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 (X^H
 
 LOVE ETERNAL
 
 WORKS BY H. RIDER HAGGARD 
 
 PARLIAMENTARY BLUE-BOOK. 
 REPORT TO H.M.'s GOVERNMENT ON THE SALVATION 
 ARMY COLONIES IN THE UNITED STATES, WITH SCHEME 
 OF NATIONAL LAND SETTLEMENT. [Cd. 2562] 
 
 POLITICAL HISTORY. 
 CETEWAYO AND HIS WHITE NEIGHBOURS. 
 
 WORKS ON SOCIOLOGY, 
 AND COUNTRY 
 
 RURAL ENGLAND (2 vols.). 
 RURAL DENMARK AND ITS 
 LESSONS. 
 
 AGRICULTURE, 
 LIFE. 
 
 THE POOR AND THE LAND. 
 
 REGENERATION. 
 
 A FARMER'S YEAR. 
 
 A GARDENER'S YEAR. 
 
 " Mr. Rider Haggard is probably most widely known as a 
 novelist, but, as a matter of fact, there are few men now writ- 
 ing English whose books on vital sociological questions are of 
 such value as his, and hardly one among this small number 
 who has grasped as he has grasped the dangers that beset the 
 future of the English- speaking people, and the way these dan- 
 gers can best be met." Mr, Theodore Roosevelt in " The Out* 
 look," New York, July /, iqi i. 
 
 BOOK OF TRAVEL. 
 A WINTER PILGRIMAGE. 
 
 NOVELS. 
 
 DAWIC. 
 
 THE WITCH'S HEAD. 
 
 JESS. 
 
 COLONEL QUARITCH, V.C. 
 
 BEATRICE. 
 JOAN HASTE. 
 DOCTOR THERNE. 
 STELLA FREGELIUS, 
 
 THE WAY or THE SPIRIT. 
 ROMANCES. 
 
 KING SOLOMON'S MINES. 
 
 SHE. 
 
 AYESHA: The Return of She. 
 
 ALLAN QUATERMAIN. 
 
 MR. MEESON'S WILL. 
 
 ALLAN'S WIFE. 
 
 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 ERIC BRIGHTEVES. 
 
 NADA THE LILY. 
 
 MONTEZUMA'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 THE PEOPLE OF THE MIST. 
 
 HEART OF THE WORLD. 
 
 SWALLOW. 
 
 MARIE. 
 
 THE MAHATMA AND THE 
 
 HARE. 
 ALLAN AND THE HOLY 
 
 FLOWER. 
 FINISHED. 
 MOON OF ISRAEL. 
 
 BLACK HEART AND WHITE 
 
 HEART. 
 LYSBETH. 
 PEARL-MAIDEN. 
 THE BRETHREN. 
 THE SPIRIT OF BAMBATSC 
 
 (BENITA). 
 
 MARGARET. 
 
 THE GHOST KINGS. 
 
 THE YELLOW GOD : AN IDOL 
 
 OF AFRICA. 
 MORNING STAR. 
 THE LADY oy BLOSSHOLME. 
 QUEEN SHEBA'S RING. 
 RED EVE. 
 CHILD OF STORM. 
 THE WANDERER'S NECKLACE. 
 THE IVORY CHILD. 
 LOVE ETERNAL. 
 
 (In (.oKaooralion with Andrew Lang) 
 THE WORLD'S DESIRE.
 
 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 BY 
 
 ER HAGGARD 
 
 
 
 Author of ' Margaret,' ' Dawn,' ' Morning Star/ 
 'Beatrice,' etc., etc. 
 
 SECOND IMPRESSION 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 
 
 FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK 
 1918
 
 Copyright, 1818, by 
 II. RIDER UAGGAHD 
 
 First Edition, May, 1918 
 Reprinted, September, 1918
 
 TO 
 THE REV. PHILIP T. BAINBRIGGE 
 
 Vicar of St. Thomas' 
 Regent Street, London 
 
 You, whose privilege it is by instruction and example to 
 strengthen the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees of 
 many, may perhaps care to read of one whose human love led 
 her from darkness into light and on to the gates of the Love 
 Eternal.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PACK 
 
 I. HONEST JOHN i 
 
 II. ISOBEL KISSES GODFREY . . . 16 
 
 III. THE PLANTAGENET LADY 35 
 
 IV. THE GARDEN IN THE SQUARE . . 50 
 V. MADAME RIENNES . . . . 71 
 
 VI. EXPERIENCES 88 
 
 VII. MR. KNIGHT AND DUTY . . . in 
 
 VIII. THE PASTEUR TAKES THE FIELD . 133 
 
 IX. THE PASTEUR CONQUERS . . 153 
 
 X. GODFREY BECOMES A HERO . . .170 
 
 XI. JULIETTE'S FAREWELL . . . .188 
 
 XII. HOME . 204 
 
 XIII. THE INTERVENING YEARS . . . 225 
 
 XIV. TOGETHER 242 
 
 XV. FOR EVER 261 
 
 XVI. LOVE AND Loss 278 
 
 XVII. INDIA 294 
 
 XVIII. FRANCE AND AFTER .... 308 
 
 XIX. MARRIAGE 326 
 
 XX. ORDERS 341 
 
 XXI. LOVE ETERNAL 358
 
 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 HONEST JOHN 
 
 MORE than thirty years ago two atoms of the eternal 
 Energy sped forth from the heart of it which we call 
 God, and incarnated themselves in the human shapes 
 that were destined to hold them for a while, as vases 
 hold perfumes, or goblets wine, or as sparks of ever- 
 lasting radium inhabit the bowels of the rock. Per- 
 haps these two atoms, or essences, or monads inde- 
 structible, did but repeat an adventure, or many, many 
 adventures. Perhaps again and again they had pro- 
 ceeded from that Home august and imperishable on 
 certain mornings of the days of Time, to return thither 
 at noon or nightfall, laden with the fruits of gained 
 experience. So at least one of them seemed to tell 
 the other before all was done and that other came 
 to believe. If so, over what fields did they roam 
 throughout the aeons, they who having no end, could 
 have no beginning? Not those of this world only, 
 we may be sure. It is so small and there are so 
 many others, millions upon millions of them, and such 
 an infinite variety of knowledge is needed to shape 
 the soul of man, even though it remain as yet imper- 
 fect and but a shadow of what it shall be.
 
 2 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Godfrey Knight was born the first, six months later 
 she followed (her name was Isobel Blake), as though 
 to search for him, or because whither he went, thither 
 she must come, that being her doom and his. 
 
 Their circumstances, or rather those of their par- 
 ents, were very different but, as it chanced, the houses 
 in which they dwelt stood scarcely three hundred yards 
 apart. 
 
 Between the rivers Blackwater and Crouch in Essex, 
 is a great stretch of land, flat for the most part and 
 rather dreary, which, however, to judge from what 
 they have left us, our ancestors thought of much im- 
 portance because of its situation, its trade and the corn 
 it grew. So it came about that they built great houses 
 there and reared beautiful abbeys and churches for 
 the welfare of their souls. Amongst these, not very 
 far from the coast, is that of Monk's Acre, still a 
 beautiful fane though they be few that worship there 
 to-day. The old Abbey house adjacent is now the rec- 
 tory. It has been greatly altered, and the outbuildings 
 are shut up or used as granaries and so forth by ar- 
 rangement with a neighbouring farmer. Still its grey 
 walls contain some fine but rather unfurnished cham- 
 bers, reputed by the vulgar to be haunted. It was for 
 this reason, so says tradition, that the son of the orig- 
 inal grantee of Monk's Acre Abbey, who bought it 
 for a small sum from Henry VIII at the Dissolution 
 of the Monasteries, turned the Abbey house into a 
 rectory and went himself to dwell in another known 
 as Hawk's Hall, situate on the bank of the little 
 stream of that name, Hawk's Creek it is called, which 
 finds its way to the Blackwater. 
 
 Parsons, he said, were better fitted to deal with
 
 HONEST JOHN 3 
 
 ghosts than laymen, especially if the said laymen had 
 dispossessed the originals of the ghosts of their earthly 
 heritage. 
 
 The ancient Hawk's Hall, a timber building of the 
 sort common in Essex as some of its premises still 
 show, has long since disappeared. About the begin- 
 ning of the Victorian era a fish-merchant of the name 
 of Brown, erected on its site a commodious, comfort- 
 able, but particularly hideous mansion of white brick, 
 where he dwelt in affluence in the midst of the large 
 estate that had once belonged to the monks. An at- 
 tempt to corner herrings, or something of the sort, 
 brought this worthy, or unworthy tradesman to dis- 
 aster, and the Hall was leased to a Harwich smack- 
 owner of the name of Blake, a shrewd person, whose 
 origin was humble. He had one son named John, 
 of whom he was determined to " make a gentleman." 
 With this view John was sent to a good public school, 
 and to college. But of him nothing could make a gen- 
 tleman, because true gentility and his nature were far 
 apart. He remained, notwithstanding all his advan- 
 tages, a cunning, and in his way an able man of busi- 
 ness, like his father before him. For the rest, he was 
 big, florid and presentable, with the bluff and hearty 
 manner which sometimes distinguishes a faux bon- 
 homme. " Honest John " they called him in the neigh- 
 bourhood, a soubriquet which was of service to him 
 in many ways. 
 
 Suddenly Honest John's father died, leaving him 
 
 well off, though not so rich as he would have liked to 
 
 be. At first he thought of leaving Hawk's Hall and 
 
 going to live at Harwich, where most of his business 
 
 .interests were. But, remembering that the occupation
 
 4 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 of it gave him a certain standing in the county, 
 whereas in Harwich he would have been only a supe- 
 rior tradesman, he gave up the idea. It was replaced 
 by another to marry well.. 
 
 Now John Blake was not an idealist, nor in any sense 
 romantic; therefore, .from marriage he expected little. 
 He did not even ask that his wife should be good- 
 looking, knowing that any aspirations which he had 
 towards beauty could be satisfied otherwise. Nor did 
 he seek money, being well aware that he could make 
 this for himself. What he desired were birth and asso- 
 ciations. After a little waiting he found exactly what 
 he wanted. 
 
 A certain Lord Lynfield from the South of England, 
 who lived in London, and was a director of many 
 Boards, took a pheasant-shooting in the neighbourhood 
 of Hawk's Hall, and with it a house. Here he lived 
 more or less during the winter months, going up to 
 town when necessary, to attend his Boards. Lord 
 Lynfield was cursed with several extravagant sons, 
 with whom John Blake, who was a good shot, soon 
 became friendly. Also he made himself useful by 
 lending one of them a considerable sum of money. 
 When this came to Lord Lynfield's ears, as Honest 
 John was careful that it should, he was disturbed and 
 offered repayment, though as a matter of fact he did 
 not know where to turn for the cash. In his bluffest 
 and heartiest way Blake refused to hear of such a 
 thing. 
 
 " No, no, my Lord, let it stand. Your son will 
 repay me one day, and if he doesn't, what will a trifle 
 like that matter ? " 
 
 " He certainly shall repay you. But all the same,
 
 HONEST JOHN 5' 
 
 Mr. Blake, you have behaved very well and I thank 
 you much," replied his Lordship courteously. 
 
 Thus did John Blake become an intimate of that 
 aristocratic family. 
 
 Now Lord Lynfield, who was a widower, had one 
 unmarried daughter. She was an odd and timid little 
 person, with strong religious views, who adored se- 
 cretly a high-church curate in London. This, indeed, 
 was the reason why she had been brought to Essex 
 when her infatuation was discovered by one of her 
 married sisters, who, like the rest of the family, was 
 extremely " low." Lady Jane was small in body and 
 shrinking and delicate in character, somewhat mouse- 
 like indeed. Even her eyes were large and timid as 
 are those of a mouse. In her John Blake perceived 
 the exact parti whom he desired for a wife. 
 
 It is not necessary to follow the pitiful story to its 
 inevitable end, one happily, more common at that time 
 than it is to-day. Mr. Blake played the earnest, ardent 
 lover, and on all occasions proclaimed his own un- 
 worthiness at the top of his loud voice. Also he hinted 
 at large settlements to the married sisters, who put the 
 matter before Jane very plainly indeed. In the end, 
 after a few words with her father, who pointed out 
 that the provision which could be made for her was 
 but small, and that he would die more happily if he 
 knew her to be comfortaWy settled in life with a really 
 trustworthy and generous man such as Mr. Blake had 
 proved himself to be, she gave way, and in due course 
 they were married. 
 
 In fact, the tragedy was complete, since Jane loathed 
 her husband, whose real nature she had read from the 
 beginning, as much as she adored the high-church
 
 6 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 curate from whom in some terrible hour she parted 
 with broken words. Even when he died a few years 
 later, she continued to adore him, so much that her one 
 hope was that she might meet him again in the land 
 where there is no marrying or giving in marriage. 
 But all of this she kept locked in her poor little heart, 
 and meanwhile did her duty by her husband with an 
 untroubled brow, though those mouse-like eyes of hers 
 grew ever more piteous. 
 
 He, for his part, did not do his duty by her. Of 
 one side of his conduct she was careless, being totally 
 indifferent as to whom he admired. Others she found 
 it hard to bear. The man was by nature a bully, one 
 who found pleasure in oppressing the helpless, and 
 who loved, in the privacy of his home, to wreak the 
 ill-temper which he was forced to conceal abroad. In 
 company, and especially before any of her people, he 
 treated her with the greatest deference, and would even 
 make loud laudatory remarks concerning her; when 
 they were alone there was a different tale to tell, par- 
 ticularly if she had in any way failed in promoting that 
 social advancement for which he had married her. 
 
 " What do you suppose I give you all those jewels 
 and fine clothes for, to say nothing of the money you 
 waste in keeping up the house ? " he would ask brut- 
 ally. 
 
 Jane made no answer; silence was her only shield, 
 but her heart burned within her. It is probable, not- 
 withstanding her somewhat exaggerated ideas of duty 
 and wifely obedience, that she would have plucked up 
 her courage and left him, even if she must earn her 
 own living as a sempstress, had it not been for one cir- 
 cumstance. That circumstance was the arrival in the
 
 HONEST JOHN 7 
 
 world of her daughter, Isobel. In some ways this 
 event did not add to her happiness, if that can be added 
 to which does not exist, for the reason that her hus- 
 band never forgave her because this child, her only 
 one, was not a boy. Nor did he lose any opportunity 
 of telling her this to her face, as though the matter 
 were one over which she had control. In others, how- 
 ever, for the first time in her battered little life, she 
 drank deep of the cup of joy. She loved that infant, 
 and from the first it loved her and her only, while to 
 the father it was indifferent, and at times antagonistic. 
 
 From the cradle Isobel showed herself to be an 
 individual of character. Even as a little girl she knew 
 what she wanted and formed her own opinions quite 
 independently of those of others. Moreover, in a 
 certain way she was a good-looking child, but of a 
 stamp totally different from that of either of her 
 parents. Her eyes were not restless and prominent, 
 like her father's, or dark and plaintive, like her moth- 
 er's, but large, grey and steady, with long curved 
 lashes. In fact, they were fine, but it was her only 
 beauty, since the brow above them was almost too 
 pronounced for that of a woman, the mouth was a 
 little large, and the nose somewhat irregular. Her 
 hair, too, though long and thick, was straight and 
 rather light-coloured. For the rest she was well- 
 grown and vigorous, with a strong, full voice, and as 
 she approached maturity she developed a fine figure. 
 
 When she was not much more than ten Isobel had 
 her first trouble with her father. Something had gone 
 wrong with one of his shipping speculations, and as 
 usual, he vented it upon his wife. So cruelly did he 
 speak to her on a household matter for which she was
 
 8 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 not the least to blame, that the poor woman at last rose 
 and left the room to hide her tears. Isobel, however, 
 remained behind, and walking up to her father, who 
 stood with his back to the fire, asked him why he 
 treated her mother thus. 
 
 " Mind your own business, you impertinent brat," 
 he answered. 
 
 " Mummy is my business, and you are a brute," 
 she exclaimed, clenching her little fists. He lifted his 
 hand as though to strike her, then changed his mind 
 and went away. She had conquered. Thenceforward 
 Mr. Blake was careful not to maltreat his wife in 
 Isobel's presence. He complained to her, however, 
 of the child's conduct, which, he said, was due to her 
 bringing up and encouragement, and Lady Jane in 
 turn, scolded her in her gentle fashion for her " wicked 
 words." 
 
 Isobel listened, then asked, without attempting to 
 defend herself, 
 
 " Were not father's words to you wicked also, 
 Mummy? It was not your fault if James forgot to 
 bring round the dog-cart and made him miss the train 
 to London. Ought you to be sworn at for that ? " 
 
 " No, dear, but you see, he is my husband, and hus- 
 bands can say what they wish to their wives." 
 
 " Then I will never have a husband ; at least, not 
 one like father," Isobel announced with decision. 
 
 There the matter ended. Or rather it did not end, 
 since from that moment Isobel began to reflect much on 
 matrimony and other civilized institutions, as to which 
 at last she formed views that were not common among 
 girls of her generation. In short, she took the first 
 step towards Radicalism, and entered on the road of
 
 HONEST JOHN 9 
 
 rebellion against the Existing and Acknowledged. 
 
 During the governess era which followed this scene 
 Isobel travelled far and fast along that road. The 
 lady, or rather the ladies, hired by her father, for his 
 wife was allowed no voice in their selection, were of 
 the order known as " determined " ; disciplinarians of 
 the first water. For one reason or another they did 
 not stay. Isobel, though a quick and able child, very 
 fond of reading moreover, proved unamenable under 
 discipline as understood by those formidable females, 
 and owing to her possession of a curious tenacity of 
 purpose, ended by wearing them down. Also they 
 did not care for the atmosphere of the house, which 
 was depressing. 
 
 One of them once tried to strike Isobel. This was 
 when she was nearly thirteen. Isobel replied with the 
 schoolroom inkpot. She was an adept at stone-throw- 
 ing, and other athletic arts. It caught her instructress 
 fair upon her gentle bosom, spoiled her dress, filled 
 her mouth and eyes with ink, and nearly knocked her 
 down. 
 
 " I shall tell your father to flog you," gasped the 
 lady when she recovered her breath. 
 
 " I should advise you not," said Isobel. " And what 
 is more," she added after reflection, " if you do I shall 
 advise him not to listen to you." 
 
 Then the governess thought better of it and gave 
 notice instead. To be just to John Blake he never 
 attempted to resort to violence against his daughter. 
 This may have been because he knew by instinct that 
 it would not be safe to do so or tend to his own com- 
 fort. Or perhaps, it was for the reason that in his 
 way he was fond of her, looking on her with pride
 
 io LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 not quite untouched by fear. Like all bullies he was a 
 coward at heart, and respected anyone who dared to 
 stand up to him even although she were but a girl, 
 and his own daughter. 
 
 After the victim of the inkpot incident departed, 
 threatening actions at law and proclaiming that her 
 pupil would come to a bad end, questions arose as to 
 Isobel's future education. Evidently the governess 
 experiment had broken down and was not worth re- 
 peating. Although she trembled at the idea of parting 
 with her only joy and consolation in life, Lady Jane 
 suggested that she should be sent to school. It was 
 fortunate for her that she did so, since as the idea 
 came from his wife, Mr. Blake negatived it at once 
 firmly and finally, a decision which she accepted with 
 an outward sigh of resignation, having learned the 
 necessity of guile, and inward delight. Indeed, for it 
 that evening she thanked God upon her knees. 
 
 It may be also that her father did not wish that 
 Isobel should go away. Lady Jane bored him to dis- 
 traction, since kicking a cushion soon becomes poor 
 sport. So much did she bore him indeed that for this 
 and other reasons he passed most of his time in 
 London or at Harwich, in both of which places he 
 had offices where he transacted his shipping business, 
 only spending the week-ends at Hawk's Hall. It was 
 his custom to bring with him parties of friends, busi- 
 ness men as a rule, to whom, for sundry purposes, he 
 wished to appear in the character of a family man 
 and local magnate. Isobel, who was quick and viva- 
 cious even while she was still a child, helped to make 
 these parties pass off well, whereas without her he 
 felt that they would have been a failure. Also she
 
 HONEST JOHN IT 
 
 was useful during the shooting season. So it came 
 about that she was kept at home. 
 
 It was at this juncture that an idea came to Mr. 
 Blake. A few years before, at the very depth of the 
 terrible agricultural depression of the period, he had 
 purchased at a forced sale by the mortgagees, the 
 entire Monk's Acre estate, at about 12 the acre, 
 which was, less than the cost of the buildings that 
 stood upon the land. This, as he explained to all and 
 sundry, he had done at great personal loss in the inter- 
 est of the tenants and labourers, but as a matter of 
 fact, even at the existing rents, the investment paid 
 him a fair rate of interest, and was one which, as a 
 business man he knew must increase in value when 
 times changed. With the property went the advowson 
 of Monk's Acre, and it chanced that a year later the 
 living fell vacant through the resignation of the in- 
 cumbent. Mr. Blake, now as always seeking popu- 
 larity, consulted the bishop, consulted the church- 
 wardens, consulted the parishioners, and in the end 
 consulted his own interests by nominating the nephew 
 of a wealthy baronet of his acquaintance whom he 
 was anxious to secure as a director upon the Board 
 of a certain company in which he had large holdings. 
 
 " I have never seen this clerical gentleman and know 
 nothing of his views, or anything about him. But if 
 you recom'mend him, my dear Sir Samuel, it is enough 
 for me, since I always judge of a man by his friends. 
 Perhaps you will furnish me, or rather my lawyers, 
 with the necessary particulars, and I will see that the 
 matter is put through. Now, to come to .more impor- 
 tant business, as to this Board of which I am chair- 
 man," &c.
 
 12 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 The end of it was that Sir Samuel, flattered by such 
 deference, became a member of the Board and Sir 
 Samuel's nephew became rector of Monk's Acre. 
 
 Such appointments, like marriages, are made in 
 Heaven at least that seems to be the doctrine of the 
 English Church, which is content to act thereon. In 
 this particular instance the results were quite good. 
 The Rev. Mr. Knight, the nephew of the opulent Sir 
 Samuel, proved to be an excellent and hard-working 
 clergyman. He was low-church, and narrow almost 
 to the point of Calvinism, but intensely earnest and 
 conscientious; one who looked upon the world as a 
 place of sin and woe through which we must labour 
 and pass on, a difficult path beset with rocks and 
 thorns, leading to the unmeasured plains of Heaven. 
 Also he was an educated man who had taken high 
 degrees at college, and really learned in his way. 
 While he was a curate, working very hard in a great 
 seaport town, he had married the daughter of another 
 clergyman of the same city, who died in a sudden 
 fashion as the result of an accident, leaving the girl an 
 orphan. She was not pure English as her mother had 
 been a Dane, but on both sides her descent was high, 
 as indeed was that of Mr. Knight himself. 
 
 This union, contracted on the husband's par,, largely 
 from motives that might be called charitable, since 
 he had promised his deceased colleague on '-AS death 
 bed to befriend the daughter, was but moderately suc- 
 cessful. The wife had the characteristics of her race; 
 largeness and liberality of view, high aspirations for 
 humanity, considerable intelligence, and a certain tend- 
 ency towards mysticism of the Swedenborgian type, 
 qualities that her husband neither shared nor could
 
 HONEST JOHN 13 
 
 appreciate. It was perhaps as well, therefore that she 
 died at the birth of her only son, Godfrey, three 
 years after her marriage. 
 
 Mr. Knight never married again. Matrimony was 
 not a state which appealed to his somewhat shrunken 
 nature. Although he admitted its necessity to the 
 human race, of it in his heart he did not approve, nor 
 would he ever have undertaken it at all had it not 
 been for a sense of obligation. This attitude, because 
 it made for virtue as he understood it, he set down 
 to virtue, as we are all apt to do, a sacrifice of the 
 things of earth and of the flesh to the things of heaven, 
 and of the spirit. In fact, it was nothing of the sort, 
 but only the outcome of individual physical and men- 
 tal conditions. Towards female society, however hal- 
 lowed and approved its form, he had no leanings. 
 Also the child was a difficulty, so great indeed that at 
 times almost he regretted that a wise Providence had 
 not thought fit to take it straight to the joys of heaven 
 with its mother, though afterwards, as the boy's intelli- 
 gence unfolded, he developed interest in him. This, 
 however, he was careful to keep in check, lest he should 
 fall into the sin of inordinate affection, denounced by 
 St. Paul in common with other errors. 
 
 Finally, he found an elderly widow, named Parsons, 
 who acted as his housekeeper, and took charge of his 
 son. Fortunately for Godfrey her sense of parenthood 
 was more pronounced than that of his father, and she, 
 who had lost two children of her own, played the part 
 of mother to him with a warm and loyal heart. From 
 the first she loved him, and he loved her; it was an 
 affection that continued throughout their lives. 
 
 When Godfrey was about nine his father's health
 
 14 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 broke down. He was still a curate in his seaport town, 
 for good, as goodness is understood, and hard-working 
 though he was, no promotion had come his way. 
 Perhaps this was because the bishop and his other 
 superiors, recognising his lack of sympathy and his 
 narrowness of outlook, did not think him a suitable 
 man to put in charge of a parish. At any rate, so it 
 happened. 
 
 Thus arose his appeal to his wealthy and powerful 
 relative, Sir Samuel, and his final nomination to a 
 country benefice, for in the country the doctor said 
 that he must live unless he wished to die. Convinced 
 though he was of the enormous advantages of Heaven 
 over an earth which he knew to be extremely sinful, 
 the Rev. Mr. Knight, like the rest of the world, shrank 
 from the second alternative, which, as he stated in a 
 letter of thanks to Sir Samuel, however much it might 
 benefit him personally, would cut short his period of 
 terrestrial usefulness to others. So he accepted the 
 rectorship of Monk's Acre with gratitude. 
 
 In one way there was not much for which to be 
 grateful, seeing that in those days of depreciated tithes 
 the living was not worth more than 250 a year and 
 his own resources, which came from his wife's small 
 fortune, were very limited. It should have been valu- 
 able, but the great tithes were alienated with the landed 
 property of the Abbey by Henry VIII, and now be- 
 longed to the lay rector, Mr. Blake, who showed no 
 signs of using them to increase the incumbent's stipend. 
 
 Still there was a good house with an excellent gar- 
 den, too good indeed, with its beautiful and ancient 
 rooms which a former rector of archaeological knowl- 
 edge and means had in part restored to their pristine
 
 HONEST JOHN 15 
 
 state, while for the rest his tastes were simple and his 
 needs few, for, of course, he neither drank wine nor 
 smoked. Therefore, as has been said, he took the 
 living with thankfulness and determined to make the 
 best of it on a total income of about 350 a year.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 ISOBEL KISSES GODFREY 
 
 ON the whole Monk's Acre suited Mr. Knight fairly 
 well. It is true that he did not like the Abbey, as it 
 was still called, of which the associations and archi- 
 tectural beauty made no appeal to him, and thought 
 often with affection of the lodging-house-like abode 
 in which he had dwelt in his southern seaport town 
 amid the Victorian surroundings that were suited to 
 his Victorian nature. The glorious church, too, irri- 
 tated him, partly because it was so glorious, and not- 
 withstanding all that the Reformation had done to 
 mar it, so suggestive of papistical practice and errors, 
 and partly because the congregation was so scanty in 
 that great expanse of nave and aisle, to say nothing of 
 the chancel and sundry chapels, that they looked like 
 a few wandering sheep left by themselves in a vast 
 and almost emptied fold. Nor was this strange, see- 
 ing that the total population of the parish was but 
 one hundred and forty-seven souls. 
 
 Of his squire and patron he saw but little. Occa- 
 sionally Mr. Blake attended church and as lay-rector 
 was accommodated in an ugly oak box in the chancel, 
 where his big body and florid countenance reminded 
 Godfrey of Farmer Johnson's prize polled ox in its 
 stall. These state visits were not however very fre- 
 quent and depended largely upon the guests who were 
 staying for the week-end at the Hall. If Mr. Blake 
 
 16
 
 ISOBEL KISSES GODFREY 17 
 
 discovered that these gentlemen were religiously in- 
 clined, he went to church. If otherwise, and this was 
 more common, acting on his principle of being all 
 things to all men, he stopped away. 
 
 Personally he did not bother his head about the 
 matter which, in secret, he looked upon as one of the 
 ramifications of the great edifice of British cant. The 
 vast majority of people in his view went to church, not 
 because they believed in anything or wished for in- 
 struction or spiritual consolations, but because it looked 
 respectable, which was exactly why he did so himself. 
 Even then nearly always he sat alone in the oak box, 
 his visitors generally preferring to occupy the pew in 
 the nave which was frequented by Lady Jane and 
 Isobel. 
 
 Nor did the two often meet socially since their na- 
 tures were antipathetic. In the bosom of his family 
 Mr. Blake would refer to Mr. Knight as the " little 
 parson rat," while in his own bosom Mr. Knight would 
 think of Mr. Blake as " that bull of Bashan." Further, 
 after some troubles had arisen about a question of tithe, 
 also about the upkeep of the chancel, Blake discovered 
 that beneath his meek exterior the clergyman had a 
 strong will and very clear ideas of the difference be- 
 tween right and wrong, in short, that he was not a man 
 to be trifled with, and less still one of whom he could 
 make a tool. Having ascertained these things he left 
 him alone as much as possible. 
 
 Mr. Knight very soon became aware first that his 
 income was insufficient to his needs, and secondly, 
 especially now when his health was much improved, 
 that after a busy and hard-working life, time at 
 Monk's Acre hung heavily upon his hands. The latter
 
 i8 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 trouble to some extent he palliated by beginning the 
 great work that he had planned ever since he became 
 a deacon, for which his undoubted scholarship gave 
 him certain qualifications. Its provisional title was, 
 " Babylon Unveiled " (he would have liked to substi- 
 tute "The Scarlet Woman" for Babylon) and its 
 apparent object an elaborate attack upon the Roman 
 Church, which in fact was but a cover for the 
 real onslaught. With the Romans, although perhaps 
 he did not know it himself, he had certain sympathies, 
 for instance, in the matter of celibacy. Nor did he 
 entirely disapprove of the monastic orders. Then he 
 found nothing shocking in the tenets and methods of 
 the Jesuits working for what they conceived to be a 
 good end. The real targets of his animosity were his 
 high-church brethren of the Church of England, 
 wretches who, whilst retaining all the privileges of the 
 Anglican Establishment, such as marriage, did not 
 hestitate to adopt almost every error of Rome and 
 to make use of her secret power over the souls of men 
 by the practice of Confession and otherwise. 
 
 As this monumental treatise began in the times of 
 the Early Fathers and was planned to fill ten volumes 
 of at least a hundred thousand words apiece, no one 
 will be surprised to learn that it never reached the 
 stage of publication, or indeed, to be accurate, that 
 it came to a final stop somewhere about the time of 
 Athanasius. 
 
 Realizing that the work was likely to equal that of 
 Gibbon both in length and the years necessary to its 
 completion; also that from it could be expected no 
 immediate pecuniary profits, Mr. Knight looked round 
 to find some other way of occupying his leisure, and
 
 ISOBEL KISSES GODFREY 19 
 
 adding to his income. Although a reserved person, 
 on a certain Sunday when he went to lunch at the Hall, 
 in the absence of Mr. Blake who was spending the 
 week-end somewhere else, he confided his difficulties 
 to Lady Jane whom he felt to be sympathetic. 
 
 " The house is so big," he complained. " Mrs. 
 Parsons " (Godfrey's old nurse and his housekeeper) 
 " and one girl cannot even keep it clean. It was most 
 foolish of my predecessor in the living to restore that 
 old refectory and all the southern dormitories upon 
 which I am told he spent no less than 1,500 of his 
 own money, never reflecting on the expense which his 
 successors must incur merely to keep them in order, 
 since being once there they become liable for charges 
 for dilapidations. It would have been better, after 
 permission obtained, to let them go to ruin." 
 
 " No doubt, but they are very beautiful, are they 
 not ? " remarked Lady Jane feebly. 
 
 " Beauty is a luxury and, I may add, a snare. It is 
 a mistaken love of beauty and pomp, baits that the 
 Evil One well knows how to use, which have led so 
 large a section of our Church astray," he replied sip- 
 ping at his tumbler of water. 
 
 A silence followed, for Lady Jane, who from early 
 and tender associations loved high-church practices, 
 did not know what to answer. It was broken by Isobel 
 who had been listening to the conversation in her 
 acute way, and now said in her clear, strong voice : 
 
 " Why don't you keep a school, Mr. Knight ? 
 There's lots of room for it in the Abbey." 
 
 " A school ! " he said. " A school ! I never thought 
 of that. No, it is ridiculous. Still, pupils perhaps. 
 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, &c. Well, it
 
 20 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 is time for me to be going. I will think the matter 
 over after church." 
 
 Mr. Knight did think the matter over and after 
 consultation with his housekeeper, Mrs. Parsons, an 
 advertisement appeared in The Times and The Spec- 
 tator inviting parents and guardians to entrust two or 
 three lads to the advertiser's care to receive prelimi- 
 nary education, together with his own son. It proved 
 fruitful, and after an exchange of the " highest ref- 
 erences," two little boys appeared at Monk's Acre, 
 both of them rather delicate in health. This was 
 shortly before the crisis arose as to the future 
 teaching of Isobel, when the last governess, wishing 
 her "a better spirit," had bidden her a frigid fare- 
 well and shaken the dust of Hawk's Hall off her 
 feet. 
 
 One day Isobel was sent with a note to the Abbey 
 House. She rang the bell but no one came, for Mr. 
 Knight was out walking with his pupils and Mrs. 
 Parsons and the parlour-maid were elsewhere. Tired 
 of waiting, she wandered round the grey old building 
 in the hope of finding someone to whom she could 
 deliver the letter, and came to the refectory which 
 had a separate entrance. The door was open and 
 she peeped in. At first, after the brilliant sunlight 
 without, she saw nothing except the great emptiness 
 of the place with its splendid oak roof on the repair 
 of which the late incumbent had spent so much, 
 since as is common in monkish buildings, the windows 
 were high and narrow. Presently, however, she per- 
 ceived a little figure seated in the shadow at the end 
 of the long oaken refectory table, that at which the 
 monks had eaten, which still remained where it had
 
 ISOBEL KISSES GODFREY 21 
 
 stood for hundreds of years, one of the fixtures of 
 the house, and knew it for that of Godfrey, Mr. 
 Knight's son. Gliding towards him quietly she saw 
 that he was asleep and stopped to study him. 
 
 He was a beautiful boy, pale just now for he had 
 recovered but recently from some childish illness. His 
 hair was dark and curling, dark, too, were his eyes, 
 though these she could not see, and the lashes over 
 them, while his hands were long and fine. He looked 
 most lonely and pathetic, there in the big oak chair 
 that had so often accommodated the portly forms of 
 departed abbots, and her warm heart went out towards 
 him. Of course Isobel knew him, but not very well, 
 for he was a shy lad and her father had never encour- 
 aged intimacy between the Abbey House and the 
 Hall. 
 
 Somehow she had the idea that he was unhappy, 
 for indeed he looked so even in his sleep, though per- 
 haps this was to be accounted for by a paper of unfin- 
 ished sums before him. Sympathy welled up in Isobel, 
 who remembered the oppressions of the last governess 
 her of the inkpot. Sympathy, yes, and more than 
 sympathy, for of a sudden she felt as she had never 
 felt before. She loved the little lad as though he were 
 her brother. A strange affinity for him came home 
 to her, although she did not define it thus; it was as if 
 she knew that her spirit was intimate with his, yes, and 
 always had been and always would be intimate. 
 
 This subtle knowledge went through Isobel like fire 
 and shook her. She turned pale, her nostrils expanded, 
 her large eyes opened and she sighed. She did more 
 indeed. Drawn by some over-mastering impulse she 
 drew near to Godfrey and kissed him gently on the
 
 22 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 forehead, then glided back again frightened and 
 ashamed at her own act. 
 
 Now he woke up; she felt his dark eyes looking at 
 her. Then he spoke in a slow, puzzled voice, saying: 
 
 " I have had such a funny dream. I dreamed that 
 a spirit came and kissed me. I did not see it, but I 
 think it must have been my mother's." 
 
 "Why?" asked Isobel. ' 
 
 " Because no one else ever cared enough for me to 
 kiss me, except Mrs. Parsons, and she has given it up 
 now that the other boys are here." 
 
 " Does not your father kiss you ? " she asked. 
 
 " Yes, once a week, on Sunday evening when I go 
 to bed. But I don't count that." 
 
 " No, I understand," said Isobel, thinking of her 
 own father, then added hastily, " it must be sad not to 
 have a mother." 
 
 " It is," he answered, " especially when one is ill 
 as I have been, and must lie so long alone in bed with 
 'pains in the head. You know I had an abscess in the 
 ear and it hurt very much." 
 
 " I didn't know. We heard you were ill and mother 
 wanted to come to see you. Father wouldn't let her. 
 He thought it might be measles and he is afraid of 
 catching things." 
 
 " Yes," replied Godfrey without surprise. " It 
 wasn't measles, but if it had been you might have 
 caught them, so of course he was right to be careful." 
 
 " Oh ! he wasn't thinking of me or Mummy, he was 
 thinking of himself," blurted out Isobel with the 
 candour of youth. 
 
 " Big, strong men don't catch measles," said God- 
 frey in mild astonishment.
 
 ISOBEL KISSES GODFREY 23 
 
 " He says they do, and that they are very danger- 
 ous when you are grown up. Why are you alone 
 here, and what are you working at ? " 
 
 " My father has kept me in as a punishment because 
 I did my sums wrong. The other boys have gone out 
 bird-nesting, but I have to stop here until I get them 
 right. I don't know when that will be," he added 
 with a sigh, " as I hate rule of three and can't do it." 
 
 " Rule of three," said Isobel, " I'm quite good at it. 
 You see I like figures. My father says it is the family 
 business instinct. Here, let me try. Move to the 
 other side of that big chair, there's plenty of room for 
 two, and show it to me." 
 
 He obeyed with alacrity and soon the brown head 
 and the fair one were bent together over the scrawled 
 sheet. Isobel, who had really a budding talent for 
 mathematics, worked out the sum, or rather the sums, 
 without difficulty and then, with guile acquired under 
 the governess regime, made him copy them and de- 
 stroyed all traces of her own handiwork. 
 
 " Are you as stupid at everything as you are at 
 sums ? " she asked when he had finished, rising from 
 the chair and seating herself on the edge of the 
 table. 
 
 " What a rude thing to ask ! Of course not," he 
 replied indignantly. " I am very good at Latin and 
 history, which I like. But you see father doesn't care 
 much for them. He was a Wrangler, you know." 
 
 "A Wrangler! How dreadful. I suppose that is 
 why he argues so much in his sermons. I hate history. 
 It's full of dates and the names of kings who were all 
 bad. I can't make out why people put up with kings," 
 she added reflectively.
 
 24 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " Because they ought to, ' God bless our gracious 
 Queen,' you know." 
 
 " Well, God may bless her but I don't see why I 
 should as she never did anything for me, though 
 Father does hope she will make him something one 
 day. I'd like to be a Republican with a President as 
 they have in America." 
 
 "You must be what father calls a wicked Radical," 
 said Godfrey staring at her, " one of those people who 
 want to disestablish the Church." 
 
 " I daresay," she replied, nodding her head. " That 
 is if you mean making clergymen work like other peo- 
 ple, instead of spying and gossiping and playing games 
 as they do about here." 
 
 Godfrey did not pursue the argument, but remarked 
 immorally : 
 
 " It's a pity you don't come to our class, for then I 
 could do your history papers and you could do my 
 sums." 
 
 She started, but all she said was : 
 
 " This would be a good place to learn history. Now 
 I must be going. Don't forget to give the note. I 
 shall have to say that I waited a long while before I 
 found anyone. Goodbye, Godfrey." 
 
 " Goodbye, Isobel," he answered, but she was gone. 
 
 " I hope he did dream that it was his mother who 
 kissed him," Isobel reflected to herself, for now the 
 full enormity of her performance came home to her. 
 Young as she was, a mere child with no knowledge of 
 the great animating forces of life and of the mysteries 
 behind them, she wondered why she had done this 
 thing; what it was that forced her to do it. For she 
 knew well that something had forced her, something
 
 ISOBEL KISSES GODFREY 25 
 
 outside of herself, as she understood herself. It was 
 as though another entity that was in her and yet not 
 herself had taken possession of her and made her act 
 as uninfluenced, she never would have acted. Thus 
 she pondered in her calm fashion, then, being able to 
 make nothing of the business, shrugged her shoulders 
 and let it go by. After all it mattered nothing since 
 Godfrey had dreamed that the ghost of his mother 
 had visited him and would not suspect her of being 
 that ghost, and she was certain that never would she 
 do such a thing again. The trouble was that she had 
 done it once and that the deed signified some change in 
 her which her childish mind could not understand. 
 
 On reaching the Hall, or rather shortly afterwards, 
 she saw her father who was waiting for the carriage 
 in which to go to the station to meet some particularly 
 important week-end guest. He asked if she had 
 brought any answer to his note to Mr. Knight, and 
 she told him that she had left it in the schoolroom, as 
 she called the refectory, because he was out. 
 
 " I hope he will get it," grumbled Mr. Blake. " One 
 of my friends who is coming down to-night thinks he 
 understands architecture and I want the parson to 
 show him over the Abbey House. Indeed that's why 
 he has come, for you see he is an American who 
 thinks a lot of such old things." 
 
 "Well, it is beautiful, isn't it, Father?" she said. 
 " Even I felt that it would be easy to learn in that big 
 old room with a roof like that of a church." 
 
 An idea struck him. 
 
 " Would you like to go to school there, Isobel? " 
 
 " I think so, Father, as I must go to school some- 
 where and I hate those horrible governesses."
 
 26 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " Well," he replied, " you couldn't throw inkpots at 
 the holy Knight, as you did at Miss Hook. Lord! 
 what a rage she was in," he added with a chuckle. " I 
 had to pay her 5 for a new dress. But it was better to 
 do that than to risk a County Court action." 
 
 Then the carriage came and he departed. 
 
 The upshot of it all was that Isobel became another 
 of Mr. Knight's pupils. When Mr. Blake suggested 
 the arrangement to his wife, she raised certain objec- 
 tions, among them that associating with these little 
 lads might make a tomboy of the girl, adding that 
 she had been taught with children of her own sex. 
 He retorted in his rough marital fashion, that if it 
 made something different of Isobel to what she, the 
 mother, was, he would be glad. Indeed, as usual, 
 Lady Jane's opposition settled the matter. 
 
 Now for the next few years of Isobel's life there is 
 little to be told. Mr. Knight was an able man and a 
 good teacher, and being a clever girl she learned a 
 great deal from him, especially in the way of mathe- 
 matics, for which, as has been said, she had a natural 
 leaning. 
 
 Indeed very soon she outstripped Godfrey and the 
 other lads in this and sundry other branches of study, 
 sitting at a table by herself on what once had been the 
 dais of the old hall. In the intervals of lessons, how- 
 ever, it was their custom to take walks together and 
 then it was that she always found herself at the side 
 of Godfrey. Indeed they became inseparable, at any 
 rate in mind. A strange and most uncommon intimacy 
 existed between these young creatures, almost might
 
 ISOBEL KISSES GODFREY 27 
 
 it have been called a friendship of the spirit. Yet, and 
 this was the curious part of it, they were dissimilar 
 in almost everything that goes to make up a human 
 being. Even in childhood there was scarcely a sub- 
 ject on which they thought alike, scarcely a point upon 
 which they would not argue. 
 
 Godfrey was fond of poetry; it bored Isobel. His 
 tendencies were towards religion though of a very 
 different type from that preached and practised by 
 his father ; hers were anti-religious. In fact she would 
 have been inclined to endorse the saying of that other 
 schoolgirl who defined faith as " the art of believing 
 those things which we know to be untrue," while to 
 him on the other hand they were profoundly true, 
 though often enough not in the way that they are 
 generally accepted. Had he possessed any powers 
 of definition at that age, probably he would have 
 described our accepted beliefs as shadows of the Truth, 
 distorted and fantastically shaped, like those thrown 
 by changeful, ragged clouds behind which the eternal 
 sun is shining, shadows that vary in length and char- 
 acter according to the hour and weather of the mortal 
 day. 
 
 Isobel for her part took little heed of shadows. Her 
 clear, scientific stamp of mind searched for ascertain- 
 able facts, and on these she built up her philosophy 
 of life and of the death that ends it. Of course all 
 such contradictions may often be found in a single 
 mind which believes at one time and rejects at another 
 and sees two, or twenty sides of everything with a 
 painful and bewildering clearness. 
 
 Such a character is apt to end in profound dis- 
 satisfaction with the self from which it cannot be
 
 28 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 free. Much more then would one have imagined 
 that these two must have been dissatisfied with each 
 other and sought the opportunities of escape which 
 were open to them. But it was not so in the least. 
 They argued and contradicted until they had nothing 
 more to say, and then lapsed into long periods of 
 weary but good-natured silence. In a sense each com- 
 pleted each by the addition of its opposite, as the dark- 
 ness completes the light, thus making the round of the 
 perfect day. 
 
 As yet this deep affection and remarkable oneness 
 showed no signs of the end to which obviously it was 
 drifting. That kiss which the girl had given to the 
 boy was pure sisterly, or one might almost say, moth- 
 erly, and indeed this quality inspired their relationship 
 for much longer than might have been expected. So 
 much was this so that no one connected with them 
 on either side ever had the slightest suspicion that 
 they cared for each other in any way except as friends 
 and fellow pupils. 
 
 So the years went by till the pair were seventeen, 
 young man and young woman, though still called boy 
 and girl. They were good-looking in their respective 
 ways though yet unformed ; tall and straight, too, both 
 of them, but singularly dissimilar in appearance as well 
 as in mind. Godfrey was dark, pale and thoughtful- 
 faced. Isobel was fair, vivacious, open-natured, amus- 
 ing, and given to saying the first thing that came to 
 her tongue. She had few reservations; her thoughts 
 might be read in her large grey eyes before they were 
 heard from her lips, which generally was not long 
 afterwards. Also she was very able. She read and
 
 ISOBEL KISSES GODFREY 29 
 
 understood the papers and followed all the movements 
 of the day with a lively interest, especially if these 
 had to do with national affairs or with women and 
 their status. 
 
 Business, too, came naturally to her, so much so that 
 her father would consult her about his undertakings, 
 that is, about those of them which were absolutely 
 above board and beyond suspicion of sharp dealing. 
 The others he was far too wise to bring within her 
 ken, knowing exactly what he would have heard from 
 her upon the subject. And yet notwithstanding all 
 his care she suspected him, by instinct, not by knowl- 
 edge. For his part he was proud of her and would lis- 
 ten with pleasure when, still a mere child, she engaged 
 his guests boldly in argument, for instance a bishop 
 or a dean on theology, or a statesman upon current 
 politics. Already he had formed great plans for her 
 future; she was to marry a peer who took an active 
 part in things, or at any rate a leading politician, and 
 to become a power in the land. But of this, too, wisely 
 he said nothing to Isobel, for the time had not yet 
 come. 
 
 During these years things had prospered exceedingly 
 with John Blake who was now a very rich man with 
 ships owned, or partly owned by him in every sea. On 
 several occasions he had been asked to stand for Par- 
 liament and declined the honour. He knew himself to 
 be no speaker, and was sure also that he could not 
 attend both to the affairs of the country and to those 
 of his ever-spreading business. So he took another 
 course and began to support the Conservative Party, 
 which he selected as the safest, by means of large sub- 
 scriptions.
 
 '30 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 He did more, he bought a baronetcy, for only thus 
 can the transaction be described. When a General 
 Election was drawing near, one evening after dinner 
 at Hawk's Hall he had a purely business conversation 
 with a political Whip who, perhaps not without mo- 
 tive, had been complaining to him of the depleted state 
 of the Party Chest. 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Blake, " you know that my prin- 
 ciples are yours and that I should like to help your, or 
 rather our cause. Money is tight with me just now 
 and the outlook is very bad in my trade, but I'm a 
 man who always backs his fancy; in short, would 
 15,000 be of use?" 
 
 The Whip intimated that it would be of the greatest 
 use. 
 
 " Of course," continued Mr. Blake, " I presume that 
 the usual acknowledgment would follow ? " 
 
 " What acknowledgment ? " asked the Whip sipping 
 his port wearily, for such negotiations were no new 
 thing to him. " I mean, how do you spell it ? " 
 
 " With a P," said Mr. Blake boldly, acting on his 
 usual principle of asking for more than he hoped to 
 get. 
 
 The Whip contemplated him through his eyeglass 
 with a mild and interested stare. 
 
 " Out of the question, my dear fellow," he said. 
 " That box is full and locked, and there's a long out- 
 side list waiting as well. Perhaps you mean with a K. 
 You know money isn't everything, as some of you 
 gentlemen seem to think, and if it were, you would 
 have said fifty instead of fifteen." 
 
 " K be damned ! " replied Mr. Blake, " I'm not a 
 mayor or an actor-manager. Let's say B, that stands
 
 ISOBEL KISSES GODFREY 31 
 
 for Beginning as well as Baronet; also it comes be- 
 fore P, doesn't it?" 
 
 " Well, let us see. You haven't a son, have you ? 
 Then perhaps it might be managed," replied the Whip 
 with gentle but pointed insolence, for Mr. Blake an- 
 noyed him. " I'll make inquiries, and now, shall we 
 join the ladies? I want to continue my conversation 
 with your daughter about the corruption which some 
 enemy, taking advantage of her innocence, has per- 
 suaded her exists in the Conservative Party. She is a 
 clever young lady and makes out a good case against 
 us, though I am sure I do not know whence she got 
 her information. Not from you, I suppose, Sir John 
 I beg your pardon, Mr. Blake." 
 
 So the matter was settled, as both of them knew it 
 would be when they left the room. The cash found 
 its way into some nebulous account that nobody could 
 have identified with any party, and in the Dissolution 
 Honours, John Blake, Esq., J.P., was transformed into 
 Sir John Blake, Bart. ; information that left tens of 
 thousands of the students of the list mildly marvelling 
 why. As the same wonder struck them regarding the 
 vast majority of the names which appeared therein, 
 this, however, did not matter. They presumed, good, 
 easy souls, that John Blake, Esq., J.P., and the rest 
 were patriots who for long years had been working 
 for the good of their country, and that what they had 
 done in secret had been discovered in high places and 
 was now proclaimed from the housetops. 
 
 Lady Jane was inclined to share this view. She 
 knew that a great deal of her husband's money went 
 into mysterious channels of which she was unable to 
 trace the ends, and concluded in her Victorian-wife
 
 32 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 kind of fashion, or at any rate hoped, that it was spent 
 in alleviating the distress of the " Submerged Tenth " 
 which at that time was much in evidence. Hence no 
 doubt the gracious recognition that had come to him. 
 John Blake himself, who paid over the cash, naturally 
 had no such delusions, and unfortunately in that mo- 
 ment of exultation, when he contemplated his own 
 name adorning the lists in every newspaper, let out 
 the truth at breakfast at which Isobel was his sole 
 companion. For by this time Lady Jane had grown 
 too delicate to come down early. 
 
 " Well, you've got a baronet for your father now, 
 my girl " to be accurate he called it a " bart." he 
 said puffing himself out like a great toad before the 
 fire, as he threw down the Daily News in which his 
 name was icily ignored in a spiteful leaderette about 
 the Honours List, upon the top of The Times, The 
 Standard, and The Morning Post. 
 
 " Oh ! " said Isobel in an interested voice and paused. 
 
 " It's wonderful what money can do," went on her 
 father, who was inclined for a discussion, and saw no 
 other way of opening up the subject. " Certain quali- 
 fications of which it does not become me to speak, and 
 a good subscription to the Party funds, and there you 
 are with Bart, instead of Esq. after your name and 
 Sir before it. I wonder when I shall get the Patent? 
 You know baronets do not receive the accolade." 
 
 "Don't they?" commented Isobel. "Well, that 
 saves the Queen some trouble of which she must be 
 glad as she does not get the subscription. I know all 
 about the accolade," she added; " for Godfrey has told 
 me. Only the other day he was showing me in the 
 Abbey Church where the warriors who were to receive
 
 ISOBEL KISSES GODFREY '33 
 
 it, knelt all night before the altar. But they didn't 
 give subscriptions, they prayed and afterwards took a 
 cold bath." 
 
 " Times are changed," he answered. 
 
 " Yes, of course. I can't see you kneeling all night 
 with a white robe on, Father, in prayer before an altar. 
 But tell me, would they have made you a baronet if 
 you hadn't given the subscription ? " 
 
 Sir John chuckled till his great form shook he had 
 grown very stout of late years. 
 
 " I think you are sharp enough to answer that ques- 
 tion for yourself. I have observed, Isobel, that you 
 know as much of the world as most young girls of 
 your age." 
 
 " So you bought the thing," she exclaimed with a 
 flash of her grey eyes. " I thought that honours were 
 given because they were earned." 
 
 "Did you?" said Sir John, chuckling again. 
 " Well, now you know better. Look here, Isobel, 
 don't be a fool. Honours, or most of them, like other 
 things, are for those who can pay for them in this way 
 or that. Nobody bothers how they come so long as 
 they do come. Now, listen. Unfortunately, as a girl, 
 you can't inherit this title. But it doesn't matter much, 
 since it will be easy for you to get one for yourself." 
 
 Isobel turned red and uttered an exclamation, but 
 enjoining silence on her with a wave of his fat hand, 
 her father went on: 
 
 " I haven't done so badly, my dear, considering my 
 chances. I don't mind telling you that I am a rich 
 man now, indeed a very rich man as things go, and I 
 shall be much richer, for nothing pays like ships, 
 especially if you man them with foreign crews. Also
 
 34 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 I am a Bart.," and he pointed to the pile of newspa- 
 pers on the floor, " and if my Party gets in again, 
 before long I shall be a Lord, which would make you 
 an Honourable. Anyway, my girl, although you ain't 
 exactly a beauty," here he considered her with a critical 
 eye, " you'll make a fine figure of a woman and with 
 your money, you should be able to get any husband 
 you like. What's more," and he banged his fist upon 
 the table, " I expect you to do it ; that's your part of 
 the family business. Do you understand? " 
 
 " I understand, Father, that you expect me to get 
 any husband I like. Well, I'll promise that." 
 
 " I think you ought to come into the office, you are 
 so smart," replied Sir John with sarcasm. " But don't 
 you try it on me, for I'm smarter. You know very 
 well that I mean any husband / like, when I say ' any 
 husband you like.' Now do you understand ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Isobel icily. " I understand that 
 you want me to buy a husband as you have bought a 
 title. Well, titles and husbands are alike in one thing ; 
 once taken you can never be rid of them day or night. 
 So I'll say at once, to save trouble afterwards, that I 
 would rather earn my living as a farm girl, and as for 
 your money, Father, you can do what you wish with 
 it." 
 
 Then looking him straight in the eyes, she turned 
 and left the room. 
 
 " An odd child ! " thought Sir John to himself as he 
 stared after her. " Anyway she has got spirit and no 
 doubt will come all right in time when she learns 
 what's what."
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE PLANTAGENET LADY 
 
 IN the course of these years of adolescence, Godfrey 
 Knight had developed into a rather unusual stamp of 
 youth. In some ways he was clever, for instance at 
 the classics and history which he had always liked; 
 in others and especially where figures were concerned, 
 he was stupid, or as his father called him, idle. In 
 company he was apt to be shy and dull, unless some 
 subject interested him, when to the astonishment of 
 those present, he would hold forth and show knowl- 
 edge and powers of reflection beyond his years. By 
 nature he was intensely proud; the one thing he never 
 forgot was a rebuff, or forgave, was an insult. Sir 
 John Blake soon found this out, and not liking the lad, 
 whose character was antagonistic to his own in every 
 way, never lost an opportunity of what he called 
 " putting him in his place," perhaps because some- 
 thing warned him that this awkward, handsome boy 
 would become a stumbling-block to his successful feet. 
 Godfrey and Isobel were both great readers. Nor 
 did they lack for books, for as it chanced there was a 
 good library at Hawk's Hall, which had been formed 
 by the previous owner and taken over like the pictures, 
 when Mr. Blake bought the house. Also it was added 
 to constantly, as an order was given to a large London 
 bookseller to supply all the important new works that 
 came out. Although he never opened a book himself, 
 
 35
 
 36 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Sir John liked to appear intellectual by displaying them 
 about the rooms for the benefit of his visitors. These 
 publications Isobel read and lent to Godfrey; indeed 
 they perused a great deal which young people generally 
 are supposed to leave alone, and this in various schools 
 of thought, including those that are known as " free." 
 
 It was seldom that such studies led to unanimity 
 between them, but to argument, which sharpened their 
 intellects, they did lead, followed invariably by a 
 charitable agreement to differ. 
 
 About the time of the addition of the name of John 
 Blake to the roll of British Chivalry, a book on Mars 
 came their way it was one by a speculative astrono- 
 mer which suggests that the red planet is the home of 
 reasoning beings akin to humanity. Isobel read it and 
 was not impressed. Indeed, in the vigorous language 
 of youth, she opined that it was all " made-up rot." 
 
 Godfrey read it also and came to quite a different 
 conclusion. The idea fired him and opened a wide 
 door in his imagination, a quality with which he was 
 well provided. He stared at Mars through the large 
 Hall telescope, and saw, or imagined that he saw the 
 canals, also the snow-caps and the red herbage. Isobel 
 stared too and saw, or swore that she saw nothing 
 at all after which they argued until their throats 
 were dry. 
 
 " It's all nonsense," said Isobel. " If only you'll 
 study the rocks and biology, and Darwin's ' Origin of 
 Species/ and lots of other things, you will see how 
 man came to develop on this planet. He is just an 
 accident of Nature, that's all." 
 
 " And why shouldn't there be an accident of Nature 
 on Mars and elsewhere?" queried Godfrey.
 
 THE PLANTAGENET LADY 3? 
 
 " Perhaps, but if so, it is quite another accident 
 and has nothing to do with us." 
 
 " I don't know," he answered. " Sometimes," here 
 his voice became dreamy as it had a way of doing, " I 
 think that we pass on, all of us, from star to star. At 
 least I know I often feel as if I had done so." 
 
 "You mean from planet to planet, Godfrey; 
 stars are hot places, you know. You should not swal- 
 low all that theosophical bosh which is based on 
 nothing." 
 
 " There's the Bible," went on Godfrey, " which tells 
 us the same thing, that we live eternally " 
 
 " Then we must always have lived, since eternity 
 is a circle." 
 
 " Why not, Isobel ? That is what I was trying to 
 say. .Well, if we live eternally, we must live some- 
 where, perhaps in those planets, or others, which it 
 would be a waste to keep empty." 
 
 " I daresay though Nature does not mind waste, or 
 what seems to be waste. But why should you think of 
 living eternally at all ? Many people live a great deal 
 too long as it is, and it is horrible to believe that they 
 go on for ever." 
 
 " You see they might grow to something splendid 
 in the end, Isobel. You must not judge them by what 
 they are now." 
 
 " Oh ! I know, the caterpillar and the butterfly, and 
 all the rest of it." 
 
 " The Bible " continued Godfrey imperturbably 
 when she cut him short. 
 
 " Well, what of the Bible ? How do you know that 
 it is true?" 
 
 " Because I do know it, though the truth in it may
 
 38 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 be different for everyone. What is more, I know that 
 one day you will agree with me." 
 
 She looked at him curiously in the flashing way that 
 was peculiar to her, for something in his tone and 
 manner impressed her. 
 
 " Perhaps. I hope so, Godfrey, but at present I 
 often feel as though I believed in nothing, except 
 that I am I and you are you, and my father is there 
 he's calling me. Goodbye," and she was gone. 
 
 This particular conversation, one of many, had, as 
 it happened, important results on the lives of these two 
 young creatures. Isobel, in whom the love of Truth, 
 however ugly it might be and however destructive of 
 hope, faith, charity and all the virtues, was a burning, 
 inbred passion, took to the secret study of theology 
 in order to find out why Godfrey was so convinced as 
 to the teachings of the Bible. She was not old or 
 mellowed enough to understand that the real reason 
 must be discovered, not in the letter but in the spirit, 
 that is in the esoteric meaning of the sayings as to 
 receiving the Kingdom of Heaven like a child and the 
 necessity of being born again. Therefore with a fierce 
 intensity, thrusting aside the spirit and its promptings 
 which perhaps are shadows of the only real truths, she 
 wrestled with the letter. She read the Divines, also 
 much of the Higher Criticism, the lives of Saints, the 
 Sacred Books themselves and many other things, only 
 to arise bewildered, and to a great extent unbelieving. 
 
 "Why should I believe what I cannot prove?" she 
 cried in her heart, and once with her lips to Godfrey. 
 
 He made her a very wise answer, although at the 
 moment it did not strike either of them in that light. 
 
 " When you tell me of anything that you can really
 
 THE PLANTAGENET LADY 39 
 
 prove, I will show you why," he said. To this he 
 added a suggestion that was most unwise, namely, that 
 she should consult his father. 
 
 Now Mr. Knight was, it is true, a skilled theolo- 
 gian of a certain, narrow school and learned in his 
 way. It is probable, however, that in all the wide 
 world it would have been difficult to find any man less 
 sympathetic to a mind like Isobel's or more likely to 
 antagonize her eager and budding intelligence. Every 
 doubt he met with intolerant denial; every argument 
 with offensive contradiction; every query with refer- 
 ences to texts. 
 
 Finally, he lost his temper, for be it acknowledged, 
 that this girl was persistent, far from humble, and in a 
 way as dogmatic as himself. He told her that she was 
 not a Christian, and in her wrath she agreed with him. 
 He said that she had no right to be in church. She 
 replied that if this were so she would not come and, 
 her father being indifferent upon the point (Lady Jane 
 did not count in such matters), ceased her attendance. 
 It was the old story of a strait-minded bigot forcing 
 a large-minded doubter out of the fold that ought to 
 have been wide enough for both of them. Moreover, 
 this difference of opinion on matters of public and 
 spiritual interest ended in a private and mundane ani- 
 mosity. Mr. Knight could never forgive a pupil of 
 his own, whose ability he recognized, who dared to 
 question his pontifical announcements. To him the 
 matter was personal rather than one of religious truth, 
 for there are certain minds in whose crucibles every- 
 thing is resolved individually, and his was one of 
 them. He saw the largest matters through his own 
 special and highly-magnifying spectacles. So, to be
 
 40 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 brief, they quarrelled once and for all, and thence- 
 forward never attempted to conceal their cordial dis- 
 like of each other. 
 
 Such was one result of this unlucky discussion as to 
 the exact conditions of the planet Mars, god of war. 
 Another was that Godfrey developed a strong interest 
 in the study of the heavenly bodies and when some 
 domestic debate arose as to his future career, an- 
 nounced with mild firmness that he intended to be an 
 astronomer. His father, to whom the heavenly bodies 
 were less than the dust beneath his human feet and 
 who believed in his heart that they had been created, 
 every one of them, to give a certain amount of light 
 to the inhabitants of this world when there was no 
 moon, was furious in his arctic fashion, especially as 
 he was aware that with a few distinguished exceptions, 
 these hosts of heaven did not reward their votaries 
 with either wealth or honour. 
 
 " I intend you for my own profession, the Church," 
 he said bluntly. "If you choose to star-gaze in the 
 intervals of your religious duties, it is no affair of 
 mine. But please understand, Godfrey, that either 
 you enter the Church or I wash my hands of you. 
 In that event you may seek your living in any way 
 you like." 
 
 Godfrey remonstrated meekly to the effect that he 
 had not made up his mind as to his fitness for Holy 
 Orders or his wish to undertake them. 
 
 " You mean," replied his father, " that you have 
 been infected by that pernicious girl, Isobel. Well, 
 at any rate, I will remove you from her evil influence. 
 I am glad to say that owing to the fact that my little 
 school here has prospered, I am in a position to do
 
 THE PLANTAGENET LADY 41 
 
 this. I will send you for a year to a worthy Swiss 
 pastor whom I met as a delegate to the recent Evan- 
 gelical Congress, to learn French. He told me he 
 desired an English pupil to be instructed in that tongue 
 and general knowledge. I will write to him at once. 
 I hope that in new surroundings you will forget all 
 these wild ideas and, after your course at college, 
 settle down to be a good and useful man in the walk 
 of life to which you are so clearly called." 
 
 Godfrey, who on such occasions knew how to be 
 silent, made no answer, although the attack upon Isobel 
 provoked him sorely. In his heart indeed he reflected 
 that a year's separation from his parent would not be 
 difficult to bear, especially beneath the shadow of the 
 Swiss mountains which secretly he longed to climb. 
 Also he really wished to acquire French, being a lad 
 with some desire for knowledge and appreciation of 
 its advantages. So he looked humble merely and took 
 the first opportunity to slip from the presence of the 
 fierce little man with small eyes, straight, sandy hair 
 and a slit where his lips should be, through whose 
 agency, although it was hard to believe it, he had ap- 
 peared in this disagreeable and yet most interesting 
 world. 
 
 In point of fact he had an assignation, of an inno- 
 cent sort. Of course it was with the " pernicious " 
 Isobel and the place appointed was the beautiful old 
 Abbey Church. Here they knew that they would be 
 undisturbed, as Mr. Knight was to sleep at a county 
 town twenty miles away, where on the following 
 morning he had business as the examiner of a local 
 Grammar School, and must leave at once to catch his 
 
 train. $o, when watching from an upper window, 
 
 "
 
 42 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 he had seen the gig well on the road, Godfrey departed 
 to his tryst. 
 
 Arriving in the dim and beauteous old fane, the 
 first thing he saw was Isobel standing alone in the 
 chancel, right in the heart of a shaft of light that fell 
 on her through the rich-coloured glass of the great 
 west window, for now it was late in the afternoon. 
 She wore a very unusual white garment that became 
 her well, but had no hat on her head. Perhaps this 
 was because she had taken the fancy to do her plenti- 
 ful fair hair in the old Plantagenet fashion, that is in 
 two horns, which, with much ingenuity she had copied 
 more or less correctly from the brass of an ancient, 
 noble lady, whereof the two intended to take an im- 
 pression. Also she had imitated some of the other 
 peculiarities of that picturesque costume, including the 
 long, hanging sleeves. In short, she wore a fancy 
 dress which she proposed to use afterwards at a dance, 
 and one of the objects of the rubbing they were about 
 to make, was that she might study the details more 
 carefully. At least, that was her object. Godfrey's 
 was to obtain an impression of the crabbed inscription 
 at the foot of the effigy. 
 
 There she stood, tall and imposing, her arms folded 
 on her young breast, the painted lights striking full 
 on her broad, intellectual forehead and large grey 
 eyes, shining too in a patch of crimson above her 
 heart. Lost in thought and perfectly still, she looked 
 strange thus, almost unearthly, so much so that the 
 impressionable and imaginative Godfrey, seeing her 
 suddenly from the shadow, halted, startled and almost 
 frightened. 
 
 What did she resemble? What might she not be?
 
 43 
 
 he queried in himself. His quick mind suggested an 
 answer. The ghost of some lady dead ages since, 
 killed, for there was the patch of blood upon her 
 bosom, standing above the tomb wherein her bones 
 crumbled, and dreaming of someone from whom she 
 had been divorced by doom and violence. 
 
 He sickened a little at the thought; some dread fell 
 upon him like a shadow from Fate's uplifted and 
 pointed finger, stopping his breath and causing his 
 knees to loosen. In a moment it was gone, to be 
 replaced by another that was nearer and more natural. 
 He was to be sent away for a year, and this meant 
 that he would not see Isobel for a year. It would be 
 a very long year in which he did not see Isobel. He 
 had forgotten that when his father told him that he 
 was to go to Switzerland. Now the fact was pain- 
 fully present. 
 
 He came on up the long nave and Isobel, awaken- 
 ing, saw him. 
 
 " You are late," she said in a softer voice than was 
 usual to her. " Well, I don't mind, for I have been 
 dreaming. I think I went to sleep upon my feet. I 
 dreamed," she added, pointing to the brass, " that I 
 was that lady and oh ! all sorts of things. Well, she 
 had her day no doubt, and 1 mean to have mine before 
 I am as dead and forgotten as she is. Only I would 
 like to be buried here. I'll be cremated and have my 
 ashes put under that stone; they won't hurt her." 
 
 " Don't talk like that," he said with a little shiver, 
 for her words jarred upon him. 
 
 " Why not ? It is as well to face things. Look 
 at all these monuments about us, and inscriptions, a 
 lot of them to young people, though now it doesn't
 
 44 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 matter if they were old or young. Gone, every one 
 of them, and quite forgotten, though some were great 
 folk in their time. Gone utterly and for always, 
 nothing left, except perhaps descendants in a labourer's 
 cottage here and there who never even heard of them." 
 
