?T -S^^ : i^f .. .,Si "L IB RAFIY OF THE UNIVERSITY or ILLINOIS 823 P3I54-S V. I Digitized by tine Internet Arcinive in 2009 witin funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/swingofpendulum01pear THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM VOL. I. THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM BY FRANCES MARY PEARD AUTHOR OF THE ROSE GARDEN," " THE COUNTRY COUSIN," " THE BARONESS, ETC. IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I. LONDON RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON ||nblisbtrs in ©rbinaru to fjcr ^ajcstii Ibc Queen 1893 [All rights reserve d\ Richard Clay & Soxs, Limited, London & Bungay. 8£^ CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. II. III. lY. :) or V. i YI. 5: VII. ^ YIII. ^ o IX. V» ^ X. 5^ XI. ^^ \JI XII. c- c XIII. t^:r XIY. PAGE DISLIKE ... ... ... ... ... 1 A man's judgment ... ... ... ... 20 WE START OUESELYES AND CRY OUT THAT FATE PUSHES ... ... ... ... 42 AT SIX IN THE MORNING ... ... ... 71 THE SKITTISHNESS OF FATE ... ... 95 AND THE PITFALLS OF CUPID ... ... 125 HOW A LETTER GOT WRITTEN ... ... 147 EDEN ... ... ... ... ... ... 168 TONGUE-TIED ... ... ... ... ... 185 THE INCONYENIENCE OF TWO HEROES ... 212 CATECHISMS ... ... ... ... ... 225 AN AIR WITH VARIATIONS ... ... ... 244 PERSUASION ... ... ... ... ... 262 "O^rER THE WATER Wl' ANE " ... ... 283 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. CHAPTER I. DISLIKE. THE shallow North Sea had been fretted by a northerly gale, and the voyage from Hull even more than usually unpleasant, when the passengers on board the Eldorado strug- gled up to see the low-lying land which forms the entrance to Stavanger. The vessel was crowded, but hardly any one had appeared at meals, and the groups on deck had been too much occupied wdth their ow^n discomforts to do more than take a lano;uid interest in each other. Now that the worst was over, this interest quickened. Two ladies, a mother and daughter, were VOL. L 1 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. standing a little apart, when a gentleman strolled up to them. They greeted him with a smile. " I have not seen you since the night you came on board ; where have you been all the time ? " he began. " Don't ask," said the elder lady, with a shudder. *'For the first time in my life I have suffered the pangs of actual remorse, because I persuaded Millie to come. How- ever, we are never going home again, that is quite decided." " Unless we walk,*' said Millie firmly. " Do you mean to land at Stavanger ? " "How can you ask ? I would land any- where, even on a desert island. Besides, we have been reading somebody's Best Tour, and according to that it is the right way of going into Norway. Once adopt a guide-book, 3^ou become its slave." " Then we shall be likely to jog along to- gether, unless you object ? " said Wareham, with a smile. Millie looked at him with frank delight, her mother gave a quick glance, in which more 2 DISLIKE. mingled feelings might have been read. She made haste, however, to express her pleasure.. *' I am not likely to object to an unexpected piece of good fortune, but I give you fair warnino: that, aithouoh T can g-et on bv mv- self as well as most women, if there is a man at hand, I am pretty sure to turn over exact- ing carriole-drivers, or anybody making him- self disagreeable, to him." " I am not alarmed. There are no exacting carriole -drivers in Xorway, and you are more likely to over-pay than be over-charged. You will like the country." ** I am going to enjoy it immensely," said Millie, " when once I am there. This doesn't count, does it ? because, though I believe we are staring at lovely mountains, and there are rose-red sheds standing up against them, I feel too much humiliated to be enthusiastic, and my one longing is for tea. Besides, I am dreadfully cold." *' Come to the other side of the ship," £aid her mother briskly. '' We shall see the town better, and be nearer our lucrcracre." Wareham followed, he hardly knew why. 3 THliJ SWING OF THE PENDULUM. He liked the Eavenhills very well, but he had not intended to attach himself to any fellow- travellers, and when he spoke of jogging along together, it was rather an allusion to the in- evitable gravitation of Norwes^ian travel than to that deliberate companionship which their words seemed to accept. He told himself, however, that this was a natural mistake, born of inexperience. It would be easy enough to break away when he found it desirable ; he would not worry his holiday with excess of caution. Mrs. Eavenhill was charming, and Millie might turn out to possess the same delicate quality. As she stood before him with her mother, he was struck with the prettiness of her hazel eyes and her dimples, and with that swift rush of thought into the imaginary future which we have all experienced, and from which we often return with a flush of shame, he saw himself falling in love with Millie, and coming back to England an en- gaged man. The thought was so vivid, that w^hen at this moment she turned to speak to him, he had scarcely time to call himself back to the actual condition of things, and some- 4 DISLIKE. thing of his mental picture was perhaps be- trayed in his face, for she glanced quickly at him a second time, and coloured slightly. "Norway may be as delightful as you all declare," she said, '' but when I set up a delight- ful land it shall have no custom-house. Here we shall have to wait, I suppose, while great bior men amuse themselves with rummaoinir among all my most nicely packed corners. Oh, it's absurd, it's barbarous ! And mother wouldn't bring a maid." Mrs. Ravenhill had moved a little forward, to speak to one of the stewards who were carrying up the cabin packages. When next AVareham looked at her, she had apparently relinquished her intention, and was talking to a gentleman who up to this moment had stood aloof, and who, even now, showed no great conversational alacrity, as Wareham remarked with a little amusement. " Who is that ? " he asked Miss Ravenhill. " That ? " Millie's eyes began to smile. " Oh, poor Colonel Martyn. It is really wicked of mother, for she knows how frightened he gets when he hasn't Mrs. Martyn to protect 5 THE SWING .OF THE PENDULUM. iiim. But here slie comes," and Millie stopped suddenly. Wareham did not notice the break, for his eyes had passed Mrs. Martyn, and fallen with a start of annoyed surprise upon the face of a girl who followed her. The girl was young, and unusually tall, though, owing to an extraordinary grace and ease of move- ment, this only became evident when you compared her with the other women who stood round. She looked neither to the right nor left, and with the sun shining brightly behind her, it was difficult to see her face distinctly, but Millie, who was watcliing Wareham, perceived that he recognized her, and that the recognition was, for some reason or other, unwelcome. ^' You know Miss Dalrymple ? " she asked curiously. AYareham's expression had stiffened. " No," he said briefly. . " No ? But you have seen her ? You must have seen her this season ? " " Yes, I have seen her." ' Millie's mouth opened as if she were going £ DISLIKE. to put another question, but if it were so her intention changed. She said with enthu- siasm — '' She is very beautiful." Warehani did not answer. He had turned his back upon the group, and was looking over the water past some brilliantly red-roofed barns to a broken line of tender amethyst- coloured hills. . "Are those people going to get out here ? " '' What people ? " ** Miss Dalrymple and her friends." " No. They told us at Hull— we all dined together at the Station Hotel, you know — that they should go on to Bergen." " Oh, good ! " said Wareham, with unmis- takable relief. Millie beo'an to lauojh. ''You don't know her, yet you have a dis- like to her : " ''Yes. I dislike her." Somethino; in Wareham's tone checked further cjuestioning. It was grave, outspoken, and the least little bit in the world haughty. Millie flew away from the subject, though her 7 TEE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. thoughts crept back to it again and again, with, it must be owned, a secret glee. Slowly the vessel steamed into the harbour. The sun had broken out brilliantly after the gale ; clouds, blown into strange shapes, struck across the sky, and glittered whitely behind a cleft in the distant mountains ; the indigo blue water was full of dancing move- ment, and gave everything an air of gay exhilaration which it was difficult to resist. Into Millie's pale face colour returned, and her eyes brightened as she looked about her at the vividly-painted boats, the white houses, and the cream-coloured ponies standing on the quay. Thanks to Wareham, they were among the first to leave the vessel, and to make their way through a gently interested crowd to- wards the inn. Mrs. Eavenhill was more enthusiastic than her daughter. She sketched, and all she saw resolved itself into a possible effect on a square of white paper, and breathed the joy of creation. She was possessed, be- sides, with the fancy that her coming to Nor- way in a spirit of warm good-will should be warmly reciprocated, so that she looked at the 8 DISLIKE. people smiling, ready to shake bauds with, them all, since she had heard that was the form of greeting they liked. Millie, who had not her mother's buoyancy, found it more difficult to forget the impressions of the voyage. She began to pity those remaining on board. " Unfortunate people who go on to Bergen ! Weren't the Martyns very sorry for them- selves, mother ? " " Oh, didn't you hear ? They have given up the idea, changed their plans, and are landing here. Mrs. Martyn vowed she couldn't stand another hour." Millie shot a quick glance at Wareham, and told herself that his face spoke annoyance, but at this moment Mrs. Ravenhill's alert atten- tion to the unusual was caught by a pony standinof in a little cart, hobbled bv reins twisted round its fore-feet, and she broke into exclamation. Then they left the harbour by a short street, and presently found themselves at the entrance of the comfortable inn which calls itself the Grand, where the two ladies vanished up-stairs, while AYareham, who had 9 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. a telegram to send, weut up the hill to the post-office. Already he repented of the rashness which had allowed Mrs. Kavenhill to suppose that he was ready to join her. He had known them long, but not well, and to a man used to self-disposal, there was horror in the bare thought that they might make undue claims upon his attentions. That was bad enough, but the Martyns lay behind — worse, and that they should be worse was annoying. The best friend in the world cannot adopt the mis- fortunes of his friend as though they were his own, least of all, as AYareham reflected, with a half-laugh, when they are the misfortunes of love. As Dick Wareham with Hugh Forbes opposite to him — seen through a cloud of smoke, and the mist of years — sympathy bound him to denunciation of the woman who had ruined Hugh's hnppiness ; but as Eichard Wareham in a holiday land, old surroundings behind, only folly would allow disturbance because this same woman was under the same roof ! What was she to him ? He reflected impatiently that he had been a fool to tell 10 DISLIKE. Miss Raveiiliill that he disliked her. Wareham was hot-headed, and hot-headed yet fair- minded men must often wade through deep waters of repentance. He owned that he had behaved ill, and as his opinion of himself was of more importance to him than that of the world, the judgment annoyed him, and Miss Dalrymple, the cause of annoyance, became more obnoxious. He sent his telegram, and it was to Hugh Forbes. If he had indulged in a hope that the Martyns might have betaken themselves to another inn, that hope w^as promptly dispelled, for after making his way l)ack, followed by children shyly inviting him to buy paper screws, containing each four or five straw- berries, he found their names laro-elv scrawled across the black board in the entrance-hall, where the good-humoured burly porter was still arrancrinty rooms for white-faced arrivals. Then he jumped at another chance of escape. Had the Sand steamer gone ? It had. The Eldorado was some hours late, and the steamer left at two. Xo other was due for twenty-four hours. AVareham 11 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. went to his room, ashamed of the impulse of retreat. A bath and increasing hunger braced him, and he came down to the meal which in Norway does duty for late dinner, caring nothing as to whom he might encounter. He was not surprised to hear that Mrs. Kavenhill had already made intimate acquaintance with Stavanger, its streets, harbours, and boats, but he was appreciatively grateful for the tact which had led her to abstain from asking him to accompany her ; evidently she intended him to understand that travelling with them was not going to interfere with his liberty. Millie, like the rest of the world, had been sleeping ; now she was quite herself again, and announced that she meant to go out immediately after supper. '' Meanwhile I intend to try everything that is on the table. Isn't that the properly unprejudiced spirit in which to dine in a strange country ? " " Oh, praiseworthy ! " said Wareham. '' Do you mind how they come, or will you follow hackneyed routine, and start with salmon ? " ' ' Please. I don't wish to go in too strongly 12 DISLIKE. for emancipation. I shall begin with salmon, and be much disappointed if you don't pro- vide me with reindeer collops — isn't that the proper word ? — and cloudberries and cream." " You are born to disappointment," Ware- ham announced. " Cloudberries are not ripe much before September, and we are in July." Millie looked at him, laugrhino: and frown- ing. He admired her dimple. " Spare my delusions," she said. " I shall not listen to you. I know what to expect. Cloudberries and cream I shall feast upon, if not to-day, another day. Pirates will be in the fjords, at a safe distance. There will be islands, and if we look lono- enouo'h, we shall see a man swimming, and flinging up his hands ; while up by the sseters we shall come upon a little Lapp, carrying away a cheese as big as himself. That is my Norway," Millie continued triumphantly, '' not the miserably complicated country of Ibsen and Bjornson." She lowered her voice to an " Ah ! " and said no more, as the Martyns and Miss Dalrymple appeared. Three empty seats opposite the Eavenhills 13 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. had been reserved for the new-comers. Colonel Martyn gave a nod to Wareham, expressive of the sympathy of a fellow- sufferer, and dropped into the chair corre- sponding with his. Mrs. Martyn came next, a large fair woman, with hardness in her face and brusqueness in her manner. AVareham passed them and looked at Miss Dairy mple, hostility in his heart, and admitted ; as well as a curiosity which he would not have so readily acknowledged. She faced the level light of many windows, a position against which Millie had rebelled, and she had just gone through a trying sea voyage ; but her beauty defied what would have affected others. Her skin was w^armly tinted, her hair a lovely brown, growing low on the temples, and lighter than is usual with brown beauties, some shades lighter than the beautiful eyes. Wareham, looking at her, pelted her with all the detracting epithets he could light upon ; he called the poise of the small head on the slender throat arrogant, yet to most people it would have seemed as natural as the growth of a flower, and as 14 DISLIKE. perfect. As for the line of her lips, it was hard, hard, hard. Sitting down, she swept the table with a swift glance, half closing her eyes as she did so, to her judge a sign of sinful vanity, though really due to near- sio-htedness. This done, she turned and talked almost exclusively to her neighbour, a small old lady, shy, and a little prim, who had also crossed in the Eldorado. She was often, however, silent : once Wareham en- countered her half-shut glance resting upon him. She showed no confusion at meeting his gaze, and he had to own, with a little mortification, that her look was as impersonal as that which she turned upon others of the unknown company. Millie had grown silent, perhapi? because her neighbour spoke less ; and the link between the two sets was Mrs. Eavenhill. She knew many people and could talk easily ; at one moment in her conversation with Mrs. Mart3m, who had not yet stepped back into her usual assertive mood, she leaned across her daughter, and introduced Wareham. It was only an act of courtesy ; after the inter- 15 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. change of a few words, his talk drifted again to Millie. The motley meal ended, it broke up abruptly. " Mother and I are going out," said Millie, with careful avoidance of pressure. " I will come, if I may." He added heed- fully, " That is, if you are to be alone ? " " Alone, of course." The girl's eyes danced. Triumph had not often come to her, and to find a man, a man of distinction, who pre- ferred her society to that of the beautiful Miss Dalrymple, was intoxicating. She swept her mother to her room, and implored her to make haste. '' Why ? " " Why ? Because it is pleasanter to be alone." '* Shall we be alone ? '' Pinning on her veil, Millie admitted that she believed Mr. Wareham would come. '' Oh ! " Presently Mrs. Ptavenhill added, with a little intention — " Millie, don't spoil Mr. Wareham." The girl laughed frankly. 16 DISLIKE. " The bare idea makes you fierce, mother, doesn't it ? But I do think it is nicer to have a man with us than to trail along by our- selves, and if he comes, he will expect things to — to — well, to go as he likes." Mrs. Kavenhill emitted another " Oh ! " She added — " In my day a man would have thought himself honoured." " So he would in mine, if I had the arrangement of things," Millie retorted. *' But I haven't, and all that can be done is to make the best of them. Perhaps you haven't found out that Mr. Wareham detests Miss Dalrymple, and evidently wishes to avoid her. We needn't force them upon each other." " I thougrht he did not know her ? " " Nor does he." ** Well," said her mother, w^ith impatience, " have it as you like, Millie, only, for pity's sake, don't let us plunge into a cloud of mystifications and prejudices ! We didn't come to Norway for that, and Mr. Wareham isn't worth it." To this the girl made no answer, and the subject dropped. VOL. I. 17 2 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. So they went out, all three, in the cool clear daylight, which had no suggestion of evening about it, except that the shop-doors were locked, and people strolled about wdth leisure which seemed unnatural. The streets were not beautiful, but all the boarded houses had clean white faces, red roofs, and cheerful windows crowded with flowers. Presently they came upon the old cathedral w^ith its two low spires ; on one side an ancient avenue of storm-stunted sycamores, dignified a orave little cluster of houses at its end. Millie wanted to go into the church, and professed herself injured at finding it closed. '' Mayn't they ever shut up ? " said Ware- ham, holding out his watch wdth a smile. " It is a quarter to ten ! " she exclaimed, but refused to return. A lake glimmered through the trees — they went there, and afterwards along stony ways round the harbour. Some- thing — was it the pure light air, the kindly sensible-faced people ? — set the girl's heart ^ throbbing. She had suddenly caught her mother's simple power of enjoyment, and 18 DISLIKE. Wareliam owned that her quick intuition gave originality to the commonplace. By the time the harbour was reached, lights w^ere golden, colour ran riot in the sky. There was too much ripple on the water for reflection s, but the green boats bobbed gaily up and down ; while far away the mountains lay faintly blue against the eastern sky, out of which light paled. Beyond the streets are public gardens, the houses are left behind, and the wdde w^ater-mouth stretches broadly. Now there was nothing but the lap of waves, distant islands, more distant mountains, and the sunset sky above. They lingered, and silently watched the pomp fade, found a boat, and rowed across the harbour in the last afterglows ^ 19 CHAPTER 11. A man's judgment. STRANGE, iudeed, that Wareham should have been thus shot into the society of Anne Dalrymple ! Never personally acquainted with her, he had heard more about her than of any other living woman, could have de- scribed her positively, and believed he knew her mind. Heart he denied her. Had he been in England during the past year or two they must have met, but he had first been ordered abroad after a narrow escape of break- down from over- work ; then, bitten by the charm of the south, let himself drift lazily from Italy to Greece, from Greece to Egypt, from Egypt to India, all lands of enchant- ^ ment. During the latter part of this stay, letters 20 A MAXS JUDGMEXT. Lad been showered upon him from his chief friend, Hugh Forbes, letters crammed with enthusiasm, with hope, with despair, a thundering chord, with the beautiful Miss Dalrymple for its root. AYareham pished and poohed, and sometimes pitched away as much as half a letter — unread — with a word. But he was a man with an unsuspected strength of sympathy. Probably it belonged to his suc- cess as an author that, once interested, he could project himself into another mind, and feel its sensations. Especially where his affections were concerned was this the case, and it may have been fortunate for him that his affections were not easily moved, perhaps because he feared what he counted a weakness, and was reluctant to let himself g^o. Once he had loved a woman, but this happened before he was famous, and she married a richer man ; since that time his heart had apparently re- mained untouched, although he never avoided women's society. The dark time of disappointment drew him nearer to his friend. Hugh was three years his junior, but they had been at school 21 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. together, and tlie habit of befriending the younger boy had stuck to Dick. When this happens, the strength of the tie is scarcely calculable, at least on the side of the elder. Hugh knew and acted upon it almost un- consciously. He would as soon have expected the Funds to collapse, as Dick to fail him in case of need. After a time his letters announced the unexpected to Wareham. The affair was serious, and Miss Dalrymple had accepted him. Rapture filled sheets of paper. Then letters ceased, and Wareham, who was in India, smiled, recognizing the inevitable ; and waited without misgiving, until a cooler time should bring; back the outer manifestations of a friendship which he could not doubt. They came in the form of a cry of misery. Within six weeks of the wedding Miss Dalrymple had broken off the engagement. He read the letter in amazement, and rushed back to England, snapping the small ties with which he was lazily suffering himself ^ to be entangled, and knowing that in the blackness of a lover's despair his was the 22 A MAX'S JUDGMEXT. only hand to bring the touch of comfort. Under his own misfortunes he had been dumb, but this reticence did not affect his sympathy with a more expansive nature. Hugh liked to enlarge upon his sorrows, unfailing interest lurked for him in the c[uestion how they might have been avoided, and the answer was never so convincing as to suffice. Wareham gave a patient ear to the lengthy catalogue of Miss Dalrymple's charms — until he could have repeated them without prompt- ing — and offered one sug-g-estion after another as to the causes which had induced her to break off her eno^agrement. For there had been no quarrel, no explanation. Hugh had merely received a letter saying that she had discovered it to have been a mistake, and could not marry him ; she accepted the whole blame, and asked him not to attempt to see her. It was a preposterous request, and be battled against it with all his might, only to find that the fates were on her side. For, although he wrote stormy, heart-breaking letters, although he battered at her doors, his 23 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. letters remained unanswered, and all that he could hear was that Miss Dalrymple was ill and would see no one. This made him worse. Her father was dead, brothers she had none ; Lady Dalrymple, her step-mother, an incon- sequent careless woman of the world, who had shrugged her shoulders when Anne announced her intention of marrying Hugh Forbes, admitted him to her boudoh', and told him, with another shrug, that she could neither interfere nor offer an explanation. Anne had acted throughout on her own responsibility ; as she had not opposed when she disapproved, he could not expect her to take part against her judgment. " How was I to fight such an argument? '* Hugh asked Wareham, not once but twenty times. The first time he was answered by a question whether he had never met the girl anywhere ? " Was I going to insult her in public ! " groaned Hugh, and his friend liked him the better for manly self-restraint when he had reason for being distraught. He had avoided society and nursed his misery, ex- aggerating it, perhaps, but acting gallantly. 24 A MAN'S JUDGMENT. Warebam could not but reach the conclusion that he had been abominably treated. Yet where lay the remedy ? Patience had to be offered in draughts, and was turned from with loathing. This went on until even Wareham grew weary of repetition, and was not sorry when Hugh's sister came up to town, and appeared eager for confidences. With the belief that his friend would be the better for a change of consolers, Wareham resolved to carry out a vague plan, and go to Norway for three or four weeks. And there, as has been seen, he at once found himself confronted with Miss Dalrymple. Naturally, she now occupied his thoughts. He had sent a teleo;ram to Huojh on arrival, in compliance w^ith a promise he had made to let him know if he at any time became acquainted with Miss Dalrymple's movements ; a promise made idly, and already regretted. To-night he pieced together his impressions. They were as unfavourable as might have been expected. The signs in her face he had already read against her, and her composure almost shocked him. He was certain, from 25 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. the exuberance of Hugh's friendship, that his own name must be familiar to Miss Dalrymple ; and, considering her tacit acknowledgment to Hugh that she had treated him very ill, a woman whose heart was what a woman's should be, must have felt and betrayed un- easiness at finding herself face to face with the dearest friend of the man she had jilted. Miss Dalrymple, however, had shown no symptom of feeling. She had treated him as if he had never so much as touched her thoughts, and to do Wareham justice, it was friendship, not vanity, which resented the indifference. He thought it horrible that a woman should be so cold. Pride, also, he read accusingly. In his own mind he believed Hugh to have been flung over because she had grown discontented with his position. That she had yielded primarily, Wareham interpreted as due to the young fellow^'s strong personal charm, perhaps to weariness of other men. It was an impulse, not love ; and it was not powerful enough for a strain. He depreciated her beauty ; who cares for half-shut eyes ? He was not sure 26 A MAX'S JUDGMEXT. that Millie Kaveuliill was not prettier ; at any rate, he was certain that she was more attractive. When conclusions stand up before us in such mighty good order, the chances are that we have always kept them ready made. This did not strike Wareham, sifter of causes though he mis^ht be : he set them down to acuteness of observation, and credited them with im- partiality. It vexed him the more to be thrust by circumstances into a sort of com- panionship with Miss Dalrymple, whom of all women he would have avoided. He would take the first opportunity to break away, but when ? For in Western Norway, where there is but one short railway, it often happens that you must leave when you can, not when you will, and at Stavanger this means once in the twenty-four hours. Imagine the sensation, nineteenth-century Englishman ! What annoy- ance ! what repose ! Whether he would or no, he must make up his mind to journey as far as Sand, perhaps Osen, perhaps even Naes, wath all the others who had landed from the Eldorado. After, he might go on by him- 27 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. self, and this consolation sent him off to bed. When he met the Eavenhills in the morning, he found that Mrs. Eavenhill's inexhaustible energy had carried her out sketching, and brought her back hungry. She vowed that the place was charming, and after they had breakfasted — waited upon by a girl in Har- danger dress, cut-away scarlet bodice, beaded stomacher and belt, with white chemisette, sleeves, and apron, and fair hair hanging in a long plait — insisted upon bearing them off to prove her words. And, indeed, though there is nothing striking in the town itself, it was impossible not to feel its bright pleasantness. The sun shone gaily, the sweet pure air made every breath delight ; even in July there was a fragrant freshness abroad, such as only comes to lands where spring and summer flutter down as fleeting visitors, and we cannot do enough to welcome them. All the houses are painted, whitened, and decked with flowers ; they have not the lazy, sun- burnt, picturesque charm of the south, but under the delicate northern sky there is 28 A MANS JUDGMENT. a quiet yet vigorous cheerfulness about them. Wareham, who had seen Eastern splendours, was conscious of this gentle quality, and liked it. They wandered round the busy harbour, into the cathedral, with its Norman pillars, and great impressive barbaric pulpit. The minister came out as they went in, a long black figure with a tall hat, a Puritan ruff, and a kind face, who looked as if he had stepped out of a story-book. Afterwards they strolled on, not much caring where, between hedges of sweet-briar, past boggy places waving with cotton rush, and climbed a hill to see the interlacing fjords, and the distant mountains veiled with advancing mist, and the women making their hay in the fields. Millie, who had not cared very much for Norway before she came, having something of a girl's indifference to the unknown, was discoverinor delicrhtful thinprs around and before her — were they not rather blossoming in her heart ? As for Wareham, he, too, became sanguine. So far, the Martyns were avoided, and with good luck the annoyance 29 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. of their presence might be reduced to a minimum. Three people content ! What good sprite was here, and what mischief lurked behind ? The three, equally unconscious of their luck and their danger, looked at all they could see, went back to the inn for more salmon, and steamed away down the fjords towards Sand. An hour afterwards they were on the upper deck of the little steamer. Grey mists had gathered in their scouts, and swept up, chilling the air and battling with the sunshine. Now one, now the other gained the day. Miss Dairy m pie walked about with Colonel Martyn. Wareham believed she shared his own dis- inclination to meet, and, under the circum- stances, disinclination was more creditable than indiflference. His hard thoughts of her softened slightly — very slightly. Mutual avoidance would prevent difficulties which might otherwise prove awkward in the coming days. Meanwhile, as yet nothing had been said or done which foreboded trouble. It pleased Millie to treat Wareham as if he were responsible for anything lacking in the 30 A MAN'S JUDGMENT. beauty of the country, and as the wide entrance to the Sand fjord is uninteresting, and a cold wind, nipping in from a bleak sea, chilled the landscape, he became the butt of many mock reproaches. Wrapped in a fur cloak, and barricaded behind an umbrella, she vowed there w^as nothing to see. Perhaps there was not much. But Wareham found a never-failing attraction in the small scattered villages at which the steamer stopped. A dozen or more white houses, a little stone pier, against which, under the crystal-clear water, seaweed of a wonderful green clung and floated, and a stir of human interest among the people who came down to the w^ater's edge to meet the steamer. At one of these landino-- places the crowd was more than usual — a pink, green, and blue crowd — and there was con- centrating of eyes upon one young girl, to whom the vessel had brought a bouquet — a white bridal bouquet. The pride with which she received it, the eagerness with which she read the note accompanying it, and allowed the children to admire and smell it, the interest of the other gazing girls, and the 31 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. dignified air she assumed after the first few moments, made up an idyll which Wareham watched, smiling. He was sorry when the steamer backed away from the busy pier, and left the girl with her hopes, her triumphs, and her awe-smitten companions. Going back to tell the idle Millie that she had missed something, his eye fell upon a tall slight figure in a long cloak, standing near the spot where he had stood, and talking to a shorter man with a grey beard. It was Miss Dalrymple, and she had apparently been occupied in the same way as himself. Her face was turned towards him, but she made no sign of recognition. " Well ? " demanded Millie gaily. " Well, you would have found it interest- ing." " How do you know ? " " Listen to what were the accessories. A note and a nosegay.'* " Go on. No more ? " "A young woman. Beyond question, a wedding near at hand, and I have remarked that all women are interested in weddings." 32 A MAN'S JUDGMENT. " Distantly viewed they are tolerable ; but looked at closely, one's pity becomes painful. And I am too cold to cry comfortably." " You must be super-sensitive. I saw no promise of tears." " The actors conceal their feelings ; only the spectators may suffer theirs to be seen. Look how grave Miss Dalrymple is ! " Wareham glanced. Anne stood where he had last noticed her, apparently listening to her companion, and it was true that she ap- peared to be grave and preoccupied. Hers was a face in which beauty played capriciously, and at this moment the lines justified his charge of hardness. " Merely bored, I should say, and not troubling herself to hide it." Millie put a sudden question. " Wasn't there some story, some engage- ment, in which Miss Dalrymple was mixed up ? I am sure there was something one ought to remember." Wareham did not feel himself called upon to assist in this mental examination. " With her beauty she is likely enough io VOL. I. 33 3 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. be talked over," was all he said. But Millie persisted. " I am certain tliere was a sort of sensation — I must ask mother, for I am suddenly seized with curiosity. What was it ? Wasn't there ? " She broke off, and in a moment looked up triumphantly. " Of course ! How stupid of me ! Now it comes back. She was ens:ag:ed to a son of Sir Michael Forbes. Didn't you hear of it ? Oh, I am sure you did ! The wedding day was actually fixed, and everything arranged, and the next thing one heard was that it was at an end. How could I have forgotten ! " Wareham was silent. She looked at him in surprise. "It is impossible it should not have come to your ears "? " His face changed a little. If she had known it, she was irritating him by her persistence, although he acquitted her of intention. " One may as well leave the idle talk of the season behind one," he said gravely. " One can't, with the chief subject before one," retorted Millie. " Confess. Haven't 34 A MAX'S JUDGMENT. you thought about it since you saw her ? " He hesitated, then allowed the fact, adding that thouojhts mio^ht remain one's own. " Ah, you think me a chatterbox," she said good-humouredly. " How tiresome ! Here is another showier sweeping across." " Shall I get a cloak ? " ** No. I really want to hear more. I am sure you can tell me." She added with eager- ness — " Which was to blame ? " " What a question ! " *' Why, is it strange ? Somebody was, I suppose. I have very little doubt myself that Mr. Forbes was the sinner." Wareham was startled from his impassive attitude. " What has given you that impression ? *' " What ? How can I tell you ? If I were to say it was a woman's intuition, you would laugh. So that 1 imagine it is owing to vague recollection of what I may have heard." " If that is all, I think you should disabuse yourself of the idea. AVhoever was to blame, it was certainly not Mr. Forbes." 