The Mistress of Shenstone · The Mistress of Shen sto n e CHAPTE R I ON THE TERRACE A T S HEN S TON...

TH E M I STR E S SOF SH E N STON E

B Y

FLOR E N C E L . B A R CLA Y

G R O S S E T D U N L A P

PU B LI SH E R S N E W Y O R K

COPY R I GHT,

B Y

FLOR E N CE L . B ARCLAY

This editio n is is sued un der arran gemen t w ith the publis h ers

G . P . P U TN AM’

S S ON S , N E W YOR K A N D LON DON

‘

E be‘

kn icherbo chet p ress ,fl ew 22 0th

CON TE N TS

ON TE E T E RRAC E AT SH E N STON E

T E E FOR E RU N N E R

WHAT P E T E R KN E W

I N S AF E HAN DS

LADY I N GLE E Y ’

S R E ST-CU RE

AT TE E MOORH E AD I N N

M R S . O’

MA R A'

S CORRE SPON D E N CE

I N HORS E SHO E COV E

Jm A x R TE TO TE E R E SC U E

Y E O HO,WE GO !

'

TW IX T S E A A N D S KY

U N DE R TE E MOR N TN G S TAR

TE E AWA R E N TN G

GOLDE N DAYS

vi

CHA PTE R

X XV .

X X V I .

CONTENTS

PAG E

WHE RE I S LADY I N GLE B Y ?

U N D E R TH E B E E CH E S AT S H E N STON E

“S U RE LY Y OU KN E W ?

WHAT B ILLY HAD TO T E LL

J I M A IRTH DE CIDE S

A B E TTE R POI N T OF V I E W

M ICHAE L V E RI TAS

LORD I N GLE B Y ’

S WIF E

WHAT B ILLY KN E W

MR S . DALMA I N R E V I E W S TH E S ITU ATION

TH E TE ST

WHA T S HALL WE WRITE ?

The Mistres s of S hen sto n e

The Mistres s of S hen sto n e

CHAPTE R I

ON THE TERRACE AT S HEN S TON E

HR E E o'

clock o n a dank afternoon, early

in November . Th e wintry sunshine, in

fitful gleams, p ierced the greyness of the

leaden Sky .

The gr eat trees in Shenstone Park stood

gaun t an d bare,Spreading Wide arms over the

so dden gras s . All nature m med waiting the

fim fall Of W inter'

s snow, Which Should hide

its deadn fi s an d decay un der a lovely pall o f

sparklin g White , ben eath which a promis e o f

fm h life to co me might gently move an d

stir ; an d . even tually, spring forth .

Th e Mistres s of Shens tone movw S low ly up

2 THE MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

and down the terrace,w rapped in her long fur

cloak, listen ing to the soft drip, dr ip Of

autum n all aroun d ; noting the silent fall o f th e

last dead leaves ; the steely grey Of the lake

beyond ; the empty fl o w er-garden ; the dea

s erted lawn .

The large stone house had a desolate

appearance, most Of the rooms being, evi

den tly, closed ; but, in o n e o r two, cheerful

log-fires blazed, casting a ruddy glow upon

the window-panes,and sending forth a tempt

ing promise Of warmth and cosiness Within .

A tiny White toy-poodle walked the terrace

with h is mistress—an agitated little bundle o f

White curls ; sometimes run ning roun d and

roun d her ; then hurrying on before, o r dr op

pin g behind, only to rush on, in unexpected

haste, at the corners ; almost tripping her up,

as She turned .

Peter,” said Lady Ingleby,o n o n e o f these

occasions,“I do Wish yo u would behave in a

more rational manner ' Either come to heel

and follow sedately, as a dog of your " age

should do ; or trot on in front, in the gaily

ON THE TERRACE A T SHENSTONE 3

juvenile man n er you assume when Michael

takes you out for a walk ; but, for goodness’

sake,don't be so fidgety ; and don

'

t run round

and round me in this bewildering way, or I

shall call for William, and send you in . I

only wish Michael could see you ! "

The little animal looked up at her,

pathetically, through his tumbled curls—a

soft silky mass,which had earned for him his

name o f Shockheaded Peter . His eyes, red

rimmed from the cold Win d, had that un

s eeing look, often noticeable in a very o ld

dog . Yet there w as in them,and in the whole

pose of his tiny body, an anguish of anxiety,

which could not have escaped a genuine dog

lover . Even Lady Ingleby became partially

aware of it . She stooped and patted his

head .

“ Poor little Peter, she said,more kind ly .

I t is horrid , for us both, having Michael so

far away at this tiresome war . But he will

come ho me before long ; and w e shall forget all

the anxiety and lonelines s . It w ill be spring

again . Michae l will have you properly


clipped, and we will go to Brighton, where

you enjoy trotting about, and hearing people

call yo u‘The British Lion .

’ I verily believe

you consider yourself the Size of the lions in

Trafalgar Square ! I cannot im agine why a

great big man, such as Michael, is s o devoted

to a tiny scrap Of a dog, such as you ! N o w ,

if you were a Great Dane, or a mighty St .

Bernard However,Michael loves us both,and we both love Michael ; so we must be

nice to each other, little Peter, while he is

away .

”

Myra Ingleby smiled, drew the folds o f

her cloak more closely around her,and moved

o n . A small white shadow, with no wag to

its tail,followed dejectedly behind .

And the dead leaves, loosing their hold o f

the sapless branches, fluttered to the sodden

turf ; and the soft“drip,drip

:Of autum n fell

all around .

The door o f the lower hall opened . A

footman, bringing a telegram, came quickly

out . His features were s et, in well-trained

impassivity ; but his eyelids fli ckered n er

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prepare it for him . He will be here in an

hour . Send the motor to the station . Tell

G ro atley we will have tea in my sitting-room

as soon as Sir Deryck arrives . Send down

word to the Lodge to Mrs . O’Mara, that I

shall want her up here this evening . Oh,and—by the way—mention at once at the

Lodge that there is no further news from

abroad .

“Y es , m

’ lady, said the footman ; and

Myra Ingleby smiled at the reflection, in the

lad’s voice and face, o f her o w n immense

relief . He turned and hastened to the house ;

Peter,in a sudden access o f misplaced energy,

barking furiously at his heels .

Lady Ingleby moved to the front Of the

terrace and stood beside o n e o f the stone

lions,close to an empty vase,which in summer

had been a brilliant mass o f scarlet geraniums .

Her face was glad with expectation .

“ Somebody to talk to, at last !”sh e said .

I had begun to think I should have to brave

dear mam a, and return to town . And

Sir Deryck o f all people ! He wires from

ON THE TERRACE A T SHENSTONE 7

V ictoria, so I conclude he sees his patient

en ro ute, or in the morning . H o w perfectly

charming of him to give me a Whole evening .

I wonder h o w many people would, if they

knew o f it, be breaking the tenth command

ment concernin g me ! Peter, you little

fiend ! Come here ! Why the footmen, and

gardeners, and postmen,'

do not kick o ut

your few remainin g teeth , passes me ! Y o u

pretend to be to o unwell to eat your dinner,

and then behave like a frantic hyena,because

poor innocent William brings me a telegram !

I shall w rite and ask Michael if I may have

you hanged .

"

And, in high good humour, Lady Ingleby

went into the house .

But,outside,the dead leaves turned slowly,an d rustled on the gras s ; while the soft

“drip,

drip"Of autumn fell all around . The dying

year was almost dead ; and nature waited for

her pall o f snow .

CHAPTE R II

THE FOR ERU N N ER

HAT it is to have somebody to talk to,at last ! And yo u,o f all people,dear

Doctor ! Though I still fail to un derstand h o w

a patient,who has brought you down to these

parts, can wait f o r your visit until to-morrow

morning, thus giving a perfectly healthy

person, such as myself, the in estirn able

privilege o f your company at tea dinner,

and breakf ast, with delightful té‘

te-a-tétes in

between . All the world knows your minutes

are golden .

Thus Lady Ingleby,as sh e poured o ut the

doctor’s tea,and handed it to him .

Deryck Brand placed the cup carefully o n

his corner o f the folding tea-table, helped

himself to thin bread-and-butter ; then an

sw ered,with his most charming smile .

“Mine would be a very dismal profession,8

THE FCRERU NNER 9

dear lady, if it precluded me from ever having

a meal, or a conversation, o r from spending a

pleasant even ing, with a perfectly healthy

person . I find the surest way to live one’s

life to the full, accomplishin g the maximum

amount of work with the minimum amount of

strain, is to cultivate the habit Of living in the

present ; giving the whole mind to the scene,

the subject, the person, Of the moment .

Therefore, with your leave, w e will dismiss

my patien ts, past and future ; and enjoy, to

th e full, this unexpected téte-d-téte .

Myra Ingleby looked at her visitor . His

forty-tw o years sat lightly o n him, n o tw ith

standing the streaks of silver in the dark

hair just over each temple . There w as a

youthful alertness about the tall athletic fig

ure ; but the lean brown face,clean shaven and

reposeful, held a look o f quiet strength and

power,mingled w ith akeen kin dliness and ready

co mmeh en s io n ,which inspired trust,an d drew

forth confidence .

The burden of a great lonelin ess seemed

lif ted from Myra'

s heart .

1 0 THE MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

Do you always put s o much salt on your

bread-and-butter ? ”sh e said .

“And h o w

glad I am to be ‘the person o f the moment .

’

Only—until this mysterious patient in the

neighbourhood’ demands your attention,

you ought to be having a complete holiday,

and I must try to forget that I am talking to

the greatest nerve specialist of the day, and

on ly realise the pleasure o f entertaining s o

good a friend of Michael’s and my o w n .

Otherwise I should be tempted to consult yo u ;for I really believe, Sir Deryck, f o r the first

time in my life, I am becoming neurotic .

”

The doctor did not need to look at h is

hostess . His practised eye had already noted

the thin cheeks ; the haun ted look ; the purple

shadows beneath the lovely grey eyes, for

which the dark fringes Of black eyelashes were

not altogether accountable . He leaned for

ward and looked into the fire .

If such is really the case,” he said, that

you should be aware o f it, is s o excellent

a symptom, that the condition cannot be

s erious . But I want you to remember,

THE FOR E R U N N E R l I

Lady Ingleby, that I coun t all my patients,

friends ; also that my friends may consider

themse lves at liberty, at any moment, to

become my patients . S O consult me, if I

can be o f any use to you .

The doctor helped himself to more bread

and-butter, folding it with careful precision .

Lady Ingleby held o ut her hand for his

cup,grateful that he did not appear to notice

the rush of unexpected tears to her eyes .

She busied herself with the urn un til she could

control her voice ; then said, with a rather

tremulo us laugh :“Ah ,thank you ! Presently

—if I may—I gladly will consult you . Mean

while, h o w do you like ‘the scene o f the

moment’

? Do yo u consider my boudoir

improved ? Michael made all these altera

tion s be fore he went away . The n ew electric

lights are a patent arrangement Of his o w n .

And had you se en his po rtrait ? A wonderful

likenes s, is n'

t it ?

The doctor looked around him, apprecia

tively .

“I have bee n admiring the room,ever sin ce


I entered, he said . It is charming .

Then he raised his eyes to the picture over

the man telpiece'

fl th e life-sized portrait Of a

tall,bearded man,with the high brow o f the

scholar and thinker ; the eyes o f the mystic ;

the gentle un ruffied expression Of the saint .

He appeared Old enough to be the father Of

the woman in whose boudoir his portrait

was the central Object . The artist had

painted him in an Old Norfolk Shooting-suit,leather leggings, hunting-crop in hand, seated

in a garden chair, beside a rustic table .

Everything in the picture was homely, Old,

and comfortable ; the creases in the suit were

Old friends ; the ancient tobacco pouch o n th e

table was worn and stained . Russet-brown

predominated, and the highest light in the

painting was the clear blue o f those dreamy,

musing eyes . They were bent upon the

table, where sat, in an expectant attitude Of

adoring attention, a white toy-poodle . The

palpable devotion between the big man and

the tiny dog, the concentrated aff ection w ith

which they looked at o n e another, were very


I am quite kind to him, for Michael’s sake .

Only he really is a nasty little dog ; and to o

o ld to be allowed to continue . Michael

always speaks Of him as if he were quite to o

good to live ; and, personally, I think it is

high time he went where all good dogs go .

I cannot imagine what is the matter with

him n o w . Since yesterday afternoon he has

refused all his food, and been s o restless

and fidgety . He always sleeps o n Michael’s

bed ; and, as a rule, after I have put h im

there,and closed the door between Michael’s

room and mine, I hear no more Of Peter, until

he barks to be let out in the morning, and my

maid takes him down—stairs . But last night,

he whined and howled for hours . At length

I got up,found Michael’s Old Shooting jacket

the very o n e in the portrait—and laid it on the

bed . Peter crawled into it, and cuddled

down . I folded the sleeves aroun d him, and

he seemed content . But tod ay he still

refuses to eat . I believe he is dyspeptic, o r

has some other complaint, such as dogs de

velo p when they are Old . Honestly—don’

t

THE FOR E R U NNER I 5

you think—a little effective poison, in an

attractive pill

Oh,hush !”said the doctor . Peter may

not be as leep .

Lady Ingleby laughed . My dear Sir

Deryck ! DO you suppose animals under

stand Our conversation ?“ Indeed I do,

"replied the doctor . And

more than that, they do not require the

medium of language . Their comprehension

is telepathic . They read o ur thoughts . A

nervous rider o r driver can terrify a horse .

Dumb creatures will turn away from those

wh o thin k of them with dislike or aversion ;

whereas a true lover o f animals can w in them

without a Spoken word . The thought o f love

and o f goodw ill reaches them telepathically,

w inning instant trust and response . Also, if

we take the trouble to do so,we can,to a great

extent, arrive at their ideas, in the same

way.

”

“ Extraordinary !”exclaimed Lady Ingleby .

Well . I wish you would thought-read

what is the matter w ith Peter . I shall not

l6 THE MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

know how to face Michael ’s home-coming,if anything goes wrong with his beloved

dog .

”

The doctor lay back in his arm chair ; crossed

his knees the o n e over the other ; rested his

elbows on the arm s Of the chair ; then let his

fi n ger-tips meet very exactly . Instinctively

he assum ed the attitude in which he usually

sat when bending his mind intently on a

patient . Presently he turned and looked

s teadily at the little white heap cur led up in

the big armchair .

The room was very still .“Peter ! ” said the doctor, suddenly .

Peter sat up at once, and peeped at the

doctor, through his curls .

Poor little Peter,” said the doctor,kindly .

Peter moved to the edge o f the chair ; sat

very upright, and looked eagerly across to

where the doctor was sitting . Then he

wagged his tail, tapping th e chair with

quick, anxious, little taps .“ The first wag I have seen in twenty

four hours,” remarked Lady Ingleby ; but

THE FOR E R U N N E R I 7

neither Deryck Brand nor Shockheaded Peter

heeded the remark .

The anxious eyes o f the dog were gazing,w ith an agony of question, into the kind keen

eyes Of the man .

Without movin g, the doctor spoke .

“Y es little Peter, he said .

Peter 3 small tuf ted tail ceased thumping .

He sat very still f o r a moment ; then quietly

moved back to the middle o f the chair,turned

round and round three o r four times ; then lav

down, dropping his head betwee n his paws

with o n e long shuddering sigh, like a little

child which has sobbed itself to sleep .

The doctor turned, and looked at Lady

Ingleby .

Wh at does that mean ? ” queried Myra,

astonished .

“Little Peter asked a ques tion , replied

Sir Deryck, gravely ; an d I answered it .

"

“Wonderful ! Will you talk this telepathy

over with Michael when h e comes home ?

It would interest him .

The doctor lo o ked into the fire .


It is a big subject, he said . When I

can spare the time, I am thinking o f writing

an essay on the mental and spiritual develop

ment o f animals, as revealed in the Bible .

”

“B alaam

’

s as s ?” suggested Lady Ingleby,

promptly .

The doctor smiled . Quite s o , he said .

But B alaam ’

s as s is neither the only anim al

in the Bible, n o r the most interesting case .

Have yo u ever noticed the many instances

in which animals immediately obeyed God’s

commands, even when those commands ran

counter to their strongest instincts ? Fo r

in stan ee 'fi th e lion,who met the disobedient

man o f God o n the road from Bethel . The

instinct of the beast, after slaying the man,

would have been to maul the body, drag it

away into h is lair, and devour it . But the

Divine command was —that he should slay,but not eat the carcass, nor tear the as s .

The instinct o f the as s would have been to

flee in terror from the lion ; but,undoubtedly,

a Divine assurance overcame her natural

fear ; and all men who passed by beheld this

THE FCRERU NNER I 9

remarkable sight —a lion and an ass standing

sentry, o n e o n either side o f the dead body o f

the man Of God ; and there they remained

until the o ld prophet from Bethel arrived, to

fetch away the body and bury it .

“ Extraordinary ! ” said Lady Ingleby . S O

they did. And now o n e comes to thin k Of it

there are plenty o f sim ilar instances . The

instin ct o f the serpent which Moses lifted up

on a pole,would have been to come scriggling

down, and go about biting the Israelites, in

stead o f staying up o n the pole, to be looked

at for their healing .

"

The doctor smiled . Quite so, he said .

Only,w e must not quote him as an instance ;because , being made of brass, I fear he was

devoid Of in stinct . Other wise he would have

been an exce llent case in point . And I

believe animals poss ess far more spiritual

life than w e suspect . DO you remember a

passage in the Psalms which says that the

lions‘seek their meat from God

'

? And,more

s triking s till,in the same Psalm we read o f the

whole brute creation, that when G o d h i de s


H is face ‘they are troubled Good heavens !

said the doctor,earnestly ; I wish o ur spiritual

life always answered to these two tests

that God ’s will should be paramount over o ur

strongest instincts ; and that any cloud be

tween us and the light o f His face, ShOLlld’

cause us instant trouble o f soul .“ I like that expression ‘spiritual life,

said Lady Ingleby .

“ I am sure yo u mean

by it what other people sometimes express

so differently . Did you hear of the Duchess

o f Meldrum attending that big evangelistic

meeting in the Albert Hall ? I really don’t

know exactly what it was . Some sort o f

n o n -sectarian mission,I gather,with a preacher

over from America ; and the meetings went o n

for a fortnight . It would never have occurred

to me to go to them . But the dear o ld

duchess always likes to be ‘in the know ’ and

to sample everything . Besides, sh e holds a

proprietary stall . S O sh e sailed into the

Albert Hall o n e afternoon, in excellent time,

and remained throughout the entire pro

ceedin gs . She enjoyed the singing ; thought

2 2 THE MI STRESS OF SHEN STONE

the duchess sampled no more evangelistic

meetings ! ”

The doctor sighed. Tactless, he said .

Ah, the pity o f it,when‘fools rush in where

angels fear to tread !

People scream with laughter, when the

duchess tells it,” said Lady Ingleby ;

“ but then

sh e imitates the unctuous person so exactly ;

and sh e does not mention the tears . I have

them from an eye-witness . But—as I was

saying— I like your expression ‘spiritual

life .

’ It really holds a meaning ; and, though

o n e may have to adm it o n e does not possess

any, o r, that what o n e does possess is at a

low ebb, yet o n e sees the genuine thing in

others, and it is something to believe in,at all

events — Look how peacefully little Peter is

sleeping . Y o u have evidently s et his mind

at rest . That is Michael’s armchair ; and,

therefore Peter’s . N o w we will send away

the tea-things ; and then—may I become apatient ?

CHAPTE R I II

WHAT PETER KN EW

IS N

’

T my good G ro atley a cur ious looking

person ? said Lady Ingleby,as the door

closed behind the butler . “ I call him the

Gryphon, because he looks perpetually as

to n ished . His eyebrows are like black horse

shoes , and they mount higher an d higher up

his forehead as one’

s sentence proceeds . But

he is very faithf ul, and kn ows his work, and

Michael approves him . DO yo u like this

portrait o f Michael ? Garth B almain stayed

here a few months before he lost his sight,

poor bo y, and painted us both . I believe

min e was practically his las t portrait . It

hangs in the dining-room .

"

The doctor moved his chair opposite the

fireplace , so that he could sit facing the

picture over the man telpiece,yet turn readily2 3


toward Lady Ingleby o n his left . On his

right, little Peter,with an occasional sobbing

sigh,slept heavily in his absent master’s chair .

The lo g-fi re burned brightly . The electric

light, from behind amber glass, sent a golden

glow as Of sunshine through the room . The

dan k damp drip o f autum n had no place in

this warm lux ury . The curtains were closely

drawn ; and that which is n o t seen, can be

forgotten .

The doctor glanced at the clock . The

minute-hand pointed to the quarter before

s ix .

He lifted his eyes to the picture .

I hardly know Lord Ingleby suffi ciently

well to give an o p1m o n ; but I should say it is

an excellent likeness, possessing, to a large

degree, the peculiar quality of all Dalmain’

s

portraits —the more yo u look at them, the

more yo u s ee in them . They are such ex

trao rdin ary character studies . With your

increased knowledge o f the person, grows

your appreciation o f the cleverness o f the

portrait .

WHA T PETER KNEW 2 5

Yes, said Lady Ingleby, leaning forward

to look intently up at the picture It often

startles me as I come into the room,because I

see a fresh expression o n the face, just accord

ing to my o w n mood,or what I happen to have

been doing ; and I realise Michael’

s mind o n

the subject more readily from the portrait

than from my o w n knowledge o f him . Garth

Dalmain was a genius !“N o w tell me,

”

said the doctor, gently .

Why did you leave town,your many friends,your interests there, in order to bury yourself

down here,during this dismal autumn weather ?

Surely the strain o f waiting for news would

have been less, w ithin such easy reach of the

War O ffice and o f the evening papers .

Lady Ingleby laughed , rather mirthlessly .

I came away,S ir Deryck,partly to escape

from clear mamma ; and as you do n o t kn ow

dear mamma , it is almost imposs ible for you

to understand h o w essential it was to escape .

When Michae l is away, I am defencele ss .

Mamma swoops down ; takes up her abode in

my ho use ; reduce s my household , acco rdin g


to their s ex and temperament, to rage, hys

terics ,or despair ; tells unpalatable home-truths

to my friends, so that all—save the duchess

flee discomforted . Then mamma proceeds

to ‘divide the spoil ’

! In other words : sh e

lies in wait for my telegrams,and opens them

herself, saying that if they contain go o d

news, a dutiful daughter Should delight in at

once sharing it with her ; whereas, if they con

tain bad news, which heaven forbid —and

surely,with mamma snorting Skyward,heaven

would n o t venture to do otherwise ! -she

is the right person to break it to me,

gently . I bore it f o r s ix weeks ; then fled down

here, well knowing that not even the dear

delight o f bullying me would bring mam a to

Shenstone in autum n .

”

The doctor’

s face was grave . For a mo

ment he looked silently into the fire . He was

a man o f many ideals, and foremost among

them was h is ideal Of the relation which should

b e between parents and children ; o f the loyalty

to a mother, which, even if forced to admit

faults o r failings, should tenderly shield them


from the kn owledge o r criticism o f outsiders .

It hurt h im , as a sacrilege, to hear a daughter

speak thus of her mother ; yet he knew well,from facts which were common knowledge,

h o w little cause the sweet, lovable woman at

his side had to consider the tie either a sacred

o r a tender one . He had come to help, n o t

to fin d fault . Also, the minute-hand was

hastening towards the hour ; and the final

instructions o f the kind-hearted o ld Duchess

Of Meldrum, as she parted from him at the

War Offi ce, had been : Remember ! Six

o'

clock from Lo ndon . I shall i n s ist upon its

being kept back un til then . If they make

difficulties, I shall camp in the entrance and‘hold up

’

every messenger w h o attempts to

pass o ut. But I am accustomed to have my

o w n way w ith these good people . I should

not hesitate to ring up Buckingham Palace,

if necessary, as they very well kn ow ! S o

you may rest assured i t will n o t leave London

un til s ix o'

clock. I t gives you ample tim e .

”

Therefore the doctor said : “ I understand .

It does not come within my o wn experien ce


yet I think I understand . But tell me,Lady Ingleby . If bad news were to come,would yo u sooner receive it direct from the

War Off ice, in the terribly crude wording

which cannot be avoided in those telegrams ;

o r would you rather that a friend—other than

your mother -broke it to yo u,more gently ?

Myra’s eyes flashed . She sat up with

instant animation .

“ Oh, I would receive it direct, she said .

It would be far less hard, if it were Official .

I should hear the roll of the drum s, and see

the wave Of the flag . Fo r England, and f o r

Honour ! A soldier’s daughter,and a soldier’s

wife, should be able to stand up to anything .

If they had to tell me Michael was in great

danger, I should share his danger in receiving

the news without fl in ch in g . If he were

woun ded, as I read the telegram I should

receive a wound myself,and try to be as brave

as he . All which came direct from the war,

would unite me to Michael . But interfering

friends, however well-meaning, would come

between . If he had not been shielded from

30 TH E MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

popular hostesses, o n e Of the most admired

women, in the kingdom . Yet his keen pro

fes sio n al insight revealed to him an arrested

development ; possibilities unfulfilled ; a pro

blem Of inadequacy and consequent disappointment, to which he had not the key .

But those outstretched hands eagerly held it

towards h im . Could he bring help, if he

accepted a knowledge Of the solution ; o r

did help come too late ?

Dear Lady Ingleby, he said, quietly

tell me anything you like ; that is to say,

anything which you feel assured Lord Ingleby

would allow discussed with a third person .

Myra leaned back among the cushions and

laughed— a gay little laugh, half o f amuse

ment,half o f relief .“ Oh,Michael would not mind !

”sh e said .

Anything Michael would mind, I have

always told straight to himself ; and they were

silly little things ; such as foolish people trying

to make love to me ; o r a foreign prince,with

moustaches like theGermanEmperor’s,Offering

to sh o o t Michael,if I would promis e to marry

WHA T PETER KNEW 3 l

him when h is period o f consequent imprison

men t was over . I cut the idiots wh o had

presumed to make love to me,ever after ; and

assured the foreign prince, I should undoubt

edly kill h im myself, if he hurt a hair Of

Michae l’

s head ! No, dear doctor . My life

is clear o f all that sort of complication . My

trouble is a harder one, involving one’

s whole

life-problem . And that problem is in co mpe

tence an d inadequacy—not towards the world,I should not care a rap for that ; but towards

the one to whom I o w e most : towards Michael,—my husband .

”

The doctor moved uneasily in his chair,and

glan ced at the clock .

“ Oh,hush ! he said . Do not

N o !"

cried Myra . Y o u must not stop

me . Let me at las t have the relief Of speech !

My frien d , I am twenty-e ight ; I have had ten

years o f married l ife ; yet I do not believe I

have ever rea lly grown up ! In heart and

brain I am an undeveloped child , and I know

it ; and , worse still, Michael knows it, anci

Michael do es n o tmin d. Lis ten ! I t dates back


to years ago . Mamma never allowed any o f

her daughters to grow up . We were permitted

no individuality o f o ur own , no opinions, no

independence . All that was required Of us,

was to ‘do her behests, and follow in her

train Forgive the misquotation . We were

always children in mamma’s eyes . We grew

tall ; we grew good-looking ; but we never

grew up . We remained children, to be

snubbed, domineered over, and bullied . My

sisters, who were good childr en, had plenty

o f jam and cake ; and, eventually, husbands

after mamma’s own heart were found for

them . Perhaps you know how those marriages

have turned o ut?

Lady Ingleby paused, and the doctor made

an almost imperceptible Sign o f assent . One

Of the ladies in question, a most unh appy

woman,was under treatment in his Mental

Sanatorium at that very moment ; but he

doubted whether Lady Ingleby knew it .“ I was the black sheep,

”continued Myra,

finding no remark forthcoming .

