The Squire's Daughter
Jess stood stock-still a few yards away and watched the operation. Ralph sprinkled the cold water first on her face, then he got a large leaf, and made a cup of it, and tried to get her to drink; but the water trickled down her neck and into her bosom.
She gave a sigh at length and opened her eyes suddenly. Then she tried to raise her head, but it fell back again in a moment.
Ralph filled the leaf again and raised her head.
"Try to drink this," he said. "I'm sure it will do you good." And she opened her lips and drank.
He filled the leaf a third time, and she followed him with her eyes, but did not attempt to speak.
"Now, don't you feel better?" he questioned, after she had swallowed the second draught.
"I don't know," she answered, in a whisper. "But who are you? And where am I?"
"You have had an accident," he said. "Your horse threw you. Don't you remember?"
She closed her eyes and knitted her brows as if trying to recall what had happened.
"It was close to Treliskey Plantation," he went on, "and the gate was shut. You told me to open it, and I refused. I was a brute, and I shall never forgive myself so long as I live."
"Oh yes; I remember," she said, opening her eyes slowly, and the faintest suggestion of a smile played round her ashen lips. "You took offence because – "
"I was a brute!" he interjected.
"I ought not to have spoken as I did," she said, in a whisper. "I had no right to command you. Do – do you think I shall die?"
"No, no!" he cried, aghast. "What makes you ask such a question?"
"I feel so strange," she answered, in the same faint whisper, "and I have no strength even to raise my head."
"But you will get better!" he said eagerly. "You must get better – you must! For my sake, you must!"
"Why for your sake?" she whispered.
"Because if you die I shall feel like a murderer all the rest of my life. Oh, believe me, I did not mean to be rude and unkind! I would die for you this very moment if I could make you better! Oh, believe me!" And the tears came up and filled his eyes.
She looked at him wonderingly. His words were so passionate, and rang with such a deep note of conviction, that she could not doubt his sincerity.
"It was all my fault," she whispered, after a long pause; then the light faded from her eyes again. Ralph rushed to the stream and fetched more water, but she was quite unconscious when he returned.
For a moment or two he looked at her, wondering whether her ashen lips meant the approach of death; then he gathered her up in his arms again and marched forward in the direction of St. Goram.
The road seemed interminable, while his burden hung a dead weight in his arms, and grew heavier every step he took. He was almost ready to drop, when a feeble sigh sounded close to his ear, followed by a very perceptible shudder.
He was afraid to look at her. He had heard that people shuddered when they died. A moment or two later he was reassured. A soft voice whispered —
"Are you taking me home?"
"I am taking you to St. Goram," he answered "I don't know where your home is."
She raised herself suddenly and locked her arms about his neck, and at the touch of her hands the blood leaped in his veins and his face became crimson. He no longer felt his burden heavy, no longer thought the way long. A new chord had been struck somewhere, which sang through every fibre of his being. A new experience had come to him, unlike anything he had ever before felt or imagined.
He raised her a little higher in his arms, and pressed her still closer to his heart. He was trembling from head to foot; his head swam with a strange intoxication, his heart throbbed at twice its normal rate. He had suddenly got into a world of enchantment. Life expanded with a new meaning and significance.
It did not matter for the moment who this fair creature was or where she lived. He had got possession of her; her arms were about his neck, her head rested on his shoulder, her face was close to his, her breath fanned his cheek, he could feel the beating of her heart against his own.
He marched over the brow of the hill and down the other side in a kind of ecstasy.
He waited for her to speak again, but for some reason she kept silent. He felt her fingers clutch the back of his neck, and every now and then a feeble sigh escaped her lips.
"Are you in pain?" he asked at length.
"I think I can bear it," she answered feebly.
"I wish I could carry you more gently," he said, "but the ground is very rough."
"Oh, but you are splendid!" she replied. "I wish I had not been rude to you."
He gave a big gulp, as though a lump had risen in his throat.
"Don't say that again, please," he said at length. "I feel bad enough to drown myself."
