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 GRANTHAM SECRETS.
 
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 GRANTHAM SECRETS. 
 
 ^ ifffrti. 
 
 BY 
 
 PHOEBE M. FEILDEN. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Hontron : 
 
 SAMUEL TINSLEY, 
 
 10, SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND. 
 
 1875. 
 
 [.4^^ Yujlds I'eserved.]
 
 ?2 3 
 
 F32q 
 V. I 
 
 GRANTHAM SECRETS. 
 
 V 
 
 :-^ 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 v^ *' What a glorious moon ! Oh, mother, 
 what a night ! I wish we might walk ©n 
 for ever, instead of having to stop short at 
 Grantham Hall ! '* 
 
 So cried Margaret Willoughby, as she 
 
 opened the side-door of a pleasant house 
 
 ^ which went by the name of " The Cottage," 
 
 ^ and followed her mother out into the deli- 
 
 J cious August air. 
 
 I For a moment the two stood gazing, as 
 Z though spell-bound by the beauty of the 
 4^ scene which they had so frequently gazed 
 '^ at before. Then turning a little to their 
 ;^"left, they bent their steps across a. soft 
 >^ sloping lawn towards a piece of, rougher 
 
 I 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 3P/
 
 2 Grantham Secret^. 
 
 ground which took to a path winding 
 through a small w^ood, the ups and downs 
 of which led the way to a little wicket gate 
 opening upon the private property of Sir 
 John Grantham, the lord of the manor. 
 
 **How wonderful it looks!" said Mar- 
 garet, stopping, soon after they had reached 
 the wood, to feast her eyes and her fancy 
 on shadowy corners, which appeared to be 
 endless in their mysterious depths, and on 
 rich moonbeams which, as they fell amidst 
 the shade, lit up here and there a fern, a 
 flower, or a moss-grown stone, and seemed 
 to be revealing a thousand treasures which 
 had been kept secret during the sunshine 
 of day. In short, the pretty spot had been 
 transformed for Margaret into a land of 
 marvellous enchantment. And, may be, 
 her fancies might have remained entranced 
 by it till cock-crow, but for the necessity of 
 obeying her mother's impatient call. 
 
 *' My child, we shall be very late. Do 
 you mean to stay dreaming here all night?" 
 
 ** It seems a sin to leave the wood for a 
 tiresome house," replied Margaret, half to
 
 Grmitham Secrets. 3 
 
 herself, ^* It never looked so lovely, or 
 gave me such a strange feeling before. I 
 feel as if something wonderful must be 
 going to happen." 
 
 ** I know what is about to happen," re- 
 turned her mother. ** We are going to 
 receive a scolding from Lady Grantham for 
 being fashionable, and to find that the 
 dancing has begun, and that you have lost 
 all chance of partners ! " 
 
 " I am not much afraid, mother. Mr. 
 Meredith jyill of course be there, and may 
 perhaps have kept a dance or two for me," 
 said Margaret, with a careless laugh ; adding, 
 with a shrug of her shoulders, and a grimace 
 expressive of mingled amusement and dis- 
 gust, ** and that Miles Grantham, too! I 
 suppose he will allow me the great honour 
 and delight of dancing with him occasion- 
 ally. But I must make Mr. Meredith save 
 me from this, if I can." 
 
 " My dear ! " began Mrs. Willoughby. 
 
 ** Well, mamma, you must agree with me 
 in thinking Miles Grantham hateful ! He 
 always seems to me like a wicked sprite in a
 
 4 Grantha7n Secrets. 
 
 German fairy-tale," put in Margaret, hastily. 
 And then, while her mother continued her 
 expostulations, her quick fancy peopled an 
 imaginary world with ideal beings, who, 
 although not fairies, were certainly utterly 
 unlike any actual creatures of flesh and 
 blood with whose characters she had as 
 yet become acquainted. This fanciful vv^orld, 
 in which it was the wont of her imagination 
 to take frequent refuge, just now harmonized 
 well with the charm and beauty of the soft 
 moonlit evening ; and her ideal friends 
 seemed unusually living, and unusually 
 full of interest, as she compared them with 
 the *' commonplace " people whom she was 
 about to meet at Grantham Hall. Above 
 all, the chief hero of her imagination, — he 
 who took the most prominent place in the 
 pictures painted by her brain, he who was 
 the principal mover in the scenes of action 
 that her fancy had created, — appeared to- 
 night to have been inspired with new vir- 
 tues, and to have been endowed with more 
 extraordinary powers ! It was impossible 
 that she could ever meet his like on earth,
 
 Grantham Secrets, 5 
 
 she thought ! — one who was at once so self- 
 sacrificing, so manly, so true, so skilful, and 
 at the same time so fascinating, so nobly 
 beautiful, so humorous, so capable of 
 entering into all moods, whether grave or 
 gay ! But, although this was impossible, 
 apparently it was none the less fair and just 
 that Margaret's acquaintances should bear 
 the penalty of her contempt and displeasure 
 because they were so far from approaching 
 the likeness of her own lofty ideal. 
 
 With this ideal moving before her mfnd's 
 eye, amidst the many glowing fancies that 
 made her inner life delightful, Margaret 
 accompanied her mother into the large 
 , drawing-room of Grantham Hall. The 
 other guests had already assembled. The 
 party was not large. It was one of those 
 informal meetings for dancing and music, 
 round games and friendly conversation, for 
 which the hospitable inhabitants of Grantham 
 Hall were famous. These parties were 
 usually got up suddenly. The neighbours 
 were asked in an impromptu manner to 
 spend the evening at the Hall. No one
 
 6 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 felt obliged to accept the invitation merely 
 because he had no previous engagement. 
 But few who had ever attended a " Gran- 
 tham evening," as it was termed in the 
 neighbourhood, were disposed to disregard 
 the chance of attending another. And sad- 
 hearted, indeed, must that young person 
 have been who failed to enjoy it when it 
 came. For certainly the host and hostess 
 had the art of infusing their own genial 
 spirit into the minds of their guests. All 
 were made to feel at their ease ; and every- 
 thing went brightly and pleasantly during 
 the two or three hours that the entertain- 
 ment lasted. Nor was any one happier on 
 an occasion of the sort than Margaret 
 Willoughby, who, despite the superiority 
 of her own waking dream-land, found outer 
 life at Grantham Hall exceedingly agree- 
 able. Of course the commonplace and 
 uninteresting people whom she met there 
 could not be of any great consequence to 
 one who was accustomed to hold intercourse 
 with a far nobler race of beings, of her own 
 creation ; but nevertheless it could not be
 
 Grajiiham Secrets. 7 
 
 otherwise than satisfactory to find herself 
 welcomed so heartily, and looked upon as 
 so necessary an element in other people's 
 enjoyment. She was fuller of fun and 
 merriment than any of the other girls ; and 
 her arrival at the present moment was 
 hailed with delight by all. 
 
 ** Here they are at last ! " exclaimed Lady 
 Grantham, as she shook hands with Mrs. 
 Willoughby, and then turned an involuntarily 
 admiring glance on* her daughter's radiant 
 face. 
 
 Margaret was generally considered rather 
 to be winning, graceful, and picturesque than 
 actually pretty, but there was something 
 about her as she entered now that made 
 those who looked at her say to themselves, 
 ** How beautiful ! She is absolutely beau- 
 tiful ! " 
 
 In truth, her countenance had been trans- 
 figured into unwonted beauty by the bright- 
 ness of the thoughts and fancies that were 
 working within her mind. She was little 
 aware, however, of the effect she was pro 
 ducing while she passed quickly through
 
 8 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 the room, and, joining a group of acquaint- 
 ances, charmed them all by her simple and 
 natural manner, and her ready sympathy 
 with them in all they had to tell of their 
 doings and concerns. 
 
 '* You will give me a dance?" suddenly 
 whispered some one close behind her, in a 
 tone as low, mysterious, and tender as 
 though the request he was making had been 
 one of a somewhat more important nature. 
 
 A shade of annoyance crossed Margaret's 
 face, but turning quickly round, — 
 
 ** How do you do. Miles ? " she said, in a 
 cheerful, abrupt, and unconcerned manner. 
 **I did not see you. I beg your pardon! 
 Were you saying something to me ? " 
 
 **You did not see me! You did not 
 know that I was near ! ' ' with a softly re- 
 proachful intonation in his accents, returned 
 Miles Grantham. 
 
 *^ Of course I did not know that you were 
 near when I did not see you. How should 
 I ? " said Margaret, in a voice that was less 
 gentle and sweet than usual. 
 
 Miles' answer was a sigh, but he added,
 
 Grantham Secrets, g 
 
 with lips that seemed to be tremulous from 
 emotion, — 
 
 ** You will not surely refuse me a dance?" 
 
 ** Why should I refuse you a dance?" 
 replied Margaret, with an impatient laugh. 
 *^ Of course it would be the death of you if 
 I did ! But, luckily for you, bare civility 
 forbids me to be your murderer. I have no 
 engagement, and shall be happy to dance 
 with you as soon as you have fulfilled all 
 yours." 
 
 *'Mine ! Ah, you remind me of my duty ! 
 You remind me of that stern taskmaster, 
 my duty ! " And once more heaving a 
 sigh, Miles glanced in the direction of a 
 group of young ladies who were waiting 
 impatiently for the music of the next waltz 
 to strike up. 
 
 Margaret's eyes danced with merriment, 
 while a pensive- looking young lady, who 
 had caught Mr. Grantham's glance, blushed, 
 lowered her eyelids, and thought to herself, 
 ** Yes, I am sure I cannot be mistaken ! 
 That look — those tones — must surely mean 
 something ! But of course he cannot help
 
 lO Grantham Secrets. 
 
 himself : of course he must pay attentions to 
 others besides me ! He is not one to let his 
 own feelings interfere with his duty ! ' ' 
 
 Some one sat down to the piano and 
 began to play a waltz, but still Miles 
 Grantham lingered by Margaret's side. 
 
 **Your partner is waiting for you. You 
 must ' go where duty calls you/ you know!" 
 returned Margaret, mischievously. 
 
 *'And you?" he said, in a tone of 
 despondency, as he prepared at length to 
 leave her. 
 
 **And / may possibly contrive to exist 
 for a short time without you!" answered 
 Margaret. Then murmuring to herself an 
 ejaculation of thanksgiving at his departure, 
 she retreated into a corner of the bay, and 
 sat down by the open window. "I wonder 
 if he fancies that I don't know that he speaks 
 in the same sweet tone (as they may consider 
 it !) to every other girl in the place ! " she 
 mused, while with contemptuous amusement 
 she watched Miles Grantham's tall, stoop- 
 ing, narrow-chested figure make its way to 
 the side of his expectant partner, and ob-
 
 Grantham Secrets, 1 1 
 
 served how she raised confiding eyes to his 
 dark sallow face, and returned his insinuating 
 smile with one of grateful contentment. *'Is 
 it possible that the being lives on earth who 
 finds herself able to worship that thing? 
 Better be one of the ' poor ignorant heathen' 
 at once, for their idols have at least the 
 virtue of being dumb ! '' 
 
 After this fashion Margaret continued her 
 musings, expressing to herself the senti- 
 ments and opinions in which she was almost 
 singular. For with the ladies of the neigti- 
 bourhood, generally. Miles Grantham had 
 contrived to make himself popular. The 
 mothers thought him an agreeable and ex- 
 emplary young man. To the young ladies 
 he was a hero of romance, possessed of 
 every virtue under the sun. In their eyes 
 the long features (which really were not ill- 
 formed) appeared extraordinarily handsome. 
 In the contracted brow they could see 
 nothing amiss. And the fact that he was 
 possessed by an apparent inability to look 
 anyone steadily in the face only made him 
 seem the more interesting ; for to each one
 
 12 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 the self-conscious droop of his eyelids seemed 
 full of a thousand tender meanings, which only 
 the fear of giving offence to her prevented 
 his expressing in direct looks and words. 
 One of these furtive, hurried glances of his, 
 spoke volumes to the fertile imaginations of 
 his young lady friends. And even the men 
 of his acquaintance usually declared to 
 themselves, after a time, that the heir of 
 Grantham had *' something in him," after 
 all, and was *' less of a muff" than they had 
 fancied. 
 
 Can it have been that a too great famili- 
 arity had bred contempt in Margaret's 
 mind ? This is so far possible that Margaret 
 and Miles had been playfellows in their 
 childhood. All her life long, ever since the 
 days when the big effeminate boy had lorded 
 it over the little child whom he had been 
 ordered to amuse, Margaret had been bored 
 by Miles' show of affection, annoyed by his 
 exigence and tyranny, and disgusted by his 
 petty, mean, and cunning ways, his intense 
 self-importance and offensive egoism. In 
 their youthful quarrels her mother had
 
 Gra7ilham Secrets, 13 
 
 always told her that she, not the boy, who 
 was so much older than herself, was the one 
 to blame. And the only person from whom 
 she had obtained, in those days, relief from 
 her sense of injustice was Sir John Grantham, 
 whose dislike towards his nephew and heir, 
 though struggled against and kept locked 
 up a secret in his own bosom, was almost 
 equal to her own. 
 
 On one point, however, at all events, 
 Margaret wronged her old playfellow. It 
 is true that it was his glorious aim to mal^e 
 each young lady in the neighbourhood of 
 Grantham believe that he was in love with 
 her, and with her alone. But it is no less 
 certain that it was his earnest intention to 
 make Margaret Willoughby the future mis- 
 tress of Grantham Hall. Nor, in his vain 
 self-confidence, did he dream of resistance, 
 on her part, to his sovereign will and 
 pleasure. 
 
 '' Poor Alice Craycroft ! He shall marry 
 her, as certainly as he was made to keep the 
 daffodil he had chosen, when he cunningly 
 tried to exchange it for my lily of the valley,
 
 14 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 in the days of our childish fights. Dear old 
 Nurse Gilling came to the rescue then. 
 How well I remember her look ! I can see 
 her now, and hear her, giving it to Miles, 
 and saying it was a shame of a great big 
 boy like that, *' what called himself a young 
 gentleman," trying to cheat a little young 
 lady like Miss Margaret out of her flower ! 
 Yes, he shall marry Alice to a certainty. 
 Only, poor dear Alice, will she continue to 
 be blinded, and to dream that her ape is a 
 god?" 
 
 Thus Margaret continued her musings, 
 while she clenched her little white hands 
 together, and looked with a determined air 
 in the direction of Miles and his pensive 
 partner, who were spinning round to the 
 music of the Elfin Waltzes. 
 
 But her musings and her determined 
 thoughts were speedily interrupted. The 
 sound of footsteps approaching the window 
 from without made her turn her head to 
 see the youthful and yet manly figure of 
 Charles Meredith, who, hastening up to her, 
 greeted her in a voice of frank gladness.
 
 Grantha77i Secrets, 15 
 
 There was nothing remarkable or hero-like 
 in his appearance ; he was simply exceed- 
 ingly nice-looking, with a broad well-formed 
 brow, truth-telling dark eyes, and a pleasant 
 straightforward expression of countenance. 
 
 ** How long have you been here, Miss 
 Willoughby ? " he said. ** I have been 
 looking for you. How did I manage to 
 miss you? " 
 
 **We came through the wood, and then 
 took the short cut to the avenue ; mamma 
 was afraid we were late." 
 
 ** You are, — very late. Shall we have 
 this waltz?" 
 
 " With pleasure." 
 
 ** Have you many engagements ? I have 
 none. Can you spare me some more 
 dances ? ' ' 
 
 ** I am engaged for a waltz with Mr. 
 Grantham." 
 
 " But not the next ? Oh, it seems this 
 is to be a quadrille on the lawn. Shall we 
 dance it ? " 
 
 So they danced and promenaded on the 
 lawn, and even waltzed again, without being
 
 1 6 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 disturbed by Miles Grantham. The music 
 was good. They both danced well, and 
 seemed to have been made to fit into 
 each other's movements. They talked and 
 laughed together between whiles. And 
 Margaret was completely and carelessly 
 gay and happy.
 
 Granthmn Secrets, 17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 And Charles ? Was his happiness equally 
 light and equally devoid of care ? Were 
 there no hidden depths of love in his heart, 
 mingling with the throbbings of a mighty 
 fear, which made it both joy and agony 
 inexpressible to him to be by her side — 
 which made her sweet unconscious merri- 
 ment at once a pain and a pleasure which 
 something told him he must shortly lose ? 
 For she was unconscious, unconscious of 
 anything beyond the pleasant sense of 
 being liked in a friendly, hearty, and 
 genial manner. 
 
 Four or ^nq weeks had passed since 
 Charles had settled himself down in the 
 neighbourhood for the ostensible purpose 
 of reading hard for his Oxford degree. 
 Mr. Meredith was particularly anxious that 
 
 VOL. I. 2
 
 1 8 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 his son should try for honours. And 
 Charles, who possessed little or no per- 
 sonal ambition, and who hated close stud}^ 
 — except in connection with any subject in 
 which his eager mind happened for the 
 time being- to be feeling- peculiar interest, 
 — was nevertheless determined to gratify 
 his father ; and, with this object in view, 
 he had taken up his position in a retired 
 country spot, in a small cottage close to 
 a good trout stream. With the supersti- 
 tion of his kind, he had looked to much 
 assistance in his studies from the com- 
 panionship of the neighbouring fish. But 
 he had expected no other diversion and 
 no other companionship than that which 
 they afforded him. Alas, for his good 
 intentions ! He had fallen in with an 
 Oxford acquaintance, had been introduced 
 to Sir John Grantham, and had become a 
 victim to the hospitality and dissipation of 
 a very pleasant neighbourhood. And the 
 trout-stream, his books, his thoughts, his 
 dreams, all now were haunted by a girl's 
 small piquant face, and especially by its
 
 Grantham Secrets. 19 
 
 great changeful hazel eyes, which to him 
 seemed the sweetest eyes that had ever 
 opened upon sky and earth. The waters 
 of his life which had hitherto flowed on in 
 a calm and even course had at length been 
 troubled to their depths, and in the troubling 
 had gained for him a higher and a dearer 
 value. Of all this, however, Margaret had 
 as yet learnt nothing. How was she to 
 gather anything of it from the frank and 
 buoyant, or simply grave, almost matter-of- 
 fact manner in which he discussed with her 
 all kinds of subjects connected with earth 
 and heaven ? He had spoken to her no 
 word of love, and was not one of those who 
 by dint of tones and looks, or a nameless 
 something, have the power of impressing 
 themselves on the minds or hearts of others. 
 So, while he was fast becoming devoted to 
 her, she only experienced in his society an 
 agreeable divertisement, which it would not 
 materially affect her happiness to lose. 
 Even now, when following the lead of others 
 amongst the guests, they passed out into 
 the warm, — almost golden, — light of the har-
 
 20 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 vest moon, and wandered, amongst other 
 wanderers, through the pleasure-grounds, 
 far down out of sight of the house, passing 
 from glade to glade, talking of poetry, poets, 
 and pictures, and pausing for an instant, 
 from time to time, to admire and feel to- 
 gether the quiet loveliness around them, — 
 even now no touch of romance or poetry 
 coloured the placidity of her feeling for him. 
 Even now, while she talked brightly, and 
 gave full attention to her companion's 
 observations and questions, it seemed to her 
 that her spirit was living in an inner world, 
 which she did not care to share with him. 
 And thoughts were passing quickly through 
 her mind, which none, she fancied, could 
 understand, but the ideal hero, who existed 
 only in her own imagination. This hero's 
 thoughts, and not her own, they seemed to 
 be ; for Margaret had no egoism ; she cared 
 little to dwell on herself, and had no grand 
 notions as to her personal mental powers or 
 her own peculiar sentiments. 
 
 '* I little thought how pleasant I should 
 find it down here," abruptly said Charles
 
 Grantham Secrets. 21 
 
 Meredith, presently. ^' It seemed hard lines 
 to me, at first, having to stay in England 
 for reading, instead of joining my people 
 in Switzerland ; but " 
 
 **But," put in Margaret, laughingly, as 
 he paused, *' you now begin to feel the 
 benefit of extraordinarily severe study/' 
 
 *'Well, I have been reading very hard, 
 you know," said Charles, quickly, in a tone 
 of half-serious, half-playful deprecation, and 
 with a movement of his face that was some- 
 thing between a smile and a grimace.* It 
 was a look that Margaret knew well and 
 liked to provoke. It amused her, because it 
 was so quaint and peculiar, so characteristic 
 of Charles, and of no one else. It pleased 
 her, and yet it would have been utterly 
 impossible for her ideal hero, her imaginary 
 piece of perfection, to have given a similar 
 look, or to have made a similar move- 
 ment. 
 
 *' Ah ! I am afraid you will be worn to a 
 skeleton soon. You really should take more 
 care of yourself ! " she returned. 
 
 *' I am anxious to martyr myself for the
 
 2 2 Grantharn Secrets. 
 
 good of my friends," said Charles. ^'They 
 may make something out of me, by-and-by, 
 perhaps, by showing me as * The Living 
 Skeleton ! ' But, seriously, you know it is 
 only to please my father that I care to go 
 up for honours. What good will they do 
 me, supposing me to be successful ? "' 
 
 How different from the hero ! Margaret 
 made her mental comparison to this effect, 
 but only said aloud, ^* Will it not help you 
 afterwards in your profession ? You mean 
 to be a barrister, you say ? ' ' 
 
 " As well that as anything else, perhaps,'* 
 replied Charles, dejectedly. " But I have 
 not yet made up my mind. My father 
 wishes me to do something, although he can 
 make me a sufficient allow^ance to enable me 
 to live without I only mean to hang by 
 my eyelashes to my profession, however. 
 But don't be shocked, Miss Willoughbyl 
 I do not mean to be idle ; I hope '* 
 
 He paused. Hitherto, he had pictured to 
 himself, in bright and glowing colours, a 
 future literary life in London. But suddenly 
 the life had faded out of the picture, and he
 
 Granthani Secrets. 23 
 
 saw only a dark and desolate scene, unless, 
 — unless certain wild hopes of his should 
 chance to be fulfilled. 
 
 Margaret was looking up at him with an 
 expression in her face that seemed to mean, 
 — oh ! what might it not mean ? It expressed 
 earnest interest. It was at once bright, and 
 grave, and wondering ; and at least, for 
 Charles Meredith, it was dangerously beau- 
 tiful. Poor Charles ! If he could have read 
 her mind, if he could have known that as 
 she gazed up into his face the eyes of her 
 imagination were seeing the ideal hero, 
 whose whole life was earnest, whose voca- 
 tion, whatever it might be, was to himself 
 sacred, would he then have dared to breathe 
 aloud the presumptuous hopes which now 
 came like waves surging thick and fast 
 through his brain and heart, and which it 
 seemed no longer possible to restrain within 
 the bounds of prudence ? 
 
 ** Miss Willoughby," he cried, suddenly, 
 in an altered tone, '* may I speak to you? 
 I — I have something that I must say to you; " 
 he stammered, hardly knowing what he
 
 24 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 uttered, almost feeling as if he were speak- 
 ing out of a dream. 
 
 In a moment scales fell from Margaret's 
 eyes. She knew all ; she saw and under- 
 stood, at last ! She stood still for an in- 
 stant, frightened. In that instant, turning 
 her head, she saw that some of the rest of 
 the wandering party were beginning to stroll 
 back towards the house. She would have 
 followed them. *'Let us go back with the 
 others. We ought to go back," is what she 
 would have said. But instead of this, '* Oh, 
 please don't! " she cried, abruptly, in an 
 imploring tone. *' It has been so pleasant. 
 Oh, please, please, don't spoil it! " 
 
 **I must speak, — you must hear me," he 
 answered, vehemently; and she found her- 
 self impelled forward against her will, and 
 obliged to listen to his passionately tender 
 and earnest pleadings. It was as if a dream 
 of love in his heart had suddenly been 
 awakened to life and activity ; and words, 
 no longer faltering and diffident, but full of 
 force and determination, came rushing like 
 a torrent through his lips.
 
 Grantham Secrets, 25 
 
 Margaret, meanwhile, walked tremblingly 
 by his side, affected she knew not how, 
 sensible of intense distress, that yet, in spite 
 of herself, was mingled with a strange, new, 
 most exquisite thrill of pleasure; which, 
 however, quickly passed into a painful 
 yearning after a vague indescribable some- 
 thing, that seemed to be floating somewhere 
 within her vision, but far away out of her 
 reach. It was one of those moments of 
 excitement in which imagination, thought, 
 and feeling work with unusual rapidity, and 
 the image in Margaret's ideal world had 
 suddenly awakened into a struggle after 
 actual life, which might not, it appeared, be 
 satisfied. But through all the minglings of 
 her pain and pleasure, she felt positively 
 convinced that she did not return Charles 
 Meredith's feeling. She liked him. It was 
 pleasant to her to be by his side. But love ? 
 — love such as his, love such as her imagi- 
 nation told her it would be possible for her, 
 too, to feel, if it were possible for the right 
 person for it to be created, — the very 
 strength of his vehemence made her all the
 
 26 Grafitham Secrets. 
 
 more certain that such an experience was 
 very far from being hers at present. Voices, 
 showing some of the rest of the party to be 
 in close proximity, had again been heard, and 
 Charles had instinctively drawn Margaret 
 aside, into one of the many paths of the 
 wood that they had been skirting, — a branch 
 of the very same wood through which she 
 had so lately passed. — Presently they came 
 to a little trellis- work summer-house, where 
 they stopped short, he, at the same time, 
 pausing in his speaking, to look at her with 
 inquiring, pleading eyes. 
 
 Then she realized the pain that she must 
 give, and with a look that was inexpressibly 
 sad and pitiful, she answered, tremulously, 
 " I never dreamed of this. I knew you liked 
 me, I felt that you were kind to me ; but I 
 did not — I did not dream that you had 
 thought of me in this way. Indeed, I am 
 not worthy of it, and I, — I cannot,-r-oh, 
 forgive me for causing you this pain ! " 
 
 Her voice was very gentle, tears filled her 
 eyes. And as his hopes sank she seemed to 
 Charles ten thousand times dearer even than
 
 Grafitham Secrets. 27 
 
 she had seemed when first he had begun to 
 speak. He had listened breathlessly, trust- 
 ing for some word that might at least bring 
 to him a little glimmering of hope. But 
 now he replied, in a tone that was almost 
 stern in its calm hopelessness, — 
 
 ^* You cannot love me, I see. I was a fool 
 to think it possible you might." 
 
 *^ Indeed, you are too, too good," she 
 began ; and as she hesitated, all the agony 
 of his disappointment came over him, and 
 he said, imploringly, — 
 
 ** Can you give me 7io hope ? Is it im- 
 possible that you might some time learn to 
 love me? " 
 
 She shook her head. "Not in the way 
 you mean," she said. '' Not as you deserve. 
 But— but— I— I " 
 
 What could she sav to soothe and console 
 him ? She felt — she knew — what he was 
 suffering. She felt that conventional words 
 about sisterly affection, friendship, thoughts 
 and prayers, would only mock him in his 
 grief. Her heart was full, but her imagina- 
 tion was telling her that the man ordained
 
 28 Gra7itham Secrets. 
 
 to possess its love was not this man with 
 whom she was now feeling- so keenly. 
 
 *' But why — why is it quite impossible 
 that you may some time learn to love me ? " 
 he broke in, with almost fierce persistency. 
 *^Is there ? " 
 
 '* I have never seen anyone that I could 
 care about in that way," said Margaret, 
 quickly, answering the jealous thought of 
 his heart. '* I think I never shall, for if I 
 should, it would be some one who " 
 
 Once more she paused. The look that he 
 had seen before came into her eyes. The 
 . warm moonlight slanted across her some- 
 what upturned face. There was a short 
 silence, and then, '' I will tell you some- 
 thing," she said, suddenly, in a confiding 
 tone, which filled his quickly-throbbing heart 
 anew with jealous fears; "I will tell you 
 something that I have told to no one else. 
 All my life long I have had fancy people 
 about me. They were children when I was 
 a child, and now they are grown up. They 
 are good, but never tiresome in their good- 
 ness, — good, and true, and delightful and
 
 Grantham Secrets. 29 
 
 pleasant. One of them, the best of all, was 
 very brave, and kind, and gentle, as a boy. 
 I loved him dearly then, he was so different 
 from all the tiresome real boys that I knew ; 
 and now that he is grown up he is, — oh, I 
 cannot say it to you ! It seems to me as if 
 I knew him really, and he helps me by 
 being so good and great, and so earnest in 
 his work. He does not do sometimes one 
 thing, and sometimes another thing, just as 
 the fancy takes him, as I do ; but he has^ a 
 work that he puts his whole heart into. He 
 does not mind how much trouble it gives 
 him. He does not feel the trouble. It is 
 not for himself. It *' 
 
 Again she hesitated, afraid of giving 
 utterance to the grave thought that was in 
 her mind ; then she continued eagerly, — 
 
 *' It helps a world of people to be better 
 and happier. And ^" 
 
 Here she glanced suddenly up into his 
 face, and something that she read there 
 made her pause abruptly. Something new 
 had come over him ! He no longer ap- 
 peared to her merely a pleasant, amiable,
 
 30 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 negative sort of being. There was an 
 inspired look on his countenance, as though 
 he had just received a revelation, as though 
 he had heard a Voice from the Unseen, call- 
 ing upon him to fulfil the office of a Prophet. 
 Margaret's heart beat fast, her cheeks 
 flushed, and it seemed to her, all in an in- 
 stant, that she had been brought into the 
 presence of her ideal hero, — that the 
 shadowy creation of her fancy had become 
 an actual creature of flesh and blood. She 
 stood in momentary confusion, and Charles 
 was the first to break silence. In a low and 
 quiet tone, as though he had put aside his 
 wild hopes of happiness, and were only 
 waiting to learn what he must do, how he 
 might obey the new impulse that had been 
 given to him, — 
 
 ''And what is the work," he asked, "what 
 is the work. Miss Willoughby, into which 
 your fancy friend puts his whole heart? " 
 
 How was Margaret to reply ? Her en- 
 thusiasm for the ideal hero seemed to have 
 vanished, and she would have given worlds 
 to hear the new-found substantial reality
 
 Grantham Secrets. 31 
 
 address her again in the same tone in which 
 he had so lately spoken. But as he stood 
 gazing at her, as though she was a goddess 
 from whom he was to receive his commands, 
 she answered, with quick excitement, — 
 
 *' His work? " I scarcely know, in detail, 
 what it is. But he forgets himself in it, like 
 Shakespeare, and Turner, and Mendelssohn, 
 — and as all great workers must forget them- 
 selves {you think they must ? We were talk- 
 ing about it the other day, you remember ?) ; 
 and his whole life is like a beautiful poem?" 
 
 '* If only the thought of you might help 
 my life to become like a beautiful poem, 
 which you would care to read, I might better 
 learn to bear the loss of my one hope of 
 happiness," returned Charles, as she con- 
 cluded. , 
 
 " Not the thought of me,''^ she faltered, 
 for he seemed to her so godlike at the 
 moment, that she was humiliated by the 
 knowledge that he was looking up to her 
 unworthy self with reverence. 
 
 " Forgive me. Miss Willoughby," he said, 
 sadly, misinterpreting her meaning, *' for-
 
 2,2 Granf/iam Secrets. 
 
 give me ! I understand you fully. I shall 
 not dream any longer that you are holding 
 out to me a hope for the future, and I will 
 try to look to that other help of which you 
 tell me. But, whatever may happen to me, 
 whatever changes may come, I shall never 
 leave off loving you. I could not live if I 
 had not you to love." 
 
 He turned away his head as though to 
 hide from her sight the look of agony that 
 had overspread his features. 
 
 *' I," she began, after a pause, during 
 which the intensity of her feelings had not 
 allowed her to speak, *' I " 
 
 Who knows what blessed hope her hesi- 
 tating answer might have bought to 
 Charles ? Who knows what he might have 
 replied, and what she once more might 
 have returned to him ? Who knows but 
 that angel hands might have drawn together 
 their two hearts, and have opened the eyes 
 of each to know all the secrets of the other, 
 if — if a third person had not suddenly 
 entered upon the scene, and brought the 
 tete-a-tete to a premature conclusion }
 
 Grantham Secrets, "^2) 
 
 ** Oh, here you are, Margaret, at last ! '* 
 cried some one in a querulous tone of 
 voice, which was intended to be pathetic." 
 I have been hunting for you high and low ! 
 Mrs. Willoughby says it is time to go, and I 
 have obtained leave for one more dance, as 
 you were out of the way when it came to 
 your turn." 
 
 ** My turn ? Its time had not been 
 specified, except in your own mind!" 
 said Margaret, with a forced laugh. ** Out 
 of the way ? But surely you and your 
 partner were of our party when we wandered 
 off, after the waltz on the lawn ? " 
 
 ** Yes, but I was back in time for the last 
 waltz, and had thought you were following." 
 
 ** We remained out longer, with some of 
 the rest of the party." 
 
 *' I promised Mrs. Willoughby to bring 
 you back, now, at all events." 
 
 "- All right, I suppose we had better come, 
 then, " said Margaret, trying to speak in an 
 unconcerned tone. 
 
 ** Unless you are more pleasantly en- 
 gaged, — too bad of you, Meredith, to 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 34 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 carry off my partner," went on Miles, look- 
 ing with an aggrieved air from one to the 
 other, and offering his arm to Margaret, 
 with the manner of one who considered that 
 she was his personal property, and that it 
 would be a piece of unheard of impertinence 
 in any one who dared to dispute his right to 
 do what he chose with her. 
 
 In sheer nervousness, in the fear lest the 
 odious Miles should begin to imagine that 
 there was *' something between" herself 
 and Charles Meredith, Margaret began a 
 laughing apology, and permitted herself to 
 be carried off with an apparently good 
 grace. But when Charles glanced at her, 
 he perceived on her face the tender glow 
 which he might have observed there before 
 the arrival of the intruder ; and out of her 
 eyes still looked the tender wistfulness which 
 had been there also, though he had not seen 
 it, even when she was beginning the tre- 
 mulous answer which Miles had interrupted. 
 And while she laughed and chatted, me- 
 chanically, with the man she so cordially 
 disliked, her heart was full, — oh that
 
 Grantha77i Secrets, 35 
 
 Charles might have seen into its depths ! — 
 her heart was full, and was aching with a 
 longing to be able to recall a lost oppor- 
 tunity. Charles, meanwhile, twisting and 
 turning her words in his memory, and think- 
 ing humbly of himself, teased and vexed his 
 mind with insupportable surmises. Was it 
 possible, he thought, that only a word from 
 Miles Grantham was needed, in order to 
 discover to Margaret Willoughby the reality 
 of her ideal hero ! He believed Miles to be 
 a far better and cleverer fellow than hJm- 
 self. He believed him to be no muff, in 
 spite of his priggish manner, and effemimate 
 voice and appearance. 
 
 **And yet, how I hate the fellow!'' he 
 thought. " Jealous, I suppose ! Can it be 
 only this that makes him seem to me so 
 utterly offensive and distasteful ? Am I a 
 mean brute ? If he loves her and she loves 
 
 him, what am I, to ? But ugh ! " Here, 
 
 with a sudden impatient contraction of his 
 face, and a tight clenching together of his 
 teeth, he paused abruptly in his magnani- 
 mous thoughts, and asked himself impetu-
 
 36 Gra7itham Secrets. 
 
 ously, **Is it possible that she can love him, 
 — that she can love him ? " 
 
 Then again there was a reaction in his 
 mind, while the inspiration, the noble im- 
 pulse, which her words and looks had 
 seemed to bring, came sweeping once 
 more over his spirit. 
 