35 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. She looked at him mischievously, and re- marked that he spoke so gravely of an in- diflferent matter that one might suppose he had an interest in it. " I have not said that it was indifferent." " Oh ! " Millie coloured, and said hastily — " I beg your pardon. I am very sorry. If I had dreamed that there was anything to make you care, I should not have tried to find out your opinion. Do you know, I should be really glad of a mackintosh." Wareham went to get it, but when he came back he reverted to the subject. " Let me explain why I care. The man to whom Miss Dalrymple was engaged is my friend, and knowing as I do the circumstances of the case, I can't stand hearing him re- proached. I can't explain the facts, simply because they are inexplicable, but I will ask you to take my word that no blame rests with him." " Oh no, I understand, I quite understand," Millie stammered, wishing herself anywhere else. She was frightened, and could not find a jest with which to swing herself out of the 36 A MAX'S JUDGMEXT difficulty. Her embarrassment made him think more kindly of her again. Presently Mrs. Eavenhill, who had been talking to ^Irs. Martyn, came to carry Millie to a more sheltered corner. AVareham, seeing that they were approaching another fjord villaofe, went to the vessel's side. This time there was a contrast — no crowd, no happy thronpr of o:irls : a few children, a few older people gathered on the pier ; the baker came to receive his sack of flour, the postmaster his letters ; next, out of the steamer another burden was lifted, an empty black coffin, studded with silver nails ; the children — and the children only — stared curiously at the label, then they too ran offi And, so long as the steamer was in sight, there lay the strange black deserted thing, a blot on the green, unclaimed, and to all appearance un- cared for. Some prick of the universal humanity kept Wareham's eyes fixed upon it. He felt as if the dead man, whose home it was to be, was wronged by this callous desertion ; as if he had been bound to all of them by a tie they were ignoring ; and while conscious of the unreasonableness of his blame, 37 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. he could not shake off the feeling that he shared in the common cruelty. Suddenly, by his side, a voice exclaimed — '* It is horrible ! " He turned abruptly, and saw Miss Dal- rymple. Her eyes were fixed where he had been looking, and she went on — " One has no right to resent a mere accident. They may have to come from a distance, and it can't be known exactly when the steamer will call. Still " " It offends one," said Wareham. "It is heartless." He kept his eyes on her face. " Happily the dead are not hurt by heart- lessness." ** Happily," she returned, after a moment's pause. She glanced at him, half closing her eyes, in the manner he disliked. Already the conversation had taken an edge, of which, even had it been unintentional, neither could have been unconscious. But Wareham wished to wound. He asked whether she had noticed the group at the landing-place before this last ? She made a sig-n of assent. " What did you think of it ? " 38 A .VAXS JUDGMEXT. " I ? " " Was it more creditable to human nature ? Was heart there, or was the girl merely pleased with her power ? " A smile made him more angry. '^ What makes you or me her judge ? " "Dismal experience as to motives," Ware- ham replied. "One lives and learns." " Not so surely," Anne returned coolly. " Half the time our pretence of reading motives is sheer affectation. What we are really after is the making our conclusions fit our theories." She suddenly shot away from the subject. '* Are you travelling with the EavenhilLs ? " *' Yes — no," said Wareham, surprised. '* It was a chance meetingr, and we have all to fro the same way." " All ? " She frowned. " Do you mean that we are irrevocably bound together ? " " Practically. Naturally there may be small deviations." " Oh, hateful ! " she said frankly, and ap- parently mused over the information. Having bestowed it, Wareham was silent until she put 39 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. another question. " May I inquire where you are all going to-night ? " " I can only help you so far as the Kaven- hills are concerned. They will push on to Osen." " And you ? " " Oh, I, of course." " You were mistaken, then/' said Anne triumphantly, "in supposing that we follow the same route. We stop at Sand." He laughed. " Pardon me. Sand or Osen are practically the same thing. We meet on the same steamer to-morrow mornino:." "Oh!" She reflected again. "There is no help for it, then. Except " Wareham waited. " I trust to you not to take advantage," she said, in a hurried tone, and with a movement of the head which he interpreted as his dismissal. Instead of rejoining the Eavenhills he stood solitary, and thought over the conversation. What ground had been won or lost between two antagonists ? He had made it plain to Miss Dalrymple that he was on his friend's 40 A MAN'S JUDGMENT. side, and she had let him know that the meet- inor was disaorreeable to her. So far there was o o equality. But though he had not disguised his feelings, he could not flatter himself that he had caused Anne the slightest embarrass- ment. And there was vexation in the thought that their first movement had been towards sympathy, so that he remembered a throb of satisfaction on hearing her exclamation by his side. He remembered, too, and dwelt upon, the expression of her look — which said more than words — the brow slightly contracted, the eyes fixed, the strong pitiful curve of her lips. In spite of his prejudice, she was beauti- ful. Hugh's raptures had inspired him with contradictory views, but he told himself now that there was no reason to be unfair, and that a lover might very well lose his head over fewer charms. Disapproval, contempt, perhaps, were as strong as ever, and proof against a woman's face. Yet something in his own thoughts irritated him, and he turned from them to talk to a tall German, whose wife and children were ensconced in the warmest corner of the deck. 41 CHAPTER III. iVE START OURSELVES AND CRY OUT THAT FATE PUSHES. ALL the skydsguts, and all the owners of vehicles for miles round Sand, stormed the steamer on its arrival, and out of the struggling crowd Wareham with difficulty ex- tricated Mrs. Ravenhill and Millie, and started them in a stolkjcerre} while he himself followed in a second with a young Grey, who had, of course, crossed in the Eldorado. In all there was a string of nine or ten little carriages, each drawn by a cream-coloured or light dun pony, its two occupants in front, and its skydsgut perched on the luggage behind. Now that they had left the open fjord, wind-swept by a north-westerly gale, it had grown calm and warm ; and, driving up to 1 Pron. stolkyerrer. Skydsgut — shiissgoot. 42 WE CRY OUT THAT FATE PUSHES. the mountains bv the side of a hurrving- river, the charm of the country beg^an to reveal itself. Mrs. Eavenhill would have liked to have broken away from the procession, and enjoyed it alone, but this was impossible. The ponies trotted in regular file, walked up the slightest incline, and raced wildly down- hill ; nothing woukl have induced ponies or drivers to part company, and, indeed, after all, something in the small cavalcade was refreshingly diflferent from ordinary modes of travellino;. Colours orlowed and softened in the clear air, crimson sorrel turned the lonor grass into ruddy fields, waving and shimmering in the breeze, the river, narrowing, dashed itself into milky whiteness. In parts, trees oTowinoj sinoiv out of the orreen, made the country park-like ; elsewhere a wilder character prevailed, with a background of grey hills, on which grey clouds brooded. It was ten o'clock before they reached Osen, but so lingermg was the day, that even by that time the surroundingr outlines were scarcelv touched with uncertainty. Throughout the drive importunate skydsguts THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Lad petitioned on behalf of a new inn, but Wareham had decided to stop at the Suldal, known to him of old. Of all the procession only the two stolkjserres halted there, the rest whisking by to the other and more pretentiously illuminated building ; it seemed to Millie that the very landlord met them with surprise. The whole house was at their disposal ; no one, he explained, was there, because the other house w^as very liberal to the skydsguts, and they persuaded their employers in its favour. There was some- thing pathetic in the sad resignation with which he made this statement, and Mrs. Kavenhill, whose face had fallen at realization of the solitude, which appeared to point to something obnoxious, became enthusiastic. The quaint box-like little bedrooms, all pitch- pine, unbroken by paper, plaster, or carpet, delighted her ; and as every sound was audible throughout the house, she and Millie in their separate rooms could talk as easily as if they had been together. Presently, how- ever, other voices mingled themselves, and it became evident that some of their fellow- 44 WE CBY OUT THAT FATE PUSHES. travellers had retraced their steps. When they came down to the meal which had been energetically prepared, they found half-a-dozen others. If it was not a very elaborate repast, there was plenty and good-will, and a homely hospitality which was pleasant. Besides, they were all hungry, and all sleepy, and neither the careful warnino;s asjainst fire, with directions how to get out of the little passages, and where to find the " safety ropes," nor the rather loud confidences of two travellers on the upper floor, could keep Mrs. Eavenhill or Millie long awake. Wareham, on the contrary, was not drawn to sleep. A paper in baud, which he wanted to think out by the help of a cigar, gave an excuse for strolling along the quiet road, where all was still except the unresting swirl of the river. His will forced concentration upon the matter which was in his mind, but it was like driving unruly horses, and the moment he relaxed his hold, his thoughts bolted to the words Anne Dalrymple and he had exchanged. It was difiicult to explain why, except that her talk, her manner, and, 45 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. above all, her face, had interested him. They possessed a certain quality distinct from the words and faces of others. That he thought of her with an ever-increasing disapproval did not interfere with the interest, but served for an excuse for returning to its contempla- tion, since nothing is more absorbing than a problem. It was doubtless this attraction which led him to fill out their conversation with imaginary words and incidents, such as might have led to an altogether difterent result. Jilt or flirt, Anne Dairy mple was no mere brainless woman, and he found himself on the verge of a wish that he had not been Hugh's friend, so that he might have talked to her without prejudice. A man's anger against a woman leaves him uncomfortable, with a sense of his own unfairness, whether deserved or not. He began to resent his position. He had dropped into it unknowingly, but the bare idea that it might suggest to Hugh a thought of his friend's disloyalty, cut like a lash. Kicking at pebbles in the road, or staring up ' at the dominating height rising blackly on the 46 WE CRY OUT THAT FATE PUSHES. other side of the river, would not help him^ and for the moment there seemed nothinoj else. He must make the best of it. Why on earth trouble himself with what could not be helped ? Was he by ill-luck becoming mor- bid ? He walked back to the inn, disgusted with himself ; pitched away his cigar before entering the inflammable box, and slept, resolved to accept ordinary intercourse as if he and Miss Dalrymple were strangers. It is diflicult to adopt any course of action which does not involve others in unexpected ways. His last intention would have been to make marked advances to Millie Eavenhill, yet, treating her as a haven of refuge, meant being much by her side on the following day. The mornino: w^as all summer, full of lig^ht and freshness, and as the little carriaojes beo;an to arrive from Sand, Wareham was very willing to get out of the way by joining- half-a-dozen of their fellow-travellers in a stroll over the grassy hill behind the inn. Then Millie and he drifted away together, and she wanted a flower plucked out of a marshy bit of land, and when that was gathered a 47 TEH SWING OF THE PENDULUM. daring stone-chat enticed them, and the frank innocent beauty around beguiled Wareham, so that when the steamer sent up a warning shriek they were forced to run, and reached the vessel breathless. Mrs. Ravenhill flung a look of reproach at Wareham, while she scolded Millie. " How could you be so imprudent ! I have been waiting in terror, not knowing where to send. Osen is all very well, but to be forced to spend another twenty -four hours here ! I am really very angry." "Blame me,'' said Wareham penitentially. " It was all my fault." He pleased himself by observing that the Martyns and Miss Dalrymple were in pos- session of seats, and as there had been a certain intention — on his part — of delay, it is doubtful if he were really sorry. Millie w^as radiant. " I should not have minded staying," she remarked, when breath had come back ; " it is a dear little place, and it would have been a real crow for the landlord. He loved us so dearly for driving straight to his inn, instead 48 WE CRY OUT TEAT FATE PUSHES. of being forced there by want of room in the other ! But what an odd state of society must exist in this place, when out of half-a- dozen houses two are rival inns ! Do they speak ? Do they fight ? Human nature could not allow them to be friendly ! " " Oh, Fm not so sure," said Mrs. Ravenhill ; '' you forget the strength of nature here, and that the human part of them would have to combine against snow and darkness and solitude. Once w^e are gone, I dare say they are o-ood friends too^ether." As they were carried along over the green waters of the Suldal lake, it seemed to some of those who were lookino- as thouofh thev were entering a solemn and enchanted region. The sun, which blazed upon the great granite hills, could not rob them of their supreme gravity. They were mighty Titans resting after labour and conflict ; earth-forces up- heaved and left to lie and bleach, exposed to the more subtle forces of air and water. For the lake crept in and out between them, always softly pushing through, although often the tremendous cliffs closed so menacingly VOL. I. 49 4 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. round, that the boat appeared to be makiug for a wall of sheer rock against which she must be ground. At such moments those on board watched almost breathlessly for the passage to declare itself, sometimes splitting a sharp angle, sometimes stealing through a sinuous curve, once urged between two colossal barriers, which bear the name of the Portal. It is the gateway into a shadowy, mysterious, yet radiant world, w^hich lies as God's Hand has left it, untouched by man. On either side the mountains rise precipitously, or melt away into ethereal distances ; out of their soft purples and greens an occasional raw patch marks where the frost-giant has split off a vast fragment from the rock and tumbled it into the green waters below. Birch and oak clamber up and down the cliffs ; a sharp white line shows a slender w^aterfall leaping from the heights, and re-appearing here and there, but, too far off for movement to be perceptible, it looks a mere scratch on the shadows. More rarely, where there is the suspicion of a valley, or, at any rate, a flatness, the steamer screams to some half- 50 WE CRY OUT THAT FATE PUSHES. dozen — or fewer — scattered houses, lying in a scarcely-endurable solitude, a little amphi- theatre of silence ; each with its tiny patch of emerald green rye, its square of half-cut grass, its small potato-ground, its boat lying on the shore. Some rough track may exist, but of visible roads there are none, nor any cattle, except, possibly, a few goats away browsino- on the hills. Such forlorn habit- ations only deepen the brooding solitude, by forcino; on the imaoination dreams of these alone, self-dependent lives, but for the call of the steamer as alone as though they were a knot of sailors shipwrecked on a desert shore. Wareham, for whom they had a strange attraction, watched them from the fore-part of the vessel. While he was there. Colonel Martyn joined him. He was a tall sad- looking man, with a mountainous nose, devoted to sport, and hating society. He grumbled a disconsolate question. " How much Ion O'er does this sort of thinor go on ? " " The lake ? Three hours, from end to end. Doesn't it please you ? " THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " It would please me well enough if I were pulling up in a boat. Cooped up with a lot of other fools, it makes me sick. Do you mean to tell me you find any pleasure in the business ? " "Wareham laughed. "Evidently I haven't your energy." He went on to ask whether with these sentiments his own free will had brought Colonel Martyn abroad ? The other turned a melancholy eye upon him. ** Good heavens, that you should put such a question ! My wife insists upon going through an annual period of discomfort. I don't much care where it is. This year she and Anne Dalrymple took a craze for Norway, and here we are." It was as if his last words meant " Poor devils ! " Wareham had no thought of letting fly his next words. They escaped him. " Has Miss Dalrymple travelled with you before '^ " Colonel Martyn again looked at him. " Never. She is my wife's last friend. A"^ former acquaintance of yours ? " 52 WE CRY OUT THAT FATE PI'S RES. Wareham hastened to repudiate. " I have never spoken to her until Mrs. Martyn introduced me." Some unaccountable impulse made him add — *'• But I have often heard of her." " No good ? " " I did not say so." " Never mind me," said his companion, seat- ing himself on the bulwark, and swinging one lonor leor. "AVomen are frauds — most of them." '' AVell for you that your wife is not within earshot ! " '•' She would vow that it showed I was enjoying myself. That's a delusion she holds on to. Keep your liberty — there you have my advice. As for Anne Dalrymple, I've an idea there was something on with her this season, but I don't listen to society crams, and I've heard no particulars." The red rao; was irritatino: Wareham. " This was not a society cram. We'll leave it alone, however. Miss Dalrymple is your wife's friend." For the first time a smile flitted across Colonel Martyn's lantern visage. 53 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. '^ My clear fellow," lie said, " say as much or as little as you like. So long as you don't hold me responsible for the freaks of my wife's friends, I'm indifferent, profoundly indifferent, as to what is thought of them. Only wish they'd carry out this sort of amusement without me. I'm no use. Can't speak a word of the lingo. Miss Dairy mple's handsome, that I'll own — there she has the pull over most of Blanche's cronies — but I don't doubt she behaved badly " *' Mrs. Martyn wants the key of her bag," said a voice at his elbow. He swung round guiltily to face Anne Dalrymple. '^ Eh?— what?" " The key of her bag." " Oh, of course ! — yes. Shall I take it or will you ? " His embarrassment was pitiable, while she stood cool. " You, I think." He bolted. Wareham, annoyed with his position, stood confronting her. Her height nearly reached his own, her eyes, dark with anger, swept him scornfully, she drew a deep breath. . 54 WE CRY OUT THAT FATE PUSHES. " Honourable — to set my friends against me!" He remained silent. Her tone gre^Y more scathing. " Do not imagine that I take exception at your opinions — your attitude " — a stress on the * your ' — '' to them I am absolutely indif- ferent. Think what you please — judge me as harshly as you like — influence your own friends if it amuses you to do so. When — not satisfied with this — you attempt to prejudice the people under whose care I am travelling, then, Mr. Wareham, you are taking advantage of my being a woman to ofl'er me an un- pardonable insult." Wareham stood like a statue, while she scourged him with her words. Indio^uation gave such beauty to her face and gestures, that his own an2:er crrew soft. "You are right," he said. '*' I am not con- scious of having said anything to which you could take exception, but it is true that Colonel Martyn gathered that my thoughts of you were not friendly, and I acknowledge 55 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. that I was to blame in permitting myself to mention your name." Her look had been full on his, now she dropped it reflectively. Anger still burned in her eyes, but she was not so composed as she had been. Her breath came and went quickly, and when she spoke her voice was slightly shaken, yet abrupt. ''Be more careful in future." " You may trust me," said Wareham, bowing gravely. He was not surprised at her turning to leave him, what astonished him was that she came back. " I don't know whether it is because I am a woman, and have no means of defending myself except by words," she said coldly, " that I think you owe it to me to tell me what you said to Colonel Marty n." " Anything is owing to you that lies in my power. But this is exceedingly difficult." '* Do you take refuge in an imaginary failure of memory ? " she asked, scornfully again. '* On the contrary, I can trust my memory." 56 WE CBY OUT THAT FATE PUSHES. " Then ? " " It is just because the words ^Ye^e so tri- fling, that I shall find it difficult to convince you that I am keeping back nothing." She hesitated, but her eyes met his frankly. *' I imagine that you will endeavour to give me a true impression." '' Thank you. What happened, then, was that on Colonel Martyn's mentioning your name, I asked whether you had travelled with them before ? " " And what was that to you '? " " Nothing. I have already expressed my regret at having put the question." *' Go on." " Colonel Martyn, on his side, inquired whether I knew you, and from my answer jumped hastily at a conclusion which I imagine you will not require me to excuse ? " She made an imperious gesture. " I have told you that your own opinions do not concern me in the least. Come to something more definite." " But there was nothing more definite," said Wareham, lifting his eyebrows. He let 57 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. memory travel slowly over the conversation, picking up threads. " Colonel Marty n, in a discursive review of his dislike to travel, made an allusion to a matter in which you were concerned, and I replied that, as you were his wife's friend, we had better drop the subject. Evidently he likes to emphasize the idea that he and his wife are two, and I imagine this led him to make the unfortu- nate remark you caught. Pray assure your- self that you have heard all there was to hear, and permit me to repeat how deeply I regret it." She did not at once answer. The vessel was passing through a marvellous cleft, pre- cipitous rocks arose out of the clear water on either side. Wareham saw Mrs. Martyn approaching, curiosity in her face. He waited for Anne to speak. *' I suppose I ought to thank you," she said at last, slowly. " I suppose you tried to be fair. If you did not succeed, perhaps it was beyond your powers." Mrs. Martyn arrived. " Anne, did you ever see anything so re- 58 WE CRY OUT THAT FATE PUSHES. markable ? I ho^oe you noticed how sharply the steamer turned ? " '' Did it ? " *' Did it ! You are as bad as Tom. What have you been doing 1 Talking ? " " I suppose so/' " Was it interesting; ? " asked Mrs. Martvn, glancing from one to the other. " Hardly," said Anne, before Wareham could speak. " We only took up a legacy of conversation left by your husband." She walked away. '' Poor Tom ! " Mrs. Martyn uttered a laugh. " It must have been a legacy of grumbles. He is miserable because he has to sit still, and submit to be carried from point to point, without the possibility of usiug violent exercise to accomplish his purpose. If he could only pull up the lake, and tug the steamer behind, he would be happy again. Can you take life with less play of muscle, Mr. Ware- ham ? " "As lazily as you like." " All the better. It is enoug^h to endure growls from one's husband, without hearing 59 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. them echoed by others. Please do your best to induce him to enjoy himself." ''I!" said Wareham, with surprise. He added that it was unlikely that he would find an opportunity in the short time they would be together. " T thought you travelled with the Kaven- hills '? " " Accidentally.'' " Have you fallen out ? " " No, no," he protested, half amused, half provoked. " But chance having thrown us together, does not bind us." " It might. Chance might have much to answer for," she went on rapidly. " While it keeps you near us, do be good to my unlucky Tom ! I thought he and Anne would have amused each other, but they do not. I hope " — she reached the point to which he had divined she was tending, and adopted a careless air — " I hope that Tom did not try to run down Anne ? He has a deceptive way of saying more than he means, and saying it in his melancholy way produces a stronger effect than if it came from an ordinary person ; as I 60 WE CRY OUT THAT FATE PUSHES. always tell him, I don't think he is in the least aware of the impression he makes. Anne is the clearest girl in the world ! " Wareham felt as if fate were determined to force his opinion about Miss Dalrymple ; he answered cautiously — " I understood from Colonel Martvn that you were friends." She looked at him. " I don't believe that either he or vou stopped there ! " He gathered that her husband had confided the unfortunate remark which had caused his flight, and thought it hard that she should come to him, instead of applying to her friend, for particulars. He was resolved not to be drawn a second time, experience having already proved sufiSciently embarrassing. "I am not aware of having gone beyond it," he said indifi*erently. " How should I ? Until five minutes ago I had scarcely ex- changed twenty words with Miss Dal- rymple." She persisted. " But of course you had heard of her ? 61 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Es^ery one who is anything is heard about now-a-days." He agreed to the general remark, and she tapped her foot impatiently. " How cautious you are ! Now, I always speak my mind, even if it offends people. Life would be unendurable if one had to weigh one's words like so many groceries." It is difficult to answer the people who present you with themselves as an example. Wareham laughed, and assured her that she had only to choose an impersonal topic. " A hint for a hit. Well, I don't think you're acting fairly towards Anne, because you won't say what has prejudiced you against her." So far Wareham had kept his temper, but at this point annoyance made a sudden leap to the front, and with the smile still on his lips, he felt savage. It seemed to him that they wouldn't leave him alone, that they wanted to force his hand, and oblige him to say something that was either offensive or false. " If you mean that I object to discussing 62 WE CRY OUT THAT FATE PUSHES. Miss Dalrymple with her friends/' he said coldly, " you are right." "Ah, you would prefer doing it with her enemies," she returned with a shrewdness perhaps unexpected. "I should prefer changing the subject altogether," said AVareham. " Do you know that we are nearly at the end of our voyage ? Behind those grey elephantine rocks lies Xaes, and there it is ordained that we dine." '' Dine 1 At two ! Poor Tom ! * But how good for his health ! " Wareham did not feel himself called upon to express an opinion on this point. He went back to Mrs. Ravenhill and Millie, landed, and walked with them up to the little inn, from which a red flag w^as gaily flying. It is between Naes and Haare that the Brat- landsdal lies, one of the most beautiful secrets of Norway. Secret, indeed, only by comparison, since the road has been carved out, but as yet not so freely tourist-ridden as other parts. A hard-worked clergyman and his wife, fling- ing the energy of work into their holiday, at once set off on the long tramp ; the other 63 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. travellers, more respectful to comfort, waited to engage stolkjaerres and carrioles, and to go throuofli the routine of salmon and strino-iest mutton ; so that it was three o'clock before the Kavenhills, Wareham, and young Grey — wrenched from remote homage of Miss Dalrymple — set off leisurely to walk to the head of the gorge, stolkjaerres and luggage at their heels. Grey was an enthusiastic fisherman, and his talk of flies, many of which festooned his hat. His companions were careless as to their merits, but Millie had a charm of simple sympathy, which all along Wareham had recognized and liked, and she let him expatiate upon them without giving a hint that she was bored. Almost at once they were in the shadow of the great gorge, the road mounted ; down, far down, cleaving its way between thousand-feet rocks, dashed a wild river, beryl- coloured when not churned into whiteness, leaping, laughing, flying from rock to rock, curving into green pools, flinging foam at the growing things which bent to kiss it, an impetuous, untamable, living force. To think 64 WE CRY OUT THAT FATE PUSHES. of it in storm with a hundred angry voices crying out, and mountain-echoes hurling back their rage, was to shudder. But now, under a brilliant sun, there was a lovely splendour abroad ; feathery beds of moss and fern hid away the menacing crevices of the grey rocks ; streams tinkled, drop by drop, from the overhanging heights ; shadows were soft, tender, and wavering, radiant sunlight changed harshness into beauty. " iVnd we have it to ourselves ! " sio-hed o Mrs. Eavenhill thankfully. " The others are ahead, and are welcome to the better rooms. But w^hat of the Marty ns ? " Young Grey w^as eager in his knowledge. " They were tired, and w^aited another hour. I promised to arrange about their rooms. It w^as ^liss Dalrymple who said she was tired." He spoke with an unmistakable touch of reverence. Mrs. Eavenhill thought it a pity they should risk losing; the liohts. " The days are long enough," Millie put in. " And how delightful to have this delicious place to ourselves ! Let us enjoy it." VOL. I. 65 5 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. *' Let us," said AYareham. " How do you begin ? " ** Oh ! " cried the girl indignantly, " there is no befifinnino^. You must do it." " Ah, that is feminine impracticability. You issue a command, and we are anxious to obey, but every act has a beginning and an end. She broke into a smile. "Well, then, put away the wish to be anywhere else." " Done," said Wareham, after a moment's consideration. " But don't you see Mr. Grey eyeing the river ? " The young fellow excused himself. He was only wondering how a particular fly which the landlord had bestowed upon him would work in the pools. "Precisely," said Wareham, smiling at Millie. " In our advanced civilization, en- joyment has ceased to be spontaneous, and has become an art. It can't be treated so unceremoniously as you suggest. Stalk it as you would a deer, and, even then, ten to one your prey escapes you." 66 WE CRY OUT TEAT FATE PUSHES. She cried out — " I should think so ! You had better pre- tend that an epicure who has made up his mind what to have for dinner is the only person who knows what enjoyment is ! " " I suppose so — yes, I dare say you have hit on the best definition," returned Wareham reflectively. " What is very certain is that he sliould not come to Norway." " I think you are hateful ! Do you mean to tell me you are never pleased ? " '' Oh, pleased ! — yes, certainly. Enjoyment is something more important — more all round." *^Well, that is what we feel now." She swept in her mother with a comprehensive look. " ^Ye like the beauty, the air, the solitude — and our companions," she added, with a smile. "Isn't that all-round enjoy- ment ? " "I really believe it is," said Wareham, glancing at her kindly, '' and that you know more about it than I do. Long may it be so ! " He thought he had never seen her look 67 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. prettier. Her eyes danced, the dimples in her cheeks gave her face a sweet child-likeness, she was as fresh as the young summer which ran riot all about them. The idea took him that Miss Dalrymple's beauty would have faded in this world of laughing colour, of flashing waters, too much of the other world belonged to it. Millie's was heightened, and' it pleased him to dwell on the discovery. Her merri- ment was contagious. When the stolkjserres overtook them, she fed the good ponies with barley - sugar, and aired her attempts in Norwegian upon the men, who answered in excellent English. Afterwards — when they had climbed agrain into the little carriaores, the skydsgut perched behind upon portman- teaux, as the clever ponies trotted cheerfully along, requiring no touch from the whip, but quickening their j)ace under an encouraging chirrup, and stopping at a long-drawn Pr-r-r from the driver — they overtook the clergyman and his wife, tramping unweariedly along. And here Millie had her triumph. For in their hands they carried a bunch of red and yellow berries, and held them inquiringly to 68 WE CRY OUT THAT FATE PUSHES. a skydsgut, who answered " Multer." Xow, multer, as Millie had taken care to ascer- tain, is Norwegian for cloudberry, and here was what she had determined to see and taste, and been told she was too early for. Two or three were at once made over to her, but she would not eat them there, preferring to taste them with the dignity of cream at Haare. And it may as well be added, that these were the first and last cloudberries she saw in Norway. Watches told them that it was early even- ing w^hen they made their last climb to Haare. For some time past the grandeur of the oforofe had been smoothed into tenderer lines ; the river broadened — driving young Grey into distraction w^hen he looked at it — and presently a lake opened, lying quiet and shadowy under sheltering mountains. They passed a waterfall, and mounted slowly to the inn, perched obtrusively on the hill-side, red flag flying, stolkjserres and carrioles crowded about. Supper ended, they strolled out ; golden lights lingered in the sky, and the mountains 69 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. rose against it in royal purple. The roar of the fos reached them brokenly, and as they crossed the zigzagged road, by grassy cuts, to this sound was joined that of advancing wheels and voices. Two stolkjserres passed along the road below, two people walked, a word, a light laugh, came up. "The Martyns," said Mrs. Eavenhill. No one answered. They stood and watched the little calvacade slowly mounting. Shadows deepened, the clear air was fragrant with newly-mown grass, a star trembled into sight. It was very solemn and peaceful. 