 " I don't believe it," he said almost passionately, 
 " I believe that they are living for ever and ever, per- 
 haps as you and I, perhaps elsewhere." 
 
 "I wish I could," she answered, smiling, " for then 
 my dream might have been true, and you might have 
 been that knight whose brass is lost," and she pointed 
 to an empty matrix alongside that of the great Plan- 
 tagenet lady. 
 
 Godfrey glanced at the inscription which was left 
 when the Cromwellians tore up the brass. 
 
 " He was her husband," he said, translating, " who 
 died on the field of Crecy in 1346." 
 
 " Oh ! " exclaimed Isobel, and was silent. 
 
 Meanwhile Godfrey, quite undisturbed, was spelling 
 out the inscription beneath the figure of the knight's 
 wife, and remarked presently : 
 
 " She seems to have died a year before him. Yes, 
 just after marriage, the monkish Latin says, and 
 what is it ? Oh ! I see, ' in sanguine/ that is, in blood, 
 whatever that may mean. Perhaps she was murdered. 
 I say, Isobel, I wish you would copy someone else's 
 dress for your party." 
 
 " Nonsense," she answered. " I think it's awfully 
 interesting. I wonder what happened to her." 
 
 " I don't know. I can't remember anything in the 
 old history, and it would be almost impossible to find 
 out. There are no coats of arms, and what is more, 
 no surname is given in either inscription. The one
 
 THE PLANTAGENET LADY 45 
 
 says, ' Pray for the soul of Edmundus, Knight, hus- 
 band of Phillippa/ and the other, ' Pray for the soul 
 of Phillippa, Dame, wife of Edmundus.' It looks 
 as though the surname had been left out on purpose, 
 perhaps because of some queer story about the pair 
 which their relations wished to be forgotten." 
 
 " Then why do they say that one died in blood and 
 the other on the field of Crecy? " 
 
 Godfrey shook his head because he did not know. 
 Nor indeed was he ever able to find out. That secret 
 was lost hundreds of years ago. Then the conversa- 
 tion died away and they got to their work. 
 
 At length the rubbing, as it is termed technically, 
 was finished and the two prepared to depart out of 
 the gloom of the great church which had gathered 
 about them as the evening closed in. Solitary and 
 small they looked in it surrounded by all those me- 
 mentoes of the dead, enveloped as it were in the very 
 atmosphere of death. Who has not felt that atmos- 
 phere standing alone at nightfall in one of our ancient 
 English churches that embody in baptism, marriage 
 and burial the hopes, the desires, and the fears of 
 unnumbered generations ? 
 
 For remember, that in a majority of instances, long 
 before the Cross rose above these sites, they had been 
 the sacred places of faith after faith. Sun-worship- 
 pers, Nature-worshippers, Druids, votaries of Jove and 
 Venus, servants of Odin, Thor and Friga, early Chris- 
 tians who were half one thing and half another, all 
 have here bowed their brows to earth in adoration of 
 God as they understood Him, and in these hallowed 
 spots lies mingled the dust of every one of them. 
 
 So Godfrey felt in that hour and the same influences
 
 46 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 impinged upon and affected even the girl's bold, deny- 
 ing soul. She acknowledged them to herself, and 
 after a woman's way, turned and almost fiercely laid 
 the blame upon her companion. 
 
 ' You have infected me with your silly supersti- 
 tions," she said, stamping her foot as they shut and 
 locked the door of the church. " I feel afraid of 
 something, I don't know what, and I was never afraid 
 of anything before." 
 
 " What superstitions ? " he asked apologetically. 
 " I don't remember mentioning any." 
 
 " There is no need for you to mention them, they 
 ooze out of you. As though I could not read your 
 mind! There's no need for you to talk to tell me 
 what you are thinking of, death and separations 
 which are as bad, and unknown things to come, and 
 all sorts of horrors." 
 
 " That's odd," he remarked, still without emotion, 
 for he was used to these attacks from Isobel which, 
 as he knew, when she was upset, always meant any- 
 thing but what she said, " for as a matter of fact I 
 was thinking of a separation. I am going away, 
 Isobel, or rather, my father is sending me away." 
 
 He turned, and pointing to the stormy western sky 
 where the day died in splendour, added simply in the 
 poetic imagery that so often springs to the lips of 
 youth : 
 
 " There sets our sun ; at least it is the last we shall 
 look upon together for a whole year. You go to 
 London to-morrow, don't you? Before you come 
 back I shall be gone." 
 
 "Gone! Why? Where? Oh! what's the use of 
 asking? I knew something of the sort was coming.
 
 THE PLANTAGENET LADY 47 
 
 I felt it in that horrible old church. And after all, 
 why should I mind? What does it matter if you go 
 away for a year or ten years except that you are 
 the only friend I have especially as no doubt you are 
 glad to get out of this dreadful hole? Don't stand 
 there looking at me like a moon-calf, whatever that 
 
 may be, but tell me what you mean, or I'll, I'll " 
 
 and she stopped. 
 
 Then he told her well, not quite everything, for 
 he omitted his father's disparaging remarks about 
 herself. 
 
 She listened in her intent fashion, and filled in the 
 gaps without difficulty. 
 
 " I see," she said. " Your father thinks that I am 
 corrupting you about religion, as though anybody 
 could corrupt you when you have got an idea into 
 your stupid head; at least, on those subjects. Oh! 
 I hate him, worse even thanj do my own, worse than 
 you do yourself." 
 
 Godfrey, thinking aloud, began to quote the fourth 
 Commandment. She cut him short: 
 
 " Honour my father ! " she said. " Why should 
 we honour our fathers unless they are worthy of 
 honour ? What have we to thank them for ? " 
 
 " Life," suggested Godfrey. 
 
 " Why ? You believe that life comes from God, 
 and so do I in a way. If so, what has a father to 
 do with it who is just a father and no more? With 
 mothers perhaps it is different, but you see I love my 
 mother and he treats her like like a dog, or worse," 
 and her grey eyes filled with tears. " However, it is 
 your father we are talking of, and there is no com- 
 mandmient telling me to honour him. I say I hate
 
 48 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 him and he hates me, and that's why he is sending 
 you away. Well, I hope you won't find anyone to 
 contaminate you in Switzerland." 
 
 "Oh! Isobel, Isobel," he broke out, "don't be so 
 bitter, especially as it is of no use. Besides after all 
 you have got everything that a girl can have money 
 and position and looks " 
 
 " Looks ! " she exclaimed, seizing on the last word, 
 " when you know I am as ugly as a toad." 
 
 He stared at her. 
 
 "I don't know it; I think you beautiful." 
 
 " Wait till you see someone else and you will change 
 your mind," she snapped, flushing. 
 
 "And you are going to come out," he went on 
 hastily. 
 
 "Yes, at a fancy ball in this Plantagenet lady's 
 dress, but I almost wish I was to go out instead 
 like her." 
 
 " And I daresay you will soon be married," he 
 blurted, losing his head for she bewildered him. 
 
 " Married ! Oh ! you idiot. Do you know what 
 marriage means to a woman ? Married ! I can bear 
 no more of this. Goodbye," and turning she walked, 
 or rather ran into the darkness, leaving him amazed 
 and alone. 
 
 This was the last time that Godfrey spoke with 
 Isobel for a long while. Next morning he received 
 a note addressed in her clear and peculiar writing, 
 which from the angular formation of the letters and 
 their regularity, at a distance looked not unlike a 
 sheet of figures. 
 
 It was short and ran :
 
 THE PLANTAGENET LADY 49 
 
 "DEAR OLD GODFREY, Don't be vexed with me be- 
 cause I was so cross this evening. Something in that 
 old church upset me, and you know I have a dreadful 
 temper. I didn't mean anything I said. I daresay it is a 
 good thing you should go away and see the world in- 
 stead of sticking in this horrid place. Leave your address 
 with Mother Parsons, and I will write to you ; but mind 
 you answer my letters or I shan't write any more. Good- 
 bye, old boy. 
 
 Your affectionate 
 
 ISOBEL. 
 Who is always thinking of you. 
 
 "P.S. I'll get this to the Abbey with your milk. 
 Can't leave it myself, as we are starting for town at 
 half-past seven to-morrow morning to catch the early 
 train."
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE GARDEN IN THE SQUARE 
 
 As it chanced Godfrey did see Isobel once more be- 
 fore he left England. It was arranged that he was 
 to leave Charing Cross for Switzerland early on a 
 certain Wednesday morning. Late on the Tuesday 
 afternoon, Mr. Knight brought the lad to the Charing 
 Cross Hotel. There, having taken his ticket and 
 made all other necessary arrangements, he left him, 
 returning himself to Essex by the evening train. 
 Their farewell was somewhat disconcerting, at any 
 rate to the mind of the youth. 
 
 His father retired with him to his room at the top 
 of the hotel, and there administered a carefully pre- 
 pared lecture which touched upon every point of the 
 earnest Christian's duty, ending up with admonitions 
 on the dangers of the world, the flesh and the devil, 
 and a strong caution against frivolous, unbelieving and 
 evil-disposed persons, especially such as were young, 
 good-looking and wore petticoats. 
 
 " Woman," said Mr. Knight, " is the great danger 
 of man. She is the Devil's favourite bait, at least 
 to some natures of which I fear yours is one, though 
 that is strange, as I may say that on the whole I have 
 always disliked the sex, and I married for other rea- 
 sons than those which are supposed to be common. 
 Woman," he went on, warming to his topic, "although 
 allowed upon the world as a necessary evil, is a painted 
 
 50
 
 THE GARDEN IN THE SQUARE 51 
 
 snare, full of [he meant baited with] guile. You will 
 remember that the first woman, in her wicked desire 
 to make him as bad as herself, tempted Adam until 
 he ate the apple, no doubt under threats of estranging 
 herself from him if he did not, and all the results 
 that came from her iniquity, one of which is that men 
 have had to work hard ever since." 
 
 Here Godfrey reflected that there was someone be- 
 hind who tempted the woman, also that it is better 
 to work than to sit in a garden in eternal idleness, 
 and lastly, that a desire for knowledge is natural and 
 praiseworthy. Had Isobel been in his place she would 
 have advanced these arguments, probably in vigorous 
 and pointed language, but, having learnt something 
 of Adam's lesson, he was wiser and held his 
 tongue. 
 
 " There is this peculiarity about woman," continued 
 his parent, " which I beg you always to remember. 
 It is that when you think she is doing what you want 
 and that she loves you, you are doing what she wants 
 and really she only loves herself. Therefore you must 
 never pay attention to her soft words, and especially 
 beware of her tears which are her strongest weapon 
 given to her by the father of deceit to enable her to 
 make fools of men. Do you understand?" 
 
 "Yes," said Godfrey, with hesitation, "but " 
 
 this burst from him involuntarily, " but, Father, if 
 you have always avoided women, as you say, how do 
 you know all this about them ? " 
 
 For a moment Mr. Knight was staggered. Then 
 he rose to the occasion. 
 
 " I know it, Godfrey, by observing the effect of 
 their arts on others, as I have done frequently."
 
 52 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 A picture rose in Godfrey's mind of his father with 
 his eye to keyholes, or peering through fences with 
 wide-open ears, but wisely he did not pursue the 
 subject. 
 
 " My son," continued and ended Mr. Knight, " I 
 have watched you closely and I am sure that your 
 weakness lies this way. Woman is and always will 
 be the sin that doth so easily beset you. Even as 
 a child you loved Mrs. Parsons much more than you 
 did me, because, although old and unsightly, she is 
 still female. When you left your home this morning 
 for the first time, who was it that you grieved to part 
 from? Not your companions, the other boys, but 
 Mrs. Parsons again, whom I found you embracing in 
 that foolish fashion, yes, and mingling your tears with 
 hers, of which at your age you should be ashamed. 
 Indeed I believe that you feel being separated from 
 that garrulous person, who is but a servant, more 
 than you do from me, your father." 
 
 Here he waited for Godfrey's contradiction, but as 
 none came, went on with added acerbity: 
 
 "Of that angnis in herba, that viper, Isobel, who 
 turns the pure milk of the Word to poison and bites 
 the hand that fed her, I will say nothing, nothing," 
 (here Godfrey reflected that Isobel would have been 
 better described as a lion in the path rather than as 
 a snake in the grass) " except that I rejoice that you 
 are to be separated from her, and I strictly forbid any 
 communication between you and her, bold, godless and 
 revolutionary as she is. I had rather see any man for 
 whose welfare I cared, married to a virtuous and 
 pious-minded housemaid, than to this young lady, as 
 she is called, with all her wealth and position, who
 
 THE GARDEN IN THE SQUARE 53 
 
 would eat out his soul with her acid unbelief and turn 
 the world upside down to satisfy her fancy. Now I 
 must go or I shall miss my train. Here is a present 
 for you, of which I direct you to read a chapter every 
 day," and he produced out of a brown paper parcel 
 a large French Bible. " It will both do you good and 
 improve your knowledge of the French tongue. I 
 especially commend your attention to certain verses 
 in Proverbs dealing with the dangers on which I have 
 touched, that I have marked with a blue pencil. Do 
 you hear ? " 
 
 " Yes, Father. Solomon wrote Proverbs, didn't 
 he?" 
 
 " It is believed so and his wide experience gives 
 a special value to his counsel. You will write to me 
 once a week, and when you have had your dinner get 
 to bed at once. On no account are you to go out into 
 the streets. Goodbye," 
 
 Then he planted a frosty kiss upon Godfrey's brow 
 and departed, leaving that youth full of reflections, 
 but to tell the truth, somewhat relieved. 
 
 Shortly afterwards Godfrey descended to the coffee- 
 room and ate his dinner. Here it was that the uni- 
 versal temptress against whom he had been warned 
 so urgently, put in a first appearance in the person 
 of a pleasant and elderly lady who was seated along- 
 side of him. Noting this good-looking and lonely 
 lad, she began to talk to him, and being a woman of 
 the world, soon knew all about him, his name, who 
 he was, whither he was going, etc. When she found 
 out that it was to Lucerne, or rather its immediate 
 neighbourhood, she grew quite interested, since, as it 
 happened, she her name was Miss Ogilvy had a
 
 54 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 house there where she was accustomed to spend most 
 of the year. Indeed, she was returning by the same 
 train that Godfrey was to take on the following 
 morning. 
 
 " We shall be travelling companions," she said when 
 she had explained all this. 
 
 " I am afraid not," he answered, glancing at the 
 many evidences of wealth upon her person. " You 
 see," he added colouring, " I am going second and 
 have to spend as little as possible. Indeed I have 
 brought some food with me in a basket so that I shall 
 not need to buy any meals at the stations." 
 
 Miss Ogilvy was touched, but laughed the matter 
 off in her charming way, saying that he would have 
 to be careful that the Custom-house officers did not 
 think he was smuggling something in his basket, and 
 as she knew them all must look to her to help him 
 if he got into difficulties on the journey. Then she 
 went on chatting and drawing him out, and what is 
 more, made him take several glasses of some delicious 
 white wine she was drinking. It was not very strong 
 wine, but except for a little small beer, practically 
 Godfrey had been brought up as a teetotaller for 
 economy's sake, and it went to his head. He became 
 rather effusive; he told her of Sir John Blake about 
 whom she seemed to know everything already, and 
 something of his friendship with Isobel, who, he 
 added, was coming out that very night at a fancy 
 dress ball in London. 
 
 " I know," said Miss Ogilvy, " at the de Lisles' 
 in Grosvenor Square. I was asked to it, but could 
 not go as I am starting to-morrow." 
 
 Then she rose and said " Good-night," bidding him
 
 THE GARDEN IN THE SQUARE 55 
 
 be sure not to be late for the train, as she would want 
 him to help her with her luggage. 
 
 So off she went looking very charming and gra- 
 cious, although she was over forty, and leaving God- 
 frey quite flattered by her attention. 
 
 Not knowing what to do he put on his hat and, 
 walking across the station yard, took his stand by a 
 gateway pillar and watched the tide of London life 
 roll by. There he remained for nearly an hour, since 
 the strange sight fascinated him who had never been 
 in town before, the object of some attention from a 
 policeman, although of this he was unaware. Also 
 some rather odd ladies spoke to him from time to 
 time which he thought kind of them, although they 
 smelt so peculiar and seemed to have paint upon their 
 faces. In answer to the inquiries of two of them as 
 to his health he told them that he was very well. Also 
 he agreed cordially with a third as to the extreme 
 fineness of the night, and assured a fourth that he 
 had no wish to take a walk as he was shortly going 
 to bed, a statement which caused her to break into 
 uncalled-for laughter. 
 
 It was at this point that the doubting policeman 
 suggested that he should move on. 
 
 "Where to? " asked Godfrey of that officer of the 
 law. 
 
 " To 'ell if you like," he replied. Then struck with 
 curiosity, he inquired, " Where do you want to go to ? 
 This pillar ain't a leaning post." 
 
 Godfrey considered the matter and said with the 
 verve of slight intoxication: 
 
 " Only two places appeal to me at present, heaven 
 (not hell as you suggested), and Grosvenor Square.
 
 56 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Perhaps, however, they are the same; at any rate, 
 there is an angel in both of them." 
 
 The policeman stared at him but could find no fault 
 with the perfect sobriety of his appearance. 
 
 " Young luny, I suspect," he muttered to himself, 
 then said aloud: "Well, the Strand don't lead to 
 'eaven so far as I have noticed, rather t'other way 
 indeed. But if you want Grosvenor Square, it's over 
 there," and he waved his hand vaguely towards the 
 west. 
 
 " Thank you," said Godfrey, taking off his hat with 
 much politeness. "If that is so, I will leave heaven 
 to itself for the present and content myself with Gros- 
 venor Square." 
 
 Off he started in the direction indicated and, as it 
 seemed to him, walked for many miles through a long 
 and bewildering series of brilliant streets, continually 
 seeking new information as to his goal. The end of 
 it was that at about a quarter to eleven he found him- 
 self somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Edgware 
 Road, utterly stranded as it were, since his mind 
 seemed incapable of appreciating further indications 
 of locality. 
 
 " Look here, young man," said a breezy coster- 
 monger to whom he had appealed, " I think you had 
 better take a 'ansom for the 'orse will know more 
 about London than you seem to do. There's one 
 'andy." 
 
 " That is an idea," said Godfrey, and entered the 
 cab, giving the address of Grosvenor Square. 
 
 "What number?" asked the driver. 
 
 "I don't know," replied Godfrey, "the Ball, 
 Grosvenor Square."
 
 THE GARDEN IN THE SQUARE 57 
 
 Off they went, and in due course, reaching the 
 square, drove round it until they came to a great 
 house where there were signs of festivity in the shape 
 of an awning above the entrance and a carpet on the 
 pavement. 
 
 The cab stopped with a jerk and a voice from 
 above never having been in a hansom before, at first 
 Godfrey could not locate it exclaimed: 
 
 " Here's your Ball, young gent. Now you'd better 
 hop out and dance." 
 
 His fare began to explain the situation through the 
 little trap in the roof, demonstrating to the Jehu that 
 his object was to observe the ball from without, not 
 to dance at it within, and that it was necessary for 
 him to drive on a little further. That worthy grew 
 indignant. 
 
 " Blowed if I don't believe you're a bilk," he shouted 
 through the hole. " Here, you pay me my fare and 
 hook it, young codger." 
 
 Godfrey descended and commenced a search for 
 money, only to remember that he had left his purse in? 
 his bag at the hotel. This also he explained with 
 many apologies to the infuriated cabby, two gorgeous 
 flunkeys who by now had arrived to escort him into 
 the house, and a group of idlers who had collected 
 round the door. 
 
 " I told yer he was a bilk. You look after your 
 spoons, Thomas; I expect that's wot he's come for. 
 Now you find that bob, Sonny, or I fetches the 
 perlice." 
 
 Then an inspiration flashed on Godfrey's bewildered 
 mind. Suddenly he recollected that, by the direction 
 of heaven, Mrs. Parsons had sewn a ten shilling piece
 
 58 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 into the lining of his waistcoat, " in case he should 
 ever want any money sudden-like." He undid that 
 garment and heedless of the mockery of the audience, 
 began to feel wildly at its interior calico. Joy! there 
 it was in the lefthand corner. 
 
 " I have money here if only I can get it out," he 
 gasped. 
 
 A woman in the gathering crowd, perhaps from 
 pity, or curiosity, in the most unexpected way pro- 
 duced a pair of scissors from her pocket with which 
 he began to hack at the waistcoat, gashing it sadly. 
 At length the job was done and the half-sovereign 
 appeared wrapped in a piece of cotton wool. 
 
 " Take it," said Godfrey, " and go away. Let it 
 teach you to have more trust in your fellow creatures, 
 Mr. Cabman." 
 
 The man seized the coin, examined it by the light 
 of his lamp, tasted it, bit it, threw it on the top of the 
 cab to see that it rang true, then with a " Well, I'm 
 blowed ! " whipped up his horse and went off. 
 
 Godfrey followed his example, as the flunkeys and 
 the audience supposed to recover his change, though 
 the last thing he was thinking of at that moment was 
 change except of locality. He ran a hundred yards 
 or more to a part of the square where there was no 
 lamp, then paused to consider. 
 
 " I have made a fool of myself," he reflected, " as 
 Isobel always says I do when I get the chance. I 
 have come all this way and been abused and laughed 
 at for nothing." 
 
 Then his native determination began to assert itself. 
 Why should it be for nothing ? There was the house, 
 and in it was Isobel, and oh! he wanted to see her.
 
 THE GARDEN IN THE SQUARE 59 
 
 He crossed to the square-garden side and walked down 
 in the shadow of the trees which grew there. 
 
 Under one of these he took his stand, squeezing 
 himself against the railings, and watched the glowing 
 house that was opposite, from which came the sounds 
 of music, of dancing feet, of laughter and the tinkling 
 of glasses. It had balconies, and on these appeared 
 people dressed in all sorts of costumes. Among them 
 he tried to recognize Isobel, but could not. Either 
 she did not come or he was too far off to see her. 
 
 A dance was ending, the music grew faster and 
 faster, then ceased with a flourish. More people ap- 
 peared on the balconies. Others crowded into the 
 hall, which he could see, for the door was open. 
 Presently a pair came onto the steps. One of them 
 was dressed as a knight in shining armour. He was 
 a fine, tall young man, and his face was handsome, as 
 the watcher could perceive, for he had taken off his 
 plumed helm and carried it in his hand. The other 
 was Isobel in her Plantagenet costume, to which were 
 added one rose and a necklet of pink pearls. They 
 stood on the steps a little while laughing and talking. 
 Then he heard her say: 
 
 " Let us go into the square. It will be cooler. The 
 key is hanging on the nail." 
 
 She vanished for a moment, doubtless to fetch the 
 key. Then they walked down the steps, over the 
 spread carpet, and across the roadway. Within three 
 paces of where Godfrey stood there was a gate. She 
 gave the key to the knight, and after one or two 
 attempts the gate swung open. Whilst he was fum- 
 bling at the lock she stood looking about her, and 
 presently caught sight of Godfrey's slim figure
 
 60 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 crouched against the railings in the deepest of the 
 shadows. 
 
 " There is someone there, Lord Charles," she said. 
 
 "Is there?" he answered, indifferently, "A cab- 
 tout or a beggar, I expect. They always hang about 
 parties. Come on, it is open at last." 
 
 They passed into the garden and vanished. A wild 
 jealousy seized Godfrey, and he slipped after them 
 with the intention of revealing himself to Isobel. 
 Inside the railings was a broad belt of shrubs bordered 
 by a gravel path. The pair walked along the path, 
 Godfrey following at a distance, till they came to a 
 recessed seat on which they sat down. He halted 
 behind a lilac bush ten paces or so away, not that he 
 wanted to listen, but because he was ashamed to show 
 himself. Indeed, he stopped his ears with his fingers 
 that he might not overhear their talk. But he did 
 not shut his eyes, and as the path curved here and the 
 moon shone on them, he could see them well. They 
 seemed very merry and to be playing some game. 
 
 At any rate, first with her finger she counted the 
 air-holes in the knight's helmet which he held up to 
 her. Then with his finger he counted the pearls upon 
 her neck. When he had finished she clapped her 
 hands as though she had won a bet. After this they 
 began to whisper to each other, at least he whispered 
 and she smiled and shook her head. Finally, she 
 seemed to give way, for she unfastened the flower 
 which she wore in the breast of her dress, and pre- 
 sented it to him. Godfrey started at the sight which 
 caused him to take his fingers from his ears and clutch 
 the bush. A dry twig broke with a loud crack. 
 
 "What's that?" said Isobel.
 
 THE GARDEN IN THE SQUARE 61 
 
 " Don't know," answered Lord Charles. " What 
 a funny girl you are, always seeing and hearing things. 
 A stray cat, I expect ; London squares are full of them. 
 Now I have won my lady's favour and she must fasten 
 it to my helm after the ancient fashion." 
 
 " Can't," said Isobel. " There are no pins in Plan- 
 tagenet dresses." 
 
 " Then I must do it for myself. Kiss it first, that 
 was the rule, you know." 
 
 " Very well," said Isobel. " We must keep up the 
 game, and there are worse things to kiss than roses." 
 
 He held the flower to her and she bent forward to 
 touch it with her lips. Suddenly he did the same, 
 and their lips came very close together on either side 
 of the rose. 
 
 This was too much for Godfrey. He glided for- 
 ward, as the stray cat might have done, of which the 
 fine knight had spoken, meaning to interrupt them. 
 
 Then he remembered suddenly that he had no right 
 to interfere; that it was no affair of his with whom 
 Isobel chose to kiss roses in a garden, and that he 
 was doing a mean thing in spying upon her. So he 
 halted behind another bush, but not without noise. 
 His handsome young face was thrust forward, and 
 on it were written grief, surprise and shame. The 
 moonlight caught it, but nothing else of him. Isobel 
 looked up and saw. 
 
 He knew that she had seen and turning, slipped 
 away into the darkness back to the gate. As he went 
 he heard the knight called Lord Charles, exclaim : 
 
 " What's the matter with you ? " and Isobel answer, 
 " Nothing. I have seen a ghost, that's all. It's this 
 horrible dress ! "
 
 62 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 He glanced back and saw her rise, snatch the rose 
 from the knight's hand, throw it down and stamp 
 upon it. Then he saw and heard no more for he 
 was through the gate and running down the square. 
 At its end, as he turned into some street, he was sur- 
 prised to hear a' gruff voice calling to him to stop. 
 On looking up he saw that it came from his enemy, 
 the hansom-cab man, who was apparently keeping 
 a lookout on the square from his lofty perch. 
 
 " Hi ! young sir," he said, " I've been watching for 
 you and thinking of wot you said to me. You gave 
 me half a quid, you did. Jump in and I'll drive you 
 wherever you want to go, for my fare was only a bob." 
 
 " I have no more money," replied Godfrey, " for 
 you kept the change." 
 
 " I wasn't asking for none," said the cabby. " Hop 
 in and name where it is to be." 
 
 Godfrey told him and presently was being rattled 
 back to the Charing Cross Hotel, which they reached 
 a little later. He got out of the cab to go into the 
 hotel when once again the man addressed him. 
 
 " I owe you something," he said, and tendered the 
 half-sovereign. 
 
 " I have no change," said Godfrey. 
 
 " Nor 'ain't I," said the cabman, " and if I had I 
 wouldn't give it you. I played a dirty trick on you 
 and a dirtier one still when I took your half sov, I 
 did, seeing that I ought to have known that you were 
 just an obfusticated youngster and no bilk as I called 
 you to them flunkeys. What you said made me 
 ashamed, though I wouldn't own it before the flunkeys. 
 So I determined to pay you back if I could, since 
 otherwise I shouldn't have slept well to-night. Now
 
 THE GARDEN IN THE SQUARE 63 
 
 we're quits, and goodbye, and do you always think 
 kindly of Thomas Sims, though I don't suppose I 
 shall drive you no more in this world." 
 
 " Goodbye, Mr. Sims," said Godfrey, who was 
 touched. Moreover Mr. Sims seemed to be familiar to 
 him, at the moment he could not remember how, or 
 why. 
 
 The man wheeled his cab round, whipping the horse 
 which was a spirited animal, and started at a fast pace. 
 
 Godfrey, looking after him, heard a crash as he 
 emerged from the gates, and ran to see what was the 
 matter. He found the cab overturned and the horse 
 with a 'bus pole driven deep into its side, kicking on 
 the pavement. Thomas Sims lay beneath the cab. 
 When the police and others dragged him clear, he 
 was quite dead! 
 
 Godfrey went to bed that night a very weary and 
 chastened youth, for never before had he experienced 
 so many emotions in a few short hours. Moreover, 
 he could not sleep well. Nightmares haunted him 
 in which he was being hunted and mocked by a jeer- 
 ing crowd, until Sims arrived and rescued him in the 
 cab. Only it was the dead Sims that drove with 
 staring eyes and fallen jaw, and the side of the horse 
 was torn open. 
 
 Next he saw Isobel ^nd the Knight in Armour, 
 who kept pace on either side of the ghostly cab and 
 mocked at him, tossing roses to each other as they sped 
 along, until finally his father appeared, called Isobel 
 a young serpent, at which she laughed loudly, and 
 bore off Sims to be buried in the vault with the Plan- 
 tagenet lady at Monk's Acre.
 
 64 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Godfrey woke up shaking with fear, wet with 
 perspiration, and reflected earnestly on his latter end, 
 which seemed to be at hand. If that great, burly, 
 raucous-voiced Sims had died so suddenly, why should 
 not he, Godfrey? 
 
 He wondered where Sims had gone to, and what he 
 was doing now. Explaining the matter of the half- 
 sovereign to St. Peter, perhaps, and hoping humbly 
 that it and others would be overlooked, " since after 
 all he had done the right thing by the young gent." 
 
 Poor Sims, he was sorry for him, but it might have 
 been worse. He might have been in the cab himself 
 and now be offering explanations of his own as to a 
 wild desire to kill that knight in armour, and Isobel 
 as well. Oh! what a fool he had been. What busi- 
 ness was it of his if Isobel chose to give roses to some 
 friend of hers at a dance? She was not his property, 
 but only a girl with whom he chanced to have been 
 brought up, and who found him a pleasant companion 
 when there was no one else at hand. 
 
 By nature, as has been recorded, Godfrey was in- 
 tensely proud, and then and there he made a resolu- 
 tion that he would have nothing more to do with 
 Isobel. Never again would he hang about the skirts 
 of that fine and rich young lady, who on the night 
 that he was going away could give roses to another 
 man, just because he was a lord and good-looking 
 yes and kiss them too. His father was quite right 
 about women, and he would take his advice to the 
 letter, and begin to study Proverbs forthwith, espe- 
 cially the marked passages. 
 
 Having come to this conclusion, and thus eased 
 his troubled mind, he went to sleep in good earnest,
 
 THE GARDEN IN THE SQUARE 65 
 
 for he was very tired. The next thing of which he 
 became aware was that someone was hammering at 
 the door, and calling out that a lady downstairs said 
 he must get up at once if he meant to be in time. He 
 looked at his watch, a seven-and-sixpenny article that 
 he had been given off a Christmas tree at Hawk's 
 Hall, and observed, with horror, that he had just ten 
 minutes in which to dress, pack, and catch the train. 
 Somehow he did it, for fortunately his bill had been 
 paid. Always in after days a tumultuous vision re- 
 mained in his mind of himself, a long, lank youth with 
 unbrushed hair and unbuttoned waistcoat, carrying a 
 bag and a coat, followed by an hotel porter with his 
 luggage, rushing wildly down an interminable platform 
 with his ticket in his teeth towards an already moving 
 train. At an open carriage door stood a lady in whom 
 he recognized Miss Ogilvy, who was imploring the 
 guard to hold the train. 
 
 " Can't do it, ma'am, any longer," said the guard, 
 between blasts of his whistle and wavings of his green 
 flag. " It's all my place is worth to delay the Conti- 
 nental Express for more than a minute. Thank you 
 kindly, ma'am. Here he comes," and the flag paused 
 for a few seconds. " In you go, young gentleman." 
 
 A heave, a struggle, an avalanche of baggage, and 
 Godfrey found himself in the arms of Miss Ogilvy in 
 a reserved first-class carriage. From those kind 
 supporting arms he slid gently and slowly to the 
 floor. 
 
 " Well," said that lady, contemplating him with his 
 back resting against a portmanteau, " you cut things 
 rather fine." 
 
 Still seated on the floor, Godfrey pulled out his
 
 66 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 watch and looked at it, then remarked that eleven 
 minutes before he was fast asleep in bed. 
 
 " I thought as much," she exclaimed severely, "and 
 that's why I told the maid to see if you had been 
 called, which I daresay you forgot to arrange for 
 yourself." 
 
 " I did," admitted Godfrey, rising and buttoning 
 his waistcoat. " I have had a very troubled night ; 
 all sorts of things happened to me." 
 
 " What have you been doing? " asked Miss Ogilvy, 
 whose interest was excited. 
 
 Then Godfrey, whose bosom was bursting, told her 
 all, and the story lasted most of the way to Dover. 
 
 " You poor boy," she said, when he had finished, 
 " you poor boy! " 
 
 " I left the basket with the food behind, and I am 
 so hungry," remarked Godfrey presently. 
 
 " There's a restaurant car on the train, come and 
 have some breakfast," said Miss Ogilvy, " for on the 
 boat you may not wish to eat. I shall at any rate." 
 
 This was untrue for she had breakfasted already, 
 but that did not matter. 
 
 " My father said I was not to take meals on the 
 trains," explained Godfrey, awkwardly, " because of 
 the expense." 
 
 " Oh ! I'm your father, or rather your mother, now. 
 Besides, I have a table," she added in a nebulous 
 manner. 
 
 So Godfrey followed her to the dining car, where 
 he made an excellent meal. 
 
 " You don't seem to eat much," he said at length. 
 " You have only had a cup of tea and half a bit of 
 toast."
 
 THE GARDEN IN THE SQUARE 6f 
 
 " I never can when I am going on the sea," she 
 explained. " I expect I shall be very ill, and you will 
 have to look after me, and you know the less you eat, 
 well the less you can be ill." 
 
 "Why did you not tell me that before?" he re- 
 marked, contemplating his empty plate with a gloomy 
 eye. " Besides I expect we shall be in different parts 
 of the ship." 
 
 " Oh ! I daresay it can be arranged," she answered. 
 
 And as a matter of fact, it was " arranged," all the 
 way to Lucerne. At Dover station Miss Ogilvy had 
 a hurried interview at the ticket office. Godfrey did 
 not in the least understand what she was doing, but 
 as a result he was her companion throughout the long 
 journey. The crossing was very rough, and it was 
 Godfrey who was ill, excessively ill, not Miss Ogilvy 
 who, with the assistance of her maid and the steward, 
 attended assiduously to him in his agonies. 
 
 " And to think," he moaned faintly as they moored 
 alongside of the French pier, " that once I wished to 
 be a sailor." 
 
 " Nelson was always sick," said Miss Ogilvy, wiping 
 his damp brow with a scented pocket-handkerchief, 
 while the maid held the smelling-salts to his nose. 
 
 " Then he must have been a fool to go to sea," 
 muttered Godfrey, and relapsed into a torpor, from 
 which he awoke only to find himself stretched at 
 length on the cushions of a first-class carriage. 
 
 Later on, the journey became very agreeable. God- 
 frey was interested in everything, being of a quick 
 and receptive mind, and Miss Ogilvy proved a fund 
 of information. When they had exhausted the 
 scenery they conversed on other topics. Soon she
 
 68 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 knew everything there was to know about him and 
 Isobel, whom it was evident she could not understand. 
 
 " Tell me," she said, looking at his dark and rather 
 unusual eyes, " do you ever have dreams, Godfrey? " 
 for now she called him by his Christian name. 
 
 " Not at night, when I sleep very soundly, except 
 after that poor cabman was killed. I have seen lots 
 of dead people, because my father always takes me 
 to look at them in the parish, to remind me of my 
 own latter end, as he says, but they never made me 
 dream before." 
 
 " Then do you have them at all ? " 
 
 He hesitated a little. 
 
 " Sometimes, at least visions of a sort, when I am 
 walking alone, especially in the evening, or wondering 
 about things. But always when I am alone." 
 
 " What are they ? " she asked eagerly. 
 
 " I can't quite explain," he replied in a slow voice. 
 " They come and they go, and I forget them, because 
 they fade out, just like a dream does, you know." 
 
 "You must remember something; try to tell me 
 about them." 
 
 " Well, I seem to be among a great many people 
 whom I have never met. Yet I know them and they 
 know me, and talk to me about all sorts of things 
 For instance, if I am puzzling over anything they will 
 explain it quite clearly, but afterwards I always forget 
 the explanation, and am no wiser than I was before. 
 A hand holding a cloth seems to wipe it out of my 
 mind, just as one cleans a slate." 
 
 "Is that all?" 
 
 " Not quite. Occasionally I meet the people after- 
 wards. For instance, Thomas Sims, the cabman, was
 
 THE GARDEN IN THE SQUARE 69 
 
 one of them, and," he added colouring, " forgive me 
 for saying so, but you are another. I knew it at 
 once, the moment I saw you, and that is what made 
 me feel so friendly." 
 
 " How very odd ! " she exclaimed, " and how de- 
 lightful. Because, you see well never mind " 
 
 He looked at her expectantly, but as she said no 
 more, went on. 
 
 "Then now and again I see places before I really 
 do see them. For example, I think that presently we 
 shall pass along a hillside with great mountain slopes 
 above and below us covered with dark trees. Opposite 
 to us also, running up to three peaks with a patch of 
 snow on the centre peak, but not quite at the top." 
 He closed his eyes, and added, " Yes, and there is 
 a village at the bottom of the valley by a swift-run- 
 ning stream, and in it a small white church with a 
 spire and a gilt weathercock with a bird on it. Then," 
 he continued rapidly, " I can see the house where I 
 am going to live, with the Pasteur Boiset, an old 
 white house with woods above and all about it, and 
 the beautiful lake beneath, and beyond, a great moun- 
 tain. There is a tree in the garden opposite the 
 front door, like a big cherry tree, only the fruit looks 
 larger than cherries," he added with confidence. 
 
 " I suppose that no one showed you a photograph 
 of the place? " she asked doubtfully, " for as it hap- 
 pens I know it. It is only about two miles from 
 Lucerne by the short way through the woods. What 
 is more, there is a tree with a delicious fruit, either 
 a big cherry or a small plum, for I have eaten some 
 of it several years ago." 
 
 " No," he answered, " no one. My father only told
 
 70 LOVE ETERNAL: 
 
 me that the name of the little village is Kleindorf. 
 He wrote it on the label for my bag." 
 
 Just then the line went round a bend. " Look," he 
 said, " there is the place I told you we were coming 
 to, with the dark trees, the three peaks, and the stream, 
 and the white church with the cock on the top of the 
 spire." 
 
 She let down the carriage window, and stared at 
 the scene. 
 
 " Yes," she exclaimed, " it is just as you described. 
 Oh! at last I have found what I have been seeking 
 for years. Godfrey, I believe that you have the true 
 gift." 
 
 "What gift, Miss Ogilvy?" 
 
 " Clairvoyance, of course, and perhaps clairaudi- 
 ence as well." 
 
 The lad burst out laughing, and said that he wished 
 it were something more useful. 
 
 From all of which it will be guessed that Ethel 
 Ogilvy was a mystic of the first water.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 MADAME RIENNES 
 
 ABOUT ii o'clock on the day following this conversa- 
 tion, Godfrey found himself standing on the platform 
 in the big station of Lucerne. 
 
 "How are you going to get to Kleindorf?" Miss 
 Ogilvy asked of him. " It's five miles away by the 
 road. I think you had better come to my house and 
 have some dejeuner. Afterwards I will send you 
 there in the carriage." 
 
 As she spoke a tall gaunt man in ultra-clerical 
 attire, with a very large hooked nose and wearing a 
 pair of blue spectacles, came shuffling towards them. 
 
 " Madame is Engleesh ? " he said, peering at her 
 through the blue glasses. " Oh ! it is easy to know it, 
 though I am so blind. Has Madame by chance seen 
 a leetle, leetle Engleesh boy, who should arrive out 
 of this train? I look everywhere and I cannot find 
 him, and the conducteur, he says he not there. No 
 leetle boy in the second class. His name it is Godfrey, 
 the son of an Engleesh pasteur, a man who fear God 
 in the right way." 
 
 There was something so absurd in the old gentle- 
 man's appearance and method of address, that Miss 
 Ogilvy, who had a sense of humour, was obliged to 
 turn away to hide her mirth. Recovering, she 
 answered : 
 
 " I think this is your little boy, Monsieur le 
 
 7i
 
 72 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Pasteur," and she indicated the tall and handsome 
 Godfrey, who stood gazing at his future instructor 
 open-mouthed. Whoever he had met in his visions, 
 the Pasteur Boiset was not one of them. Never, 
 asleep or waking, had he seen anyone in the least 
 like him. 
 
 The clergyman peered at Godfrey, studying him 
 from head to foot. 
 
 " Mon Dieu ! " he exclaimed, " I understood he was 
 quite, quite leetle, not a big young man who will eat 
 much and want many things. Well, he will be bon 
 compagnon for Juliette, and Madame too, she like the 
 big better than the leetle. // est beau et il a I'air in- 
 telligent, n'est ce pas, Madame? " he added confi- 
 dentially. 
 
 " Bien beau et tres intelligent," she replied, observ- 
 ing that Godfrey was engaged in retrieving his over- 
 coat which he had left in the carriage. Then she 
 explained that she had become friendly with this 
 young gentleman, and hoped that he would be allowed 
 to visit her whenever he wished. Also she gave her 
 name and address. 
 
 " Oh ! yes, Mademoiselle Ogilvee, the rich English 
 lady who live in the fine house. I have heard of her. 
 Mais voyons! Mademoiselle is not Catholic, is she, for 
 I promise to protect this lad from that red wolf? " 
 
 " No, Monsieur, fear nothing. Whatever I am, I 
 am not Catholic,'" (though, perhaps, if you knew all, 
 you would think me something much more dangerous, 
 she added to herself.) 
 
 Then they said goodbye. 
 
 " I say, Miss Ogilvy," exclaimed Godfrey, blush- 
 ing, " you've been awfully kind to me. If it hadn't
 
 MADAME RIENNES 73 
 
 been for you I should have missed that train and 
 never heard the last of it. Also, I should have had 
 to go hungry from London here, since I promised my 
 father not to buy anything on the journey, and you 
 know I forgot the basket." (By the way, being ad- 
 dressed, it arrived three days afterwards, a mass of 
 corruption, with six francs to pay on it, and many 
 papers to be signed.) 
 
 " Not at all, Godfrey, it was delightful to have 
 you as a companion and a friend," she added mean- 
 ingly. " You will come and see me, won't you? " 
 
 " Yes, of course, if I can. But meanwhile, please 
 wait a minute," and he pulled out his purse. 
 
 "What on earth are you going to do, Godfrey? 
 I don't want your card." 
 
 " Card ! I haven't got a card. I am going to make 
 you a present." 
 
 " Make me a present ? " gasped Miss Ogilvy, a 
 vague vision of half-crowns flashing before her mind. 
 
 " Yes, it is rather a curious thing. It was found 
 round the neck-bone of an old knight, whose remains 
 they threw out of the Abbey Church when they put 
 in the heating apparatus. I saw it there, and the 
 sexton gave it to me when he discovered that it was 
 only stone. You will see it has a hole in it, so he 
 must have worn it as an ornament. The grave he 
 lay in was that of a Crusader, for the legs are crossed 
 upon his brass, although his name has gone. Oh ! 
 here it is," and he produced an oblong piece of black 
 graphite or some such stone, covered with mystical 
 engravings. 
 
 She seized the object, and examined it eagerly. 
 
 " Why, it is a talisman," she said, " Gnostic, I
 
 74 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 should think, for there is the cock upon it, and a lot 
 that I can't read, probably a magic formula. No doubt 
 the old Crusader got it in the East, perhaps as a gift 
 from some Saracen in whose family it had descended. 
 Oh! my dear boy, I do thank you. You could not 
 have made me a present that I should value more." 
 
 " I am so glad," said Godfrey. 
 
 " Yes, but I am ashamed to take it from you. Well, 
 I'll leave it back to you one day." 
 
 " Leave it back ! Then you must die before me, 
 and why should you do that? You are quite young." 
 
 " Because I shall," she answered with a sad little 
 smile. " I look stronger than I am. Meanwhile you 
 will come and tell me all about this talisman." 
 
 " I have told you all I know, Miss Ogilvy." 
 
 " Do you think so ? I don't. But look, your old 
 pasteur is calling that the diligence is going. Good- 
 bye. I'll send the carriage for you next Sunday in 
 time for dejeuner" 
 
 A few minutes later Godfrey found himself packed 
 in a rumbling old diligence amidst a number of peasant 
 women with baskets. Also, there was a Roman 
 Catholic priest who sat opposite to the Pasteur. For 
 a while these two eyed each other with evident ani- 
 mosity, just like a pair of rival dogs, Godfrey thought 
 to himself. 
 
 At the outskirts of the town they passed a shrine, 
 in which was the image of some saint. The priest 
 crossed himself and bowed so low that he struck the 
 knee of the Pasteur, who remonstrated in an elaborate 
 and sarcastic fashion. Then the fight began, and 
 those two holy men belaboured each other, with 
 words, not fists, for the rest of the journey. God-
 
 MADAME RIENNES 75 
 
 frey's French was sadly to seek, still before it was 
 done, he did wonder whether all their language were 
 strictly Christian, for such words as Sapristi, and 
 Nom de Dieu, accompanied by snapping of the fingers, 
 and angry stares, struck him as showing a contentious 
 and even a hostile spirit. Moreover, that was not 
 the end of it, since of the occupants of the diligence, 
 about one half seemed to belong to the party of the 
 priest, and the other half to the party of the Pasteur. 
 
 By degrees all of these were drawn into the conflict. 
 They shouted and screamed at each other, they waved 
 their arms, and incidentally their baskets, one of which 
 struck Godfrey on the nose, and indeed nearly came 
 to actual fisticuffs. 
 
 Apparently the driver was accustomed to such 
 scenes, for after a glance through his little window 
 he took no further notice. So it went on until at 
 last he pulled up and shouted : 
 
 " Voyagcurs pour Kleindorf, descendez. Vite, s'il 
 vous plait." 
 
 " Here we do get down, young Monsieur," said 
 the Pasteur, suddenly relapsing into a kind of un- 
 natural calm. Indeed, at the door he turned and 
 bowed politely to his late adversary, wishing him 
 bon voyage, to which the priest replied with a solemn 
 benediction in the most Catholic form. 
 
 " He is not bad of heart, that priest," said the 
 Pasteur, as he led the way to the gate of a little 
 shrubbery, "but he do try to steal my sheep, and I 
 protect them from him, the , blood-toothed wolf. 
 Jean, Jean ! " 
 
 A brawny Swiss appeared and seized the baggage. 
 Then they advanced across the belt of shrubbery to
 
 76 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 a lawn, through which ran a path. Lo ! in the centre 
 of that lawn grew such a fruit-tree, covered with large 
 cherries or small plums, as Godfrey had described to 
 Miss Ogilvy, and beyond it stood the long white 
 house, old, and big, and peaceful looking. What he 
 had not described, because of them his subliminal 
 sense had given him no inkling, were the two ladies, 
 who sat expectant on the verandah, that commanded 
 a beautiful view of the lake and the mountains beyond. 
 
 By a kind of instinct distilled from his experience 
 of clergymen's belongings, Godfrey had expected to 
 see a dowdy female, with a red, fat face, and watery 
 eyes, perhaps wearing an apron and a black dress 
 hooked awry, accompanied by a snub-nosed little girl 
 with straight hair, and a cold in the head. In place 
 of these he saw a fashionably-dressed, Parisian-look- 
 ing lady, who still seemed quite young, very pleasant 
 to behold, with her dark eyes and graceful movements, 
 and a girl, apparently about his own age, who was 
 equally attractive. 
 
 She was brown-eyed, with a quick, mobile face, 
 and a lithe and shapely, if as yet somewhat unformed 
 figure. The long thick plait in which her chestnut 
 hair was arranged could not hide its plenitude and 
 beauty, while the smallness of her hands and feet 
 showed breeding, as did her manners and presence. 
 The observant Godfrey, at his first sight of Juliette, 
 for such was her name, marvelled how it was possible 
 that she should be the daughter of that plain and 
 ungainly old pasteur. On this point it is enough to 
 say that others had experienced the same wonder, and 
 remained with their curiosity unsatisfied. But then 
 he might as well have inquired how he, Godfrey, came
 
 MADAME RIENNES 77 
 
 to be his father's son, since in the whole world no two 
 creatures could have been more diverse. 
 
 Monsieur Boiset waddled forward, with a gait like 
 to that of a superannuated duck, followed at some 
 distance by Godfrey and the stalwart Jean with the 
 luggage. 
 
 " My dears," he called out in his high voice, " I 
 have found our new little friend; the train brought 
 him safely. Here he is." 
 
 Madame and Juliette looked about them. 
 
 " I see him not," said Madame. 
 
 " Where is he? " asked Juliette, in a pleasant girlish 
 voice. " Still at the gate? And say then, my father," 
 this in low tones meant not to be overheard, " who is 
 this monsieur? " 
 
 " He is the little boy," exclaimed the Pasteur, 
 chuckling at his joke, " but you see he has grown 
 in the train." 
 
 "Man Dieu!" exclaimed Madame, "I wonder if 
 his bed will be long enough ? " 
 
 " It is very amusing," remarked Juliette. 
 
 Then they both descended from the verandah, to 
 greet him with foreign cordiality which, as they spoke 
 rapidly in French, was somewhat lost on Godfrey. 
 Recognizing their kind intentions, however, he took 
 off his hat and bowed to each in turn, remarking as 
 he did so: 
 
 " Bon jour, oui. Oui, bonjour," the only words in 
 the Gallic tongue that occurred to him at the moment. 
 
 " I speak Engleesh," said Juliette, with solemn 
 grandeur. 
 
 " I'm jolly glad to hear it," replied Godfrey, " and 
 I parlc Frangais, or soon shall, I hope."
 
 78 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Such was Godfrey's introduction to his new home 
 at Kleindorf, where very soon he was happy enough. 
 Notwithstanding his strange appearance and his awk- 
 wardness, Monsieur Boiset proved himself to be what 
 is called " a dear old gentleman" ; moreover, really 
 learned, and this in sundry different directions. Thus, 
 he was an excellent astronomer, and the possessor of 
 a first-rate telescope, mounted in a little observatory, 
 on a rocky peak of ground which rose up a hundred 
 feet or more in the immediate neighbourhood of the 
 house, that itself stood high. This instrument, which 
 its owner had acquired secondhand at some sale, of 
 course was not of the largest size. Still, it was power- 
 ful enough for all ordinary observations, and to show 
 many hundreds of the heavenly bodies that are in- 
 visible to the naked eye, even in the clear air of 
 Switzerland. 
 
 To Godfrey, who had, it will be remembered, a 
 strong liking for astronomy, it was a source of con- 
 stant delight. What is more, it provided a link of 
 common interest that soon ripened into friendship 
 between himself and his odd old tutor, who had been 
 obliged hitherto to pursue his astral researches in 
 solitude, since to Madame and to Juliette these did 
 not appeal. Night by night, especially after the win- 
 ter snows began to fall, they would sit by the stove 
 in the little observatory, gazing at the stars, making 
 calculations, in which, notwithstanding his dislike of 
 abstract mathematics, Godfrey soon became expert, 
 and setting down the results of what they learned. 
 
 It was in course of these studies that the whole 
 wonder of the universe came home to him for the 
 first time. He looked upon the marvel of the heavens,
 
 MADAME RIENNES 79 
 
 the mighty procession of the planets, the rising and 
 setting of the vast suns that burn beyond them in 
 the depths of space, weighing their bulk and measur- 
 ing their differences, and trembled with mingled joy 
 and awe. Were these the heritage of man? Would 
 he ever visit them in some unknown state and age? 
 Or must they remain eternally far and alien? This 
 is what he longed to learn, and to him astronomy was 
 a gateway to knowledge, if only he could discover 
 how to pass the gate. 
 
 Godfrey had not the true scientific spirit, or a 
 yearning for information, even about the stars, for its 
 own sake. He wanted to ascertain how these affected 
 him and the human race of which he was a member. 
 In short, he sought an answer to the old question: 
 Are we merely the spawn of our little earth, destined 
 to perish, as the earth itself must do one day, or, 
 through whatever changes we must pass, are we as 
 immortal as the universe and the Might that made it, 
 whatever that may be? That was his problem, the 
 same which perplexes every high and thinking soul, 
 and at this impressionable period of his life it scarcely 
 ever left him. There he would sit with brooding eyes 
 and bent brow seeking the answer, but as yet finding 
 none. 
 
 Once Juliette discovered him thus, having come to 
 the observatory to tell him that his dinner had been 
 waiting for half an hour, and for a while watched 
 him unnoted with the little shaded lamp shining on 
 his face. Instantly, in her quick fashion, she chris- 
 tened him, Hibou, and Hibou or Owl, became his 
 nickname in that establishment. Indeed, with his 
 dark eyes and strongly marked features, wrapped in
 
 80 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 a contemplative calm such as the study of stars en- 
 genders, in that gloom he did look something like an 
 owl, however different may have been his appearance 
 on other occasions. 
 
 "What are you thinking of, Monsieur Godfrey?" 
 she asked. 
 
 He came back to earth with a start. 
 
 "The stars and Man," he answered, colouring. 
 
 " Mon Dleul" she exclaimed, "I think man is 
 enough to study without the stars, which we shall 
 never visit." 
 
 " How do you know that, Mademoiselle ? " 
 
 " I know it because we are here and they are there, 
 far, far away. Also we die and they go on for 
 ever." 
 
 "What is space, and what are death and time?" 
 queried Godfrey, with solemnity. 
 
 "Mon Dieu! " said Juliette again. " Come to din- 
 ner, the chicken it grows cold," but to herself she 
 added, " He is an odd bird, this English hibou, but 
 attractive when he is not so grave." 
 
 Meanwhile Godfrey continued to ponder his mighty 
 problem. When he had mastered enough French in 
 which Madame and Juliette proved efficient in- 
 structors, he propounded it to the old Pasteur, who 
 clapped his hand upon a Bible, and said: 
 
 " There is the answer, young friend." 
 
 " I know," replied Godfrey, " but it does not quite 
 satisfy; I feel that I must find that answer for myself." 
 
 Monsieur Boiset removed his blue spectacles and 
 looked at him. 
 
 " Such searches are dangerous," he said. " Believe 
 me, Godfrey, it is better to accept."
 
 MADAME RIENNES 81 
 
 " Then why do you find fault with the Roman 
 Catholics, Monsieur?" 
 
 The question was like a match applied to a hay- 
 stack. At once the Pasteur took fire: 
 
 " Because they accept error, not truth," he began. 
 " What foundation have they for much of their belief? 
 It is not here," and again he slapped the Bible. 
 
 Then followed a long tirade, for the one thing this 
 good and tolerant old man could not endure was the 
 Roman Catholic branch of the Christian Faith. 
 
 Godfrey listened with patience, till at last the 
 Pasteur, having burnt himself out, asked him if he 
 were not convinced. 
 
 " I do not know," he replied. " These quarrels of 
 the Churches and of the different faiths puzzle and 
 tire me. I, too, Monsieur, believe in God and a future 
 life, but I do not think it matters much by what road 
 one travels to them, I mean so long as it is a road." 
 
 The Pasteur looked at him alarmed, and exclaimed : 
 
 " Surely you will not be a fish caught in the net 
 which already I have observed that cunning and 
 plausible cure trying to throw about you! Oh! what 
 then should I answer to your father ? " 
 
 " Do not be frightened, Monsieur. I shall never 
 become a Roman Catholic. But all the same I think 
 the Roman Catholics very good people, and that their 
 faith is as well as another, at any rate for those who 
 believe it." 
 
 Then he made an excuse to slip away, leaving the 
 Pasteur puzzled. 
 
 " He is wrong," he said to himself, " most wrong, 
 but all the same, let it be admitted that the boy has a 
 big mind, and intelligent yes, intelligent."
 
 82 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 It is certain that those who search with sufficient 
 earnestness end in rinding something, though the dis- 
 covered path may run in the wrong direction, or prove 
 impassable, or wind through caverns, or along the edge 
 of precipices, down which sooner or later the traveller 
 falls, or lead at length to some cul-de-sac. The 
 axiom was not varied in Godfrey's case, and the path 
 he found was named Miss Ogilvy. 
 
 On the first Sunday after his arrival at Kleindorf 
 a fine carriage and pair drew up at the shrubbery gate, 
 just as the family were returning from morning serv- 
 ice in the little church where the Pasteur ministered. 
 Madame sighed when she saw it, for she would have 
 loved dearly to possess such an equipage, as indeed, 
 she had done at one period in her career, before an 
 obscure series of circumstances led to her strange 
 union with Monsieur Boiset. 
 
 " What beautiful horses," exclaimed Juliette, her 
 hazel eyes sparkling. " Oh ! that tenth Command- 
 ment, who can keep it ? And why should some people 
 have fine horses and others not even a pony? Ma 
 mere, why were you not able to keep that carriage of 
 which you have spoken to me so often?" 
 
 Madame bit her lip, and with a whispered " hold 
 your tongue," plunged into conversation about Miss 
 Ogilvy. Then Godfrey entered the carriage and was 
 whirled away in style, looking like the prince in a 
 fairy book, as Juliette remarked, while the Pasteur 
 tried to explain to her how much happier she was 
 without the temptation of such earthly vanities. 
 
 Miss Ogilvy's house was a beautiful dwelling of 
 its sort, standing in gardens of its own that ran down 
 to the lake, and commanding fine views of all the
 
 MADAME RIENNES 83 
 
 glorious scenery which surrounds Lucerne. The 
 rooms were large and lofty, with parquet floors, and 
 in some of them were really good pictures that their 
 owner had inherited, also collections of beautiful old 
 French furniture. In short, it was a stately and re- 
 fined abode, such as is sometimes to be found abroad 
 in the possession of Americans or English people of 
 wealth, who for their health's sake or other reasons, 
 make their homes upon the Continent. 
 
 On hearing the carriage arrive, Miss Ogilvy, who 
 was dressed in a simple, but charming grey gown 
 and, as Godfrey noticed at once, wore round her neck 
 the old Gnostic talisman which he had given her, 
 came from a saloon to meet him in the large, square 
 hall. 
 
 " I am glad to see you, Godfrey," she said in her 
 soft, cultivated voice. 
 
 " So am I, Miss Ogilvy," he answered with hearti- 
 ness, " I mean to see you. But," he added, studying 
 her, " you do not look very well." 
 
 She smiled rather pathetically, and said in a quick 
 voice : 
 
 " No, I took a cold on that journey. You see I am 
 rather an invalid, which is why I live here while I 
 do live what they call poitrinaire." 
 
 Godfrey shook his head, the word was beyond him. 
 
 " Anglice consumptive," she explained. " There are 
 lots of us in Switzerland, you know, and on the whole, 
 we are a merry set. It is characteristic of our com- 
 plaint. But never mind about me. There are two 
 or three people here. I daresay you will think them 
 odd, but they are clever in their way, and you ought 
 to have something in common. Come in."
 
 84 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 He followed her into the beautiful cool saloon, with 
 its large, double French windows designed to keep out 
 the bitter winds of winter, but opened now upon the 
 brilliant garden. Never before had he been in so 
 lovely a room, that is of a modern house, and it im- 
 pressed him with sensations that at the moment he 
 did not try to analyse. All he knew was that they 
 were mingled with some spiritual quality, such as once 
 or twice he had felt in ancient churches, something 
 which suggested both the Past and the Future, and a 
 brooding influence that he could not define. Yet the 
 place was all light and charm, gay with flowers and 
 landscape pictures, in short, lacking any sombre note. 
 
 Gathered at its far end where the bow window over- 
 looked the sparkling lake, were three or four people, 
 all elderly. Instantly one of these riveted his atten- 
 tion. She was stout, having her grey hair drawn 
 back from a massive forehead, beneath which shone 
 piercing black eyes. Her rather ungainly figure was 
 clothed in what he thought an ugly green dress, and 
 she wore a necklet of emeralds in an old-fashioned 
 setting, which he also thought ugly but striking. From 
 the moment that he entered the doorway at the far end 
 of that long saloon, he felt those black eyes fixed upon 
 him, and was painfully aware of their owner's pres- 
 ence, so much so, that in a whisper, he asked her 
 name of Miss Ogilvy. 
 
 " Oh ! " she answered, " that is Madame Riennes, 
 the noted mesmerist and medium." 
 
 " Indeed," said Godfrey in a vague voice, for he 
 did not quite understand what was meant by this 
 description. 
 
 Also there was a thin, elderly American gentleman
 
 MADAME RIENNES 8$ 
 
 to whom Godfrey was introduced, named Colonel 
 Josiah Smith, and a big, blond Dane, who talked 
 English with a German accent, called Professor 
 Petersen. All of these studied Godfrey with the most 
 unusual interest as, overwhelmed with shyness, he 
 was led by Miss Ogilvy to make their acquaintance. 
 He felt that their demeanour portended he knew not 
 what, more at any rate than hope of deriving pleasure 
 from his society; in fact, that they expected to get 
 something out of him. Suddenly he recollected a 
 picture that once he had seen in a pious work which 
 he was given to read on Sundays. It represented a 
 missionary being led by the hand by a smiling woman 
 into the presence of some savages in a South Sea 
 island, who were about to cook and eat him. 
 
 In the picture a large pot was already boiling over 
 a fire in the background. Instinctively Godfrey looked 
 for the pot, but saw none, except one of flowers which 
 stood on a little table in a recess, and round it half 
 a dozen chairs, one of them large, with arms. Had 
 he but known it, that chair was the pot. 
 
 No sooner had he made his somewhat awkward bow 
 than luncheon was announced, and they all went into 
 another large and beautiful room, where they were 
 served with a perfect meal. The conversation at table 
 was general, and in English, but presently it drifted 
 into a debate which Godfrey did not understand, on 
 the increase of spirituality among the " initiated " of 
 the earth. 
 
 Colonel Josiah Smith, who appeared to associate 
 with remarkable persons whom he called " Masters," 
 who dwelt in the remote places of the world, alleged 
 that such increase was great, which Professor Peter-
 
 86 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 sen, who dwelt much among German intellectuals, 
 denied. It appeared that these " intellectuals " were 
 busy in turning their backs on every form of spirit- 
 uality. 
 
 " Ah ! " said Miss Ogilvy, with a sigh, " they seek 
 the company of their kindred ' Elementals,' although 
 they do not know it, and soon those Elementals will 
 have the mastery of them and break them to pieces, 
 as the lions did the maligners of Daniel." 
 
 In after years Godfrey always remembered this as 
 a very remarkable prophecy, but at the time, not 
 knowing what an Elemental might be, he only 
 marvelled. 
 
 At length Madame Riennes, who, it seemed, was 
 half French and half Russian, intervened in a slow, 
 heavy voice: 
 
 " What does it matter, friends of my soul ? " she 
 asked. Then having paused to drink off a full glass 
 of sparkling Moselle, she went on : " Soon we shall 
 be where the spirituality, or otherwise, of this little 
 world matters nothing to us. Who will be the first 
 to learn the truths, I wonder?" and she stared in 
 turn at the faces of every one of them, a process 
 which seemed to cause general alarm, bearing, as it 
 did, a strong resemblance to the smelling-out of savage 
 witch-doctors. 
 
 Indeed, they all began to talk of this or that at 
 hazard, but she was not to be put off by such inter- 
 ruptions. Having investigated Godfrey till he felt 
 cold down the back, Madame turned her searchlight 
 eyes upon Miss Ogilvy, who shrank beneath them. 
 Then of a sudden she exclaimed with a kind of con- 
 vulsive shudder:
 
 MADAME RIENNES 87 
 
 " The Power possesses and guides me. It tells me 
 that you will be the first, Sister Helen. I see you 
 among the immortal Lilies with the Wine of Life 
 flowing through your veins." 
 
 On receipt of this information the Wine of Life 
 seemed to cease to flow in poor Miss Ogilvy's face. 
 At any rate, she went deadly pale and rested her hand 
 upon Godfrey's shoulder as if she were about to faint. 
 Recovering a little, she murmured to herself : 
 
 " I thought it ! Well, what does it matter though 
 the gulf is great and terrible? " 
 
 Then with an effort she rose and suggested that 
 they should return to the drawing-room. 
 
 They did so, and were served with Turkish coffee 
 and cigarettes, which Madame Riennes smoked one 
 after the other very rapidly. Presently Miss Ogilvy 
 rang the bell, and when the butler appeared to remove 
 the cups, whispered something in French, at which 
 he bowed and departed. 
 
 Godfrey thought he heard him lock the door behind 
 him, but was not sure.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 EXPERIENCES 
 
 " LET us sit round the table and talk," said Madame 
 Riennes. 
 
 Thereon the whole party moved into the recess 
 where was the flower-pot that has been mentioned, 
 which Miss Ogilvy took away. 
 
 They seated themselves round the little table upon 
 which it had stood. Godfrey, lingering behind, found, 
 whether by design or accident, that the only place left 
 for him was the arm-chair which he hesitated to 
 occupy. 
 
 " Be seated, young Monsieur," said the formidable 
 Madame in bell-like tones, whereon he collapsed into 
 the chair. " Sister Helen," she went on, " draw the 
 curtain, it is more private so; yes, and the blind that 
 there may be no unholy glare." 
 
 Miss Ogilvy, who seemed to be entirely under 
 Madame's thumb, obeyed. Now to all intents and 
 purposes they were in a tiny, shadowed room cut off 
 from the main apartment. 
 
 " Take that talisman from your neck and give it to 
 young Monsieur Knight," commanded Madame. 
 
 " But I gave it to her, and do not want it back," 
 ventured Godfrey, who was growing alarmed. 
 
 " Do what I say," she said sternly, and he found 
 himself holding the relic. 
 
 " Now, young Monsieur, look me in the eyes a 
 
 88
 
 EXPERIENCES 89 
 
 little and listen. I request of you that holding that 
 black, engraved stone in your hand, you will be so 
 good as to throw your soul, do your understand, your 
 soul, back, back, back and tell us where it come from, 
 who have it, what part it play in their life, and every- 
 thing about it." 
 
 "How am I to know?" asked Godfrey, with 
 indignation. 
 
 Then suddenly everything before him faded, and 
 he saw himself standing in a desert by a lump of 
 black rock, at which a brown man clad only in a waist 
 cloth and a kind of peaked straw hat, was striking 
 with an instrument that seemed to be half chisel and 
 half hammer, fashioned apparently from bronze, or 
 perhaps of greenish-coloured flint. Presently the 
 brown man, who had a squint in one eye and a hurt 
 toe that was bound round with something, picked up 
 a piece of the black rock that he had knocked off, 
 and surveyed it with evident satisfaction. Then the 
 scene vanished. 
 
 Godfrey told it with interest to the audience who 
 were apparently also interested. 
 
 " The finding of the stone," said Madame. " Con- 
 tinue, young Monsieur." 
 
 Another vision rose before Godfrey's mind. He 
 beheld a low room having a kind of verandah, roofed 
 with reeds, and beyond it a little courtyard enclosed 
 by a wall of grey-coloured mud bricks, out of some 
 of which stuck pieces of straw. This courtyard 
 opened onto a narrow street where many oddly-clothed 
 people walked up and down, some of whom wore 
 peaked caps. A little man, old and grey, sat with 
 the fragment of black rock on a low table before him,
 
 9 o LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 which Godfrey knew to be the same stone that he had 
 already seen. By him lay graving tools, and he was 
 engaged in polishing the stone, now covered with 
 figures and writing, by help of a stick, a piece of 
 rough cloth and oil. A young man with a curly beard 
 walked into the little courtyard, and to him the old 
 fellow delivered the engraved stone with obeisances, 
 receiving payment in some curious currency. 
 
 Then followed picture upon picture in all of which 
 this talisman appeared in the hands of sundry of its 
 owners. Some of these pictures had to do with love, 
 some with religious ceremonies, and some with war. 
 One, too, with its sale, perhaps in a time of siege or 
 scarcity, for a small loaf of black-looking bread, by 
 an aged woman who wept at parting with it. 
 
 After this he saw an Arab-looking man rinding the 
 stone amongst the crumbling remains of a brick wall 
 that showed signs of having been burnt, which wall 
 he was knocking down with a pick-axe to allow water 
 to flow down an irrigation channel on to his garden. 
 Presently a person who wore a turban and was girt 
 about with a large scimitar, rode by, and to him the 
 man showed, and finally presented the stone, which 
 the Saracen placed in the folds of his turban. 
 