 ** I will sound him,'^ he thought, *^ and if 
 I wrong him, if he is in earnest, if he is 
 worthy of her, if he has made her love him, 
 — for her sake I will forbear to interfere, for 
 her sake I will be strong, for her sake I will 
 try to rise into a better and higher life ! 
 And yet, and yet, what good is there in 
 strength and nobleness, what good in any 
 thing, if I may not have her, if I may not 
 have her love? " 
 
 This, — amidst all his thoughts, while he 
 kept in the rear, amidst his attempts at 
 lively replies when appealed to by either 
 of the two whom he imagined to be taken 
 up with each other, — this expressed the 
 strong undercurrent of feeling by which 
 his aching heart was unceasingly oppressed. 
 
 Gaily laughing and talking, the three
 
 Grantham Secrets. 37 
 
 entered the drawing-room. Music struck 
 up. And Margaret found herself being 
 whirled round in a waltz, which seemed at 
 once the most blissful and the most misera- 
 ble that she had ever danced. A brighter 
 gleam of joy than any that had crossed the 
 horizon of her dreams had now darted, 
 meteor-like, across the path of her actual 
 life, — joy, surely, moreover, that would in- 
 crease, joy of which she was to have her 
 fill ! Such was the sweet tale which the 
 bewitching music seemed to be telling her, 
 with variations and repetitions which were 
 never otherwise than sweet ! But there was 
 an undertone of sadness. For her memory 
 was haunted by words sadly spoken, and by 
 a look of sorrowful hopelessness. Oh, when 
 would the music cease ? When should she 
 be freed from its tyranny, and have it in her 
 power to change those mournful looks, those 
 sad tones, into expressions of great hope 
 and overwhelming joy ? Purely there never 
 was a waltz so interminable ! When, when 
 would it come to an end ? She felt instinc- 
 tively, as she was wafted round, that her
 
 38 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 movements were followed by a pair of sadly 
 thoughtful eyes looking out from the bay 
 window ! She felt that that corner in the 
 window contained for her all sorrow and all 
 gladness, — she felt that all her world was 
 there ! Why had it not power at once to 
 attract her to itself, — to break the nightmare 
 thraldom by which she seemed to be bound ? 
 Presently a buzz of voices came round about 
 her world, and then it migrated and seemed 
 to pass away out of her sight ; only she 
 heard Sir John Grantham's full hearty voice, 
 and knew that he was talking to Charles ; 
 and but for the music, she might have 
 caught fragments of their conversation as 
 it ran thus, — 
 
 ** Plenty more to show you in these parts. 
 You must not run away from us yet awhile. 
 You were never here before, I think you 
 said?" 
 
 ** Except that I had the honour of being 
 born somewhere about here, two-and-twenty 
 years ago." 
 
 "Oh, ay! Ay, ay! Two-and-twenty 
 years ago!" A pause here, while Sir
 
 Grant ha??i Secrets. 39 
 
 John put his hand across his eyes, and 
 looked for a moment into the past. *' Two- 
 and-twenty years ago!" he mused. '* My 
 boy might have been just such another, just 
 such another as this one ! " And then he 
 knitted his brows and angrily strained his 
 eyes in the direction of the, in his opinion, 
 unworthy heir apparent to Grantham Hall 
 and the Grantham baronetcy. ''Nothing 
 of my poor brother about him ! That cun- 
 ning, cringing face is Madam all over ! " 
 
 Thus for the thousandth time ran *Sir 
 John's vexed and regretful thoughts on the 
 subject of his much-despised nephew. But 
 in another instant his voice was again to be 
 heard in pleasant laughter and genial talk. 
 
 The music ceased at last. The waltz 
 was over. Magarefs heart leaped into her 
 mouth. The moment of longed-for liberty 
 had surely arrived at length. 
 
 *' My dear child, it is late, we must be 
 off." Mrs. Willoughby, as she spoke, rose 
 from the chair on which she had been seated 
 near Lady Grantham, with whom she had 
 been confabbing earnestly on a subject that
 
 40 ■ Gra?itham Secrets, 
 
 the two ladies were never weary of discuss- 
 ing, and hastened across the room to Mar- 
 garet's side. 
 
 '' I have not many fears/' she had been 
 saying to Lady Grantham, — " I have not 
 many fears,"' she had said, while the sounds 
 of the final chord of the finale waltz were 
 dying away; *'the child is frank and plea- 
 sant in her manner to other young men, 
 but evidently her heart is given to your 
 dear Miles/' 
 
 " And she could not ^xsr^ it to one more 
 worthy of her regard,, though I say it that 
 should not 1 " had Lady Grantham returned. 
 ''I am sure his attention to me, — the way 
 he tries -to supply the place of a son to his 
 chiMless aunt," — a shake of the head and 
 a sigh had finished the sentence, and then, — 
 
 *' You are tired, dear Lady Grantham. 
 We must be going!" had prefaced Mrs. 
 Willoughby's words of summons to her 
 daughter. '* It is late, we must be off." 
 
 '*Yes, mother, yes,, in a moment," an- 
 swered Margaret, dreamily, while she with- 
 drew her hand from Miles Grantham's arm.
 
 Grantham Secrets, • 41 
 
 and looked with a longing- despair towards 
 the opposite end of the room. 
 
 A crowd of young ladies, their partners 
 and their mammas, divided her from Charles 
 Meredith. Their voices sounded shrilly dis- 
 cordant in her ears ; but over and above all 
 the buzz and small-talk, she could hear 
 Lady Grantham commend to Charles's care 
 myriads of ladies who needed cloaking, re- 
 freshment, and an escort home. She could 
 hear Charles' forced laugh and unavoidable 
 words of courtesy, and could see the side- 
 looks of dismay with which he prepared to 
 fulfil the duties allotted to him. 
 
 ** You have had nothing to eat. You will 
 let me — " began Miles, in his most tiresome 
 tones. 
 
 ** Nothing, thanks," sharply interrupted 
 Margaret. 
 
 ** Then, my dear, come and get your 
 cloak on at once," put in her mother, de- 
 cidedly ; and poor Margaret found herself 
 being led with her mother, first into the cloak- 
 room, and then out through the hall-door, 
 down the beech-avenue, across a bit of lawn,
 
 42 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 and through the wood ; Miles Grantham 
 being their faithful escort all the way to The 
 Cottage. No matter! He might have been 
 leagues away for all the difference he made 
 to Margaret, who was wholly engrossed by 
 her own thoughts. With restless longing, 
 she recapitulated her conversation with 
 Charles, shaping her answers far differently 
 from what they had been, and, in imagina- 
 tion, making an ending, ah, how sweet, how 
 full of satisfaction ! Then, with a sudden 
 rush of delicious hope, she looked forward 
 to the next day, when all might be made as 
 right as right could be, — yes, the past might 
 be fully redeemed by the future ! 
 
 But amidst all her changing hopes and 
 regrets, she was haunted by a vague sense 
 of fear, a feeling of which she could not 
 divest herself, which seemed to tell her that 
 the blessing she had carelessly thrown away 
 out of her life might never be recalled, — was 
 gone for evermore. The soft night-breeze 
 seemed to be murmuring a sorrowful adieu, 
 a song of vain regret. In each corner of 
 the wood, in each shrub and tree, she
 
 Granthmn Secrets, 43 
 
 seemed to see the face of him in whom 
 her ideal hero had found his actuality. And 
 it seemed to her that she was followed always 
 by large, earnest, sadly reproachful eyes ! 
 
 The cottage door was reached. Absently 
 she gave her hand in good-bye to Miles, 
 while her gaze wandered over and beyond 
 the wood, as though with the forlorn hope 
 of seeing him who was far away, out of her 
 sight. Ten minutes afterwards she might 
 have found his very self in the wood-land 
 walk which she had lately felt to be haunted 
 by his memory.
 
 44 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 After escorting Miss Craycroft, with her 
 friend and other ladies, to their respective 
 homes, Charles Meredith retraced his steps 
 with the speed of despairing hope ; and say- 
 ing to himself, ** I must see her once more; 
 I cannot rest, — I cannot arrange my thoughts 
 and form my plans, and learn to bear this 
 blow, — until I have looked at her again," he 
 made his way to the wood. Ah, that he might 
 find her lingering with her fancies, in the 
 soft air of the summer night ! Stay ! There 
 is a gentle rustle ! His heart beats fast as 
 he rounds a corner in the winding path. 
 He pauses for a moment, and then,^ — a 
 quick step brings him face to face with 
 Miles Grantham, who, pipe in mouth and 
 slowly sauntering, was brooding darkly, and 
 thinking cunning thoughts.
 
 Grantham Secrets, 45 
 
 Charles' heart gave a great sigh, which 
 none but himself could hear, while with an 
 imperturbable face he greeted Miles. He 
 had hoped to meet the person whom he 
 loved best in all the world. He had en- 
 countered, instead, the man whom, of all he 
 had ever seen, he hated most ! *' Well, it 
 was his fate ! Perhaps it was best ! Per- 
 haps Miles was just the person whom at that 
 crisis in his life it was best, it was needful 
 that he should meet ! The painful oppor- 
 tunity should not be thrown away ! " 
 
 And soon the two young men were 
 smoking together, and talking in amicable 
 earnestness. The reticent Charles, who, at 
 the beginning of the conversation, would as 
 soon have thought of flying as of allowing 
 his sacred secret to escape him, soon found 
 himself letting it out to him from whom, of 
 all others, he would most have chosen to 
 hide it ! Circumstances, necessity, it seemed, 
 had decreed that so it should be. And good 
 angels, looking on, could not stay his hand, 
 could not prevent his yielding up his heart's 
 best earthly treasure into the keeping of
 
 46 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 an evil spirit who had power to work it 
 woe. 
 
 Meanwhile the two young men who were 
 thus conversing together on matters con- 
 nected with their dearest interests, them- 
 selves formed subjects of thoughtful musing 
 to many of those who had been present at 
 the Grantham dance. 
 
 When left alone, Sir John Grantham buried 
 his face in his hands, and bowed his head, 
 and gave himself up to bitter musings over 
 a far-back, painful past ; or rather indulged 
 himself in bitter thoughts of that which was 
 for him an ever-ending source of painful 
 regret. He lived over again years of vain 
 longing for a son and heir. He felt once 
 more the delicious moment when it seemed 
 that his hopes were about to be realised. 
 *' Two-and- twenty years ago!" He lived 
 over again a time of absence from his wife. 
 He read again a letter from his sister-in-law, 
 Mrs. Grantham, giving unexpected intelli- 
 gence. Once more he passed through a 
 hurried journey home, not devoid of anxiety, 
 but chiefly full of delightful hope and excite-
 
 Graft thajn Secrets, 47 
 
 ment, and followed by the breathless instant 
 of arrival, the welcome news *' doing well," 
 given, however, in faltering tones and with 
 mournful looks, which cruelly told a cruel 
 tale. Again he was seeing the hateful face 
 of his sister-in-law, from whom he had ever 
 since felt an unconquerable aversion ! Once 
 more the bitter moment in which he dis- 
 covered that his baby-son was dead came 
 back to him. Again he touched the poor 
 little wasted face, and the little, little hands ! 
 And again he broke away impatiently from 
 the affected drawl of his sister-in-law's con- 
 solatory words, *' Better this, dear John, 
 better this, than that he should have grown 
 up sickly and diseased ! Better this than to 
 have lost him later on, when you would have 
 learnt to love your boy ! " '' Learnt to love 
 him ! " At this moment the baronet's heart 
 yearned over the lost son for whose birth 
 he had longed so anxiously, and he almost 
 groaned aloud, *' Two-and-twenty years!" 
 An echo through his mind, from Charles 
 Meredith's words, which had taken him into 
 the past, now recalled him to the present.
 
 48 Gfantham Secrets. 
 
 **Ah," he sighed, as he thought of the 
 attractive and noble face of his young 
 friend, — '* ah, if her son had been like that 
 fine young fellow, instead of the mean 
 young humbug that he is, my loss would 
 not have been so bitter, — would not have 
 been so bitter ! " 
 
 .Very different from her husband's were 
 the regretful musings in which Lady Gran- 
 tham indulged that night. According to 
 her nightly custom, when her maid had left 
 her, she took out of a chest a ghastly pic- 
 ture of her dead baby, gazed at it, shook 
 her head, sighed, let a tear fall upon it, 
 kissed it, and put it away again, murmuring 
 tenderly, *' My little boy! my little boy!" 
 But before long her thoughts were pleasantly 
 resting in the present. She reflected how 
 merciful it was that her childless life had 
 been comforted by so good and affectionate 
 a nephew as Miles Grantham. And then 
 she mused over all his perfections, and 
 thought how pleasant were his frequent 
 visits, and his tender attentions to herself! 
 *'Dear Miles," she thought, **he is quite a
 
 Gra7itham Secrets. 49 
 
 son to me ! " After which, her mind passed 
 rapidly over the many blessings of her life. 
 Her lot certainly had fallen upon pleasant 
 places. Above all things, there was her 
 husband's love. Then there was the affec- 
 tion of her many friends ; and on this head 
 came in a pleasing romance. How delight- 
 ful it would be to help forward the evidently 
 growing attachment between Miles and her 
 favourite, Margaret Willoughby. The girl 
 had good birth, a little fortune, personal 
 attractions, — everything, in short, that a 
 Grantham could wish to find. Nothing 
 could be more satisfactory to all partiss. 
 She could not possibly be making a mistake 
 in trying to promote so desirable an union ! 
 But what would she have said if she could 
 have seen within the heart of her favourite 
 that night ? 
 
 Fain would Margaret have remained out 
 amidst the trees and flowers, to dream of 
 her hopes and joys, and to try to stifle her 
 fears and her regrets ! But her mother's 
 *'My dear, make haste and come to bed," 
 was not to be gainsaid, and there was 
 
 VOL. I. 4
 
 50 Grant ha?n Secrets. 
 
 nothing for it but to hasten over her pre- 
 parations for bed, and to lie down by her 
 mother's side, with all the restless excite- 
 ment which made sleep for her impossible. 
 Would the night never end ? Must the 
 regrets and the unreasonable fears which 
 pressed upon her with night- mare-like exag- 
 geration, go on for ever ? Would the morn- 
 ing never bring with it relief and hope and 
 action ?
 
 Grantham Secrets. 51 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 After disturbed slumberings and wakings 
 and slumberings again, Margaret awoke at 
 length, to daylight, and hoping she knew 
 not what from an early rising, stole from 
 her mother's side, and was soon wandering 
 in the garden, feeling for a time nothing 
 but the enjoyment of pleasant anticipation. 
 After all, what was there to fear ? What 
 was there not to hope from the events of 
 the coming day. Visions of a happy meet- 
 ing, a happy talk, sweet things being said, 
 explanations being made, matters being 
 satisfactorily arranged, came over her in a 
 rush, and left her in a glow of impatience 
 for the hour which rnust be already on its 
 wing, to arrive. 
 
 When would he come ? Would it be 
 soon ? Would it be before luncheon, or 
 
 UNIVERSITY Of ^UWOfS
 
 52 Granthain Secrets, 
 
 not until the afternoon ? How slowly the 
 time passed! **Not nine o'clock yet!" 
 When would it be breakfast time ? When 
 would her mother be down? *'Nine at 
 last ! " Why was her mother so slow about 
 coming down ? Supposing Mr. Meredith 
 should call while tliey were at breakfast, to 
 make arrangements for a driving or walking 
 expedition, and should go away not liking 
 to disturb them ! Oh, why was her mother 
 so dawdling on this particular morning ? 
 
 She had worked herself up into a regular 
 fidget, and at length, in a fever of impatience, 
 was running quickly up to the dinging-room 
 window, to see why the prayer-bell did not 
 ring, when her attention was arrested by 
 the shriek of a railway whistle. 
 
 *' How I hate that horrid sound!" she 
 said, petulantly, putting her hands up to 
 her ears. " The nine-ten train ! How late 
 mamma is ! " 
 
 But yet she found herself standing to 
 listen to the rush of the train, and to watch 
 until an opening through trees brought the 
 distant steam-engine into momentary view.
 
 Grantham Secrets. 53 
 
 She musingly gazed at the long curling 
 cloud of white steam, as it floated sideways 
 on the morning breeze and disappeared 
 into vapour. And as she did so an ima- 
 ginary horror seized her mind, the thought 
 of a dreadful possibility, from which she 
 awoke, as from a bad dream, to the pleasant 
 reality of the happy summer's day before 
 her. 
 
 The prayer-bell was ringing, and she 
 hastened in doors. 
 
 *' What a perfect morning, mother ! " she 
 exclaimed, as she entered through the open 
 window. '* We must certainly get upp a 
 pic-nic to-day, or do something pleasant." 
 
 '*Very well, my dear; I dare say Lady 
 Grantham will chaperon you ; but don't 
 speak so loud," replied her mother, leaning 
 languidly back in her chair, and pressing 
 her hand on the top of her head. 
 
 Margaret's heart sank. *' A headache ? " 
 she cried, '' oh, mother ! on this particular 
 day!" And then reproaching herself for 
 feeling selfish disappointment when her 
 mother was suffering, '' Of course we can-
 
 54 Grantha7n Secrets, 
 
 not go anywhere to-day," she added. And 
 when prayers and breakfast were over, her 
 thoughts were taken up with her mother's 
 wants. 
 
 But after settling Mrs. Willoughby on the 
 sofa in her own room, with salts and eau-de- 
 colognEy and all the usual requirements of a 
 nervous headache, every possible occupation 
 for the morning seemed to her to be over. 
 She could not give her attention to a book, 
 she could not work without getting the 
 fidgets, she could not write or draw, and 
 music was out of the question on her 
 mother's account. It seemed to her that 
 she could not breathe unless she went out 
 of doors ; but even when there she could 
 not rest, for she was never free from the 
 thought that she might have missed hearing 
 a bell at the hall door, and that if she were 
 not in the drawing-room she might be sup- 
 posed by the servant to be ''not at home." 
 So she spent her morning principally in 
 passing in and out of the drawing-room 
 window; at times her heart beat quickly 
 with expectation, and then again sank down
 
 Grantham Secrets. 55 
 
 low with disappointment. At length she 
 had given up expectation, and comforting 
 herself with the reflection that the morning 
 was nearly over, and that the afternoon must 
 bring with it satisfactory results, she had 
 betaken herself to the wood, and had fallen 
 into a pleasant reverie, when suddenly her 
 ear caught a distant sound of feet scuffling 
 along gravel. And, — yes, surely there was 
 a bell, — was it the front door bell ? All her 
 restlessness had returned ! Once more she 
 hurried across the lawn and through the 
 drawing-room window. No one was there, 
 but on the table lay a parcel of books and a 
 note. 
 
 '* The Hon. Mrs. Willoughby, with Charles 
 Meredith's best thanks," read Margaret, 
 taking up the parcel; and the note, also, 
 was directed to Mrs. Willoughby. "Why, 
 he only took the books away with him 
 yesterday,*' she said to herself, *'and he 
 generally brings them back himself! How 
 very odd ! What can be the meaning of it ? 
 Oh, dear, I wish I might open the note ! 
 Dillson," she added, to the manservant who
 
 56 Gra72tka7n Secrets, 
 
 came In to announce luncheon, *' was any 
 answer asked for to this note ? " 
 
 **No, miss." 
 
 **Will you tell Jane I want to speak to 
 her?" 
 
 *' Yes, miss." 
 
 **Jane," went on Margaret, when the 
 lady's maid appeared, *'have you been to 
 mamma lately? " 
 
 '' Half an hour ago, miss, she rang for 
 
 me." 
 
 ** Oh, then I can go to her," interrupted 
 Margaret. 
 
 ** No, Miss Margaret, you must not go to 
 her," Called out Jane, as Margaret was run- 
 ning off. **Your mamma particularly de- 
 sired that she might not be disturbed. I 
 took her up a bit of luncheon, and she don't 
 want anything more." 
 
 It was too provoking! Margaret's only 
 resource was to hasten to the Hall, as soon 
 as she had despatched her luncheon, in 
 order to find out whether anything had been 
 heard of her friend. 
 
 '' Well, my dear, so that strange young
 
 Grantham Secrets. 57 
 
 man has disappeared," said Lady Grantham, 
 after words of greeting and so forth, had 
 been exchanged between her and her young 
 friend. 
 
 ** Who ? " returned Margaret, blushing 
 scarlet, in spite of all her efforts to appear 
 unconcerned. 
 
 ** Have not you heard ? " said Lady 
 Grantham, looking hard at her, and con- 
 tinuing, ** my dear, forgive me, but I fancy 
 you must know something about it. You 
 did quite right. He is not worthy of you. 
 Besides, I believe he is all but engaged to 
 another young lady. I do not wonder at 
 his hurrying off in this fashion, without so 
 much as coming to wish any of us good- 
 bye ! " 
 
 ** I don't understand you, Lady Gran- 
 tham," returned Margaret, turning very 
 pale, but speaking in a calm and rather 
 haughty tone of voice. *' Of whom are you 
 speaking ? " 
 
 *' Surely, my darling, you have heard that 
 Mr. Meredith has gone? " said Lady Gran- 
 tham, at length becoming more explicit. 
 
 V,
 
 58 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 '' Miles was with him late last night, and 
 saw him off by the nine o'clock train this 
 morning-, and gave us the news at breakfast. 
 He spoke very feelingly. Of course he can 
 feel for him better than the rest of us can ; " 
 here Lady Grantham gave Margaret a mean- 
 ing smile. " Dear Miles ! You know what 
 a generous creature he is; but even he can- 
 not deny that his friend has behaved very 
 badly." 
 
 '' Lady Grantham," replied Margaret, 
 warmly, drawing herself up, and speaking 
 with a touch of scorn in her tone, which 
 Lady Grantham might or might not have 
 noticed, — '* Lady Grantham, whatever Miles 
 may have taken it into his head to fancy, I 
 am quite sure that he can hiow nothing but 
 what is good of Mr. Meredith." 
 
 ** My dear," said Lady Grantham, in an 
 exhortatory manner, *' you really must not 
 allow yourself to be so easily taken in. It 
 is very amiable ; but, — only think if you had 
 been of a more susceptible nature, and if 
 things had been a little different from what 
 they are, what a blighted life yours might
 
 Grantham Secrets, 59 
 
 have been now ! Miles, as you know, is not 
 apt to entertain suspicions against any one 
 without sufficient cause. But to say the 
 truth, I never thoroughly liked that young 
 man. He is very pleasant, just the sort of 
 creature to take a young girl's heart by 
 storm, but he does not give me the notion 
 of being steady; and, in short, my dear, I 
 am sure he is not worthy of any young 
 woman's regard. What a contrast there is 
 between him and Miles ! " 
 
 '* Certainly ; there could not well be •two 
 people more unlike!" said Margaret, who 
 was sorely tempted to launch out strongly 
 on the subject of her companion's nephew, 
 but contented herself with a contemptuous 
 smile at his expense. ** But surely, Lady 
 Grantham," she went on, *' I have often 
 heard both you and Sir John praise Mr. 
 Meredith up to the skies ? I thought that 
 you had taken a great fancy to him. Miles 
 must ' ' 
 
 The entrance of Miles himself cut off the 
 remainder of her speech. 
 
 *'What is it that Miles must do?" he
 
 6o Granthain Secrets. 
 
 asked, in his affected drawl, as he squeezed 
 her unwilling hand, and half raised to 
 hers, and then self-consciously lowered, his 
 cowardly eyes, just avoiding the sight of 
 the contemptuous curl of her lip with which 
 she returned his greeting. 
 
 " I was just telling Margaret about Mr. 
 Meredith's sudden departure. I believe she 
 thinks that you are rather hard upon him," 
 said Lady Grantham. 
 
 '^ Hard upon him ! Indeed, Margaret, it 
 is you who are hard upon me ! Hard upon 
 him ! I am awfully sorry for him, I can 
 assure you. /ought to be the last person 
 to blame him too severely." 
 
 Margaret could have knocked him down 
 as he spoke. 
 
 " He consulted me, and I hope I gave 
 him good advice ; for his own sake Ithought 
 he was right to go." 
 
 " Where is he gone to ? " asked Margaret, 
 unconcernedly, wilfully misunderstanding the 
 words of Miles' mysterious whisper. " I 
 suppose he means to return ? " 
 
 ''N — o, I — I fancy not," answered Miles,
 
 Grantha7n Secrets. 6i 
 
 somewhat taken aback by her manner. 
 ** He is going up to town for a day or two, 
 I believe, and after that I don't know 
 what his plans may be. Perhaps he will 
 write." 
 
 * * Perhaps so, ' ' returned Margaret. * ' Good- 
 bye, Lady Grantham ; I m.ust go home and 
 see how mamma is. Good-bye, Miles." 
 
 *' Could not you and your mother come 
 in quietly this evening?" called out Lady 
 Grantham after her, as she was making her 
 escape through the window. 
 
 '* Thanks, Lady Grantham ; but I am 
 afraid mamma will not be up to it," an- 
 swered Margaret, running off, wilfully heed- 
 less that Miles had intended to accompany 
 her home. 
 
 She found Mrs. Willoughby in the draw- 
 ing-room, and almost well again. 
 
 " So you have been to the Hall, my 
 dear?" she said, with a smile, as Margaret 
 appeared. 
 
 '*Yes, mother. Have you found your 
 note?" 
 
 "From Mr. Meredith? Yes. You have
 
 62 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 heard, I suppose, that he has left? It is a 
 very sudden change of plan ! " 
 
 *' Does he give any reason ? " asked 
 Margaret. 
 
 Her mother gave her the note. *' Grate- 
 ful and civil," she said, as she watched 
 Margaret's eyes pass quickly over the sheet, 
 *' but mysterious, to say the least of it." 
 
 Margaret was silent, and her mother was 
 puzzled by the expression of her face as she 
 kept it bent over the letter, reading again 
 and again to herself the words, ** Pray 
 believe that I shall never forget the great 
 kindness which you and your daughter have 
 shown to me during the happy weeks that I 
 have spent in your neighbourhood." 
 
 *' Fancy his going off in this sudden man- 
 ner ! " went on Mrs. Willoughby. "There 
 is something nice about the boy. He is 
 pleasant, but not very interesting. I should 
 not say that he had a vast amount of 
 brain." 
 
 ** Mother, his going is all Miles' doing," 
 said Margaret, suddenly looking up. 
 
 '* Miles' doing ! What in the world do
 
 Grantham Secrets, 63 
 
 you mean, my dear? What could Miles 
 have to do with his going ? " 
 
 *' Oh mother, mother, help me!" cried 
 Margaret, all her reserve breaking down in 
 a moment, while all the meaning of her 
 trouble came over her. And kneeling down 
 by her mother, she leaned her head upon 
 her lap, and sobbed as if her heart would 
 break. 
 
 **My child, my child, what is it?" said 
 Mrs. Willoughby, soothingly. 
 
 And when she was calm enough to speak, 
 Margaret told her mother all the story of 
 her joy and grief. 
 
 *' Oh, mother, do you think he will come 
 back again ? " she said. ** Do you think 
 that I shall ever be able to explain to him, 
 ■ — to let him know that, — that, — Oh, mother, 
 I was so unkind, so cruel ! Oh, how could 
 I be so blind and stupid!" And getting 
 quickly up from her knees, she clasped her 
 hands together in an agony of unavailing 
 regret. 
 
 ''My darling! my darling I it will be all 
 right, if you will only believe it. Indeed,
 
 64 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 you are distressing yourself unnecessarily," 
 her mother said, caressingly. 
 
 *^ Do you really think it will be all right, 
 mother? " asked Margaret, eagerly. '* Do 
 tell me what we can do ? " 
 
 "- 1 will think it over, my love ; and mean- 
 while you must be patient, and remember 
 that you have nothing with which to re- 
 proach yourself. In a few days you may 
 feel very differently from what you do now. 
 You are excited to-day, and do not under- 
 stand your own feelings." 
 
 Margaret's heart sank. This was not the 
 sort of comfort that she wanted. " What 
 do you mean, mamma ? " she said, sadly. 
 
 *' I mean, dear child, that I think you are 
 giving way to fanciful and morbid regrets. 
 You liked Mr. Meredith, and were pleased 
 at his liking you. You are sorry for him, 
 and now that he is out of your reach you 
 begin to dream that you return his affec- 
 tion." 
 
 A storm of passion seemed to take posses- 
 sion of Margaret while her mother's words 
 came out in slow and measured tones. She
 
 Grantham Secrets. 65 
 
 only looked her answer. She could not 
 speak, but her face expressed something of 
 the pain, wonderment, and consternation 
 that she was feeling. 
 
 "And probably,'' went on Mrs. Willough- 
 by, "you exaggerate, also, the strength of 
 his feeling for you. You may be mistaking 
 a mere passing fancy for love, and " 
 
 " Mother! " burst in Margaret, at length, 
 " how little you know, how little you under- 
 stand ! " 
 
 "My dear child," said her mother, "I 
 know and understand well enough ! I can 
 sympathize with you perhaps better than 
 you think. I had my own dreams and 
 fancies when I was a girl like you; and 
 when I was about your age I think I must 
 have been very much in your present state 
 of mind. I fancied myself in love with 
 some one who paid me great attentions, 
 but by-and-by it turned out that he had 
 been flirting with another girl all the time, 
 and then I discovered the worth of the man 
 who really cared for me." 
 
 Mrs. Willoughby spoke in measured tones, 
 
 VOL. I. '^
 
 66 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 and it seemed to Margaret as if she were 
 slowly and indifferently reading her thoughts 
 out of a book. All the more she felt how 
 little her mother was understanding her 
 actual trouble and difficulty. 
 
 " Wellj mamma/' she answered, this time 
 speaking quietly enough, **at all events it 
 was not a man like Miles Grantham who 
 cared, or could care, about you really ; and 
 I do not quite see that your case was very 
 like mine.'' 
 
 **My dear," returned her mother, ''I 
 cannot bear to hear you speak of Miles in 
 the tone that you do. It is mere perversity, 
 because you know how much he loves you, 
 and how much our hearts are set on your " 
 
 ** Mother," broke in Margaret, impetu- 
 ously, ''don't say it! please, don't say it! 
 You know — you know quite well that it 
 would be utterly impossible for me to take 
 to Miles!" She paused, too breathless 
 with agitation to say more ; and her mother, 
 seeing her face of disgust, felt that she had 
 been imprudent, and added more kindly, — 
 *' Well, well, my love, we will not say
 
 Grantham Secrets, 67 
 
 anything more about it now. I only want 
 you to try to conquer your prejudice against 
 poor Miles. It can be nothing but a blind 
 prejudice which keeps you from appreciating 
 his excellence. Of course, my dear, I do 
 not pretend to know how strong Mr. Mere- 
 dith's feeling for you may be, so you need 
 not let anything that I have said disturb 
 you. It is only that I do not want you to 
 mourn over spilt milk ! " 
 
 *^ Mamma, I only said what I did say 
 because I thought you might be able to help 
 me. I see that you cannot, so please we 
 will not talk any more on the subject. I 
 will try to be patient, as you tell me ; but it 
 is very hard when one feels that things 
 might have been all right, but for one's own 
 fault, and when one is sure that one has 
 made another person unhappy and can 
 think of no way of undoing the mischief." 
 
 *' My love, do not you suppose that Mr. 
 Meredith could make it all right, as you say, 
 if he chose ? When a man is very eager in 
 his love he is not in such a hurry to give up 
 trying to win the girl he loves. And besides,
 
 68 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 men are not so slow as you seem to imagine 
 about discovering when they are loved, 
 and " 
 
 At this moment came a knock at the 
 drawing-room door, and Miles Grantham 
 entered. 
 
 *'At any rate," thought Margaret to 
 herself, '' some men are slow enough about 
 discovering when they are hated ! " 
 
 *' I am come to see how you are, Mrs. 
 Willoughby? '' said Miles. *^ My aunt 
 cannot quite give up the hope that you may 
 be well enough to give us the pleasure of 
 your company this evening; Margaret will 
 have told you " 
 
 **No, mother," interrupted Margaret, 
 quickly; I forgot to give Lady Grantham's 
 kind message ; but as you had just said that 
 you should keep quiet all day, and not go 
 out at all " 
 
 **Ah, but I shall be quite well enough 
 to come to the Hall this evening,' ' broke in 
 Mrs. Willoughby, eagerly. * ' Pray thank 
 your aunt, and tell her that we shall be very 
 happy to look in."
 
 Grafitham Secrets, 69 
 
 " I really cannot go, mamma," said 
 Margaret, when Miles had left them to 
 themselves again. But poor Margaret 
 found herself obliged to submit, not only to 
 the visit, but to more love-making on the 
 part of Miles than she had yet had to 
 endure. It was just such an evening as the 
 previous one had been. Lady Grantham 
 proposed a moonlight stroll in the grounds^ 
 and insisted upon it that the *' young people '^ 
 should not adapt themselves to her own and 
 Mrs. Willoughby's pace. And once m(3re 
 Margaret found herself wandering, against 
 her will, with one companion, across lawns, 
 by shrubberies, and through pleasant glades. 
 Once more her favourite wood became the 
 scene of a tite-d-tefe walk; and once more 
 she was listening to a young man's pro- 
 fessions of love and of admiration. Would it 
 have been possible for Miles to understand 
 the torture that he was inflicting on his 
 companion as they walked side by side near 
 the wooded glen, — that glen, which, as long 
 as Margaret could remember, had been to 
 her a happy world, peopled by imaginary 
 
 y
 
 70 Gra7ithain Secrets, 
 
 beings, and which now had become haunted, 
 for her, by remembrances, both blissful and 
 regretful, connected with her own actual 
 life ? Under any circumstances, to be kept 
 prisoner by the man she hated, to have to 
 listen to the affected softness of his voice, 
 and to his twaddling sentiments, would have 
 been trying enough ; but to have added to 
 this those ** happier things " of that evening 
 gone by, pressing upon her memory, made 
 the infliction seem almost more than she 
 could bear. 
 
 Would it never end ? Must the night- 
 mare last for evermore ? 
 
 Hark! Was not that the blessed sound 
 of an approaching footstep, giving the joyful 
 promise of relief at hand ? Was not that 
 the delightful sound of a gentleman clearing 
 his throat ? 
 
 Yes \ Another moment brought them 
 face to face with Sir John Grantham ! and 
 the Ute-d-tHe was put an end to just in time 
 to avoid the answering of an awkwardly-put 
 question. 
 
 *' Beg pardon," said Sir John, making as
 
 Grafitham Secrets. 71 
 
 though to pass by ; I did not mean to be 
 guilty of interrupting a tite-d-tHe.''^ 
 
 *' Oh, I am so glad we have met you," 
 cried Margaret, eagerly. '* I have hardly 
 spoken to you all the evening, and Miles and 
 I are so stupid to-night, that I think we 
 should have had to murder each other for 
 the sake of a little excitement, if you had not 
 suddenly appeared on the scene. 
 
 *^Ah, we want poor Charlie Meredith to 
 enliven us! '' cried Sir John, as he turned 
 and began walking, with his hand on 'his 
 darling's shoulder, and looked searchingly 
 into her blushing face. 
 
 '' Yes, you will miss him. Sir John,'* she 
 answered, with affected carelessness, ** and so 
 shall we all. Why did he go off in such 
 a hurry ? ' ' 
 
 ** I thought you and Miles knew all about 
 that," returned Sir John. *^ He seemed out 
 of spirits last night, and hinted that it might 
 be necessary for him to run away sooner than 
 he had intended ; but I did not know that he 
 was speaking quite in such sober earnest." 
 
 ** He would have been a scoundrel if he 
 
 /
 
 72 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 remained any longer!" put in Miles, and 
 his self-conscious face bore a black and evil 
 expression as he spoke. 
 
 ** Miles' talent for enigma grows ! " cried 
 Margaret, with a forced laugh. '' He might 
 have taken a first-class degree ^ in that 
 accomplishment, if in nothing else ! Oh, 
 don't let us turn up by the lawn yet. It is 
 too fine to go in. You and I must have a 
 tete-d-tite walk now, dear Sir John," she said, 
 looking coaxingly up into his face, and 
 without paying any attention to Miles' 
 die-away looks, she dragged her old friend 
 along the way she chose to go, according to 
 an old established custom against which he 
 would have found it useless to rebel. 
 
