The Luck of the House

Chapter I. On Deck

"^Ip^JLEAR and bright, with the crystalline clearness slijlJv and brightness of atmosphere peculiar to -^s—m Scotland, the brilliant summer day drew softly to a close. There was no cloud in the solemn blue depths overhead, but around the sinking sun a few fleecy masses had been turned to crimson and gold, and were reflected in gleaming light and glancing blood-red hues from the bosom of the majestic river, as it widened between receding banks towards the Northern Sea. A London steamer, making its way up the channel to a port on the Forfarshire coast, whither it was bound, seemed to be plunging into a mystical land of glory as it turned its head towards the burning West. So it seemed, at least, to a girl who was standing on the deck with her eyes fixed upon the shore which was half lost in a golden haze.

" We seem to have come to a City of Gold," she said, smiling, to a gentleman who stood at her side. " Some people have found it so," he answered, rather dryly. " A good many fortunes have been lost and won in the good old town of Dundee." She moved a little, as if she did not quite like his tone. " I did not mean that," she said, in a lowered voice. " I know you did not," said John Hannington, with a swift look at the sweet, girlish face to which he was almost sure that he had lost his heart during the last two days. " I knew you had some meaning that an unlucky brute like myself is certain to misunderstand. Something too beautiful and transcendental for my poor ears." " Oh, no, no," said the girl, deprecatingly. She coloured a little at his words. " My thought was a very foolish one." " Will you not tell me what it was ?

" said Hannington, drawing a little nearer. " Do tell me." She had a very charming face, he thought. She looked half-frightened at his request, and then a brave, modest expression came into her beautiful ON DECK. 9 blue eyes. " It is not worth making a secret of," she said. " I only thought — when I saw the golden light making those hills and buildings look so dream like and unsubstantial — of Bunyan's ' Pilgrim's Pro gress,' and the Celestial City that the pilgrims saw from afar." In the silent evening air, speech sometimes travels further than we know. The girl was quite uncon scious that her clear, fine utterance had reached the ear of one other person beside her immediate auditor. A middle-aged man, with a grave, keen face, who had been leaning over the bulwarks, with his eyes fixed abstractedly on the water, and his head turned away from the golden glory of the West, was struck by her words.

He changed his position a little, so that he could see the girl's fair profile, studied it for a moment or two with a look of kindly interest, then rose up and walked away. But as he passed the couple, he heard John Hannington's reply. An amused laugh came first Then a half apology. " I laugh from surprise, not from amusement, Miss Raeburn. The imagination required to convert smoky, whisky-loving, jute-manufacturing Dundee into a Celestial City is prodigious. Bunyan himself could not have possessed more." "Ah, you do not understand," said the girl, smiling now and shaking her head. "I had forgotten Dundee altogether. But you must not abuse it; because it is going to be my home." The gentleman who had passed them was out of hearing by this time. " Do you know who that is ? " said Hannington, looking after him with interest.

" Moncrieff of Torres muir ; one of the wealthiest men in Scotland. Some people say, one of the most unfortunate. But I'm not among the number." " Why ? " " Why unfortunate ? or why am I not among the people who call him so ? Well, I'll answer both questions, Miss Raeburn. In the meantime, won't you sit down ? " He grasped a small deck chair by the back-rail, and gently pushed it towards her. "You can look at the sky while you sit just as well as if you were standing, you know," he said, in the broad, easy-going way which made John Hannington such a favourite with his acquaintance, while the girl accepted the seat with a little nod of thanks and a pleasant smile. "As to Moncrieff — he lost his wife three or four years ago under specially sad circumstances ; she was thrown out of a pony cart which he was driving, and killed before his eyes.

Then, ON DECK. 11 his only son is weakly — in fact, something of an invalid. He has a young daughter, I believe, but no other child." " How very sad !" said Miss Raeburn. Her gentle eyes were full of sympathy. " His wife's death must have been a great loss to him." "Conventionally, yes," answered Mr Hannington, fingering his black moustache, with a smile. He found Miss Raeburn's simplicity adorable, and thanked fate for sending him on board the steamer from London to Dundee, where he had found her in the charge of a lady with whom he was acquainted. " In real life, you know, the death of a wife does not always leave a man inconsolable. It is rumoured that Mr and Mrs Moncrieff did not get on very well." " Oh, then, he is even more unfortunate than I thought," said the young girl, quickly. "You think I am very hard-hearted because I do not call him so ?

