The Thorncliffes

Chapter I

" Henceforth I learn that to obey is best ; To love with fear the only God, to walk As in His presence ; ever to observe His Providence, and on Him sole depend ; Merciful over all His works, with good Still overcoming evil, and by small Accomplishing great things ; by things deemed weak Subverting worldly strong and worldly wise By simply meek." Milton. The burning sun Avas sinking into the AVest, shedding its golden light over land and sea, when, two days later, Agnes Avalked Avith her father along the dusty streets of Alarseilles. She was exhausted almost beyond her strength Avith the long journey, for they had travelled night and day Avithout pausing, and this, in the heat of August, was no light thing to one Avho for the last tAvo years had never been more than tAventy mUes from home. Yet she had preferred to walk, in spite of the heat, thinking it Avould be a reHef after the long hours of sitting in a VOL. III.

B railway carnage. Very little had been spoken between her father and herself during the journey. Suspense and anxiety are often too great for words ; and all the strength of their natures had been occupied in the vehement intensity of their prayers that they might not, after all, be too late. AVhat Mr. Thorncliffe felt, it would be difficult to express. There Avas a strange, sad fixity in his countenance, as of one who had steeled himself to endure the utmost limit of human soitoav, and it had only deepened and groAvn firmer as the train bore him on, on towards the death-bed of his only son, the son who had been the centre of such lofty hopes, for whose sake he had shrunk from no personal sacrifice, and AA'ho was now, as it seemed, passing away, his high abilities come. to naught, his many opportunities wasted, his life merely a record of failure and mistakes.

AVith Agnes, perhaps, there AA-as a stronger mixture of hope, and a yearning confidence that, after all, in some unlooked for Avay, there might still be reason to rejoice on Fred's behalf. Yet her feeling, too, Avas chiefly one of endurance, and of humble striving to submit to whatever sorrow might be appointed to her. They rang the bell at the painted door in the little street whither they had been directed, and, after an interval of Avaiting, it Avas opened by a fussy-looking French Avoman, avIio, after some parley, which Avas a considerable tax on Agnes's rather limited stock of French, admitted them to a trim little parlour, opening out on a someAvhat dilapidated garden, with a vieAV over the busy harbour Avith its crowds of masts. The English monsieur was very ill, extremement, she said, shaking her head and lifting up her hands.

She Avould go and call I'autre monsieur, he Avould give them more precise information. In a few minutes the room Avas entered by a tall, dark-looking man, Avith shaggy beard and eyebrows, who seized Air. Thorncliffe by the hand, warmly shaking it, and greeting him in the broadest Irish accent. "Sure, and it's grand he'll be when he sees y*ou," he exclaimed, " and myself thinking it wouldn't be tiU to-morroAv you'd be here." " Then my son is better ? " asked Air. Thorn cliffe in his stiffest voice, Avhile Agnes steadied herself against the table for support under the vio lent reaction caused by the stranger's words. The VOL. III. B— sudden revulsion from dread to hope was almost overpowering to both. "Sure and isn't it since yesterday morning that he's baen mending, till it's beautiful to see?

Aud isn't it the beautiful lady that he's been asking for, till me heart was nearly broken for hearing him? What Avould he be doing but mending now she's come ? " Agnes shivered at these words, which sounded inexpressibly coarse in her present state of over strung feelings. She Avell kneAv that it was not for her that Fred had been pining during the long hours of illness. And a vision of Dorothea, far aAvay, ignorant, perhaps, of his danger, and Avith no sympathizing ear in Avhich to pour forth her anxiety, rose up before her, filling her Avith an inexpressible pity in the midst of her OAvn agitation and suspense. Yet Fred was better ; this fact appeared clear and distinct in the midst of all the exaggerations and contradictions of his comrade's account. Not, indeed, that his condition could, in any sense, be considered " grand."