 In fact, ever since she was a toddling 
 child of two years old Margaret had had 
 pretty much her own way with Sir John 
 Grantham, and had been allowed to tyrannise 
 over him and plague him, to her heart's 
 content, getting nothing worse than caresses 
 and petting in return for all her coercion 
 and tyranny. 
 
 *^ Well, what have you got to say to me
 
 Grant/iam Secrets, 73 
 
 now you have got me, childie ? It is a little 
 hard, — is not it, — to have chast-ed poor Miles 
 in that off-hand manner? " he said, now with 
 very gentle reproach. 
 
 ** Indeed, sometimes I wish I could chasser 
 him altogether," returned Margaret. ** Oh, 
 if you could know what a tease and nuisance, 
 — forgive me, I ought not to have said this 
 to you, dear Sir John, when he is your 
 nephew." 
 
 Sir John was looking very grave. He 
 turned away to smother a sigh, and then, 
 ** My dear, I think you are hard upon 
 Miles," he said. '' I believe I am hard 
 upon him myself sometimes. But I know, 
 from what my wife says, how really good 
 and worthy he is 1 And you and I must try 
 to understand him better. We must not 
 allow ourselves to be prejudiced by little 
 peculiarities of manner. We must not for- 
 get that it is not always the most attractive 
 people who make the most desirable friends. 
 That young Meredith is a taking fellow 
 enough, but he may be very wild." 
 
 Sir John was not like himself! Margaret
 
 74 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 had never heard him speak in such a prim 
 and tiresome way before ! What in the 
 world did he mean ? Miles must have got 
 hold of him and made him believe some- 
 thing false. And yet he hated Miles as 
 much as she did, of this Margaret was sure. 
 What did it mean ? Poor Margaret ! It 
 meant that on one point, and that a vital 
 point, she was not to have her own way, 
 even with her indulgent old friend Sir John 
 Grantham. It meant that even he was unit- 
 ing with the other conspirators who, unknown 
 to her, in their very love and kindness, were 
 plotting against her future peace and happi- 
 ness. In short, Sir John Grantham was as 
 much bent as his wife upon having Mar- 
 garet as a niece, adopted daughter, and 
 the mistress elect of Grantham Hall. He 
 sighed over the thought that so charming a 
 creature should be thrown away on one so 
 unworthy of her, but he could not relinquish 
 his favourite scheme, which had been grow- 
 ing in his mind with the growth of Mar- 
 garet's years ; and there was nothing for 
 it but to try to deceive himself into the
 
 Grantham Secrets. 75 
 
 belief that Miles was a very good fellow, 
 and that only his own power of appreciation 
 was at fault. His wife, a paragon of per- 
 fection in his eyes, must surely be a better 
 judge of character than himself: and was 
 not she devoted to the heir apparent of 
 Grantham Hall ? He had heard something 
 of the state of affairs connected with Charles 
 and Margaret, and suspected more than he 
 had heard. And it was not without a touch 
 of remorseful regret that he reflected on 
 what would have made so pretty an union. 
 But he set himself sedulously to crush the 
 foolish piece of sentiment out of his heart. 
 *' Ah, he is a pleasant young fellow!" he 
 thought, *' Better that they should not see 
 too much of each other. It would never 
 do ! A younger son. Not sufficient means. 
 Wild and extravagant ; probably not of any 
 family. Who knows what these Merediths 
 may be ? Would not do at all ! " 
 
 *' Have you any reason to suppose that 
 he is *wild*?" asked Margaret, presently. 
 *'I thought that you had a ver}^ high opinion 
 ofhim.^'
 
 76 Grantka?n Secrets. 
 
 '^ High opinion ? I know nothing about 
 him, my dear. We all agreed in enjoying 
 his society, and we shall all agree in missing 
 him exceedingly. I confess I don't quite 
 understand his running away in such a 
 hurry. If he cares very much about us, and 
 has a clear conscience, perhaps he will turn 
 up again some day. Meanwhile, I believe 
 the less some of us think of him the better. 
 Better to make the best of what we have 
 than to dream of that which is out of our 
 reach, and which -we, perhaps, should not 
 like if we could have it. Eh, childie? " 
 
 Margaret had begun the tUe-d-teie with 
 some vague intention of becoming confiden- 
 tial, with some vague hope of being helped 
 out of her troubles. But her intentions had 
 been frozen by the unwonted chilliness of 
 Sir John's manner, and her hopes faded 
 away. They were " all alike! " she thought. 
 She must bear her burden alone ; the bur- 
 den which it was hard to bear, because it 
 contained the burden of another person's 
 sorrow caused by herself. Certainly she 
 would not have been encouraged had she
 
 Grantham Sea^ets. 77 
 
 overheard the conversation that had taken 
 place between her mother and Lady Gran- 
 tham, who, on being left to each other's 
 society, had eagerly begun discussing ** the 
 event of the day." 
 
 ** I am afraid the poor child is a little bit 
 fascinated," said Lady Grantham, in the 
 course of conversation. 
 
 ** Yes, but she will soon get over that," 
 returned Mrs. Willoughby. *' It would not 
 do at all. He is a very good-natured young 
 man, but not at all the sort of person I 
 should choose Margaret to marry." , 
 
 ** No, indeed ; and if you had heard Miles 
 talk you would think so all the more. You 
 know how kind-hearted dear Miles is. He 
 would not hurt a fly, dear fellow, much less 
 slander a neighbour. He said all he could 
 for Mr. Meredith, but it is impossible not to 
 see what his real opinion is. And, of course, 
 for that dear child's sake, he could not 
 be altogether silent. My dear Mrs. Wil- 
 loughby, what a treasure she has in his 
 heart ! and he could not have made a better 
 choice."
 
 78 Granthmfi Secrets, 
 
 *^No," sighed Mrs. Willoughby, *' if 
 only " 
 
 *' But you must be firm with the dear 
 child, my dear," interrupted Lady Gran- 
 tham, quickly. '* She must conquer her 
 romantic fancy, and learn to find out what 
 is for her true happiness." 
 
 ** She is a dear unselfish girl. I am sure 
 she will consider our feelings," said Mrs. 
 Willoughby, in her slow, languid tones ; 
 ** but I am afraid I shall, have rather a 
 battle with her. I wish that tiresome 
 young man had never come in her way ! 
 A younger son, extravagant, and — oh, it 
 is out of the question ! " 
 
 *' But you don't imagine that there is 
 any doubt of her being really attached to 
 Miles?" returned Lady Grantham, in rather 
 a stiff and aggrieved manner. 
 
 **At the bottom of her heart, I am con- 
 vinced that she loves him. How could she 
 help it?" said Mrs. Willoughby. **But 
 you know young girls are so foolish, — so 
 fond of dreaming of the absent! When I 
 was a girl "
 
 Grantham Secrets. 79 
 
 *' My dear," impatiently interrupted Lady 
 Grantham, *'she must hear nothing about 
 the young man. She must not so much as 
 see his name in the newspaper. We must 
 never talk of him. If the flame is not fed, 
 it must die out by degrees." 
 
 ** What is that about feeding the flames ? 
 Good heavens ! You don't mean to say 
 you have been lighting the fire this sultry 
 night!" cried Sir John Grantham, coming 
 quickly into the drawing-room, where the 
 ladies were now seated, and, by his loud 
 laugh and pretended exclamation of horror, 
 trying ** to get up the steam," as he would 
 have expressed it, after his embarrassing 
 and depressing conversation with Margaret. 
 
 And thus plotting and persecution for the 
 time being were brought to an end.
 
 8o Grantham Secrets, 
 
 CHAPTER V, 
 
 When Margaret awoke the next morning, 
 she had no inclination such as she had felt 
 on the previous one, to hurry up and out of 
 doors. There was nothing to be ready for, 
 no joy to reach after, no opportunity to 
 arrive for making straight that which had 
 been made crooked, nothing to come ! — 
 nothing but a weary day of regret before 
 her ! With a great pain at her heart, which 
 seemed to strike freshly from time to time, 
 she mused wonderingly over the change 
 which the last few days had brought into 
 her life. Was it possible that so short a 
 time could have passed since that morning 
 when she had last awakened to the old state 
 of things, to life in that Dreamland which 
 would have been the perfection of happiness 
 if it could only have become a reality ?
 
 Grantham Secrets. 8i 
 
 Was it only the day before yesterday that 
 she had gone about so happily and care- 
 lessly ignorant of the great flash of light 
 that was coming to meet her, and of the 
 shadow with which she herself was to over- 
 cast the unexpected light? Could it have 
 been only two nights since this had happened, 
 — since she who loved him had darkened his 
 life ? Could it have been only the morning 
 of the day before that she had been so full 
 of hope and of anxiety ? It seemed as if in 
 the short space of time she had lived the 
 life of two long ages, and that now there 
 was nothing more to come ! And yet life 
 had grown so much richer, so infinitely 
 dearer, that she would not for the world 
 have gone back to what it had been before 
 it had shown her that she loved him ! 
 ''Nothing more to come!" Yes, so it 
 seemed, for there was nothing that she 
 could do, there was no one who could help 
 her, every one was against her, no one 
 cared for him ! There was nothing for it 
 but to wait. She must learn to be patient. 
 As she resigned herself, however, to this 
 
 VOL. I. 6
 
 82 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 thought, and made her resolution of patience, 
 hope began unawares to spring up again in 
 her heart. It was possible, at least, that 
 a letter might come from Mr. Meredith 
 that very day, to Lady Grantham or to 
 her mother. It was even possible that he 
 might change his mind and return ! In 
 short, a thousand hopeful possibilities began 
 to shape themselves in her imagination. 
 But then there was Miles ! — Miles, who 
 was always ready to work mischief and 
 spoil sport. And at the recollection of 
 Miles, the cunning kill-joy, her heart sank 
 again, and muttering to herself, ** He shall 
 not have it all his own way, and make 
 everybody miserable," she jumped out of 
 bed, all her patience and resignation 
 changed into very impatient restlessness. 
 
 She was certain of Charles Meredith's 
 love, her faith in it had not been in the 
 least degree shaken by the chilling words of 
 her mother and her friends ; but she deter- 
 mined for the future to keep her treasure to 
 herself. No one should see how much she 
 cared. She would ask for news of Mr.
 
 Grantham Secrets, 83 
 
 Meredith In an unconcerned and natural 
 manner, and Sir John Grantham should be 
 made to feel that Miles was not to be trusted, 
 and that Mr. Meredith was deserving of all 
 faith and confidence. 
 
 ** Oh, dear, how I wish that the morning 
 was over ! '' sighed Margaret, walking towards 
 the window, after a glance at the breakfast 
 table, where lay what she considered an 
 uninteresting set of letters for her mother. 
 ** How tiresome and stupid everything looks 
 and seems ! What can I do until it is tifne 
 for me to go to Grantham Hall, to see " 
 
 ** My dear child, what is the matter? 
 What are you grumbling about? ''- 
 
 Mrs. Willoughby had entered unperceived 
 by Margaret, who turned round quickly, 
 startled and annoyed by her mother's lan- 
 guidly-spoken interruption to her soliloquy. 
 
 **No letters, that is all," she answered, 
 brusquely. '* A headache again, mother? " 
 
 ** My dear, you know I always have one, 
 more or less," returned her mother, with a 
 sigh. ' * I wish you would learn to be a little 
 more gentle."
 
 84 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 
 **Why carC t the doctors cure you? 
 impatiently exclaimed Margaret, almost 
 thankful for something on which to vent 
 her irritation. 
 
 *' Ah, they will never do that," returned 
 Mrs. Willoughby, resignedly. " Never mind 
 me, my dear. For your sake, though, I wish 
 I had my health ! If I were only up to 
 travelling, we might have carried out Lady 
 Grantham's pleasant little proposal. She 
 and Miles had been agreeing that a trip 
 abroad would do you good, and I believe it 
 was Miles' suggestion that he should be our 
 escort on the continent.*' 
 
 *^ Very charming!" cried Margaret; 
 ** and then we might top up with a lunatic 
 asylum, where we might dream perpetually 
 that we were still gazing at snow mountains 
 in Miles Grantham's sweet society ! " 
 
 ** Don't be silly, Margaret," returned her 
 mother. *'You are very wrong and un- 
 grateful ! You little know all that you 
 have to thank Miles for." 
 
 ** I do indeed little know all that I have 
 to thank Miles for!" thought Margaret,
 
 Grantham Secrets, 85 
 
 bitterly, to herself, but aloud she said, 
 ** Well, but, mother, as you are not up to 
 the carr}^ing out of this delightful scheme, 
 it is perhaps as well that my inclinations 
 do not lean that way." And ^o she deftly 
 changed the topic of conversation to one 
 almost equally interesting to Mrs. Wil- 
 loughby, viz., that of her own poor 
 health. 
 
 Then followed a weary morning ! Hav- 
 ing settled her mother on the sofa, and 
 preformed her various errands, she seated 
 herself with a book, which, however, for the 
 most part, lay idly on her knee, while her 
 thoughts strayed far away. If she might 
 only have been left to the luxury of her sad 
 or restless musings, without the disturbing 
 influence of her mother's continually recur- 
 ring glance, they would have been easier 
 to bear. But to have to feel Mrs. Wil- 
 loughby's eyes fixed curiously upon her, 
 from time to time, was almost more, it 
 seemed, than flesh and blood could endure. 
 
 " My dear, you seem to be ver}' idle to 
 day, I wish you would \xy to rouse yourself,'*
 
 86 Grant haul Sennets. 
 
 said her mother, presently, languidly looking 
 off from her crochet work. 
 
 It was not Mrs. Willoughby's wont to 
 trouble herself much as to whether Mar- 
 garet was industrious or not, — why should 
 she have done so on this particular morn- 
 ing ? Margaret knit her brows, tried to 
 stifle a feeling of irritation, and once more 
 took up her book, but soon she involuntarily 
 let it fall again on her lap. 
 
 ** My dear Margaret, I wish you would 
 get something to do ! I don't like to see 
 you wasting your time in this way,'' said 
 her mother, presently. 
 
 *' I was reading," returned Margaret, 
 rising quickly from her seat and putting 
 her book upon the table. *' But I believe 
 it is too hot to do anything. I am lazy, 
 somehow. Shall I go and talk to Gilling, 
 mother, about those rose-buddings that you 
 want him to get from the Hall gardener? " 
 
 The rose-buddings were a happy notion, 
 and she went out into the August sunshine, 
 saying to herself, ** What a fool I was ! 
 What a fool I was ! What a happy day this
 
 Grantham Secrets, 87 
 
 might have been ! How happy he might 
 have been ! And now, — and now ! " 
 
 Thus sighing, she made her way to the 
 garden, where she found old Gilling stand- 
 ing, in meditative mood, and with an ex- 
 pression of such gloom on his face as might 
 have been caused by a reflection from her 
 own thoughts. 
 
 - Gilling ! " she called, - Gilling ! '' and 
 he started as if he had been surprised in the 
 performance of some guilty deed. 
 
 "Why, Miss Marget, how sudden yDu 
 do come down upon a body, to be sure ! " 
 and Margaret laughed merrily at his dis- 
 comfiture. 
 
 "What is the matter, Gilling?" she 
 asked. " Are all the rose-trees dying ? or 
 have you been committing murder or theft ? " 
 
 " Matter ? What should be the matter, 
 Miss Marget?" returned the old man, 
 testily. ** Thank heaven my conscience is 
 clear as to the eighth commandment and 
 the sixth, too, and, for the matter of that, I 
 can't see but what Fve kept all the com- 
 mandments reg'lar all my life."
 
 88 Grant hafjt Secrets, 
 
 *' And how is your wife, Gilling? " 
 
 "" Terrible low and bad, to be sure. You 
 haven't been to see her lately, Miss Marget." 
 
 **No," answered Margaret, her heart 
 smiting her; ** yesterday, 1 — I don't know 
 how it has happened. I'll go this afternoon." 
 
 ** She'll be terribly glad to see you. 
 She've been talking of you a deal. And 
 what's gone so sudden with that young 
 gentleman what was down here. Miss Mar- 
 get ? " asked old Gilling, abruptly, while he 
 turned his inquisitive glance straight upon 
 poor Margaret's disconcerted countenance. 
 
 ''I can't tell you, Gilling," she replied, 
 with an embarrassed laugh. ** I suppose he 
 was not able to stay here any longer." 
 
 "" I suppose he'll be coming back again ? " 
 
 ** I don't know, indeed. Scarcely likely, 
 I should fancy." 
 
 '' He's a nice spoken gentleman. My old 
 woman thinks a deal of him, says as Mr. 
 Miles ain't lit to hold a candle to him. But 
 I ain't going to have nothing said agen Mr. 
 Miles. He's been a good friend to me, 
 and "
 
 Grantham Secrets, 89 
 
 *'By-the-by, that reminds me, Gilling," 
 interrupted Margaret, '' mamma wished me 
 to speak to you about the rose-buddings." 
 
 ** Oh, yes, miss ; Fll go over to the Hall. 
 Here comes Mr. Miles ! You must be quick 
 if you want to hide from him, Miss Marget," 
 whispered the old man, with a wink. 
 
 Many a time, in her childhood, had he 
 helped Margaret to find a hiding-place from 
 the teasing search of her tyrannical play- 
 fellow. Miles. And never in her childhood 
 would she so gladly have hailed a refuge 
 from her tormentor as at this present moment. 
 But alas, she had been seen ! She could not 
 with any degree of decency make her escape, 
 and Mr. Miles, the grown gentleman, might 
 not be treated so uncerimoniously by the old 
 gardener as Master Miles, the schoolboy, 
 had been treated in days of old. 
 
 *' Margaret," said Miles, coming close up 
 to her, " Mrs. Willoughby sent me to look 
 for you. I have come to ask you if you 
 will ride with me this afternoon." 
 
 '* Thanks, but I have an engagement, and 
 cannot possibly ride," returned Margaret.
 
 go Grantham Secrets. 
 
 Of course, however, all Margaret's objec- 
 tions were overruled by her mother, and of 
 course she was obliged to say that she would 
 go. 
 
 " Margaret," said Miles, when conversa- 
 sion seemed to be flagging, during the 
 course of the afternoon ride, ** I heard from 
 Meredith this morning. He desires his 
 kindest regards to everybody, and especially 
 to you and your mother. 
 
 *' Really ! " returned Margaret. 
 
 ** Perhaps," said Miles, in a would-be 
 tender and pathetic tone, which nevertheless 
 affected Margaret's mind somewhat in the 
 like manner as she might have been affected 
 physically by a polar wind in spring, "per- 
 haps you would have preferred a warmer 
 message ! " 
 
 '* I would prefer, if you please," answered 
 Margaret, ** to talk of something else." 
 
 **But I," said Miles, ** choose that you 
 should listen to me. Margaret, you shall 
 trifle with me no longer " 
 
 *' Trifle ! " echoed Margaret, with a glance 
 of haughty astonishment. '' Trifle ? What
 
 Grantham Secrets. 91 
 
 do you mean ? Do you mean anything, 
 or " 
 
 '' I mean, Margaret," returned Miles, 
 theatrically, *' I mean, in all sober earnest- 
 ness, that I will be satisfied, once for all, as to 
 whether you have been playing with me all 
 this time, whether each look or word, which I 
 have innocently interpreted to signify devo- 
 tion such as that which I feel for you, 
 whether each apparent sign of love has been 
 a mere mockery, — a mere pretence, such as 
 that which Charles Meredith showed to you 
 and you to him, — or " 
 
 ** Be silent, Mr. Grantham," exclaimed 
 Margaret, in a tone of suppressed passion. 
 ** Dare to say another word such as those which 
 you have just spoken, and, and — " Here her 
 dignity broke down, she was breathless from 
 the effect of the excessive excitement which 
 she was trying to control, and no threat that 
 would not have appeared ludicrously ineffec- 
 tive was forthcoming from her mind at the 
 right moment. She paused, irresolute and 
 panting. 
 
 ** Margaret," went on Miles, '* I never
 
 92 Grantha7n Secrets. 
 
 suspected you of flirting until I saw you 
 with " 
 
 ** Stay ! — stop!" cried Margaret, interrupt- 
 her companion with startling promptitude. 
 ** Do you hear ? I will not listen to another 
 word. Sir John Grantham shall know of this, 
 and, and " 
 
 " Margaret, it is true," burst in Miles, with 
 desperate determination. A frightful possi- 
 bility had crossed his cowardly mind while 
 Margaret was speaking; but thinking his 
 wisest course would be to take the bull by 
 the horns, he made an effort to hide his 
 fears under a manner of vehement assurance. 
 *' Margaret, it is true!" he cried. ^* Till 
 Meredith came, till I watched your behaviour 
 with him, I understood your manner to me 
 to mean the love that it expressed. Am I 
 now to understand that you have been 
 deceiving me, — that you only gave me 
 encouragement in order that you might 
 have the satisfaction of trampling my heart 
 as a worm beneath your feet ? ' ' 
 
 " Deceiving you I Gave you en- 
 couragement ! " returned Margaret, this
 
 G^^anthain Secrets. 93 
 
 time with calm and contemptuous Indig- 
 nation. '' Trampling your heart ! '* | Here 
 her sense of the ludicrous almost conquered 
 dignity and anger ; but she would not allow 
 her lips to curl even into a smile of con- 
 tempt. *' Mr. Grantham," she continued, 
 with dignified gravity, ** you know well 
 enough, you cannot deny that you know, 
 that I have given you no encouragement, 
 that I have not even believed in your pre- 
 tended affection, that I have escaped from 
 you and your unwelcome attentions when- 
 ever I have found it possible, that I have 
 hated you almost as long as I can re- 
 member, and have borne with your com- 
 panionship only for the sake of my friends, 
 Sir John and Lady Grantham, whom I love 
 so well, and to whom I owe so much." 
 
 *' You have not believed In my affection !" 
 exclaimed Miles, working himself up Into a 
 fervour of theatrical passion. *' By heaven, 
 then you shall believe In it soon ! You 
 shall feel it as a powerful force, subduing 
 your hatred, making you love me, whether 
 you will or no ! Margaret, you shall love
 
 94 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 me, or if you will not love me, still, you 
 shall be mine ! Every one desires it, — my 
 uncle, my aunt, your mother, — and nothing 
 but your own perversity, and your fancy for 
 a man who does not love you, — for all he 
 found it pleasant to amuse himself with you 
 during a summer holiday, — could keep you 
 from desiring it too." 
 
 Here Margaret's sense of the ludicrous 
 was irresistibly touched by Miles Grantham's 
 cool and impertinent conceit. She burst 
 out laughing, and then, — 
 
 *'In short," she replied, *' no right- 
 minded young woman to whom Miles 
 Grantham should condescend to recommend 
 himself could fail to perceive the eligibility 
 of the offer ! And you really think," she 
 went on, changing her tone, " that when my 
 mother and Sir John and Lady Grantham 
 hear of your conduct to me to day they will 
 still wish " 
 
 *' Margaret ! " interrupted Miles. He 
 felt that he had gone too far, and this time 
 the intonation of his voice was humbly 
 despairing. '' Margaret, forgive me ! You
 
 Grantham Secrets. 95 
 
 little know how much I love you, how 
 worthy of all honour I deem you to be." 
 
 ('' I believe he fancies that he is in a 
 book ! " thought Margaret to herself.) 
 
 ** Perhaps some day" he went on "you 
 will better understand my devotion, and will 
 learn to think more kindly of me! Mean- 
 while, let this conversation remain a secret 
 between you and me? " He spoke implor- 
 ingly, for fear and vanity were working 
 busily within him. 
 
 ** Stop a moment," returned Margaret; 
 ** this must depend entirely upon yourself. 
 Will you promise never again to talk to me 
 on the subject of which you have spoken to 
 day? — never again to speak or look at me 
 in a way which you mean to express non- 
 sense ? In that case, I will keep your 
 secret ; otherwise, in self-defence, I must 
 tell Sir John of all that has passed to-day." 
 
 *^ Margaret," he said, '' you are hard 
 upon me, — you are cruel ! How can I 
 promise what you ask ? I will promise this 
 much, and no more. I will promise that my 
 love shall not annoy you again during the
 
 q6 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 remainder of my visit at Grantham ; and, 
 after thatj who knows how long it may be 
 before we meet again ? It may be a year 
 or more before I return to Grantham ; but 
 through all that time my heart will remain 
 staunch to you, and I shall not relinquish 
 the hope of conquering your cruel repug- 
 nance to me ! " 
 
 '*You can please yourself, as to that,'' 
 replied Margaret. ** Meanwhile, your secret 
 shall be safe with me, until you cause me 
 to repent my indulgence." She gave her 
 answer lightly, while her heart bounded 
 gladly at the prospect of a year's freedom 
 from persecution. What joys might not 
 that year bring forth ! 
 
 Miles, also, softly heaved a sigh of relief. 
 He was safe ! — for Margaret would not 
 break her word, and, despite her want of 
 appreciation, he would quietly work his way, 
 and win the prize yet. His vanity told him 
 it was impossible she could withstand him to 
 the end ; and he had her mother on his 
 side. Yes, with the aid of Mrs. Willoughby 
 and his aunt, whom he had almost entirely
 
 Grantham Secrets, 97 
 
 under his thumb, he should surely succeed ! 
 Besides, hitherto Margaret had not believed 
 in his devotion to her ; now he would teach 
 her at the same time to believe in it, and to 
 disbelieve in that of Charles Meredith ! 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 98 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 When Margaret arrived at home, she 
 found Lady Grantham and her mother seated 
 together beneath a tree on the lawn. 
 
 ** Back already, child!" cried Lady 
 Grantham, looking at her watch. *'Just 
 dinner-time ! I had no idea it was so late. 
 Good-bye, my dear Mrs. Willoughby. Mar- 
 garet, I have scarcely set eyes on you to- 
 day ! Walk with me as far as the avenue. 
 Well, and did you enjoy your ride ? " 
 
 *' Oh yes, thanks," replied Margaret, 
 quickly. ** That is to say, it was pleasant 
 in the pine wood, otherwise it was a little 
 bit hot." 
 
 At the tone of Margaret's answer, Lady 
 Grantham's heart sank. She had hoped for 
 great results from this ride. 
 
 ** Which way did you go ? " she asked.
 
 Grantham Secrets. 99 
 
 " Oh, past the scene of our last week's 
 picnic. You have not heard from Mr. Mere- 
 dith, I suppose. Lady Grantham ? " 
 
 "Miles heard this morning," was the 
 answer. 
 
 *' Oh ! " said Margaret, as though the 
 information had been new, and then each 
 silently pursued her opposite thoughts. 
 
 ''Well, my love, did you enjoy your 
 ride?" was asked again, when Margaret 
 rejoined her mother. 
 
 " Oh, it was so awfully hot, mother," 
 answered Margaret. ** What have you been 
 doing ? Had any visitors ? " 
 
 " No one but Alice Craycroft and Lady 
 Grantham. But I want to hear about your 
 ride," said her mother, rather querulously. 
 
 ** I wish Alice Craycroft had been in my 
 place ! " returned Margaret, laughing. 
 
 ''Nonsense, Margaret; I am sure by 
 your face that you have something to tell 
 me! Has he spoken ? " 
 
 " Mamma, please don't let us talk of 
 Miles," said Margaret, quickly. " I have 
 really nothing to tell you."
 
 100 Grant havt Secrets. 
 
 ** You have refused him, I am sure you 
 have refused him ! Margaret, you will 
 break my heart ! '' Here Mrs. Willoughby 
 subsided into a fit of hysterics, which per- 
 haps may have spared her daughter the 
 pain of witnessing the catastrophe of the 
 threatened broken heart ! 
 
 For a while Margaret was engrossed in 
 restoring and soothing her mother. Then 
 fell night, to be followed by another weary 
 restless morning ! Mrs. Willoughby was 
 laid up with one of her worst headaches, 
 and accused her child of having caused it 
 by her wilfulness and want of sympathy ; 
 and Margaret was one moment lovingly 
 remorseful, and the next impatiently an- 
 noyed by her mother's querulous and unjust 
 complaints. And her heart aching doubly 
 from the sense of lack of sympathy, she again 
 strove in vain to find any occupation which 
 would divert her mind from her trouble. 
 
 She could not get rid of the impression 
 that evil was being worked behind her back, 
 and found herself constantly oppressed by 
 ^hp restless sensation that there must be
 
 Grantham Secrets. loi 
 
 something which she might be doing to 
 counteract its effects. Oh, for some one to 
 help her ! Oh, for some light to fall upon 
 the dreary darkness ! She thought, like 
 many a young girl before her, that no lot 
 could be more wretched than hers. And 
 then, to prove the falsity of this thought, 
 came, from no apparent cause, the re-action 
 of a great flood of joy and hope ! After all, 
 her memories were glad enough to make 
 her hopeful ! She went to the Hall, in full 
 expectation of hearing that Sir John and 
 Lady Grantham had received a letter from 
 Mr. Meredith, restoring him to their good 
 graces again. 
 
 *' I suppose you have not heard from Mr. 
 Meredith, Lady Grantham?'' once more 
 she asked, apparently in the most acci- 
 dental and unconcerned manner. 
 
 *^ Miles heard yesterday," was this time 
 Lady Grantham's answer. And then a 
 dose composed of Miles' charms was 
 poured down Margaret's throat, and again 
 old Nurse Gilling was to be done out of a 
 visit from her darling, because the morning
 
 I02 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 ended in arrangements for an afternoon ex- 
 pedition, and Margaret was not allowed to 
 escape the pleasure provided for her. 
 
 Miles made his appearance, looking like 
 a beaten dog ; and his manner towards 
 Margaret was deprecating and mournful. 
 Whenever he approached her, his move- 
 ments appeared to be asking pardon for 
 the liberty they were taking. He oppressed 
 her all the afternoon with small attentions, 
 in a way which seemed to be saying, *' You 
 may crush me, you may despise and hate 
 me, but you cannot prevent my serving 
 you!" And the sensation that he effected 
 in her was an intense desire to crush him, 
 as if he had been a loathsome insect. But 
 as, unfortunately, this desirable object might 
 not and could not be obtained, she had to 
 endure the same kind of irritating persecu- 
 tion daily, during the remainder of Miles' 
 visit at Grantham ! 
 
 A day or two passed, and then Margaret 
 said again, — 
 
 ** Have you had any news from Mr. 
 Meredith, by-the-by. Lady Grantham ? "
 
 Granthain Secrets. 103 
 
 '' Miles heard on Thursday," replied Lady 
 Grantham. 
 
 "What is that?" asked Sir John, look- 
 ing up from a book of which he was turning 
 over the leaves, and catching sight of the 
 weary, wistful face which Margaret had 
 hastily turned away from Lady Grantham's 
 view. ** What is that ? And you heard too, 
 did not you, old woman ? Surely you saw the 
 letter, childie ? it was full of pleasant reminis- 
 cences of the Hall and of The Cottage. You 
 were meant to see it, I'll be bound." 
 
 ** My dear, it was only a line, thanking 
 for favours received," said Lady Grantham, 
 laughing. *' If I had supposed that it would 
 have been any gratification to Margaret to 
 see the interesting document, you may be 
 sure I should not have forgotten to show it 
 to her. Miles' was the principal letter. He 
 read us parts of it, you know." 
 
 '* Have you destroyed your note ? " asked 
 Sir John, who was suddenly possessed by an 
 impression that between them they were 
 bullying the girl, in a way that he could 
 not permit.
 
 I04 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 ** Oh no, I think not," said Lady Gran- 
 tham, feeling in her pocket. *' I gave it to 
 you, I believe, and I have not seen it since. 
 Most likely you were the destroyer." 
 
 *'That I am sure I was not," returned her 
 husband. ** Oh, ay ; here it is, safe in my 
 waistcoat pocket!" and he held it out to 
 Margaret. 
 
 It contained little more than what she had 
 already gathered from Sir John Grantham. 
 But there was something in the actual word- 
 ing, and in the sight of the handwriting, that 
 seemed to bring her comfort. She felt, 
 after reading the letter, as if he were not so 
 far away, and it seemed as though her future 
 meeting with him had become a nearer 
 possibility. 
 
 " When you write to him, will you be so 
 kind as to thank him for his note to mamma ? 
 And will you tell him that we were very 
 sorry he was obliged to run away in such a 
 hurry, and that we did not see him to say 
 good-bye ? Mamma says it is not worth while 
 her writing in return for that note. Writing 
 tires her head," said Margaret, adding, sigh-
 
 Grantham Secrets. 1 05 
 
 ingly, to herself, *' I wish she would let me 
 write for her. And yet, and yet — I don't 
 know that I should dare to do it, even if she 
 would!" 
 
 ** My dear," replied Lady Grantham, " I 
 put a line into Miles' envelope on Thursday. 
 I always like to answer my letters at once." 
 
 In spite of herself, Margaret flushed with 
 vexation. 
 
 *'Too bad, childie," said the Squire. 
 "You and I knew nothing about it, and were 
 never asked for messages. I'll tell you what, 
 I'll write myself by this very day's post, and 
 you shall send what message you like." 
 
 ** I'll be hanged if that young prig shall 
 have it all his own way," he added, to him- 
 self, as he caught sight of Miles, approach- 
 ing the group on the terrace walk. ** We 
 shall be having the poor child going off into 
 a decline, and lose her altogether, which 
 would be worse than losing her from Gran- 
 tham Hall ! I say, Miles," — aloud, when his 
 nephew had come up, — '^will this same 
 address still find young Meredith ? " 
 
 *' I — I don't know, uncle," answered
 
 io6 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 Miles. ''Are you going to write to him? 
 Perhaps it would be better to wait until I 
 have heard again ? " 
 
 ** Oh, nonsense ! of course the letter would 
 be forwarded.'' 
 
 *' Oh, no doubt," returned Miles, suddenly 
 changing his tone. 
 
 *' I must be quick, though," said Sir John, 
 looking at his watch ; *' it is nearly time for 
 the letters to go." 
 
 '* I am going down to Darlingster by- 
 and-by, uncle, and can post any letters, if 
 you like. So you need not hurry," called 
 out Miles, as his uncle left the terrace. 
 
 **A11 right, thank you," said the squire, 
 adding to himself, *' Til be hanged if he shall 
 take this one, though, with those lank, ill- 
 favoured claws of his." 
 
 The letter was written, — a genial, hearty 
 letter, expressing the general regret at 
 Charles' hasty departure, recommending as 
 speedy a return, and hinting pretty clearly 
 that his society had not been found dis- 
 agreeable to the inmates of The Cottage. 
 Having completed, folded, and directed it,
 
 Grantham Secrtts. 107 
 
 Sir John rang the bell, and hearing that 
 the bag had already gone, gave orders that 
 one of the men should take his letter into 
 Darlingster. 
 
 It would have been as much as the foot- 
 man's place was worth if Sir John had known 
 that he had given up the letter to Miles, who, 
 meeting him with it in his hand, had said that 
 he was on the way to Darlingster, and would 
 save him a journey.
 
 io8 Graiitham Secrets, 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Meanwhile, Margaret, with a lightened 
 heart, had left the Hall, and was making 
 her way to old Gilling's cottage. As she 
 reached it, the old woman whom she was 
 about to visit was seated in an armed-chair. 
 Her deathlike, furrowed face was half turned 
 from the window. Her brows were knit. 
 Her eyes were hxed. And she was so much 
 engrossed by deep thought that she did not 
 hear when Margaret knocked, or when she 
 gently opened the door. She was muttering 
 indistinctly to herself, and when Margaret 
 called, *' Nurse, nurse," she started like one 
 disturbed in sleep, and her mutterings be- 
 came louder and clearer. 
 