I understand. To a sweet-natured, loving woman, it must seem strange — the callous way in which we men of the world look at things ! " cried John Hannington, with apparent impetuosity. He was really very much on his guard. " To a worldly man like myself, Miss Raeburn, it does not seem that Mr Moncrieff is anything but a lucky man. He has a fine estate; he has a splendid income and a magnificent house ; he has — or may have — all the official county distinctions which he wants ; no career is closed to him ; and, although he has lost his first wife, whom rumour says that he did not love, he-is free and able to marry again, and to marry whom he pleases — which many men are not." A harsh note was audible in his voice. The girl kept silence. She was still gazing tow*ards the West, where the light was growing faded and dull.

It seemed to her, suddenly, that, if she listened long to Mr Hannington's worldly wisdom, life also would fade in brightness as surely as that western sky. But Hannington knew what he was doing ; he had an effect to produce. " What am I saying ? " he broke out, with an accent of sudden self-reproach. " Inflicting my hard, worldly maxims upon you, who are so far above me so far removed from evil " Oh, please, Mr Hannington, do not talk in that way ! " said the girl, with drooping head and flushing cheeks. And yet— Stella Raeburn would not have been a girl of nineteen if flattery had seemed quite distasteful. Mr Hannington knew that well enough. " I must tell you — before we separate " — he said, in agitated tones, " that since I knew you, I have felt ON DECK. 13 a different influence. I have felt as though a nobler, higher life were possible : I have seen that your standard was higher than mine, and have wished — wished bitterly, and I fear vainly — that I could attain to it !

" He stopped short, as if emotion impeded his utterance ; and Stella attempted a few words of deprecation. " I am not worth such praise : I can only wish that my own standard were higher," she murmured. "Ah, don't remove yourself further from me than you are now," he pleaded, ardently. " Be still your self — the star of my dark night — the guiding-star, that points without its own knowledge, without its own volition, to the birthplace of all that is most sacred, most holy, in the world." She shrank a little. In her peaceful maidenliness it seemed to her as if his reference to the Star of Bethlehem were half profane. He felt the momentary recoil. " Forgive me if I say too much. Your very name suggests it. Stella, your friends call you, do they not ? I never hear it without remembering all sorts of poetic fancies, lines that poets have written, and sables that have been told about the stars.

Will you forgive me ? " " So long as I have only poetic fancies to forgive — it is not much ! " said Stella, lightly. But she rose from her seat as she spoke, and began to move about the deck, where several other persons were sitting or standing. Hannington knew that he had gone far enough. The girl was sensitive, and perhaps a little proud, in spite of all her gentleness. He hovered near her, as she walked, but he did not speak again till she addressed him. He knew that silence is sometimes as effective as speech. Meanwhile, Alan Moncrieff of Torresmuir, the tall and stately-looking man .of whom Hannington had spoken, went straight to the captain of the vessel with a question. " Who is that young lady with fair hair who sits next but one to you at table, captain ? " he asked, carelessly. The captain was busy, and replied with curtness.

" Oh, you mean Miss Raeburn, daughter of Matthew Raeburn of Dundee — Raeburn & Millar — jute." "Jute, of course," said Mr Moncrieff, dryly. He recollected the names of Raeburn & Millar. They had one of the largest jute mills in the town, and were reputed to be wealthy men. What a delicate, flower-like face Miss Raeburn had ! He had noticed it several times since he came on board, but had not hitherto thought of asking any one its owner's ON DECK. 15 name. A sweet, delicate face ; but strong, too, with a kind of squareness about the white chin, and con siderable breadth of forehead. The pretty lips, moreover, closed firmly, and the beautiful eyes were serious rather than gay. There was character as well as beauty in Stella Raeburn's face. " I suppose," said Moncrieff to himself, " that she will live and die, be married and buried, in Dundee."

He himself had a strong dislike to the great manufacturing town, a dislike extending, possibly, to the manufacturers. " With that sweet face, she deserves a better fate than one of uninterrupted, commonplace, middle-class prosperity. Yet — what safer and happier fate could I wish for her, poor girl!" He had no premonition that he himself was destined to be one of the determining factors in Stella Raeburn's fate. There seemed at present no point at which her life was likely to touch his own. He was to stay a night only in Dundee ; he had come thither on business, and it might be months before he came again. He and his family mixed little in society, save of the exclusively aristocratic kind. He was not at all likely to encounter the Raeburns amongst his friends, and his house was nearly two hours' journey from Dundee.

He thought of her as one might think of a lovely picture hanging on the wall altar in a foreign church delight, but with no wish especial desire to analyse of a gallery, or over the : with admiration, with to possess it, and no the charm that it held for all-comers as well as for himself. He forgot her in five minutes. Why should he think of a manufacturer's daughter whom he had seen, but never spoken to, on board a steamer bound for Dundee ?

