II I 11,1 II I A^^^lMkUkMktt L I B RARY OF THL U N IVER5 ITY Of ILLI NOIS v.l WHAT HE COST HER. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/whathecosther01payn WHAT HE COST HER. JAMES PAYN, AUTHOR OF ' LOST SIR MASSINGBERD, WALTER S WORD, " FALLEN FORTUNES," ETC. IN THREE VOLUMES.— VOL. L CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY. 1877. [All rights rese)ved.'\ CHARLES DirKE.VS AND EVANS CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS. V. I- i OOIsTTENTS. O CHAPTER I. PAGE Wellingtons in Embryo 1 CHAPTER II. The Tempter 16 CHAPTER III. The March to Charlton 27 -^^ CHAPTER ly. The Siege and the Sack 41 ^ CHAPTER Y. :\ Knights, Ladies, and an Ogre • . . . .56 CONTENTS. CHAPTEB, YI. PAany difliculty, however slight, with a policeman. 40 WEAT RE COST EEli. There were swarms of Fair people clotted about the lanes — costermongers, itiDerant showmen, gipsies, and the like — but with these the advancing army were enjoined not to meddle ; they reserved their belts and their " Ubiques " for the hive itself. The Fair was held in a huge field to the right of the road ; and when the Cadet Company turned into it, ''at the double," but still maintaining their serried ranks, it presented an animating spectacle. The principal space between the booths was crowded with sight-seers, and the booths themselves offered the most varied attractions : " The only Living Mermaid from the South Seas," ''The Greatest Professors in the Art of Pugilism now extant," " The Genuine and Original Learned Pig," and a whole tribe of North American Indians in paint and feathers, at that moment in the act of celebrating their national tomahawk dance. For an instant busi- ness and pleasure were alike suspended at the sight of our youthful warriors ; and then " thwack, thwack," went the Ubiquc belts, and the denizens of the Fair became aware, to their cost, that vengeance had come upon them. CHAPTER lY. THE SIEGE AND THE SACK. It is but right to state that the majority of the besieged persons were fully conscious that they had provoked attack. Outrages and re- prisals had, it is true, for many years passed as naturally as compliments in other places, between the Charlton Fair folks and the tenants of the Military Academy, but these had been inter- mitted for. a considerable time, and the treatment the two young men had received at the hands of these roystering roughs would have been very savage and severe, even if it had been provoked. It was only by a gallant charge of their natural and hereditary enemies, the police, that their young lives had been preserved, although their limbs, as we know, had not been so fortunate. The unarmed mob in the main thoroughfare broke and fled at the first clmr^e ; under 42 WHAT HE COST HEE. waggons and tent-ropes they scuttled to left and right, the boldest making for the hedges where the stakes grew, and the wiliest lying flat on their faces behind the pictures that fronted the caravans. The cry was not indeed *' Sauve qui pent /" for it was, " Here are them scaly cadets ! " but the effect was precisely the same as that which takes place in military surprises upon a larger scale ; only it was more difficult to save oneself by running, on account of the youthful agility of the assailants, who laid about them also with a vigour beyond their years. It was no child's play on either side, for whenever a belt-plate came in contact with a man's skull it cut a hole in it ; while, on the other hand not a few of the roughs were armed with bludgeons, while the big sticks employed in the " Aunt Sally " game of those days (for that lady is of ancient lineage) and the heavy legs of the pea-and- thimble tables afforded weapons to others. The discipline of the invaders, however, carried everything before them ; in a few minutes their enemies bit the dust and fled, and then came the *' sackinor." The proprietors of the booths, and the itinerant gentry generally, had, up to this point, rather enjoyed the combat. They were TEE SIEGE AND THE SACK. 43 caterers of spectacle to others, and had very seldom the opportunity of judging of the merits of any performance of a public nature. Such of them as had had any hand in the ill-treatment of the two young gentlemen in hospital were naturally careful to conceal the fact, and affected a serenity of mind, as to what the invading forces might do next, which they were probably far from feeling ; others, however, had no sting of conscience in this respect, and rather hailed the advent of the new arrivals, as likely to fill their places of amusement at a higher rate of admission than was customary. They had reckoned without their host, and in very great ignorance, it may be added, of the character of their guests. In the first place sentinels were placed in every tent to prevent the egress of its inhabitants, and Generalissimo Bex, his staff, and the rest of his victorious warriors gave a grand '' bespeak," amonff which were several features rare in theatrical experience, but especially this one — that every performance was commanded to be gratuitous. The audience, too, was hyper- critical and very inquisitive. Not content (for example) with the war- dance of the North American Indians, and the war-wdioop, 44 WHAT TIE COST BEE. for the execution of which those noble savaires have such a reputation in musical circles, they made them dance and whoop in even a more natural if less national manner ; nor were they satisfied till the unhappy " braves " had stripped off their borrowed plumes, washed the paint from their still dirty faces, and confessed them- selves to be natives of Tipperary. With the Learned Pig (whom they requested to spell Pipeclay and other words still more foreign to his usual vocabulary) they were graciously pleased to express satisfaction, and, in proof of it (much to his owner's disapproval) conferred upon him the glorious boon of liberty, by driving him out into the adjacent woods. The incom- parable pugilists (supposed not w^ithout reason to have had a hand — or a fist — in the ill-treatment of the two neuxes) they compelled to fight with- out the gloves, and when one of them had been beaten till he resembled less a man than a jelly- fish, they thrashed the victor. I am afraid they pulled the " only mermaid's " tail off, and derided the ''fattest woman in the world " in a manner which even a court-martial would have pronounced unbecoming ofiicers and gentlemen : but when places are " sacked " it is notorious that our very Bayards cease to be the pink of courtesy. Perhaps the greatest THE SIEGE AND THE SACK. 45 attraction to the victorious army was, however, Eichardson's booth, at that epoch the great representative of travelling melodrama. The performances " commanded " from its talented company were at once numerous and varied : they compelled those artistes who had passed their lives, if they had not been born, in the purple, delineating kings and seldom con- descending to be archdukes, to exchange robes with clown and harlequin, and some very curious a.nd noteworthy acting was the result. The attentions, too, of our gentlemen-cadets to the corps de ballet were what would be now desig- nated, I suppose, as "marked with empresse- onentJ' Richardson's booth was in fact to that honourable corps what Capua was to another victorious army, and with the same consequences. While the young warriors indulged their taste for the drama and flirtation, the scattered forces of the- enemy gathered together, and returned to the tented field in vastly-augmented numbers. Armed with pitchforks and hedge-stakes, with bludgeons and rakes, they burst into the en- closure, and drove in the sentinels, with the most terrible cries for blood and vengeance. The besiegers in their turn became the besieged ; and if the description should seem a joke, it is the fault of the describer, for the reality had 46 WHAT RE COST HEB. very little fun in it for either party. The blood- shed, if not the carnage, was something con- siderable. Generalissimo Bex at once put himself at the head of a sallying-party, but, though performing prodigies of valour, was driven back to his wooden walls — the booth. For, though it was called a booth, Eichardson's was built of wood^ and afforded the only tenable military position in the fair. The proverb that proclaims there i& nothing like leather, was proved fallacious in the combat between belts and bludg^eons. The cadets found their natural weapons inefficacious against the cold steel of the pitchforks and those other arms of their adversaries, which, if not " of pre- cision," made a hole wherever they hit. They fell back, therefore, upon the theatrical armoury, and waged the combat with every description of mediaeval weapon. Halberds of beefeaters, spears of knights, cross-handled swords of crusaders, were all pressed into the service. One gentleman- cadet even donned a suit of armour belonging to Eichard Coeur de Lion, and, with a mace in one hand and a ballet-dancer in the other, defied the howling throng from the platform of the stage. The whole scene resembled that at Front de Boeuf's Castle, where Brian de Bois Guilbert escapes from the rabble of besiegers THE SIEGE AND THE SACK. 4^7 witli the beautiful and accomplislied Eebecca. Only there was no escape for his modern counter- part. Matters began to look very bad, indeed, for the corps of gentlemen-cadets. They fought like men, even like heroes, and there was not an abusive epithet — much less a blow — which they did not return with interest. It is noto- rious that the use of strong language greatly strengthens and exhilarates our military in the field of battle, and this auxiliary — of which they had a store which was practically inexhaustible — they did not spare. Yet, the battle was going against them very decidedly, A council of war was hastily called together in the green- room, an apartment of bare wood, resembling a large packing-case ; and it was decided that there was now no hope but to cut their way through the enemy, by issuing from the back of the booth, a comparatively unbesieged quarter. It was thought that this might be effected if the movement was performed with rapidity. Their chief difficulty lay in their wounded, whom, of course, they could not leave to the tender mercies of the roughs, and many of whom had been put hors de combat. If they could march with the army, it was as much as they could do ; they could act the part of combatants no longer. 