 ** Ay, ay," so they ran, ''the promise 
 went for nothink after we were married ; but 
 you'll keep a promise to the dead, and it 
 won't be long now, — it won't be long.' 
 
 iy
 
 Grantham Secrets, 109 
 
 Margaret thought that she was wandering, 
 and going close up to her, she put her hand 
 upon her arm, and said, — 
 
 '* Nurse, nurse, don't you know me? 
 Won't you speak to me ? " 
 
 Then a change passed over the face. A 
 smile of sunshine chased away the shadows 
 of gloom and anxiety by which it had been 
 darkened, and for a moment the old woman 
 looked as bright and loving as the young 
 girl who was leaning over her. 
 
 *'Lors, Miss Marget," she said, drawing 
 the soft little hand caressingly into her own 
 withered ones, ** lors, Miss Marget, my 
 darling, that ben't never you, come to see 
 the old woman at last ? I thought you was 
 never coming no more." 
 
 ** I have been wanting to come, everyday, 
 nurse, but " 
 
 *' Ah, I know," interrupted the old woman. 
 ** Miss Marget, you take your old nurse's 
 advice. Don't you let that young fellow get 
 his own way with you. He'll be coming it 
 over you, if you don't mind what you're 
 about, and then you won't find it easy to get
 
 iio Grantham Secrets, 
 
 out of the puckle. He's a cunning one, is 
 Mr. Miles ! Ay, I minds of him, that high, 
 a-stealing of the sugar-plums from little miss 
 when he thought no one wasn't looking. But 
 I was even with him, and I'll be even with 
 him again, for all he thinks himself so 
 
 safe!" 
 
 "- What are you talking about, nurse ? Mr. 
 . Miles and I have nothing to do with each 
 other, now that we are too old to fight about 
 sugar-plums ! What in the world can you 
 have got into your head about Mr. Miles 
 getting his own way with me? " 
 
 ** Ah, there, Miss Marget, you knows well 
 enough what I means. I means as the 
 young gentleman what is gone off in such 
 hurry is worth a thousand of the other. 
 Don't you listen to any one who tells you 
 he ain't. You knows it well enough. I sees it 
 in the brightness of your eye, and the bloom 
 on your cheek." 
 
 The old woman was right. That peculiar 
 look for which no expression in words can 
 be found had come into Margaret's face, — 
 that look which follows upon the sudden
 
 Grantham Secrets, 1 1 1 
 
 touch of an unseen messenger of life and 
 love. 
 
 **Well, nurse," she laughed, ''I certainly 
 agree with you in liking Mr. Meredith the 
 best of the two. He is very kind, is not he ? 
 You liked him, then ? " 
 
 *' Liked him, Miss Marget ! Them must 
 be bad 'uns or odd 'uns that would not like 
 him. You know. Miss Marget, we can 
 always tell when the eye looks true. There's 
 some eyes what says, as they looks at you, 
 that there's true gold in the words and in the 
 smiles. There's other eyes that seems to be 
 always saying that the words and the smiles 
 and the gold itself be all cunning lies, sent 
 by the devil to bring us to foolishness ; and 
 them's Mr. Miles' eyes. Let him keep his 
 gold to himself, we don't want of it, to scorch 
 our fingers off." 
 
 "■ Poor Mr. Miles ! You are not fond of 
 him, nurse," answered Margaret, rejoicing 
 in the sense of sympathy with her pet aver- 
 sion. *' What has he done to you ? Was it 
 of him you were talking in your sleep, when 
 you looked so cross, as I came in ? "
 
 112 
 
 Grantha^n Secrets. 
 
 ** Talking?'' cried the old woman, in a 
 frightened tone. *' Talking, was I ? What 
 was I talking. Miss Marget ? I don't mind 
 as I said anything ! What did I say, then. 
 Miss Marget? " 
 
 ** You were asleep, nurse, so of course you 
 don't remember all the foolish things you 
 were saying about marriage, and promises, 
 and death." 
 
 *'Ay, ay, Miss Marget," returned nurse, 
 while the old, fixed, troubled expression came 
 back to the countenance. ** Ay, ay, pro- 
 mises, marriage, death ! Marriage, promises, 
 death ! It is all that. Miss Marget ! It is 
 all that ! It won't be long, now. Miss Mar- 
 get ! It's the death that'll make it all right, 
 dearie ! Them that's cunning will find 
 themselves disappointed, and them that's 
 gone will come back again ! " 
 
 **Dear nurse, you are dreaming again," 
 said Margaret, tenderly. ** There's plenty 
 more of life for you on earth yet. We cannot 
 spare you yet awhile." 
 
 ** Ay, life, life," said the old woman 
 musingly. " Miss Marget, do you see yon
 
 Grantha7n Secrets. 113 
 
 chink in the door ? I sometimes looks at it 
 till I sees it widen and widen, till it be big 
 enough for a little angel baby what I knowed 
 on earth to come through, and draw me after 
 him into the light, and into the fresh air, and 
 the burden drops off, and I can breathe, 
 like!" 
 
 The old woman stopped, panting. The 
 excitement which had given her strength for 
 a time, had, in the end, worn her out, and she 
 sank back fatigued, while her face became 
 rigid, and a more deathlike paleness passed 
 over it. 
 
 * * You are tired, dear nurse, so I must 
 leave you. Good-bye ; I shall come again 
 soon." 
 
 " Soon ? — ay, it must be soon, Miss Mar- 
 get ! Promises, death, and marriage, my 
 dearie, that is what it will be," she said, 
 looking into the girl's loving eyes, which 
 were sorrowfully turned on the face of the 
 old nurse, for whom she had so tender an 
 affection. *' Kiss me, kiss me, my lamb, for 
 memory of the days when you were your 
 nurse's sore heart's treasure and comfort." 
 
 VOL. I. 8
 
 114 GrantJiam Secrets. 
 
 So the darling face was pressed close 
 against the lips of the dying woman, and 
 after another lingering gaze, Margaret turned 
 to leave the gardener's cottage. 
 
 As she walked home, after this interview 
 with her old nurse, it seemed to her as if she 
 had just awakened from a strange dream, — a 
 dream which had left an impression that was 
 not to be easily shaken off The words of the 
 old woman continually returned to her mind, 
 giving her a strange and solemn feeling ; and 
 yet, at the same time, a sense of new life had 
 come to her. As she thought of nurse's lost 
 baby returning as an angel of life to rid her 
 of the burden, whatever it might be, that was 
 oppressing her heart, she remembered her 
 own loss, her own burden ! Charles Meredith's 
 face seemed to come before her again, with the 
 earnest inspired look in its eyes which had 
 made him all at once appear to her so godlike. 
 She pictured him no longer as sadly regretful, 
 — the hope of his life having been destroyed 
 by her word, — but she pictured him given up 
 to an earnest work, and fancied that he was 
 calling upon her to be earnest too. And she
 
 Grantham Secrets, 115 
 
 was resolved, with a sudden leap at her heart, 
 that although at a distance, he should be as 
 an angel of life to her, drawing her, as nurse 
 had said, into a clearer, brighter, and purer 
 atmosphere, where she might drop her burden 
 of regret, and breathe and live. After all, he 
 did not need her, his life might be blest with- 
 out her, and in spirit they might be drawn 
 near together, if only she might be unselfishly 
 given up, as she felt sure he was given up, to 
 the living of a true and earnest life. 
 
 ** Who knows," she thought, '* but that my 
 unhappy mistake may be overruled for good, 
 for I meant no harm, though it was hateful 
 of me to be so blinded ! '' Besides, now that 
 Sir John Grantham had written, all might 
 speedily be well. **His letter must surely 
 bring an answer, and, — who knows? — per- 
 haps, perhaps, he may return ! At all events 
 I will be patient, and wait, and work ! Surely 
 the good that is working, unseen, must be 
 stronger than the evil that is working; so 
 there must be a good ending, there must be 
 light to fall some time.'* 
 
 After this fashion she mused and resolved.
 
 ii6 / Grantham Secrets. 
 
 A thousand words, which had been dropped 
 simply, with no pretension, and which had 
 been carelessly heard by her, now came back 
 to her mind, as so many proofs of a good 
 and noble heart, and seemed to her, as she 
 dwelt on them, replete with a power which 
 might spur her on to be good and noble too. 
 *' What would he say," she thought, *' if he 
 knew that I had not yet been to see that poor 
 little consumptive boy, whom he pitied so 
 much that day that we walked through the 
 village, and saw the poor little tiny thin 
 fellow sitting outside his cottage door, gasp- 
 ing for breath. Poor little Jack ! I meant to 
 have gone to see him the next day, but all 
 those drives and picnics put him out of my 
 head. It is an age since I went to the 
 village; and what an immense amount of 
 time I have wasted since the morning he 
 went away ! Poor nurse, I might as well 
 have managed to get to her in the mornings. 
 I will not neglect her again. What a fancy 
 she seems to have taken to him.''
 
 Grantham Secrets, 1 1 7 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 During her sleep that night many quaint 
 and pretty fancies flitted through Margaret's 
 brain. Nurse's face, bright and smiling, was 
 mounted upon Jack's small body, as it flew 
 towards her on angel wings, and drew her 
 into a key-hole which led her into a church- 
 yard covered with rose-trees, where she found 
 herself standing by a grave, which seemed 
 to be her own. Then she heard an anthem 
 sung by a lovely voice, which she felt to be 
 Charles Meredith's voice, — and the words, 
 coming over and over again, and swelling 
 out, and dying away, in such sweet music 
 as she had never heard when awake, were 
 always these, "Promises, marriage, death; 
 promises, death, marriage." Charles Mere- 
 dith's eyes, with the earnest look by which 
 she was haunted day and night, were gazing
 
 1 1 8 Granfhain Secrets. 
 
 upon her while the anthem sounded. But 
 suddenly he vanished from her side, and the 
 song was changed into marriage-bells, while 
 Jane came up to her and said, ''It's for old 
 nurse, miss ; they are to be married, she and 
 ivlr. Meredith." She awoke with a start at 
 the seeming words. The church bell was 
 tolling solemnly, and Jane was standing by 
 her bedside. 
 
 '*Jane," she said ''what is the matter? 
 What is the the bell tolling for ? Why do 
 you look so grave ? ' ' 
 
 " It is time for you to get up, miss," re- 
 plied Jane, evading the question, while she 
 retreated to the bedroom door. " I brought 
 up your hot water half an hour ago." 
 
 " Can it be for poor little Jack ? " thought 
 Margaret, her heart sinking sadly, as she 
 arose and went to her dressing-room. " And 
 to think that I never went to see him again ! " 
 
 On her way downstairs, when she was 
 dressed, she met Jane, who said to her, — 
 
 " Miss Margaret, Gilling would be glad if 
 you would go and see him as soon as you 
 can."
 
 Grantham Secrets. iig 
 
 ** Where is he ? " 
 
 '* At home, miss. He has not been here 
 to work yet. His wife was taken worse, miss, 
 last night." 
 
 ** Oh, Jane," cried Margaret, suddenly, 
 it was for nurse that the bell was tolling ! " 
 And then came a rush of grief across her 
 heart, and she burst into tears. 
 
 When she went to see the old man, she 
 found him seated in the chair in which his 
 wife had been sitting while she talked with 
 her on the previous day. His hands were 
 pressed tightly upon his knees. His head 
 was bowed. And there was a look of grief 
 on his face such as Margaret had never seen 
 before. A young man was standing near 
 him. 
 
 ** Father, here's Miss Margaret come to 
 see you," he said, as Margaret advanced 
 silently to the chair, and stood by the old 
 man's side. 
 
 *' Eh ? What, Miss Marget, be you here ? 
 Ah, you be too late — you be too late ! " 
 
 And then he relapsed into silence, while 
 the look of hard, bitter grief, which had for
 
 I20 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 a moment softened, crept back again over 
 his face. 
 
 *' Jane told me that I might come to you, 
 Gilling," said Margaret, gently. 
 
 ** To be sure, to be sure," returned the 
 old man ; *' she was always terribly glad to 
 see you ! Ah, she won't see no one no 
 more!" And then, again absorbed by the 
 loneliness of his grief, he seemed to ignore 
 the presence of Margaret. 
 
 ** I will go away, and come another time," 
 said Margaret to the son ; "I only disturb 
 him now. I am glad he has you, Joe. When 
 did you come ? Were you in time ? 
 
 *' Only just, miss. I didn't like the account 
 as I got from father, and missis give me 
 leave to come off at once, and I got here 
 last night. I found poor mother terrible 
 bad, to be sure. 
 
 ** But she was conscious ? " 
 
 " Oh yes, miss, and asking for me, just 
 as I come in. ' Thank God,' she says, and 
 then I seemed in hopes that she was a bit 
 better for a while. But soon it all come 
 over her again, and she clutched hold of
 
 Grantham Secrets, 121 
 
 father, and seemed beside herself, like, and 
 said, ' You promise, father, — you promise ? ' 
 and then they looked at me, and father 
 whispered, and I come away; and when I 
 come back again I found mother's face 
 looking so bright, like, if you believe me 
 miss*, I thought I was in heaven, all of a 
 sudden. She just turned her eyes on me, 
 and then on father, and then " 
 
 Here the poor fellow fairly broke down, 
 and sobbed like a child. 
 
 "God comfort you," said Margaret, 
 softly." You must think of that bright 
 look on her face, that you may feel as if 
 you were in heaven with her." 
 
 *' Ay, and it's there still, miss ! Father 
 wants for you to see her. Will you please 
 to come up, now, miss? Father says as 
 no one hardly, but you, ben't good enough 
 to see her. You and parson, doctor and 
 Squire. Mr. Miles come, and was terrible 
 kind, and wanted to see her. But father 
 didn't half like it. He did not seem to 
 think as it was conformable, because, you 
 see, miss, mother hadn't used to be partial
 
 122 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 to Mr. Miles. I can't seem to account for 
 why she didn't use to like him, so terrible 
 kind as he've always been. It seemed 
 a' most as if she'd somehow got a cross in 
 her mind about him. Ah, if she could only 
 have known how kind he was when he 
 come in this morning, giving father money 
 for the funeral and all. It wasn't no use 
 father saying as he would not have it, 
 Mr. Miles wouldn't take no refusal." 
 
 " Mr. Miles has been to see you already, 
 then ? " 
 
 '*Yes, come almost immediate, — a'most 
 before the bell began to toll ; and father's 
 been like this, a'most beside himself, seem- 
 ing as if he see'd nothing and heard nothing 
 on earth, ever since he was here. He looked 
 scared like, — seemed as if the money 
 scorched his fingers, — said as it wasn't 
 respectful to the dead that he should have 
 taken it. I a'most fancied once," here Joe 
 lowered his voice mysteriously, ** that he 
 must have seen mother's ghost, he started 
 so and looked so strange with his eyes ; 
 bless you, you might have thought he had
 
 Grantham Secrets. 123 
 
 stolen the money! And I'll warrant me 
 there ben't a honester man in all the 
 world ! " 
 
 ** I am sure there isn't," put in Margaret. 
 
 "Goes on a-muttering about his promise, 
 — I know nothing about that ; but I knows 
 there ben't a faithfuUer man than father 
 to be found nowhere." 
 
 *' I'm sure there is not," said Margaret, 
 '* and of course he cannot forget all your 
 dear mother's fancies and wishes. She dis- 
 liked Mr. Miles, you say, for some reaso*i ?" 
 
 **Yes miss; she didn't like none of them. 
 Bless you, she hadn't a good word to say 
 for my mistress, hadn't poor mother, for 
 all she've been so kind to me, — a' most 
 took me off father's hands when he married 
 poor mother, the only mother I ever knowed 
 anything about, — give me my schooling, you 
 know, miss, and is a good mistress to me 
 now, and says we shan't none of us never 
 want for nothing, she and Mr. Miles. She 
 be as good as her son. I can't say no more. 
 But poor mother, she knew no better. She 
 be in heaven, if ever any one was. As
 
 124 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 good a mother to me, she was, as if Pd 
 been her own son twenty times over ! 
 Will you come up and see her, miss ? " 
 
 ** I think, — I think, — I think I had better 
 not," began Margaret; but seeing a pained 
 look pass over the young man's face, she 
 reluctantly rose to follow him upstairs. 
 
 *' Maybe you'll be able to rouse him, 
 afterwards," he said, stopping to look 
 anxiously round at the old man. *' I can't 
 rouse him nohow ! He said as he wanted 
 to see parson, had something to say to 
 him, partic'ler; but when he come to him, 
 bless you, he hadn't nothing to say to 
 him, for all parson told him it was his 
 duty not to rebel against the decree of 
 the Almighty. Then he wanted to speak 
 to doctor, but he hadn't nothing to say to 
 him, neither ; and for all he give him a 
 mixture, he've gone on in the same way 
 ever since. Then I tried what telling him 
 about mistress would do, and how com- 
 fortable I was, and how many suits of clothes 
 master give me ; but, bless you, it only 
 seemed to make him worse. He looked
 
 Grantham Secrets. 125 
 
 scared like, as though he'd seen the devil, 
 and called out for mother to come and 
 help him. Father, Miss Marget's going 
 upstairs." 
 
 **Eh? what do you say, Joe?" said the 
 old man, looking round. " Be Miss Marget 
 going upstairs." God bless you, Miss 
 Marget. She'd be pleased for you to 
 come." 
 
 Margaret's heart beat as she approached 
 the door, through which she was to be 
 ushered, for the first time, into the mys- 
 terious presence of death ! But as she 
 drew near to the bed, and gazed at the 
 beautiful marble face, — smooth and calm 
 and smiling, with a smile such as that 
 which the countenance of a sleeping child 
 might have worn, — her sensations were very 
 different from those which she had antici- 
 pated. Grief, anxiety, fear and hope, all 
 seemed to have been suddenly hushed to 
 rest. The recollection of her dream of the 
 night before passed quickly through her 
 mind, bringing with it a strange thrill, 
 and all its scenes seemed to have been
 
 126 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 brought into sudden life. But it appeared 
 as though even her memories had been 
 transported into another world, and as if 
 she had no longer anything to do with 
 the outward things of this one. An angel 
 voice from the land of her dream seemed 
 to be saying, " He is not here ! He is 
 risen ! " And then, as though in a rush 
 of music through her heart, came the words, 
 " I am the Resurrection and the Life." 
 For a while she had stood silent, and now, 
 as she looked up at Joe, it scarcely seemed 
 to her as if it were her own voice in which 
 she spoke the words, — 
 
 " She is not here ! She is risen ! " 
 
 To Joe it seemed indeed as if an angel had 
 spoken ; so bright, so almost heavenly, had 
 the expression of her sweet face been, as she 
 raised it to his while she gave the comfort- 
 ing message. 
 
 "Say that to father, miss," he said, as 
 soon as his sobs would allow him to speak. 
 " I seems in hopes as it might arouse him." 
 
 So together they went down to the old 
 man.
 
 Grantham Secrets. 127 
 
 *'I have seen her, Gilling," she whispered. 
 *' How peaceful and beautiful it is ! But it 
 is not she ! One feels that ! One feels that 
 she is more peaceful, more beautiful, in the 
 life into which she has risen !" 
 
 The old man looked up, while a softer tone 
 came over his face. 
 
 '* Say it, miss, say them words," implored 
 Joe. 
 
 ** It was while we were looking on at it, 
 you know, Joe, that we said, * She is not here ! 
 She is risen ! ' " replied Margaret, in a 
 hushed voice. And then tears came into 
 her eyes. " Risen into life, not into dis- 
 tance," she added to herself; but the bereaved 
 ones did not catch her thought, and before 
 she could speak again, — 
 
 "No; she ben't here," returned the old 
 man, — "she ben't here, — she ben't here, and 
 I suppose one had ought to try to be thankful 
 as she's up there. Do you think, miss, she 
 cares to know, up there, what we does here ? 
 Do you think she'd be pleased, miss, if we 
 do what she wants, and if we keeps our pro- 
 mises .^ "
 
 128 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 ^* I am sure she would, Gilling; I think it 
 would please her to see us trying to be 
 good.'' 
 
 ** And will it trouble her if we breaks our 
 promises, and does things as ain't agreeable 
 to her?" 
 
 ** I don't know," said Margaret, quickly, 
 looking puzzled; and then a new look, that 
 was grave and bright at once, passing into 
 her countenance, ** He is grieved when we do 
 wrong," she murmured, musingly, half to 
 herself, thus giving utterance to a fragment 
 of the thought of her heart. 
 
 **Eh, Miss Marget? Would she care, up 
 there? Would it troubh her? " put in the 
 old man, impatiently. 
 
 " She must care more than ever," returned 
 Margaret. *' Perhaps untruth and wrong 
 doing would bring a shadow so that she could 
 not be made glad by seeing you ! " 
 
 **And if things was all going contrary, 
 and Joe was cast off, and we was to be hooted 
 at, and to come to the work' us, would there 
 come a shadow so that she could not see us 
 Miss Marget? " asked Gilling.
 
 Grantham Secrets. 129 
 
 Margaret began to think that the old man 
 must indeed be beside himself. 
 
 " I hope nothing of the sort will happen," 
 she replied. *' If it should, perhaps God will 
 send her to comfort you." 
 
 ** Do you think so, Miss Marget ? " 
 
 *' At least, you feel sure that He will help 
 you whatever comes ? " 
 
 ** Yes, miss, yes, — I knows that. I know as 
 th' Almighty '11 help me. Yes, — I must do 
 it ! I must do it ! I shouldn't mind if it 
 wasn't for he," and he turned his eyesin^the 
 direction of his son, shaking his head and 
 speaking softly, as though to himself. 
 
 Margaret's heart was full as she left the 
 cottage door. She went to the village, 
 thinking sadly, and pondering many things. 
 But in spite of herself, glad and hopeful feel- 
 ings leapt up through her heart, and seemed 
 all the brighter for their contrast with her 
 sad and heavy thoughts. After all, she was 
 young, and life was full for her of delight- 
 ful possibilities ! 
 
 She called herself cold and heartless, but 
 do what she would she could not stay the 
 
 VOL. I. 9
 
 130 Grantha7ii Secrets^ 
 
 flow of natural spirits, which vexed her by its 
 seeming incongruity. Her first visit in the 
 village was to little Jack, whom she found 
 leaning back luxuriously in an easy chair, with 
 a ball and a top by his side and a coloured 
 picture-book on his knee. He looked up 
 eagerly as she approached, and then heaved 
 a sigh, and blankly puckered up his face. 
 
 *' I thought p'raps it was the kind gentle- 
 man come back," he said, as Margaret drew 
 near. 
 
 *' And you are disappointed ? " 
 
 ''Yes, ma'am. 
 
 "And who is the kind gentleman?" asked 
 Margaret, her heart beating fast. 
 
 "The kind gentleman what give me these. 
 He be gone away. When be he coming 
 back?" 
 
 "Who is he? Don't you know his name? 
 Ts he the clergymen ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 "The doctor?" 
 
 "No. It be Mr. Meredy, He be gone, 
 and he never come to say good-bye to me," 
 said the child, plaintively.
 
 Grant hain Secrets. 131 
 
 ** And was he very kind to you ? " 
 
 **He was terribly kind, and he promised 
 to come and see me again/' 
 
 '' Did he often come to see you ? " 
 
 *'A'most every day, and he telled me 
 funny stories, and give me toys and books, — 
 and I wants him ! " 
 
 And the poor little fellow closed his 
 eyes and sighed wearily, while he pitifully 
 puckered up his little wizened face. 
 
 *' Perhaps he will come back again, dear," 
 said Margaret, her eyes lighting up gla.dly 
 as she spoke. '' Perhaps I shall hear about 
 him soon ! If I do, I will come and tell you 
 the news." 
 
 The child's face brightened wonderfully. 
 
 "When do you think he will be here? 
 Do you think he will come and see me 
 directly he gets here, ma'am?" he cried, 
 eagerly. 
 
 ** You must not be disappointed if he does 
 not come soon. Jack," answered Margaret; 
 ** but I will try to send a message to him 
 from you, if you like. What shall it be? " 
 
 " Dunnow ; but he must come now f''
 
 132 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 said the boy, plantively. ** I heard mother 
 say as I was like to die soon, and I must 
 see Mr. Meredy first. I doesn't want to die. 
 They say as God will be kind to me in 
 heaven ; but I don't think as He can be 
 kinder nor Mr. Meredy, what give me this 
 chair." 
 
 '' But God made Mr. Meredy kind to you, 
 dear," said Margaret. 
 
 " Did He ? Then I love God, and I think 
 as He'll send Mr. Meredy back to me!" 
 
 **T hope so, dear. Good-bye, I must go 
 now. Shall I come again ? " 
 
 ** Yes, soon, please ma'am. You be like 
 him ! You have a kind look, just like him, on 
 your face." 
 
 ** Then I love God, and I think as He'll 
 send Mr. Meredy back to me ! " These 
 words of little Jack's echoed again and again, 
 like a lovely song, through Margaret's heart, 
 while she walked about the village and home 
 to her mother, and they made her feel un- 
 reasonably hopeful, — hopeful and glad in 
 the almost certain expectation that the post 
 would speedily bring a letter from Mr.
 
 Grant kam Secrets. 133 
 
 Meredith to Sir John Grantham. But again 
 and again, in the midst of her hopeful mood, 
 she remembered, with a sorrowful sinking of 
 her spirits, the grief of the village, and 
 scolded herself for heartlessness. 
 
 As she was crossing the field in which old 
 Gilling's cottage stood, she observed Joe 
 Gilling standing outside the little wickel 
 gate. He came near, and touching his hat, 
 *' I seems in hopes as father's a bit easier, 
 miss,'* he said. '* Mr. Miles come in again, 
 and was terrible kind, to be sure. But wfien 
 he went, father took on bad again, — seemed 
 so strange I was a' most afraid he would 
 have gone daft altogether ; but by-and-by 
 he seemed to get more quiet and natural- like. 
 I heard him say as he'd let it 'bide till we had 
 got the funeral over comfortable. * She won't 
 think as I am going to break my promise, 
 because I puts off a bit,' he says. And then 
 I falls to talking of how pleased mother' d be 
 if she knew how decent the funeral was to 
 be, and that Mr, Miles was going to give 
 him a fine new black coat and all ; and so I 
 ;got him to cheer up a bit."
 
 134 Grant hafu Secrets. 
 
 Margaret wondered to herself, as she con- 
 tinued her journey homewards. 
 
 *' What can this secret be that seems to be 
 troubling old Gilling's conscience?" she 
 thought. *' And what makes Miles so mar- 
 vellously charitable all of a sudden ? He is 
 certain to be up to some mischief whenever 
 he pretends to be particularly good ! It 
 always was so when we were children."
 
 Grantham Secrets. 135 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Margaret's first thought on waking the 
 next morning was, *' Perhaps there may be 
 a letter from Mr. Meredith;" her second 
 brought the sorrowful recollection that; the 
 old nurse who had been as a mother to h^ in 
 her childhood was dead ! 
 
 Her first visit was to the Hall, after which, 
 — her heart sick with disappointment, for 
 there was no lettery- — she wandered towards 
 old Gilling's cottage, to sympathise with 
 the mourners there, and then on to the 
 village to be soothed by poor little Jack's 
 loving praise of her friend. 
 
 On the following day, again the stillness 
 of her thoughts of death was disturbed, — 
 first by hope and then by disappointment. 
 For again there was no letter. 
 
 Then came the day of the funeral ; and
 
 136 GranthaiJi Secrets. 
 
 she told herself that no earthly hopes and 
 
 fears, no fond regret or vain longing, must 
 
 be permitted to break in upon its solemn 
 
 calm. When the presence of death seemed 
 
 to be shadowing all the earth, it would 
 
 surely be sacrilege to dream of earthly bliss ! 
 
 When glimpses of an unseen life *' behind 
 
 the veil '^ opened, as it seemed, from time to 
 
 time upon her vision, could it be right to care 
 
 for the life or death of hopes connected with 
 
 earth ? When others were in sore grief, was 
 
 it not mean and selfish to let her mind dwell 
 
 on anxieties or, hopes of her own ? 
 
 Thus musing, she strolled slowly through 
 the wood, and across the boundary line 
 dividing the grounds of the cottage from 
 those of Grantham Hall. But on catching 
 sight of Sir John Grantham^ her quiet mus- 
 ings suddenly ceased, and while her heart 
 gave a great bound, she hurried forward to 
 meet him, and in a moment was raising to 
 iiis, unconsciously wistful and inquiring eyes.' 
 Something tenderly pitiful in his face seemed 
 to stay on her lips the question that she had 
 meant to ask.
 
 Grantham Secrets. 137 
 
 *' Childie," he said, after a minute's pause, 
 while he caressingly stroked her face with 
 his big hand, — " childie, I begin to think it 
 would be as well for you and me to try to for- 
 get all about that gay young man who made 
 believe to be so fond of us t'other day. He 
 don't seem to be in a hurry to write to us, 
 or to care much to get our letters, and, from 
 all I can learn, he appears to be enjoying his 
 absence from us fully as much as he enjoyed 
 our company." 
 
 *' Perhaps," answered Margaret, as quifetly 
 as she could, '' perhaps your letter has not 
 reached him." 
 
 '* So I said to Lady Grantham this morn- 
 ing ; but it came out that the young gentle- 
 man had written to Miles since his receipt of 
 my letter, and had sent a message which 
 Miles had forgotten to deliver, — a cool sort 
 of message enough, — to the effect that he 
 was much obliged for my letter, and hoped 
 to write when he had more leisure. And how 
 do you suppose his busy days to be occupied ? 
 In no less arduous a manner than dancing, 
 and picnic- ing, and love-making, and all the
 
 138 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 rest of it ! Perhaps Miles will indulge you 
 with a reading of the lively account if you ask 
 him." 
 
 '* Miles ! " contemptuously cried Mar- 
 garet, with a reproachful glance into Sir 
 John Grantham's face, — " Miles ! " And 
 then, making some hasty excuse, she turned 
 away from him, and flew, with passsionate 
 footsteps, to hide herself in the deepest shade 
 of her favourite wood. 
 
 With a grave smile. Sir John Grantham 
 gazed after her until she was out of sight. 
 '* Miles ! " he said aloud, to himself, mimick- 
 ing her scornful tone of voice. '* Ay, Miles ! 
 Miss Margaret. But you are like all the 
 women," so his thoughts continued to run, 
 " doubting where it pleases your prejudice to 
 doubt, and believing, where your fancy bids 
 you believe ! Women, did I say ? Pshaw ! 
 I have been as big a fool myself as the silliest 
 of them all ! That stranger lad took my 
 fancy, and I chose all at once to transform 
 him into a fancied paragon of perfection, and 
 exalt him into the image in which I would 
 have chosen to see my own son formed.
 
 Gratitham Secrets. ' 139 
 
 had he lived to grow up ; while for my poor 
 nephew, — because his tastes do not happen 
 to chime in with those of his boorish old 
 uncle, — because he offends my taste, — be- 
 cause, forsooth, his features take their pattern 
 rather from those of madam than from those 
 of my poor brother, — because, — nay, 
 
 '^ The reason why I cannot tell, 
 I do not like thee, Dr. Fell ! " 
 
 This is the long and short of it, I believe. 
 But we must learn to conquer our prejudices, 
 you and I, Miss Margaret; we must learn to 
 see merit where we are assured that merit 
 lies ; and who knows but that on some happy 
 wedding-day, when our eyes have been fully 
 opened, we may look back laughingly on all 
 our follies, and be * happy ever after ? ' Poor 
 child, poor child," concluded the baronet, in 
 an audible murmur, — " poor child ! Well, it 
 is the way of the world. Heigho ! we have 
 all had our dreams and our disappointments, 
 in our time, and the grief passes away like the 
 joy, and we almost forget that it has ever 
 been ! Forget, do we ? Forget ? Nay ! not
 
 140 Gra7itkam Secrets. 
 
 on this side the grave, whatever we may do 
 on the other ! " 
 
 Margaret, meanwhile, was sobbing her 
 heart out in her hidden corner. It was not 
 that she for an instant believed in her lover's 
 fickleness. Had this been her belief, not a 
 sob, not a tear, would have been allowed to 
 escape her. But her trust in Charles 
 Meredith was not to be so easily shaken. 
 Even before the memorable evening on which 
 her heart, as it were, had been allowed to 
 feel the touch of his, and had been inspired 
 with the knowledge that she loved him, her 
 woman's instinct had told her that he was 
 true to the core. And now, she could almost 
 sooner have doubted the evidence of her own 
 senses than have lost faith in the reality of 
 his love. She was not even troubled by the 
 thoughts that the coming years would bring 
 changes, that she had no right to expect him 
 to be constant to her, when she had told him 
 that she did not love him, that it would be only 
 natural for him to teach himself to forget her, 
 and to learn to love another. She did not 
 think of change. She did not look into the
 
 Grajitham Secrets, 141 
 
 future. She only felt that the present was 
 utterly dark and dreary : and the hopes that 
 she had been cherishing had been swept 
 away so suddenly by the baronet's hasty words, 
 that, in her youthful inexperience, it seemed 
 to her that she could never, never, rise again 
 into happiness. She realised, all in a moment, 
 that he whom she loved best in all the world 
 was far away out of her reach, that all her 
 chances of hearing about him were over, 
 that all possibility of letting him know that 
 she returned his love was at an end ! Miles 
 might be telling a thousand untruths about 
 her, which she would never find any means 
 of refuting, and Charles Meredith, unsuspici- 
 ous of deceit, believing the false representa- 
 tions, might be thinking of her as a heartless 
 flirt ; but no, she could not dream of him as 
 harbouring a bitter thought of her, she 
 could only picture him with the look of deep 
 sorrow in his face which had so often haunted 
 her sleeping and waking dreams, since the 
 night on which she had seen him last. She 
 could only picture him in sore, sore grief, 
 lonely, and far out of the reach of her sym-
 
 142 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 pathy. Oh, to be by his side but for one mo- 
 ment ! Oh, to be able to comfort him, even 
 for an instant ! In the agony of her longing 
 and her dreariness, she cried aloud, '' Oh 
 God! oh God! I cannot, cannot bear it!" 
 The summer breeze and the buzzing insects 
 seemed to be repeating her cry, and she 
 failed to hear the still small Voice, which was 
 surely murmuring in the depths of her spirit 
 the words, " I will be with you ! " Her 
 passionate heart was so full of its woes that 
 she did not remember that a loving Messen- 
 ger was by her side, ready to carry to him 
 she loved the sympathy she longed to give. 
 So her tears and sighs obtained for her no 
 relief. 
 
 Suddenly the church bell began to toll ! 
 Margaret had forgotten all about poor 
 old nurse, the village sorrow, and the 
 coming funeral ! And now, as she roused 
 herself, and set out, mechanically, on her 
 walk to the church, it seemed to her, in 
 her egoism, that the sorrow even of the 
 chief mourners on the occasion was easy, 
 was almost nothing, in comparison with
 
 Grant ha77t Secrets. 143 
 
 the one by which her own heavy heait was 
 absorbed. The old woman had long been 
 failing, and now was at peace ! Her hus- 
 band would soon join her. Her stepson 
 had the world before him, and would find 
 a thousand new interests, a thousand joys, 
 to beguile him from his grief! " At least," 
 she thought, '' their grief is a gentle one 
 and full of consolation ; they know where 
 she is, and look forward to seeing her 
 
 agam 
 
 I " 
 
 Yet soon she found herself tenderly and 
 regretfully remembering the old nurse, look- 
 ing, in fancy, once more upon the kind old 
 face, and hearing again the strangely-spoken 
 farewell words ; and, as in her dream of a 
 few nights back, the bell seemed to be 
 slowly tolling out the poor old woman's 
 deathsong, '* Promises, marriage, death; 
 promises, death, marriage." She ceased 
 to think ! The words in her memory, rising 
 and falling with the solemn music to which 
 she had unconsciously set them, appeared 
 to be lulling her mind into a sort of death- 
 like stupor.
 