She did not reply again, and for a long distance he walked on in silence. He was almost ready to drop, and yet he was scarcely conscious of fatigue. It seemed to him as though the strength of ten men had been given to him.
"We shall be in the high road in a few minutes now," he said at length; but she did not reply. Her hands seemed to be relaxing their hold about his neck again; her weight had suddenly increased.
He staggered hurriedly forward to the junction of the roads, and then sat down suddenly on a bank, still holding his precious charge in his arms. He shifted her head a little, so that he could look at her face. She did not attempt to speak, though he saw she was quite conscious.
"There's some kind of vehicle coming along the road," he said at length, lifting his head suddenly.
She did not reply, but her eyes seemed to search his face as though something perplexed her.
"Are you easier resting?" he questioned.
She closed her eyes slowly by way of reply; she was too spent to speak.
"You have not yet told me who you are," he said at length. All thought of rank and station had passed out of his mind. They were on an equality while he sat there folding her in his arms.
She opened her eyes again, and her lips moved, but no sound escaped them.
In the distance the rattle of wheels sounded more and more distinct.
"Help is coming," he whispered. "I'm sure it is."
Her eyes seemed to smile into his, but no other answer was given.
He looked eagerly toward the bend of the road, and after a few minutes a horse and carriage appeared in sight.
"It's Dr. Barrow's carriage," he said half aloud. "Oh, this is fortunate!"
He raised a shout as the carriage drew near. The coachman saw that something had happened, and pulled up suddenly. The doctor pushed his head out of the window, then turned the door-handle and stepped out on to the roadside.
"Hello, Ralph Penlogan!" he said, rushing forward, "what is the meaning of this?"
"She got thrown from her horse up against Treliskey Plantation," he answered. "Do you know who she is?"
"Of course I know who she is!" was the quick reply. "Don't you know?"
"No. I never saw her before. Do you think she will recover?"
"Has she been unconscious all the time?" the doctor asked, placing his fingers on her wrist.
"No; she's come to once or twice. I thought at first she was dead. There's a big cut on her head, which has bled a good deal."
"She must be got home instantly," was the reply. "Help me to get her into the carriage at once!"
It was an easy task for the two men. Dorothy had relapsed into complete unconsciousness again. Very carefully they propped her up in a corner of the brougham, while the doctor took his place by her side.
Ralph would have liked to ride with them. He rather resented Dr. Barrow taking his place. He had a notion that nobody could support the unconscious girl so tenderly as himself.
There was no help for it, however. He had to get out of the carriage and leave the two together.
"Tell William," said the doctor, "to drive round to the surgery before going on to Hamblyn Manor."
"To Hamblyn Manor?" Ralph questioned, with a look of perplexity in his eyes as he stood at the carriage door.
"Why, where else should I take her?"
"Is she from up the country?"
"From up the country – no. Do you mean to say you've lived here all your life and don't know Miss Hamblyn?"
"But she is only a girl," Ralph said, looking at the white face that was leaning against the doctor's shoulder.
"Well?"
"Miss Hamblyn is going to be married!"
The doctor's face clouded in a moment.
"I fear this will mean the postponement of the marriage," he said.
Ralph groaned inwardly and turned away.
"The doctor says you must drive round to the surgery before going on to Hamblyn Manor," he said, speaking to the coachman, and then he stood back and watched the carriage move away.
It seemed to him like a funeral, with Jess as the mourner, limping slowly behind. The doctor hoped to avoid attracting attention in St. Goram. He did not know that Jess was following the carriage all the way.
It was the sight of the riderless horse that attracted people's attention. Then, when the carriage pulled up at the doctor's door, someone bolder than the rest looked in at the window and caught a glimpse of the unconscious figure.
The doctor's anger availed him nothing. Other people came and looked, and the news spread through St. Goram like wildfire, and in the end an enterprising lad took to his heels and ran all the distance to Hamblyn Manor that he might take to Sir John the evil tidings.
CHAPTER IV
A BITTER INTERVIEW
Dr. Barrow remained at the Manor House most of the night. It was clear from his manner, as well as from the words he let fall, that he regarded Dorothy's case as serious. Sir John refused to go to bed.