70 ^■'•-$i0ii 'jm CHAPTER lY. AT SIX IX THE MORXIXG. BY fits and starts Wareham was an early riser, and the next morning he was out between five and six. By that time the sun was high in the heavens, dews were dried, life — insect and plant-life — was in eager move- ment. A cottage with a wonderful roof, lying not far from the foot of the fos, had attracted him the day before ; he crossed the zigzags, made out a narrow path over short grass, and reached it. It was a tiny cottage, built partly of stones heaped roughly one on the other, partly of boards of many shapes and sizes, a hut full of odd cranks and changes, deep eaves on one side, a perched-up window on another. But what had attracted Wareham to closer in- spection was the roof, lovely with waving 71 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. grass, sorrel, starlike daisies, and a mass of lilac pansies. It was the subject Mrs. Eaven- hill would pounce upon to sketch, and he felt a gentle gratitude towards the Kavenhills for the small demands they made upon him. An extraordinarily stony little path flung itself headlong towards the lake, through tall emerald-green rye ; he stumbled down a few yards to look back at the hut, standing out against a violet mountain, all the colours sharply insistent in the clear morning air. To his extreme astonishment he saw Miss Dalrymple appear on the crest of the hill, and make her way down towards him. She came lightly and firmly, stepping from stone to stone without hesitation. She wore a white dress, and the impression she gave was of some one younger than he had fancied her. As she drew nearer the impression strengthened by her calling out gaily — " I have just discovered what it is all like ; Sunday morning, the freshness, and the enchanting air. Do you know ? " " No." He added in spite of himself — "Tell me." 72 AT SIX IX THE MORNING. " The opening to the last act of Parsifal.'' " I dare say. But I am no musician." "Nor I. But I suppose one need not be a painter to be reminded of a picture. How- ever, I did not come after you to talk about Parsifal." She stood in the narrow pathway looking down upon him, and spoke with extreme directness. " I saw you from the window, and, as I wished to say something, I followed." He bowed. She looked beyond him. " I have known you two days, but of course have heard of you enough, and though you may not believe it, no one wanted you home from India more than I. I fancied from what I gathered that you might understand." He steeled himself ao^ainst the flatteriiio; softness of her voice. '' Because I was Hugh Forbes' friend ? " "Yes," she returned quickly — "for that reason. You might have saved him suffering. For I am afraid he has suffered." " You are afraid. Do you doubt ? " " Not now." " Compassion has awakened tardily," he 73 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. said, with a laugh, which brought her eyes upon him. " Wait a moment," she said suddenly. " The grass on this bank is dry. Let us sit down. Now go on." Seated, she was still above, and her dark eyes rested on his face. He found it difficult to say what a moment before had seemed easy. " He will feel his hurt all his life." This time her eyebrows went up. '' Oh, no ! " " I know him," persisted Wareham. ''So I thought. But you are mistaken. His feelings cry out, and are quickly consoled. In a year he will have forgotten them." "Your doctrines are convenient." She breathed quickly, but appeared to wait for more. '' To break off your engagement without so much as a word as to the why ! To refuse even to see him ! Caprice could hardly show itself more cruelly." Auger leapt into her eyes. " You allow yourself strong expressions, Mr. Wareham!" 74 AT SIX IX THE MORXIXG, " If YOU do not like tbem it appears to me that I am tlie last person to whom you should speak. You may not know what Hugh is to me." " If I did not, I should not be talking to you at this moment," she retorted, flinging back her head. " Should I discuss the subject with an indifferent person ? " It had been good to him to feel the impetus of his own anger, he courted, encouraged it. A secret fear made him dread a softer mood. He kept his eyes upon a butterfly, balancing itself on an ear of rye. As he did not answer, she went on — '•' Taking it from your point of view only, for I suppose you would be incapable of a broader outlook, do you consider a lingeriug end more merciful than one which is short and sharp ? I have never for a moment regretted the manner of the doino-." " You have regretted something," said Wareham quickly, recognizing that she laid a scarcely -perceptible stress on one word, and beginning to think that she intended him to undertake the mission of reconciliation. A 75 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. drag of reluctance lie believed to belong to disapproval. '' Perhaps," sbe said, with hesitation. '' Isn't it a little late ? " It struck him that his question had an offensive air, but she appeared not to have heard it ; she was looking beyond him at the glowing lake, and the mountains which bordered the green waters. '^ I am ready to own that I was to blame," she went on, still slowly ; " but I shall always think that he ought to have understood." " What ? " "What cant be put into words. Why, I did not care to marry him." *' You are enigmatical." She made an impatient movement. *' At any rate, it should be enough for you that I did not like him well enough." " And that is your explanation ? " "What else?" "It had occurred to me that the match might not have been considered sufficiently brilliant for the beautiful Miss Dalrymple." She did not reject the supposition with 7^ AT SIX IN THE MORNING. anger as lie perhaps expected, merely sliook her bead. *' You are like the rest of the world," she said resignedly, so that he immediately felt shame for his own stupidity, but had nothing to say against it. He took refuge in pointing out that they had placed themselves in the line of a procession of caterpillars, all appar- ently on their way to the lake, and that several were at that moment on her dress. She brushed them off with indifference. " Why should you have fastened on that motive '? " she asked. '' Was it so unlikely ? " " Your friend rejects it." " Yes. He believes — still believes — nothing of you but what is good." " Dear Hugh ! " she breathed softly. Wareham started with amazement. '' You like him still ! " " I have never ceased to like him." For the first time in their talk he had turned his eyes on her face, and met her look full. Sitting there, the lovely lines of her figure curved against the waving rye, the 77 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. warm brown tints of her hair caught by the sunshine, eyes in which the fire was veiled by long lashes, a mouth slightly drooped and softened ; all this close to him, and seen in the divine freshness of the young day, sent an intoxicating throb of delight into his heart. Clinging to a bending purpose, he stammered — " Then— then " " I shall not marry him. Make him under- stand this." He looked away — closed his eyes, reckless whether she saw the movement or not, only conscious that the momentary madness had passed. It sharpened his voice as he said — " Do not expect me to succeed. I told you that you were enigmatical, and I repeat my words. Nothing that you have said alters the cruelty of dismissing poor Hugh in the sudden and unexpected manner you adopted." She rose, without at first speaking, but stood in the same place until she said slowly — ■ *' Perhaps. But it was difficult to act." The words that were on his lips seemed glued there ; by an effort he succeeded at last in bringing them out. 78 AT SIX ly THE MOBNIXG. " May I tell Hugh to hope ? " " Oh, no," she said composedly. " Cer- tainly not. My mind is absolutely made up. Urge him to think no more of me ; above all, not to try to see me. It is quite useless." Wareham smiled. " He will thank me." "If he does not, I shall," she said softly ; and ao:ain he was coascious of the stransre throb which had surprised him before. This time it was slighter, and he did not look or speak, while in another moment she turned and began to climb the stony path. Wareham followed slowly, more perturbed than he would have cared to own. He had failed in discomfiting her, as he had never doubted his power of doing, once they met ; and though no blame had been cast on Hugh, he had an angry and unwilling feeling that if it was want of love which had broken off the marriaore, the lover himself should have been the first to realize it. Hugh had never suffered him to suppose this could be the cause. He thrust away the feeling irritably. 79 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Was he to blame Hugh for the act of a heart- less girl ? At the top of the path, a very poor old woman stood outside the hut, holding a goat by a cord. Anne, perhaps glad of the inter- ruption, began to talk to her. Wareham stood a few feet off, and she presently came back to him. " She is not so old as she looks. I thought her a hundred, but that was her husband who went down the path just now. I would ask her about the caterpillars, only I haven't an idea what is Norwegian for caterpillar. Have you? He was as ignorant. " She is not begging," Anne continued, " though I am sure she is dreadfully poor, and in spite of all the laws of political economy, I shall give her a krone." He neither objected nor encouraged ; and his self-respect was partly restored by standing aloof in a position of indifference. Anne, smiling, glanced at him between half-shut eyelids, and went off again. He followed. The old woman, almost beside herself with 80 AT SIX IX THE MOBXIXG. delight, seized her hand, and shook it with rapturous gratitude. Blessings of every kind were invoked, and showered also, undeservedly, upon Wareham. Then she made vigorous sigrns that Anne was to stay where she was, while she herself hobbled into the hut. " What is to follow ? " asked Wareham. Anne shook her head. '•' I shall certainly wait and see. What can come out of that poor little place ? Not ! " She turned upon him a horrified face — '* Oh, no ! " " What ? " " I believe — I am sure — she is bringing me a tumbler of goat's milk ! Of all things that I loathe " Her face was tragic. Wareham was pre- pared to see her decline the gift, but had to own to injustice. She took the tumbler, drank to the end, and thanked the old woman with a sweet courtesy. If, after it, she moved quickly away, she told Wareham that it was to rescue him from a similar fate. He owned that he could not have been so heroic, and that she had surprised him. VOL. I. 81 6 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " What else was there to do ? " she asked simply. Her mood had changed. All the way back to the inn she talked gaily and liglitly about the country, tlieir fellow-travellers, and the children they met. He found his conception of her lost, not to be called back, and between this and that grew bewildered. There was nothing for it but to follow her lead, and to set Hugh's wrongs on one side. They went there easily, and left the ground more pleas- antly open, so that he reached the door in eager talk, and, what was worse, with desire for more. He kept silence to the Ravenhills as to his morninof, never even tellino^ Mrs. Ravenhill of the little cottage with pansied roof, which he had ostensibly sought for her. Something in him, something which he did not choose to admit, but which secretly controlled him, made him averse from admitting any one to the place where this morning he had met Anne : he told himself that he wished to put away the recollection of a painful incident. Painful it should have been, and must be. 82 AT SIX IX THE MOEXIXG. It was Sunday ; a little service was held in the salon. Afterwards, except at meals, Wareham saw no more of Miss Dalrymple. He went out and walked far over the hills with the clergyman, whose wife was at last tired, but whose own energy was unfailing. He carried it into botany, and though Ware- ham knew nothing of the subject, the triumph with which a rare discovery was hailed gave relish to the walk. Would Millie have liked somethiug dijBferent ? She made no complaiot, but at supper chatted cheerfully of the cottages into which she had penetrated ; the children's shake of the hand for " tak " w^hen she gave them sweets ; the strings of fresh, kindly-faced women coming back from their walk of miles to the nearest church. ^lillie had won the children's hearts, and the next morning, when, under a sky of tender northern blue, they started on their walk up the pass, they came smiling round, no longer in Suaday scarlet skirts and green aprons, but iu work- a-day clothes, to wish her good-morniug and farewell. The air was pure and sweet, soft yet ex- 83 THE SWING OF THE PEXDULUM. hilarating. The stolkjserres were to carry only luggage to the head of the pass, Mrs. Eavenhill declariDg herself ready for the five miles walk. The clergyman and his wife were ahead of them. They went up gradually towards the heights. The mountains fall away on either side, and it is a wide desolate-looking expanse through which the road to Odde curves and zigzags. Patches of snow lie in sun-forgotten gullies, or crown the hio-her summits. All alone; the road tall posts are set at intervals to mark the track on those gloomy days of winter when the light of stars shines on one vast sheet of snow, filling the broad valley cup, and smoothing every rough outline. Some- thing of this melancholy solitude remains throughout the year ; not a tree breaks the sweep, not a building asserts itself. Walk for hours, and it is unlikely that you meet a human being ; the only trace of his activity is the white road which twists upwards. But on a July morning the world under your feet is astir with gladness ; the springy turf is starred with myriads of tiny flowers ; shrubs 84 AT SIX IX THE MORXIXG. of the dwarf cornel peep at you with white brown-eyed blossoms, and the boggy land, through which melting snows are making their way, feed the bright green succulent w^inter chickweed, or the delicate bells of the false lily of the valley. And it was across this beautiful upland world, makino; short cuts from ziorzao- to zigzag, that Millie, as young as the summer and as happy, went her way. Young Grey had, without deliberate arrangement, become a sort of hanger-on of the party, and he was here. From such small adventures as stickinpr in a bocf, or beino- forced to wade a stream, merriment flowed joyously. Xow and then they sat down, rather from w^ishing to linger than from need of rest ; and it was in one of these halts that, their own carriao;es havino; reached a higher level, they beheld two others crawling up the road, and presently a shout reached them from a long spindle-legged figure striding towards the group, and waving a stick to arrest attention. Young Grey sprang to his feet and waved energetically in return. THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. *' It's Colonel Marty n, and there's Miss Dairy mple in the carriole ! " he exclaimed. ** What a shame that she isn't up here ! " He was darting off, when reflection brought him back with — " You don't mind my try- ing to persuade her to come with us, Mrs. Eavenhill ? " " How should I ? By all means persuade her." He was off like an arrow from a bow, and Mrs. Eavenhill praised his good-nature. Ware- ham chimed in ; Millie sat silent. Miss Dairy mple did not leave the little carriage, and young Grey did not return. Colonel Martyn was a melancholy substitute. Naturally it fell to Mrs. Eavenhill to cheer him, and Wareham and Millie wandered on tog^ether. She avoided touchino^ Anne's name : he repeated it more than once to himself, that he might impress on his mind a stronger sense of his relief in not having her there. All Millie's little prettinesses he made an inward note of, and extracted admiration, telling him- self that here was a sweeter charm. If such a thing had been possible, it might have seemed 86 AT SIX IX THE 3I0RXIXG. that he fashioned them into a shield. But why ? And against what '? It gave Millie great pleasure to reach the snow-beds, though their edges were little more than crusts, under which trickled out the melting water ; and when a sudden shade came between them and the sun, and looking up, they realized for the first time what a bank of cloud was sweeping down from the north, she professed a strong desire to see a storm in these desolate regions. At the top of the pass, where lies a sullen lake, slaty grey now with menacing shadow, the stolkjserres were waiting, their own and the Martyns'. And, as there opened before them a vast far- away whiteness of snow, unbroken and eternal, a driver, pointing, said the word which they had long expected — " Folgefond ! " " Where is Tom ? " Mrs. !Martyn demanded hastily. Mrs. Ravenhill reported that he had left her to make his way up a hill, from which he fore- told a view. " He said he would overtake us." *' And I am in mortal terror already ! " cried bis wife. " The skydsgut says we go down 87 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. a tremendously steep descent, and that a dreadful storm is coming. Thunder frightens me to death." Consolation was offered, but failed to soothe. A livid shadow which touched the snow set her trembling. She desired Miss Dalrymple to take Colonel Martyn's place by her side, then looked imploringly at Wareham. " I am ashamed — it is wretched to be such a cow'ard — but Mr. Grey is with Mrs. Raven- hill — ivould you mind coming close behind in Anne's carriole, Mr. Wareham ? The comfort that it would be ! " Wareham perceived that his attendance was resolved upon. He made a slight demur. " Of course if I can be of any use " " The greatest ! You would not condemn me to stay on this dreary spot until Colonel Martyn has finished his survey "? " " Ought we to leave him behind ? " '' Ought he to have deserted us ? Pray let us start. Anne, beg Mr. Wareham not to delay. There, I aai sure I heard thunder ! " " One moment." Wareham made a quick step to where Millie stood, a little aloof. AT SIX IX THE MORXIXG. *' You hear ? " he said, in a low voice. '' Are you alarmed ? " If there was effort, Millie did not show it. She said cheerily — " Not in the least." " The woman is absurd, but I suppose one must humour her." *' Of course. Besides, as she says, we have Mr. Grey." *' Why couldn't she appeal to him ? " His reluctance contented her, and pacified himself Waterproofs were hastily pulled on, for the storm advanced rapidly ; clouds, black as ink, brooded on the mountaias, blotted out the sky, and before they had gone far, poured down torrents of rain. The turmoil was magnificent, and Wareham could not but excuse ^Irs. Martyn's fears, when he noted the acute angles of the steep descent, and heard the thunder crashing overhead. He could see her grasping her companion's arm, and looking round in terrified appeal, but in the hurly-burly, voice was mute. Yet so 89 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. swift was the rush of the storm, that by the time they reached more level ground, it was fairly over, and, drawing up, Mrs. Martyn was able to bewail herself under an outbreak of sunshine. Wareham sprang out of his carriole, and went to theirs. " Safely through it," he said, smiling. "But it was awful, awful!" moaned Mrs. Martyn. " I have just told Anne that my one comfort was in knowing that you were close behind." " A lightning conductor ! " Anne said mockingly. " I believe I should have preferred you at a greater distance, for if we had come to grief, you would certainly have been on the top of us." " I am afraid you are very wet ? " He eyed her anxiously. " Nothing to mind. But the others ? Ought they not to be in sight 1 " He felt a twinge of shame. " I think they ought. I will go back and see." 90 AT SIX IX THE MORNING. Mrs. Martyn called after him that she \A-a3 sure they would be here in a moment, and that it was only because their ponies were not so good that they were behind, but he was already running back. She shrugged her shoulders discontentedly. '^ Manners ! " she exclaimed. " Tell the man to go on, Anne. I don't mean to wait in the road for Mr. Wareham's pleasure." Anne said coolly — " Why should you ? Besides, he belongs to them." " Belongs ? Xonsense ! Do you suppose he thinks of marrying that child ? " She took off her felt hat, and shook the wet from it. "Why not?" " Absurd ! An insignificant little creature, with no attraction except a dimple, which she doesn't know how to show off. You have only to lift your little finger, Anne, and he would be at your feet." Anne showed no surprise, and made no disclaimer. " And it would be better than that last 91 THE SWING OF TEE PENDULUM. foolish affair from whicli you were only just saved." She repeated the word slowly. " Saved ? And what saved me ? " " Oh, don't be vexed ! Nothing, ray dear, but your own worldly wisdom, which came to the rescue in the nick of time, as I always knew it would." Mrs. Martyn laughed. The girl had pulled the hood of her coat over her head to protect it from the rain. She let it slip back, and it showed her face grave. " Why must you all talk of my worldly wisdom ! " she exclaimed. " Am I so hateful that you can't give me credit for a good impulse ? " " Oh, I think you have impulses — it was no doubt an impulse which landed you in the entanglement to w^hich I was referring — but then, happily, you retract in time. EecoUect, you can't do this all your life. I wish you were safely married." Anne drew a deep breath, then laughed. " When I am, the somebody, whoever he is, 92 AT SIX IX THE MOBXIXG. will have to sweep me away like a whirl- wind" " Why ? What do you mean ? " " I can't stand the hesitation, the thinking al30ut it. I invariably begin to repent, and if ?ie hesitates — he is lost." Mrs. Martyn opened her eyes roundly. " So that is your theory i I hardly thought you owned one." Anne went on as if she had not spoken. " I mean to marry, and it appears that I have not the power of falling in love. If I take the leap I must do it at a gallop. Xow do you understand ? " " A little. This last man, did he represent a whirlwind ? My dear, you let it go too far with him, and he could not be expected, poor fellow, to see the absurdity as we all saw it." Anne's eyes darkened. " There was no absurdity. If I had cared a little more, I would have married him." *' If he had happeued to have twenty thou- sand a year instead of one, you mean. Xo, 93 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Anne, no. Nothing short of a brilliant mar- riage will satisfy you." Anne looked as if she were going to reply, but checked herself, and turned her head in another direction. Mrs. Martyn yawned. 94 CHAPTER V. THE SKITTISHXESS OF FATE. BEFORE Wareham readied the companions he had deserted, it was evident that something was amiss, for both Mrs. Ravenhill and Millie were on foot, and their skydsgut led the pony. Millie, however, called out to him that no harm had happened, and he then saw that Colonel Marty n was with them. " What has gone wrong ? " he asked, as he came up. ** There's a very disorganized look about you." *' We were nearly disorganized altogether," said Mrs. Ravenhill gravely, for she was not well pleased at AYareham's leaving them. " We might have been, if Colonel Martyn had not come to the rescue." Wareham asked what had happened. 95 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " I suppose the man drove too fast, and that fierce clap of thunder startled the pony, for he went over the edo^e." " Good heavens I " Colonel Martyn interposed to explain that fortunately the descent was not sheer, and the OTOund was soft. Moreover, the skvdsorut jumped ofif, and held on like death. ^'Mr. Grey too. And cut his hand," Millie broke in, with a grateful glance at the youDg man. He turned red. '' Oh, that's nothing." " Well, as nobody will accept the honours of the situation, I shall take them myself," said the girl, laughing. ^' Know then, Mr. Wareham, that mother and I showed immense presence of mind in refusing to be shot out when the jerk came, and in scrambling over the back when we realized that we were still there." " Then ? " " Then the pony was unharnessed, the stolkjserre dragged back, and — here we are ! " She spoke lightly, but she was white and trembling. Colonel Martyn inquired where his people were. 96 THE SKITTISHXESS OF FATE. " I left them in the road below," said Ware- bam briefly. *' Then we'll sort ourselves again, and I'll go on." As he strode away, Mrs. Eavenhill called after him, " Thank you for your help." " He enjoyed it," said Millie. '' It was the nearest approach he could have had to a steeplechase, and has quite raised his spirits." Wareham felt so unconscionably guilty, that it might be supposed something else was really scourcrinor him, and usino^ his small neglect for a lash. He murmured — "I am thankful he was here. If I had dreamed of real dancrer " "There was as much for the others as for us," said MilHe reasonably. " Besides, I be- lieve Mr. Grey and the skydsgut were equal to the emergency. Poor Mr. Grey was the only sufferer." *' Oh, I'm all right," said the young man. " I say, Mr. Wareham, was Miss Dalrymple frightened ? " " Not that I know of," answered Wareham shortly. VOL. I. 97 7 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Mrs. Eavenhill raised her eyebrows at the tone. *' Now, if you and Mr. Grey like to drive on before us/' she said, " Millie and I are quite equal to taking care of ourselves on level ground." "I see no reason for changing." His voice was sharp, and he knew it and was vexed by it, the truth being that he was out of sorts with himself and the world. Fate, he felt, had played him a skittish trick, in thrusting him into companionship with the one woman whom he would have avoided ; nor, spur his steed as he might, could he get away into the old track. He recalled his deliberate judgment of Anne's character, but it rose a bloodless ghost, behind a living, glowing, dark face, with a look of reproach in the beautiful eyes. Avaunt, sorceress ! How should beauty outweigh friendship ? Can a fleeting fancy shake solid foundations? The very thought pricked, scourged him. Even if he extricated himself from his false position by the simple method of breaking away from his companions at Odde, he was wroth at having to admit 98 THE SKITTISHXESS OF FATE. that he could not easily regaia his self- respect. Young Grey babbled youthfully about Miss Dalrymple's charms, as the two men drove alonor, but this was a mere outside accident to which Wareham was indilFerent. Barring- Hugh, what others thought mattered nothing ; it was himself he arraigned with the reluct- ance of a strong character. He answered briefly yes and no, happily sufficient for his companion, who was content to talk. The storm had vanished, leaving an added beauty, on either side a land flashing light from raindrops on which the sun shone brilliantly, a land of bold heights, leaping torrents, and sweet recesses of bedded moss, out of which peeped wild strawberries and a hundred delicate flowers, while far up against the soft blue of the sky gleamed the unbroken whiteness of the snows. The others were overtaken at Seligsted, a small roadside inn, crowded round with unharnessed stolkjserres, and besieged by ravenous travellers. Willing but inefficient hosts lost their heads under press of custom, 99 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. and tourists stormed in vain, while the young girl-waiters grew sullen under their reproaches. The Martyns, arriving earlier, had managed to secure some food in a balcony ; the others, resigning themselves to a long wait, strolled to the river, sat on the grass, and looked at the blue cleft in the hills through which they had passed, or in the opposite direction, where the country broadened into tamer beauties. When they got back, the most irate of the tourists were driving away in a carriage and pair, a red-faced father, and two or three black- eyed girls, half ashamed, half proud of his brow-beating. "Hurry up! Why the devil can't they understand plain English ! " he was shouting. The men standing by looked at him with calm disapproval ; an old man, with a grave, refined face, shrugged his shoulders silently. There is extraordinary variety in Norwegian roads, variety which is beyond word-painting, and, to a large degree, depends upon the cultivation which the eye brings to bear upon it. Admiration rushes easily after vast out- lines, and these are lacking, for in Norway the 100 THE SKITTISHXESS OF FATE. mountains are of no f^reat height, and when you are among them the lower masses block out the summits. Subtler charm lies in the variety, the infinite multitude of tints and shadings with which the sun is always paint- ing hill and sky, the colours which the granite yields to its radiant touch, so that on these summer evenings the barest piece of rock is a wonder of soft and rich colouring. Then, perhaps, where the shadow deepens, a fos flings itself down, an aerial spirit, here spread- ing like a veil, there cleaving the purple gloom with a silver flash. Hardly had the Espelandfos been passed, when the ponies instinctively stopped, and the skydsguts, springing off, announced the Lotefos. They climbed a steep path, and, passing a small summer inn, a great roarino; mass of water, broken into three falls, and rushing and seething in an indescribable tumult of beauty, was before them. Clambering from point to point, whichever way the eye turned, it fell upon clouds of spray, upon swift giddy leaps made by the clear beryl-coloured water before it was churned into foam by the force of its 101 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. descent. Great wet rocks, shining metallic, stood erect in the midst of racing waters, waving grasses caught in the eddies were washed relentlessly, never a pause allowed in which to straighten themselves, and over the magnificent turmoil a rainbow arched serenely. Young Grey sprang into perilous places ; Millie gathered trails of the delicate Linnsea Borealis, slender northerner wdiich the great botanist chose for his own ; Mrs. Ravenhill and Wareham strolled down to the carriages, and leaving the Lotefos behind by a road which soon began to edge itself along a lake, they drove on to Odde. ''Civilization and late dinners!" sighed Millie, as they got out at the cheerful door of the Hardanger. " Shops ! " groaned young Grey. "Excellent things, each of them," retorted Mrs. Ravenhill cheerfully. " I wonder how long it will be before you all find yourselves in that shop ? " It w^as not long. Every one is attracted by the furs, the carvings, the silver buttons, the soft eider rugs with their beautiful green duck- 102 THE SKITTISEXESS OF FATE. breast borderings. In the sweet summer dusk it is pleasant to stroll about the little town, buy cherries from the men who bring their baskets of ripe fruit, and turn into this store of Norwegian handiwork. It is more enchant- ingr to ofo to the front of the hotel, where the fjord runs up between snow-flecked hills, and ends. Grave evening purples steal over the land ; in the sky, and reflected in the faithful waters, daflbdil and primrose tints melt into each other. A yacht lay in a sea of gold, her fine delicate lines repeated below. A light shone out. Some one stood at the top of the landing steps, looking at the water. Wareham hesitated, then quickly walked up to her. '* I expected to overtake you at the Lotefos," he said abruptly. She did not turn her head. " Are you grateful to me for having sj^ared you the encounter ? " '' If I were, should I be here ? " '^ Very likely. I do not know^ why you have come." " I venture to brino; a sug-o-estion." " More likely a reproach," she said. '' I 103 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. believe you are determined to force a quarrel upon me/' '*You misjudge me — indeed you misjudge me ! " He spoke warmly, then hesitated. " Certainly we need not quarrel," he said slowly. *' The fates have flung us together, and it appears to me that for a time at least we might leave the past behind us. Forbes is my friend. I cannot think that he was well treated — your friends, doubtless, would take another view. But if we are not likely to agree on this one subject, there are, happily, others in the world to talk about. Come. Do you agree *? " She did not immediately answer. He found himself speculating anxiously what her words would be. When they dropped from her at last, he hung on the low tones — " I don't think that two can talk with comfort on even the most indifferent subjects when there is total absence of trust between them." " Is that our position ? " he asked uneasily. '* Is it not ? I have taken trouble to give you an explanation, and you do not believe a word of it." 104 THE SKITTISRXESS OF FATE. "Do not let us discuss that matter." " It is there," said Anne. Both were silent. A boat came towards them, shattering the tranquil golden lights of the fjord ; a few strong strokes brought it up to the landing-place, and half-a-dozen English sprang out, two young girls among them. They looked tired, carried alpenstocks, and called out a gay good-night to the rowers. They had just come back from a hard climb to the Skjseggedalsfos, and were almost too weary to be enthusiastic. The boat pushed away again into the shining waters, the sound of the oars died into silence. Presently Anne spoke, io;noringr their last words. '' The difference between north and south is curiously strong — forgive a truism ! What I meant to remark was the different call they make upon oneself. Here there is a good deal of enjoyment to be met with, and it is exactly the opposite kind of enjoyment to what one finds in Italy or Greece. Do you feel this ? Since we landed, I believe I have hardly thought a thought or encountered an idea." *' My own sensation," Wareham answered 105 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. eagerly. '' It has been like taking out one's brains, and leaving them with one's plate at the banker's. The odd thing is, that I don't miss them." He laughed. She went on — " I have wondered more than once how long it would take to settle down to existence in one of those isolated little villages of two or three houses each which we passed on the Suldal lake ? " "With some of us I suspect the savage would take the upper hand more readily and more rapidly than we suppose possible." " The brain would not rebel 1 " " You would have to admit glorious physical excitement." Anne shivered. " I cannot realize the possibility of any excitement at all in those desolate homes." " Can't you ? I, on the contrary, picture a good deal. Chiefly gloomy, I allow. Think of living for ever next door to your worst enemy — or your best friend ! Which would be the most unbearable ? " She took no notice of this cynical speech. 106 THE SKITTISHNESS OF FATE. '' I could understand the life being endural3le in summer, but in winter — winter ! And such a winter, with its snows and darkness ! " He demurred. *' So far as I can make out, winter is the most sociable time of the year. You forget that lakes and fjords become the great means of communication ; in summer, houses are isolated, owing to the want of roads, but in winter the frozen water serves in their place. No, depend upon it, they have a good time when once they can skate, or strike away on the great snow-shoes you saw by the roadside to-day." " But the darkness ? " " Well, one gets used to that in London. I don't know that we can talk. Besides, they have a great pull over us in the stars. I assure you that all the men who have said anything about it speak of the winter with evident satisfaction." " They know nothing better," Anne said incredulously. " The root of all satisfaction," "Wareham observed. 107 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM, She glanced at him quickly, bit her lip, and walked on. He found himself admiring her tall slender figure, and the poise of her small head thrown into relief by the glassy water. He had dropped the fiction that she was not beautiful, and retreated behind a yet feebler barricade, the pretence that hers was not the beauty he extolled. He had ceased to wonder that it served for Hugh. At the end of the landing-place x\nne turned. Wareham was immediately behind, and she faced him as she had not yet done. She spoke, too, more softly — *' You leave to-morrow ? " He flushed and hesitated. " I — I am not sure. Possibly." Her eyes rested on his for a moment, and moved away. She said, indifferently — ■ " Here is Colonel Martyn." Colonel Martyn was charged with hope. He had met the party from the Skjseggedalsfos, and report of certain difficulties owing to a fall of rock had fired his athletic soul. Ware- ham added that the fos itself was worth a visit, but this idea he rejected. 