 The next scene was of this man engaged in battle 
 with a knight clad in mail. The battle was a very 
 fine one, which Godfrey described with much gusto. 
 It ended in the knight killing the Eastern man and 
 hacking off his head with a sword. This violent pro- 
 ceeding disarranged the turban out of which fell the 
 black stone. The knight picked it up and hid it about 
 him. Next Godfrey saw this same knight, grown 
 into an old man and being borne on a bier to burial,
 
 EXPERIENCES 91 
 
 clad in the same armour that he had worn in the battle. 
 Upon his breast hung the black stone which had now 
 a hole bored through the top of it. 
 
 Lastly there came a picture of the old sexton finding 
 the talisman among the bones of the knight, and giving 
 it to himself, Godfrey, then a small boy, after which 
 everything passed away. 
 
 " I guess that either our young friend here has got 
 the vision, or that he will make a first-class novelist," 
 said Colonel Josiah Smith. " Any way, if you care 
 to part with that talisman, Miss Ogilvy, I will be glad 
 to give you five hundred dollars for it on the chance 
 of his integrity." 
 
 She smiled and shook her head, stretching out her 
 hand to recover the Gnostic charm. 
 
 " Be silent, Brother Josiah Smith," exclaimed 
 Madame Riennes, angrily. "If this were imposture, 
 should I not have discovered it? It is good vision 
 psychometry is the right term though of a humbler 
 order such as might be expected from a beginner. 
 Still, there is hope, there is hope. Let us see, now. 
 Young gentleman, be so good as to look me in the 
 eye." 
 
 Much against his will Godfrey found himself bound 
 to obey, and looked her " in the eye." A few mo- 
 ments later he felt dizzy, and after that he remembered 
 no more. 
 
 When Godfrey awoke again the curtain was drawn, 
 the blinds were pulled up and the butler was bringing 
 in tea. Miss Ogilvy sat by his side, looking at him 
 rather anxiously, while the others were conversing 
 together in a somewhat excited fashion. 
 
 " It is splendid, splendid ! " Madame was saying.
 
 92 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 "We have discovered a pearl beyond price, a great 
 treasure. Hush! he awakes." 
 
 Godfrey, who experienced a curious feeling of ex- 
 haustion and of emptiness of brain, ylawned and 
 apologized for having fallen asleep, whereon the 
 professor and the colonel both assured him that it was 
 quite natural on so warm a day. Only Madame 
 Riennes smiled like a sphinx, and asked him if his 
 dreams were pleasant. To this he replied that he 
 remembered none. 
 
 Miss Ogilvy, however, who looked rather anxious 
 and guilty, did not speak at all, but busied herself with 
 the tea which Godfrey thought very strong when he 
 drank it. However, it refreshed him wonderfully, 
 which, as it contained some invigorating essence, was 
 not strange. So did the walk in the beautiful garden 
 which he took afterwards, just before the carriage 
 came to drive him back to Kleindorf. 
 
 Re-entering the drawing-room to say goodbye, he 
 found the party engaged listening to the contents of a 
 number of sheets of paper closely written in pencil, 
 which were being read to them by Colonel Josiah 
 Smith, who made corrections from time to time. 
 
 " Au revoir, my young brother," said Madame 
 Riennes, making some mysterious sign before she took 
 his hand in her fat, cold fingers, " you will come again 
 next Sunday, will you not ? " 
 
 " I don't know," he answered awkwardly, for he 
 felt afraid of this lady, and did not wish to see her 
 next Sunday. 
 
 " Oh ! but I do, young brother. You will come, 
 because it gives me so much pleasure to see you," she 
 replied, staring at him with her strange eyes.
 
 EXPERIENCES 93 
 
 Then Godfrey knew that he would come because he 
 must. 
 
 " Why does that lady call me ' young brother ' ? " 
 he asked Miss Ogilvy, who accompanied him to the 
 hall. 
 
 " Oh ! because it is a way she has. You may have 
 noticed that she called me ' sister'." 
 
 " I don't think that I shall call her sister," he re- 
 marked with decision. " She is too alarming." 
 
 " Not really when you come to know her, for she 
 has the kindest heart and is wonderfully gifted." 
 
 " Gifts which make people tell others that they are 
 going to die are not pleasant, Miss Ogilvy." 
 
 She shivered a little. 
 
 "If her spirit I mean the truth comes to her, she 
 must speak it, I suppose. By the way, Godfrey, don't 
 say anything about this talisman and the story you told 
 of it, at Kleindorf, or in writing home." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " Oh ! because people like your dear old Pasteur, and 
 clergymen generally, are so apt to misunderstand. 
 They think that there is only one way of learning 
 things beyond, and that every other must be wrong. 
 Also I am sure that your friend, Isobel Blake, would 
 laugh at you." 
 
 " I don't write to Isobel," he exclaimed setting his 
 lips. 
 
 " But you may later," she said smiling. " At any 
 rate you will promise, won't you?" 
 
 " Yes, if you wish it, Miss Ogilvy, though I can't 
 see what it matters. That kind of nonsense often 
 comes into my head when I touch old things. Isobel 
 says that it is because I have too much imagination."
 
 94 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " Imagination ! Ah ! what is imagination ? Well, 
 goodbye, Godfrey, the carriage will come for you at 
 the same time next Sunday. Perhaps, too, I shall 
 see you before then, as I am going to call upon 
 Madame Boiset." 
 
 Then he went, feeling rather uncomfortable, and yet 
 interested, though what it was that interested him he 
 did not quite know. That night he dreamed that 
 Madame Riennes stood by his bed watching him with 
 her burning eyes. It was an unpleasant dream. 
 
 He kept his word. When the Boiset family, es- 
 pecially Madame, cross-examined him as to the de- 
 tails of his visit to Miss Ogilvy, he merely described 
 the splendours of that opulent establishment and the 
 intellectual character of its guests. Of their mystic 
 attributes he said nothing at all, only adding that Miss 
 Ogilvy proposed to do herself the honour of calling 
 at the Maison Blanche, as the Boisets' house was 
 called. 
 
 Madame was distinctly pleased. She had reasons of 
 her own for wishing to be recognized, and because of 
 her wealth and many benefactions, Miss Ogilvy had a 
 wide local reputation. Still, being a shrewd woman, 
 she was well aware that she owed this honour, for so 
 she considered it, to Godfrey, which caused her ap- 
 preciation of him to increase. 
 
 About the middle of the week Miss Ogilvy arrived 
 and, as Madame had taken care to be at home in ex- 
 pectation of her visit, was entertained to tea. After- 
 wards she visited the observatory, which interested 
 her much, and had a long talk with the curious old 
 Pasteur, who also interested her in his way, for as she 
 afterwards remarked to Godfrey, one does not often
 
 EXPERIENCES 95 
 
 meet an embodiment of human goodness and charity. 
 When he replied that the latter quality was lacking 
 to the Pasteur where Roman Catholics were concerned, 
 she only smiled and said that every jewel had its flaw; 
 nothing was quite perfect in the world. 
 
 In the end she asked Madame and Juliette to come 
 to lunch with her, leaving out Godfrey, because, as she 
 said, she knew that he would be engaged at his studies 
 with the Pasteur. She explained also that she did not 
 ask them to come with him on Sunday because they 
 would be taken up with their religious duties, a re- 
 mark at which Juliette made what the French call a 
 " mouth," and Madame smiled faintly. 
 
 In due course she and her daughter went to lunch 
 and returned delighted, having found themselves fel- 
 low-guests of some of the most notable people in Lu- 
 cerne, though not those whom Miss Ogilvy entertained 
 on Sundays. Needless to say from that time forward 
 Godfrey's intimacy with this charming and wealthy 
 hostess was in every way encouraged by the Boiset 
 family. 
 
 The course of this intimacy does not need any very 
 long description. Every Sunday after church the well- 
 appointed carriage and pair appeared and bore Godfrey 
 away to luncheon at the Villa Ogilvy. Here he always 
 met Madame Riennes, Colonel Josiah Smith, and Pro- 
 fessor Petersen; also occasionally one or two others 
 with whom these seemed to be sufficiently intimate to 
 admit of their addressing them as " Brother " or " Sis- 
 ter." 
 
 Soon Godfrey came to understand that they were all 
 members of some kind of semi-secret society, though 
 what this might be he could not quite ascertain. All
 
 96 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 he made sure of was that it had to do with matters 
 which were not of this world. Nothing concerning 
 mundane affairs, however important or interesting, 
 seemed to appeal to them; all their conversation was 
 directed towards what might be called spiritual prob- 
 lems, reincarnations, Karmas (it took him a long 
 time to understand what a Karma is), astral shapes, 
 mediumship, telepathic influences, celestial guides, and 
 the rest. 
 
 At first this talk with its jargon of words which he 
 did not comprehend, bored him considerably, but by 
 degrees he felt that he was being drawn into a vortex, 
 and began to understand its drift. Even while it was 
 enigmatic it acquired a kind of unholy attraction for 
 him, and he began to seek out its secret meaning in 
 which he found that company ready instructors. 
 
 " Young brother," said Madame Riennes, " we deal 
 with the things not of the body, but of the soul. The 
 body, what is it? In a few years it will be dust and 
 ashes, but the soul it is eternal and all those stars 
 you study are its inheritance, and you and I, if we 
 cultivate our spiritual parts, shall rule in them." 
 
 Then she would roll her big eyes and become in a 
 way magnificent, so that Godfrey forgot her ugliness 
 and the repulsion with which she inspired him. 
 
 In the end his outlook on life and the world became 
 different, and this not so much because of what he 
 learned from his esoteric teachers, as through some 
 change in his internal self. He grew to appreciate the 
 vastness of things and the infinite possibilities of exist- 
 ence. Indeed, his spiritual education was a fitting 
 pendant to his physical study of the heavens, peopled 
 with unnumbered worlds, each of them the home,
 
 EXPERIENCES 97 
 
 doubtless, of an infinite variety of life, and each of 
 them keeping its awful secrets locked in its floating 
 orb. He trembled in presence of the stupendous 
 Whole, of which thus by degrees he became aware, 
 and though it frightened him, thought with pity of the 
 busy millions of mankind to whom such mysteries are 
 nothing at all; who are lost in their business or idle- 
 ness, in their eating, drinking, sleeping, love-making, 
 and general satisfaction of the instincts which they 
 possess in common with every other animal. The 
 yearning for wisdom, the desire to know, entered his 
 young heart and possessed it, as once these did that 
 of Solomon, to such a degree indeed, that standing on 
 the threshold of his days, he would have paid them 
 all away, and with them his share in this warm and 
 breathing world, could he have been assured that in 
 exchange he would receive the key of the treasure- 
 house of the Infinite. 
 
 Such an attitude was neither healthy nor natural to 
 a normal, vigorous lad just entering upon manhood, 
 and, as will be seen, it did not endure. Like 
 everything else, it had its causes. His astronom- 
 ical studies were one of these, but a deeper reason 
 was to be found in those Sunday seances at the Villa 
 Ogilvy. For a long while Godfrey did not know what 
 happened to him on these occasions. The party sat 
 round the little table, talking of wonderful things; 
 Madame Riennes looked at him and sometimes took 
 his hand, which he did not like, and then he remem- 
 bered no more until he woke up, feeling tired, and yet 
 in a way exhilarated, for with the mysteries of hyp- 
 notic sleep he was not yet acquainted. Nor did it oc- 
 cur to him that he was being used as a medium by
 
 98 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 certain of the most advanced spiritualists in the 
 world. 
 
 By degrees, however, inklings of the truth began to 
 come. Thus, one day his consciousness awoke while 
 his body seemed still to be wrapt in trance, and he saw 
 that there was a person present who had not been of 
 the party when he went to sleep. A young woman, 
 clad in a white robe, with lovely hair flowing down her 
 back, stood by his side and held his supine fingers in 
 her hand. 
 
 She was beautiful, and yet unearthly, she wore orna- 
 ments also, but as he watched, to his amazement these 
 seemed to change. What had been a fillet of white 
 stones, like diamonds, which bound her hair, turned to 
 one of red stones, like rubies, and as it did so the 
 colour of her eyes, which were large and very tranquil, 
 altered. 
 
 She was speaking in a low, rich voice to Miss Ogilvy, 
 who answered, addressing her as Sister Eleanor, but 
 what she said Godfrey could not understand. Some- 
 thing of his inner shock and fear must have reflected 
 itself upon his trance-bound features, for suddenly he 
 heard Madame Riennes exclaim: 
 
 " Have done ! the medium wakes, and I tell you it 
 is dangerous while our Guide is here. Back to his 
 breast, Eleanor ! Thence to your place ! " 
 
 The tall figure changed ; it became misty, shapeless. 
 It seemed to fall on him like a cloud of icy vapour, 
 chilling him to the heart, and through that vapour he 
 could see the ormolu clock which stood on a bracket in 
 the recess, and even note the time, which was thirteen 
 minutes past four. After this he became unconscious, 
 and in due course woke up as usual. The first thing
 
 EXPERIENCES 99 
 
 his eyes fell on was the clock, of which the hands 
 now pointed to a quarter to five, and the sight of it 
 brought everything back to him. Then he observed 
 that all the circle seemed much agitated, and distinctly 
 heard Madame Riennes say to Professor Petersen in 
 English : 
 
 " The thing was very near. Had it not been for that 
 
 medicine of yours ! It was because that speerit 
 
 do take his hand. She grow fond of him; it happen 
 sometimes if the medium be of the other sex and at- 
 tractive. She want to carry him away with her, that 
 Control, and I expect she never quite leave him all his 
 life, because, you see, she materialize out of him, and 
 therefore belong to him. Next time she come, I give 
 her my mind. Hush! Our wonderful little brother 
 wake up quite right this time." 
 
 Then Godfrey really opened his eyes; hitherto he 
 had been feigning to be still in trance, but thought it 
 wisest to say nothing. At this moment Miss Ogilvy 
 turned very pale and went into a kind of light faint. 
 
 The Professor produced some kind of smelling- 
 bottle from his pocket, which he held to her nostrils. 
 She came to at once, and began to laugh at her own 
 silliness, but begged them all to go away and leave 
 her quiet, which they did. Godfrey was going too, 
 but she stopped him, saying that the carriage would 
 not be ready till after tea, and that it was too wet for 
 him to walk in the garden, for now autumn had come 
 in earnest. The tea arrived, a substantial tea, with 
 poached eggs, of which she made him eat two, as she 
 did always after these sittings. Then suddenly she 
 asked him if he had seen anything. He told her all, 
 adding :
 
 ioo LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " I am frightened. I do not like this business, Miss 
 Ogilvy. Who and what was that lady in white, who 
 stood by me and held my hand? My fingers are 
 still tingling, and a cold wind seems to blow upon 
 me." 
 
 " It was a spirit, Godfrey, but there is no need to be 
 afraid, she will not do you any harm." 
 
 " I don't know, and I don't think that you have 
 any right to bring spirits to me, or out of me, as I 
 heard that dreadful Madame say had happened. It is 
 a great liberty." 
 
 " Oh ! don't be angry with me," she said piteously. 
 " If only you understood You are a wonderful 
 medium, the most wonderful that any of us has ever 
 known, and through you we have learned things ; holy, 
 marvellous things, which till now have not been heard 
 of in the world. Your fame is already great among 
 leading spiritualists of the earth, though of course they 
 do not know who you are." 
 
 " That does not better matters," said Godfrey, " you 
 know it is not right." 
 
 " Perhaps not, but my dear boy, if only you guessed 
 all it means to me! Listen; I will tell you; you will 
 not betray me, will you? Once I was very fond of 
 someone; he was all my life, and he died, and my 
 heart broke. I only hope and pray that such a thing 
 may never happen to you. Well, from that hour to 
 this I have been trying to find him and failed, always 
 
 failed, though once or twice I thought . And now 
 
 through you I have found him. Yes, he has spoken 
 to me telling me much which proves to me that he 
 still lives elsewhere and awaits me. And oh! I am 
 happy, and do not care how soon I go to join him.
 
 EXPERIENCES 101 
 
 And it is all through you. So you will forgive me, 
 will you not? " 
 
 " Yes, I suppose so," said Godfrey, " but all the 
 same I don't want to have anything more to do with 
 that white lady who is called Eleanor and changes 
 her jewels so often; especially as Madame said she 
 was growing fond of me and would never, leave 
 me. So please don't ask me here again on Sun- 
 days." 
 
 Miss Ogilvy tried to soothe him. 
 
 " You shouldn't be frightened of her," she said. 
 " She is really a delightful spirit, and declares that she 
 knew you very intimately indeed, when you were an 
 early Egyptian, also much before that on the lost con- 
 tinent, which is called Atlantis, to say nothing of deep 
 friendships which have existed between you in other 
 planets." 
 
 " I say ! " exclaimed Godfrey, " do you believe all 
 this?" 
 
 " Well, if you ask me, I must say that I do. I am 
 sure that we have all of us lived many lives, here and 
 elsewhere, and if this is so, it is obvious that in the 
 course of them we must have met an enormous number 
 of people, with certain of whom we have been closely 
 associated in the various relationships of life. Some 
 of these, no doubt, come round with us again, but 
 others do not, though we can get into touch with them 
 under exceptional circumstances. That is your case 
 and Eleanor's. At present you are upon different 
 spheres, but in the future, no doubt, you will find 
 yourselves side by side again, as you have often been, 
 in due course to be driven apart once more by the 
 winds of Destiny, and perhaps, after ages, finally to
 
 102 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 be united. Meanwhile she plays the part of one of 
 your guardian angels." 
 
 " Then I wish she wouldn't," said Godfrey, with 
 vigour. " I don't care for a guardian angel of whom I 
 have no memory, and who seems to fall on you like 
 snow upon a hot day. If anybody does that kind of 
 thing I should prefer a living woman." 
 
 " Which doubtless she has been, and will be again. 
 For you see, where she is, she has memory and fore- 
 knowledge, which are lacking to the incarnated. 
 Meanwhile, through you, and because of you, she can 
 tell us much. You are the wire which connects us to 
 her in the Unseen." 
 
 " Then I hope you will find another wire ; I really 
 do, for it upsets me and makes me feel ill. I know 
 that I shall be afraid to go to bed to-night, and even 
 for you, Miss Ogilvy, I won't come next Sunday." 
 
 Then, as the carriage was now at the door, he 
 jumped into it and departed without waiting for an 
 answer. 
 
 Moreover, on the next Sunday, when, as usual, it 
 arrived to fetch him at Kleindorf, Godfrey kept his 
 word, so that it went back empty. By the coachman 
 he sent an awkwardly worded note to Miss Ogilvy, 
 saying that he was suffering from toothache which 
 had prevented him from sleeping for several nights, 
 and was not well enough to come out. 
 
 This note she answered by post, telling him that she 
 had been disappointed not to see him as she was also 
 ill. She added that she would send the carriage on 
 the following Sunday on the chance of his toothache 
 being better, but that if it was not, she would under- 
 stand and trouble him no more.
 
 EXPERIENCES 103 
 
 During all that week Godfrey fought with himself. 
 He did not wish to have anything more to do with the 
 white and ghostly Eleanor, who changed her gems so 
 constantly, and said that she had known him millen- 
 niums ago. Indeed, he felt already as though she 
 were much too near him, especially at night, when he 
 seemed to become aware of her bending over his bed, 
 and generally making her presence known in other un- 
 comfortable ways that caused his hair to stand up and 
 frightened him. 
 
 At the same time he was really fond of Miss Ogilvy, 
 and what she said about being ill touched him. Also 
 there was something that drew him; it might be 
 Eleanor, or it might be Madame Riennes. At any 
 rate he felt a great longing to go. Putting everything 
 else aside, these investigations had their delights. 
 What other young fellow of his age could boast an 
 Eleanor, who said she had been fond of him tens of 
 thousands of years before ? 
 
 Moreover, here was one of the gates to that knowl- 
 edge which he desired so earnestly, and how could he 
 find the strength to shut it in his own face? 
 
 Of course the end of the matter was that by the 
 following Sunday, his toothache had departed, and the 
 carriage did not return empty to the Villa Ogilvy. 
 
 He found his hostess looking white and ethereal, an 
 appearance that she had acquired increasingly ever 
 since their first meeting. Her delight at seeing him 
 was obvious, as was that of the others. For this he 
 soon discovered the reason. It appeared that the sit- 
 ting on the previous Sunday, when he was overcome 
 by toothache, had been an almost total failure. Profes- 
 sor Petersen had tried to fill his place as medium,
 
 io 4 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 with the result that when he fell under the influence, 
 the only spirit that spoke through his lips was one 
 which discoursed interminably about lager beer and 
 liqueurs of some celestial brew, which, as Madame 
 Riennes, a lady not given to mince her words, told 
 him to his face afterwards, was because he drank too 
 much. Hence the joy of these enthusiasts at the 
 re-appearance of Godfrey. 
 
 With considerable reluctance that youth consented to 
 play his usual role, and to be put into a charmed sleep 
 by Madame. This time he saw no Eleanor, and knew 
 nothing of what happened until he awoke to be greeted 
 by the horrific spectacle of Miss Ogilvy lying back in 
 her chair bathed in blood. General confusion reigned 
 in the midst of which Madame Riennes alone was 
 calm. 
 
 " It is haemorrhage from the lungs," she said, 
 " which is common among poitrinaires. Brother Pet- 
 ersen, do what you can, and you, Brother Smith, fly 
 for Mademoiselle's doctor, and if he is not at home, 
 bring another." 
 
 Later Godfrey heard what had chanced. It seemed 
 that the wraith, or emanation, or the sprite, good or 
 evil, or whatever it may have been, which called itself 
 Eleanor, materialized in a very ugly temper. It com- 
 plained that it had not been allowed to appear upon the 
 previous Sunday and had been kept away from its 
 brother, i.e., Godfrey. Then it proceeded to threaten 
 all the circle, except Godfrey, who was the real culprit, 
 with divers misfortunes, especially directing its wrath 
 against Miss Ogilvy. 
 
 " You will die soon," it said, " and in the spirit 
 world I will pay you back." Thrice it repeated this:
 
 EXPERIENCES 105 
 
 " You will die," to which Miss Ogilvy answered with 
 calm dignity: 
 
 " I am not afraid to die, nor am I at all afraid of 
 you, Eleanor, who, as I now see, are not good but 
 evil." 
 
 While she spoke a torrent of blood burst from her 
 lips, Eleanor disappeared, and almost immediately 
 Godfrey awoke. 
 
 In due course the doctor came and announced that 
 the haemorrhage had ceased, and that the patient was 
 in no imminent danger. As to the future, he could 
 say nothing, except that having been Miss Ogilvy's 
 medical attendant for some years, he had expected 
 something of this sort to happen, and known that 
 her life could not be very long. 
 
 Then Godfrey went home very terrified and chast- 
 ened, blaming himself also for this dreadful event, 
 although in truth no one could have been more inno- 
 cent. He had grown very fond of Miss Ogilvy, and 
 shuddered to think that she must soon leave the world 
 to seek a dim Unknown, where there were bad spirits 
 as well as good. 
 
 He shuddered, too, at the thought of this Eleanor, 
 who made use of him to appear in human form, and 
 on his knees prayed God to protect him from her. 
 This indeed happened, if she had any real existence 
 and was not some mere creation of the brain of 
 Madame Riennes, made visible by the working of laws 
 whereof we have no knowledge. Never again, during 
 all his life, did he actually see any more of Eleanor, 
 and the probability is that he never will, either here 
 or elsewhere. 
 
 Three days later Godfrey received a letter from
 
 io6 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 the doctor, saying that Miss Ogilvy wished to see him, 
 and that he recommended him not to delay his visit. 
 Having obtained the permission of the Pasteur, he 
 went in at once by the diligence, and on arrival at the 
 villa, where evidently he was expected, was shown up 
 to a bedroom which commanded a beautiful view of 
 the lake and Mount Pilatus. Here a nurse met him 
 and told him that he must not stay long; a quarter of 
 an hour at the outside. He asked how Mademoiselle 
 was, whereon she answered with an expressive shrug : 
 
 " Soon she will be further from the earth than the 
 top of that mountain." 
 
 Then she took him to another smaller room, and 
 there upon the bed, looking whiter than the sheets, 
 lay his friend. She smiled very sweetly when she 
 caught sight of him. 
 
 " Dear Godfrey," she said, " it is kind of you to 
 come. I wanted to see you very much, for three rea- 
 sons. First, I wish to beg your pardon for having 
 drawn you into this spiritualism without your knowing 
 that I was doing so. I have told you what my motive 
 was, and therefore I will not repeat it, as my strength 
 is small. Secondly, I wish you to promise me that you 
 will never go to another seance, since now I am sure 
 that it is dangerous for the young. To me spiritual- 
 ism has brought much good and joy, but with others 
 it may be different, especially as among spirits, as on 
 the earth, there are evil beings. Do you promise ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes," answered Godfrey, " only I am afraid 
 of Madame Riennes." 
 
 " You must stand up against her if she troubles you, 
 and seek the help of religion; if necessary consult your 
 old Pasteur, for he is a good man. There is no dan-
 
 EXPERIENCES 107 
 
 ger in the world that cannot be escaped if only one is 
 bold enough, or so I think, though, alas! myself I 
 have lacked courage," she added with a gentle sigh. 
 
 " Now, dear boy," she went on after pausing to 
 recover strength, " I have a third thing to say to you. 
 I have left you some money, as I know that you will 
 have little. It is not very much, but enough, allowing 
 for accidents and the lessening of capital values, to 
 give you 260 a year clear. I might have given you 
 more, but did not, for two reasons. The first is, that 
 I have observed that young men who have what is 
 called a competence, say 500 or 600 a year, very 
 often are content to try to live on it, and to do nothing 
 for themselves, so that in the end it becomes, not a 
 blessing, but a curse. The second is, that to do so I 
 should be obliged to take away from certain charities 
 and institutions which I wish to benefit. That is all I 
 have to say about money. Oh ! no, there is one more 
 thing. I have also left you the talisman you gave me, 
 and with it this house and grounds. Perhaps one day 
 you might like to live here. I have a sort of feeling 
 that it will be useful to you at some great crisis of your 
 fate, and at least it will remind you of me, who have 
 loved and tried to beautify the place. In any case it 
 will always let, and if it becomes a white elephant, you 
 can sell it and the furniture, which is worth some- 
 thing." 
 
 Godfrey began to stammer his thanks, but she cut 
 him short with a wave of her hand, murmuring: 
 
 " Don't let us waste more time on such things, for 
 soon you must go away. Already I see that nurse 
 looking at me from the doorway of the other room, 
 and I have something more to say to you. You will
 
 io8 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 come to think that all this spiritualism, as it is called, 
 is nothing but a dangerous folly. Well, it is danger- 
 ous, like climbing the Alps, but one gets a great view 
 from the top. And, oh! from there how small men 
 look and how near are the heavens. I mean, my dear 
 boy, that although I have asked you to abjure seances 
 and so forth, I do pray of you to cultivate the spiritual. 
 The physical, of course, is always with us, for that is 
 Nature's law, without which it could not continue. 
 But around and beyond it broods the spirit, as once it 
 did upon the face of the waters, encircling all things; 
 the beginning of all things, and the end. Only, as 
 wine cannot be poured into a covered cup, so the spirit 
 cannot flow into a world-sealed heart, and what is the 
 cup without the wine? Open your heart, Godfrey, and 
 receive the spirit, so that when the mortal perishes the 
 immortal may remain and everlastingly increase. For 
 you .know, if we choose death we shall die, and if we 
 choose life we shall live; we, and all that is dear to 
 us." 
 
 Miss Ogilvy paused a little to get her breath, then 
 went on : "Now, my boy, kiss me and go. But first 
 one word more. I have taken a strange affection for 
 you, perhaps because we were associated in other exist- 
 ences, I do not know. Well, I want to say that from 
 the land whither I am about to be borne, it shall be 
 my great endeavour, if it is so allowed, to watch over 
 you, to help you if there be need, and in the end to be 
 among the first to greet you there, you, or any whom 
 you may love in this journey of yours through life. 
 Look, the sun is sinking. Now, goodbye till the 
 dawn." 
 
 He bent down and kissed her and she kissed him
 
 EXPERIENCES 109 
 
 back, throwing her thin and feeble arm about his neck, 
 after which the nurse came and hurried him away 
 weeping. At the door he turned back and saw her 
 smile at him, and, oh ! on her wasted face were peace 
 and beauty. 
 
 Next day she died. 
 
 Forty-eight hours later Godfrey attended her 
 funeral, to which the Pasteur Boiset was also bidden, 
 and after it was over they were both summoned to the 
 office of a notary where her will was read. She was a 
 rich woman, who left behind her property to the value 
 of quite 100,000, most of it in England. Indeed, this 
 Swiss notary was only concerned with her possessions 
 in Lucerne, namely the Villa Ogilvy, its grounds and 
 furniture, and certain moneys that she had in local 
 securities or at the bank. The house, its appurtenances 
 and contents, were left absolutely to Godfrey, the 
 Pasteur Boiset being appointed trustee of the property 
 until the heir came of age, with a legacy of 200, and 
 an annual allowance of 100 for his trouble. 
 
 Moreover, with tender care, except for certain be- 
 quests to servants, the testatrix devoted all her Swiss 
 moneys to be applied to the upkeep of the place, with 
 the proviso that if it were sold these capital sums 
 should revert to her other heirs in certain proportions. 
 The total of such moneys as would pass with the prop- 
 erty, was estimated by the notary to amount to about 
 4,000 sterling, after the payment of all State charges 
 and legal expenses. The value of the property itself, 
 with the fine old French furniture and pictures which 
 it contained, was also considerable, but unascertained. 
 For the rest it would appear that Godfrey inherited
 
 i io LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 about 12,000 in England, together with a possible 
 further sum of which the amount was not known, as 
 residuary legatee. This bequest was vested in the 
 English trustees of the testatrix who were instructed 
 to apply the interest for his benefit until he reached the 
 age of twenty-five, after which the capital was to be 
 handed over to him absolutely. 
 
 Godfrey, whose knowledge of the French tongue was 
 still limited, and who was overcome with grief more- 
 over after the sad scene through which he had just 
 passed, listened to all these details with bewilderment. 
 He was not even elated when the grave notary shook 
 his hand and congratulated him with the respect that 
 is accorded to an heir, at the same time expressing a 
 hope that he would be allowed to remain his legal rep- 
 resentative in Switzerland. Indeed, the lad only mut- 
 tered something and slipped away behind the servants 
 whose sorrow was distracted by the exercise of mental 
 arithmetic as to the amount of their legacies. 
 
 After his first stupefaction, however, the Pasteur 
 could not conceal his innocent joy. A legacy of 200, 
 a trusteeship " of the most important " as he called it, 
 and an allowance of 100 for years to come, were to 
 him wonderful wealth and honour. 
 
 " Truly, dear young friend," he said to Godfrey, as 
 they left the office, " it was a fortunate hour for me, 
 and for you also, when you entered my humble house. 
 Now I am not only your instructor, but the guardian 
 of your magnificent Lucerne property. I assure you 
 that I will care for it well. To-morrow I will inter- 
 view those domestics and dismiss at leasf half of them, 
 for there are far too many."
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 MR. KNIGHT AND DUTY 
 
 THE pair returned to Kleindorf by the evening dili- 
 gence, and among the passengers was that same priest 
 who had been their companion on the day of Godfrey's 
 arrival. As usual he was prepared to be bellicose, and 
 figuratively, trailed the tails of his coat before his an- 
 cient enemy. But the Pasteur would not tread on 
 them. Indeed, so mild and conciliatory were his an- 
 swers that at last the priest, who was a good soul at 
 bottom, grew anxious and inquired if he were ill. 
 
 " No, no," said a voice from the recesses of the 
 dark coach, " Monsieur le Pasteur has come into 
 money. Oh, I have heard ! " 
 
 " Is it so? Now I understand," remarked the priest 
 with a sniff, " I feared that he had lost his health." 
 
 Then they arrived at Kleindorf, and the conversa- 
 tion ended with mutual bows. 
 
 Great was the excitement of Madame and Juliette at 
 the news which they brought with them. To their ears 
 Godfrey's inheritance sounded a tale of untold wealth, 
 nearly 300,000 francs ! Why, they did not know any- 
 one in the neighbourhood of Kleindorf who owned so 
 much. And then that fine house, with its gardens 
 and lovely furniture, which was the talk of Lucerne. 
 And the Pasteur with his 5,000 francs clear to be paid 
 immediately, plus an income of 2,500 for the next eight 
 
 in
 
 112 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 years. Here were riches indeed. It was wonderful, 
 and all after an acquaintance of only a few months. 
 They looked at Godfrey with admiration. Truly he 
 must be a remarkable youth who was thus able to at- 
 tract the love of the wealthy. 
 
 An idea occurred to Madame. Why should he not 
 marry Juliette? She was vivacious and pretty, fit in 
 every way to become a great lady, even perhaps to 
 adorn the lovely Villa Ogilvy in future years. She 
 would have a word with Juliette, and show her where 
 fortune lay. If the girl had any wit it should be as 
 good as assured, for with her opportunities 
 
 And so, doubtless, it might have chanced had it not 
 been for a certain determined and unconventional 
 young woman far away in England, of whom the per- 
 sistent memory, however much he might flirt, quite 
 prevented Godfrey from falling in love, as otherwise 
 he ought to, and indeed, probably must have done at 
 his age and in his circumstances. 
 
 Perhaps Miss Juliette, who although young was no 
 fool, also had ideas upon the subject, at any rate at 
 this time, especially as she had found I'Hibou always 
 attractive, notwithstanding his star-gazing ways, and 
 the shower of wealth that had descended on him as 
 though direct from the Bon Dieu, did not lessen his 
 charms. If so, who could blame her? When one has 
 been obliged always to look at both sides of a sou and 
 really pretty frocks, such as ladies wear, are almost 
 as unobtainable as Godfrey's stars, money becomes 
 important, especially to a girl with an instinct for dress 
 and a love of life. 
 
 Thenceforward, at least, as may be imagined, 
 Monsieur Godfrey became a very prominent person
 
 MR. KNIGHT AND DUTY . 113 
 
 indeed in the Boiset establishment. All his little tastes 
 were consulted; Madame moved him into the best 
 spare bedroom, on the ground that the one he occupied 
 would be cold in winter, which, when he was out, Juli- 
 ette made a point of adorning with flowers if these 
 were forthcoming, or failing them with graceful sprays 
 of winter berries. Also she worked him some slip- 
 pers covered with little devils in black silk, which she 
 said he must learn to tread under foot, though whether 
 this might be a covert allusion to his spiritualistic ex- 
 periences or merely a flight of fancy on her part, God- 
 frey did not know. 
 
 On the evening of the reading of the will, prompted 
 thereto by the Pasteur, that young gentleman wrote a 
 letter to his father, a task which he always thought 
 difficult, to tell him what had happened. As he found 
 explanations impossible, it was brief, though the time 
 occupied in composing drafts, was long. Finally it 
 took the following form : 
 
 " MY DEAR FATHER, I think I told you that I travelled 
 out here with a lady named Miss Ogilvy, whom I have 
 often seen since. She has just died and left me, as I 
 understand, about 12,000, which I am to get when I am 
 twenty-five. Meanwhile I am to have the income, so I 
 am glad to say I shall not cost you any more. Also she 
 has left me a large house in Lucerne with a beautiful 
 garden and a lot of fine furniture, and some money to 
 keep it up. As I can't live there, I suppose it will have 
 to be let. 
 
 " I hope you are very well. Please give my love to 
 Mrs. Parsons and tell her about this. It is growing very 
 cold here, and the mountains are covered with snow, 
 but there has been little frost. I am getting on well with
 
 114 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 my French, which I talk with Mademoiselle Juliette, who 
 knows no English, although she thinks she does. She is 
 a pretty girl and sings nicely. Madame, too, is very 
 charming. I work at the other things with the Pasteur, 
 who is kind to me. He will write to you also and I 
 will enclose his letter. 
 
 " Your affectionate son, 
 
 " GODFREY." 
 
 The receipt of this epistle caused astonishment in 
 Mr. Knight, not unmixed with irritation. Why could 
 not the boy be more explicit ? Who was Miss Ogilvy, 
 whose name, so far as he could recollect, he now heard 
 for the first time, and how did she come to leave 
 Godfrey so much money? The story was so strange 
 that he began to wonder whether it were a joke, or 
 perhaps, an hallucination. If not, there must be a 
 great deal unrevealed. The letter which Godfrey 
 said the Pasteur would write was not enclosed, and if 
 it had been, probably would not have helped him much 
 as he did not understand French, and could scarcely 
 decipher his cramped calligraphy. Lastly, he had 
 heard nothing from any lawyers or trustees. 
 
 In his bewilderment he went straight to Hawk's 
 Hall, taking the letter with him, with a view to bor- 
 rowing books of reference which might enable him 
 to identify Miss Ogilvy. The butler said that he 
 thought Sir John was in and showed him to the morn- 
 ing room, where he found Isobel, who informed him 
 that her father had just gone out. Their meeting 
 was not affectionate, for as has been told, Isobel de- 
 tested Mr. Knight, and he detested Isobel. Moreover, 
 there was a reason, which shall be explained, which 
 just then made him feel uncomfortable in her pres-
 
 MR. KNIGHT AND DUTY 115 
 
 ence. Being there, however, he thought it necessary 
 to explain the object of his visit. 
 
 " I have had a very strange letter from that odd 
 boy, Godfrey," he said, "which makes me want to 
 borrow a book. Here it is, perhaps you will read it, 
 as it will save time and explanation." 
 
 " I don't want to read Godfrey's letters," said Isobel, 
 stiffly. 
 
 " It will save time," repeated Mr. Knight, thrusting 
 it towards her. 
 
 Then, being overcome by curiosity, she read it. The 
 money part did not greatly interest her; money was 
 such a common thing of which she heard so much. 
 What interested her were, first, Miss Ogilvy and the 
 unexplained reasons of her bequest, and secondly, in a 
 more acute fashion, Mademoiselle Boiset, who was 
 pretty and sang so nicely. Miss Ogilvy, whoever she 
 might have been, at any rate, was dead, but Juliette 
 clearly was much alive, with her prettiness and good 
 voice. No wonder, then, that she had not heard from 
 Godfrey. He was too occupied with the late Miss 
 Ogilvy and the very present Mademoiselle Juliette, 
 in whose father's house he was living as one of the 
 family. 
 
 Isobel's face, however, showed none of her won- 
 derings. She read the letter quite composedly, but 
 with such care that afterwards she could have re- 
 peated it by heart. Then she handed it back, say- 
 ing: 
 
 " Well, Godfrey seems to have been fortunate." 
 
 "Yes, but why? I find no explanation of this 
 bequest if there is a bequest." 
 
 " No doubt there is, Mr. Knight. Godfrey was
 
 ii6 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 always most truthful and above-board," she answered, 
 looking at him. 
 
 Mr. Knight flinched and coloured at her words, 
 and the steady gaze of those grey eyes. She won- 
 dered why though she was not to learn for a long 
 while. 
 
 " I thought perhaps you could lend me some book, 
 or books, which would enable me to find out about 
 Miss Ogilvy. I have never heard of her before, though 
 I think that in one of his brief communications God- 
 frey did mention a lady who was kind to him in the 
 train." 
 
 " Certainly, there are lots of them. ' Who's Who * 
 only she would not be there unless she was very 
 rich, but you might look. Peerages ; they're no good as 
 she was Miss Ogilvy, though, of course, she might be 
 the daughter of a baron. ' County Families,' Red 
 Books, etc. Let's try some of them." 
 
 So they did try. Various Ogilvys there were, but 
 none who gave them any clue. This was not strange, 
 as both Miss Ogilvy's parents had died in Australia, 
 when she was young, leaving her to be brought up by 
 an aunt of another name in England, who was also 
 long dead. 
 
 So Mr. Knight retreated baffled. Next morning, 
 however, a letter arrived addressed " Godfrey Knight, 
 Esq.," which after his pleasing fashion he opened 
 promptly. It proved to be a communication from a 
 well-known firm of lawyers, which enclosed a copy of 
 Miss Ogilvy's will, called special attention to the codi- 
 cil affecting himself, duly executed before the British 
 Consul and his clerk in Lucerne, gave the names of the 
 English trustees, solicited information as to where
 
 MR. KNIGHT AND DUTY 117 
 
 the interest on the sum bequeathed was to be paid, 
 and so forth. 
 
 To this inquiry Mr. Knight at once replied that the 
 moneys might be paid to him as the father of the lega- 
 tee, and was furious when all sorts of objections were 
 raised to that course, unless every kind of guarantee 
 were given that they would be used solely and strictly 
 for the benefit of his son. Finally, an account had to 
 be opened on which cheques could be drawn signed by 
 one of the trustees and Mr. Knight. This proviso 
 made the latter even more indignant than before, es- 
 pecially as it was accompanied by an intimation that 
 the trustees would require his son's consent, either by 
 letter or in a personal interview, to any arrangements 
 as to his career, etc., which involved expenditure of 
 the trust moneys. When a somewhat rude and lengthy 
 letter to them to that effect was met with a curt ac- 
 knowledgment of its receipt and a reference to their 
 previous decision, Mr. Knight's annoyance hardened 
 into a permanent grievance against his son, whom he 
 seemed to hold responsible for what he called an " af- 
 front " to himself. 
 
 He was a man with large ideas of paternal rights, 
 of which an example may be given that was not with- 
 out its effect upon the vital interests of others. 
 
 When Isobel returned from London, after the fancy- 
 dress ball, at which she thought she had seen a ghost 
 whilst sitting in the square with her young admirer 
 who was dressed as a knight, she waited for a long 
 while expecting to receive a letter from Godfrey. As 
 none came, although she knew from Mrs. Parsons that 
 he had written home several times, she began to won-
 
 n8 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 der as to the cause of his silence. Then an idea oc- 
 curred to her. 
 
 Supposing that what she had seen was no fancy 
 of her mind, but Godfrey himself, who in some mys- 
 terious fashion had found his way into that square, 
 perhaps in the hope of seeing her at the ball in order 
 to say goodbye? This was possible, since she had 
 ascertained from some casual remark by his father 
 that he did not leave London until the following morn- 
 ing. 
 
 If this had happened, if he had seen her " playing 
 the fool," as she expressed it to herself with that good- 
 looking man in the square, what would he have thought 
 of her? She never paused to remember that he had 
 no right to think anything. Somehow from childhood 
 she acknowledged in her heart that he had every right, 
 though when she said this to herself, she did not in the 
 least understand all that the admission conveyed. 
 Although she bullied and maltreated him at times, yet 
 to herself she always confessed him to be her lord and 
 master. He was the one male creature for whom she 
 cared in the whole world, indeed, putting her mother 
 out of the question, she cared for no other man or 
 woman, and would never learn to do so. 
 
 For hers was a singular and very rare instance of 
 almost undivided affection centred on a single object. 
 So far as his sex was concerned Godfrey was her all, 
 a position of which any man might well be proud in the 
 case of any woman, and especially of one who had 
 many opportunities of devoting herself to others. In 
 her example, however, she was not to be thanked, 
 for the reason that she only followed her nature, or 
 perhaps the dictates of that fate which inspires and
 
 MR. KNIGHT AND DUTY 119 
 
 rules every great love, whether it be between man and 
 woman, between parent and child, between brother 
 and brother, or between friend and friend. Such 
 feelings do not arise, or grow. They simply are; the 
 blossoms of a plant that has its secret roots far away 
 in the soil of Circumstance beyond our ken, and that, 
 mayhap, has pushed its branches through existences 
 without number, and in the climates of many worlds. 
 
 So at least it was with Isobel, and so it had always 
 been since she kissed the sleeping child in the old 
 refectory of the Abbey. She was his, and in a way, 
 however much she might doubt or mistrust, her inner 
 sense and instinct told her that he was always hers, that 
 so he had always been and so always would remain. 
 With the advent of womanhood these truths came 
 home to her with an increased force because she knew 
 again by instinct that this fact of womanhood 
 multiplied the chances of attainment to the unity 
 which she desired, however partial that might still 
 prove to be. 
 
 Yet she knew also that this great mutual attraction 
 did not depend on sex, though by the influence of sex 
 it might be quickened and accentuated. It was some- 
 thing much more deep and wide, something which she 
 did not and perhaps never would understand. The sex 
 element was accidental, so much so that the passage of 
 a few earthly years would rob it of its power to attract 
 and make it as though it had never been, but the per- 
 fect friendship between their souls was permanent 
 and without shadow of change. She knew, oh ! she 
 knew, although no word of it had ever been spoken 
 between them, that theirs was the Love Eternal. The 
 quick perceptions of her woman's mind told her these
 
 120 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 things, of which Godfrey's in its slower growth was 
 not yet aware. 
 
 Animated by this new idea that she had really seen 
 Godfrey, and what was much worse, that Godfrey 
 had really seen her upon an occasion when she would 
 have much preferred to remain invisible to him, she 
 was filled with remorse, and determined to write him 
 a letter. Like that of the young man himself to his 
 father, its composition took her a good deal of time. 
 
 Here it is as copied from her third and final draft : 
 
 " MY DEAR OLD GODFREY, I have an idea that you 
 were in the Square on the night of the fancy ball when I 
 came out, and wore that horrid Plantagenet dress which, 
 after all, did not fit. (I sent it to a jumble-sale where 
 no one would buy it, so I gave it to Mrs. Smilie, who has 
 nine children, to cut into frocks for her little girls.) If 
 you were there, instead of resting before your long jour- 
 ney as you ought to have done, and saw me with a man 
 in armour and a rose and the rest, of course you will 
 have understood that this was all part of the game. 
 You see, we had to pretend that we were knights and 
 ladies who, when they were not cutting throats or being 
 carried off with their hair down, seem to have wasted 
 their time in giving each other favours, and all that sort 
 of bosh. (We did not know what a favour was, so we 
 used a rose.) The truth is that the young man and his 
 armour, especially his spurs which tore my dress, and 
 everything about him bored me, the more so because all 
 the while I was thinking of well, other things how you 
 would get through your journey, and like those French 
 people and the rest. So now, if you were there, you 
 won't be cross, and if you were not, and don't under- 
 stand what I am saying, it isn't worth bothering about. 
 Ii; any case, you had no right to I mean, be cross. It is
 
 MR. KNIGHT AND DUTY 121' 
 
 I who should be cross with you for poking about in a 
 London square so late and not coming forward to say 
 how do you do and be introduced to the knight. That is 
 all I have to say about the business, so don't write and 
 ask me any questions. 
 
 " There is no news here there never is except that 
 I haven't been into that church since you left, and don't 
 mean to, which makes your father look at me as sourly 
 as though he had eaten a whole hatful of crab-apples. 
 He hates me, you know, and I rather like him for showing 
 it, as it saves me the trouble of trying to keep up ap- 
 pearances. Do tell me, when you write, how to explain 
 his ever having been your father. If he still wants you 
 to go into the Church I advise you to study the Thirty- 
 nine Articles. I read them all through yesterday, and 
 how anybody can swear to them in this year of grace I'm 
 sure I don't know. They must shut their eyes and open 
 their mouths, like we used to do when we took powders. 
 By the way, did you ever read anything about Buddhism ? 
 I've got a book on it which I think rather fine. At any 
 rate, it is a great idea, though I think I should find it 
 difficult to follow ' the Way.' 
 
 " I am sorry to say that Mother is not at all well. She 
 coughs a great deal now that Essex is getting so damp, 
 and grows thinner and thinner. The doctor says she 
 ought to go to Egypt, only Father won't hear of it. But 
 I won't write about that or we should have another 
 argument on the fourth Commandment. Good-bye, dear 
 old boy. Your affectionate ISOBEL. 
 
 " P.S. When you write don't tell me all about 
 Switzerland and snow-covered mountains and blue, bot- 
 tomless lakes, etc., which I can read in books. Tell 
 me about yourself and what you are doing and thinking 
 especially what you are thinking. 
 
 " P.P.S. That man in armour isn't really good-
 
 122 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 looking; he has a squint. Also he puts scent upon his 
 hair and can't spell. I know because he tried to write 
 a bit of poetry on my programme and got it all wrong." 
 
 When she had finished this somewhat laboured 
 epistle Isobel remembered that she had forgotten to 
 ask Godfrey to write down his address. Bethinking 
 her that it would be known to Mrs. Parsons, she took 
 it round to the Abbey House, proposing to add it there. 
 As it happened Mrs. Parsons was out, so she left it 
 with the housemaid, who promised faithfully to give 
 it to her when she returned, with Isobel's message as to 
 writing the address on the sealed envelope. In order 
 that she might not forget, the maid placed it on a table 
 by the back door. By ill luck, however, presently 
 through that door, which was a short cut into the 
 house, came, not Mrs. Parsons, but the Rev. Mr. 
 Knight. He saw the letter addressed Godfrey Knight, 
 Esq., and, though he half pretended to himself that he 
 did not, at once recognized Isobel's large, upright hand. 
 Taking it from the table he carried it with him into 
 his study and there contemplated it for a while. 
 
 " That pernicious girl is communicating with God- 
 frey," he said to himself, " which I particularly wish 
 to prevent." 
 
 A desire came upon him to know what was in the 
 letter, and he began to argue with himself as to his 
 " duty " that was the word he used. Finally he con- 
 cluded that as Godfrey was still so young and so open 
 to bad influences from that quarter, this duty clearly 
 indicated that he should read the letter before it was 
 forwarded. In obedience to this high impulse he 
 opened and read it, with the result that by the time it
 
 MR. KNIGHT AND DUTY 123 
 
 was finished there was perhaps no more angry clergy- 
 man in the British Empire. The description of himself 
 looking as though he had eaten a hatful of crab-apples ; 
 the impious remarks about the Thirty-nine Articles; 
 the suggestion that Godfrey, instead of going to bed as 
 he had ordered him to do that evening, was wandering 
 about London at midnight; the boldly announced in- 
 tention of the writer of not going to church indeed, 
 every word of it irritated him beyond bearing. 
 
 " Well," he said aloud, " I do not think that I am 
 called upon to spend twopence-halfpenny" (for Isobel 
 had forgotten the stamp) " in forwarding such poison- 
 ous trash to a son whom I should guard from evil. 
 Hateful girl! At any rate she shall have no answer 
 to this effusion." 
 
 Then he put the letter into a drawer which he locked. 
 
 As a consequence, naturally, Isobel did receive " no 
 answer," a fact from which she drew her own conclu- 
 sions. Indeed, it would not be too much to say that 
 these seared her soul. She had written to Godfrey, 
 she had humbled herself before Godfrey, and he sent 
 her no answer. It never occurred to her to make 
 inquiries as to the fate of that letter, except once when 
 she asked the housemaid whom she chanced to meet, 
 whether she had given it to Mrs. Parsons. The girl, 
 whose brain, or whatever represented that organ, was 
 entirely fixed upon a young man in the village of whom 
 she was jealous, answered, yes. Perhaps she had en- 
 tirely forgotten the incident, or perhaps she considered 
 the throwing of the letter upon a table as equivalent to 
 delivery. 
 
 At any rate, Isobel, who thought, like most other 
 young people, that when once they have written some-
 
 124 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 thing, it is conveyed by a magical agency to the ad- 
 dressee, even if left between the leaves of a blotter, 
 accepted the assurance as conclusive. Without doubt 
 the letter had gone and duly arrived, only Godfrey did 
 not choose to answer it, that was all. Perhaps this 
 might be because he was still angry on account of the 
 knight in armour oh! how she hoped that this was 
 the reason, but, as her cold, common sense, of which 
 she had an unusual share, convinced her, much more 
 probably the explanation was that he was engaged 
 otherwise and did not think it worth while to take 
 the trouble to write. 
 
 Later on, it is true, she did mean to ask Mrs. Par- 
 sons whether she had forwarded the letter. But as 
 it chanced, before she did so, that good woman burst 
 into a flood of conversation about Godfrey, saying 
 how happy he seemed to be in his new home with such 
 nice ladies around, who it was plain, thought so much 
 of him, and so forth. This garrulity Isobel took as an 
 intended hint and ceased from her contemplated 
 queries. When some months later Mr. Knight brought 
 her Godfrey's epistle which announced his inheritance, 
 needless to say, everything became plain as a pike- 
 staff to her experienced intelligence. 
 
 So it came about that two young people, who adored 
 each other, were estranged for a considerable length 
 of time. For Isobel wrote no more letters, and the 
 proud and outraged Godfrey would rather have died 
 than attempt to open a correspondence after what he 
 had seen in that London square. It is true that in his 
 brief epistles home, which were all addressed to his 
 father, since Mrs. Parsons was what is called " a poor 
 scholar," he did try in a roundabout way to learn
 
 MR. KNIGHT AND DUTY 125 
 
 something about Isobel, but these inquiries, for reasons 
 of his own, his parent completely ignored. In short, 
 she might have been dead for all that Godfrey heard 
 of her, as he believed that she was dead to him. 
 
 Meanwhile, Isobel had other things to occupy her. 
 Her mother, as she had said in the letter which Mr. 
 Knight's sense of duty compelled him to steal, became 
 very ill with lung trouble. The doctors announced 
 that she ought to be taken to Egypt or some other 
 warm climate, such as Algeria, for the winter months. 
 Sir John would hear of nothing of the sort. For years 
 past he had chosen to consider that his wife was hypo- 
 chondriacal, and all the medical opinions in London 
 would not have induced him to change that view. The 
 fact was, as may be guessed, that it did not suit him 
 to leave England, and that for sundry reasons which 
 need not be detailed, he did not wish that Isobel should 
 accompany her mother to what he called " foreign 
 parts." In his secret heart he reflected that if Lady 
 Jane died, well, she died, and while heaven gained a 
 saint, earth, or at any rate, Sir John Blake, would be 
 no loser. She had played her part in this life, there 
 was nothing more to be made of her either as a 
 woman or as a social asset. What would it matter if 
 one more pale, uninteresting lady of title joined the 
 majority? 
 
 Isobel had one of her stormy interviews with Sir 
 John upon this matter of her mother's health. 
 
 " She ought to go abroad," she said. 
 
 "Who told you that?" asked her father. 
 
 " The doctors. I waited for them and asked them." 
 
 " Then you had no business to do so. You are an 
 impertinent and interfering chit."
 
 126 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " Is it impertinent and interfering to be anxious 
 about one's mother's health, even if one is a chit?" 
 inquired Isobel, looking him straight in the eyes. 
 
 Then he broke out in his coarse way, saying things 
 to his daughter of which he should have been ashamed. 
 
 She waited until he ceased, red-faced, and gasping, 
 and replied : 
 
 " Were it not for my mother, whom you abuse, 
 although she is such an angel and has always been so 
 kind to you, I would leave you, Father, and earn my 
 own living, or go with my uncle Edgar to Mexico, 
 where he is to be appointed Minister, as he and Aunt 
 Margaret asked me to do. As it is I shall stop here, 
 though if anything happens to Mother, because you 
 will not send her abroad, I shall go if I have to run 
 away. Why won't you let her go?" she added with 
 a change of voice. " You need not come ; I could 
 look after her. If you think that Egypt or the other 
 place is too far, you know the doctors say that perhaps 
 Switzerland would do her good, and that is quite 
 near." 
 
 He caught hold of this suggestion, and exclaimed, 
 with a sneer : 
 
 " I know why you want to go to Switzerland, Miss. 
 To run after that whipper-snapper of a parson's son, 
 eh? Well, you shan't. And as for why I won't let 
 her go, it's because I don't believe those doctors, who 
 say one minute that she should go to Egypt, which is 
 hot, and the next to Switzerland, which is cold. More- 
 over, I mean you to stop in England, and not go fool- 
 ing about with a lot of strange men in these foreign 
 places. You are grown up now and out, and I have 
 my own plans for your future, which can't come off
 
 MR. KNIGHT AND DUTY 127 
 
 if you are away. We stop here till Christmas, and 
 then go to London. There, that's all, so have done." 
 
 At these insults, especially that which had to do with 
 Godfrey, Isobel turned perfectly scarlet and bit her 
 lip till the blood ran. Then without another word she 
 went away, leaving him, if the truth were known, a 
 little frightened. Still, he would not alter his decision, 
 partly because to do so must interfere with his plans, 
 and he was a very obstinate man, and partly because 
 he refused to be beaten by Isobel. This was, he felt, a 
 trial of strength between them, and if he gave way 
 now, she would be master. His wife's welfare did 
 not enter into his calculations. 
 
 So they stopped in Essex, where matters went as 
 the doctors had foretold, only more quickly than they 
 expected. Lady Jane's complaint grew rapidly worse, 
 so rapidly that soon there was no question of her go- 
 ing abroad. At the last moment Sir John grew fright- 
 ened, as bullies are apt to do, and on receipt of an in- 
 dignant letter from Lord Lynfield, now an old man, 
 who had been informed of the facts by his grand- 
 daughter, offered to send his wife to Egypt, or any- 
 where else. Again the doctors were called in to report, 
 and told him with brutal frankness that if their advice 
 had been taken when it was first given, probably she 
 would have lived for some years. As it was, it was 
 impossible for her to travel, since the exertion might 
 cause her death upon the journey, especially if she 
 became seasick. 
 
 This verdict came to Isobel's knowledge as the first 
 had done. Indeed, in his confusion, emphasized by 
 several glasses of port, her father blurted it out him- 
 self.
 
 128 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " I wonder whether you will ever be sorry," was 
 her sole comment. 
 
 Then she sat down to watch her mother die, and 
 to think. Could there be any good God, she wondered, 
 if He allowed such things to happen. Poor girl ! it was 
 her first experience of the sort, and as yet she did not 
 know what things are allowed to happen in this world 
 in obedience to the workings of unalterable laws by 
 whoever and for whatever purpose these may be de- 
 creed. 
 
 Being ignorant, however, and still very young and 
 untaught of life, she could not be expected to take 
 these large views, or to guess at the Hand of Mercy 
 which holds the cup of human woes. She saw her 
 mother fading away because of her father's obstinacy 
 and self-seeking, and it was inconceivable to her that 
 such an utterly unnecessary thing could be allowed by 
 a gentle and loving Providence. Therefore, she turned 
 her back on Providence, as many a strong soul has 
 done before her, rejecting it for the reason that she 
 could not understand. 
 
 Had she but guessed, this attitude of hers, which 
 could not be concealed entirely in the case of a nature 
 so frank and open, was the bitterest drop in her 
 mother's draught of death. She, poor gentle creature, 
 made no complaints, but only excuses for her hus- 
 band's conduct. Nor, save for Isobel's sake did she 
 desire to live. Her simple faith upbore her through 
 the fears of departure, and assured her of forgiveness 
 for all errors, and of happiness beyond in a land 
 where there was one at least whom she wished to 
 meet. 
 
 " I won't try to argue with you, because I am not
 
 MR. KNIGHT AND DUTY 129 
 
 wise enough to understand such things," she said to 
 Isobel, " but I wish, dearest, that you would not be so 
 certain as to matters which are too high for us." 
 
 " I can't help it, Mother," she answered. 
 
 Lady Jane looked at her and smiled, and then said : 
 
 " No, darling, you can't help it now, but I am sure 
 that a time must come when you will think differently. 
 I say this because something tells me that it is so, and 
 the knowledge makes me very happy. You see we 
 must all of us go through darkness and storms in life; 
 that is if we are worth anything, for, of course, there 
 are people who do not feel. Yet at the end there is 
 light, and love, and peace, for you as well as for me, 
 Isobel; yes, and for all of us who have tried to trust 
 and to repent of what we have done wrong." 
 
 " As you believe it I hope that it is true; indeed, I 
 think that it must be true, Mother dear," said Isobel 
 with a little sob. 
 
 The subject was never discussed between them again, 
 but although Isobel showed no outward change of 
 attitude, from that time forward till the end, her 
 mother seemed much easier in her mind about her 
 and her views. 
 
 " It will all come right. We shall meet again. I 
 know it. I know it," were her last words. 
 
 She died quite suddenly on the 27th of December, 
 the day upon which Sir John had announced that they 
 were to move to London. 
 
 As a matter of fact, one of the survivors of this trio 
 was to move much further than to London, namely, 
 Isobel herself. It happened thus. The funeral was 
 over ; the relatives and the few friends who attended it
 
 130 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 had departed, to their rooms if they were stopping in 
 the house, or elsewhere; Isobel and her father were 
 left alone. She confronted him, a tall, slim figure, 
 whose thick blonde hair and pale face contrasted strik- 
 ingly with her black dress. Enormous in shape, for 
 so Sir John had grown, carmine-coloured shading to 
 purple about the shaved chin and lips (which were 
 also of rather a curious hue), bald-headed, bold yet 
 shifty-eyed, also clad in black, with a band of crape 
 like to that of a Victorian mute, about his shining tall 
 hat, he leaned against the florid, marble mantelpiece, 
 a huge obese blot upon its whiteness. They were a 
 queer contrast, as dissimilar perhaps as two human 
 beings well could be. 
 
 For a while there was silence between them, which 
 he, whose nerves were not so young or strong as his 
 daughter's, was the first to break. 
 
 " Well, she's dead, poor dear," he said. 
 
 " Yes," answered Isobel, her pent-up indignation 
 bursting forth, " and you killed her." 
 
 Then he too burst forth. 
 
 " Damn you, what do you mean, you little minx? " 
 he asked. " Why do you say I killed her, because I 
 did what I thought the best for all of us? No woman 
 had a better husband, as I am sure she acknowledges 
 in heaven to-day." 
 
 " I don't know what Mother thinks in heaven, if 
 there is one for her, as there ought to be. But I do 
 know what I think on earth," remarked the burning 
 Isobel. 
 
 " And I know what I think also," shouted her en- 
 raged parent, dashing the new, crape-covered hat on to 
 the table in front of him, " and it is that the further
 
 MR. KNIGHT AND DUTY 131 
 
 you and I are apart from each other, the better we are 
 likely to get on." 
 
 " I agree with you, Father." 
 
 " Look here, Isobel, you said that your uncle Edgar, 
 who has been appointed Minister to Mexico, offered to 
 take you with him to be a companion to his daughter, 
 your cousin Emily. Well, you can go if you like. I'll 
 pay the shot and shut up this house for a while. I'm 
 sick of the cursed place, and can get to Harwich just as 
 well from London. Write and make the arrange- 
 ments, for one year, no more. By that time your 
 temper may have improved," he added with an ugly 
 sneer. 
 
 " Thank you, Father, I will." 
 
 He stared at her for a little while. She met his gaze 
 unflinchingly, and in the end it was not her eyes that 
 dropped. Then with a smothered exclamation he 
 stamped out of the room, kicking Isobel's little terrier 
 out of the path with his elephantine foot. The poor 
 beast, of which she was very fond, limped to her whin- 
 ing, for it was much hurt. She took it in her arms 
 and kissed it, weeping tears of wrath and pity. 
 
 " I wonder what Godfrey would say about the fifth 
 Commandment if he had been here this afternoon, you 
 poor thing," she whispered to the Whimpering dog, 
 which was licking its hanging leg. " There is no 
 God. If there had been He would not have given me 
 such a father, or my mother such a husband." 
 
 Then still carrying the injured terrier, she went out 
 and glided through the darkness to her mother's grave 
 in the neighbouring churchyard. The sextons had 
 done their work, and the raw, brown earth of the 
 grave, mixed with bits of decayed coffins and frag-
 
 132 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 ments of perished human bones, was covered with hot- 
 house flowers. Among these lay a gorgeous wreath 
 of white and purple orchids, to which was tied a card 
 whereon was written : " To my darling wife, from her 
 bereaved husband, John Blake." 
 
 Isobel lifted the wreath from its place of honour and 
 threw it over the churchyard wall. Then she wept and 
 wept as though her heart would break.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE PASTEUR TAKES THE FIELD 
 
 IN due course Godfrey received an epistle of frigid con- 
 gratulation from his father upon his accession to 
 wealth which, he remarked, would be of assistance to 
 him in his future clerical career. The rest of the let- 
 ter was full of complaints against the indignities that 
 had been heaped upon him by Miss Ogilvy's executors 
 and trustees, and also against Godfrey himself for not 
 having furnished him with more information concern- 
 ing the circumstances surrounding his inheritance. 
 Lastly, Mr. Knight enclosed a paper which he re- 
 quested Godfrey to sign and return, authorizing him 
 to deal with the income of the legacy. 
 
 This Godfrey did obediently, only a week or two 
 later to receive a formal notification from the lawyers, 
 sent to him direct this time as his address had been 
 filled in on the Authority, informing him that he had 
 no power to sign such documents, he being an infant 
 under age, and suggesting that he should refrain 
 from doing so in the future. Enclosed were copies 
 of their first letter to him, and of the other documents 
 which Mr. Knight had not thought it worth while to 
 forward because, as he said, they were heavy and 
 foreign postage was so expensive. 
 
 Further the trustees announced that they proposed 
 to allow him 50 a year out of the income for his 
 personal needs, which would be paid half-yearly, and 
 
 133
 
 134 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 enclosed a draft for 25, which was more money than 
 ever Godfrey had possessed before. This draft he 
 was desired to acknowledge, and generally to keep 
 himself in touch with the trustees, and to consult them 
 before taking any step of importance, also as to his 
 future career. 
 
 All this, with the sense of independence which it 
 gave him, was agreeable enough to Godfrey, ?.s it 
 would have been to any youth. He acknowledged the 
 draft under the guidance of the Pasteur, saying that 
 he would write again when he had anything to com- 
 municate, but that as yet he had not made up his mind 
 as to his future, and proposed to stay where he was, 
 continuing his studies, if his father would allow him 
 to do so. Next he took an opportunity to go to Lu- 
 cerne with the Pasteur, who wished to inspect the Villa 
 Ogilvy and consult the notary as to an inventory of its 
 contents and arrangements for its upkeep. 
 
 Godfrey, who was received by the servants with 
 many bows, and requests that they might be allowed 
 to continue in their employment, wandered through the 
 big rooms which looked so desolate now, and stared 
 until he was tired at examples of beautiful French 
 furniture, of which he understood nothing. Then, op- 
 pressed by memories of his kind friend into whose 
 death chamber he had blundered, and, as it seemed to 
 him, by a sense of her presence which he imagined 
 was warning him of something, he left the house, tell- 
 ing the Pasteur, who was peering about him through 
 his blue spectacles in an innocent and interested way, 
 that he would meet him at the five o'clock diligence. 
 Indeed, he had business of his own to do, which seemed 
 to him more important than all this stock-taking and
 
 THE PASTEUR TAKES THE FIELD 135 
 
 legal discussion. Having plenty of money in his 
 pocket Godfrey wished to spend some of it in pres- 
 ents. 
 
 First, he bought a large meerschaum pipe with a 
 flexible stem as a gift to the Pasteur, whom he had 
 heard admire this very pipe in the shop window and 
 express regrets that it was too expensive for his 
 means. Having paid down thirty francs like a man 
 for this treasure, he proceeded to a jeweller's near 
 by. There he acquired a necklace of amethysts set 
 with great taste in local silver work, for Madame to 
 wear, and a charming silver watch of the best Swiss 
 make for Juliette. When he found that these objects 
 involved an expenditure of fourteen sovereigns, he 
 was a little staggered, but again smiled and paid up. 
 There was also a lovely little ring of gold with two 
 turquoise hearts that he bought for 2 to send to Isobel 
 when she wrote to him. But, as Isobel had posted her 
 letter in Mr. Knight's drawer, that ring never reached 
 her ringer for many a day. 
 
 These gifts safely in his pocket, he began to stroll 
 towards the railway station, whence the diligence 
 started, slowly, as he had plenty of time. As he went 
 he saw, in a shop window, a beautiful stick of olive 
 wood, with an ebony crook. It was marked ten francs, 
 and he coveted it greatly, but reflected with a sigh 
 that having spent so much on others he could afford 
 nothing for himself, for Godfrey was an unselfish soul. 
 Instead he bought a collar of Swiss lace for Mrs. Par- 
 sons. Immediately after he left the lace shop he be- 
 came aware that he was being shadowed. He heard no 
 footfall, and he saw no one, yet he knew that this was 
 so; he could feel it down his back, and in a cold wind
 
 136 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 which blew across his hands, as it had done always 
 at the Villa Ogilvy seances. 
 
 The road that he was following led across some 
 public gardens beneath an avenue of trees, which, of 
 course, at this time of the year, were leafless. This 
 avenue was lighted here and there, and beneath one 
 of the gas lamps Godfrey wheeled round to see 
 Madame Riennes advancing on him out of the gloom. 
 Her stout form padded forward noiselessly, except for 
 the occasional crackle of a dead and frosted leaf be- 
 neath her foot. She wore a thick cloak of some sort 
 with a black hood that framed her large, white face, 
 making her look like a monk of the Inquisition as de- 
 picted in various old prints. Beneath the blackness 
 of this hood and above the rigid line of the set mouth, 
 stared two prominent and glowing eyes, in which the 
 gaslight was reflected. They reminded Godfrey of 
 those of a stalking cat in a dark room. Indeed, from 
 the moment that he caught sight of them he felt like 
 the mouse cowering in a corner, or like a bird in a tree 
 fascinated by the snake that writhes towards it along 
 the bough. 
 