 144 Gra7itha7n Secrets. 
 
 But suddenly the glorious verse, *' I am 
 the Resurrection and the Life! " uttered in 
 the vicar's clear, sonorous tones, struck 
 upon her ear, and brought to her heart 
 a momentary touch of life and light. 
 
 " The Resurrection and the Life ! " Yes, 
 not only was there an unseen life for the 
 dead old woman, but there was One, The 
 Life Himself, in Whom dead hopes, a lost 
 love, absent friends, all might live, all might 
 be found again ! 
 
 Then the shadow of death came over her 
 once more, and, wearied out by the intensity 
 of her feeling, she passed in dull apathy 
 through the wonderful Burial Service, look- 
 ing with almost absent pity upon the bowed 
 figure of the sorrowing husband, accusing 
 herself, secretly, of heartlessness, and dream- 
 ing, in spite of this self-accusation, that if 
 Charles Meredith were standing and kneel- 
 ing by her, a sorrowful season would be 
 transformed, for her, into a season of 
 transcendent joy. 
 
 The service over, she sauntered slowly 
 homewards by the fields. When she got
 
 Grantham Secrets, 145 
 
 to the meadow in which Gilling's house 
 stood, she caught sight of somp one just 
 going in at the cottage door, and in another 
 moment Joe came out at the little garden 
 gate. 
 
 '* Thank you, miss," he said, as Margaret 
 drew near. ** Father was terribly pleased 
 to see you at the funeral, — showed such 
 respect and all ; and did any one good 
 to hear the neighbours say as you looked 
 so haggard, and seemed to be taking on 
 so, a' most as if it had been your own 
 mother. Fm a-going after parson for father. 
 He seems to be took with a desire to see 
 parson again ; still got something partic'ler 
 on his mind as he wants to be rid of. It 
 '11 be best for him to have out with it; but 
 I didn't like to leave him alone, so as Mr. 
 Miles was coming by, he said as he'd stay 
 with him a bit." 
 
 *' A nice person. Miles, to have to comfort 
 you in grief! " said Margaret to herself, 
 with a grim smile, as Joe walked on. And 
 in spite of her private trouble, she found 
 herself wondering, with some degree of 
 
 VOL. I. 10
 
 146 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 interest, what old Gilling's secret burden 
 could be, and thinking, with a kind of 
 fear of she knew not what, about Miles 
 Grantham's pretended kindness to him. 
 
 '*What can he want with the poor old 
 man ? " she wondered. *' He is certain to 
 be up to some sort of mischief, wherever 
 he is, or whatever about." 
 
 Instinctively, she turned in at the little 
 wicket gate. Miles was speaking in loud 
 tones to suit the old gardener's deafness, 
 and Margaret caught the words, — ■ 
 
 '* He is a fine youth. It would be a pity 
 to spoil his prospects," and then followed 
 a feeble murmur from the old man, followed 
 by Miles' answer, 
 
 " Ah, but she would be wiser now. She 
 loved your son as well as you do, Gilling, 
 and she would not wish you to break an 
 old promise for a new one, — and all for 
 no good ! Where is the use of taking up 
 old troubles that have been forgotten long 
 ago ? There, this will keep you in decent 
 black for a long time to come." 
 
 " No, no, Mr. Miles; she had always used
 
 Gr'aniJuim Secrets. 147 
 
 to tell me as I was too fond of dross," 
 feebly remonstrated the old man. 
 
 The conversation was only partially heard 
 by Margaret, but as she glanced inadvertently 
 through the open window, she saw the old 
 gardener's eyes turned, half sadly, half 
 eagerly, on a little heap of gold that lay 
 on the table before him. Her knock was 
 answered by Miles, who, as she entered, 
 said, in a tone of affected jocularity, — 
 
 " Here is Gilling quarrelling with his 
 bread and butter, Margaret, you must come 
 and say what you can, to try to keep up his 
 heart. Gilling, here is Miss Margaret, so 
 I'll leave you now." 
 
 ''Eh? What, Miss Marget, be that 
 you?" said Gilling, looking up with a 
 softened face, and pushing away the money. 
 " Ah, she was always glad to see you ! So 
 you've come to see the old man, and have a 
 talk about her what's gone ? There, take 
 your money. Master Miles, and be off with 
 you." 
 
 *^ Good-bye, Gilling, but I shall be hurt 
 if you don't keep the money. I am going
 
 148 G^^antham Secrets, 
 
 away, soon, you know, and perhaps I shall 
 not see you any more." 
 
 And then he w^ent, while Gilling, with 
 a sigh, half of trouble, half of relief, — 
 almost satisfaction, — glanced at the gold on 
 '.he table before him. 
 
 In a few minutes Joe came back. 
 
 '^ Parson '11 be here directly, father," he 
 said. 
 
 The old man shuffled uneasily on his 
 chair. 
 
 '* Don't know that I want anything of 
 parson," he said, rather peevishly. " What 
 do you go off" in such a hurry to call parson 
 for? Any one's best left alone when he's 
 in trouble. No one can't do him no good. 
 There's Mr. Miles been here, a-bothering of 
 me. I'm sure I don't want his gold. Put 
 it away, somewhere, Joe, will yer? Miss 
 Marget, I forgot yer," he added, as Mar- 
 garet rose to take her leave. "Fm not 
 rightly myself to-day." 
 
 " Something odd, something that I can't 
 make out ! " thought Margaret. " But what 
 does it matter to me?" Presently she
 
 Grantham Secrets. 149 
 
 came across Mr. Bowles, the vicar, walking 
 with Miles Grantham. He was a big, broad 
 man, with a genial, easy-going expression of 
 countenance. They were walking together 
 very energetically, and did not see Margaret. 
 The clergyman was apparently much im- 
 pressed by some remark of Miles'. 
 
 ''He is a queer old fellow, I know," he 
 was saying, as Margaret passed within ear- 
 shot. *' I have never been able to make 
 head or tail of him. I should not wonder if 
 you are right in what you say." 
 
 " He is harmless, poor old buffer," at 
 present, returned Miles;. " but I am convinced 
 there is a screw loose somewhere.- I shall 
 be curious to know what he says to you. 
 He talks as if he was oppressed by some 
 secret crime, and his son is convinced that 
 it is all a delusion. His wife seems to have 
 been down upon him about his love of 
 money, and this weighs so much upon his 
 mind that I could hardly get him to accept 
 a trifle from me just now. I feel to owe him 
 something for " 
 
 ** What business has Miles to interfere
 
 i^o GranthafJi Secrets. 
 
 about old Gilling ? Why cannot he let him 
 alone ? J suppose he wants to gain a 
 character for benevolence with the vicar," 
 thought Margaret, charitably, as she moved 
 aside, out of hearing, and then her thoughts 
 returned to her own heart's trouble. 
 
 The next day old Gilling took to his 
 work again. He talked to Margaret, as 
 usual, about his garden concerns, carried 
 about with him his wonted expression of 
 countenance, and appeared to have buried 
 in some secret corner of his being both his 
 grief and the burden that had seemed to be 
 troubling his conscience. 
 
 ''Parson cheered him up a bit," said Joe, 
 in answer to Margaret's inquiry. *' He has 
 a cheerful way with him, and he told father 
 as he'd best let things 'bide as they were, 
 and not be bothering hisself. So he's 
 seemed more natural, like, since, as if he'd 
 sort of put a cloud away from him. I heerd 
 him a-muttering as parson must know best, 
 and likely mother' d know better than she 
 did now, and would see as things as has 
 been done couldn't be undone all in a
 
 Grantham Secrets, 151 
 
 minute, partic'ler where there's other people 
 to think of besides oneself. I don't know 
 what it's all about, Miss Margaret, and I 
 ain't going to trouble myself to find out. 
 It ain't no business of mine, so that I sees 
 father sort of like his natural self again, and 
 taking heart a bit, before I leaves him." 
 
 Neither, Margaret thought, was it any 
 business of hers ; and she soon let the 
 matter pass away from her remembrance.
 
 152 Gra7ithani Secrets. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Life in Darlingster and its neighbourhood 
 now went quietly on, without much outward 
 stir or change. Joe's leave of absence from 
 service came to an end. Gilling gradually 
 subsided into his old accustomed placid 
 self, — -an indefatigable, energetic gardener, 
 who might have been supposed never to 
 have known grief or anxiety,- excepting such 
 as bore reference to the shrubs and plants 
 amidst which he moved and worked. — Miles 
 Grantham left the Hall. Alice Craycroft's 
 almond-shaped eyes grew more pensive. 
 Summer days gradually waned away into 
 autumn ones. Picnics and lawn dances 
 ceased. The postman still paced daily 
 backwards and forwards between Darling- 
 ster and Grantham, but brought no letter 
 that materially affected the current of ex-
 
 Grantham Secrets. 153 
 
 istence at the Hall or at The Cottage. Mrs. 
 Willoughby continued to be troubled by 
 headache, to be regularly more or less 
 languid, and nervously irritable, in the 
 mornings, to be irregularly excited into 
 energy by some whim or fancy, towards 
 the end of the day. And Margaret was 
 guietly learning to adapt herself to the 
 alteration which a few summer weeks had 
 wrought in her own individual inner life. 
 Little difference was marked in her by 
 others. She read, worked, drew, played, 
 attended tenderly upon her mother, visited 
 the poor, laughed and talked, and rambled 
 about the woods, just as she had done 
 before. Perhaps she now preferred those 
 employments which occupied her hands, 
 and left her thoughts free. Perhaps she 
 oftener now appeared to be in a hurry to 
 shut up her book and wander restlessly out 
 of doors. Perhaps Lady Grantham would 
 oftener have occasion to remark, disapprov- 
 ingly,— 
 
 ** My darling, you look fagged ; you tire 
 yourself to death with those everlasting
 
 154 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 poor people. I must really send for Miles, 
 to beguile you on to ' Hero's ' back ! " 
 
 Or Sir John Grantham would vex her by 
 looking- at her anxiously, and then saying, 
 lightly,— 
 
 '* She is getting *pale and interesting,' 
 this girl ! Mrs. Willoughby ; you will have 
 to send her away into the gay world, to 
 bring back some roses." 
 
 Or, worst of all, Mrs. Willoughby -herself 
 would distress her, by exclaiming peevishly,^ — 
 
 *' My dear Margaret, it is all very well 
 to be benevolent ; but you appear to me to 
 have taken up your abode in the village for 
 good and all, and to have forgotten that 
 home duties come .first ! I wanted some 
 lavender drops this morning, but there was 
 no one to fetch them for me, and my head 
 was so bad that I could not get up from the 
 sofa to ring the bell for Jane." Or, ** I 
 am not complaining, my dear, but I should 
 like to have you a little more with me! " 
 Or it might be, " My love, you are looking 
 very sentimental ; I wish I could see you 
 improving your mind a little more. You
 
 Grantham Secrets, 155 
 
 seem quite to have given up working at your 
 history or German ! " 
 
 But, on the whole, they let the girl go 
 pretty much her own way, and saw little 
 reason to disturb themselves about her at 
 present. There were times when her high 
 animal spirits got the better of all else, and 
 her natural merriment was free and unre- 
 strained. And at those other times, when 
 her heart was weary of present things, and 
 was dejected through regretful wanderings 
 into the happy past, there was no one to see 
 the pathetic expression of hopeless longing 
 that would steal over her face, while her eyes 
 seemed to be gazing far, far away into the 
 indefinite, as though in search of something 
 which they might never find. But there 
 were better, truer times than these. There 
 were moments when the indefinite was 
 changed into the infinite, where the eyes of 
 her imagination seemed to find a bright and 
 peaceful resting-place. There she saw 
 visions of that which was and was to be, 
 and heard angel-whisperings, which assured 
 her that ' love which knows no earthly
 
 156 Grantha77i Secrets. 
 
 close' may obtain in a pure and immortal 
 world full and unceasing satisfaction. 
 
 From the heights of her pure dreamland, 
 she sometimes came down to common life, 
 with her countenance transfigured into a 
 strange beauty, which, if Sir John Grantham 
 chanced to come across her, caused him to 
 glance at her with uneasy admiration. 
 ** She looks as if she were ready for her 
 wings," he would say to himself, and were 
 about to fly away up there, where the other 
 bright ones are gone to, out of my dull sight ! ' ' 
 
 Margaret's inner life, however, was not 
 all made up of sad musings and bright 
 imaginings. Sorrow such as hers stirs up 
 the mind to its depths, and sets to work a 
 thousand dark and difficult questions. Who 
 was to answer these questions for the lonely 
 girl ? Who was to bring back to her her 
 former careless and contented trust in things 
 which had been to her as a distant prospect, 
 adding, by its vague and shadowy beauty, 
 to the pleasure of her bright and happy 
 life? There was no one to whom she 
 could speak, — no one who could answer
 
 Grantham Secrets. 157 
 
 these ' infant cryings in the dark ! ' — no 
 one but the One who finally replied to 
 Job : the One who at once justified and re- 
 proved him for his complaints, who touched 
 him with the reality for which he had craved, 
 and made him understand the secret work- 
 ings of His just and loving might, amidst the 
 seeming success of injustice, pain, and evil. 
 Perhaps he would also bring relief to this 
 poor desolate child. Perhaps He, Who, in 
 spite of His love and power, had suffered 
 her to feel the bitter pain of human loss and 
 absence, and had permitted it to arouse that 
 bitterest agony, the dread lest Divine love had 
 no existence in reality, — perhaps He would 
 Himself bring the blessed remedy. Perhaps 
 in His answer, and in the touch of his loving 
 hand, she would learn that, amidst all uncer- 
 tainties. He, at least, was sure, — He at least 
 understood the peculiarities of her trouble, 
 — that He was her Guide, and the Guide of 
 her absent friend, — that, amidst the dark and 
 evil deeds that others were working in the 
 world. He was working good, — that, amidst 
 her own mistakes and follies. He was work-
 
 15S Grantham Secrets. 
 
 ing wisdom. Perhaps when things seemed 
 darkest for herself and others, she would still 
 hear his voice telling her that ' good ' would 
 be the ' final goal of ill.' 
 
 As has been said, her great relief, when 
 oppressed by restless longings, was in active 
 work. The mere movement, the having 
 something to do that had no reference to her 
 trouble, and that yet did not force her 
 thoughts away from it, soothed her in spite 
 of herself. Then while she was passing 
 from cottage to cottage, certain familiar 
 words suddenly darted into her mind, with a 
 new and sweet meaning. ' Be ye steadfast, 
 unmovable, always abounding in the work 
 of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that 
 your work is not in vain in the Lord.' This 
 last verse of the lesson in the Burial Service 
 had caught her wandering attention on the 
 day of old nurse's funeral, and had seemed 
 to her to give but cold and dreary comfort. 
 **Work, lonely work! How was it to be 
 borne ! What good was there in it ? " So 
 had she, wearily, rather felt than thought ! 
 For all life at the moment had appeared
 
 Grantharn Secrets, 159 
 
 to her sinking heart to be nothing better 
 than a useless blank. But now, with the 
 remembrance of the words, there seemed 
 to come to her a mysterious touch, as it were, 
 from afar, to tell her that her work was not 
 in vain, — to tell her that it was done in unison 
 with one at a distance, and was linking her 
 life with his in the unseen eternal world. In 
 fancy she saw again the steadfast, earnest 
 look that had thrilled through her, as though 
 it had been the gaze of a prophet who was 
 rapt into the Invisible, and was hearing *the 
 message that called him to fulfil a noble 
 mission. 
 
 Again she seemed to perceive, as though 
 for the first time, that this seer was godlike ; 
 and, as though inspired by him with redoubled 
 strength, she went about her work with fresh 
 life and energy. Must she be accused of 
 idolatry and earthly motive ? If it were so, 
 at least her thought was pure and unworldly, 
 and was leading the way to a higher and 
 holier sense of spiritual union with One un- 
 seen. And gradually she lost herself in the 
 interests and concerns of others. The sym-
 
 i6o Grantham Secrets. 
 
 pathy which had been somewhat forced and 
 absent, grew to be hearty and genuine. 
 
 Her chief interest was poor little Jack; 
 but it was an interest which was slowly fad- 
 ing away from her, with the poor little boy's 
 feeble life. Day by day he grew thinner, 
 the lines about his face became sharper, his 
 eyes grew larger and brighter, his breathing 
 became weaker and more painful. But the 
 winter went by, and left him still alive ; the 
 bleak winds of March, the April showers, 
 and the May blossoms came and went, and 
 left him lingering still. And it was not until 
 the hot days of August drew round again 
 that the messenger called him, and he passed 
 away. 
 
 Poor little Jack ! Unconsciously, he had 
 done a work in his short life. He had 
 soothed, softened, and strengthened one in 
 great distress. He had been to her as an 
 angel from the far-away world of her love. 
 He had given her tangible proof, if proof 
 were needed, that he whom she loved best 
 in the world had a good, and gentle, and 
 noble heart. It was a proof which she could
 
 Grantham Secrets. i6i 
 
 bring- forward, she liked to think, if others 
 chose to dispute the fact. Therefore, al- 
 though little Jack may have been an unim- 
 portant mover in the scenes of Margaret 
 Willoughby's life, it would be ungrateful 
 and unfair to leave him altogether out of its 
 story. Each day throughout the autumn on 
 which Margaret had gone to visit the sick 
 boy, he had asked, — 
 
 ** Have you heard from Mr. Meredy ? Is 
 he coming? " 
 
 And long after Margaret had ceased 
 expecting to hear or see anything of her 
 friend, the child had continued to ask the 
 same question. 
 
 *'Not yet^ Jack," she had answered, — 
 *' not yet; we must be patient. God wall 
 let him come to us in good time." 
 
 But as the boy's end had seemed to be 
 drawing nearer, Margaret's reply had be- 
 come different. 
 
 *' Perhaps, Jack," she had answered, often 
 with a choking voice — ''perhaps you will 
 find him where you are going." 
 
 And then Jack's face had brightened, and 
 
 VOL. I. I I
 
 1 62 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 he had talked eagerly of all that he would 
 do in the fair home to which he was going, 
 — how he would teach the *' angel*children '' 
 to love Mr. Meredy as he did, and would 
 sing songs with them about the kind things 
 that the good gentleman had done for him 
 when he was on earth. For Margaret had 
 told the boy many an "angel story," and 
 had tried to make the mysterious land to 
 which he was hastening seem to him real, 
 and bright, and loving, that he might not 
 fear to find himself a stranger there. But 
 tremblingly and sadly had she listened to 
 his gentle talk. Oh, that she, too, might go ! 
 —that she, too, might pass away into that 
 pure and loving home, — that she might find 
 him there, at rest ! So had she sometimes 
 wearily sighed. At last, one day, — it was a 
 day in August, a burning day, with scarcely 
 a breath of air, the gardens brilliant with 
 flowers, the corn-fields rich with their golden 
 harvest, the world looking beautiful and 
 happy, — Margaret was on her way to the 
 death-bed of little Jack. A thousand 
 thoughts were busy in her mind. A thou-
 
 Graiitham Secrets, 16.3 
 
 sand feelings were making her heart beat 
 quickly, and were half dimming her eyes. 
 A thousand voices seemed to be whispering 
 to her, through the still atmosphere, of by- 
 gone days, and scenes of the past rose up 
 vividly before her eyes. It was the anniver- 
 sary of the day on which she had last seen 
 Charles Meredith ! Should she ever see 
 him again on earth ? She seemed to be 
 with him in spirit, as she entered Jack's sick 
 room. She found the dying child changed 
 indeed, — but with his face not one whit the 
 less bright than it had been in his stronger 
 days ; it even almost seemed to her, as she 
 looked at it, to be shining with a strange 
 unearthly light. 
 
 *' Miss Marget," he said, none the less 
 eagerly for the painful gasps which inter- 
 rupted his speech — '' Miss Marget, I've 
 been a-thinking, — seems to me as I'm a' most 
 sure to find Mr. Meredy there, for you says 
 as it's because Jesus loves me, as He's 
 coming to fetch me, and I don't think as He 
 could have done without Mr. Meredy all this 
 time ! It's been bad enough for me, but it
 
 164 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 won't matter soon. Don't you think as He 
 must have got him there by this time? " 
 
 The question was asked wistfully, and 
 with a momentary touch of painful doubt. 
 And Margaret checked her fast-rising tears, 
 and smiled a smile which might have been 
 caught from the world to which Jack was 
 hastening, and tenderly touched the little thin 
 cold hand and whispered soothingly, '' He 
 will make it all right for you, dear." 
 
 Then Jack looked quite happy again. 
 
 " I'll tell Him about you. Miss Marget," 
 he said ; ''I'll tell Him as you talked about 
 Him, and how good you was, and as you'll 
 come soon. I'll tell them both about you." 
 And for the moment Margaret was able to 
 enter fully into his gladness, and it almost 
 seemed to her that she was being drawn 
 with him into a heaven such as children 
 ween of, ' behind the veil, behind the 
 veil.' 
 
 As he finished speaking, he sank back, 
 and weariedly closed his eyes, and with a 
 happy smile upon his face he fell into a half- 
 conscious doze. From time to time he
 
 Grantham Secrets, 165 
 
 murmured, now the name of Mr. Meredith, 
 then a holier name, and it seemed as if the 
 two were confused together in his mind. 
 Margaret remained in the still room for a 
 few minutes, and then took her leave, while 
 the little boy's mother and sister sat by the 
 bedside, to watch for the end. And so 
 Margaret had looked her last on the little 
 angel-face, and had lost what had seemed 
 to her the only outward thing that had 
 formed for her, as it were, a link with him 
 who was far away. Musing sadly, *she 
 turned from the village into the churchyard, 
 and seated herself beneath the old yew tree. 
 From her quiet corner, where she was herself 
 safe from observation, she saw villager after 
 villager trudge by, — for the church3'ard was 
 a thoroughfare, — and presently old Gilling 
 entered from the field in which his cottage stood. 
 As he passed on his way to his wife's grave, 
 he seemed lost in thought, while thrusting 
 his hand into his pocket, as though to 
 make sure that some treasure there was 
 safe, — 
 
 *'Ah," he said to himself, *'she didn't like
 
 i66 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 him — she didn't like him ; as for that, like is 
 like, and gold isgold. It ben't them as is liked 
 as does you the most good ; and Mr. Miles is 
 good to Joe, and we'll a' most make a gentle 
 man of the lad maybe, in time. I han't forgot 
 my promise to the old woman, neither, but the 
 time for keeping of it ben't come yet; and 
 she'll be wiser where she be's now: knows 
 as it ain't no use making a to-do, to do no 
 good to nobody. 'Tain't for myself — 'tain't 
 for myself. I don't want to do nothing with 
 it for myself; but it is comfortable, like, to 
 know that it is all safe for the lad. Any one 
 likes to feel as he's got a bit of his own, if 
 he didn't a-bring it into the world with him, 
 and can't a-take of it away with him. Well, 
 my time '11 come, I suppose, like the rest; 
 but I'm hale and hearty yet, and seems in 
 hopes as I've got a good many years afore 
 me, and a deal of flowers to look after, afore 
 I has to be put in the coffin. I wish I could 
 bring the old woman back again, though ! 
 Ah, times is changed, times is changed, 
 since we come along and went through that 
 there door for to be married ! We was very
 
 Grantham Secrets. 167/ 
 
 comfortable, for all she worrited me about 
 the money and that." 
 
 Here again thrusting his hands into his 
 pockets, old Gilling retraced his steps across 
 the field to his cottage.
 
 1 68 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 It was time for Margaret, also, to return 
 home, but she waited, watching, until the 
 old man's slow footsteps had borne him out 
 of her sight. She watched him, with curious 
 wondering thoughts. She had only been an 
 involuntary hearer of a word or two, here and 
 there, where he had muttered his thoughts 
 audibly; but the pre-occupied expression 
 of his face, and his attitude as he bent over 
 his wife's grave, had brought back to her his 
 strange behaviour at the time of the old 
 woman's death, and her own passing wonder 
 and curiosity. But she was soon engrossed 
 again by her sorrowful and yet peaceful 
 musings, and as she took her way home 
 by the fields, she was careful to keep her 
 distance from the gardener's house, being 
 in no mood for conversation with him. She 
 was not to escape, however, so easily.
 
 Grantham Secrets, 169 
 
 **Miss Marget," called the old man, 
 from his garden gate — *' Miss Marget, be 
 that you ? I've a bit o' news for yer." 
 
 ** Have you, Gilling ? " replied Margaret, 
 drawing nearer, and speaking with assumed 
 interest. **I am afraid, though, that I must 
 not stop to hear it, for I am rather in a 
 hurry." 
 
 ** Be you on your way home? You'll 
 find company there. There's been an arrival. 
 Miss Marget," said the old man, with a 
 cunning wink and a pleased smile, intended 
 to enhance the excitement of suspense in 
 his hearer's mind. 
 
 Suddenly a wild hope, an expectation, — 
 which, seen through her imagination, ap- 
 peared almost like certainty, — rushed into her 
 heart, and agitated her almost beyond 
 control. 
 
 **We do not expect any one. Who can 
 have come? One of my uncles?" she 
 managed to say. 
 
 " Better nor that," returned the old man, 
 slowly shaking his head. ** Can't you guess, 
 Miss Marget ? Well, then, I must tell you,
 
 lyo Grantham Secrets. 
 
 I suppose. Who should it be but Mr. 
 Miles, to be sure ? — come down to the Hall, 
 but didn't stay a minute there, — was down 
 at The Cottage all in such a hurry and fuss 
 as never was, — stays for a word with me, 
 though, but I sees as he's a-d3nng to get to 
 the house, and says I to myself, ' I know 
 who he's a-come after ! ' He left me in a 
 pretty hurry, and I hear tell as he asked to 
 see missis very partic'ler. You'll find him 
 there now, if you be quick." 
 
 '* Quick?" Poor Margaret! Would it 
 be possible for her ever to be quick again ? 
 The sudden revulsion of feeling had seemed 
 in a moment to take all life and spirit out of 
 her. A sense of faintness came over her, 
 and she would have fainted away if strong 
 desire had not given her strength to resist. 
 
 ''What's the matter. Miss Marget?" 
 said the old man, his tone changed to one 
 of alarm. " You was all in a flush a 
 moment ago, and now you looks like to 
 die!" 
 
 *'I am tired, Gilling," answered Mar- 
 garet, forcing a smile. '* Give me a glass
 
 Grantham Secrets. 171 
 
 of water, please, and then I must make 
 haste home." 
 
 ** There, there, sit ye down, and rest a 
 bit. Miss Marget, for you don't look fit to 
 walk home." 
 
 But Margaret was soon on her legs again, 
 and strong for the walk, trying to laugh at 
 herself for her folly, and grumbling, men- 
 tally, at the annoying news she had re- 
 ceived ; which, after all, however, she 
 thought, did not much signify. Things 
 were simply as they had been, neither better 
 nor worse, only she had made a fool of 
 herself for a moment. At the garden 
 entrance she met Jane, who exclaimed, as 
 she held the gate open, — 
 
 '* Why, Miss Margaret, what is the 
 matter ? You look as if you'd seen a ghost, 
 or was one yourself Your mamma sent me 
 to look for you. She thought as you was 
 never coming, and was afraid as you might 
 have fallen in with tramps, or something. 
 She wished me to tell you to go to her 
 directly you come." 
 
 ** Has she been wanting me?" asked
 
 172 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 Margaret. I'm not so very late, am 
 
 *'You forget, miss, how nervous your 
 mamma is," answered Jane, reproachfully. 
 
 '' I never knew her to get nervous because 
 I did not come in till seven o'clock before !" 
 thought Margaret. And she went into the 
 drawing-room, quite prepared to find her 
 mother in a very unusual state of mind. 
 
 '' My dear Margaret, what have you been 
 about all this time?" was Mrs. Wil- 
 loughby's greeting. I was beginning to 
 get quite anxious. 
 
 ** I am very sorry mamma, but — why ? 
 Am I very late ? What is it ? Have you 
 been wanting me ? Has anything hap- 
 pened? Is anything the matter?" asked 
 Margaret. 
 
 *' Sit down, my dear child," replied her 
 mother, in an evident fluster of nervous 
 excitement. ** I have a great deal to say to 
 you. Some one has been here, — I shall 
 leave you to guess who, — some one who 
 loves you very dearly. He has been talk- 
 ing about you, but I shall not tell you what
 
 Grantham Secrets, 173 
 
 he said. He must plead his own cause with 
 you to-morrow ; he has my free permission. 
 Oh, Margaret, what a noble heart you have 
 won ! You surely will not trifle with it any 
 longer ! " 
 
 "What do you mean, mother?" cried 
 Margaret flushing up and speaking rather 
 indignantly. ** Has Miles dared, — after all 
 that I said to him last year, — after " 
 
 ** He told me of his conversation with you 
 last year, my dear," interrupted her mother. 
 *' He owns that he was too precipitate. He 
 owns that his strong feeling led him to be 
 unjust to you." 
 
 ** * Unjust ' ! Oh, mother, if you could have 
 known the way he spoke, ^ — if you could have 
 seeii and heard all, you would never wish 
 me to speak to him again ! " 
 
 *' My dear child, this is folly. You must 
 make allowance for lovers' feelings. Every- 
 thing is fair in love and war, you know," 
 returned her mother, with a little irritating 
 laugh, which almost drove Margaret out of 
 her mind. 
 
 '* Mamma, please don't talk in that way,
 
 174 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 she said, pleadingly; ** I cannot bear it. It 
 has been so sad this afternoon, because of 
 poor little Jack, — and I am so tired ! May 
 we please talk no more about Miles to- 
 night? " 
 
 You are very ungrateful," returned her 
 mother, querulously, ""^very ungrateful ! 
 You little know," she continued, with a 
 somewhat tragic air — '* you little know 
 what he has borne for your sake during 
 the past year ! — how he has striven with 
 himself, — how, during his flying visits to 
 the Hall, he has refrained from utter 
 ing a word of love to you ! — how, at the 
 risk of breaking his heart, he has let his 
 devotion flow silently on, all that he might 
 keep his promise to you ! He hoped that 
 you would appreciate this conduct, that, at 
 at least, he might have won something of 
 your regard ; he hoped he read approval in 
 your countenance ! But it seems he is to 
 be disappointed, that all his pain and self- 
 denial are to go for nothing ! " 
 
 "All this is humbug!" cried Margaret, 
 half under her breath. "It is hardly a
 
 G>a?iiham Secrets. 175 
 
 year ! " she went on, aloud, '' since he gave 
 his promise, — I don't consider that he has 
 kept it properly. And if he had a grain of 
 wisdom in his composition, he would know 
 that there was no chance of my ever learning 
 to like him." 
 
 *' Then you mean to break his heart ! You 
 mean to break all our hearts ! You don't 
 care what you make your mother suffer, so 
 that you may get your own way. Oh, 
 Margaret! Margaret! have you no sym- 
 pathy, no heart, no " 
 
 Here Mrs. Willoughby leaned back in 
 her easy chair, and subsided into hysterical 
 sobbing. In a moment Margaret was by 
 her side. 
 
 ** Mother, dear mother, — mother, darling, 
 don't, please don't ! I can't bear to vex you. 
 I would do anything to please you, — you 
 know I would. But — but you don't under- 
 stand. Let us talk about this another time ! ' ' 
 
 The eaii-de- cologne and camphor julep 
 and salts were brought into requisition, and 
 by degrees Mrs. Willoughby was restored to 
 something like composure.
 
 176 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 '"' Well, my dear/' she said, more cheer- 
 fully and more kindly, ** I dare say you will 
 see things very differently to-morrow, when 
 you have had a good night's rest. I don't 
 wonder at your having been a little taken by 
 surprise. Run away now, darling, and get 
 ready for tea, and then you shall tell me 
 about all you have been doing." 
 
 "And you are better, mother dear? I have 
 not made your head really worse?" said 
 Margaret, tenderly. 
 
 But she knew that her mother would 
 suffer the next morning for the evening's 
 excitement and agitation of which she had 
 been the unwilling cause, and weary, heavy- 
 hearted, remorseful, and indignant, she went 
 her way in obedience to her mother's 
 behests. 
 
 *' How is it to end?" she asked herself, 
 hopelessly. *' Shall I kill mamma if I refuse 
 to have anything to say to that odious 
 humbug? Something, surely, must turn 
 up to n)ake things right! "
 
 Granthain Secrets, 177 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The night had passed. The hour at which 
 Mrs. Willoughby had hoped that her 
 daughter would **see things differently'' 
 had arrived. Miles Grantham had paid 
 an early visit to The Cottage, and had 
 done Margaret the honour to ask her to 
 be his wife. The honour had not been 
 accepted. And the heir of Grantham Hall 
 was standing outside the door of The Cot- 
 tage, a disappointed, sore, and indignant 
 man. All his precautions, all his prudence, 
 all his good behaviour, had been thrown 
 away. He had gone into Margaret's pre- 
 sence armed with her mother's favour. He 
 had put on a modest demeanour. He had 
 avoided all those looks and tones which 
 he knew to be hateful to her, and had 
 been in his manner at once straightforward, 
 earnest, and gentle. And yet, — she had 
 VOL. I. 12
 
 178 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 refused him point-blank ! He lingered for 
 a moment with his hand on the door, as 
 though half in doubt as to whether the 
 battle were indeed yet lost, and then, with 
 a gesture of contempt, he turned away, 
 hurried along the Darlingster road, and 
 presently stopped short on the threshold 
 of a large and handsome house, where he 
 knew that he should find consolation of a 
 kind very dear to his vain spirit. 
 
 Margaret, meanwhile, sat gravely thought- 
 ful in the drawing-room of The Cottage. 
 She felt not the least touch of pity for her 
 rejected suitor ; not the faintest shadow 
 of tender or friendly regret that it was not 
 in her power to grant him the boon that 
 he had asked of her; not the smallest 
 particle of gratitude or gratification on ac- 
 count of the honour that had been done to 
 her. Her answer had been polite, prompt, 
 and decided. But now that Miles was no 
 longer present, her thoughts reverted anxi- 
 ously to her mother, — her poor mother, who 
 was laid up with one of her worst head- 
 aches, who was a martyr to every variety
 
 Grantham Secrets. 179 
 
 of nervous depression ! — She would gladly 
 have been able to soothe and please her, 
 by bringing the intelligence for which she 
 longed so eagerly, and instead of this she 
 must carry to her news that would jar upon 
 her nerves, add to her pain, disappoint and 
 fret her, and perhaps do her serious injury ! 
 How should she do it ? Would it not have 
 been better to have done violence to her 
 feelings by promising to marry the man she 
 loathed than to have to be thus cruel to her 
 invalid mother ? At least she was deter- 
 mined to postpone the evil day. She would 
 go off for a long ramble, leaving her mother 
 undisturbed until she was better fitted to 
 bear the news for which she would certainly 
 ask at the very earliest opportunity. She 
 glided lightly upstairs to prepare for her 
 walk; not so lightly, however, but that her 
 mother heard the gentle rustle of her dress : 
 and before she had reached her own room 
 a door was opened, a head thrust out, and 
 in shrilly-excited tones a voice called, " Mar- 
 garet, Margaret, come here, my dear ! I want 
 you, — I want to speak to you ! "
 
 i8o Grantham Secrets, 
 
 There was nothing for it but to obey. 
 