108 THE SKITTISHNK%S OF FATE. " See one, see all," he declared. " A hurly- burly of water, and no fishing — there you have it. But there might be a chance of a climb getting there, and at any rate it must be better than loafing about this wretched little hole. Anne, will you come ? " " No, thank you. I prefer loafing." '' Will you ? "—to Wareham. " I don't mind. I've been once, and should not be sorry to see it again." '' Eight. And if you know the lingo, per- haps you'll make the arrangements. Better change your mind, Anne." " No. My mind is set upon easier pleasures. Where's Blanche?" "You needn't ask." Colonel Martyn's gloom returned. " Buying Brummagem goods in the shop." " I shouldn't wonder if you believed the fall came from Brummagem too," Anne re- torted. " Well, I'm going to help her. Good- night." " You'd better be sure you know how to work your fire-escape before you go to bed," he called after her. " It's a common occur- 109 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. leiice for the hotels to be burnt down once a month.'' Young Grey, torn between Anne and adven- ture, felt as if adventure might possess a qualifying powder, and went off with the other men early the next morning. Millie tried to get her mother to slip aw^ay to the Buarbrae glacier, but Mrs. Kavenhill was tired, and disinclined for a lono; climb. She ag^reed to go with Millie to a spot which they had remarked the day before, where a river flung itself out of the lake, but she promised Mrs. Martyn to join her after luncheon. They captured a stolkjserre, and drove to their point ; then, dismissing it, and leaving the dusty road, turned into a wood that belonged to a fairy tale, where low trees stood singly in the grass, and where every now and then they saw through a break the blue Hardanger hills, rising out of the fjord, and topped with snow ; or, on the other side, a silver lake, with mountains stretching, fold after fold, into the solemn distance. Here and there a great ^ rounded granite boulder cropped up, tossed out of its place by Titan wrath ; one little farm 110 THE SKITTISHXESS OF FATE. nestled amid cherry-trees, but the silence was profound, and hardly a living creature passed ; only a child or two, then a quaint old couple with a dog. The woman was tall, with a sweet dignified face; the man, bent and aged, carried a Hardanger fiddle. They stopped and chatted readily, and after they had talked awhile, at a sign from his wife, the man began to play his fiddle. It was an odd jangle with no tune, but somehow the old couple, the granite rocks, the wild peasant music, seemed to belong to each other, and to the country. Mother and daughter slowly walked home, past a j)icturesque saw-mill, bringing sighs from Mrs. Kavenhill, and througrh fields where hay-making filled the air with fresh fragrance. Each field has its hurdles on which the flower- scented grass hangs drying. When they reached the first outlying house, Mrs. Ravenhill put a question which had once or twice fluttered on her lips. " When is Mr. Wareham going to leave us?" There was a moment's pause before Millie answered — 111 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. '' Is he goinor 2 " " I suppose so. From what he told me I believed he intended going off on his own account as soon as he had landed us at Odde/' " Well, he hasn't gone," said the girl, look- ing^ straiojht before her. Her mother glanced, but could not see her face. " I shall have a talk with him to-morrow," said Mrs. Eavenhill, in a decided tone. " He may consider himself bound to us, and I am sure I should be vexed beyond measure if he imagined anything of the sort. It would be most annoying. You see that, don't you, Millie ? " she added incautiously. " What am I to see ? " asked Millie, with a laugh. '' Mr. Wareham bound with cords to you or to me, or to Miss Dalrymple — which is it? — and unable to extricate himself? Fm not sure that the picture is as pathetic as you imagine, but what wall you do about it ? Implore him to consider himself a free man ? You should get Miss Dalrymple to speak for you." 112 THE SKITTISHXESS OF FATE. Mrs. Eavenliill was a little offended. " What has Miss Dairy mple to do with it ? You told me he disliked her." The girl did not answer the question ; she beoran to talk to a pony standing in a cart by the roadside. Then came a shop, and doubt as to the purchase of an ermine purse ; after that, hurry for the tahle-cVliote. Xn English yacht lay in the fjord ; her people had come on shore, and were lunching at the Hardanger, next to the Martyns. Millie, who had for her neighbour a clever young Siamese prince who was travelling with a Danish tutor, hoped that Miss Dalrymple might select them for her afternoon companions. But, luncheon over, she made straicrht for Millie. "You and I will escape from all these people," she said, with a smile which would have sent young Grey to her feet. Millie was unaffected. " It is very hot," she said. " Here, very. But I have a cool plan in my head. Please come." It would have been ungrracious to refuse, and pre-engagements were not to be pleaded VOL. I. 113 8 TH£ SWING OF THE PENDULUM. in Odde. Id an hour's time the two girls were sitting in one of the light boats, pointed at each end, and being rowed across the fjord to the opposite side, where a slender waterfall is seen from Odde, dancing down through purple and green woods. The fjord was still as glass, each line of the English yacht repeated itself in the opal waters, two children with scarlet caps hung fishing over the side of the vessel. Anne lay lazily back, looking at every- thing through half-closed lids. Everything included Millie. Millie asked at last where they were going. '' To a farm. Does that please you ? " She did not answer the question. "I can't see anything like a farm." "Nor I," said Anne, idly turning her head. " We must take it on trust. Old Mr. Camp- bell tells me such a place exists, and hinted at cherries and milk." "But the /osf" " To be crossed by a bridge. You see I have got my bearings." Apparently, indeed, she and Millie had changed natures, for she rained talk and 114 THE SKITTISHXESS OF FATE. laughter upon the younger girl. And she showed no sign of being daunted by the steepness of the climb when they had landed and were struggling up the bank. The path they sought eluded them ; presently they found themselves in a thick-orrowinor grassv wood of low trees, through which they pushed a devious way. It was green, fresh, lovely; the roar of the waterfall was in their ears, now and again they met some impetuous little stream, which had rushed away from the greater fall to make its own wilful way to the fjord. Delightful assurance of solitude, cool deepness of grass, stones sheeted with moss and wet w^ith spray, clear dash of waters, interlacing bouo-hs througrh which sun-shafts shot down, lured them to breathless heights — lured Anne, rather, for Millie dragged. It was Anne who made the ventures, Anne who held aside hinderino: branches, Anne whose voice came lauorhino; back to vow that the labvrinth otcw more tangled, Anne who at last dropped by the side of a baby stream babbling over its stones, and bade Millie rest. She could not say enough of the fascinations of the spot. 115 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. "They will come back boasting of their fall with the hopeless name, only because it is big. AVhat has size to do with beauty? This thing is perfect. Look at its curves, and its swirls, and its pools, and its grasses, and its small airs ! " Millie roused herself to admire. *' You are tired ? " Anne asked. She owned that she had walked far that morning. ''And this place doesn't rest you as it does me ? " " I don't know." Anne settled herself against a sapling. " I feel as if I had reached the one breath- ing-place of my life. You don't know that sensation." " Do you think you would like it — often ? " asked Millie. *' Certainly not. It is liking it so much which is so unexpected to me. I am of the world — worldly. And to find myself exhilar- ated and delighted is like growing young a^ain." Millie had to smile. 116 THE SKITTISHNESS OF FATE. " You are not so old ! " *' Aged ! — in experience. As for years, they don't count, or I dare say we might find that I am not so much older than you as you — as every one — would imagine. But I have lived/' Did that mean she had loved ? Millie coloured at the charge of inexperience, galling to youth. *'You can know little about me," she protested. ''Next to nothing. Tell me. You live alone with your mother ? " This was admitted. " You are not engaged to any one ? " "Oh, no!" " And have never tried that position ? " " No, oh, no ! " " That shocks you," said Anne, with a laugh. " My dear, it often happens to me." '' Not seriously ? " "Quite seriously." She leant back and watched Millie's face with amusement. " Are you disgusted ? " " Why — why do you do it ? I can't under- stand." 117 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. "It comes somehow, often really without my intending. It's the way of my kind, I suppose. For one thing, how is one to know a man at all until one is engaged ? And so often I can't tell beforehand whether I like them well enough or not. As you see, it has generally euded by my discovering that it would be intolerable. I don't pretend that there have not been other reasons," she added frankly. " Riches sometimes fly away on nearer approach." "And that would be enouo-h ? " o " Oh, yes." " You think nothing of your promise ? " Anne was looking at her through half- closed eyes and smiling. " I am not sure that I don't think too much. It becomes unendurable. When I am married it will have to be in a whirlwind. No hesitations, no hanging back. So much I can tell him. The rest he will have to find out. Stormed, really stormed, I should be afraid of myself." She fell iuto silence. There was no sound except the rush of the water, not so much as 118 THE SKITTISHNESS OF FATE. the chirp of a bird. At last she looked round again. '* So you see — me void! — Anne Dalrymple." Millie cried out — " I am glad I am not a London beauty ! " " There are more disagreeable positions,'' Anne said reflectively. "Now, if you had said a London beauty with a heart " "Have you no heart?" Millie asked im- pulsively. '' Not I ! What does duty for it is a poor little chippy dried-up thing, which may be reckoned on never to give me an ache or a pain." She sprang to her feet. " Come ! The farm ! I am not going to let you off the farm." No bridge could they find, and there was nothing for it but to retrace their steps. Down the hill-side, throudi the entanorlino; greenery, they plunged, breathless and laugh - ingr, and found themselves at last overlooking; the fjord, without any means of crossing the fos. Anne, undaunted, spied a boat on the fjord rowed by a boy ; her signals brought it to shore. The boy readily agreed to row 119 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. them to a higher point, but, this carried out, he refused to wait for them. " Never mind ! We are here ! " Anne cried, springing out. She followed a rough path, and presently pounced on wild strawberries. A man was digging. Seeing them gathering strawberries, he made signs that they were welcome to the cherries which hung temptingly from his trees. He bent the boughs down ; Anne picked and brought crimson handfuls to Millie lying on the grass. The w^arm sun shone, a little stone-chat scolded from a rail, it was all calm, restful, and fragrant with hay. They went up the narrow path towards the farm ; the way was overhung with cherry-trees, and a vagrant stream of water, w^hich played truant from the fall, dashed down, flinging lovely spray over the waving grasses. The farm dominated the fjord ; fold after fold of blue hills stretched away, the white water at their feet, and desolate-looking islands staring up at the sunshine, which scarcely softened their black outlines. Anne's mood changed, she grew silent, and silently they went their way down the little path, till they 120 THE SKITTISHXESS OF FATE. reached the man still digging his patch of ground. Millie, tired, inquired how she proposed getting home. " He will take us in his boat. I asked him as I picked the cherries." Going back, it appeared as if the waters had grown yet more still and glassy. Each patch of snow, each outburst of green, each violet shadow, sent a lovely repetition of itself into the world below. The boat slipped dreamily through them, only the lap of the oars, and the faint and distant murmur of the waterfall, breaking the silence. One after another the little green promontories dropped behind, the white church of Odde and the clustering houses took form, a boat passed them. Anne looked up. " This is not the time for commonplaces, yet they haunt me," she said impatiently. " I — I — I — I am the commonplace, and I have stumbled into a thick mist of doubts and questionings. Tell me, are you always direct ? and certain that ri^ht is rii^ht and wrong wrong ? " 121 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Millie coloured, hesitated. Such aii appeal confused her. Anne went on — " My rules are not so ready. Something else steps in and hoodwinks me, though I dare say it is true that I offer my eyes for the bandage. Wliat I complain of is that when I do my best to walk straight — according to my lights — ^I am the more cried out upon. Your Mr. Wareham, now, acts Khadamanthus, yet what does he know ? How can he pretend to judge what motives influenced me, and whether they were bad or good ? Has he discussed them with you ? " The question came like a bolt ; the answer was a brief " No." " No ? " Anne's eyes w^ere fastened on the girl ; Millie's honesty gave unwilling explana- tion. " Never your motives. He said once that Mr. Forbes was his friend, and that the break- ing off of your engagement was not his fault. He said this before " " Before ? " " Before he knew you." Anne meditated. Her eyes softened. 122 THE SKITTISnXESS OF FATE. " I suppose it is the everlasting I — I — T, again, which makes me imagine that people talk when they are not even thinking of me. However, it is true that he misjudges me, I had it from his own lips, and I am sorry, foolishly sorry, because he is a man — " She broke off and laughed — ''Somehow my vanity would make me wish to appear at one's best before him. Does that shock you again ? " " Why should it ? " '' I couldn't say why, but I am for ever shocking people unintentionally. You have not got over my talking of my engagements, yet — they don't judge me harshly, any one of those men would marry me to-morrow. Yes, even Mr. Wareham's friend, in spite of Mr. AYareham ! " Women, however unsophisticated, possess the gift of intuition. Millie divined that Miss Dalrymple wished her to talk of Ware- ham, and was ready to profess a spasmodic anger for the pleasure of hearing him defended. She was reluctant and ashamed of her reluc- tance. The shame stung her into crying — '• Why do you talk of ]\lr. Wareham's judg- 123 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. ing you harshly ? You must know very well that if it ever was so, he has forgiven you." A smile began to play about Anne's mouth. " Do you think so ? " Millie flung her a look. *' Well — I hope you are right. He has been so stifl" that it would be a victory to bring him round. We shall see. Meanwhile, here we are at Odde ; and what am I to offer to our boatman ? — boat-master too, I suspect." '' Ask him." The man smiled, shook his head, wanted nothing. The equivalent of a sixpence was all he would at last consent to receive. Millie dragged a heavy heart up-stairs, and Anne went in pursuit of Mrs. Martyn. •"^f^s^ 124 CHAPTER VI. AND THE PITFALLS OF CUPID. OXCE more a shifting of sunny lights and purple shadows, of ever-varying colours, of small hamlets nestling by the water-side, each with its pier, its boats, and its many- hued little crowd, as they steamed down the Hardanger fjord towards Eide. Contempt for waterfalls was balanced by joy in the effort of reaching them, and, by dint of swear- ing to travel night and day until he overtook them again, Colonel Martyn obtained leave from his wife to g-o ofif to the Vorino^fos, and young Grey he dragged reluctantly with him. This threw the others of the party more to- gether, and it seemed necessary for Wareham to otfer his services to those who were bereft of their nominal protector. The mid- day 125 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. meal was taken at the excellent " Mellands " at Eide ; afterwards they strolled about in the meadows, and sat under hny-hurdles, in order to allow the great noonday heat to sub- side, before mounting the steep hill which lay between them and Vossefangen. Anne, in- deed, vowed she would not walk, and chose a carriole, as a lighter conveyance ; but Mrs. Kavenhill and Millie soon jumped out of their stolkjserre. And what a road it was ! High up, a great waterfall hurled itself into a chasm of foam, and while the carriages crawled round zigzags, those on foot could cut off green corners, clambering ever higher into the sweet elastic air, until at the top they rested, breath- less, until the calvacade of patient ponies pulled slowly up, then merrily along the level road to Voss. Voss is ugly, but friendly. It has a good inn and a well-known landlord, an ancient church with a brown timber spire, a few shops, and a little train, which leisurely trots backwards and forwards to Bergen. Between it and Stalheim lies one of the most beautiful roads in Norway, a road constantly , 126 AND THE PITFALLS OF CUPID. changing, with every variety of river and hike, of waving sorrel-tinted grass, now red, now^ green, now grey, as the w^ind kisses it ; of distant snowy heights, and nearer sterner hills ; here and there a fall, a water-mill, a group of cottages with turf-roofs starred by ox-eyed daisies, and always before you the road running, white, into the far away. No zigzagged hills, however, and no oppor- tunities for talk except in the halts which come occasionally for the hardy ponies. And once, from Anne's skydsgut, a little girl of eight or nine years old, with the usual wdiite handkerchief over her head, there rose an agonized wail of " T0i, t0i I " Wareham drove up rapidly. Anne's portmanteau, which also formed the seat of her infant driver, huno- threateningly over the edge ; there was much hoisting and roping before it was restored to equilibrium. " No more carrioles for me," said Anne. *' It is too dull. Think of not being able so much as to inveigh against the dust ! Ap- parently it w^ould cause a revolution in the 127 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. country if you, for instance, were to drive by my side ? " " I don't pretend to cope with a Norwegian pony and its skydsgut," answered Wareham, laughing. He said no more ; but, after these words of hers, it might have been noticed that he contrived to keep sufficiently close to ex- change remarks, if only in pantomime, and when they halted at Tvinde, it was he who was at hand to help her down from her dusty perch. There was, as usual, a fos to be visited. "Not worth seeing," announced Mrs. Marty n. " Some one, I forget who, said so." "The more reason for going," Anne insisted. She invited Wareham to accompany her, Mrs. Martyn watching their departure with ex- pressive lifting of her eyebrows. " There is Anne at her usual pastime, making fools of the men," she said to Mrs. Eavenhill. " I thought she had had a lesson, and might be trusted for a time ; but it's in her, it's in her ! If there is no one else, she 128 AND THE PITFALLS OF CUPID. sets to work upon my husband. Fortunately he's wood, not wax." " What was the lesson ? " It was irresistible to Mrs. Ravenhill to put this leading question. " Don't you know ? London was full of it. She was engaged to a Mr. Forbes, a son of Sir Martin's, and broke it off with out- rageous abruptness. I never expected her to marry him, it was the way she put an end to it which incensed people. "We thought the best thins: for her was to o-et her abroad. And here — you see ! " " Why was she so abrupt ? " " She is ambitious. Only a brilliant posi- tion will capture, but a fancy will sway her." Thankfulness sometimes goes oddly askew. Mrs. Ravenhill breathed a sigh of relief that Millie's innocent inclination had been checked in good time. Still, a touch of hostility to- wards the man who had roused it was in her tone. " Possibly Mr. Wareham is of the same kind, and can take care of himself?" VOL. I. 129 9 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " Oh, poor fellow, poor fellow ! " ejaculated Mrs. Marty n, rejecting the possibility. The last thing in the world that would have entered Wareham's head was that he was already the subject of comment. He allowed that there was a change in his thoughts of Anne, but would have scouted the idea that it implied change in his attitude towards Hugh. He now told himself that her conduct was probably capable of explan- ation. That meant pardon. He even in- dulged in dreams of reconciliation under his auspices. That included friendship. Hugh's infatuation no longer amazed him, he was only surprised that he had not held her more strenuously; for it seemed to him that had he been in such a position he would not easily have been ousted. Thinking this, the rash man also watched her, noting the delicate side-lines of her face, the short curve of the upper lip, the soft growth of hair where it touched the neck, and the dainty ear ; details which only stepped into prominence when, as now, her eyes were turned away, for their dark depths drew, and held captive, other eyes. 13Q AXD THE PITFALLS OF CUPID. They gave the impression of offering much to one who could interpret what they said, and in face of them it was useless to moralize upon the untrustworthiness of woman's beauty. This was what Wareham had presumed to do, and now, when she suddenly turned them upon him, something startled him. *'Have you got over your prejudice ? " she asked, smiling. '' Prejudice ? " "Against me? But I should not have asked you, I didn't mean to do anything so imprudent, only that you are changed^ and wonderfully pleasanter, and women never know when to let well alone. They want words to quiet them, and I want you to tell me w^ith your own lips that you don't dislike me any more." Again that momentary feeling of intoxica- tion. He murmured almost inaudibly — "I can't." She slackened her steps. " Why not ? " "Say that I don't dislike you any more? Had I ever known you to dislike you ? " 131 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " No, no, but you bad imagined me, and it was not a pretty picture you evolved. Tell me whether the picture still exists, or whether it is blotted out ? " Protestation was on his lips, when the re- collection of Hugh's misery rose up and checked him. She was still watching him, but now she turned away her face. " It is not, I see," she said quietly. Wareham clutched at a feverish memory. " How can I forget his suffering ? But," he hastened to add, *' since I have known you, I can't believe that caprice or heartlessness caused it. There must have been something I don't understand, and I am certain you could explain it if you would." Among Cupid's pitfalls there is no occupa- tion so dangerous as for two persons to discuss each other's sins and virtues — none perhaps more attractive. Wareham would have pointed this out in his books, yet here he was flounder- ing. And Anne ? Was she playing Will-o'- the-Wisp ? She looked at him again. *' I suppose you expect me to drop a curtsey, and offer a meek thank you ? " 132 AND THE PITFALLS OF CUPID. " I don't expect the impossible." " Impossible ? " *' I can't imagine the meekness." '*Yoiir own fault. You don't inspire it. You try to ruffle my temper." " What is that -but giving you an oppor- tunity to display the virtue ? You can't display meekness without cause for it." " Cause for it ? " Anne struck back. " You offer cause freely ! " " Oh ! " " Can you say you have not been harsh in all your judgments ? " '^ Before I knew you." Hugh was forgotten. He had ceased to be anything but a peg on which to hang banter, and, perhaps strangely, it was Anne who recalled him with a sio^h. "Did he — did Mr. Forbes blame me so much ? " " He never blamed you." " Yet his friend was unmerciful." '' \Yhat could I think ? T came home to find Huo;h dashed from his heis^hts to lowest depths of wretchedness. He neither slept nor 133 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. ate, but talked immoderately. From his talk I gleaned my own impressions. He was devoted to you, lie was miserable — you must forgive me if I became unjust." Apparently she had forgotten the compas- sion which had made her sigh, for she repeated his words demurely — " Talked immoderately ! And your patience held out all the time ? " " I believe I can be patient.'* " And I can't. There's the mischief ! '' He did not ask her to what mischief she alluded. They were close to the fos, and had been looking at it with unseeing eyes. Now some pause in the flutter of their thoughts made them turn with relief to an outward object. Wareham muttered a platitude about its beauty. He thought Mrs. Kavenhill would have liked it for a sketch, while Anne scorned the thought. '' Sketch a waterfall ? As well sketch a disembodied spirit." Silence again, spent apparently in dreaming of the delicious freshness of the leaping water. Eeally, Wareham was looking at her, and 134 AXD THE PITFALLS OF CUPID. wonderiDg liow he could ever have been such a prejudiced fooL He had made up his mind that she was a creature of the world, adept in its wiles, knowing how to torment poor Hugh, and using her knowledge remorselessly. Here, by the flashing waters, she was young, frank, imprudent, perhaps, but cruel — never ! What- ever had happened, hers was not the fault. So far on the primrose path Wareham had strayed, and was certain of his footing. Presently she spoke again. " Some day perhaps I shall tell you. Not yet, for I am not sufficiently sure of my ground. If I have gained anything, it would be humiliating to see it all melt away, as it might. I was vexed at your prejudging me, because it was not fair ; all your sympathies were heaped on one side, and I really believe if you could have crushed me with them, you were quite ready to have done so. Now I start on a better footing. Now if you blame me, as you will, it will not be in that hard, unreasoning fashion." " Why say that I shall blame you ? " His voice was not quite steady. 135 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. She turned and walked down the hill. ^' Because you cannot yet judge fairly." He remonstrated. "You need not be displeased. It is not your fault. No man is capable of placing himself in a woman's position in such a matter." " Try me." She laughed merrily. " There is another thing which no man can do — imagine that he is not an exception to the general rule ! " " I wish you would find something which a man can do, instead of crushing with nega- tives ! " He was growing impatient, and she said abruptly — " I believe I will tell you.'* He waited, eagerly desiring that she should look at him. " But I risk a great deal, because you are Mr. Forbes' friend, and you will not believe it possible." Alas for friendship when it is first confronted with love ! Afterwards it may recover its footing, but in the, as yet, unacknowledged 136 AND THE PITFALLS OF CUFII). ^vhirl of head and heart, the poor thing gets swept into the vortex. At that moment AYareham could have believed much. " And it sounds so little when one puts it into w^ords ! " the sinner went on hesitatingly. " It must have been that I did not like him well enough — ever. I thought I did. I assure you I was quite glad to discover that I could feel so much, but " She paused so long that Wareham repeated the word. " But ? " "I got tired of him, of it, of all!" She turned her eyes on him. " You have never tried, have you, being adored from morning to night ? " '' Never." " It is sickening. Like living upon sweet- meats. I used to try to provoke him, and if once I could have got him out of temper, there might have been some hope. If he had contradicted me ! I longed for a breath of fresh air. And dracrorino; on — oh, he made a mistake all through. Of course you can't understand " She ended abruptly. 137 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. He felt a burning desire to assure her that he could, but his muttered words struck him as absurdly inadequate. Silence became more eloquent. Anne broke it at last — " It was a hundred pities," she mused, " and rough on him, for what could I say ? What reason could I give ? Tell him that he bored me ? I couldn't, I couldn't ! I can't lose my friends. No, no, no, poor fellow ! Here we come upon all those people, and Blanche is beckoning wildly, and I can't think how I have had the face to talk to you. Forget it ! " With a sudden movement, for which he was unprepared, she sprang from him, and ran down the steep slope. He restrained the im- pulse to quicken his own pace, and by the time he reached the road, the carrioles had started, and Mrs. Ravenhill and Millie, the clergyman and his wife, were moving off in a cloud of dust. Wareham, in spite of the impatience of his skydsgut, held back until carriages and dust had rolled away in the distance. Tumultuous thought made it at first im- 138 AXD THE PITFALLS OF CUPIV. possible to grasp a single idea, and to hold on to it as a centre for others. Anne's face, the flutter of a small curl on her forehead, softly outlined arch of ejebro\YS, all manner of idiotic fancies, hustled and jostled each other in his brain ; and he presently became a^Yare that instead of sending the airy traitors to the rio;ht-about, he was encourao;ino[ them to stand, wall-like, between himself and the truth about himself. Too strong a man to keep up the mask when once he discovered it, he proceeded to chase the busy throng. From behind them Anne's face peeped again. He draoro;ed out a hidino; fact, and held it bare to his own scorn. He loved her — loved her ; and though but a day before the amaze- ment of it would have struck him mute, it had already ceased to look strange. All had led to it. The inconceivable would have been his failing to love. So far his heart with easy swing. But judgment stood stubborn in refusal to go with it. Judgment it was which held the scourge. With Hugh Forbes in the back- ground, what might be acknowledged natural 139 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. became also offensive. As Wareliam jogged along the white road, unheedful of bold out- lines or lovely verdure, he found himself mentally writing to his friend, and recoiling with a start. How could he word such a dispatch — " I have seen the woman for whom you are breaking your heart. I love her myself, and shall try to win her " ? The very thought was brutal. Yet — to resign her for a dream, even for an ill-placed devotion, what could be more foolish and morbid ? What fresh chance could come to Hugh ? His had passed when, sooner than carry out an engagement, she had broken away abruptly, and faced the talk and jibes of her world by venturing on a course for which blame was the more unsparingly heaped on her because it was inexplicable. Hugh was young, handsome, ardent. Until this moment Wareham had fancied him the very man to catch the fancy of a woman, and it was only since Anne had lifted the curtain which friend- ship held tight, that he could admit that possible something — was it the power of bor- ing ? — which had driven her from him. This 140 AND THE PITFALLS OF CUPID. was what she meaDt when she said she had no patience. That patience should be wanted ! Here was his heart once more racing smoothly, until judgment caught the reins again, and tugged at the runaway steed. What boy's work was this ! A woman but a few weeks ago betrothed to his friend, and still beloved by him — crazily it might be, but with all his heart — a woman of whom he knew next to nothiDg, and that little, up to now, not in her favour — and here, at a word, a look, he was at her feet ! Shameful ! Yet — worst shame of all — not to be parted with at any price. Already the world without Anne's fissure in the foreground looked cold and unendurable. His eyes tried to pierce the whirl of dust ahead, and to distinguish her amid its folds ; he fancied he could do so, and straightway his thoughts w^ere occupied w^ith nothinor but foolish lonoinsf to know what her eyes were saying at this moment. The confidence she had given surely pointed to a touch of sympathy, a budding liking ? Happy, happy he ! In another hour or two they might be again together, and he would 141 TEE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. show better than he yet had done, how much he prized her frankness. The next moment these thoughts turned upon him with scourges. Honour stood by, and scornfully directed the flagellation, and he felt himself a miserable traitor. Here was friendship ! Here was a creditable sequel to his offices for Hugh ! So his mind wandered backwards and forwards. Chaos lasted for a while, and it is not im- possible that the tumult was so new that he rashly suffered it, believing in his own powers of self-government, and aware of a whirl, as of hot-headed youth, which he had thought the years had left behind. The day changed, brooding clouds gathered round the mountains, which closed in, rank after rank ; nearer hills, heavily purple, swept up from the gloom of the valley. The road slowly mounted, the dust subsided, and the crawling carrioles in front looked as if an effort might overtake them. But Wareham checked the impulse, and his skydsgut's attempted spurt. He would not see Anne until he had resolved on a line of action. A resolution, carefully thought out, would serve as a guard against 142 AND THE PITFALLS OF CUPID. the rasher promptings of his heart, and be- tween this and Stalheim he had to come to terms with this resolution. One was already there — not to give her up if he could o-ain her. Behind this his heart entrenched itself, grumbling. Yet, in spite of such a reservation, carrying a good deal with it, Wareham hugged the delusion that the other was the more im- portant. Conscience had much to say as to what he should write to Hugh, how wrap up the communication which was so abominably angular and assertive, that, say what he would, it inevitably presented itself in a re- pulsive form. Conscience harped loudly upon truth, yet was anxious to give truth what should have been unnecessary adornin^r. Finally he resolved to write to Hugh that night, and to tell him — ? to tell him that he had met Miss Dalrymple. This decided, he was forced to admit that so much Huo-h knew already. There must be a more expan- sive confession ; he had to add — admired, Hked her. And this written, in thought, appeared so significant to Wareham, that he imagined 143 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. himself closing the letter here, and drew a breath of relief. But conscience, refusing com- promise, cried out for something explicit, and here came the difEculty. All the sentences he revolved looked either inadequate or shameful. " Do you give her up ? " Free she undoubtedly was, having herself asserted her freedom, but free to Hugh Forbes' chief friend ? Yet something he must write, and until it was written and answered, keep his feelings out of reach of betrayal. Here was a reso- lution which he grasped, for it belonged to the honourable instincts of a fine nature, too deeply rooted to sufifer in the general upheaval. He added a rider, necessary if unpalatable. He would not avoid Anne to the extent of provoking her own or other remark, but he must avoid — well, such a walk a deux as they had taken that day, for instance. The road grew steeper, and he jumped out of his carriole. Stalheim was perched above, a hotel, two or three scattered cottages, and a waterfall. He climbed through gathering ^ clouds, and when he reached the door, was 144 AXD THE PITFALLS OF CUFID. met by English tourists of the most noisy and offensive type. All his own people had vanished, and he saw no more of them until supper, which was eaten to the accompaniment of a band. Mrs. Eavenhill confided to him that she hated the place, in spite of the magnificence of the scenery. " And Millie and I have determined to go to Gudvangen to-morrow, and wait for the Monday steamer. I cannot stay here to see my own country-people making themselves so obnoxious." She hastened to add with scrupu- lous care, '' You don't expect me, I hope, to repeat that you are not in the least tied to us, and must not be influenced by anything wx may do." "Does that sentence mean that I am for- bidden to accompany you ? " " Forbidden ? Oh, no ; but the others stay on, and this is one of the special places in Norway." " I detest special places." She warned further. '* Kemember that we heard the little inn at Gudvangen was very primitive." VOL. I. 145 10 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. *'That decides me. If you will allow me, I shall certainly go there with you." Millie's face was all brightness. Wareham, indeed, was inclined to look upon the proposal as the reward of merit, to plume himself upon a sort of recognition of his having kept on the side of his conscience. It was a step out of his dilemma. Two days of voluntary banish- ment from Anne meant a sacrifice worthy of the altar of friendship. He would write his letter, avoid walks, avoid the smallest betrayal of feeling. All looked easy. If love laughs at locksmiths, how much more at lovers' resolutions ! 