“Nothing I

did was ever right ; everything I did was always


wrong . Wh en Michael met me I was nearly

eighteen, the height I am now , but in the

nursery, as regards mental development o r

knowledge o f the world ; and, as regards

character, a most unhappy, utterly reckless,

little child . Michael'

s love,when at last I

realised it,was wonderful to me . Tenderness,

appreciation, consideration, were experiences

s o novel that they would have turned my

head,had not the elation they produced been

counterbalanced by a gratitude which was

overwhelmin g ; an d a terror o f being handed

back to mamma,which would have made me

agree to anythin g . Years later,Michael told

me that what first attracted him to me was

a look in my eyes just like the look in those o f

a favourite spaniel o f his, who was always in

trouble with everyone else, and had just been

accidentally shot, by a keeper . Michael told

me this himself ; and really thought I should

be pleased ! Somehow it gave me th e key to

my standing with him—just that Of a ve rytenderly-loved pet clog . N O words ca n say

h ow good he has always been to me If I

3 4 THE MI STR ESS OF SHENSTONE

lost him, I should lose my all—everythingwhich makes home,home ; and life a safe,and

certain, thing . But if he lost little Peter, it

would be a more real loss to him than if

he lost me ; because Peter is more intelligent

for his size, and really more o f an actual

companion to Michael, than I am . Many

a time,when he has passed through my room

o n the way to his,with Peter tucked securely

un der his arm ; and saying, Good-night, my

dear,’ to me,has gone in and shut the door,

I have felt I could slay little Peter,because he

had the better place,and because he looked at

me through his curls, as he was carried away,

as if to say :‘

Y o u are o ut o f it ! ’ Yet I knew

I had all I deserved ; and Michael’s kindness

and goodness and patience were beyond

words . Only—Only—ah, can yo u under

stand ? I would sooner he had found fault

and scolded ; I would sooner have been shaken

and called a fool, than smiled at, and left

alone . I was in the nursery when he married

me ; I have been in the school-room ever since,

tryin g to learn life’s lessons, alone. without a

WHA T PETER KN EW 3 S

teacher . Nothing has helped me to gro w up .

Michael has always told me I am perfect,and

everything I do is perfect, and he does n o t

want me difi eren t. But I have never really

shared his life and interests . If I make

idiotic mistakes he does not correct me .

I have to fi n d them o ut,when I repeat them

before others . When I made that silly

blunder about the brazen serpent, you so

kindly put me right . Michael would have

smiled and let it pass as not worth correcting ;

then I should have repeated it before a room

ful of people, and wondered why they looked

amused ! Ah ,but what do I care for people,or

the world ! It is my true place beside Michael

I want to win . I want to ‘

grow up unto him

in all things .

’

Yes, I know that is a text . I

am famous for misquotations, or rather,mis

applications . But it express es my meaning

as the duchess remarks, when s he has said

something mild under provocation, and her

parrot swears !—And n o w te ll me, dear wise

kind doctor ; you,w h o have been the lifelong

friend o f that grand creature , jane Dalmain ;


you, who have done s o much for dozens Of

women I know ; tell me how I can cease to be

inadequate towards my husband .

”

The passionate fl o w o f words ceased sud

den ly. Lady Ingleby leaned back against the

cushions .

Peter sighed in his sleep .

A clock in the hall chimed the quarter

after s ix .

The doctor looked steadily into the fire .

He seemed to find speech difficult .

At last he said, in a voice which shook

slightly : Dear Lady Ingleby, he did not

h e does not—think you s o .

”

“N O,no ! sh e cried, sitting forward again .

He thinks o f me nothing but what is kind and

right . But he never expected me to be more

than a nice, affectionate, good- looking do g ;

and 1—1 have not known how to be better

than his expectations . But, although he is

s o patient, he sometim es grows unutterably

tired Of being with me . All other pet creatures

are dum b ; but I love talking,and I constantly

say silly things,which do not s o un d silly,until

38 THE MI STRESS OF SHE N S TONE

Old regiment, and gone at the im pe rative call

o f duty . However—nothin g matters s o long

as he comes home safely . And now you—yo u,

Sir Deryck—must help me to become a real

helpmeet to Michael . Tell me h o w you

helped—o h , very well, we will n o t mention

nam es . But give me wise advice . Give me

hope ; give me courage . Make me strong .

”

The doctor looked at the clock ; and, even

as he looked, the chimes in the hall rang o ut

the half-hour .“Y o u have not yet told me, he said,

speaking very slowly, as if listen ing f o r some

other sound ; yo u have not yet told me,your

second reason f o r leaving town .

“Ah,” said Lady Ingleby, and her voice

held a deeper, Older, tone—a note bordering

o n tragedy . Ah ! I left town, Sir Deryck,because other people were teaching me love

lessons, and I did n o t want to learn them

apart from Michael . I stayed with Jane

Dalmain and her blind husband,before they

went back to Glen eesh . Y o u remember ?

They were in town f o r the production o f his

WHA T'

PETER KNEW 3 9

symphony . I saw that ideal wedded life,

and I realised something Of what a perfect

mating Of souls could mean . And then

well, there were others ; people who did n o t

un derstan d how wholly I am Michael’

s ;

nothing actually w rong ; but n o t so fresh and

youthful as Billy’

s innocent adoration ; and I

feared I should accidentally learn what on ly

Michael must teach . Therefore I fled away !

Oh, doctor ; if I ever learned from another

man, that which I have failed to learn from

my o w n husband, I should lie at Michael’s

feet an d implore h im to kill me ! "

Th e doctor looked up at the portrait over

the mantelpiece The calm passionless face

smiled blandly at the tiny dog . One sensitive

hand, white and delicate as a woman’s, was

raised forefinger uplifted, gently holding the

attent ion o f the little animal’

s eager eyes .

The magic skill o f the artist supplied the

doctor with the key to the problem . A

woma n —as mate , as wife, as part Of h imself,was not a neces sity in the life o f this thin ker,

in vento r, scholar, saint . He could appreciate


dumb devotion ; he was capable Of unlimited

kin dness, leniency, patience, toleration . But

woman and do g alike, remained outside the

citadel o f his inner self . Had n o t her eyes re

sembled those o f a favourite spaniel,he would

very probably n o t have wedded the lovely

woman who,now,during ten years had borne

h is name ; and even then he might not have

done so, had not the tyranny of her mother,

awakening his instinct o f protection towards

the weak and oppressed, aroused in h im a

determination to withstand that tyranny,and

to carry her Off trium phantly to freedom .

The longer the doctor looked, the more

persistently the picture said : We tw o ; and

where does she come in ? ” —Righteous wratharose in the heart Of Deryck Brand ; for his

ideal as to man’s worship Of woman was a

high o n e A S he thought of the closed door ;

Of the lonely wife, humbly jealous Of a toy

poodle,yet blaming herself only, for her lone

lin es s , his jaw s et, and h is brow darkened .

And all the while he listened f o r a sound from

the outer world which must soon come .

WHAT PETER KNEW 4 ]

Lady Ingleby noticed h is intent gaze, and,

leaning forward,also looked up at the pictur e .

The fireligh t shone o n her lovely face, and o n

the gleaming softness o f her hair . Her lips

parted in a tender smile ; a pure radiance Shone

from her eyes .“Ah,he is s o good !

”sh e said . In all the

years, he has never once spoken harshly to

me . And s ee how lovingly he looks at Peter,

wh o really is a most unattractive little dog .

Did you ever hear the duchess’

s bo n mo t

about Michael ? He and I once stayed to

gether at Overdene ; but sh e did not ask us

again until he was abroad,fishing in Norway ;

s o of course I went by myself . The duchess

always does those things frankly,and explains

them . Therefore o n this occasion sh e said‘My dear, I enjoy a visit from you ; but you

must only come, when you can come alone .

I will never undertake again , to live up to

your good Michae l . It really was a case Of

St . M ichael and All Angels . H e was

St . M ichael , and we had to be all angels ! ’

Was n'

t it like the duchess ; and a beautif ul

42 THE MI STRESS OF SHE N S TON E

testimony to Michael ’s consistent goodness ?

Oh, I wish you knew him better . And, for

the matter Of that, I wish I knew him better !

But after all I am his wife . Nothing can rob

me o f that . And don’t yo u think —when

Michael comes home this time—somehow, allwill be diff erent ; better than ever before ?

”

The hall clock chimed three-quarters after

the hour .

The clang Of a bell resoun ded through the

silent house .

Peter sat up, and barked once, sharply .

The doctor rose and stood with his back to

the fire,facing the door .

Myra’s question remained unanswered .

Hurried steps approached .

A footman entered, with a telegram f o r

Lady Ingleby .

She took it with calm fingers, and without

the usual sinking o f the heart from sudden

apprehension . Her mind was full Of the

conversation o f the moment, and the doctor’

s

presence made her feel s o strong and safe ; SO

sure Of no approach o f evil tidings .

WHA T PETER KNEW 43

She did n o t hear Sir Deryck’

s quiet voice

say to the man : “Y o u need not wait .

”

A s the door closed,the do cto r,turn ed away,and stood looking into the fire .

The room was very still .

Lady Ingleby opened her telegram,un f olded

it Slowly,and read it through twice .

Afterwards sh e sat on, in such absolute

silence that, at length, the doctor turned and

looked at her .

She met h is eyes, quietly

Sir Deryck,”sh e said, it is from the War

Offi ce . They tell me Michael has been killed .

DO you th ink it is true ?

She handed h im the telegram . Taking it

from her,he read it in silence . Then : Dear

Lady Ingleby,” he said,very gently, I fear

there is no doubt . He has given his life for

his country . You will be as brave in giving

h im ,as h e would wish his wife to be .

”

Myra smiled ; but the doctor saw her face

slowly whiten .

“ Yes," she said ; Oh , yes ! I w ill not fail

h im . I will be adequate—at las t . Then,as


if a sudden thought had struck her : Did you

know o f this ? I s it why yo u came ?“Yes, said the doctor, slowly . The

duchess sent me . She was at the War Office

this morning when the news came in,inquiring

for Ronald Ingram,who has been wounded,

and is down with fever . She telephoned for

me, and insisted o n the telegram being kept

back until s ix O’clock this evening, in order to

give me tim e to get here, and to break the

news to yo u first, if it seemed well

Myra gazed at h im ,w ide -eyed . And you let

me say all that about Michael and myself ?“Dear lady, said the doctor, and few

had ever heard that deep firm voice, s o nearly

tremulous,“ I could n o t stop yo u . But yo u

did not say o n e word which was not absolutely

loving and loyal . ”

“How could I have ? ” queried Myra, her

face growing whiter, and her eyes wider an d

more bright . “ I have never had a thought

which was not loyal and lovin g .

”

“ I know,” said the doctor . Poor brave

heart,—I kn ow .

”


a tune ; s o solid,and satisfactory,and beneath

o n e Nothing very bad could happen, if

Jane were there . But o f course this has

happened ; has n’

t it ? ”

The doctor sat down .

“ I wired to Glen eesh this morning, he

said .

“ Jane will be here early to-morrow .

“Then lots o f people knew before I did ?

said Lady Ingleby .

The doctor did n o t answer .

She rose, and stood looking down into the

fire ; her tall graceful figure drawn up to its

full heigh t, her back to the doctor, whos e

watchful eyes never left her f o r an instant .

Suddenly sh e looked across to Lord Ingle

by’

s chair .“And I believe P eter knew, sh e said, in a

loud, high-pitched voice .

“ Good heavens !

Peter knew ; and refused his food because

Michael was dead . And I said he had

dyspepsia ! Michael, o h Michael ! Your wife

did n ’

t know you were dead ; but your do gknew ! Oh Michael, Michael ! Little Peter

knew !”

WHA T PETER KNEW 47

She lif ted her arms toward the picture o f

th e big man and the tiny dog .

Then sh e swayed backward .

The doctor caught her,as she fell .

CHAPTE R I V

I N S AFE HA N DS

LL through the night Lady Ingleby lay

gazing before her, with bright unseeing

eyes .

The quiet woman from the Lodge,who had

been, before her o w n marriage, a devoted

maid-companion to Lady Ingleby, arrived in

Speechless sorrow, and helped the doctor

tenderly with all there was to do .

But when consciousness returned, and

realisation, they were accompanied by no

natural expressions o f grief ; simply a settled

stony silence ; the white s et face : the bright

unseeing eyes .

Margaret O’Mara knelt, and wept, and

prayed, kissing the folded hands upon the

silken quilt . But Lady Ingleby merely smiled

48

I N SAFE HANDS 49

vaguely ; and once sh e said : Hush,my dear

Maggie . At last we will be adequate .

”

Several times during the night the doctor

came, sittin g silently beside the bed, with

watchful eyes and quiet touch . Myra scarcely

noticed him, and again he wondered h o w

much larger the big grey eyes would grow, in

the pale setting o f that lovely face .

Once he signed to the other watcher to

follow him into the corridor . Closing the

doo r,he turned and faced her . He liked this

quiet woman, in her sim ple black merino

gown, lin en collar and cuff s, and neatly

braided hair . There was an air Of refinem ent

and gentle self -control about her, which

pleased the doctor .

“Mrs . O’

Mara,” he said ; sh e must weep,

and she must sleep .

She does n o t weep easily, sir, replied

Margaret O’

Mara,“ and I have known her

to lie widely awake throughout an entire

nigh t with les s cause for sorrow than this .

”

“Ah ,”

said th e doctor ; and h e looked

keenly at the woman from th e Lodge .

“ I


wonder what else you have kn own ? ” he

thought . But he did not voice the conjecture .

Deryck Brand rarely asked questions o f a

third person . His patients never had to find

o ut that his knowledge o f them came through

the gossip o r the breach Of confidence of

others .

At last he could allow that fixed unseeing

gaze no longer . He decided to do what

was necessary,with a quiet n o d, in response

to Margaret O’Mara’

s imploring look . He

turned back the loose sleeve Of the silk night

dress, o n e firm hand grasped the soft arm be

neath it ; the other passed over it f o r a moment

with swift skilful pressure . Even Margaret’

s

anxious eyes saw nothing more ; and after

wards Myra Often wondered what could have

caused that tiny scar upon the whiteness o f

her arm .

Before long sh e was quietly asleep . The

doctor stood looking down upon her . There

was tragedy to him in this perfect loveliness .

N o w the clear candour o f the grey eyes was

veiled, the childlike look was no longer there .

I N SAFE HANDS 5 ]

It was the face Of a woman—and Of a woman

wh o had lived, and who had suff ered .

Watching it,the doctor reviewed the hi story

o f those ten years o f wedded life ; piecing to

gether that which she herself had told him ;

his o w n shrewd surmisings ; and facts, which

were common knowledge .

S O much for the past . The present, for a

few hour s at least, was merciful Oblivion .

What would the future bring ? She had

bravely and faithf ully put from her all temp

tatio n to learn the glory Of life, and the com

pleten es s o f love, from any save from her o w n

husband . And he had failed to teach . Can

the deaf teach harmony, o r the blind reveal

the beauties Of blended colour ?

But the future held no such limitations .

The “ garden enclosed was no longer barred

against all others by an owner who ignored

its fragrance . The gate would be o n the

latch, though all unconscious until an eager

hand pressed it, that its bolts and bars were

gon e,and it dare swing open wide .

“Ah ,"mus ed th e docto r .

“Will the right


man pass by ? Youth teaches youth ; but is

there a man amongst us strong enough, and

true enough, and pure enough, to teach this

woman, nearing thirty, lessons which should

have been learned during the golden days Of

girlhood . Surely somewhere o n this earth

the One Man walks, and works, and waits,to whom sh e is to be the One Woman ? God

send him her way, in the fulness Of time .

And in that very hour—while at last Myr a

slept, and the doctor watched, and mused,

and wondered—in that very hour, under an

Eastern sky, a strong man, sick o f life,worn

and disillusioned, fighting a deadly fever, in

the sultry atmosphere o f a soldier’s tent,

cried o ut in bitterness Of soul : “ O G o d, let

me die ! ” Then added the “ never-the-less ”

which always qualifies a brave soul’s prayer

f o r immunity from pain : “U nless—unless,O

God,there be still some work left o n this earth

which only I can do .

”

And the doctor had just said : Send h im

her way,O G o d, in the fulness Of time .


She drew away from him, in terror . Oh,hush ! ” She whispered .

“ Don’t ask! Don ’t

unnerve me, s ir . Help me to think o f her,

on ly .

” Then,more calmly : But o f course I

shall think Of none but her, while sh e needs

me . On ly—o nly, s ir—as yo u are s o kind

She dr ew from her bosom a crumpled telegram,

and handed it to the doctor . “Mine came

at the same time as hers,”sh e said, simply .

The doctor un folded the War Office message .

R egret to repo rt S ergean t O’

Mara killed i n

as sault o n Targai yesterday.

He was a good husband, said Margaret

O’Mara, simply ;

“ and we were very happy .

The doctor held o ut his hand .

“ I am

proud to have met yo u, Mrs . O’Mara .

This seems to me the bravest thing I have

ever known a woman do .

”

She smiled through her tears Thank

you, s ir,”

sh e said, tremulously . But it is

easier to bear my o w n sorrow, when I have

work to do f o r her .”

“God H imself comf ort you, my friend,

I N SAFE HANDS 55

said Deryck Brand, and it w as all he could

trust his voice to say ; nor was he ashamed

that he had to fumble blindly for the handle

o f the door .

The doctor had finished breakfast,and was

asking Gro atley for a tim e-table, when word

reached him that Lady Ingleby was awake .

He went up-stairs immediately .

Myra was sitting up in bed, propped with

pillows . Her cheeks were flushed ; her eyes

bright and hard .

She held out her hand to the doctor .

H o w good yo u have been,”she said,

speaking very fast, in a high unnatural voice“ I am afraid I have given you a great deal of

t rouble . I don’

t remember much about last

night, excepting that they said Michael had

been killed . Has Michae l really been ki l led,

do you thin k ? And will they give me details ?

Surely I have a right to know details . N O

thin g can alter the fact that I was Michael’

s

wife, can it ? DO go to breakf ast, Maggie .

56 THE MI S TRESS OF SHENSTONE

There is nothing gained by standing there,

smilin g, and saying you do not want any

breakfast . Everybody wants breakf ast at

nine O’clock in the morning . I Should want

breakf ast, if Michael had not been killed .

Tell her sh e ought to have breakf ast, Sir

Deryck . I believe she has been up all night .

It is such a comfort to have her . She I s so

brave and bright ; and so full Of sympathy .

”

“ She is very brave, said the doctor ;

and yo u are right as to her need Of breakfast .

GO down-stairs for a little while,Mrs . O’Mara .

I will stay with Lady Ingleby .

”

She moved Obediently to the door ; but S ir

Deryck reached it before her . And the

famous London specialist held the door open

f o r the sergeant’s young widow,with an air

o f deference such as he would hardly have

bestowed upon a queen .

Then he came back to Lady Ingleby . H is

train left in three-quarters Of an hour . But his

task here was not fin ished . She had slept ;

but before he dare leave her, Sh e must weep .

“Where is Peter ? ” inquired th e excited

I N SAFE HANDS 57

voice from the bed . He always barks to be

let o ut, in the morning ; but I have heard

n othing o f him yet .

”

“He w as exhausted last night, poo r little

chap,” said the doctor . “He could scarcely

walk . I carried him up,myself ; and put him

o n the bed in the next room . The coat was

still there . I wrapped him in it . He licked

my hand, and lay down, content .

I want to see him,

” said Lady Ingleby .

Michael loved him . He seems all I have

left o f M ichael . ”

I will fetch him, said the doctor .

He went into the adjoining room, leaving

the doo r ajar . Myra heard him reach the

bed Then followed a long silence .

Wh at is it ?” she called at last . Is he

not there ? Why are you SO long ?

Then the doctor came back . He carried

something in his arms, wrapped in the Old

shooting jacket .

Dear Lady Ingleby, he said , little Peter

is dead . He must have died during the night,

in his sleep . He was lying just as I left h im,


curled up in the coat ; but he is quite cold and

stiff . Faithful little heart ! ” said th e doctor,with emotion,holding his burden, tenderly .

“What ! ” cried Myra,with both arms o ut

stretched .

“ Peter has died,because Michael

is dead ; and 1—1 have not even shed a tear ! ”

She fell back among the pillows in a paroxysm

o f weeping .

The doctor stood by, Silently ; uncertain

what to do . Myra’s sobs grew more violent,

shaking the bed with their convulsive force .

Then sh e began to shriek inarticulately about

Michael and Peter, and to s o b again, with

renewed violence .

At that moment the doctor heard the horn

Of a motor-car in the avenue ; then, almost

immediately, the clang Of the bell, and the

sounds o f an arrival below . A look o f im

mense relief came into his face . He went

to the top Of the great staircase, and looked

over .

The Honourable Mrs . Dalmain had arrived .

The doctor saw her tall figure, in a dark green

travelling coat, walk rapidly across the hall .

I N SAFE HANDS 59

Jane ! ” he said . Jeanette ! Ah, I knew

yo u would n o t fail us ! Come straight up .

Y o u have arrived at the right moment .

Jane looked up, and saw the doctor stand

ing at th e top of the stairs ; something wrapped

in an Old coat,held carefully in h is arms . She

threw him o n e smile of greeting and assurance ;

then, wasting no time in words, rapidly

pulled Off her coat,hat,and fur gloves,flinging

them in quick succession to the astonished

butler The doctor only waited to see her

actually mounting the stairs . Then, passing

through Lady I n gleby’

s roo m,he laid Peter’s

little body back o n h is dead master’s bed,

still wrapped in the Old tweed coat .

As he stepped back into Lady I n gleby’

s

room, closing the door between, he saw Jane

Dalmain knee l down beside the bed, and

gather the weeping form into h er arms, with

a gesture o f immense protective tenderness .

Oh Jane,” sobbed Lady Ingleby, as she

hid her face in the sweet comfort o f that

generous bosom ; Oh Jane ! Michael has been

killed ! And little Peter died,because M ichael

l


was dead . Little Peter died, and I had n o t

even shed a tear ! ”

The doctor passed quickly o ut, closing the

door behind him . He did not wait to hear

the answer . He knew it would be wise, and

kind, and right . He left his patient in safe

hands . Jane was there, at last . All would

be well.


lash es rested,was white and thin having lost

the tint and contour o f perfect health . But,

every n o w and then, during those hours o f

retrospection, the wistful droop Of the sweet

expressive mouth curved into a smile, and a

dimple peeped o ut unexpectedly, giving a

look o f youthfulness to the tired face .

When London and its suburbs were com

pletely left behind, and the summ er sunshine

blazed through the window from the clear

blue o f a radiant June sky, Lady Ingleby

leaned forward,watching the rapid unf olding

Of country lanes and hedges ; wide comm ons,

golden with gorse ; fir woods, carpeted with

blue-bells ; mossy banks, overhung with wild

roses, honeysuckle, and traveller’s-j oy ; the

indescribable greenness and soft fragrance Of

England in early summer ; and,as sh e watched,

a responsive light shone in her sweet grey eyes .

The drear sadness o f autum n,the deadness o f

winter, the chill uncertainty Of spring—all

these were over and gone . F lowers appear

o n the earth ; the time o f the singing o f birds

is co me,” murmurs the lover Of Canticles ; and

LADY I N GLE B Y ’

S REST-CURE 63

in Myra I n gleby’

s sad heart there blossomed

tim idly, flowers Of hope ; vague promise Of

future joy,which life m ight yet hold in store .

A blackbird in the hawthorn,trilled gaily ; and

Myra softly sang,to an air Of Garth Dalmain’

s ,

the “Blackb ird ’

s Song .

”

Wake,wake,S ad h ear t !R ise up,an d s ing !

On Go d’

s fai r earth ,’

mid bl o ss om s blue,Fresh h o pe mus t eve r spring .

There is n o ro o m fo r sad des pair,Wh en heaven ’

s lo ve is everywh ere .

Then, as the train sped onward through

Wiltshire,Somerset,and Devon,Lady Ingleby

felt the mantle o f h er de spondence slipping

from her, and reviewed the past, much as a

prisoner might glance back into his dark

n arrow ce ll,from the sunlight o f the open door,

as h e stood at last o n th e threshold Of liberty .

Seven months had gone by since , o n that

chill November evening, the news Of I x )rd

I n gleby’

s death had reached Shenstone . The

happenings o f th e weeks which followed, n o w


seemed vague and dreamlike to Myra, just

a few events standing o ut clearly from the

dim blur o f misery . She remembered th e

reliable strength of th e doctor ; the unselfi sh

devotion o f Margaret O’Mara ; the unspeak

able comf ort Of Jane’s wholesome un derstand

in g tenderness . Then the dreaded arrival o f h er

mother ; followed, immediately, according to

promise,by the protective advent o f Georgina,

Duchess Of Meldrum ; after which,tragedy an d

comedy walked hand in hand ; and the silence

Of mourning was enlivened by the Ho ity

toity ! ” o f the duchess, and the indignant

sniff s o f Mrs . Coller-Cray .

Later o n , details of Lord I n gleby’

s death

came to hand,and his widow had to learn that

he had fallen—at the attempt upon Targai,

it is true—but the victim of an accident ;losing his life, n o t at the hands o f the savage

enemy, but through the un f ortunate blunder

o f a comrade . Myra never very clearly

grasped the details —a wall to be undermined ;

his o w n patent and fearful explosive ; the

grim enthusiasm with which he insisted upon

LADY I N GLE B Y’

S REST-CU RE 65

placing it himself, arranging to have it fir ed

by hi s patent electrical plan . Then the mis

taking Of a signal ; the fatal pressing Of a but

to n five minutes too soon ; an electric flash

in the mine, a terri fic explosion, and instant

death to the man whose skill and courage h ad

made the gap through which crowds o f cheer

ing Bri tish soldiers, bur sting from the silent

darkness, dashed to expectant victory .

When full details reached the War Offi ce,a V ery Great Personage called at her house in

Park Lane personally to explain to Lady

Ingleby the necessity f o r the hushing up o f

some o f these greatly-to-be-deplored facts .

The whole un f ortunate occurrence had largely

partaken o f the nature o f an experiment .

The explosive, the new method o f signalling,

the portable electric plant—all these w ere

being used by Lord Ingleby and the young

Offi cer s wh o assisted him, more o r less

experimentally and un officially . The man

whose unfortun ate mistake caused the ac

eident had an important caree r before him .

H is name must not be allowed to transpire .

l


It would be unfair that a future Of great

promise should be blighted by what was an

Obvious accident . The few to whom the

name was known had been immediately

pledged to secrecy . Of course it would be

confidentially given to Lady Ingleby if sh e

really desired to hear it,but

Then Myra took a very characteristic line .

She sat up with instant decision ; her pale face

flushed,and her large pathetic grey eyes shone

with sudden brightness .“ Pardon me,s ir,

”sh e said, f o r interposing

but I never wish to know that name . My

husband would have been the first to desire

that it should not be told . And, personally,

I should be sorry that there Should be any

man o n earth whose hand I could n o t bring

myself to touch in friendship . The hand that

widowed me, did s o without intention . Let

it remain always to me an abstract instrum ent

Of the will o f Providence . I shall never even

try to guess to which Of Michael’s comrades

that hand belonged .

”

Lady Ingleby was honest in making this

LADY I N GLE B Y’

S REST-CU RE 6 7

decision ; and the V ery Great Personage

stepped in to h is brougham,five minutes later,

greatly relieved , and filled with admiration for

Lo rd I n gleby’

s beautiful and right-minded

widow . She had always been all that was

most charming . Now She added soun d good

sense, to personal charm . Excellent ! I n

comparable ! Poor Ingleby ! Poor Ah ! he

must not be mentioned, even in thought .