48 WEAT HE COST HER. And now we are to narrate an incident as toucliing and romantic as ever happened in regular warfare. It must be premised that, although the male performers of the great Kichardson troupe had taken the conduct of the cadet army in some dudgeon, and had fled from the booth as soon as its siege began, the lady performers were by no means so inimical to the honourable corps, and had remained. They had slapped the young gentlemen's faces when flushed with victory, and inclined to be too demonstrative in their attentions ; but now that they were discomfited and in danger, the hearts of these ladies w^armed towards them : they were touched by their youth, their bravery — which seemed about to be so ill rewarded — and, perhaps, in some cases, by their good looks. The damsel whom I have ventured to liken to Rebecca was very soft-hearted, yet had also an unusual amount of intelliofence, und, in the midst of the hurly-burly, and while one of the many onsets of the besiegers upon the platform was in the act of being repulsed — which was done on each occasion with greater and greater difficulty — she inquired naively of her Brian de Bois Guilbert, " Why don^t you show these scoundrels our muskets ? " TEE SIEGE AND THE SACK. 49 *' Muskets ! " answered Landon, excitedly, for he it was who had for the nonce taken the trappings of the Templar, which he was now in the act of discarding as too cumbrous ; "I saw no muskets. Where are they ? They would be our salvation." " They were in the wardrobe " — so this simple creature described the armoury — '* with the rest of the properties." "I never saw them I" cried Landon ; "did you, Darall ? " Darall had come in from the fray with a broken head, to which the simple remedy of cold water was being applied by a fair creature in tights : " When pain and anguish wring the brow, A ministering angel thou," was his neat acknowledgment of her solicitude. ** Get along with you and your angels," answered she, unconscious of the quotation. " Don't you hear your friend speaking to you ? " " Yes, I hear him ; I found the muskets and hid them," said Darall, coolly. *' Things are bad enough as it is, without there being murder done." " Yes, but it is becoming a question whether we or those scoundrels yonder are to be VOL. I. £ 50 WHAT HE COST HEB. murdered/' observed Landon, hotly. " Come, where did you hide these things ? " '' I shall not tell you," answered Darall, decisively. " You may say what you like, but you will thank me for it some day, since a single shot " "Why you young stoopid," interrupted Eebecca — she was his elder by about six months — "the guns ain't loaded ; there is neither powder nor shot in the booth ; you need only show the muskets to frighten the fellows." The young lady had, doubtless, some ex- perience of the effect of the exhibition of firearms upon a crowd, and at all events, in their desperate case, it was quite worth while to try the experiment. Every minute that the besieged now spent in their little fortress added to their list of wounded, while, on the other hand, the forces of the enemy increased in number and audacity. Their sole hope, except in flight, lay in their being rescued by their friends the military at Woolwich, who would have been glad enough to have done battle for them, had they been aware of their hard straits ; but, unhappily, Charlton Fair was as " taboo " to Her Majesty's forces, and for the same excellent reasons, as it was to the cadets themselves, and not a uniform was to . THE SIEGE AND TEE SACK. 51 be seen among the crowd without. A general sally was therefore at once determined on. Acting upon Landon's suggestion, the dozen or so of muskets that served for Eichardson's stage army were given out to the wounded, who had instructions to level them at the enemy, but by no means to pull trigger^ lest their harmless character should be thereby disclosed ; thus it was hoped that the prowess of those who were least able to defend themselves would be most respected. These formed the first line of battle, as the whole Cadet Company issued forth from the back of the booth, and the effect of their appearance even exceeded expecta- tion. The crowd, who had rushed round to cut off their retreat, at once fell back before the threaten- ing muzzles of the muskets, and not until the retiring force had cleared the enclosure and reached the lane, did they pluck up courage to fall upon the rear-guard, which was under the command of Landon himself. Then, indeed, that young gentleman had quite enough to do ; the march of the main body was necessarily slow because of those who had been hurt, and were scarcely fit for marching ; and this gave the crowd opportunity for " cutting out '' expeditions, whereby a cadet or two would get torn away from his friends, and had to be E 2 LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF ILLIiw.^ 52 WHAT HE COST HEB. rescued, if not by tooth and nail, by every other description of weapon. It was fortunate for the whole corps that in their brief hour of victory they had not neglected, in their pursuit of more ethereal delights, to fortify themselves with both food and liquor ; the weather was hot, and fun and figrhtino: had made orreat demands upon their strength, which, after all, was not quite that of full-grown men ; and now, with the sense of something like defeat depress- ing them, it was hard to have to contest every inch of their way, under pain of being left be- hind in hands that would have shown no mercy. They fought, however, like young tigers, and, thanks to Darall, who had as quick an eye for a weak point in their own array as Landon had for one in that of their adversaries, they emerged from the lane on to the high road without the loss of a man. At this point the 2:)ursuit was stayed, and their peril might be considered over. " We may be in time for evening parade yet, if we push on," said Darall, consulting his watch. The poor young fellow was thinking of the price they would have to pay for their fun, and rightly judged that their offence, great as it was, would be held much more serious should THT] SIEGE AND THE SACK. 53 they fail in so important a professional obliga- tion as . parade. Even Generalissimo Bex — who was as good as expelled already, and knew it — recognised the necessity (for others) of getting home by seven o'clock, and gave quite an unprecedented word of command : " Double ■ — all you fellows that can — and the rest hobble ! " At the same time he gave injunctions to the rear-guard that they should not desert the wounded — the ineffectualness of whose weapons had long been made ap- parent, and who would have fallen victims to the least onslaught of the enemy. It was bad enough for Darall — to whom every moment was of such consequence — to have to suit his pace to that of these poor cripples ; but worse luck even than this awaited him. They had been left by the main body — whose position was now indicated only by a cloud of dust — about five minutes, when a shrill cry for help was heard proceeding from the road by which they had just come. " Good heavens ! we have left no fellows behind us, have we ? " cried Landon ; even his reckless spirit slightly dashed by the prospect of having to attempt a rescue in the face of such overwhelming odds. 54 WHAT HE COST HEE. *' No/' said Darall, who, with his friendy had stopped behind the rest to listen. " I counted them all myself/' '' And yet it sounds like some young fellow being hacked about," replied the other. '"' It is not a man's voice, it is too thin." "It is a girl's," said Darall, gravely. And, again, not one agonising cry, but two, struck on their ears, passionately appealing for aid. " Those brutes are ill-treating some women," observed Landon ; " they are always doing it. It is no earthly use our going back." " I am afraid they are paying out thoSe poor girls who helped us to the muskets and things," said Darall, his face growing suddenly pale with concentrated rage. Landon uttered such a strino- of anathemas o as would have done honour to a papal excom- munication. "It is no use thinking about it," exclaimed he, impatiently, "let us get on." "No, Landon, w^e must not leave them. Just listen to that ! '' A cry of " Help, help ! " and then of "Murder I" clove the blue air. At the sound of it both the young fellows turned and began to run swiftly back upon the road they had just traversed. " Somebody's o-etting it, and someone else THE SIEGE AND THE SACK, 55 will get this," cried Landon, his hand still grasping the mace of the Templar — no paste- board property, as it happened, but a formidable weapon of hard wood. Darall had for weapon only a hedge-stake — the spoil of some fallen foe — but no knight who ever laid lance in rest among all King Arthur's court had a more chivalrous soul. CHAPTER V. KNIGHTS, LADIES, AND AN OGRE. At the point of junction of the lane with the high road, the two cadets came suddenly upon a little knot of their late adversaries — composed of gipsies and roughs — in the middle of whom could just be discerned two summer bonnets. These