 " Ah ! mon petit" said Madame, in her thick, 
 creamy voice, that seemed to emerge from her lower 
 regions, " so I have found you. I was walking 
 through the town and a notion came to me that you 
 were here, a what you call it? instinct like that 
 which make the dog find its master. Only I master 
 and you dog, eh ? " 
 
 Godfrey tried to pull himself together, feeling that 
 it would not be wise to show fear of this woman, and 
 greeted her as politely as he could, taking off his hat 
 with a flourish in the foreign fashion.
 
 THE PASTEUR TAKES THE FIELD 137 
 
 " Put that hat back on your head, mon petit, or you 
 will catch cold and be ill, you who are much too pre- 
 cious to be ill. Listen, now : I have something to say 
 to you. You have great luck, have you not? Ah! 
 sweet Sister Helen, she go to join the speerits quite 
 quick, as I tell her a little while ago she will do, and 
 she leaves you much money, though to me, her old 
 friend, her sister in the speerit, she give not one sou, 
 although she know I want it. Well, I think there some 
 mistake, and I wish to talk to Sister Helen about this 
 money business. I think she leave me something, 
 somehow, if I can find out where. And you, dear 
 petit, can help me. Next Sunday you will come to my 
 rooms of which I give you address," and she thrust 
 a card into his hand, " and we will talk with Sister 
 Helen, or at least with Eleanor, your little friend." 
 
 Godfrey shook his head vigorously, but she took no 
 notice. 
 
 " What have you been buying," she went on, " with 
 Sister Helen's money? Presents, I think. Yes, yes, 
 I see them in your pocket," and she fixed her eyes 
 upon the unhappy Godfrey's stomach, at least that is 
 where he felt them. 
 
 " Oh ! very pretty presents. Necklace for the fine 
 Madame, of whom I can tell you some stories. Watch 
 for pretty Mees, with the red, pouting lips, so nice to 
 kiss. Pipe for good old Pasteur, to smoke while he 
 think of heaven, where one time he sit all day and do 
 nothing for ever; lace for someone else, I know not 
 who, and I think a charming ring for one who will not 
 wear it just yet; a big girl with a pale face and eyes 
 that flash, but can grow soft. One who would know 
 how to love, eh ! Yes, not a doll, but one who would
 
 138 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 know how to love like a woman should. Am I 
 right?" 
 
 The confused Godfrey babbled something about a 
 shop, and was silent. 
 
 " Well, never mind the shop, my leetle friend. You 
 come to my shop next Sunday, eh? " 
 
 " No," said Godfrey, " I have had enough of 
 spirits." 
 
 " Yes, perhaps, though the speerits have been your 
 good friends, taking Sister Helen, who has left some- 
 thing behind her. But those dear speerits, they have 
 not had enough of you; they very faithful souls, es- 
 pecially that pretty Eleanor. I tell you, Mr. Godfrey, 
 you will come to see me next Sunday, and if you not 
 come, I'll fetch you." 
 
 "Fetch me! How?" 
 
 " Look at my eyes, that's how. I put you to sleep 
 many times now, and I have power to make you come 
 where I want and do what I wish. You do not believe 
 me, eh? Well, now I show you. Come, mon petit, 
 and give your dear godmamma a kiss," and she smiled 
 at him like an ogress. 
 
 Now the last thing in the whole world that Godfrey 
 wished to do was to embrace Madame Riennes, whom 
 he loathed so that every fibre of his body shrank from 
 her. Yet, oh horror! a wild impulse to kiss her took 
 possession of him. In vain he struggled; he tried to 
 step backwards, and instead went forwards, he tried 
 to turn his head away, but those glowing eyes held 
 and drew him as a magnet draws a needle. And as 
 the needle rolls across the table ever more quickly 
 towards the magnet, so did the unwilling Godfrey 
 gravitate towards Madame Riennes. And now, oh !
 
 THE PASTEUR TAKES THE FIELD 139 
 
 now her stout arm was about his neck, and now he 
 was impressing a fervent embrace upon her dome-like 
 brow. 
 
 " There ! What did I tell you, you nice, kind, little 
 Godfrey," she gurgled with a hollow laugh. " Your 
 dear godmamma thanks you, and you must run to catch 
 that diligence. Au revoir till Sunday afternoon. Do 
 not trouble about the hour, you will know exactly 
 when to start. Now go." 
 
 She made a movement of her big, white hand, with 
 the result that Godfrey felt like a spring which had 
 been suddenly released. Next instant, still pursued 
 by that gurgling laughter, he was running hard to- 
 wards the diligence. 
 
 Fortunately the Pasteur was so full of talk about the 
 house and his business with the notary, that there was 
 no need for Godfrey to speak in the coach, or indeed 
 at dinner. Then after the meal was finished he pro- 
 duced his presents, and with blushes and stammers 
 offered them to the various members of the family. 
 What rapture there was ! Madame was delighted with 
 her necklace, which she said and truly, was in the 
 best of taste. Juliette kissed the watch, and looked 
 as though she would like to kiss the donor, as indeed 
 was her case. The Pasteur examined the fine pipe 
 through his blue spectacles, saying that never had he 
 expected to own one so beautiful, then at once filled 
 it and began to smoke. After this they all scolded 
 him for his extravagance. 
 
 " You did not buy anything for yourself,'* said 
 Juliette, reproachfully. " Oh ! yes, I see you did," and 
 she pretended to perceive for the first time the little red 
 case containing the ring, which inadvertently he had
 
 HO LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 pulled out of his pocket with the other articles, al- 
 though in truth she had observed it from the begin- 
 ning. " Let us learn what it is," she went on, posses- 
 sing herself of and opening the case. "Oh! a ring, 
 what a pretty ring, with two hearts. For whom is the 
 ring, Monsieur Godfrey? Someone in England?" 
 
 Then Godfrey, overcome, told a lie. 
 
 " No, for myself," he said. 
 
 Juliette looked at him and exclaimed: 
 
 " Then you should have told the jeweller to make it 
 big enough. Try and you will see." 
 
 He turned red as a boiled lobster. Mademoiselle 
 stood opposite to him, shaking her pretty head, and 
 murmuring : " Quel mensonge! Quel bete mensonge! " 
 while Madame broke into a low and melodious laugh- 
 ter, and as she laughed, looked first at the ring and 
 then at Juliette's shapely hand. 
 
 " Make not a mock of our young friend," said the 
 Pasteur, suddenly lifting his glance, or rather his 
 spectacles from a long contemplation of that noble 
 pipe and becoming aware of what was passing. 
 " We all have our presents, which are magnificent. 
 What then is our affair with the ring? Pardon them, 
 and put it in your pocket, Godfrey, and come, let us 
 go to the observatory, for the night is fine, and by 
 now the stove will be warm." 
 
 So they went, and soon were engaged in contem- 
 plation of the stars, an occupation which absorbed 
 Godfrey so much that for a while he forgot all his 
 troubles. 
 
 When the door had shut behind them Madame 
 looked at Juliette, who with her new watch held to her 
 ear, observed her out of the corners of her eyes.
 
 THE PASTEUR TAKES THE FIELD 141 
 
 " I find him charming/' said Madame presently. 
 
 " Yes, Mamma," replied Juliette, " so bright and 
 even the tick is musical." 
 
 " Stupid ! " exclaimed Madame. " When I was your 
 age well." 
 
 " Pardon ! " said Juliette, opening her eyes inno- 
 cently. 
 
 " Child, I meant our young English friend. I re- 
 peat that I find him charming." 
 
 "Of course, Mamma after that necklace." 
 
 " And you after that watch ? " 
 
 " Oh ! well enough, though too grave perhaps, and 
 fond of what is far off I mean stars," she added hur- 
 riedly. 
 
 " Stars ! Pish ! It is but because there is nothing 
 nearer. At his age stars! well of a sort, perhaps." 
 
 She paused while Juliette still looked provokingly 
 innocent. So her mother took a long step forward, for 
 in truth she grew impatient with all this obtuseness in 
 which, for reasons of her own, she did not believe. 
 
 " If I were a girl of your age," mused Madame as 
 though to herself, " I do not think that ring would go 
 to England." 
 
 " How, Mamma, would you steal it? " 
 
 " No, but I would make sure that it was given to 
 me." 
 
 Now Juliette could no longer feign not to under- 
 stand. She said nothing, but turned as red as Godfrey 
 had done a little while before and stood waiting. 
 
 " I find him charming," repeated Madame, " though 
 he is so young, which is a fault that will mend," and 
 she fixed her eyes upon her daughter's face with a look 
 of interrogation.
 
 142 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Then Juliette gave a little sigh and answered : 
 
 " Good. If you will make me say it, so do I also, 
 at least, sometimes I think so, when he is not dull," 
 and turning she fled from the room. 
 
 Madame smiled as the door closed behind her. 
 
 " That goes well, and should go better," she said to 
 herself. " Only, for whom is the ring? There must 
 be some girl in England, although of her he says 
 nothing. Pestel There are so many girls. Still, she 
 is far away, and this one is near. But it could be 
 wished that she were more experienced, for then, since 
 she likes him well enough, all would be sure. What 
 does a man count in such a case especially when he is 
 so young? Pish! nothing at all," and Madame 
 snapped her ringers at the empty air. " It is the woman 
 who holds the cards, if only she knows how to play 
 them." 
 
 Now all these things happened on a Wednesday. 
 When Godfrey went to bed that night uncomfortable 
 memories of Madame Riennes, and of the chaste em- 
 brace which she had forced him to impress upon her 
 expansive forehead, haunted him for a while, also fears 
 for the future. However, Sunday was still a long 
 way off, so he went to sleep and dreamed that he was 
 buying presents at every shop in Lucerne and giving 
 them all to Madame Riennes. 
 
 On Thursday he was quite happy. On Friday he 
 began to suffer from uneasiness, which on Saturday 
 became very pronounced. It seemed to him that al- 
 ready waves of influence were creeping towards him 
 like the fringes of some miasmic mist. Doubtless it 
 was imagination, but he could feel their first frail 
 tentacles wrapping themselves around his will, and
 
 THE PASTEUR TAKES THE FIELD 143 
 
 drawing him towards Lucerne. As the day went on 
 the tentacles grew stronger, till by evening there might 
 have been a very octopus behind them. If this were 
 so that night, he wondered what would happen on 
 the following day, when the octopus began to pull. 
 On one point he was determined. He would not go; 
 never would he allow Madame Riennes to put him to 
 sleep again, and what was much worse to make him 
 kiss her. At any rate that spirit, Eleanor, was beau- 
 tiful and attractive but Madame Riennes! Rather 
 than forgather with her again in this affectionate man- 
 ner, much as he dreaded it or her he would have 
 compounded with the ghost called Eleanor. 
 
 Now 1 , although like most young people, Godfrey 
 was indolent and evasive of difficulties, fearful of fac- 
 ing troubles also, he had a bedrock of character. 
 There were points beyond which he would not go, 
 even for the sake of peace. But here a trouble came 
 in; he was well aware that although he would not go 
 to Madame Riennes to wit there was something 
 within him stronger than himself which would make 
 him go. It was the old story over again set out by St. 
 Paul once and for ever, that of the two laws which 
 make a shuttlecock of man so that he must do what he 
 wills not. Having once given way to Madame 
 Riennes, who to him was a kind of sin incarnate, he 
 had become her servant, and if she wished to put him 
 to sleep, or to do anything else with him, well, however 
 much he hated it, he must obey. 
 
 The thought terrified him. What could he do? 
 He had tried prayers, never before had he prayed so 
 hard in all his life; but they did not seem to be of 
 the slightest use. No guardian angel, not even
 
 144 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Eleanor, appeared to protect him from Madame 
 Riennes, and meanwhile, the fog was creeping on, and 
 the octopus tentacles were gripping tighter. In his 
 emergency there rose the remembrance of Miss Ogil- 
 vy's dying counsel, welcome and unexpected as light 
 of the moon to a lost traveller on a cloud-clothed night. 
 What had she told him to do? To resist Madame 
 Riennes. He had tried that with lamentable results. 
 To invoke the help of religion. He had tried that with 
 strictly negative results; the Powers above did not 
 seem inclined to intervene in this private affair. To 
 appeal to the Pasteur. That he had not tried but, un- 
 promising as the venture seemed to be, by Jove! he 
 would. In his imminent peril there was nothing to 
 which he would not have appealed, even Mumbo- 
 Jumbo itself if it gave him the slightest hope of pro- 
 tection from Madame Riennes. 
 
 Accordingly, when they went to the observatory that 
 night, instead of applying his eye to the telescope in 
 the accustomed fashion, Godfrey rushed at the busi- 
 ness like a bull at a gate. At first the Pasteur was 
 entirely confused, especially as Godfrey spoke in Eng- 
 lish, which his preceptor must translate into French in 
 his own mind. By degrees, however, he became ex- 
 traordinarily interested, so much so that he let the 
 new pipe go out, and what was very rare with him, 
 except in the most moving passages of his own ser- 
 mons, pushed the blue spectacles from his high nose 
 upwards, till they caught upon the patch of grizzled 
 hair which remained upon his bald head. 
 
 " Ah ! " he said, answering in French, which by 
 now Godfrey understood fairly well, " this is truly 
 exciting ; at last I come in touch with the thing. Know,
 
 THE PASTEUR TAKES THE FIELD 145 
 
 Godfrey, that you furnish me with a great occasion. 
 Long have I studied this, what you call it demon- 
 ology. Of it I know much, though not from actual 
 touch therewith." 
 
 Then he began to talk of gnosticism, and witch- 
 craft, and Incubl, and Succubi, and the developments 
 of modern spiritualism, till Godfrey was quite bewil- 
 dered. At length he paused, relit the new pipe, and 
 said: 
 
 " These matters we will study afterwards ; they are, 
 I assure you, most entertaining. Meanwhile, we have 
 to deal with your Madame Riennes. All right, oh! 
 quite all right. I will be her match. She will not 
 make me kiss her, no, not at all, not at all ! Be tran- 
 quil, young friend, if to-morrow you feel the impulse 
 to go, go you shall, but I will go with you. Then we 
 will see. Now to bed and sleep well. For me, I must 
 study; I have many books on this subject, and there 
 are points whereon I would refresh myself. Be not 
 afraid. I know much of Madame Riennes and I will 
 leave her flat as that," and with surprising alacrity he 
 jumped on a large black beetle which, unhappily for it- 
 self, just then ran across the observatory floor to enjoy 
 the warmth of the stove. " Wait," he added, as God- 
 frey was leaving. " First kneel down, I have memory 
 of the ancient prayer, or if I forget bits, I can fill in 
 the holes." 
 
 Godfrey obeyed in a rather abject fashion, whereon 
 the old Pasteur, waving the pipe above his head, from 
 which emerged lines of blue smoke such as might have 
 been accessory to an incantation, repeated over him 
 something in Latin, that, owing to the foreign accent, 
 he could not in the least understand. It ended, how-
 
 146 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 ever, with the sign of the cross made with the bowl 
 of the pipe, which the Pasteur forgot still remained in 
 his hand. 
 
 Fortified by the accession of this new ally, Godfrey 
 slept fairly well, till within a little while of dawn, when 
 he was awakened by a sound of rapping. At first he 
 thought that these raps, which seemed very loud and 
 distinct, were made by someone knocking on the door, 
 perhaps to tell him there was a fire, and faintly mur- 
 mured " Entrez" Then to his horror he became 
 aware that they proceeded, not from the door, but 
 from the back of his wooden bedstead, immediately 
 above him, and at the same time recollected that he 
 had heard similar noises while sitting at the little 
 table in the Villa Ogilvy, which the mystics gathered 
 there declared were produced by spirits. 
 
 His hair rose upon his head, a cold perspiration 
 trickled down him; he shook in every limb. He 
 thought of lighting a candle, but reflected that it was 
 on the chest of drawers at the other side of the room, 
 also that he did not know where he had put the 
 matches. He thought of flying to the Pasteur, but 
 remembered that to do so, first he must get out of 
 bed, and perhaps expose his bare legs to the assault 
 of ghostly hands, and next that, to reach the chamber 
 of Monsieur and Madame Boiset, he must pass 
 through the sanctuary of the room occupied by Juli- 
 ette. So he compromised by retiring under the clothes, 
 much as a tortoise draws its head into its shell. 
 
 This expedient proved quite useless, for there be- 
 neath the blankets the raps sounded louder than ever. 
 Moreover, of a sudden the bed seemed to be filled 
 with a cold and unnatural air, which blew all about
 
 THE PASTEUR TAKES THE FIELD 147 
 
 him, especially upon his hands, though he tried to pro- 
 tect these by placing them under his back. Now God- 
 frey knew something of the inadequate and clumsy 
 methods affected by alleged communicating spirits, and 
 half automatically began to repeat the alphabet. When 
 he got to the letter I, there was a loud rap. He began 
 again, and at A came another rap. Once more he tried, 
 for something seemed to make him do so, and was 
 stopped at M. 
 
 " I am," he murmured, and recommenced until the 
 word " here " was spelt out, after which came three 
 rapid raps to signify a full stop. 
 
 " Who is here ? " he asked in his own mind, at the 
 same time determining that he would leave it at that. 
 It was of no use at all, for the other party evidently 
 intended to go on. 
 
 There was a perfect rain of raps, on the bed, off the 
 bed, on the floor, even on the jug by the washstand; 
 indeed, he thought that this and other articles were 
 being moved about the room. To ston this multiform 
 assault once more he took refuge in the alphabet, with 
 the result that the raps unmistakably spelt the word 
 " Eleanor." 
 
 "Great Heavens!" he thought to himself, "that 
 dreadful spirit girl here, in my bedroom! How can 
 she? It is most improper, but I don't suppose she 
 cares a sou for that." 
 
 In his despair and alarm he tucked the clothes tightly 
 round him, and thrusting out his head, said in trem- 
 bling accents : 
 
 " Please go away. You know I never asked you to 
 come, and really it isn't right," remarks which he 
 thought, though, like all the rest, this may have been
 
 148 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 fancy, were followed by a sound of ghostly laughter. 
 What was more, the bedclothes suddenly slipped off 
 him, or oh horror! perhaps they were pulled off. 
 At any rate, they went, and when next he saw them 
 they were lying in a heap by the side of the bed. 
 
 Then it would seem that he fainted, overcome by 
 these terrors, real or imaginary. At any rate, when he 
 opened his eyes again it was to see the daylight creep- 
 ing into tha room (never before had he appreciated 
 so thoroughly the beauties of the dawn) and to find 
 himself lying half frozen on the bed with the pillow, 
 which he was clasping affectionately, for his sole 
 covering. 
 
 At breakfast that morning he looked so peculiar 
 and dilapidated, that Madame and Juliette made tender 
 inquiries after his health, to which he replied that his 
 bedclothes had come off in the night and the cold had 
 given him a chill " in the middle." They were very 
 sympathetic, and dosed him with hot cafe-au-lait, but 
 the Pasteur, studying him through the blue spectacles, 
 said, "Ah, is it so?" in a kind of triumphant tone 
 which Madame designated as " bete." Indeed, to those 
 unacquainted with what was passing in M. Boiset's 
 mind, it must have seemed particularly stupid. 
 
 When breakfast was over he possessed himself of 
 Godfrey, and led him to the observatory, where the 
 stove was already lit, though this was not usual in 
 the daytime, especially on Sundays. 
 
 " Now, my boy, tell me all about it," he said, and 
 Godfrey told him, feebly suggesting that it might have 
 been a nightmare. 
 
 " Nightmare ! Nonsense. The witch Riennes has 
 sent her demon to torment you, that is all. I thought
 
 THE PASTEUR TAKES THE FIELD 149 
 
 she would. It is quite according to rule, a most clear 
 and excellent case. Indeed, I am a lucky student." 
 
 " I don't believe in witches," said Godfrey, " I al- 
 ways heard they were rubbish." 
 
 "Ah! I don't know. Here in the mountains these 
 Swiss people believe in them, and tell strange stories, 
 some of which I have heard as their Pasteur, especially 
 when I held office among the High Alps. Also the 
 Bible speaks of them often, does it not, and what was, 
 is, and shall be, as Solomon says. Oh ! why hesitate ? 
 Without doubt this woman is a witch who poses as an 
 innocent modern spiritualist. But she shall not send 
 her pretty female devil after you again, for I will 
 make that room impossible to her." 
 
 " Please do," said Godfrey. " And as for Madame 
 Riennes, it is certainly strange that she should have 
 known about the things I had in my pocket the other 
 day, although of course, she may have followed me 
 into the shops." 
 
 " Yes, yes, she followed you into the shops, she or 
 her demon, though perhaps you would not see her 
 there. What did you tell me? That in the villa you 
 thought that the dead Mademoiselle was warning you 
 against something? Well, perhaps she was, for she 
 was a good woman, though weak and foolish to trust 
 to spiritualism, and now, without doubt, she sees all, 
 and would protect you of whom she is fond." 
 
 " Then I wish she had done it a little better," said 
 Godfrey. " Oh ! listen, there's a rap ! " 
 
 A rap there was certainly, on the hot iron of the 
 stove, a resonant, ringing rap. The Pasteur advanced 
 and made an examination, and while he was doing so 
 there came another. What is more, in a most inex-
 
 150 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 plicable fashion his blue spectacles flew from his nose. 
 Very solemnly lie found and replaced them and then, 
 with the utmost dignity, addressing himself to the 
 stove, he cursed and exorcised that article of domestic 
 furniture in his best mediaeval Latin. Apparently the 
 effort was successful, for there were no more mani- 
 festations. 
 
 " Listen, my boy. You do not part from me this 
 day. Presently we go to church, and you sit under me 
 where I can keep my eye on you. If you make one 
 movement towards the door, I descend from the 
 desk or the pulpit, and take you back there with 
 me." 
 
 " I don't want to move," said Godfrey. 
 
 " No, but there are others who may want to move 
 you. Then after church we dine, and after dinner we 
 take a nice walk through the woods arm in arm. Yes, 
 perhaps we go as far as Lucerne and pay a little visit 
 there, since this afternoon I have arranged that there 
 is no service." 
 
 So Godfrey went to church and sat under the cold, 
 blue glare of the Pasteur's spectacles, listening to a 
 really eloquent sermon, for his preaching was excel- 
 lent. He took his text from the story of Saul and 
 the witch of Endor, and after dwelling on it and its 
 moral, opened up the whole problem of the hidden 
 influences which may, and probably do, affect the 
 human soul. He gave a short but learned account of 
 the history of demonology throughout the ages, which 
 evidently he had at his fingers' ends. He distinguished 
 between good and evil spirits, and while not denying 
 the lawfulness of such research, pointed out the peril 
 that the seeker ran, since in his quest for the good he
 
 THE PASTEUR TAKES THE FIELD 151 
 
 might find the evil. Finally, he demonstrated that 
 there was a sure refuge from all such demoniacal at- 
 tacks, which those who suffered from them had but to 
 seek. 
 
 Madame dozed during this sermon. Juliette won- 
 dered what had sent her father down that road, and 
 the little congregation, those of them who understood, 
 thought it a pleasant change from his usual discourses 
 upon their sins, since they at least had never practised 
 demonology. But to Godfrey, to whom, indeed, it was 
 addressed, it brought much comfort, for in the Pasteur 
 and his pure and beautiful doctrine, he saw a rock on 
 which he might stand secure, defying Madame Riennes 
 and Eleanor, and all the hosts of hell behind them. 
 
 Then came dinner. It was towards the middle of 
 this meal that Godfrey began to feel very ill at ease. 
 He fidgeted, he looked towards the door, he half rose 
 and sat down again. 
 
 "Do you perchance wish to go out?" asked the 
 Pasteur, who was keeping him under constant observa- 
 tion. 
 
 "What of it if he does?" interrupted Madame. 
 " Did not Monsieur Godfrey inform us that he was 
 unwell ? Go then, Monsieur Godfrey." 
 
 " No, not so," said the Pasteur. " Remain seated. 
 In one minute I will be ready to accompany you." 
 
 " Mon Dieu! what for?" exclaimed Madame. 
 " Never did I hear of such a thing," while even Juli- 
 ette looked amazed. 
 
 Meanwhile Godfrey had risen and was making for 
 the door, with a fixed and sickly smile upon his face. 
 The Pasteur swallowed down his inn ordinaire and 
 rushed after him.
 
 152 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " He is ill," said Juliette, with sympathy, " all day 
 he has looked strange." 
 
 " Perhaps," said Madame. " That sermon of your 
 father's was enough to turn anybody's stomach, with 
 his talk about devils and witches. But why cannot 
 he leave him alone ? A doctor in such a case perhaps, 
 
 but a clergyman ! Mon Dieu! there they go, the 
 
 two of them walking towards the woods. What a 
 strange idea ! And your father has Monsieur Godfrey 
 by the arm, although assuredly he is not faint for he 
 pulls ahead as though in a great hurry. They must 
 be mad, both of them. I have half a mind " 
 
 " No, no, Mother," said Juliette. " Leave them 
 alone. Doubtless in time they will return. Perhaps it 
 has something to do with the stars." 
 
 " Silly girl ! Stars at midday ! " 
 
 "Well, Mamma, you know they are always there 
 even if one cannot see them." 
 
 " Nonsense, child. They only come at night. The 
 question is where are those two going? " 
 
 Juliette shook her head and gave it up, and so per- 
 force did her mother.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE PASTEUR CONQUERS 
 
 MEANWHILE, following a short cut through the snowy 
 woods that ran over the shoulder of the intervening 
 hill, the pair were wending their way towards Lucerne. 
 Godfrey, a fixed and vacant look upon his face, went 
 first ; the Pasteur clinging to his arm like a limpet to a 
 rock, puffed along beside him. 
 
 " Heaven ! " he gasped, " but this attraction of 
 yours must be strong that it makes you walk so fast 
 immediately after dinner." 
 
 " It is, it is ! " said Godfrey, in a kind of agony. 
 " I feel as though my inside were being drawn out, and 
 I must follow it. Please hold my arm tight or I shall 
 run." 
 
 "Ah! the witch. The great witch!" puffed the 
 Pasteur, " and up this hill too, over snow. Well, it 
 will be better on the down grade. Give me your hand, 
 my boy, for your coat is slipping, and if once you got 
 away how should I catch you ? " 
 
 They accomplished the walk into Lucerne in abso- 
 lutely record time. Fortunately, at this after-dinner 
 hour few people were about, but some of those whom 
 they met stared at them, and one called : 
 
 "Do you take him to the police-station? Shall I 
 summon the gens-d'arme? ' 
 
 "No, no," replied the Pasteur, " he goes to keep an 
 assignation, and is in a hurry." 
 
 153
 
 154 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " Then why does he take you with him ? Surely a 
 clergyman will make a bad third at such an affair ? " 
 ejaculated an outspoken lady who was standing at her 
 house door. 
 
 " Where is the street? I do not know it," asked the 
 /Pasteur. 
 
 " Nor do I," answered Godfrey, " but we shall come 
 there all right. To the left now." 
 
 " Oh ! the influence ! The strong influence ! " 
 muttered Monsieur Boiset. " Behold ! it leads 
 him." 
 
 Truly it did lead him. Round corners and across 
 squares they went into an old part of the town with 
 which neither of them was acquainted, till at length 
 Godfrey, diving beneath an archway, pulled up in front 
 of an antique doorway, saying: 
 
 " I think this is the place." 
 
 " Look at the writing and make sure," said the 
 Pasteur, " for it seems ridiculous " 
 
 At that moment the door opened mysteriously, and 
 Godfrey disappeared into the passage beyond. 
 Scarcely had the Pasteur time to follow him when it 
 shut again, although he could see no concierge. 
 
 " Doubtless it is one of those that works with a 
 wire," he thought to himself, but he had no time to 
 stop to look, for already Godfrey was climbing the 
 stairs. Up he went, three floors, and up after him 
 scrambled the Pasteur. Suddenly Godfrey stopped at 
 a door and not waiting to ring the bell, knocked with 
 his hand. Immediately it opened and Godfrey, with 
 his companion, passed into a very dark hall round 
 which were several other doors. Here in the gloom 
 the Pasteur lost him. Godfrey had gone through one
 
 THE PASTEUR CONQUERS 155 
 
 of the doors, but which he could not see. He stood 
 still, listening, and presently heard a deep peculiar^ 
 voice speaking English with a very foreign accent, 
 say: 
 
 " So you have come to see your godmamma, my dear 
 little clever boy. Well, I thought you would, and last 
 night I sent you a pretty messenger to give you 
 remembrance." 
 
 Then the Pasteur found the handle of the door and 
 entered the room. It was a curious place draped, not 
 without taste of a bizarre kind, in vivid colours, 
 wherein purple dominated, and it gave an idea of 
 mingled magnificence and squalor. Some of the fur- 
 niture was very good, as were one or two of the 
 pictures, though all of it was of an odd and unusual 
 make. Thus, the sideboard was shaped like a sarcopha- 
 gus, and supported on solid sphinxes with gilded faces. 
 In a corner of the room also stood an unwrapped 
 mummy in a glass case. 
 
 In the midst of all this stood a common deal table, 
 whereon were a black bottle, and the remains of 
 Madame's meal, which seemed to have consisted of 
 large supplies of underdone meat. In front of the fire 
 was a large, well-worn couch, and by it a small stout 
 table such as spiritualists use, on which gleamed a ball 
 of glass or crystal. On this couch was seated Madame 
 clad in a kind of black dressing-gown and a wide gold 
 scarf tied about her ample waist. Her fat, massive 
 face was painted and powdered ; on her head she wore 
 a kind of mantilla also gold-coloured, and about her 
 neck a string of old Egyptian amulets. Anything 
 more unwholesome or uncanny than were her general 
 appearance and surroundings as the bright flames of
 
 156 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 the fire showed them in this stuffy, shadowed room, 
 it would be impossible to imagine. 
 
 " Sit down here by my side, my little son in the 
 speerit, where I have made a place ready for you, and 
 let me hold your hand while you tell me all that you 
 have been doing and if you have been thinking much 
 of me and that beautiful Eleanor whom I sent to see 
 you last night," went on Madame Riennes in her 
 ogreish, purring voice, patting the sofa. 
 
 Just then she looked up and caught sight of the 
 Pasteur standing in the shadow. Staring at him with 
 her fierce, prominent eyes, she started violently as 
 though at last she had seen something of which she 
 was afraid. 
 
 " Say, my Godfrey," she exclaimed in a rather 
 doubtful voice, " what is this that you have brought 
 with you ? Is it a scarecrow from the fields ? Or is it 
 a speerit of your own? If so, I should have thought 
 that a young man would have liked better the lovely 
 Eleanor than this old devil." 
 
 " Yes, Madame Jezebel," said the Pasteur striding 
 forward, speaking in a loud, high voice and waving a 
 large umbrella, which had come partly unfolded in his 
 hurried walk. " It is a scarecrow one that scares the 
 crows of hell who seek to pick out the souls of the 
 innocent, like you, Madame Jezebel." 
 
 Madame uttered a voluminous oath in some strange 
 tongue, and sprang to her feet with an agility sur- 
 prising in one so stout. 
 
 "Say, who are you?" she ejaculated in French, 
 confronting him. 
 
 " I am the Pasteur Boiset who accompany my ward 
 to pay this little call, Madame."
 
 THE PASTEUR CONQUERS 157 
 
 " Oh ! indeed. That thief of a clergyman, who got 
 his finger into the pie of dead Mademoiselle, eh? 
 Well, there are no more pickings here, Pasteur, but 
 perhaps you come to have your fortune told. Shall 
 I look in the crystal for you and tell you nice things 
 about what shall we say? About the past of that 
 handsome Madame of yours, for instance? Oh! I will 
 do it for love, yes, for love. Or shall I make that 
 mummy speak for you? I can, for once I lived in 
 that body of hers it was a gay life," and she stopped, 
 gasping. 
 
 " Hearken, woman," said the Pasteur, " and do not 
 think to frighten me. I know all about my wife, and, 
 if once she was foolish, what of it in a world where 
 none are altogether wise? If you do not wish to visit 
 the police cell, you will do well to leave her alone. 
 As for your tricks of chicanery, I want none of them. 
 What I want is that you take off the spell which you 
 have laid upon this poor boy, as Satan your master 
 has given you the power to do. Now, obey me 
 or " 
 
 " Or ? Or what, you old paid advocate of God ? " 
 
 " That is a good term. If I am an advocate, I 
 know my Employer's mind, I, who have taken His 
 fee, and am therefore in honour bound to serve Him 
 faithfully. Now I will tell you His mind about you. 
 It is that unless you change your ways and repent, 
 soon you will go to hell. Yes, quite soon, I think, 
 for one so fat cannot be very strong in the heart. 
 Do what I bid you, Madame, or I, the advocate of 
 God, having His authority, will curse you in the 
 Name of God, and in the ancient form of which you 
 may have heard."
 
 158 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " Bah ! would you frighten me, the great Madame 
 Riennes who have spirits at my command and who, as 
 you admit, can lay on spells and take them off. A flea 
 for you and your God ! " 
 
 " Spirits at your command ! Yes, some of them in 
 there, I think," and he pointed to the black bottle on 
 the table, " and others too, perhaps ; I will not deny 
 it. Well, let them advance, and we will see who is 
 on the top of the mountain, I, the old paid advocate of 
 God, or you and your spirits, Madame," and hooking 
 the handle of the big umbrella over his wrist, he folded 
 his arms and stared at her through the blue spectacles. 
 
 Madame Riennes gibbered some invocation, but 
 nothing happened. 
 
 " I await your spirits. They cannot have gone to 
 bed so early," remarked the Pasteur like a new Elijah. 
 
 Then, also like Elijah, to use a vulgarism, he " sailed 
 in " after a way which even the terrified Godfrey, who 
 was crouching against one of the purple curtains, felt 
 to be really magnificent with such artistic sense as re- 
 mained to him. In his mediaeval Latin which, spoken 
 with a foreign accent, Godfrey, although a good 
 scholar, could scarcely follow save for certain holy 
 names, he cursed Madame Riennes in some archaic 
 but most effective fashion. He consigned, this much 
 Godfrey made out, her soul to hell and her body to a 
 number of the most uncomfortable experiences. He 
 trailed her in the dust at the rear of his theological 
 chariot; he descended from the chariot, so to speak, 
 and jumped upon her as he had done upon the beetle ; 
 he tossed up her mangled remains as the holy bull, 
 Apis of the Egyptians, might have done with those of 
 a Greek blasphemer. Then, like a triumphant pugilist,
 
 THE PASTEUR CONQUERS 159' 
 
 metaphorically he stood over her and asked her if she 
 wanted any more. 
 
 For a little while Madame Riennes was crushed, also 
 very evidently frightened, for those who deal in the 
 supernatural are afraid of the supernatural. Indeed, 
 none of us welcome the curse even of a malignant and 
 disappointed beggar, or of the venomous gipsy angered 
 by this or that, and much less that of a righteous man 
 inspired by just and holy indignation. Madame 
 Riennes, an expert in the trade, a dealer in maledic- 
 tions, was not exempt from this common prejudice. 
 As she would have expressed it, she felt that he had 
 the Power on his side. 
 
 But Madame was no common charlatan; she had 
 strength of a sort, though where it came from who 
 could say? Moreover, for all kinds of secret reasons 
 of her own, she desired to keep in her grip this boy 
 Godfrey, who had shown himself to be so wonderful 
 a medium or clairvoyant. To her he meant strength 
 and fortune; also for him she had conceived some 
 kind of unholy liking in the recesses of her dark soul. 
 Therefore, she was not prepared to give him up with- 
 out a struggle. 
 
 Presently Madame seemed to cast off the influences 
 with which the Pasteur had overwhelmed her. While 
 his maledictions were in full flow she sank in a huddled 
 heap upon the couch. Of a sudden she revived; she 
 ^prang up ; notwithstanding her bulk she leapt into the 
 iair like a ballet-dancer. She tore the golden mantilla 
 from her head, letting down a flood of raven hair, 
 streaked with grey, and waved it round her. She 
 called upon the names of spirits or demons, long, re- 
 sounding names with an Eastern ring about them, to
 
 ,160 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 come to her aid. Then she pranced into the centre of 
 the room, crying: 
 
 " Dog of a clergyman, I defy you and will overcome 
 you. That boy's soul is mine, not yours. I am the 
 greatest mesmerist in the world and he is in my net. I 
 will show you ! " 
 
 She turned towards the shrivelled, almost naked 
 mummy in the case, and addressed it : 
 
 " O Nofri," she said, " Priestess of Set, great seeress 
 and magician of the old world in whom once my spirit 
 dwelt, send forth your Ka, your everlasting Emana- 
 tion, to help me. Crush this black hound. Come 
 forth, come forth ! " 
 
 As she spoke the fearful Godfrey in his corner saw 
 the door of the glass case fly open, also as he thought, 
 probably erroneously, that he saw the mummy move, 
 lifting its stiff legs and champing its iron jaws so that 
 the yellow, ancient teeth caught the light as they 
 moved. Then he heard and saw something else. Sud- 
 denly the Pasteur in tones that rang like a trumpet, 
 cried out : 
 
 " She seems to hesitate, this mummy of yours, 
 Madame. Let me be polite and help her." 
 
 With a single bound he was in front of the case. 
 With the hook of his big umbrella he caught the 
 shrivelled thing round the neck; with his long thin 
 arm he gripped it about the middle, just like some- 
 body leading a lady to the dance, thought Godfrey. 
 Then he bent himself and pulled. Out flew the age- 
 withered corpse. The head came off, the body broke 
 above the hips and fell upon the floor, leaving the 
 legs standing in the case, a ghastly spectacle. On to 
 this severed trunk the Pasteur leapt, again as he had
 
 THE PASTEUR CONQUERS 161 
 
 done upon the black beetle. It crunched and crumbled, 
 filling the air with a pungent, resinous dust. Then he 
 stood amidst the debris, and placing his right foot 
 upon what had been the mummy's nose, said mildly: 
 
 " Now, Madame, what next ? This lady is finished ? " 
 
 Madame Riennes uttered a stifled scream, more she 
 could not do for rage choked her. Her big eyes rolled, 
 she clenched and unclenched her hands, and bent 
 forward as though she were about to fly at the Pasteur 
 like a wild cat. Still poised upon the fragments of the 
 mummy he lifted the point of the umbrella to receive 
 the charge as it came, and taking advantage of 
 Madame's temporary paralysis of speech, went on : 
 
 "Hearken! daughter of Beelzebub. You have the 
 curse and it shall work upon your soul, but, yes, it 
 shall work well. Still your body remains, and of that 
 too I would say something. Know that I have heard 
 much of you oh! the quiet old Pasteur hears many 
 things, especially if he has members of the secret 
 police among his flock. I think that yonder in an 
 office there is a dossier, yes, an official record concern- 
 ing you and your doings both in this country and in 
 other lands. It has been allowed to sleep, but it can 
 wake again; if it wakes well, there is the peniten- 
 tiary for such as you." 
 
 Madame gasped and turned green. If Monsieur 
 Boiset had drawn a bow at a venture, evidently that 
 chance arrow had found the bull's-eye, for now she 
 truly was frightened. 
 
 "What would you have me do?" she asked in a 
 choking voice. 
 
 " Free this youth from your influence, as you can if 
 you will."
 
 162 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " My influence! If I had any with him would not 
 that bald skull of yours by now have been shattered like 
 an egg, seeing that he is strong and holds a stick? " 
 
 " I have no time to waste, Madame. The Police 
 Office closes early on Sundays." 
 
 Then she gave in. 
 
 " Come here," she said sullenly to Godfrey, still 
 speaking in French. 
 
 He came and stood before her sneezing, for the 
 pungent dust of the smashed mummy, which the Pas- 
 teur still ground beneath his large boots, had floated 
 up his nose. 
 
 " Cease that noise, little fool, and look at me." 
 
 Godfrey obeyed, but did not stop sneezing, because 
 the mixture of spices and organic matter would not al- 
 low him to do so. She stared at him very evilly, mut- 
 tered some more words, and made mystic upward 
 passes with her hands. 
 
 " There now," she said, " you are free, so far as I 
 am concerned. But I do not think that you are done 
 with spirits, since they are guests which once enter- 
 tained to breakfast, stop to luncheon and to dinner; 
 yes, and pass the night when they are merriest. I 
 think you will see many spirits before you die, and 
 afterwards ah! who knows, little pig? Put your 
 string about his leg and take your little pig home, 
 Pasteur. He will not be drawn to come here again." 
 
 " Good, Madame, for remember, if he does I shall 
 be drawn to call at the Police Office. If Madame will 
 take my advice she will try change of air. Lucerne is 
 cold in the winter, especially for those whose hearts 
 are not too strong. Is it finished?" 
 
 " Quite, for my part, but for you, interfering hum-
 
 THE PASTEUR CONQUERS 163- 
 
 bug, I do not know. Get out of my room, both of 
 you." 
 
 The Pasteur bowed with an old-fashioned polite- 
 ness, and herding Godfrey in front of him, turned 
 to go. As he passed through the door something 
 hard hit him violently in the back, so that he nearly 
 fell. It was the head of the mummy, which Madame 
 had hurled at him. It fell to the floor, and striking 
 against a chair leg, recoiled through the doorway. 
 Godfrey saw it, and an impulse seized him. Lifting 
 that head, he turned. Madame was standing in the 
 middle of the room with her back to the deal table, 
 uttering short little howls of fury. 
 
 Godfrey advanced very politely and saying, " I be- 
 lieve this is your property, Madame," placed the bat- 
 tered remnant of humanity upon the table beside the 
 black bottle. As he did so, he glanced at the mes- 
 merist, then turned and fled, for her face was like to 
 that of a devil. 
 
 " Monsieur Boiset," he said, when they reached the 
 street, " something has happened to me. I am quite 
 changed. Not for all the world would I go near 
 Madame Riennes again. Indeed, now I feel as though 
 I wished to run away from her." 
 
 " That is good ! " said the Pasteur. " Oh ! I thought 
 it would be so, for I know how to deal with such 
 witches. But not too fast, not too fast, my Godfrey. 
 I wonder what the old Egyptians put into the heads 
 of their mummies to make them so heavy." 
 
 " Bitumen," answered Godfrey, and proceeded in 
 a cheerful voice to give an account of the Egyptian 
 process of mummification to his tutor, which Isobel 
 and he had acquired in the course of their miscel-
 
 164 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 laneous reading at Monk's Acre. Indeed, as he had 
 said, whatever the reason, he was changed and pre- 
 pared to talk cheerfully about anything. A great 
 burden was lifted from his soul. 
 
 From that day forward Godfrey became what a 
 youth of his years and race should be, a high-spirited, 
 athletic, and active young man. Madame Riennes and 
 her visions passed from him like a bad dream. 
 Thoughtful he remained always, for that was his 
 nature ; sometimes sad also, when he thought of Isobel, 
 who seemed to have disappeared quite out of his life. 
 But as was natural at his age, this mood weakened by 
 degrees. She was always there in the background, 
 but she ceased to obscure the landscape as she had done 
 before, and was to do in his after life. Had she been 
 a girl of the common type, attractive only because she 
 was a young and vivacious v/oman, doubtless the 
 eclipse would have been complete. Occasionally, in- 
 deed, men do love fools in an enduring fashion, which 
 is perhaps the most evil fate that can be laid upon 
 them. For what can be worse than to waste what 
 is deep and real upon a thing of flesh without a soul, 
 an empty, painted bubble, which evades the hand, or 
 bursts if it is grasped? Those are the real unfortu- 
 nates, who have sold themselves for a mess of potage, 
 that for the most part they are never even allowed to 
 eat, since before the bell rings it has probably been 
 deposited by heaven knows what hand of Circum- 
 stance in someone else's plate, or gone stale and been 
 thrown away. 
 
 Godfrey was not one of these, because the hand of 
 Circumstance had managed his affairs otherwise.
 
 THE PASTEUR CONQUERS 
 
 Isobel was no mess of potage, but with all her faults 
 and failings, a fair and great inheritance for him who 
 could take seisin of her. Still, as he believed, she 
 had first treated him badly, then utterly neglected him 
 whose pride she had outraged, by not even taking the 
 trouble to write him a letter, and finally, had vanished 
 away. And he was young, with manhood advancing 
 in his veins, like the pulse of spring, and women are 
 many in the world, some of whom have pretty faces 
 and proper figures. Also, although the fact is over- 
 looked by convention, it has pleased Nature to make 
 man polygamous in his instincts, though where those 
 instincts end and what is called love begins, is a thing 
 almost impossible to define. Probably in truth the 
 limit lies beyond the borders of sex. 
 
 So Isobel's grey eyes faded into the background 
 of Godfrey's mental vision, while the violet eyes of 
 Juliette drew ever nearer to his physical perceptions. 
 And here, to save trouble, it may be said at once, that 
 he never cared in the least for Juliette, except as a 
 male creature cares for a pretty female creature, and 
 that Juliette never cared in the least for him, except 
 as a young woman cares in general for a handsome 
 and attractive young man with prospects. Indeed, 
 she found him too serious for her taste. She did not 
 understand him, as, for his part, in her he found 
 nothing to understand. 
 
 After all, ruling out the primary impulses which 
 would make a scullery maid congenial to a genius 
 upon a desert isle, what was there in a Juliette to 
 appeal to a Godfrey? And, with the same qualifica- 
 tion, what was there in a Godfrey to appeal to a 
 Juliette? As once, with an accidental touch of poetry,
 
 i66 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 she said to her mother, when at his side she felt as 
 though she were walking over a snow-covered crevasse 
 in the surrounding Alps. All seemed firm beneath 
 her feet, but she never knew when the crust would 
 break, and he would vanish into unfathomed depths, 
 perchance dragging her with him. Or, feeling her 
 danger she might run from him on to safer ground, 
 where she knew herself to be on good, common rock 
 or soil, and no strange, hollow echoes struck her ears, 
 leaving him to pursue his perilous journey alone. 
 
 Her mother laughed, and falling into her humour, 
 answered, that beyond the crevasse and at the foot of 
 the further slope lay the warm and merry human town, 
 the best house of which not unlike the Villa Ogilvy 
 could be reached in no other way, and that with such 
 a home waiting to receive her, it was worth while to 
 take a little risk. Thereon Juliette shrugged her white 
 shoulders, and in the intervals of one of the French 
 chansonettcs which she was very fond of warbling in 
 her gay voice, remarked that she preferred to make 
 journeys, safe or perilous, in the company of a singing- 
 bird in the sunlight, rather than in that of an owl in 
 the dusk, who always reminded her of the advancing 
 darkness. 
 
 At least, that was the substance of what she said, 
 although she did not put it quite so neatly. Then, 
 as though by an afterthought, she asked when her 
 cousin Jules, a young notary of Berne, was coming 
 to stay with them. 
 
 The winter wore away, the spring came, and after 
 spring, summer, with its greenery and flowers. God- 
 frey was happy enough during this time. To begin 
 with, the place suited him. He was very well now,
 
 THE PASTEUR CONQUERS 167 
 
 and grew enormously in that pure and trenchant air, 
 broadening as well as lengthening, till, notwithstand- 
 ing his slimness, he gave promise of becoming a large, 
 athletic man. 
 
 Madame Riennes too and her unholy terrors had 
 faded into the background. He no longer thought of 
 spirits, although, it is true that a sense of the imma- 
 nence and reality of the Unseen was always with him; 
 indeed, as time went on, it increased rather than 
 lessened. Partly, this was owing to the character and 
 natural tendencies of his mind, partly also, without 
 doubt, to the fact that his recent experiences had, as 
 it were, opened a door to him between the Seen and 
 the Hidden, or rather burst a breach in the dividing 
 wall that never was built up again. Also his astro- 
 nomical studies certainly gave an impetus to thoughts 
 and speculations such as were always present with 
 him. Only now these were of a wholesome and rev- 
 erent nature, tending towards those ends which are 
 advanced by religion in its truest sense. 
 
 He worked hard, too, under the gentle guidance of 
 the learned Pasteur, at the classics, literature, and other 
 subjects, while in French he could not fail to become 
 proficient in the company of the talkative Madame and 
 the sprightly Juliette. Nor did he want for relaxa- 
 tion. There were great woods on the hills behind the 
 Maison Blanche, and in these he obtained leave to 
 shoot rabbits, and, horrible to say, foxes. Juliette 
 and he would set out together towards evening, ac- 
 companied by a clever cur which belonged to Jean, 
 the factotum of the house. 
 
 They would post themselves at some convenient 
 spot, while the instructed hound ranged the woods
 
 1 68 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 above. Then would appear perhaps a rabbit, perhaps 
 a hare, though these in that land of poaching were 
 not common, or occasionally a great, red, stealthy 
 fox. At first, with his English traditions, Godfrey 
 shrank from shooting the last, which he had been 
 taught ought to die in one way only, namely, by being 
 torn to pieces in the jaws of the hounds. 
 
 Juliette, however, mocked at him, volubly reciting 
 Reynard's many misdeeds how he stole chickens; 
 how he tore out the throats of lambs, and, according 
 to local report, was not even above killing a baby if 
 he found that innocent alone. So it came about next 
 time the excited yapping of the cur-dog was heard on 
 the slopes above them, followed by stealthy movements 
 among the fallen pine needles, and at length by the 
 appearance of the beautiful red creature slyly slinking 
 away to shelter, not twenty yards from where they 
 stood behind a tree-trunk, that Juliette whispered : 
 
 " Tires! Tires! " and he lifted the gun, an old- 
 fashioned, single-barrelled piece, aimed and fired. 
 
 Then followed a horrid scene. The big shot with 
 which he had loaded, mortally wounded but did not 
 kill the fox, that with its forepaws broken, rolled, and 
 bit, and made dreadful noises in its agony, its beauti- 
 ful fur all stained with blood. Godfrey did not know 
 what to do; it was too big and strong to kill with 
 Juliette's little stick, so he tried to batter it to death 
 with the stock of the gun, but without success, and 
 at last withdrew, looking at it horrified. 
 
 " What shall I do ? " he asked faintly of Juliette. 
 
 " Load the gun and shoot it again," replied that 
 practical young woman. 
 
 So with some mistakes, for the emergency made
 
 THE PASTEUR CONQUERS 169 
 
 him nervous, such as the dropping of the cap among 
 the pine needles, he obeyed. At last the poor beast 
 lay dead, a very disagreeable spectacle, with the cur- 
 dog that had arrived, biting joyously at its quivering 
 form. 
 
 Godfrey put down the gun and retired behind a 
 tree, whence presently he emerged, looking very pale, 
 for to tell the truth, he had been ill. 
 
 " I do not think I like shooting foxes," he said. 
 
 " How strange you are," answered Juliette. " Quite 
 unlike other men. Now my Cousin Jules, there is 
 nothing that he loves better. Go now and cut off his 
 tail, to hang upon the wall. It is beautiful." 
 
 " I can't," said Godfrey still more faintly. 
 
 11 Then give me the knife, for I can." 
 
 And she did! 
 
 Had Madame but known it, that fox did not die 
 unavenged upon her family, for with it departed from 
 the world all hopes of the alliance which she desired 
 so earnestly.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 GODFREY BECOMES A HERO 
 
 THE truth is that Godfrey was no true sportsman, 
 really he did not enjoy exterminating other and kin- 
 dred life to promote his own amusement. Like most 
 young men, he was delighted if he made a good shot; 
 moreover, he had some aptitude for shooting, but un- 
 like most young men, to him afterwards came reflec- 
 tions. Who gave him the right to kill creatures as 
 sentient, and much more beautiful in their way than 
 himself, just because it was " great fun " ? Of course, 
 he was familiar with the common answer, that day 
 by day his body was nourished upon the flesh of other 
 animals destroyed for that purpose. But then this 
 was a matter of necessity, so arranged by a law, that 
 personally, he thought dreadful, but over which he 
 had no manner of control. It was part of the hellish 
 system of a world built upon the foundation stone 
 of death. 
 
 Nature told him that he must live, and that to live, 
 not being a vegetarian, which for most of us is difficult 
 in a cold climate, he must kill, or allow others to kill 
 for him. But to his fancy, perhaps meticulous, be- 
 tween such needful slaughter and that carried out for 
 his own amusement, and not really for the purposes 
 of obtaining food, there seemed to be a great gulf 
 fixed. To get food he would have killed anything, 
 and indeed, often did in after days, as he would, and 
 
 170
 
 GODFREY BECOMES A HERO 171 
 
 also often did in after days, have destroyed noxious 
 animals, such as tigers. 
 
 But to inflict death merely to show his own skill 
 or to gratify man's innate passion for hunting, which 
 descends to him from a more primitive period, well, 
 that was another matter. It is true, that he was not 
 logical, since always he remained an ardent fisherman, 
 partly because he had convinced himself from various 
 observations, that fish feel very little, and partly for 
 the reason that there is high authority for fishing, 
 although, be it admitted, with a single exception, al- 
 ways in connection with the obtaining of needful food. 
 
 In these conclusions Godfrey was strengthened by 
 two- circumstances; first, his reading, especially of 
 Buddhistic literature, that enjoins them so strongly, 
 and in which he found a great deal to admire, and 
 secondly, by the entire concurrence of the Pasteur 
 Boiset, whom he admired even more than he did 
 Buddhistic literature. 
 
 " I am delighted, my young friend," said the 
 Pasteur, beaming at him through the blue spectacles, 
 " to find someone who agrees with me. Personally, 
 although you might not believe it, I love the chase 
 with ardour; when I was young I have shot as many 
 as twenty-five no twenty-seven blackbirds and 
 thrushes in one day, to say nothing of thirty-one 
 larks, and some other small game. Also, once I 
 wounded a chamois, which a bold hunter with me 
 killed. It was a glorious moment. But now, for 
 the reasons that you mention, I have given up all this 
 sport, which formerly to me was so great an excite- 
 ment and relaxation. Yet I admit that I still fish. 
 Only last year I caught a large hatful of perch and
 
 172 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 dace, of which I persuaded Madame to cook some 
 that Juliette would not eat and gave to the cat. Once, 
 too, there was a big trout in the Lake Lucerne. He 
 broke my line, but, my boy, we will go to fish for that 
 trout. No doubt he is still there, for though I was 
 then young, these fishy creatures live for many years, 
 and to catch him would be a glory." 
 
 After Godfrey had given up his fox-shooting, not 
 because in itself it is a terrible crime, like fishing for 
 salmon with herring roe, but for reasons which most 
 of his countrymen would consider effeminate and 
 absurd, he took to making expeditions, still in company 
 with Juliette, for Madame stretched Continental con- 
 ventions in his case, in search of certain rare flowers 
 which grew upon the lower slopes of these Alps. In 
 connection with one of these flowers an incident oc- 
 curred, rather absurd in itself, but which was not 
 without effect upon his fortunes. 
 
 The search for a certain floral treasure was long 
 and arduous. 
 
 " If only I could find that lovely white bloom," 
 exclaimed Juliette in exasperation at the close of a 
 weary hour of climbing, " why, I would kiss it." 
 
 " So would I," said Godfrey, mopping himself with 
 a pocket handkerchief, for the sun was hot, " and 
 with pleasure." 
 
 " Hidden flower," invoked Juliette with appropriate 
 heroic gestures, " white, secret, maiden flower, hear 
 us! Discover thyself, O shrinking flower, and thou 
 shalt be kissed by the one that first finds thee." 
 
 " I don't know that the flower would care for that," 
 remarked Godfrey, as they renewed their quest. 
 
 At length behind a jutting mass of rock, in a minia-
 
 GODFREY BECOMES A HERO 173 
 
 ture valley, not more than a few yards wide that was 
 backed by other rocks, this flower was found. God- 
 frey and Juliette, passing round either side of the 
 black, projecting mass to the opening of the toy vale 
 beyond, discovered it simultaneously. There it stood, 
 one lovely, lily-like bloom growing alone, virginal, 
 perfect. With a cry of delight they sprang at it, and 
 plucked it from its root, both of them grasping the 
 tall stem. 
 
 " I saw it first, and I will kiss it ! " cried Juliette, 
 " in token of possession." 
 
 " No," said Godfrey, " I did, and I will. I want 
 that flower for my collection." 
 
 " So do I, for mine," answered Juliette. 
 
 Then they both tried to set this seal of possession 
 upon that lily bloom, with the strange result that their 
 young lips met through its fragile substance and with 
 so much energy that it was crushed and ruined. 
 
 " Oh! " said Godfrey with a start, " look what you 
 have done to the flower." 
 
 " I ! I, wicked one ! Well, for the matter of that, 
 look what you have done to my lips. They feel quite 
 bruised." 
 
 Then first she laughed, and next looked as though 
 she were going to cry. 
 
 " Don't be sad," said Godfrey remorsefully. " No 
 doubt we shall find another, now that we know where 
 they are." 
 
 " Perhaps," she answered, " but it is always the 
 first that one remembers, and it is finished," and she 
 threw down the stalk and stamped on it. 
 
 Just then they heard a sound of laughter, and look- 
 ing up, to their horror perceived that they were not
 
 174 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 alone. For there, seated upon stones at the end of 
 the tiny valley, in composed and comfortable attitudes, 
 which suggested that they had not arrived that mo- 
 ment, were two gentlemen, who appeared to be highly 
 amused. 
 
 Godfrey knew them at once, although he had not 
 seen them since the previous autumn. They were 
 Brother Josiah Smith, the spiritualist, and Professor 
 Petersen, the investigating Dane, whom he used to 
 meet at the seances in the Villa Ogilvy. 
 
 " I guess, young Brother Knight," said the former, 
 his eyes sparkling with sarcastic merriment, " that 
 there is no paint on you. When you find a flower, 
 you know how to turn it to the best possible use." 
 
 " The substance of flowers is fragile, especially if 
 of the lily tribe, and impedes nothing," remarked the 
 learned Dane in considered tones, though what he 
 meant Godfrey did not understand at the moment. 
 On consideration he understood well enough. 
 
 " Our mutual friend, Madame Riennes, who is ab- 
 sent in Italy, will be greatly amused when she hears 
 of this episode," said Brother Smith. " She is indeed 
 a remarkable woman, for only this morning I received 
 a letter in which she informed me that very soon I 
 should meet you, young man, under peculiar circum- 
 stances, how peculiar she did not add. Well, I con- 
 gratulate you and the young lady. I assure you, 
 you made quite a pretty picture with nothing but that 
 flower between you, though, I admit, it was rough 
 on the flower. If I remember right you are fond of 
 the classics, as I am, and will recall to mind a Greek 
 poet named Theocritus. I think, had he been wander- 
 ing here in the Alps to-day, he would have liked to
 
 - GODFREY BECOMES A HERO , 175 
 
 write one of his idylls about you two and that flower." 
 
 " Because of the interruption give pardon, for it is 
 owed an apology," said the solemn Professor, adding, 
 " I think it must have been the emanation of Madame 
 Riennes herself which led us to this place, where we 
 did not at all mean to come, for she is very anxious 
 to know how you progress and what you are doing." 
 
 " Yes, young friend," broke in Brother Smith, not 
 without a touch of malice, for like the rest he was 
 resentful of Godfrey's desertion of their " circle," 
 " and now we shall be able to tell her." 
 
 " Say then," said Juliette, " who are these gentle- 
 men, and of what do they talk ? " 
 
 " They are friends of mine," Godfrey began to 
 explain with awkward hesitation, but she cut him 
 short with: 
 
 " I like not your friends. They make a mock of 
 me, and I will never forgive you." 
 
 " But Juliette, I " he began, and got no further, 
 for she turned and ran away. Anxious to explain, 
 he ran after her, pursued by the loud hilarity of the 
 intruding pair. In vain, for Juliette was singularly 
 swift of foot, and he might as well have pursued 
 Atalanta. 
 
 She reached the Maison Blanche, which fortunately 
 was empty, a clear ten yards ahead of him, and shut 
 herself in her room, whence, declaring that she had 
 a headache, she did not emerge till the following 
 morning. 
 
 Godfrey departed to the observatory where he often 
 worked in summer, feeling very sore and full of re- 
 flections. He had not really meant to kiss Juliette, 
 at least he thought not, and it was unthinkable that
 
 176 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 she meant to kiss him, since, so far as he was aware, 
 no young woman ever wanted to do such a thing, 
 being, every one of them, doubtless, as unapproach- 
 able and frigid as the topmost, snowy peak of the 
 Alps. (Such was, and always remained his attitude, 
 where the other sex was concerned, one not without 
 inconveniences in a practical world of disillusions.) 
 No, it was that confounded flower which brought 
 about this pure accident as though Nature, which 
 designs such accidents, had not always a flower, or 
 something equally serviceable, up her sleeve. 
 
 Moreover, had it not been for that accursed pair, 
 sent, doubtless, to spy on him by Madame Riennes, 
 the accident would never have mattered; at least not 
 much. He could have apologized suitably to Juliette, 
 that is, if she wanted an apology, which she showed 
 no signs of doing until she saw the two men. Indeed, 
 at the moment, he thought that she seemed rather 
 amused. 
 
 He thought of searching out Brother Smith and 
 Professor Petersen, and explaining to them exactly 
 what had happened in full detail, and should they 
 still continue their ribald jests, of punching their 
 heads, which as a manly young fellow, he was quite 
 capable of doing. Reflection showed him, however, 
 that this course might not be wise, since such adven- 
 tures are apt to end in the police-court, where the 
 flower, and its fruit, would obtain undue publicity. 
 No, he must leave the business alone, and trust that 
 Juliette would be merciful. Supposing that she were 
 to tell Madame that he had tried to kiss her, though 
 probably she would not mention that he had actually 
 succeeded !
 
 GODFREY BECOMES A HERO 177 
 
 The mere idea made him feel cold down the back. 
 He felt sure that Madame would believe the worst of 
 him; to judge from their conversations, ladies, good 
 as they all were, invariably did seem to believe the 
 worst in such affairs. Should he throw himself upon 
 the mercy of the Pasteur? Again, no. It would be 
 so hard to make him comprehend. Also, if he did, 
 he might suggest that the altar was the only possible 
 expiation. And and, oh! he must confess it, she 
 was very nice and sweet, but he did not wish to marry 
 Juliette and live with her all his life. 
 
 No, there was but one thing to be done: keep the 
 burden of his secret locked in his own breast, though, 
 unfortunately, it was locked as well in those of Juliette 
 and of two uninvited observers, and probably would 
 soon also be locked in the capacious bosom of Madame 
 Riennes. For the rest, towards Juliette in the future, 
 he would observe an attitude of the strictest propriety; 
 never more should she have occasion to complain of 
 his conduct, which henceforth would be immaculate. 
 Alas! how easy it is for the most innocent to be mis- 
 judged, and apparently, not without reason. 
 
 This reflection brought something to Godfrey's mind 
 which had escaped it in his first disturbance, also con- 
 nected with a flower. There came before him the 
 vision of a London square, and of a tall, pale girl, 
 in an antique dress, giving a rose to a man in knight's 
 armour, which rose both of them kissed simul- 
 taneously. Of course, when he saw it he had ruled 
 out the rose and only thought of the kisses, although, 
 now that he came to think of it, a rose is of a much 
 thicker texture than a lily. As he had witnessed that 
 little scene, and drawn his own conclusions, so others
 
 178 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 had witnessed another little scene that afternoon, and 
 made therefrom deductions which, in his innocent soul, 
 he knew to be totally false. Suppose, then, that his 
 deductions were also false. Oh! it was not possible. 
 Besides, a barrier built of rose leaves was not sufficient, 
 which again, with perfect justice, he remembered was 
 exactly what Brother Smith and Professor Petersen 
 had thought of one composed of lily petals. 
 
 There for the time the matter ended. Juliette re- 
 appeared on the morrow quite cured of her headache, 
 and as gay and charming as ever. Possibly she had 
 confided in her mamma, who had told her that after 
 all things were not so terrible, even if they had been 
 seen. 
 
 At any rate, the equilibrium was restored. Godfrey 
 acted on his solemn resolutions of haughtiness and 
 detachment for quite an hour, after which Juliette 
 threw a kitten at him and asked what was the matter, 
 and then sang him one of her pretty chansonettes to 
 the accompaniment of a guitar with three strings, 
 which closed the incident. Still there were no more 
 flower hunts and no new adventures. Tacitly, but 
 completely, everything of the sort was dropped out 
 of their relationship. They remained excellent 
 friends, on affectionate terms indeed, but that was all. 
 
 Meanwhile, owing to his doubts arising out of a 
 singular coincidence concerned with flowers and kisses, 
 Godfrey gradually made up his mind to write to 
 Isobel. Indeed, he had half composed the epistle 
 when at the end of one of his brief letters his father 
 informed him that she had gone to Mexico with her 
 uncle. So it came about that it was never posted, 
 since it is a kind of superstition with young people
 
 GODFREY BECOMES A HERO 179 
 
 that letters can only be delivered at the place where 
 the addressee last resided. It rarely occurs to them 
 that these may be forwarded, and ultimately arrive. 
 Nor, indeed, did it occur to Godfrey that as Isobel's 
 uncle was the British Minister to a certain country, 
 an envelope addressed to her to his care in that country 
 probably would have reached her. 
 
 She was gone and there was an end; it was of no 
 use to think more of the matter. Still, he was sorry, 
 because in that same letter his father had alluded 
 casually to the death of Lady Jane, which had caused 
 Hawk's Hall to be shut up for a while, and he would 
 have liked to condole with Isobel on her loss. He 
 knew that she loved her mother dearly, and of this 
 gentle lady he himself had very affectionate remem- 
 brances, since she had always been most kind to him. 
 Yet for the reasons stated, he never did so. 
 
 About a fortnight after the flower episode a chance 
 came Godfrey's way of making an Alp-climbing expe- 
 dition in the company of some mountaineers. They 
 were friends of the Pasteur who joined the party 
 himself, but stayed in a village at the foot of the 
 mountains they were to climb, since for such exercise 
 he had lost the taste. The first two expeditions went 
 off very successfully, Godfrey showing himself most 
 agile at the sport which suited his adventurous spirit' 
 and delighted him. By nature, notwithstanding; tri^ o w 
 dreamy characteristics, he was fearless^atoah^-i^ajtf' ,_,. o 
 
 . 
 
 where his personal safety was concerh&Mdnd H$Lv5h$ fcrq 
 a good head, it gave him plQ8isufe::to;crekpialo 
 edge of precipices, or pjsli$p$ry;'ic,e: 
 niches with an, 3x0 ;fqr his ftot^j it.' s- S* g 
 
 .'^ re &j p ST ^ <T g 
 
 ^ L<2 ta ^* 5-' O 
 
 -* S' w ^ K r 
 
 '* 3 rt J. 
 
 J^| S* ! - r S. S* w <? 
 
 55" T ^ ^ JrT '/? 
 
 CD f ^. ^\s 10 Kj
 
 i8o LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Then came the third attempt, up a really difficult 
 peak which had not yet been conquered that year. 
 The details of the expedition do not matter, but the 
 end of it was that at a particularly perilous place one 
 of the party lost his head or his breath and rolled 
 from the path. 
 
 There he lay half senseless, on the brink of a gulf, 
 with a drop of a thousand feet or more beneath him. 
 As it happened, they were climbing in two lots of 
 three, each of which lots was roped together, but at 
 some distance between the parties, that with the guide 
 being a good way ahead. 
 
 Godfrey was leading his party along the track made 
 by the other, but their progress was not very rapid 
 owing to the weakness of the man who had fallen 
 who, as it afterwards transpired, suffered from his 
 heart, and was affected by the altitude. The climber 
 behind Godfrey was strong and bold; also, as it 
 chanced at the moment of the fall, this man's feet 
 were planted upon a lump of projecting rock, so firmly 
 that by throwing himself forward against the snow 
 slope, grasping another lump of rock with his left 
 ~nd and bearir"- e alpenstock with his right, 
 
 veight of their companion. 
 
 1 them together, though 
 
 at the point where most 
 
 on a knife-like edge of 
 
 momentarily danger of 
 
 lovements of the weight 
 
 3 edge. 
 
 Dppage warned Godfrey 
 irned round and studied 
 icxperienced eye it was
 
 GODFREY BECOMES A HERO 181 
 
 obvious that a catastrophe was imminent. Now there 
 were two things which might be done ; one was to stay 
 in his place and help to bear the strain of the swinging 
 body, for almost immediately the fainting man slipped 
 from the ledge, and hung above the gulf. The other 
 was to trust to number two to hold his weight, and 
 go to his assistance in the hope of being able to support 
 him until the guide could return with the first party. 
 As by a flash-like working of the mind Godfrey 
 weighed these alternatives, his quick eye saw what 
 looked like a little bit of fluff appear from the under- 
 side of the rope, which told him that one at least of 
 the strands must have severed upon the edge of ice. 
 Then almost instinctively he made his choice. 
 