"I shall not sleep in any case," he said. "And I prefer to remain downstairs, so that I can hear the latest news."
Lord Probus remained with him till after midnight, though very few words passed between them. Now and then they looked at each other in a dumb, despairing fashion, but neither had the courage to talk about what was uppermost in their thoughts.
Just as the daylight was struggling into the room, the doctor came in silently, and dropped with a little sigh into an easy-chair.
"Well?" Sir John questioned, looking at him with stony eyes.
"She is a little easier for the moment," was the quiet, unemotional answer.
"You think she will pull through?"
"I hope so, but I shall be able to speak with more confidence later."
"The wound in her head is a bad one?"
The doctor smiled. "If that were all, we would soon have her on her feet again."
"But what other injuries has she sustained?"
"It is impossible to say just at present. She evidently fell under the horse. The wonder is she's alive at all."
"I suppose nobody knows how it happened?" Sir John questioned after a pause.
"Well, I believe nobody saw the accident, though young Ralph Penlogan was near the spot at the time – and a fortunate thing too, or she might have remained where she fell till midnight."
"You have seen the young man?"
"He had carried her in his arms from Treliskey Plantation to the junction of the high road."
"Without assistance?"
"Without assistance. What else could he do? There was not a soul near the spot. Since you closed the road through the plantation, it is never used now, except by the few people to whom you have granted the right of way."
"So young Penlogan was in the plantation, was he?"
"I really don't know. He may have been on the common."
Sir John frowned. "Do you know," he said, after a pause, "that I dislike that young man exceedingly."
"Indeed?"
"He is altogether above his station. I believe he is clever, mind you, and all that, but what does a working-man's son want to bother himself with mechanics and chemistry for?"
"Why not?" the doctor asked, with slightly raised eyebrows.
"Why? Because this higher education, as it is called, is bringing the country to the dogs. Get an educated proletariat, and the reign of the nobility and gentry is at an end. You see the thin end of the wedge already. Your Board-school boys and girls are all cursed with notions; they are too big for their jackets, too high for their station; they have no respect for squire or parson, and they are too high and mighty to do honest work."
"I cannot say that has been my experience," the doctor said quietly; and he rose from his chair and began to pull on his gloves.
"You are not going?" Sir John questioned anxiously.
"For an hour or two. I should like, with your permission, to telegraph to Dr. Roscommon. You know he is regarded now as the most famous surgeon in the county."
"But surely, doctor – " Sir John began, with a look of consternation in his eyes.
"I should like to have his opinion," the doctor said quietly.
"Of course – of course! Get the best advice you can. No expense must be spared. My child must be saved at all costs."
"Rest assured we shall do our best," the doctor answered, and quietly left the room.
For the best part of another hour Sir John paced restlessly up and down the room, then he dropped into an easy-chair and fell fast asleep.
He was aroused at length by a timid knock at the door.
"Come in!" he answered sleepily, fancying for a moment that he was in bed, and that his servant had brought him his shaving-water.
The next moment he was on his feet, with an agitated look in his eyes.
A servant entered, followed by Ralph Penlogan, who looked as if he had not slept for the night.
Instead of waiting to know if Sir John would see him, Ralph had stalked into the room on the servant's heels. He was too anxious to stand on ceremony, too eager to unburden his mind. He had never had a moment's peace since his meeting with Dorothy Hamblyn the previous afternoon. He felt like a criminal, and would have given all he possessed if he could have lived over the previous afternoon again.
Sir John recognised him in a moment, and drew himself up stiffly. He never felt altogether at ease in the presence of the Penlogans. He knew that he had "done" the father, driven a most unfair bargain with him, and it is said a man never forgives a fellow-creature he has wronged.
"I have come to speak to you about the accident to your daughter," Ralph said, plunging at once into the subject that filled his mind.
"Yes, yes; I am glad you have called," Sir John said, walking to the mantelpiece and leaning his elbow on it.
"I hope she is better?" Ralph went on. "You think she will recover?"