 '*What is it, mother, darling?'' said Mar- 
 garet, trying to speak naturally, and feeling 
 smitten with remorse as she gazed at Mrs. 
 Willoughby's pallid face, heavy eyes, and 
 nervously twitching lips. ^^ Please lie down 
 again. You should not have called for me 
 yourself; why didn't you ring the bell, and 
 send for me through Jane ? " 
 
 *' I didn't want Jane," replied her mother, 
 excitedly. ** I wanted you. I want to know 
 all that has passed between you and Miles 
 this morning? " 
 
 "Miles?" returned Margaret, while she 
 arranged her mother's pillows, and saw her 
 settled on the bed. *' Miles ? Oh, you 
 heard the door bell, then ? Yes, he has 
 been here this morning ; but I thought I 
 would tell you all about it by-and-by, when 
 you are better. It will take so long, and 
 you ought to be asleep, and I have things 
 to do out of doors. Please, mother, let 
 us talk about it comfortably, by-and-by, 
 this evening, after tea ? " 
 
 *' Do you think I could get to sleep with
 
 Grantham Secrets. i8i 
 
 my mind in this state of suspense ? " said 
 Mrs. Willoughby. ** What nonsense, Mar- 
 garet ! Why can't you tell me at once 
 what answer you have given to him ? " 
 
 ** Oh, mother, I wish I could make you 
 know that he is not the good and delight- 
 ful person he pretends to be ! I wish I 
 could teach you to hate him, as I do ! 
 Darling, I would do anything to please 
 you but this ! Oh mother, if you could 
 but know what a detestable, odious hum- 
 bug he is ! " 
 
 ** Margaret, be quiet ! " screamed her 
 mother; "I won't have you speak another 
 word until you can speak more properly. 
 How dare you use such language about 
 a man who has done you the greatest 
 honour that a man can do to a woman ! A 
 man, too, who could have any woman he 
 chose, all over the world, only for the ask- 
 ing! " She paused, breathless. 
 
 **Then, mother," said Margaret, with a 
 laugh, ** he may the more easily console him- 
 self for my refusal of the offered honour ! " 
 
 *'You mean, then, to tell me that, know-
 
 1 82 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 ing my wishes, knowing all our wishes, 
 knowing all he has borne and done for 
 your sake, the consideration he has shown 
 to your feelings, the encouragement that 
 you have given to him, — you actually dare 
 to tell me that you have refused him al- 
 together, without giving him a hope, with- 
 out telling him that you will try to learn 
 to love him ? Margaret, I cannot believe 
 that you have been so cruel, so selfish, 
 so " 
 
 ** Mother, mother, you will hurt yourself, 
 you will make yourself ill ! Please, please, 
 don't ! If only you knew, you would not 
 say all this. Let us talk about it by-and- 
 by. Believe me I have given him no en- 
 couragement; if he told you I had, he — " 
 she left the sentence unfinished, and turned 
 away to the window to try to calm herself. 
 She wanted only to think of her mother, to 
 remember that she was ill and nervous, 
 and not responsible for the cruel and un- 
 just things that she had been saying; but 
 it was hard not to feel aggrieved and hurt ! 
 
 When she turned round again, Mrs.
 
 Grantham Secrets. 183 
 
 Wllloughby was sitting up, pressing one 
 hand tightly down on the top of her head, 
 and with the other clutching violently at 
 the bed-clothes ; and there was a look on 
 her face which startled Margaret, and put 
 everything but her mother's sufferings, for 
 the moment, out of her head. 
 
 *^ Mother dear, lie down and let me 
 bathe your forehead with eau-de-cologne^'' 
 she said, soothingly. 
 
 But her mother signed her away. 
 
 ** Go, Margaret, go,'' she exclaimed hy- 
 and-by, as Margaret continued to stand 
 looking on in helpless trouble. " Go, — I 
 am too ill to talk more now. Go, — you 
 little know how much you have caused me 
 to suffer ! " 
 
 ** Jane, you must go to mamma, please; she 
 is very ill," said Margaret, abruptly, to the 
 maid, on meeting her as she was leaving 
 her mother's room. 
 
 And then she went out on the lawn, and 
 walked about restlessly beneath the trees in 
 front, looking up, from time to time, at Mrs. 
 Willoughby's window, and, in her misery,
 
 184 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 almost feeling inclined to vow any acqui- 
 escence in her mother's wishes, if only she 
 might be cured of her sufferings, and would 
 once more be pleased with her, and let her 
 nurse and caress her as usual.
 
 Grantham Secrets. 185 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 And Miles? How was he bearing his 
 share of misery all this time ? How was he 
 continuing to endure the disappointment of 
 his life's best hopes ? It would seem that 
 he had found some one to help him to bear 
 his burden, — to soothe him under the severe 
 affliction which had befallen him ! At the 
 very moment when Margaret was out under 
 the trees, alone with her great distress and- 
 anxiety, he who had caused them was to be 
 seen sauntering slowly round a pleasant 
 garden, at the back of Elgin Villa, near 
 Darlingster, with a young lady whose name 
 was Alice Craycroft. He looked at her 
 tenderly. He spoke in low tones. And 
 although he made her the confidante of his 
 disappointed love, those looks and those 
 tones seemed to belie his tale of woe. And
 
 1 86 Grant ha?n Secrets, 
 
 Alice, for the time being, was blissfully 
 contented. It seemed to her that he was 
 saying,— 
 
 ** Circumstances have made it desirable 
 that I should marry Margaret Willoughby, 
 but my deepest affections are bestowed upon 
 you, and it is to you that I look for comfort 
 in my sorrow." 
 
 Not that he did say all this in so many 
 words ; but the momentary glances of his 
 dark eyes suggested a thousand unutterable 
 things, which Alice Craycroft's heart trans- 
 lated according to her own fond wishes. 
 And in truth Miles Grantham found the 
 society of this young lady fully as agree- 
 able as that of Margaret Willoughby. 
 Certainly she was not so clever, she was 
 not so well-bred, she was not so naive and 
 graceful, she was not, — Miles in short, might 
 have found a hundred negatives to the dis- 
 advantage of Alice Craycroft. But never- 
 theless, had the connection been equally good, 
 had the fortune been equally sure, had the 
 world smiled with equal approval on the one 
 as on the other, it is probable that Alice's
 
 Grantham Secrets. 187 
 
 wistful looks, confiding ways, and flattering 
 idolatry, would have gained a victory, and 
 that poor Margaret might have been spared 
 much worry, boredom, and more serious 
 trouble. But as matters stood, pretty Alice 
 Craycroft, with her vulgar relations and her 
 boarding-school manners, was not deserving 
 of a moment's serious thought on the part 
 of so important a person as the heir of 
 Grantham Hall. She might be put aside 
 with a sigh, but put aside she must be. 
 None the less for this, however, was. it 
 soothing to his vanity to be with her. 
 
 ** Then you will write to me ? You will not 
 forget your promise ? " he was saying now, 
 as the tcte-a-tite began to draw to a close ? 
 You will tell me all you can about her? " 
 
 *' I will not forget. I will see as much 
 of her as I can, — and I think, — I am almost 
 certain, — that I shall have good news to 
 send you," returned Alice, with a quiver in 
 her voice, and with the sensation of being 
 exceedingly generous and noble-minded, 
 very like the heroine of one of her favourite 
 novels. ** But, but have you quite made up
 
 1 88 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 your mind that it is best for you to go? 
 Perhaps if you were to stay, she might, — 
 oh, I am sure she could not help learning 
 to love you ! '' 
 
 He shook his head. **Ah, you do not 
 know her ! " he answered. ** Just now she 
 hates the very sight of me. No, I shall be 
 best away for the present. You judge 
 others by your own kind heart, Miss Cray- 
 croft!" She blushed and turned away. 
 The compliment was rather equivocal, but 
 the tone in which it was spoken, the look 
 with which it was accompanied, made it 
 thrill deliciously through Alice Craycroft's 
 sentimental soul. **But I shall come back 
 again, and perhaps try my luck once more, 
 one of these days," he went on, ** and 
 if she continues to be cruel, at least I shall 
 know where to come for comfort. Miss 
 Craycroft, how can I thank you enough for 
 all your kindness ! ' ' 
 
 He was holding her hand in his, as he 
 spoke, and for an instant his timid eyes 
 gazed tenderly into hers. 
 
 ** Good-bye, Miss Craycroft, good-bye, I
 
 Grantham Secrets, 189 
 
 shall hear from you soon ? '' he continued, 
 adding abruptly, as though with sudden 
 recollection, ** and you will remember to 
 tell me if that old fellow Gilling annoys 
 you again ? " 
 
 ^* Oh, he did not annoy me. I was not at 
 all frightened for myself. Only what he 
 said struck me as very strange, and I felt 
 as if I were living in a novel, and — and I 
 thought perhaps I had better tell you.'' 
 
 ** You were quite right, and I thank you 
 \ery much. Miss Craycroft. I know you 
 will kindly let it be a secret between you 
 and me ? Darllngster is such a gossiping 
 place, and I would not have it come to my^ 
 uncle's and aunt's ears for anything. It 
 might disturb them. It does not trouble 
 me in the least, but old people's minds are 
 more easily upset. Gilling has been very 
 strange for a long time. A year ago I 
 thought that there was a screw loose about 
 him, somewhere, and it is very evident to me 
 now that he is fast going out of his mind." 
 
 " Really ! " exclaimed Alice, with an air of 
 alarm.
 
 IQO Grantham Secrets. 
 
 *' Oh, you need not be frightened, Miss 
 Craycroft. There is no fear of his becom- 
 ing violent. But he must be watched. I 
 mean to keep an eye upon him, quietly. 
 And you will help me ? " 
 
 *' Oh, yes, yes," answered Alice eagerly. 
 *' It was yesterday, you say, that you saw 
 him, and that he said what you told me? " 
 
 "■ Yes ; I went to the cottage when it got 
 cool enough for walking, and when I knew he 
 would be back from his work. He began by 
 telling me that you had come, and how good 
 you had been to him, and then, — yes, certainly 
 I noticed that he got very odd and excited." 
 " Ah ! " returned Miles, thoughtfully, " I 
 see. I must be more careful ! Good-bye, 
 Miss Craycroft. I shall hope to hear soon, 
 then, good-bye," and so they squeezed 
 hands, and parted. 
 
 Alice watched him out of sight, the 
 delightful sense of being a mover in an 
 actual romance growing upon her as she did 
 so. She had often envied Margaret, but 
 she envied her no longer; she only pitied 
 her bad taste. ** He will awake from his
 
 Grantham Secrets. 191 
 
 dreams all in good time ! " she said to her- 
 self. *^ He will find out the meaning of his 
 tender feeling for me. And we shall laugh 
 together over his old fancied love for her. 
 Of course, though, I shall try to make 
 her love him. I must be generous, and 
 sacrifice my own feelings for their sakes, 
 if needful ! But I don't think, — I scarcely 
 think, — she can care for him. If she does, 
 if I sacrifice myself and bring them together, 
 I shall certainly go into a decline ! They will 
 watch me gradually fading away, and as sogn 
 as I am gone he will find out that it was me 
 whom he loved all the time ! Alas, poor Miles ! ' ' 
 
 The sad vision that she had conjured up 
 seemed so interesting, that for a few 
 moments she thought it would be almost 
 as good a reality as that of a happy mar- 
 riage. But those few moments past, her 
 fears of disappointment became very active. 
 
 **I think ril look in upon her this even- 
 ing," she thought, ** after he has left, and 
 find out what her feeling really is. And I'll 
 go and see that old man ; perhaps he will 
 say something more curious. It may be ne-
 
 ig2 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 cessary for me to write to Mr. Grantham 
 to-morrow;'' which delightful contingency 
 made Alice happy for the present. Miles had 
 for once spoken the truth when he had talked 
 of the gossiping tendencies of the people of 
 Darlingster. But he was not aware that in 
 all the neighbourhood no one loved gossip 
 better than Alice herself. Her soul delighted 
 in it, and with gossip as the object in view, 
 she was an indefatigable visitor, both of rich 
 and poor. She had had a double motive, 
 however, in visiting old Gilling on the pre- 
 vious afternoon. She had heard of Miles 
 Grantham's arrival at the Hall, and had 
 gone to see his protege, as she considered old 
 Gilling, in the hope of an encounter with 
 himself; or, failing this, on the chance of 
 learning something about him. It is possible, 
 also, that his meeting with the heir of Gran- 
 tham, accompanied with an order to go and 
 drink his health, may have had something to 
 do with the gardener's excitement and want 
 of reticence during her visit, and that Miles 
 may have been wise in his present resolution 
 to be more careful for the future. At all
 
 Grantham Secrets, 193 
 
 events, Alice had found little difficulty in 
 drawing Gilling into an engrossing gossip 
 about the Hall and its inhabitants, and he had 
 been considerably more gracious and more 
 confidential with her than was in accordance 
 with his usual noted reserve. 
 
 Her resolve to renew her visit to Grantham 
 that evening was carried out ; but with disap- 
 pointing results. The old gardener was 
 surly, and would not enlarge on any topic 
 that was brought forward. And if she did 
 get anything out of him in reference to 
 Grantham Hall, it was of a most matter-of- 
 fact and every-day nature, and seemed to 
 contradict his mysterious words of the even- 
 ing before. She almost began to think that 
 the revelation that had been made to her was 
 only part of a strange and unaccountable 
 dream, and that actual life was not so roman- 
 tic a thing as her impressions of the last 
 twenty-four hours had led her to hope. On 
 leaving Gilling, she went to The Cottage, 
 but was dismayed to learn that Mrs. Wil- 
 loughby was exceedingly ill, and that Miss 
 Willoughby could see nobody. 
 
 VOL. I. i.^
 
 194 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 We left Margaret anxiously looking up at 
 her mother's window, from beneath the trees 
 on The Cottage lawn. It seemed an end- 
 less watch. Half an hour or so went by, 
 and still Jane was to be seen gliding about 
 the bedroom or standing by the bedside. 
 Presently a bell rang, and soon afterwards 
 Margaret heard the hall-door being opened 
 and shut, and discovered that Jane was leav- 
 ing the sick room. She hastened indoors, 
 and upstairs, just as some one was being 
 ushered in to her mother. Then having 
 waylaid Jane, she was informed that Lady 
 Grantham was with Mrs. Willoughby. 
 
 *' Lady Grantham ! But mamma was not 
 fit to see any one ! '' exclaimed Margaret. 
 
 ** It was her wish, miss. I wasn't to say 
 anything to nobody. I was to send for Lady
 
 Grantham Secrets. 195 
 
 Grantham immediate. I don't know as it 
 will do any good, but the mischief is already 
 done." 
 
 "Mischief, Jane? What mischief? Is 
 there much the matter? " asked Margaret, 
 in alarm. 
 
 " I never see her so bad before ; I should 
 say some one had been bothering of her," 
 answered Jane, severely. 
 
 ** Had we not better send for Mr. 
 Thomas? " said Margaret. 
 
 ** It ain't doctors what' 11 do her any gopd, 
 miss ; it's some one what'll consider her feel- 
 ings, and not worrit her by their contrari- 
 ness." 
 
 ** I don't think you understand much about 
 it, Jane," replied Margaret, trying to assume 
 some dignity with her mother's confidential 
 maid. What has mamma been saying? " 
 
 " Enough to make me understand more 
 than you think, perhaps, Miss Margaret. 
 Any one as has got troubles and sufferings 
 must come out to some one as has feelings. 
 It's well for them if they've got ayiy one as 
 can sympathise with them ! Poor dear 
 
 .^^
 
 196 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 missis ! She does suffer terrible, to be 
 sure ! *' 
 
 ** What is that?" cried Margaret, sud- 
 denly. ** How odd mamma's voice sounds ! 
 Jane, do go in, and see if she is any worse." 
 
 *' Don't you fidget, Miss Margaret. I 
 know when to go in, and I ain't going to put 
 myself forward, until the time comes." 
 
 *'Then I shall go in," said Margaret. 
 
 ^' But this the autocrat of the bedchamber 
 peremptorily forbade ; and having thus as- 
 serted her self-importance, Jane hastened 
 without further delay, to Mrs. Willoughby's 
 room ; while Margaret stationed herself at 
 the door, and listened, in an agony, to groans 
 and rambling talk, and soothing replies. 
 
 Presently Jane came out, and said, 
 hurriedly, '* She's off her head, poor dear; 
 talks all of a incoherient fashion, what it's 
 awful to hear. Them as has done it has a 
 deal to answer for ! We must send for the 
 doctor immediate; but / can't leave her, 
 poor dear." 
 
 Margaret took the hint, and a messenger 
 was sent without delay into Darlingster for
 
 Grantham Secrets. 197 
 
 the doctor, who soon appeared, and pro- 
 nounced it to be a case of nervous fever. 
 He came out with Lady Grantham, looking 
 very grave; and Margaret felt two pairs of 
 eyes gazing reproachfully at her, while he 
 talked of "disturbing causes," **an excitable 
 nature," ** sensitive nerves," ** hysteria" and 
 so forth. 
 
 She could not have felt much more re- 
 morseful or miserable than she felt at that 
 moment had she known herself to have been 
 her mother's wilful murderer. What did it 
 matter to her that she had not intentionally 
 injured her mother, and that it had grieved 
 her to the heart to have to vex her ? She had 
 vexed her, she, her child, had been the cause 
 of her illness ! So she angrily told herself. 
 A thousand exaggerated fears came over her, 
 and when Lady Grantham returned to her 
 mother's room, she ran downstairs just in 
 time to catch the doctor before he went out 
 at the hall door. 
 
 ** Is mamma very ill, Mr. Thomas ? " she 
 asked, breathlessly. " Is there any danger? " 
 
 Perhaps an inkling of something allied to
 
 igS Grantham Secrets, 
 
 the true state of the case came to the good 
 man, as he looked at the eager face that was 
 anxiously raised to his. That noble brow, 
 those sweet eyes, and that tender mouth did 
 not look as if they ought to belong to a 
 vixenish and unmanageable daughter ! He 
 saw, at least, that she had been needlessly 
 alarmed, and he re-assured her with kindly 
 looks and words. 
 
 '* She must be kept very quiet. She must 
 not be annoyed or troubled in any way. 
 And then, with the help of your good nurs- 
 ing. Miss Willoughby, I hope we shall soon 
 see her herself again," were his last words. 
 
 Relieved and thankful, Margaret took her 
 way upstairs, and, in spite of Jane's forbid- 
 ding looks, dared to enter her mother's room. 
 ** I am going to stay here," she whispered, 
 seating herself in a low chair, at the head 
 of the bed, where she was hidden by the 
 curtain. *' Mr. Thomas says I may, so you 
 can go down and have your dinner, Jane." 
 
 *^ I ain't a-going to leave missis, Miss 
 Margaret. So it's no use your saying noth- 
 ing about it."
 
 Grantham Secrets. 199 
 
 ** Yes you are, Jane, and I'll be sure to 
 ring if we want anything.'' 
 
 So having delivered her soul of a protest, 
 Jane found it convenient to go. Then Lady 
 Grantham, looking at her watch, said she was 
 afraid she must not remain any longer, add- 
 ing, in a freezing tone, ** You will be sure to 
 let me know, Margaret, if your poor mamma 
 should be worse, if there should be any 
 change, or if she should ask for me ? And I 
 hope you will be careful not to disturb her 
 by any painful allusions. Mr. Thomas says 
 he will not answer for the consequences if 
 she is worried or thwarted in the slightest 
 degree. She seems to have fallen into a 
 doze now, — sleep is her best chance, but I 
 don't like her look at all." 
 
 With which cheering observation Lady 
 Grantham went away, and Margaret was left 
 to her own reflections. Amidst all her 
 anxiety and distress, she found herself 
 longing, more passionately than she had 
 ever longed before, for Charles Meredith. 
 If she might only see him for a moment, 
 tell him all about it, ask his advice and
 
 200 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 receive his sympathy, she thought she could 
 bear anything almost that might be about 
 to happen I If he would only come again, 
 her mother would see that he w^as sincere, 
 would soften towards him, would learn to love 
 him, and to hate Miles, would recover, and, 
 in short, all would be right ! In the quiet 
 of the sick room, Margaret almost dreamed 
 herself, for a while, back into happiness.
 
 Grantham Secrets, 201 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The world of Darlingster and its neighbour- 
 hood was very busy for a time with the 
 affairs of the inhabitants of Grantham 
 Cottage, in connection with Grantham Hall. 
 ** That flirt Margaret " came in for a large 
 share of blame. People talked of her ill- 
 treatment of Miles : of how she had given 
 him as much encouragement as it was pos- 
 sible for a girl to give, of how she had cast 
 her spells over him, drawing him away from 
 others, at whose feet he would otherwise 
 have thrown himself, — all for the sake of 
 feeding her own vanity. Some one even 
 hinted at mysterious reasons for this with- 
 drawal of her favour from Miles. And 
 there were not wanting those who ex- 
 pressed doubts as to whether it was, after 
 all, so certain as had been supposed that
 
 2 22 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 it was Sir John Grantham's intention to 
 leave the property to his nephew. In short, 
 a thousand extravagant notions were being 
 bruited about. But the more moderate 
 and sober-minded gossips put down these 
 rumours as the chimerical and romantic 
 fancies of an extreme party ; and were 
 content, for their part, with the belief that 
 Margaret's bad behaviour had almost broken 
 a good man's heart, and had well-nigh 
 driven a tender and solicitous mother out 
 of her mind or into her coffin. Many heads 
 were shaken over Mrs. Willoughby's illness. 
 Some doubted whether she would ever rise 
 from her bed again. Others declared it to 
 be impossible that her mind could ever 
 recover its proper balance. And it was 
 generally given out that she was laid up 
 with a severe attack of brain fever. 
 
 Margaret, meanwhile, had the satisfaction 
 of seeing her mother gradually improve in 
 health. She was soon able to sit up, and 
 before long Mr. Thomas pronounced her 
 to be convalescent. But, unfortunately, Mrs. 
 Willoughby's opinion did not tally with that
 
 Grantham Secrets, 203 
 
 of her doctor. And long after he had given 
 her permission to go out, and had assured 
 Margaret that there was no longer any cause 
 for anxiety, she considered herself to be 
 unfit to move from her room, and won- 
 dered that the doctor should be so foolish 
 as to pretend to think her better, when he 
 must know that she had come to a standstill, 
 and was not likely to recover even the little 
 strength that she had had before her terrible 
 illness. 
 
 Again and again the nervous invalid 
 almost succeeded in frightening her daugh- 
 ter out of her wits, and Margaret was hardly 
 reassured by the doctor's own assertion, — 
 which she wonderingly overheard one day, 
 when his tones were raised somewhat higher 
 than their wont, during a confidential conver- 
 sation with Jane, not far from her mistress's 
 door. 
 
 *' She might be as strong as anybody," 
 he said, ** if she chose ! She only wants to 
 recover her nervous energy, which she will 
 never do until she allows herself some fresh 
 air, and begins to exert herself a little."
 
 204 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 When Margaret went to her mother, with 
 some notion of cheering her up, with a 
 modification of the doctor's opinion, she 
 found her walking quickly about the room, 
 in great excitement, and with as much ease 
 as if she did not know what weakness 
 meant. She was crying and sobbing hys- 
 terically, and after a moment's pause of 
 dismayed astonishment, Margaret hastened 
 to give her a glass of camphor julep. But 
 she signed her away, 
 
 **No," she panted; ** no," — then came a 
 great gulp, — ** I don't want it, I don't 
 want anything. Let me die, and then you 
 will have no more trouble with me, and can 
 disobey my wishes as much as you like ! " 
 
 ** Mother dear, what in the world do you 
 mean ? Mr. Thomas says you are better, 
 and that it would do you good to go out. 
 He would laugh at the notion of your 
 dying." 
 
 To Margaret's surprise, this cheering 
 news only occasioned a fresh burst of tears. 
 
 " I see what it is, — I see what it is ! You 
 have been making out to Mr. Thomas that
 
 Grantham Secrets. 205 
 
 I give way, that I could do a great deal 
 more if I liked ; " so she jerked out, between 
 spasmodic attacks of weeping and panting. 
 *' He shall see, — he shall see ! I will exert 
 myself as much as you all wish, and it won't 
 matter if it kills me. You will be rid of the 
 trouble of me/' 
 
 ** Mother, darling, don't ! How can you 
 say such horrible things ? You know quite 
 well that I should not care for my life at 
 all if I had not you to think about. Do 
 lie down and rest ; you will wear yourself 
 out!" 
 
 " I am not going to lie down. I am 
 going out. Tell Jane to come and get my 
 walking things out for me. It is all very 
 well, Margaret, for you to call me darling, 
 and to pretend in words to be very affec- 
 tionate and dutiful. But you know well 
 enough that that will do me no good while 
 you continue obstinately determined to rebel 
 against my wishes. It all depends upon 
 you whether or not I regain my health 
 and strength. You know well enough what 
 caused my illness in the first instance ; and
 
 2o6 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 how do you think I am ever to get well 
 if my mind continues to be troubled and 
 harassed in the same manner? " 
 
 ** Mamma, you know that I long to please 
 you. I will try, indeed I will, to do all that 
 you wish," Here she paused abruptly, for 
 at the moment Jane entered. 
 
 *' Well, my dear child, we will talk about 
 this again by-and-by," said Mrs. Willoughby, 
 brightening up. And, her agitation some- 
 what calmed, she sank down in an easy chair, 
 nearly exhausted by her late unwonted efforts. 
 
 *' Mamma wants you to get her ready to go 
 out," said Margaret; ** but I think she ought 
 to rest and have a glass of wine before she 
 goes." 
 
 ** She ain't no more fit to go out and 
 walk nor a baby," said Jane; **I don't 
 care if a hundred doctors says she is." 
 But Mrs. Willoughby was bent on martyr- 
 dom. She would not even have a carriage. 
 She chose to go and walk herself tired, and 
 came in with a splitting headache. Then 
 in the evening she chose to agitate herself. 
 
 ** Margaret," she said, with startling
 
 Grantham Secrets, 207 
 
 suddenness, "will you promise to try to love 
 Miles Grantham ? " . 
 
 " Mamma dear ! '' cried Margaret, in dis- 
 mayed as astonishment. *' What can I say? 
 How can I try ? What can I do ? Let me 
 think over what you ask, and we can talk 
 about it another time. You must try to get 
 to sleep now ; Mr. Thomas likes you to go 
 to bed early.'* 
 
 ** I understand, I know ! " cried her mother, 
 shrilly. ** Very well, Margaret, deceive me 
 as you did before ! Make me ill again ! 
 Consult your own wishes before those of 
 your mother ! ' ' 
 
 ** Mother, darling, don't say such cruel 
 things," said Margaret, beseechingly. 
 **You know well enough how I love you. 
 It is only because you are tired that you 
 think so hardly of me." 
 
 ** Very well, very well, say no more about 
 it; I won't hear another word on the subject, 
 to-night ! Only, Mr. Thomas must know 
 what it is that retards my recovery, and 
 makes a slight exertion upset my nerves so 
 terribly. Oh, if you had ever felt such
 
 2o8 Grantha^n Secrets. 
 
 suffering as this!'* And she pressed her 
 hand on the top of her head, and closed her 
 eyes, and put on an expression of martyr- 
 like submission. In short, Mrs Willoughby 
 had made up her mind to resign herself to 
 interesting invalidism for the rest of her 
 life, unless, — unless she could have her own 
 way, — unless her present whim with regard to 
 her daughter could be satisfied ! She had 
 the satisfaction of finding herself much worse 
 the next morning. " Ah," she thought, ** Mr. 
 Thomas will have to own now that I am not fit 
 for the least exertion. He will see to-day how 
 really ill I am ! " And certainly he did find 
 her nervously feverish, and looking very un- 
 well. She was evidently suffering much. 
 
 *' Your orders was attended to, sir," said 
 Jane, in a tone of asperity. ** And missis 
 went out to walk yesterday. 
 
 ** You shouldn't have let her over do it," 
 retorted the doctor. 
 
 *^ Missis has such /^energy, you see, sir, it 
 ain't easy to keep her within bounds ! " 
 
 ** I find a very little knocks me up, at 
 present," said Mrs. Willoughby, languidly.
 
 Grantham Secrets. 209 
 
 '' You must go on, by degrees, doing a 
 little bit more each day," said the doctor. 
 "You are certainly not fit for anything to- 
 day but to lie still ; but I hope in a day 
 or two we may get you out on the lawn for 
 a few minutes' fresh air." 
 
 ** It ain't fresh air what missis wants," 
 said Jane, when, his say ended, she followed 
 the doctor to the door ; and a sob from the 
 bed at the same moment made both turn 
 round to look again at the invalid. " She've 
 a deal to trouble her," went on Jane, in a Iqw 
 tone, ** and them as does it has a deal to 
 answer for!" And then she added some- 
 thing in a whisper. 
 
 After his parley with the lady's-maid, Mr. 
 Thomas went to the drawing-room in search 
 of Margaret. 
 
 ** My dear Miss Willoughby," he said, 
 *' you really must take care not to agitate 
 your mamma in any way. Her nerves, as 
 you know, are not in a state to bear it. I 
 find her suffering very much to-day from 
 having been upset yesterday." 
 
 Margaret looked distressed. 
 
 VOL. I. 14
 
 2IO Grantham Secrets. 
 
 '' I know," she answered, *' and I thought 
 I had tried not to let her be worried. But I 
 am afraid I manage very badly.'* 
 
 *'You mean that she is easily disturbed and 
 distressed ? Or has she something especial 
 on her mind, which she cannot forget? " 
 
 His manner was so kind, so little imper- 
 tinent, as he asked these questions, that 
 Margaret felt half inclined to come out to 
 him with her troubles, and to ask his advice 
 and help. 
 
 '* I don't know what Lady Grantham and 
 our maid may have said to you," she 
 replied; ** but perhaps you ought to know 
 that their is something that is troubling 
 poor mamma. I have disappointed her 
 about something. I cannot quite explain it 
 to you, but, — I don't know how to help 
 vexing her without being untrue. And of 
 course now that she is so ill, she feels it 
 doubly." 
 
 ** It is very hard for you, my dear," said 
 Mr. Thomas ; ** but it is really of the utmost 
 importance that your mamma should not be 
 agitated at present. You must avoid the
 
 Grantham Secrets, 2i\ 
 
 painful subject as far as possible ; and you 
 must contrive to give In to her wishes just 
 now as much as you can." 
 
 ** More easily said than done ! '' Margaret 
 thought ; but the doctor was so serious, and 
 frightened her so much by the way In which 
 he talked of her mother's nervous state, and 
 the mental consequences to be feared If her 
 wishes were Injudiciously opposed, that she 
 resolved to exercise all the tact and Ingenuity 
 that she could command, to put her own 
 feelings on one side, let her mother feel 
 that she was studying hers, gain peace and 
 quiet for the present, and leave the future 
 to take care of Itself. 
 
 Meanwhile, In spite of the orders that he 
 had given, Mr. Thomas' sympathies were 
 with Margaret, and not with his patient ; 
 and as he left the house, he determined to 
 be on the look out, and to take good care 
 that the poor child was not bullied by that 
 weak and selfish mother, and her foolish 
 friends. But with all his good Intentions, 
 what could the kind-hearted man do to 
 help Margaret out of her troubles? Nothing
 
 2 1 2 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 as yet, at any rate. His advice was fol- 
 lowed. His patient got better. And all 
 for a time appeared to go smoothly. But 
 Margaret was still", secretly, often troubled, 
 anxious, and heavy-hearted.
 
 Grantham Secrets^ 213 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A DECIDED change for the better had been 
 effected in Mrs. Willoughby's health, and 
 it was Margaret who had applied the 
 remedy ! She had promised her mother 
 to bear again with the society and the 
 attentions of Miles Grantham, to permit 
 him to use every effort to win her, and even 
 to try to conquer her own seemingly un- 
 conquerable aversion. She had not stayed 
 to count the cost. The desire to save her 
 mother from farther pain, — the hope of seeing 
 her cheerful and well, — had been strong 
 enough to overcome all other thought and 
 feeling. So the weak and wilful woman was 
 able to victimise her loving child. A con- 
 versation between Lady Grantham and Mrs. 
 Willoughby had resulted in the despatch 
 of a letter to Miles, recalling him to Grant-
 
 214 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 ham. He had arrived. A series of little 
 parties had been instituted at the Hall. 
 Mrs. Willoughby had suddenly recovered 
 sufficient strength to enable her to enjoy 
 the pleasures of society up to a tolerably 
 late hour at night. And all went gaily as 
 a marriage feast. Even Margaret, — in spite 
 of the irksomeness of her position, as the 
 adored of Miles, in spite of her secret mis- 
 giving as to how the drama in which she 
 was taking a part was to end, — found the 
 relief from her late nightmare fears and her 
 past distress, on her mother's account, so 
 great, that it was very possible for her, also, 
 to be very heartily merry. Her mother 
 looked on approvingly, and for the present, 
 at least, her sacrifice was not without its 
 reward. She really succeeded in being 
 passably civil to Miles. And though the 
 unnecessary amount of languor and irritabi- 
 lity, and the persistent invalid habits, which 
 daylight always seemed to bring back to the 
 nervous patient, were somewhat trying to 
 her daughter, she bore all with as much 
 equaminity as possible, and really did her
 
 Grantham Secrets, 215 
 
 best to be amiable and cheerful. Only, 
 when the need for immediate effort was 
 over, and she was alone, — without excite- 
 ment, and without the eyes of a gossiping 
 world upon her, — she gave herself up to 
 perplexing and troublous thoughts, and 
 to sore longings, which seemed as if they 
 must have some result. 
 
 Again and again she echoed the question, 
 ** How is it all to end? '' ** I am a great 
 humbug," she thought to herself, — *' I am 
 a great humbug, I am afraid. For though 
 I certainly don't give Miles any encourage- 
 ment, I fear I am buoying mamma up with 
 hopes which can never be fulfilled, without 
 my becoming a worse humbug, and perhaps 
 breaking other hearts besides my own. How 
 will she bear the disappointment at last ! 
 and would any other heart be broken ^ 
 Does he care still " ? 
 
 A great leap at her heart would seem to 
 answer **Yes,'' and then her grave reflections 
 would often be concluded by a laugh, and a 
 declaration to herself that there was nothing 
 for it but putting on the spirit of a Micawber,
 
 2i6 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 and waiting, philosophically, for *' something 
 to turn up. ' ^ * ' Something surely, surely must 
 turn up ! It is impossible that we can go on 
 in this miserable manner for ever." Thus 
 her thoughts would often run, youthful hope 
 getting the better of gloomy forebodings. 
 But the winter came, without anything 
 *' turning up" to alter the current of Mar- 
 garet's life. There was the usual house-full 
 at the Hall, for Christmas. There were the 
 usual balls and dinner parties at Darlingster. 
 Miles Grantham continued to appear pecu- 
 liarly attentive to each young lady of the 
 neighbourhood, to be extraordinarily tender 
 to Alice Craycroft, and to be serious in his 
 devotion to Margaret Willoughby. He was 
 in no hurry to marry, and the present state 
 of affairs suited his inclinations remarkably 
 well ; especially as he agreed with Lady 
 Grantham that there could be no doubt 
 whatever of his final success. Margaret 
 continued to submit to Miles' persecution, for 
 her mother's sake, with as good a grace as 
 she could. And Mrs. Willoughby continued 
 to approve, complain, hope, and despair by
 
 Grantham Secrets, 217 
 
 turns, and, through all, to determine, strongly, 
 to have her own way, and to permit her 
 daughter to be happy in no other. 
 
 Spring came and went ; but the something 
 that was expected *' to turn up" might be 
 looked for in vain. 
 
 Summer arrived, and Mrs. Willoughby 
 showed visible signs of impatience, and even 
 threatened to invite the attack of another 
 nervous fever, if Margaret waited much 
 longer without throwing herself into the 
 arms of Miles Grantham. 
 
 Mr. Thomas was called in toward off, if he 
 could, the expected illness. But to Mrs. Wil- 
 loughby' s aggrieved surprise, he gave more 
 heed to Margaret's pale cheeks and looks of 
 weariness than he did to her own nervous 
 symptoms. Change of air was prescribed 
 for Margaret, and small attention paid to 
 her own protest that it was unnecessary, or 
 to her mother's declaration that she could 
 not stand the fatigue of travelling, and could 
 not possibly spare Margaret, now that she 
 was on the verge of a feverish illness. 
 