Yes ; Lady Ingleby was absolutely honest

in coming to her decision . And yet, from

that moment, two names revolved perpetually

in her min d, around a ceaseless question—the

Only men mentioned constantly by Michael

in his letters as bein g always with him in his

experim ents,sharing his interests and his dan

gers :Ronald Ingram ,and Billy Cathcart—dearboys, both ; her devoted adorers ; almost her

dearest, closest friends ; faithful,trusted,tried .

And n o w the haunting question circled around

all thought Of them : Was it Ronald ? Or

was it Billy ? Wh ich ? Billy o r Ronnie ?

Ronnie o r Billy ? Myra had said : “ I shall

n ever even try to guess,"

an d she had said


it honestly . She did n o t try to guess . S h e

guessed, in spite o f trying not to do so ; an d

the certainty, and yet un certainty o f her

surmisings told o n her nerves, becoming a

cause o f mental torment which was with her,

subconsciously,night and day .

Time went o n . The frontier war was over .

England,as ever,had been bound to win in the

end ; and England had won . It had merely

been a case Of time ; of learning wisdom by a

seri es Of initial mistakes ;'

Of expending a large

amount o f Bri tish gold and British blood .

England ’s supremacy was satisfactorily as

s erted ; and,those Of her brave troops who had

survived the initial mistakes, came home ;

among them Ronald Ingram and Billy Cath

cart ; the former Obviously Older than when he

went away,gaunt and worn, pale beneath his

bronze, showing unmistakable signs Of the

eff ects o f a severe woun d and subsequent

fever . “T0 0 interesting for words,” said the

Duchess Of Meldrum to Lady Ingleby, re

counting her first sight Of him .

“ If on ly I

were fif ty years younger than I am, I would


The fact was this . Both young men, in

their romantic devotion to her, had yet been

true to their o w n manh ood, and loyal, at

hear t, to Lord Ingleby . But their loyalty

had always been with eff ort . Therefore,when—the strain relaxed—they met her again,theywere intensely conscious Of her freedom and

Of their o w n resultant liberty . This pro

duced in them, when with her, a restraint

and shyness which Myra naturally construed

into a confi rmation of her o wn suspicions .

She,having never found it the smallest eff ort

to remember sh e was Michael’s, and to be

faithful in every thought to him, was quite

unconsciou s o f her liberty . There having

been no strain in remaining true to the in

stin cts o f her o w n pure, honest, hon

o urable nature, there was n o tension to

relax .

So it very naturally came to pass that when

o n e day Ronald Ingram had sat long with her,

silently studying h is boots, h is strong face

ten se and m iserable, every now and then

lo oking furtively at her, then,as h is eyes met

LADY I N GLE B Y’

S REST-CU RE 7 |

the calm friendliness Of hers, dropping them

again to the floor : Poor Ronnie,” she

mused,“with h is ‘ important career

’

before

him . U ndoubtedly it was he who did it .

And Billy knows it . See h o w fidgety Billy

is,wh ile Ronnie sits with me .

”

But by-and-by it would be : No ; o f course

it w as Billy—dear h o t-headed impulsive youngBilly ; and Ronald, knowing it, feels guilty

also . Poor little Billy, who w as as a s o n to

Michael ! There was no mistaking the emotion

in his face just now, when I merely laid my

hand on his . Oh, im petuous scatter-brained

boy ! Dear heavens ! I wish he would n’

t

hand me the bread-and-butter .

Then, into this atmosphere o f m isun der

standing and uncertainty, intruded a fresh

elem ent . A fi rst-cousin Of Lord I n gleby’

s ,

to Whom had come the title,minus th e estate s,

came to th e conclusion that title and estates

might as well go together . To that end ,

intruding upon h e r privacy o n every possible

occasion, h e proceeded to pay business-like

court to Lady Ingleby .


Thus rudely Myra awoke to the under

standing o f her liberty . At once, her whole

outlook o n lif e was changed . All things bore

a new significance . Ronnie and Billy ceased

to be comf orts . Ronnie’s nervous misery

assumed a new importance ; and, coupled

with her o w n suspicions,filled her with a dis

mayed horror . The duchess’s veiled jokes

took point,and hur t . A sense Of unprotected

loneliness engulfed her . Every man became a

prospective and dreaded suitor ; every woman’s

remarks seemed to hold an innuendo . Her

name in the papers distracted her .

She recognised th e morbidness Of her con

dition,even while sh e felt unable to cope with

it ; and, leaving Shenstone suddenly, came

up to town,and consulted Sir Deryck Brand .

“ Oh, my friend,”

sh e said,“help me ! I

shall never face life again .

”

The doctor heard her patiently, aiding the

recital by his strong understanding silence .

Then he said, quietly :“ Dear lady, th

diagnosis is not difficult . Also there is but

o n e possible remedy .

” He paused .


S R E S T-CURE 7 3

Lady I n gleby’

s imploring eyes and tense

expectancy,besought h is verdict .

A rest-cure,” said the doctor,with finality .

Horrors, no !” cried Myra ;

“Would yo u

shut me up within four walls ; cram me with

rice pudding and every form Of food I most

detest ; send a dreadful woman to poun d,

roll , and po mrn el me, and tell me gruesome

stories ; keep o ut all my friends,all letters,all

books, all news ; and, after s ix weeks send me

o ut into the world again,with my figure gone,

and not a sane thought upon any subject

under the sun ? Dear doctor, think o f it !

Stout,and an idiot ! Oh, give me something

in a bottle, to shake, and take three times a

day—and let me go !

The doctor smiled . He was famed for his

calm patience .

“Your somewhat highly coloured des cription, dear Lady Ingleby, applies to a form Of

rest-cure such as I rarely, if ever, recommend .

In your case it would be worse than useless .

We should gain nothing by shutting yo u up

with th e o n e person who is doin g you harm,


and from whom we must contriveyour escape .

The one person—P” queried Myra,wide

eyed .

“A charming person, smiled the doctor,

where the rest o f mankind are concerned ;

but very bad for you just now .

”

“ But—whom ? questioned Myra, again .

Whom can you mean ?

I mean Lady Ingleby, replied the doctor,

gravely .

“When I send yo u away for your

rest-cure, Lady Ingleby with her worries and

questionings, doubts and fears,must be left

behind . I shall send yo u to a little o ut-o f

the-world V illage o n the wild sea coast o f

Cornwall, where yo u know nobody, and no

body knows you . You must go incognito, as‘Miss o r

‘Mrs .

’ —anything you please . Your

rest- cure w ill consist primarily in being s et

free,for a time, from Lady I n gleby’

s position,

predicament, and perplexities . Y o u must

send word to all intimate friends, telling

them you are going into retreat, and they

must not write until they hear again . You

will have leave to write one letter a week, to


S REST-CU RE 75

o n e person only ; and that person must be

one o f whom I can approve . Y o u must eat

plenty o f wholesome food ; roam about all day

long in the open-air ; rise early, retire early ;

live entirely in a simple,beautiful,wholesome

present, firmly avoiding all remembrance of a

sad past, and all anticipation o f an uncertain

future . Nobody is to know where you are,

excepting myself, and the o n e friend to whom

you may write . But we will arrange that

somebody— say, for instance, your devoted

attendant from the Lodge, shall hold herself

free to come to you at an hour’s notice, should

you be overwhelmed with a sudden sense

of loneliness . The knowledge o f this, will

probably keep the need from arisin g . Y o u

can comm unicate with m e daily if you like,by

letter o r by telegram ; but other people must

not know where you are . I do not wish you

followed by th e anxious o r restless thoughts of

many minds . To -morrow I will give you th e

name o f a place I recomm end, and o f a com

f o rtable hote l where you can order rooms .

It must be a place you have never seen, pm


bably o n e o f which you have never heard . We

are nearing the end of May . I should like yo u

to start o n the first o f June . If you want a

house—party at Shenstone this summ er, yo umay invite your guests for the first o f July .

Lady Ingleby will be at home again by then,

fully able to maintain her reputation as a

hostess o f unequalled charm, graciousness,

and popularity . Morbid self-consciousness

is a condition of mind from which you have

hitherto been s o completely free,that this un

expected attack has altogether un nerved you,

and requires prompt and uncompromisingmeasures . Yes, Jane B almain may be

your correspondent . Y o u could not have

chosen better . ”

This was the doctor’s verdict and pre

scription ; and, as his patients never disputed

the o n e, o r declined to take the other,Myra

foun d herself, o n“ the glorious fir st o f June

”

flying south in the Great Western express,

bound for the little fishing village o f Tregarth

where sh e had ordered rooms at the Moor

head Inn,in the name o f Mrs . O’Mara .


maiden aunts . She seemed an accentuated,

di gnified, concentrated embodiment of them

all ; and Myra longed for Billy, to share the

joke .

“Aunt Ingleby requested Mrs . O’Mara to

walk in, and hoped sh e had had a pleasant

journey . Then sh e rang a very loud bell

twice, in order to summon a maid to show her

to her room ; and, the maid not appearing at

once, requested Mrs . O’Mara meanwhile to

write her name in the visitors’ book .

Lady Ingleby walked into the hall,passing

a smoking- room o n the left, and, noting a

door, with“ Coffee Room ” upon it in gold

letterin g, down a short passage immediately

opposite . U p from the centre o f the hall, o n

her right,went the rather wide o ld-fashioned

staircase ; and opposite to it,against the wall,

between the smoking-room and a door labelled

Reception Room, stood a marble-topped

table . Lying open upon this table was a

ponderous visitors’ book . A fresh page had

been recently commenced,as yet only co n

taining four names . The first three were

A T THE MOORHEAD I N N 79

dated May the 8th , and read, in crabbed

precise writing :

M is s Amelia Murgatroyd

I ll is s E liza Murgatro yd

Alis s S usan n a/i Murgatro yd

Below these, bearing date a week later, in

small precise writin g o f un m istakable character

and clearness, the name :

J im A irth Lo n do n .

Pen and ink lay ready,and,without trou

bling to remove her glove, Lady Ingleby

wrote beneath in la rge, somewhat sprawling,

handwriting

Mrs . O’

Mara . The Lo dge, S hen sto n e .

A maid appeared, took her cloak and bag,

and preceded h er up the stairs .

As sh e reached the turn o f the staircase,

Lady Ingleby paused, and looked back into

the hall .

Th e door of the smoking-room opened, and

Law n V iew ,

Putn ey.

a ve ry tall man came out, takin g a pipe from

the pocket o f his loose Norfolk jacket . As

h e strol led into th e hall , his face remin ded

h er of Ron nie'

s, decp-bronzed an d th in ; o ul-y


it was an older face—strong,rugged,purposeful. The heavy brown moustache could not

hide the massive cut o f chin and jaw .

Catching sight o f a fresh name in the book,

he paused ; then laying o n e large hand upon

the table,bent over and read it .

Myra stood still and watched, noting the

broad shoulders, and the imm ense length o f

limb in the leather leggings .

He appeared to study the open page longer

than was necessary f o r the mere reading of

the name . Then, without looking round,

reached up, took a cap from the antler of a

stag’s head high up o n the wall,stuck it on the

back o f his head ; swung round, and went o ut

through the porch, whistling like a black

bird .

“ Jim Airth, said Myra to herself, as sh e

moved slowly o n ;“ Jim Airth o f L o n do n .

What an address ! He might just as well have

put : ‘of the world ! ’

A cross between a

guardsman and a cowboy ; and very likely he

will turn o ut to be a comm ercial-traveller .”

Then,as sh e reached the landing and came in

A T THE MOORHEAD I N N 8!

sight o f the rosy-cheeked maid,holding open

the door o f a large airy bedroom, sh e added

with a whimsical smile : “All the same, I wish

I had taken the trouble to write more neatly .

CHAPTER V I I

MRS . o’

MA R A’

s CORRESPONDE N CE

Letter from Lady I n gleby to the H o n ourable

Mrs . B almain .

Th e Mo o rh ead I n n ,Tregarth ,Co rnwall.

MY DEAR JANE,Having been here a week, I thin k it is time

I commenced my first letter to you .

How does it feel to be a person considered

pre-eminently suitable to minister to a mind

diseased ? Does n ’t it give yo u a sense o f

being, as it were, rice pudding, or Brand’s

essence,o r Maltine ; something essentially safe

and wholesom e ? Y o u should have heard h o w

Sir Deryck jumped at you,as soon as your

name w as mentioned,tentatively,as my possi

ble correspondent . I had barely whispered

it, when he leapt, and clinched the matter .82

MR S . O ’

MARA ’

S CORRESPONDENCE 83

I believe wholesome was an adjective men

tio n ed . I hope yo u do not mind, dear Jane .

I must conf ess, I would sooner be macaroons

o r oyster-patties, even at the risk o f giving

my friends occasional indigestion . But then I

have never gone in for the rdle of being helpful,

in which you excel . Not that it is a “ ro le” with

yo u, dear Jane . Rather, it is an essential

characteristic . Y o u walk in,and find a hope

less tangle ; gather up the threads in those

firm capable hands ; deftly sort and hold

them ; and, lo, the tangle is over ; the skein of

life is once more ready for winding !

We ll, there is n o t much tangle about me

just now, than ks to o ur dear doctor’s most

excellent pre scription . It was a veritable

stroke o f genius, this setting me free from

myself . From the first day, the sense o f

emancipation w as indescribable . I enjoy be

ing addressed as “ Ma’

am I revel in being

without a maid , though it take s me ages to

do my hair, and I have serious thoughts o f

wearing it in pigtails down my back ! V t n

I remember th e poor, harassed, e x h austed,


society-self I left behind, I feel like buying a

wooden spade and bucket and starting out,

all by myself, to build sand-castles o n this

delightful shore . I have no o n e to play with,f o r I am certain the Miss Murgatro yds

—I

am going to tell you o f them— never made

sand-castles ; no, n o t even in their infancy,

a century ago ! They must always have been

the sort o f children who wore white frilled

bloomers, poplin frocks, and large leghorn

hats with ribbons tied beneath their excellent

little chins, and walked demur ely with their

governess— looking shocked at other in f ants

who whooped and ran . I feel inclin ed to

whoop and run, now ; and the M iss Murga

tro yds are quite prepared to look shocked .

But o h , the freedom o f being nobody,and

o f having nothing to think o f o r do ! And

everything I s ee and hear gives me joy ; a lark

rising from the turf, and carolling its little

self up into the blue ; the great Atlantic

breakers,pounding upon the shore ; the fi sh er

folk,standing at the doors o f their picturesque

thatched cottages . All things seem alive,


o w n front lawn appears to these dear ladies

to be worthy o f regard . They never go

abroad, excepting to the Isle o f Wight, be

cause they “ do not like foreigners . ” A party

o f quite charming Americans arrived just

before dinner the other day,in an automobile,

and kept us lively during their flying V isit .

They were cordial over the consomm é ; friendly

over the fi sh ; and quite confidential by the

time we reached the third course . But,alas,

these delightful cousins from the other

side, were considered“ foreigners” by the

Miss Murgatro yds ,who consequently encased

themselves in the frigid armour o f their o w n

self- conscious primness ; and passed the mus

tard,without a smile . I felt co n strain ed,after

wards, to apologise f o r my country-women ;

but the Americans, overflowing with appreci

ative good-nature, explained that they had

come over expressly in order to s ee o ld British.

relics o f every kind . They asked me whether

I did n o t thin k the Miss Murgatro yds might

have stepped “ right out of Dickens . I was

fairly nonplussed, because I thought they

MR S . O’

MA R A’

S CORRESPONDENCE 87

were going to say out o f the ark — you know

how o n e mentally finishes a sentence as soon

as it is begun P—and I simply dared not

confess that I have not read Dickens ! Alas,how ignorant o f o ur o w n standard literature

we are apt to feel when we talk with Am eri

cans, and find it completely a part o f their

everyday life .

But I must tell you more about the Miss

Murgatro yds—Amelia, E liza, and Susannah .

When quite at peace among themselves,which

is not often, they are Milly,Liz zie,and Susie ;

but a little rif t within the lute is marked by

th e immediate use o f their ful l baptismal

names . Poor Susannah being the youngest—the youthful side o f sixty—and inclined tobe kittenish and giddy, is very rarely

“ Susie .

”

Miss Murgatroyd—Amelia—is stern and un

bending . She wears a cameo brooch the size

o f a tablespoon, and lays down the law in

pre cise and elegant English, even when

asking Susie to pass the crumpets . Miss

Eliza, the second sister, is meek an d un o fl e n d

ing . He r attitude toward Miss Amelia is o n e


of perpetual apology . She address es Susie

as “my dear love,” except ing o n occasions

when Susie’

s behaviour has put her qui te

outside the pale . Then she calls her,“my

dear Susannah ! ” and sighs . I am inclined

to think Miss E liza suff ers from a demonstra

tive natur e,which has never had an outlet .

But Susie is the lively o n e . Susie would

be a flirt, if sh e dared, and if any man were

bold enough to flirt with her under Miss

Amelia’s eye . Susie is barely fif ty-five, and

her elder sisters regard her as a mere child,

an d are very ready with reproof and correction .

Susie has a pin k and white complexion,a soft

fat little face, and plump dimpled hands ;

and Susie is given to vanity . Jim Airth held

open the door o f the coff ee-room f o r her o n e

day, and Susie—I should say Susannahhas been in a flutter ever since . Poor naughty

Susie ! Miss Murgatroyd has changed her

place at meals—they have a table in the centre

o f the room —and made her sit with her backto Jim Airth ; wh o has a roun d table, all to

himself, in the window .

90 TH E MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

think o f Alpine heights . They can flash and

gleam, o n occasions, and sometimes look al

most purple . He wears a heavy brown

moustache,and h is j aw and chin are terrifying

in their masterful strength . Yet he smokes an

o ld briar pipe ; whistles like a blackbird ; and

derives immense amusement from playing up

to naughty Susie’s coyness,when the cameo

brooch is turned an other way . I have seen

h is eyes twinkle with fun when Miss Susannah

h as purposely let fall her handkerchief,and he

has reached o ut a long arm,picked it up, and

restored it. Whereupon Susie has hastened

o ut, in the wake o f her sisters, in a blushing

flutter ; Miss E liza turning to whisper :“Oh,

my dear love ! Oh Susannah ! ” I try,when

these things happen, to catch Jim Airth’s

merry eye, and share the hum our o f the

situation ; but he stolidly sees the wall through

me o n all occasions, and would tread heavily

o n my poor hand kerchief,if I took to dropping

it . Miss Murgatroyd tells me that he is a

con firmed hater o f feminine beauty ; upon

wh ich poo r M iss Susannah takes a surrepti

MR S . O’

MA R A’

S CORRESPONDENCE 9 1

tious prink into the gold-framed mirror over

the reception - room mantelpiece, and says,

plaintively : “ Oh,do not say that,Amelia !"

But Amelia do es say“that ”

; and a good deal

more !

When first I saw Jim Air th, I thought h im

a cross between a cowboy and a guardsman ;

and I thin k so still . But what do you

suppose he turns o ut to be, beside ? An

author ! A n d, stranger still, he is writing

an important book called M o dern Warfare ;

its Meth o ds an d R equiremen ts , in which he is

explaining and working o utmany o f Michael’

s

ideas and experiments . He was right through

that border w ar, and took part in the assault

o Targai , He must have known Michael,

intimately .

All this in formation I have from Miss

Murgatroyd . I sometimes S it with them

in the reception -room after dinner, where

they wind wool and kn it—e ndless winding ;

pe rpetual knitting ! At five minutes to

te n , Miss Murgatroyd says :“ Now,my dear

E liza . Now, S usannah , which is the s ignal

92 . t HZ IMTS 7I hE S S'

CU T £HI E TWSTCHVE 3

for bestowing all their goods and chattels into

black satin work-bags . Then, at ten o’clock

precisely, Miss Murgatroyd ri ses, and they

procession up to bed—ah , no ! I beg their

pardons . The Miss Murgatro yds never go'

to bed . They all “ retire to rest . ”

Jim Airth and his doings form a favourite

topic o f conversation . They speak o f h im as“Mr . Airth,

” which sounds s o funny . He is

not the sort o f person o n e ever could call

Mister . ” To me,he has been“ Jim Airth,

ever since I saw his name, in small neat

writing, in the visitors’ book . I had to put

mine just beneath it, and o f course I wrote

Mrs . O’Mara’ then,as an address seemed ex

pected,added :“The Lodge,Shenstone .

” Just

after I had written this,Jim Airth came into

the hall, and stood quite still studying it .

I saw him, from half-way up the stairs . At

first I thought he was marvelling at my

shocking handwriting ; but now I believe the

name Shenstone ” caught his eye . No

doubt he knew it to be Michael’

s family

seat .


golden mirror, after the manner o f Susie,and

ex clairn :“Oh,do not say that,Amelia !

”

I S n’

t it queer the way in which such people

as these worthy ladies,yearn to be able to saythey kn ow us ; for really,when all is said and

done,we are not very much worth knowing ?

I would rather know a cosmopolitan cowboy,

such as Jim Airth,than half the titled folk on

my visiting- list .

But really, Jane, I must n o t mention him

again, or you will think I am in f ected with

Susie’s flutter . N o t s o , my dear ! He has

shown me no little courtesies ; given few signs

o f being conscious of my presence ; barely

returned my morning greeting, though my

lonely table is just opposite his, in the large

bay-window .

But in this new phase o f life, everything

seems of absorbing interest,and the individ

uality o f the few people I see, takes o n an

exaggerated importance . (Really that s en

tence might almost be Sir Deryck’

s !) Also,

I really believe Jim Airth’s peculiar fascination

consists in the fact that I am conscious o f his

MR S . O’

MA R A’

S CORRESPONDENCE 95

disapproval . If he thinks of me at all, it is

not with admiration, nor even with liking .

And this is a novel experience ; for I have been

spoilt by perpetual approval, and satiated by

senseless and unmerited adulation .

Oh Jane ! A s I walk along these cliffs,

and hear the Atlantic breakers pounding

again st their base, far down below ; as I watch

the s ea-gulls circling around on their strong

white wings ; as I realise the strength, the

force, the liberty, in nature ; the growth and

progress which accompanies life ; I feel I have

never really lived . Nothing has ever felt

s tro n g, either beneath me, o r around me, o r

against me . Had I once been mastered, and

held, and made to do as another willed, I

should have felt love was a reality, and life

would have become worth living . But I

have just dawdled through the years, doing

exactly as I pleased ; making mistakes, and

nobody troubling to set me right ; failing, and

nobody disappointed that I had not succeeded .

I realise n o w , that there is a key to life , and

a key to love,which has never been placed in


my hands . What it is , I know not . But if

I ever learn, it will be from just such a man as

Jim Airth . I have never really talked with

him,yet I am s o conscious o f his strength and

virility,that he stands to me, in the abstract,

for all that is strongest in manhood, and

most vital in life .

Much o f the benefit o f my time here, quite

unconsciously to him self, comes to me from

him . When he walks into the house,whistling

like a blackbird ; when he hangs up his cap

o n an antler a foot o r two higher than other

people could reach ; when he ploughs un

hesitatingly through his meals,with a book o r

a paper stuck up in front o f him ; when he

dum ps his big boots o ut into the passage,

long after the quiet house has hushed into

repose, and I smile, in the darkness, at the

thought o f how the soun d will have annoyed

Miss Murgatroyd, startled Miss Eliza, and

made naughty Miss Susannah’s heart flutter ;—when all these things happen every day,I am conscious that a clearer understanding

o f the past,a new strength f o r the future,and

THE MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

sojourn at Overdene, and o f how our dear

naughty o ld duchess stirred him up to rebel

against his nurse . Y o u must have had your

hands full when you and Garth returned from

America . Oh, Jane, how different my life

would have been if I had had a little s o n !

Ah,well !

Th ere is n o ro om f o r sad despair,Wh en h eaven ’

s lo ve is everywhere .

Tell Garth, I love it ; but I wish he wrote

simpler accompaniments . That o n e beats

Yours,dear Jane,

Gratefully and aff ectionately,

MYRA INGLEB Y .

Letter from the H o n o urable M rs . B almai n

to Lady I n gleby .

CA S TL E GL E N E E SH , N . B .

MY DEA R MYRA,No, I have not the smallest objection to

representing rice pudding, o r anything else

plain and who lesome, providing I agree with

you, and sufli ce for the need o f the moment

MR S . O’

MA R A’

S CORRESPONDENCE 99

I am indeed glad to have s o good a report .

It proves Deryck right in h is diagnosis and

prescription . Keep to the latter faithfully,

in every detail .

I am much interested in your account of

your fellow-guests at the Moorhead Inn . No,

I do not misunderstand your letter ; n o r do

I credit you with any foolish sentimentality,

or Susie-like flutterin gs . Jim Airth stands to

you for an abstract thing —uncompromising

manhood, in its strength and assurance ; very

attractive after the loneliness and sense o f

being cut adrift,which have been your portion

lately . Only, remember—where living men

and women are concerned, the safely abstract

is apt suddenly to become the perilously

personal ; and your future happiness may be

seriously in volved, before yo u realise the

dan ger . I confess, I fail to un derstand the

man’

s avoidance o f you . He soun ds the sort

o f fellow wh o would be friendly and pleasant

toward all women, and passionate ly loyal to

o n e Perhaps you,with your sw ee t loveliness-a fact,my dear, notwithstanding the o bs er


vatio n s in the Park,of Miss Amelia’s crony !

may remind him o f some long-closed page of

past history,and he may shrink from the pain

o f a consequent turning o f memory’s leaves .

No doubt Miss Susannah recalls some nice

o ld maiden-aunt,and he can aff ord to respond

to her blandishments .

What you say o f the way in which Ameri cans

know o ur standard authors, reminds me o f a

fellow-passenger o n board the B altic, o n our

outward voyage— a charming wom an , from

Hartford, Connecticut, who sat beside us at

meals . She had been spending five months

in Europe, travelling incessantly,and finished

up with London— her first visit to o ur capital—expecting to be altogether to o tired to enjoyit ; but found it a place o f such abounding

interest and delight, that life went on with

fresh zest,and fatigue was forgotten .

“ Every

street,”

sh e explained,“ is so familiar . We

have never seen them before, and yet they

are more familiar than the streets o f o ur native

cities . It is the London o f Dickens and o f

Thackeray . We know it all . We recognise


Fall, o n the Canadian side,with hi s hand o n

the rail at the place where the spray showers

over yo u, and the great rushing boom seems

all around . And as we stood there together,a

little bird o n a twig beside us ,began to Sing !

Garth is putting it all into a symphony .

Ho w true is what you say o f the genial

friendliness o f American s l I was thin king it

over, o n o ur homeward voyage . It seems to

me, that, as a rule, they are s o far less self

conscious than we Their minds are fully at

liberty to go o ut at once,in keenest apprecia

tion and interest,to meet a new acquaintance .

Our senseless British greeting : “How do yo u

do ? that everlasting question,which neither

expects n o r awaits an answer, ca n only lead

to trite remarks about the weather ; whereas

America’s “I am happy to meet yo u, Mrs .

Dalmain ,”

o r“ I am pleased to make your

acquaintance,Lady Ingleby,” is an open door,

through which we pass at once to fuller

friendliness . To o often, in the moment of

introduction,the reserved British nature turns

in upon itself, sensitively debating what

MR S . O’

MAR A’

S CORRESPONDENCE 103

impression it is makin g ; nervously afraid o f

being too expansive ; fearful o f giving itself

away . But, as I said, the American mind

comes forth to meet us with prompt interest

and appreciative expectation ; and we make

more fri ends,in that land o f ready sympathies,

in half an hour,than we do in half a year o f o ur

o w n stiff social functions . Perhaps yo u will

put me down as biassed in my opinion . Wel l ,they were wondrous good to Garth and me ;

and we depend s o greatly upon people sayin gexactly the right thing at the right moment .

When friendly looks cannot be seen, tactful

words become more than ever a necessity .