gentry were so occupied in persecuting the owners of the same, that they did not perceive the presence of the new-comers till they were actually upon them, and the ''one, two," of the mace and hedge-stake had been administered with crushins: effect : then they broke and fled, imagining that nothing less than the whole Cadet Company were re- turning upon them. Behind them they left two young girls, their raiment torn and bedraggled, their bonnet-strings flying, and their whole appearance pitiable to an extreme degree ; yet KNIGHTS, LADIES, AND AN OGEE. 57 in no way contemptible, for besides the not uninteresting fact that they were very pretty, there was a spirit in the looks of both, and a fire in those of one of them, that seemed to proclaim the scorn of higher caste as well as the indignation of insulted modesty. One was taller and darker than the other, and while the same heightened colour glowed in each of their faces, the eyes of the former gleamed with passion, while those of the latter were filled with tears. " Quick, quick, young ladies ! " cried Darall ; " come back with us, before these cowardly scoundrels muster courage to return." The shorter and fairer of the two girls hung back a little at this offer of being run away with by two young gentlemen in uniform, but her companion seized her by the wrist, and began to hasten with her in the direction indicated. It was not a moment too soon, for their late assailants had already discovered how small was the party that had attempted their rescue, and were pouring down the narrow lane with oaths and yells. "If one could kill one of these howling beggars, maybe it would stop the rest," muttered Landon between his teeth, as he stood, with his mace sloped upon his shoulder, awaiting the 58 WEAT E:^ cost EER. onset. Darall, with his pointed stake, stood ,. -behind him, to the full as dangerous an opponent, though his firm face showed no such passion. "We must make a runnino^ fio^ht of it, Landon ; every moment of delay is a moment gained for the girls ; but we must never be surrounded ; strike sharp, and then take to your heels." Even as he spoke the mob began to slacken speed. There were only two against them, it was true ; but they looked very ugly customers, and those who had an eye to their personal safety — who formed the majority — had already reflected that it was better to let somebody else do the knocking down, and leave to themselves the easier and more grateful task of trampling on the prostrate bodies. A gipsy and a travelling tinker, however, each armed with a tent-pole, separated themselves from the rest, and charged the two cadets at full speed, while the rest of the rabble rout came on less furiously beliind them. These men were of large build, and the poles were long and strong, so that it seemed they must carry all before them; and they would without doubt have carried — or transfixed — these two young gentlemen, had they remained to stand the shock. But one of the arts and sciences mKNIGETS, LADIES, AND AN OGEE. 5^ taught at the Koyal Military Academy, to its elder pupils, was that of parrying the bayonet. The poles went on, but not quite in the direction indicated, and on the skulls of those who were * bearing them, as it were, into space, descended the weapons that had just averted them with crushing effect ; the tinker stumbled on for a few paces, and then fell in a pool of his own blood; the gipsy went down like a stone. Without stopping to make the least inquiry as to the result of this military operation, the two young gentlemen were off like a shot, and had placed twenty yards of road between them and their pursuers, ere the latter had recovered from their dismay. In front of Item the two terrified girls were making what haste they could, but it was plain that running was not the strong point of at least one of them. The shorter of the two, overcome more by agitation and alarm than by fatigue, could only stagger feebly along; and it was merely a question of a few yards nearer to or farther from home that they would be overtaken by their tormentors, whom it was not likely, in that broad high-road, that their two gallant defenders could again even so much as delay. 60 WHAT HE COST HER. " We're clone ! " exclaimed Darall, perceiving the situation at a glance ; " that is/' added he, with a gleam of hope, " unless that is Bex coming back to help us." Beyond the two girls there suddenly came into view two or three figures, marching, or at least walking in line, from the direction of Woolwich. ''By jingo, they are gunners!" exclaimed Landon. ''Hi, hi! to your guns, to your guns, guns, guns ! " It was a war-cry well known to the artillerymen of those days in and about Woolwich ; and known also to their foes. At the first note of it, the hurrying throng slackened speed, then stopped and stared, as if to make sure of the red and blue uniforms that were growing every moment more distinct ; for the new-comers were now running. Then the mob turned tail, and fled tumultuously to their tents. It was for the moment not quite certain that the two damsels thus preserved from Charybdis might not have fallen into Scylla^ or in other words have exchanged the rude- ness of the Fair-folk for the blandishments of the military, who, always gallant, are sometimes lacking in chivalry ; but, as it happened, the two cadets hurried up only to find the young ladies in safe hands. KNIGRTS, LADIES, AND AN OGEE. 61 " Lor bless yer," said one man to Landon, as if in apology for not having committed any misconduct, " the tall 'un is niece to our own colonel," a relationship doubtless at least as binding to him as any in the tables of affinity in the Book of Common Prayer. But for this recognition, it is my fixed belief that, in the wild and wicked times of which I write, the young ladies would have had to pay the ransom of a kiss or two. To the common eye they did not, in their dishevelled and agitated state, look very like young ladies ; and one of them, the shorter, had not breath enough left, poor thing, to have said "Don't." The other, however, had recovered herself sufficiently to thank Landon and Darall with much warmth and gratitude, and to narrate in a few words what had befallen them. " I was out for a walk with my friend. Miss Eay — a daughter of the Commissary-General — and on our return home were met by that cowardly rabble, from whose hands you were so good as to deliver us. My uncle. Colonel Juxon, will, I am sure, take the first opportunity of expressing to you, much better than I can do, his sense of the service you have ren- dered us." She addressed these words to Darall, not •02 WHAT HE COST HEB. because he looked like the elder of the two cadets, for he did not, but because Landon's gaze was fixed so earnestly upon her as to cause her some embarrassment. The fact was the young fellow could not keep his eyes off that dark-hued but lovely face, with its grand eyes and grateful smile ; his heart, always susceptible to beauty, was aflame, and his ready tongue experienced for once a diffi- culty in expression. It was nevertheless neces- sary for him to speak, since it was certain Darall could not. To say that that young gentleman, w^hen in the presence of the softer sex, was more shy than any young miss at her first dinner-party, would fall very short indeed of describing his modesty. His face had softened so during the last few moments that you would have scarcely recognised it as the same which had been set so steadily against his enemies ; the hand that had just used the hedge-stake so efiectively shook wdth nervous terrors ; in short, he looked as thoroughly '' upset " and disorganised as Miss Eay herself. " I am sure," stammered Landon, " that my friend and I are more than rewarded, for any little assistance we may have rendered you. Miss Juxon " KNIGHTS, LADIES, AND AN OGBE. 63 " Not Miss Juxon/' interrupted the young lady with rapid earnestness; '^my name is Mayne." Then perceiving that he was in difficulties with his little speech — as well he might be — she took it up for him. "As for what you are pleased to call a little assistance, it was an act of great courage against over- powering odds, and I shall never forget it — never." " Well, the fact is, Miss Mayne," answered Landon, the " cupidon " lips showing his white teeth — his smile was his best property, and few could withstand it — " we owed you the rescue ; for if it had not been that we cadets had just been robbing their nest, those wasps yonder — and I compliment the scoundrels by such a metaphor — would not perhaps have annoyed you. We had just given them a good thrashing "^ — this was scarcely true, but the military, when describing their own achieve- ments, are allowed some licence — "and I sup- pose it struck them, on their retreat, that it would be very pleasant to annoy those who could not defend themselves." " We found defenders — brave ones," answered the young lady, softly ; and then she once more added : "I shall never, never forget it " — only instead of " it," she said "you." G4 WHAT HE COST HER. The two were now walkinor toofethcr, side by side, towards Woolwich, while behind them came Darall and Miss Ray — whom a common shyness had at least placed on the same plane, and who were getting on, in the monosyllabic fashion, tolerably well. The ladies were now quite safe from any possible annoyance, but still it was very embarrassing for them to be walking on the high-road in rags and tatters — for the mob had sadly spoilt their summer finery — in company with two gentlemen-cadets, however gentlemanlike. It was therefore with great joy that they found themselves presently overtaken by a return fly from Greenwich, which was at once secured for them by Landon. " I think, DaraJl, you had