 ** It was a cruel world," Mrs. Willoughby
 
 2i8 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 thought, ** a cruel and unsympathizing 
 world ! '' All her objections were beaten 
 down, and there was ** no one but poor Jane 
 to understand " her ! An opportunely 
 pressing invitation to London, however, 
 came to settle the question. Mrs. Willough- 
 by was excited into forgetfulness of her 
 threatened illness, and thought she should 
 like to go. She had always been too indolent 
 to give Margaret the chance of amusement 
 in town, during the season ; but going on a 
 visit to a luxurious house was a different 
 matter. She would be spared all trouble, 
 and could go out, or not go out, as the fancy 
 took her, or as her health permitted. Be- 
 sides, there was the chance that Margaret 
 might marry Lord Any-Body, which, after 
 all, would be as good or even better than, as, 
 marrying the heir of Grantham ; or, at any 
 rate, she might learn to forget that stupid 
 young nobody who had chosen to fall in love 
 with her, and things might be brought to a 
 point with Miles Grantham, who had loved 
 her so long and so devotedly. 
 
 For herself, Margaret was ready to wel-
 
 Grant ka77t Secrets. 219 
 
 come any change that would distract her 
 mother's mind from its usual favourite sub- 
 jects of contemplation, Miles Grantham and 
 nervous fever. And besides, who could 
 tell what happy occurrences might not take 
 place during the London visit ! She did 
 not know what she expected, — in fact she 
 expected nothing in particular; but any- 
 thing was possible, anything might turn up, 
 to throw glowing colours over her own life 
 and her mother's. 
 
 So the invitation was accepted, and its 
 acceptance resulted in new whims and new 
 hopes for Mrs. Willoughby, and in new 
 worries for her daughter Margaret ! Not 
 that the visit was by any means made up of 
 worry for Margaret : far otherwise ! She 
 enjoyed it for a time intensely. The sights 
 and sounds and society of London amused 
 and interested her fresh and eager mind. 
 Her enjoyment, moreover, was in a manner 
 double, for as she recalled past conversa- 
 tions with Charles Meredith, on pictures, 
 music, and people, and fancied what he" 
 would say with reference to this or that
 
 2 20 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 person or thing, she seemed to be drawn 
 nearer to him in spirit, and to be able to 
 enter, through her imagination, into all his 
 thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Excite- 
 ment, too, had the power of quickening her 
 hopes. It was impossible, she thought, 
 utterly impossible, but that she must be 
 meant to meet him again before long ! 
 
 There were moments, however, when she 
 gazed with heart-sick, hopeless longings 
 through the crowd, in search of the one 
 face which it would have been sweet to 
 her to see. And there were weary mo- 
 ments of re-action after excitement, when 
 her heart ached sorely after the friend 
 whom she loved so well, and when her 
 inner life seemed all the more dreary to 
 her for the outward pleasures and gaiety in 
 which she had been taking a part. 
 
 ^* Mother dear, when are we going 
 home?" asked Margaret, rather wearily, 
 one night when bed-time had arrived, after a 
 dinner-party at the house of the friends with 
 whom they were staying. 
 
 *' Home, Margaret ! Are you not happy
 
 Grantham Secrets, 221 
 
 here ? Do you want to go home ? I 
 thought you seemed happy enough this 
 evening, when you were talking to Lord 
 Mark Denham ! " answered her mother, 
 rather sharply. 
 
 ** Yes, mamma, I like him very much," said 
 Margaret, thinking to herself how especially 
 she had felt to like him when it had acci- 
 dentally come out that Charles Meredith had 
 been an Oxford friend of his, and he had 
 mentioned having met him some months 
 since, in the Louvre at Paris ; — and remen;i- 
 bering the heart-sinking disappointment she 
 had felt on finding that he had nothing to 
 tell her about his old friend's present life 
 and whereabouts. " Do you know, mamma, 
 she added, with sudden impulse, ** he knows 
 Mr. Meredith ! They were acquaintances at 
 Oxford, and he liked him immensely." 
 
 *' Indeed," returned Mrs. Willoughby, 
 coldly, and with an irritating smile; ** and is 
 it this interesting reminder of Mr. Meredith 
 that has given you the wish to withdraw 
 from the world, and retire into the seclusion 
 of Grantham all of a sudden ? "
 
 22 2 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 ** Mamma, what nonsense!" answered 
 Margaret, quickly. '* I beg your pardon, 
 but did you fancy that I had forgotten Mr. 
 Meredith, so soon ? We were too close 
 friends, and saw far too much of each other, 
 for that to be possible. But you need not 
 be afraid of my speaking of him as any- 
 thing more than a great friend. Perhaps he 
 has left off thinking about me ; at any rate, 
 I do not expect him to come in search of 
 me, so you may make yourself quite easy, 
 mother, on the subject of Charles Meredith." 
 
 ** Then, my love, I cannot understand why 
 you should have got tired of this pleasant 
 life so quickly. If Miles Grantham were at 
 home, now " 
 
 **You can scarcely think, mamma," broke 
 in Margaret, with some impatience, ** that 
 that thought would make me long to find 
 myself at home again." 
 
 ** My dear child," said Mrs. Willoughby, 
 the notion suddenly jumping into her head, 
 ** can it be possible that, that — Have 
 you been disappointed in any way about 
 Lord Mark Denham ? Has he — is he "
 
 Grantharit Secrets, 22^ 
 
 ** Disappointed about Lord Mark Den- 
 ham ? What in the world can you mean, 
 mother?" laughed Margaret. ** What 
 could happen to disappoint me about Lord 
 Mark Denham ? Lord Mark and I are very 
 good friends, but we are in no way deeply 
 interested in each other's life and welfare." 
 
 *' Margaret, Margaret," said Mrs. Wil- 
 loughby, reproachfully, *' will you ever learn 
 not to trifle with other people's affections in 
 this heartless, cruel manner ! I tell you, if 
 ever man was attached to woman. Lord 
 Mark Denham is attached to you ! ' ' 
 
 *' Mamma ! " began Margaret. 
 
 But her mother went on, — 
 
 **And you pretend to tell me that you 
 mean nothing by all the apparent encour- 
 agement that you have given him ? " 
 
 ** If to answer a civil question with a 
 civil answer is to give encouragement, I am 
 guilty of having given Lord Mark Denham 
 whatever encouragement he may desire, 
 supposing that to be any. I don't know in 
 what other way I can have appeared to give 
 him encouragement."
 
 224 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 ** My dear, it is of no use for you to 
 deny that Lord Mark Denham is continually 
 at your side, talking to you, whispering 
 to you, and paying you every sort of 
 marked attention. Your cousin Mary ob- 
 served it as well as I. Margaret, will you 
 ever learn to know you own mind ? ^ We 
 thought the other day that you seemed to 
 be completely engrossed by Sir Thomas 
 Fletcher, but his going out of town seemed 
 not to affect you in the slightest degree, and 
 now, — oh, I did hope that it was going to be 
 all right with poor Lord Mark Denham." 
 
 *' And so it will be all right for him, depend 
 upon it, mamma ! '' returned Margaret, 
 laughing, while she rang the bell for Jane, 
 and turned to leave her mother's room. 
 
 ** I can't make you out, Margaret ! " said 
 Mrs. Willoughby, plaintively. ** It seems to 
 me that you are never satisfied. I hoped 
 that you had been enjoying yourself since 
 we came up to town. You have appeared 
 happy enough, and now it turns out that all 
 the time you have been longing to be at 
 home again."
 
 Grantham Secrets. 225 
 
 *' Indeed you are mistaken, mother. I 
 have enjoyed myself immensely, and shall 
 be contented to stay here as much longer as 
 you like. Only I g-ot just now a sort of 
 craving for a sight of the wood and a breath 
 of home air." 
 
 ** Ah, we will have Lord Mark Denham 
 down to see our woods ! " said Mrs. Willoueh- 
 by, brightening up ; and she added, to her- 
 self, *' I am determined, at all events, to put 
 an end to the girl's dreaming about that 
 young Mr. Meredith." 
 
 VOL. I. 15
 
 2 26 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The London season came to a close. The 
 Willoughbys returned home, to be con- 
 gratulated on the good which change of air 
 and gaiety had effected. And Margaret 
 found it very easy to be bright, to talk 
 glibly of her gay time in London, and with 
 interest of all that she had seen and done. 
 She felt indeed to have gained something. 
 Fresh windows had been opened in her 
 mind, and she was able to live, as it were, 
 new lives, apart from her own peculiar life 
 and its concerns. 
 
 The people at the Hall congratulated 
 Mrs. Willoughby on the improvement in her 
 daughter. They were convinced that 
 London had cured her of her dreamy fancies 
 about young Meredith. Lady Grantham 
 was glad that "the child had had her 
 chance," and as, apparently, she had come
 
 Grant ha7n Secrets, 22"] 
 
 back heart-whole, she had a better hope than 
 ever that her dear Miles would finally suc- 
 ceed in winning her. He was coming down 
 soon, and, somehow, Margaret bore the 
 prospect of his visit better than she had 
 ever borne it before. She felt, instinctively, 
 that her mother's ^' views " for her had 
 widened and multiplied ; and this feeling 
 lessened the sense of ore7te with which she 
 had always contemplated the approaching 
 presence of Miles Grantham. 
 
 But below all this increase of freedom and 
 relief, below all this fresh sunshine which 
 had crept unawares over the surface of her 
 life, lay a sense of blank and disappointment, 
 which often caused her heart to ache 
 heavily. The hopes which she had carried 
 with her to town had been very vague and 
 indefinite ; but now that the excitement 
 which had given them life had passed away, 
 it seemed to her that the one thing for 
 which she had really cared had died with 
 them, and had left her innermost soul coldly 
 dreary and desolate. Mrs. Willoughby 
 might have accused her, with justice, of
 
 228 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 dreaming about Charles Meredith. And as 
 she wandered through the woods, indulging 
 melancholy and morbid musings, she asked 
 herself, **What more is to come? Is this 
 wretched state of things to go on for ever 
 and ever ? Am I never to see him, — never 
 to explain ? '' 
 
 The sudden mention of him, the slight 
 information about him, had been just 
 enough to tantalize her, and to make her 
 fancies about him more tangible, and the 
 longings to clear away the misunderstanding 
 with which he had left her more intense. 
 The momentary bliss of hearing him spoken 
 of had left her more heart-hungry than she 
 had been before, and there was apparently 
 no chance of her hunger being ever satisfied. 
 
 By-and-by, however, the effect of reaction 
 after excitement passed away, and she gave 
 herself up with more healthy energy to the 
 quiet interests of her useful home life. By- 
 and-by, too, she began to say to herself 
 again, " Something, surely, will throw a light 
 yet ! Who knows what another year may 
 bring about?" "Hope on, hope ever,"
 
 Grantham Secrets. 2 2g 
 
 was once more the motto which made the 
 pleasant burden of her youthful song ! 
 
 How would it end? What would "throw 
 a light?" Was the quiet history of the 
 daily life which seemed to her so colourless 
 and so unromantic, being woven by unseen 
 hands into a chain of events which were 
 closely connected with the secret story of 
 her inmost heart ? Were the common-place 
 beings who lived and moved around her, 
 acting a part which would prove them here- 
 after to have been, in truth, characters mov- 
 ing upon the scenes of her own Life's Drama ? 
 Would anything that had power to touch 
 her very nearly ever come to change delight- 
 fully the tenour of her life ? or would she only 
 learn, gradually, to be reconciled to things 
 as they were ? — to see the history of her days 
 by degrees harmonizing into meaning and 
 beauty ? — to see even disappointments and 
 troubles, and things unexplained, changed 
 by some mysterious and gracious agency 
 into a marvellous net- work of lovelycolouring, 
 formed of submission, gentleness, strength 
 patient hope, and loving sympathy ?
 
 230 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 Eight years had passed away since the night 
 on which Miles Grantham had interrupted 
 a tite-d-tite between Charles Meredith and 
 Margaret Willoughby. Eight years had 
 passed, and Charles Meredith had not yet 
 crossed Margaret's path again ! She had 
 given up expecting it ! She had given up 
 '* expecting something to happen." She 
 had given up looking back with a lingering, 
 longing, passionate gaze, that would fain 
 have dispelled the bitterness of a " faultful 
 past," and have drawn its sweetness up into 
 the living present. She had given up look- 
 ing into the far future with impatient, 
 restless eyes, that would fain have shaped 
 the shadowy distance according to the 
 fashion of their '* own sweet will." 
 
 Years of uncertainty had taught her a
 
 Grantham Secrets. 231 
 
 lesson of certainty! She had become re- 
 conciled to the imperfections of her life, and 
 had learnt to find it sweet and dear, despite 
 its many faults. She no longer hungered 
 after her former friend and companion, but 
 she had not lost her faith in him. She had 
 not given up the hope that, some time, 
 — in some mysterious way (who could 
 tell how, or when, or where?), — she should 
 find herself with him again, loving him, and 
 being loved, with a love that was the better 
 and the truer for all these years of separation 
 and waiting. Could she at this instant have 
 seen Charles Meredith, would her dreams 
 have been dispelled ? Would she have 
 found the reality answering to the noble 
 ideal which had so long dwelt in the world 
 of her imagination ? However this may 
 have been, it is certain that if the real 
 Charles Meredith was possessed of powers 
 of appreciation equalling those of the hero 
 of Margaret's dreams, he would have found 
 the Margaret Willoughby of the present day 
 no less deserving of his admiration, or of 
 his love, than she had been in the days of
 
 2^2 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 her early youth. She had lost nothing, and 
 she had gained much. What had been 
 bright about her had become softer in its 
 brilliant light, what had been soft and 
 gentle, had gained in strength, what had 
 been sweet was more bewitchingly and 
 surprisingly sweet than it had been before ! 
 And over her movements, or the lines of her 
 face and figure when in repose, there rested 
 an indefinable grace, which implied an 
 absence of egoism and self-consciousness, 
 and gave, even to a passing beholder, the 
 sense of a true and tender sympathy. Any- 
 one who was hunting the world for a fault- 
 less woman would certainly have been 
 disappointed in Margaret Willoughby ; but 
 he who, stumbling upon her unawares, 
 failed to be satisfied with her imperfection, 
 must indeed have been of a nature difficult 
 to please, and hypercritical in the last 
 extreme. At the present moment, however, 
 she might have been painted as a picture 
 rather of Perfection than of Imperfection. 
 It was a still August afternoon. The 
 shadows were lengthening across the lawn,
 
 Grantham Secrets. 233 
 
 while the golden sunshine lay in brilliant 
 contrast by their side, or crept stealthily 
 through the thick foliage of trees and 
 shrubs, or slanted quietly across ivy-covered 
 stems and trunks. And Margaret's attitude, 
 as she rested beneath the branches of a wide- 
 spreading cedar tree, harmonised with the 
 scene around, and expressed the perfection 
 of repose and of unconscious grace. Her 
 musings, too, were in accordance with the 
 peaceful atmosphere. She was in a halcyon 
 mood, troubled by no thought of evi4, 
 desiring and fearing no change ; simply 
 feeling that existence, in the abstract, was a 
 very pleasant and lovely possession ; or if a 
 disturbing thought, or a wish for change, 
 crossed her mind, it was the thought of her 
 mother's ill health, and the wish that she 
 knew how to soothe away her pain and 
 depression, and to chime in more helpfully 
 with all her nervous fancies. As a whole, 
 her thoughts were no less bright and peace- 
 ful than they might have been on a like 
 beautiful summer's day eight years before. 
 And if she had mused on the outward
 
 234 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 changes that had taken place in the parish 
 of Grantham, during those eight years, she 
 would have found little to disturb her peace 
 of mind. Sir John and Lady Grantham 
 were kind as ever, and a slight increase of 
 grey amidst the hairs on their heads did 
 not destroy the geniality of their appearance. 
 A few deaths and marriages had taken 
 place in the village. The rector was easy- 
 going, good-humoured, and broad-chested 
 as formerly. Old Gilling had become more 
 feeble, but was as fond of muttering as of 
 yore, and Margaret was still often amused 
 by his quaint remarks, or frightened by his 
 dark looks and strange vague hints at some 
 guilty mystery, or unfulfilled promise, which 
 was weighing heavily upon his mind. 
 
 Alice Craycroft was still unmarried, and, 
 moreover, frequently avowed with a gentle 
 sigh, that it was her firm intention to lead a 
 life of single blessedness. Her true hopes 
 and fears on this subject were kept religiously 
 to herself. Sometimes, to quote her own ex- 
 pressions in soliloquy, she was " consumed by 
 a burning jealousy ! " Sometimes she was
 
 Grantham Secrets, • 235 
 
 ** wafted high on the wings ot hopeful 
 love ! " She frequently visited old Gillings' 
 cottage, tried to be intimate with Margaret, 
 and succeeded in being so with the lady's- 
 maid. She kept up a tolerably brisk corre- 
 spondence with Mr. Grantham, gleaning for 
 him all the information she could with 
 reference to Margaret's many admirers, 
 relating incidents connected with her ex- 
 periences when out visiting in town, or 
 elsewhere, and even transcribing scraps out 
 of letters which Margaret supposed to have 
 been seen by no eyes but her own, and 
 perhaps her mother's, and innocently 
 imagined to be possessed of no interest to 
 anyone else connected with the neighbour- 
 hood. The tender correspondent, however, 
 always concluded with a prayer that Mr. 
 Grantham would keep up his spirits, for she 
 was ''sure, quite sure," in spite of appear- 
 ances, that " dear Margaret " was *' true at 
 heart," and could not fail to love him as he 
 deserved to be loved, in time ! 
 
 Miles Grantham still paid frequent visits 
 to the Hall, and had not relinquished his
 
 236 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 purpose of winning Margaret Willoughby's 
 hand. But Margaret bore the tedium of 
 his presence and of his attentions with 
 greater equanimity than formerly. She knew 
 better how to hold her own, and told herself 
 that it was wiser to let things take their 
 course, and weary themselves to death, than 
 to fret and fume and fuss at the tiresome 
 eccentricities of a provoking and benighted 
 world. 
 
 On this particular afternoon, however, she 
 was not so much as troubled by a passing 
 thought of an uncongenial outer world, or 
 of the differences of opinion entertained, on 
 certain subjects, by herself and her elders. 
 She was giving herself up completely to 
 the luxury of undisturbed repose, rejoice- 
 ing in the knowledge that no callers were 
 likely to invade the premises, because all 
 Darlingster was engaged to a grand after- 
 noon party; and other neighbours, even 
 including the Granthams, were absent from 
 home. 
 
 A green-backed volume of poetry lay on 
 the grass by her side. She idly turned its
 
 Grantha77i Secrets, 237 
 
 pages, wondering, though with placid con- 
 tentment, how soon her mother would fulfil 
 her promise to come out of doors, for the 
 agreed-upon reading of Tennyson. 
 
 Poor Margaret ! More things than were 
 dreamed of in her pleasant summer day's 
 philosophy were already being discussed 
 as known facts by the much excited gossips 
 of Darlingster. All Darlingster knew what 
 the four o'clock train had brought fourth 
 in the shape of a visitor for The Cottage ! 
 All Darlingster knew the meaning of the 
 carriage-wheels which were rolling with due 
 speed along the high road from Darlingster 
 to Grantham. And while Margaret was 
 resting in blissful forgetfulness that change 
 or disturbance could find a place on the 
 earth, the Darlingster mind was travelling 
 with amazing rapidity over the numberless 
 changes and counter-changes which would 
 doubtless be brought about by the present 
 brilliant chance which had turned up trumps 
 for the lucky Margaret Willoughby ! 
 
 It was not long, however, before the low 
 songs of contentment which were making
 
 238 Giantham Secrets. 
 
 melody in her heart, were interrupted by the 
 sound of those very carriage-wheels which 
 had been the cause of so much interest and 
 excitement to her neighbours at Darlingster. 
 A loud ringing at the door-bell quickly fol- 
 lowed, as a climax of discomfiture. 
 
 *' Who in the world can it be?" she 
 thought. *' Must I go in ? or will it be only 
 some manageable old lady, whom mamma 
 can conveniently entertain without my aid ? 
 Who can it be? The carriage has gone, and 
 mamma has come down, and, oh, dear, dear, 
 she is beckoning to me, and I suppose I must 
 go ! Bother the person ! " 
 
 The ** person " proved to be a pleasant 
 visitor, much liked by Margaret herself. But 
 there was a flutter of suppressed excitement 
 in Mrs. Willoughby's voice, and a simpering 
 smile on her face, while she said, — 
 
 ** Margaret, my love. Lord Mark Denham 
 is here," which gave Margaret the sensation 
 of having been mentally rubbed the wrong 
 way, and made her feel that, in spite of her 
 regard for Lord Mark, his visit would be 
 very hateful to her. Her irritation evapor-
 
 Grantham Secrets. 239 
 
 ated when she entered the sunshiny presence, 
 and listened to the genial talk; but returned 
 again and again throughout the evening. 
 For she could not divest herself of the con- 
 sciousness that her mother's eyes were fol- 
 lowing all her movements, with an expression 
 of mingled triumph and anxiety. And every 
 word that Mrs. Willoughby spoke seemed 
 to her like the bubbling of a concoction of 
 fear and exultation that was simmering 
 within the maternal mind. 
 
 But try as she would, she could not visits 
 her ill-humour on the kind friend who was so 
 gentle in his manner towards her. He found 
 her unaffectedly gracious, naive, and sweet, 
 as usual, and his sanguine mind almost 
 fancied, now and again, that it detected an 
 added softness in her looks and tones. So 
 that the hopes which her mild rebuffs had 
 kept at bay for so long, were now determined 
 to have their way, and obtain, without farther 
 delay, their doom of either life or death. He 
 had come in obedience to frequent reminders 
 that he would be always welcome, had 
 modestly made as though he were " passing
 
 240 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 that way, and had looked in for half an hour," 
 but had accepted the invitation to remain 
 the night without much urging. And his 
 doubtful reply to Mrs. Willoughby's hope 
 that his visit would be prolonged for as much 
 time as he could spare was followed by a 
 glance at Margaret, which was not lost upon 
 her mother. 
 
 The evening was agreeable. But when, at 
 its close, Margaret went up to her room, all 
 her peace of mind and all her mirth had 
 vanished far away. For at a sudden touch, 
 at the careless mention of a name, of an 
 accidental, unimportant meeting, longings 
 which had before been resting in quiet 
 slumber had instantaneously been recalled to 
 wakefulness, life, and activity ! In the last 
 few minutes of standing up talk, — the linger- 
 ing words on a favourite artist, and a picture 
 in the Royal Academy Exhibition of the 
 season, — Lord Mark Denham had mentioned 
 a meeting with an old acquaintance of his, 
 '* Charles Meredith, a connoisseur in pic- 
 tures," and had spoken of a striking observa- 
 tion made by him, and his wisht hat a certain
 
 Grantham Secrets. 241 
 
 discussion could have been continued, add- 
 ing, "But that restless being, Meredith, 
 was obliged to be off to some scientific 
 meeting, and was flying out of town, and 
 over the world, on wings of lightning, as 
 usual!" 
 
 With her head half averted, and with a 
 smile that had hardly hidden a sudden look 
 of fatigue, Margaret had bidden Lord Mark 
 good-night, and followed Mrs. Willoughby 
 up to 'bed. And then, unavailing regrets, 
 dark thoughts, the feeling that all things 
 in the world were at cross purposes, and that 
 certain evil beings of contrariety were per- 
 mitted to work their mischievous deeds ac- 
 cording to their own will, came over her with 
 the force of past days. This year was the 
 first, for several years, on which she and her 
 mother had not gone up to town, for some 
 part of the season. It had been her own 
 desire not to go ; but had they gone, had 
 they, as on other occasions, been Lord Mark 
 Denham's companions at the Royal Aca- 
 demy, who could say what might not have 
 happened ? At least, she might have dis- 
 
 VOL. I. 16
 
 242 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 covered if he were happy and satisfied with- 
 out her ! 
 
 So poor Lord Mark had few of Margaret's 
 thoughts that night, and Mrs. Willoughby's 
 fabric of hopes was frail as it appeared fair 
 and brilliant.
 
 Grantham Secrets, 243 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 At eleven o'clock the next morning the 
 catastrophe took place. By one o'clock the 
 guest had departed. And Margaret, sad, 
 thoughtful, anxious, with pale and tear- 
 stained cheeks, was seated near the drawing- 
 room window, alone. Her chin rested in her 
 hand, and she was very still ; except that 
 at any fancied sound in the passages, or on 
 the stair-case, she turned her head for an 
 instant, in fear lest the dreaded moment of 
 her mother's coming down should be at 
 hand. She was determined that, if possible, 
 she would keep Lord Mark Denham's pro- 
 posal, and her own rejection of him, a secret 
 between herself and him. But it would take 
 a little time to regain her composure, and to 
 prepare herself to make his apologies in a 
 sufficiently natural and nonchalant manner.
 
 244 Granthaju Secrets. 
 
 '' There she is ! " she exclaimed, at length. 
 And hastily rising from her chair, she hurried 
 across the room to look at herself in the glass 
 over the fire-place, rubbed her cheeks, swept 
 away the last remnant of a tear, smiled, 
 grinned, and finally turned a beaming face 
 upon her mother, as she entered the 
 room. 
 
 **Well, my love," said Mrs. Willoughby, 
 languidly, but with a cheerful smile, "what 
 have you been about this morning? I am 
 very sorry I was unable to be down sooner ; 
 but I have no doubt you have got on very 
 well without me. What have you done with 
 Lord Mark ? I expected to find you out of 
 doors, lionizing him over the grounds.'' 
 
 " Oh, he left all sorts of messages and 
 apologies for you, mother dear," answered 
 Margaret, speaking very quickly, w^hilst her 
 cheeks became crimson ; "but he was obliged 
 to go this morning. He found he could not 
 stay any longer." 
 
 Mrs. Willoughby looked aghast, and stood 
 for a moment silent, as though petrified by 
 horror and astonishment.
 
 Grantham Secrets, 245 
 
 *' Gone, Margaret ! What do you mean ? 
 Speak, — explain yourself! Is this all a 
 foolish joke of yours ? Speak, can't you, 
 child ? How can Lord Mark have gone, 
 when he promised to stay, — when " 
 
 ** You know, mother, he spoke doubtfully ; 
 he was not sure that he should be able to 
 remain," interrupted Margaret, quailing 
 beneath her mother's withering glance, and, 
 despite all her efforts, blushing more furi- 
 ously than ever. 
 
 ** Margaret, you cannot deceive me,l' 
 answered her mother. *' I see, — I under- 
 stand now ; he has proposed to you, and 
 you have refused him ! And yet, — no, it Is 
 impossible ! You cannot have been such a 
 cruel, heartless flirt! After all the encour- 
 agement you have given him, after your 
 conduct last night ! It is impossible, Mar- 
 garet ! — tell me that it is impossible ! — tell 
 me what it all means ! 
 
 ** It means, mother, darling," cried Mar- 
 garet, finding herself driven into a corner, — 
 *' it means that I love you too dearly ever to 
 leave you. It means that I want to stay
 
 246 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 with you always, if you will only let me, and 
 to be a very happy old maid ! " 
 
 ^' It means rather, Margaret," replied her 
 mother, in a slowly reproachful tone, ** that 
 you are bent upon displeasing me in every 
 possible way, and care for nothing so that 
 you may gratify your own vanity and 
 pleasure ! No matter to you how many 
 hearts you trample under your feet ! " 
 
 "Mother ! " exclaimed Margaret, her lips 
 curling contemptuously, in spite of herself, 
 while a struggle went on within her, to 
 repress either laughter or weeping, or both. 
 Her sense of the ludicrous was tickled, 
 but her mother's absurd exaggeration, mis- 
 apprehension, and injustice, at the same 
 time, pained her to the quick. *' Mother," 
 she continued, *' Lord Mark understands me 
 better than you do. He does not consider 
 me a heartless flirt. He knows that I like him 
 very, very, much, but cannot love him as a 
 man ought to be loved by his wife ! Oh, 
 mother dear, if you would only forgive me, 
 as he does!" And kneeling down, she 
 leaned her head upon her mother's lap,
 
 Grantham Secrets. 247 
 
 longing to sob her heart out there, as she 
 had done, oftentimes, when a little child. 
 But Mrs. Willoughby did not respond to 
 her caressing tone. 
 
 Margaret," she said, ** this is all very 
 well ; but I wish you would remember that 
 * to obey is better than sacrifice,' that — " 
 but before her mother could proceed farther, 
 Margaret had jumped up to her feet again, 
 and the rising tears were driven back to their 
 fountain, while, with a gay laugh, she said, — 
 
 ^' But, dear mother, you know that I am 
 not offering to make any sacrifice ! And 
 you know that I am always ready to obey 
 you in every possible way ! ' ' 
 
 " You have shown your obedience 
 strangely, Margaret," it seems to me," 
 returned Mrs. Willoughby, in a freezing 
 tone. '* You have thwarted all m.y wishes, — 
 you have disappointed all my hopes ! And 
 when I venture to reprove you, in the 
 gentlest tone, you only stand and laugh at 
 me ! When you have driven your mother 
 into her grave, perhaps you will be sorry 
 for your undutiful conduct ! "
 
 248 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 Poor Margaret ! She knew by heart her 
 mother's favourite suggestions about an 
 early grave, and had been threatened with 
 remorseful orphanage so many times that 
 the threat might well-nigh have lost some- 
 thing of its effect. But despite the vanity 
 and frequency of repetition, her heart and 
 conscience regularly rose to the bait thrown 
 out to them, and now, looking remorsefully 
 into her mother's pale face and heavy 
 aching eyes, 
 
 *' Mother dear," she said, *' forgive me, I 
 did not mean to laugh. Indeed, I am very, 
 very unhappy ; but what can I do ? " 
 
 *^ Try to conquer your spirit of contra- 
 diction, my love ; it is all I ask. You 
 have disappointed me about poor Miles, — 
 and I am sure it goes to one's heart to see 
 the mere shadow that the poor fellow has 
 become ! — ^You have disappointed me about 
 Sir Thomas Fletcher, — and now, when I 
 thought your happiness was sure, when I 
 thought that you had found all that heart 
 could desire, you have disappointed me 
 again ! So delightful, so attractive, so good,
 
 Grantham Secrets. 249 
 
 so genial ! — so — Margaret, T thought that 
 even you could find nothing to complain of in 
 Lord Mark Denham, and I was prepared to 
 overlook your want of appreciation of poor 
 Miles Grantham, who, certainly, poor fellow, 
 is not so charming or elegant as Lord Mark, 
 — and now, as I say, you have cruelly, 
 cruelly disappointed me once more. Surely 
 it can only be a spirit of contradiction that 
 actuates you ! You confess you like him ! 
 Think better of it, Margaret. Tell me, — 
 why will you not marry him? " ^ 
 
 *^ If I liked and admired him less, if I 
 thought him less noble and good, I should 
 think it less utterly out of the question that 
 I could be brought to agree to marry him ! " 
 answered Margaret, quickly. 
 
 ** What an extraordinary girl you are ! " 
 answered her mother, peevishly. **Am I 
 not right in calling you perverse ? You 
 won't marry Miles because you hate him, 
 and you won't marr}^ Lord Mark because 
 you. like him. This seems to be all the 
 rhyme or reason that is to be got out of 
 you 
 
 ! "
 
 250 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 ** I should not consider myself so entirely 
 base if I married Miles, whom I hate, as I 
 should if I married Lord Mark, whom I 
 honour, but whom I cannot love as he 
 deserves to be loved by his wife ! Now, 
 mother, do you understand what I mean ? " 
 said Margaret. 
 
 ** It is not always the noblest and the 
 best upon whom we bestow our affections ! 
 We often love the faulty man the better 
 for all his many failings ! " returned Mrs. 
 Willoughby, bringing her somewhat irrelevant 
 answer out of a hoard of book-sayings which 
 she kept somewhere locked up in the corner 
 of her memory. A sudden notion had 
 entered her head, — a sudden hope. She 
 remembered to have read some novel in 
 which a girl was represented as having 
 veiled her affection for her lover under 
 hatred, or even to have made herself believe 
 that she hated the man whom, in heart, she 
 loved with deep affection. Could this be the 
 state of the case with Margaret's feelings 
 for Miles? Could Lord Mark's proposal 
 have revealed to her the fact that she really
 
 Grantha7n Secrets, 251 
 
 loved Miles, and could marry no one else ? 
 It must be so ! Yes, the more she thought 
 of it, the more convinced she felt that so 
 it must be ! And if a doubt crossed her 
 mind, it was quickly crushed, for that so it 
 should be she was firmly resolved. If Mar- 
 garet had not the taste to return the love 
 of the fascinating young noblemen and 
 baronets who lost their hearts to her, and 
 danced attendance upon her season after 
 season in London, she should marry her 
 pretended pet aversion, the excellent youag 
 man who had been devoted to her all her 
 life, and who, after all, was as eligible as 
 any of her more brilliant admirers. It would 
 be much more homelike, much less trouble ; 
 it had been her first wish, and should be 
 her last. The Hall and The Cottage being 
 so close, everything being so comfortable 
 and luxurious, made the plan a very pleasant 
 one to fall back upon. And Mrs. Willough- 
 by felt sure that it must have been ordered 
 especially, in consideration of her own 
 delicate health. But she was determined 
 to keep her thoughts to herself, and Mar-
 
 252 Grant ka?7t Secrets. 
 
 garet could not make her out at all, that 
 day. She had become so preternaturally 
 amiable all of a sudden, and was so restless 
 and flighty in her manner, one minute, and 
 so dully and languidly reflective the next, 
 that her daughter remembered with horror 
 the caution that Mr. Thomas had given her 
 years before, and began almost to fear that 
 disappointment and worry were seriously 
 affecting her mother's mind. She reproached 
 herself remorsefully with doing nothing to 
 please her, and set about trying to soothe 
 and console her in every possible way she 
 could think of. When, with a sidelong 
 glance at Margaret, Mrs. Willoughby won- 
 dered how the Granthams were getting on, 
 when they were coming back, and whether 
 Miles would keep to his intention of going 
 North for the 12th of August, or would find 
 himself irresistibly drawn southwards, Mar- 
 garet entered into her humour, sympathised 
 with her wonderings, and hoped that she 
 would not be much longer without the com- 
 panionship of Lady Grantham. In the 
 evening, though she complained that her
 
 Grantham Secrets, 253 
 
 head ached furiously, Mrs. Willoughby was 
 animated and excited. At night Margaret 
 was continually awakened by moans, and 
 mutterings, and soliloquy ; and presently she 
 awoke with a start, to find the room lighted, 
 and Mrs. Willoughby in the act of seating 
 herself to her writing-table, with pen, ink, 
 and paper, in readiness for correspondence. 
 
 *' Mother dear, what is the matter?'* 
 cried Margaret, in great horror; *' what are 
 you up for at this time of night ? Is it any- 
 thing that I can do for you ? Do get into 
 bed again, or you'll be half dead all to- 
 morrow." 
 
 " My dear," returned her mother, in a 
 reassuring tone of voice, "go to sleep and 
 leave me alone. I can't rest myself for 
 thinking of poor Lord Mark's grief, and 
 every thought brings a fresh throb of agony 
 to my poor head. So I am trying to dis- 
 tract my mind by writing one of the many 
 letters that my poor health has prevented 
 my writing sooner. I owe dear Lady Gran- 
 tham a letter, and she will be interested in 
 hearing our news."
 
 254 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 '* All right, mother, only don't be long, 
 there's a darling." 
 