Chapter II. Thornbank

fining HE golden glow was still resplendent in the 5|Sj West, but the light of day was gradually «ill» fading, and here and there lamps twinkled on the rising banks of the river. " We shall land very soon," said Stella to her companion, as they walked up and down the deck, stopping now and then to look at the men piling cargo and luggage in readiness for disembarkation, or at the vessels that passed them by. " Very soon," said Hannington. " Don't you think the town is rather picturesque, approached in this way ? People say it is like Naples, you know ; the houses clustering down to the water's edge, and the conical hill behind, to represent Vesuvius." Stella laughed. " Has Naples those tall factory chimneys ? " she asked. " Ah, the factory chimneys ! After all, they are important parts of the landscape ; they give out the « B smoke that hangs in a haze over the town like the cloud from Vesuvius itself.

Miss Raeburn," said John Hannington, in a suddenly different tone, " may I ask what your arrangements are ? Do you expect anybody to meet you ?" " Oh, yes, I expect my father," said the girl, with a thrill of happy feeling in her voice. " He is sure to come. I have not seen him for four years." " You have been abroad, I think you said the other day." " I have been at school in Brussels. In the holidays I travelled about with Madame Beauvais and the other girls. We went to Switzerland one summer, to Germany another, and to Paris. Then in winter, to Italy — Florence, Venice, Rome. Oh," — with a pretty smile — " I have seen a great deal of the world." Hannington smiled too. But he was not going to pursue the subject of her travels. "And now you are to settle down in Dundee. Your father's house is at the West End of the town, I believe ?

You will be out of the smoke there." "Yes, I suppose so. I have not seen it. Papa removed to Thornbank when I was away. We had a dear, gloomy old house in the Nethergate before." THORNBANK. ■9 "And you will be mistress and queen of Thorn bank, I suppose?" said Mr Hannington, pensively. Stella blushed a little. " My aunt lives there. I think she is queen of the house. Dear Aunt Jacky ! I have not seen her either since I was fifteen." " You will allow me, perhaps," said her companion, in a very formal tone, " to call and inquire how you have borne the fatigue of your long journey from Brussels, and to make acquaintance with Miss — Miss Raeburn ? " " Miss Raeburn ? Miss Jacquetta Raeburn!" said Stella, merrily. " You must remember that she is not Miss Raeburn ; she is Miss Jacquetta : she is very particular about the title.

I am sure she will be exceedingly pleased to see you." "And you," said Hannington, dropping his voice almost to a whisper, " will you be pleased to see me too, Stella ? " She started and moved a step or two away from him. They had been standing still for the last few minutes. The man followed her closely. He was not going to let her escape. " Forgive me if I have gone too far," he said. " But will you not give me one word of comfort ? Will you not say that you will be glad to see me too ? " There was so much noise about them, so much talking, so much shouting of orders, dragging of chains, bumping of bales and boxes, creaking of machinery, that he had to approach her very closely to hear the faintly murmured "Yes" that fell from Stella's lips. Her slim, ungloved hand hung at her side. It was easy in the gathering twilight to take it unobserved in his own, and to hold it for a minute or two in a very tender clasp.

To Stella's simple soul, the action seemed like a ceremony of betrothal. Was she too quickly won ? She had known John Hannington for less than six and thirty hours. She had come on board the Britannia with her friend, Mrs Muir, on Wednesday morning at ten o'clock, and it was now Thursday night. Mr Hannington and Mrs Muir were old acquaintances, it appeared, and he had at once attached himself to them — or perhaps it should be said that Mrs Muir had at once retained him for her service. Ever since that Wednes day morning, he had been in their company at every possible moment. And the days at sea are very long ! Two whole mornings, afternoons, evenings, had John Hannington sat at Stella Raeburn's side, walked with her on deck, whispered soft sentences into her ear under the shade of the same great white umbrella; in fact, as Mrs Muir noted with delight, THORNBANK. 21 he had deliberately laid himself out to attract the sweet-faced, serious-eyed Estelle (or Stella, as her friends usually called her), and apparently he had succeeded.

Stella did not know the meaning of the word flirtation. Her refinement, her thoughtfulness, lifted her out of the region where flirtation or foolishness existed. She did not even know that Mr Hanning ton was paying her more attention than was usual on so short an acquaintance. Others watched and wondered and commented, but Stella was ignorant. She only thought, vaguely, that Mr Hannington was " very kind," and hoped that he would call at Thorn bank before he left Dundee. Of course Mr Hannington did not live at Dundee. A commercial, shipbuilding, jute-weaving town had no attraction for him as a place of residence. He was a London man, a man about town, a man with a small private fortune (recently impaired by gaming losses), and a reputation that was not quite flawless. He was not "a bad man," in the ordinary sense of the word.