Yes, little Ge off’s eyes are bright and

sh ining, an d the true golden brown . In

many other ways he is very like hi s father .

Garth sends his love, and promises yo u a

special accompaniment to th e“Blackbird

’

s

Song, such as can easily be played with one

finge r !

It seems so strange to address this enve lope

to Mrs . O’

Mara . It rem inds me o f a time

when I dropped my o w n identity and used


another woman ’s name . I only wish your

experiment might end as happily as mine .

Ah,Myra dearest, there is a Best f o r every

lif e ! Sometimes we can only reach it by a rocky

path o r along a thorny way ; and those who

fear the pain, come to it not at all . But such

o f us as have attained, can testify that it is

worth while From all yo u have told me

lately,I gather the Best has n o t yet come your

way . Keep o n expecting . Do not be content

with less .

We certain ly must n o t let Deryck kn ow

that J im Airth—what a nice name—was atTargai . He would move you o n ,promptly .

Report again next week ; and do abide, if

necessary, beneath the safe chaperonage o f

the cameo brooch .

Your s, in all fidelity,

JANE DALMA I N .


Then She laid it down, and helped herself

to honey —real heather-honey, golden in the

comb .

She took up her letter again, and read it

carefully,weighing each word .

Then —“Good Old Jane ! ” sh e said ; that

is rather neatly put : the ‘ safely abstract ’

becoming the ‘perilously personal . ’ She has

acquired the knack o f terse and forceful

phraseology from her long friendship with the

doctor . I can do it myself,when I try ; only,

my Sir Derycky sentences are apt merely to

sound well, and mean nothing at all . And—after all—do es this o f Jane

’s mean any

thing worthy o f consideration ? Could s ix

foot five o f abstraction—eating its breakfast

in complete unconsciousness o f one ’s presence,

returning one’s tim id ‘good-morning’ with per

fun cto ry politeness, and re legating o n e,while

still debating the possibility o f venturing a

remark o n the weather, to obvious oblivion

ever become perilously personal ?

Lady Ingleby laughed again, returned the

letter to its envelope, and proceeded to cut

I N HORSESHOE COVE

herself a slice of home-made currant cake .

As she finished it,with a final cup of tea, sh e

thought with amusement o f the diff erence

between thi s substantial meal in the honey

suckle arbour o f the o ld inn garden, and the

fashionable teas then going o n in crowded

drawing-rooms in town,where people hurried

in , took a tiny roll o f thin bread-and-butter,

and a sip at luke-warm tea,which had stood

suflflcien tly long to leave an abiding taste o f

tann in ; heard o r imparted a few more o r less

detrimental facts concerning mutual friends ;

then hurried o n elsewhere, to a cucumber

sandwich, colder tea, which had stood even

longer, and a fresh instalm ent of gossip .

“ Oh, why do w e do it ?" mused Lady

Ingleby . Th en,taking up her scarlet parasol,

she crossed the little lawn, and stood at the

garden gate, in the afternoon sun l ight, de

bating in which direction she should go .

U sually her walks took her along th e top of

the cliffs, where the larks,springing from the

short turf and clumps o f waving harebells,

sang themselves up into the sky . She loved

l08 THE MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

being high above the sea, and hearing the

distant thunder of the breakers o n the rocks

below .

But to-day the steep little street, down

through the fishing village,to the cove,looked

inviting . The tide was o ut, and the sands

gleamed golden .

Also, from her seat in the arbour, Sh e had

seen Jim Airth’s tall figure go swinging along

the cliff edge, silhouetted against the clear

blue o f the sky . And one sentence in the

letter sh e had just received,made this into a

factor which turned her feet toward the shore .

The friendly Cornish folk, sitting o n their

doorsteps in the sunshine, smiled at the lovely

woman in white serge,who passed down their

village street, s o tall and graceful, beneath

the shade o f her scarlet parasol . An item in

the doctor’s prescription had been the dis

carding o f widow’

s weeds, and it had seemed

quite natural to Myra to come down to her

first Cornish breakf ast in a cream serge gown .

Arrived at the shore, sh e turned in the

direction sh e usually took when up above,


dozen yards from the foot o f the cliff ; stuck her

open parasol up behind it,to shield herself from

the observation, from above, o f any chance

passer-by ; and, settling comfortably into th e

soft hollow, lay back, watching, through

half-closed lids,the fleeting shadows, the blue

sky, the gently moving s ea . Little white

clouds blushed rosy red . An opal tint gleamed

o n the water . The moving ripple seemed to o

far away to break the restful silence .

Lady I n gleby’

s eyelids drooped lower and

lower .“Yes, my dear Jane, sh e murmured,

dreamily watching a snow-white sail, as it

rounded the point, cur tseyed, and vanished

from V iew ;“ undoubtedly a—a well-expressed

sentence ; but far from—from— being fact .

The safely abstract could hardly require—a

a—a cameo

The long walk, the sea breeze, the distant

lapping o f the water—all these combined had

done their soothing work .

Lady Ingleby slept peacefully in Horse shoe

Cove ; and the rising tide crept in .

CHAPTER IX

J I M A I RTH TO THE RESCU E

N hour later,a man swung along the path

at the summi t o f the’

cliff s,whi stling like

a blackbird .

The sun was setting ; and,as he wal ked,he

revelled in the gold and crimson o f the sky ;

in the opal tints upon the heaving sea.

The wind had risen as the sun set, and

breakers were beginning to pound along the

shore .

Suddenly something caught his eye, far

down below .

“ By Jove ! he said . A scarlet poppy o n

the sands ! "

He walked on,until his rapid stride brought

him to the centre o f the cliff above Horseshoe

Cove .

”2 THE MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

Then Good Lord ! ” said Jim Airth,

an d stood still .

He had caught sight o f Lady I n gleby’

s

white skirt reposin g o n the sand,beyond the

scarlet parasol .“Good Lord ! ” said Jim Air th .

Then he scanned the horizon . N o t a boat

to be seen .

H is qui ck eye travelled along the cliff , the

way he had come . N o t a living thing in sight .

On to the fishing village . Faint threads o f

ascending vapour indicated chim neys . Tw o

miles at least,” muttered Jim Airth . I could

n o t run it and get back with a boat, un der

thr ee quarters o f an hour .

”

Then he looked down into the cove .

“ Both ends cut o ff . The water will reach

her feet in ten minutes ; will sweep the base

o f the cliff , in twenty .

”

Exactly beneath the spot where he stood,

more than half way down,was a ledge about

six feet long by four feet wide .

Letting him self over the edge, holding to

tufts o f grass, tiny shrubs, jutting stones,

CHAPTER X

YEO HO,WE GO !

CAMEO chaperonage, murmured Lady

Ingleby,and suddenly opened her eyes .

Sky and s ea were still there, but between

them, closer than s ea o r sky, looking down

upon her with a tense light in his blue eyes,

stood Jim Airth .

“Why, I have been asleep !” said Lady

Ingleby .

“Y o u have, said Jim Airth ; and mean

whilethe sun has set,and— the tide has come

up . Allow me to assist yo u to rise .

Lady Ingleby put her hand into his, and

he helped her to her feet . She stood beside

h im gazing, with wide startled eyes, at the

expanse Of s ea, the rushing waves, the tiny

strip o f sand .

“ YEO HO, WE GO !"

1 1 5

The tide seems very high , said Lady

Ingleby .

V ery high, agreed Jim Airth . He stood

close beside her, but his eyes still eagerly

scanned the water . If by any chance a boat

came round the point there would still be

tim e to hail it .

We seem to be cut o ff , said Lady Ingleby .

We are cut o ff ," replied Jim Airth, lacon

ically .

“ Then I suppose we must have a boat,

said Lady Ingleby .

“An excellent suggestion, replied Jim

Airth,drily, if a boat were to be had . But,

unf ortunately, we are two miles from the

hamlet, and this is not a t ime when boats

pass in and o ut ; n o r wou ld they come this

way . When I saw you, from the top o f the

cliff , I calculated the chances as to whether I

could reach th e boats, an d be back here in

time . But,before I could have returned with

a boat, you would h avw bcen very wet,

finished Jim Airth , somewhat lamely .

He looked at th e love ly face , close to hi s

1 1 6 THE MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

shoulder . It was pale and serious,but showed

no Sign o f fear .

He glanced at the point o f cliff beyond .

Twenty feet above its rocky base the breakers

were dashing ; but round that point would be

safety .

“ Can you swim ? ” asked Jim Airth,eagerly .

Myra’s calm grey eyes met h is ,steadily . A

gleam o f amusement dawned in them .

“ If yo u put your hand under my chin ,

and count ‘

o n e—tw o ! o n e—two ! very loudand quickly, I can swim nearly ten yards,

sh e said .

Jim Airth laughed . His eyes met hers, in

sudden comprehending comradeship .

“ By

Jove, you’

re plucky ! ” they seemed to say .

But what he really said was : Then swimming

is no go .

“ No go, f o r me, said Myra, earnestly,

n o r for yo u, weighted by me . We should

never get round that eddying whirlpool . It

would merely mean that we should both be

drowned . But you can easily do it alone .

Oh, go at once ! G o quickly ! And- don’t


he not said : Y o u, of all women ? But,

even in what seemed likely to be her last

moments, Lady I n gleby’

s un f ailing in stinct

was to be tactful.“I am sure you would leave no woman

sh e said ;“ and some,alas ! might

have been easier to save than I . Plump little

Miss Susie would have floated .

Jim Airth’s big laugh rang o ut. And

Miss Murgatroyd could have sailed away in

in danger,’

her cameo,” he said .

Then, as if that laugh had broken the spell

which held him inactive : “ Come,” he cried,

and drew her to the foot o f the cliff “we have

n o t a moment to lose ! Look ! Do you s ee

the way I came down ? See that long slide

in the sand ? I tobogganed down there o n

my back . Pretty steep, and nothing to hold

to, I admit ; but not s o very far up, after all .

And,where my slide begins, is a blessed ledge

four foot by s ix . He pulled o ut a huge

clasp-knif e, opened the largest blade, an d

commenced hacking steps in the face o f th e

cliff . We must clim b,” said J im Airth .

YEO HO, WE GO I” ”9

I have never climbed, whispered Myra’

s

voice behind him .

“Y o u must climb to -day, said Jim Airth .

I could never even climb trees,"whispered

Myra .

“Y o u must climb a cliff to-n ight . It is

o ur only chance .

"

He hacked o n ,rapidly .

Suddenly he paused . Show me your

reach, he said .

“Mine would not do . Put

your left hand there ; so . Now stretch up

with your right ; as high as yo u can,easily .

Ah ! three foot six, o r thereabouts . N o w

your left foot close to the bottom . Step up

with your right, as high as you can comfort

ably . Tw o foot, n ine . Good ! One

step, more or less, might make all the dif

ference, by-and-by . N o w listen, while I

work . What a God-send for us that there

happens to be , just here, this stratum o f soft

sand . We should have bee n done for, had

the cl iff been serpentine marble . Y o u must

choose between tw o plans . I could scrape

yo u a step, wider than th e rest—almost a


ledge—just o ut o f reach o f the water, leaving

yo u there, while I go o n up, and finish .

Then I could return f o r you . Y o u could

climb in front, I helping from below . Y o u

would feel safer . Or—yo u must follow me

up now, step by step,as I cut them .

”

“ I could not wait o n a ledge alone, said

Myra .

“ I w ill follow you, step by step .

"

“ Good, said Jim Airth ;“ it will save time .

I am afraid yo u must take o ff your shoes and

stockings . Nothing will do for this work,

but naked feet . We shall need to stick o ur

toes into the sand, and make them cling o n

like fingers . "

He pulled o ff his o w n boots and stockings

then drew the belt from his Norfolk jacket,

and fastened it firmly round his left ankle in

such a way that a long end would hang down

behind him as he mounted .

See that ? he said . When you are in

the niches below me, it will hang close to your

hands . If yo u are slipping,and feel yo u mus t

clutch at something,catch hold o f that . Only,if possible, shout first, and I will stick o n like


there is lif e to live f o r Would you throw

away the highest o f all gif ts ? I want to live

Good God ! I must live ; and s o must yo u . We

live o r die together . ”

He loosed her shoulders and took her by

the wrists . He lif ted her tremblin g hands,

and held them against his breast .

Fo r a moment they stood s o , in absolute

Silence .

Then Myra felt herself completely domi

n ated . All fear slipped from her ; but the

assurance which took its place was his courage,

not hers ; and sh e knew it . Lif ting her head,

sh e smiled at him,with white lips .“ I shall n o t fall,

”sh e said .

Another wave swept roun d their ankles,and

remained there .

“ Good said Jim Airth, and loosed her

wrists . We shall o w e o ur lives to each

other . Next t ime I look into your face,

please God,we Shall be in safety . Come ! ”

He Sprang up the face o f the cliff , standing

in the highest niches he had made .

“N o w follow me, carefully,

” he said ;

" YEO HO, WE GO I”

1 2 3

slowly,and carefully . We are n o t in a posi

tion to hurry . Always keep each hand and

each foot firmly in a niche . Are you there ?

Good ! Now don’

t look either up o r

down, but keep your eyes o n my hee ls .

Directly I move, come o n into the empty

places . See ? N o w then . Can you

manage ? Good ! On we go ! After all

it won’

t take long . I say, what fun if

the Miss Murgatro yds peeped over the cliff !

Am elia would be so Shocked at o ur bare feet .

Eliza would cry :‘Oh my dear love ! ’ And

Susie would promptly fall upon us ! Hullo !

Steady down there ! Don’

t laugh to o much .

F ine knife,this . I bought it in Mex ico .

And if the big blade gives o ut, there are two

more ; also a saw,and a cork-screw . M ind

the falling sand does n o t get into your eyes .

Tell me if the niches are not deepenough, and remember there is no hurry, we

are n o t aiming to catch any particular train !

Steady down there ! Don'

t laugh . U p

w e g o ! Oh, goo d ! This is a third o f the

way. Don’

t look e ith e r up or do wn .

"

Watch

l2 4 THE MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

my hee ls—I wish they were more worth

looking at—and remember the belt is quitehandy, and I am as firm as a rock up here .

Y o u and all the Miss Murgatro yds might

hang o n to it together . Steady down there !

All right ; I won’t mention them .

By the way, the water must be fairly deep

below us n o w . If you fell,yo u would merely

get a ducking . I should slide down and pull

you o ut, and we would start afresh .

Good Lord ! Oh,never mind ! Nothing .

On ly,my knife slipped,but I caught it again .

We must be half way, by n o w . How

lucky we have my glissading marks to guide

us . I can’t s ee the ledge from here . Let ’

s

sing ‘Nancy Lee .

’ I suppose you know it . I

can always work better to a good rollicking

tun e .

"

Then, as he drove his blade into the cliff ,

Jim Airth’s gay voice rang out :

Of all the w ives as e’

er yo u kn o w,

Y eo ho ! lads ! ho !

Y eo h o I Y ea ho !

There’

s n o n e like N an cy Lee, I tro w,

izb THE MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

The bo s n pipes the watch belo w,

Y eo h o ! lads ! h o !

Y eo h o ! Y eo ho !

Then here’

s a health afo re we go ,

Y eo h o ! lads ! h o !

Y eo ho !

A lo n g,lo n g life to my sweetwife,

A n d mates at s ea Keep it up down

there ! I have o n e hand on the ledge

A n d keep o ur bo n es from Davy J o n es

Where’

er w e be

A n d—keep o ur bo n es rom

Davy J o n es—who e

’

er he be,

quavered Lady Ingleby, making one final

eff ort to move up into the vacant niches,

though conscious that her fingers and toes

were s o numb that sh e could not feel them

grip the sand .

Then Jim Airth ’s whole body vanished

suddenly from above her, as he drew himself

o n to the ledge .

Y eo h o ! we go ! Came his gay voice

from above .

“ YEO HO, WE GO !”

1 2 7

Y ea h o / Y ea ha !

sang Lady Ingleby, in a faint whisper .

She could not move o n into the empty

niches . She could on ly remain where sh e

was, clingin g to the face o f the cliff .

She suddenly thought o f a fly o n a wall

and remembered a particular fly, years ago,

o n her nursery wall . She had followed its

ascent with a small interested finger, and her

nurse had come by with a duster, and saying :“ Nasty thing ! ” had ruthlessly flicked it o ff .

The fly had fallen—fallen dead, o n the

nursery carpet . Lady Ing leby felt she

to o w as falling . She gave o n e agonised glance

upward to the towerin g c l iff ,with the line o f

sky above it . Then everything swayed and

ro cked .

“A mother o f soldiers,”

her brain

insisted, must fall without screaming .

" Then

A long arm Shot down from above ; a

strong hand gripped her firmly .

“ One step more,"said Jim Airth’s voice,

close to her car,“ and I can lift you .

She made the eff ort, and he drew her o n to

the ledge be side h im .

l2 8 THE MI STRE S S OF SHENSTONE

Thank yo u very much, said Lady Ingle

by . And who was Davy Jones ?

Jim Airth’

s face was streaming with per

spiration . His mouth was full o f sand . H is

heart was beating in his throat . But he loved

to play the game,and he loved to s ee another

do it . S O he laughed as he put his arm around

her,holding her tightly s o that sh e should not

realise how much sh e was trembling .

“ Davy Jones,” he said,

“ is a gentleman

who has a locker at the bottom o f the s ea,into

which all dr own ’d things go . I am afraid

your pretty parasol has gone there, and my

boots and stockings . But we may well spare

him those Oh, I say ! Yes, do

have a good cry . Don’t mind me . And

don’t yo u thinkbetween us we could remember

some sort o f a prayer ? Fo r if ever two peop le

faced death together, w e have faced it ; an d,

by God’s mercy,here we arch alive .


those disjointed haltin g sentenceswere finished,

Myra had ceased trembling ; and when Jim

Airth, suddenly at a loss h o w else to wind up

his prayer,commenced Our Father,Who art

in heaven,” Myra’s sweet voice united with

h is , full o f an earnest fervour o f petition .

f t the final words, Jim Airth withdrew his

arm, and a shy silence fell between them .

The emotion o f the mind had awakened an

awkwardness o f body . In that uniting “Our

Father,” their souls had leapt on, beyond

where their bodies were quite prepared to

follow .

Lady Ingleby saved the situation . She

turned to Jim Airth, with that impulsive

sweetness which could never be withstood .

In the rapidly deepening twilight, he could

just see the large wistful grey eyes, in the

white oval o f her face .

Do you know,

"sh e said, I really could n

’

t

possibly s it all night, o n a ledge the size o f a

Chesterfield sofa,with a person I had to call‘Mr .

’ I could only s it there with an o ld and

intimate friend,who would naturally call me

’TWIXT SEA AND SKY l3 l

‘Myra,’ and whom I might call ‘

Jim .

’

U nless

I may call you ‘Jim,

’ I shall insist on climbing

down and swimming home . And if yo u

address me as ‘Mrs . O’

Mara,’ I shall certain ly

become hysterical, and tumble Off

Why of course,” said Jim Airth . I hate

titles of any kind . I come o f an Old Quaker

stock, and plain names with no prefixes

always seem best to me . And are we not o ld

and trusted friends ? Was n o t each o f those

minutes o n the face o f the cliff ,a year ? Wh ile

that second which elapsed between the Slipping

o f my knife from my right hand and the

catch ing o f it, against my kn ee , by my left,

may go at ten years ! Ah , think if it had

dropped altogether ! No, don’

t think . We

were barely half way up . Now you must

contri ve to put o n your shoes and stockings .

He produced them from his pocket .

“A n d

then we must find o ut how to place ourselve s

most comfortably and safe ly . We have but

o n e enemy to fight during the next seven

hours —cramp . You must tell me immediately

if you fee l it threatening anywhere . I have


done a lot o f scouting in my time,and kn ow

a dodge o r two . I also know what it is to

lie in o n e position f o r hours, not daring to

move a muscle,the cold sweat pouring o ff my

face, simply from the agonies o f cramp . We

must guard against that . ”

“ Jim,

” said Myra,“h o w long shall we have

to s it here ?

He made a quick movement,as if the sound

o f his name from her lips for the first time,

meant much to him ; and there was in his voice

an added depth o f joyousness,as he answered :“ It would be impossible to climb from here

to the to p o f the clif f . When I came down, I

had a sheer drop o f ten feet Y o u s ee the

cliff Slightly overhangs just above us . So far

as the tide is concerned we might clamber

down in three hours ; but there is no moon,

and by then, it will be pitch dark We must

have light for o ur descent, if I am to land yo u

safe and unshaken at the bottom . Dawn

should be breaking soon after three . The sun

rises to -morrow at but it will be quite

light before then . I think we may expect to

1 3 4 THE MI STRESS OF SHEN STONE

morning . Most likely sh e has done the same

to-night .

“Then I don’

t suppose they will send o ut a

search-party,” said Jim Airth .

“ No . We are s o alone down here . We

only matter to ourselves,” said Myra .

“And to each other, said Jim Airth,

quietly .

Myra’s heart stood still .

Those four words, spoken s o simply by that

deep tender voice, meant more to her than

any words had ever meant . They meant s o

much,that they made f o r themselves a silence—a vast holy temple o f wonder and realisa

tion wherein they echoed back and forth,

repeating themselves again and again .

The two o n the ledge sat listening .

The chant o f mutual possession, so sud

den ly s et going,was too beautiful a thing to

be interrupted by other words .

Even Lady I n gleby’

s unfailing habit o f

tactful speech was n o t allowed to spoil the

deep sweetness o f this unexpected situation .

Myra’s heart was waking ; and’

when the heart

T WIXT SEA AND SKY 1 3 5

is stirred, the mind sometim es forgets to be

tactful .

At length Don ’t you remember, he said,very low,

“what I told you before we began

to climb ? Did I n o t say, that if we succeeded

in reaching the ledge safely, we should o w e

o ur lives to each other ? Well, we did ; and—w e do .

“Ah , no, cried Myra, impulsively . No,

Jim Airth ! Y o u—glad, and safe, and freewere walking along the to p o f these cliff s . I,

in my senseless folly, lay sleeping o n the sand

below, while the tide rose around me . You

came down into danger to save me, risking

your life in so doing . I o w e you my life,Jim

Airth ; you o w e me nothing .

"

Th e man bes ide her turned and looked at

her,with his quiet wh imsical smile .

“ I am n o t accustomed to have my state

ments amended,

” he said, dri ly .

I t w as growing so dark, th ey could only

just disce rn each othe r'

s faces .

Lady Ingleby laughed . S h e was so un

used to that kind of remark, that, at


the moment sh e could frame no suitable

reply .

Presently I suppose I really o we my

life to my scarlet parasol, sh e said .

“Had

it not attracted your attention,you would not

have seen me .

”

“ Should I not ? ” questioned Jim Airth,h is

eyes o n the white loveliness o f her face .“ Since I saw you first, o n the afternoon of

your arrival,have you ever once co me within

my range o f vision without my seeing yo u,

and taking in every detail ?“On the afternoon o f my arrival ? ” ques

tio n ed Lady Ingleby,astonished .

“Y es ,

” replied Jim Airth, deliberately .

Seven o ’clock,o n the first o f June . I stood

at the smoking-room window,at a loose end o f

all things ; sick o f myself,dissatisfied with my

manuscript, tired o f fried fi sh—don’t laugh ;

small things, as well as great, go to make up

the sum o f a man’s depression . Then the

gate swun g back,and Y OU —in golden capitals—the sun light in your eyes, came up thegarden path . I judged yo u to be a woman

1 3 8 THE MI STRE SS OF SHENSTONE

beauty o r a society leader, but owned just a

simple Irish name, and lived at a Lodge .

”

“GO o n , Jim,

” said Lady Ingleby, rather

tremulously .

Then the name ‘Shenstone’ interested me,

because I know the I n glebys —at least, Iknew Lord Ingleby, well ; and I shall soon

know Lady Ingleby . In fact I have written

to-day asking for an interview . I must s ee

her o n business connected with notes o f her

husband’

s which, if she gives permission,are

to be embodied in my book . I suppose if you

live near Shenstone Park you kn ow the

I n glebys ?

Yes,” said Myra . But tell me, Jim ;

if— if you noticed s o much that first day ;

if yo u were —interested ; if yo u wanted to set

me Copies—yes , I know I write a shocking

hand -why would yo u never look at me ?

Why were you so stiff and unfriendly ? Why

were you n o t as nice to me as you were to

Susie, f o r instance?

Jim Airth sat long in Silence,staring o ut into

the darkness . At last he said

’TWIXT SEA AND SKY 1 3 9

I want to tell yo u . Of course,I must tell

you . But—may I aska few questions first ?

Lady Ingleby also gazed unseeingly into the

darkness ; but sh e leaned a little nearer to the

broad shoulder beside her . “A sk me what

yo u wi ll,” she said . There is nothing,in my

whole lif e, I would n o t tell you,Jim Airth .

”

Her cheek was s o close to the rough

Norfolk jacket, that if it had moved a shade

nearer, she would have rested against it .

But it did not move ; on ly, the clasp o n her

hand tightened .

“Were you married very young ? asked

J im Airth .

“ I w as n o t quite eighteen . It is ten years

Did you marry fo r love ?

There was a long silence,while both looked

steadi ly in to the darkness .

Then Myra answered,speaking very slowly .

To be quite honest, I thin k I married chiefly

to escape from a ve ry unh appy home . Also

I w as very young,and knew nothin g—nothingof life , and nothing o f love ; and—h o w ca n I


explain, Jim Airth —I have n o t learnt much

during these ten long years . ”

“Have you been unhappy ? ” He asked the

question very low .

“Not exactly unhappy . My husband was

a very good man ; kind and patient, beyond

words, towards me . But I often vaguely

felt I was missing the Best in lif e . No w—I

know I was . ”

“How long have yo u been—H o w long has

he been dead ? " The deep voice was so

tender, that the question could bri ng n o pain .

“ Seven months,” replied Lady Ingleby .

My husband was killed in the assault o n

Targai . ”

“At Targai ! ” exclaim ed Jim Airth, sur

prised into betraying his astonishment . Then

at once recoverin g himself : “Ah ,yes ; o f course .

Seven months . I was there,yo u know .

”

But,within himself,he was thinking rapidly,

an d much was becoming clear .

Sergeant O’Mara ! Was it possible ? An

exquisite refined woman such as this,bearing

about her the unmistakable hall-mark of


And now— tell me, sh e suggested, softly .

Ah,yes ,” he said,pulling himself together,

with an effort . “My experience also misses

the Best, and likewise covers ten long years .

But it is a harder o n e than yours . I married,

when a bo y o f twenty-one, a woman, older

than myself ; supremely beautiful . I went

mad over her loveliness . Nothing seemed to

count o r matter, but that . I knew sh e was

not a good woman, but I thought she might

become s o ; and even if She did n’

t it made no

diff erence . I wanted her . Afterwards I

found sh e had laughed at me, all the time .

Also, there had all the time been another

an older man than I —who had laughed with

her . He had not been in a position to marry

her when I did ; but two years later,he came

into money . Then—sh e left me .

"

Jim Airth paused . His voice was hard

with pain . The night was very black . In

the dark silence they could hear the rhythmic

thunder o f the waves pounding monotonously

against the cliff below .

“ I divorced her, o f course ; and he married

’TWIXT SEA AND SKY 143

her ; but I went abroad, and stayed abroad .

I never could look upon her as other than my

w ife . She had made a hell o f my lif e ; robbed

me o f every illusion ; wrecked my ideals ;

imbittered my youth . But I had said,before

God, that I took her f o r my wife, until death

parted us ; and, so long as we were both alive,

what power could free me from that solemn

oath ? It seemed to me that by remaining

in another hemisphere, I made her second

marriage less sinful . Often, at first, I was

tempted to shoot myself, as a means o f right

ing this other wrong . But in time I outgrew

that morbidn ess, and realised that though

Love is good,Life is the greatest gift of all .