better go off to ' the Shop,'" he said confidentially ; "the sooner you get there the better, though I don't doubt that the service you have performed for these ladies, being who they are, will cover a mul- titude of sins. One of us, of course, must see them home." The advice w^as doubtless good, and cer- tainly unselfish, for the effect of it was neces- sarily to leave Landon with one young lady too many ; and yet his friend did not seem so grateful for it as he ought to have been. Conscious of his own bashfulness, perhaps, he KNIGHTS, LADIES, AND AN OGEE. 65 regretted having to quit Miss Kay's company, with whom he had l)y this time managed to " get on " tolerably well ; and that barren ground he knew would have to be gone over again when they next met, for it was almost as difficult for young gentlemen of his character to resume the thread of an acquaintance as to find it in the first instance. However, he had not yet arrived at that point of courtship at which we are enjoined to leave father and mother, to cleave to a young person of the opposite sex ; and the thought of his parent, and her dependence upon him, sent him off at once. " You will call on papa, if papa does not call on you," said Miss Kay, softly ; from which remark we are not to imagine that that damsel was " forward," but that she had some well-grounded apprehensions of her father s being backward in performing any. act of courtesy. He was not the Commissary-General, though Miss Mayne had called him so, being only the Acting-Deputy-Assistant-Commissary- General; but he had all the Jack-in-office peculiarities of the most full-blown official. Once in the fly, both young ladies at once recovered their self-possession. Fortunately the vehicle was a closed one, so that their dilapi- VOL. I. F 66 WHAT BE COST HER. dated condition could not be observed as they drove along, and to Landon they had appeared under so much more disadvantao-eous circum- o stances, that his presence did not embarrass them. They laughed and chattered quite un- reservedly. '^ What a kind, courageous creature is that friend of yours, Mr. Landon," said Miss Mayne. " Yes, indeed, he is," echoed Miss Kay, admiringly. Sometimes it is not pleasant to hear young ladies praise one's friend, but on this occasion Landon saw nothing to object to in it, for what Darall had done he had also done ; and some- how it struck him that the term " creature " would not have been used — in however com- plimentary a sense — had the speaker made mention of himself. "Mr. Darall is all very well" (she seemed to say), ''l)ut it is clear you are the master mind." To do him justice, however, Landon was not slow to sing his friend's praises, and, with the frankness of youth, proceeded to give a sketch of his position, and how his future prospects were likely to be imperilled by the escapade of that afternoon. " I have sent him off to . make the best KNIGHTS, LADIES, AND AN OGBE. ^1 excuse for himself he can — and I am sure he has a good one — for not having returned with the other sinners." " But Avhat will you do ? " exclaimed Miss Mayne, with an anxiety that the young fellow flattered himself had also a touch of tenderness in it ; " why should you run any needless risk by accompanying us, now that we are quite safe ? " *•' Oh, my case is different," laughed Landon, carelessly. *'It would not break my heart if I were to be sent away from the Academy to-morrow ; whereas, it ivoiild break it, you know," he added roguishly, " to think that, after such a terrible adventure as you have experienced, you should be suffered to return home alone." "But you have a mother also, perhaps?" suggested Miss Kay. "Unfortunately I have not," said Landon; and while Miss Bay said " Oh dear ! " com- miseratingly, and Miss Mayne's fine eyes looked two large volumes of tender sympathy, he added gaily : " and as for the governor, I think he would be rather pleased than other- wise to find that I had stepped out of my uniform, and was prepared to help him to make money in his City counting-house." F 2 68 WHAT HE COST HER. " It must be very charming to be ricli," sighed Miss Eay. '' If you are not so/' answered Landon, with a little bow, " you prove that it is pos- sible to be very charming, and yet not to be rich." Miss Mayne broke into a musical laugh, and only laughed the more when her friend, suffused with blushes, told her that she ought to be ashamed of herself for laughing, and thereby giving encouragement to Mr. Landon 's audacity. They had altogether a very pleasant drive ; and when Miss Eay was dropped at her father's residence, which was ^* Letter Z, Officers' Quarters," and did not present an attractive exterior, the two that were left behind en- joyed it perhaps even more. Colonel Juxon, E.A., lived a little way out of Woolwich, in that now well-known suburb called Nightingale Vale, and the address, we may be sure, afforded Landon an oppor- tunity of paying a well-turned compliment. At the period of which we write, this locality was only sparsely sprinkled with villa residences-, inhabited mostly by the families of officers of high rank, or whose private means admitted of their livinor out of barracks. Ha\vthorne KNIGHTS, LADIES, AND AN OGRE. 69 Lodge, which was the Colonel's house, was a really pretty little tenement, standing in a garden of its own, and having in its rear that unmistakable sign of prosperity, a coach-house. As they drove up the neatly-gravelled drive in front of the cottage, covered with its flowering creepers, and offering a view of a very elegant "interior" through the open French windows of the drawing-room, Landon expressed his admiration. " Why, I did not know Woolwich could boast of such a bower, Miss Mayne; your home looks like Fairyland." "Yes, it is certainly pretty for Woolwich," answered the young lady; "and it also re- sembles Fairyland in one particular, that it is inhabited by a wicked enchanter." " I know about the enchanter, but I did not know she was wicked," answered Landon. "I did not mean myself, sir, as you very well knew," returned she, reprovingly; "I was referring to my uncle. Colonel Juxon — a gentle- man rather formidable to folks who don't know him ; in the army he is called a fire-eater, I believe ; but at home " " Who, in the fiend's name, my dear Ella, have you brought here ? " inquired a sharp, thin, testy voice, as the fly drew up at the door, and a short, spare old gentleman in undress 70 WHAT HE COST HER. uniform presented himself at it. His hair and moustache were as white as snow, and made by contrast a pair of copper-coloured and blood- shot eyes look yet more fiery ; altogether he had the appearance of a ferret, and also of a ferret who was exceedingly out of temper. " This is Mr. Cecil Landon, uncle, to whom Gracie Kay and I have just been in- debted for the greatest possible service." "The devil you have!" said the Colonel, sardonically. " Yes, uncle ; Gracie and I were returning quietly home, after a walk along the Greenwich Koad " "A deuced bad road to choose for a walk," interrupted the Colonel, angrily ; "the most deuced bad road." " So indeed it turned out, uncle," continued the young girl, in unruffled tones, " for a lot of drunken people from Charlton Fair " " Aye, cadets, I suppose ; I've heard of their doings," interrupted the Colonel, regarding Landon with great disfavour; "there's going to be a clean sweep made of them by Sir Hercules this time, however." " But it was not the cadets, uncle ; on the contrary, it was to the cadets, or at least to two of them, one of whom^ was this gentle- KNIGHTS, LADIES, AND AN OGEE. 71 man here, that Gracie and I are indebted for escaping perhaps with onr lives." "Pooh, pooh, what did they want with yonr lives ? " returned the Colonel, contemptu- ously. "The dashed vagabonds wanted to kiss you, and by the look of your bonnet they must have done it. By the living Jingo ! if I had only caught them at it, I'd have set a mark on one or two that would have taken a deal of rubbing to get it off again." " That is exactly what, in our humble, and doubtless less effectual way, we did," explained Landon, deferentially. ''Then you had no business to do anything of the sort," thundered the Colonel ; " things are come to a pretty pass if a dashed cadet is to take matters into his own hand as though — clash his impudence ! — he were an officer of the staff." " "What course then would you have recom- mended us to pursue ? " inquired Landon, with a twinkle of the eye which betrayed that his respectful air was not altogether genuine and might have even aroused a suspicion, in an il] -regulated mind, that a cadet might chaff a colonel. " Well, sir," said that officer, suddenly .assuming a deadly calmness of demeanour, 72 WHAT HE COST HER. '' I would have ventured to recommend you then, what I recommend now — namely, to go to the devil ; and if ever I catch you, or any young vagabond like you, on my premises again, I'll send you there." " Uncle, I won't have it," exclaimed the young girl, with sudden vehemence ; '' you are behaving with great injustice and base ingratitude " — ^it was curious to see the family likeness of tone and manner that came out as she thus expressed herself. '' This gentleman " "Gentleman-cadet, you mean, my dear," interposed her uncle, spitefully; "that's quite a different thing." " I daresay it was so when you were at the Shop," said Landon, coolly ; " but that must have been a long time ago." The little Colonel gave a screech, and snatched at a riding-whip that hung above him on the wall of the little entrance-hall. " If you strike him, I leave your house," exclaimed the young girl, throwing herself between them. "You'll leave it with him, perhaps," cried the old gentleman, pointing to Landon with the whip, as