to us ; but, of course, she will never notice you after this. And just Avhen she had been saying how much she Avished to meet you !" Here Miss Gertrude dreAv on her imagination. Poor Guy looked really mortified. " I say, Gerty; she hardly can have heard, and I don't believe she minded." " Heard ? Of course she did ! I saw the colour come into her face, though she is too perfect a lady to show in any other way that she felt or resented such rudeness." Guy turned away, Avhistling for Bidger ; and Gertrude Avent indoors, flattering herself that for once she had made her brother sorry for his tiresome behaviour. But Guy, notwithstanding his boyish roughness and lack of polished manners, had in his veins the blood of generations of true English gentlemen, and his idea of amende honorable was very different to Gertrude's. He made his way quickly round to the drive, and seeing the carriage still at the door, bounded down the avenue ; and being as fleet of foot as the royal stags of his High land home, he was soon waiting by the same mossy bank where, not an hour before, he had seen Lady Elaine drive past.

His heart beat quickly as the greys once more came in sight, and a momentary impulse seized him to jump over the fence into the wood beyond; but he stood his ground, and as the carriage came close upon him, stepped forward and called to the men to stop. Then he saAv with surprise that it was empty. " Her lady ship " had preferred to Avalk home, the foot man said, by the short Avay through the woods, and had ordered them to return Avithout her. For a moment Sir Guy hesitated ; then cleared the fence, and stood in the wood " Find her, Bidger!" he said. " Find her, old doggie !"

Chapter II

All things Avere bright and beautiful, on that summer afternoon, as Lady Elaine Avalked back to The Towers from Mervyn Hall. The woods rang with songs of birds, but Lady Elaine heard them not. The path she trod was carpeted with moss and bordered Avith bluebells ; but Lady Elaine saw them not. Little peeps of blue sky, flecked with Avhite clouds, shone through the trees, and the sunbeams danced among the bright green leaves, and played upon her as she passed ; but what mattered that the sun shone warm and bright around, Avhen in her heart was no SAveet sunshine of happiness and love, but only gloom, and cold, cold shadows ? Lady Elaine was wrapt in thought on that summer afternoon, so deeply that she started violently as something came crashing through the undenvood, and Bidger, jumping out before her, stood right in her path, and uttered a triumphant bark.

He did not appear at all inclined to let her pass, but looked up anxiously and implor ingly into her face, with those wonderful dog eyes Avhich express so infinitely more than many human ones. Lady Elaine must have forgotten Mrs. Mervyn's remark about Bidger's appearance being a sure sign of his master's proximity, for, stooping down, she stroked his head, remarking, Avith a half-smile : " Really, Bidger, you are almost as rude as your master !" " But nothing like so sorry," said a voice close beside her ; and looking up, Lady Elaine saAv, for the third time that afternoon, Sir Guy Mervyn, the new baronet and master of Mervyn Hall. He looked very handsome, standing before her, cap in hand, in all the healthy vigour and strength of his youth, hot and flushed with running and scrambling across the wood ; and there was such a truly penitent expression on his frank boyish face, that Lady Elaine felt a sudden impulse to put her hand into his, and make friends on the spot.

However, on second thoughts she merely smiled, and tried to pass on. But this was easier thought than done. Having come so far to apologize and obtain forgiveness, Guy was not going back without thoroughly doing the one and receiving the other. Moreover, Lady Elaine could not feign ignorance of his meaning, having acknowledged to Bidger that she remembered his offence. Guy saw her hesitate, and, with his usual impetuosity, plunged headlong into the subject. " Lady Elaine, I am awfully sorry ! If you don't believe me, just ask Bidger. I've been tearing along like mad to catch you. You must have thought me such a confounded brute, if you believed I meant to be rude to you! Indeed I didn't! You know as you passed by Bidger barked, and you looked at us ; and I had never seen a face so lovely in all my life.