 " Can you hold him ? " he said swiftly to number 
 two, who answered, " Yes, I think so," in a muffled 
 voice. 
 
 " Then I go to help him." 
 
 " If you slip, I cannot bear you both," said the 
 muffled voice. 
 
 " No," answered Godfrey, and drawing the sheath 
 knife he wore, deliberately he cut the rope which 
 joined him to number two. 
 
 Then he scrambled down to the ledge without much 
 difficulty, reaching it, but just in time, for now the 
 razor blade of the ice had cut half through the rope, 
 and very soon the swinging of the senseless weight 
 beneath must complete its work. This ledge, being 
 broad, though sloping, was not a particularly bad 
 place; moreover, on it were little hummocks of ice, 
 resulting from snow that had melted and frozen again, 
 against one of which Godfrey was able to rest his 
 left shoulder, and even to pass his arm round it. But
 
 182 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 here came the rub. He could not get sufficient grip 
 of the thin rope with his right hand beyond the point 
 where it was cut, to enable him to support even half 
 the weight that hung below. Should it sever, as it 
 must do very shortly, it would be torn from his grasp. 
 
 What then could be done? Godfrey peered over 
 the edge. The man was swinging not more than two 
 feet below its brink, that is to say, the updrawn loop 
 of his stout leather belt, to which the rope was fast- 
 ened, was about that distance from the brink, and on 
 either side of it he hung down like a sack tied round 
 the middle, quite motionless in his swoon, his head 
 to one side and his feet to the other. 
 
 Could he reach and grasp that leather belt without 
 falling himself, and if so, could he bear the man's 
 weight and not be dragged over? Godfrey shrank 
 from the attempt; his blood curdled. Then he pic- 
 tured, again in a mind-flash, his poor companion whirl- 
 ing down through space to be dashed to pulp at the 
 bottom, and the agony of his wife and children whom 
 he knew, and who had wished to prevent him from 
 climbing that day. Oh! he would try. But still a 
 paralysing fear overcame him, making him weak and 
 nervous. Then it was in Godfrey's extremity that 
 his imagination produced a very curious illusion. 
 Quite distinctly he seemed to hear a voice, that of 
 Miss Ogilvy, say to him : 
 
 " Do it, Godfrey, at once, or it will be too late. 
 We will help you." 
 
 This phantasy, or whatever it was, seemed to give 
 him back his nerve and courage. Coolly he tightened 
 the grip of his left arm about the knob of ice, and 
 drawing himself forward a little, so that his neck
 
 GODFREY BECOMES A HERO 183 
 
 and part of his chest were over the edge, reached his 
 right hand downwards. His fingers touched the belt; 
 to grasp it he must have another inch and a half, or 
 two inches. He let himself down that distance. Oh! 
 how easy it seemed to do so and thrust his fingers 
 beneath the belt. As he closed them round it, the 
 rope parted and all the weight that it had borne came 
 upon Godfrey's arm! 
 
 How long did he support it, he often wondered 
 afterwards. For ages it seemed. He felt as though 
 his right arm was being torn from the socket, while 
 the ice cut into the muscles of his left like active 
 torture. He filled himself with air, blowing out his 
 lower part so that its muscles might enable him to 
 get some extra hold of the rough ground; he dug 
 his toes deep into the icy snow. His hat fell from 
 his head, rested for a moment in a ridiculous fashion 
 upon the swinging body beneath, then floated off 
 composedly into space, the tall feather in it sticking 
 upwards and fluttering a little. He heard voices ap- 
 proaching, and above them the shouts of the guide, 
 though what these said conveyed no meaning to him. 
 He must loose his hold and go too. No, he would 
 not. He would not, although now he felt as though 
 his shoulder- joint were dislocated, also that his left 
 arm was slipping. He would die like a brave man 
 like a brave man. Surely this was death! He was 
 gone everything passed away. 
 
 Godfrey woke again to find himself lying upon a 
 flat piece of snow. Recollection came back to him 
 with a pang, and he thought that he must have fallen. 
 
 Then he heard voices, and saw faces looking at him
 
 1 84 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 as through a mist, also he felt something in his mouth 
 and throat, which seemed to burn them. One of the 
 voices, it was that of the guide, said: 
 
 "Good, good! Me finds himself, this young Eng- 
 lish hero. See, his eyes open; more cognac, it will 
 make him happy and prevent the shock. Never mind 
 the other one; he is all right, the stupid." 
 
 Godfrey sat up and tried to lift his right arm to 
 thrust away the flask which he saw approaching him, 
 but he could not. 
 
 " Take that burning stuff away, Karl, confound 
 you," he said. 
 
 Then Karl, a good honest fellow, who was on his 
 knees beside him, threw his arms about him, and em- 
 braced him in a way that Godfrey thought theatrical 
 and unpleasant, while all the others, except the rescued 
 man, who lay semi-comatose, set up a kind of paean 
 of praise, like a Greek chorus. 
 
 " Oh ! shut up ! " said Godfrey, " if we waste so 
 much time we shall never get to the top," a remark 
 at which they all burst out laughing. 
 
 " They talk of Providence on the Alps," shouted 
 Karl in stentorian tones, while he performed a kind 
 of war-dance, " but that's the kind of providence for 
 me," and he pointed to Godfrey. " Many things have 
 I seen in my trade as guide, but never one like this. 
 What? To cut the rope for the sake of Monsieur 
 there," and he pointed to number two, whose share 
 in the great adventure was being overlooked, " before 
 giving himself to almost certain death for the sake 
 of Monsieur with the weak heart, who had no business 
 on a mountain; to stretch over the precipice as the 
 line parted, and hold Monsieur with the weak heart
 
 GODFREY BECOMES A HERO 185 
 
 for all that while, till I could get a noose round him 
 yes, to go on holding him after he himself was almost 
 dead without a mind! Good God! never has there 
 been such a story in my lifetime on these Alps, or 
 in that of my father before me." 
 
 Then came the descent, Godfrey supported on the 
 shoulder of the stalwart Karl, who, full of delight at 
 this great escape from tragedy, and at having a tale 
 to tell which would last him for the rest of his life, 
 " jodelled " spontaneously at intervals in his best 
 " large-tip " voice, and occasionally skipped about like 
 a young camel, while " Monsieur with the weak 
 heart " was carried in a chair provided to bear elderly 
 ladies up the lower slopes of the Alps. 
 
 Some swift-footed mountaineer had sped down to 
 the village ahead of them and told all the story, with 
 the result that when they reached the outskirts of 
 the place, an excited crowd was waiting to greet 
 them, including two local reporters for Swiss jour- 
 nals. 
 
 One of these, who contributed items of interest to 
 the English press also, either by mistake, or in order 
 to make his narrative more interesting, added to a 
 fairly correct description of the incident, a statement 
 that the person rescued by Godfrey was a young lady. 
 At least, so the story appeared in the London papers 
 next morning, under the heading of " Heroic Rescue 
 on the Alps," or in some instances of, " A Young 
 English Hero." 
 
 Among the crowd was the Pasteur, who beamed 
 at Godfrey through his blue spectacles, but took no 
 part in these excited demonstrations. When they 
 were back at their hotel, and the doctor who examined
 
 186 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Godfrey, had announced that he was suffering from 
 nothing except exhaustion and badly sprained muscles, 
 he said simply: 
 
 " I do not compliment you, my dear boy, like those 
 others, because you acted only as I should have ex- 
 pected of you in the conditions. Still, I am glad that 
 in this case another was not added to my long list of 
 disappointments." 
 
 " / didn't act at all, Pasteur," blurted out Godfrey. 
 " A voice, I thought it was Miss Ogilvy's, told me 
 what to do, and I obeyed." 
 
 The old gentleman smiled and shook his head, as 
 he answered : 
 
 " It is ever thus, young Friend. When we wish 
 to do good we hear a voice prompting us, which we 
 think that of an angel, and when we wish to do evil, 
 another voice, which we think that of a devil, but 
 believe me, the lips that utter both of them are in our 
 own hearts. The rest comes only from the excitement 
 of the instant. There in our hearts the angel and the 
 devil dwell, side by side, like the two figures in a 
 village weather-clock, ready to appear, now one and 
 now the other, as the breath of our nature blows 
 them." 
 
 " But I heard her," said Godfrey stubbornly. 
 
 " The excitement of the instant ! " repeated the 
 Pasteur blandly. " Had I been so situated I am quite 
 certain that I should have heard all the deceased whom 
 I have ever known," and he patted Godfrey's dark 
 hair with his long, thin hand, thanking God in his 
 heart for the brave spirit which He had been pleased 
 to give to this young man, who had grown so dear to 
 one who lacked a son. Only this he did in silence,
 
 GODFREY BECOMES A HERO 187 
 
 nor did he ever allude to the subject afterwards, 
 except as a commonplace matter-of-course event. 
 
 Notwithstanding the " jodellings " which continued 
 outside his window to a late hour, and the bouquet of 
 flowers which was sent to him by the wife of the 
 mayor, who felt that a distinction had been conferred 
 upon their village that would bring them many vis- 
 itors in future seasons, and ought to be suitably 
 acknowledged, Godfrey soon dropped into a deep 
 sleep. But in the middle of the night it passed from 
 him, and he awoke full of terrors. Now, for the first 
 time, he understood what he had escaped, and how 
 near he had been to lying, not in a comfortable bed, 
 but a heap of splintered bones and mangled flesh at 
 the foot of a precipice, whence, perhaps, it would have 
 been impossible ever to recover his remains. In short, 
 his nerves re-acted, and he felt anything but a hero, 
 rather indeed, a coward among cowards. Nor did 
 he wish ever to climb another Alp; the taste had quite 
 departed from him. To tell the truth, a full month 
 went by before he was himself again, and during that 
 month he was as timid as a kitten, and as careful of 
 his personal safety as a well-to-do old lady unaccus- 
 tomed to travel.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 JULIETTE'S FAREWELL 
 
 WHEN Godfrey returned to the Maison Blanche, wear- 
 ing a handsome gold watch, which had been presented 
 to him with an effusive letter of thanks by the gentle- 
 man whom he had rescued and his relatives, he found 
 himself quite a celebrity. Most of the Pasteur's con- 
 gregation met him when he descended from the dili- 
 gence, and waved their hats, but as he thanked heaven, 
 did not " jodel." 
 
 Leaving the Pasteur to make some acknowledg- 
 ment, he fled to the house, only to find Madame, 
 Juliette, a number of friends, to say nothing of Jean, 
 the cook and the servant girl, awaiting him there. 
 Madame beamed, and looked as though she were about 
 to kiss him; the fresh and charming Juliette shook 
 his hand, and murmured into his ear that she had no 
 idea he was so brave, also that every night she thanked 
 the Bon Dieu for his escape; while the others said 
 something appropriate or the reverse. 
 
 Once more he fled, this time to his bedroom. There 
 upon his dressing-table lay two letters, one from his 
 father and one addressed in a curious pointed hand- 
 writing, which he did not know. This he opened at 
 once. It was in French, and ran, as translated : 
 
 " AH ! LITTLE BROTHER, I know all that has hap- 
 pened to you, nor did your dear godmother need to wait 
 
 188
 
 JULIETTE'S FAREWELL 189 
 
 to read about it in the journals. Indeed, I saw it in my 
 crystal before it happened ; you with the man hanging to 
 your arm and the rest. But then a cloud came over the 
 crystal, and I could not see the end. I hoped that he 
 would pull you over the edge, so that in one short minute 
 you became nothing but a red plum-pudding at the bot- 
 tom of the gulf. For you know that the sweetest- 
 tempered fairy godmother can be made cross by wicked 
 ingratitude and evil treatment. Do not think, little 
 Brother, that I have forgiven you for bringing that 
 old pasteur-fool to insult and threaten me. Not so. I 
 pray the speerits night and day to pay you back in your 
 own coin, you who have insulted them also. Indeed, it 
 was they who arranged this little incident, but they tell 
 me that some other speerit interfered at the last moment 
 and saved you. If so, better luck next time, for do not 
 think you shall escape me and them. Had you been true 
 to us you should have had great good fortune and every- 
 thing you desire in life, including, perhaps, something 
 that you desire most of all. As it is, you shall have 
 much trouble and lose what you desire most of all. Have 
 you been kissing that pretty Mademoiselle again and try- 
 ing to make her as bad as her mother ? Well, I hope you 
 will, because it will hurt that old fool-pasteur. Wher- 
 ever you go, remember that eyes follow you, mine and 
 those of the speerits. Hate and bad luck to you, my 
 little Brother, from your dear godmamma, whose good 
 heart you have outraged. So fare ill till you hear from 
 me again, yes and always. Now you will guess my name, 
 so I need not sign it. 
 
 " P.S. Eleanor also sends you her hate from another 
 sphere." 
 
 This precious epistle, rilled with malignity, reaching 
 him in the midst of so many congratulations, struck 
 upon Godfrey like a blast of icy wind at the zenith
 
 190 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 of a summer day. To tell the truth also, it frightened 
 him. 
 
 He had tried to forget all about Madame Riennes, 
 and now here she was stabbing him from afar, for 
 the letter bore a Venice postmark. It may be foolish, 
 but few of us care to be the object of a concentrated, 
 personal hate. Perhaps this is due to the inherited 
 superstitions of our race, not long emerged from the 
 blackness of barbarism, but at least we still feel as 
 our forefathers did; as though the will to work evil 
 had the power to bring about the evil desired. It is 
 nonsense, since were it true, none could escape the 
 direst misfortune, as every one of us is at some time 
 or another the object of the hate or jealousy of other 
 human beings. Moreover, as most of us believe, there 
 is a being, not human, that hates us individually and 
 collectively, and certainly would compass our destruc- 
 tion, had he the power, which happily he has not, 
 unless we ourselves give it to him. 
 
 Godfrey comforted himself with this reflection, also, 
 with another; that in this instance the issue of his 
 peril had been far different from what his enemy 
 desired. Yet, with his nerves still shaken both by 
 his spiritualistic experiences, and by those of the dan- 
 ger which he had passed, the letter undoubtedly did 
 affect him in the way that it was meant to do, and 
 the worst of it was that he could not consult his friend 
 and guide, the Pasteur, because of the allusion to the 
 scene with Juliette. 
 
 Throwing it down as though it were a venomous 
 snake, which indeed, it was, he opened that from his 
 father, which was brief. It congratulated him coldly 
 on his escape, whereof Mr. Knight said he had heard,
 
 JULIETTE'S FAREWELL 191 
 
 not in the way that he would have expected, from 
 himself, but through the papers. This, it may be 
 explained, was not strange, since the account was 
 telegraphed long before Godfrey had time to write. 
 As a matter of fact, however, he had not written, for 
 who cares to indite epistles to an unsympathetic and 
 critical recipient? Most people only compose letters 
 for the benefit of those who like to receive them and, 
 by intuition, read in them a great deal more than the 
 sender records in black and white. For letter-writing, 
 at its best, is an allusive art, something that suggests 
 rather than describes. It was because Godfrey appre- 
 ciated this truth in a half unconscious fashion, that 
 he did not care to undertake an active correspondence 
 with his father. It is the exception also, for young 
 men to care to correspond with their fathers; the 
 respective outlooks, and often, the respective interests, 
 are too diverse. With mothers it is different, at any 
 rate, sometimes, for in their case the relationship is 
 more intimate. In the instance of the male parent, 
 throughout the realm of nature, it is apt to have an 
 accidental aspect or to acquire one as time goes by. 
 
 The letter went on to request that he would climb 
 no more Alps, since he had been sent to Switzerland, 
 to scale not mountains, but the peaks of knowledge. 
 It added, with that naive selfishness from which some- 
 times even the most pious are not exempt, " had you 
 been killed, in addition to losing your own life, which 
 would not so much have mattered, since I trust that 
 you would have passed to a better, you would have 
 done a wrong to your family. In that event, as you 
 are not yet of age, I believe the money which your 
 friend left to you recently, would have returned to
 
 192 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 her estate instead of going to benefit your natural 
 heirs." 
 
 Godfrey pondered over the words " natural heirs," 
 wondering who these might be. Coming finally to 
 the conclusion that he had but one, namely his father, 
 which accounted for the solicitude expressed so earn- 
 estly in the letter, he uttered an expletive, which 
 should not have passed his youthful lips, and threw 
 it down upon the top of that of Madame Riennes. 
 
 After this he left the room much depressed, and 
 watching his opportunity, for the merry party in the 
 salon who had gathered to greet him were still there 
 drinking heavy white wine, he slipped through the 
 back door to walk in the woods. These woods were 
 lonely, but then they suited his mood. In truth, never 
 had he felt more alone in his life. His father and 
 he were utterly different, and estranged, and he had 
 no other relatives. In friends he was equally lacking. 
 Miss Ogilvy, whom he had begun to love, was dead, 
 and a friend in heaven is some way off, although he 
 did think he had heard her voice when he was so 
 near to joining her. 
 
 There remained no one save the Pasteur, of whom 
 he was growing truly fond, so much so, that he wished 
 that the old gentleman had been appointed to be his 
 father according to the flesh. The rest of the world 
 was a blank to him, except for Isobel, who had de- 
 serted him. 
 
 Besides, some new sentiment had entered into his 
 relations with Isobel, whereby these were half spoiled. 
 Of course, although he did not altogether understand 
 it, this was the eternal complication of sex which 
 curses more than it blesses in the world; of sex, the
 
 JULIETTE'S FAREWELL 193' 
 
 eating fire that is so beautiful but burns. For when 
 that fire has passed over the flowers of friendship, they 
 are changed into some new growth, that however 
 gorgeous it may be, yet always smells of' flame. Sex 
 being the origin of life is necessarily also the origin 
 of trouble, since life and trouble are inseparable, and 
 devours the gentle joys of friendship, as a kite de- 
 vours little singing birds. These go to its sustenance, 
 it is true, and both are birds, but the kite is a very 
 different creature from the nightingale or the lark. 
 One of the great advantages of matrimony, if it 
 endures long enough, is that when the sex attraction, 
 which was its cause, has faded, or practically died, 
 once more it makes friendship possible. 
 
 Perhaps the best thing of the little we have been 
 told about heaven, is that in it there will be no sex. 
 If there were, it is doubtful whether it could remain 
 heaven, as we define that state, since then must come 
 desires, and jealousies, and selfishness, and disap- 
 pointment; also births and deaths, since we cannot 
 conceive sex-love without an object, or a beginning 
 without an end. From all of which troubles we learn 
 that the angels are relieved. 
 
 Now this wondrous, burning mantle of sex had 
 fallen on Godfrey and Isobel, as he had learned 
 when he saw her with the knight in armour in the 
 garden, and everything was changed beneath its fiery, 
 smothering folds, and for him there was no Isobel. 
 His friend had gone, and he was left wandering alone. 
 His distress was deep, and since he was too young 
 to mask his feelings, as people must learn to do in 
 life, it showed itself upon his face. At supper that 
 night, all of the little party observed it, for he who
 
 194 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 should have been gay, was sad and spoke little. After- 
 wards, when the Pasteur and Godfrey went to the 
 observatory to resume their astronomical studies, the 
 former looked at him a while, and said : 
 
 " What is the matter, Godfrey? Tell me." 
 
 " I cannot," he replied colouring. 
 
 " Is it so bad as that then ? I thought that perhaps 
 you had only received a letter, or letters." 
 
 " I received two of them. One was from my father, 
 who scolds me because I was nearly killed." 
 
 " Indeed. He seems fond of scolding, your father. 
 But that is no new thing, and one to which you should 
 be used. How about the other letter? Was it, per- 
 chance, from Madame Riennes ? " 
 
 " It is not signed, but I think so." 
 
 " Really. It is odd, but, I too, have had a letter 
 from Madame Riennes, also unsigned, and I think, 
 after reading it, that you may safely show me yours, 
 and then tell me the truth of all these accusations she 
 makes concerning you and Juliette." 
 
 Now Godfrey turned crimson. 
 
 "How can I?" he murmured. "For myself I do 
 not care, but it seems like betraying someone else." 
 
 " It is difficult, my boy, to betray that which is 
 already well known, to me, among others. Had this 
 letter, perchance, something to do with an expedition 
 which you two young people made to search for 
 flowers, and nothing else? Ah! I see it is so. Then 
 you may safely show it to me, since I know all about 
 that expedition." 
 
 So Godfrey produced the epistle, for at the moment 
 he forgot that it contained allusions to Madame also, 
 and holding it gingerly between his thumb and finger,
 
 JULIETTE'S FAREWELL 195 
 
 handed it to him. The Pasteur read it through with- 
 out showing the slightest emotion. 
 
 " Ah !" he said, when he had finished, " in her way 
 she is quite magnificent, that old witch. But, surely, 
 one day, unless she repents, she will be accommodated 
 with some particular hell of her own, since there are 
 few worthy to share it with her. You see, my boy, 
 what she says about Madame. Well, as I think I 
 told her, that dear wife of mine may have had her 
 foolish moments, like most others, if all the truth 
 were known. But note this there is a great differ- 
 ence between those who have foolish moments, of 
 whatever sort, and those who make it their business 
 to seek such moments; further, between those who 
 repent of their errors and those who glory in, and 
 try to continue them. If you have any doubt of that 
 study the Bible, and read amongst others, of David, 
 who lived to write the Psalms, and of Mary Magda- 
 lene, who became a saint. Also, although this did 
 not occur to that tiger of a woman, I may have known 
 of those moments, and even done my best to help my 
 wife out of them, and been well rewarded " here 
 his kind old face beamed like the sun " oh ! yes, most 
 gloriously rewarded. So a fig for the old witch and 
 her tales of Madame! And now tell me the truth 
 about yourself and Juliette, with a mind at ease, for 
 Juliette has told it to me already, and I wish to com- 
 pare the stories." 
 
 So Godfrey told him everything, and a ridiculous 
 little tale it was. When he had finished the Pasteur 
 burst out laughing. 
 
 " You are indeed sinners, you two," he said, " so 
 great, that surely you should stand dressed in white
 
 '196 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 sheets, one on either side of the altar, with the crushed 
 flower in the middle. Ah! that is what I regret, this 
 flower, for it is very rare. Only once have I found it 
 in all my life, and then, as there was no lady present, 
 I left it where it grew. Hearken, all this is a pack 
 of nonsense. 
 
 " Hearken again, Godfrey. Everybody thinks me 
 an old fool. How can it be helped with such a face 
 as mine, and these blue spectacles, which I must wear ? 
 But even an old fool sees things sometimes. Thus, 
 I have seen that Madame, who had once plenty of 
 money to play with, and longs, poor dear, for the fine 
 things of life, is very anxious that her Juliette should 
 make a good marriage. I have seen, too, that she has 
 thought of you, whom she thinks much richer than 
 you are, as a good match for Juliette, and has done 
 her best to make Juliette think as she does, all of 
 which is quite natural in her, and indeed, praiseworthy, 
 especially if she likes and respects the young man. 
 But, my boy, it is the greatest nonsense. To begin 
 with, you do not, and never will, care for Juliette, 
 and she does not, and never will, care for you. Your 
 natures, ah ! they are quite different. You have some- 
 thing big in you, and Juliette well, she has not. 
 Marriage with her would be for you a misery, and 
 for Juliette a misery also, since what have you in 
 common? Besides, even were it otherwise, do you 
 think I would allow such a thing, with you so young 
 and in my charge? Bah! be good friends with that 
 pretty 'girl, and go hunt for flowers with her as much 
 as you like, for nothing will ever come of it. Only, 
 bet no more in kisses, for they are dangerous, and 
 sparks sometimes set fire to haystacks."
 
 JULIETTE'S FAREWELL 197 
 
 " Indeed, I will not," exclaimed Godfrey with 
 fervour. 
 
 " There, then, that trouble is finished." (Here, 
 although he did not know it, the Pasteur was mis- 
 taken. ) " And now, as to the rest of this letter. It 
 is malignant, malignant, and its writer will always 
 seek to do you ill, and perhaps, sometimes succeed. 
 It is the price which you must pay for having mixed 
 with such a person who mixes with the devil, though 
 that was no fault of yours, my boy. Still, always, 
 always in the world we are suffering from the faults 
 of others. It is a law, the law of vicarious sacrifice, 
 which runs through everything, why, we do not know. 
 Still, be not afraid, for it is you who will win at the 
 last, not she. For the rest, soon you will go away 
 from here, since the year for which you came is 
 almost finished, and you must turn your mind to the 
 bigger life. I pray you when you do, not to forget 
 me, for, my boy, I, who have no son, have learned 
 to love you like a son, better perhaps, than had you 
 been one, since often I have observed that it is not 
 always fathers and sons that love each other most, 
 frequently the other way, indeed. 
 
 " Also I pray another thing of you that if you 
 think I have any wisdom, or any little light in the 
 lamp of this ugly old body of mine, you will always 
 take me for a counsellor, and write to me concerning 
 your troubles, (as indeed, you must do, for remember, 
 I am your trustee of this property,) and perhaps 
 pay attention to the advice I may give. And now 
 let us get to our stars; they are much more amus- 
 ing than Madame Riennes. It is strange to think 
 that the same God who made the stars also made
 
 198 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Madame Riennes. Truly He is a charitable and tol- 
 erant God!" 
 
 " Perhaps the devil made her," suggested Godfrey. 
 
 " It may be so, it may be so, but is it not said, in 
 the Book of Proverbs, I believe, that He makes both 
 good and evil for His own infinite ends, though what 
 these may be, I, worm that I am, cannot pretend to 
 understand. And now to our stars that are far away 
 and pure, though who knows but that if one were 
 near to them, they would prove as full of foulness 
 as the earth ? " 
 
 The Pasteur was right when he said that Madame 
 Riennes would not cease from attempts to do evil to 
 Godfrey, and therefore wrong when he added that 
 the trouble she had caused was finished. Of this, 
 that young man was made painfully aware, when a 
 fortnight or so later another letter from his father 
 reached him. It informed him that Mr. Knight had 
 received an anonymous communication which stated 
 that he, Godfrey, was leading an evil life at Lucerne, 
 also that he was being entrapped into a marriage with 
 Mademoiselle Boiset, whom he had been seen em- 
 bracing behind some rocks. The letter ended : 
 
 " Lacking proof, I do not accept these stories as facts, 
 although, as there is no smoke without fire, I think it 
 probable that there is something in them and that you 
 are drifting into undesirable companionships. At any 
 rate I am sure that the time has come for you to return 
 home and to commence your studies for the Church. I 
 have to request, therefore, that you will do this at once 
 as I am entering your name at my own college for the 
 next term and have so informed the trustees under Miss
 
 JULIETTE'S FAREWELL 199 
 
 Ogilvy's will, who will no doubt meet the expense and 
 give you a suitable allowance. I am writing to the 
 Pasteur Boiset to the same effect. Looking forward to 
 seeing you, when we can discuss all these matters in 
 more detail, I am, your affectionate father, 
 
 " RICHARD KNIGHT." 
 
 In dismay Godfrey took this letter to the Pasteur. 
 For the last thing Godfrey wished to do was to leave 
 Kleindorf and the house in which he was so welcome 
 and so well treated, in order to return to the stony 
 bosom of Monk's Acre Abbey. 
 
 " I have also received a letter," said Monsieur 
 Boiset ; " it seems that you and I always receive dis- 
 agreeable letters together. The last were from the 
 witch-woman Riennes, and these are from your father. 
 He has an unpleasant way of writing, this father of 
 yours, although he is a good man, for here he sug- 
 gests that I am trying to trap you for a son-in-law, 
 wherein I see the fat finger of the witch Riennes, 
 who has so great a passion for the anonymous epistle. 
 Well, if he had said that I wished to trap you for 
 a son, he would have shot nearer to the bull's-eye, 
 but for a son-in-law, as you know, it is not so. Still, 
 you must go; indeed, it is time that you went, now 
 that you talk French so well, and have, I hope, learnt 
 other things also, you to whom the big world opens. 
 But see, your father talks of your entering the Church. 
 Tell me, is this so? If so, of course, I shall be happy." 
 
 " No," said Godfrey, shaking his head. 
 
 " Then," replied the Pasteur, " I may say that I 
 am equally happy. It is not everyone that has a call 
 for this vocation, and there are more ways of doing
 
 200 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 good in the world than from the floor of a pulpit. 
 Myself, I have wondered sometimes but let that be; 
 it is the lot of certain of us, who think in our vanity 
 that we could have done great things, to be obliged 
 to do the small things, because God has so decreed. 
 To one He gives the ten talents, to the other only 
 one talent, or even but a franc. Whatever it be, of it 
 we must make the best, and so long as we do not bury 
 it, we have done well. I can only say that I have 
 tried to use my franc, or my fifty centimes, to such 
 advantage as I could, and hope that in some other 
 place and time I may be entrusted with a larger sum. 
 Oh! my boy, we are all of us drawn by the horses 
 of Circumstance, but, as I believe, those horses have 
 a driver who knows whither he is guiding us." 
 
 A few days later Godfrey went. His last midday 
 meal at the Maison Blanche, before he departed to 
 catch the night train for Paris, was rather a melan- 
 choly function. Madame, who had grown fond of 
 him in her somewhat frivolous way, openly dropped 
 tears into her soup. Juliette looked sad and distraite, 
 though inwardly supported by the knowledge that her 
 distant cousin, the notary Jules, was arriving on the 
 morrow to spend his vacation at the Maison Blanche, 
 so that Godfrey's room would not be without an 
 occupant. Indeed, in her pretty little head she was 
 already planning certain alterations in the arrange- 
 ment of the furniture, to make it more conformable 
 to the very different tastes of the new comer. 
 
 Still, she was truly sorry to lose her friend the 
 Hibou, although she had not been able to fulfil her 
 mother's wish, and make him fall in love with her, 
 or even to fall in love with him herself. As she ex-
 
 JULIETTE'S FAREWELL 201 
 
 plained to Madame Boiset, it was of no use to try, 
 since between their natures there were fixed not only 
 a great gulf, but several whole ranges of the Alps, 
 and whereas the Hibou sat gazing at the stars from 
 their topmost peak, she was picking flowers in the 
 plain and singing as she picked them. 
 
 The Pasteur did not make matters better by the 
 extremely forced gaiety of his demeanour. He told 
 stories and cracked bad jokes in the intervals of con- 
 gratulating Godfrey at his release from so dull a place 
 as Kleindorf. Godfrey said little or nothing, but 
 reflected to himself that the Pasteur did not know 
 Monk's Acre. 
 
 At last the moment came, and he departed with 
 a heavy heart, for he had learned to love these simple, 
 kindly folk, especially the Pasteur. How glad he was 
 when it was over and he had lost sight of the handker- 
 chiefs that were being waved at him from the gate 
 as the hired vehicle rolled away. Not that it was 
 quite over, for the Pasteur accompanied him to. the 
 station, in order, as he said, to take his last instruc- 
 tions about the Villa Ogilvy, although, in truth, God- 
 frey had none to give. 
 
 " Please do what you think best," was all that he 
 could say. Also, when several miles further on, they 
 came to a turn in the road, there, panting on a rock, 
 stood Juliette, who had reached the place, running 
 at full speed, by a short cut through the woods. They 
 had no time to stop, because the Pasteur thought that 
 they were late for the train, which, as a matter of 
 fact, did not leave for half-an-hour after they reached 
 the station. So they could only make mutual signals 
 of recognition and farewell. Juliette, who looked as
 
 202 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 though she were crying, kissed her hand to him, call- 
 ing out: 
 
 " Adieu, adieu ! cher ami," while he sought refuge 
 in the Englishman's usual expedient of taking off 
 his hat. 
 
 " It is nothing, nothing," said the Pasteur, who had 
 also noted Juliette's tear-swollen eyes, " to-morrow 
 she will have Jules to console her, a most worthy young 
 man, though me he bores." 
 
 Here, it may be added, that Jules consoled her so 
 well, that within a year they were married, and most 
 happily. 
 
 Yet Godfrey was destined never to see that graceful 
 figure and gay little face again, since long before he 
 revisited Lucerne Juliette died on the birth of her 
 third child. And soon, who thought of Juliette except 
 perhaps Godfrey, for her husband married again very 
 shortly, as a worthy and domestic person of the sort 
 would do. Her children were too young to remember 
 her, and her mother, not long afterwards, was carried 
 off by a sudden illness, pneumonia, to join her in the 
 Shades. Except the Pasteur himself none was left. 
 
 Well, such is the way of this sad world of change 
 and death. But Godfrey never forgot the picture of 
 her standing breathless on the rock and kissing her 
 slim hand to him. It was one of those incidents 
 which, when they happen to a man in his youth, re- 
 main indelibly impressed upon his mind. 
 
 At the station there were more farewells, for here 
 was the notary, who had managed Miss Ogilvy's Swiss 
 affairs and now, under the direction of Monsieur 
 Boiset, attended to those of Godfrey. Also such of 
 the servants were present as had been kept on at the
 
 JULIETTE'S FAREWELL 203 
 
 Villa, while among those walking about the platform 
 he saw Brother Josiah Smith and Professor Petersen, 
 who had come evidently to see the last of him, and 
 make report to a certain quarter. 
 
 The Pasteur talked continually, in his high, thin 
 voice, to cover up his agitation, but what it was all 
 about Godfrey could never remember. All he recol- 
 lected of the parting was being taken into those long 
 arms, embraced upon the forehead, and most fer- 
 vently blessed. 
 
 Then the train steamed off, and he felt glad that 
 all was over.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 HOME 
 
 ABOUT forty-eight hours later Godfrey arrived duly 
 at the little Essex station three miles from Monk's 
 Acre. There was nobody to meet him, which was 
 not strange, as the hour of his coming was unknown. 
 Still, unreasonable as it might be, the contrast be- 
 tween the warmth and affection that had distinguished 
 his departure, and the cold vacuum that greeted his 
 arrival, chilled him. He said a few words to the 
 grumpy old porter who was the sole occupant of the 
 platform, but that worthy, although he knew him 
 well enough, did not seem to realise that he had ever 
 been away. During the year in which so many things 
 had happened to Godfrey nothing at all had happened 
 to the porter, and therefore he did not appreciate the 
 lapse of time. 
 
 Leaving his luggage to be brought by the carrier's 
 cart, Godfrey took the alpenstock that, in a moment 
 of enthusiasm, the guide had given him as a souvenir 
 of his great adventure, and started for home. It was 
 a very famous alpenstock, which this guide and his 
 father before him had used all their lives, one that 
 had been planted in the topmost snows of every peak 
 in Switzerland. Indeed the names of the most un- 
 climbable of these, together with the dates of their 
 conquest by its owners, sometimes followed by crosses 
 to show that on such or such an expedition life had 
 
 204
 
 HOME 205 
 
 been lost, were burnt into the tough wood with a hot 
 iron. As the first of these dates was as far back as 
 1831, Godfrey valued this staff highly, and did not 
 like to leave it to the chances of the carrier's cart. 
 
 His road through the fields ran past Hawk's Hall, 
 of which he observed with a thrill of dismay, that 
 the blinds were drawn as though in it someone lay 
 dead. There was no reason why he should have been 
 dismayed, since he had heard that Isobel had gone 
 away to somewhere in " Ameriky," as Mrs. Parsons 
 had expressed it in a brief and illspelt letter, and that 
 Sir John was living in town. Yet the sight depressed 
 him still further with its suggestion of death, or of 
 separation, which is almost as bad, for, be it remem- 
 bered, he was at an age when such impressions come 
 home. 
 
 After leaving the Hall with its blinded and shut- 
 tered windows, his quickest road to the Abbey House 
 ran through the churchyard. Here the first thing that 
 confronted him was a gigantic monument, of which 
 the new marble glittered in the afternoon sun. It 
 was a confused affair, and all he made out of it, 
 without close examination, was a life-sized angel with 
 an early-Victorian countenance, leaning against the 
 broken stump of an oak tree and scattering from a 
 basket, of the kind that is used to collect nuts or 
 windfall apples, on to a sarcophagus beneath, a pro- 
 fusion of large marble roses, some of which seemed 
 to have been arrested and frozen in mid-air. He 
 glanced at the inscription in gold letters. It was : 
 " To the beloved memory of Lady Jane Blake, wife 
 of Sir John Blake, Bart., J.P., and daughter of the 
 Right Hon. The Earl of Lynfield, whose bereaved
 
 206 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 husband erected this monument. ' Her husband . . . 
 praiseth her.' ' 
 
 Godfrey looked, and remembering the gentle little 
 woman whose crumbling flesh lay beneath, shivered 
 at the awful and crushing erection above. In life, 
 as he knew, she had been unhappy, but what had she 
 done to deserve such a memorial in death? Still, 
 she was dead, of that there was no doubt, and oh! 
 the sadness of it all. 
 
 He went on to the Abbey, resisting a queer tempta- 
 tion to enter the church and look at the tomb of the 
 Plantagenet lady and her unknown knight, who slept 
 there so quietly from year to year, through spring, 
 summer, autumn and winter, for ever and for ever. 
 The front door was locked, so he rang the bell. It 
 was answered by a new servant, rather a forbidding, 
 middle-aged woman with a limp, who informed him 
 that Mr. Knight was out, and notwithstanding his 
 explanations, declined to admit him into the house. 
 Doubtless she thought that a young man, wearing a 
 foreign-looking hat and carrying such a strange long 
 stick, must be a thief, or worse. The end of it was 
 that she slammed the door in his face and shot the 
 old-fashioned bolts. 
 
 Then Godfrey bethought him of the other door, 
 that which led into the ancient refectory, which was 
 now used as a schoolroom. This was open, so he 
 went in and, being tired after his long journey, sat 
 himself down in the chair at the end of the old oak 
 table, that same chair in which Isobel had kissed him 
 when he was a little boy. He looked about him 
 vaguely; the place, of course, was much the same as 
 it had been for the last five hundred years, but, as
 
 HOME 207 
 
 he could see from the names on the copybooks that 
 lay about, the pupils who inhabited it had changed. 
 Of the whole six not one was the same. 
 
 Then, perhaps for the first time, he began to under- 
 stand how variable is the world, a mere passing show 
 in which nothing remains the same, except the houses 
 and the trees. Even these depart, for a cottage with 
 which he had been familiar from his earliest infancy, 
 as he could see through the open door, was pulled 
 down to make room for " improvements," and the 
 great old elm, where the rooks used to build, had been 
 torn up in a gale. Only its ugly stump and project- 
 ing roots were left. 
 
 So he sat musing there, very depressed at heart, 
 till at length Mrs. Parsons came and discovered him 
 in a half-doze. She, too, was somewhat changed, 
 for of a sudden age had begun to take a hold of her. 
 Her hair was white now, and her plump, round face 
 had withered like a spring apple. Still, she greeted 
 him with the old affection, for which he felt grateful, 
 seeing that it was the first touch of kindness he had 
 known since he set foot on English ground. 
 
 "Dear me, Master Godfrey!" she said, "hadn't I 
 heard that you were coming, I could never have been 
 sure that it was you. Why, you've grown into a 
 regular young gentleman in those foreign parts, and 
 handsome, too, though I sez it. Who could have 
 guessed that you are your father's son? Why, you'd 
 make two of him. But there, they say that your 
 mother was a good-looking lady and large built, 
 though, as I never set eyes on her, I can't say for sure. 
 Well, you must be tired after all this travelling in 
 steamships and trains, so come into the dining-room
 
 208 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 and have some tea, for I have got the key to the 
 sideboard." 
 
 He went, and, passing through the hall, left his 
 alpenstock in the umbrella-stand. In due course the 
 tea was produced, though for it he seemed to have 
 little appetite. While he made pretence to eat the 
 thick bread and butter, Mrs. Parsons told him the 
 news, such as it was. Sir John was living in town 
 and " flinging the money about, so it was said, not but 
 what he had got lots to fling and plenty to catch it," 
 she added meaningly. His poor, dear lady was dead, 
 and " happy for her on the whole." Miss Isobel had 
 " gone foreign," having, it was told, quarrelled with 
 her father, and nothing had been heard of her since 
 she went. She, too, had grown into a fine young lady. 
 
 That was all he gathered before Mrs. Parsons was 
 obliged to depart to see to her business except that 
 she was exceedingly glad to see him. 
 
 Godfrey went up to his bedroom, which he found 
 unprepared, for somebody else seemed to be sleeping 
 there. While he was surveying it and wondering who 
 this occupant might be, he heard his father in the hall 
 asking the parlour-maid which of the young gentle- 
 men had left that " ridiculous stick " in the stand. 
 She replied that she did not know, whereupon the 
 hard voice of his parent told her to take it away. 
 Afterwards Godfrey found it thrown into the wood- 
 house to be chopped up for firewood, though luckily 
 before this happened. 
 
 By this time a kind of anger had seized him. It 
 was true that he had not said by what train he was 
 coming, for the reason that until he reached London 
 he could not tell, but he had written that he was to
 
 HOME 209 
 
 arrive that afternoon, and surely some note might 
 have been taken of the fact. 
 
 He went downstairs and confronted his father, who 
 alone amid so much change seemed to be exactly the 
 same. Mr. Knight shook him by the hand without 
 any particular cordiality, and at once attacked him 
 for not having intimated the hour of his arrival, say- 
 ing that it was too late to advise the carrier to call 
 at the station for his luggage and that a trap would 
 have to be sent, which cost money. 
 
 " Very well, Father, I will pay for it myself," 
 answered Godfrey. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I forgot ! " exclaimed Mr. Knight with 
 a sneer, " you have come into money somehow, have 
 you not, and doubtless consider yourself independ- 
 ent?" 
 
 " Yes, and I am glad of it, Father, as now I hope 
 I shall not be any more expense to you." 
 
 " As you have begun to talk business, Godfrey," 
 replied his father in an acid manner, " we may as 
 well go into things and get it over. You have, I pre- 
 sume, made up your mind to go into the Church in 
 accordance with my wish ? " 
 
 " No, Father ; I do not intend to become a clergy- 
 man." 
 
 " Indeed. You seem to me to have fallen under 
 very bad influences in Switzerland. However, it does 
 not much matter, as I intend that you shall." 
 
 " I am sorry, but I cannot, Father." 
 
 Then, within such limits as his piety permitted, 
 which were sufficiently wide, Mr. Knight lost his 
 temper very badly indeed. He attacked his son, sug- 
 gesting that he had been leading an evil life in
 
 210 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Lucerne, as he had learned " from outside sources," 
 and declared that either he should obey him or be 
 cast off. Godfrey, whose temper by this time was also 
 rising, intimated that he preferred the latter alterna- 
 tive. 
 
 " What, then, do you intend to do, young man ? " 
 asked Mr. Knight. 
 
 " I do not know yet, Father." Then an inspiration 
 came to him, and he added, " I shall go to London 
 to-morrow to consult my trustees under Miss Ogilvy's 
 will." 
 
 " Really," said Mr. Knight in a rage. " You are 
 after that ill-gotten money, are you? Well, as we 
 seem to agree so badly, why not go to-night instead 
 of to-morrow; there is a late train? Perhaps it would 
 be pleasanter for both of us, and then I need not send 
 for your luggage. Also it would save my shifting 
 the new boy from your room." 
 
 " Do you really mean that, Father ? " 
 
 " I am not in the habit of saying what I do not 
 mean. Only please understand that if you reject my 
 plans for your career, which have been formed after 
 much thought, and, I may add, prayer, I wash my 
 hands of you who are now too old to be argued with 
 in any other way." 
 
 Godfrey looked at his father and considered the 
 iron mouth cut straight like a slit across the face, the 
 hard, insignificant countenance and the small, cold, 
 grey eyes. He realised the intensity of the petty 
 anger based, for the most part, on jealousy because 
 he was now independent and could not be ordered 
 about and bullied like the rest of the little boys, and 
 knew that behind it there was not affection, but dis-
 
 HOME 211 
 
 like. Summing up all this in his quick mind, he be- 
 came aware that father or not, he regarded this man 
 with great aversion. Their natures, their outlook, all 
 about them were antagonistic, and, in fact, had been 
 so from the beginning. The less that they saw of 
 each other the better it would be for both. Although 
 still so young, he had ripened early, and was now 
 almost a man who knew that these things were so 
 without possibility of doubt. 
 
 " Very well, Father," he said, " I will go. It is 
 better than stopping here to quarrel." 
 
 " I thought you would, now that your friend, 
 Isobel, who did you so much harm with her bad in- 
 fluence, has departed to Mexico, where, I have no 
 doubt, she has forgotten all about you. You won't 
 be able to run after her money as you did after Miss 
 Ogilvy's," replied Mr. Knight with another sneer. 
 
 " You insult me," said Godfrey. " It is a lie that 
 I ran after Miss Ogilvy's money, and I will never 
 forgive you for saying such a thing of me in con- 
 nection with Isobel," and turning he left the room. 
 
 So did his father, for Godfrey heard him go to his 
 study and lock the door, doubtless as a sign and a 
 token. 
 
 Then Godfrey sought out Mrs. Parsons and told 
 her everything. The old woman was much disturbed, 
 and wept. 
 
 " I have been thinking of late, Master Godfrey," 
 she said, " that your father's heart is made of that 
 kind of stone which Hell is paved with, only with the 
 good intentions left out it's that hard. Here you 
 are come back as fine a young man as a body can 
 wish to see, of whom his begetter might well be proud,
 
 212 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 though, for the matter of that, there is precious little 
 of him in you and he shuts the door in your face 
 just because you won't be a parson and have come 
 into fortune that's what rankles. I say that your 
 mother, if she was a fool when she married him, was 
 a wise woman when she died. Parson or not, he will 
 never go where she is. Well, it's sad, but you'll be 
 well out of this cold house, where there's so much 
 praying but not a spark of love." 
 
 " I think so," said Godfrey with a sigh. 
 
 " I think so, too, for myself, I mean. But, look 
 here, my boy, I only stopped on looking after this 
 dratted pack of young gentlemen because you were 
 coming home again. But, as you ain't, I'm out of 
 it; yes, when the door shuts on you I give my month's 
 notice, which perhaps will mean that I leave to-mor- 
 row, for he won't be able to abide the sight of me 
 after that." 
 
 " But how will you live, Nurse, till I can help you? " 
 
 " Lord bless you, dear, that's all right. I've been 
 a careful woman all my life, and have hard on 500 
 put away in the Savings Bank, to say nothing of a 
 bit of Stock. Also, my old brother, who was a builder, 
 died last year and left me a nice little house down in 
 Hampstead, which he built to live in himself, but 
 never did, poor man, bit by bit when he was short 
 of business, very comfortable and in a good neigh- 
 bourhood, with first-rate furniture and real silver 
 plate, to say nothing of some more Stock, yes, for 
 1,000 or more. I let it furnished by the month, but 
 the tenant is going away, so I shall just move into it 
 myself, and perhaps take in a lodger or two to keep me 
 from being idle."
 
 HOME 213 
 
 "That's capital!" said Godfrey, delighted. 
 
 " Yes, and I tell you what would be capitaller. 
 Mayhap you will have to live in London for a bit, 
 and, if so, you are just the kind of lodger I should 
 like, and I don't think we should quarrel about terms. 
 I'll write you down the address of that house, the 
 Grove as it is called, though why, I don't know, see- 
 ing there isn't a tree within half a mile, which I don't 
 mind, as there are too many about here, making so 
 much damp. And you'll write and let me know what 
 you are going to do, won't you? " 
 
 " Of course I will." 
 
 " And now, look here. Likely you will want a 
 little money till you square up things with your 
 trustee people that the master hates so much." 
 
 " Well, I had forgotten it, but, as a matter of fact, 
 I have only ten shillings left, and that isn't much when 
 one is going to London," confessed Godfrey. 
 
 " I thought so ; you never were one to think much 
 of such things, and so it's probable that you'll get 
 plenty of them, for it's what we care about we are 
 starved in, just to make it hot for us poor humans. 
 Take your father, for instance; he loves power, he 
 does; he'd like to be a bishop of the old Roman sort 
 what could torture people who didn't agree with them. 
 And what is he? The parson of a potty parish of a 
 couple of hundred people, counting the babies and 
 the softies, and half of them Dissenters or Salvation 
 Army. Moreover, they can't be bullied, because if 
 they were they'd just walk into the next chapel door. 
 Of course, there's the young gentlemen, and he takes 
 it out of them, but, Lord bless us ! that's like kicking 
 a wool sack, of which any man of spirit soon gets
 
 214 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 tired. So, you see, he is sick-hearted, and will be 
 more so now that you have stood up to him; and, in 
 this way or that, it's the same with everyone, none of 
 us gets what we want, while of what we don't want 
 there's always plenty." 
 
 While the old lady held forth thus in her little 
 room which, although she did not know it, had once 
 been the penitential cell of the Abbey, wherein for 
 hundreds of years many unhappy ones had reflected 
 in a very similar vein, she was engaged in trying key 
 after key upon a stout oak chest. It was part of the 
 ancient furniture of the place, that indeed in former 
 days had served as the receptacle for hair shirts, 
 scourges and other physical inducements to repentance 
 and piety. 
 
 Now it had a different purpose and held Mrs. Par- 
 sons' best dresses, also, in a bandbox, an ornament 
 preserved from her wedding-cake, for once in the far 
 past she was married to a sailor, a very great black- 
 guard, who came to his end by tumbling from a gang- 
 way when he was drunk. Among these articles was 
 a tin tea-canister which, when opened, proved to be 
 full of money; gold, silver and even humble copper, to 
 say nothing of several banknotes. 
 
 " Now, there you are, my dear, take what you 
 like," she said, " and pay it back if you wish, but 
 if you don't, it might have been worse spent." And 
 she pushed the receptacle, labelled " Imperial Pekoe," 
 towards him across the table, adding, " Drat those 
 moths! There's another on my best silk." 
 
 Godfrey burst out laughing and enjoyed that laugh, 
 for it was his first happy moment since his return to 
 England.
 
 HOME 215 
 
 " Give me what you like," he said. 
 
 So she extracted from the tea-tin a five-pound note, 
 four sovereigns and a pound's worth of silver and 
 copper. 
 
 " There," she said, " that will do to begin with, 
 for too much money in the pocket is a temptation 
 in a wicked place like London, where there's always 
 someone waiting to share it. If it's wanted there's 
 more where that came from, and you've only to write 
 and say so. And now you have got the address and 
 you've got -the cash, and if you want to catch that 
 last train it's time you were off. If I took the same 
 to-morrow night, why, it wouldn't surprise me, 
 especially as I want to hear all you've been a-doing 
 in those foreign parts, tumbling over precipices and 
 the rest. So good-bye, my dear, and God bless you. 
 Lord! it seems only the other day that I was giving 
 you your bottle." 
 
 Then they kissed each other and, having retrieved 
 his alpenstock from the stick-house, Godfrey trudged 
 back to the station, where he picked up his luggage 
 and departed for London. Arriving at Liverpool 
 Street rather late, he went to the Great Eastern Hotel, 
 and after a good meal, which he needed, slept like 
 a top. His reception in England had been bitter, but 
 the young soon shake off their troubles, from which, 
 indeed, the loving kindness of his dear old nurse 
 already had extracted the sting. 
 
 On the following morning, while breakfasting at 
 a little table by one of the pillars of the big dining- 
 room, he began to wonder what he should do next. 
 In his pocket he had a notebook, in which, at the sug- 
 gestion of the Pasteur, he had set down the address
 
 216 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 of the lawyers who had written to him about his 
 legacy. It was in a place called the Poultry, which, 
 on inquiry from the hall-porter, he discovered was 
 quite close by the Mansion House. 
 
 So a while later, for the porter told him that it 
 was no use to go to see lawyers too early, he sallied 
 forth, and after much search discovered the queer 
 spot called the Poultry, also the offices of Messrs. 
 Ranson, Richards and Son. Here he gave his name 
 to a clerk, who thrust a very oily head out of a kind 
 of mahogany box, and was told that Mr. .Ranson was 
 engaged, but that, if he cared to wait, perhaps he 
 would see him later on. He said he would wait, and 
 was shown into a stuffy little room, furnished with 
 ancient deed-boxes and a very large, old leather- 
 covered sofa that took up half the place. Here he sat 
 for a while, staring at a square of dirty glass which 
 gave what light was available, and reflecting upon 
 things in general. 
 
 While he was thus engaged he heard a kind of 
 tumult outside, in which he recognised the treble of 
 the oily-headed clerk coming in a bad second to a 
 deep, bass voice. Then the door opened and a big, 
 burly man, with a red face and a jovial, rolling 
 eye, appeared with startling suddenness and ejac- 
 ulated : 
 
 " Damn Ranson, damn Richards, or damn them 
 both, with the Son thrown in! I ask you, young 
 man " here he addressed Godfrey seated on the cor- 
 ner of the sofa " what is the use of a firm of lawyers 
 whom you can never see? You pay the brutes, but 
 three times out of four they are not visible, or, as I 
 suspect, pretend not to be, in order to enhance their
 
 HOME 217 
 
 own importance. And I sent them a telegram, too, 
 having a train to catch. What do you think?" 
 
 " I don't know, Sir," Godfrey answered. " I never 
 came to a lawyer's office before, and I hope I shan't 
 again if this is the kind of room they put one 
 into." 
 
 " Room ! " ejaculated the irate gentleman, " call it 
 a dog kennel, call it a cesspool, for, by heaven, it 
 smells like one, but in the interests of truth, young 
 man, don't call it a room." 
 
 " Now that you mention it, there is a queer odour. 
 Perhaps a dead rat under the floor," suggested God- 
 frey. 
 
 " Twenty dead rats probably, since I imagine that 
 this hole has not been cleaned since the time of George 
 II. We are martyrs in this world, Sir. I come here 
 to attend to the affairs of some whippersnapper whom 
 I never saw and never want to see, just because Helen 
 Ogilvy, who was my first cousin, chooses to make me 
 a trustee of her confounded will, in which she leaves 
 money to the confounded whippersnapper, God knows 
 why. This whippersnapper has a father, a parson, 
 who can write the most offensive letters imaginable. 
 I received one of them this morning, accusing the 
 whippersnapper of all sorts of vague things, and me 
 and my fellow trustee, who is at present enjoying 
 himself travelling, of abetting him. I repeat, damn 
 Ranson, Richards and Son; damn the parson, damn 
 Helen no, I won't say that, for she is dead and 
 especially damn the whippersnapper. Don't you agree 
 with me? " 
 
 " Not quite, Sir," said Godfrey. " I don't mind 
 about Ranson, Richards and Son, or anybody else,
 
 218 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 but I don't quite see why you should damn me, who, 
 I am sure, never wished to give you any trouble." 
 
 "You! And who the Hades may you be?" 
 
 " I am Godfrey Knight, and I suppose that you are 
 my trustee, or one of them." 
 
 " Godfrey Knight, the young man whose father 
 gives us so much trouble, all at our own expense, 
 I may remark. Well, after hearing so much of you 
 on paper, I'm deuced glad to meet you in the flesh. 
 Come into the light, if you can call it light, and let 
 me have a look at you." 
 
 Godfrey stepped beneath the dirty pane and was 
 contemplated through an eyeglass by this breezy old 
 gentleman, who exclaimed presently: 
 
 " You're all right, I think; a fine figure of a young 
 man, not bad looking, either, but you want drilling. 
 Why the devil don't you go into the army ? " 
 
 " I don't know," answered Godfrey, " never thought 
 of it. Are you in the army, Sir? " 
 
 " No, not now, though I was. Commanded my 
 regiment for five years, and then kicked out with the 
 courtesy title of Major-General. Cubitte is my name, 
 spelt with two ' t's ' and an ' e,' please, and don't you 
 forget that, since that ' e ' has been a point of 
 honour with our family for a hundred years, the 
 Lord knows why. Well, there we are. Do you 
 smoke ? " 
 
 " Only a pipe," said Godfrey. 
 
 " That's right ; I hate those accursed cigarettes, still 
 they are better than nothing. Now sit down and tell 
 me all about yourself." 
 
 Godfrey obeyed, and somehow feeling at ease with 
 this choleric old General, in the course of the next
 
 HOME 219 
 
 twenty minutes explained many things to him, in- 
 cluding the cause of his appearance in that office. 
 
 " So you don't want to be a parson," said the Gen- 
 eral, " and with your father's example before your 
 eyes, I am sure I don't wonder. However, you are 
 independent of him more or less, and had better cut 
 out a line for yourself. We will back you. What 
 do you say to the army?" 
 
 " I think I should rather like that," answered God- 
 frey. " Only, only, I want to get out of England as 
 soon as possible." 
 
 " And quite right, too accursed hole, full of fog 
 and politicians. But that's not difficult with India 
 waiting for you. I'm an Indian cavalry officer my- 
 self, and could put you up to the ropes and give you 
 a hand afterwards, perhaps, if you show yourself of 
 the right stuff, as I think you will. But, of course, 
 you will have to go to Sandhurst, pass an entrance 
 examination, and so forth. Can you manage that ? " 
 
 " Yes, Sir, I think so, with a little preparation. I 
 know a good deal of one sort or another, including 
 French." 
 
 " All right, three months' cramming at Scoones' 
 or Wren's, will do the trick. And now I suppose you 
 want some money ? " 
 
 Godfrey explained that he did, having only 10 
 which he had borrowed from his old nurse. 
 
 Just then the oily-headed clerk announced that Mr. 
 Ranson was at liberty. So they both went in to see 
 him, and the rest may be imagined. The trustees un- 
 dertook to pay his expenses, even if they had to stretch 
 a point to do so, and gave him 20 to go on with, 
 also a letter of introduction to Scoones, whom he was
 
 220 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 instructed to see and arrange to join their classes. 
 Then General Cubitte hustled off, telling him to come 
 to dine at an address in Kensington two nights later 
 and "report himself." 
 
 So within less than an hour Godfrey's future career 
 was settled. He came out of the office feeling rather 
 dazed but happier than when he went in, and inquired 
 his way to Garrick Street, where he was informed 
 that Mr. Scoones had his establishment. He found 
 the place and, by good luck, found Mr. Scoones also, 
 a kindly, keen, white-haired man, who read the letter, 
 made a few inquiries and put him through a brief 
 examination. 
 
 " Your information is varied and peculiar," he said, 
 " and not of the sort that greatly appeals to Her 
 Majesty's examiners. Still, I see that you have in- 
 telligence and, of course, the French is an asset; also 
 the literature to some extent, and the Latin, though 
 these would have counted more had you been going 
 up for the Indian Civil. I think we can get you 
 through in three months if you will work; it all de- 
 pends on that. You will find a lot of young men here 
 of whom quite seventy per cent, do nothing, except 
 see life. Very nice fellows in their way, but if you 
 want to get into Sandhurst, keep clear of them. Now, 
 my term opens next Monday. I will write to General 
 Cubitte and tell him what I think of you, also that 
 the fees are payable in advance. Good-bye, glad you 
 happened to catch me, which you would not have done 
 half an hour later, as I am going out of town. At ten 
 o'clock next Monday, please." 
 
 After this, not knowing what to do, Godfrey re- 
 turned to the Great Eastern Hotel and wrote a letter
 
 HOME 221 
 
 to his father, in which, baldly enough, he explained 
 what had happened. 
 
 Having posted it in the box in the hall, he bethought 
 him that he must find some place to live in, as the 
 hotel was too expensive for a permanence, and was 
 making inquiries of the porter as to how he should 
 set about the matter when a telegram was handed to 
 him. It ran : " All up as I expected. Meet me Liver- 
 pool Street 4.30. NURSE." 
 
 So Godfrey postponed his search for lodgings, and 
 at the appointed hour kept the assignation on the plat- 
 form. The train arrived, and out of it, looking much 
 more like her old self than she had on the previous 
 day, emerged Mrs. Parsons with the most extraordi- 
 nary collection of bundles, he counted nine of them, 
 to say nothing of a jackdaw in a cage. She embraced 
 him with enthusiasm, dropping the heaviest of the 
 parcels, which seemed to contain bricks, upon his toe, 
 and in a flood of language told him of the peculiar 
 awfulness of the row between his father and herself 
 which had ensued upon his departure. 
 
 " Yes," she ended, " he flung my money at my head 
 and I flung it back at his, though afterwards I picked 
 it up again, for it is no use wasting good gold and 
 silver. And so here I am, beginning life again, like 
 you, and feeling thirty years younger for it. Now, 
 tell me what you are going to do ? " 
 
 Then they went and had tea in the refreshment 
 room, leaving the jackdaw and the other impediments 
 in charge of a porter, and he told her. 
 
 " That's first-rate," she said. " I always hated the 
 idea of seeing you with a black coat on your back. 
 The Queen's uniform looks much better, and I want
 
 222 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 you to be a man. Now you help me into a cab and 
 by dinner time to-morrow I'll be ready for you at 
 my house at Hampstead, if I have to work all night 
 to do it. Terms drat the terms. Well, if you must 
 have them, Master Godfrey, ten shillings a week will 
 be more than you will cost me, and I ought to give 
 you five back for your company. Now I'll make a 
 start, for there will be a lot to do before the place 
 is fit for a young gentleman. I've never seen it but 
 twice, you know." 
 
 So she departed, packed into a four-wheeled cab, 
 with the jackdaw on her lap, and Godfrey went to 
 Madame Tussaud's, where he studied the guillotine 
 and the Chamber of Horrors. 
 
 On the following morning, having further improved 
 his mind at the Tower, he took a cab also, and in due 
 course arrived at Hampstead with his belongings. The 
 place took some finding, for it was on the top of a hill 
 in an old-fashioned, out of the way part of the suburb, 
 but when found proved to be delightful. It was a 
 little square house, built of stone, on which the old 
 builder had lavished all his skill and care, so that in it 
 everything was perfect, with a garden both in front 
 and behind. The floors were laid in oak, the little 
 hall was oak-panelled, there were hot and cold water 
 in every room, and so forth. Moreover, an odd man 
 was waiting to carry in his things, and in one of the 
 front sitting-rooms, which was excellently furnished, 
 sat Mrs. Parsons knitting as though she had been 
 there for years. 
 
 " Here you are," she said, " just as I was beginning 
 to get tired of having nothing to do. Lord! what a 
 fuss we make about things before we face 'em. After
 
 HOME 223 
 
 all they ain't nothing but bubbles. Blow them and 
 they burst. Look here, Master Godfrey," and she 
 waved her hand about the sitting-room. " Pretty 
 neat, ain't it? Well, I thought it would be all of a 
 hugger-mugger. But what did I find? That those 
 tenants had been jewels and left everything like a 
 new pin, to say nothing of improvements, such as 
 an Eagle range. Moreover, the caretaker is a police- 
 man's wife and a very nice woman always ready to 
 help for a trifle, and that man that brought in your 
 boxes is a relative of hers who does gardening jobs 
 and such-like. Now, come and see your rooms," and 
 she led him with pride into a capital back apartment 
 with a large window, in fact an old Tudor one which 
 the builder had procured somewhere, together with 
 the panelling on the walls. 
 
 " That's your study," she said, " bookshelves and 
 all complete. Now, follow me," and she took him 
 upstairs to a really charming bedroom. 
 
 " But," said Godfrey, surveying these splendours, 
 " this must be the best room in the house. Where do 
 you sleep ? " 
 
 " Oh ! at the back there, my dear. You see, I am 
 accustomed to a small chamber and shouldn't be happy 
 in this big one. Besides, you are going to pay me 
 rent and must be accommodated. And now come 
 down to your dinner." 
 
 A very good dinner it was, cooked by the police- 
 man's wife, which Mrs. Parsons insisted on serving, 
 as she would not sit at the table with him. In short, 
 Godfrey found himself in clover, a circumstance that 
 filled him with some sadness. Why, he wondered, 
 should he always be made so miserable at home and
 
 224 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 so happy when he was away? Then he remembered 
 that famous line about the man who throughout life 
 ever found his warmest welcome at an inn, and per- 
 ceived that it hid much philosophy. Frequently 
 enough homes are not what fond fancy paints them, 
 while in the bosom of strangers there is much kind- 
 liness.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE INTERVENING YEARS 
 
 Now we may omit a great deal from Godfrey's youth- 
 ful career. Within a few days he received a letter 
 from his father forwarded to him from the hotel, that 
 was even more unpleasant than the majority of the 
 paternal epistles to which he was accustomed. Mr. 
 Knight, probably from honest conviction and a mis- 
 reading of the facts of life, was one of those persons 
 who are called Pacifists. Although he never carried 
 out the doctrine in his own small affairs, he believed 
 that nations were enjoined by divine decree to turn 
 the other cheek and indeed every portion of their 
 corporate frame to the smiter, and that by so doing, 
 in some mysterious way, they would attain to profound 
 peace and felicity. Consequently he hated armies, 
 especially as these involved taxation, and loathed the 
 trade of soldiering, which he considered one of 
 licensed murder. 
 
 The decision of his son to adopt this career was 
 therefore a bitter blow to him, concerning which he 
 expressed his feelings in the plainest language, ending 
 his epistle by intimating his strong conviction that 
 Godfrey, having taken the sword, was destined to 
 perish by the sword. Also he pointed out to him that 
 he had turned his back upon God Who would certainly 
 remember the affront, being, he remarked, " a jealous 
 God," and lastly that the less they saw of each other 
 
 225
 
 226 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 in future here he was referring to himself, not to the 
 Divinity as the context would seem to imply the 
 better it would for both of them. 
 
 Further there was a postscript about the disgraceful 
 conduct of the woman, Mrs. Parsons, who, after re- 
 ceiving the shelter of his house for many years, had 
 made a scene and departed, leaving him in the lurch. 
 His injunction was that under no circumstances should 
 he, Godfrey, have anything more to do with this vio- 
 lent and treacherous female who had made him a 
 pretext of quarrel, and, having learned that he had 
 money, doubtless wished to get something out of him. 
 
 Godfrey did not answer this letter, nor did his 
 father write to him again for quite a long while. 
 
 For the rest, on the appointed Monday he presented 
 himself at Garrick Street, and began his course of 
 tuition under the general direction of the wise Mr. 
 Scoones, " cramming " as it was called. This, indeed, 
 exactly describes the process, for all knowledge was 
 rejected except that which was likely to obtain marks 
 in the course of an examination by hide-bound persons 
 appointed to ascertain who were the individuals best 
 fitted to be appointed to various branches of the Public 
 Service. Anything less calculated to secure the selec- 
 tion of suitable men than such a system cannot well 
 be imagined. However, it was that which certain 
 nebulous authorities had decreed should prevail, and 
 there was an end of it, although in effect it involved, 
 and still involves, the frequent sacrifice of those qual- 
 ities and characteristics which are essential to a public 
 servant, to others that are quite the reverse. For 
 instance, to a parrot-like memory and the power of 
 acquiring a superficial acquaintance with much mis-
 
 THE INTERVENING YEARS 227 
 
 cellaneous information and remembering the same for, 
 say, six months. 
 
 Although he hated the business and thought with 
 longing of his studies, stellar and other, in the Klein- 
 dor f observatory, Godfrey was quite clever enough 
 to collect what was needed. In fact, some three 
 months later he passed his examination with ease about 
 half-way up the list, and duly entered Sandhurst. 
 
 He found the establishment at Garrick Street just 
 such a place as its owner had described. In it were 
 many charming but idle young men, often with a 
 certain amount of means, who were going up for the 
 Diplomatic Service, the Foreign Office, the Indian 
 Civil, or various branches of the army. Of these 
 a large proportion enjoyed life but did little else, and 
 in due course failed in their competitive encounters 
 with the examiners. 
 
 Others were too stupid to succeed, or perhaps their 
 natural talents had another bent, while the remainder, 
 by no means the most brilliant, but with a faculty 
 for passing examinations and without any disturbing 
 originality, worked hard and sailed into their desired 
 haven with considerable facility, being of the stuff of 
 which most successful men are made. For the rest, 
 there was the opportunity, and if they did not avail 
 themselves of it Scoones' was not to blame. It was, 
 and perhaps still remains, a most admirable institution 
 of its sort, one, indeed, of which the present chronicler 
 has very grateful recollections. 
 
 Among the pupils studying there was a young man 
 named Arthur Thorburn, an orphan, with considerable 
 expectations, who lived with an aunt in a fine old 
 house at Queen Anne's Gate. He was a brilliant
 
 228 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 young man, witty and original, but rash and without 
 perseverance, whom his guardians wished to enter the 
 Diplomatic Service, a career in which, without doubt, 
 had he ever attained to it, he would have achieved 
 a considerable failure. In appearance he was of me- 
 dium height, round-faced, light-haired, blue-eyed, with 
 a constant and most charming smile, in every way 
 a complete contrast to Godfrey. Perhaps this was 
 the reason of the curious attachment that the two 
 formed for each other, unless, indeed, such strong and 
 strange affinities have their roots in past individual 
 history, which is veiled from mortal eyes. At any 
 rate, it happened that on Godfrey's first day at 
 Scoones' he sat next to Arthur Thorburn in two 
 classes which he attended. Godfrey listened intently 
 and made notes; Arthur caricatured the lecturer, an 
 art for which he had a native gift, and passed the 
 results round the class. Godfrey saw the caricature 
 and sniggered, then when the lectures were over 
 gravely reproved the author, saying that he should 
 not do such things. 
 