he stood with folded arms upon the doorstep; " a penniless beggar of a cadet ! " "I blush for you, sir, as I never thought KNIGHTS, LADIES, AND AN OGEE. 73 to blush for any of my kin," answered the girl, haughtily. ''You had better keep a blush or two for yourself, Miss Ella," rejoined the old gentleman ; but bitter as were his words, he laid the whip aside as he spoke them, and there was a manifest lull in the tempest of his wrath. " What is it he wants ? What the devil have you brought him here for ? " continued he, fret- fully ; ''you don't know what these cadets are, Ella." " I only know, sir, that this cadet has done me a great service. I brought him here — since you put it so — that he might receive the thanks of my uncle and guardian. Instead of which you have treated him — yes — in a manner very unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." "No, no, no," replied the old fellow, in ludicrous expostulation, "nobody can ever say that of Gerald Juxon ; though I may have been a little warm, may I be tried by court- martial if I ever treated man or woman that way. I am sure I am very glad to see Mr. What's-his-name at Hawthorne Lodge, just once and away ; and I beg to thank him — yes, sir, I beg to thank you, if you have done my niece good service, and I shall take dashed 74 WHAT HE COST HER. good care that you are not put to any incon- venience upon her account again." Lanclon, with a good-natured smile, bowed his thanks for this handsome acknowledgment. The character of Colonel Gerald Juxon was not unknown to him, though he had never before had the privilege of his personal ac- quaintance. A '' smart " Artillery officer, and one who had served with no little distinction in the field, the Colonel was yet shunned by the more respectable members of the regiment, for his fiendish temper and reckless tongue. He had served, he was wont to say, " all the world over ; " so that he must have served in Flanders, to which therefore may be at- tributed his inveterate use of bad language. Even in ladies' society, including that of his niece, of whom he was genuinely fond, he was unable wholly to divest himself of this bad habit. His nature was also said by some to be grasping, but this was denied by others ; and certainly since Ella had come to reside with him — for whose accommodation he had left his barrack quarters and taken Hawthorne Lodge — this idiosyncrasy was not apparent. The fact was, though greedy after c^ain, he was lavish rather than otherwise with what he had, and especially lavish with the KNIGHTS, LADIES, AND AN OGBE. 75 property of others. His private income was considerable, and that of his niece still larger, though neither of these resources would have sufficed him if he had been fined every time he was committed for the offence known as ''profane swearing."' Even now the Colonel was solacing himself for his extorted civility to his visitor by a volley of expletives against gentlemen-cadets in general, and Gentleman-cadet Landon in particular ; and for the very purpose of dis- charo^ing it, he had left the hall and entered his little drawing-room — a striking example of the ill effects of " temper," for thereby he had given the young people an opportunity, which he would willingly have denied them, of speaking together alone, ''You must not mind what my uncle says," whispered Ella, hastily ; " you will not be deterred by his rough ways from — from — letting me know how matters fare with you, and with your friend, of course. We shall be so anxious — Gracie and I — to hear about it ; so apprehensive lest harm should happen to either of you through our misfortune." "Don't think of that. Miss Mayne. But Darall, I am sure, would wish to pay his respects. Would ten o'clock to-morrow morning ? " 76 WHAT HE COST HE It Ella nodded in acquiescence, at the same time lifting a warning finger, as her uncle hurried back into the hall. " What in the name of all the devils is he waiting for ? " inquired he, in what might have been meant, j)®i'haps, as a confidential whisper to his niece, but which was distinctly audible to the subject of his inquiry. "Hi, sir ! would you like a glass of wine ? champagne, or anything you please ? only you had better look sharp and be off home ; Sir Hercules is not in a state of mind to be trifled with, I promise you." Landon declined the wine and took his leave, with a clinging grasp of his young hostess's shapely hand, which she frankly held out to him. The decision which Sir Hercules might come to as to his delinquencies, and their punish- ment — always a very secondary consideration with him — had by this time sunk into total insignificance beside the smile of Ella j\Iayne. CHAPTER VI. A SPARRING MATCH. Colonel Gerald Juxon and his niece both remained in the porch of their pretty cottage, while Landon walked dow^n the drive and out of the gate ; the Colonel because he deemed it expedient to see "that fellow" off the premises wdth his own eyes ; the lady because she wished to see the last of that gallant and very good-looking young knight, who had fouofht, and might have fallen, or at least come to very serious grief, for her sake. He turned at the last moment and raised his cap ; the Colonel mechanically replied to the salute with his forefinger; the young lady bowed and waved her hand, but by no means mechanically. " Well, upon my soul ! " cried the Colonel, throwing up his open palms. It w^as for him 78 WHAT HE COST HEU. a very slight expression of astonishmeDt and annoyance, and when excited he generally doubled his fists. "What's the matter, Uncle Gerald?" in- quired his niece, coolly. "Matter, begad? Well) I think it matter enough when a young woman of two-and- twenty goes and throws herself at the head of a penniless scamp like that ^" "How do you know Mr. Landon is a scamp, uncle ? " inquired Ella, in a tone rather of amusement than indio-nation. It is Coleridge, I think, who says that na one can have a faith to be called firm, who cannot afford to laugh at it himself; and this was Ella's case. She felt in her heart of hearts that Landon w^as no scamp. " How do I know it ? Why, because every- body knows every cadet is a scamp. As to means and marringe, they may have their hands to offer ; but there is never a coin in them to pay the parson for performing the service." "Still they have their honour, and their good swords," observed Ella, gravely. " Their honour ! " shrieked the little Colonel ; " ye gods, think of a cadet's honour ! and as to their swords, they don't happen to wear them." A SPABBING MATCH. 79 Ella broke into a long, musical langli, which seemed to disconcert her imcle ex- tremely. "I know, my dear girl," said he, in what was for him a tone of conciliation, '' that you are as obstinate as the gout in one's heel, but it is quite useless even for you to set your heart upon that young vagabond. You might just as well fall in love with a drummer- boy — you might, indeed!" " Well, and why not, uncle ? Then I could be a vivandiere to the regiment." *' That would be a dashed pretty thing," answered the other, scornfully. '' Well, I think I should look rather pretty in uniform," said Ella, with an air of reflection. " With a cap with a gold band, and a charming little keg of spirits, instead of a sabretache. Then, if Mr. Landon was wounded — as he would be sure to be in the first engagement, for hejis as brave as a lion — I would give him a little glass of brandy, so ; ^^ and she turned her little hand bewitchingly in the air, in illustration of this piece of ambulance practice. " It is deuced hard to be angry with you, Ella," ejaculated the Colonel; ''but this is a serious matter. You have given such en- 80 WHAT HE COST HER. couragement to this young cat-a-mountain, that I will lay five to one his conceit will' lead him to come back again." " I would lay ten to one, uncle," replied the young lady, coolly, '"'that his good feeling will cause him to do so — ten pairs of gloves to one odd one, that Mr. Landon will come back. I intend him to do so. I mean to see him when he does come." '' The devil you do ! Then I'll keep a dog warranted to fly at beggars." "Mr. Landon is not a beggar, nor a poor man at all, uncle," answered the girl, steadily. '^ It would make no difference to me if he has not a penny, but, as a matter of fact, he is the only son of a rich merchant ; for he told me so himself" " I should like to have some better autho- rity for that fact than his bare word," answered the Colonel, contemptuously. " However," added he, more gravely, " if you are fixed upon this folly, I will make inquiries. You are resolved, I suppose, to behave as your own mistress in this, as in other matters ? " ''Most certainly I am," returned the young lady, coolly. They had passed into the draw- ing-room by this time ; Ella was sitting on a low chair, with her torn bonnet upon her A 8FABEING MATCH. 