That A\as all I meant to tell my mother. Gertrude says I ought not to have said ' phiz,' but I ahvays say ' phiz ' Avhen I mean face, though I never will again, if I live to be a hundred. Don't be hard on a felloAA', Lady Elaine !" and there was a tender pleading in his voice, and a look in his blue eyes, such as she would not have expected in this rough boy. " Don't be hard on a fellow, just because he admired you a bit too much, and isn't blessed with manners." Then Lady Elaine acted on her first impulse. She put her hand straight into his, and said, with her sweetest smile : " Come, Sir Guy, this is much ado about nothing ! Say no more about it. Of course I knew your remark was not meant for me to hear ; and, after all, it was a fortunate one, since it has made us acquainted. Now, as the wood is lonely, and in case someone else waylays me, or sets a bloodhound on my track, suppose you and Bidger give me the benefit of your escort and protection until we reach the open ground."

" May we ?" said Guy. "May we really, Lady Elaine ?" And then, all his roughness subdued for the moment, the courtly grace of his ancestors, which was in him by nature, came out all unbidden ; and stooping over the hand she had given him in token of forgiveness, he kissed it. But the next moment he was the Highland lad again, as tossing up his cap he said, with a merry laugh : " Won't I crow over Gertrude ! Do you know, Lady Elaine, she was in an awful funk vol. 1. lest you should never ask her to The lowers. They walked on together through the wood ; he chatting merrily, she thoroughly amused for once, and preferring his company to her own sad thoughts. At last, in answer to a question from him : " Of course I shall ask you to The Towers, Sir Guy," she said, " whenever your mother or sisters are coming ; but " — smiling up at him — " you must not talk slang to my lady visitors, or remark upon their ' phizes ' before them."

" Oh ! Lady Elaine, that is really unkind, and after you had forgiven me, too ! I shall never hear that word without feeling so awfully ashamed." She looked up at him again. There was something to her particularly fascinating about this frank, outspoken young fellow. It was with a feeling of genuine interest in him that she said gently : " Sir Guy, what a pity you cannot always be as you are just now." "In what way, Lady Elaine ?" "Why, a gentleman." He started, and coloured. " I trust I am always that," he said quickly. "Ah! but what is your definition of a gentleman ?" " Never to do a mean action, and never to tell a lie." " Yes," she said warmly ; " I am sure you keep to that standard, and it is a noble and true one. But why not also be a gentleman in manners ?" Surely this would pique him, she thought, even as she said it, and half wished it unsaid.

But his nature was too noble, too free from petty littleness to be piqued by plain speaking, and he answered simply : " I wish I could be, Lady Elaine. Will you tell me how to set about it ?" " Well," she said, smiling, and half in play ; 2 — " get a good tutor, and work hard ; consult your tailor; have a dancing-master; leave off using slang and invoking heathen deities Avhen you are in the company of ladies ; learn your catechism, and read your Bible ; then, I am sure you will be a model young man." Why did Lady Elaine include reading the Bible, a book she herself very rarely took up, among her list of desirable accomplishments ? In times to come, she sometimes wondered — wondered why. She laughed as she said it, meaning him to see that her whole lecture was more in play than earnest ; but Guy was grave, and when she ceased speaking, he said quietly : " I will do them, every one, Lady Elaine."

" Even the catechism ?" she asked, laughing. " Yes, even the catechism. What had come to Guy ? Had her SAveet gray eyes bewitched him ? Who knows ? A word from a we man has before noAv decided the whole course of a man's life in this world, and — God help us — in the next ; has made it either a strong power for good, or a fearful one for evil. Whatever came to Guy, the fact remains the same : that he entered that wood a merry, reckless, head strong boy ; he left it a young man, un changed indeed in many ways, but with an earnest purpose, and a fixed determination to carry through that purpose to the end. After wards he always thought that change came over him when Lady Elaine placed her hand in his, in token of forgiveness, and when he, stooping, kissed it. They walked on through the wood, and he told her much of his home life ; she listening and drawing him out, but giving him no confidence in return.