To throw it away, voluntarily, is an un

pardonable sin . The suicide’

s punishment

should be loss o f immortality . Well, I found

work to do, o f all sorts, in America, and else

where . And a year ago—she died . I should

have co me straight home,only I was booked

for that muddle o n the frontier they called ‘a

w ar .

’ I got fever after Targai ; was invalided

home ; an d here I am recruiting and finishing


my book . N o w yo u can understand why

loveliness in a woman,fills me with a sort o f

panic, even while a part o f me still leaps up

instinctively to worship it . I had often said

to myself that if I ever ventured upon matri

mony again, it should be a plain face, and a

noble heart ; though all the while I knew I

should never bring myself really to want the

plain face . And yet, just as the burnt child

dreads the fire, I have always tried to look

away from beauty . Only—my Fairyl and

Princess,may I say it? —days ago I began tofeel certain that in yo u

—Y OU in golden

capitals—the loveliness and the noble heart

went together . But from the moment when,

stepping o ut o f the sunset,you walked up th e

garden path, right into my heart, the fact o f

Y OU , just being what yo u are,and being here,

meant s o much to me, that I did not dare let

it mean more . Somehow I never connected

you with widowhood ; and not until yo u said

this evening o n the shore :‘

I am a soldier’

s

widow,’ did I know that you were free .

There ! Now you have heard all there is to


I s ee . Wh ich of them did you know first ?

I have known Lady Ingleby all my life .

said Myra, truthfully ;“ and I have known

Lord Ingleby since his marriage .

“Ah . Then he became your friend, be

cause he married her ?

Myra laughed .

“Y es , sh e said . I sup

pose s o .

"

“What ’

s the joke?

Only that it struck me as an amusing way

o f putting it ; but it is undoubtedly true .

“Have they any children ?

Myra’s voice shook slightly . No, none .

Why do yo u ask ?

Well, in the campaign, I Often shared

Lord I n gleby’

s tent ; and he used to talk in his

sleep .

”

“Y es ?

There was o n e name he often called and

repeated .

”

Lady I n gleby’

s heart stood still .

Y es ?”sh e said,hardly breathing .

It was ‘Peter’

, continued Jim Airth .

The night before he was killed, he kept

’TWIXT SEA AND SKY 1 47

turning in h is sleep and saying : ‘Peter ! H ullo,

little Peter ! Come here !’

I thought pe rhaps

he had a little son named Peter .

"

“He had no s o n ," said Lady Ingleby,

controlling her voice with eff ort . “ Peter

was a dog o f which he was very fond . Was

that the only name he spoke ?“ The only one I ever heard, replied Jim

Then suddenly Lady Ingleby clasped both

hands round his arm .

“ Jim,

" she whispered,brokenly, Not once

have yo u Spoken my name . It was a bargain .

We were to be o ld an d intimate friends . I

seem to have been calling you ‘Jim ’ all my

lif e ! But you have n o t yet ca lled m e‘Myra .

’

Let me hear it n o w , please .

"

Jim Airth laid his big hand over both o f

hers .

“ I can'

t, he said . Hush ! I can ’t . Not

up h erH t means too much . Wait until we

get back to earth again . Then Oh, I say !

Can’

t you help ?”

Th is kind o f emotion was an unkn own


quantity to Lady Ingleby . S O was the wild

beating o f her o w n heart . But sh e knew the

situation called for tact, and was not tactful

speech always her special forte ?“ Jim,

”sh e said,

“are yo u not frightfully

hungry ? I should be ; only I had an enor

mous tea before coming o ut. Would you

like to hear what I had f o r tea ? No . I am

afraid it would make you feel worse . I sup

pose dinner at the inn was over, long ago .

I wonder what variation o f fried fi sh they had,

and whether Miss Susannah choked over a

fi sh -bone, and had to be requested to leave

the room . Oh,do yo u remember that evening ?

Y o u looked s o dismayed and alarmed, I quite

thought you were going to the rescue ! I

wonder what time it is ?“We can soon tell that, said Jim Airth,

cheerfully . He dived into his pocket, pro

duced a matchbox which he had long been

fingering turn about with his pipe and tobacco

pouch,struck a light,and looked at his watch .

Myra saw the lean brown face, in the weird

flare o f the match . She also saw the horri d


Sure you don’t mind ? It does n ’

t make

yo u sick, o r give you a headache?”

“N O, I thin k I like it,

” said Myra . I n

fact, I am sure I like it . That is, I like to

s it beside it . No, I don’t do it myself .

Another match flared,and again sh e saw the

chasm, and the nearness o f the edge . She

bore it until the pipe was drawing well . Then :

Oh, Jim, sh e said,“ I am s o sorry ; but I

am afraid I am becoming dizzy . I feel as

though I must fall over . " She gave a half sob .

Jim Airth turned, instantly alert .

“Nonsense," he said, but the sharp word

sounded tender . Four good feet of width are

as safe as forty . Change your position a bit. "

He put his arm around her,and moved her s o

that sh e leant more completely against the

cliff at their backs . “Now forget the edge,"

he said,“ and listen . I am going to tell you

camp yarns,and tales o f the Wild West .

Then as they sat o n in the darkness, Jim

Airth smoked and talked, painting vivid

wo rd-pictures of lif e and adventure in other

lan ds . And Myra listened, absorbed an d

’TWIXT SEA AND SKY 15 1

enchanted ; every moment realising more fully,

as he unconsciously revealed it, th e man ly

strength and hones t simplicity o f hi s big

nature,with its fun and its fire ; its huge

capacity f o r enjoyment ; its corresponding

capacity for pain .

And, as she listened, her heart said : Oh,my cosmopolitan cowboy ! Thank G o d yo u

found no title in the book, to put yo u o ff .

Thank God you found no name which you

could ‘place,’ relegating its poor possessor to

the ran ks o f ‘Society leaders ’

in which you

would have had no share . And, Oh ! most

o f all , I thank God for the doctor’

s wise

in junction : ‘Leave behind yo u your o w n

identity

CHAPTER X I I

U N DER TH E MOR N I N G S TAR

HE night were o n .

Stars shone in the deep purple sky

bright watchful eyes lookin g down unweari ed

upon the sleep ing world .

The sound o f the sea below fell from a roar

to a murmur ,and drew away into the distance .

It was a warm June night, and very still.

Jim Airth had moved along the ledge to the

fur ther end,and sat swinging his legs over the

edge . His content was so deep and full, that

ordinary speech seemed impossible ; and silence,

a glad necessity . The prospect o f that which

the future might hold in store,made the ledge

too narrow to contain him . He sought relief

in motion,and swung his long legs o ut into the

darkness .

It had not occurred to him to wonder at h is1 5 2


wonder . There is nothing weak or unworthy

about it . Y o u have been quite splendid . It

is I who have been a thoughtless as s . But I

can’

t have you fainting up here . Y o u must

lie down at once . If I s it o n the edge w ith

my back to yo u, can yo u slip along behind me

and lie at full length, leaning against the

cliff ? ”

NO,oh no,I could n’

t whispered Myra .

It frightens me s o horribly when yo u hang

your legs over the edge, and I can’t bear to

touch the cliff . It seems worse than the black

emptiness . It rocks to and fro,an d seems to

push me over . Oh, Jim ! What shall I do ?

Help me,help me !”

“Y o u must lie down, said Jim Airth,

between h is teeth .

“Here, wai t a minute .

Move o ut a little way . Don ’t be af raid .

I have hold o f you . Let me get behind

you . That ’

s right . Now yo u are not

touching the cliff . Let me get my shoulders

firmly in to the hollow at this end, and my

fee t fixed at the other There ! With my

back rammed into it like this, nothing short

UNDER THE MORN ING STAR 1 55

o f an earthquake could dislodge me . N o w

dear—turn your back to me and your face

to the sea and let yourself go . Y o u will not

fall over . DO not be afraid .

”

V ery gently, but very firmly,he drew her

into his arm s .

Tired, frightened, faint,—Lady Ingleby

w as cons cious at first o f nothing save the

intense relief of the sense o f his great strength

about her . She seemed to have been fighting

the cliff and resisting the gaping darkness,

until she was utterly worn o ut. N o w sh e

yielded to his gentle insistence, and sank

into safety . Her cheek rested against his

rough coat,and it seemed to her more sooth ing

than the softest pillow . With a sigh o f con

tent, she folded her hands upon her breast,

and he laid o n e o f his big ones firmly

over them both . She felt so safe, and

held .

Then sh e heard Jim Airth’

s voice, clos e to

her ear .

“We are not alone, h e said . Y o u must

try to Sleep , dear ; but firs t I want you to


realise that we are not alone . Do you know

what I mean ? Go d is here . When I was a

very little chap,I used to go to a Dame-school

in the Highlands ; and the o ld dame made me

learn by heart the hundred and thirty-ninth

psalm . I have repeated parts o f it in all sorts

o f places o f difficulty and danger . I am going

to say my favouri te verses to you n o w .

Listen .

‘Whither shall I go from Thy Sp iri t ?

o r whither shall I flee from Thy presence ?

If I take the wings o f the morning,and dwell

in the uttermost parts o f the sea ; even there

shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand

shall hold me . If I say, Sur ely the dark

n ess shall cover me ; even the night shall be light

about me . Yea,the darkness hideth not from

Thee ; but the night shineth as the day : the

darkness and the light are both alike to Thee .

Ho w precious also are Thy thoughts

unto me, O God ! how great is the sum o f

them . If I should count them they are more

in n umber than the sand :when I awake I am

still with Thee .

’

The. deep voice ceased . Lady Ingleby


Alo ne w ith Th ee, in breath les s ado ratio n,I n th e calm dew an d freshnes s o f th e m om .

A s in th e dawning, o’

er th e wave les s o cean,Th e image o f th e m o rning s tar do th rest ;S o in th is s til lnes s Th o u beh o ldest o nlyTh ine image in th e waters o f my breast .

Wh en s inks th e so ul ,subdued by to il ,to s lumberI ts clo s ing eye lo o ks up to Th ee in prayer ;S w eet th e repo s e,beneath Thyw ings o

’

ersh ado win g,

B ut sw eeter s til l to wake,an d fi n d Th ee th ere .

S o shal l it be at last,in that brigh t mo rningWh en th e s o ul w aketh ,an d life

’

s shado w s flee

Oh , in that h o ur,fairer than dayl igh t’

s daw ning,S hall ri s e th e glo rio us th o ugh t, I am w ith Th ee ! ”

Jim Airth ’s voice ceased . He waited a

moment in silence .

Then—“ Do you like it ? ” he asked softly .

There was no answer . Myra slept as

peacefully as a little child . He could feel the

regular motion o f her quiet breathing,beneath

h is hand .

“Thank God ! " said Jim Airth, with h is

eyes o n the morning star .

CHAPTER XIII

THE AWAKEN I NG

HEN Lady Ingleby opened her eyes, sh e

could n o t,for a moment, imagine where

she was .

Dawn w as breaking over the sea . A rif t

o f silver, in the purple sky , had taken the

place o f the morning star . She could see the

silvery gleam reflected in the ocean .

“Wh y am I sleeping so close to a large

window ? queri ed her bewildered mind .

“ Or

am I o n a balcony ? ”

“Why do I fee l so extraordinarily strong

and rested ? questioned h er slowly awakening

body .

She lay quite still and considered the matter .

Then looking down , she saw a large brown

hand clasping both hers . Her head was

resting in th e curve o f th e arm to which the1 59


hand belonged . A strong right arm was

flung over and around her . All questionings

were solved by two short words : “

Jim Airth .

”

Lady Ingleby lay very still . She feared to

break the deep spell of restfulness which held

her . She hesitated to bring down to earth the

exquisite sense of heaven, by whi ch she was

surroun ded .

As the dawn broke over the sea,a wonderful

light dawned in her eyes, a radiance such as

had never shone in those sweet eyes before .

Dear G o d,” she whispered,

“ am I to know

the Best ?

Then she gently withdrew o n e hand, and

laid it o n the hand which had covered both .

Jim,

” she said .

“

Jim ! Look ! It is day .

Yes ? came Jim Airth’s voice from behind

her . “Yes ? What? COME I N —Hullo ! Oh, I

say ! ”

Myra smiled into the dawning . She had

already come through those fi rst moments

o f astonished realisation . But Jim Airth

awoke to the situation more quickly than s h e

had done .

1 62 THE MI STRESS OF SHE N S TONE

I do, said Myra, gaily . And now I

can venture to tell you what delicious home

made bread I had for tea . What time is it,

J im ? ”

“Half past three . In a few minutes the

sun will rise . Watch ! Did yo u ever before

s ee the dawn ? I s it n o t wonderful? Always

more o f pearl and silver than at sunset . Look

h o w the narrow rif t has widened and spread

right across the sky The Monarch o f Day is

coming ! See the little herald clouds,in livery

o f pin k and gold . Now watch where the s ea

looks brightest . Ah ! There is the tip

o f his blood-red rim, rising out o f the ocean .

And how quickly the whole ball appears .

Now s ee the rippling path o f gold and

crimson, a royal highway on the waters,

right from the shore below us, to the

footstool o f his brilliant Majesty . A

new day has begun ; and w e have not said‘Goo d-morning .

’ Why should we ? We did

not say‘Good-night . ’ How ideal it would be,

never to say‘Good-morning and never to say

‘

G ood-night .

’ The night would be always

THE AWAKENING 163

‘good ’

, and so would the morning . All lif e

would be o n e grand crescendo o f good

better—best . Wh at ? Have we found the

Best ? Ah , hush ! I did n o t mean to say that

Are yo u ready f o r the climb

down ? N O, I can’

t allow any peeping over,

and considering . If you really feel afraid

o f it, I will run to Tregarth as quickly as

possible,rouse the sleeping village,bring ropes

and men , and haul yo u up from the top .

"

I absolutely decline to be ‘hauled up from

the to p,’

o r to be left here alone, declared

Lady Ingleby .

Then the sooner we start do w n ,th e better,

said J im Airth .

“ I ’

m going first . He was

over the edge before Myra could open her lips

to expostulate .

“ No w turn roun d . Hold o n

to the ledge firmly with your hands,and give

me your feet . DO you hear ? Do as I te ll

you . Don'

t hesitate . It is le ss steep than

it seemed yesterday . We are quite safe .

Come o n ! That’

s right .

”

Then Lady Ingleby passed through a most

te rrifyin g five minutes, wh ile s he yie lded in


blind Obedi ence to the strong hands beneath

her, and the big voice which encouraged an d

threatened alternately .

But when the descent was over and sh e

stood o n the shore beside Jim Airth ; when

together they turned and looked in silence up

the path o f glory o n the rippling waters, to

the blazing beauty o f the rising sun,than kful

tears rushed to Lady I n gleby’

s eyes .“Oh, Jim ,

” she exclaimed,“Go d is good !

It is so wonderful to be alive !

Then Jim Airth turned,his face tran sfigured,

the sunlight in his eyes,and opened his arms .

Myra,” he said .

“We have found the

Best ."

They walked along the shore, and up th e

steep street o f the sleeping village, hand in

hand like happy children .

Ar rived at the Moorhead Inn,they pushed

open the garden gate,and stepped noiselessly

across the sun lit lawn .

The front door was firmly bolted . Jim


Jim Air th’

s boyish delight in the success o f

his raid o n the larder .

So they sat at the centre table, Myra in

Miss Murgatro yd’

s place, and Jim in Susie’s,

and consum ed their bread-and-cheese, and

dr ank their beer, with huge appetites and

prodigious enjoyment . And Jim used Miss

Susannah’

s napkin, and pretended to be

sentim ental over it . And Myra reproved h im ,

after the manner o f Miss Murgatroyd repro v

ing Susie . After which they simultaneously

exclaimed “ Oh, my dear love !” in Miss

E liza’

s most affecting manner ; then lin ked

fingers for a wish, and could neither of them

think o f o n e .

By the time they had fin ished,and cleared

away, it was half past five . They passed into

the hall together .“Y o u must get some more sleep, said Jim

Airth,authoritatively .

“ I will, if yo u wish it, whispered Myra ;

but I never, in my whole life, felt s o strong

o r s o rested . Jim, I shall Sit at your table,and pour o ut your coffee at breakfast . Let

’

s

THE AWAKENING 167

aim to have it at nine, as usual . It will be

such fun to watch the Murgatro yds , and to

remember o ur chee se and beer . If yo u are

down first, order o ur breakfasts at the same

table .

“ All right , said Jim Airth .

Myra commenced mounting the stairs,

but turned on the fif th step and hun g over the

banisters to smile at h im .

Jim Airth reached up his hand . How can

I let you go ? he exclaimed suddenly .

Myra leaned over, and smiled in to his

adorin g eyes .

“H o w can I go ? Sh e whispered, tenderly .

Jim Airth took both her hands in his . His

eyes blazed up into hers .“ Myra,

” he said,“when shall w e be

married ? "

Myra’

s face flamed, just as the soft white

clouds had flamed when the sun arose .

But she met the fire o f hi s eyes w ithout

fl inching .

“ When yo u will, Jim, she answered

gently .


As soon as possible, then, said Jim

Airth, eagerly .

Myra withdrew her hands, and mounted

two more steps ; then tur ned to bend and

whisper : “Wh y?”

“ Because," replied Jim Airth, I do n o t

know how to bear that there should be a day,

o r an hour , o r a minute,when we cannot be

together . "

“Ah , do yo u feel that, too ?

”whispered

Myra .

To o ? cried Jim A irth . Do yo u—Myra !

Come back !

But Lady Ingleby fled up the stairs like a

hare . She had not run so fast since She was

a little child o f ten . He heard her happy

laugh,and the closing o f her door .

Then he unbarred the front entrance ; and,

stepping o ut, stood in the sunshine, on the

path where he had seen his Fairy-lan d Princess

arrive .

He stretched his arms over his head .

Mine !" he said .

“Mine,altogether ! Oh,my God ! At last, I have w o n the Highest !

”

CHAPTER X I V

GOLDEN DAYS

HE week which followed was o n e o f ideal

joy and holiday . Both knew, in stin o

tively, that no after days could ever be quite

as these first days . They were an experience

which came not again, and must be realised

and enjoyed with whole-hearted completeness .

At first Jim Airth talked with determination

Of a Special licence,and pleaded f o r no delay .

But Lady Ingleby, usually vague to a degree

o n all questions o f law o r matters o f business,

fortunately felt doubtful as to whether it

would be wise to be married in a name other

than her o w n ; and, though sh e might have

solved the difficulty by at once revealing her

identity to Jim Airth, sh e was anxious to

choo se her o w n time and place f o r this revela1 70

GOLDEN DA Y S 1 7 1

tion, and had s et her heart upon making it

amid the surroundings o f her o w n beautiful

home at Shenstone .

“Y o u see , Jim,

”sh e urged, I have a few

friends in town and at Shenstone, who take

an interest in my doings ; and I could hardly

reappear among them married ! Could I ,

Jim ? It would seem such an unusual and

unexpected termination to a rest-cure .

Would n’

t it, Jim ?”

J im Airth ’s big laugh brought Miss Susie

to the window . It caused sad waste o f

Susann ah’

s time, that her window looked o ut

on the honeysuckle arbour .

It might make quite a run o n rest-cures,"

said J im Airth .

“Ah , but they could n

’

t all mee t yo u,

said Myra ; and the look h e received from those

swee t eye s, atoned for the vague inaccuracy

o f the rejoinder .

S O they agreed to have o n e week of this free

unt rammelled life , before returning to the

world Of those w h o knew them ; an d he pro

mis ed to co me and see her in her own home,

1 72 THE MI STRE SS OF SHENSTONE

before taking the fin al steps which should make

her altogether his .

So they went gay walks along the cliff s in

the breezy sunshine ; and Myra, clinging to

Jim’s arm, looked down from above upon

their ledge .

They revisited Horseshoe Cove at low

water, and J im Airth spent hours cutting the

hurried niches into proper steps, so as to leave

a staircase to the ledge,up which people,wh o

chanced in future to be caught by the tide,

might climb to safety . Myra sat o n the beach

and watched h im ,her eyes alight with tender

memories ; but she absolutely refused to mount

again .

“N0 ,Jim, she said ; n o t until we come

here o n our honeymoon . Then, if yo u wish,

yo u shall take your wif e back to the place

where we passed those wonderful hours . But

not now .

”

Jim ,who expected always to have his o wn

way, un less he was given excellent reasons in

black and white for not having it,was about

to expostulate and insist, when he saw tears


From the moment when o n the morning

after their adventure,Myra,with yellow roses

in the belt o f her white gown,had swept into

the coffee-room at five min utes past nine,

saying : “My dear Jim, have I kept yo u

waiting ? I hope the coff ee is not cold ?

all life had seemed transformed to Miss

Susie . Turnin g quickly, sh e had caught the

look Jim Airth gave to the lovely woman wh o

took her place opposite him at his hitherto

lonely table, and, still smiling into hi s eyes,

lifted the coffee-pot .

Amelia’

s stern whisper had recalled her to

her senses,and prevented any further glancing

round ; but sh e had heard Myra say :“ I forgot

your sugar, Jim . One lum p, o r two ?” and

Jim Airth’

s reply : A s usual,thanks, dear,

n o t kn owing, that with a silent twinkle o f

fun , he laid an envelope over his cup, as a

Sign to Myra,waiting with poised sugar-tongs,that “

as usual ” meant n o sugar at all !

Later on, when sh e o n e day met Lady

Ingleby alone in a passage, Miss Susannah

ventured two hurried questions .

GOLDEN DA Y S 1 75

Oh, tell me, my dear ! I s it really true

that you are going to marry Mr . Airth ? And

have yo u known h im long ?

And Myra smiling down into Susie’s plump

anxious face replied “Well, as a matter of

fact, Miss Susannah, Jim Air th is going to

marry me . And I cannot explain how long

I have known him . I seem to have kn own

h im all my life .

“Ah ,

" whispered Miss Susannah with a

knowing smile o f conscious perspicacity ;

E liza and I felt sure it was a tiff .

"

Th is remark appeared absolutely in co m

prehensible to Lady Ingleby ; and not until

she had repeated it to Jim,and he had shouted

with laughter, an d called her a bare-faced

dece iver, did she realise that th e tiff was

supposed to have bee n operative during the

whole time she and Jim Airth had sat at

separate tables, an d showed no Signs o f

acquaintance .

However, she smiled kindly into the archly

nodding face . Then, in the consciousne ss

o f h er o w n great happin e ss, enve loped little


Susie in her beautiful arms, and kissedher .

Miss Susannah never forgot that embrace .

It was to her a reflected realisation o f what it

must be to be loved by Jim Airth . And,

thereafter, whenever Miss Murgatroyd saw

fit to use such adjectives as “ indecent,”

questionable, o r highly improper,” Miss

Susie bravely gathered up her wool-work,and left the room .

Thus the golden days went by,and a letter

came f o r Jim Airth from Lady I n gleby’

s

secretary . Her ladyship was away at present

but would be returning to Shenstone o n the

following Monday, and would be pleased to

give him an interview o n Tuesday afternoon .

The two O’clock express from Charing Cross

would be met at Shenstone station, un less he

wrote suggesting another .“Now that is very civil, said Jim to Myra,

as he passed her the letter,“ and h o w ‘

w ell it

suits o ur plans . We had already arranged

both to go up to town o n Monday,and you o n

to Shenstone . S O I can come down by that


Dalmain , telling her in detail the un usual

happenings which had brought it so rapidly

to pass . Also a few lin es to her old friend the

Duchess of Meldrum ,merely announcing the

fact o f her engagement and the date o f her

return to Shenstone,promising full particulars

later . This letter held also a message for

Ronald an d Billy,should they chance to be at

Overdene .

Sunday evening, their last at Tregarth,

came all to o soon . They went to the little

church together, s itting among the simple

fisher folk at Evensong . As they looked over

o n e hymn book, and sang“Eternal Father,

strong to save," both thought o f Davy

Jones” in the middle o f the hymn,and had to

exchange a smile ; yet with an instant added

reverence o f petition and thanksgiving .

Thus everm o re, shal l rise to Th ee ,G lad h ymns o f prais e fro m land an d sea .

Jim Airth ’s big bass boomed through the

little church ; and Myra, close to hi s shoulder,

GOLDEN DA Y S 1 79

sang with a face s o radi ant that none could

doubt the reality of her praise .

Then back to a cold supper at the Moor

head Inn ; after which they strolled o ut to the

honeysuckle arbour for Jim’

s evening pipe,

and a last quiet talk .

It w as then that Jim Airth said, suddenly

By the way I wish you would tell me more

about Lady Ingleby . What kind o f a woman

is she ? Easy to talk to ?

Fo r a moment Myra w as taken a

back .

“Why, Jim—I hardly kn ow . Easy ?

Y es , I think yo u will fi n d her easy to talk

ton

Does she speak of her husband’

s death,

o r is it a tabooed subject ?“ She speaks o f it, said Myra, so ftly,

to those w h o can understand .

“Ah ! Do you suppose sh e will like to hear

detail s of those last days ?

Pos sibly ; if you fee l inclined to give them .

Jim—d o you know w h o did it ?

A surpri sed silence in the arbour .

removed his pipe, and looke dat her .


DO I kn ow—wh o—did—what ? he askedslowly .

Do yo u know the name o f the man wh o

made the mistake which killed Lord Ingleby ?

Jim returned his pipe to his mouth .

Yes, dear, I do,”he said, quietly . But

h o w came you to know o f the blunder ? I

thought the whole thing was hushed up, at

home .

“ It was, said Myra ; but Lady Ingleby

was told, and I heard it then . Jim , if sh e

asked you the name, should you tell her ?“ Certain ly I should,

” replied Jim Airth .

I was strongly opposed, from the first, to

any mystery being made about it . I hate a

hushing-up policy . But there was the fellow’s

future to consider . The world never lets a

thing o f that sort drop . He would always

have been pointed o ut as ‘The chap who killed

Ingleby’—just as if he had done it o n purpose ;and every man o f us knew that would be a

millstone round the neck o f any career . And

then the whole business had been somewhat

irregular ; and‘the powers that be ’ have a


new kind o f exp losive . And why do you call

Lord Ingleby ‘Michael’?“ I kn ew him intimately, said Lady

Ingleby .

I s ee . Well, as I was saying, I protested

about the hushing up, but was talked over ;

and the few who knew the facts pledged their

word o f honour to keep silence . Only, the

name w as to be given to Lady Ingleby, if sh e

desired to know it ; and some o f us thought

you might as well put it in The Times at

once,as tell a woman . Then we heard sh e had

decided not to know .

“What do you think of her decision ?

asked Lady Ingleby .

“ I think it proved her to be a very just

minded woman, and a very unusual o n e, if

sh e keeps to it . But it would be rather like a

woman, to make a fine decision such as that

during the tension of a supreme moment,and

then indulge in private speculation after

wards . ”

“ Did yo u hear her reason, Jim ? She

said sh e did not wish that a man should

GOLDEN DA Y S 1 83

walk this earth, whose hand Sh e could n o t

bring herself to touch in friendship .

”

“ Poor loyal soul !”

said Jim Airth, greatly

moved . Myra,if I got accidentally done f o r,

as Ingleby was,—should yo u feel so, for my

sake ?“N O !

" cried Myra, passionately . If

lost yo u,my beloved, I should never want to

touch any other man’

s hand, in friendship or

otherwise,as long as I lived !”

“Ah,” mused Jim Airth . Then you don ’t

co nsider Lady I n gleby’

s reason for her decision

proved a love such as ours ?

Myra laid her beautiful head again st his

shoulder .

she said, brokenly, I do not feel

myself competent to discuss any other love .

One thing only is clear to mc z—I never

realised what love meant, until I knew yo u .

"

A long silence in the honeysuckle arbour .