81 knees, and her splendid hair falling in dark masses about her shoulders ; the Colonel was pacing the room with measured strides, that seemed to ill accord with the vehemence and irregularity of his talk. " Of course, the whole thing may come to nothing, Ella ; you can't compel this young — gentleman— to make you an offer ; for that is what I suppose you are driving at." Here he stopped, for she had suddenly risen and confronted him with a burning face. "Look you, imcle," said she, ''there are some things I will not j)ut up with even from you. The facts of the case are these: this gentleman, as he truly is, whatever you may choose to call him, has done me to-day, for nothino;, as ofreat a service as I have ever experienced from anyone for value received. The only 23ayment he has got is a string of insults from the man whose duty it was to thank him for his generous behaviour. It angered me to see him so treated, as it would have done had he been as old as your- self, and as ill-favoured ; and I strove to undo the effect of your discourtesy. That is all." "Well, well, it may be so, Ella," replied the Colonel, his wrath appearing to pale before VOL. I. G 82 WHAT BE COST HER. her own like a fire under the rays of the sun ; " but I know a gM's heart is as tinder to flint when any chance service is done her by any good-looking young fellow ; and I wished to put a stop to what I thought, and still think, to be a dashed imprudent thing. You have thanked the lad, and there's an end; but, of course, if you think })roper more should come of it " ''You are cruel and unkind, uncle," in- terrupted the girl, with vehemence. ''Your words are unjust and unjustifiable, and you know it, and I know why you use them. Yes, since you are so hard, I will be hard, too ; you want to keep me and my money all to yourself. You have grudged my making any friend, except Gracie, beyond these doors, for fear I should be enticed away from you ; and this conduct of yours is all of a piece with the rest of it. " Strange as a likeness w^ould seem between a tall, finely-shaped girl, as dark as a gipsy, with a gray and withered anatomy of a man, it could be seen now, as she stood face to face with her uncle, her eyes flashing, and one little foot fiercely beating the fioor. The Colonel fairly exploded in a sort of " bouquet " of fiery imprecations ere he found articulate speech. ^1 SPARRING MATCH. 83 " You ungrateful minx ! " cried he, " is this the reward I get for making my house your home ? When you left your father's house in disgrace, I knew it was useless to expect dutifulness, but I did look for some gratitude, girl!" "And you found it, uncle," answered she, coolly. '^ I assure- you there was that item in addition to the four hundred pounds a year that I agreed to pay you for my maintenance. I am obliged to you for the shelter you have afforded me, but the price I pay for it is sufficient. I will not put up with insulting insinuations such as you have just thought fit to indulge in. I had rather leave Hawthorne Lodge , and take up my quarters with Gracie, whose mother, I know, would give me wel- come." It was a very remarkable and, indeed, unparalleled circumstance that, notwithstand- ing the argument was still hot, and the Colonel imdoubtedly still angry, he here forbore to indulge in very strong language. " I can't think you will be such a born fool as that, Ella," said he, quietly. " To separate yourself from the only relative, save one, you possess in the world would, in your position, be madness. You would find the Commissary's G 2 84 WHAT HE COST HER. quarters a bad exchange for Hawtliorne Lodge, I reckon." " They woukl be found capable of improve- ment, I have no doubt," answered Ella, coolly. '' However, as you have stated with such candour, it is not my interest to quarrel Avith you ; and, indeed, uncle, I have no in- tention of doing anything of the sort. I think I have shown that since we have lived together. You have a temper like the rest of our family, and I make every allowance for it. And now, with your permission, I will retire to take off these rags and dress for dinner." She withdrew wdth a sweeping curtsy, which would have shown offended pride, but for the good-natured nod of the head which accompanied it. " Did you ever see such an abominably impudent minx?" inquired the Colonel, ad- dressincf her vacant chair. " Is such conduct credible in a Christian country ? " As the chair was an ordinary chair, and not a spirit-medium — as that article of furni- ture sometimes is — it did not so much as lift a foot in reply. In the absence of its negative testimony, the Colonel was compelled to believe the A 8PARBING MATCH. 85 evidence of liis own eyes, which he pro- ceeded to objurgate accordingly. Then, pull- ing out his watch : ''It wants an hour yet to dinner," said he, " so I'll just step down to the Commissary's, and ask him what he thinks about it.'' CHAPTER VII. mother and daught?er. Acting-Deputy-Assistant-Commissary-General Ray occupied apartments in barracks, which were not more numerous and much less magnificent than his titles. They were shabbily furnished, and the furniture, even in its best days, had not been good. The look-out of the principal rooms was upon the dusty barrack square : and the quiet of home-life was apt to be disturbed by the sudden roll of drums, the unexpected squeak of fifes, and, occasionally, by the quarrels of the soldiers at the canteen. The seamy side of military life was, in short, always presented to the inmates of this establishment ; they lived, as it were, inside the Punch's show. Fortunately — since their quarters were so limited — the family was small ; consisting only of MOTHER AND DAUGHTEE. 87 the Commissaiy, liis wife— a confirmed invalid, whom creeping paralysis at present permitted to move herself about in a patent wheel-chair, Imt to whom even that limited freedom of movement was soon to be denied — and their daughter, Grace, whose acquaintance we have already made. The trio exhibited a marked contrast to one another. The head of the house was a tall, muscular Scotchman, of about sixty years of age, who bore^is years, not, indeed, ''lightly — like a flower" — but with that comparative convenience which comes of a strong digestion and absence of fine feelings. He had been a good deal knocked about in his time, but he was harder than the things, or people, that had hit him ; he boasted, indeed, of being as "hard as nails," imagining that to be, in a man, a moral excellence, whicli, in the rhinoceros, he would have only admitted to be an accident of birth. He had at no time of his life been young ; that is, he had neither felt himself to be so, nor looked like it; and hence he reaped the great advantage of not perceiving any particular change in himself, nor having it observed by others, now he was old. Everybody who saw him now, and had known him in past days, re- 88 WHAT HE COST HER. marked that Sandy Eay looked much the same. In the cold of Canada he had not shivered ; in the heat of the West Indies he had not perspired ; but had defied all climates and all weathers. He had never given way to a folly or a weakness ; never experienced the temptation of an impulse of any sort ; and hence, upon a very small stock of in- telligence, had acquired the rejDutation of a long-headed fellow. He was also reputed to be wealthy, notwithstanding — or, perhaps, in con- sequence of — the poverty of his domestic menage. He had held various semi-military appoint- ments all over the world ; and thouofh the " pickings " contingent to such positions are not large, there are pickings, and Sandy Kay was supposed to have swept them all up into a very close-meshed net. His christian- name was Alexander, l)ut no one had ever abbreviated that ; he was not a man to have his name shortened through affection or famili- arity ; he was called Sandy from the tint of his hair, whereon the red bristles still contended with the gray for every inch of 23ate. His features were large and inexpressive except of hardness ; his gray eyes cold and slow of movement ; his teeth white and strong as a wolf's. He spoke with an elaborate MOTHER AND DAUGHTER. - 89 caution, which was never so marked as when in conversation with his Jidus Achates, Colonel Juxon ; whose words flowed like a torrent set with crags and rocks, and creamed with imprecations in place of foam. What bond of union existed between these two men, in most respects so diflerent, it was hard to tell. They had both of them " frugal minds," and it was by some suggested they had investments in common ; others, however, of a livelier fancy, did not hesitate to express either conviction that " Swearing Juxon " and *•' Sandy Ray," who it was notorious had known one another years ago in outlandish quarters, shared the knowledge of some secret crime between them which had probably filled both their pockets. What was a much greater mystery than how the Commissary had secured the Colonel's friendship, was, how he had won his wife. She must have been, when he married her, a beautiful girl ; indeed, the remnants of great beauty still lingered about her feeble and shattered frame, and ''what could she ever have seen in her husband?" was the inquiry every woman put to herself when she saw the pair together. That Mrs. Ray had not married Sandy for his beauty was certain. 90 WHAT HE COST HEn. from the evidence of his contemporaries ; nor Avas it for his mental or moral attractions, because he had none ; nor was it for money, since whatever private store he might now possess, he had certainly not acquired in those days ; it remained, therefore, since all reason- able causes were thus eliminated, that she had married him for love, which was the most extraordinary explanation of all. It is my private belief that the unhappy lady, being of a nervous and submissive nature, had been positively frightened into wedding him, by which means, perhaps, more marriages are to be accounted for than is generally sup- posed. However, she loas married to him, and Avas being only slowly relieved from that position by the disease which I have mentioned. Her husband was not specially unkind to her, but of gentleness he had not a grain in his composition, and the lack of it — though the doctors did not say so — had helped to bring her to her present pass. He had, it is probable, been proud of her in his way, at one time ; had doubtless smiled grimly when it had come to his ears that people said, '' What could she liave seen in him?" But now he was only proud of the chair in which she sat. It had cost him, being a patent article, a considerable MOTHER AND DAUGHTEB. 