 But Mrs. Willoughby was very long. In 
 a lengthy and roundabout way she gave 
 her reasons for believing that Margaret was 
 not so indifferent to Miles as had hitherto 
 been supposed, and hinted that it would be 
 well for him not to put off too long returning 
 to the assault of the sensitive child's heart ! ' 
 
 And amidst uncomfortable sleepings and 
 wakings, Margaret heard the continuous 
 scritch-scratch of her mother's pen until 
 dawn, when she lay down again, to remain a 
 useless being through the hours of daylight.
 
 Grantham Secrets. 255 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Margaret's predictions had been fulfilled. 
 Mrs. Willoughby was much the worse for 
 her midnight exertions, and during that day, 
 aud many other days, she caused her daughter 
 great anxiety. Agitations of various sorts 
 had their own way with her weak mind and 
 uncontrolled nervous system ; and more than 
 once Jane, the maid, frightened poor Margaret 
 nearly out of her wits by coming in with a 
 gloomy face and an alarming manner, to say, — 
 ** Missis seems quite 'hoff her head ' again, 
 Miss Margaret; I don't think we shall keep 
 her here much longer, if she goes on having 
 so many things to worry her. She'll be 
 going out like the snuff of a candle, Miss 
 Margaret, before you know where you are, 
 and them as has worried her won't be able to 
 bring her back again."
 
 256 Grajitham Secrets. 
 
 ** Do you think she is going to have one 
 of those horrid attacks of fever, Jane?" 
 asked Margaret. " I wish Mr. Thomas was 
 at home. We must send for some one." 
 
 *' There, no doctors can save missis from 
 being worried into her grave, and she is set 
 against seeing the strange doctor, who acted 
 so cruel to her the day he came in to see 
 cook, and she spoke to him, with her poor eyes 
 half shut with pain. She won't see him, so 
 it ain't no use your troubling yourself to send 
 for him, Miss Margaret." 
 
 Jane was right. Mrs. Willoughby refused, 
 absolutely, to see Mr. Thomas' substitute 
 when he came. She had taken an aversion 
 from him, and declared that he was a man of 
 no sympathy, and could not understand her 
 peculiar constitution and sensitive tempera- 
 ment. No one could, she thought, now that 
 he was away, but that usually much-abused 
 and long-suffering person, Mr. Thomas ! In 
 short, Mrs. Willoughby seemed to be bent, at 
 present, on martyrising herself. Margaret 
 could do nothing with her, and was getting 
 quite into despair, when relief came in the
 
 Grantham Secrets, 257 
 
 shape of a letter from Lady Grantham, 
 with the intelligence that she and Sir John 
 were about to return to Grantham immedi- 
 ately, and she thought it more than probable 
 that their nephew Miles would accompany 
 them. It mattered little to Margaret, now, 
 whether he came or not. The nuisance of 
 his presence would not hurt her, and she 
 hailed gladly the prospect of any diversion 
 which might act as a remedy for Mrs. Wil- 
 loughby's diseased state of nerves. 
 
 ** Oh, Lady Grantham, I am so glad to sete 
 you ! " cried Margaret, when Lady Gran- 
 tham appeared at The Cottage, on the morn- 
 ing after her arrival at home. " Mamma is 
 dreadfully ill. She has been hysterical 
 nearly all the morning, but it will do her 
 good to see you." 
 
 ** I will go up to her, my dear. Til find 
 the way. Don't come with me," replied 
 Lady Grantham, first with an air of concern, 
 and then with the most beaming of meaning 
 smiles. ** Dear Miles is just outside the 
 door,'' she added. ** I could not make him 
 come in, he was afraid of intruding. You 
 
 VOL. I. 17
 
 258 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 know what a shy and sensitive creature he is, 
 my darling! You can do what you like 
 about him, but I said I would tell you/' 
 
 **A11 right. Lady Grantham," returned 
 Margaret, without responding to her friend's 
 cheerful manner, while, to herself, she sighed 
 out her favourite and oft-repeated pun, "Oh, 
 that he were miles away ! *' 
 
 **May I come in, Margaret?" called a 
 plaintive voice from the hall-door. 
 
 ** By all means," replied Margaret, with 
 cold civility. *' How do you do. Miles ? " 
 
 He had been almost prepared for her 
 throwing herself into his arms, and felt 
 somewhat rebuffed by her chilly manner 
 and mere touch of the hand. 
 
 " Shy, perhaps, or hurt with me, — thinks 
 I am making up to others," he reflected, re- 
 assuringly, adding aloud, *' It seems very 
 long since I saw you, dear Margaret." 
 
 Margaret's only response was a look of 
 amazement at his daring to use a term of 
 endearment towards her. 
 
 *' May I not hope that the time has also 
 seemed the least bit long to you, Mar- 
 
 #
 
 Grantham Secrets. 259 
 
 garet?" he went on, with a timid glance 
 from under his eyelids. 
 
 *' So long that, — forgive me, but I almost 
 forget when last we met,'' she replied, with a 
 laugh. 
 
 *** Forget!' Oh, Margaret, I thought, — 
 I hoped, — Margaret, are you angry with 
 me still?" 
 
 *' Angry? Angry — what about?" replied 
 Margaret, brusquely. ** Please, we don't want 
 any more nonsense to-day. Miles." Then, 
 altering her tone to one of common-place 
 unconcern, ** I had no idea," she said, 
 ** that you were thinking of coming down 
 here this August. I fancied that you were 
 on your way to Scotland for the twelfth ? ' ' 
 
 ** I — I — I heard something that made me 
 change my mind. I hoped — I thought — Oh 
 don't tell me that my hopes are to be dis- 
 appointed again ! It would kill me, Mar- 
 garet ! it would kill me ! Oh, Margaret, have 
 you been deceiving us all again ? Was it 
 not true what I heard? — that — that — that 
 you were learning to love me a little ? — 
 that — that I might hope at last "
 
 26o Grantham Secrets, 
 
 Sheer astonishment had kept Margaret 
 dumb while he spoke, but as he approached 
 her, and, kneeling down, prepared to take her 
 hand, and raise it to his lips, in what he con- 
 ceived to be the most approved fashion, she 
 jumped up from her chair, and, drawing 
 quickly back from him, said, 
 
 ** What you mean by all this I have not 
 the slightest conception, Miles. It appears 
 to me that you are labouring under some 
 sort of extraordinary hallucination, and the 
 sooner you free yourself from it the better. 
 I assure you your hopes, as you are pleased 
 to express yourself, are entirely deceptive ! " 
 
 "" Then my aunt and all the rest have lied 
 to me," said Miles, suddenly throwing off all 
 softness of manner, rising hastily from the 
 lowly position which he had assumed, and 
 striding towards the door. *' And you, 
 Margaret, j/^^^ — '* He left her to complete the 
 sentence for herself, and was off like a shot. 
 
 A sense of the ludicrous, for the moment, 
 overcame all else in Margaret's mind, and 
 her excitement found relief in an uncon- 
 trollable fit of laughter.
 
 Grantham Secrets, 261 
 
 In this state she was found by Lady 
 Grantham, who had hastened down to learn 
 the meaning of the banging of the front 
 door, which had brought forth a complain- 
 ing *' Oh ! " from Mrs. Willoughby, and 
 had occasioned all manner of painful con- 
 tortions of her face. 
 
 The sight of Lady Grantham sobered 
 Margaret in a moment. " Is anything the 
 matter? " she asked, quickly. Is mamma — " 
 
 ** I find your mother exceedingly changed, 
 Margaret," replied Lady Grantham, severely. 
 *' I think her much worse, and I do not 
 wonder at it. She has had to go through a 
 great deal, poor dear. I have come down 
 for her, to see what the noise was ? " 
 
 ^* Noise ? Was there a noise. Lady Gran- 
 tham ? " 
 
 *' Who slammed the door in that thought- 
 less manner?" returned Lady Grantham." 
 *' Is Miles gone already? I thought you would 
 have had much to say to each other." 
 
 ** Well, — no, — not very much. That is to 
 say, he went off in a great hurry, and I am 
 afraid he must, in his haste, have been guilty
 
 262 Grantham Secrets, 
 
 of slamming the door. I wish he had not, 
 because of poor mamma's head." 
 
 *' Why did he go away in such a hurry ? " 
 asked Lady Grantham, fixing her eyes on 
 Margaret, in a manner that seemed to say, 
 *^ I am not going to let you off, so you need 
 not think it." ** It is all very well for you to 
 pretend that nothing of importance has hap- 
 pened. You know better, and I know better. 
 Margaret, you are killing your mother! I am 
 quite shocked at the change I find in her." 
 
 ** I will go to mamma," said Margaret, 
 sadly. *^ Please excuse me, Lady Grantham." 
 
 ** I promised to return to her, replied Lady 
 Grantham, hastily, passing Margaret, and 
 moving towards the stair-case. ** She is 
 waiting to know the result of Miles' inter- 
 view with you, and if it is disappointing, I 
 will soothe her to the best of my power. 
 Tell me, Margaret " 
 
 *' Interview! " interrupted Margaret, in a 
 tone of amazed impatience. ''Interview! 
 Did she know that he was coming ? Did 
 she expect anything ? Please explain what 
 it all means, Lady Grantham ? "
 
 Grantham Secrets, 263 
 
 ** I think it is you whose conduct needs 
 explanation, my dear," said Lady Grantham. 
 ** You gave your mamma to understand that 
 you had discovered your mistake, that you 
 had found out the worth of Miles' heart at 
 last." 
 
 *' My dear Lady Grantham, you m.ust be 
 dreaming ! " cried Margaret, her tone be- 
 traying an almost equal amount of astonish- 
 ment and dismay. ^* What could I have said 
 that mamma could so have misunderstood !' ' 
 
 ** The wonder would be if the moods of so 
 capricious a young lady were always com- 
 prehended, my dear, rather than that they 
 should be continually misunderstood," re- 
 turned Lady Grantham, in a displeased tone 
 of voice. *' But so long as you have your 
 own way, Margaret, I believe you care little 
 what misery you cause to others ! " 
 
 Margaret knew that the words were unjust, 
 and yet they struck home to her heart, and 
 gave it a sharp pang, and while her com- 
 panion proceeded to Mrs. Willoughby's room, 
 she remained pondering over them, at the 
 bottom of the stair-case.
 
 264 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 **After all," she said to herself, — *' after all, 
 perhaps she may be right. For whom do I 
 live ? Who but I myself would suffer if I were 
 to sacrifice myself, and do what she wants ? 
 Would he care ? Have I any right to suppose 
 that, after all these years, he still thinks of 
 me? And if he does not, is it not mere senti- 
 mental selfish nonsense my going on dream- 
 ing of that happy and sorrowful long-past 
 time ? If I cannot make any one else happy, 
 by things coming right, why may I not as 
 well make myself unhappy to please mamma ? 
 It will be doing something. It will bring all 
 this worry to an end, and we should have 
 peace for a little while : I should of course 
 be miserable, but what does that signify? 
 What would be better than misery for 
 mamma's sake? But would it be wicked, as 
 I hate him so? " 
 
 She was so in love with the notion of 
 self-sacrifice that she did not stay to re- 
 ceive an answer to her mental query, but 
 quickly went on with her silent parley, — 
 
 *' It would be to save mamma, and though 
 I could never learn to like him, I would make
 
 Granthafn Secrets, 265 
 
 him a dutiful wife for her sake. And if she 
 gets well and is happy, will it not be worth 
 while for me to be miserable ? " 
 
 With her heart and mind thus full of thought 
 and feeling, she went into her mother's room, 
 where she found Mrs. Willoughby in violent 
 hysterics. Lady Grantham bending soothingly 
 over her, and Jane standing at the bottom of 
 the bed, looking on hopelessly, with the know- 
 ledge that a dash of cold water would be more 
 to the purpose than sympathising words. 
 
 '*0h, that Mr. Thomas were here! For 
 he knows how to soothe mamma's nerves 
 without kneeling down to worship them, like 
 the rest of the world!" thought Margaret, 
 whose self-sacrificing resolve seemed sud- 
 denly to have revealed to her something of 
 the weakness and selfishness of her mother's 
 character; and who, with the sense of all tha^ 
 she was intending to give up for her mother's 
 sake, felt doubly irritated by the scene upon 
 which she had entered. 
 
 ^' Jane, you need not stay," she said to 
 the lady's-maid, and there was something in 
 Margaret's manner that seemed to enforce
 
 266 Grant ham Secrets, 
 
 obedience. Then, armed with eau-de- 
 cologne and cold water, she took up her 
 station at the side of the bed, opposite to 
 that at which Lady Grantham stood, and 
 firmly, though gently, proceeded to conquer 
 the attack. But though the cure had been 
 effected, Mrs. Willoughby shrank away from 
 her daughter, and with feeble moans, which, 
 in spite of herself, made Margaret very cross, 
 put out her hands to Lady Grantham, and 
 looked imploringly towards her. 
 
 "I won't leave you, my dear," said her 
 sympathising friend, softly, while she shot 
 forth a reproachful glance at Margaret. 
 
 '* Mother, dear, don't you think you had 
 better try to go to sleep now?" said Mar- 
 garet, laying her hand softly on Mrs. Wil- 
 loughby' s forehead. And it seemed as if, 
 she had suddenly gained some strange 
 ascendancy over others. Mrs. Willoughby 
 ceased her moaning, and closed her eyes, 
 and composed her face, and Lady Grantham, 
 seeing there was no longer any part for her 
 to perform, with a cold farewell to Margaret, 
 took her leave ; and remembering a like scene
 
 Grantham Secrets. 267 
 
 of years ago, it seemed to Margaret as If a 
 bad dream had come to life in reality. 
 
 But her feelings were very different, as she 
 now sat and ruminated, while her mother 
 slept, from what they had been in that same 
 room seven years before. Then a fair dream- 
 land had cast its spells around her. Now she 
 was bidding farewell to happy dreams, and 
 strengthening her self-sacrificing resolution, 
 and only arranging her plans so as to leave 
 herself a faint loop-hole of hope for the future. 
 
 ** Mother,'' she said, presently, when h^r 
 mother awakened from her doze, *' I want to 
 say something to you. Is your head well 
 enough to bear talking? " 
 
 ** Margaret ! " cried Mrs. Willoughby, 
 sitting up, and speaking in a querulous tone, 
 which grew louder and shriller as she went 
 on, — ** Margaret, your cruel, undutiful con- 
 duct is killing me. I don't want to hear 
 any more about it. Let me die in peace ; 
 you won't have me to disturb you much 
 longer ! " Then lying down with a martyr- 
 like expression of countenance, she lan- 
 guidly closed her eyes.
 
 268 Grantham Secrets. 
 
 ** Mother," said Margaret, ''do you still 
 wish that I should marry Miles Grantham? " 
 
 Mrs. Willoughby opened her eyes and 
 looked up briskly. 
 
 *'You know my wishes, Margaret," she 
 replied. *' Why do you ask ? Are you going 
 to deceive me with false promises again ? " 
 
 ** Have I deceived you mother?" said 
 Margaret, quietly, — " well, I will not deceive 
 you again. Listen, mother ! If, in spite of 
 all that I have said, he still wishes it, and if 
 you and his people wish it, I will consent 
 to marry Miles on condition that he keeps 
 away from me for a twelvemonth, and that 
 if anything should occur during that time 
 to alter your mind and mine, or to change 
 his /eelings towards me, the engagement 
 shall be considered at an end." 
 
 ** My child, my darling ! " exclaimed Mrs. 
 Willoughby, rapturously. *' I knew it, — I 
 knew it ! I was sure that in your heart 
 you loved him ! You " 
 
 **But I don't love him, mother," put in 
 Margaret. ''If I marry him, it will be 
 solely to please you."
 
 Grantham Secrets. 269 
 
 ** You will never regret it ! You will be 
 happy ! He will have the best of wives ! We 
 shall all be happy ! You little know how 
 thankful and glad you have made me, my 
 child/' 
 
 This was delightful ! For a moment, 
 Margaret almost forgot everything else in 
 the pleasure of being caressed and petted 
 by her mother, whom she loved as fondly 
 as if she had been the wisest and most un- 
 selfish of women. 
 
 ** Now, mother dear," she said, presently, 
 I shall leave you to rest.'* 
 
 ** No, I am quite rested ; I am ready to 
 get up," answered Mrs. Willoughby. 
 
 How delightful, to be able to charm away 
 pain and languor by humouring an invalid's 
 wishes, and letting her have her own way 1 
 Margaret found her immediate reward to 
 be exceedingly satisfactory. 
 
 Early in the afternoon Mrs. Willoughby 
 and Lady Grantham held another private 
 conference ; which was followed by another 
 " lovers' interview," to use Lady Grantham's 
 expression ; and in the evening a friendly
 
 270 Grmitham Secrets, 
 
 meeting took place at The Cottage, for re- 
 joicing over the happy arrangement that 
 had been entered into. It was the merriest 
 evening possible, and Margaret herself was 
 the merriest of the party. Who, to look at 
 her radiant face, and listen to her joyous 
 laugh, could have doubted that she was 
 happy ? Even she herself, in her excitement, 
 began to think that the charms of martyrdom 
 surpassed all other charms to be experienced 
 on earth ! 
 
 END OF VOL. I.
 
 APRIL, 1875. 
 
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 '* A well-principled and natural sXoxy. " —Athen(euj?i. 
 
 STRANDED, BUT NOT LOST. By Dorothy 
 Bromyard. 3 vols., 31s. 6d. 
 
 S 
 
 WEET IDOLATRY. By Damon, i vol., 7s. 6d. 
 
 " Love is a sweet idolatry enslaving all the soul, — 
 A mighty spiritual force, warring with the dulness of matter, — 
 An angel-mind breathed into a mortal, though fallen, yet how beautiful ! 
 All the devotion of the heart, in all its depth and grandeur." 
 
 — TUPPER. 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF MICK CALLIGHIN, M.P. 
 a Story of Home Rule ; and THE DE BURGHOS, a 
 Romance. ' By W. R. Ancketill. In one Volume, with Illus- 
 trations. Price 7s. 6d. 
 
 Samuel Tinsley, 10, Southampton Street, Strand.
 
 10 Samuel Tinsley's Publications. 
 
 fyHE BARONET'S CROSS. By Mary Meeke, 
 -■- Author of " Marion's Path through Shadow to Sunshine." 
 2 vols., 2 IS. 
 
 T 
 
 HE BRITISH SUBALTERN. By an Ex- 
 Subaltern. I vol., 7s. 6d. 
 
 IHE D'EYNCOURTS OF FAIRLEIGH. By 
 Thomas Rowland Skemp. 3 vols., 31s. 6d. 
 
 ' ' An exceedingly readable novel, full of various and sustained interest. 
 . . . The interest is well kept up all through.'' — Daily Telegraph. 
 
 <HE HEIR OF REDDESMONT. 3 vols., 31s. 6d. 
 
 " Full of interest and \\iQ." - Echo. 
 
 nPHE INSIDIOUS THIEF: a Tale for Humble 
 -^ Folks. By One of Themselves. Crown 8vo., 5s. Second 
 Edition. 
 
 nPHE LOVE THAT LIVED. By Mrs. Eiloart, Author 
 -■- of " The Curate's Discipline," "J^st a Woman," " Woman's 
 Wrong," &:c. 3 vols., 31s. 6d. 
 
 ' ' Three volumes which most people will prefer not to leave till they have 
 read the last page of the third volume." — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 ' ' One of the most thoroughly wholesome novels we have read for some 
 ime." —Scotsman. 
 
 THE MAGIC OF LOVE. By Mrs. Forrest-Grant, 
 Author of " Fair, but not Wise." 3 vols., 31s. 6d. 
 " A very amusing novel." — Scotsman. 
 
 THE MISTRESS OF LANGDALE HALL: a 
 Romance of the West Riding. By RosA Mackenzie 
 Kettle. Complete in one handsome volume, with Frontispiece 
 and Vignette by Percival Skelton. 4s., post free. 
 
 ' ' The story is interesting and very pleasantly written, and for the sake 
 of both author and publisher we .cordially wish it the reception it deserves." 
 — Saturday Revieiv. 
 
 THE SECRET OF TWO HOUSES. By Fanny 
 Fisher. 2 vols., 21s. 
 
 " Thoroughly dramatic."— -P^/(5//^ (9/ /«2<7/?. 
 " The story is well told." — Sunday Titnes. 
 
 HE SEDGEBOROUGH WORLD. By A. Fare- 
 brother. 2 vols., 2 IS. 
 
 Samuel Tinsley, 10, Southampton Street, Strand. 
 
 T
 
 Samuel Tinsley's Publications. 11 
 
 THE SURGEON'S SECRET. By Sydney Mostyn, 
 Author of " Kitty's Rival," etc. Crown 8vo., los. 6d. 
 " A most exciting novel — the best on our list. It may be fairly recom- 
 mended as a very extraordinary book." — John Bull. 
 
 "A stirring drama, with a number of closely connected scenes, in which 
 there are not a few legitimately sensational situations. There are many 
 spirited passages." — Public Opinion. 
 
 THE THORNTONS OF THORNBURY. By Mrs. 
 Henry Lowther Chermside. 3 vols., 31s. 6d. 
 
 THE TRUE STORY OF HUGH NOBLE'S 
 FLIGHT. By the Authoress of "What Her Face Said." 
 I OS. 6d. 
 
 "A pleasant story, with touches of exquisite pathos, well told by one 
 who is master of an excellent and sprightly style." — Standard. 
 
 THE WIDOW UNMASKED; or, the Firebrand in 
 the Family. By FLORA F. Wylde. 3 vols., 31s. 6d. 
 
 '^riMOTHY CRIPPLE; or, "Life's a Feast." By 
 J- Thomas Auriol Robinson. 2 vols., 21s. 
 
 "This is a most amusing book, and the author deserves great credit for 
 the novelty of his design, and the quaint humour with which it is worked 
 out." — Public Opinio7i. • 
 
 " For abundance of humour, variety of incident, and idiomatic vigour of 
 expression, Mr. Robinson deserves, and will no doubt receive, great 
 credit." — Civil Service Review. 
 
 nnOO LIGHTLY BROKEN. 3 vols., 31s. 6d. 
 
 " A very pleasing story very prettily told." — Morning Post. 
 
 TOM DELANY. By Robert Thynne, Author of 
 " Ravensdale." 3 vols., 31s. 6d. 
 " A very bright, healthy, simply-told story." — Standard. 
 ' ' All the individuals whom the reader meets at the gold-fields are well- 
 drawn, amongst whom not the least interesting is 'Terrible Mac.'" — Hour. 
 " There is not a dull page in the book." — Scotsman. 
 
 'yOWER HALLOWDEANE. 2 vols., 21s. 
 
 npOXIE : a Tale. 3 vols., 31s. 6d. 
 
 nnWIXT CUP and LIP. By Mary Lovett-Cameron. 
 -*- 3 vols., 31S. 6d. 
 
 * ' Displays signs of more than ordinary promise. . . . As a whole the 
 novel cannot fail to please. Its plot is one that will arrest attention ; and 
 its characters, one and all, are full of life and have that nameless charm 
 which at once attracts and retains the sympathy of the reader." — Daily 
 News. 
 
 Samuel Tinsley, 10, Southampton Street, Strand.
 
 12 Samuel Tinsley's Publications. 
 
 TWIXT WIFE AND FATHERLAND. 2 vols., 
 2 IS. 
 
 " A bright, vigorous, and healthy story, and decidedly above the average 
 of books of this class. Being in two volumes it commands the reader's 
 unbroken attention to the very end.'' — Standard. 
 
 " It is by someone who has caught her (Baroness Tautphoeus') gift of 
 telling a charming story in the boldest manner, and of forcing us to take 
 an interest in her characters, which writers, far better from a literary point 
 of view, can never approach." — AthencBiim. 
 
 ' ' The story of Camilla's trials exhibits an unusual power of delineating 
 not what is on the surface, but what is exercising the soul under a calm 
 outward exterior. "— y<?/^/z Bze/l. 
 
 " The tale has both freshness and power. The Italian conspirators are 
 well sketched and individualised, and there are some dehcious descriptions 
 of Dolomite scenery which will incline many readers in that direction." — 
 Nonconformist. 
 
 " There is originality in this story Camilla had been foolish and 
 
 headstrong, but she is rather a fascinating heroine." — Graphic. 
 
 " The description of Tyrolese life, and all the intrigues of De Zanna and 
 his friends, with the counter-movements of the Austrian party, are not with- 
 out inteTest."— A/orning Post, 
 
 ' ' The story is written in a quaint and easy style that is very refreshing ; 
 and there are many enjoyable descriptive passages." — Scotsman. 
 
 "Shadows forth much promise. The story will be read with pleasure 
 for the freshness of its descriptions of the people and glorious scenes of 
 the South Tyrol." — Morning Advertiser. 
 
 WO STRIDES OF DESTINY. By S. Brookes 
 
 BUCKLEE. 3 vols., 3 IS. 6d. 
 
 "For an early effort the work is eminently satisfactory. It is quite 
 original, the tone is good, the language graceful, and the characters 
 thoroughly natural." — Ptiblic Opinioti. 
 
 " A pretty story, written strictly in accordance with the popular taste in 
 fiction. It is a thoughtful story. . . . Possesses many elements of 
 originality. '' — Morn ing Post. 
 
 TINDER PRESSURE. By T. E. Pemberton. 2 
 
 ^ vols., 2 IS. 
 
 ' ' A novel above the average standard. . . . We will not detail the dra- 
 matic end of this interesting and well-written story." — Daily News. 
 
 ' ' There is humour, character, and much clever description in ' Under 
 Pressure,' and it is sure to be read with interest." — Yorkshire Post. 
 
 ' ' Mr. Pemberton has displayed keen observation and high literary 
 capacity." — Birmingham Morning News. 
 
 ' ' One of the best contributions to light literature that has been pub- 
 lished for some time." — Birmi?igham Daily Gazette. 
 
 " Ihe book has very considerable vigour and originality." — Scotsman. 
 
 Samuel Tinsley, 10, Southampton Street, Strand
 
 Samuel Tinsley's Publications. 13 
 
 TT/^AGES: a Story in Three Books. 3 vols., 31s. 6d. 
 
 "A work of no commonplace character."- Sunday Times. 
 
 TVTANDERING FIRES. By Mrs. M. C. Despard, 
 ^ * Author of " Chaste as Ice," &c. 3 vols., 31s. 6d. 
 
 TI/^EBS OF LOVE. (I. A Lawyer's Device. 
 '* II. Sancta Simplicitas.) By G. E. H. i vol., Crown 
 8vo., IDS. 6d. 
 
 T^TEIMAR'S TRUST. By Mrs. Edward Christian. 
 
 * ' 3 vols., 31S. 6d. 
 
 ' ' A novel which deserves to be read, and which, once begun, will not 
 be readily laid aside till the tnd." —Scotsman, 
 
 •TiriLL SHE BEAR IT? A Tale of the Weald. 
 
 * » 3 vols., 3 IS. 6d. 
 
 "This is a clever story, easily and naturally told, and the reader's 
 interest sustained throughout. ... A pleasant, readable book, such as 
 we can heartily recommend as likely to do good service in the di^l and 
 foggy days before us." — Spectator. 
 
 W^OMAN'S AMBITION. By M, L. Lyons, i vol., 
 ^^ 7s. 6d. 
 
 TTOW I SPENT MY TWO YEARS^ LEAVE; or, My 
 -■--*- Impressions of the Mother Country, the Continent of 
 Europe, the United States of America, and Canada. By an 
 Indian Officer. In one vol. 8vo. Handsomely bound. Price 
 15s. 
 
 "PACT AGAINST FICTION. The Habits and 
 -*- Treatment of Animals Practically Considered. Hydro- 
 phobia and Distemper. With some remarks on Darwin. By 
 the Hon. Grantley F. Berkeley. 2 vols., 8vo., 30s. 
 
 IVTALTA SIXTY YEARS AGO. With a Concise 
 -^'-L History of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the 
 Crusades, and Knights Templars. By Col. CLAUDIUS Shaw. 
 Handsomely bound in cloth, los. 6d., gilt edges, 12s. 
 
 Samuel Tinsley, 10, Southampton Street, Strand.
 
 14 Samuel Tinsley's Publications. 
 
 HARRY'S BIG BOOTS: a Fairy Tale, for ^'Smalle 
 Folke." By S. E. Gay. With 8 Full-page Illustrations 
 and a Vignette by the author, drawn on wood by Percival 
 Skelton. Crown 8vo., handsomely bound in cloth, price 5s. 
 
 " Some capital fun will be found in ' Harry's Big Boots.' . . . The illustra- 
 tions are excellent, and so is the story." — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 ly/TOVING EARS. By the Ven. Archdeacon Weakhead, 
 ■^^ Rector of Newtown, Kent, i vol., crown 8vo., 5s. 
 
 A TRUE FLEMISH STORY. By the Author of 
 -^^ "The Eve of St. Nicholas." In wrapper, is. 
 
 qnHE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE SECTS. Crown 
 
 -*- 8vo., price 5 s. 
 
 A NOTHER WORLD; or. Fragments from the Star 
 -^ City of Montalluyah. By Hermes. Third Edition, re- 
 vised, with additions. Post 8vo., price 12s. 
 
 T^HE FALL OF MAN : An Answer to Mr. Darwin's 
 -*- " Descent of Man ; " being a Complete Refutation, by 
 common-sense arguments, of the Theory of Natural Selection. 
 IS., sewed. 
 
 THE RITUALIST'S PROGRESS ; or, A Sketch of the 
 Reforms and Ministrations of the Rev. Septimius Alban, 
 Member of the E.C.U., Vicar of S. Alicia, Sloperton. By 
 A. B. WiLDERED, Parishioner. Fcp. 8vo. 2s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 MISTRESSES AND MAIDS. By Hubert Curtis, 
 Author of " Helen," etc. Price id. 
 
 EPITAPHIANA; or, the Curiosities of Churchyard 
 Literature: being a Miscellaneous Collection of Epitaphs, 
 with an INTRODUCTION. By W. Fairley. Crown 8vo., cloth, 
 price 5s. Post free. 
 
 " Entertaining."— Pa// MaTl Gazette. 
 
 "A capital collection." — Co?^7-t Circular 
 
 ' ' A very readable volume. " — Daily Review. 
 
 "A most interesting book." — Leeds Mercmy. 
 
 " Interesting and amusing." Nonconformist. 
 
 "Particularly entertaining." — Public Opinion. 
 
 "A curious and entertaining volume." — Oxford Chronicle. 
 
 "A very interesting collection." — Civil Service Gazette. 
 
 TWELVE NATIONAL BALLADS (First Series). 
 Dedicated to Liberals of all classes. By Philhelot, 
 of Cambridge ; in ornamental cover, price sixpence, post free. 
 
 Samuel Tinsley 10, Southampton Street, Strand,
 
 Samuel Tinsley's Publications. 15 
 
 POETRY, ETC. 
 
 THE DEATH OF ^EGEUS, and other Poems. By 
 W. H. A. Emra, Fcp. 8vo., 5s. , 
 
 TTELEN, and other Poems. By Hubert Curtis, 
 -'-*- Fcp. 8vo., 3s. 6d. 
 
 "lyriSPLACED LOVE. A Tale of Love, Sin, Sorrow, 
 -^'-*- and Remorse, i vol., crown 8vo., 5s. 
 
 T^HE soul speaks, and other Poems. By Francis 
 -*- H. Hemery. In wrapper, is. 
 
 SUMMER shade AND WINTER SUNSHINE: 
 Poems. By Rosa Mackenzie Kettle, Author of" The 
 Mistress of Langdale Hall." New Edition. 2s. 6d., cloth. 
 
 >HE WITCH of NEMI, and other Poems. By 
 Edward Brennan. Crown 8vo., los. 6d. 
 
 MARY DESMOND, AND OTHER POEMS. By 
 Nicholas J. Gannon. Fcp. 8vo., 4s., cloth. Second 
 Edition. • 
 
 nPHE GOLDEN PATH: a Poem. By Isabella 
 -■- Stuart. 6d., sewed. 
 
 'THE REDBREAST OF CANTERBURY CATHE- 
 -*- DRAL : Lines from the Latin of Peter du Moulin, some- 
 time a Prebendary of Canterbury. Translated by the Rev. 
 F. B. Wells, M.A., Rector of Woodchurch. Handsomely 
 bound, price is. 
 
 nPHE TICHBORNE AND ORTON AUTOGRAPHS 
 -■- comprising Autograph Letters of Roger Tichborne, 
 Arthur Orton (to Mary Ann Loder), and the Defendant (early 
 letters to Lady Tichborne, &c.), in facsimile. In wrapper, 
 price 6d. 
 
 OALAK AND BALAAM IN EUROPEAN COS- 
 ■^ TUME. By the Rev. James Kean, M.A., Assistant to 
 the Incumbent of Markinch, Fife. 6d., sewed. 
 
 A NOTHERROWATDAME EUROPA'S SCHOOL. 
 
 -^-^ Showing how John's Cook made an IRISH Stew, and 
 what came of it. 6d., sewed. 
 
 Samuel Tinsley, 10, Southampton Street, Strand.
 
 16 Samuel Tinsley's Publications. 
 
 TTNTRODDEN SPAIN, and her Black Country. 
 
 Being Sketches of the Life and Character of the Spaniard of the 
 Interior. By Hugh James Rose, M.A,, of Oriel College, Oxford; 
 Chaplain to the English, French, and German Mining Companies of 
 Linaries ; and formerly Acting Chaplain to Her Majesty's Forces at 
 Dover Garrison. In 2 vols., 8vo., price 30s. 
 
 ' ' The result of his observations is one of the most trustworthy and 
 interesting books upon Spanish Hfe and manners in the southern provinces 
 during a period of great political disquiet that we have ever had the good 
 fortune to peruse. Evidently a gentleman and a scholar, with, in spite of 
 his profession, a dash of the sportsman, Mr. Rose combines the calm good 
 
 faith of the historian with the acumen of an advocate We regret 
 
 that we cannot make further extracts, for ' Untrodden Spain ' is by far 
 the best book upon Spanish peasant life that we have ever met with. 
 Valuable information is imparted in an honest, straightforward manner ; 
 and nothing is exaggerated. Travellers proverbially tell sti-ange stories, 
 but Mr. Rose has drawn upon fancy neither for his facts nor for figures." 
 — Athenceum. 
 
 ' ' The author of this work has proved satisfactorily that there was room 
 for another book on Spain. ... It is fresh, life-like, and chatty, and is 
 written by a man who is accustomed to look below the surface of things." — 
 Standard. 
 
 ' ' Leaving subjects worn threadbare, or touching them lightly, he 
 analyses in a way no one else has done the Spanish character. He has 
 looked beneath the surface, and he has seen for himself some of their 
 
 institutions. His sketch of domestic life in Spain is beyond praise 
 
 We have rarely been able to recommend a book more cordially. It has 
 not a dull page, and no one can rise from its perusal without learning 
 more about Spain than he ever learnt by the most diligent perusal of 
 political letters from that ill-fated country. For our author (whose style is 
 good, method of arrangement lucid, and sympathies warm) not only is a 
 keen observer of things below the surface, but has the rare art of imparting 
 his information in a form alike pleasant and intelligible. The book 
 deserves to be a great success." — yo/in Bull. 
 
 ' ' An amount of really valuable information respecting the lower classes 
 of Spaniards, their daily life and conversation, and ways of looking at 
 
 things, such as few writers have given us The second portion of 
 
 the book, which is devoted to the mining or 'Black Country' of Spain, 
 contains some capital sketches of character both of the Spanish miners and 
 of the Welsh and Cornish overseers and mining captains In con- 
 clusion, we may remark that it is a work that should be read by everyone 
 interested in Spain, and in the moral and political crisis through which she 
 has been and still is passing." — T/ie Field. 
 
 Samuel Tinsley, 10, Southampton Street, Strand.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
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