"You know, Lady Elaine, Beryl is my pet, and always has been. Gertrude I never can and never could get on with. She always makes me feel inclined to swear ! Don't you think she is awfully prim ? So different to mother and the little one." And so on, and so on, until she seemed to knoAv all about this boy and his thoughts and feelings, not even knoAv her husband's. And he? he did full name, or her park gates of The They reached the Towers. " Good-bye, Sir Guy ; and don't forget my lecture !" " Good-bye, Lady Elaine. You are quite sure you forgive me ?" "Of course; but there was nothing to forgive." And when she was gone, Guy knelt on the ground, and laid his head on his dog's shaggy one. "Oh Bidger, Bidger " but only Bidger heard the rest. " Where can the boy possibly be ? Ger trude, you should not have made such a fuss over that awkward little episode.

He thinks we are vexed with him, and is keeping away." Mrs. Mervyn was growing anxious. The lamps were lighted ; they had long grown tired of waiting dinner, and still Guy did not come. It was a lovely summer night, and the windows stood wide open. Little Beryl, feeling injured and deserted, sat near them, listening for Guy's return. Suddenly she jumped up, crying : " Mother, he is coming ! I hear him whistling up the avenue !" The next minute, in came Bidger; and before Beryl could go to meet him, Guy himself bounded up the steps. " My dear boy, where have you been ?" " Forgive me, mother darling. I've been a long walk in the woods ; first with Lady Elaine, Miss Gertrude, who sends you a message to the effect that you shall certainly come to The Towers, in spite of your rude brother; afterwards away, ever so far, alone with Bidger ; and, oh mother !" and he dropped playfully on one knee before her, " you are please to find me a tutor, and a tailor, and a dancing-master, and a Bible ; for I'm going to mend my ways ; and some day, when I'm good enough, I mean to marry Lady Elaine."

" Guy ! My dear boy ! Marry Lady Elaine ! Why, don't you know " but the mother stopped short. She saw by the look in his face that this was not one of his wild jokes ; she saw, shining there, the light of his first young love. Not so Gertrude. " What, Guy ? You marry Lady Elaine ?" " Yes, miss. Why not ?" " For two very excellent reasons. First, she is at least ten years older than you are ! Secondly, she is married already." " Married already !" Guy rose to his feet, and stood still for one minute ; then burst out laughing. " Married already ! So she is ! Of course; come, Bidger !" And together they went out into the starlight. Late that night, his mother knelt beside his bed. " Oh, mother, mother ! I love her, I love her ! Why didn't she tell me ? You can't knoAv hoAv I feel !" " I do knoAv, my boy, my darling !" ' As one whom his mother comforteth ' — Avas there ever a truer word ?

On that same evening, Lady Elaine sat in her boudoir writing letters. Half-a-dozen uninteresting little notes had been rapidly tossed off, and lay in a pile ready for posting. Then she took some larger paper, and wrote a letter over which she smiled very often, and paused once or twice to consider; toying with some SAveet yellow roses on the table beside her. This letter Avas to her friend, Muriel Bruce, and ran thus : The Towers, "June 6th, 18— My dearest Muriel, At last something really interesting has occurred, and agreeably varied the usual dreary routine of my life. I hasten to record it for your edification, though it happened only this afternoon. " What say you to having a hound put upon one's track in a lonely forest, and being persistently kept prisoner by the animal until the arrival of his young and hand some master !

But I must tell you from the beginning. " I believe you heard of the death of old Sir Guy Mervyn, oAvner of Mervyn Hall, the next estate to Mr. Monk's ? He was on bad terms with everyone, particularly his own next-of-kin, as is often the way with crusty old bachelors. They are said to have been not very well off, and residing some where in the Highlands, when news came to them one day that these fine estates, Sir Guy's large fortune, and the baronetcy, were theirs at last. The family consists of Mrs. Mervyn, two daughters, and one son, the new baronet. The three former arrived here about a fortnight ago ; young Sir Guy followed them from Scotland the day before yesterday. " This afternoon I went to pay my first call at Mervyn Hall. On the way I chanced to notice, lounging on a bank by the roadside, a not ill-favoured young giant and a fine collie dog.