There was still grave and extreme danger, as Mr. Thorncliffe's close ques tioning soon discovered. But there had been a distinct rallying from the exhaustion of two days before, and the doctor had expressed an opinion that he might, after all, get through. It was not much, yet it was an ineffable comfort after the long, sickening despair. 1 1 was, indeed, a terrible illness, as they learnt by degrees, partly from the doctor and partly from the accounts given by the rough Irishman, who appeared to be Fred's chief attendant. His name, they found, Avas Abalone, and he had, apparently, been engaged, like Fred, in journalistic work, and had fallen in with him during some of his expeditions among the mountains. He had met him again on board the steamer, and had tended him in the Aiolent illness which had set in during the last tAvo days of the voyage.

He Avas rough and unpolished in exterior, but full of Irish good-humour, kindliness, and fertility of resource. He made light of his services to Fred, but Air. Thorncliffe and Agnes soon gathered that it Avas to his devotion and care that they ovA*ed their present joy of finding their dear one alive. He had himself carried Fred off the vessel, and corn-eyed him to the lodgings, Avhich he had known of from a previous stay in the town, and he had since been his attendant day and night, rarely leaving him for a feAV moments' rest. In the sick-room he was gentle and tender as a Avoman, and he sobbed like a child as he told of the last expedition be had made with Fred, Avhen they had rescued the sufferers from the burning farm-house, and in the midst of their Avork had been attacked by a party of Bashi Bazouks, Avho had carried away Alalone, and left Fred Avounded, and apparently dead.

" And sure I'd have cut off my right hand to have taken him with me," he said, the tears running down his face, "for it's sorra a bit dead I thought him, though they had punched a great bruise on his head ; and Avasn't it the praste that nursed him ! Alay the blessed saints reward him." Air. Thorncliffe and Agnes listened breathless to this narrative, and felt that they could do anything for the man Avho had done so much for Fred. The English chaplain called on them that same evening. He had only heard of Fred three days previously, when visiting some one at the next house. He Avas full of concern and offers of help ; it Avas he who had first thought of enquiring about Fred's friends, for poor Alalone himself a waif in life Avithout any fixed connec tions, had never thought of the probability that his comrade might have loving, anxious hearts at home waiting for tidings.

Air. Till, the clergyman, had searched among Fred's papers, and, finding Air. Thorncliffe's address, had sent the telegram which had brought the father and sister to Alarseilles. Nor was this all, for on se ing his critical state he had at once sum mond the best physician in the city, and had provided many extra comforts which Alalone Avould never have thought of. He noAv urged strongly that Air. Thorncliffe and Agnes should stay at his house, an invitation which Agnes, after some hesitation, accepted, for the first night at least. The accommodation in the lodgings was scanty*, and she felt sorely in need of a good night's rest, and, as Air. Thorncliffe insisted on sitting up with Fred during the night, her presence would not be needed till morning. Both father and sister Avere much shocked at the alteration, made by illness, in Fred's appearance.

He Avas scarcely conscious Avhen they saw him, and they could not tell Avhether he recognised them or not. He kept murmuring something about Dorothea, in a Avay which Avent to their hearts, Avhile it explained poor Malone's mistake. During the night, indeed, he seemed to know his father, but his mind Avas evidently AVandering, for he asked dreamily Avhere his mother Avas, and Avhy she, too, had not come to him. Mr. Thorncliffe was too much overcome to ansAver, and soon the momentary look of recog nition Avas gone, and the old murmuring about soldiers, marching, Alalone, Landers, and the Flag of Progress, Avith pathetic references to Dorothea occurring almost every instant, was resumed. The next day the more alarming symptoms, Avhich for a time seemed to have passed off, returned Avith increased violence, and it seemed as if the last shred of hope Avas about to be taken from them.

Neither Air. Thorncliffe nor Agnes left him that day, but sat through the long broiling hours, Avatching each painful laborious breath, moistening his parched lips Avith Avater, and administering the drops of stimulant on Avhich, the doctor said, the only chance of life depended. Alalone Avent out, facing the blazing heat, in search of ice and other remedies ; and his return, and the frequent visits of the doctor, Avere the only events that recaUed to the anxious watchers the exist ence of the outside world, and aAvoke them to the vague realizatiou that it was after all only hours, not days and Aveeks, that Avere dragging their slow course, as they sat by the sick-bed. The night passed in still the same suspense. Mr. Thorncliffe got a couple of hours' sleep at broken intervals in the adjoining room.