Then Jim Airth cried almost fiercely to the

woman in his arms : “ Can yo u really think

you have been right to keep me waiting, even

for a day ?


And sh e who loved him with a love beyond

expression could frame no words in answer

to that question . Thus it came to pass that,in the days to come,it was there,unanswered ;

ready to return and beat upon her brain with

merciless reiteration :“Was I right to kee p

him waiting,even for a day

In the hall, beside the marble table,where

lay the visitors’

book, they paused to say

good-n ight . From the first,Myra had never

allowed him up the stairs until her door was

closed .

“ If yo u don’

t keep the rules I think

it right to make, Jim, sh e had said,with her

little tender smile,“ I shall, in self-defence,

engage Miss Murgatroyd as chaperon ; and

what sort o f a tim e would yo u have then ?

So Jim was pledged to remain below until

her door had been Shut five minutes . After

which he used to tramp up the stairs whistlin g :

A l o ng l o ng life,to my s weet wif e,A n d mates at s ea ;

A n d keep o ur bo nes fro m Davy Jo nes ,Wh ere ’

er w e be .

A n d may yo u m eet a mate as sw eet


Jim, She whispered, it is s o silly to sayI f you had really cared

’

; because yo u know,perfectly well, that I care f o r yo u, more

than any woman in the world has ever cared

f o r any man before ! And I do assur e yo u,

Jim, that you could n’

t have married me

validly from here—and think how awful itwould be,to love as much as we love and then

fi n d o ut that we were n o t validly married

and when yo u come to my home, and fetch

me away from there, yo u will adm itl—yesreally admit—that I was right . You will

have to apologise humbly f o r having said‘Bosh ! ’

s o Often . Jim—dearest ! Look at

the clock ! I mustgo . Poor Miss Murgatroyd

will grow s o tired o f listening for us . She

always leaves her door a crack open . So

does Miss Susan nah . They have all taken to

Sleeping with their doors ajar . I deftly led

the conversation round to riddles yesterday,

when I was alone with them for a few minutes,

and asked sternly : ‘When is a door, n o t a

door ? They all answered : ‘When it is a jar !

quite unabashed ; and Miss Eliza asked an

GOLDEN DA Y S 187

other ! I believe Susie stands at her crack,in

the darkness, in hopes of seeing yo u march by .

N0 ,don’t say naughty words . They are

dears,all th ree of them ; and we shall miss them

horribly to-morrow . Oh,Jim—I’

ve just had

such a bri lliant idea ! I shall ask them to be

my bridesmaids ! Can’

t yo u s ee them follow

ing me up the aisle ? It would be worse than

the duchess giving Jane away . Ah,you don’t

know that story ? I will tell it you,some day .

Jim,say‘Good-night

’ quickly,and let me go .

“ Once,” said Jim Airth,tightening his grasp

o n her wrists—“ once, Myra, we said no‘goo d-night,

’ and no ‘good-morning .

’

“ Jim,darling !" said Myra,gently ; o n that

night, before I went to sleep,you said to me‘We are n o t alone . Go d is here .

’

And then

yo u repeated part of the hundred and thirty

ninth psalm . And, Jim—I thought you the

best and strongest man I had ever known ; and

I felt that, a l l my life, I should trust you,as I

trusted my G o d .

J im Airth loosed th e hands h e had held so

tightly,an d kissed tho rn very gently . Good


night,my sweetheart, he said, and God

bless yo u ! Then he turned away to the

marble table .

Myra ran swiftly up the stairs and closed

her door .

Then sh e knelt beside her bed, and sobbed

uncontrollably ; partly f o r jo y, and partly for

sorrow . The unanswered question com

men ced its reiteration : “Ah, was I right to

keep h im waiting ?

Presently sh e lif ted her head, held her

breath, and stared into the darkness . A

vision seemed to pass across her room . A

tall, bearded man, in evening clothes . In h is

arms a tiny do g,peeping at her through its

curls, as if to say :“I have the better place .

Where do yo u come in ?” The tall man

turned at the door . “ Good-night,my dear

Myra,” he said,kindly .

The vision passed .

Lady Ingleby buri ed her face in the bed

clothes .

“ That—for ten long years ! ” sh e

said . Then, in the darkness, sh e saw the

mutinous fir e o f Jim Airth’

s blue eyes, and

CHAPTER X V

WHERE I S LADY I NGLEB Y ?

WHEN Jim Airth left the train on the f o l

lowing Tuesday afternoon, he looked

eagerly up and down the platform,hoping to

s ee Myra . True, they had particularly ar

ranged not to meet,until after his interview

with Lady Ingleby . But Myra was s o charm

in gly inconsequent and impulsive in her

actions . It would be quite like her to reverse

the whole plan they had made ; and, if her

desire to s ee h im , in any measure resembled

h is huge hunger f o r a sight o f her, he could

easily understand such a reversal .

However,Myra was not there ; and with a

heavy sense o f unreasonable disappointment,

Jim Airth chucked h is ticket to a waiting

porter, passed through the little station, and1 90

WHERE I S LADY I N GLEB Y ? 19 1

found a smart turn-o ut,with tandem ponies,

waiting outside .

The groom at the leader’

s head touched his

hat .

For Shenstone Park, sir ?

Y es , said Jim Airth, and climbed

The groom touched his hat again . Her

ladyship said, sir, that perhaps you might

like to drive the ponies yourself,sir .

"

“No, thank you,"said Jim Airth, shortly .

I never drive other people’

s ponies .

The groom’

s comprehending grin was im

mediately suppressed . He touched his hat

again ; gathered up the reins, mounted the

driver’

s seat, flicked the leader, and the

perfectly matched pon ies swung at once into

a fas t trot .

Jim Airth ,a connoisseur in horse-fle sh ,eyed

them with approval . They flew along the

narrow Surrey lane s, between masse s o f wild

roses and clematis . The villagers were work

ing in the hayfi elds , shouting gaily to o n e

another as they tos sed the hay . It was a


matchless Jun e day, in a perfect English

summer .

Jim Airth’

s disappointment at Myra’s n o n

appearance,was lifting rapidly in the enjoy

ment o f the drive . After all it was best to

adh ere to plans once made ; and every step o f

these jolly little tapping hoofs was bri nging

him nearer to the Lodge . Perhaps she would

be at the window . (He had particularly told

her n o tto be !)“ These ponies have been well handled,

he remarked approvingly to the groom, as

they flew round a ben d .

“Yes, s ir," said the groom, with the in

evitable movement towards his hat, whip

and hand going up together . Her lady

ship always drives them herself, sir . Fine

whip,her ladyship, s ir .

”

This item o f in f ormation surprised Jim

Airth . Judging by Lord I n gleby’

s age and

appearance, he had expected to fi n d Lady

Ingleby a sedate and stately matron of sixty .

It was somewhat surprising to hear o f h er

as a fine whip .


back, a side door opened ; a neatly dr essed

woman in black,apparently a superior lady’s

maid, appeared o n the doo rstep, shook out a

white table-cloth,and re -entered the house .

Th ey flew o n up the avenue, Jim Airth

noting every tree with appreciation and

pleasure The fine o ld house came into view,

an d a moment later they drew up at the

entrance .

“ Good driving, remarked Jim Airth

approvingly, as he tipped the little groom .

Then he turned, to fin d the great doors

already standing wide, and a stately butler,

with immense black eyebrows, waiting to

receive him .

“Will yo u come to her ladyship’s sitting

room,s ir ?” said the butler, and led the way .

Jim Airth entered a charmingly appointed

room, and looked around .

It w as empty .

“Kindly wait here, s ir, while I acquaint

h er ladyship with your arrival, said the

po mpous person with the eyebrows,and went

o ut nois elessly, closing the door behind him .

WHERE I S LADY I N GLE B Y .J 195

Left alone, Jim Airth commenced taking

rapid note o f the room, hoping to gain there

from some ideas as to the tastes and character

o f its possessor . But almost immediately his

attention was arrested by a life-size portrait of

Lord Ingleby,hanging above the mantelpiece .

Jim Airth walked over to the hearthrug,and

stood long, looking with silent intentness at

the picture .

“ Excellent, he said to himself, at last .

Extraordinarily clever . That chap shall

paint Myra, if I can lay hands o n h im . Wh at

a jolly little dog ! And what devotion ! Mutual

and absorbing . I suppose that is Peter

Queer to thin k that I should have been the last

to hear him calling Peter . I wonder whether

Lady Ingleby liked Peter . If not, I doubt

if sh e would have had much o f a look-ih . If

anyone went to the wall it certainly was n ’

t

Peter .

”

He was still absorbed in the picture,when

the butler returned with a long message,

solemn ly delivered .

“Her ladysh ip is o ut in the groun ds, sir .


As it is s o warm in the house,s ir,her ladyship

requests that you come to her in the groun ds .

If yo u will allow me, sir, I will show you the

w ay .

"

Jim Airth restrain ed an inclination to say

Buck up ! " and followed the butler along a

corridor, down a wide staircase to a lower

hall . They stepped o ut o n to a terrace run

ning the full length o f th e house . Below

it, an o ld- fashioned garden,w ith box borders,

bright flower beds, a fountain in the centre .

Beyond this a smooth lawn, sloping down to a

beautiful lake, which sparkled and gleamed

in the afternoon sunshine . On this lawn,well to the right,half-way between the house

and the water, stoo d a group o f beeches .

Beneath their Spreading boughs, in the cool

inviting shadow, w ere some garden chairs .

Jim Airth could just discern, in o n e o f these,

the white gown o f a w oman,holding a scarlet

parasol .

The butler indi cated this clum p o f trees .“Her ladyship said, sir, that she would

await yo u un der the beeches .


distin guish the ripples o f soft lace about her

feet, the long graceful sweep o f her gown ; and

still sh e seemed unconscious o f h is close

proximity .

He passed beneath the beeches and stood

before her . And, even then, the parasol

concealed her face .

But Jim Airth was never at a loss,when sure

Of h is ground .

“ Lady Ingleby,” he said,

with grave formality ;“ I was told to

Then the parasol was flung aside, and he

found him self looking down into the lovely

laughing eyes o f Myra .

To s ee Jim Airth ’s face change from its

look o f formal gravity to o n e o f rapturous

delight,was to Myra well worth the long effort

o f Sitting immovable . He flung himself down

before her with boyish abandon, and clasped

both herself and her chair in his long arms .

“ Oh,yo u darling ! he said,bending h is face

over hers while h is blue eyes danced with

delight . Oh, Myra, what centuries since

yesterday ! H o w I have longed f o r yo u . I

almost hoped you would after all have come

WHERE I S LADY INGLEB Y ? 199

to the station . How I have grudged wasting

all this time in coming to call o n Old Lady

Ingleby . Myra, has it seemed long to you ?

Do yo u realise,my dear girl, that it can’

t go

o n any longer ; that we cannot possibly live

through another twenty-four hour s o f separa

tion ? But o h ,you Tease ! There was I ,ramping

with impatience at every wasted moment ;

and here were yo u, sitting under this tree,

hiding your face and pretending to be Lady

Ingleby ! The astonished and astonishing o ld

party in the eyebrows, certainly pointed you

o ut as Lady Ingleby when he started me o ff

o n my pilgrimage . I say, h o w lovely you

loo k ! What billowy softness ! It would n ’

t

do for cliff -climbin g ; but its A . r . for sitting

o n lawns . I can’

t help it ! I must ! ”

“ Jim,

" said Myra, laughing and pushing

h im away ; what has come to yo u,you dearest

old boy ? You will really have to behave !

We are not in the honeysuckle arbour .

‘The

astonishing o ld party in the eyebrows’

is most

likely Observing us from a w indow, and w ill

have good cause to look astonished, if he sees


yo u‘carrying o n

’ in such a man n er . Jim,

h o w nice you look in your town clothes . I

always like a grey frock-coat . Stand up, and

let me s ee Oh, look at the green o f the

turf o n those immaculate knees ! What a

pity . Did yo u don all this finery for me? ”

“ Of cour se not, silly !” said Jim Airth,

rubbing his knees vigorously . When I haul

you up cliff s, I wear old Norfolk coats ; and

when I duck you in the s ea,I wear flan n els . I

considered this the correct attire in which to

pay a formal call o n Lady Ingleby ; and now,

before she has had a chance o f being duly

impressed by it,I have Spoilt my knees hope

lessly,worshipping at your shrine ! Where is

Lady Ingleby ? Why does n’

t sh e keep her

appointments ?

Jim,

” said Myra, looking up at him with

eyes full o f unspeakable love, yet dancing

with excitement and delight ; Jim ,do you

adm ire this place ?“ This place ? ” cried Jim, stepping back a

pace, SO as to command a good view o f the

lake and woods beyond . It is absolute ly


much ear . But this was very special . I

want to sing it to yo u now . Listen ! ”

And looking up at him, her soft eyes full

o f love,Myra sang,with slight alterations o f

her own, the last verse o f the o ld Scotch

ballad, Hun tin gto w er .

B lair in A th o l ’

s m ine,Jamie,Fair Dunke ld is m ine, laddi e ;S aint J o h n sto un

’

s bo wer,A n d Hun tin gto w er,

A n d all that ’

s mine, is thine, laddi e .

V ery pretty, said Jim, but you ’

ve

mixed it, my dear . Jamie bestowed all his

possessions o n the lassie . You sang it the

wrong way round .

"

“No, no,” cried Myra, eagerly . There

is no wrong way round . Providing they both

love, it does not really matter which gives .

The o n e who happens to possess,bestows . If

yo u were a cowboy, Jim, and you loved a

woman with lands and houses, in taking her,

you would take all that was hers .

“ I guess I ’d take her o ut to my ranch

WHERE I S LADY I N GLE B Y i> 2 03

and teach her to milk cows, laughed Jim

Airth . Then turning abo ut under the tree

and lo oking in all directions : “ But seriously,

Myra, where is Lady Ingleby ? She should

keep her appointments . We cannot waste

our whole afternoon waiting here . I want

my girl ; and I want her in her own little home,alone . Cannot we find Lady Ingleby ?

Then Myra rose, radiant, and came and

stood before him . The sunbeams shone

through the beech leaves and danced in her

grey eyes . She had never looked more

perfect in her sweet loveliness . The man

took it all in, and the glory o f possession

lighted his handsome face .

She came and stood before h im, laying her

hands upon his breast . He wrapped his

arms lightly about her . He saw she had

something to say ; and he waited .

“

Jim ,

”

said Myra, Jim ,dearest . There is

just o n e name I want to hear,more than any

other . There is just o n e thing I long to be .

Then I shall be content . I want to have the

right to be called ‘M rs . J im A irth .

’

I want.


more than all else beside, to be your wif e .

But—until I am that ; and may it be very soon !

you make me ‘Mrs . Jim A irth ’—dearestI —am Lady Ingleby .

"


Why should he resent the noble name She bore,the high rank which was hers ? Even if it

placed her socially far above him, had sh e

n o t just expressed her readiness—her longing—to resign all, for him ? Had n o t her love

already placed him o n the topmost pinnacle

o f her regard ? Was it generous, was it

worthy o f Jim Airth to take her disclosure

thus ?

She moved towards the chairs,with gentle

dignity .

“ Let us s it down, Jim , and talk it over,

sh e.

said, quietly .

“ I do not think you need

find it s o overwhelming a matter as you seem

to imagine . Let me tell yo u all about it ;

o r rather, suppose yo u askme any questions

you like .

”

Jim Airth sat blindly down upon the chair

farthest from her,put h is elbows on his knees,

and sank his face into h is hands .

Without any comment,Myra rose ; moved

her chair close enough to enable her to lay

her hand upon h is arm, should She wish to

do s o ; sat down again, and waited in silence .

UNDER THE B EECHES A T SHENSTONE 2 07

Jim Ai rth had but o n e question to ask.

He asked it,without lifting his head .

“Who is Mrs . O’

Mara ?

She is the widow o f Sergeant O’Mara who

fell at Targai . We both lost o ur husbands in

that di saster, Jim . She had been for many

years my maid-attendant . When sh e married

the sergeant, a fine soldier whom Michael

held in high esteem, I wished still to keep her

near me . Michael had given me the Lodge

to do with as I pleased . I put them into it .

She lives there still . Oh, Jim dearest, try to

rea lise that I have not said o n e word to yo u

which was n o t completely truthful ! Let me

explain how I came to be in Cornwall under

h er name instead o f my own . If I might put

my hand in yours,Jim, I could tell you more

N O? V ery well ; never mind .

After I received the telegram last Novem

be r telling me o f my husband’

s death, I had a

very bad nervous breakdow n . I do not

thin k it was caused so much by my loss,as by

a prolonged mental strain,which had preceded

it . Just as I had moved to town and was


getting better, full details arri ved, and I had

to be told that it had been an accident . Y o u

know all about the question as to whether

I should hear the name o r n o t Y o u also

know my decision . The worry o f this threw

me back . What yo u said in the arbour was

perf ectly true . I am a woman, Jim ; often,

a weak one ; and I was very much alone . I

decided rightly, in a supreme moment

possibly you may know who it was who

graciously undertook to bri ng me the news

from the War Office—but, afterwards, Ibegan to wonder ; I allowed myself to guess .

Men from the front came home . My sur

mis in gs circled ceaselessly around tw o —d earfello w s ,

:

o f whom I was really fond . At last

I felt convinced I knew, by intangible yet

unmistakable signs, which was he who had

done it . I grew quite sure . And then—Ihardly know how to tell you, Jim—c f all

impossible horrors ! The man who had killed

Michael wanted to marry mel—Oh, don’t

groan, darling ; yo u make me s o unhappy !

But I do not wonder you find it difficult to


appertaining thereto, completely behind ; to

go to a place to which I had never before been,where I knew no o n e, and should not be

known ; to live in the open air ; fare s im

ply ; rise early, retire early ; but, above

all, as he quaintly said :‘Leave Lady Ingleby

behind .

’

I followed his advice to the letter . He is

n o t a man o n e can disobey . I did n o t like the

idea o f taking a fictitious name, s o I decided

to be ‘Mrs . O’Mara,

’ and naturally entered

her address in the visitors’ book,as well as her

name .

“ Oh, that evening of arrival ! Y o u were

quite right, Jim . I felt just a happy child,entering a new world o f beauty and delight

all holiday and rest .“And then— I saw yo u ! And, Oh my

beloved, I think alm ost from the first moment

my soul flew to yo u, as to its unquestioned

mate ! Your vitality became my source o f

vigour ; your strength filled and upheld every

thing in me which had been weak and falter

ing . I owed yo u much,before we had really

UNDER THE B EECHES A T SHENSTONE 2 1 1

spoken . Afterwards, I owed you life itself,

and love, and all—ALL, Jim !

Myra pausedf s ilen tly controlling her emo

tion ; then,bending forward, laid her lips upon

the roughness o f his hair . It might have been

the stirring o f the bree ze, f o r all the sign he

made .

“Wh en I found at first that yo u had come

from the war, when I realised that you must

have known Michael, I praised the doctor’s

wisdom in making me drop my o w n name .

Also the Murgatro yds would have known it

immediately,and I should have had no peace .

As it was, Miss Murgatroyd occasionally

held forth in the sitting- room concerning‘poor dear Lady Ingleby,

’ whom she gave us

to understand she knew intimately . And

then—o h , Jim ! when I came to know my

cosmopolitan cowboy ; when he told me he

hated titles and all that appertained to them ;

then indeed I blessed th e moment when I

had writ myself down plain ‘Mrs . O'

Mara’

;

and I resolved not to tell him o f my title until

he loved me enough not to mind it, o r wanted


me enough, to change me at once from Lady

Ingleby o f Shenstone Park, into plain Mrs .

JimAirth o f—anywhere he chooses to take me !“Now you will understand why I felt I

could n o t marry yo u validly in Cornwall ;

and I wanted—was it selfish — I wanted the

joy o f revealing my o w n identity when I had

yo u, at last, in my o w n beautiful home . Oh,my dear- my dear ! Cannot o ur love stand

the test of s o light a thing as this ?

She ceased speaking and waited .

She was sure o f her V ictory ; but it seemed

strange,in dealing with s o fine a nature as that

o f the man sh e loved,that sh e should have had

to fight s o hard over what appeared to her a

paltry matter . But sh e knew false pride

often rose gigantic about the smallest things ;

the very unworthiness o f the cause seemin g

to add to the unreasonable growth o f its

dimensions .

She was deeply hurt ; but sh e was a woman,

and sh e loved him . She waited patiently to

s ee hi s love for her arise victorious over

unworthy pride .

CHAPTER XV I I

SU RELY Y OU KNEW ?

Y R A INGLEBY rose and wended h er

way slowly towards the house .

A stranger meeting her would probably

have noticed nothing ami ss with the tall

graceful woman,whose pallor might well have

been due to the unusual warmth o f the day .

But the heart within her was dying .

Her jo y had received a mortal wound . The

man sh e adored,with a love which had placed

him at the highest, was slowly Slipping from

his pedestal, and her hands were powerless

to keep him there .

A woman may drag her o w n pride in the

dust, and survive the process ; but when the

man She loves falls,then indeed her heart dies

within her .

“ SURE LY YOU KNEW 9 2 1 5

She had loved to call Jim Airth a cowboy .

She knew him to be avowedly cosmopolitan .

But w as he also a slave to vulgar pride ? Being

plain Jim Airth himself, did he grudge noble

birth and ancient lineage to those to whom

they rightfully belonged ? Professing to scorn

titles,did he really set upon them s o e x agger

ated a value, that he would turn from the

woman he was about to wed,merely because

she owned a title,while he had none ?

Myra, enterin g the house, passed to her

sitting-room . Green awnings shaded the

windows . The fireplace was banked w ith

ferns and lilies . Bowls o f roses stood about ;

wh ile here and there pots o f growing freesias

po ured their delicate fragrance around .

Myra crossed to the hearth -rug and stood

gazing up at the picture o f Lord Ingleby .

The gentle refinement o f the scholarly face

seemed accentuated by the dim light . Lady

Ingleby dwe lt in memory upon the consistent

courte sy o f the dead man’

s manner ; his

unfailing friendliness and equability to all ;

courteo us to me n o f higher rank, considerate


to those o f lower ; genial to rich and poor

alike .

Oh,Michael, she whi spered, have I been

un faithful? Have I forgotten how good you

vvere ?

But still her heart died Within her . Th e

man who had stalked across the lawn, leaving

her without a touch o r look, held it in the

hollow o f his hand .

A do g- cart clattered up to the portico .

Men’s voices sounded in the hall . Tramping

feet hurri ed along the corridor . Then Billy’s

excited youn g voice cried, May we come in ?

followed by Ronnie’s deeper tones,“ If we

shall not be in the way ? The next moment

sh e was grasping a hand o f each“Y o u dear boys !" sh e said . I have never

been more glad to see yo u ! DO sit down ; o r

have yo u come to play tennis ?“We have come to s ee yo u, dear Queen,

said B illy .

“We are staying at Overden e .

The duches s had your letter . She told us the

great news ; also, that yo u were returning

yesterday . So we came over to—to


bestrides a horse and does brave things . He

finished up at your horrid little war, and got

fever at Targai . Y o u must have known

him . He calls it ‘a muddle o n the frontier,’

and now he is writin g a book about it, and

about other muddles,and how to avoid them .

But he has a quite eccentric dislike to titles

and big properties ; so he has shied really

badly at mine . He has gone Off to ‘face it o ut’

alone . Hence yo u fi n dme sad instead o f gay .

Billy looked at Ronnie, telegraphing :

it ? It must be ! Shall we tell her ?

Ronnie telegraphed back : “ It is ! It can

be no other . Y o u tell her .

Lady Ingleby became aware o f these cross

U

currents .

“What is it, boys ?”sh e said .

Dear Queen,” cried Billy, with hardly

suppressed excitement ;“may we ask the

cowboy person ’s name ?“ Jim Airth,

” replied Lady Ingleby, a

sudden rush o f colour flooding her pale cheeks .

In that case,” said Billy, he is the chap

we met tearing along to the railway station,

“ SURELY YOU KNEW ?”

2 19

as if all the furies were loose at his heels . He

looked neither to the right n o r to the left,

n o r, f o r that matter, in front o f him ; and o ur

dog-cart had to take to the path ! So he did

not see two o ld comrades,nor did he hear their

hail . But he cannot possibly have been

fleein g from your title, dear lady, and hardly

from your property ; seeing that his own title

is about the oldest known in Scottish history ;while mile after mile o f moor and stream and

forest belong to him . Surely yo u knew that

the fellow w h o called himself ‘Jim Airth ’when

o ut ranching in the West , and still keeps it

as his n o m-de-plume, is—when at home

James, Earl o f Airth an d Monteith , and a

few other names I have forgotten —the finest

Old title in Scotland ! ”

CHAPTER XV III

WHAT B I LLY HAD To TELL

ID you bring your rackets, boys ?

Lady Ingleby had said,with fine self

control ; adding, when they admitted rackets

left in the hall,“Ah, I am glad yo u never can

resist the chestnut court . It seems ages since

I saw yo u two fight o ut a single . Do go o n

and begin . I will order tea o ut there in half

an hour,and follow yo u .

Then sh e escaped to the terrace,flew across

garden and lawn,and sought the shelter o f the

beeches . Arrived there, sh e sank into the

chair in which Jim Airth had sat so immov

able,and covered her face with h er trembling

fingers .

Oh,Jim,Jim ! sh e sobbed . My darling,

how gri evously I wronged you ! My king2 2 0


and Billy would be wanting tea,and expecting

her to join them .

Meanwhile the two friends, their rackets

under their arms, had strolled through the

shrubbery at the front o f the house, to the

beautiful tennis lawns,long renowned as being

the most perfect in the neighbourhood . Many

a tournament had there been fought o ut, in

presence o f a gay crowd, lining the courts,

beneath the shady chestnut trees .

But o n this day the place seemed sad and

deserted . They played o n e s et, in silence,

hardly troubling to score ; then walked to the

net and stood close together,o n e on either side .

We must tell her, said Ronald,examining

his racket,minutely .

“ I suppose we must, agreed Billy, relue

tan tly . We could not let her marry him .

”

Duff er ! yo u don’t suppose he would dream

o f marrying her ? He will come back,and tell

her himself to -morrow . We must tell her,

to spare her that interview . She need never

s ee him again .

WHA T B I LLY HAD TO TELL 2 2 3

I say, R o n ! Did you s ee her go quite

pink when she told us h is name ? And in spite

o f the trouble to -day, sh e looks half a dozen

years younger than when She went away .

You know sh e does, o ld man !“ Oh,that

’

s the rest -cur e,” explained R o n

nie, but without much conviction . Rest

cures always have that eff ect . That ’s why

women go in for them . Did yo u ever hear o f a

man doing a rest-cure ?“Well, I

’

ve heard o f yo u, at Overdene,said Billy,maliciously .

“ Rot ! You don’

t call staying with the

duchess a rest-cure ? Good heavens, man !

You get about the live liest time o f your life

when her Grace o f Meldrum undertakes to

nurse you . Did you hear about o ld Pilberrythe parson, and the toucan ?

"

“Yes, shut up . You’

ve told me that un

holy story twice already . I say, Ronnie !

We are begging the question . Wh o ’

s to tell

h er ?"

Y o u, said Ronald decidedly . She cares

for you like a mother, and will take it more


easily from yo u . Then I can step in, later

o n ,with—er—man ly comf ort .

”

“ Con f ound you ! ” said Billy, highly in

dign an t.

“ I ’

m not such a kid as you make

o ut. But I ’

ll tell you this —I f I thought it

would be fo r her real happiness,and could be

pulled through, I would tell her I did it ; then

fin d Airth to-morrow and tell him I had told

her s o .