146 .'^'^c '..■'- CHAPTER VII. HOW A LETTER GOT AVEITTEX. SO satisfied was AVareham with his ample precautions that, supper ended, he went in pursuit of Miss Dalrymple. She had vanished. ^Irs. Martyn engaged him, and Mrs. Ravenhill and Millie joined in ; presently a harp and voice struck up in the gallery round the hall. An hour later Anne ap- peared at the door, wet, breathless, but in high spirits. She said she had been paying tribute to the place, had gone down the GudvauQ-en zio^zag-s to see a waterfall — two waterfalls. A beautiful sleigh-dog slipped in behind her. " Anne ! " exclaimed Mrs. Martj^n, disap- provingly. " In this rain ! " " Mountain-rain — mist." 147 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. ^^And alone!" " Mayn't oneself be good company ? " She lauo'lied as she said it. Wareham, look- ing at her, found delightful charm in her laugh. He felt that in breaking away he was giving Hugh an extraordinary proof of loyalty, and probably his face expressed this con- viction, for Mrs. Martyn said sharply — " Mr. Wareham may admire imprudence — ^ I don't ! " Anne's face chilled. He returned — "My opinion is worthless, or I should venture to suggest dangers in wet clothes." " Dangers ? Madness ! " cried Mrs. Martyn, jumping up. " Come, Anne, I have waited for you until I can hardly keep my eyes open." *^ They are going to dance," Millie hazarded. " Let them. I go to bed." "I am tired of the noise," said Mrs. Eavenhill. "And I have a letter to write," remarked Wareham. Anne, who had recovered herself, looked back over her shoulder with a smile. 148 HOW A LETTER GOT WRITTEX. "Do letters ever come or go ? " she asked. The idle question gripped Wareham. The letter — the act of writing — had been his difficulty ; now, with recollection of how long a time must pass before it could reach England, and bring back its answer, came a sinking of heart. Honour bound him to the lines he had laid down. If he remained near he must take no steps to win her until he heard from HuQ-h. If he could not trust himself, he must hold aloof. There was the situation — briefly put. Cruel ! For every hour, every minute, now, was worth months, years ! Now the days were strewn with opportunities, he was thrown into her society. If ever she was to be won, now was his chance. Impatience caught, shook him ! It might be a fortniglit before answer came from Hugh, and when he looked at the past week, and reflected that it seemed a month long, he found the prospect of two such periods in- tolerable. He endeavoured to detach himself from conditions, and to philosophize ; but philosophy is old and scrupulous, while young love has no qualms in taking advantage of 149 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. the first opportunity which presents itself, and tripping up the elderly combatant. Warebam gave up arguing with himself, and set doggedly to work to write his letter. Step number one was difficult enough. Nothing satisfied him in expression. More than one scrawl was tossed aside as inadequate, absurdly inadequate, or as expressing more than he meant. What did he mean ? There was the mischief. In these early days, when he had only just begun to read his own heart, and might reasonably claim a little time for its study, it was detestable to have to offer it for a third person's perusal. He resented the position the more that he was unused to inter- ference with his liberty. He lost his first flush of pity for Hugh, and wrote with a certain asperity — " Circumstances have thrown Miss Dai- ry mple and me together ; perhaps this will prepare you for what I have to say. In a word, I believe I am on the brink of loving her. The knowledge only came to me to-day ; I imagine it will not please you. My 150 HO IF A LETTER GOT WBITTEX. dear fellow, I would have given a good deal for it not to have happened ; don't reproach me without keeping that in mind. As it is, all I can do is to hold back — I don't say draw back, because I have done nothing — and let you make the next move. If you have any hope, if you desire to try your luck once more, telegraph through Bennett, ' Wait.' You can trust me to make no sign till word comes from you, whatever the cost to myself. So much I owe you, and perhaps you will think I owe you more, but I believe you are generous enough to forgive what could only be a wrong if I snatched your chances from you. At best, my own may be small enough, they appear to me so small that this letter becomes offensively presumptuous in even treating of them. Yet, lest you should ever think me treacherous, I write it, and repeat that I hold myself bound in hofiour and friendship to take no step in advance until you have told me that I am free, or let me know that you have not yet resigned your hope." The wording displeased him, but it did not 151 TEE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. seem as if anything he wrote could give him satisfaction, so that he hurriedly closed his epistle, and took it to the office. A heap of letters lay on the table, they had the appear- ance of having been seekmg their owners for weeks, and of reposing at last with an air of finality. Wareham looked at them askance, as if each carried a threat of delay. In the morning Anne sat next to him at breakfast. She said to him immediately — " Why are you so cruel as to leave us ? We are pinned here until Colonel Martyn and Mr. Grey come back. Besides, I don't like being driven from point to point, without time to draw breath. I feel like a note of interjection." He made a weak reply, to the effect that Mrs. Eavenhill disliked the place. " And you are bound to Mrs. Eavenhill ? " She hastened to apologize. *' Of course you are. Forgive me." If this was offered as an opening, it failed. After a momentary pause, she said — *'You should have been with us last evening." 152 HOW A LETTER GOT WRITTEX. " Us ? " " I had a companion ; did you not see him ? He came in with me." "Oh, the dog!" " I don't permit those contemptuous accents for my friends. He behaved like a true gentleman, and took me to the very place where I wanted to go. Xo one else offered." If this was coquetry, it was accompanied by a frank smile at her own expense. Ware- ham stiffened, looked away, and broke out eagerly — '' How long shall you stay here ? " *' Until Blanche is tired of it. I suppose till Monday. Are you not coming out to see what you came from England to see ?" " Oh, we are all coming," said Wareham, raorino; at his fetters. She looked at him with eyes surprised but twinkling, talked about London for a decent interval, and left the room. He scarcely expected to see her re-appear with the others in the hall, but she was there. Whatever Stalheim may suffer from its visitors, it is magnificently placed, a height 153 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. aniono: lieio^hts. Straio^lit in front the Nserodal cleaves the mountains, its conical Jordalshut dominating the rest, its lovely mist-drifts playing round the summits. Below, a silver flash darts through the greys, and slender falls leap down to join the river. Nor is this fine cleft the only outlet. As they strolled up a road to the left where w^as a broken foreground of shrub, boulders, and cut grass — made lively by magpies — the great valley through which they had passed the day be- fore, opened, and swept away into purple gloom, until the eye reached the mountains behind, here shrouded in cloud, there uplift- ing snowy heights against the menacing darkness. There was a wildness, a grandeur, a savage desolation, such as they had not yet seen under the August skies of Norway. At the end of the walk Wareham took credit to himself for his conduct. He was sure that he had been quite natural, had walked with Anne, talked with Anne, and looked at Anne, without betraying attraction. This satisfied his man's code, which, once alarmed, is minute in such matters. He 154 HOW A LETTER GOT WFJTTEX. even avoided wishing her good-bye — marked slight ; possibly, too marked. When the Eavenhills started, he dispatched his port- manteau in a carriole, and followed on foot. It was a day of broken lights and flitting shadows ; waterfalls rushed down on either side, and the beautiful salmon river, beryl- coloured, milky white, indigo, raced along by the road, and offered its counteracting life to what cfloom there was. Wareham Q-ave eag;er appreciation to the green flashing world through which he walked, his conscience was light, he enjoyed the smell of hay, snatched from steep roof-like patches of earth — the slender falls, scarcely more than silver threads, which leapt incredible heights to escape from their ice- prisons — the sweet pure air, the spring of turf at his feet. Far away in front the little carriages with their dun ponies spun along ; presently a wild unkempt figure, carry- ing a sickle, and clad in scarlet jacket, broad hat, and knee-breeches, strode from a bushy path, a dog as wild as his master at his heels. Then a cottage or two with flowery roofs came in sight, a glimmer of fjord, and he was at 155 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Gudvangen. Mrs. Eavenliill and Millie were standing outside Hansen's primitive little inn when lie readied it. "I don't know what you will say," said Mrs. Eavenhill, laughing. ''Are you pre- pared to live in a deal box by the roadside ? But Millie and I think it delightful." '' Then I shall think it delightful too," said "Wareham. '' One can always fish." Millie inquired if he had seen the water- fall. ''That little thing!" " Speak respectfully, please ! One of the highest in Europe, two thousand feet, with a jump of five hundred, isn't to be dismissed in such a slighting tone." " You are going to rival Mrs. Martyn in facts. But I see you have taken Gudvangen to your heart. Shall we go and explore ? " On the way he was struck with Millie's light-heartedness, and said to himself that here was one of those happy natures from which care rolls ofi*. She spoke with almost extreme admiration of Anne, but Mrs. Martyn she did not like. Her mother remonstrated 156 HOW A LETTER GOT WEITTEX. that slie had never been harmed by that lady. " Padded glass," was all that Millie vouch- safed. Warehara wondered a little at such unex- pected perspicacity. A figure in a long mackintosh ran joyfully up to the girl. It was the young Siamese prince, breathless with triumj^h, and a basket of twenty-eight trout. " You are at Hansen's ? " he demanded, his eyes sparkling. " All of us." " Then they shall be cooked ; we will have them by and by. Perhaps I shall even catch some more." " We will live on trout," said AYareham. *'I must have a try." " Do," Mrs. Eavenhill urged. " I promise you that Millie and I will bring appreciative appetites." They did not meet again till supper, shared with three English fishermen, who bemoaned the dry weather, and two German girls, travelling on foot with knapsacks. 157 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " What have you discovered ? " Wareham asked. " But I can tell you. Another waterfall." " Another ? A dozen. We found a de- lightful walk which you shall see to-morrow. There is but one, so it is as well it should have charms. It leads to Bakke, where the pastor — whom we met with a pipe a yard long — has service to-morrow, and we can either row along the fjord or walk. Mother will walk, I expect ; she sees sketches at every turn." Wareham foresaw another tete-d-tete stroll, but on this occasion felt no disquietude, look- ing upon Millie as a soothing little companion, who might be induced, without suspicion, to discourse now and then upon Miss Dalrymple. So much depends on the point of view ! Mrs. Kavenhill's was not the same. She started, resolved to remain with the others, but a shadowy view of the fjord, with a group of infantine kids in the foreground, shook her resolution. The lights were perfect. Millie's little fancy, if it ever existed, had quite fluttered away, danger could not exist. She 158 HOW A LETTER GOT WRIT TEX. wavered, resisted, wavered again, and fell. They left her happily oblivious of everything beyond the purple and green splendour of the hills, and the absolute reflection of line and tint in the glassy waters. " I never before realized how much happi- ness belongs to art," said Wareham, as they walked away. " It makes one envious." " Is not yours art ? " Millie asked. " Nothing so graceful." " You paint in words, and words are stronger than colours." " No words could bring those reflections before you." '' But they could extract their inner mean- ing." Wareham looked at her with surprise, feel- ing as if he had been gravely addressed by a butterfly, but the next moment she had run lightly up the bank after strawberries. From this point of vantage she flung him a question. "■ Has Miss Dalrymple a mother ? " " A step-mother." She knelt down, the better to fill a small 159 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. basket she carried, and the impulse to speak was too strong. " You are not angry any longer ? " He paused a second, then his words rushed. " It was a misconception, such as comes from judging before one has heard both sides of the question." To talk more easily, he reached her side with two strides, and stood looking over the fjord. *'He — my friend" — the words stuck a little — " never blamed her, but, you know, in such cases, one takes forbearance as a matter of course. I knew he was generous. I concluded he must be wronged." He paused. Millie, on her knees, leaned backward, but still occupied herself with the strawberries. " The wedding was close at hand, was it not ? " " Close. Was she wrong ? " The question put, he blamed himself for asking it. It was offering up Anne's conduct to the world's judgment. Millie did not answer until she had dropped two or three crimson berries into her basket, then she said in a steady voice — 16Q HOJV A LETTER GOT WRITTEN. "If it was an escape from bond: right." The answer was unexpected, should have been welcome. Yet it seemed to push Anne or Huo^h Forbes to the wall, suoforestino^ that if she were not to blame, he was. Wareham uttered an impatient sigh. " I cannot conceive what she could object to in Hugh ! " he said, the friend upper- most again. Millie was silent. " And yet — women — ? " he added tentatively. She turned back some leaves, under which a cluster of fruit glowed. " I believe that I am surprised you don't condemn her with the rest of the world," he said at last, in order to force an answer. " How should I ? I never saw your friend. Miss Dalrymple has been very nice to me, but I know nothing of her, or of her life." Millie's words were hurried. *^You asked me if she were rio^ht or wrons". How should I know ? But if she was ready to brave people's tongues, either she had never loved him, or she did not love him any more. In either case, when she VOL. I. 161 11 THE SWIXG OF THE PENDULUM. found it out, she must have been right not to wait until it was too late. That is all I can see clearly, and I dare say, if I knew more, I should not see so much." '^ I believe you are right," said Wareham admiringly. He was in the condition to find oracles in all that agreed with him. " When you know Miss Dalrymple better, you will be sure you are." " Miss Dalrymple is not easily known." ^^Not?" " Not by women." To this man does not object, and Wareham merely pondered over it. Millie moved a little farther ofi*. He followed. " I do not know that it is a disadvantaoe ? " he said, ignoring her last words, and defending blindly. " Oh, no ! AVhy should it be ? " Wareham would have preferred something more combative, wishing for argument, which was unattainable when his companion only acquiesced. He stood meditating, and Millie started from her knees. " At this rate, we shall never get to 162 HOW A LETTER GOT WniTTEX. Bakke ! " she cried. '' But strawberries are irresistible." *•' Do you really like them ? " There was a dissatisfied note in his voice. She thought with a pang — " Already he can see nothing to praise where she is not," and then was horrified because she seemed to make this a reproach. To punish herself she went back to Anne. '■' I suppose the Martyns and Miss Dalrymple start in our steamer to-morrow ] Do thev o-q to Balholm ? " Wareham imagined they would go where Mrs. Ravenhill went. Her spirits sank. She could not chatter as freely as usual, yet made a gallant effort. " What flower is that ? I never saw any like it. Oh, thank you ! Look, it really is odd, canary-coloured, and hanging by a sort of filament. AVe must take it back to mother, who loves flowers." Hearing this, he gathered everything which came in his way. He was conscious that absorbing thought left him a dull companion, and wished to compensate for it by what small 163 THE SWIXG OF THE PEXDULUM. attentions lie could offer. As for Millie, he looked at her only to compare her with Anne, and the small fancies which had crossed his mind during the first days they had spent together, had flitted into the unremembered past. He liked her, nevertheless, and recog- nized a sweetness of nature which, in the years to come, would make a husband happy. Per- haps he even liked her better than at first, when a certain air of alert agreeability had once or twice annoyed him, and pointed to fatigue in companionship. And as she walked in front, what seemed a sudden inspiration struck him. Here was the very wife for Hugh Forbes. He loved liveliness,- and her very prettiness was lively ; it was, indeed, the very word to use in describing her. And how admirably such an arrangement would fit the puzzle into place ! Millie could not under- stand why he began to talk of Hugh. He grew eloquent. Hugh was the pleasant est fellow ! Generous. Lovable. Amusing. Eising. The picture requiring to be toned down slightly, he admitted that he was inclined to be idle ; but idleness is a sin a girl readily 164 HOW A LETTER GOT WEITTEX. condoDGs. Millie listened, under the impres- sion that Mr. Forbes was talked of that he might think of Anne. The subject was dis- tasteful, but she said heroically — " How strange she did not like him ! " Then, as Wareham laughed, a smile dawned on her face. " Have I said anything odd ? '"' " Xo, but I have," he explained. "I have been trying to make one woman see Hugh's attractiveness at the very moment when she knew another woman could not bring herself to marry him." " That might not have been his fault." *' Then it was hers ? " Millie felt disposed to cry out at this per- sistence. The talk had been full of pricks, yet was not without its tremulous pleasure, since she was nearer to Wareham than when indifferent subjects were discussed. He would not have cared to enlist her on Anne's side, if friendliness had not urged him. She said, after a momentary pause — " Why not his misfortune ? " He was silent. It would have been difficult to have satisfied him at that instant, aud 165 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Millie's suggestion quite failed. He dropped the bitter-sweet topic, and talked of Bakke and tlie curve of the fjord behind it, pro- montory overlapping promontory, every light, shadow, and colour reflected in the water. An ugly little church stood near the brink, round it nestled the living and the waiting dead, a few flower-roofed cottages, more black crosses. They stood and looked over the paling ; grass waved upon the graves, the same flowery sorrel-tinted grass as scented the air ; two or three children were in a boat, the oars splashed, otherwise not a sound broke the silence. Millie's spirits rose. In the midst of a great nature, she and Wareham seemed to stand alone, to be brought nearer. "When she reached her mother, her eyes shone. Wareham went up the Nserodal alone in the afternoon, but in the dusk all three again strolled together. Clear golden lights swept along sky and fjord ; long shadows trembled in the water ; two or three ponies scrambled like goats among heaped-up boulders, and the goats themselves, perched on inaccessible heights, sent down faint aro;umentative bleat- 166 HOW A LETTER GOT JVBITTEX. ings in response to the wild cry with wliich a orirl was coaxing^ them. What land is this, in which we have all once wandered ? A land of shadows and sweet lights, touching everything with mys- terious charm. Hush, dreamer ! You know now, though you did not know it then, that this is Arcady. ^r^.€4h ^ 167 CHAPTER VIIL EDEN. THE steamer was to start from Gudvangen at two. Wareham already felt as if he had offered up so much to duty that he might expect reward. To have left Miss Dalrymple to the mercy of possibilities in the shape of other men, for two long days, was in itself an assurance that he could trust himself ; and if that were so, the reasons for avoiding her became ludicrously small, almost, indeed, offensive. He went to fish, but the point he chose commanded the road through the Naerodal, and when he saw the carriages broadening from specks into shape, and at last could distinguish clearly, he was not very long in making his way after them to Hansen's. Mrs. Martyn and Anne were standing in 168 EDEN. the porch talking to old Hansen, as well as limited vocabularies would allow. Wareham was welcome as an interpreter to three of the party ; he hoped that Anne's smile meant more. " You see, we are here," she said ; '' we have torn ourselves from Stalheim, wicked Stalheim ! " " Why wicked ? " " By contrast only. Here you look so pastoral, so idyllic, that our little crowds, and bands, and bad dinners, take quite an iniquitous air." " We had a chaplain," put in Mrs. Martyn. " To point out how bad we were ! " ^' Well, I am glad you have escaped," said Wareham. '' Where's Colonel Martyn ? " *' Thereby hangs a sad tale, for he has telegraphed that he will join us at Balholm, and Blanche is much displeased. And Mr. Grey is left in the vortex at Stalheim. Don't look so reproachful, or we shall ask you to go back and rescue him." " And miss my steamer ? Forbid it, fates ! Gudvangen is a charming spot, as you see — 169 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Eden, if you like ; but to be left here without a companion, to live upon trout and biscuits, and amuse oneself with a jingling piano, and old photographs, would make one hate Eden. Besides, all my philanthropy is packed up in England. But what have we here ? " A larger carriage drove by to the other hotel, and was followed by a second. Both were filled with shouting parties of tourists, waving and yelling. Old Hansen set his face grimly. " Now," he said to Wareham, " tell me, what people are those ? They belong to your country. You can explain. We have nothing like them. They do not care about the beauty, or the history, or those who live here. They are middle-aged men, many of them. They shout, and sing, and laugh as loud as they can. What are they ? Why do they Wareham muttered somethinof to the effect that there were fools in all countries. " Tell him it's the way we treat our lunatics," Anne said. " It's our new system of cure." 170 EDEN. " The steamer does not go until two," Wareham said, in a low voice. " Will your Eden bear looking into ? " " Come and see." " Blanche, will you explore ? " " Xo. It is too hot. I hear there is a shop with rather nice furs, and I haven't seen one for a week. Mind you two aren't late." " Late, when it isn't half-past twelve ! But I can't sit on the steamer with those lunatics a moment longer than is necessary, and Mr. Wareham's inn may be delightfully primitive, but I have never set myself up as a specimen of primitive woman, and I prefer Eden without its inn. AYell, Mr. Wareham, I am waiting." She stood erect, smiling. " Where will you go ? " " What have you to offer ? " " A path by the fjord, where you will find Mrs. and Miss Piavenhill sketching, and the road by which you have just come." " You don't perplex one with the amount of choice. We will go back. Stalheim, wicked Stalheim, attracts me, I own." 171 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. They were walking along the road. When- ever he could, Wareham glanced at her, admiring the easy poise of her figure, her light strong step. " Aren't you contented with having brought down a part of the world you admire ? " " They don't harmonize with Eden, to tell the truth," said Anne, laughing. " I'm not sure that any of us do. But I grant you all that you demand as to its charms. Look at the soft shadows on the hills. I can fancy it a very refreshing little place for a day ; perhaps two " — doubtfully — " if one was sure — absolutely sure — of getting away the day after.'' " Is that all you could give to Eden ? " " Alas, alas ! " Eather to his surprise, Anne was grave. " But when one has lived always in Vanity Fair ? Do you not feel with me ? Something else will be provided for us poor things, something more in accord with our heritas^e of ao^es ? " She gave him a look in which he read what she did not say, and they w^alked on silently, making their way at last to the brink of the 172 EDEN. river. The clear water rushed noisily past them. " A chatterer," AYareham declared. "Pleasant chatter, don't you think? If you are sure we have time we might sit down here a little while, and perhaps grow cool." " Plenty of time," he said, consulting his watch. '•' If we are back by a c^uarter to two, we shall do very well, for all your things wiU have gone on board." Anne was already perched on a stone. '' I throw responsil)ility on you. I have come here to enjoy myself, not to fidget." " What shall we do to secure your object ? " " Oh," she cried impatiently, " don't talk about it ! If it isn't spontaneous it is failure." " Then I mayn't even ask whether you prefer silence or " "Ask nothing. Tell me, if you like, what you did yesterday ? " " Walked." " Here ? " " Xo, by that other path which you re- jected, to a village called Bakke." 173 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " Were you alone ? " " Oh, no, we all started together. Mrs. Eavenhill fell upon a sketch, and her daughter and I went further and returned to her. There you have it all." IMiss Dalrymple scrutinized his face with a smile. " There is something very attractive about her," she said, " though she does not like me." " I have never heard her say so." " No, she would not. She is good. I can quite imagine her in Eden. She would make Adam very happy. Don't you think so?" " I believe she would make an excellent wife," said Wareham, keeping on open ground. Anne said no more. She asked C[uestion3 as to how the salmon got up these rivers, and announced her intention of trying to catch one when next she went to Scotland. At last AVareham looked at his watch. " There is time enough to take it as coolly as you like," he said, "but perhaps we had better go back." Anne sprang up. 174 EDEN. " I am ready. As we cannot stay, I believe I shall be sorry to leave Gudvangen." Wareliam's heart throbbed. " I shall never forget it," he said. " Never ? Why ? Was Bakke so delight- ful a place ? " *' I leave you to imagine why," he said, in a low voice. " Leave me nothing in the form of a riddle," said Anne ; "I shall disappoint you." He raged again. Were all his chances to slip by ? There are moments w^hen we feel as if we rode upon the wave, as if what we wanted was just within our grasp. This was such a moment, and he was bound — could not so much as stretch out his hand. His heart, submitting sullenly, would say some- thing. " Miss Dalrymple," he began, '' is there absolutely no hope for Hugh ? " She paused for a moment. '' Wiiat right have you to ask ? " " None, except " — he would have liked to have shot out, " that I want relief from a torment of doubt," but controlled himself to 175 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. say — " except knowiDg that he has not given you up." '' You should not use the present tense. I can answer for it that you have not seen him for ten days. Doesn't that give time enough for a man to change ? " Wareham looked at her, his face hard. " Yes," he said shortly. " That is not the question. How long does a woman take ? " She made an impatient gesture. " For pity's sake ! When I came to Nor- way to escape Hugh Forbes ! " He was silent, suddenly conscious that he dared not probe farther. Womanlike she glanced at him, to read what she could in his face, but his eyes were on the ground. When he raised them, he stared before him at an empty fjord. He dragged out his watch. " Impossible ! It is not half-past one." " What is the matter ? " Anne asked. " The steamer ! Am I dreaming, or has she gone f " Certainly she is not there." Anne quickened her steps. Wareham's face was very grave. He dashed 176 EDEX. into the inn, and hammered at old Hansen's door. Anne waited outside, reflecting on the situation. Wareham came slowly out at last, followed by the .burly landlord. *' I am afraid it is too true," he said. " I shall never forgive myself for implicitly trust- ing a Norwegian time-table. They left at one o'clock." He looked at Hansen, Hansen looked at Anne. It was she who first spoke. '' When is the next boat ? " " To-morrow afternoon." Wareham hazarded the remark — *' If I were to take you back to Stalheim ? There is sure to be some one you could join." " I hate to be bafifled," said Anne. " And you may have forgotten that all I have in the world — here — has gone on the steamer." " Heavens, yes ! " said Wareham, struck with this fresh complication. He looked so shocked that Anne in self-defence began to lauo'h. " Did no one miss us ? This is humiliatinof ! " It appeared that Mrs. Ravenhill inquired, and was told they intended to go on board VOL. I. 177 12 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. without returning to the inn. Mrs. Martyn stayed in a shop until the last moment, and had barely time to scramble on board ; it was quite natural that she should suppose the others had been before her. " So we have no one to blame but our- selves/' said Anne. "But me," corrected Wareham. '' You dis- claimed responsibility from the first." " Oh, we will share. It is less dull to hold too^ether. And what does the landlord suo;- gest ? We can't be the first castaways." '' He says that the last victims took a boat, and were rowed to Ulvik. But Balholm is a good deal further," Wareham said, after con- sultation. Anne decided promptly. *' Very well. Please get a boat." " You venture ? " '« Why not ? What else can be done ? " Wareham could think of nothins^. The misadventure meant more to him than it did to her, at least it seemed so beforehand. He had gone rashly near breaking his resolution in capturing that solitary hour with her, and 178 EDEX. was forced to reflect that be had not come out of the ordeal scathless. Fate was punishing him by prolonging what he had already found too lono; for his streng^th, and there was nothino: for it but to accept fate. He said hurriedly — " I will see about a boat at once," and was going, when she called him back. '^ We must have dinner before we set off." " You put me to shame," he said. " I believe my wits have deserted me." " Worse things have fallen to my lot," she laughed ; "do you expect me to offer you words of consolation ? Bear your burdens with greater philosophy, ]\Ir. Wareham." " If that were all ! " rushed from his lips. " I can't even lighten them by ordering dinner," Anne went on, taking no notice. *' Bennett's Conversation-book is on the steamer, with everything else, and I can remember nothing but mange tak, which doesn't seem called for at this moment." " At any rate, I can order dinner," said Wareham humbly. " And you couldn't do anything better. 