Agnes reluctantly lay down from five till eight, but it was long before she could sleep, and the bustle and stir of the toAvn, Avaking up after its short night, jarred terribly on her over-Avrought nerves, and seemed to mock her bitter grief and anxiety. The next day brought no change ; it Avas Sunday, but it Avas long before the Avatchers remembered that, such a Avide gulf of soitoav seemed to separate them from the old life at home. And still on Alonday there Avas the same violence of fever ; passing now more and more into intervals of stupor, but with strength gradually declining till the long struggle between youthful vigour and the deadly poAver of disease seemed to be quickly approaching its final close. There Avas no interval of consciousness during these days. The same wandering talk, snatches of poetry repeated over and over again, leading articles, essays, evidently reminiscences of his former occupations, and full of pathos, as shew ing the keen intellectual activity and ardent enthusiasm which had always characterized him.

There Avere often, too, passages of Scripture re curring with imploring frequency, and bearing a touching witness to the long battle Avith doubt and difficulty Avhich the father and sisters had so little understood, and so harshly judged. Sometimes he seemed to have forgotten a Avord, and could not rest till he had found it, and then, if Air. Thorncliffe or Agnes could supply it to him, there would be a momentary satisfaction and peace. Agnes often sang to him during those days, sang long hours together, hymns, psalms, or tender airs of Handel and Alendelssohn, and her voice seemed to soothe him more than any thing else. Once he looked up suddenly, as if in surprise, and said, " You said there Avas no such thing as angels, but I hear them singing now." Air. Thorncliffe turned his face aAvay, over powered with his feelings, and Alalone hurried from the room in tears, but Agnes sang on, Avithout pause or faltering ; it Avas as though this one thing Avas appointed for her to do, and strength Avas given her to accomplish it.

So things Avent on, till on the Tuesday there Avas a faint gleam of returning hope, and gra duaUy it became eA-ident that Fred Avas not to pass aAvay under the spell of that terrible fever. They scarcely dared to believe it at first, so thickly had the shadow of death darkened over their spirits, yet by degrees, slowly and AA'ith many sinkings of heart, the happy truth dawned upon them. He was improving ; the worst danger Avas passed ; the long hot days brought a slowly returning strength. AVhat joy could be greater than this renewed hope ? There was great Aveakness, and often sore suffering, but the Aveary brain Avas no longer tortured by delirium, and tlie indomitable Thorncliffe spirit of endurance gave him strength against even the fiercest pain. It was a marvellous revival, the doctor said, and it would be long, indeed, before the strength was in any degree really restored ; they must not Avonder at the pain, it Avas the inevitable reaction on the nerves of the desperate strain of the fever, and the greatest care would be necessary for many weeks to come.

The hearts of the watchers did not sink at the prospect, they Avere too full of joy that Fred should be recovering at all, to Avaste their strength in lamenta tions that the progress should be slow. Indeed, the hope came into their minds that perhaps this time of Aveakness might prove a season of great blessing to him. It was their constant prayer that his Ulness might be the turning point in his spiritual life, and that he might learn, through Aveariness and suffering, to find the true source of all strength. Hoav far these prayers Avere answered they could not tell. A deep reserve had fallen upon Fred from the time Avhen he Avas first able for the slightest conversation. He listened in patient silence to his father's reading from the Bible and Prayer Book, and still took pleasure in Agnes's singing ; but he made no response to any remark that they might make on religious matters, and a natural delicacy towards one Avho, in spirit as Avell as body, had been so sorely bruised Avithheld them from any attempt to force such conversation upon him.

He often Avatched Agnes as she moved about the room or sat by the window with her needle- Avork. The great heat and the long anxiety had told heavily upon her, and none could mistake the traces of exhaustion and Aveariness in her countenance. " I am afraid it has quite knocked you up, being here so long," Fred said one day, as she sat, languid and motionless, in her chair. " It is of no consequence," she ansAvered. " I should think it worth while if I Avas never able to do anything again." He made no reply, the idea of self-sacrifice had been very close to him during these days of convalescence, and it did not seem strange to find a reflection of it in his sister. After a while he said : " How strange it is to be coming back to life again, Avhen aU that used to make it SAveet has been taken from me."