 "Why not? " asked Arthur, opening his blue eyes. 
 " Heaven intended that stuffy old parrot " (he had 
 drawn this learned man as a dilapidated fowl of that 
 species) "to be caricatured. Observe that his nose 
 is already half a beak. Or perhaps it is a beak de- 
 veloping into a nose; it depends whether he is on the 
 downward or upward path of evolution." 
 
 " Because you made me laugh," replied Godfrey, 
 " whereby I lost at least eighteenpennyworth of in- 
 formation." 
 
 " A laugh is worth eighteenpence," suggested 
 Arthur.
 
 THE INTERVENING YEARS 229 
 
 " That depends upon how many eighteenpences one 
 possesses. You may have lots, some people are short 
 of them." 
 
 " Quite true. I never looked at it in that way be- 
 fore. I am obliged to you for putting it so plainly," 
 said Arthur with his charming smile. 
 
 Such was the beginning of the acquaintance of 
 these two, and in some cases might have been its end. 
 But with them it was not so. Arthur conceived a 
 sincere admiration for Godfrey who could speak like 
 this to a stranger, and at Scoones' and as much as 
 possible outside, haunted him like a shadow. Soon it 
 was a regular thing for Godfrey to go to dine at the 
 old Georgian house in Queen Anne's Gate upon Sun- 
 day evenings, where he became popular with the rather 
 magnificent early-Victorian aunt who thought that he 
 exercised a good influence upon her nephew. Some- 
 times, too, Arthur would accompany Godfrey to 
 Hampstead and sit smoking and making furtive cari- 
 catures of him and Mrs. Parsons, while he worked 
 and she beamed admiration. The occupation sounds 
 dull, but somehow Arthur did not find it so; he said 
 that it rested his overwrought brain. 
 
 " Look here, old fellow," said Godfrey at length, 
 " have you any intention of passing that examination 
 of yours? " 
 
 " In the interests of the Diplomatic Service and 
 of the country I think not," replied Arthur reflect- 
 ively. " I feel that it is a case where true altruism 
 becomes a duty." 
 
 "Then what do you mean to do with yourself? " 
 
 " Don't know. Live on my money, I suppose, and 
 on that of my respected aunt after her lamented de-
 
 230 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 cease which, although I see no signs of it, she tells 
 me she considers imminent." 
 
 " I don't wonder, Arthur, with you hanging about 
 the house. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. A 
 man is made to work his way through the world, not 
 to idle." 
 
 " Like a beetle boring through wood, not like a 
 butterfly flitting over flowers; that's what you mean, 
 isn't it? Well, butterflies are nicer than beetles, and 
 some of us like flowers better than dead wood. But, 
 I say, old chap, do you mean it? " 
 
 " I do, and so does your aunt." 
 
 " Let us waive my aunt. Like the poor she is 
 always with us, and I, alas! am well acquainted with 
 her views, which are those of a past epoch. But I 
 am not obstinate; tell me what to do and I'll do it 
 anything except enter the Diplomatic Service, to lie 
 abroad for the benefit of my country, in the words 
 of the ancient saying." 
 
 " There is no fear of that, for you would never 
 pass the examination," said the practical Godfrey. 
 " You see, you are too clever," he added by way of 
 explanation, " and too much occupied with a dozen 
 things of which examiners take no count, the merits 
 of the various religious systems, for instance." 
 
 " So are you," interrupted Arthur. 
 
 " I know I am ; I love them. I'd like to talk to you 
 about reincarnation and astronomy, of which I know 
 something, and even astrology and the survival of 
 the dead and lots of other things. But I have got to 
 make my way in the world, and I've no time. You 
 think me a heavy bore and an old fogey because I 
 won't go to parties to which lots of those nice fellows
 
 THE INTERVENING YEARS 231 
 
 ask me. Do you suppose I shouldn't like the parties 
 and all the larks afterwards and the jolly actresses 
 and the. rest? Of course I should, for I'm a man like 
 others. But I tell you I haven't time. I've flouted 
 my father, and I'm on my honour, so to speak, to 
 justify myself and get on. So I mean to pass that 
 tomfool examination and to cram down a lot of stuff 
 in order to do so, which is of no more use to me than 
 though I had swallowed so much brown paper. Fool- 
 stuff, pulped by fools to be the food of fools that's 
 what it is. And now I'm going to shove some spoon- 
 fuls of it down my throat, so light your pipe, and 
 please be quiet." 
 
 " One moment more of your precious time," inter- 
 rupted Arthur. " What is the exact career that you 
 propose to adorn? Something foreign, I think 
 Indian Civil Service?" 
 
 " No, as I have told you a dozen times, Indian 
 Army." 
 
 " The army has points possibly in the future it 
 might give a man an opportunity of departing from 
 the world in a fashion that is generally, if in error, 
 considered to be decent. India, too, has still more 
 points, for there anyone with intelligence might study 
 the beginnings of civilisation, which, perhaps, are also 
 its end. My friend, I, too, will enter the Indian 
 Army, that is if I can pass the examination. Provide 
 me at once with the necessary books and, Mrs. Par- 
 sons, be good-hearted enough -to bring some of your 
 excellent coffee, brewed double strong. Do not im- 
 agine, young man, who ought, by the way, to have 
 been born fifty years earlier and married my aunt, 
 that you are the only one who can face and conquer
 
 232 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 facts, even those advanced by that most accursed of 
 empty-headed bores, the man or the maniac called 
 Euclid." 
 
 So the pair of them studied together, and by dint 
 of private tuition in the evening, for at Scoones' where 
 his talent for caricature was too much for him, Arthur 
 would do little or nothing, Godfrey dragged his friend 
 through the examination, the last but one in the list. 
 Even then a miracle intervened to save him. Arthur's 
 Euclid was hopeless. He hated the whole business 
 of squares and angles and parallelograms with such 
 intensity that it made him mentally and morally sick. 
 To his, as to some other minds, it was utter nonsense 
 devised by a semi-lunatic for the bewilderment of 
 mankind, and adopted by other lunatics as an appro- 
 priate form of torture of the young. 
 
 At length, in despair, Godfrey, knowing that Arthur 
 had an excellent memory, only the night before the 
 examination, made him learn a couple of propositions 
 selected out of the books which were to be studied, 
 quite at hazard, with injunctions that no matter what 
 other propositions were set he should write out these 
 two, pretending that he had mistaken the question. 
 This Arthur did with perfect accuracy, and by the 
 greatest of good luck one of the two propositions was 
 actually that which he was asked to set down, while 
 the other was allowed to pass as an error. 
 
 So he bumped through somehow, and in the end 
 the Indian Army gained a most excellent officer. It 
 is true that there were difficulties when he explained 
 to his aunt and his trustees that in some inexplicable 
 manner he had passed for Sandhurst instead of into 
 the Diplomatic Service. But when he demonstrated
 
 THE INTERVENING YEARS 233 
 
 to them that this was his great and final effort and 
 that nothing on earth would induce him to face an- 
 other examination, even to be made a king, they 
 thought it best to accept the accomplished fact. 
 
 " After all, you have passed something," said his 
 aunt, " which is more than anyone ever expected you 
 would do, and the army is respectable, for, as I have 
 told you, my grandfather was killed at Waterloo." 
 
 " Yes," replied Arthur, " you have told me, my 
 dear Aunt, very often. He broke his neck by jumping 
 off his horse when riding towards or from the battle- 
 field, did he not? and now I propose to follow his 
 honoured example, on the battlefield, if possible, or 
 if not, steeplechasing." 
 
 So the pair of them went to Sandhurst together, 
 and together in due course were gazetted to a certain 
 regiment of Indian cavalry, the only difference being 
 that Godfrey passed out top and Arthur passed out 
 bottom, although, in fact, he was much the cleverer 
 of the two. Of the interval between these two ex- 
 aminations there is nothing that need be reported, for 
 their lives and the things that happened to them were 
 as those of hundreds of other young men. Only 
 through all they remained the fastest of friends, so 
 much so that by the influence of General Cubitte, as 
 has been said, they managed to be gazetted to the 
 same regiment. 
 
 During those two years Godfrey never saw his 
 father, and communicated with him but rarely. His 
 winter vacations were spent at Mrs. Parsons' house 
 in Hampstead, working for the most part, since he 
 was absolutely determined to justify himself and get 
 on in the profession which he had chosen. In the
 
 234 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 summer he and Arthur went walking tours, and once, 
 with some other young men, visited the Continent to 
 study various battlefields, and improve their minds. 
 At least Godfrey studied the battlefields, while Arthur 
 gave most of his attention to the younger part of the 
 female population of France and Italy. At Easter 
 again they went to Scotland, where Arthur had some 
 property settled on him for he was a young man well 
 supplied with this world's goods and fished for 
 salmon and trout. Altogether, for Godfrey, it was a 
 profitable and happy two years. At Sandhurst and 
 elsewhere everyone thought well of him, while old 
 General Cubitte became his devoted friend and could 
 not say enough in his praise. 
 
 " Damn it ! Sir," he exclaimed once, " do you mean 
 to tell me that you never overdraw your allowance? 
 It is not natural; almost wrong indeed. I wonder 
 what your secret vices are? Well, so long as you 
 keep them secret, you ought to be a big man one day 
 and end up in a very different position to George 
 Cubitte called a General who never saw a shot fired 
 in his life. There'll be lots of them flying about be- 
 fore you're old, my boy, and doubtless you'll get your 
 share of gunpowder or nitro-glycerine if you go 
 on as you have begun. If I weren't afraid of making 
 you cocky, I'd tell you what they say about you down 
 at that Sandhurst shop, where I have an old pal or 
 two." 
 
 Shortly after this came the final examination, 
 through which, as has been said, Godfrey sailed out 
 top, an easy first indeed a position to which his 
 thorough knowledge of French and general aptitude 
 for foreign languages, together with his powers of
 
 THE INTERVENING YEARS 235 
 
 work and application, really entitled him. All his 
 friends were delighted, especially Arthur, who looked 
 on him as a kind of lusus natures, and from his 
 humble position at the bottom of the tree, gazed ad- ' 
 miringly at Godfrey perched upon its topmost bough. 
 The old Pasteur, too, with whom Godfrey kept up 
 an almost weekly correspondence, continuing his astro- 
 nomical studies by letter, was enraptured and covered 
 him with compliments, as did his instructors at the 
 College. 
 
 All of this would have been enough to turn the 
 heads of many young men, but as it happened God- 
 frey was by nature modest, with enough intelligence 
 to appreciate the abysmal depths of his own ignorance 
 by the light of the little lamp of knowledge with which 
 he had furnished himself on his journey into their 
 blackness. This intense modesty always remained a 
 leading characteristic of his, which endeared him to 
 many, although it was not one that helped him for- 
 ward in life. It is the bold, self-confident man, who 
 knows how to make the most of his small gifts, who 
 travels fastest and farthest in this world of ours. 
 
 When, however, actually he received quite an affec- 
 tionate and pleased letter from his father, he did, for 
 a while, feel a little proud. The letter enclosed a 
 cutting from the local paper recording his success, 
 and digging up for the benefit of its readers an account 
 of his adventure on the Alps. Also, it mentioned 
 prominently the fact that he was the son of the Rev. 
 Mr. Knight, the incumbent of Monk's Abbey, and 
 had received his education in that gentleman's estab- 
 lishment; so prominently indeed, that even the un- 
 suspicious Godfrey could not help wondering if his
 
 236 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 father had ever seen that paragraph before it appeared 
 in print. The letter ended with this passage: 
 
 " We have not met for a long while, owing to causes 
 to which I will not allude, and I suppose that shortly 
 you will be going to India. If you care to come here 
 I should like to see you before you leave England. 
 This is natural, as after all you are my only child and 
 I am growing old. Once you have departed to that far 
 country who knows whether we shall ever meet again in 
 this world?" 
 
 Godfrey, a generous-hearted and forgiving person, 
 was much touched when he read these words, and 
 wrote at once to say that if it were convenient, he 
 would come down to Monk's Abbey at the beginning 
 of the following week and spend some of his leave 
 there. So, in due course, he went. 
 
 As it happened, at about the same time Destiny had 
 arranged that another character in this history was 
 returning to that quiet Essex village, namely Isobel 
 Blake. 
 
 Isobel went to Mexico with her uncle and there had 
 a most interesting time. She studied Aztec history 
 with her usual thoroughness; so well, indeed, that she 
 became a recognised authority on the subject. She 
 climbed Popocatepetl, the mysterious " Sleeping 
 Woman " that overhangs the ancient town, and looked 
 into its crater. Greatly daring, she even visited Yuca- 
 tan and saw some of the pre-Aztec remains. For this 
 adventure she paid with an attack of fever which 
 never quite left her system. Indeed, that fever had 
 a peculiar effect upon her, which may have been 
 physical or something else. Isobel's fault, or rather
 
 THE INTERVENING YEARS 237 
 
 characteristic, as the reader may have gathered, was 
 that she built too much upon the material side of 
 things. What she saw, what she knew, what her 
 body told her, what the recorded experience of the 
 world taught these were real; all the rest, to her, 
 was phantasy or imagination. She kept her feet upon 
 the solid ground of fact, and left all else to dreamers; 
 or, as she would have expressed it, to the victims of 
 superstition inherited or acquired. 
 
 Well, something happened to her at the crisis of 
 that fever, which was sharp, and took her on her re- 
 turn from Yucatan, at a horrible port called Frontera, 
 where there were palm trees and zopilotes a kind of 
 vile American vulture which sat silently on the 
 verandah outside her door in the dreadful little hotel 
 built upon piles in the mud of the great river, and 
 mosquitoes by the ten million, and sleepy-eyed, 
 crushed-looking Indians, and horrible halfbreeds, and 
 everything else which suggests an earthly hell, except 
 the glorious sunshine. 
 
 Of a sudden, when she was at her worst, all the 
 materiality if there be such a word which circum- 
 stances and innate tendency had woven about her as 
 a garment, seemed to melt away, and she became 
 aware of something vast in which she floated like an 
 insect in the atmosphere some surrounding sea which 
 she could neither measure nor travel. 
 
 She knew that she was not merely Isobel Blake, 
 but a part of the universe in its largest sense, and 
 that the universe expressed itself in miniature within 
 her soul. She knew that ever since it had been, she 
 was, and that while it existed she would endure. This 
 imagination or inspiration, whichever it may have
 
 238 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 been, went no further than that, and afterwards she 
 set it down to delirium, or to the exaltation that often 
 accompanies fever. Still, it left a mark upon her, 
 opening a new door in her heart, so to speak. 
 
 For the rest, the life in Mexico City was gay, 
 especially in the position which she filled as the niece 
 of the British Minister, who was often called upon to 
 act as hostess, as her aunt was delicate and her cousin 
 was younger than herself and not apt at the business. 
 There were Diaz and the foreign Diplomatic Minis- 
 ters; also the leading Mexicans to be entertained, for 
 which purpose she learned Spanish. Then there were 
 English travellers, distinguished, some of them, and 
 German nobles, generally in the Diplomatic Service 
 of their country, whom by some peculiar feminine 
 instinct of her own, she suspected of being spies and 
 generally persons of evil intentions. Also there was 
 the British colony, among whom were some very nice 
 people that she made her friends, the strange, adven- 
 turous pioneers of our Empire who are to be found in 
 every part of the world, and in a sense its cream. 
 
 Lastly, there were the American tourists and busi- 
 ness men, many of whom she thought amusing. One 
 of these, a millionaire who had to do with a " beef 
 trust," though what that might be she never quite 
 understood, proposed to her. He was a nice young 
 fellow enough, of a real old American family whose 
 ancestors were supposed to have come over in the 
 Mayflower, and possessed of a remarkable vein of 
 original humour; also he was much in love. But 
 Isobel would have none of it, and said so in such 
 plain, unmistakable language that the millionaire 
 straightway left Mexico City in his private railway
 
 THE INTERVENING YEARS 239 
 
 car, disconsolately to pursue his beef speculations in 
 other lands. 
 
 On the day that he departed Isobel received a note 
 from him which ran : 
 
 " I have lost you, and since I am too sore-hearted to 
 stay in this antique country and conclude the business 
 that brought me here, I reckon that I have also lost 
 250,000 dollars. That sum, however, I would gladly 
 have given for the honour and joy of your friendship, 
 and as much more added. So I think it well spent, 
 especially as it never figured in my accounts. Good-bye. 
 God bless you and whoever it may be with whom you 
 are in love, for that there is someone I am quite sure, 
 also that he must be a good fellow." 
 
 From which it will be seen that this millionaire 
 was a very nice young man. So, at least, thought 
 Isobel, though he did write about her being in love 
 with someone, which was the rankest nonsense. In 
 love, indeed ! Why, she had never met a man for 
 whom she could possibly entertain any feelings of 
 that sort, no, not even if he had been able to make 
 a queen of her, or to endow her with all the cash 
 resources of all the beef trusts in the world. Men 
 in that aspect were repellent and hateful to her; the 
 possibility of such a union with any one of them was 
 poisonous, even unnatural to her, soul and body. 
 
 Once, it is true, there had been a certain boy but 
 he had passed out of her life oh! years ago, and, 
 what is more, had affronted her by refusing to answer 
 a letter which she had written to him, just, as she 
 imagined though of course this was only a guess 
 because of his ridiculous and unwarrantable jealousy
 
 ^240 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 and the atrocious pride that was his failing. Also she 
 had read in the papers of a very brave action which 
 he had done on the Alps, one which filled her with 
 a pride that was not atrocious, but quite natural where 
 an old playmate was concerned, and had noticed that 
 it was a young lady whom he had rescued. That, of 
 course, explained everything, and if her first supposi- 
 tion should be incorrect, would quite account for her 
 having received no answer to her letter. 
 
 It was true, however, that she had heard no more 
 of this young lady, though scraps of gossip concern- 
 ing Godfrey did occasionally reach her. For instance, 
 she knew that he had quarrelled with his father be- 
 cause he would not enter the Church and was going 
 into the army, a career which she much preferred, 
 especially as she did not believe in the Church and 
 could not imagine what Godfrey would look like in 
 a black coat and a white tie. 
 
 By the way, she wondered what he did look like 
 now. She had an old faded photograph of him as 
 a lanky youth, but after all this time he could not in 
 the least resemble that. Well, probably he had grown 
 as plain and uninteresting as she was herself. It 
 was wonderful that the American young man could 
 have seen anything in her, but then, no doubt he went 
 on in the same kind of way with half the girls he met. 
 
 Thus reflected Isobel, and a little while later paid 
 a last visit to the museum, which interested her more 
 than any place in Mexico, perhaps because its exhibits 
 strengthened her theories as to comparative religion, 
 and shook off her feet the dust of what her American 
 admirer had called that " antique land." It was with 
 a positive pang that from the deck of the steamship
 
 THE INTERVENING YEARS 241 
 
 outside Vera Cruz she looked her last on the snows 
 of the glorious peak of Orizaba, but soon these faded 
 away into the skyline and with them her life in Mexico. 
 
 Returning to England via the West Indies in the 
 company of her uncle who was coming home on leave 
 before taking up an appointment as Minister to one 
 of the South American republics, she was greeted on 
 the platform at Waterloo by her father. Sir John 
 Blake had by this time forgotten their previous dis- 
 agreements, or, at any rate, determined to ignore 
 them, and Isobel, who was now in her way a finished 
 woman of the world, though she did not forget, had 
 come to a like conclusion. So their meeting was cor- 
 dial enough, and for a while, not a very long while, 
 they continued to live together in outward amity, 
 with a tacit understanding that they should follow 
 their respective paths, unmolested by each other.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 TOGETHER 
 
 ON the afternoon of the first day after his arrival at 
 the Abbey, some spirit in his feet moved Godfrey to 
 go into the church. As though by instinct, he went 
 to the chancel, and stood there contemplating the brass 
 of the nameless Plantagenet lady. How long it was 
 since he had looked upon her graven face and form 
 draped in the stately habiliments of a bygone age! 
 Then, he remembered with a pang, Isobel was with 
 him, and they had seemed to be very near together. 
 Now there was no Isobel, and they were very far 
 apart, both in the spirit and in the flesh. For he had 
 not heard of her return to England and imagined that 
 she was still in Mexico, whence no tidings of her came 
 to him. 
 
 There he stood among the dead, reflecting that we 
 do not need to pass out of the body to know the 
 meaning of death, since, as once Isobel had said her- 
 self, some separations are as bad, or worse. The 
 story of the dead is, at any rate, completed; there is 
 nothing more to be learned about them, and of them 
 we imagine, perhaps quite erroneously, that we have 
 no need to be jealous, since we cannot conceive that 
 they may form new interests in another sphere. But 
 with the living it is otherwise. Somewhere their life 
 is continued; somewhere they are getting themselves 
 friends or lovers and carrying on the daily round of 
 
 242
 
 TOGETHER 243 
 
 being, and we have no share in them or in aught that 
 they may do. And probably they have forgotten us. 
 And, if we still happen to be attached to them, oh! 
 it hurts. 
 
 Thus mused Godfrey, trying to picture to himself 
 what Isobel looked like when she had stood by his 
 side on that long-past autumn eve, and only succeed- 
 ing in remembering exactly what she looked like when 
 she was kissing a rose with a certain knight in armour 
 in a square garden, since for some perverse reason it 
 was this picture that remained so painfully clear to 
 his mind. Then he drifted off into speculations upon 
 the general mystery of things of a sort that were 
 common with him, and in these became oblivious of 
 all else. 
 
 He did not even hear or see a tall young woman 
 enter the church, clad in summer white, no, not when 
 she was within five paces and, becoming suddenly 
 aware of his presence, had stopped to study him with 
 the acutest interest. In a flash Isobel knew who he 
 was. Of course he was much changed, for Godfrey, 
 who had matured early, as those of his generation 
 were apt to do, especially if they had led a varied 
 life, was now a handsome and well-built young man 
 with a fine, thoughtful face and a quite respectable 
 moustache. 
 
 " How he has changed, oh ! how he has changed," 
 she thought to herself. The raw boy had become a 
 man, and as she knew at once by her woman's instinct, 
 a man with a great deal in him. Isobel was a sensible 
 member of her sex; one, too, who had seen something 
 of the world by now, and she did not expect or wish 
 for a hero or a saint built upon the mid-Victorian
 
 244 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 pattern, as portrayed in the books of the lady novelists 
 of that period. She wanted a man to be a man, by 
 preference with the faults pertaining to the male na- 
 ture, since she had observed that those who lacked 
 these, possessed others which to her robust woman- 
 hood seemed far worse, such as meanness and avarice 
 and backbiting, and all the other qualities of the 
 Pharisee. 
 
 Well, in Godfrey, whether she were right or wrong, 
 with that swift glance of hers, she seemed to recognise 
 a man as she wished a man to be. If that standard 
 of hers meant that very possibly he had admired other 
 women, the lady whom he had pulled up a precipice, 
 for instance, she did not mind particularly, so long as 
 he admired her, Isobel, most of all. That was her 
 one sine qua non, that he should admire her most of 
 all, or rather be fondest of her in his innermost self. 
 
 What was she thinking about? What was there 
 to show that he cared one brass farthing about her? 
 Nothing at all. And yet, why was he here where she 
 had parted from him so long ago? Surely not to 
 stare at the grave of a dead woman with whom he 
 could have had nothing to do, since she left the world 
 some five centuries before. And another question. 
 What had brought her here, she who hated churches 
 and all the mummery that they signified? 
 
 Would he never wake up? Would he never realise 
 her presence? Oh! then he could care nothing about 
 her. Probably he was thinking of the girl he had 
 pulled up a cliff in the Alps. But why did he come 
 to this place to think of her? 
 
 Isobel stood quite still there and waited in the 
 shadow of a Georgian tomb, till presently Godfrey
 
 TOGETHER 245 
 
 did seem to grow aware that he was no longer alone. 
 Something or somebody had impinged upon his intelli- 
 gence. He began to look about him, though always 
 in the wrong direction. Then, convinced that he was 
 the victim of fancy, he spoke aloud as he had a bad 
 habit of doing when by himself. 
 
 " It's very curious," he said, " but I could have 
 sworn that Isobel was here, as near me as when we 
 parted. I suppose that is what comes of thinking so 
 much about her. Or do people leave something of 
 themselves behind in places where they have experi- 
 enced emotion? If so, churches ought to be very full 
 of ghosts. I dare say that they are, only then no one 
 could know it except those who had shared the emo- 
 tion, and therefore they remain intangible. Still, I 
 could have sworn that Isobel was here. Indeed, I 
 seem to feel her now, and I hope that the dream 
 will go on." 
 
 Listening there in the shadow, she heard, and 
 flushed in her flesh and rejoiced in her innermost 
 being. So he had not forgotten her, which is the 
 true and real infidelity that never can be forgiven, 
 at any rate, by a woman. So she was still something 
 in his life, although he had not answered her letter 
 years ago. 
 
 Then she grew angry with herself. What did it 
 matter to her what he was, or thought, or did? It 
 was absurd that she could be dependent morally upon 
 anyone, who must rely in life or death upon herself 
 alone and on the strong soul within her. She was 
 wroth with Godfrey for exciting such disturbance in 
 what was if her spirit or her body? Nonsense, 
 she had no spirit. That was a phantasy. Therefore
 
 246 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 it must be in her body which was her own particular 
 property that should remain uninfluenced by any other 
 body. 
 
 So it came about that the first words she spoke to 
 him were somewhat rough in their texture. She 
 stepped forward out of the shadow of the Georgian 
 tomb and confronted him with a defiant air, her head 
 thrown back, looking, to tell the truth, rather stately. 
 
 " I hoped that by this time you had given up talking 
 to yourself, Godfrey, which, as I always told you, is a 
 bad habit. I did not hear much of what you were 
 mumbling, but I understood you to say that you 
 thought I was here. Well, why shouldn't I be here ? " 
 
 He stared at her blankly and answered : 
 
 " God knows, I don't ! But since you ask the ques- 
 tion, why are you here, Isobel? It is Isobel, isn't 
 it, or am I still dreaming? Let me touch you and I 
 shall know." 
 
 She drew back a little way, quite three inches. 
 
 "Of course it is Isobel, don't your senses tell you 
 that without wanting to touch me? Why, I knew it 
 was you from the end of the church. But you ask me 
 why I am here. I wish you would tell me. I was 
 passing, and something drew me into this place. I 
 suppose it was you, and if so, I say at once that I re- 
 sent it; you have no right " 
 
 " No, no, certainly not, but do let me touch you to 
 make sure that you are Isobel." 
 
 " Very well," she said, and stretched out a hand 
 towards him. 
 
 He caught it with his left which was nearest, and 
 then with his right reached forward and seized her 
 other hand. With a masterful movement he drew her
 
 TOGETHER 247 
 
 towards him, and though she was a strong woman 
 she seemed to have no power to resist. She thought 
 that he was going to kiss her and did not care greatly 
 if he did. 
 
 But he checked himself in time, and instead of 
 pressing his lips upon hers, only kissed her hands, 
 first one and then the other, for quite a long while : 
 nor did she attempt to deny him, perhaps because a 
 wild impulse took possession of her to kiss his in 
 answer. Yes, his hands, or his lips, or even his coat 
 or anything about him. Oh ! it made her very angry, 
 but there it was, for something rushed up in her 
 which she had never felt before, something mad and 
 wild and sweet. 
 
 She wrenched herself away at last and began to 
 scold him again. 
 
 " What have you been doing all these years? Why 
 did you never write to me? " 
 
 " Because I was too proud, as you never wrote to 
 me." 
 
 " Too proud ! Pride will be your ruin ; it goes be- 
 fore every sort of fall. Besides, I did write to you. I 
 can show you a copy of the letter, if I haven't torn 
 it up." 
 
 " I never got it; did you post it yourself? " 
 
 " Yes, that is I took it to the Abbey House and 
 left it to be addressed there." 
 
 " Oh ! then perhaps it is there still," and he looked 
 at her. 
 
 " Nonsense, no one could have been so mean, not 
 even " 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders, a trick he had learned 
 abroad, then said:
 
 248 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " Well, it doesn't matter now, does it, Isobel ? " 
 
 " Yes, it matters a lot. Years of misunderstanding 
 and doubt and loss, when life is so short. I might 
 have married or all sorts of things." 
 
 " What has my not receiving your letter got to do 
 with that? " he asked, astonished. 
 
 " Nothing at all. Why do you ask such silly ques- 
 tions? I only meant that if I had married I should 
 not have been here, and we should never have met 
 again." 
 
 " Well, you are here and we have met in this church, 
 where we parted." 
 
 " Yes, it's odd, isn't it ? I wish it had been some- 
 where else. I don't like this gloomy old place with 
 its atmosphere of death. Come outside." 
 
 They went, and when they were through the church- 
 yard gates walked at hazard towards the stream which 
 ran through the grounds of Hawk's Hall. Here they 
 sat down upon a fallen willow, watching the swallows 
 skim over the surface of the placid waters, and for a 
 while were silent. They had so much to say to each 
 other that it seemed as though scarcely they knew 
 where to commence. 
 
 " Tell me," she said at length, " were you in the 
 square garden on the night of that dance at which I 
 came out? Oh! I see by your look that you were. 
 Then why did you not speak to me instead of standing 
 behind a bush, watching in that mean fashion ? " 
 
 " I wasn't properly dressed for parties, and and 
 you seemed to be very much engaged with a rose 
 and a knight in armour." 
 
 " Engaged ! It was only part of the game. I wrote 
 and told you all about it in the letter you did not get.
 
 TOGETHER 249 
 
 Did you never kiss a flower for a joke and give it to 
 someone, not knowing that you were being watched ? " 
 
 Godfrey coloured and shifted uneasily on his log. 
 
 " Well, as a matter of fact," he said, " it is odd 
 that you should have guessed for something of the 
 sort did once happen quite by accident. Also I was 
 watched." 
 
 " I ! you mean we. One doesn't kiss flowers by 
 oneself and give them to the air. It would be more 
 ridiculous even than the other thing." 
 
 " I will tell you all about it if you like/' he stam- 
 mered confusedly. 
 
 She looked at him with her large, steady grey eyes, 
 and answered in a cold voice : 
 
 " No, thank you, I don't like. Nothing bores me so 
 much as other people's silly love affairs." 
 
 Baffled in defence, Godfrey resorted to attack. 
 
 "What has become of the knight in armour?" he 
 asked. 
 
 " He is married and has twins. I saw the announce- 
 ment of their birth in the paper yesterday. And 
 what has become of the lady with the flower? For 
 since there was a flower, there must have been a lady ; 
 I suppose the same whom you pulled up the preci- 
 pice." 
 
 " She is married also, to her cousin, but I don't 
 know that she has any children yet, and I never 
 pulled her up any precipice. It was a man I pulled, 
 a very heavy one. My arm isn't quite right yet." 
 
 " Oh ! " said Isobel. Then with another sudden 
 change of voice she went on. " Now tell me all about 
 yourself, Godfrey. There must be such lots to say, 
 and I long to hear."
 
 250 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 So he told her, and she told him of herself, and 
 they talked and talked till the shadows of advancing 
 night began to close around them. Suddenly Godfrey 
 looked at his watch, of which he could only just see 
 the hands. 
 
 "My goodness!" he said, "it is half-past seven." 
 
 " Well, what about it ? It doesn't matter when I 
 dine, for I have come down alone here for a few days, 
 a week perhaps, to get the house ready for my father 
 and his friends." 
 
 " Yes, but my father dines at seven, and if there is 
 one thing he hates it is being kept waiting for din- 
 ner." 
 
 She looked as though she thought that it did not 
 much matter whether or no Mr. Knight waited for his 
 dinner, then said : 
 
 " Well, you can come up to the Hall and dine with 
 me." 
 
 " I think I had better not," he answered. " You see, 
 we are getting on so well together I mean my father 
 and I, and I don't want to begin a row again. He 
 would hate it." 
 
 " You mean, Godfrey, that he would hate your 
 dining with me. Well, that is true, for he always 
 loathed me like poison, and I don't think he is a man 
 to change his mind. So perhaps you had better go. 
 Do you think we shall be allowed to see each other 
 again ? " she added with sarcasm. 
 
 " Of course. Let's meet here to-morrow morning at 
 eleven. My father is going to a Diocesan meeting and 
 won't be back till the evening. So we might spend the 
 day together if you have nothing better to do." 
 
 " Let me see. No, I have no engagement. You see,
 
 TOGETHER 251 
 
 I only came down half an hour before we met in the 
 church." 
 
 Then they rose from their willow log and stood 
 looking at each other, a very proper pair. Something 
 welled up in him and burst from his lips. 
 
 " How beautiful you have grown," he said. 
 
 She laughed a little, very softly, and said : 
 
 " Beautiful ! If Those Alpine snows affect the 
 sight, don't they? I felt like that on Popocatepetl. 
 Or is it the twilight that I have to thank? Oh! you 
 silly old Godfrey, you must have been living among 
 very plain people." 
 
 " You are beautiful," he replied stubbornly, " the 
 most beautiful woman I ever saw. You always were, 
 and you always will be." 
 
 Again she laughed, for who of her sex is there that 
 does not like to be called beautiful, especially when she 
 knows that it is meant, and that whatever her per- 
 sonal shortcomings, to the speaker she is beautiful? 
 But this time the only answer she attempted 
 was: 
 
 " You said you were late, and you are getting later. 
 Run home, there's a good little boy." 
 
 " Why do you laugh at me? " he asked. 
 
 " Because I am laughing at myself," she answered, 
 " and you should have your share." 
 
 Then very nearly he kissed her, only he was in such 
 a hurry, also the willow log, a large one, was between 
 them; possibly she had arranged that this should be 
 so. So he could only press her hand and depart, 
 muttering something indistinguishable. She watched 
 him vanish, after which she sat down again on the log 
 and really did laugh. Still, it was a queer kind of
 
 252 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 merriment, for by degrees it merged into little sobs and 
 tears. 
 
 "You little fool, what has happened to you?" she 
 asked herself. " Are you are you and if so, is 
 he ? Oh! nonsense, and yet, something has hap- 
 pened, for I never felt like this before. I thought it 
 was all rubbish, mere natural attraction, part of Na- 
 ture's scheme and so on, as they write in the clever 
 books. But it's more than that at least it would be 
 
 if I were Besides, I'm ages older than he is, 
 
 although I was born six months later. I'm a woman 
 full-grown, and he is only a boy. If he hadn't been 
 a boy he would have taken his advantage when he 
 must have known that I was weak as water, just for 
 the joy of seeing him again. Now he has lost his 
 chance, if he wanted one, for by to-morrow I shall 
 be strong again and there shall be no more " 
 
 Then she looked at the backs of her hands which 
 she could not see because of the gathering darkness, 
 and as they were invisible, kissed them instead, just 
 as though they belonged to someone else. After this 
 she sat a while brooding and listening to the pulsing 
 of her heart, which was beating with unusual strength 
 this night. As she did so in that mysterious hour 
 which sometimes comes to us in English summers, 
 a great change fell upon her. When she sat down 
 upon that fallen tree she was still a girl and virginal; 
 when she rose from it she was a developed, loving 
 woman. It was as though a spirit had visited her 
 and whispered in her ear. She could almost hear the 
 words. They were : 
 
 " Fulfil your fate. Love and be loved with body 
 and with spirit, with heart and soul and strength."
 
 TOGETHER 253 
 
 At length she rose, and as she did so said aloud : 
 " I do not know who or what I have to thank for 
 life and all that makes me, me. But I am glad to 
 have been born, now, who have often wished that I 
 had never been born. Even if I knew that I must 
 pass away to-night, I should still be glad, since I have 
 learned that there is something in me which cannot 
 die. It came when that man kissed my hands, and 
 it will endure for ever." 
 
 Godfrey was late for dinner, very late, and what 
 was worse, his father had waited for him. 
 
 " I suppose you forgot that I dined at seven, not 
 at eight," was his cold greeting, for Mr. Knight, a 
 large eater like, many teetotallers, was one of those 
 people who make a fetish of punctuality at meals, and 
 always grow cross when they are hungry. 
 
 Godfrey, whose mind had not been steadied by the 
 events of the afternoon, became confused and replied 
 that he was extremely sorry, but the fact was he had 
 met Isobel and, in talking to her, had not noticed the 
 time. 
 
 " Isobel ! " exclaimed his father, whose voice was 
 now icy. "What Isobel?" 
 
 " I never knew but one, Father." 
 
 " Oh ! I suppose you mean Miss Blake. I had no 
 idea she was here; indeed, I thought she was still in 
 Mexico. But doubtless you were better informed." 
 
 " No, Father, I met her accidentally. She has re- 
 turned to England." 
 
 " That is obvious, Godfrey " 
 
 " She has come down," he continued in a hurry, " to 
 get the house ready for Sir John, who arrives shortly."
 
 254 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " Oh ! has she ? What a strange coincidence ! All 
 the years of our separation while you were away she 
 was away, but within two days of your return she 
 returns." 
 
 " Yes, it does seem odd," agreed the flustered God- 
 frey, " but it's lucky, isn't it, for, of course, I am glad 
 to see her again." 
 
 Mr. Knight finished carving himself a helping of 
 beef, and let the knife fall with a clatter into the dish. 
 Then he said in carefully chosen words: 
 
 " You may think it lucky or well arranged but I 
 must differ. I tell you at once that I consider Miss 
 Blake a most pernicious young woman, and as your 
 father I can only express the hope that you do not 
 intend to allow her to re-assert her evil influence over 
 you." 
 
 Godfrey was about to answer with wrath, but 
 changed his mind and remained silent. So the topic 
 dropped, but that it stood very straight upon its feet 
 in Mr. Knight's mind was clear from the compression 
 of his thin lips and the ill-humour of his remarks 
 about the coldness and overdone character of the beef 
 and sundry other household matters. As soon as the 
 meal was concluded and he had washed it down with 
 a last glass of water and with a very wry face thanked 
 Providence for all that he had received, he retired 
 into his study and was seen no more till prayer-time. 
 
 Nor was he seen then by Godfrey, who had gone 
 out to smoke his pipe since his father could not bear 
 the smell of tobacco in the house, and wandered un- 
 consciously towards the Hall. There he stood, gazing 
 at a light which he knew came from Isobel's window, 
 and lost in this unfruitful contemplation, once more
 
 TOGETHER 255 
 
 forgot the time. When he arrived home it was to 
 find the house in darkness and a note in his father's 
 handwriting on the hall table requesting him to be 
 careful to lock the door, as everyone had gone to bed. 
 
 He went, too, but could not sleep, for, strangely 
 enough, that disturbance of body and spirit which 
 had afflicted Isobel possessed him also. It seemed 
 wonderful to him that he should have found her again, 
 whom he thought to be so utterly lost, and grown so 
 sweet and dear. How could he have lived all this 
 while without her, he wondered, and, another thought, 
 how could he bear to part with her once more? Oh! 
 she was his life, and why should they part? She 
 had not minded when he kissed her hands, at which, 
 of course, she might have been angry; indeed, she 
 left them to be kissed for quite a long while, though 
 not half long enough. Perhaps she did not wish that 
 they should part either, or perhaps she only desired 
 that they should be just friends as before. It seemed 
 almost impossible that they. could become more than 
 friends, even if she cared to do so, which he could 
 scarcely hope. 
 
 What was he? A young fellow, twenty, with only 
 a little money and all his way to make in the world. 
 And what was she? A grand young lady, rather 
 younger than himself, it was true, but seeming years 
 older, who was a great heiress, they said, and expected 
 to marry a lord, someone born with a silver spoon in 
 his mouth, whose fortune had been made for him by 
 other people. Moreover, his father hated her because 
 their religious views were different, and her father 
 hated him, or used to, for other reasons. 
 
 Yes, it was quite impossible and yet Nature
 
 256 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 seemed to take no account of that: Nature seemed to 
 tell him that it was absolutely possible, and indeed 
 right, and what she, Nature, wished. Also this same 
 persistent Nature seemed to suggest to him that Isobel 
 was her most willing and obedient pupil, and that 
 perhaps if he could look into her heart he would find 
 that she did care, and very much more than for the 
 wealth and the hypothetical lord. 
 
 Nature seemed to suggest, too, that Isobel's thoughts 
 were with him at that moment; that she was uncom- 
 monly near to him in soul if not in body; that she was 
 thinking about him as he was thinking about her, and 
 saying much the same things to herself as he was say- 
 ing to himself. Indeed, he even began a whispered 
 conversation with her, of a sort he would not have 
 ventured upon had she been there, pausing between 
 the sentences for her answers, which, as he imagined 
 them, were very satisfactory indeed. 
 
 By degrees, however, question and answer grew 
 less frequent and further apart as he dozed off and 
 finally sank into a deep sleep. So deep was it, indeed, 
 that he was awakened only by the clamour of the 
 breakfast bell, and when he arrived downstairs, to be 
 confronted by some cold bacon on an uncovered dish, 
 his father had departed to the Diocesan Conference. 
 Well, this fact had its consolations, and bacon, how- 
 ever cold, with contentment is better than bacon hot 
 where contention is. 
 
 So he ate it and anything else he could find with 
 appetite, and then went upstairs to shave and do his 
 hair nicely and to put on a new suit of clothes, which 
 he considered became him. Also, as he had still three- 
 quarters of an hour to spare, he began to write a little
 
 TOGETHER 257 
 
 poem about Isobel, which was a dismal failure, to tell 
 the truth, since he could think of no satisfactory 
 rhyme to her name, except " O well ! " which, however 
 he put it, sounded silly. 
 
 At last, rather too early, he threw the sheet of paper 
 into the fireplace and started, only to find that although 
 it still lacked a quarter of an hour to eleven, Isobel 
 was already seated on that tree. 
 
 " What have you been doing to yourself ? " she 
 asked, " putting on those smart London clothes ? I 
 like the old grey things you had on last night ever so 
 much better, and I wanted you to climb a tree to get 
 me some young jackdaws. And good gracious! 
 Godfrey, your head smells like a whole hairdresser's 
 shop. Please come to the other side, to leeward of 
 me." 
 
 He murmured something about liking to look tidy, 
 and then remarked that she seemed rather finely 
 dressed herself. 
 
 " It's only my Mexican hat," she answered, touch- 
 ing the big sombrero, woven from the finest Panama 
 grass, which she was wearing, " and the necklace is 
 made of little gold Aztec idols that were found in 
 a grave. They are very rare; a gentleman gave them 
 to me, and afterwards I was horrified to find that 
 he had paid an awful lot for them, 200, I believe. 
 Do you understand about the Aztec gods? If not I 
 will explain them all to you. This big one in the 
 middle is Huitzilcoatl, the god of " 
 
 " No, no," interrupted Godfrey, " I don't and I 
 don't want to. I think them very ugly, and I always 
 understood that ladies did not accept such expensive 
 presents from gentlemen. Who was he ? "
 
 258 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " An American millionaire who didn't wear ar- 
 mour," she answered blandly. Then she changed the 
 subject with the original remark that the swallows 
 were flying higher than they had done on the previous 
 evening, when they looked as though one could almost 
 catch them with one's hand. 
 
 Godfrey reflected to himself that other things which 
 had seemed quite close on the previous night were now 
 like the swallows, far out of reach. Only he took 
 comfort in the remembrance that swallows, however 
 near, are evasive birds, not easy to seize unless you 
 can find them sleeping. Next she began to tell him 
 all about the Mexican gods, whether he wanted to 
 listen or not, and he sat there in the glory of his new 
 clothes and brilliantined hair, and gazed at her till she 
 asked him to desist as she felt as though she were 
 being mesmerised. 
 
 This led him to his spiritualistic experiences of 
 which he told her all the story, and by the time it was 
 finished, behold! it was the luncheon hour. 
 
 " It is very interesting," she said as they entered 
 the Hall, " and I can't laugh at it all as I should have 
 done once, I don't quite know why. But I hope, God- 
 frey, that you will have no more to do with spirits." 
 
 " No, not while " and he looked at her. 
 
 "While what?" 
 
 " While there are such nice bodies in the world," 
 he stammered, colouring. 
 
 She coloured also, tossed her head, and went to 
 wash her hands. 
 
 The afternoon they spent in hunting for imaginary 
 young jackdaws in a totally nebulous tree. Isobel 
 grew rather cross over its non-discovery, swearing
 
 TOGETHER 259 
 
 that she remembered it well years ago, and that there 
 were always young jackdaws there. 
 
 " Perhaps it has been cut down," suggested Godfrey. 
 " I am told that your father has been improving the 
 place a great deal in that kind of way, so as to make 
 it up to date and scientific and profitable, and all the 
 rest of it. Also if it hasn't, there would have been 
 no young jackdaws, since they must have flown quite 
 six weeks ago." 
 
 " Then why couldn't you say that at once, instead 
 of making us waste all this time? " asked Isobel with 
 indignation. 
 
 " I don't know," replied Godfrey in a somewhat 
 vacuous fashion. " It was all the same to me if we 
 were hunting for young jackdaws or the man in the 
 moon, so long as we were together." 
 
 " Godfrey, it is evident that you have been over- 
 working and are growing foolish. I make excuses 
 for you, since anybody who passed first out of Sand- 
 hurst must have overworked, but it does not alter the 
 fact. Now I must go home and see about that house, 
 for as yet I have arranged nothing at all, and the 
 place is in an awful state. Remember that my father 
 is coming down presently with either six or eight 
 terrible people, I forget which. All I know about 
 them is that they are extremely rich and expect to be 
 what is called ' done well.' ' 
 
 "Must you?" remarked Godfrey, looking dis- 
 appointed. 
 
 " Yes, I must. And so must you. Your father is 
 coming back by the five o'clock train, and I advise 
 you to be there to meet him. Perhaps I shall see you 
 to-morrow some time."
 
 260 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " I can't," exclaimed Godfrey in a kind of wail. 
 " I am to be taken off to a school in some town or 
 other, I forget which, that my father has been examin- 
 ing. I suppose it is the speech day, and he proposes 
 to introduce me as a kind of object lesson because 
 I have passed first in an examination." 
 
 " Yes, as a shining example and an advertisement. 
 Well, perhaps we shall meet later," and without giving 
 him an opportunity of saying more she vanished away.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 FOR EVER 
 
 GODFREY managed to be late again, and only reached 
 home five minutes after his father, who had bicycled 
 instead of walking from the station as he supposed 
 that he would do. 
 
 " I forgot to give orders about your lunch," said 
 Mr. Knight tentatively. " I hope that you managed 
 to get some." 
 
 "Oh, yes, Father; that is, I lunched out, at the 
 Hall." 
 
 " Indeed ! I did not know that Sir John had 
 arrived." 
 
 " No, he hasn't ; at least I have not seen him. I 
 lunched with Isobel." 
 
 " Indeed ! " remarked Mr. Knight again, and the 
 subject dropped. 
 
 Next day, Godfrey, once more arrayed in his best 
 clothes, attended the prize-giving and duly was made 
 to look foolish, only getting home just in time for 
 dinner, after which his father requested him to check 
 certain examination papers. Then came Sunday and 
 church at which Isobel did not appear; two churches 
 in fact, and after these a tea party to the church- 
 wardens and their wives, to whom Godfrey was ex- 
 pected to explain the wonders of the Alps. Before 
 it was over, if he could have managed it, these stolid 
 farmers with their families would have lain at the 
 
 361
 
 262 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 bottom of the deepest moraine that exists amid those 
 famous mountains. But there they were, swallowing 
 tea and munching cake while they gazed on him with 
 ox-like eyes, and he plunged into wild explanations 
 as to the movements of glaciers. 
 
 " Something like one of them new-fangled machines 
 what carry hay up on to the top of stacks," said 
 Churchwarden No. i at length. 
 
 " Did you ever sit on a glacier while it slided from 
 the top to the bottom of a mountain, Master Godfrey, 
 and if so, however did you get up again?" asked 
 Churchwarden No. 2. 
 
 " Is a glacier so called after the tradesman what 
 cuts glass, because glass and ice are both clear-like ? " 
 inquired Churchwarden No. I, filled with sudden in- 
 spiration. 
 
 Then Godfrey, in despair, said that he thought it 
 was and fled away, only to be reproached afterwards 
 by his father for having tried to puzzle those excellent 
 and pious men. 
 
 On Monday his luck was better, since Mr. Knight 
 was called away immediately after lunch to take a 
 funeral in a distant parish of which the incumbent 
 was absent at the seaside. Godfrey, by a kind of in- 
 stinct, sped at once to the willow log by the stream, 
 where, through an outreaching of the long arm of 
 coincidence, he found Isobel seated. After casually 
 remarking that the swallows were flying neither high 
 nor low that day, but as it were in mid-air, she added 
 that she had not seen him for a long while. 
 
 " No, you haven't say for three years," he an- 
 swered, and detailed his tribulations. 
 
 "Ah!" said Isobel, "that's always the way; one
 
 FOR EVER 263 
 
 is never left at leisure to follow one's own fancies in 
 this world. To-morrow, for instance, my father and 
 all his horrible friends I don't know any of them, 
 except one, but from past experience I presume then: 
 to be horrible are coming down to lunch, and are 
 going to stop for three days' partridge shooting. 
 Their female belongings are going to stop also, or 
 some of them are, which means that I shall have to 
 look after them." 
 
 " It's all bad news to-day," remarked Godfrey, 
 shaking his head. " I've just had a telegram saying 
 that I must report myself on Wednesday, goodness 
 knows why, for I expected to get a month's leave." 
 
 " Oh ! " said Isobel, looking a little dismayed. 
 ' Then let us make the best of to-day, for who knows 
 what to-morrow may bring forth ? " 
 
 Who indeed! Certainly not either of these young 
 people. 
 
 They talked awhile seated by the river; then began 
 to walk through certain ancient grazing grounds where 
 the monks used to run their cattle. Their conversa- 
 tion, fluent enough at first, grew somewhat constrained 
 and artificial, since both of them were thinking of 
 matters different from those that they were trying 
 to dress out in words; intimate, pressing, burning 
 matters that seemed to devour their intelligences of 
 everyday with a kind of eating fire. They grew almost 
 silent, talking only at random and listening to the 
 beating of their own hearts rather than to the words 
 that fell from each other's lips. 
 
 The sky clouded over, and some heavy drops of 
 rain began to fall. 
 
 " I suppose that we must go in," said Isobel, " we
 
 264 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 shall be soaked presently," and she glanced at her 
 light summer attire. 
 
 "Where?" exclaimed Godfrey. "The Abbey? 
 No, my father will be back by now; it must be the 
 Hall." 
 
 " Very well, but I dare say my father is there by 
 now, for I understand that he is coming down this 
 afternoon to arrange about the shooting." 
 
 " Great heavens ! " groaned Godfrey, " and I wanted 
 to tell you a story which I thought perhaps might 
 interest you, and I don't know when I shall get an- 
 other chance now." 
 
 "Then why did you not tell your story before?" 
 she inquired with some irritation. 
 
 " Oh ! because I have only just thought of it," he 
 replied rather wildly. 
 
 At this moment they were passing the church, and 
 the rain began to fall in earnest. By some mutual 
 impulse they entered through the chancel door which 
 was always unlocked, and by some mutual folly, left 
 it open. 
 
 Advancing instinctively to the tombs of the un- 
 known Plantagenet lady and her knight which were 
 so intimately connected with the little events of their 
 little lives, they listened for a while to the rush of 
 the rain upon the leaden roof, saying nothing, till the 
 silence grew irksome, indeed. Each waited for the 
 other to break it, but with a woman's infinite patience 
 Isobel waited the longer. There she stood, staring 
 at the brass of the Plantagenet lady, still as the bones 
 of that lady which lay beneath. 
 
 " My story," said Godfrey at last with a gasp, and 
 stopped.
 
 FOR EVER 265 
 
 "Yes," said Isobel. "What is it?" 
 
 " Oh ! " he exclaimed in an agony, " a very short 
 one. I love you, that's all." 
 
 A little quiver ran through her, causing her dress 
 to shake and the gold Mexican gods on her necklace 
 to tinkle against each other. Then she grew still as 
 a stone, and raising those large and steady eyes of 
 hers, looked him up and down, finally fixing them 
 upon his own. 
 
 " Is that true ? " she asked. 
 
 " True ! It is as true as life and death, or as 
 Heaven and Hell." 
 
 " I don't know anything about Heaven and Hell; 
 they are hypothetical, are they not? Life and death 
 are enough for me," and she stopped. 
 
 " Then by life and death, for life and death, and 
 for ever, I love you, Isobel." 
 
 " Thank you," she said, and stopped once more. 
 
 " You don't help one much. Have you nothing to 
 say? " 
 
 " What is there to say ? You made a statement 
 for which I thanked you. You asked no question." 
 
 " It is a question," he exclaimed indignantly. " If 
 I love you, of course I want to know if you love 
 me." 
 
 " Then why did you not say so? But," she added 
 very deliberately, " since you want to know, I do and 
 always have and always shall, in life or death and 
 for ever if that means anything." 
 
 He stared at her, tried to utter something and 
 failed. Then he fell back upon another very primitive 
 and ancient expedient. Flinging his arms about her, 
 he pressed her to his heart and kissed her again and
 
 266 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 again and again; nor, in her moment of complete 
 surrender, did she scruple to kiss him back. 
 
 It was while they were thus engaged, offering a 
 wonderful spectacle of love triumphant and rejoicing 
 in its triumph, that another person who was passing 
 the church bethought him of its shelter as a refuge 
 from the pouring rain. Seeing the open chancel door, 
 Mr. Knight, for it was he, slipped into the great 
 building in his quiet, rather cat-like fashion, but on 
 its threshold saw, and stopped. Notwithstanding the 
 shadows, he recognised them in a moment. More, 
 the sight of this pair, the son whom he disliked and 
 the woman whom he hated, thus embraced, thus lost 
 in a sea of passion, moved him to white fury, so that 
 he lifted his clenched hands above his head and shook 
 them, muttering: 
 
 " And in my church, my church ! " 
 
 Then unable to bear more of this spectacle, he 
 slipped away again, heedless of the pouring skies. 
 
 By nature, although in obedience to a rash promise 
 once he had married, Mr. Knight was a true woman- 
 hater. That sex and everything to do with it were 
 repellent to him. Even the most harmless manifesta- 
 tions of natural affection between male and female 
 he considered disgusting, indeed indecent, and if these 
 were carried any further he held it to be among the 
 greatest of crimes. He was one of those who, if he 
 had the power, would have hounded any poor girl 
 who, in the country phrase, " had got into trouble," 
 to the river brink and over it, as a creature not fit to 
 live; or if she escaped destruction, would have, and 
 indeed often had, pursued her with unceasing ma- 
 lignity, thinking that thereby he did God service. His
 
 FOR EVER 267 
 
 attitude towards such a person was that of an In- 
 quisitor towards a fallen nun. 
 
 Moreover, he could do this with a clear conscience, 
 since he could say truly that he was qualified to throw 
 the first stone, being of those who mistake personal 
 aversion for personal virtue. Because his cold-hearted 
 nature rejected it, he loathed this kind of human fail- 
 ing and felt good in the loathing. Nor did it ever 
 occur to him to reflect that others, such as secret 
 malice, jealousy and all uncharitableness on which his 
 heart fed, might be much worse than the outrush of 
 human passion in obedience to the almighty decree 
 of Nature that is determined not to die. 
 
 These being his views, the feelings that the sight 
 awoke in him of this pair declaring their holy love 
 in the accustomed, human fashion, can scarcely be 
 measured and certainly are beyond description. Had 
 he been another sort of man who had found some 
 devil flogging a little child to death, the rage and 
 indignation aroused in his breast could not have been 
 greater, even if it were his own child. 
 
 The one thing that Mr. Knight had feared for years 
 was that Godfrey, who, as he knew, was fonder of 
 Isobel than of any other living creature, should come 
 to love her in a fuller fashion : Isobel, a girl who had 
 laughed at and flouted him and once told him to his 
 face that a study of his character and treatment of 
 others had done more to turn her from the Christian 
 religion than anything else. 
 
 In a sense he was unselfish in this matter, or rather 
 his hate mastered his selfishness. He knew very well 
 that Isobel would be a great match for Godfrey, and 
 he was by no means a man who underrated money
 
 268 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 and position and their power. He guessed, too, that 
 she really loved him and would have made him the 
 best of wives; that with her at his side he might do 
 almost anything in the world. But these considera- 
 tions did not in the least soften his loathing of the 
 very thought of such a marriage. Incredible as it 
 may seem, he would rather have seen Godfrey dead 
 than the happy husband of Isobel. 
 
 Mr. Knight, drunk 'with rage, reeled rather than 
 walked away from the church door, wondering what 
 he might do to baulk and shame that living, loving 
 pair who could kiss and cling even among the tombs. 
 A thought came to him, a very evil thought which he 
 welcomed as an inspiration sent straight from an 
 offended Heaven. Sir John Blake had come home; 
 he knew it, for he had passed him on the road seated 
 alone in a fine motor-car, and they had waved their 
 hands to each other not ten minutes before. He would 
 go and tell him all ; in the character of an upright man 
 who does not like to see his rich neighbour harmed 
 by the entanglement of that neighbour's daughter in 
 an undesirable relationship. That Sir John would 
 consider himself to be harmed, he was sure enough, 
 being by no means ignorant of his plans and as- 
 pirations for the future of that daughter, who was 
 expected to make a great alliance in return for 
 the fortune which she would bring to her hus- 
 band. 
 
 No sooner said than done. In three minutes he 
 was at the Hall and, as it chanced, met Sir John by 
 the front door. 
 
 " Hullo, Reverend ! How are you ? You look very 
 wet and miserable; taking refuge from the rain, I
 
 FOR EVER 269' 
 
 suppose, though it is clearing off now. Have a brandy 
 and soda, or a glass of port?" 
 
 " Thank you, Sir John, I am an abstainer, but a 
 cup of hot tea would be welcome." 
 
 " Tea ah ! yes, but that takes time to make, so I 
 should have to leave you to drink it by yourself. Fact 
 is I want to find my daughter. Some of those blessed 
 guests of mine, including Mounteroy, the young Earl, 
 you know, whom I wish her to meet particularly, are 
 coming down to-night by the last train and not to- 
 morrow, so I must get everything arranged in a hurry. 
 Can't make out where the girl has gone." 
 
 " I think I can tell you, Sir John," said Mr. Knight 
 with a sickly smile ; " at least I saw her a little while 
 ago rather peculiarly engaged." 
 
 "Where, and how was she engaged?" 
 
 Without asking permission Mr. Knight entered the 
 house and stepped into a cloak-room that opened out 
 of the hall. Being curious, Sir John followed him. 
 Mr. Knight shut the door and, supporting himself 
 against the frame of a marble wash-basin with gilded 
 taps, said : 
 
 " I saw her in the chancel of the Abbey Church 
 and she was engaged in kissing my son, Godfrey; 
 at least he was kissing her, and she seemed to be 
 responding to his infamous advances, for her arms 
 were round his neck and I heard sounds which sug- 
 gested that this was so." 
 
 " Holy Moses! " ejaculated Sir John, " what in the 
 name of hell are they after? " 
 
 " Your question, stripped of its unnecessary and 
 profane expletives, seems easy to answer. I imagine 
 that my immoral son has just proposed to your daugh-
 
 2 ;o LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 ter, and been accepted with well, unusual empha- 
 sis." 
 
 " Perhaps you are right. But if he had I don't see 
 anything particularly immoral about it. If I had never 
 done anything worse than that I shouldn't feel myself 
 called to go upon my knees and cry peccavi. How- 
 ever, that ain't the point. The point is that a game 
 of this sort don't at all suit my book, but," here he 
 looked at the clergyman shrewdly, " why do you come 
 to tell about it? I should have thought that under all 
 the circumstances you would have been glad. Isobel 
 isn't likely to be exactly a beggar, you know, so it 
 seems devilish queer that you should object, as I gather 
 you do; unless it is to the kissing, which has been 
 heard of before." 
 
 " I do object most strongly, Sir John," replied Mr. 
 Knight in his iciest tones. " I disapprove entirely of 
 your daughter, whose lack of any Christian feeling 
 is notorious, and whose corrupting influence will, I 
 fear, make my son as bad as herself." 
 
 " Damn her lack of Christian feeling, and damn 
 yours and your impudence too, you half-drowned 
 church rat! Why don't you call her Jezebel at once, 
 and have done with it? One of the things I like about 
 her is that she has the pluck to snap her fingers at 
 such as you and all your ignorant superstitions. What 
 are you getting at? That is what I want to know." 
 
 " I put aside your insults to which as a clergyman 
 it is my duty to turn the other cheek," replied Mr. 
 Knight, with a furious gasp. " As to the rest I am 
 trying to get at the pure and sacred truth." 
 
 " You look as though you would do better to get 
 at the pure and sacred brandy," remarked Sir John,
 
 FOR EVER 271 
 
 surveying him critically, " but that's your affair. 
 Now, what is this truth?" 
 
 " Alas ! that I must say it. I believe my son 
 to be that basest of creatures, a fortune-hunter. 
 How did he get that money left to him by another 
 woman? " 
 
 " Don't know, I'm sure. Perhaps the old girl found 
 the young chap attractive, and wished to acknowledge 
 favours received. Such things have been known. You 
 don't suppose he forged her will, do you ? " 
 
 " You are ribald, Sir, ribald." 
 
 " Am I ? Well, and you are jolly offensive. Thank 
 God you weren't my father. Now, from what I re- 
 member of that boy of yours, I shouldn't have thought 
 that he was a fortune-hunter. I should have thought 
 that he was a young beggar who wished to get hold 
 of the girl he fancies, and that's all. Still, you know 
 him best, and I dare say you are right. Anyway, 
 for your own peculiar and crack-brained reasons, you 
 don't want this business, and I say at once you can't 
 want it less than I do. Do you suppose that I wish to 
 see my only child, who will have half a million of 
 money and might be a countess, or half a dozen 
 countesses, to-morrow, married to the son of a beg- 
 garly sniveller like you, for as you are so fond of 
 the pure and sacred truth, I'll give it you a fellow 
 who can come and peach upon your own boy and his 
 girl." 
 
 " My conscience and my duty " began Mr. 
 
 Knight. 
 
 " Oh ! drat your conscience and blow your duty. 
 You're a spy and a backbiting tell-tale, that's what 
 you are. Did you never kiss a girl yourself? "
 
 272 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " Never until after I was married, when we are 
 specially enjoined by the great Apostle " 
 
 " Then I'm sorry for your wife, for she must have 
 had a lot to teach you. But let's stop slanging, we 
 have our own opinions of each other and there's an 
 end. Now we have both the same object, you because 
 you are a pious crank and no more human than a 
 dried eel, and I because I am a man of the world who 
 want to see my daughter where she ought to be, 
 wearing a coronet in the House of Lords. The ques- 
 tion is : How is the job to be done? You don't under- 
 stand Isobel, but I do. If her back is put up, wild 
 horses won't move her. She'd snap her fingers in 
 my face, and tell me to go to a place that you are 
 better acquainted with than I am, or will be, and 
 take my money with me. Of course, I could hold 
 her for a few months, till she is of age perhaps, but 
 after that, No. So it seems that the only chance is 
 with your son. Now, what's his weak point? Can 
 he be bought off?" 
 
 " Certainly not," said Mr. Knight. 
 
 " Oh ! that's odd in one who, you say, is a fortune- 
 hunter. Well, what is it? Everyone has a weak 
 point, and another girl won't do just now." 
 
 " His weakest point is his fondness for that treach- 
 erous and abominable sex of which I have just had 
 so painful an example; and in the church too, yes, 
 in my church." 
 
 " And a jolly good place to get to in such a rain, 
 for of course they didn't know that you were hiding 
 under the pews. But I've told you that cock won't 
 fight at present. What's the next ? " 
 
 At these accumulated insults Mr. Knight turned
 
 FOR EVER 273 
 
 perfectly livid with suppressed rage. But he did sup- 
 press it, for he had an object to gain which, to his 
 perverted mind, was the most important in the whole 
 world namely, the final separation of his son and 
 Isobel. 
 
 " His next bad point," he went on, " is his pride, 
 which is abnormal, although from childhood I have 
 done my best to inculcate humility of spirit into his 
 heart. He cannot bear any affront, or even neglect. 
 For instance, he left me for some years just because 
 he did not consider that he was received properly on 
 his return from Switzerland; also because he went 
 into a rage, for he has a very evil temper if roused, 
 when I suggested that he wanted to run after your 
 daughter's money." 
 
 " Well, it wasn't a very nice thing to say, was it? 
 But I think I see light. He's proud, is he, and don't 
 like allusions to fortune-hunting. All right; I'll rub 
 his nose in the dirt and make him good. I'm just the 
 boy for a job of that sort, as perhaps you will agree, 
 my reverend friend; and if he shows his airs to me, 
 I'll kick him off the premises. Come on ! I dare say 
 we shall find them still in the church, where they 
 think themselves so snug, although the rain has 
 stopped." 
 
 So this precious pair started, each of them bent, 
 though for different reasons, upon as evil a mission 
 as the mind of man can conceive. For what is there 
 more wicked than to wish to bring about the separa- 
 tion and subsequent misery of two young people who, 
 as they guessed well enough, loved each other body 
 and soul, and thereby to spoil their lives? Yet, so 
 strange is human nature, that neither of them thought
 
 274 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 that they were committing any sin. Mr. Knight, now 
 and afterwards, justified himself with the reflection 
 that he was parting his son from a " pernicious " 
 young woman of strong character, who would prob- 
 ably lead him away from religion as it was under- 
 stood by him. One also whom he looked upon as 
 the worst of outcasts, who deserved and doubtless 
 was destined to inhabit hell, because hastily she had 
 rejected his form of faith, as the young are apt to 
 do, for reasons, however hollow, that seemed to her 
 sufficient. 
 
 He took no account of his bitter, secret jealousy of 
 this girl, who, as he thought, had estranged his son 
 from him, and prevented him from carrying out his 
 cherished plans of making of him a clergyman like 
 himself, or of his innate physical hatred of women 
 which caused him to desire that Godfrey should remain 
 celibate. These motives, although he was well aware 
 of them, he set down as naught, being quite sure, in 
 view of the goodness of his aims, that they would be 
 overlooked or even commended by the Power above 
 Whom he pictured in his mind's eye as a furious old 
 man, animated chiefly by jealousy and a desire to 
 wreak vengeance on and torture the helpless. For it 
 is the lessons of the Old Testament that sink most 
 deeply into the souls of Mr. Knight and his kind. 
 
 Sir John's ends were quite different. He was the 
 very vulgarest of self-made men, coarse and brutal 
 by nature, a sensualist of the type that is untouched 
 by imagination; a man who would crush anyone who 
 stood in his path without compunction, just because 
 that person did stand in his path. But he was ex- 
 tremely shrewd witness the way he saw through
 
 FOR EVER 275 
 
 Mr. Knight and in his own fashion very able wit- 
 ness his success in life. 
 
 Moreover, since a man of his type has generally 
 some object beyond the mere acquiring of money, 
 particularly after it has been acquired, he had his, 
 to rise high, for he was very ambitious. His natural 
 discernment set all his own failings before him in 
 the clearest light ; also their consequences. He knew 
 that he was vulgar and brutal, and that as a result 
 all persons of real gentility looked down upon him, 
 however much they might seem to cringe before his 
 money and power, yes, though they chanced to be 
 but labouring men. 
 
 For instance, his wife had done so, which was one 
 of the reasons why he hated her, as indeed had all 
 her distinguished relatives, after they came to know 
 him, although he lent them money. He knew that 
 even if he became a peer, as he fully expected to do, 
 it would be the same story; outward deference and 
 lip service, but inward dislike and contempt. In short, 
 there were limits which he could never hope to pass, 
 and therefore so far as he was concerned, his am- 
 bitious thirst must remain unslaked. 
 
 But he had a daughter whom Nature, perhaps be- 
 cause of her mother's blood, had set in quite a dif- 
 ferent class. She had his ability, but she was gentle- 
 born, which he was not, one who could mix with 
 and be welcomed by the highest in the world, and 
 this without the slightest question. If not beautiful, 
 she was very distinguished; she had presence and 
 what the French call " the air." Further, she would 
 be one of the richest women in England. Considered 
 from his point of view, therefore, it was but natural
 
 276 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 that he should desire her to make a brilliant marriage 
 and found a great family, which he would thus have 
 originated at any rate, to some extent. Night and 
 day he longed that this should come about, and it 
 was the reason why the young Lord Mounteroy was 
 visiting Hawk's Hall. 
 
 Mounteroy had met Isobel at a dinner-party in 
 London the other day and admired her. He had 
 told an old lady a kind of society tout who had 
 repeated it to Sir John, that he wished to get married, 
 and that Isobel Blake was the sort of girl he would 
 like to marry. He was a clever man, also ambitious, 
 one who had hopes of some day ruling the country, 
 but to do this he needed behind him great and assured 
 fortune in addition -to his ancient but somewhat im- 
 poverished rank. In short, she suited his book, and 
 he suited that of Sir John. Now, the thing to do was 
 to bring it about that he should also suit Isobel's book. 
 And just at the critical moment this accursed accident 
 had happened. Oh! it was too much. 
 