"I am sorry to say she is very seriously injured," Sir John answered slowly; "but, naturally, we hope for the best."
Ralph dropped his eyes to the floor, and for a moment was silent.
"Dr. Barrow tells me that you were near the spot at the time of the accident," Sir John went on; "for that reason I am glad you have called."
"There isn't much to tell," Ralph answered, without raising his eyes, "but I am anxious to tell what there is."
"Ah!" Sir John gasped, glancing across at his visitor suspiciously.
"After what has happened, you can't blame me more than I blame myself," Ralph went on; "though, of course, I never imagined for a moment that she would attempt to leap the gate."
"I don't quite understand," Sir John said stiffly.
"Well, it was this way. I was leaning on the stile leading down into Dingley Bottom, when someone rode up and ordered me to open the gate leading into Treliskey Plantation. If the lady had asked me to open the gate I should have done it in a minute."
"So you refused to do a neighbourly act, did you?"
"I told her I was not her servant, at which she got very indignant, and ordered me to do as I was told."
"And you refused a second time?"
"I did. In fact, I felt very bitter. People in our class suffer so many indignities from the rich that we are apt to be soured."
"Soured, indeed! Your accursed Board-school pride not only makes cads of you, but criminals!" And Sir John's eyes blazed with passion.
"I am not going to defend myself any further," Ralph said, raising his eyes and looking him full in the face. "I am sorry now that I did not open the gate – awfully sorry. I would give anything if I could live over yesterday afternoon again!"
"I should think so, indeed!" Sir John said, in his most biting tones. "And understand this, young man, if my daughter dies I shall hold you responsible for her death!"
Ralph's face grew very white, but he did not reply.
Sir John, however, was in no mood to be silent. He had a good many things bottled up in his mind, and Ralph's visit gave him an excuse for pulling the cork out.
"I want to say this also to you," he said, "now that you have given me an opportunity of opening my mind – that I consider young men of your stamp a danger and a menace to the neighbourhood!"
Ralph looked at him without flinching, but he did not speak.
"There was a time," Sir John went on, "when people knew how to respect their betters, when the working classes kept their place and did not presume, and when such as you would never have ventured into this house by the front door!"
"I came by the nearest way," Ralph answered, "and did not trouble to inquire which door it was."
"Your father no doubt thinks he has been doing a wise thing in keeping himself on short commons to give you what he foolishly imagines is an education."
"Excuse me, but we are all kept on short commons because you took advantage of my father's ignorance. If he had had a little better education he would not have allowed himself to be duped by you!" And he turned and made for the door.
But Sir John intercepted him, with flashing eyes and passion-lined face.
"Have you come here to insult me?" he thundered. "By Heaven, I've a good mind to call my servants in and give you a good horsewhipping!"
Ralph stood still and scowled angrily.
"I neither came here to insult you nor to be insulted by you! I came here to express my regret that I did not pocket my pride and open the gate for your daughter. I have made the best amends in my power, and now, if you will let me, I will go home."
"I am not sure that I will let you!" Sir John said angrily. "It seems to me the proper thing would be to send for the police and get you locked up. How do I know that you did not put something in the way to prevent my daughter's horse clearing the gate? I know that you hate your betters – like most of your class, alas! in these times – "
"We should not hate you if you dealt justly by us!" Ralph retorted.
"Dealt justly, indeed!" Sir John sneered. "It makes me ill to hear such as you talking about justice! You ought to be thankful that you are allowed to live in the parish at all!"
"We are. We are grateful for the smallest mercies – grateful for room to walk about."
"That's more than some of you deserve," Sir John retorted angrily. "Now go home and help your father on the farm. And, by Jove, tell him if he's behind with his ground rent this year I'll make him sit up."
Ralph's eyes blazed in a moment. That ground rent was to him the sum of all iniquity. It represented to him the climax of greed and injustice. The bitterness of it had eaten out all the joy of his father's life and robbed his mother of all the fruits of her thrift and economy.
Ralph's face was toward the door; but he turned in a moment, white with passion.