" Oh ! " said Agnes, with a sudden animation, " are you not thankful to have another oppor tunity of turning your life to some account ? " " I feel as if I must give up even that," he said, with an effort, " and be content simply to keep it from going astray. I have always been too ready to think my life of great importance ; I must learn noAv that it is Avorth nothing after all." " None of our lives can be really Avorth anything," said Agnes. "AVe can only think of doing right from day to day." " Ay," he said, " but it takes a great deal to bring some of us to see that." This was the nearest approach to confidence that passed betAveen them, but, slight as it Avas, it filled Agnes with a joy keener even than that Avith which she had hailed the return of his earthly life. A neAv happiness seemed to shine even in her face, lighting up, Avith a strange un earthly beauty, the features Avhich day by day seemed to become more Avasted and fragile.

All who had to do Avith her noticed the gradual transfiguration. Fred studied it hour by hour, till it sunk indelibly into his heart, to be en shrined there as a sweet and holy memory, during long years to come. Malone looked upon her as a sort of celestial being to be humbly avoi* shipped from a distance, aud he spared no effort Avhich could minister to her comfort and con venience, transferring to her a portion of the devoted allegiance Avhich he had already shoAvn to Fred. The nurse and the landlady spoke oi her as " cette demoiselle angelique," and the for mer asked Fred if mademoiselle Avere not devouee, she hid tellement Vair religieuse et celeste. Agnes smiled Avhen Fred told her of this question. " Perhaps I am," she said, " in one way." But the time quickly dreAv near, Avhen Fred could be safely left to the care of Alalone.

Air. Thorncliffe AA-as much wanted at home, his long absence having been a cause of considerable cost and inconvenience, and Agnes had suffered too much from the heat of Alarseilles for it to be prudent to leave her exposed to it longer than necessary, even if it had not been othenvise in convenient for her to remain there without her father. Fred Avas so much better that it AA'as hoped he might folloAv them in another fort night, though the doctor strongly recommended that he should make the journey by sea, in order to avoid the dust and fatigue of the railway. The voyage would occupy nearly a Aveek ; so in three weeks time they could hope to welcome him back to Ardernmoor. For the present that was the summit of the family ambition ; what was next to come did not as yet trouble their thoughts.

Air. Thorncliffe and Agnes traveUed more leisurely on their homeward journey than they had done six weeks previously. Agnes looked Avith a sort of interest at the strange foreign cities, Avhich had been mere names to her as she had whirled past them before, but in general she had not much strength for sight-seeing, and even Paris did not divert her thoughts from the desire to get home. " The fresh air of the hills AAill give neAv life to you," Mr. Thorncliffe said, a little doubtfully, as he looked at her pale face ; she only smiled acquiescence. She felt Very thed and longed for nothing but rest ; yet, when once she was back at Ardernmoor, it seemed as if the words Avere likely to be fulfilled, and a new strength to come to her, with the bracing English air. There was so much to hear and tell, so many questions to be ansAvered about Fred, and such long accounts of parish matters and difficulties to be listened to, that at once she Avas plunged into the full torrent of the old busy life.

The Aliss Lloyds were in SAvitzerland, where they had been travelling during the greater part of the summer, so that a larger share that usual of Avork in schools and districts had fallen on Lilian and Nellie. A°*nes was not sIoav in asking Avhether anything had been heard of Dorothea, but her sisters could tell her nothing on that point. " AVe have had no letter," Lilian said, " and Ave did not know her address." " You don't mean to say you have never written ? " exclaimed Agnes, in sudden conster. nation. " No ; we thought you would do so, perhaps ; and Ave did not exactly knoAv Avhat to say." " I Avish I had, indeed, but I was too busy and tired, and I made sure you Avould do so. AVhat can you have been thinking of ? " " AVe did not knoAv Avhere to Avrite to," said NeUie, AA'ho could not endure a reproach from Agnes.