He was by no means a villain. But he was selfish, callous, worldly, as he had called himself (and as Stella did not believe him) ; he was still capable, at need, of doing a generous thing, but he had a keen eye for the main chance. He was clever, and, in some people's opinion, handsome, in a dark, hard style, which other people particularly disliked ; but by young men and young women, who are not generally keen physiognomists, he was admired. Stella Raeburn admired him very much, though he shocked her now and then by his flippant manner of speech. He had friends at a great house in the neighbourhood of Dundee ; Lord Esquhart's second son, Donald Vereker, was his particular " pal," as he ex plained to Miss Raeburn, and he had been invited to spend a week or two at the Towers for some shooting.

The Raeburns were naturally not in the Towers " set," but Hannington was determined to pursue his acquaintance with the manufacturer's daughter. Stella Raeburn would have money, and Hannington considered himself exceedingly poor. So he held her hand, and she stood silent, with downcast eyes, not drawing her fingers away. Han nington felt them quiver in his hand like a soft, live bird. At this movement, he himself had a moment of tender feeling ; it was not very lasting, but while it lasted it was real. He thought to himself that she was a dear little girl, and that he should be very fond ofher. He rejected the imputation cast on him by THORNBANK. 23 his conscience of being a fortune-hunter, with disdain. No ! he was in love with Stella. Presently the steamer lay alongside the wharf, and through the gathering darkness and the flickering, changing lights, Stella watched anxiously for the coming of her father.

Mr Hannington watched too, fingering his black moustache, and musing on the subject of dowries and fortunes made in jute. He wanted to see Mr Raeburn before committing him self further. Stella's friend and chaperon, Mrs Muir, came up from the saloon with many exclamations of relief at the conclusion of her voyage. She was the wife of a clergyman in Dundee, and an Englishwoman. " Of course the weather has been lovely, and the boat is very comfortable," she said ; " but you can't settle down to anything in two days, and there seems so little to do. Confess, now, Stella darling, haven't you found it a tiny bit dull ? " Stella blushed beautifully, as she answered with a sincerity that John Hannington thought very sweet, that she had not been at all dull — not in the very least. "Well, I'm very glad of it," said Mrs Muir, glancing at Mr Hannington, "for I am sure I have not seen much of you : I never feel well enough at sea to walk about and enjoy myself like other people.

I come this way, you know," — sinking her voice a little — "because it's cheaper. Stella, there's your dear papa. Don't you see his head in the crowd over there by the gangway ? " Stella did see, and made an impulsive movement fonvard, which had to be restrained by the talkative Mrs Muir. " My dear child, you had better stay where you are. He can find you more easily ; see, he is making his way towards us." And, as she spoke, a tall man, with shoulders slightly bent, and a fringe of white hair about his face, made his way towards the little group. Stella could be kept back no longer; she sped to her father like an arrow from a bow. Her face seemed transfigured by happiness. " What a sweet girl she is ! " Mrs Muir exclaimed. Then she drew a long breath. "Ah, he has kissed her. I am glad of that.

I was half afraid that he wouldn't!" "Not kiss his daughter?" said Mr Hannington, with an uncomprehending accent. Mrs Muir nodded at him. " The Scotch are much more reserved in public than the English, Mr Han nington; and poor dear Stella has lived four years abroad, among people who are more demonstrative THORNBANK. 25 than the English. I was half afraid that her father would seem cold to her, although I know that he loves her dearly." " He ought to love her," said Hannington, with emphasis. Mrs Muir favoured him with a keen look. "You think so too, do you ? " she said. " I quite agree with you ; but we are impulsive people — English, you know." " I am not an impulsive person." " Well, perhaps not. And if you are not, you may like to hear that Miss Stella is not likely to be absolutely portionless by and by.

She will bring a very handsome tocher, as my husband would say, to the man she marries." Hannington made no reply. If he had been ignorant of the fact stated, he might have felt grateful to Mrs Muir for her information ; but as he knew it already, he was a little inclined to resent what he called her " fussy interference." He waited silently until Stella and her father approached them. Mr Raeburn spoke to Mrs Muir, thanking her for her care of his daughter, and then Mr Hannington's introduction took place. The manufacturer gave the young man a pleasant greeting, and stood for a few minutes on deck talking to him, while Stella, with her hand in her father's arm, and a slight unconscious smile on her sweet face, listened to the conversation, and shyly thought that she had never seen any one so handsome and distinguished-looking as Mr John Hannington.