The latter barked at the carriage, and the former stared at me as though I were the first of my sex he had ever beheld. " I paid my call, and found them pleasant people enough. Mrs. Mervyn- — a sweet, motherly woman, something like my own mother — was not, I could see, at all favour ably impressed with me. I know I did not shine — I never do now — I cannot help it. I was thinking all the time how these new people Avould soon hear the gossip about The Towers, and then they would pity me, as others do, and call me 'poor thing.' I would sooner be thought heartless, soulless, mind less, than that anyone should know how I suffer — suffer. No matter ! It will be all the same in a hundred years ; and, at least, you understand me, darling. " Well, suddenly, just as I am thinking of taking my leave, in comes the identical collie dog I had seen on the bank, and who, by the Avay, rejoices in the charming name of Bidger, his master's pronunciation of Bijou.

He is folloAved by the young giant, who turns out to be Sir Guy. Crossing the lawn and coming straight up to the window, before anyone can warn him of my presence, he makes a very audible and rather unfortunate remark about having seen me drive past — something about ' such a phiz !' Then, catching sight of me, 'Jupiter Ammon !' he cries, with a most comical expression of consternation, and rapidly makes off. Rather an awkward predicament, was it not ? Mrs. Mervyn apologises, and asks me if I know of a tutor for htr son. I inwardly think it Avould take the combined efforts of several tutors to tame this young bear, and presently take my departure, sending on the carriage, that I may walk home through the woods and enjoy an hour of solitude. " And now comes the strangest part of the story. I have not proceeded far on my way, Avhen suddenly ' Bidger ' springs out upon me, placing himself resolutely in my path ; and before I can attempt to pass or avoid the creature, his master stands before me, looking dismally penitent ; and, now that I see him more closely, remarkably handsome, tall and broad-shouldered, with a frank, boyish face and the clearest, truest pair of blue eyes you ever saw.

As I try to pass on, he pours out a most eager apology for his rudeness ; candid, ingenuous, and withal rather comical, and wholly irresistible. Then, if you will believe it, I make friends with this wild boy of the Avoods, and we stroll on together. He is delightfully free from any shyness or con straint, and talks away volubly ; giving me a bright account of his home, his mother, his beloved Highlands, and himself; and reveal ing to me, quite unconsciously, Avhat a noble, true, loving nature this young baronet pos sesses. I am really interested, and find myself thaAving more and more, till at last I give Sir Guy much good advice, which he promises earnestly to follow, and we part at the park gates the best of friends. I could not ask him to come on to The Towers, not knowing in what mood I might find my lord and master ; and young Sir Guy's chival rous, impetuous manner warned me not to take him where he might overhear some insulting remark made to me, or see the butt - end of a riding -whip threateningly raised.

" So, you see, my dear Muriel, I am thoroughly interested in my young Achilles ; and intend to constitute myself his Mentor, and help him all I can. He is only nineteen, so I can be quite maternal over him, and he promises to be an apt pupil. You would not believe how wonderfully his manner changed and improved as we walked together through the woods. Once or twice he parted the brambles for me, quite in Sir Walter Raleigh style ; and when I gave him my hand in token of forgiveness, wincing in anticipation of a bear-like squeeze, he bent and kissed it with remarkable grace. " Now, good-bye, dearest. I left Mr. Monk over his wine, and I hear them assist ing him to his room, whither I must follow. God help me ! " Oh, Muriel, I sometimes wish I were dead ! Always your friend, " Elaine." The answer to this epistle arrived a few days later, and ran as folloAvs : "June 7th, 18— " My dearest Elaine, " Your long and interesting letter has just arrived, and I hasten to answer it, although I have only time for a mere scribble.

I cannot help feeling amused over your very vivid description of the meeting in the woods, and of your taking upon yourself to lecture a young man on his manners and deportment during the first afternoon of your acquaint ance. I say young man advisedly ; for Avhen in their tAventieth year, young men are not generally called boys ; are they, dear ? " Seriously, Elaine ; do be careful, or this young Sir Guy will be falling in love with you ! I hope he knoAvs you are married ? Anyone might meet you for weeks and remain entirely ignorant of Mr. Monk's existence. You never mention him ; and not much wonder, poor darling ! " Now don't be too sweet with Sir Guy ; for, Avhen you choose, you can throAV off your cold, languid manner, and be simply charm ing ; and if he sees you do this for him only, and no one else, it will be anything but good for him.