" You could haAe sent it to her aunt at Chal mingham. Oh, I do blame myself for not thinking of it ! Just think hoAV dreadful it must be if she has heard nothing, or perhaps some account third hand — no one knoAvs Avhat. I will Avrite at once, this very day." AA'hen Agnes made a resolve she Avas not sIoav in carrying it out, and the very next post con veyed the long delayed letter Avhich was to relieve Dorothea's inevitable anxiety and sus pense. VOL. III. c

Chapter II

" I cannot stay, I leave this mortal ark behind, A weight of nerves without a mind, And leave the cliffs, and haste away O'er ocean mirrors rcunded large, And reach the glow of southern skies, And see the sails at distance rise, And linger weeping on the marge, And saying ' Comes he thus, my friend? Is this the end of all my care? ' And circle moaning in the air Is this the end ? Is this the end 1 ' " Tennyson. The bright sunshine lit up sea and sky and hiUs as Dorothea sat, one hot morning in August, on the cliffs at AVhitby. She had come doAvn there a few days before, with her father and his Avife, Avho Avere anxious for an interval of quiet, after the long round of engagements which had occupied them hitherto. To Dorothea herself it mattered very little where she Avas, and even the beauty of the bold coast-line, and the \-aried alternations of moor and valley inland had but little power to charm her Aveary spirit.

To outward appearance she Avas not much changed since that memorable day in the spring. It is true the joy and brightness had died out of her face, and her step had lost its former elasticity,but the pangs of grief and loneliness had only begun to do their work, in mailing the fair lines of youth in her countenance. She had passed the months since leaving Ardernmoor Avith her aunt at Chabning ham, and it had been a strange and dreary Avon der to her to go back to the scenes and associates of her childhood, with a heart so changed in the three short years since she had left. She scarcely felt like the same person Avho had been so absorbed in the schools and services, and district visiting then, and it Avas Avith a kind of Aveary impatience that she listened to the little items of gossip AA'hich her friends, thinking to entertain and cheer her, poured continually into her ears.

She supposed, languidly, that she should some time care for these things, but at present she wished only to be left alone Avith her grief. Her aunt, Airs. Alellor, Avas only dimly aAvare of the state of her feelings. She had heard that there Avas " something of a love affair," but she supposed it Avas a mere school-girl matter, which should be forgotten as soon as possible. And so she tried, by all the meaus in her poAver, to VOL. III. C — divert Dorothea, getting up a succession of mild entertainments, such as Avere consistent with her rather strict views, for her benefit. Colonel and Airs. Lloyd often Avrote to Dorothea, kind letters, though the reiterated hopes that she was Avell and enjoying her visit jarred sadly on her drooping spirits. Her Ardern moor aunts also Avrote, but their letters were stiff and unreal, for they carefully avoided any men tion of the Thorncliffes, and it was not easy to find much neAvs apart from them.

Alany a time Avould Dorothea fling down their letters in bitter scorn of the commonplaces Avhich seemed to mock the deep hunger of her heart. Poor child! she had still much to learn ; as yet her grief absorbed her too completely to leave room for any other thoughts. During all the Aveeks of her stay at Chalming ham she had but little tidings of Fred. The neAvspapers told her the result of the Flag of Progress case, and eagerly did she study every Avord in the reports. But, alas ! this too only brought fresh pain. The subject of the trial Avas a matter of occasional discussion at the various social gatherings Avhich she had to attend, and sometimes she heard harsh and adverse comments on Fred's action. Once or tAvice she spoke iu attempts to vindicate him, but her Avarm defence Avas only received Avith an incredulous stare, and she soon learnt to dread the risk of exposing her real feelings ; aud so she Avould sit, Avhite and trembling, Avith a Avild terror lest her face should somehow betray her secret.

The torture of these discussions was almost more than she could bear, and she Avould beseech her aunt, Avith vehement earnestness, to excuse her from the gatherings AA-here there Avas any likelihood that she Avould be exposed to it. Towards the middle of July Colonel and Airs. Lloyd came for a short visit to Chalmingham, on their Avay to the seaside. They seemed con cerned at Dorothea's pale face and listless manner, and spared no pains to interest and en liven her. She Avould be better for the sea air, they declared ; Chalmingham had ahvays been thought relaxing, and, of course, she felt it more after the bracing atmosphere of Ardernmoor. Dorothea acquiesced faintly ; she did not much believe in the efficacy of sea breezes in her case ; but after all she felt that it Avas very little matter.