179 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Please have a great many trout. Who knows when we shall dine again ! " " I must find out how long a boat will take in reaching Balholm." "Don't ask," Anne said quickly. '* Don't you see that as the thing has to be done there is no possible use in looking at the difiiculties ? I, on the contrary, mean to treat it as some- thing special. All the world and his wife — even those horrid tourists — go down the N^erofjord in steamers ; how much more enchanting to be rowed dreamily, wdth neither smoke nor noise ! Pray don't be so dismal about it. Do you know that you are paying me the worst of compliments ? Endure your fate bravely, and order the trout." Thus adjured, Wareham departed. Gud- .vangen w^as sleepily interested, and the mis- adventure had happened before. He chose a good boat and two rowers, and going back to the little saal, found Anne making an ex- cellent dinner. " When one is cast away, it is prudent to chose a place with shops for the event," she said. '' I have made this an excuse for buying 180 EDEX. some delightful furs. Money I have none, but they trust me." " I have money," said Wareham, hastily turning out his pockets, and unnecessarily ashamed of this fresh absence of foresight on his part. They could not reach Balholm before the middle of the night, and Anne's wraps were on the steamer. *' Very well. Then you shall ]Day as we pass, and I will owe it to you instead." " Having brought you into the predicament, I think I might be allowed to provide the necessaries of life." " Do you mean that you are proposing to present me with a set of furs ? " said Anne, laying down her fork and staring at him. "Something you must have to keep you warm." " Mr. "Wareham, pray don't make me begin to regret this incident." He saw that she was vexed, and dashed away from the subject. " Poor old Hansen was mortally afraid we should want him to telephone something or other. I believe the telephone is sending him 181 THE SWIKG OF THE PENDULUM. off his head. He would have sent out to look for us if a message had not come down from Stalheim just at the critical moment." " Can't we use it ? " said Anne, with a little more anxiety in her voice than she had shown hitherto. " Only backwards to Stalheim, and then, I imagine, telegraph to Yoss. That would not help us ? " " No, no ; we are doing the only sensible thing. The trout are excellent, and I en- courag;e hunger." " We will take some food with us." "And tea. I insist upon tea." " But how to boil it in a boat ? " " We will land on a rock," said Anne, who was laufi^hincr ag;ain. "A fjord picnic. By all means. Besides, of course there are villao;es." " We don't want to be delayed, and I shan't agree to anything more sociable than a rock." " You command the crew." They w^ere on excellent terms again ; Anne's momentary haughtiness past, she was mirthful over their prospects. They went out and 182 EDEX. bought the gaudiest tine Gudvangen could produce, and packed it with what provisions they could find. Anne insisted, moreover, that there should be a packet of tobacco for the rowers. Then she went to fetch her furs, but apparently had changed her mind, for Wareham was not allowed to pay for them. That she would arrange in Bergen, as originally fixed. " You have not forgiven," he said, in a low voice. " Not forgotten," she corrected. '' By this time to-morrow I may have done so." He accepted the hint, and was silent. They went down to the boat, and saw all their things placed, watched by the few interested spectators Gudvangen sent out, and by old Hansen, who took a fatherly interest in their proceedings. " Can we sail 1 " asked Miss Dalrymple. " There is not a breath. But the men are good rowers, and I can take an oar to relieve them. There will be beauty enough to please you." '' Provided expressly on my account," said 183 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Anne lightly. " You will expect me to be so prodigal of compliments at the end of the voyage, that I shall not praise your arrange- ments now. Are we ready ? " " A good journey ! " called out old Hansen. Wareham waved his hat, Anne nodded and smiled, the boat moved smoothly along out into a world of reflected colours. " Good-bye, Eden," said Anne. 184 CHAPTEE IX. TONGUE-TIED. FOR a time neither of the two companions spoke. The hush of the place was upon them ; the extraordinary stillness, unbroken by so much as the cry of a bird, or by any sound more harsh than the soft rhythm of the rise and fall of the oars. On one side the grassy path, along which ■Millie and Wareham had walked to Bakke, wound, clasping the rock with a green girdle ; on the other was neither path nor habitation, only the bold sweep of the mountain side, clothed with verdure ruaning up to the snow patches, and coloured by blue shadows, or cut by the slender silver line of a fos. Whatever there was, rock or trees, snow or leaping water, its double was below, with some strange charm 185 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. added to its beauty ; and so narrow was the fjord, that these reflections seemed to meet and fill it. Anne sat with her head turned away from Wareham, looking over the side of the boat into the green mystery through which they moved. He would not speak, fearing to dis- turb her, but he was able to watch her to his heart's content. He was certain that she had grown younger since coming to Norway ; he heaped scorn on himself for having detected hardness in her lovely face. And by what miracle were he and she together ! Yet his position was cruel enough, for this day had already deepened his love, so that it was more and more diflicult to keep back any outward sign w^hich hinted at its expression ; and although, placed as they now were, that would have been impossible, he told himself that if he were not bound by his duty to his friend, he might have put his fate to the test no later than to-morrow. To-morrow ! That was an endurable date, but to be forced to wait, wait, wait, until the letter brought back an answer ! — the letter which — He began 186 TOXGUE-TIED. to calculate. Saturday — this was Monday, and there was certainly no boat likely to leave Norway until the middle of the week. His letter was dawdling along, and at such a rate an answer would hardly reach him while he was in the country. And all these weeks to be tongue-tied ! Anne turned round at this moment. Ap- parently she was not thinking of him, and had but changed her position in order to look at the other side of the fjord ; but every time her face came before him under a fresh aspect, he was conscious of a sweet surprise. Presently she looked full at him, and smiled. " I want to say something and I can't ex- press it," she said. " I suppose that is incom- prehensible to you ? " It was so like his own case that AYareham dared not venture to say how like. He was forced to treat his own feelings as if they were a packet of explosives, and keep light away from them. Anne went on — *' I am perplexed with myself. This is so much more beautiful than I conceived, and it is so odd that I should think it beautiful ! " 187 THU: SWING OF THE PENDULUM. =' Why?" " Why am I, I ? — I can't explain. I only know that my friends will tell you that I am insensible to beauty of scenery." " Eank heresy." " I don't know. It has been dinned into my ears so constantly that I have ended by accepting it. They assure me I ha.ve no eye for colour." *' I could confute them." *^ Oh, once let me feel sure of myself, and I could manage the confuting," said Anne coolly. " After to-day I shall not go down before them quite so easily, for I believe it is the colour which enchants me. Was ever anything so exquisite as this w^ater ! " " I am glad you have extracted some com- pensation for my stupidity," said Wareham, greedy of assurance that she liked to be in the boat with him. She took no notice beyond saying — " I still think they behaved rather meanly in deserting us." " What are they feeling now, I wonder ? " " As little as possible." 188 TONGUE-TIED. '' Do you imply that they will not be un- easy { '* Blanche will say that it is Anne all over, and that she may be left to take care of her- self. 1 dare say she is right." " Do you like the woman ? " he asked abruptly. " Xo catechism, Mr. Wareham." " Miss Eavenhill described her as ' padded glass.' " Anne meditated, and looked amused. '* That is a clever definition, whether it is she or not. I should have thoug;ht it more likely to come from you." '* It was all her own. Mrs. Martyn seems to me rather forcedly rude than anything else." " She has not a bad heart," said Anne. " Kudeness is to her mind an outward expres- sion of honesty, but one which she does not appreciate in other people. It is astonishing what a different aspect our own virtues wear — transplanted." *' If she is kind " began Wareham. ^'I do not say she is always kind. She 189 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. can hart. She will not be kind about me to-day." A thorn pricked Wareham. He said hastily — "She will know it was not your fault." " She will try to keep me from knowing it. You may be sure it will be long before I hear the last of it, from her or from — others." " From others ? " Anne looked straight in his face. " Mr. Wareham, I imagined you to be a man of the world. If you are, you must know as well as I that people will chatter." "The world is not always absurd," he retorted, with heat. " When was it not a gossip ? Now I will ask a question which I have avoided before. When shall we get to Balholm ? " '* About two or three in the mornins:." '' And you flatter yourself that will not give a handle for talk ! " Wareham had been surprised that she had said nothing of the sort before ; he was con- scious at the same time that if it had been Millie, the fear would not have struck her. 190 TOXGVE-TIED. "When tliey know the facts, they will see there was nothing^ else for us to do." "They w^on't know facts. One fact will be sufficient for them, and to that they will hold on as a dos; to a bone. Never mind. 1 have gone through as much before." *' When ? " Wareham asked jealously. " Oh, not with this sort of experience. This is new to me. But I have served as a bone so often that I am used to the worrvino^. Don't let us talk of it now. I want to drink in my new enjoyment, to develop my new sense. Look at the drifting shadow on that hill, and the splendour of the snow. But it is the water, the water that f^iscinates me. I am o:oino^ to watch it." He accepted this as a hint that he was not to speak, and the turmoil in him was not sorry for silence which left time for many voices to have their say. This hint of Anne's that the world would make her suffer for what his carelessness had brought upon her, carried with it an almost unendurable stinor. Under other circumstances he would have said to her, if not that hour, to-morrow, " I love 191 THE SWING OF TEE PENDULUM. you. Be my wife." But his duty to Hugh ? Doubly bound, as he was, by the promise of his letter to abstain from any step until the answer had come, could he fling it to the winds, and forswear himself? The letter to which he looked for deliverance was but tightening his bonds. He was swayed this way and that, now swung low by such fret- ting thoughts, now conscious of mounting to heights of bliss in the warm fresh air, with the mountains and the water around, and Anne sitting close to — touching him. She said presently — " We are the only thinking creatures in sight, and the world looks very big. Does it make you feel small or great ? " " It dwarfs one, doesn't it ? " " It seems to me as if I had seen it all be- fore, and I have been trying to think where. I believe now that it was when I was a child, and sat solitary, reading Sinbad the Sailor. Perhaps there was some old picture, for certainly this takes me back to that." " Were you solitary ? " *' Very," Anne said, smiling. *' I brought 192 TONGUE-TIED. myself up, and very badly. Look behind. The mountains are closing ; now that they have let us out, they shut their portals." She was silent again, and Wareham, quick to read her moods, humoured her. The boat moved slowly along, slowly it seemed, when the orreat surroundincrs filled the eve. The heavens were blue, but here and there a white cloud drifted lazily, or caught the mountain snow-beds, and curled round them, like a vaporous reminder of their fate. The lovely vivid green of the young summer crept up and down the mighty hills, softening the rude scars of centuries until they looked no more than delicate and shadowy indentations ; the stern granite blossomed into tender rose and grey, and the water-world below gave back all this and more. Every now and then the men who were rowinor exchanged a word : they had grave steadfast faces. '' Talk to them," Anne said suddenly at last. " Ask them about their lives." Wareham struggled obediently. " My questions are obliged to be simple," he said. '^ And I am even more anxious the VOL. I. 193 13 THE SWIXG OF THE PENDULUM. answers should be. A universal lano^uasce. Is it a dream ? " " We are pleased to infer that it is our own which will serve the purpose, but by the time the idea has developed into fact it may be Japanese." " To become a ruling nation they will have been forced to adopt ours." *' Oh, British arrogance ! However, I do not wish it. Uniformity is always dull, and I would rather suffer shame from my own ignorance than have all the world patted down to one dead level. There is dignity in the unknown. AVhen I hear these men talk, I cant help imagining that what they say would be worth hearing, if I could only under- stand, though probably it is about nothing more valuable than as to how many gulden they may get for their hay, if, indeed, any of them ever sell anything. Do ask them that." ** I can t," Wareham confessed. " My con- versation is chiefly made up of nouns and ]iotes of interrogation." " Well, what have you extracted ? " '^ Both are married. One has four children, 194 TOXGUE TIED. wlio walk five kilometers to school every clay of their lives. The other has a son, of course in America. He is a wood-carver, and hopes bv the sale of liis work to lay bv enoue^h to take him to Chicago." Anne's eyes sparkled. " Tell him I will buy a great deal. As soon as I meet my money again," she added, laughing. " Am I not to be allowed to assist ? " ^* I have nothing to do with your purchases," Anne said quietly. " I dare say you want something for your friends at home. Have you a great many ? " Wareham blurted out — " I have no greater friend than Hugh Forbes." Why he said it he could not tell. He had been forcing him- self ever since they started to keep Hugh's image in mind, and his name leapt suddenly to his lips. Anne did not look discomposed. "He is a very good fellow," she said, after a momentary hesitation. ** Yet you would not marry him ? " " It has puzzled you ? It puzzled no one else. Blanche Martyn will tell you she knew how^ it must be from the first." 195 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " Why ? " asked Wareham, leaning forward with his arms on his knees, and staring at the bottom of the boat. " You should ask her, not me. The accused is not bound to criminate herself." " The accused ! Good heavens, do you suppose I " he began passionately, then by a great effort stopped. Anne was looking at him through half- closed eyes. " However," she went on, as if he had not spoken, *' I will let you hear her explanation. She thinks I am a flirt." " She is a detestable woman." " Oh, no ; and I believe her to be right. I told you just now that I had no sense of colour ; well, I have a Avorse confession to make. I have no heart." " One is as true as the other," Wareham protested stoutly. She shook her head. *' Possibly it may come. But as yet I am without it." ** You forget. You gave me another reason." " That I did not care for him sufficiently. It surprised you. It might be a proof that what I tell you is no more than the truth. 196 TOXGUE-TIED. For it would be difficult to conceive auy one more lovable." Wareham's own heart agreed, but refused to accept the conclusion. "Eeally," she said, ''it was this charm of his which opened my eyes to my own want. I meant to marry, and so long as I did not dislike the man, w^ould not trouble myself to think I need give him more. Suddenly I dis- covered I liked him too much to let him find himself in that position, and released him. It was the best act in my life, and it has alienated the friends who were most worth keeping." Wareham's hopes met this dash of ice- cold water with a gallant efi'ort for his friend. He turned pale, but muttered — " You do not know yourself. You may love him yet." " Never. All that I felt was that I could not feel." She spoke with conviction, and the con- viction roused traitors in his own heart, who repeated the sweet assurance again and again. As for her saying that she could not feel, he 197 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. lauolied the notion to scorn. Had he but the chance, he would teach her to feel, batter at her heart till it awoke with an ache to find itself captured. The danger was that before this happened his honour might have to hang its head, disgraced, for the frank confidence she showed seemed to brino- her nearer and nearer, and made waiting harder. He hoped he had strength to be silent, for he dared not attempt to argue with her. With an abrupt movement he motioned to one of the men to cease rowing, and took his place. The strong regular play of the muscles came like a relief, but the other man, forced to a quicker stroke, presently remonstrated. Wareham asked whether it were impossible to sail, quicker movement seeming imperative. He knew what the answer must be when he put the question, for not a breath of wind stirred the glass of the fjord. After he had rowed for one man some time he relieved the other ; if it had been possible he would have liked to have had it all on his shoulders. Anne said to him at last — " You are putting such energy into your 198 TOXGUE-TIED. work that it tires me to look at you. Does half-an-hour more or less really mean so much ? " He laid down the oars, and came across the boat to her side. " It means nothing, except that I felt the need of a spurt. We are close to Utne, where Ave should find a decent inn. Had you not better stop there and rest ? You want food by this time." " I would rather not stop. I have been eating biscuits, and you might as well follow my example." " Suppose Mrs. Martyn has waited ? " Anne meditated. *' Let us row near the shore. If any one belonging to us is there, they will see and make signs. But there will be no one." There was not. Wareham would gladly have hailed Mrs. Martyn, yet was conscious of a throb of delight when the pretty little village lay behind them. They were by this time in more open water, and the depression which had fastened on him fled away. 199 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " What are your commands about your picnic ? " he asked, smiling. " Find out from the men if there is any place where we can land and boil some water." This took some time and a little guessino^. Finally — " I believe they say there is an island," said Wareham. " I am sure there is." '* We should reach it in an hour." He spent the hour in blissful dreams which, having been once routed, now trooped merrily back. Anne was generally silent, but when she spoke it was with the same friendly ease she had shown throughout the day, and she made no complaints of fatigue. Indeed, he classed her as a heroine when he reflected that she had uttered nothing in the shape of a grumble. Would not most women have in- dulged in something of the sort ? Wareham liked to believe that they would, and exalted her accordingly for her forbearance. It was evening by the hours, and they were well in the Sogne fjord, when Anne pointed out the island towards which the boat was directed. 200 TOXGUE-TIED. " Do you see ? " '* I see a rock." " And what else would you have in mid- water ? If we can but find something to burn ! " '' I believe there is a hut," said Wareham, curving his hands into a telescope. " A solitary ! Only this was wanted." Anne's face was radiant. " He may drive us aw^ay." "A man ? Oh, no ! " she laughed serenely. Her confidence proved well-founded, for the Sogne fisherman, who leaped down the rocks to give the boat a helping hand, gave them a grave welcome. He was a wild figure with his scarlet jacket, brown breeches, and light hair under a broad hat. Anne looked at him appreciatively. '^ I could not have dressed him better my- self — for the piece," she said. " How odious I am to say so 1 It is one of the snares of over-civilization that, instead of the theatre suggesting nature, nature suggests the theatre. This is all so natural that I feel w^e ought to be applauding." 201 THE SWIXG OF TEE PENDULUM. She was stiff with sitting. Wareham gave her his hand to help her from the boat, and the lio^ht touch of her fino;ers thrilled him. The island was no more than a rock, with scant herbage ; a few goats and a dog shared it with the man ; a boat was drawn up at one shelving point, and the low hut was formed of heaped pieces of rock and roofed with waving grass. There was no chimney ; a hole in the roof sufficed for the smoke to ]3ass through. Anne was as excited as a child. She unpacked her tine, and spread their meal on a rock. Wareham had to act as interpreter, and ask that a peat or two might be set ablaze to provide them with hot water ; the man's good-will did not reach the point of making him hurry, but he watched Anne's quick deft movements with amusement. When all was ready they sat down together. Anne had brought a little tea-pot and two cups, Ware- ham a bottle of wine, which the men drank out of a rough mug ; he could not give up the pleasure of letting Anne pour out tea for himself. It was a very frugal meal, added to, though it was, by dried fish ; and when it was 202 TONGUE-TIED. finished, she dispensed tobacco to the three men. It seemed she detested the smell ; Wareham suggested their walking round the island until the pipes had been smoked. She hesitated, finally agreed. They scrambled rouud to the western side, a filaiy glory spread over the heavens, interrupted only by the swoop of a grey vapourish cloud. As it had been all along, what the waters saw they gave back again, so that the golden sufi'usion reached to their very feet. The near reflections were now dark. " To live here alone ! Can you conceive it ? " Anne exclaimed. " Not for one of us ; but with so thin a population, solitude probably is second nature." " Solitude would require thought, and thought culture." " Work might take its place. "Work here must be incessant. Eelax it, and you die." " Why not ? "What makes it worth while to live ? Would any one miss him ? " ** Depend upon it, he has a world of his own, but, why " 203 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. He stopped suddenly. Anne looked at him in surprise. '' Why ? '' she repeated. He had caught himself on the point of rushing into more personal speech, and the jerk with which he pulled himself up made him awkward. " Why should we not ask him ? For one thing, I imagine he does not stay in winter. He is only here for the fishing." *' Oh, winter ! The very idea is terrible. Yet I should like to see this country in its own snow and ice. Warmly wrapped, I can fancy it bearable, even enjoyable." " Yes. Cold is the rich man's luxury." He answered her mechanically, his thoughts flying impatiently to Hugh, picturing him receiving the letter, answering it. Anne looked at him in surprise, reading trouble in his face. '' Never a luxury to me," she said. " And it is growing cold now. Don't you think we may start ? " The red-coated fisherman put aside all thought of payment. Wareham had difficulty 204 TONGUE-TIED, in making him accept a very trifling sum. He stood watching them, and, for a time, as long as they looked back, they saw him blackly silhouetted against the clear sky. Anne had wrapped herself in her furs ; the great open fjord gradually paled, the sound of the oars seemed to grow louder ; it was like a dream to Wareham, with somethino^ of the bondage, the confusion, and the fret of a dream, yet with its strange delight as well. Once or twice he and Anne exchanged words, once or twice he took the oars again ; outlines grew vague, it was not dark overhead, but they felt as though they were rowing on into the night. Suddenly Anne looked up. " The bottom of the boat is wet. Is that right?" Wareham bent down and uttered an ex- clamation, for water was certainly oozing in, and under cover of the dusk had been unnoticed, until Anne moved her foot and touched it. He called one of the men, who made an examination. *' Is it a leak ? " she asked presently. Wareham spoke quietly. 205 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. ** There is a cork acting as a plug, and it appears to be rotten. But you need not be alarmed." " I am not alarmed. What sliall you do ? Try to land ? '^ There was a consultation. " The men say we should gain very little. It is twelve o'clock, and Balholm is as near as any other place, so that they advise our going on. Of course one of us will keep close watch, and bale out what water conies in ; also have something ready to serve as a plug. But I am afraid it adds to your discomfort." '' Oh no, I shall be admiring your resources. Don't leave me useless. Would you like me to act like the boy at the Dutch dyke ? " " I am sure you would," said Wareham, in a low voice which silenced her. It was not very easy to find materials for the plug. Anne handed him her gloves, and he abstracted one, but was afraid of discovery if he kept the other. A felt hat belonging to one of the men was rolled as tightly as possible, and held ready ; at the same time the men insisted that the cork should not be 206 TOXGUE-TIED. removed until absolutely necessary, and one was told off to bale and watch. "All the sensations I imanrined are ooiiw to be provided for us in miniature," said Anne, with a laugh. " A desert island, and a leaky boat in mid -ocean. Mr. AVareham, you are a conjuror ! " " May the conjuring land you finally and safely at Balholm ! " " After which ! " She laughed again. Silence fell on them once more. One man w^as scooping up the water in the tin mug ; it gurgled under his hand, and the splash of throwing it over followed. The fjord, in the clear semi-darkness, stretched into infinite distances, a wisp of cloud sailed slowly over- head, a pettish breeze blew chilly against Anne's cheek. She called across to Wt^reham — " There is a little wind. Can't we sail ? " ** These fjords are treacherous. I dare not. You are not cold ? " She was, but she would not let him know it. It seemed to her that the quantity of water in the boat increased, but they laughed at her offer to assist in the baling. At the 20' THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. end of half-an-hour Wareham changed places with the man who was dipping. The change threw him again close to Anne, and facing her ; it struck him that she looked alarmingly white. " You are exhausted ? " he asked anxiously. *' You don't know how strong I am." '' I can't get them to quicken stroke. They are steady, but slow." " Patience, patience ! " He saw that she was smiling at him. "You need not preach patience to me," he said, in a low voice. " So far as I am con- cerned, I should be very well pleased to go on like this for ever." " There mio;ht be worse thino^s," said Anne dreamily, and his head swam. He was silent because he dared not speak ; his thoughts leapt forward to the time when he might call her his own ; meanwhile surely this was the very bliss of misery ! It was she who spoke next. *' It is lighter," she said. *' I verily believe the day is breaking." Wareham consulted his watch. " Yes, and in an hour we reach Balholm." 208 TONGUE-TIED. "Cork and all?" '' I think so." " Tell me. Have we been in danger ? " " Not since you found it out, and we have had something ready. If it had suddenly given way, matters might have been different ; but as it is, we have nothing to fear beyond the discomfort of a wet boat." '*And I suppose there will be some one about. Mr. Grey calls this the Land of the Always-up." " I suppose so. At any rate, we will get them up at Kviknaes'. Perhaps Mrs. Martyn will have thought of you sufficiently to order a room to be kept for you. You ought to sec Balholm now." *' There is too much mist." Gradually this light mist melted, light laughed out, a wind swept the mountains and left them clear ; everything was bathed in silvery radiance, the colours were delicate, the air vigorous and keen. Anne shivered. " It is like one's lost youth," she said. Her lost youth ! Wareham lifted a look of reproach, but circumstances had come to the VOL. I. 209 14 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. aid of his faltering resolution, since scooping water from the bottom of a boat is fatal to the sentimental view. Anne at last began to laugh at him. " I am sure your back aches," she said. " You may be sure. There is lost youth if you like," he answered, straightening himself, and stretching. She advised him to change with a rower, but he would not. It was somethings to be near her, though he suffered for it twdce over. And the strong heart of the morning showed his hopes in stouter aspect. Hugh would see that his cause was desperate, and generosity would not suflfer him to wreck another life with his own. Before he left, Wareham had treated his friend's crushed heart with severity or lightness as need arose, now he allowed it to have been serious enough, but as serious as his — never ! Nevertheless, he could not indulge undisturbed in the wild dreams of happiness which flitted through his head, for with them Hugh's face intruded itself. ^ And — the letter ! They were near the landing-place at Bal- 210 TOXGUE-TIED. holm, and fronted by the mountain with the strange cleft in its snowy summit. Moun- tain, field, the few^ red-roofed houses, the out- standing pier, were bathed in the glory of the sun, now hastening upwards. One or two fior^i'es stood lookinof at the oncomino; boat. Wareham flung; a crlance over his shoulder. "They are expecting us," he said, "you see." A shout came to them across the water — another. A thought startled him, he looked eagerly at Anne. She had her eyes fixed on the shore, some agitation had crept into them, and for a minute she did not speak. " Who is it ? " asked "Wareham hoarsely, without turning round. '' It is Mr. Forbes." " Impossible ! " "See for yourself" 211 CHAPTER X. THE INCONVENIENCE OF TWO HEROES. AT its best, the unexpected is apt to come oflf awkwardly, and here was more than one awkward element. When hearing dis- tance was reached, they found that Hugh was speaking volubly — " Are you all right ? No one suffered ? AVhat a nuisance for you both ! Bring the boat a little further on, Dick, and Miss Dal- rymple will land more comfortably. Are you all right ? " anxiously again. *' My dear fellow, we're in a water-logged boat," Wareham called out, not sorry that his words were truer than they would have been five minutes ago, for with his attention else-* where a good deal of water had leaked in. ** Horrors ! " cried Hugh, pressing forward, 212 THE INCONVENIENCE OF TWO HEROES. and ready to jump in to the rescue. " Is Miss Dalrymple wet ? " " I'm afraid so." "Wareham was cool acrain outwardly. '' Here, take this rope. Xow, Miss Dalrymple, your foot here — so. You are cramped ? Do not hurry. We shall not be swamped just yet." He managed to put his hand for her to tread on, while Hugh eagerly helped her. In another moment men and all had scrambled on shore, and Hugh was shaking hands violently with his friend. '• I never was more annoyed than to hear what had happened, but I felt certain you'd come on, and have been on the look-out all night. They shouldn't have left you. It was too bad. Miss Dalrymple, are you sure you are not cold ? " " I am sure of nothing," said Anne, speak- ing for the first time. " May I inquire what ex- traordinary chance brought you to this place ? " She looked rather amused than vexed. " I heard you were here." " How ? " " Wareham, like a good fellow, telegraphed." 213 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Anne darted a look at him. He stood helpless. Explanation was impossible. She said only—'' Oh ! " " Of course I couldn't be certain where I should strike across you," Hugh went on, " so I came straight up in the steamer, and asked as I came along. Some other friends of yours are here. They seemed awfully cut up about you. But pray, pray come at once to the hotel. I have made them keep coffee and cold meat ready, and your room is all right. Dick will see about those fellows." He swept her away. Wareham stared after them, dumb wretchedness gnawing at his heart. Complications gathered round him. Anne might naturally resent what had the appearance of an act of treachery ; and was this the end of the fair dream which had floated with him along the clear waters of the fjord ? He stood reduced, insignificant, before Hugh's assertive energy. Of her his last view as she walked lightly away was a side-face turned inquiringly towards Hugh. Wareham's mood might be painted black — of the blackest. If virtue docs not always 214 THE IXCOXVENIENCE OF TWO HEROES. meet with a reward, she expects it, and grows hufiy at non-fulfilment. He felt he had be- haved well towards Hugh ; an occasional slip of the tongue should not count in comparison with the many times that he had bridled it, and each of these times was quick to multiply itself. By dint of looking back he convinced himself that Huorh's debt to him was orreat. It was one way of discharging it to be waiting at Balholm, at three o'clock in the morn- ing, to hand Miss Dairy m pie out of the boat ! The men paid, and left to make the boat water-tight, Wareham walked slowly up the short incline towards the inn. He lino-ered, from an irritable disinclination to see Anne and Huorh togrether as^ain ; but before he reached the door, Huf^h came out to meet him like a bolt. He seized AYareham's hand and wrung it. " My dear old fellow," he cried exultingly, ** was ever anything in the world so amazingly lucky 1 I might have knocked about the country for a week without tumbling up against them, and of all the blessed moments 215 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. for a man to arrive, just when she was a bit sore at their want of care ! " As Hugh paused to contemplate his good fortune, Wareham thrust in a question. " What on earth made you go in for such a " — he would have liked to have said *' pre- posterous," but left it out — " hurricane dash across the seas *? " " What else would you have expected when I had your telegram ? Wasn't I just wild to get word with her again ? And saw no chance of it. Look here, what food there is, is wait- ing for you in there. Come and eat. I've got to talk to some one about it all, and I'm not so unreasonable as to harangue a hungry man." " More sleepy than hungry." " Well, you must eat before you turn in." " Has Miss Dalrymple had some food '? " Hugh laughed joyously. " Do you suppose I didn't see that she had all she wanted ? It's gone up to her room, of course. She's got to pay that tribute to Mrs. Grundy. Here you are ; now what'll you have ? Here's the landlord himself. Beer, sausage, kippered salmon, marmalade, coffee ? " 216 THE IXCONVEXIEXCE OF TWO EEBOES. Wareham made a selection ; Hugh rattled on, helping himself meanwhile. " I believe I'm as hungry as you are. Meat in this country is uneatable — or was yester- day," he added, with an exulting fling at his own change of mood ; " but I can't under- stand that it isn't the orthodox breakfast-time. I suppose one must go to bed, but I shan't sleep — not a wink. I say, old fellow, it was awfully good of you to send me that telegram — aw^fully. And now you've seen Anne " '' Anne ? Is she Anne again ? " " She's never been anything else in my heart. Now you'll understand. Enough to throw a man off his balance^ wasn't it ? — to think of losing her. She's splendid. And to tell you the truth, I've been fretting myself with the idea she might be annoyed at seeing me here at her heels." " Well ? " " Try the salmon ? Xo ? You'd better. What was I saying ? Oh, I believe she was rather pleased than otherwise. Women are not to be counted on. They'll fight you, but they like to be taken by storm." 