 No wonder that Sir John was filled with righteous 
 wrath and a stern determination to " make things 
 hot " for the cause of the " accident " as, led to the 
 attack by the active but dripping Mr. Knight whom 
 he designated in his heart as that " little cur of a 
 parson," much as an overfed and bloated bloodhound 
 might be by some black and vicious mongrel, he 
 tramped heavily towards the church. Indeed they 
 made a queer contrast, this small, active but fierce- 
 faced man in his sombre, shiny garments and dingy 
 white tie, and the huge, ample-paunched baronet with 
 his red, flat face, heavy lips and projecting but intelli- 
 gent eyes, clothed in a new suit, wearing an enormous
 
 FOR EVER 277 
 
 black pearl in his necktie and a diamond ring on his 
 finger; the very ideal of Mammon in every detail of 
 his person and of his carefully advertised opulence. 
 
 Isobel, whose humour had its sardonic side, and 
 who was the first to catch sight of them when they 
 reached the church, Mr. Knight tripping ahead, and 
 Sir John hot with the exercise in the close, moist air, 
 lumbering after him with his mouth open, compared 
 them in her mind to a fierce little pilot fish conducting 
 an overfed shark to some helpless prey which it had 
 discovered battling with the waters of circumstance; 
 that after all, was only another version of the mongrel 
 and the bloodhound. Also she compared them to other 
 things, even less complimentary. 
 
 Yet none of these, perhaps, was really adequate, 
 either to the evil intentions or the repellent appear- 
 ance of this pair as they advanced upon their wicked 
 mission of jealousy and hate.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 LOVE AND LOSS 
 
 ALL unaware that they had been seen and by no 
 friendly eyes, Godfrey and Isobel remained embracing 
 each other for quite a long while. At length she 
 wrenched herself away and, sinking on to a chancel 
 bench, motioned to him to seat himself beside her. 
 
 " Let us talk," she said in a new voice, a strange 
 voice that was low and rich, such as he had never 
 heard her use, " let us talk, my dear." 
 
 " What of ? " he asked almost in a whisper as he 
 took his place, and her hand, which he held against 
 his beating heart. " My soul has been talking to 
 yours for the last five minutes, or is it five seconds 
 or five years? It does not seem to have anything 
 more to say." 
 
 " Yet I think there is plenty to be said, Godfrey. 
 Do you know that while we were kissing each other 
 there some very queer ideas got hold of me, not only 
 of the sort which might be expected in our case? You 
 remember that Plantagenet lady who lies buried be- 
 neath where we were standing, she whose dress I once 
 copied to wear at the ball when I came out." 
 
 " Don't speak of that," he interrupted, " for then 
 you were kissing someone else." 
 
 " It is not true. I never kissed anyone else in that 
 way, and I do not think I ever shall. I kissed a rose, 
 that's all, and I gather that you have done as much
 
 LOVE AND LOSS 279 
 
 and very likely a great deal more. But it is of the 
 lady I am speaking, not of the ball. She seemed to 
 come up from her grave and to enter into me, and 
 say something." 
 
 "Well, what did she say, Isobel?" he asked 
 dreamily. 
 
 " That's it, I don't know, although she talked to me 
 as one might to oneself. All I know is that it was of 
 trouble and patience and great joy, and war and 
 tragedy in which I must be intimately concerned, and 
 after the tragedy of a most infinite rest and bliss." 
 
 " I expect she was telling you her own story, which 
 seems to have ended well," he replied in the same 
 dreamy fashion. 
 
 " Yes, I think so, but also that she meant that her 
 story would be my story, copied you know, as I copied 
 her dress. Of course it is all nonsense, just the in- 
 fluence of the place taking hold of me when overcome 
 by other things, but at the time it seemed very real." 
 
 " So does a bad dream," said Godfrey, " but for all 
 that it isn't real. Still it is odd that everything im- 
 portant seems to happen to us within a few feet of 
 that lady's dust, and I can't quite disbelieve in spirits 
 and their power of impressing themselves upon us; 
 I wish I could. The strange thing is that you should 
 put any faith in them." 
 
 " I don't, though I admit that my views about such 
 matters are changing. You know I used to be sure 
 that when we die everything is over with us. Now 
 I think differently, why I cannot say." 
 
 Then the subject dropped, because really they were 
 both wrapped in the great joy of a glorious hour and 
 disinclined to dwell upon fancies about a woman who
 
 280 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 had died five hundred years ago, or on metaphysical 
 speculations. Also the fear of what might follow 
 upon that hour haunted them more vividly than any 
 hovering ghost, if such there were. 
 
 " My dear," said Isobel, " I am sorry, but I must 
 say it; I am sure that there will be trouble about this 
 business." 
 
 " No doubt, Isobel ; there always is trouble, at least 
 where I am concerned; also one can't be happy with- 
 out paying. But what does it matter so long as we 
 stick to each other? Soon we shall both be of age 
 and can do what we like." 
 
 " One always thinks that, Godfrey, and yet, some- 
 how, one never can. Free will is a fraud in that sense 
 as in every other." 
 
 " I have something, as you know, enough with my 
 pay to enable us to get on, even if you were disin- 
 herited, dear, though, of course, you could not live 
 as you have been accustomed to do." 
 
 " Oh ! don't talk to me of money," she said im- 
 patiently, " though for the matter of that, I have 
 something, too, a little that comes to me from my 
 mother. Money won't divide us, Godfrey." 
 
 "Then what will, Isobel?" 
 
 " Nothing in the long run," she answered with con- 
 viction, " not even death itself, since in a way we are 
 one and part of each other and therefore cannot be 
 separated for always, whatever happens for a while, 
 as I am sure that something will happen which will 
 make you leave me." 
 
 " I swear that I will never leave you, I will die 
 with you first," he exclaimed, springing up. 
 
 " Such oaths have been made often and broken
 
 LOVE AND LOSS 281 
 
 before the dawn," she answered, smiling and shaking 
 her head. 
 
 " I swear that I will always love you," he went on. 
 
 " Ah ! now I believe you, dear ! " she broke in again. 
 " However badly you may behave, you will always 
 love me because you must." 
 
 " Well, and will you always love me however badly 
 I behave?" 
 
 "Of course," she answered simply, " because I 
 must. Oh! whatever we may hear about each other, 
 we may be quite certain that we still love each other 
 because we must and all your heaven and hell cannot 
 make any difference, no, not if they were both to join 
 forces and try their best. But that does not mean 
 that necessarily we shall marry each other, for I think 
 that people who love like that rarely do marry, be- 
 cause, you see, they would be too happy, which some- 
 thing is always trying to prevent. It may mean, how- 
 ever," she added reflectively, " that we shall not marry 
 anybody else, though even that might happen in your 
 case not in mine. Always remember, Godfrey, that 
 I shall never marry anybody else, not even if you took 
 three wives one after the other." 
 
 " Three wives ! " gasped Godfrey. 
 
 " Yes, why not ? It would be quite natural, wouldn't 
 it, if you couldn't marry me, and even proper. Only 
 I should never take one husband, I mean not from 
 any particular virtue, but just because I couldn't. You 
 see, it would make me ill. And if I tried I should 
 only run away." 
 
 " Oh ! stop talking nonsense," said Godfrey, " when 
 so soon you will have to go to see about those people," 
 and he held out his arms.
 
 282 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 She sank into them, and for a little while they for- 
 got their doubts and fears. 
 
 The rain had ceased, and the triumphant sun shin- 
 ing gloriously through the west window of stained 
 glass, poured its rays upon them, dyeing them all the 
 colours of an angel's wings. Also incidentally it made 
 them extremely conspicuous in that dusky church, 
 of which they had all this while forgotten to shut 
 the door. 
 
 " My word ! " said Sir John to Mr. Knight in tones 
 of savage sarcasm as they surveyed the two through 
 this door. " We've got here just at the right time. 
 Don't they look pretty, and don't you wish that you 
 were his age and that was someone else's daughter? 
 I tell you, I do." 
 
 Mr. Knight gurgled something in his inarticulate 
 wrath, for at that moment he hated Isobel's father as 
 much as he did Isobel, which was saying a great deal. 
 
 " Well, my pretty pair of cooing turtle-doves," went 
 on Sir John in a sort of shout, addressing himself to 
 them, " be so good as to stop that, or I think I shall 
 wring both your necks, damn you." 
 
 " Not in this Holy House, which these infamous 
 and shameless persons have desecrated with their pro- 
 fane embraces," interrupted Mr. Knight. 
 
 " Yes, according to your ideas it will be almost 
 a case of re-consecration. You'll have to write to the 
 bishop about it, Mr. Parson. Oh! confound you. 
 Don't stand there like a couple of stuck pigs, but come 
 out of that and let us have a little chat in the church- 
 yard." 
 
 Now, at the first words that reached their ears
 
 LOVE AND LOSS 283 
 
 Godfrey and Isobel had drawn back from each other 
 and stood side by side quite still before the altar, as 
 a pair about to be married might do. 
 
 They were dumbfounded, and no wonder. As 
 might be expected Isobel was the first to recover her- 
 self. 
 
 " Come, my dear," she said in a clear voice to 
 Godfrey, " my father and yours wish to speak to us. 
 I am glad we have a chance of explaining matters 
 so soon." 
 
 " Yes," said Godfrey, but in a wrathful voice, for 
 he felt anger stirring in him. Perhaps it was excited 
 by that ancient instinct which causes the male animal 
 to resent the spying upon him when he is courting 
 his female as the deadliest of all possible insults, or 
 perhaps by some prescience of affronts which were 
 about to be offered to him and Isobel by these two 
 whom he knew to be bitterly hostile. At least his 
 temper was Vising, and like most rather gentle-natured 
 men when really provoked and cornered, he could be 
 dangerous. 
 
 " Yes," he repeated, " let us go out and see this 
 matter through." 
 
 So they went, Sir John and Mr. Knight drawing 
 back a little before them, till they were brought to 
 a halt by the horrible memorial which the former had 
 erected over his wife's grave. Here they stood, pre- 
 pared for the encounter. Sir John was the first to 
 take the lists, saying: 
 
 " Perhaps you will explain, Isobel, why I found 
 you, as I thought, kissing this young fellow like any 
 village slut beneath a hedge." 
 
 Isobel's big eyes grew steely as she answered :
 
 284 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " For the same reason, Father. Like your village 
 slut, I kissed this man because he is my lover whom 
 I mean to marry. If, as I gather, you are not certain 
 as to what you saw, I will kiss him again, here in 
 front of you." 
 
 " I have no doubt you will; just like your cheek! " 
 ejaculated Sir John, taken a little aback. 
 
 Then Mr. Knight took up the ball, addressing him- 
 self to his son: 
 
 " Could you find no other place for your immoral 
 performances except the church, Godfrey, and my 
 chancel, too ? " 
 
 " No," answered Godfrey, " because it was raining 
 and we sheltered there. And what do you mean by 
 your talk about immorality? Is it not lawful for a 
 man to love a woman? I should have thought that 
 the Bible, which you are always quoting, would have 
 taught you otherwise. Also, once you were married 
 yourself else I should not be here, for which I am not 
 sure that I thank you ; at least, I shouldn't were it not 
 for Isobel." 
 
 For a moment Mr. Knight could think of no answer 
 to these arguments, but Sir John having recovered 
 his breath, attacked again: 
 
 " Look here, young fellow, I have no time to listen 
 to jaw about the Bible and moral and immoral and 
 all that bosh, which you can have out with your 
 reverend parent afterwards. I am a plain man, I am, 
 and want a plain answer to a plain question. Do you 
 think that you are going to marry my daughter, 
 Isobel?" 
 
 " Such is my desire and intention," replied Godfrey, 
 with vague recollections of the baptismal service,
 
 LOVE AND LOSS 285 
 
 though of these at the moment he was not aware. 
 
 "Oh, is it? Then you are jolly well mistaken in 
 your desire and intention. Let's make things clear. 
 You are a beggarly youngster who propose to enter 
 the army at some future date, which you may or may 
 not do. And you have the impudence to wish to 
 marry one of the biggest heiresses in England against 
 my will." 
 
 " And against mine," burst in Mr. Knight, " who 
 consider her a most pernicious young woman, one 
 who rejects the Christian faith and will lead you to 
 perdition. That is why, when I chanced to espy you 
 in such a compromising situation, I hastened to inform 
 the lady's father." 
 
 " Oh ! you did that, did you ? " interposed Isobel, 
 contemplating him steadily. " Well, I am glad to 
 know who could have been so cowardly," she added 
 with withering contempt. " Now I begin to wonder 
 whether a letter which some years ago, I brought to 
 the Abbey House to be forwarded to Godfrey, was 
 ever posted to him who did not receive it, or whether, 
 perhaps, it fell into the hands of someone like you." 
 
 "It did," said Mr. Knight. "I read it and have 
 it to this day. In my discretion as a father I did not 
 consider it desirable that my young son should receive 
 that letter. What I have witnessed this afternoon 
 showed me how right was my judgment." 
 
 " Thank you so much," said Isobel. " That takes 
 a great weight off my mind. Godfrey, my dear, I 
 apologise to you for my doubts. The truth did occur 
 to me, but I thought it impossible that a clergyman," 
 here she looked again at Mr. Knight, " could be a 
 thief also who did not dare to own to his theft."
 
 286 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " Never mind all that," went on Sir John in his 
 heavy, masterful voice. " It stands like this. You," 
 and he pointed a fat finger at Godfrey, " are well, 
 I'll tell you what you are you're just a cunning young 
 fortune-hunter. You found out that this property 
 and a good bit besides are coming to Isobel, and you 
 want to collar the swag, like you did that of the old 
 woman out in Lucerne. Well, you don't do it, my 
 boy. I've other views for Isobel. Do you think I 
 want to see her married to to the son of a fellow 
 like that a canting snuffler who prigs letters and 
 splits on his own son?" and swinging the fat finger 
 round he thrust it almost into the face of Mr. Knight. 
 
 "What did you say?" gasped Godfrey. "That I 
 am a fortune-hunter ? " 
 
 " Yes, that's what I said, and I'll repeat it if you 
 like." 
 
 " Then," went on Godfrey, speaking in a thick, low 
 voice, for now his temper had mastered him thor- 
 oughly, " I say that you are a liar. I say that you are a 
 base and vulgar man who has made money somehow 
 and thinks that this justifies him in insulting those 
 who are not base or vulgar, because they have less 
 money." 
 
 " You infernal young scamp," shouted Sir John in 
 a roar like to that of an angry bull. " Do you dare 
 
 to call me a liar? Apologise at once, or " and 
 
 he stopped. 
 
 " I do not apologise. I repeat that you are a liar, 
 the greatest liar I ever met. Now or what ? " 
 
 Thus spoke Godfrey, drawing up his tall, slim 
 young form to its full height, his dark eyes flashing, 
 his fine face alight with righteous rage. Isobel, who
 
 LOVE AND LOSS 287 
 
 was standing quite still and smiling a little, rather 
 contemptuously, looked at him out of the corners of 
 her eyes and thought that anger became him well. 
 Never before had he seemed so handsome to her ap- 
 proving judgment. 
 
 " Or this," bellowed Sir John, and, lifting the 
 tightly rolled umbrella he carried, he struck Godfrey 
 with all his strength upon the side of the head. 
 
 Godfrey staggered, but fortunately the soft hat he 
 was wearing, upon the brim of which the stroke fell, 
 broke its weight to some extent, so that he was not 
 really hurt. Only now he went quite mad in a kind 
 of icy way, and, springing at Sir John with the light- 
 ness of a leopard, dealt him two blows, one with his 
 left hand and the next with his right. 
 
 They were good, straight blows, for boxing had 
 been his favourite amusement at Sandhurst where he 
 was a middleweight champion. The first caught Sir 
 John upon his thick lips which were badly cut against 
 the teeth, causing him to stagger; while the second, 
 that with the right, landed on the bridge of his nose 
 and blacked both his eyes. This, so strong and heavy 
 was it, notwithstanding Sir John's great weight, 
 knocked him clean off his feet. Back he went, and 
 in his efforts to save himself gripped Mr. Knight with 
 one hand and with the other the legs of the early- 
 Victorian angel that surmounted Lady Jane's grave 
 against which they were standing. Neither of these 
 could withstand the strain. The angel, which was 
 only pinned by lead-coated rivets to its base and the 
 column behind, flew from its supports, as did Mr. 
 Knight from his, so that in another second, the men 
 having tripped against the surround of the grave,
 
 288 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 all three rolled upon the path, the marble luckily fall- 
 ing clear of both of them. 
 
 " Now I've done it," said Godfrey in a reflective 
 voice as he contemplated the tangled ruin. 
 
 " Yes," exclaimed Isobel, " I think you have." 
 
 Then they remained grim and silent while the pair, 
 who were not really much injured, picked themselves 
 up with groans. 
 
 " I am sorry that I knocked you down, since I am 
 young and you are not," said Godfrey, " but I repeat 
 that you are a liar," he added by an afterthought. 
 
 Sir John spat out a tooth, and began to mop the 
 blood from his nose with a silk pocket-handkerchief. 
 
 " Oh ! you do, do you ? " he said in a somewhat 
 subdued voice. " Well, you'll rind out that I'm other 
 things too before I'm done with you. And I repeat 
 that you are a fortune-hunting young rascal and that 
 I would rather see my daughter dead than married 
 to you." 
 
 " And I say, Godfrey, I would rather see you dead 
 than married to her ! " broke in Mr. Knight, spitting 
 out his words like an angry cat. 
 
 " I don't think that you need be afraid, Father," 
 answered Godfrey quietly, although his rage burned 
 as fiercely as ever. " You have worked this business 
 well, and it seems a little impossible now, doesn't it? 
 Listen, Sir John Blake. Not even for the sake of 
 Isobel will I submit to such insults. I will not give 
 her up, but I swear by God that while you are alive 
 I will not marry Isobel, nor will I write to her or 
 speak to her again. After you are dead, which I 
 dare say will be before so very long," and he surveyed 
 the huge, puffy-fleshed baronet with a critical eye,
 
 LOVE AND LOSS 289 
 
 " then if she cares to wait for me I will marry her, 
 hoping that in the meanwhile you may lose your money 
 or dispose of it as you like." 
 
 Sir John stared, still mopping his face, but finding 
 no words. He feared death very much and this 
 prophecy of it, spoken with such a ring of truth, as 
 though the speaker knew, frightened him. At that 
 moment in his heart he cursed the Reverend Mr. 
 Knight and his tale-bearing, and wished most earn- 
 estly that he had never been led into interference with 
 this matter. After all Godfrey was a fine young man 
 whom his daughter cared for, and might do well in 
 life, and he had struck him first after offering him 
 intentional and pre-arranged insult. Such were the 
 thoughts that flashed through his somewhat muddled 
 brain. Also another, that they were too late. The 
 evil was done and never could be undone. 
 
 Then Isobel spoke in cold, clear tones, saying: 
 " Godfrey is quite right and has been right all 
 through. Had you, Father, and that man," and she 
 pointed contemptuously at Mr. Knight, " left us alone 
 we should have come and told you what had happened 
 between us, and if you disapproved we would have 
 waited until we were of full age and have married 
 as we should have been free to do. But now that is 
 impossible, for blows have passed between you. After 
 slandering him vilely, you struck Godfrey first, 
 Father, and he would not have been a man if he had 
 not struck you back; indeed I should have thought 
 little of him afterwards. Well, he has made an oath, 
 and I know that he will keep it. Now I, too, make 
 an oath which certainly I shall keep. I swear in the 
 presence of both of you, by myself and by Godfrey,
 
 290 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 that neither in this world or in any other, should I 
 live again and have remembrance, will I marry any 
 man or exchange tendernesses with any man, except 
 himself. So all your plans come to nothing; yes, you 
 have brought all this misery upon us for nothing, and 
 if you want to found a great family, as I know you 
 do, you had better marry again yourself and let me 
 go my way. In any case, if I should survive you and 
 should Godfrey live, I will marry him after your 
 death, even if we have to wait until we are old to 
 do so. As for your fortune, I care nothing for it, 
 being quite ready to work in the world with the help 
 of the little that I have." 
 
 She paused as though for an answer, but none 
 came, for if Sir John had been frightened before, now 
 he was terrified of this outraged young woman who, 
 tall, commanding and stern-eyed, looked to him like 
 an avenging angel. 
 
 " There doesn't seem much more to say, does 
 there?" she went on, "except that I think, Father, 
 you had better telegraph to your guests that you are 
 not well and cannot receive them, for I won't. So 
 good-bye, dearest Godfrey. I shall remember all that 
 you have said, and you will remember all that I have 
 said, and as I believe, we shall live to meet again one 
 day. Meanwhile, don't think too bitterly of my 
 father, or of your own, because they have acted 
 according to their natures and lights, though where 
 these will lead them I am sure I do not know. Good- 
 bye, dearest, dearest Godfrey. Do your best in the 
 world and keep out of troubles if you can. Oh! what 
 a lot we shall have to tell each other when we meet 
 again."
 
 LOVE AND LOSS 291 
 
 Then before them both she kissed him, and he 
 kissed her back, saying: 
 
 " I will remember. I am glad you think there was 
 nothing else to be done. God bless you, Isobel. Make 
 the best of your life, as I will try to do with mine. 
 Good-bye." 
 
 " Good-bye, dear," she answered, " think of me 
 always when you wake and before you go to sleep, as 
 I will think of you." 
 
 Then she turned and went, never looking behind 
 her. 
 
 Godfrey watched her tall form vanish through the 
 churchyard gate and over the slope of a little hill that 
 lay between it and Hawk's Hall, and that was the last 
 sight he had of her for many a year. When she was 
 quite lost to view, he spoke to the two men who still 
 stood irresolute before him. 
 
 " Isobel I shall meet again," he said, " but not 
 either of you, for I have done with you both. It is 
 not for me to judge you. Judge yourself and be 
 judged." 
 
 Then he turned, too, and went. 
 
 " It's all right," said Sir John to Mr. Knight, " that 
 is, he won't marry her, at any rate at present, so I 
 suppose that we should both be pleased, if anyone can 
 be pleased with cut lips and two black eyes. And yet 
 somehow we seem to have made a mess of it," and he 
 glanced at the shattered marble statue of the Vic- 
 torian angel of which both the wings were broken 
 off. 
 
 " We have done our duty," replied Mr. Knight,
 
 292 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 pursing up his thin lips, " and at least Godfrey is freed 
 from your daughter." 
 
 " I'm not so sure of that, my reverend friend. But 
 of one thing I am sure, that I am freed from her also, 
 or rather that she is freed from me. Also you are 
 freed from him. Don't you understand, you vicious 
 little viper, that you will never see that young man 
 again, and that thanks to your cursed advice I shall 
 never see my daughter again, at least not really ? What 
 devil was it that sent you to play upon my weaknesses 
 and ambition? If you had left things alone and they 
 had come to me in a natural way there would have 
 been a row, of course, but I dare say it would have 
 ended all right. But you told me how to work on him, 
 and I overdid the part. Now nothing can ever be all 
 right for either of us, or for them either, until we are 
 both dead. Do you understand also that we have made 
 two young people who should have been the supports 
 of our old age desire above everything our deaths 
 because we have given them cause to hate us, and since 
 they are of the sort that keep their word, only by our 
 deaths can they become free, or, at any rate, by mine ? 
 Well, it doesn't matter what you understand, you little 
 bigot, but I know what I do." 
 
 " I have done my duty," repeated Mr. Knight sul- 
 lenly, " and I don't care what happens afterwards. 
 ' Fiat justitia mat ccelumf " he added in the Latin tag. 
 
 " Oh, yes. Justice may say fie and the sky may be 
 rude, and anything else may happen, but we've dished 
 our lives and theirs, my friend, and damn you ! get 
 out of my sight. Rows I am accustomed to with Tsobel 
 and others, but this isn't a row, it's an earthquake; it's
 
 LOVE AND LOSS 293 
 
 a catastrophe, for which I have to thank you. Lord ! 
 how my mouth hurts, and I can't see out of my right 
 eye. Talk of a mailed fist, that young beggar has one 
 like a pole-axe. Now I must go to telegraph to all 
 those people. Temporary indisposition, yes tem- 
 porary indisposition, that's it. Good-bye, my holy 
 friend. You won't do as much mischief in one day 
 again in a hurry, spy as hard as you like." 
 
 Then Sir John departed, nursing his cut lips with 
 one hand and his broken umbrella with the other. 
 Mr. Knight watched him go, and said to himself : 
 " I thought that I disliked the daughter, but the 
 father is worse. Offensive, purse-proud, vulgar beast ! 
 How dare he speak to me like that! I'm glad, yes, 
 I'm glad Godfrey knocked him down, though I sup- 
 pose there will be a scandal. Well, my hands are 
 clean ; I have done my duty, and I must not complain 
 if it is unpleasant, since I have dragged Godfrey back 
 from the mouth of the pit. I think I'll take a walk 
 to steady my nerves; it may be as well not to meet 
 Godfrey again just now."
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 INDIA 
 
 ON his road to the house to pack his portmanteau 
 Godfrey went a little way round to arrange with a 
 blacksmith, generally known as Tom, who jobbed 
 out a pony-trap, to drive him to the station to catch 
 the 7.15 train. The blacksmith remarked that they 
 would have to hurry, and set to work to put the pony 
 in, while Godfrey ran on to the Abbey House and 
 hurriedly collected his clothes. He got them packed 
 and down into the hall just as the trap arrived. 
 
 As he was entering it the servant put a letter into 
 his hand which she said had come for him by the 
 afternoon post.. He thrust it into his pocket unlooked 
 at, and off they went at the pony's best pace. 
 
 " You are going away oncommon quick, Master 
 Godfrey. Coming back to these parts soon? " queried 
 the blacksmith. 
 
 " No, not for a long while, Tom." 
 
 " I think there must have been lightning with that 
 rain," went on Tom, after a pause, " although I heard 
 no thunder. Else how ever did that marble angel 
 over poor Lady Jane's grave come down with such a 
 smash ? " 
 
 Godfrey glanced at him, but Tom remained im- 
 perturbable and went on: 
 
 " They du say it wor a wunnerful smash, what 
 broke off both the wings and nearly flattened out 
 some as stood by. Rum thing, Master Godfrey, that 
 
 294
 
 INDIA 295 
 
 the lightning should have picked out the grave of so 
 good a lady to hit ; ondiscriminating thing, lightning is." 
 
 " Stop talking humbug, Tom. Were you there ? " 
 asked Godfrey. 
 
 " Well, not exactly there, Master Godfrey, but I 
 and one or two others was nigh, having heard voices 
 louder than the common, just looking over the church- 
 yard wall, to tell truth." 
 
 " Oh ! " ejaculated Godfrey, and Tom continued in 
 a reflective voice: 
 
 " My ! they were two beuties, what you gave that 
 fat old devil of a squire. If he'd been a bull instead 
 of only roaring like one, they'd have brought him 
 down, to say nothing of parson and the angel." 
 
 " I couldn't help it, Tom. I was mad." 
 
 " And no wonder, after being crumped on the nut 
 with a tight umbrella. Why, I'd have done the same 
 myself, baronite or no baronite. Oh! there's no need 
 to explain; I knows everything about it, and so does 
 every babe in the village by now, not to mention the 
 old women. Master Godfrey, you take my advice, 
 the next time you go a-courtin' shut the door behind 
 you, which I always made a point o' doing when I 
 was young. Being passing that way, I seed parson 
 peeping in, and knowing you was there, guessed why. 
 Truth is I came to warn you after he'd gone up to 
 the Hall, but seein' how you was engaged, thought 
 it a pity to interrupt, though now I wish I had." 
 
 Godfrey groaned; there was nothing to say. 
 
 " Well, all the soot's in the cooking-pot now, so 
 to speak," proceeded Tom blandly, " and we're down- 
 right sad about it, we are, for as my missus was say- 
 ing, you'd make a pretty pair. But, Lord, Master
 
 296 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Godfrey, don't you take it too much to heart, for she's 
 an upright young lady, she is, and steadfast. Or if 
 she ain't, there's plenty of others; also one day follows 
 another, as the saying goes, and the worst of old 
 varmints don't live for ever. But parson, he beats 
 me, and you his son, so they tell, though I never 
 could think it myself. If he ain't the meanest ferret 
 I ever clapped eyes on, may the old mare fall down 
 and break my neck. Well, he'll hear about it, I can 
 promise him, especially if he meets my missus what's 
 got a tongue in her head, and is a chapel woman into 
 the bargain. Lord ! there comes the train. Don't you 
 fear, we'll catch her. Hold tight, Master Godfrey, 
 and be ready to jump out. No, no, there ain't nothing 
 to pay. I'll stick it on to parson's fare next time I've 
 druve him. Good-bye, Master Godfrey, and God 
 bless you, if only for that there right and left which 
 warmed my heart to see, and mind ye," he shouted 
 after him, " there's more young women in the world 
 than ye meets in an afternoon's walk, and one nail 
 drives another out, as being a smith by trade I knows 
 well." 
 
 Godfrey bundled into an empty carriage with his 
 portmanteau and hi's coat, and covered his face with 
 his hands that he might see no more of that accursed 
 station whence he seemed always to be departing in 
 trouble. So everything had been overheard and seen, 
 and doubtless the story would travel far and wide. 
 Poor Isobel! 
 
 As a matter of fact it did, but it was not Isobel 
 who suffered, since public sympathy was strong on the 
 side of her and of her lover. The indignation of the 
 neighbourhood concentrated itself upon the squire and
 
 INDIA 297 
 
 the parson, especially the latter. Indeed the village 
 showed its sympathy with the victims and its wrath 
 with the oppressors, by going on strike. Few beaters 
 turned up at Sir John's next shooting party, and on the 
 following Sunday Mr. Knight preached to empty 
 benches, a vacuum that continued from week to week. 
 The end of it was he became so unpopular and his 
 strained relations with Sir John grew so notorious 
 that the bishop, who like everyone else knew the whole 
 story, gently suggested to him that a change of livings 
 would be to his advantage; also to that of the church 
 in Monk's Acre and its neighbourhood. 
 
 So Mr. Knight departed to another parish in a 
 remote part of the diocese which, having been inun- 
 dated by the sea, was almost devoid of inhabitants, 
 and saw the Abbey and Hawk's Hall no more. 
 
 In searching his pockets for matches, Godfrey found 
 the letter which had been given to him as he left the 
 Abbey. He knew the writing on the envelope at once, 
 and was minded not to open it, for this and the foreign 
 stamp told him that it came from Madame Riennes. 
 Still curiosity, or a desire to take his mind off the 
 miseries by which it was beset, prevailed, and he did 
 open the envelope and read. It ran thus: 
 
 " Ah ! my little friend, my godson in the speerit, 
 Godfrey, 
 
 I daresay you thought that poor old Madame was 
 dead, gone to join the Celestials, because you have not 
 heard from her for so long a while. Not a bit, my little 
 Godfrey, though perhaps I should not call you little, since 
 my crystal shows me that you have grown taller even 
 than you were in the old days at Lucerne, and much 
 broader, quite a gOQd-mad man and nice to look at.
 
 298 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Well, my Godfrey, I hear things about you sometimes, 
 for the most part from the speerit called Eleanor who, 
 I warn you, has a great bone to pick with you. Be- 
 cause, you see, people do not change so much as you 
 think when they get to the other side. So a woman 
 remains a woman, and being a woman she stays jealous, 
 and does not like it when her affinity turns the back on 
 her, as you have done on Eleanor. Therefore she will 
 give you a bad trick if she can, just as a woman would 
 upon the earth. Also I hear of you sometimes from 
 Miss Ogilvy or, rather, her speerit, for she is as fond 
 of you as ever, so fond that I think you must have 
 mixed up together in a previous life, because otherwise 
 there is nothing to account for it. She tries to protect 
 you from Eleanor the indignant, with whom she has, I 
 gather, much row. 
 
 " Now for my message, which come to me from all 
 these speerits. I hear you have done very well in what 
 they call examinations, and have before you a shining 
 future. But do not think that you will be happy, my 
 Godfrey, for you will not get that girl you want for a 
 long, long while, and then only for the shortest of time, 
 just enough to kiss and say, ' Oh! my pretty, how nice 
 you are ! ' And then au revoir to the world of speerits. 
 Meanwhile, being a little fool, you will go empty and 
 hungry, since you are not one of those who hate the 
 woman, which, after all, is the best thing in life for the 
 man while he is young, like, so the spirits tell me, does 
 your dear papa. And oh! how plenty this woman fruit 
 hang on every tree, so why not pluck and eat before the 
 time come, when you cannot, because if you still have 
 appetite those nice plums turn your stomach? So you 
 have a bad time before you, my Godfrey, waiting for the 
 big fat plum far away which you cannot see or touch 
 and much less taste, while the other nice plums fall into 
 different hands, or wither wither, waiting to be eaten.
 
 INDIA 299 
 
 " At end, when you get your big, fat plum, just as you 
 set your teeth in it, oh! something blow it out of your 
 mouth, I know not what, the speerits will not say, per- 
 haps because they do not know, for they have not presci- 
 ence of all things. But of this be sure, my Godfrey, 
 something blow it out of your mouth. Also remember 
 when that happen, that it is your own fault, for had you 
 trusted to your godmamma Riennes it never would have 
 chanced, since she would have shown you how to get 
 your plum and eat it to the stone and then throw away 
 the stone and get other plums and be happy happy and 
 full instead of empty. Well, so it is, and as I must I tell 
 you. There is but one hope for you, unless you would 
 go sorrowful. To come back to your godmamma, who 
 will teach you how to walk and be happy happy and get 
 you all you want. Also, since she is now poor, you would 
 do well to send her a little money to this address in 
 Italy, since that old humbug of a Pasteur, whom she can- 
 not harm because of the influences round him, still pre- 
 vents her from returning to Switzerland, where she has 
 friends. Now that big plum, it is very nice and you 
 desire it much. Come to your godmamma and she will 
 show you how to get it off the tree quickly. Yes, within 
 one year. Or do not come and it will hang there for 
 many winters and shrivel as plums do, and at last one 
 bite and it gone. And then, my godson, then, my dear 
 Godfrey well, perhaps I will tell you the rest another 
 time. You poor silly boy, who will not understand that 
 the more you get the more you will always have. 
 " Your Godmamma, 
 
 " Who love you still although you treat her so badly, 
 " THE COUNTESS OF RIENNES. 
 
 "(Ah! you did not know I had that title, did you, but 
 in the speerit world I have others which are much 
 higher.)"
 
 300 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Godfrey thrust this precious epistle back into his 
 pocket with a feeling of physical and mental sickness. 
 How did this horrible woman know so much about 
 him and his affairs, and why did she prophesy such 
 dreadful things? Further, if her knowledge was so 
 accurate, although veiled in her foreign metaphor, 
 why should not her prophecies be accurate also? And 
 if they were, why should he be called upon to suffer 
 so many things? 
 
 He could find no answer to these questions, but 
 afterwards he sent her letter to the Pasteur, who 
 in due course returned it with some upright and 
 manly comments both upon the epistle itself and 
 the story of his troubles, which Godfrey had de- 
 tailed to him. Amongst much else he wrote in 
 French : 
 
 " You suffer and you cannot understand why, my dear 
 boy. Nor do I, but it is truth that all who are worth 
 anything are called upon to suffer, to what end we do not 
 know. Nothing of value is gained except by suffering. 
 Why, again, we do not know. This wretched woman is 
 right in a way when she refers all solutions to another 
 world, only her other world is one that is bad, and her 
 solutions are very base. Be sure that there are other 
 and better ones that we shall learn in due time, when 
 this little sun has set for us. For it will rise elsewhere, 
 Godfrey, in a brighter sky. Meanwhile, do not be fright- 
 ened by her threats, for even if they should all be true, 
 to those evils which she prophesies there is, be sure, 
 another interpretation. As I think one of your poets 
 has said, we odd our figures until they come even. So 
 go your way and keep as upright as you can, and have 
 no fear since God is over all, not the devil."
 
 INDIA 301 
 
 Thus preached the Pasteur, and what he said gave 
 Godfrey the greatest comfort. Still, being young, 
 he made one mistake. He did send Madame Riennes 
 some money, partly out of pity ten pounds in a 
 postal order without any covering letter, a folly that 
 did not tend to a cessation of her epistolatory efforts. 
 
 On reaching town Godfrey went straight to Hamp- 
 stead. There to his surprise he found all prepared for 
 his reception. 
 
 " I was expecting you, my dear," said Mrs. Parsons, 
 " and even have a little bit extra in the house in case 
 you should come." 
 
 " Why, when I told you I had gone home for a 
 month?" asked Godfrey. 
 
 " Why ? For the same reason as 1 knows that oil 
 and vinegar won't abide mixed in the same bottle. 
 I was sure enough that being a man grown, you and 
 your father could never get on together in one house. 
 But perhaps there is something else in it too," she 
 added doubtfully. 
 
 Then Godfrey told her that there was something 
 else, and indeed all about the business. 
 
 " Well, there you are, and there's nothing to be 
 said, or at least so much that it comes to the same 
 thing," remarked Mrs. Parsons, in a reflective tone, 
 when he had finished his story. " But what I want 
 to know," she went on, " is why these kind of things 
 happen. You two I mean you and Miss Isobel 
 are just fitted to each other, appointed together by 
 Nature, so to speak, and fond as a couple of doves 
 upon a perch. So why shouldn't you take each other 
 and have done? What is there to come between a 
 young man and a young woman such as you are? "
 
 302 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " I don't know," groaned Godfrey. 
 
 " No, nor don't I ; and yet something does come 
 between. What's the meaning of it all? Why do 
 things always go cussed in this 'ere world? Is there 
 a devil about what manages it, or is it just chance? 
 Why shouldn't people have what they want and when 
 it's wanted, instead of being forced to wait until per- 
 haps it isn't, or can't be enjoyed, or often enough to 
 lose it altogether ? You can't answer, and nor can't I ; 
 only at times I do think, notwithstanding all my 
 Christian teaching and hundreds and hundreds of 
 your father's sermons, that the devil, he's top-dog 
 here. And as for that there foreign woman whose 
 letter you've read to me, she's his housemaid. Not but 
 what I'm sure it will all come right at last," she added, 
 with an attempt at cheerfulness. 
 
 " I hope so," replied Godfrey, without conviction, 
 and went to bed. 
 
 Presently he descended from his room again, bear- 
 ing a pill-box in which was enclosed a certain ring 
 that years before he had bought at Lucerne, a ring 
 set with two hearts of turquoise. 
 
 " I promised not to write," he said, " but you might 
 address this to her. She'll know what it is, for I told 
 her about it." 
 
 " Yes," said Mrs. Parsons, " the young lady shall 
 have that box of pills. Being upset, it may do her 
 good." 
 
 In due course Isobel did have it ; also the box came 
 back addressed to Mrs. Parsons. In it was another 
 ring, a simple band of ancient gold as a matter of 
 fact, it was Roman, a betrothal ring of two thousand
 
 INDIA 303 
 
 years ago. Round it was a scrap of paper on which 
 was written : 
 
 "This was dug up in a grave. My great-grand- 
 mother gave it to my great-grandfather when they 
 became engaged about a hundred years ago, and he 
 wore it all his life, as in a bygone age someone else 
 had done. Now the great-granddaughter gives it to 
 another. Let him wear it all his life, whatever hap- 
 pens to her, or to him. Then let it go to the grave 
 again, perhaps to be worn by others far centuries 
 hence." 
 
 Godfrey understood and set it on the third finger 
 of his left hand, where it remained night and day, 
 and year by year. 
 
 So that matter ended, and afterwards came silence 
 and darkness which endured for ten years or more. 
 From his father he heard nothing, nor on his part did 
 he ever write to him again. Indeed the first news 
 concerning him which reached Godfrey was that of 
 his death which happened some seven years later, 
 apparently after a brief illness. Even of this he 
 would not have learned, since no one took the trouble 
 to put it in any paper that he saw, had it not chanced 
 that the Rev. Mr. Knight died intestate, and that 
 therefore his small belongings descended to Godfrey 
 as his natural heir. With them were a number of 
 papers, among which in the after days Godfrey found 
 the very letter that Isobel wrote to him which his 
 father " posted " in his desk. 
 
 For his son there was no word, a circumstance 
 that showed the implacability of this man's character. 
 Notwithstanding his continual profession of the high-
 
 304 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 est Christian principles he could never forget or for- 
 give, and this although it was he who was in fault. 
 For what wrong had Godfrey done to him in loving 
 a woman whom he did not chance to like ? So he died 
 silent, bearing his resentment to the grave. And yet 
 some odd sense of justice prevented him from robbing 
 Godfrey of his little inheritance, something under two 
 thousand pounds, that came on a policy of insurance 
 and certain savings, a sum which in after years when 
 money was plentiful with him Godfrey appointed to 
 the repair and beautifying of the Abbey Church at 
 Monk's Acre. 
 
 Strangely enough, although from his childhood they 
 had been always estranged, Godfrey felt this conduct 
 of his father very much indeed. It seemed dreadful 
 to him that he should vanish thus into the darkness, 
 taking his wrath with him; and often he wondered 
 if it still animated him there. Also he wondered 
 what could be the possible purpose of it all, and in- 
 deed why his father was so fashioned that he could 
 grow venomous over such a matter. To all of which 
 questions no answer came, although one suggested 
 itself to him namely, that he was the victim of some 
 hereditary taint, and therefore not in fact to blame. 
 
 In the case of Isobel the darkness was equally dense, 
 for both of them kept their word, and with the single 
 exception of the episode of the exchange of rings, 
 neither attempted to communicate with the other 
 directly or indirectly. From Mrs. Parsons he heard 
 that Hawk's Hall was shut up, and that Sir John and 
 his daughter lived mostly in London or at a place that 
 the former had bought in Scotland. Once indeed 
 Mrs. Parsons did write, or got someone else to write,
 
 INDIA 305 
 
 to him that she had seen Isobel drive past her in the 
 street, and that she looked well, though rather " stern 
 and quiet-like." 
 
 That was all the news Godfrey had of Isobel during 
 those ten years, since she was not a person who ad- 
 vertised her movements in the papers, although for 
 her sake he became a great student of society gossip. 
 Also he read with care all announcements of engage- 
 ments and marriages in The Times, and the deaths, 
 too, for the matter of that, but happily quite without 
 result. Indeed in view of her declaration he ought 
 to have been, and, in fact, was, ashamed of his re- 
 search; but then, who could be quite sure of anything 
 in this world? 
 
 Sir John, he knew, was living, because from time 
 to time he saw his name in lists of subscriptions of 
 a sort that appear under royal patronage and are 
 largely advertised. 
 
 So between these two swung a veil of darkness, 
 although, had he but known it, this was not nearly 
 so impenetrable to Isobel as to himself. Somehow-r 
 possibly Arthur Thorburn had friends with whom he 
 corresponded in England who knew Isobel she ac- 
 quired information as to every detail of his career. 
 Indeed when he came to learn everything he was 
 absolutely amazed at the particulars with which she 
 was acquainted, whereof there were certain that he 
 would have much preferred to have kept to himself. 
 But she had them all, with dates and surrounding 
 circumstances and the rest; thousands of miles of 
 ocean had been no bar to her searching gaze. 
 
 For his part he was not without consolations, since, 
 strangely enough, he never felt as if she were lost to
 
 306 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 him, or indeed far away; it was always as though 
 she were in the next room, or at any rate in the next 
 street. There are individuals of sensitive mind, and 
 he was one of them, who know well enough when 
 such a total loss has occurred. It has been well said 
 that the dead are never really dead to us until they 
 are forgotten, and the same applies to the living. 
 While they remember us, they are never so very far 
 away, and what is more we, or some of us, are quite 
 aware if they have ceased to remember, for then the 
 door is shut and the doorway built up and our hearts 
 tell us that this has been done. 
 
 In Godfrey's case with Isobel, not only did the 
 doorway remain unfilled the door itself was always 
 ajar. Although seas divided them and over these no 
 whisper came, yet he felt her thought leaping to him 
 across the world. Especially did this happen at night 
 when he laid himself down to sleep, perhaps because 
 then his mind was most receptive, and since their 
 hours of going to rest must have been different, he 
 being in India and she in England, she could scarcely 
 have been reflecting on him as he fondly believed, at 
 the moment when she, too, entered into the world 
 called sleep. 
 
 Therefore, either it was all imagination or he 
 caught her waking thoughts, or perhaps those that 
 haunted her upon this border land were delayed until 
 his subtler being could interpret them. Who knows? 
 At least, unless something had happened to disturb 
 him, those nights were rare when as he was shutting 
 his eyes, Godfrey did not seem to be sensible of 
 Isobel's presence. At any rate, he knew that she had 
 not forgotten ; he knew that somewhere in the vast
 
 INDIA 307 
 
 world she was ever thinking of him with more in- 
 tensity than she thought of any other man or thing. 
 And during all those lonely years this knowledge or 
 belief was his greatest comfort. 
 
 Not that Godfrey's life in India was in any way 
 unhappy. On the contrary it was a full and active 
 life. He worked hard at his profession and succeeded 
 in it to a limited extent, and he had his friends, 
 especially his great friend Arthur Thorburn, who al- 
 ways clung to him. He had his flirtations also ; being 
 a man of susceptibility who was popular with women, 
 how could they be avoided? For above all things 
 Godfrey was a man, not a hermit or a saint or an 
 aesthete, but just a man with more gifts of a sort than 
 have some others. He lived the life of the rest, he 
 hunted, he shot tigers, doing those things that the 
 Anglo-Indian officer does, but all the same he studied. 
 Whether it were of his trade of soldiering, or of the 
 natives, or of Eastern thought and law, he was always 
 learning something, till at last he knew a great deal, 
 often he wondered to what end. 
 
 And yet, with all his friends and acquaintances, in 
 a way he remained a very lonely man, as those who 
 are a little out of the ordinary often do. In the com- 
 mon groove we rub against the other marbles running 
 down it, but once we leap over its edge, then where 
 are we? We cannot wander off into space because of 
 the attraction of the earth that is so near to us, and 
 yet we are alone in the air until with a bump we meet 
 our native ground. Therefore for the most of us the 
 groove is much better. And yet some who leave it 
 have been carried elsewhere, if only for a little while, 
 like St. Paul into the third heaven.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 FRANCE AND AFTER 
 
 NOTHING so very remarkable happened to Godfrey 
 during those ten years of his life in India, or at least 
 only one or two things. Thus once he got into a 
 scrape for which he was not really responsible, and 
 got out of it again, as he imagined, without remark, 
 until Isobel showed her common and rather painful 
 intimacy with its details, of which she appeared to 
 take a somewhat uncharitable view, at any rate so 
 far as the lady was concerned. 
 
 The other matter was more serious, since it in- 
 volved the loss of his greatest friend, Arthur Thor- 
 burn. Briefly, what happened was this. There was 
 a frontier disturbance. Godfrey, who by now was a 
 staff officer, had been sent to a far outpost held by 
 Thorburn with a certain number of men, and there 
 took command. A reconnaissance was necessary, and 
 Thorburn went out for that purpose with over half 
 of the available garrison of the post, having received 
 written orders that he was not to engage the enemy 
 unless he found himself absolutely surrounded. In 
 the end Thorburn did engage the enemy with the re- 
 sult that practically he and his force were extermi- 
 nated, but not before they had inflicted such a lesson 
 on the said enemy that it sued for peace and has 
 been great friends with the British power ever since. 
 
 First however a feeble attack was made on God- 
 308
 
 FRANCE AND AFTER 309 
 
 frey's camp that he beat off without the loss of a 
 single man, exaggerated accounts of which were tele- 
 graphed home representing it as a " Rorke's Drift 
 defence." 
 
 Godfrey was heartbroken; he had loved this man as 
 a brother, more indeed than brothers often love. And 
 now Thorburn, his only friend, was dead. The Dark- 
 ness had taken him, that impenetrable, devouring dark- 
 ness out of which we come and into which we go. 
 Religion told him he should not grieve, that Thorburn 
 doubtless was much better off whither he had gone 
 than he could ever have been on earth, although it was 
 true the same religion said that he might be much 
 worse off, since thither his failings would have fol- 
 lowed him. Dismissing the latter possibility, how 
 could he be happy in a new world, Godfrey wondered, 
 having left all he cared for behind him and without 
 possibility of communication with them ? 
 
 In short, all the old problems of which he had not 
 thought much since Miss Ogilvy died, came back to 
 Godfrey with added force and left him wretched. Nor 
 was he consoled by the sequel of the affair of which 
 he was bound to report the facts. The gallant man 
 who was dead was blamed unjustly for what had 
 happened, as perhaps he deserved who had not suc- 
 ceeded, since those who set their blind eye to the tele- 
 scope as Nelson did must justify their action by 
 success. 
 
 Godfrey, on the other hand, who had done little 
 but defeat an attack made by exhausted and dis- 
 spirited men, was praised to the skies and found him- 
 self figuring as a kind of hero in the English Press, 
 which after a long period of peace having lost all
 
 3io LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 sense of proportion in such matters, was glad of any- 
 thing that could be made to serve the purposes of 
 sensation. Ultimately he was thanked by the Gov- 
 ernment of India, made a brevet-Major and decorated 
 with the D.S.O., of all of which it may be said with 
 truth that never were such honours received with 
 less pleasure. 
 
 So much did he grieve over this unhappy business 
 that his health was affected and being run down, in 
 the end he took some sort of fever and was very ill 
 indeed. When at length he recovered more or less he 
 went before a Medical Board who ordered him 
 promptly to England on six months' leave. 
 
 Most men would have rejoiced, but Godfrey did 
 not. He had little wish to return to England where, 
 except Mrs. Parsons, there were none he desired to 
 see, save one whom he was sworn not to see. This 
 he could bear while they were thousands of miles 
 apart, but to be in the same country with Isobel, in 
 the same town perhaps, and forbidden to hear her 
 voice or to touch her hand, how could he bear that? 
 Still he had no choice in this matter, arranged by the 
 hand of Fate, and went, reflecting that he would go 
 to Lucerne and spend the time with the Pasteur. Per- 
 haps even he would live in the beautiful house that 
 Miss Ogilvy had left to him, or a corner of it, seeing 
 that it was empty, for the tenants to whom it had been 
 let had gone away. 
 
 So he started at the end of the first week in July, 
 1914. 
 
 When his ship reached Marseilles it was to find that 
 the world was buzzing with strange rumours. There 
 was talk of war in Europe. Russia was said to be
 
 FRANCE AND AFTER 311 
 
 mobilising; Germany was said to be mobilising; France 
 was said to be mobilising; it was even rumoured that 
 England might be drawn into some Titanic struggle of 
 the nations. And yet no accurate information was 
 obtainable. The English papers they saw were some- 
 what old and their reports vague in the extreme. 
 
 Much excited, like everyone else, Godfrey tele- 
 graphed to the India Office, asking leave to come home 
 direct overland, which he could not do without per- 
 mission since he was in command of a number 
 of soldiers who were returning to England on fur- 
 lough. 
 
 No answer came to his wire before his ship sailed, 
 and therefore he was obliged to proceed by long sea. 
 Still it had important consequences which at the mo- 
 ment he could not foresee. In the Bay the tidings that 
 reached them by Marconigram were evidently so care- 
 fully censored that out of them they could make noth- 
 ing, except that the Empire was filled with great 
 doubt and anxiety, and that the world stood on the 
 verge of such a war as had never been known in 
 history. 
 
 At length they came to Southampton where the 
 pilot-boat brought him a telegram ordering him to re- 
 port himself without delay. Three hours later he was 
 in London. At the India Office, where he was kept 
 waiting a while, he was shown into the room of a 
 prominent and harassed official who had some papers 
 in front of him. 
 
 "You are Major Knight?" said the official. 
 " Well, here is your record before me and it is good, 
 very good indeed. But I see that you are on sick 
 leave. Are you too ill for service? "
 
 312 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " No," answered Godfrey, " the voyage has set me 
 up. I feel as well as ever I did." 
 
 " That's fortunate," answered the official, " but there 
 is a doctor on the premises, and to make sure he 
 shall have a look at you. Go down and see him, if 
 you will, and then come back here with his report," 
 and he rang a bell and gave some orders. 
 
 Within half an hour Godfrey was back in the room 
 with a clean bill of health. The official read the cer- 
 tificate and remarked that he was going to send him 
 over to the War Office, where he would make an ap- 
 pointment for him by telephone. 
 
 " What for, Sir? " asked Godfrey. " You see I am 
 only just off my ship and very ignorant of the 
 news." 
 
 " The news is, Major Knight, that we shall be at 
 war with Germany before we are twelve hours older," 
 was the solemn answer. " Officers are wanted, and we 
 are giving every good man from India on whom we 
 can lay our hands. They won't put you on the Staff, 
 because you have everything to learn about European 
 work, but I expect they will find you a billet in one of 
 the expeditionary regiments. And now good-bye 
 and good luck to you, for I have lots of men to see. 
 By the way, I take it for granted that you volunteer 
 for the job?" 
 
 " Of course," replied Godfrey simply, and went 
 away to wander about the endless passages of the War 
 Office till at length he discovered the man whom he 
 must see. 
 
 A few tumultuous days went by, and he found him- 
 sel f upon a steamer crossing to France, attached to a 
 famous English regiment.
 
 FRANCE AND AFTER 313 
 
 The next month always remained in Godfrey's mind 
 as a kind of nightmare in which he moved on plains 
 stained the colour of blood, beneath a sky black with 
 bellowing thunder and illumined occasionally by a 
 blaze of splendour. It would be useless to attempt to 
 set out the experience and adventures of the particular 
 cavalry regiment to which he was attached as a major, 
 since, notwithstanding their infinite variety, they were 
 such as all shared whose glory it was to take part 
 with what the Kaiser called the " contemptible little 
 army " of England in the ineffable retreat from Mons, 
 that retreat which saved France and Civilisation. 
 
 Godfrey played his part well, once or twice with 
 heroism indeed, but what of that amid eighty thou- 
 sand heroes? Back he staggered with the rest, ex- 
 hausted, sleepless, fighting, fighting, fighting, his mind 
 filled alternately with horror and with wonder, horror 
 at the deeds to which men can sink and the general 
 scheme of things that makes them possible, wonder 
 at the heights to which they can rise when lifted 
 by the inspiration of a great ideal and a holy cause. 
 Death, he reflected, could not after all mean so very 
 much to man, seeing how bravely it was met every 
 minute of the day and night, and that the aspect of it, 
 often so terrible, did but encourage others in like 
 fashion to smile and die. But oh! what did it all 
 mean, and who ruled this universe with such a flaming, 
 blood-stained sword? 
 
 Then at last came the turn of the tide when the 
 hungry German wolf was obliged to abandon that 
 Paris which already he thought between his jaws and, 
 a few days after it, the charge, the one splendid, per- 
 fect charge that consoled Godfrey and those with him
 
 314 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 for all which they had suffered, lost and feared. He 
 was in command of the regiment now, for those 
 superior to him had been killed, and he directed and 
 accompanied that charge. They thundered on to the 
 mass of the Germans who were retreating with no time 
 to entrench or set entanglements, a gentle slope in 
 front, and hard, clear ground beneath their horses' 
 feet. They cut through them, they trod them down, 
 they drove them by scores and hundreds into the 
 stream beyond, till those two battalions, or what re- 
 mained of them, were but a tangled, drowning mob. 
 It was finished; the English squadron turned to re- 
 treat as had been ordered. 
 
 Then of a sudden Godfrey felt a dull blow. For a 
 few moments consciousness remained to him. He 
 called out some command about the retirement; it 
 came into his mind that thus it was well to die 
 in the moment of his little victory. After that 
 blackness ! 
 
 When his sense returned to him he found himself 
 lying in the curtained corner of a big room. At least 
 he thought that it was big because of the vast expanse 
 of ceiling which he could see above the curtain rods 
 and the sounds without, some of which seemed to come 
 from a distance. There was a window, too, through 
 which he caught sight of lawns and statues and formal 
 trees. Just then the curtain was drawn, and there ap- 
 peared a middle-aged woman dressed in white, looking 
 very calm, very kind and very spotless, who started a 
 little when she saw that his eyes were open and that his 
 face was intelligent. 
 
 " Where am I ? " he asked, and was puzzled to ob-
 
 FRANCE AND AFTER 315' 
 
 serve that the sound of his voice seemed feeble and 
 far away. 
 
 " In the hospital at Versailles," she answered in a 
 pleasant voice. 
 
 " Indeed ! " he murmured. " It occurred to me that 
 it might be Heaven or some place of the sort." 
 
 "If you looked through the curtain you wouldn't 
 call it Heaven," she said with a sigh, adding, " No, 
 Major, you were near to ' going west,' very near, but 
 you never got to the gates of Heaven." 
 
 " I can't remember," he murmured again. 
 
 "Of course you can't, so don't try, for you see you 
 got it in the head, a bit of shell; and a nice operation, 
 or rather operations, they had over you. If it wasn't 
 for that clever surgeon but there, never mind." 
 
 "Shall I recover?" 
 
 " Of course you will. We have had no doubt about 
 that for the last week ; you have been here nearly three, 
 you know; only, you see, we thought you might be 
 blind, something to do with the nerves of the eyes. 
 But it appears that isn't so. Now be quiet, for I can't 
 stop talking to you with two dying just outside, and 
 another whom I hope to save." 
 
 " One thing, Nurse about the war. Have the Ger- 
 mans got Paris ? " 
 
 ' That's a silly question, Major, which makes me. 
 think you ain't so right as I believed. If those brutes 
 had Paris do you think you would be at Versailles? 
 Or, at any rate, that I should ? Don't you bother about 
 the war. It's all right, or as right as it is likely to be 
 for many a long day." 
 
 Then she went. 
 
 A week later Godfrey was allowed to get out of bed
 
 3i6 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 and was even carried to sit in the autumn sunshine 
 among other shattered men. Now he learned all there 
 was to know; that the German rush had been stayed, 
 that they had been headed off from Calais, and that 
 the armies were entrenching opposite to each other 
 and preparing for the winter, the Allied cause having 
 been saved, as it were, by a miracle, at any rate for the 
 while. He was still very weak, with great pain in his 
 head, and could not read at all, which grieved him. 
 
 So the time went by, till at last he was told that he 
 was to be sent to England, as his bed was wanted and 
 he could recover there as well as in France. Two days 
 later he started in a hospital train and suffered much 
 upon the journey, although it was broken for a night 
 at Boulogne. Still he came safely to London, and 
 was taken to a central hospital where next day several 
 doctors held a consultation over him. When it was 
 over they asked him if he had friends in London and 
 wished to stay there. He replied that he had no 
 friends except an old nurse at Hampstead, if she were 
 still there, and that he did not like London. Then 
 there was talk among them, and the word Torquay 
 was mentioned. The head doctor seemed to agree, but 
 as he was leaving, changed his mind. 
 
 " Too long a journey," he said, " it would knock 
 him up. Give me that list. Here, this place will do; 
 quite close and got up regardless, I am told, for she's 
 very rich. That's what he wants comfort and first- 
 class food," and with a nod to Godfrey, who was 
 listening in an idle fashion, quite indifferent as to 
 his destination, he was gone. 
 
 Next day they carried him off in an ambulance 
 through the crowded Strand, and presently he found
 
 FRANCE AND AFTER 
 
 himself at Liverpool Street, where he was put into an 
 invalid carriage. He asked the orderly where he was 
 going, but the man did not seem to know, or had for- 
 gotten the name. So troubling no more about it he 
 took a dose of medicine as he had been ordered, and 
 presently went to sleep, as no doubt it was intended 
 that he should do. When he woke up again it was to 
 find himself being lifted from another ambulance into 
 a house which was very dark, perhaps because of the 
 lighting orders, for now night had fallen. He was 
 carried in a chair up some stairs into a very nice bed- 
 room, and there put to bed by two men. They went 
 away, leaving him alone. 
 
 Something puzzled him about the place; at first he 
 could not think what it was. Then he knew. The 
 smell of it was familiar to him. He did not recognise 
 the room, but the smell he did seem to recognise, 
 though being weak and shaken he could not connect it 
 with any particular house or locality. Now there 
 were voices in the passage, and he knew that he must 
 be dreaming, for the only one that he could really hear 
 sounded exactly like to that of old Mrs. Parsons. He 
 smiled at the thought and shut his eyes. The voice 
 that was like to that of Mrs. Parsons died away, say- 
 ing as it went : 
 
 " No, I haven't got the names, but I dare say they 
 are downstairs. I'll go and look." 
 
 The door opened and he heard someone enter, a 
 woman this time by her tread. He did not see, both 
 because his eyes were still almost closed and for the 
 reason that the electric light was heavily shaded. So 
 he just lay there, wondering quite vaguely where he 
 was and who the woman might be. She came near
 
 3 i8 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 to the bed and looked down at him, for he heard her 
 dress rustle as she bent. Then he became aware of a 
 very strange sensation. He felt as though something 
 were flowing from that woman to him, some strange 
 and concentrated power of thought which was chang- 
 ing into a kind of agony of joy. The woman above 
 him began to breathe quickly, in sighs as it were, and 
 he knew that she was stirred; he knew that she was 
 wondering. 
 
 " I cannot see his face, I cannot see his face ! " she 
 whispered in a strained, unnatural tone. Then with 
 some swift movement, she lifted the shade that was 
 over the lamp. He, too, turned his head and opened 
 his eyes. 
 
 Oh, God! there over him leant Isobel, clad in a 
 nurse's robes yes, Isobel unless he were mad. 
 
 Next moment he knew that he was not mad, for 
 she said one word, only one, but it was enough. 
 
 "Godfrey!" 
 
 " Isobel! " he gasped. " Is it you? " 
 
 She made no answer, at least in words. Only she 
 bent down and kissed him on the lips. 
 
 " You mustn't do that," he whispered. " Remem- 
 ber our promise." 
 
 " I remember," she answered. " Am I likely to for- 
 get? It was that you would never see me nor come 
 into this house while my father lived. Well, he died 
 a month ago." Then a doubt struck her, and she 
 added swiftly: "Didn't you want to come here?" 
 
 " Want, Isobel ! What else have I wanted for ten 
 years? But I didn't know; my coming here was just 
 an accident." 
 
 " Are there such things as accidents? " she queried.
 
 FRANCE AND AFTER 319 
 
 " Was it an accident when twenty years ago I found 
 you sleeping in the schoolroom at the Abbey and 
 kissed you on the forehead, or when I found you 
 sleeping a few minutes ago twenty whole years 
 later ?" and she paused. 
 
 " And kissed me not upon the forehead," said 
 Godfrey reflectively, adding, " I never knew about that 
 first kiss. Thank you for it." 
 
 " Not upon the forehead," she repeated after him, 
 colouring a little. " You see I have faith and take a 
 great deal for granted. If I should be mistaken " 
 
 "Oh! don't trouble about that," he broke in, "be- 
 cause you know it couldn't be. Ten years, or ten 
 thousand, and it would make no difference." 
 
 " I wonder," she mused, " oh ! how I wonder. Do 
 you think it possible that we shall be living ten thou- 
 sand years hence ? " 
 
 " Quite," he answered with cheerful assurance, 
 " much more possible than that I should be living to- 
 day. What's ten thousand years? It's quite a hun- 
 dred thousand since I saw you." 
 
 " Don't laugh at me," she exclaimed. 
 
 " Why not, dear, when there's nothing in the whole 
 world at which I wouldn't laugh just now? although I 
 would rather look at you. Also I wasn't laughing, 
 I was loving, and when one is loving very much, the 
 truth comes out." 
 
 " Then you really think it true about the ten thou- 
 sand years, I mean?" 
 
 "Of course, dear," he answered, and this time his 
 voice was serious enough. " Did we not tell each other 
 yonder in the Abbey that ours was the love eternal? " 
 
 " Yes, but words cannot make eternity."
 
 320 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " No, but thoughts and the will behind them can, 
 for we reap what we sow." 
 
 " Why do you say that ? " she asked quickly. 
 
 " I can't tell you, except because I know that it is 
 so. We come to strange conclusions out yonder, 
 where only death seems to be true and all the rest a 
 dream. What we call the real and the unreal get 
 mixed." 
 
 A kind of wave of happiness passed through her, 
 so obvious that it was visible to the watching God- 
 frey. 
 
 " If you believe it I dare say that it is so, for you 
 always had what they call vision, had you not ? " Then 
 without waiting for an answer, she went on, " What 
 nonsense we are talking. Don't you understand, 
 Godfrey, that I am quite old?" 
 
 " Yes," he answered, " getting on ; six months 
 younger than I am, I think." 
 
 " Oh ! it's different with a man. Another dozen 
 years and I'm finished." 
 
 " Possibly, except for that eternity before you." 
 
 " Also," she continued, " I am even " 
 
 " Even more beautiful than you were ten years 
 ago, at any rate to me," he broke in. 
 
 " You foolish Godfrey," she murmured, and moved 
 a little away from him. 
 
 Just then the door opened, and Mrs. Parsons, look- 
 ing very odd in a nurse's dress with the cap awry 
 upon her grey hair, entered, carrying a bit of paper. 
 
 " The hunt I had ! " she began ; " that silly, new- 
 fangled kind of a girl-clerk having stuck the paper 
 away under the letter O for officers, you know, 
 Miss in some fancy box of hers, and then gone off to
 
 FRANCE AND AFTER 321 
 
 tea. Here are the names, but I can't see without my 
 specs." 
 
 At this point something in the attitude of the twq. 
 struck her, something that her instincts told her wasi v 
 uncommon, and she stood irresolute. Isobel stepped 
 to her as though to take the list, and, bending down, 
 whispered into her ear. 
 
 "What?" said Mrs. Parsons. "Surely I didn't' 
 understand; you know I'm getting deaf as well as 
 blind. Say the name again." 
 
 Isobel obeyed, still in a whisper. 
 
 "Him!" exclaimed the old woman, "him! Our 
 Godfrey, and you've been and let on who you were 
 you who call yourself a nursing Commandant? Why, 
 I dare say you'll be the death of him. Out you go, 
 Miss, anyway; I'll take charge of this case for the 
 present," and as it seemed to Godfrey, watching from 
 the far corner, literally she bundled Isobel from the 
 room. 
 
 Then she shut and locked the door. Coming to the 
 bedside she knelt down rather stiffly, looked at him for 
 a while to make sure, and kissed him, not once, but 
 many times. 
 
 " So you have come back, my dear," she said, " and 
 only half dead. Well, we won't have no young woman 
 pushing between you and me just at present, Com- 
 mandant or not. Time enough for love-making when 
 you are stronger. Oh ! and I never thought to see you 
 again. There must be a good God somewhere after all, 
 although He did make them Germans." 
 
 Then again she fell to kissing and blessing him, her 
 hot tears dropping on his face and upsetting him ten 
 times as much as Isobel had done.
 
 322 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Since in this topsy-turvy world often things work 
 by contraries, oddly enough no harm came to Godfrey 
 from these fierce excitements. Indeed he slept better 
 than he had done since he found his mind again, and 
 awoke, still weak of course, but without any tempera- 
 ture or pains in his head. Now it was that there began 
 the most blissful period of all his life. Isobel, when 
 she had recovered her balance, made him understand 
 that he was a patient, and that exciting talk or acts 
 must be avoided. He on his part fell in with her 
 wishes, and indeed was well content to do so. For a 
 while he wanted nothing more than just to lie there 
 and watch her moving in and out of his room, with 
 his food or flowers, or whatever it might be, for a 
 burst of bad weather prevented him from going out 
 of doors. Then, as he strengthened she began to 
 talk to him (which Mrs. Parsons did before that 
 event), telling him all that for years he had longed 
 to know; no, not all, but some things. Among other 
 matters she described to him the details of her fath- 
 er's end, which occurred in a very characteristic 
 fashion. 
 
 ; ' You see, dear," she said, " as he grew older his 
 passion for money-making increased more and more; 
 why, I am sure I cannot say, seeing that Heaven knows 
 he had enough." 
 
 " Yes," said Godfrey, " I suppose you are a very 
 rich woman." 
 
 She nodded, saying : " So rich that I don't know 
 how rich, for really I haven't troubled even to read all 
 the figures, and as yet they are not complete. More- 
 over, I believe that soon I shall be much richer. I'll 
 tell you why presently. The odd thing is, too, that my
 
 FRANCE AND AFTER 323 
 
 father died intestate, so I get every farthing. I be- 
 lieve he meant to make a will with some rather pecu- 
 liar provisions that perhaps you can guess. But this 
 will was never made." 
 
 "Why not? "asked Godfrey. 
 