“Ass !” said Ronnie, aff ectionately . As if

that could mend matters . Don’

t yo u know

the earl ? He was against the hushing-upbusiness from the fi rst . He would simply

pun ch your head for darin g to lie to her, and

go and tell her the exact truth himself . Besides,

at this moment,he is thinking more o f his side

o f the question, than Of hers . We fellows

have a way o f doing that . If he had thought

first o f her, he would have stayed with her

and seen her through, instead o f rushing o ff

like this, leaving her heart-broken and per

plex ed.

”

“ Confound him ! ” said Billy, earnestly“ I say, Billy ! You kn ow women . It


There were brave attempts at merrirn en t

during tea . Ronald told all the latest Over

dene stories ; then described the annual con

cert which had just taken place .

Mrs . B almain was there,and sang divinely .

She sings her husband’

s songs ; he accompanies

her . It is awf ully fine to s ee the light o n his

blind face as he listens,while her glorious voice

comes pouring forth . When the song is over,

he gets up from the piano, gives her his arm,

and apparently leads her o ff . V ery few people

realise that,as a matter o f fact, sh e is guiding

him . She gave,as an encore,a jolly little new

thing o f his—quite s impl%but everybody

wanted it twice over ; an air like summ er wind

blowing through a pine wood,with an aecom

pan irn en t like a blackbird whistling ; words

something about ‘On God’s fair earth .

’mid

blossoms blue —I forget the rest . GO

ahead,Bill !”

Th ere is n o ro om f o r sad despair,Wh en h eaven’

s lo ve is everywh ere .

quoted Billy, who had an e xcellent memory .

WHA T B I LLY HAD TO TELL 2 2 7

Myra rose, hastily . I must go in, She

said .

“ But play as long as yo u like .

”

Billy walked beside her towards the shrub

bery . May I come in and see you,presently

dear Queen ? There is something I want to say .

“ Come when you will, Billy-boy," said

Lady Ingleby, with a smi le .

“Y o u will find

me in my sitting-room .

”

A n d Billy looked furtively at Ronald,

hoping he had n o t seen . Words and smile

undoubtedly partook o f the maternal !

It was a very grave- faced young man who,half an hour later,appeared in Lady I n gleby

’

s

sitting-room,closing the door carefully beh ind

him . Lady Ingleby knew at once that he had

come o n some matter which , at all events to

himse lf, appeared o f paramount importance .

Billy’

s days o f youthful escapades we re over .

This must be something more serious .

S he rose from her davenport and came to

the sofa . Sit down, Billy,"

sh e said, indi

cating an armchair opposite—Lord I n gleby’

s

chair, and little Peter’

s . Both had now


left it empty . Billy fi lled it readily, uh

conscious o f its associations .“Rippin ’

flowers," remarked Billy, looking

round the room .

“Y es ,

” said Lady Ingleby . She devoutly

hoped Billy was not going to propose .

Jolly room,

" said Billy ;“ at least,I always

think s o .

”

“Yes said Lady Ingleby . So do I .

Billy s eyes, roaming anxiously around for

fresh inspiration, lighted o n the portrait over

the mantelpiece . He started and paled . Then

he knew his hour had come . There must

be no more beating about the bush .

Billy was a soldier, and a brave o n e . He

had led a charge once,running up a hill ahead

o f his men, in face o f a perfect hail o f bullets .

First came Billy ; then the battalion . Not a

man could keep within fif ty yards of him .

They always said afterwards that Billy came

th rough that charge alive,because he sprinted

SO fast, that no bullets could touch him . He

rus hed at the subj ect n o w , with the same

headlong courage .


Lady Ingleby sat, with clasped hands,considering . After all, what did it matter ?

What did anything matter, compared to the

trouble with Jim ?

She looked up at the portrait ; but Michael’s

pictured face, intent o n little Peter, gave her

no Sign .

If these boys wished to tell her, and get it

o ff their minds, why should sh e n o t know ?

It would put a stop, once f o r all, to Ronnie’s

tragic love-making .

“Y es Billy, She said . You may as well

tell me .

The room was very still . A rosebud

tapped twice against the window-pane . It

might have been a warning finger . Neither

noticed it . It tapped a third time .

Billy cleared his throat, and swallowed,

quickly .

Then he spoke .

The man who made the blunder , he said,

and fired the mine too soon ; the man who

killed Lord Ingleby,by mistake,was the chap

yo u call‘Jim Airth .

CHAPTER XIX

J I M AI RTH DEC I DES

ADY INGLEBY awaited Jim Air th ’s

arrival, in her sitting-room .

As the hour drew near, sh e rang the bell .“G ro atley,

" she said, when the butler

appeared,“ the Earl o f Airth, who was here

yesterday, will call again, this afternoon .

When his lordship comes, yo u can Show him

in here . I shall n o t be at home to any o n e

else . Y o u need n o t bring tea un til I rin g for

it.

”

Then S he sat down, quietly waiting .

She had resumed the mourning,temporari ly

laid aside . The black gown, hanging about

her in soft trailing folds,added to the grace ful

height o f her slight figure . The white tokens

o f widowhood at neck and wri sts gave to2 3 x


her unusual beauty a pathetic suggestion o f

wistful loneliness . Her face was very pale ; a

purple tint beneath the tired eyes betokened

tears and sleeplessness . But the calm stead

fast look in those sweet eyes revealed a mind

free o f all doubt ; a heart,completely at rest .

She leaned back among the sofa cushion s,

her hands folded in her lap, and waited .

Bees hummed in and o ut o f the open

windows . The scent o f freesias filled the room,

delicate, piercingly sweet, yet not oppressive .

To o n e man forever afterwards the scent o f

free sias recalled that afternoon ; the exqui site

sweetness o f that lovely face ; the trailing

softness o f her widow’

s gown .

Steps in the hall .

The door Opened . Gro atley’

s voice, pom

po usly sonorous, broke into the waitin g

silence .

“The Earl o f Airth, m’ lady and J im

Airth walked in .

As the door closed behind him,Myra rose.

They stood,silently con f ronting o n e another

ben eath Lord I n gleby’

s picture .


My—poor —girl ! " he said, brokenly .

They meant well, Jim . They are dear

boys . They knew you would come back and

tell me your self ; and they wanted to spare us

both that pain . I am glad they did it . Y o u

were quite right when you said it had to be

faced alone . I could n o t have been ready f o r

your return, if I had not heard the truth, and

had tim e to face it alone . I am ready now,

Jim .

Jim Airth laid his cheek against h er soft

hair,with a groan .

“ I have come to say good-bye,Myra . It

is all that remains to be said .

Good-bye ? Myra raised a face of terrifi ed

questioning .

Jim Airth pressed it back to its hiding-place

upon h is breast .“ I am the man, Myra, whose hand yo u

could never bring yourself to touch in friend

ship .

Myra lifted her head again . The look in

her eyes was that o f a woman prepared to

fight f o r happiness and life .

JIM A IRTH DECI DES 2 3 5

You are the man, she said, whose little

finger is dearer to me than the whole body of

any one else has ever been . Do you suppose

I will give you up, Jim, because of a thing

which happened accidentally in the past,

before you and I had ever met ? Ah,how little

you men understand a woman’s heart ! Shall

I tell yo u what I felt when Billy told me,

after the first bewildering shock was over ?

First : sorrow for you,my dearest ; a realisa

tion of how appalling the mental anguish

must have been, at the time . Secondly :

than kfulness—yes , intense overwhelming

than kfulness—to kn ow at last what had comebetween us ; and to know it was this thing

this mere ghost o ut o f the past—nothing

tangible o r real ; n o wrong Of mine against

you, o r o f yours against me ; nothing which

need divide us .

Jim Airth slowly unlocked his arms,took her

by the wrists, holding her hands against his

breast . Then h e looked into her eye s w ith a

silent sadness,more forcible than spee ch .

“My o w n poor girl," he said, at length


it is impossible f o r me to marry Lo rd Ingle

by’

s widow .

"

The strength o f his will mastered hers ; and,

just as in Horseshoe Cove her fears had

yielded to his daun tless courage, s o n o w

Myra felt her confidence ebbing away before

his stern resolve Fearful o f losing it alto

gether, sh e drew away her hands, and turned

to the sofa .

Oh, Jim, she said, s it down and let

us talk it over . ”

She sank back am ong the cushions and

dr awing a bowl o f roses hastily toward her,

bur ied her face in them, fearin g again to

meet the settled sadness o f h is eyes .

Jim Airth sat down- in the chair left

vacant by Lo rd Ingleby and Peter .“ Listen, dear,

" he said . I need not ask

yo u never to doubt my love . That would

be absurd from me to yo u . I love you as

I did n o t know it was possible for a man to

love a woman . I love yo u in such a way that

every fibre o f my being will hunger for you

night and day—through all the years to come .


disclosed, that if either o f us knew any im

pediment why we might n o t be lawfully

j oined together in matrimony,we should then

con fess it—I should cry : ‘Her husband died

by my hand ! ’ and leave the chur ch,with the

brand o f Cain,and the infamy of David,upon

me .

"

Myra lifted frightened eyes ; met h is , be

s eech in gly ; then bent again over the roses .“ Or, even if I passed through that ordeal,

standing mute in the solemn silence,what o f

the moment when the Church bade me take

your right hand in my right hand—Myra,my right hand ?

She rose, came swiftly over, and knelt

before him . She took h is hand, and covered

it with tears and kisses . She held it,sobbing,

to her heart .“ Dearest, sh e said, I will never ask you

to do, for my sake, anything yo u fee l im

possible Or wrong . But, o h , in this, I know

you are mistaken . I cannot argue o r explain .

I cannot put my reasons into words . But

I kn o w our living, longing, love o ught to come

jIM A I R TH DECI DES 2 3 9

be fore the happenings o f a dead past . Michael

lost his l ife through an accident . That the

accident was caused by a mistake o n your part,

is fearfully hard for you . But there is no

moral wrong in it . Y o u might as well blame

the company whose boat took him abroad ;

o r the governm ent which decided o n the

expedition ; o r the War Office people, who

accepted h im when he volunteered . I am

sure I don’

t know what David did ; I thought

he was a quite excellent person . But I do

know about Cain ; and I am perfectly certain

that the brand o f Cain could never rest on

anyone, because of an unpremeditated acci

den t . Oh, Jim ! Can not you look at it

reasonably ?“ I looked at it reasonably—after a wh ile;

until yesterday,” said Jim Airth .

“At first,

o f course,all w as blank,ghastly despair . Oh,Myra, let me tell you ! I have never been able

to tell anyone . GO back to th e couch ; I

can’

t let you kneel here . Sit down over there,

and let me tell you .

"

Lady Ingleby rose at once and re turned to


her seat ; then sat listening—her yearningeyes fixed upon his bowed head . He had

momentarily forgotten what the events o f that

night had cost her ; s o also had sh e . Her on ly

thought was of his pain .

Jim Airth began to speak, in low, hurried

tones ; haunted with a horror o f reminiscence .

“ I can s ee it n o w . The little stuff y tent ;

th e hidden light . I was already sickening for

fever,working with a temperatur e o f 1 0 2 . I

had n’

t slept for two nights,and my head felt

as if it were two large eyes, and those eyes,

both bruises . I knew I ought to knock under

an d give the jo b to another man ; but Ingleby

an d I had worked it all out together, and I

was dead keen o n it . It was a place where

n o big guns could go ; but o ur little arrange

ment which you could carry in o n e hand,

would do better and sur er work, than half a

dozen big guns .“There was a long wait after Ingleby and

th e other fellow—it was Ingram—started .

Cathcart,left behind with me,was in and out

o f the tent ; but he could n’

t stay still two

2 42 THE Il/I I S TR E S S OF SHENSTONE

th e spot, it was impossible to fi n d—well,any

actual proofs of what had happened . The

gap had been filled at once with crowds o f

yelling jostling Tomm ies, mad to get into

the town . Jove,how those chaps fight when

they get the chance . When all was over,

several were missing who were not among the

dead . They must have forced themselves in

where they could not get back,and been taken

prisoners . G o d alone knows their fate, poor

beggars . Yet I envied them ; for when the

row was over,my hell began .

Myra, I would have given my whole life

to have had that minute over again . And it

was maddening to know that the business

might have been done all right with any Old

fuse . Only we were s o keen over o ur n ew

ideas f o r signalling, and our portable electric

apparatus . Oh,good Lord ! I knew despair,those days and nights ! I was down with

fever, and they took away my sword, and

guns, and razors . I could n’

t imagine why .

Even despair does n ’

t take me that way .

But if a chap could have come into my

1m A IRTH DECI DES 2 43

tent and said : ‘You did n’

t kill Ingleby

after all. He ’

s all right and alive ! ’ I would

have given my life gladly for that moment ’

s

relief . But no pres ent anguish can undo

a past mistake .

“Well, I pulled through the fever ; life had

to be lived,and I suppose I’

m not the sort of

chap to take a morbid view . When I found

the thing was to be kept quiet ; when the few

who knew the ins-and-outs stood by me

like th e good fellows they were, saying it

might have happened to any of them, and

as soon as I got fit again I should s ee the only

rotten thin g would be to let it spoil my future ;

I made up my mind to put it clean away,and

live it down . You know they say, o ut in the

great wes tern country : ‘God Almighty hates

a quitter .

’

It is one o f the stimulat ing tenets

of their fin e practical theo logy . I had fought

through other hard times . I dete rmine d to

fight through this . I succeeded so we l l, that

it even seemed natural to go on with the

work Ingleby and I had been doing together,

an d carry it through . And when notes of


his were needed, I came to his own home

without a qualm, to ask his widow—the

woman I, by my mistake, had widowed

for permission to have and to use them .

“ I came —my mind full of the rich joy o f

life and love,with scarcely room for a passing

pang o f regret,as I entered the house without

a master, the home without a head, knowing

I was about to meet the woman I had widowed .

Truly The mills Of G o d grind Slowly,but they

grind exceeding small . ’ I had thrown o ff to o

easily what should have been a lifelong burden

o f regret .“ In the woman I had widowed I found

the woman I was about to wed ! Good G o d !

Was there ever s o hard a retribution ?“ Jim,

” said Myra, gently,“is there not

another side to the picture ? Does it not strike

you that it should have seemed beautiful to

find that G o d in His wonderful providence

had put yo u in a position to be able to take

care o f Michael’s widow, left s o helpless and

alone ; that in saving her life by the strength

o f your right hand, yo u had atoned for the


he said . Myra,how can you wish it ? The

thing would haunt us ! It would be evil

unnatural . Night and day,it would be there .

I t would come be tween us . Some day yo u

would reproach me

“Ah, hush !” cried Myra, sharply . Not

that ! I am suff erin g enough . At least spare

me that ! ” Then, putting aside once more

her o w n pain “Would it n o t be h appi

ness to you, J im ?”

sh e asked, with wistful

gentleness .“Happiness? " cried Jim Airth,violently .

It would be hell ! "

Lady Ingleby rose, her face as white as

the large arum lily in the corner behind

her .“ Then that settles it, sh e said ; and, do

you know, I thinkwe had better n o t Speak of

it any more . I am going to ring for tea .

And, if you will excuse me f o r a few moments,

while they are bringing it,I will search among

my husband’s papers, and try to fi n d those

yo u require f o r your book .

She passed swiftly o ut. Through the closed

JIM A IRTH DECI DES 2 47

door, the man sh e left alone heard her giving

quiet orders in the hall .

He crossed the room, in two great strides,to

follow her . But at the door he paused ; turned,

and came slowly back .

He stood on the hearthrug,with bent head

rigid,motionless .

Suddenly he lif ted his eyes to Lord I n gleby’

s

Curse yo u !" he said through clenched

teeth, and beat his fists upon the marble

mantelpiece .

“ Curse your explosives ! And

curse your inventions ! And curse you for

taking h er first ! " Then he dropped into a

chair,and buried his face in his hands .“ Oh,

G o d forgive me !" he whispered, brokenly

“ But there is a limit to what a man can bear .

He scarcely noticed the entrance o f th e foot

man w h o brought tea . But when a lighter

s tep paused at th e door, he lifted a haggard

face,expecting to see Myra .

A quiet woman entered, simply dressed in

black merino . Her white l inen collar and

cuff s gave her th e look o f a hospital nurse .


Her dark hair, neatly parted, was smoothly

coiled around her head . She came in, defer

e n tially ; yet with a quiet dignity o f manner .“ I have come to pour your tea,my lord,

”

sh e said .

“ Lady Ingleby is n o t well, and

fears she must remain in her roo m . She

asks me to give you these papers .

Then the Earl o f Airth and Monteith rose

to his feet,and held o ut his hand .

I think yo u must be Mrs . O’Mara, he

said . I am glad to meet yo u,and it is kind

o f you to give me tea . I have heard o f yo u

before ; and I believe I saw yo u yesterday, o n

the steps o f your pretty house, as I drove up

the avenue . Will yo u allow me to tell yo u

h o w Often,when we Stood shoulder to shoulder

in tim es o f difficulty and danger, I had reason

to respect and admire the brave comrade I

knew as Sergeant O’Mara?

Before quitting Shenstone,Jim Airth sat at

Myra’

s davenport and wrote a letter,leaving it

with Mrs . O’Mara to place in Lady I n gleby

’

s

hands as so on as he had gone .

CHAPTER XX

A B ETTER PO I NT OF e w

N the days which followed,Jim Airth suffered

all the pangs which come to a man who

has made a decision prompted by pride rather

than by conviction .

It had always seemed to him essential that

a man should appear in all things without

shame o r blame in the eyes o f the woman he

loved . Therefore, to be obliged suddenly to

admit that a fatal blunder o f h is o w n had

been the cause ,even in the past,o f irreparable

loss and sorrow to her,had been an un ackn o w

ledged but intolerable humiliation . That She

should have anything to overlook o r to forgive

in acceptin g h imself and his love,was a co n

dition o f things to which he could not bring

himself to submit ; and her sweet generosity2 50

A B ETTER POINT OF VI EW 2 5 1

and devotion, rather increased than soothed

his sense of wounded pride .

He had been superficially honest in the

reas ons he had given to Myra regarding the

impossibility o f marriage between them . He

had said all the th ings which he knew others

might be expected to s ay ; he had mercilessly

expres sed what would have been his o w n

judgment had he been asked to pronounce

an opinion concerning any other man and

woman in like circumstances . As he voiced

them they had sounded tragically plausible

and stoically just . He knew he was inflicting

almost unbearable pain upon h imself and upon

the woman whose whole love was his ; but that

pain seemed necessary to the tragic demands

o f the entire ghastly situation .

O n ly after he had finally left her and w as o n

his w ay back to town , did Jim Airth realise

that th e pain he had thus inflicted upon her

and upon him self, had been a solace to his

o w n woun ded pride . His had been the

mis take , and it re establishe dhim in his o w n

self-res pect and sense o f superiority, that h is

2 5 2 THE MI STRESS OF SHE N S TONE

should be the decision, so hard to make

s o un f alteri ngly made —bringing down upo nhis o w n head a punishment o ut of all pro

portion to the fault committed .

But, now that the strain and tension were

over, his natural honesty of mind reasserted

itself,forcing him to admit that his o w n selfish

pride had been at the bottom o f his high

flown tragedy .

Myra’s simple loving view o f the case had

been the right o n e ; yet,thrusting it from h im ,

he had ru thlessly plunged him self and her into

a hopeless abyss o f needless suff ering .

By degree s he slowly realised that in so

doing he had deliberately inflicted a more cruel

wrong upon the woman he loved, than that

which he had ur w ittingly done her in the past .

Remorse and regret gnawed at his heart,

added to an alm ost unbearable hunger f o r

Myra . Yet he could not bring himself to

return to her with this second and still more

hum iliating con f ession of failure .

H is o n e hope was that Myra would fi n d

th eir separation impossible to endure, and


am my Beloved’s, and his desire is towards

me .

"

This is the natural attitude o f the sexes,

designed by an all-wise Creator ; but designed

f o r a condition o f ideal perfection . No

perfect law could be framed for imperfection .

Therefore, if the working out prove often a

failur e, the fault lies in the imperfection o f

the workers, n o t in the perfection o f the law .

In those rare cases where the love is ideal,the

man’s “ I take ” and the woman’s “ I give ”

blend into an ideal un ion, each completing

and modifying the other . But where s in o f

any kind comes in, a false note has been

struck in the divine harmony, and the grand

chord o f mutual love fails to ring true .

Into their perfect love,Jim Airth had ih

tro duced the discord o f false pride . It had

become the basis o f his line o f action,and their

symphony o f life, s o beautiful at first in its

sweet theme o f mutual love and trust,now lost

its harmony,and jarred into a hopeless jangle .

The very fact that sh e faithfully adh ered to

h er trustful un s elfi sh n es s ,acquiescing with out

A B ETTER P OINT OF VI EW 2 55

a murmur in his decision, made readjust

ment the more impossible . Thus the weeks

went by .

Jim Airth worked feveri shly at his proofs ;

drinking and smoking, when he should have

been eating and sleeping ; going o ff suddenly,

after tw o o r three days o f continuous sitting

at hi s desk, o n desperate bouts of violent

exercise .

He walked down to Shenstone by night

sat, in bitterness of spiri t under the beeches,

surrounded by empty wicker chairs —a silent

ghostly garden-party !—watched the dawnbreak over the lake ; prowled around the house

where Lady Ingleby lay sleeping,and narrowly

escaped arrest at the hands o f Lady I n gleby’

s

night-watchman ; leaving f o r Lo ndon by the

first train in the morning,more sick at heart

than when h e started .

Another time he suddenly turned in at

Paddingto n, took the train down to Cornwall,

and astonished the Miss Murgatro yds by

stalking into the co ff ee-room, the gaunt

ghost of his o ld gay self . Afterwards h e

O


went o ff to Horseshoe Cove, clim bed the

cliff and spent the night o n the ledge,

dw elling in morbid misery o n the wonderful

memories with which that place was sur

ro unded .

I t was then that fresh hope, and the com

plete acceptance of a better point o f V iew,

came to Jim Airth .

As he sat o n the ledge, hugging his lonely

misery, he suddenly became strangely con

scious o f Myra’s presence . It was as if the

sweet wistful grey eyes, were turned upon

him in the darkness ; the tender mouth smiled

lovingly,while the voice he knew s o well asked

in soft merriment, as under the beeches at

Shenstone : “What has come to you, you

dearest o ld boy ?

He had just put his hand into his pocket

an d dr awn o ut his spirit-flask. He held it for

a moment, while he listened, spellbound, to

that whispe r ; then flung it away into the

darknes s, far down to the s ea below .

“ Davy

Jones may have it, he said,and laughed aloud ;

who e’

er he be ! It was the first time Jim


He could s ee his watch by its bright light .

Midnight ! He must wait until three, for the

tide to go down . He leaned back again, his

arms folded across his ch est ; but Myra was

still safely within them .

Two minutes later,Jim A irth slept soundly .

The dawn awoke him . He scrambled down

to the shore, and once again swam up the

golden path toward the risin g sun .

As he go t back into his clothes, it seemed

to l iim that every vestige o f that black night

mare had bee n left behind in the gay tossing

waters .

On h is way to the railway station,he passed

a farm . The farmer’

s wife had been up since

sun rise, churning . She gladly gave him a

simple breakfast of home-made bread, with

butter fresh from the churn .

He caught the s ix o ’

clock express f o r town ;

tubbed, shaved, and lun ched, at h is Club .

At a quarter to three he was just comin g

down the steps into Piccadilly, very co n

s cio usly clothed and in his right mind, debat

in g whi ch train he could take f o r Shensto ne if

A B ETTER POINT OF VI EW 2 59

—as in duty bound—h e looked in at h is pub

lishers’ first ; when a telegraph boy dashed

up the steps into the Club, and the next

moment the hall-porter hastened after him

Jim Airth read it ; took o n e look at h iswatch ;

then jum ped headlong into a passing taxicab .

“ Charing Cross ! ” he shouted to the

chauff eur . And a sovereign if you do it in

five minute s .

As the flag tinged dow n, and the taxi

glided swiftly forward into the wh irl o f traffic,

Jim Airth unfolded the telegram and read it

It had been handed in at Shenstone at

Came to me at o n ce .

IlI yra .

A shout o f exultation arose Within him .

CHAPTE R X X I

M I CHAEL V ERI TAS

ON the morning o f that day, while Jim

Airth,braced with a new resolve and a

fresh outlook o n life, was speeding up from

Cornwall, Lady Ingleby sat beneath the

scarlet chestnuts,watching Ronald and Billy

play tennis .

They had entered for a tournament,and dis

covered that they required constant practice

such as , apparently, could only be obtained

at Shenstone . In reality they came over

s o frequently in honest-hearted trouble and

anxiety over their friend,of whose unexpected

sorrow they chanced to be the sole co n fidan ts .

Lady Ingleby refused herself to all other

visitors . In the trying uncertainty o f these

few weeks while Jim Airth was still in England,sh e dreaded questions o r comments . To

2 60

2 62 THE MI STRESS OF SHENSTON E

Billy . And it will be a saving o f useless

trouble,R o n ,if yo u never ask me again .

”

Thus the days went by ; and, though she

always seemed gently pleased to s ee them

both, no possible opening had been given

to Ronald for assum ing the ro le o f manly

comf orter .“ I Shall give it up, said Ronn ie at last, in

bitterness o f spiri t ;“ I tell yo u, I shall give

it up ; and marry the duchess !“ Don ’t be profane,

” counselled Billy . It

would be more to the point to fin d Airth ,and

explain to him, in carefully chosen language,

that letting Lady Ingleby die o f a broken

heart will n o t atone for blowing up her hus

band . I always knew o ur news would make

no diff erence, from the moment I saw her go

quite pink when sh e told us his nam e . She

never went pink over Ingleby, you bet ! I

did n’

t know they could do it, after twenty .

Much yo u kn ow, then !” ejaculated Ron

nie,scorn f ully .

“ I ’

ve seen the duchess go

pin k.

”

“ Scarlet,yo u mean, amended Billy . So

MI CHAEL VERI TAS 2 63

have I, o ld chap ; but that’

s another pair 0’

boots,‘

as you very well know .

’

Oh, don’

t be vulgar,” sighed Ronnie,

wearily . Let’

s cut the whole thing and go

to town . Henley begins to-morrow .

"

But next day they turned up at Shenstone,earlier than usual .

And that morning,Lady Ingleby was fee ling

strangely restful and at peace ; n o t with any

expectations of future happiness ; but resigned

to th e inevitable ; and less apart from Jim

Airth . She had fallen asleep the night before

beset by haun ting memories o f Co rnwall and

o f their climb up the cliff . At midnight she

had awakened with a start,fancying herself o n

the ledge , and fee ling that she w as falling .

But in stantly Jim Airth’

s arms seemed to e n

fold her ; she fe lt herse lf drawn into safety

then that exquisite sense o f strength and rest

was hers once more .

SO vivid had bee n the dream ,that its eff ect

remained with her when s h e rose . Thus sh e

sat watching th e tennis with a little smile o f

content o n h e r swee t face .


She is beginn ing to forget, thought

Ronnie,exultant . My’vantage he shouted

significantly to Billy,over the net .“Deuce ! ” responded Billy, smashing down

the ball with unnecessary violence .

“ No !” cried Ronnie .

“ Outside,my bo y !

Game and a ‘love ’

s et to me !”

“ Stay to lunch, boys,” said Lady Ingleby,

as the gong sounded ; and they all three went

gaily into the house .

As they passed through the hall afterwards,

their motor stood at the door ; s o they bade

her good-bye,and turned to find their rackets .

At that moment they heard the sharp ting

o f a bicycle bell . A boy had ridden up with

a telegram . G ro atley, waiting to s ee them

o ff , took it ; picked up a silver salver from the

hall table, and followed Lady Ingleby to her

sittin g-room .

There seemed s o sudden a silence in the

house, that Ronald and Billy with o n e accord

stood listening .

Twenty minutes to tw o , said Billy

glancing at the clock .