The young man was not disagreeably impressed by Mr Raeburn's manner. It was a little stiff and old-fashioned, but quite in keeping with his highly respectable appearance. The father's eyes were like his daughter's, though with more anxiety and less gentleness in their expression. The lines of his pale face were rather deeply traced ; his high wrinkled forehead and hollow cheek showed signs of ill-health as well as care and thought. He looked like a man who had great responsibilities on his shoulders, and whose life was never free from trouble of one sort or another. He spoke in dry, gentle tones, hesitating now and then for a word, with a slight Scotch accent, which even Hannington, in his London-bred fastidiousness, found characteristic and picturesque. " We will be glad to see you, sir, if you should find your way to Thornbank," Mr Raeburn said courteously to the younger man.

"Any friend of my daughter's — or of Mrs Muir's either — will aye be welcome. You'll come and take your dinner with us THORNBANK. 27 one day, maybe, if you are to stay long in Dundee, and have the time to spare." "I shall be delighted to come," Hannington answered, quickly. " Any day that suits you, sir — or that Miss Raeburn likes to fix. You will allow me the pleasure of calling to-morrow — to inquire after Miss Raeburn — and then, perhaps " "Any day," said Mr Raeburn, "just any time you please, you will be welcome." He gave a stiff little nod, as if to show that the conversation was at an end. " We must be moving off, I should think, Stella, my dear. The carriage is here to meet us, and your aunt has got a fine tea ready for you at the other end." Stella, with her hand resting on her father's arm, gave a gentle little smile to Hannington.

There was something of regret mingling with the joy of her return home. Was she sorry to part with him already ? Mrs Muir's leave-takings were of the effusive kind. " Good-bye, sweet Star of Hope," she said, as she kissed Stella. " I shall soon come to see if you are still shining at Thornbank as you have shone on board. She has been the centre of attraction, Mr Raeburn, and I am sure we are all sorry to part from her." " I'm obliged to you for your kindness," said Mr Raeburn, a little more stiffly than usual. " Good night to you, Mrs Muir. Come, Stella, say good-bye to your friends." Stella took her hand from his arm and gave it first to Mrs Muir, and then to Mr Hannington. He held it in his own for a moment longer than is usual under such circumstances ; and then, as her father's back was turned, and the lights around them were but dim, he bowed his head over it and raised it to his lips.

Stella drew it away, colouring violently, and as she did so, her eyes met those of a gentleman who must have been a spectator of the scene. It was " Moncrieff of Torresmuir," as Hannington had named him to her; and the keen, cold face was set in lines of a gravity that was almost stern. Stella felt as if he had condemned her for this act of John Hannington's, and she was conscious of an emotion of shame and distress, quickly succeeded by some thing very like resentment. What right had this stranger to look at her with those critical eyes ? Stella's nature was very gentle, but she was not without her share of pride, which was a little wounded by his gaze. It was not until afterwards that she was fully aware of the mingled pain and THORNBANK. 29 pleasure which the touch of Hannington's lips on her little ungloved hand had brought to her.

Meanwhile her flush and gesture of avoidance convinced Hannington that he had offended her, and when he came to the carriage-door and handed her to her seat, he put on a look of the deepest concern and contrition, with which upon his face he said good-bye. Stella sank back on the soft cushions of the carriage when he had gone, with the feeling that she was in a new and exciting world. For a moment she forgot even her father. " Yon's a rather officious young fellow, I'm thinking," said Mr Raeburn, dryly. His daughter sat up, and passed her hand over her eyes. " He has been very kind to me, papa," she said, softly. "Very kind ? Well, I'm glad to hear it Who is he ? A friend of Mrs Muir's ? " " Yes, papa. He is going to Esquhart Towers to-night, to stay at the Earl's. He is a great friend of Mr Vereker's." " No credit to him," said Mr Raeburn.

" Every one knows that Donald Vereker will take up with the first-comer, whoever he may be. Do you know anything more of him ? " " Only that he is a friend of Mrs Muir's." "Ah — well. I daresay we shall see no more of him. When he gets among his fine friends at the Towers, he won't think of us again." Stella was silent; but a little smile crept to the corners of her mouth. What did Mr Hannington care for his fine friends, she said to herself, in com parison with her I He would certainly come, certainly : he had said so ; and then her father would see how mistaken he had been in his estimate of this young man — who was not as other young men. But she said nothing, and Mr Raeburn presently began to ask her short, dry questions about her journey and her life abroad, and this sort of conversation lasted until the carriage swept round the curve of a gravelled drive which led from the road to the door of Mr Raeburn's new residence — Thornbank.