91 figure ; and when folks said (for there arc folks Avho will say anything) that his wife's affliction must be a great trial to him, he would reply, ''and not only a trial, but, let me tell you, a matter of very considerable expense." Then he would point out the advantages of the chair, with her in it ; indeed she was made to put it through its paces, as it were, moving it hither and thither with a touch of her thin hand ; and if a compliment were not paid him — though he professed to despise compliments — upon the consideration for her comfort that had caused him to invest in so expensive an article, he was more bearish than usual for the rest of the day. What thoughts passed through poor Mrs. Ray's mind as she sat, dying so slowly, in that delicate and costly piece of furniture, are too sad for me to imagine. She was not what is called "a great thinker," so let us hope things were better with her than would have been with some who are ; but sometimes in that worn and weary face could be read terrible things; across those still tender eyes flitted, I fear, the ghosts of youth and health, the piteous remembrance of long- vanished joys. She had no very earnest religious feelings, and was therefore without that hope which 92 WHAT HE COST HER. sustains so many unfortunates in this inex- plicable world ; of life the j)oor soul had had enouofh ; the best that she looked forward to Avas eternal rest. Yet no word of complaint escaped her. How strange it is that the fate of martyrs, who do not happen to be saints, should attract so little pity ! Gracie, indeed, was sorry for her mother; but with that exception, no one seemed to consider her case a hard one. Perhaps, if she had mentioned how hard she felt it, pcojDle might have agreed with her, but as it was, they saw her pale face lit with its sad smile, and expressed their approval of her resignation. She had not much liking for books, but was never idle, working with her needle a little for herself and a great deal for Gracie. Perhaps the most pressing sorrow she had was the reflection that there would soon come a time when she should still be alive, and yet unable to work; when the palsy that at present had only reached her lower limbs should attack her diligent fingers. Then, indeed, it would be melancholy to sit at that barrack window, with folded hands, awaiting death's tardy stroke. The cares of managing the little household upon the scanty sum that her husband allowed for its maintenance, were, it MOTHER AND DAUGHTER. 9^ was true, delegated to Gracie; but she sliared the responsibility with her, and took all the blame — and there was often blame — upon her own shoulders. The Commissary, who grudged every shilling, however necessarily spent, pre- ferred to find fault with his wife instead of his daughter, because it made the latter cry. Not that he would have been rendered the least uncomfortable by any amount of woman's tears, but because the crying made Grade's eyes red, and deteriorated from her personal appearance ; and her beauty was precious to him, as likely to prove a marketable com- modity. Thus the girl escaped a good many jobations, which she did not indeed deserve any more than her mother, but which she would have gladly borne in her mother's place. The invalid, on the contrary, was well satisfied that any consideration, no matter what, should preserve her beloved daughter from the Com- missary's ire. Imagine, therefore, her distress of mind when Gracie made her appearance out of the fly upon that day of the battle of Charlton Fair, with draggled raiment and torn bonnet. In this case Mrs. Kay felt that the dear child must bear her own burden of reproach and fault-finding. And heavy enough she knew 94 WHAT HE COST HEE. it would he ; for Gracie liacl worn lier best attire upon the occasion of that unlucky walk with Ella Mayne, and it would take many shillings to repair its damages. " My dear child," cried she, as soon as she had assured herself that she had received no personal hurt, "what will your father say? It was only last week that he paid three pounds on account to Miss Furbelow." Her head shook from side to side with nervous agitation ; it was terrible to see such affliction, about so insignificant a matter, in one so stricken. "But, dear mamma, papa will understand that it could not be helped. If it had not been for Mr. — that is, for two young gentlemen from the College — matters might have been much worse." Mrs. Eay gave a little sigh. She had applied that argument — or had had it applied for her — of comparative degrees of evil, much too often to derive comfort from it. Another philosophic remark, that '' when things are at their worst they must needs mend," was also inefficacious in her case. Perhaps it was because her powers of perception were dull. " Change your dress as soon as you can, Gracie dear, and then tell me all about it. MOTHER AND DAUGHTEB. 95 If your papa comes in and sees you in such a, state, oh dear ! oh dear ! oh dear ! " and again she wrung her hands. There was a similitude in the poor lady's speech and action to those of Mr. Punch, when in dread expectation of the policeman, but "the pity of it " prevented the smile that they would have otherwise provoked. Her policeman was a reality, and she, alas ! had no stick where- with to knock him over the head, to the enjoyment of all beholders. When Gracie, however, presently reappeared in a dress less splendid indeed than that which had met with such mischance, but very neat and becoming, it was plain that there was some happiness for the invalid yet Her daughter looked so blooming that she persuaded herself " dear Alexander " would not " have the heart " to scold her ; and having laid that flattering unction to her soul, she was at liberty to take pride and pleasure in the girl's beauty. In telling her story, Gracie had this difficulty ; she had to be careful not to alarm her mother by the account of her own j)eril, and at the same time not to underrate the services of Mr. Darall, who seemed to her ''I am afraid — indeed I am sure — Mr. Landon would decline to see anybody unless lie — that is you — perhaps, madam, you would permit me to take in your card." " Gracie, have you your card-case with you/' whispered Ella, rapidly, ''with one of your fiather's cards in it ? " Ella knew her friend was accustomed to leave them at people's houses for the Commissary, whose forte did not lie in fulfil- ling polite obligations of any kind. Gracie handed the case to Ella, who selected a card and handed it to the clerk. "Acting - Deputy - Assistant - Commissary - General Kay," muttered he, looking from one to the other in astonishment. It was unusual in those days for women to take a prominent part in official life — even by deputy and in the Commissariat. " Please to walk this way, ladies ; " the clerk opened the door upon the right, and ushered them into a small waiting-room, in which he left them. " So far, so good I " exclaimed Ella, trium- phantly. " When he hears we are two young ladies, however, I believe he will decline to see us," said Gracie, looking very much as if she hoped he would. "The clerk won't dare to tell him; I read 20 WHAT HE COST HER cowardice in his eye ; and the old gentleman is a Tartar, I understand, in what are delicately termed his 'business relations.' No, he will expect to see the Commissary." " Oh ! good gracious ! " Well, I don't wish to 2)ay an extravagant compliment to ourselves at the expense of your father, but I think Mr. Landon ought to be reconciled to the disappointment. Pray don't look so frightened, Gracie ; it is most important to appear at our ease. What a queer little room this is, and what furniture ! — three chairs, an almanack, and a mineralogical cabinet ; see what pretty colours, it can't be mineralogy ; it s dyes — the blue one is indigo ; and that's about all I know about them. I don't wonder Cecil feels such little interest in " " Ladies, your humble servant," said a sharp but not ill-humoured voice. G-racie gave a little scream, and Ella an elaborate curtsy. Before them, with his hand upon the door, as though to make sure of his escape, stood a stout, elderly man in a drab Welsh wior. He had the Commissarv's card in his hand, and looked from one to the other of his visitors out of a pair of screwed-up eyes, the expression of which it was difficult to gather. You could not even tell wliether he was frowniDg, IN THE LIFT. 221 for his spectacles were puslied up on his forehead. His iron-gray eyebrows, however, were very bushy, which gave him a formidable appearance, and his face was puckered up w^ith smiles in the wrong- place — wrinkles. " I understood from this card that your business w^as about some Government contract — but your sex " " We did come about a contract, sir," inter- rupted Ella, in a tone in which timidity and drollery were strangely blended ; " but it is not a Government one." " Yery good; provided the parties are respon- sible, it is nothing to me whom they employ as their agents. Pray be seated, ladies." CHAPTER XYL IN WHICH GRACIE's CHARACTER IS DISCOVERED AND DEFINED. The old gentleman released his hold upon the door, and, drawing his chair between the two young ladies, in a very sociable manner, touched his light ear, as an intimation that that was his best one, and placed it, as it were, at Ella^s disposal. It was almost as bad as having an ear- trumpet offered one, the effect of which, upon the unaccustomed mind, is paralysis of the tongue ; and, considering that Ella was already at her wits' end as to how to introduce her subject, the situation was certainly an embarrassing one. ^' These are the specimens of dyes," observed the old gentleman, touching the cabinet on the table, and speaking in anything but the tone of a Tartar — ''more like a wicked old Turk," as GRACIE'S CHABACTEB. , 223 Oracle afterwards declared. No doubt Ms object was to set both bis visitors at their ease, but his attentions were certainly most devoted to Ella. " The colours are very brilliant, are they not ; this scarlet, for instance ? " " I don't care for scarlet," said Ella. " Well now, that's curious," observed the old fellow, ''for I don't care for scarlet either." " It reminds me of popples and soldiers," con- tinued Ella, "and I prefer something useful." "Bless my soul!" ejaculated Mr. Landon, " those are quite my sentiments ; but In your case — being a young lady — I am surprised " Here was a knock at the door, and the clerk of the passage pushed his head in, with, " Mr. Villette to see you, sir." " I will be with him in five minutes or so ; ask him to wait — And what is your opinion, miss, as to colours ? " inquired Mr. Landon, turn- ing sharply upon Grade, and regarding her not without considerable interest, though she at once assumed the tint to which he had so decided an objection. " Well, I think the blue," said Grade, at a venture. " Um, that's not my colour," returned the old gentleman, in dissatisfied tones. " What's your favourite, my — I mean, Miss Eay ? " And this 224 WHAT HE COST HER. time he turned his eyes, not his ear, to EUa, quite briskly. " I am not Miss Ray, Mr. Landon ; that is Miss Eay." " Indeed ? I shouki have thought you were the elder. Well, now, which is the dye you — no, I don't mean that, of course — but what is the tint out of all these that you prefer ? " Ella looked at the cabinet with a pretence of great attention, and with an aspiration of genius suggested by the Welsh wig, exclaimed : " Drab. It's not a striking colonr, of course ; but it wears well, and that's the main point." " You are the most sensible young woman I have met for years ! " cried the old gentleman, admiringly. " Your choice does you infinite honour, for it suggests good common sense. You're an excellent little housekeeper, I'll Avarrant." " I hope to be one soon, sir," said Ella, de- murely. " Oh, dear me ; then somebody's a lucky dog," said the old gentleman, roguishly. '' He has a good flither, sir, which is certainly somethinorto be thankful for." o " Egad, that's news to hear nowadays," ejaculated the old fellow with a harsh laugh. " My own experience is that sons care deuced GEACIKS CHABACTER. 225 little about their fathers, or their fathers' wishes, and are grateful for nothing that is done for them. It's all take and no give with them — not even thanks." " Perhaps they are sometimes misunderstood," said Gracie, timidly, conscious of having done little up to this point to further her friend's interest, and thinking she had found her op- 23ortunity. " There's no misunderstanding at all about it, miss ! " cried the old gentleman, furiously. " It's iiat ' I won't,' ' I sha'n't.' When a tom-cat flies in your face, you don't talk of his misunder- standing." " I would never marry a man who flew in his father's face," observed Ella, decisively. " Quite right, quite right, my dear," said the old gentleman, approvingly. '' However, this is not business, and I have very little time to spend, even in such charming society." He set his wig straight, which had been pushed a little awry, when Ella and he leant over the cabinet together, and his voice became sud- denly hard and metallic. ''It is very strange that you young ladies should have been commis- sioned to treat ; but w^ho are the parties ? What do they w^ant ? Do I know their names ? " " Yes, Mr. Landon, you know their names." . VOL. I.- Q 22G WEAT HE COST HEB. '' I thought so ; otherwise the proceeding would have been most unusual. ' Kaj, Eay ; * your name is not familiar to me." " That is Miss E^ay, sir ; I am no relation, only an intimate friend. My name is Ella Mayne." "Why, that's the girl my son is making a fool of himself about ! " cried the old gentleman, rising from his seat and speaking very angrily. "You said you were come about a contract." Yet even then he turned and scowled at Gracie, not at Ella. "Yes, sir; but it was a marriage contract," murmured Ella, demurely. " I came to assure you that I could not become your son's wife without your approbation. He is not so disobe- dient as you imagine. He will do anything — anything to please you." " Such as giving up Miss Mayne ? " snaj^ped the old gentleman ; " w^ell, let him begin with that then." " Well, no, sir, he thought of beginning his new course of obedience and duty by giving up his present profession, which is as distasteful to me as it is to you, and coming into partnership, or to assist you in your business in any way you thought proper." " Are you sure of this, young woman ? " " He has passed his word to me, sir, to that GBACIE'S GHABACTEB. 227 effect. I have used my influence, sucli as it is, to persuade him to this course"; and if you are still obdurate as regards our marriage, I shall at least have had the satisfaction of having recon- ciled to a loving father — for I am sure you do love him dearly, as he loves you — the man I love best in the world." " There seems to be a deal of loving in you, Miss Ella," sneered the old man, but there was a tenderness mingled with the sneer which took away half its . sting. " You are a couple of babies, you and he : mere babies. In your case, indeed, it doesn't make so much difference. I don't object to youth in women " " If you please, sir," said the clerk, looking in again, " Mr. Yillette says " ''Go to the devil," roared the old gentleman ; and the obedient clerk incontinently fled, and was beheld no more. " I say. Miss Ella, that my son is a mere boy at school" ''It is true he is at present but a gentleman- cadet," urged Ella, " but he may be a member of your house to-morrow, if you choose to make him so. It would be a great position, but I am not asking it on my own account, dear Mr. Landon. If I could have brought myself to be the cause of a breach between you and Cecil, there would Q 2 228 WHAT HE COST HER. have been no material obstacles to our union. I have twenty-eight thousand pounds of my own, and perhaps if that were added to his capital in business " " No, Miss Ella, no," interrupted the old man with dignity. " Our house is in want of no woman's money. That would be settled on you and the children, that is supposing — no, no, I don't mean that" — for the two young ladies were cochineal — "I mean supposing I were ever brouojht to consent to this marrias^e." *' Oh, sir, I think you have consented," ex- claimed Gracie, pleadingly. ''I have done nothing of the kind, Miss — Miss what's-your-name ? " replied the old gentle- man very irritably. '' Girls have no business to think, nor boys either. It is their fathers who should think for them : but I daresay your father doesn't open his mouth in his own house." At this fancy picture of the Commissary, Ella, afraid to laugh, experienced all the premonitory signs of suffocation, and even Gracie, though very much alarmed, could not restrain a smile. '^ Yes," he went on, " to you, and such as you, miss, I fear filial obedience is only a matter for jesting. Whereas in the case of 3'our friend Miss Ella, here — though I have a bone to pick with her still, and don't intend to forgive her yet GBACIWS CEAEAGTER. 229 by any means ; and have not given in at all, mind that, or promised my consent in any way to her union with my son — in her case, I say, I will answer for her, that she has at least shown herself to be a good daughter. That she is sub- missive and tractable, and obeys as well as loves her father Bless my soul, what's the matter with her?" Ella's dark face — for though so beautiful it was very dark, being almost of Spanish hue — had grown pale to the very lips. " She has lost her father, Mr. Landon,'' whispered Grracie. "Then why didn't you tell me so before?" snapped the old gentleman ; poor Gracie, it seemed, was always doomed to excite his ire. " Your neglect, you see, has caused me to give her pain. It is not, however, given to the memory of every father to excite such emotion. Ella, my dear, since you have shown yourself so good a daughter, I have almost a mind to say — if this son of mine is really prepared to listen to reason, and to put his shoulder to the wheel of commerce at once — that I will accept you for my daughter-in-law. I owe you some- thing for having brought the tears to your pretty eyes." " I shed no tears, sir," said Ella, in that 230 WHAT HE COST HEU. hard, almost defiant tone, with which her friend was by this time not wliollj unfamiliar, though its strangeness never failed to strike her. " Well, if you didn't cry, you lost your colour ; and that showed me, you know, there was something amiss in the fabric — I mean that I touched upon a tender string. I say if you'll bring Cecil here, a penitent, and prepared to obey my wishes, we may all three, perhaps, go into partnership together — he with me, and you with him." " Dear Mr. Landon, how good you are ! " exclaimed Ella, the colour returning to her cheeks in a sudden flush, and the lovelight sparkling in her eyes. "Yes, how good you are!" echoed Gracie, trembling with delight at her friend's success. " I daresay," answered the old gentleman, sardonically ; ''I am afraid. Miss Eay, you are one of those young ladies who think every man good whom you have succeeded in twist- ing round your little finger. I feel I have been made a fool of, but I know which of you has done it. It would never have entered into Ella's head — of that I am convinced — to play such a trick upon me." " Well, really," began Gracie, her gentle nature moved by a justifiable indignation — GBACIWS GHAEAGTEB. -231 then she stopped, feeling that it was Ella's part to defend her from so unfounded an