"I wonder you are not ashamed to speak of that ground rent," he said slowly, and with biting emphasis. "You, who took advantage of my father's love for his native place, and of his ignorance of legal phraseology – you, who robbed a poor man of his savings, and cheated his children out of their due. Ground rent, indeed! I wonder the word does not stick in your throat and choke you." And before Sir John could reply he had pulled open the door and passed out into the hall.
He walked home by the forbidden path through the plantation, feeling more reckless and defiant than he had ever felt before. He was in the mood to run his head against any brick wall that might stand in his way; he almost hoped that a keeper would cross his path and arrest him. He wanted to have another tilt with Sir John, and show him how lightly he regarded his authority.
No keeper, however, showed his face. He was left in undisturbed possession of field and fell. He whistled loudly and defiantly, as he strutted through the dim aisles of the plantation, and tried to persuade himself that he was not a bit sorry that Sir John at that moment was suffering all the tortures of suspense. He would have persuaded himself, if he could, that he did not care whether Dorothy Hamblyn lived or died; but that was altogether beyond his powers. He did care. Every fibre of his being seemed to plead for her recovery.
He came at length upon the scene of the previous day's accident. To all appearances no one had visited it. The broken gate had not been touched. On the ground was a dark stain which had been crimson the day before, but no one would notice it unless it were pointed out; for the rest, Nature showed no regard for human pain or grief.
It was a glorious morning in late summer. The woods were at their best; the fields were yellowing in all directions to the harvest. High in the blue heavens the larks were trilling their morning song, while in the banks and hedges the grasshoppers were whirring and chattering with all their might. It was a morning to inspire the heart with confidence and hope, to cleanse the eyes from the dust of doubt, and to uplift the spirit from the fogs of pessimism and despair.
And yet Ralph Penlogan heard no song that morning, nor even saw the sunshine. A dull weight was pressing on his heart which he had no power to lift. Anger and regret struggled within him for the mastery, while constantly a new emotion – which he did not understand as yet – ran through his veins like liquid fire.
When he reached the stile he rested for a few moments, and recalled the scene of the previous day. It was not difficult. The face of the fair horsewoman he would never forget; the soft, imperious voice rang through his brain like the sound of evening bells. Her smile was like sunshine on waving corn.
Then in his fancy he saw Jess dart forward, and then came the sickening sound of splintering wood. What happened after that he knew all too well.
It would be a cruel thing for death to blot out a smile so sweet, and the grave to hide a face so fair. While there were so many things in the world that were neither lovely nor useful nor inspiring, it would seem like a sin against Nature to blot out and destroy so sweet a presence. Let the weeds be plucked up, let the thorns be burned; but the flowers should be allowed to remain to brighten the world and gladden the hearts of men.
He sprang over the stile at length, and strode away in the direction of Dingley Bottom with a scowl upon his face.
What right had he to be thinking about the squire's daughter? Did he not despise the class to which she belonged? Did he not hate her father because, having a giant's strength, he used it like a giant? Had not the justice of the strong become a byword and a loathing? Had he not sworn eternal enmity to the oppressor and all who shared his gains?
On the brow of the next low hill he paused again. Before him, in a little hollow, lay the homestead his father had built; and spread out on three sides were the fields he had reclaimed from the wilderness.
It had been a hard and almost heartbreaking task, for when he commenced the enterprise he had but a faint idea what it would cost. It seemed easy enough to root up the furze bushes and plough down the heather, and the soil looked so loamy and rich that he imagined a heavy crop would be yielded the first year.
And yet it was not to make money that David Penlogan had leased a portion of Polskiddy Downs, and built a house thereon. It was rather that he might have a quiet resting-place in the evening of his life, and be able to spend his days in the open air – in the wind and sunshine – and be set free from the perils that beset an underground captain in a Cornish mine.
With what high hopes he embarked upon the enterprise none but David knew. It was his one big investment. All the savings of a lifetime went into it. He took his hoarded sovereigns out of the bank without misgiving, and felt as happy as a king, while he toiled like a slave.
His neighbours stared and shook their heads when it leaked out on what terms he had taken the lease.