217 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Wareliam ao^reed with a g;roan, thinkino' of himself in the boat. Hugh went on — " She didn't seem a bit vexed. But as I said before, I couldn't have chosen a better moment if I'd waited a year. Selfish pig, that Mrs. Martyn. I don't believe she cared one halfpenny. Those other people, Raven- stones, Ravenhills — what are they called ? — were twice as feeling. The mercy was that it was you, old fellow, and no other man, who was with her." It was impossible to keep back a sharp " Why ? " Huojh laurfied. " You've never seen me a prey to the yellows, but I can imagine myself in their clutches. Another man would have meant possibilities. No, I'm grateful." Wareham had a horrible impulse to cry out, " Fool ! " and this to his friend. Instead of it, he said — " You'd better bottle up your gratitude till you know it's due." He would have liked to let out more, but how ? " I'm not afraid. And I tell you what, I'm glad for another reason. You can't have seen 218 THE IXCOXVEXIEXCE OF TWO HEROES. her for all these hours without understandino- o something of her charm. Where are your prejudices now ? But I won't reproach you. Tou've done me too good a turn. By Jove, it's hard work waiting, even if only a few hours ! " He had his elbows on the table, his chin in his hands. Wareham pushed back his chair and stared at him with somethino: of the feeling of a man who, worsted, yet will look his fate in his face. He knew his agre — eio-ht- and-twenty — but never before had he seen him as the very incarnation of youth. It could be read in every line, in the twist of his shoulders, in the spring of his thick wavy hair, in the attitude, half comical, half petulant. He was tall, and his shoulders prognosticated size ; fair as a northerner, and clean-faced ; grey- eyed and wide-mouthed. Wareham, with thirty not long left behind him, felt an absurd envy of his three years' advantage. He stood up suddenly. *•' Look here, Hugh, I'm done. I'm going to bed." " All right, old fellow. You do look a bit 219 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. seedy. Shall I come up and see that they've treated you properly ? Say the word, and I will." " For heaven s sake, no." " You'd rather tumble in at once ? Good. I haven't said half there is in my head, but I dare say you think it'll keep. I don't know what ril do. Lie down, I suppose ; but there's a bath-house out there on the pier, and I feel more like a swim. You won't try that instead ? " " Bed," said Wareham laconically. " Bed it is, then. I'd better show the way in this rabbit-warren. You're close to me." " Kviknaes will come. He and I are old friends." It was difficult to shake off Huo;h's orood- will. Wareham had no inclination for sleep, but imperative need to be alone, to meet these disjointed fancies which had neither sense nor sequence, yet threatened mastery. Kviknaes, smiling hospitably as though four o'clock in the morning were the usual hour for receiving "^ guests, showed him his little room, the same as he had had there once before. It looked 220 THE IXCOXVEXIEXCE OF TWO HEROES. out on the great fjord, now lying in sunniest radiance. Evidently Hugh, from the next room, had spied the boat coming over the waters, and timed his own departure to the landing-place. Wareham decided, with a grim smile, that Anne doubtless credited him with a nigrht watch on the shore. This was the first consolatory reflection, and it was petty enough. It allowed entrance, however, to others. His mind was like an American house with the valves for hot and cold air both open ; cold and heat rushed in in brisk emulation. Out of sight of Hugh, out of hearing his transports, with the shining waters before him across which he and she had floated, he wondered at his own sudden dejection, and rated it as cowardly. The world's veriest fledorelinor would have borne himself more bravely. Say that Hugh was there, say that Anne encountered him without displeasure, what did that prove ? Did he expect her to frown, to hurl reproach ? He eluded that second speech of hers in the boat, which had fallen icily ; he went back to her confession 221 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. that Hugli bored lier. That Lad seemed to him decisive. A woman does not marry the man who bores her, except for cogent reasons, which he would not hoki of possible w^eight with Anne. He bored her, she had flung up her engagement and fled. There was the long and short of it. Nothing was altered, and out jumped a hundred excellent little arguments protesting that nothing ever should alter. But the worst of these Jack-in-the-box puppets is that a very little sends them in again. Opportunity — golden opportunity — had been his, when his hands were tied ; would she ever come again ? How was Anne to know what point of honour checked words, looks ? If she did know — there was the rub ! — would she accept it as valid reason ? Down, dismally down, went the poor puppets, one after the other. She would not, she could not ! If that had been all ! But he knew that he was turning his back upon the worst difiiculty. What would happen when the unconscious Hugh received that letter which was ofl" on its travels after him, and which sooner or later 222 THE IXCONVENIENCE OF TWO HEROES. must come into his hands. What should he do ? Forestall it ? Stand aside and wait ? Regrets, forebodino-s scouro;ed him. If he had spoken he might have won her. Faith to his friend — which he could not have failed in without being false to himself — had prob- ably lost her. And in spite of all, there was that in the situation which might cause Hugh to think him a traitor. The varying sensations of the day had battered him into a condition more nearly approaching exhaustion than he knew. Sleep came before he had formed plans for his waking, and he was only aroused by Hugh thundering at his door. " Slept well ? So have I. Like a top. Come along down to the bath-house." Wareham dispatched him wdth promise to follow. Waking, as often happens, had brought decision, so that he shook himself free of the foggy doubts which beset him a few hours before. There could be no question of Hugh's prior rights. He had nothing to do but to stand aside, and hold his tongue. As for the letter, it must be left to its fate. Long before 223 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. it reached Hugh, that impetuous young man would have carried or lost the day, and Wareham had sufficient faith in his friend's warm-heartedness to believe that he would understand, too. That, for the moment, was of greater consequence. He walked slowly down to the pier of black piles, where a red- tiled building is picturesquely perched, revolv- ing other people's possible actions. They are wheels which we can drive with fewer jolts than our own. And the pure fresh air, the sparkling gaiety of the morning had their effect. They intoxicated Hugh. Wareham, who had a stronger head, felt their influence more subtly. Thoughts of escape had fluttered before him ; now he would have none of them. Stand aside he must, but from where he stood he could see and measure, and that alone was an incalculable advantage. ^ 224 ^^^r mk^^^m^l^ CHAPTEE XI. CATECHISMS. BRExlKFAST was going on, and merrily, to judge from the rush of voices which met Wareham when he opened the door. His friends were there together, and a place w^as kept for him next the Eavenhills ; opposite -were Mrs. Marty n, Anne, and Hugh. As he took his seat, Mrs. Martyn spoke across the table. " Pretty proceedings, ^Ir. Wareham !'' " They did not cause you disturbance ? " he asked, with a simulated anxiety which sent round a smile. *' Nothing serious. I believed either of you equal to the task of looking after the other. Which took the lead ? " Anne's clear voice struck in — VOL. I. 225 15 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " We shared. I claim the suggestion of dinner at Gudvangen. Mr. Wareham was too much overwhelmed by the misadventure to preserve his presence of mind." '' But that was before starting. I can't conceive how you survived so many hours ! " Wareham perceived that the incident of the island had not been offered to Mrs. Martyn's consideration. His heart congratulated itself. Hugh's indignation rushed in pointedly. •' It's true enough that Miss Dalrymple wanted something by the time she got here." He muttered to Anne — " Much she had ready for you ! " *' I think you were to be envied," Mrs. Eavenhill said. "The fjord was so beautiful that I hated beincr carried throuoh it at a rush. And night here is little more than a quiet day." " Only too short," agreed Anne. " The sun was upon us before it seemed possible." Wareham's prescribed attitude of bystander did not preclude his sucking in these little sweets of comfort with delight. But Mrs. Martyn had not done with him. 226 CATECHISMS. " What were the charms of Gudvangen, 'Mi. TTareham, whicli made you so oblivious ? " " Poor Gudvangen ! If you speak of it in that tone, I shall believe it was you who bribed the captain to start an hour earlier than his right time." Millie put in a fluttering word. " It was a delightful place." "To Mr. AVareham's companions." Malice lurked in Mrs. Marty n's sentences. Millie coloured, Anne sat indifierent, Hugh it was who answered. "No wonder. But I get so called over the coals for want of punctuality that I vow I can't help being tickled that "Wareham should be the sinner. How was it ? Had a brown study got over him, ]\Iiss Dalrymple ? Or did anybody fall asleep?" "I think we were all to blame," said !Mrs. Ravenhill kindly. " We should have made sure that every one was on board. To tell the truth, I did not for a moment believe that we had really started." Anne spoke again, languidly. " Is not the subject threadbare ? You will 227 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. : force Mr. Wareliam or me into invention of adventures, since there is nothing real to relate that we can flatter ourselves would interest you. The w^e and ourselves fell delightfully on Wareham's ears. "My dear Anne, you don't do yourselves justice. Mr. Forbes is dying to know how you were occupied when you should have been at the steamer." Anne lifted her eyebrows. " Mr. Forbes ? " she said questioningly. He hurried to disclaim. " Not I. I am only glad you had Wareham to look after you." Under his breath he grumbled, '' Confound her ! " Why might he not be left alone ? His own resources would carry him like the trustiest steed through the tilting which he foresaw ahead, but to be forced into a position he had no mind for, to be treated as though he were a jealous ass, and so thrust against Anne's susceptibilities, was sure to irritate her. If a' wish could have swept Mrs. Martyn out of Norway, she would have found herself at this 228 CATECHISMS. moment in England again. Wareham, equally irritated, knew that it was for him to speak. *'It was simple enough," he said. "AYe had strolled out of sicrht or hearinor of the steamer, believing that she would not start for an hour and a half At the end of an hour we found you had all flown. We wanted Colonel Martyn to look us up." "Yes. Tom is always ready to undertake other people's business," said Mrs. Martyn, helping herself to marmalade. " Do you expect him to-day ? " Mrs. Eaven- hill put in, conscious that her neighbour would prefer a change of subject. "To-nio'ht at latest. Unless missinor o o steamers should be in the air." She looked meaningly at Wareham. He turned to Millie. " Have you thought out any plans for to- day?" "We meant to explore the place a little this morning, and go to Fjaerland by the evening steamer. It is a pity we can't sleep there and see the glaciers, but as it is we must just go up the fjord and 229 THE SWING OF THE PEXDULUM. down again. Motlier was out early this morning." "Sketching?" "Yes. She likes it immensely here." ''And you?" " Not so well as Gudvangen. But it is very nice, and " — regretfully — ''' it is so near the end ! " '' How ? " Millie sio^hed. That he should have for- gotten that they were to start for England on Friday, and this was Tuesday ! But no ill- humour crept into her voice. " You know we go to Bergen to-morrow nio'ht, then home." " I had foro'otten,'^ said Wareham, starinof at his plate. " Isn't it a very short stay ? " " Only a fortnight. But that I can hardly believe." "Nor I." " I suppose you will go further north, with the Martyns ? " hazarded Millie. He said abruptly, "I know nothing," and' checked her. Their oj)posite neighbours rose and departed, 230 CATECHISMS. Huo-h flinojino: an ecstatic look at Warehani as lie went. Wareham's spirits sank to mute misery. Anne's side allusions harl been kindly, but she liad not dropped one direct \Yord for liini to live upon, and fear of letting honour slip must prevent his seeking it. He writhed under the thought that she yet be- lieved him to have summoned Hugh, and a hundred voices within him seeming to clamour for the right to put this one thing straight, he found it hard to silence them. Breakfast over, Mrs. Ravenhill and Millie vanished, giving him to understand that the sketch had to be finished. " But I dare say we shall soon meet again,'' Mrs. Eavenhill said, " for here ao-ain there is not much choice of roads, and I am sitting humbly by the roadside." Wareham went off like a moth to sret close o to what hurt him. She was not to be seen, however, nor Hugh either, so that though he was not scorched, he suffered from another kind of smart, and it did not soothe him to drop upon Mrs. Martyn seated in one of the many balconies. He 231 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. would have escaped, but she saw and captured him. " I want to speak to you, Mr. Wareham ; pray come and sit down. We shall all be starting out in an hour's time. Meanwhile, here we may have a few minutes' peace." He could not excuse himself, and sat down reluctantly. " I am not going to scold you about yester- day," she said, '' although I think you will allow I might." " You do not accuse me, I hope, of pre- meditation ? " She professed not to be certain, but glancing at Wareham's face, dropped her attempt at jocularity. " I dare say it was Anne's fciult. She is astonishingly wilful." " I thought I had made it clear that the mistake was all my own. You must be well aware that Miss Dalrymple had the right to be excessively annoyed." Mrs. Martyn smiled. " Anne would not trouble herself about talk, if that is what you mean. She has 232 CATECHISMS. proved herself absolutely indifferent. She will do the same here." Spite of himself, he looked up eagerly. " Yes. Of course I speak of young Forbes. Her friends will not thank me when they hear that I have allowed him to tack himself on to us." The traitor in Wareham mentally blessed these friends, though his better instiucts forced him to say — " "Why ? Hugh is an only son, his father a baronet, and he what the world calls a g-ood match." Mrs. Martyn turned her large fair face towards him, and raised her eyebrows. " ]\Iiddling. No objection w^as made when Anne said she would marry him. But she let matters go too far, even for her, this time, and naturally they won't be pleased to have it all over again. Mr. Forbes says you tele- graphed to him. I wish you had left it alone." " Pray don't think I telegraphed to him to come. It was the last thing I desired." '' I should have imagined so," said Mrs. Martyn dryly. 233 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Wareham bit his lip. " One must keep a promise." " Must one ? " " You will allow that the manner in which Miss Dalrymple broke off her engagement was maddening for my friend ? Not an interview, not a word, only complete annihilation of all that had passed. Of course, from her own point of view, she may have been justified. I say nothing of blame." Mrs. Martyn smiled. Wareham had seldom found his own temper so tried as in this interview. He felt as if her great hat had an irritating personality, and crushed him. " You may know, or you may not know, that the blow to him was so serious that it brought me back from India." " Isn't there such a thing as a ricochet ? '' asked Mrs. Blanche innocently, so innocently that the innocence tickled him. " I am afraid there is," he admitted with e and our. *' Shall I go on ? " " Oh, by all means. You had just landed ' from India ? " " Miss Dalrymple allowed Hugh no com- 234 CATECHISMS. munication. He could not even find out where she went when she left London. It seemed to me that he had a right to learn her reasons for dismissal, and I assured him when I quitted him that he should hear from me if I had any news of her whereabouts." '' I could not have believed that Lady Dalrymple's servants were so above suspicion." Mrs. Martvn heaved a siofh at recollection of her own. He went on to sav that findinof ]\liss Dalrymple had crossed in the same boat with himself, he telegraphed to Hugh from Stavanorer. He knew of no other course he o could have taken. Aud he descanted on it, intending all to be told to Anne. He finished up by repeating that no idea of Hugh's coming had crossed his mind. '' I dare say not. Magnanimity has limits," she murmured. Tlnnkiugf it well to turn a deaf ear, he added that he had written a letter of some importance to Mr. Forbes from Stalheim. " From Stalheim ? " She appeared to medi- tate, looking at her o^^m hands, which were 235 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. very small. Then her question flashed out. " Was it to say you were in love with Anne ? " Wareham had got himself in hand by this time. He bowed. " That or anything else you please, Mrs. Martyn." She asked whether the letter had reached Hugh. " How should it ? He left England imme- diately after my telegram, and there has been no time." Mrs. Martyn looked out at the fjord, but "Wareham saw her shoulders shaking. Tragedy was uppermost with him, and at this proof of heartlessness he thought appreciatively of Millie's padded glass. She turned round, however, demurely composed. " Won't it be a little inconvenient, by and by ? " He gazed loftily over her head. " I don't know that we are immediately concerned with my letter. That, at any rate, ^ cannot be accused of bringrinor Huorh/' o o o " I wish something would take him away again. I had not the smallest intention of 236 CATECHISMS. being mixed up with one of Anne's com- plicated aflfairs," cried Mrs. Martyn. The speech jarred. " If his presence is disagreeable to Miss Dalrymple, she can certainly send him off. He will have had his explanation. Perhaps it will prove the shortest way out of the difficulty." This laid him open to an embarrassing question, " AT hat difficulty?" Fortunately for Wareham, she did not wait for an answer before putting another. " Are you a writer of books ? " " I can t deny it ? " " Yet read a woman's nature no better ! Anne will not send him off." " Accept him, then." " Nor accept him." " Eiddles ! " " If you had studied the genus as you should for your profession, Mr. Wareham, you would not find the riddle hard to solve. Anne likes Mr. Forbes enough to like to have him about her, but she would not marr}' him, because she could not endure fetters. Now she salves 237 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. lier conscience by thinking that she has done her best to give him time to recover ;you and fate have baffled her, and she — will enjoy herself." He forced himself to say quietly — " You describe a " " Flirt. Anne would not deny it if you charged her." Her w^ords in the boat were recalled by a reluctant memory ; with them came the charm of her voice, her smile, more powerful than words. He started up, and stood leaning against the railing of the balcony. '^ It comes to this. You and I read differ- ently. I think you unjust to your friend, you hold me a fool. Of the tw^o, I prefer the role of fool. But whichever turns out right, I don't see that we can do anything except wait, for it is certainly Miss Dalrymple who must tell Hugh to go or stay. Unless you have that authority ? " "I!" She shook her head. "Anne's chaperons are dummies, they don't interfere. ' Besides, I couldn't be bothered. I don't even know why I have talked to you, except that 238 CATECHISMS. Anne and Mr. Forbes will not be amusing companions this morning." Wareliam was cheered by the touch of feminine spite in this speech, the more so as he had seen Hugh cross the garden forlornly. He inquired what might be ]\rrs. Marty n's plans for the future. " I suppose my husband will return to-day, and then I shall insist upon going as far as Vadheim to-morrow night. Do you mean to come with us to the Geiranger ? You had better, for I can't be responsible for your friend." " Thanks. But I shall get back this week." Decision had stepped in so promptly that there was no time for regret to inter^DOse, although she hung helplessly on his skirts. Mrs. Marty n raised her eyebrows. " You go with the Eavenhills ? They mean to secure berths in the Ceylon, which is expected here to-day." " I dare say that will suit me." When he left her he would not seek Hugh, but went to the little office from whence letters are dispensed, with a feeble dream of lighting 239 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. upon his own. Failing in this he betook himself to the road, and presently came upon Mrs. Kavenhill sketching, and Millie enticing half-a-dozen small children away from her mother by means of barley-sugar. The girls hushed themselves with awe and delight, the boy, all one broad laugh, flourished sticky fingers, and threatened to descend upon the paper, in spite of reproachful cries of *' Daarlig Olaf! " At sight of Wareham he fled. " And I breathe," said Mrs. Eavenhill. " But he was much the nicest," declared Millie. " All the grown-up people are so grave, that it is a comfort to see one having a good time while he is young. He was not really so very naughty, though his sisters were dreadfully scandalized. Think of their all living in those lovely cottages ! " And indeed the group of houses which Mrs. Eavenhill was drawing made a perfectly harmonious note of colour. The sky delicate broken grey, the hill behind, grey also, running down in fine outline ; against this a group of houses, red-roofed one or two, timber-pitched another, gabled, white-plastered, jutting out, 240 CATECHISMS. running back, and set in waving emerald rye. Where the rye ended, long flowery grass began, and orrew down to the foot of the bank where the children were playing. A woman with a white handkerchief on her head, and carrying two pails with a yoke, came down the little path which the thick grass hid from view ; the swift-driven clouds cast swift soft shadows, the air was sweet with hav-makino\ Wareham was in the state of mind when this soothed, because it seemed apart from the world of men and w^omen, as represented by Mrs. Martyn. He had gone to her feeling that the dearest part of him was sacredly wrapped up and invisible, and with shaking shoulders she had plucked it forth, and given him to understand that she knew all about it. The man must be more than usually magnani- mous who does not chafe at insight from which he suffers. Here were women who made no pretence at insight. With them he felt healthfully at ease. And so scaly-strong is the coating behind which we flatter ourselves we are entrenched, that nothing could have more amazed him than to know that ^lillie, VOL. I. 241 16 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. simple soul, read through him as easily as- and more truly than Mrs. Martyn. He said suddenly at last — " How do you return to England, Mrs. Eavenhill ? " " Not as we came." She shuddered. ^' The Ceylon tourist steamer will be here to-day. I am told that she is an old P. and 0., and very comfortable, and that we can get berths in her." *' But you don't go on board to-day ? " Brace himself he must, but hardly to the extent of leaving so abruptly. " No. We shall meet her at Bergen on Friday." He asked to be allowed to take their berths, and let fall something to the effect that if there was another to spare, he might secure it for himself. " You will have had a short holiday." Mrs. Eavenhill added a little vermilion to her roofs, and sighed ' hopelessly over the flowery grass. Millie tried to check her heart's throb. "You come to Fjserland to-day?" she hazarded. 242 CATECHISMS. Tliey were all to go, it appeared, and Ware- ham agreed eagerly. What did it matter so long as he refi-aiDed from a word ? Of course he would go. He sunned himself in the anticipation. '^ 243 CHAPTEK XII. AN AIR WITH VARIATIONS. THE day had passed with little to mark it to Wareham, to whom events meant a word from Anne. They met at early dinner as they had met at breakfast, and again he had to content himself with indirect speeches. In the afternoon the Ceylon came in and anchored ; Wareham went off and secured three berths. He felt himself a model friend, but this did not prevent his looking forward eagerly to the evening. Colonel Martyn was the next to arrive. At six o'clock came the Gudvangen steamer, which was to take them to Fjaerland. Anne and Colonel Martyn were the last to come on board, Hugh fuming impatiently until they appeared. He surrounded her with solicitude. 244 AN AIR WITH VABIATIOXS. "I almost gave you up. I thought you had chauged your mind." "If I had?" She tossed the words at him as she passed. " We might have taken a boat and repeated yesterday," said Hugh daringly. " I hate repetitions." Wareham heard and chuckled. But where is your woman's consistency ? The next moment she had given her young lover a smile which put the other man's blood into a fever. Hugh looked round at him radiantly. Mr. Martyn eyed him with an experienced glance expressive to Wareham of " You see ! " He walked away. When he came back the group had been enlarged by several of the other people from the inn, who were making the same little voyage. An elderly man, with a keen clever face, held forth to Mrs. Martyn, and Wareham was not ill-pleased to note that the lady showed signs of discomfiture. He interrogated her closely, would have chapter and verse with her statements, and ruthlessly fastened on the futility of certain vague expressions in which 245 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. she took refuge. Wareliam stood for a minute receiving broken sentences from the group, except when Anne spoke, upon which the other voices faded into indistinctness. " Nothing in Norway to compare with Scotland." " Well, I don't know. There's good " " Didn't you hear ? She is expected to- morrow, and great preparations " " Horrible food ! " . Then a voice like a bell. " I half wish we were going home in her, she looks so big and so roomy." Only the foolishness of love could make music out of this every-day remark, but to his ear it sounded in sweet relief to the clatter of the others. So sad is the eclipse of friend- ship before the greater light, that he was conscious of a wish to swing Hugh out of his place by her side, and stand there himself. Had not he had his chance and failed ? To be swaggering round, and playing dog iuv the manger, was an unworthy solace. To be compelled to hover near with a heart full of yesterday, was to munch ashes. For let 246 AX AIR WITH VAPJATIOXS. philosophers say what they will, the past is at best imsatisfyiDg food, but a past which has no more substance than hope unfulfilled, chokes you with its dusty remembrances. AYareham went restlessly about the vessel, talking to the red-faced burly captain of the Kominodoren, to any one : wherever he went he saw Hugh's spirited figure, Anne's pale clear-cut profile, and these two only. At last, as he was speaking to an elderly lady with a sw^eet kind fiice, he surprised her by quitting her suddenly. Opportunity had come, and he flew to Anne's side. ''At last!" he cried, and had to check his exultation. " I thought I should never be allowed to speak to you alone ! " " After yesterday you could scarcely com- plain of that difficulty." Anne was smiling, her eyes were half shut. " Yesterday ! " He made an impatient gesture. She asked whether it was so long^ ao^o ? " Half a lifetime," he answered boldly, and had a w^ild fancy that a tremulous colour just crept into her cheek. But she hastened to 247 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. inquire whether he did not find the scenery very fine ? " I have not seen it." " Where have your eyes been ? " " On my heart," would have been a true answer. He pressed it back and muttered, " I have been wanting to say a word, but Hugh monopolized you." " Your friend. You should have been satisfied. But tell me what you w^ an ted so much to say ? " " You heard his greeting. Did you imagine that I had told him to come out ? " " It surprised me." "Pray let me hear that you thought better of me than to believe it." " Better ? Do you not present yourself as a symbol of friendship ? And friendship is held to condone blunders." She spoke teasingly. **No, no. I telegraphed " Suddenly he found it hard to explain why he had tele- graphed. " He had a right to an explana-, tion." The words came out apologetically. " And you were the deus ex macliind. I told you you were a symbol of friendship." 248 AN AIR WITH VABIATIOXS. Coldness was in her voice, and Wareham, reader of hearts, believed he understood why she was dissatisfied. " I have offended you. I read it in your eyes when you saw Hugh," he said dismally. " Oh, Hugh, Hugh : " She made the ex- clamation with impatience, and frowned. He would have given worlds to ask why, if she were displeased, she did not dismiss her young lover, but dared not. Then she slowly let drop four words which set his blood leaping in wild bounds. " You might help me." Heavens, what did the words, the look she turned on him, mean ? Eeproach, encourage- ment, were both there. He stood stupidly, stunned by the delicious shock ; conscience faltered, passion rushed to the attack. This appealing to him, this, as it were, holding out her hand — bliss ! — ecstasy ! Conscience panted out desperately, " And Honour ? " and, once having thrust in her word, stood firm. Wareham felt as if in that minute he had lived a year. When he spoke his voice was hoarse, his face white. 249 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. ■ "I cannot," he said. "It rests with your- self." She was looking at him, and her face did not change, nor did she speak. They stood silent, fronting the mountains, and presently Hugh's voice sounded cheerfully behind them. ''I can't find your parasol, Miss Dalrymple. Mrs. Martyn thinks you must have left it behind." ''Ask her whether it is not her umbrella she wants," had been Mrs. Martyn's exact words, for neither sun nor rain was likely to trouble them. These he did not repeat. He was sharp enough to guess that he had been disposed of for a motive, but hugged the thought that it was merely caprice which had served this purpose. For caprice he was pre- pared, resolved that it should not put him out of countenance. An indefinite presentiment kept Wareham on the v/atch. It was a nothing, yet it had Mien on a crucial moment. How would she behave to Hugh ? The next moment * Anne turned, smiling carelessly. " I am ashamed to have troubled you, and for what seemed an absurdity. Who wants a 250 AX AIR WITH VAPJATIOXS. parasol at such an hour ? It is that I am a baby, and Jike something in my hand." Hugh was for startino: off anain. '' No, no, no more errands. You may sit here and tell me about the Standishs'. When did you see them ? Have they gone abroad? Mary wrote a line to me before we left England, but she told me nothing of their plans." " And they knew nothing of yours," stam- mered Hugh the happy, afraid of uttering anything which carried the ghost of a re- proach. j\Iary Standish was to have been their bridesmaid. Wareham would hear no more. He wheeled round and departed, with not a word of thanks to cast at conscience, though she had saved him from a scrape. Going forward, he stood moodily watching the pallor creep ov^er the vast snowfield which runs along the western side of the fjord, and from which glaciers like pale ghosts crawl down to the water. At Fjserland itself there was a short stoppage, people came on board who had tramped to the Suphelle glacier, and were enthusiastic over its beauties to those who had not seen it. 251 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. And now, in going back, the glories of the sunset touched each opening fjord with strange variety of effect and contrast. One had wild and menacing clouds sweeping on with threat of storm ; in another the mountains lay in indescribable calm against a clear daffodil sky ; a third again was radiant with light, and crowned with floating rosy clouds. Voices hushed themselves, the ripple of the water grew more insistent, lovely reflections trembled downwards. By and by a green promontory was passed, and Balholm stood hospitably alight. ** Nine o'clock," sighed Colonel Martyn, with disconsolate acceptance of his fate, the hiofh tea which he hated. Meantime the professor had asked Mrs. Martyn — who piqued herself upon her facts — if she knew the num- ber of square miles covered by the snow-area at which they had been gazing. She had an impression it was five hundred. '' An impression ! " He was scornful. Women's knowledge invariably consisted of impressions. Mrs. Martyn, who liked to be rude herself, was always crushed by retaliation 252 AX AIR WITH VARIATIONS. in the same coin. She escaped, and clung to Mrs. Ravenhill. " My dear, protect me ! That man is a bear. He can never have been used to any society at all. Everything that I say to him he contradicts flatly, and comes out with the most disagreeable speeches ! I daren't say a word. He frightens me. And why does he choose me — poor, inoffensive me ? " Anne, as she walked up from the landing- place, got hold of Millie. " You are reallv joiner to break awav to- morrow ? I envy you." *' I am sorry," Millie said simply. " There is so much more which I want to see." Anne answered her abruptly — "It is like everything else. Life is just an air with variations, and you get sick of the air. I am tired of mountains and fjords. More tired of hearing people cry, ' How beautiful ! ' " " When they say it of yourself? " '* Most of all. Yet when it doesn't come, I miss it." She laughed. ''Ah, I can't help you," Millie returned. " What is it you want ? " 253 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. "To be what I am not — what I never shall be." They were at the door. Anne ran up- stairs, Millie dropped her defensive armour with a sigh. She had somehow expected, and dreaded, that when Anne spoke of their leaving, she would allude to Wareham. Now that she had not done so, she was disappointed. Wareham was caught by Hugh Forbes as he went out of the saal. " Come for a turn, old fellow," he besought. "There are a hundred things I want to say to you.'' "Hadn't you better go after Miss Dai- ry mple ? " said Wareham sharply. " She won't let me. Says she's had enough of me for to-day." Hugh laughed, and Wareham hesitated. Self-flattery murmured that possibly she had intended this half-hour for him, and the thought fell sweet as honey drops. But away from her charm, her beauty, conscience was, not to be beguiled. Avaunt, tempter! Step forth, honour ! Dull paths are safest, and the dullest of all dull i^aths appeared this walk 254 AX AIR WITH VARIATIONS. with Hugh, Anne left behind in a balcony overlookino; shininor waters. They were out, with Hugh anxiously asking why he must go to-morrow ? " It's an awful nuisance/' he burst out, " and I do think it's hard on a fellow to be left unsupported just at this ticklish point. You could be of untold good — you have been already, of that I'm certain. Anne likes you, and likes to talk of you. Now a great blunder- ing fellow might have done a lot of mischief. Crammed me down her throat, or tried to cut me out. I vow I wouldn't have trusted any one but you yesterday in the boat. When I heard that she was coming along with some man, I was awfully cut up, I can tell you ; and Mrs. Martyn never let out who it was. Just like the woman ! It was Miss — what's she called ? — Eavenstone who cleared me up. Why don't you take to that little girl ? A good soul, with a heart of gold, and a dimple. I've heard you say you loved dimples, and, upon my soul, I never saw a prettier." Wareham's irritated exclamation was re- strained by the recollection that here was the 255 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. very suggestion which he had intended for Hugh himself, presented topsy-turvily. He was forced to laugh. " Arrange matters for yourself, only leave me out of the pattern, for I don't harmonize." Hugh rushed into farther confidences, but owned that he was in a funk. " If I could but imagine what upset the coach last time," he complained, *' I'd take good care to avoid it again ; but I give you my word you know as much as I do. She won't speak of it, won't listen, won't so much as drop me a hint ; and to think of her bolting again puts me in such a devil of a fright that I daren't hold on to the subject. Now, Dick, if you'd stay and sound her a bit, I should be awfully obliged to you." That or any other subject. His heart jumped like a hungry dog, grateful for a bone. He had to recall himself to his resolve. " Can't." "Don't tell me you're not your own^ master." '' No man is his own master that has set his shoulder to the wheel." 256 AN AIR WITH VARIATIONS. " Well " — Hudi walked on, revolving — " there are twenty-four hours yet ; you may get a chance in that time." Wareham was stung into exclamation. ** You don't know what you're asking ! " " I know exactly ; and it isn't much for a clever fellow like you. You can understand that when I go pottering round, she sees exactly what's coming, and shies. As likely as not, she doesn't want to hurt my feelings " " Oh, your feelings ! She didn't show aiuch regard for your feelinsrs when she fluno; you over ! " cried Wareham savagely. " No, but look here, old fellow, you mustn't be so prejudiced. It was natural enough when you didn't know her, and I shan't for- get what you did for me in those black days, but I did think that once you were thrown with her you would have your eyes opened, and appreciate her." Wareham looked queerly at him. " How do you know I don't ? " " Because then you wouldn't blame her. And I believe you'd stick to me now. At first I could think of nothingr but that I was VOL. I. 257 17 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. near her again, and could look at her ; but finding out how gingerly I've got to move, makes me uneasy. If you were here you'd give me a wrinkle or two. Come, Dick, think better of it." Hugh decapitated an inoffen- sive ox-daisy as he spoke. " You needn't expect to put me off with talk of business. Don't I know most of your affairs ? " "Not all." Wareham's voice had grown gentler. " Hugh, do you remember my telling you that I had written a letter ? " " To me ? " '^ Yes." " I recollect. It had slipped my memory." " I wish I could prevent its ever reaching you." Hugh burst into his cheery laugh. " That's what I feel sometimes when I've sent off an epistle to the pater. But you don't suppose anything you said to me would make me cut up rough ? " " When you've got it you'll understand why I go," the other went on, unheeding. " Mysteries, mysteries ! " It must be owned that Wareham thought 258 .4.Y AIE WITH VABIATIOXS. his speech would have thrown a little light. He breathed hard, and his face flushed. Hugrh went on — " I know you've thought hard things of Anne. But, old fellow, you've never failed me yet ; and that's why I want you now. You could say what I can't say myself" " What one can't say oneself had better remain unsaid." Something in the tone penetrated, and gave the young man a tinge of uneasiness. " You don't mean that you think " He stopped aghast. Wareham answered with a hand on the valve. If his words were to fly, it should not be on a wrong tack. "What?" " That, after all, I've no chance ? " " Heavens, man, how should I think such a thino ! I know nothingr of what you have said to her, or she to you. You've got your opportunity — what more do you want? Go in, and win." "All right, old fellow," Hugh said good- humouredly. " May you be a true prophet. 