 " Because he died first, that's all. It was this way. 
 He, or rather his firm, which is only another name for 
 him, for he owned three-fourths of the capital, got 
 some tremendous shipping contract with the Govern- 
 ment arising out of the war, that secures an enormous 
 profit to them; how much I can't tell you, but hundreds 
 and hundreds of thousands of pounds. He had been 
 very anxious about this contract, for his terms were 
 so stiff that the officials who manage such affairs hesi- 
 tated about signing them. At last one day after a 
 long and I gather, stormy interview with I don't know 
 whom, in the course of which some rather strong 
 language seems to have been used, the contract 
 was signed and delivered to the firm. My father 
 came home to this house with a copy of it in his 
 pocket. He was very triumphant, for he looked at 
 the matter solely from a business point of view, not at 
 all from that of the country. Also he was very tired, 
 for he had aged much during the last few years, and 
 suffered occasionally from heart attacks. To keep 
 himself up he drank a great deal of wine at dinner, 
 first champagne, and then the best part of a bottle of 
 port. This made him talkative, and he kept me sitting 
 there to listen to him while he boasted, poor man, 
 of how he had ' walked round ' the officials who 
 thought themselves so clever, but never saw some trap 
 which he had set for them." 
 
 " And what did you do ? " asked Godfrey.
 
 324 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " You know very well what I did. I grew angry, I 
 could not help it, and told him I thought it was shame- 
 ful to make money wrongfully out of the country at 
 such a time, especially when he did not want it at all. 
 Then he was furious and answered that he did want it, 
 to support the peerage which he was going to get. 
 He said also," she added slowly, " that I was ' an 
 ignorant, interfering vixen,' yes, that is what he called 
 me, a vixen, who had always been a disappointment 
 to him and thwarted his plans. ' However,' he went 
 on, ' as you think so little of my hard-earned money, 
 I'll take care that you don't have more of it than I 
 can help. I am not going to leave it to be wasted on 
 silly charities by a sour old maid, for that's what you 
 are, since you can't get hold of your precious parson's 
 son, who I hope will be sent to the war and killed. 
 I'll see the lawyers to-morrow, and make a will, 
 which I hope you'll find pleasant reading one 
 day.' 
 
 " I answered that he might make what will he liked, 
 and left the room, though he tried to stop me. 
 
 " About half an hour later I saw the butler running 
 about the garden where I was, looking for me in the 
 gloom, and heard him calling : ' Come to Sir John, 
 miss. Come to Sir John!' 
 
 " I went in and there was my father fallen forward 
 on the dining-room table, with blood coming from his 
 lips, though I believe this was caused by a crushed 
 wineglass. His pocket-book was open beneath him, in 
 which he had been writing figures of his estate, and, I 
 think, headings for the will he meant to make, but these 
 I could not read since the faint pencilling was blotted 
 out with blood. He was quite dead from some kind
 
 FRANCE AND AFTER 325 
 
 of a stroke followed by heart failure, as the doctors 
 said." 
 
 " Is that all the pleasant story? " asked Godfrey. 
 
 " Yes, except that there being no will I inherited 
 everything, or shall do so. I tried to get that contract 
 cancelled, but could not; first, because having once 
 made it the Government would not consent, since to do 
 so would have been a reflection on those concerned, and 
 secondly, for the reason that the other partners in the 
 shipping business objected. So we shall have to give it 
 back in some other way." 
 
 Godfrey looked at her, and said: 
 
 " You meant to say that you will have to give it 
 back." 
 
 " I don't know what I meant," she answered, colour- 
 ing; "but having said we, I think I will be like the 
 Government and stick to it. That is, unless you object 
 very much, my dear." 
 
 "Object! / object!" and taking the hand that 
 was nearest to him, he covered it with kisses. As he 
 did so he noted that for the first time she wore the little 
 ring with tourquoise hearts upon her third finger, the 
 ring that so many years before he had bought at 
 Lucerne, the ring that through Mrs. Parsons he had 
 sent her in the pill-box on the evening of their separa- 
 tion. 
 
 This was the only form of engagement that ever 
 passed between them, the truth being that from the 
 moment he entered the place it was all taken for 
 granted, not only by themselves, but by everyone in 
 the house, including the wounded. With this de- 
 velopment of an intelligent instinct,, it is possible that 
 Mrs. Parsons had something to do.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 MARRIAGE 
 
 IN that atmosphere of perfect bliss Godfrey's cure 
 was quick. For bliss it was, save only that there was 
 another bliss beyond to be attained. Remember that 
 this man, now approaching middle life, had never, 
 drunk of the cup of what is known as love upon the 
 earth. 
 
 Some might answer that such is the universal ex- 
 perience; that true, complete love has no existence, 
 except it be that love of God to which a few at last 
 attain, since in what we know as God completeness 
 and absolute unity can be found alone. Other loves 
 all have their flaws, with one exception perhaps, that 
 of the love of the dead which fondly we imagine to 
 be unchangeable. For the rest passion, however ex- 
 alted, passes or at least becomes dull with years; the 
 most cherished children grow up, and in so doing, by 
 the law of Nature, grow away; friends are estranged 
 and lost in their own lives. 
 
 Upon the earth there is no perfect love; it must be 
 sought elsewhere, since having the changeful shadows, 
 we know there is a sky wherein shines the sun that 
 casts them. 
 
 Godfrey, as it chanced, omitting Isobel, had walked 
 little even in these sweet shadows. There were but 
 three others for whom he had felt devotion in all 
 his days; his nurse, Mrs. Parsons, his tutor, Monsieur 
 
 326
 
 MARRIAGE 327 
 
 Boiset, and his friend, Arthur Thorburn, who was 
 gone. Therefore to him Isobel was everything. As a 
 child he had adored her; as a woman she was his 
 desire, his faith and his worship. 
 
 If this were so with him, still more was it the case 
 with Isobel, who in truth cared for no other human 
 being. Something in her nature prevented her from 
 contracting violent female friendships, and to all men, 
 except a few of ability, each of them old enough to 
 be her father, she was totally indifferent ; indeed most 
 of them repelled her. On Godfrey, and Godfrey alone, 
 from the first moment she saw him as a child she 
 had poured all the deep treasure of her heart. He 
 was at once her divinity and her other self, the seg- 
 ment that completed her life's circle, without which it 
 was nothing but a useless, broken ring. 
 
 So much did this seem to her to be so, that notwith- 
 standing her lack of faith in matters beyond proof 
 and knowledge, she never conceived of this passion of 
 hers as having had a beginning, or of being capable of 
 an end. This contradictory woman would argue 
 against the possibility of any future existence, yet she 
 was quite certain that her love for Godfrey had a 
 future existence, and indeed one that was endless. 
 When at length he put it to her that her attitude was 
 most illogical, since that which was dead and dissolved 
 could not exist in any place or shape, she thought for 
 a while and replied quietly : 
 
 " Then I must be wrong." 
 
 " Wrong in what? " asked Godfrey. 
 
 " In supposing that we do not live after death. The 
 continuance of our love I know to be beyond any 
 doubt, and if it involves our continuance as in-
 
 328 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 dividual entities well, then we continue, that is 
 all." 
 
 " We might continue as a single entity," he sug- 
 gested. 
 
 " Perhaps," she answered, " and if so this would be 
 better still, for it must be impossible to lose one an- 
 other while that remained alive, comprising both." 
 
 Thus, and in these few words, although she never 
 became altogether orthodox, or took quite the same 
 view of such mysteries as did Godfrey, Isobel made 
 her great recantation, for which probably there would 
 never have been any need had she been born in dif- 
 ferent surroundings and found some other spiritual 
 guide in youth than Mr. Knight. As the cruelties 
 and the narrow bitterness of the world had bred un- 
 faith in her, so did supreme love breed faith, if of 
 an unusual sort, since she learned that without the 
 faith her love must die, and the love she knew to be 
 immortal. Therefore the existence of that living love 
 presupposed all the rest, and convinced her, which 
 in one of her obstinate nature nothing else could 
 possibly have done, no, not if she had seen a miracle. 
 Also this love of hers was so profound and beautiful 
 that she felt its true origin and ultimate home must be 
 elsewhere than on the earth. 
 
 That was why she consented to be married in 
 church, somewhat to Godfrey's surprise. 
 
 In due course, having practically recovered his 
 health, Godfrey appeared before a Board in London 
 which passed him as fit for service, but gave him 
 a month's leave. With this document he returned to 
 Hawk's Hall, and there showed it to Isobel.
 
 MARRIAGE 329 
 
 "And when the month is up?" she asked, looking 
 at him. 
 
 " Then I suppose I shall have to join my regiment, 
 unless they send me somewhere else." 
 
 " A month is a very short time," she went on, still 
 looking at him and turning a little pale. 
 
 " Yes, dear, but lots can happen in it, as we found 
 out in France. For instance," he added, with a little 
 hesitation, " we can get married, that is, if you 
 wish." 
 
 " You know very well, Godfrey, that I have wished 
 it for quite ten years." 
 
 " And you know very well, Isobel, that I have 
 wished it well, ever since I understood what mar- 
 riage was. How about to-morrow ? " he exclaimed, 
 after a pause. 
 
 She laughed and shook her head. 
 
 " I believe, Godfrey, that some sort of license is 
 necessary, and it is past post time. Also it would look 
 scarcely decent; all these people would laugh at us. 
 Also, as there is a good deal of property concerned, I 
 must make some arrangements." 
 
 " What arrangements? " he asked. 
 
 She laughed again. " That is my affair ; you know 
 I am a great supporter of Woman's Rights." 
 
 " Oh ! I see," he replied vaguely, " to keep it all 
 free from the husband's control, &c." 
 
 " Yes, Godfrey, that's it. What a business head 
 you have. You should join the shipping firm after 
 the war." 
 
 Then they settled to be married on that day week, 
 after which Isobel suggested that he should take up 
 his abode at the Abbey House, where the clergyman,
 
 330 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 a bachelor, would be very glad to have him as a guest, 
 When Godfrey inquired why, she replied blandly 
 because his room was wanted for another patient, he 
 being now cured, and that therefore he had no right 
 to stop there. 
 
 " Oh! I see. How selfish of me," said Godfrey, and 
 went off to arrange matters with the clergyman, a 
 friendly and accommodating young man, with the 
 result that on this night once more he slept in the 
 room he had occupied as a boy. For her part Isobel 
 telephoned, first to her dressmaker, and secondly to 
 the lawyer who was winding up her father's estate, 
 requesting these important persons to come to see her 
 on the morrow. 
 
 They came quickly, since Isobel was too valuable a 
 client to be neglected, arriving by the same train, with 
 the result that the lawyer was kept waiting an hour 
 and a half by the dressmaker, a fact which he re- 
 membered in his bill. When at last his turn came, 
 Isobel did not detain him long. 
 
 " I am going to be married," she said, " on the 
 twenty-fourth to Major Godfrey Knight of the Indian 
 Cavalry. Will you kindly prepare two documents, the 
 first to be signed before my marriage, and the second, 
 a will, immediately after it, since otherwise it would 
 be invalidated by that change in my condition." 
 
 The lawyer stared at her, since so much legal knowl- 
 edge was not common among his lady clients, and 
 asked for instructions as to what the documents were 
 to set out. 
 
 " They will be very simple," said Isobel. " The 
 first, a marriage settlement, will settle half my income 
 free of my control upon my future husband during our
 
 MARRIAGE 331 
 
 joint lives. The second, that is the will, will leave to 
 him all my property, real and personal." 
 
 " I must point out to you, Miss Blake," said the 
 astonished lawyer, " that these provisions are very 
 unusual. Does Major Knight bring large sums into 
 settlement ? " 
 
 " I don't think so," she answered. " His means are 
 quite moderate, and if they were not, it would never 
 occur to him to do anything of the sort, as he under- 
 stands nothing about money. Also circumstanced as 
 I am, it does not matter in the least." 
 
 " Your late father would have taken a different 
 view," sniffed the lawyer. 
 
 " Possibly," replied Isobel, " for our views varied 
 upon most points. While he was alive I gave way to 
 his, to my great loss and sorrow. Now that he is dead 
 I follow my own." 
 
 " Well, that is definite, Miss Blake, and of course 
 your wishes must be obeyed. But as regards this will, 
 do not think me indelicate for mentioning it, but there 
 might be children." 
 
 " I don't think you at all indelicate. Why should 
 I at over thirty years of age? I have considered the 
 point. If we are blessed with any children, and I 
 should predecease him, my future husband will make 
 such arrangements for their welfare as he considers 
 wise and just. I have every confidence in his judg- 
 ment, and if he should happen to die intestate, which I 
 think very probable, they would inherit equally. There 
 is enough for any number of them." 
 
 " Unless he loses or spends it," groaned the lawyer. 
 
 " He is much more likely to save it from some mis- 
 taken sense of duty, and to live entirely on what he
 
 332 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 has of his own," remarked Isobel. " If so, it cannot 
 be helped, and no doubt the poor will benefit. Now 
 if you thoroughly understand what I wish done, I 
 think that is all. I have to see the dressmaker again, 
 so good-bye." 
 
 " Executors ? " gasped the lawyer. 
 
 " Public Trustee," said Isobel, over her shoulder. 
 
 " They say that she is one of these Suffragette 
 women, although she keeps it dark. Well, I can be- 
 lieve it. Anyway, this officer is tumbling into honey, 
 and there's no fool like a woman in love," said the 
 lawyer to himself as he packed his bag of papers. 
 
 Isobel was quite right. The question of settlements 
 never even occurred to Godfrey. He was aware, how- 
 ever, that it is usual for a bridegroom to make the 
 bride a present, and going to London, walked miser- 
 ably up and down Bond Street looking into shop 
 windows until he was tired. At one moment he fixed 
 his affections upon an old Queen Anne porringer, 
 which his natural taste told him to be quite beautiful; 
 but having learned from the dealer that it was meant 
 for the mixing of infant's pap, he retired abashed. 
 Almost next door he saw in a jeweller's window 
 a necklace of small pearls priced at three hundred 
 pounds, and probably worth about half that amount. 
 Having quite a handsome balance at his bank, he 
 came to the conclusion that he could afford this and, 
 going in, bought it at once, oblivious of the fact that 
 Isobel already had ropes of pearls of the size of mar- 
 rowfat peas. However, she was delighted with it, 
 especially when she saw what it had cost him, for he 
 had never thought to cut the sale ticket from the neck- 
 lace. It was those pearls, and not the marrowfat
 
 MARRIAGE 333 
 
 peas, that Isobel wore upon her wedding day. Save 
 for the little ring with the two turquoise hearts, these 
 were her only ornament. 
 
 A question arose as to where the honeymoon, or so 
 much as would remain of one, was to be spent. God- 
 frey would have liked to go to Lucerne and visit the 
 Pasteur, but as this could not be managed in war 
 time, suggested London. 
 
 " Why London ? " exclaimed Isobel. 
 
 " Only because most ladies like theatres, though I 
 confess I hate them myself." 
 
 " You silly man," she answered. " Do you suppose, 
 when we can have only a few days together, that I 
 want to waste time in theatres ? " 
 
 In the end it was settled that they would go to 
 London for a night, and then on to Cornwall, which 
 they hoped fondly might be warm at that time of 
 year. 
 
 So at last, on the twenty-fourth day of December of 
 that fateful year 1914, they were married in the Abbey 
 Church. Isobel's uncle, the one with whom she had 
 stayed in Mexico, and who had retired now from the 
 Diplomatic Service, gave her away, and a young cousin 
 of hers was her sole bridesmaid, for the ceremony 
 was of the sort called a " war wedding." Her dress, 
 however, was splendid of its kind, some rich thing of 
 flowing broidered silk with a veil of wondrous lace. 
 
 Either from accident or by design, in general effect 
 it much resembled that of the Plantagenet lady which 
 once she had copied from the brass. Perhaps, being 
 dissatisfied with her former effort, she determined to 
 repeat it on a more splendid scale, or perhaps it was a
 
 334 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 chance. At any rate, the veil raised in two points 
 from her head, fell down like that of the nameless 
 lady, while from her elbows long narrow sleeves hung 
 almost to the ground. Beautiful Isobel never was, but 
 in this garb, with happiness shining in her eyes, her 
 tall, well-made form looked imposing and even stately, 
 an effect that was heightened by her deliberate and dig- 
 nified movements. The great church was crowded, 
 for the news of this wedding had spread far and wide, 
 and its romantic character attracted people both from 
 the neighbouring villages and the little town. 
 
 Set in the splendid surroundings of the old Abbey, 
 through the painted windows of which gleamed the 
 winter sun, Godfrey in his glittering Indian uniform 
 and orders, and his bride in her quaint, rich dress, 
 made a striking pair at the altar rail. Indeed it is 
 doubtful whether since hundreds of years ago the 
 old Crusader and his fair lady, whose ashes were be- 
 neath their feet, stood where they stood for this 
 same purpose of marriage, clad in coat of mail and 
 gleaming silk, a nobler-looking couple had been wed 
 in that ancient fane. 
 
 Oddly enough, with the strange inconsequence of 
 the human mind, especially in moments of suppressed 
 excitement, it was of this nameless lady and her lord 
 that Godfrey kept thinking throughout the service, 
 once more wondering why they were and what was 
 their story. He remembered too how the graves of 
 that unknown pair had been connected with his for- 
 tunes and those of Isobel. Here it was that they 
 plighted the troth which now they were about to fulfil. 
 Here it was that he had bidden her farewell before 
 he went to Switzerland. He could see her now as she
 
 MARRIAGE 335 
 
 was then, tall and slender In her white robe, and the 
 red ray of sunshine gleaming like a splash of blood 
 upon her breast. He glanced at her by his side as 
 she turned towards him, and behold! there it shone 
 again, splendid yet ominous. 
 
 He shivered a little at the sight of it he knew not 
 why and was glad when a dense black snow-cloud hid 
 the face of the sun and killed it. 
 
 It was over at last, and they were man and wife. 
 
 " Do these words and vows and ceremonies make 
 any difference to you? " she whispered as they walked 
 side by side down the church, the observed of all ob- 
 servers. " They do not to me. I feel as though all 
 the rites in all the world would be quite powerless and 
 without meaning in face of the fact of our eternal 
 unity." 
 
 It was a queer little speech for her to make, with its 
 thought and balance; Godfrey often reflected after- 
 wards, expressing as it did a great truth so far as they 
 were concerned, since no ceremonial, however hal- 
 lowed, could increase their existing oneness or take 
 away therefrom. At the moment, however, he 
 scarcely understood it, and only smiled in reply. 
 
 Then they went into the vestry and signed their 
 names, and everything was over. Here Godfrey's 
 former trustee, General Cubitte, grown very old now, 
 but as bustling and emphatic as of yore, who signed 
 the book as one of the witnesses, buttonholed him. At 
 some length he explained how he had been to see an 
 eminent swell at the War Office, a " dug-out " who 
 was an old friend of his, and impressed upon him his, 
 Godfrey's, extraordinary abilities as a soldier, point- 
 ing out that he ought at once to be given command of
 
 336 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 a regiment, and how the eminent swell had promised 
 that he would see to it forthwith. Oh! if he had only 
 known, he would not have thanked him. 
 
 At last they started for the motor-car which was to 
 drive them in pomp three hundred yards to the Hall. 
 Some delay occurred. Another motor-car at the 
 church gate would not start, and had to be drawn out 
 of the way. Three or four of the nurses from the hos- 
 pital and certain local ladies surrounded Isobel, and 
 burst into talk and congratulations, thus separating 
 her from Godfrey. 
 
 Overhearing complimentary remarks about himself, 
 he drew back a little from the porch into the church 
 which had now emptied. As he stood there someone 
 tapped him on the shoulder. The touch disturbed him ; 
 it was unpleasant to him and he turned impatiently to 
 see from whom it came. There in front of him, 
 bundled up in a rusty black cloak of which the hood 
 covered the head, was a short fat woman. Her face 
 was hidden, but from the cavernous recesses of the 
 hood two piercing black eyes shone like to those of a 
 tiger in its den. After all those years Godfrey recog- 
 nised them at once; indeed subconsciously he had 
 known who had touched him even before he turned. 
 It was Madame Riennes. 
 
 " Ah ! " she said, in her hateful, remembered voice, 
 " so my little Godfrey who has grown such a big God- 
 frey now yes, big in every way, had recognition of 
 his dear Godmamma, did he? Oh! do not deny it; I 
 saw you jump with joy. Well, I knew what was hap- 
 pening never mind how I knew and though I am so 
 poor now, I travelled here to assist and give my 
 felicitations. Eleanor, too, she sends hers, though you
 
 MARRIAGE 337 
 
 guess of what kind they are, for remember, as I told 
 you long ago, speerits are just as jealous as we women, 
 because, you see, they were women before they were 
 speerits." 
 
 "Thank you," broke in Godfrey; "I am afraid I 
 must be going." 
 
 " Oh ! yes. You are in a great hurry, for now you 
 have got the plum, my Godfrey, have you not, and 
 want to eat it ? Well, I have a message for you, suck 
 it hard, for very, very soon you come to the stone, 
 which you know is sharp and cold with no taste, and 
 must be thrown away. Oh! something make me say 
 this too; I know not what. Perhaps that stone must 
 be planted, not thrown away; yes, I think it must be 
 planted, and that it will grow into the most beautiful 
 of plum trees in another land." 
 
 She threw back her hood, showing her enormous 
 forehead and flabby, sunken face, which looked as 
 though she had lived for years in a cellar, and yet had 
 about it an air of inspiration. " Yes," she went on, " I 
 see that tree white with blossom. I see it bending with 
 the golden fruit thousands upon thousands of fruits. 
 Oh! Godfrey, it is the Tree of Life, and underneath 
 it sit you and that lady who looks like a queen, and 
 whom you love so dear, and look into each other's 
 eyes for ever and for ever, because you see that tree 
 immortal do not grow upon the earth, my Godfrey." 
 
 The horrible old woman made him afraid, especially 
 did her last words make him afraid, because he who 
 was experienced in such matters knew that she had 
 come with no intention of uttering them, that they 
 had burst from her lips in a sudden semi-trance such as 
 overtakes her sisterhood from time to time. He
 
 338 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 knew what they meant, that Death had marked them, 
 and that they were called elsewhere, he or Isobel, or 
 both. 
 
 " I must be going," he repeated. 
 
 " Yes, yes, you must be going you who are going 
 so far. The hungry fish must go after the bait, must it 
 not, and oh ! the hook it does not see. But, my leetle 
 big Godfrey, one moment. Your loving old God- 
 mamma, she tumble on the evil day ever since that 
 cursed old Pasteur " here her pale face twisted and 
 her eyes grew wicked " let loose the law-dogs on me. 
 I want money, my godson. Here is an address," and 
 she thrust a piece of paper upon him. 
 
 He threw it down and stamped on it. In his pocket 
 was a leather case full of bank-notes. He drew out a 
 handful of them and held them to her. She snatched 
 them as a hungry hawk snatches meat, with a fierce 
 and curious swiftness. 
 
 Then at last he escaped, and in another minute, 
 amidst the cheers of the crowd, was driving away at 
 the side of the stately Isobel. 
 
 At the Hall, where one of the wards had been cleared 
 for the purpose, there was a little informal reception, 
 at which for a while Godfrey found himself officiat- 
 ing alone, since Isobel had disappeared with General 
 Cubitte and the brother officer who had acted as his 
 best man. When at length they returned, he asked her 
 where she had been, rather sharply perhaps, for his 
 nerves were on edge. 
 
 " To see to some business with the lawyer," she 
 answered. 
 
 "What business, dear?" he inquired. "I thought 
 you settled all that this morning."
 
 MARRIAGE 339 
 
 " It could not be settled this morning, Godfrey, 
 because a will can only be signed after marriage." 
 
 " Good gracious ! " he exclaimed. " Give me a glass 
 of champagne." 
 
 An hour later they were motoring to London alone, 
 at last alone, and to this pair Heaven opened its seventh 
 door. 
 
 They dined in the private sitting-room of the suite 
 which under the inspiration of Isobel he had taken at 
 a London hotel, and then after the curious-eyed waiters 
 had cleared the table, sat together in front of the 
 fire, hand in hand, but not talking very much. At 
 length Isobel rose and they embraced each other. 
 
 " I am going to bed now," she said ; " but before you 
 come, and perhaps we forget about such matters, I 
 want you to kneel down with me and say a prayer." 
 
 He obeyed as a child might, though wondering, for 
 somehow he had never connected Isobel and Prayer 
 in his mind. There they knelt in front of the fire, as 
 reverently as though it burned upon an altar, and 
 Isobel said her prayer aloud. It ran thus : 
 
 " O Unknown God Whom always I have sought 
 and Whom now I think that I have found, or am near 
 to finding; O Power that sent me forth to taste of Life 
 and gather Knowledge, and Who at Thine own hour 
 wilt call me back again, hear the prayer of Isobel and 
 of Godfrey her lover. This is what they ask of Thee : 
 that be their time together on the earth long or short, 
 it may endure for ever in the lives and lands beyond 
 the earth. They ask also that all their sins, known 
 and unknown, great or small, may be forgiven them, 
 and that with Thy gifts they may do good, and that if
 
 340 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 children come to them, they may be blessed in such 
 fashion as Thou seest well, and afterwards endure 
 with them through all the existences to be. O Giver 
 of Life and Love Eternal, hear this, the solemn mar- 
 riage prayer of Godfrey and of Isobel." 
 
 Then she rose and with one long look, left him, 
 seeming to his eyes no more a woman, as ten thousand 
 women are, but a very Fire of spiritual love incarnate 
 in a veil of flesh.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 ORDERS 
 
 GODFREY and his wife never went to Cornwall after 
 all, for on Christmas Day the weather turned so bad 
 and travelling was so difficult that they determined to 
 stop where they were for a few days. 
 
 As for them the roof of this London hotel had be- 
 come synonymous with that of the crystal dome of 
 heaven, this did not matter in the least. There they 
 sat in their hideous, over-gilded, private sitting-room, 
 or, when the weather was clear enough, went for 
 walks in the Park, and once to the South Kensing- 
 ton Museum, where they enjoyed themselves very 
 thoroughly. 
 
 It was on the fourth morning after their marriage 
 that the blow fell. Godfrey had waked early, and lay 
 watching his wife at his side. The grey light from the 
 uncurtained window, which they had opened to air the 
 over-heated room, revealed her in outline but not in 
 detail and made her fine face mysterious, framed as it 
 was in her yellow hair. He watched it with a kind of 
 rapture, till at length she sighed and stirred, then 
 began to murmur in her sleep. 
 
 "My darling," she whispered, "oh! my darling, 
 how have I lived without you? Well, that is over, 
 since alive or dead we can never be parted more, not 
 really not really ! " 
 
 Then she opened her grey eyes and stretched out 
 341
 
 342 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 her arms to receive him, and he was glad, for he 
 seemed to be listening to that which he was not meant 
 to hear. 
 
 A little later there came a knocking at the door, and 
 a page boy's squeaky voice without said: 
 
 "Telegram for you, Sir." 
 
 Godfrey called to him to put it down, but Isobel 
 turned pale and shivered. 
 
 " What can it be ? " she said, clasping him. " No 
 one knows our address." 
 
 " Oh, yes, they do," he answered. " You forget 
 you telephoned to the Hall yesterday afternoon about 
 the hospital business you had forgotten and gave our 
 number, which would be quite enough." 
 
 " So I did, like a fool," she exclaimed, looking as 
 though she were going to cry. 
 
 " Don't be frightened, dear," he said. " I dare say 
 it is nothing. You see we have no one to lose." 
 
 " No, no, I feel sure it is a great deal and we have 
 each other. Read it quickly and get the thing over." 
 
 So he rose and fetched the yellow envelope which 
 reposed upon Isobel's boots outside the door. A glance 
 showed him that it was marked " official," and then 
 his heart, too, began to sink. Returning to the bed, he 
 switched on the electric light and opened the envelope. 
 
 " There's enough of it," he said, drawing out three 
 closely written sheets. 
 
 " Read, read it ! " answered Isobel. 
 
 So he read. It was indeed a very long telegram, 
 one of such as are commonly sent at the expense of the 
 country, and it came from the War Office. The gist 
 of it was that attempts had been made to communicate 
 wilh him at an address he had given in Cornwall, but
 
 ORDERS 343 
 
 the messages had been returned, and finally inquiry at 
 Hawk's Hall had given a clue. He was directed to 
 report himself " early to-morrow " (the telegram had 
 been sent off on the previous night) to take up an ap- 
 pointment which would be explained to him. There 
 was, it added, no time to lose, as the ship was due to 
 sail within twenty-four hours. 
 
 " There ! " said Isobel, " I knew it was something 
 of the sort. This," she added with a flash of inspira- 
 tion, " is the result of the meddling of that old General 
 Cubitte. You see it must be a distant appointment, or 
 they would not talk about the ship being due to sail." 
 
 " I dare say," he answered as cheerfully as he could. 
 " Such things are to be expected in these times, are 
 they not?" 
 
 " Too bad ! " she went on, " at any rate they might 
 have let you have your leave." 
 
 Then they rose because they must and made pre- 
 tence to eat some breakfast, after which they departed 
 in one of Isobel's motors, which had been summoned 
 by telephone from her London house, to the Depart- 
 ment indicated in the telegram. 
 
 They need not have hurried, since the important 
 person whom Godfrey must see did not arrive for a 
 full hour, during all which time Isobel sat waiting in 
 the motor. However, when he appeared he was very 
 gracious. 
 
 " Oh ! yes," he said, " you are Major Knight, and 
 we have a mutual friend in old General Cubitte. In 
 fact it was he who put an idea into our heads, for 
 which, as I understand you are just married a pretty 
 hunt you gave us, by the way perhaps you won't 
 altogether bless him, since otherwise, as you are only
 
 344 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 just recovered from your wounds, I have no doubt we 
 could have given you a month or two extra leave. 
 However, I know you are very keen, for I've looked 
 up your record, and private affairs must give way, 
 mustn't they? Also, as it happens, Mrs. Knight need 
 not be anxious, as we are not going to send you into 
 any particular danger ; I dare say you won't see a shot 
 fired. 
 
 " Look here, Major, you have been a Staff officer, 
 haven't you, and it is reported of you that you always 
 got on extremely well with natives, and especially in 
 some semi-political billets which you have held when 
 you had to negotiate with their chiefs. Well, to cut it 
 short, a man of the kind is wanted in East Africa, 
 coming out direct from home with military authority. 
 He will have to keep in touch with the big chiefs in our 
 own territory and arrange for them to supply men for 
 working or fighting, etc., and, if possible, open negotia- 
 tions with those in German territory and win them 
 over to us. Further, as you know, there are an enor- 
 mous number of Indians settled in East Africa, with 
 whom you would be particularly qualified to deal. 
 We should look to you to make the most of these in 
 any way required. You see, the appointment is a 
 special one, and if the work is well done, as I have 
 no doubt it will be, I am almost sure," he added sig- 
 nificantly, " that the results to the officer concerned 
 will be special also. 
 
 " Now, I don't ask you if you decline the appoint- 
 ment, because we are certain in time of war you will 
 not do so, and I think that's all, except that you will 
 be accredited ostensibly to the staff of the General in 
 command in East Africa, and also receive private in-
 
 ORDERS 345 
 
 structions, of which the General and the local Gov- 
 ernments will have copies. Now, do you understand 
 everything, especially that your powers will be very 
 wide and that you will have to act largely on your 
 own discretion ? " 
 
 " I think so, Sir," said Godfrey, concealing the com- 
 plete confusion of his mind as well as he was able. 
 " At any rate, I shall pick things up as I go along." 
 
 " Yes, that's the right spirit pick things up as you 
 go on, as we are all doing in this war. I have to 
 pick 'em up, I can tell you. And now I won't keep 
 you any longer, for, you see, you'll have to hustle. I 
 believe a special boat for East Africa with stores, etc., 
 sails to-morrow morning, so you'll have to take the 
 last train to Southampton. An officer will meet you at 
 Waterloo with your instructions, and if he misses you, 
 will go on down to the boat. Also, you will have details 
 of your pay and allowances, which will be liberal, 
 though I am told you are not likely to want money in 
 future. So good-bye and good luck to you. You must 
 report officially through the General or the local Gov- 
 ernors, but you will also be able to write privately 
 to us. Indeed, please remember that we shall expect 
 you to do so." 
 
 So Godfrey went, but as he neared the door the big 
 man called after him : 
 
 " By the way, I forgot to congratulate you. No, 
 no, I don't mean on your marriage, but on your pro- 
 motion. You've been informed, haven't you? Well, 
 it will be gazetted to-morrow or in a day or two, and 
 letters will be sent to you with the other papers." 
 
 "What promotion?" asked Godfrey. 
 
 " Oh! to be a colonel, of course. You did very well
 
 346 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 out there in France, you know, and it is thought ad- 
 visable that the officer undertaking this special work 
 should have a colonel's rank, just to begin with. 
 Good-bye." 
 
 So Godfrey went, and said vaguely to the waiting 
 Isobel : 
 
 " I'm afraid, dear, that I shall have to ask you to 
 help me to do some shopping. I think there are some 
 stores near here. We had better drive to them." 
 
 " Tell me everything," said Isobel. 
 
 So he told her, and when he had finished she said 
 slowly : 
 
 " It is bad enough, but I suppose it might be worse. 
 Will they let me go with you to Southampton? " 
 
 " I expect so," he answered. " At any rate, we will 
 try it on. I think it is an ordinary train, and you have 
 a right to take a ticket." 
 
 Then they shopped, all day they shopped, with the 
 result, since money can do much, that when they 
 reached Waterloo his baggage containing everything 
 needful, or at least nearly everything, was already 
 waiting for him. So was the messenger with the 
 promised papers, including a formal communication 
 notifying to him that he was now a lieutenant-colonel. 
 
 " And to think that they have painted ' Major ' 
 on those tin cases ! " said Isobel regretfully, for no 
 objection had been raised to her accompanying God- 
 frey, with whom she was seated in a reserved 
 carriage. 
 
 They reached Southampton about midnight, and on 
 Godfrey presenting himself and asking when the boat 
 sailed he was informed that this was uncertain, but 
 probably within the next week. Then remembering
 
 ORDERS 347 
 
 all he had gone through that day, he swore as a man 
 will, but Isobel rejoiced inwardly, oh! how she re- 
 joiced, though all she said was that it would give him 
 time to complete his shopping. 
 
 Save for the advancing shadow of separation and a 
 constant stream of telegrams and telephone messages 
 to and from his chiefs in London, which occupied 
 many of the hours, these were very happy days, es- 
 pecially as in the end they spread themselves out to the 
 original limit of his leave. 
 
 " At least we have not been cheated," said Isobel 
 when at last they stood together on the deck of the 
 ship, waiting for the second bell to ring, " and others 
 are worse off. I believe those two poor people," and 
 she pointed to a young officer and his child-like bride, 
 " were only married yesterday." 
 
 The scene on the ship was dreary, for many were 
 going in her to the various theatres of war, Egypt, 
 Africa and other places, and sad, oh! sad were the 
 good-byes upon that bitter winter afternoon. Some 
 of the women cried, especially those of the humbler 
 class. But Isobel would not cry. She remained quite 
 calm to the last, arranging a few flowers and unpack- 
 ing a travelling bag in Godfrey's cabin, for as a 
 colonel he had one to himself. 
 
 Then the second bell rang, and to the ears upon 
 which its strident clamour fell the trump of doom could 
 not have been more awful. 
 
 " Good-bye, my darling," she said, " good-bye, and 
 remember what I have told you, that near or far, 
 living or dead, we can never really be apart again, 
 for ours is the Love Eternal given to us in the Be- 
 ginning."
 
 348 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " Yes," he answered briefly, " I know that it is so 
 and enduring for ever! God bless us both as He 
 sees best." 
 
 The ship cast off, and Isobel stood in the evening 
 light watching from the quay till Godfrey vanished 
 and the vessel which bore him was swallowed up in the 
 shadows. Then she went back to the hotel and, throw- 
 ing herself upon that widowed bed, kissed the place 
 where his head had lain, and wept, ah ! how she wept, 
 for her joy-days were done and her heart was breaking 
 in her. 
 
 After this Isobel took a night train back to town 
 and, returning to Hawk's Hall, threw herself with the 
 energy that was remarkable in her, into the manage- 
 ment of her hospital and many another work and char- 
 ity connected with the war. For it was only in work 
 that she could forget herself and her aching loneliness. 
 
 Godfrey had a comfortable and a prosperous voy- 
 age, since it was almost before the days of sub- 
 marines, at any rate so far as passenger steamers were 
 concerned, and they saw no enemy ships. Therefore, 
 within little more than a month he landed on the hot 
 shores of Mombasa, and could cable to Isobel that he 
 was safe and well and receive her loving answer. 
 
 His next business was to report himself in the 
 proper quarter, which he did. Those over him seemed 
 quite bewildered as to what he had come for or what 
 he was to do, and could only suggest that he should 
 travel to Nairobi and Uganda and put himself in touch 
 with the civil authorities. This he did also and, as a 
 result, formulated a certain scheme of action, to which 
 his military superiors assented, intimating that he
 
 ORDERS 349 
 
 might do as he liked, so long as he did not interfere 
 with them. 
 
 What happened to him may be very briefly de- 
 scribed. In the end he started to visit a great chief on 
 the borders of German East Africa, but in British 
 territory, a man whose loyalty was rumoured to be 
 doubtful. This chief, Jaga by name, was a professed 
 Christian, and at his town there lived a missionary 
 of the name of Tafelett, who had built a church there 
 and was said to have much influence over him. So 
 with the Reverend Mr. Tafelett Godfrey communi- 
 cated by runners, saying that he was coming to visit 
 him. Accordingly he started with a guard of native 
 troops, a coloured interpreter and some servants, but 
 without any white companion, since the attack on Ger- 
 man territory was beginning and no one could be 
 spared to go with him upon a diplomatic mission. 
 
 The journey was long and arduous, involving many 
 days of marching across the East African veld and 
 through its forests, where game of all sorts was ex- 
 traordinarily plentiful, and at night they were sur- 
 rounded by lions. At length, however, with the 
 exception of one man who remained with the lions, 
 they arrived safely at the town of Jaga and were 
 met by Mr. Tafelett, who took Godfrey into his house, 
 a neat thatched building with a wide verandah that 
 stood by the church, which was a kind of whitewashed 
 shed, also thatched. 
 
 Mr. Tafelett proved to be a clergyman of good 
 birth and standing, one of those earnest, saint-like 
 souls who follow literally the scriptural injunction and 
 abandon all to advance the cause of their Master in 
 the dark places of the earth. A tall, thin, nervous-
 
 350 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 looking man of not much over thirty years of age ; one, 
 too, possessed of considerable private means, he had 
 some five years before given up a good living in 
 England in order to obey what he considered to be 
 his " call." Being sent to this outlying post, he found 
 it in a condition of the most complete savagery, and 
 worked as few have done. He built the church with 
 native labour, furnishing it beautifully inside, mostly 
 at his own expense. He learned the local languages, 
 he started a school, he combated the witch-doctors and 
 medicine-men. 
 
 Finally he met with his reward in the conversion of 
 the young chief Jaga, which was followed by that of 
 a considerable proportion of his people. 
 
 But here came the trouble. The bulk of the tribe, 
 which was large and powerful, did not share their 
 chief's views. For instance, his uncle, Alulu, the 
 head rain-maker and witch-doctor, differed from them 
 very emphatically. He was shrewd enough to see 
 that the triumph of Christianity meant his destruction, 
 also the abandonment of all their ancient customs. 
 He harangued the tribe in secret, asking them if they 
 wished to bring upon themselves the vengeance of 
 their ancestral and other spirits and to go through 
 their days as the possessors of only one miserable wife, 
 questions to which they answered that emphatically 
 they did not. So the tribe was rent in two, and by 
 far the smaller half clung to Jaga, to whom the dim, 
 turbulent heathen thousands beneath his rule rendered 
 but a lip service. 
 
 Then came the war, and Alulu and his great follow- 
 ing saw their opportunity. Why should they not be 
 rid of Jaga and the Christian teacher with his new-
 
 ORDERS 351 
 
 fangled notions? If it could be done in no other way, 
 why should they not move across the border which 
 was close by, into German territory? The Germans, 
 at any rate, would not bother them about such matters ; 
 under their rule they might live as their forefathers 
 had done from the beginning, and have as many 
 wives as they chose without being called all sorts of 
 ugly names. 
 
 This was the position when Godfrey arrived. His 
 coming made a great sensation. He was reported to 
 be a very big lord indeed, as big, or bigger than the 
 King's governor himself. Alulu put it about that he 
 had come to make a soldier of every fit man and to 
 enslave the women and the elders to work on the roads 
 or in dragging guns. The place seethed with secret 
 ferment. 
 
 Mr. Tafelett knew something of all this through 
 Jaga, who was genuinely frightened, and communi- 
 cated it to Godfrey. In the result a meeting of all 
 the headmen was held, which was attended by thou- 
 sands of the people. Godfrey spoke through his in- 
 terpreter, saying that in this great war the King of 
 England required their help, and generally set out the 
 objects of his mission, remarks that were received in 
 respectful silence. Then Alulu spoke, devoting himself 
 chiefly to an attack upon the Christian faith and on 
 the interference of the white teacher with their cus- 
 toms, that, he observed, had resulted in their ancestral 
 spirits cursing them with the worst drought they had 
 experienced for years, which in the circumstances he, 
 Alulu, could and would do nothing to alleviate. How 
 could they fight and work for the Great King when 
 their stomachs were pinched with hunger owing to the
 
 352 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 witchcraft and magical rites which the white teacher 
 celebrated in the church? 
 
 " How, indeed ? " shouted the heathen section, al- 
 though in fact their season had been very good ; while 
 the Christians, feeling themselves in a minority, were 
 silent. 
 
 Then the Chief, Jaga, spoke. He traversed all the 
 arguments of Alulu, whom he denounced in no meas- 
 ured terms, saying that he was plotting against him. 
 Finally he came down heavily on the side of the Brit- 
 ish, remarking that he knew who were the would-be 
 traitors and that they should suffer in due course. 
 
 " It has been whispered in my ears," he concluded, 
 " that there is a plot afoot against my friend, the white 
 Teacher, who has done us all so much good. It has 
 even been whispered that there are those," here he 
 looked hard at Alulu, " who have declared that it 
 would be well to kill this great white Lord who is our 
 guest," and he pointed to Godfrey with his little chief's 
 staff, " so that he may not return to tell who are the 
 true traitors among the people of Jaga. I say to you 
 who have thought such things, that this Lord is the 
 greatest of all lords, and as well might you lay hands 
 on our father, the mighty King of England himself, 
 as upon this his friend and counsellor. If a drop of 
 his blood is shed, then surely the King's armies will 
 come, and we shall die, every one of us, the innocent 
 and the guilty together. For terrible will be the ven- 
 geance of the King." 
 
 This outburst made a great impression, for all the 
 multitude cried : 
 
 " It is so ! We know that it is so," and Alulu inter- 
 posed that he would as soon think of murdering his
 
 ORDERS 353 
 
 own mother (who, Mr. Tafelett whispered to Godfrey, 
 had been dead these many years) as of touching a 
 hair of the great white chief's head. On the contrary, 
 it was their desire to do everything that he ordered 
 them. But concerning the matter of the new custom 
 of having one wife only, etc. 
 
 This brought Mr. Tafelett to his feet, for on mo- 
 nogamy he was especially strong, and the meeting 
 ended in a theological discussion which nearly resulted 
 in blows between the factions. Finally it was ad- 
 journed for a week, when it was arranged that an 
 answer should be given to Godfrey's demands. 
 
 Three nights later an answer was given and one 
 of a terrible sort. 
 
 Shortly after sundown Godfrey was sitting in the 
 missionary's house writing a report. Mr. Tafelett, 
 it being Sunday, was holding an evening service- in 
 the church, at which Jaga and most of the Christians 
 were present. Suddenly a tumult arose, and the air 
 was rent with savage shouts and shrieks. Godfrey 
 sprang up and snatched his revolver just as some of 
 his servants arrived and announced that the people 
 in the church were being killed. Acting on his first 
 impulse, he ran to the place, calling to his guard to 
 follow him, which they did so tardily that he entered 
 it alone. Here a sight of horror met his eyes. 
 
 The building was full of dead and dying people. 
 By the altar, dressed in his savage witch-doctor's gear, 
 stood Alulu, a lamp in his hand, with which evidently 
 he had been firing the church, for tongues of flame 
 ran up the walls. On the altar itself was something 
 that had a white cloth thrown over it, as do the sacred 
 vessels. Catching sight of Godfrey, with a yell the
 
 354 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 brute tore away the napkin, revealing the severed head 
 of Mr. Tafelett, whose surplice-draped body Godfrey 
 now distinguished lying in the shadows on one side 
 of the altar! 
 
 " Here is the white medicine-man's magic wine," 
 he screamed, pointing to the blood that ran down the 
 broidered frontal. " Come, drink ! come, drink ! " 
 
 Godfrey ran forward up the church, his pistol in 
 his hand. When he reached the chancel he stopped 
 and fired at the mouthing, bedizened devil who was 
 dancing hideously in front of the altar. The heavy 
 service-revolver bullet struck him in some mortal place, 
 for he leapt into the air, grabbed at the altar cloth 
 and fell to the ground. There he lay still, covered 
 by the cloth, with the massive brass crucifix resting 
 face downwards on his breast and the murdered man's 
 head lying at his side as though it were looking at 
 him. 
 
 This was the last sight that Godfrey saw for many 
 a day, for just then a spear pierced his breast, also 
 something struck him on the temple. A curio.us recol- 
 lection rose in his mind of the head of a mummy after 
 the Pasteur had broken it off, rolling along the floor 
 in the flat at Lucerne. Then he thought he heard 
 Madame Riennes laughing, after which he remem- 
 bered no more for a while ; it might have been a thou- 
 sand years, or it might have been a minute, for he 
 had passed into a state that takes no reck of time. 
 
 Godfrey began to dream. He dreamed that he was 
 travelling; that he was in a house, and then, a long 
 while afterwards, that he was making a journey by sea. 
 
 Another vacuum of nothingness and he dreamed
 
 ORDERS 355 
 
 again, this time very vividly. Now his dream was 
 that he had come to Egypt and was stretched on a 
 bed in a room, through the windows of which he 
 could see the Pyramids quite close at hand. More, 
 he seemed to become acquainted with all their history. 
 He saw them in the building; multitudes of brown 
 men dragging huge blocks of stone up a slope of sand. 
 He saw them finished one by one, and all the cere- 
 monies of the worship with which they were connected. 
 Dead Pharaohs were laid to rest there beneath his 
 eyes, living Pharaohs prayed within their chapels and 
 made oblation to the spirits of those who had gone 
 before them, while ever the white-robed, shaven priests 
 chanted in his ears. 
 
 Then all passed, and he saw them mighty as ever, 
 but deserted, standing there in the desert, the monu- 
 ments of a forgotten greatness, till at length a new 
 people came and stripped off their marble coverings. 
 
 These things he remembered afterwards, but there 
 were many more that he forgot. 
 
 Again Godfrey dreamed, a strange and beautiful 
 dream which went on from day to day. It was that 
 he was very ill and that Isobel had come to nurse him. 
 She came quite suddenly and at first seemed a little 
 frightened and disturbed, but afterwards very happy 
 indeed. This went on for a while, till suddenly there 
 struck him a sense of something terrible that had hap- 
 pened, of an upheaval of conditions, of a wrenching 
 asunder of ties, of change utter and profound. 
 
 Then while he mourned because she was not there, 
 Isobel came again, but different. The difference was 
 indefinable, but it was undoubted. Her appearance 
 seemed to have changed somewhat, and in the intervals
 
 3$6 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 between her comings he could never remember how 
 she had been clothed, except for two things which 
 she always seemed to wear, the little ring with the 
 turquoise hearts, though oddly enough, not her wed- 
 ding ring, and the string of small pearls which he 
 had given her when they were married, and knew 
 again by the clasp, that was fashioned in a lover's 
 knot of gold. Her voice, too, seemed changed, or 
 rather he did not hear her voice, since it appeared to 
 speak within him, in his consciousness, not without to 
 his ears. She told him all sorts of strange things, 
 about a wonderful land in which they would live to- 
 gether, and the home that she was making ready for 
 him, and the trees and flowers growing around it, 
 that were unlike any of which Godfrey had ever 
 heard. Also she said that there were many other 
 matters whereof she would wish to speak to him, 
 only she might not. 
 
 Finally there came a vivid dream in which she told 
 him that soon he would wake up to the world again 
 for a little while (she seemed to lay emphasis on this 
 "little while") and, if he could not find her in it, 
 that he must not grieve at all, since although their 
 case seemed sad, it was much better than he could 
 conceive. In his dream she made him promise that 
 he would not grieve, and he did so, wondering. At 
 this she smiled, looking more beautiful than ever he 
 could have conceived her to be. Then she spoke these 
 words, always, as it appeared, within him, printing 
 them, as it were, upon his mind : 
 
 " Now you are about to wake up and I must leave 
 you for a while. But this I promise you, my most 
 dear, my beloved, my own, that before you fall asleep
 
 ORDERS 357 
 
 again for the last time, you shall see me once more, 
 for that is allowed to me. Indeed it shall be I who 
 will soothe you to sleep and I who will receive you 
 when you awake again. Also in the space between, 
 although you do not see me, you will always feel me 
 near, and I shall be with you. So swear to me once 
 more that you will not grieve." 
 
 Then in his vision Godfrey swore, and she appeared 
 to lean over him and whisper words into his ear that, 
 although they impressed themselves upon his brain 
 as the others had done, had no meaning for him, 
 since they were in some language which he did not 
 understand. 
 
 Only he knew that they conveyed a blessing to him, 
 and not that of Isobel alone!
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 GODFREY awoke and looked about him. He was lying 
 in a small room opposite to an open window that had 
 thin gauze shutters which, as an old Indian, he knew 
 at once were to keep out mosquitoes. Through this 
 window he could see the mighty, towering shapes of 
 the Pyramids, and reflected that after all there must 
 have been some truth in those wonderful dreams. He 
 lifted his hand; it was so thin that the strong sunlight 
 shone through it. He touched his head and felt that 
 it was wrapped in bandages, also that it seemed be- 
 numbed upon one side. 
 
 A little dark woman wearing a nurse's uniform, 
 entered the room and he asked her where he was, as 
 once before he had done in France and under very 
 similar conditions. She stared and answered with an 
 Irish accent : 
 
 " Where else but at Mena House Hospital. Don't 
 the Pyramids tell you that ? " 
 
 " I thought so," he replied. " How long have I 
 been here? " 
 
 " Oh ! two months, or more. I can't tell you, 
 Colonel, unless I look 'at the books, with so many sick 
 men coming and going. Shure ! it's a pleasure to see 
 you yourself again. We thought that perhaps you'd 
 never wake up reasonably." 
 
 "Did you? I always knew that I should." 
 358
 
 LOVE ETERNAL '359 
 
 " And how did you know that ? " 
 
 " Because someone whom I am very fond of, came 
 and told me so." 
 
 She glanced at him sharply. 
 
 " Then it's myself that should be flattered," she 
 answered, " or the night nurse, seeing that it is we 
 who have cared for you with no visitors admitted 
 except the doctors, and they didn't talk that way. 
 Now, Colonel, just you drink this and have a nap, 
 for you mustn't speak too much all at once. If you 
 keep wagging your jaw you'll upset the bandages." 
 
 When he woke again it was night and now the full 
 moon, such a moon as one sees in Egypt, shone upon 
 the side of the Great Pyramid and made it silver. He 
 could hear voices talking outside his door, one that 
 of the Irish nurse which he recognised, and the other 
 of a man, for although they spoke low, this sense of 
 hearing seemed to be peculiarly acute in him. 
 
 " It is so, Major," said the nurse. " I tell you that 
 except for a little matter about someone whom he 
 thought had been visiting him, he is as reasonable 
 as I am, and much more than you are, saving your 
 presence." 
 
 " Well," answered the doctor, " as you speak the 
 truth sometimes, Sister, I'm bound to believe you, but 
 all I have to say is that I could have staked my pro- 
 fessional reputation that the poor chap would never 
 get his wits again. He has had an awful blow and 
 on the top of an old wound too. After all these 
 months, it's strange, very strange, and I hope it will 
 continue." 
 
 " Well, of course, Major, there is the delusion about 
 the lady."
 
 360 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 " Lady ! How do you know it was a lady ? Just 
 like a woman making up a romance out of nothing. 
 Yes, there's the delusion, which is bad. Keep his 
 mind off it as much as possible, and tell him some 
 of your own in your best brogue. I'll come and 
 examine him to-morrow morning." 
 
 Then the voices died away and Godfrey almost 
 laughed because they had talked of his " delusion," 
 when he knew so well that it was none. Isobel had 
 been with him. Yes, although he could neither hear 
 nor see her, Isobel was with him now for he felt her 
 presence. And yet how could this be if he was in 
 Egypt and she was in England? So wondering, he 
 fell asleep again. 
 
 By degrees as he gathered strength, Godfrey learned 
 all the story of what had happened to him, or rather 
 so much of it as those in charge of the hospital knew. 
 It appeared, according to Sister Elizabeth, as his nurse 
 was named, that when he was struck down in the 
 church, " somewhere in Africa " as she said vaguely, 
 the guards whom he had with him, rushed in, firing 
 on the native murderers who fled away except those 
 who were killed. 
 
 Believing that, with the missionary, they had mur- 
 dered the King's Officer, a great man, they fled fast 
 and far into German East Africa and were no more 
 seen. The Chief, Jaga, who had escaped, caused him 
 to be carried out of the burning church to the mission- 
 ary's house, and sent runners to the nearest magistracy 
 many miles away, where there was a doctor. So there 
 he lay in the house. A native servant who once acted 
 as a hospital orderly, had washed his wounds and 
 bound them up. One of these, that on the head, was
 
 LOVE ETERNAL 361 
 
 caused by a kerry or some blunt instrument, and the 
 other was a spear-stab in the lung. Also from time 
 to time this servant poured milk down his throat. 
 
 At length the doctor came with an armed escort 
 and, greatly daring, performed some operation which 
 relieved the pressure on the brain and saved his life. 
 In that house he lay for a month or more and then, 
 in a semi-comatose condition, was carried by slow 
 stages in a litter back to Mombasa. Here he lay an- 
 other month or so and as his mind showed no signs 
 of returning, was at length put on board a ship and 
 brought to Egypt. 
 
 Meanwhile, as Godfrey learned afterwards, he was 
 believed to have been murdered with the missionary, 
 and a report to that effect was sent to England, which, 
 in the general muddle that prevailed at the beginning 
 of the war, had never been corrected. For be it re- 
 membered it was not until he was carried to Mom- 
 basa, nearly two months after he was hurt, that he 
 reached any place where there was a telegraph. By 
 this time also, those at Mombasa had plenty of fresh 
 casualties to report, and indeed were not aware, or 
 had forgotten what exact story had been sent home 
 concerning Godfrey who could not speak for himself. 
 So it came about through a series of mischances, that 
 at home he was believed to be dead as happened to 
 many other men in the course of the great war. 
 
 After he came to himself at the Mena House Hos- 
 pital, Godfrey inquired whether there were not some 
 letters for him, but none could be found. He had 
 arranged with the only person likely to write to him, 
 namely Isobel, to do so through the War Office, and
 
 362 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 evidently that plan had not succeeded, for her letters 
 had gone astray. The truth was, of course, that some 
 had been lost and after definite news of his death was 
 received, the rest had not been forwarded. Now he 
 bethought him that he would cable home to Isobel to 
 tell her that he was recovering, though somehow he 
 imagined that she would know this already through 
 the authorities. With great difficulty, for the hurt 
 to his side made it hard for him to use his arm, he 
 wrote the telegram and gave it to Sister Elizabeth to 
 send, remarking that he would pay the cost as soon 
 as he could draw some money. 
 
 " That won't matter," she replied as she took the 
 cable. Then with an odd look at him she went away 
 as though to arrange for its despatch. 
 
 After she had gone, two orderlies helped Godfrey 
 downstairs to sit on the broad verandah of the hos- 
 pital. Here still stood many of the little tables which 
 used to serve for pleasant tea-parties when the build- 
 ing was an hotel in the days before the war. On 
 these lay some old English newspapers. Godfrey 
 picked one of them up with his left hand and began 
 to read idly enough. Almost the first paragraph that 
 his eye fell on was headed: 
 
 " Heroic Death of a V.A.D. Commandant." 
 
 Something made him read on quickly, and this was 
 what he saw: 
 
 " At the inquest on the late Mrs. Knight, the wife of 
 Colonel Knight who was reported murdered by natives in 
 East Africa some little time ago, some interesting evi- 
 dence was given. It appeared from the testimony of 
 Mrs. Parsons, a nurse in the Hawk's Hall Hospital, that 
 when warning was given of the approach of Zeppelins
 
 LOVE ETERNAL 363 
 
 during last week's raid on the Eastern Counties and 
 London, the patients in the upper rooms of the hospital 
 were removed to its lower floors. Finding that one young 
 man, a private in the Suffolk Regiment who has lost 
 both his feet, had been overlooked, Mrs. Knight, followed 
 by Mrs. Parsons, went upstairs to help him down. When 
 Mrs. Parsons, whom she outran, reached the door of the 
 ward there was a great explosion, apparently on the roof. 
 She waited till the dust had cleared off and groped her 
 way down the ward with the help of an electric torch. 
 Reaching Private Thompson's bed, she saw lying on it 
 Mrs. Knight who had been killed by the fallen masonry. 
 Private Thompson, who was unhurt beneath the body, 
 said that when the bricks began to come down Mrs. 
 Knight called to him to lie still and threw herself on 
 him to protect him. Then something heavy, he believed 
 the stone coping of a chimney, fell on her back and she 
 uttered one word, he thought it was a name, and was 
 silent. Mrs. Knight, who was the only child of the late 
 Sir John Blake, Bart., the well-known shipowner, is said 
 to have been one of the richest women in England. She 
 married the late Colonel Knight some months ago, imme- 
 diately before he was sent to East Africa. Under the 
 provisions of her will the cremated remains of Mrs. 
 Knight will be interred in the chancel of the Abbey 
 Church at Monk's Acre." 
 
 Godfrey read this awful paragraph twice and 
 looked at the date of the paper. It was nearly two 
 months old. 
 
 " So she was dead when she came to me. Oh ! 
 now I understand," he muttered to himself, and then, 
 had not a passing native servant caught him, he would 
 have fallen to the ground. It was one of the ten 
 thousand minor tragedies of the world war, that is all.
 
 364 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 Three months later, still very crippled and coughing 
 badly, because of the injury to his lung, he reported 
 himself in London, and once more saw the Under- 
 secretary who had sent him out to East Africa. 
 There he sat in the same room, at the same desk, 
 looking precisely the same. 
 
 " I am sorry, Sir, that my mission has failed 
 through circumstances beyond my control. I can only 
 add that I did my best," he said briefly. 
 
 " I know," answered the official ; " it was no fault 
 of yours if those black brutes tried to murder you. 
 Everything goes wrong in that cursed East Africa. 
 Now go home and get yourself fit again, my dear 
 fellow," he went on very kindly, adding, " Your serv- 
 ices will not be overlooked." 
 
 " I have no home, and I shall never be fit again," 
 replied Godfrey, and left the room. 
 
 "I forgot," thought the Under-Secretary. "His 
 wife was killed in a Zeppelin raid. Odd that she 
 should have been taken and he left." 
 
 Then, with a sigh and a shrug of the shoulders 
 he turned to his business. 
 
 Godfrey went to the little house at Hampstead 
 where he used to live while he was studying as a lad, 
 for here Mrs. Parsons was waiting for him. Then 
 for the first time he gave way and they wept in each 
 other's arms. 
 
 " We were too happy, Nurse," he said. 
 
 " Yes," she answered, " love like hers wasn't for 
 this world, and more than once she said to me that 
 she never expected to see you again in the flesh, 
 though I thought she meant it was you who would
 
 LOVE ETERNAL 365 
 
 go, as might have been expected. Stop, I have some- 
 thing for you." 
 
 Going to a desk she produced from it a ring, that 
 with the turquoise hearts; also a canvas-covered 
 book. 
 
 " That's her diary," she said, " she used to write 
 in it every day." 
 
 That night Godfrey read many beautiful and sacred 
 things in this diary. From it he learned that the 
 shock of his supposed death had caused Isobel to mis- 
 carry and made her ill for some time, though under- 
 neath the entries about her illness and the false news 
 of his death she had written : 
 
 " He is not dead. I know that he is not dead." 
 
 Afterwards there were some curious sentences in 
 which she spoke joyfully of having seen him in her 
 sleep, ill, but living and going to recover, " at any rate 
 for a while," she had added. 
 
 On the very day of her death she had made this 
 curious note: 
 
 " I feel as though Godfrey and I were about to be 
 separated for a while, and yet that this separation 
 will really bring us closer together. I am strangely 
 happy. Great vistas seem to open to my soul and 
 down them I walk with Godfrey for ever and a day, 
 and over them broods the Love of God in which are 
 embodied and expressed all other loves. Oh! how 
 wrong and foolish was I, who for so many years 
 rejected that Love, which yet will not be turned away 
 and in mercy gave me sight and wisdom and with 
 these Godfrey, from whose soul my soul can never 
 more be parted. For as I told you, my darling, ours 
 is the Love Eternal. Remember it always, Godfrey,
 
 366 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 if ever your eyes should see these words upon the 
 earth. Afterwards there will be no need for memory." 
 
 So the diary ended. 
 
 They invalided Godfrey out of the service and be- 
 cause of his lung trouble, he went to the house that 
 Miss Ogilvy had left him in Lucerne, taking Mrs. 
 Parsons with him. There too he found the Pasteur, 
 grown an old man but otherwise much the same as 
 ever, and him also he brought to live in the Villa 
 Ogilvy. 
 
 The winter went on and Godfrey grew, not better, 
 but worse, till at last he knew that he was dying, and 
 rejoiced to die. One evening a letter was brought 
 to him. It was from Madame Riennes, written in 
 a shaky hand, and ran thus : 
 
 " I am going to pass to the World of Speerits, and so 
 are you, my Godfrey, for I know all about you and 
 everything that has happened. The plum is eaten, but 
 the stone ah! it is growing already, and soon you will 
 be sitting with another under that beautiful Tree of 
 Life of which I told you in the English church. And I, 
 where shall I be sitting? Ah! I do not know, but there 
 is this difference between us that whereas I am afraid, 
 you have no cause for fear. You, you rejoice, yes, and 
 shall rejoice for though sometimes I hate you I must 
 tell it. Yet I am sorry if I nave harmed you, and should 
 you be able, I pray you, say a good word in the World 
 of Speerits for your sinful old godmamma Riennes. So 
 fare you well, who thinking that you have lost, have 
 gained all. It is I, I who have lost. Again farewell, 
 and bid that old Pasteur to pray for me, which he, who
 
 LOVE ETERNAL 367 
 
 is good, will do, although I was his enemy and cursed 
 him." 
 
 " See that she lacks for nothing till the end, and 
 comfort her if you can," said Godfrey to the Pasteur. 
 
 That night a shape of glory seemed to stand by 
 Godfrey's bed and to whisper wonderful things into 
 his ears. He saw it, ah, clearly, and knew that in- 
 forming its changeful loveliness was all which had 
 been Isobel upon the earth. 
 
 " Fear nothing," he thought it said, " for I am with 
 you and others greater than I. Know, Godfrey, that 
 everything has a meaning and that all joy must be 
 won through pain. Our lives seem to have been short 
 and sad, but these are not the real life, they are but 
 its black and ugly door, whereof the threshold must 
 be watered with our tears and the locks turned by 
 the winds of Faith and Prayer. Do not be afraid 
 then of the blackness of the passage, for beyond it 
 shines the immortal light in that land where there 
 is understanding and all forgiveness. Therefore be 
 glad, Godfrey, for the night of sorrows is at an end 
 and the dawn breaks of peace that passes under- 
 standing." 
 
 Godfrey woke and spoke to the old Pasteur who 
 was watching by his bed while Mrs. Parsons wept 
 at its foot. 
 
 " Did you see anything? " he asked. 
 
 " No, my son," he answered, " but I felt something. 
 It was as though an angel stood at my side." 
 
 Then Godfrey told him all his vision, and much
 
 368 LOVE ETERNAL 
 
 else besides, of which before he had never spoken 
 to living man. 
 
 " It well may be, my son," answered the Pasteur, 
 " since to those who have suffered greatly, the good 
 God gives the great reward. He Who endured pain 
 can understand our pains, and He Who redeemed sin 
 can understand and be gentle to our sins, for His is 
 the true Love Eternal. So go forward with faith 
 and gladness, and in the joy of that new world and 
 of the lost which is found again, think sometimes of 
 the old Pasteur who hopes soon to join you there." 
 
 Then he shrove and blessed him. 
 
 After this Godfrey slept awhile to wake elsewhere 
 in the Land of that Love Eternal which the soul of 
 Isobel foreknew.
 
 THE ALLAN QUATERMAIN ROMANCES 
 
 FINISHED 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With colored frontiipiece and 
 
 dust wrapper. Crown 8vo. $1.40 net. 
 
 This book forms the third of the trilogy of which " Marie " 
 and " Child of Storm " are the first two parts. It narrates, through 
 the mouth of Allan Quatermain, the consummation of the venge- 
 ance of the wizard Zikali upon the royal Zulu house of which 
 Senzangacona was the founder and Cetewayo the last representa- 
 tive who ruled as king. 
 
 MARIE 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With colored frontiipiece and 
 
 other illustrations. Crown 8vo. $1.35 net. 
 
 The story of Allan Quatermain's first love, Marie Marais 
 "Throughout the book runs a tender, beautiful and moving love 
 story. . . . Marie is Quatermain's wife only a little while, and 
 then she makes the great sacrifice. . . . The time is far back, 
 when the Boers began the great trek from Cape Colony, and the 
 author says that in main all the historical parts of his story are 
 true." New York Times. 
 
 " We are disposed to regard ' Marie ' as one of the most 
 exciting and interesting of all that cycle of romances which are 
 concerned with that mighty hunter, Allan Quatermain." Spectator. 
 
 CHILD OF STORM 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With colored frontispiece and 
 
 other illustrations. Crown 8vo. $1.35 net. 
 
 " An unusual story of the Zulus in all their superstitious mad- 
 ness and blood-stained grandeur; of the time of the Impis and 
 the witch-finders and the rival princes of the Royal House. The 
 story of the fascinating and wicked Mameena is here told by 
 Allan Quatermain and is the second of the three romances referred 
 to in the Editor's notes to Sir Rider Haggard's lately published 
 ' Marie.' " 
 
 " Now that the Zulus are no longer a reigning nation and are 
 doomed to go the way of all savage tribes, the trilogy of which 
 ' Child of Storm ' is a part, ought to have an enduring value aside 
 from its extraordinary romantic interest." Minneapolis Journal. 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN & CO. NEW YORK
 
 THE ALLAN QUATERMAIN ROMANCES 
 
 KING SOLOMON'S MINES 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. Crown 8 vo. $1.25 net. 
 
 A romance that fairly bristles with excitement from beginning 
 to end. The story of the quest of King Solomon's Ophir, full of 
 sensational fights, blood-curdling perils and extraordinary escapes. 
 
 THE IVORY CHILD 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With illustrations. Crown 8vo. 
 
 $1.35 net. 
 
 "... it is enough to say that when Allan Quatermain, in 
 the opening sentence, of his narrative, speaks of this as ' one of 
 the strangest of all the adventures which have befallen me in the 
 course of a life, that so far can scarcely be called tame or hum- 
 drum,' he is well within the mark . . . handled in Sir Rider 
 Haggard's best manner." The Spectator London. 
 
 ALLAN QUATERMAIN 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With 20 illustrations and a 
 
 portrait. Crown 8vo. $1.25 net. 
 
 " Haggard has created one of the outstanding characters of 
 contemporary fiction, Allan Quatermain." New York World. 
 
 ALLAN'S WIFE, and Other Tales 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With 34 illustrations. Crown 
 8vo. $1.25 net. 
 
 ALLAN AND THE HOLY FLOWER 
 
 By SIR H. RIDER HAGGARD. With 12 illustrations. Crown 
 
 8vo. $1.35 net. 
 
 This highly imaginative story has to do with Allan's search, in 
 company with an American physician, for a unique flower of mar- 
 velous beauty and priceless value, presided over in the wilds of 
 South Africa by a " white goddess " and guarded by a monstrous 
 ape revered by the natives as a god. In the tale of the search, 
 Sir Rider Haggard finds abundant opportunity for those touches 
 of mystery and incidents of breathless adventure that have made 
 his " Allan Quatermain " series so popular with two generations. 
 
 " The series of romances about Allan Quatermain . . . will 
 some day be read even as the great series by Dumas is read. . . ." 
 Cleveland Plain Dealer. 
 
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