Another plan, indeed, was proposed, which might have been more successful in giving a new direction to her thoughts. Her aunts were about to carry out a long-cherished design of travelling in Switzerland, and they wrote, strongly urging that she should be aHowed to accompany them. Colonel Lloyd hesitated at first. " Do you wish very much to go to Switzerland ?" he asked his daughter. Dorothea did not wish anything very much, apart from the one thing on Avhich all her desires were centred. " I don't mind, papa," she said; "just AA-hatever you like." " I confess I should like to have you with me," he said, a little Avistfully ; " but if you like to go to SAvitzerland, I would not on any account dis appoint you." " Then I Avill stay with you," said Dorothea ; " I don't at all mind about SAvitzerland ; it is no disappointment."

And so it was settled, though the Aliss Lloyds AA-ere bitterly disappointed, and declared it Avas the one thing needed to cheer Dorothea up. Colonel Lloyd was half-inclined to alter his decision on reading their letters, but she herself adhered to her first resolution. " You knoAv, I only Avant to make you happy, child," he said, half pathetically, when the sub ject was again discussed. Dorothea's lip quivered, and she turned her face away without answering. " I don't know what to do Avith that child," the Colonel complained to his wife that evening ; " she seems to have no spirit for anything. I wish I could think of something to please her." " She ought to have companions," said Airs. Lloyd ; " she is altogether too solitary and self contained. Has she no friend whom we could invite down to AVhitby Avith us ?

" " The v*ery thing," he exclaimed ; " there's that little Aliss AVarner, AA'ho is here so often, I'll ask her." Accordingly the next morning the Colonel at once opened the subject to his daughter. " I'H teU you what, Dorothea, I have an idea in my head ; don't you think you might ask your friend Aliss Warner to come Avith us to AVhitby ? " Lucy AVarner was an old school-feUow of Dorothea's, a bosom friend of a few years ago, with whom she still kept up a kind of semi-confi dential intimacy, though they had travelled far apart in mind and heart. " I dare say she would like it," she answered, Avith a little sigh. "She Avill be delighted, no doubt; I'll ask her at once. And there are the Jephsons, wondering what seaside place they shall go to. AVhy shouldn't they come down to AVhitby, and be near us ?

I'll go round and speak to Mr. Jephson about it this morning ; I wonder I didn't think of it before. AVe shaU be quite a merry party ; you Avant a few young people about you to make a little liveliness." Dorothea thought that she had plenty of them at Chalmingham, and found the effect anything but inspiriting, but she said nothing, though her heart was sore. Yet, when she Avas alone in her room, she sighed impatiently at the recollection of her father's eagerness. " Anybody and everybody," she exclaimed, " except the one person I reaUy Avant. As if I cared for the Jephsons and their chatter! Oh, dear, am I growing dreadfully selfish, I wonder ? " And there followed a burst of Aveeping, with painful strivings after a spirit of resignation, in Avhich she was so far successful that she was able to listen Avith kindly interest to the rapturous delight Avith Avhich Lucy AVarner received the invitation to Whitby.

So far the bracing sea air, and the varied society of the friends her father had provided, had but little effect in cheering Dorothea's spirits. There Avas no lack of variety and occupation for her ; for the Jephsons, a large and energetic family of young people, were indefatigable in getting up picnics, boating parties, and amuse ment of all kinds. The girls taught one another to SAvim, went out fishing Avith their brothers, or played the then newly-introduced game of lawn tennis, with the unremitting ardour which springs from youth and good spirits. Dorothea shared a little in these pursuits, but she did not care for fishing, and even lawn tennis had feAV charms at present. She liked best to A\-ander through the woods and across the moors, or to saunter alone along the cliffs, on the pretext of botanizing or searching for fossils, but really for tha sake of a little respite from the jarring gaiety of her com panions.