259 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. Anyway, don't be put out about your letter. I've a tbick skin, as you've proved before now. And if it bores you to stop, go. Only if you do get the chance before leaving, and if you can get her to give you a bit of explan- ation, it may make matters smoother. Isn't there some old Viking or other buried about here ? Well, we'll go back." As they returned they found signs of fes- tivity about the rival inn ; Balholm sat round the walls of the saal, and in the centre a picturesque musician played the Hardanger fiddle ; the wild piercing sounds, half savage, half plaintive, penetrated the night. Ware- ham stood at the door after Hugh had left him, held by some spell for which he could not account. The music conjured up strange imao[inino;s — the silence of the mountains en- compassed lonely fjords ; pallid snowflakes chased each other into clefts, where they lay shrouding the rock ; winds w^histled through cowering trees, and in a moment the cruel ^ howl of a w^olf rose menacingly above the other sounds. The tragedies of the country had found a voice in the wild, almost dis- 260 ^:V AIR WITH VARIATIONS. cord ant, instrument. Wareham stood absorbed, starinor at the orround. When the music stopped, he looked up uncertainly. Hay sweetened the air, golden light still lingered in the sky, yet he shivered. The landlord came out. AYareham gave him a gulden for the musician, and walked slowly back to his own quarters. 261 CHAPTER XIII. PERSUASION. THE next clay the wreathing mists which lightly swept the mountains had gathered moisture enough to descend in thick rain. It fell continuously, but was still so vapourish that there was as much white as grey everywhere, and the sun behind the clouds suffused them with dazzling light. The broad fjord presented enchantingly ethereal and aerial effects. A grey veil blurred the heights on its other side, but here and there a mysterious gleam of whiteness shot out from their snowy summits, radiantly piercing the gloom. Silvery lights fell across the faint grey of the waters, which chauged to opal nearer shore, and took in places a clear transparent emerald green. A rough 262 PEESUASIOX. ridge of stone walled in a small harbour, and here were boats drawn up, black, green, white, sharp points of contrast to the delicate half- tones beyond. The covered balconies of the inn were throDo^ed with dissatisfied travellers, casting^ gloomy glances at the falling rain. *' Detestable climate," muttered Colonel ]\Iartyn, pulling up his coat collar. He added to Wareham, *' You're a lucky fellow to be 2fettiDgr out of it. I wish I could." " Don't be absurd, Tom," his wife retaliated. *' The weather at home is infinitely worse." " I don't see it." '' You are like the ostrich. You bury your head." The professor lifted his from a newspaper, with the sniflp of a war-horse. " My dear ]\Irs. ]\Iartyn, you don't credit that ridiculous fable ? " She raised her hands imploringly. " Take it. I yield. The professor has got possession of a hundred harmless illustrations, which he puts to the torture, and then gibbets." 263 TEE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. *' To be worth auy thing an illustration should be accurate." Anne went to the rescue. " We may struggle after truth, but ac- curacy — ! Half-an-hour hence, and unpre- pared, I defy the professor to repeat this conversation without an error." " Facts, facts ! " '' Facts come to us thick with paint. Who will describe the view before us ? One person says * Beastly weather,' another is eloquent on the loveliness of silver-grey. What, then ? " " The fact remains that it rains," said the professor, with a bow. He was forbearing to Anne. "Not a drop." Hugh turned round from contemplation, his laugh vigorous and in- fectious. '' The ostrich is forfeit," confessed the professor gallantly. "To some eyes it appears that he buries his head, others behold him running upright. He is gone, and science wdth him. Am I forgiven ? " "You never asked me that question," said Mrs. Marty n. 264 PEBSUASION. " My dear lady, you never gave me the opportunity." While tliey laughed, Anne made a scarcely- perceptible sign to Wareham. He came close. " What takes you back in such a hurry to England ? " He hesitated. " Is it business which I should not under- stand ? " " Business which I can't explain, would be nearer the truth." She leaned forward, dropping her eyes. " Mr. Forbes says that all his endeavours to keep you have been in vain. Are you inexorable ? I believe we are going to the finest part of Norway. But perhaps you are afraid of another contretemps such as that of Monday ? " His head whirled ; he dared not look at her. In an odd, strained voice he muttered something which sounded like " Perhaps." She took no notice, but went on lightly — " You need not have any fear. You will be amply protected. With Colonel Martyn of the party, I defy any one to be late for anything." 265 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. He kept his eyes fixed on the opal waters, and stood up as stiffly as if he had to receive the shock of a charge. Who to look at him would have guessed that he felt as if all were lost ? The ages have at least taught man to keep his face like a mask. '' You are very good. Hugh will — will look after you. It is impossible for me to stay." He stammered, he did not know w^hat he said, but he had not yielded, he was sure he had not yielded. The victor is too often represented as a fine fellow, marching away self- contentedly to the sound of his own trumpets. Much more frequently he is bruised and battered, nobody giving him so much as a cheer ; while his own discontented ideal scornfully holds up a mirror that he may not deceive himself with vain imao'inings. This a hero ! — Poor mud-be- spattered figure ! Just scraped through a conflict without utter overthrow, standing upright, it may be, but in what condition ! v Nothing to be proud of here. No subject for triumphal arches or laurel wreaths, which, indeed, became ludicrous even in imagination. 266 PEBSUASIOX. Fit only to creep awaj, bind up his wounds as best he may, and cleanse himself from the mud-stains, and say as little as possible of what has happened. And yet a victor. Wareham wandered about that day, seeing little of the others, and especially avoiding Hugh. The misty rain continued, grey and silver predominated everywhere about the fjord, but the mountains behind the little village reared purple glooms into the cloud regions, and the greens were vivid. The wdiole party were to go on board the steamer which came in at seven or eight in the evening, and to separate at Vadheim at one in the morning. By the time they started the rain had ceased, and there were clear lights about, though no gorgeous pomp of sunset. A chill w^as in the air, suggesting wraps, and if adventurous spirits made excursions to the upper deck, they soon retreated to the heap of luggage which offered seats and comparative shelter. Anne had taken up a position between the professor and the elderly lady. Hug^h could not o^et at her, and mooned about 267 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. disconsolate. He went to Mrs. Martyn, at last, in sheer despair ; she laughed at him. " How many days has your satisfaction lasted, Mr. Forbes ? And do not copy-books assure us that happiness is a shy goddess ? Be indifferent. That is your only chance of cajoling her to stay." " As well say, be some one else. Won t you help me ? " " I would not if I could. Anne is charming as she is. Married, I don't know which would be the most miserable — she or her husband." " 1 would risk it." " Of course. Because you have lost your head. I should not wonder if the professor would risk it too." Hugh began to laugh. *' You will be saying as much of Wareham in a minute." " Do you mean that he owns to it ? " asked Mrs. Martyn innocently. His laugh grew hilarious. " No, no, no. The bare idea is too comic. I have never know^n him smitten. He will 268 PEBSUASIOX. not even consent to stay on vdth us, though Anne asked him herself." " And YOU have asked him also, no doubt ? " " In vain, thouo-h ! I have never known him so stiff. If it had been any one else, I should have suspected the attraction of Miss Eavenhill's dimple." Mrs. Martyn gazed at him admiringly. "How clear-sighted you men are!" she cried. Hugrh disclaimed modestlv. " Not we, for you women often puzzle us. But if I didn't know Wareham, I don't know who should. He's been better than a brother to me, stuck by me, and pulled me through a lot. Oh, hang that old man ! If he's going to monopolize Anne, I'll have a smoke mean- while. You're coming down to the feed, Mrs. Martyn ? May I choose your places ? " *' Leave that to Mr. Wareham," she called after him, with a laugh. Wareham sat with the Eavenhills at the other table of the narrow cabin. Anne's voice behind him sounded in his ears, so that he heard little else, and gave himself the luxury 269 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. of silence that he might listen to the dear sounds. Mrs. Ravenhill found him a dull companion, and raised her eyebrows to Millie to indicate her opinion while she praised the salmon. Youth had ousted age, and Hugh was at Anne's elbow, with irreverent jests upon the professor's dread of the cabin. The steamer had anchored off a little village, to disembark a company of unkempt soldiers, and was rolling steadily, to the discomfort of more than one. ''I looked into the ladies' cabin," said Anne. " It is not to be faced, and I shall spend the night on deck." " I too. But the night is not very long." " True. I had forgotten. We land at one. Are you really coming with us ? " " What else on earth should I do ? " "That is easily answered. Go home with your friend. Are you not hisjidus Achates f Don't you think it base to desert him ? " He dropped his voice into rapture. " You don't expect me to prefer his society to yours ! " Mrs. Martyn, who had quick ears, bestowed ' 270 PEESUASIOX. a mental smile on the one-sidedness of friend- shij). Anne looked at liim calmly, and re- marked — " You are an extraordinary boy." He flushed and asked her not to call him a boy. She answered that she thought him younger now than ever before. " It is only a boy that would have shown so much rashness." ''How?" '^ In hurling yourself upon us, as you have done. Unasked, except by your f^iithful friend." Threat lurked in her voice, and terrified him into instant humbleness. " Forgive me." " If I do, it is because you are what you disclaim, and not quite responsible. The real offender should have remained to take care of you." " I don't need him, if you won't laugh at me too cruelly. Besides, do you know that Dick is only three years my senior ! Upon my honour^ that's all." She made no remark on this, but changed 271 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. her note to one more serious, and therefore more alarming. " Your coming with us is certain to revive talk — hush !— and 1 do not wish that to happen. While you w^ere here with another the fact w^as not so pointed, but I did not realize that Mr. Wareham proposed to leave you altogether on our hands, and I do not like it." *' He will go," Hugh said gloomily. He began to see Wareham's departure in a menac- ing light. '' You know he told you so ! " " Oh, me, me ! — Am I his friend ? When he gave you wise advice, did he not treat me in the light of a baleful ogress '? However, there is no more to be said, for if he will not make so small a concession for you " Her tones betrayed annoyance. Hugh's heart descended to his boots, and he mentally resolved upon another and stronger argument with Wareham. His path would not be strewn with roses, he began to see ; at any rate, if the roses were there, thorns also gave plentiful promise. And he could not understand Wareham, on whom he would have counted for staunch support in 272 PEESUASIOX. these prickly ways. Poor Hugh, whose lights were steady but not brilliant, felt himself un- able to comprehend either his friend or Anne. At times she suffered his hope to sail like a kite, straining at its cord, then with a jerk down came the poor flutterer, and dragged helplessly on the ground. Up again, he forgot the downfall, and was as unprepared as ever for disaster. It was cold, sharply cold, on deck. People began to prepare for sleep. Mrs. Martyn betook herself to the ladies' cabin ; ]\Irs. Eavenhill and Millie stretched themselves on the ground in a small corner at the head of the companion ladder. Anne barricaded her- self among^st the small luo^orao-e and warned off Hugh, who wandered round disconsolate. There was still clear lioht in the skv, thouo-h the horizontal layer of clouds had grown dark, almost black. Black, too, were the low hills which rose on either side of the broad Sosfne : here and there a sino^le lio^ht ofleamed out of the solitude ; now and then a bubble of laughter broke from a group on the deck. Hugh went in pursuit of Wareham, and found VOL. I. 273 18 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. him in the forepart of the vessel talking to a Norwegian gentleman on the politics which w^ere causing upheaval in the country. When he at last w^alked away, Wareham remarked to his friend — " Individually they are a strong nation, but our overgrown world now^ requires quantity at the back of quality. Besides, they have no young men." "Why?" " Emigration. The passion for their country remains, but only as a sentiment. It does not bring them back to starve for her." " They w^ould be fools if it did," commented Hugh. " True. But it requires fools to do great things. However, my Norwegian is not quite of my opinion. He thinks the struggle with nature's physical forces so tremendous that it exhausts the energy of the people. In old days it flung them southward to conquer more promising lands. This is no longer possible, and he holds that they must for the present content themselves wdth crossing the seas and growing rich by the work of their brains. The 274 FEESUASIOX. worst is that the men who return do not bring back the fine qualities they took." " You are interested in them ? " " They seem to me among the best people in the world." " But you have seen so little ! " " One day I must come back." " Look here, Dick, what a fellow you are ! " Hugh exclaimed remonstrantly. " There's nothing to take you home, and you won't stop, when you might be of the greatest possible use to me. Anne is beginning to cut up rough, because she thinks my staying on with them alone looks marked. Do think better of it. You're not tied to those other people." '* I can't be uncivil to them." '^ I claim you before them." Wareham sighed wearily. '* Haven't we gone through it all ? I tell you I know what I am about." "That letter. It has somethino- to do with that letter, I'll swear it has ! And what rubbish ! As if anything you said could ever come between us. Out with it, man ; let's hear 275 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. this mighty matter. Then perhaps you'll stay and study your Norwegian in peace." "My Norwegian must wait. The Ceylon has me fast booked." Hugh was put out. " I never knew you so stiff! " he cried, with vexation in his tone. *' You must take my word that I have reasons." '' At any rate, you might give me one." Wareham was silent. Hugh kicked at a rope. " What on earth can I say to Anne ? " " You might be satisfied with your position," the other man went od, disregarding. "A week ago you would have thought it bliss." *' So it is." Hugh rose on wings. "But if ever you'd been in love, you'd understand that the uncertainty is awfully trying. After what happened once, I shan't have a minute's peace until we're married. Now, when she might have let me say something, she has sent me off." Wareham was understood to mutter that no one could assist Hugh but Hugh himself. 276 PEESUASIOX. " Oh, I know, I kDONY ! Only I want to keep her pleased." Three weeks before his friend would have flung out that if he couldn't effect this pre- liminary he had better step aside and leave the lady to please herself. Three weeks, how- ever, had changed, if not his opinions, at least his power of advancing them. Silence was again his refuge. And Hugh meandered on. " Perhaps old Martyn will say a good word for me. Suppose Anne says I am not to go n with them ! " " Can't you take your dismissal 1 " " No ! " Huo-h fluncr out the word with such energy that a passing sailor looked round to see whether the quarrel was serious. Wareham recognized and admired the tenacity. " You've grip," he admitted. '*' It would take less to put me off." The young man made no answer. They were nearing a landing-place, the usual group stood there, only that at this hour they were dark shadows, now and then flashed upon by a moving light ; two boys in fur caps carried great plates of wild strawberries. Hugh 277 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. bouglit a couple, with promise that the steamer should bring back the plates. He dashed off with them to Anne, and was back in a moment. " Happy hit, she likes them ! But she wants you to come, too." Wareham hesitated — went — with a shrug at his own weakness. Anne pushed a camp stool in front of her. " Sit there. Mr. Forbes, please carry some to Mrs. Eavenhill. They are delicious." As he went off obediently, Wareham said — " You are unkind." ** No ; he is pleased. He thinks you are sure to say something in his favour, and jumps at the oj^portunity." " Is that why you sent for me ? " " To hear your counsel — yes. As it is you who have planted me in this quandary, you had better at least tell me what you would advise ? " " That I leave to your own heart." He was conscious that prudence would have touched the string more lightly. "You are so uncomplimentary as to have 278 PERSUASIOX forgotten what I told you, and not so long ago. I don't own the thing. At all events, it is of the smallest." " So is what we see of tlie moon," said Wareham, pointing to a slender crescent. Anne smiled, for a woman who talks of heartlessness does so to be contradicted. " Well, it appears to me that you put forth little on behalf of your friend." " One doesn't praise the people one loves." He dared not look at her, but her nearness thrilled him, and he had not thought to be thus toorether a grain in the mvsterious dusk of a northern night. She was silent for a time ; when she spoke it was to say slowly — " If you tell me that you honestly wish it, I may — perhaps " But he had started up impatiently. " Good heavens, am I your guide ? I have nothing to do with it. I wash my hands of all ! " He added w^ith a strong effort, "Let me say that you could not choose a better fellow, and that he loves you with his whole heart." " How big is that ? " Anne demanded, in a mockingr tone. s>.\ THE SWING OF THE FENDULUM. The question jarred. He loved, but did not like her so well as before. " You, at any rate, have no reason to doubt its generosity," he answered gravely. " And one thing I will ask of you — do not cause unnecessary pain." " The situation is none of my creating. Give me credit at least for having done my utmost to avoid painful positions. You, or fate, have baffled me, yet now you refuse to interfere, and I do not pretend to answer for myself." She pushed away the plate of strawberries, and leaned back among the rugs and furs, her face pale in the half light, her voice cold. Wareham was still standing, when Hugh came back and glanced from one to the other. " Have you persuaded him ? " he inquired. " Mr. Wareham ? " said Anne carelessly. " I should not venture to attempt it." " Time's nearly up," Hugh announced. '' In a quarter of an hour we shall be at Vadheim, and Colonel Martyn wants to know if you have seen the brown rug ? " " Tell him it is here," she said, with a little 280 PERSUASION. eagerness ; and Hugh was turning away when Wareham stopped him. " Stay," he said. " I will go/' He did not return. Lights shone out ahead of them, and there was a stir in the vessel, and an uprising of sleepers, for this is the point where those bound for Northern Norway leave the Sogne. The professor's voice was heard, acutely insistent. Colonel Martyn came to look for Anne and his rug. The lights resolved themselves into illuminated windows of a square inn, and, with no move- ment about it. this midnig;ht illumination had an almost spectral effect. A procession of good-byes followed. " Good-bye, Mr. Wareham," said Mrs. Martyn, with a laugh. '' High ideals may be very fine things, but they don't pay, and you had better have stayed." " Lucky man, with a tender chop in sight ! " muttered her husband. As Anne passed out she turned a smiling face towards Wareham, but if he had feared or hoped for a farewell word, he was disappointed. She said no more than " Good-night," and 281 THE SWIXG OF THE PENDULUM. put a warm hand into his. He had prepared himself for words, but silence knocked aside his defences. " We are friends ? " he asked eagerly. She lifted her eyebrows, still smiling. " I should never reach your ideal of friend- ship. Keep it for Mr. Forbes." Hugh pressed in from behind, laden with bundles. *' Here's everything, as far as I can see, but if you find anything, Dick, leave it with Bennett in Bergen. You're a villain, not to come along with us." Then, in a whisper, *' Wish me well, old fellow ! " He had only time to spring on shore, the vessel backed slowly away from the pier, the figures faded iato darkness, the spectral inn presented its squares of steady light. Wareham stood watching, then, with something like a groan, turned away, and flung himself down w^here Anne had sat among the luggage. 282 CHAPTER XIV. " OVER THE WATER Wl' AXE." AS the fjord widens into open sea, the hills sink into insig-nificance, and the steamer makes her way between clustering islands, rocky and barren ; but on nearing Bergen the scenery again gains dignity, and Bergen itself, lying on a promontory between two harbours, and overshadowed by fine mountains, is strik- ingly picturesque. There is an air of vigorous life about it ; oddly-rigged and brightly-painted vessels scud along before a wind which catches the waves, and tears them into foam ; against the beautiful shadowy hills stands a jumble of red-roofed houses, pierced, as it were, by a forest of masts. Mrs. Ravenhill, sitting on the upper deck, swept the scene with what Millie called her air of hungry enjoyment. 283 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " She sees points, effects, and is perfectly- happy. What I foresee," added the girl, laughing, " is a struggling crowd, from which I shall have to defend her." ''Norwes^ians are never rude," announced Mrs. Ravenhill. "Not often. But what of that girl at Stalheim, who demanded money because you had sketched her cottage ? " " Oh, Stalheim ! Stalheim is a spoilt place. I do not count Stalheim." ''You will find points enough and to spare," said Wareham, " and if you can get on board a steamer, you may have peace also. I sup- pose Smeby's wdll do as well as any other hotel ? " So it was settled, only, as Smeby's was full, Mrs. Ravenhill and Millie went across the street, and had rooms at the house of a kindly, funny little woman, who told them long Norwegian stories, which she found it im- possible to conceive were not understood. The days were bright, but chilly, with a spirited wind blowing in from the sea, and ruffling the harbour. The Eavenhills at- 284 OVEE THE WATER TTT AXE. tempted uo demands upon Wareham's hours ; lie was free to come and go, join them or leave them alone, whether ^Irs. Eavenhill sketched or made regulation purchases of spoons, furs, or photographs at the shops. This liberty pleased him, it allowed him to live with Anne in thought, and to be miserable over the combinations he foresaw. AYhen two and two must drive together, would not Huo;li contrive to be with Anne ? Xo one would prevent it if Anne suffered the arrange- ment. And to be near her — to look into her eyes ! Xow that the victory was won, he gave himself the luxury of imagining what a defeat would have brouo;ht him : he mio-ht have been in Hugh's place, and his heart leaped with the conviction that he would have been preferred. He walked hurriedly, urged, goaded, by this thought ; over his head clouds were flvinpr mills screamed to each other, flashinor white mi]o;s ao-ainst the grev. He walked lonof, seeing: nothino- • when he wheeled round at last, it was more from instinct than in- tention, and after supper he went out again. Mrs. Eavenhill was not quite pleased. 285 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " No one invited Mr. Wareliam," she said to Millie that night. "If he chose to come with us, he might take more trouble to be entertaining." Millie stood at the window, her back to her mother. "Never mind," she said at last. "You have earned his gratitude." " Why ? " " He is not very happy, so he likes to be alone." . Mrs. Eavenhill laid down the photographs she was examining, and stared. " Not happy ? Millie, you catch up absurd fancies ! The man eats, drinks, talks, as usual. He has not been confiding in you ? " — quickly. The " No " came with a sigh. Her mother heard the " No," and not the sigh, and took up the photographs again. "Then I wouldn't waste my pity. I will tell you what I think. Mr. Wareham has lived in his own interests till he has grown selfish ; the large party and the little rubs did not please him, and he came away. He is welcome to go where he likes. All tbat I 286 OVER THE WATER IVT AXE. complain of is that he seems to think he owes nothing to us. You see what I mean ? " "Yes." "And don't you think he was glad to break away 1 " "Perhaps," said Millie untruthfully. " Oh, he was." The mother was persuaded that Millie never flunor a thoudit in the direction of Wareham, yet, mother-like, would not believe that he could have been attracted by another when her girl was there. Descent such as that ranks with the incredible. Yet if — if Millie were not so entirely heart-whole as she believed, she yearned to offer comfort. She said, with a smile — " Miss Dairy mple has too much of the bearing of a conqueror to please a man not easily subdued." The girl's heart was trembling lest the secret it held should escape. She praised Anne on purpose to be quit of all suspicion of jealousy. "She is one of the women who has a ri^ht to such a bearing. If I were a man, I should fall in love with her a dozen times over." Mrs. Kavenhill's momentary suspicion fled. 287 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " He could have stayed if lie liad wished it, I suppose," she said cheerfully, and slipped into other talk. A newspaper had given them moderately late news of their country, and when they met at breakfast, Wareham alluded to it. " At home, if you miss the Times for a day, you become a hopeless laggard in the world. It is amazing how soon the feeling wears off." " By the way, I see the professor mentioned for an appointment," said Mrs. Eavenhill. "Our professor ? " '' Mrs. Martyn s." They laughed. "Whatever it may be," said Wareham, "he will not be troubled by the misgiving that a w^orthier man might have been found." Millie remarked that he had a very accurate mind. "From which he shoots out poor Mrs. Martyn's facts as rubbish." "But in Miss Dalrymple's hands he is a lamb," said Mrs. Eavenhill. " I think she might even venture on a statistic unquestioned.'' Wareham made no answer, he turned to ask something of the long landlord. Millie 288 OVER TEE WATEB WT AXE. spoke to a pale-faced girl, who was still shuddering from the crossing she had just gone through, and unwilling to believe that anything in Norway could be worth its preliminary horrors. ]\Irs. Eaveuhill got up. "Which is the way to the fish-market?" she asked. " I will go with you, if you will allow me," Wareham answered. "Don't let us trouble you." Millie was conscious of a touch of stiffness in her mother's manner, but he showed no sio;ns of noticintr it. "You should have oroue earlier," he saicb " Seven or eio'ht o'clock is a better time. However, vou will g-ain some idea of its picturesqueness even now, and from there you can have a look at the Hanseatic House. There is a general museum, too, and a g-ood one." The one important street in Bergen runs directly through the town. Here and there desolate open spaces break away, the safe- guards from the ever-dreaded enemy fire ; here and there cellars yawn, heaped with gaily- VOL. I. 289 19 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. painted tine; here and there again you catch sight of the dancing waters of the harbour, and a jumble of shij^jDing. It is at the end of the harbour that the fish-market is held ; the boats are jammed together, the buyers stand and lean over the railings ; women in thickly-plaited black dresses with close black caps, a rim of white round the face, and one spot of white behind, are sprinkled among the more ordinary costumes. More remarkable were the fishermen in the boats. Old and young, the hardy faces caught and held at- tention ; you looked at men. As Wareham had said, the great throng was over, but even yet there were plenty of purchasers, and a penny would gain a plateful of little fish. And here, in the heart of old Bergen, is the house of the Hanseatic League, unchanged since the time of the traders. It is the past, fossilized, for some ; for others it is the means by which to drift back themselves into the past, and join the ghosts. Away with the crowd of laughing sight-seers ! here sits the merchant in fur cap and gown, his account- book before him. Check the entries if you . 290 OVEE THE WAT Eli WT AXE. will, it lies open. Here is the eatiug-room for the ap23reiitices, lads who, taught to sweep and cook, should make g-ood liusbands bv and by. But as their dignities would not put up with bed-making, and woman was not ad- mitted, all the beds are provided with a sliding panel, whereby that useful but dangerous appendage, standing outside, could insert her arms and head — no more ! — and arran^re o for masculine comfort. And here is the great lantern which, fixed on a pole, the trader carried in the funeral processions of his guild. From youth to old age it is all here. "The outer circumstances of life, out- living life," said Wareham, as they emerged. '* Now, will you come to the other museum, and plunge still farther back into the age of flint implements ? " Mrs. Eavenhill shook her head. " Any stone would do as well for me. My mind refuses to leap those distances, and I look at them foolishly unimpressed." " Is it only flint implements ? " Millie asked. " I don't object to them, but I believe it is 291 THE SWING OF THE PENDULLWL because I am so ignorant that I can't gauge my own ignorance." It appeared that witli many other collections, there were old Norwegian curiosities, and a fine set-out of wooden bowls, which attracted Mrs. Ravenhill, bent on taking home trophies of that description. Passing the fish-market again, Millie bought a basketful of cherries from a boat laden with nothing else. The small events of this day came back to her afterwards with a curious distinctness, and yet there was nothing especially to mark it to her, nor at the time did it seem blessed. Certainly not deserving the golden aureole which set it apart. She said little, but let her thirsty heart drink in what tasted like delicious draughts, and thrust aside the con- sciousness that soon thirst would be on her again. Whatever Wareham had done the day before, to-day he was all kindness. Mrs. Raven- hill, never, indeed, exacting, had no reason to utter a complaint. Five o'clock saw them in the launch of the Ceylon, red-roofed Bergen curving behind them, and it was not long before they steamed out of the harbour. The 292 OVEE THE WATEE Vr E AXE/ wind was fresh, but for a long time they were under the lee of the shore, and even through the next day most of the passengers kept fairly on deck. But by Sunday the vessel was rolling heavily, and Millie appeared alone. The usual service could not be held, and only one or two ladies left their cabins. It was natural that AYareham should be much with the girl. They talked of Norway. From tliat they fell to talking of those who had been their companions, of all, at least, except Anne. But a question was so close to Millie's lips, that at last it flew out. " Was it Mr. Forbes of whom you once spoke ? " " Did I speak." " At Stavanger," she said reproachfully. He had forgotten the confidence. " Before you knew Miss Dalrymple." "Ah, yes, it was before I knew/' he accjuiesced, and went off in a dream. She supposed the "Yes "was intended for an answer to her question, but it was not clear enouoh fur her burnino- lono-ing; to be certain. 293 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. " They were once engaged ? " *'Yes." He forced himself to add with a smile — "The sphinx was a w^oman." " To have followed shows that he must love her," said ^lillie thoughtfully. "Why not?" She hugged her pain. *'Why not, indeed! But if she is as un- changed as he, will he not suffer ? " " Fortunes of war," returned Wareham briefly, and dropped the conversation ; from which, however, he drew the consolation that Millie's pity showed what she thought was in store for the young man. For this he forgave her the questioning which he might otherwise have resented. He had not a suspicion that she saw any further than her words told him, the childish dimple in her cheek belying such a thought. What he read was as much curiosity as belongs to a daughter of Eve, joined to a kindly sympathy for the young fellow whose perseverance perhaps touched kindly romance. If adverse fate could have flung these two together ! He talked to her, reachino' further into her mind than ever o 294 OVER THE WATER WE AXE. before, and the more he probed its innocent depths, the more he blamed fate for its dilatoriness. And ^ilillie, all unconscious of this dream, suffered a lurking fancy of possible contingencies to brighten her eyes and deepen the pretty colour in her cheek. The sun shone, but the wind was cold. AYareliam felt that he was responsible for her comfort, and saw that her deck-chair was placed at a right angle, and moved when necessary ; he helped her when she moved, and sat next her at meals. On his own account he was glad of the companionship, for to be alone was to think, not of Anne, but of Anne and Hugh. By the next morning they were in smooth water, and Mrs. Ravenhill came on deck. She thanked Wareham for his care of her daughter. '' I was helpless myself, and I couldn't condemn her to the cabin. But I am o^lad to be up again, if only to see the mouth of the Thames." " A yawning mud-bank. Our coast doesn't compare well with Norway." Mrs Ravenhill's patriotism led her to 295 THE SWING OF THE PEXDULUM. declare that one looked for something beyond beauty in the Thames, and Wareham owned, in spite of his speech, to ardent cockneyism. " Which means that you will soon be out of London." "In a few days. And you ? " '' We shall stay. This has been our holiday. When you come back, I hope you will find us out." "I shall come, and ask you to show me your sketches, so as to be carried back again." He said it warmly, and Millie's heart beat. Afterwards came landing, train, and a grimy plunge into London. At the station they parted. END OF VOL. I.