“ Spiri ts are walking .


o’

clo ck expres s . Gro atley, tell the boy

to take this telegram and have it sent o ff

immediately . Give him half-a-crown,and s ayhe may keep the change . N o w boys .

Shut the door ! ”

The whir lwind o f excitement was succeeded

by sudden stillness . Lady Ingleby sank upon

the sofa,burying her face for a moment in the

cushions .

In the silence they heard the telegraph

boy di sappearing rapidly into the di stance,

ringing hi s bell a very un necessary number

o f times . When it could be heard no longer,

Lady Ingleby lifted her head .

“Michael is alive, sh e said .

Great Scot ! ” exclaimed Ronnie,and took

a step forward .

Billy made no sound, but he turned very

white ; backed to the door,and leaned against

it f o r support .“ Think what it means to Jim Airth !

”

said Lady Ingleby .

“ Think o f the despair

and misery through which he passed ; and,after

all, he had not done it .

MI CHAEL VERI TAS 2 67

May w e s ee ?” asked Ronald eagerly,

holdin g o ut h is hand for the telegram .

Billy licked his dry lips,but no soun d would

come .

“Read it, said Myra .

Ronald took the telegram and read it aloud .

To Lady I n gleby,S hen sto n eP ark,S hen sto n e,

E n glan d .

“R epo rted death a mis take . Taken pris o n er

Targai . E s caped . A rrived Cairo . Large

bribes an d rewards to pay . Cable five hun dred

po un ds to Co ok’

s immediately.

“J!I ickael V eritas .

Great Scot ! " said Ronnie again .

Billy said noth ing ; but his eyes never left

Lady I n gleby’

s radiant face .

“ Think what it will mean to Jim Airth,

she repeated“E r—ye s , said Ronnie . It considerably

change s th e situation—for h im . What does‘

V e ritas'

mean ? "

“ That, replied Lady Ingleby is o ur

private code ,Michae l'

s an d m ine . My mothe r

once w ired to me in Michae l'

s na me , and to


Michael in mine —dear mamma occasionallydoes eccentric things—and it made compli

cations . Michael was very much annoyed ;

and after that we took to signing o ur telegrams‘

V eritas,’ which means : ‘This is really from

me .

’

“ Just thin k! ” said Ronnie . He,a pri soner ;

and we, all marching away ! But I remember

n o w , we always suspected prisoners had

been taken at Targai . And positive proofs of

Lord I n gleby’

s death were difficult to—well,don’t you know—to find . I mean—therecould n

’

t be a funeral . We had to conclude

it, because we believed him to have been

right inside the tunnel . He must have got

clear after all,before Airth sent the flash,and

getting in with the first rush, been un able to

return . Of course he has reached Cairo with

no money and no means o f getting home .

And the chaps who helped him, will stick to

him like leeches till they get their pay . What

shall you do about cabling ?

Lady Ingleby seemed to collect h er thoughts

with diffi culty .


Why do that ?” objected Ronald . You

may as well go o n in the motor to Overdene,and tell them there .

”

I am going to town, said Billy,decidedly .

Then he walked over to Where the telegram

still lay o n the table .

“May I copy this ? ”

he asked o f Lady Ingleby .

“Do, sh e said, without looking round .

And Ronnie—yo u take the original toshow them at the bank . Ah, no ! I must

keep that f o r Jim . Here is paper . Make

two copies,Billy .

”

Billy had already copied the message into

his pocket-book . With shaking fingers he

copied it again,handing the shee t to Ronald,

without looking at him .

The note written,Lady Ingleby rose .

Thank yo u, Ronald, sh e said .

“Thank

yo u,more than I can say . I think you w ill

catch the train . And good-bye, Billy .

”

But B illy was already in the motor .

CHAPTER X X II

LORD I N GLE B Y '

S W I FE

HE journey down from town had been as

satisfactorily rapid as even Jim Airth

could desire . He had caught the train at

Charing Cross by five seconds .

The hour'

s run passed quickly in glowing

anticipation o f that which was being brought

nearer by eve ry turn of the wheels .

Myra'

s telegram was drawn from his pocket

book many times . Each word seemed fraught

with tender mean ing . Co me to me at o n ce .

"

It w as so exactly Myra 's simple direct method

o f expres sion Most peo ple would have said,“ Come here, o r

“ Come to Shenstone,"

o r

merely Co me .

" Come to me” seemed a

tender, tho ugh unconscious, res ponse to his

resolution o f the night be fore : “ I will ari se and

go to my be loved .

"


Now that the parting was nearly over, he

realised how terrible had been the blank o f

three weeks spent apart from Myra . Her

sweet personality was s o kn it in to his life,

that he needed her—not at any particular

time, o r in any particular way—but always ;as th e air he breathed ; o r as th e light,which

made the day .

And sh e ? He drew a well-worn letter from

his pocket-book—the on ly letter he had everhad from Myra .

I shall always want you, it said ; but I

co uld never send, unless the coming would

mean happiness for yo u .

”

Yet sh e had sent . Then sh e had happiness

in store for him . Had sh e instinctively

realised his change o f mind ? Or had sh e

gauged h is desperate hunger by her o w n ,and

understood that the satisfyin g o f that, mus t

mean happiness,whatever else o f sorrow might

lie in the background ?

But there should be no background o f

anything but perfect joy, when Myra was

his wife . Would he n o t have the turning


and Jim Airth was across the platform before

the train had stopped .

The tandem ponies waited outside the sta

tion,and this time Jim Airth gathered up the

reins with a gay smile, flicking the leader,

lightly . Before,he had said :“ I never drive

other people’s ponies,” in response to “Her

ladyship ’s ” message ; but n o w—“All that ’

s

mine, is thine, laddie .

He whistled “Hunting-tower, as he drove

between the h ayfi elds . Sprays o f over-hang

in g traveller’s-joy brushed his shoulder in the

narrow lanes . It was good to be alive o n

such a day . It was good not to be leavin g

England, in England’s most perfect weather .

Should he take her home to Scotland

f o r their honeymoon, o r down to Cornwall ?

What a jolly little church !

Evidently Myra never slacked pace f o r a

gate . How the ponies dashed through, and

into the avenue !

Poor Mrs . O’Mara ! It had been diffi cult

to be civil to her,when sh e had appeared in ~

stead o f Myra to give him tea .

LORD I N GLE B Y’

S WIFE 2 75

Of course Scotland would be jolly,with s o

much to show her ; but Cornwall meant more,

in its associations . Y es ; he would arrange

f o r the honeymoon in Cornwall ; be married in

the morning, up in town ; no fuss ; then go

straight down to the old Moorhead Inn . And

after dinner,they would s it in the honeysuckle

arbour,and

G ro atley showed him into Myra’s sitting

room .

She was not there .

He walked over to the mantelpiece . It

seemed years since that evening when, in a

sudden fury against Fate , he had crashed his

fists upon its marble edge . He raised his eyes

to Lo rd I n gleby’

s portrait . Poor o ld chap !

He looked so content, and so pleased with

him self,and his little do g . But he must have

always appeared more like Myra’

s father than

her—than anything e lse .

On th e mante lpiece lay a telegram . After

th e manner o f leisure ly coun try post-offices ,

th e ful l addre ss w as w ritten o n th e enve lope .

It caught Jim Airth'

s eye , and hardly con


scious o f doing s o ,he took it up and read it .“Lady I n gleby, S hen sto n e P ark, E n glan d.

He laid it down .

“England ? ” he wondered,

idly . Wh o can have been wiring to herfrom abroad ? ”

Then he turned . He had not heard her

enter ; but sh e was standing behind h im .

“Myra ! ” he cried,and caught her to his

heart .

The rapture and relief o f that moment were

unspeakable N 0 words seemed possible .

He could only strain her to him,silently,with

all his strength, and realise that she was

safely there at last .

Myra had lifted her arms, and laid them

lightly about his neck, hiding her face upon

his breast . He never knew exactly when

he began to realise a subtle change about the

quality o f her embrace ; the woman’s pas

s io n ate tenderness seemed missing ; it rather

resembled the trustful clinging o f a little child .

An uneasy foreboding, for which he could n o t

account, assailed Jim Airth .

“Kiss me, Myra !” he said, peremptorily


Because, said Myra,with clasped hands,Michael is alive .

Dearest heart, said Jim Airth, tenderly,you are not well . These awful three weeks,

and what went before,have been too much for

yo u . The strain has upset you . I was a

brute to go o ff and leave you . But you

kn ew I did what I thought right at the time ;

did n’

t yo u,Myra ? Only now I s ee the whole

thing quite differently . Your view was the

true o n e . We ought to have acted upon it,

and been married at once .

”

Oh, Jim,

” said Myra, thank God we

did n ’

t ! It would have been so terrible now .

It must have been a case o f ‘Even there shall

Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall

hold me .

’ In o ur unconscious ignorance, we

might have gone away together,not knowing

Michael was alive .

”

Beads o f perspiration sto od o n J im Airth ’s

forehead .

My darling,you are ill, he said,in a voice

o f agonised anxiety .

“ I am afraid yo u are

very ill . Do s it down quietly o n the couch,

LORD I N GLE B Y’

S WIFE 2 79

and let me ring . I must speak to the O’

Mara

w oman, o r somebody . Why did n’

t the fools

let me kn ow ? Have yo u been ill all these

weeks ?

Myra let him place her on the couch ;

smil ing up at h im reassuringly, as he stood

before her .

Y o u must not ring the bell,Jim, she said .

Maggie is at the Lodge ; and G ro atley would

be so astonished . I am quite well . ”

He looked around, in man - like helplessness ;

yet fee lin g something must be done . A long

ivory fan, o f exquisite workmanship, lay on a

table near . He caught it up, and handed it

to her . She took it ; and to please him,

opened it, fanning herself gently as she talked .

“ I am not ill, Jim ; really dear, I am not .

I am only strangely happy and thankful . It

seems to o wonderful fo r o ur po or earthly hearts

to understand . And I am a little frightened

about the future—but you will help me toface that, I know . And I am rathe r worried

about little things I have do n e wrong . It

seems foolis h—but as soon as I realised


Michael was coming home,I became conscious

o f hosts o f sins o f omission, and I scarcely

know where to begin to set them right . A n d

the worst o f all is—Jim ! we have lost little

Peter’s grave ! N 0 o n e seems able to locate

it . It is s o trying o f the gardeners ; and so

wro ng o f me ; because o f cour se I ought to

have planted it with flowers . And Michael

would have expected a little marble slab, by

n o w . But I,stupidly,was to o ill to s ee to the

funeral ; and n o w Anson declares they put

him in the plantation, and George swears it

was in the shrubbery . I have been consulting

G ro atley who always has ideas, and expresses

them s o well, and he says :‘Choose a suitable

spot,m’ lady ; order a handsome tomb ; plant

it with choice flowers ; and wh o’

s to be the

wiser, till the resurrection ?’

G ro atley is

always resourceful ; but o f course I never

deceive Michael . Fancy little Peter rising

from the shrubbery, when Michael had

mourned f o r years over a marble tomb o n the

lawn ! But it really is a great worry . They

mus t all begin digging, and keep on until they

2 82 THE MI STRESS OF SHENS I ONE

nothing, Jim—but what it would be to

yo u .

”

“What telegram ? ” gasped Jim Airth . In

heaven ’s name, Myra, what do you mean ?”

Michael’s telegram . It lies o n the mantel

piece . Read it,Jim .

”

Jim Airth turned, took up the telegram and

drew it from the envelope with steady fingers .

He still thought Myra was raving .

He read it through, slowly . The wording

was unmistakable ; but he read it through

again . As he did s o he slightly turned, s o

that h is back was toward the couch .

The blow was s o stupendous . He could

on ly realise o n e thing, f o r the moment :

that the woman who watched him read it,

must n o t as yet see his face .

She spoke .

I s it not almost impossible to believe,

Jim ? Ronald and Billy were lunching here,

when it came . Billy seemed stunned ; but R o n

nie was delighted . He said he had always

believed the first men to rush in had been

captured, and that no actual proofs o f

LORD I N GLE B Y’

S WI FE 2 83

Michael ’s death had ever been found . They

never explained to me before, that there

had been no funeral . I suppose they thought

it would seem more horrible . But I

never take much account o f bodies . If it

were n ’

t for the burden of having a weird

l ittle urn about, and wonderin g what to

do with it, I should approve o f cremation .

I sometim es felt I ought to make a pilgrim age

to see the grave . I knew Michael would have

wished it . He sets much store by graves

all the I n glebys lie in family vaults . That

makes it worse about Peter . Ronnie went up

to town at once to telegraph o ut the money .

Billy went with him . Do you thin k five

hundred is enough ? Jim ? -Jim ! Are you

n o t thankf ul ? Do say something, Jim .

”

J im Airth put back the telegram upon th e

mantelpiece . His big hand shook .

“Wh at is he asked, without

looking roun d .

“Th at is o ur private code, Jim ; M ichael

'

s

and mine . My mother once wired to me in

Michael'

s name , an d to h im in m in e—poo r


mamm a often does eccentric things, to get

her o w n way— and it made complications .

Michael was very much annoyed . So we

settled always to sign important telegrams‘

V eri tas,’ which means : This is really from

me .

’

Then—your husband—is coming home

to you ? ” said Jim Airth, slowly .

“Y es , Jim,

” the swee t voice faltered, for

the first time,and grew tremulous .“Michael

is coming home .

”

Then Jim Airth turned round,and faced her

squarely . Myra had never seen anything s o

terrible as h is face .

“Y o u are mine,

” he said ; not his .

Myra looked up at h im , in dumb sorrowful

appeal . She closed the ivory fan,clasping her

hands upon it . The unquestioning finality o f

her patient silence,goaded Jim Airth to mad

ness, and let loo se the torrent o f his fierce

wild protest against this inevitable—thisunrelenting, fate .

“Y o u are mine, he said, not his . Your

lo ve is mine ! Your body is min e ! Yo ur


pride —that dr ove me away . I always meant

to come back . I was waiting for yo u to send ;

but anyhow I should have come back . Would

to G o d I had done as yo u implored me to do !

By now we should have been together—o ut o f

reach o f this cursed telegram,—and far away ! ”

Myra slowly lifted her eyes and looked at

him . He,blinded by pain and passion,failed

to mark the look, o r he might have taken

warning . As it was,he rushed o n ,headlong .

Myra, very white, with eyelids lowered,

leaned again st the mantelpiece ; slowly fur lin g

and un f urling the ivory fan .

“But, darling,” urged Jim Airth, it is n o t

yet to o late . Oh, Myra, I have loved you

so ! Our love has been s o wonderful. Have

I not taught you what love is ? The poor

cold travesty yo u knew before—that was not

love ! Oh, Myra ! you will come away with

me, my o w n beloved ? Y o u won’

t put me

through the hell o f leaving you to another

man ? Myra, look at me ! Say you will

come .

Then Lady Ingleby slowly closed the fan,

LORD I N GLE B Y’

S WI FE 2 87

grasping it firmly in her right hand . She

threw back her head, and looked Jim Airth

full in the eyes .

S o this is your love, she said . This is

what it means ? Then I thank G o d I have

hitherto only known the ‘ cold travesty,’

which at leas t has kept me pure, and held me

high . What ? Would yo u drag me down to

the level o f the woman yo u have scorned for a

dozen years ? And, dragging me down,would

you also trail,with me, in the mire, the noble

name o f the man whom you have ventured

to call friend ? My husband may n o t have

given me much o f those th ings a woman

desires . But he has trusted me with his

name, an d with his honour ; he has left me,

m istress of his home . When he comes back

he will find me what he h imse lf made me

m istress o f Shenstone ; he will find me where

h e left me, awaiting his return . You are no

longer speaking to a widow, Lord Airth ; n o r

to a woman le ft de solate . Y o u are speaking

to Lo rd I n gleby’

s wife, and you may as well

learn h o w Lo rd I n gleby'

s wife guards Lord


I n gleby’

s name,and defends her o w n honour,

an d h is .

” She lifted her hand swif tly and

struck him, with the ivory fan, twice across

the cheek . Traitor ! ” sh e said, and coward !

Leave this house,and never s etfoot in it again !

Jim Airth staggered back, his face livid

ashen, his hand involuntarily raised to ward

o ff a third blow . Then the furious blood

surged back . Tw o crimson streaks marked

hi s cheek . He sprang forward ; with a swift

movement caught the fan from Lady I n gleby’

s

hands, and whirled it above his head . His

eyes blazed into hers . For a moment sh e

thought he was going to strike her . She

neither flin ch ed nor moved ; on ly the fain test

smile curved the corners o f her mouth into

a scornful question .

Then Jim Airth gripped the fan in both

hands with a twist o f his strongfingers snapped

it in half, the halves into quarters, and again,

with another wrench, crushed those into a

hundred fragments—flun g them at her feet ;

and, turning o n hi s heel, left the room, an d

left the house .


wh o might be tragic ; and s ee —I ’

m going to

the bank to despatch the wherewithal for

bri n ging the o ld boy back . Take example by

my fortitude,Billy .

Billy’

s explosion, when it came, was so

violent, s o choice, and s o unlike Billy, that

Ronald relapsed into wondering silence .

But once in the train, locked into an empty

fi rst-class smoker,Billy turned a white face to

his fri end .

“Ronnie, he said, I am going straight to

Sir Deryck Brand . He is the on ly man I

know, with a head o n his shoulders .“Thank you,

” said Ronnie .

“ I suppose I

dandle mine o n my knee . But why this

urgent need o f a man with his head s o uniquely

placed ? ”

“ Because, said Billy, that telegram is a

Nonsense, Billy ! The wish is father to

the thought ! Oh, sham e o n you, Billy !

Poor o ld Ingleby !“ It is a lie,

” repeated Billy, doggedly .

But loo k, obj ected Ronald, un f olding

WHA T B I LLY KNEW 2 9 1

the telegram . Here you are .

‘

V eritas .

’

What do you make o f that ? ”

“V eritas be hanged !

”said Billy . It

’

s

a lie ; and we’

ve got to find o ut what damned

ras cal has sent it .

”

“But what possible reason have you to

throw doubt on it ? inquired Ronald,gravely .

“ Oh , confound yo u !”bur st o ut Billy at

last ; I picked up the pieces I”

A very nervous white- faced youn g man sat

in the green leather armchair in Dr . Brand’

s

consulting-room . He had shown the telegram ,

and jerked o ut a few in coherent sentences ;

after wh ich S ir Deryck,by means o f carefully

chosen questions, had arrived at the main

facts . He now sat at his table considering

them .

Th en , turning in his revolving-chair, he

looked steadily at Billy .

” Cathcart, h e said, quietly, what reason

have yo u for bein g s o ce rtain of Lo rd I n gleby'

s


death, and that this telegram is therefore a

forgery ? ”

Billy moistened his lips . Oh, con f ound

it ! ” he said .

“ I picked up the pieces ! ”

I s ee ,” said Sir Deryck ; and looked away .

I have never told a soul,” said Billy . It

is not a pretty story . But I can give you

details,if yo u like .

”

“ I think you had better give me details,

said Sir Deryck,gravely .

So,with white lips,Billy gave them .

The doctor rose,buttoning his coat . Then

he poured o ut a glass of water and handed it

to Billy .

“ Come, he said . Fortunately I know a

very cute detective from our o w n London force

who happens just nowto be in Cairo . We must

go to Scotland Yard for his address,and a code .

In fact we had better work it through them .

You have done the right thing,Billy ; and done

it promptly ; but we have no time to lose .

Twenty-four hour s later, the do ctor called

2 94 THE MI STRESS OF?

SHENSTONE

months passed completely o ut o f her life .

Deryck Brand had expected to find Lady

Ingleby in the mood o f a typical April day,

sunshine and showers rapidly alternating ;

whimsical smiles, succeeded by ready tears ;

then, with lashes still wet, gay laughter at

some mistake o f her o w n , o r at incongru

o us behaviour o n the part o f her devoted

but erratic household ; speedily followed

by pathetic anx iety over her o w n supposed

short-comings in view o f Lord I n gleby’

s

requirements o n his return .

Instead o f this charming personification of

unselfish, inconsequent, tender femininity,

the doctor found himself confronted by a

calm cold woman,with hard unseeing eyes ; a

woman in whom something had died ; and

dying,had slain all the best and truest in her

womanhood .

Another man, was the prompt conclusion

at which the doctor arrived ; and this co n

elusion, coupled with the exigency o f his o w n

pressing engagements, brought him without

preamble,very promptly to the point .

WHA T B I LLY KNEW 2 95

Lady Ingleby, he said, a cruel and

heartless wrong has been done yo u by a

despicable scoundr el, for whom no retribution

would be to o severe .

”

“ I am perfectly aware o f that, replied

Lady Ingleby, calmly ;“ but I fail to under

stand, Sir Deryck, why yo u should consider

it necessary to come down here in order to

discuss it .

”

This most unexpected reply f o r a moment

completely nonplussed the doctor . But rapid

mental adjustment formed an important part

o f his professional equipment .

“ I fear we are speaking at cross-purposes,

he said, gently .

“ Forgive me, if I appear to

have trespassed upon a subject o f which I

have no knowledge whatever . I am referring

to the telegram received by yo u yesterday,

which led yo u to suppose the report of Lord

I n gleby'

s death was a mistake, and that he

might shortly be returning home .

My husband is alive, said Lady Ingleby .

He has te legraphed to me from Cairo, and

I expect h im back very soon .


F o r answer, Deryck Brand drew from h is

pocket-book tw o telegrams .“ I am bound to tell yo u at once,dear Lady

Ingleby,” he said,

“ that you have been

cruelly deceived . The message from Cairo

was a heartless fraud, designed in order to

obtain money . Billy Cathcart had reason to

suspect its genuineness,and brought it to me .

I cabled at once to Cairo, with this result .”

He laid two telegrams o n the table before

her .“The fir st is a copy o f o n e we sent yesterday

to a detective o ut there . The second I received

three hours ago . No o n e—not even Billyhas heard o f its arrival . I have brought it

immediately to you .

”

Lady Ingleby slowly lifted the paper con

taining the first message . She read it in

silence .

Watch Co ok’

s ban k an d arrest man pers o n

atin g Lo rd I n gleby who w ill call f o r draft ofmo n ey. Cable particulars promptly.

The doctor observed her closely as sh e laid


Then, as if these last words recalled a m o

men tarily forgotten wound, the stony apathy

returned to voice and face .

“ If Michael is n o t coming back, said Lady

Ingleby, I am indeed alone .

The doctor rose, and stood looking down

upon her,perplexed and sorrowful .

“ Is there not some o n e wh o should be told

immediately o f this change o f aff airs, Lady

Ingleby ? he asked,gravely .

N0 o n e,”

sh e replied, emphatically .

There is nobody whom it concerns intimately,

excepting myself . And not many know o f the

arrival o f yesterday’s news . I wrote to Jane,

and I suppose th e boys told it at Overdene .

If by any chance it gets into the papers, we

must send a contradiction ; but n o explana

tion, please . I dislike the publication o f

wrong doing . It only leads to imitation and

repetition . Beside, even a poor worm o f a

valet should be shielded if possible from public

execration . We could n o t explain the ex

ten uatin g circumstances .”

“ I do n o t suppose the news has become

WHAT B I LLY KNEPV 2 99

widely kn own, said the doctor . Your

household heard it, o f course ?“Y es , r eplied Lady Ingleby . Ah, that

reminds me, I must stop operations in the

shrubbery and plantation . There is no object

in little Peter having a grave,when his master

has none .

"

This was absolutely un intelligible to the

doctor ; but at such times he never asked

unnecessary questions, for h is own enlight

en m en t .

“S o af ter all, Sir Deryck, added Lady

Ingleby, Peter was right .

"

Y e s , said the doctor, little Peter was

n o t mistaken .

Had I remembered him, I might have

doubted the telegram,

" remarked Lady

Ingleby . What can have aroused Billy ’s

su Spicio n s ?“ Like Peter, said the doctor, Billy had,

from the first, fe lt ve ry sure . Do not mention

to h im that I told you the doubts originated

with h im . He is a sensitive lad ,an d th e whole

thing has greatly distressed h im .

"


Dear Billy, said Lady Ingleby .

The doctor glanced at the clock, and

buttoned his coat . He had o n e minute to

spare .

“My friend, he said, a second time I

have come as the bearer o f evil tidings . ”

N o t evil,” replied Myra, in a tone o f hope

less sadness . “ This is not a world to which

we could possibly desire the return o f o n e we

love .

”

“There is nothing wrong with the world,

said the doctor . “ Our individual heaven o r

hell is brought about by o ur o w n actions . ”

Or by the actions o f others,” amended

Lady Ingleby, bitterly .

“ Or by the actions o f others, agreed the

doctor . But, even then, we cannot be

completely happy,unless we are true to o ur

best selves ; n o r wholly miserable, unless to

o ur o w n ideals we become false . I fear I

must be o ff“ but I do not like leaving yo u

th us alone .

Lady Ingleby glanced at the clock,rose,and

gave h im her hand .


beneath the tree s,in earnest conversation with

a very tall man, who carried his hat, letting

the breeze blow through his thick rumpled

hair . Both were to o preoccupied to notice

the motor,but as the man turned his haggard

face toward his companion, the doctor saw in ;it the same stony look o f hopeles s despair,

which had grieved and baffled him in Lady

I n gleby’

s . The two were slowly wending

their way toward the house,by a path leading

down to the terrace .

Evidently—the man, thought the doctor .

Well, I am glad Jane has him in tow . Poor

souls ! Providence has placed them in wise

hands . If faithful counsel and honest plain

speaking can avail them anything,they will un

doubtedly receive both, from o ur good Jane .

”

Providence also arranged that the London

express was o n e minute late, and the doctor

caught it Whereat the chauff eur rejoiced ;

for he was walking o ut with Her ladyship’

s

maid, whose evening o ff it chanced to be .

Th e all-important events o f lif e are apt to

hang upon the happe n ings o f o n e min ute .

CHAPTER XXIV

MRS . B ALMA I N REV I EWS THE S I TU AT I ON

O yo u s ee ,Jane, concluded Lady Ingle

by, pathetically,“as Michael is n o t

coming back, I am indeed alone ”

Loving Jim Airth as you do said Jane

Did, interposed Lady Ingleby .

Did, and do," said Jane Dalmain , you

would have been worse than alone if Michael

had, after all, come back . Oh , Myra ! I

cann ot imagin e anyth ing more unendurable,

than to love o n e man, and be obliged to live

with another .

"

“ I should not have allowed myself to go on

loving J im, said Lady Ingleby .

“Rubbish ! " pronounced Mrs . Dalm ain ,

with force ful decision . My dea r Myra, that

kind of rem ark paves th e way fo r the devil,and1 0 3


is o n e o f his favourite devices . More good

women have been tripped by over-co n fiden ce

in their ability to curb and to control their

o w n aff ections, than by direct temptation to

love where love is n o t lawf ul . Men are diff er

ent ; their temptations are n o t s o subtle . They

know exactly to what it will lead,if they dally

with sentiment . Therefore, if they mean

to do the right thing in the end, they keep

clear o f the danger at the beginning . We

cannot possibly forbid our selves to go o n

loving, where love has once been allowed to

reign supreme . I know yo u would not, in the

first instance, have let yourself care f o r Jim

Airth,had yo u n o t been free . But,once lo v

ing him, if s o appalling a situation could have

arisen as the unexpected return of your

husband, your only safe and honourable

cour se would have been to frankly tell Lord

Ingleby : ‘ I grew to love Jim Airth while I

believed yo u dead . I shall always love Jim

Airth ; but, I want before all else to be a good

woman and a faithful wife . Trust me to be

faithful ; help me to be good .

’

Any man ,


an artist, such a poet, such an eclectic idealist

as Garth Dalmain , falling in love with yo u,

Jane ? ’

A sudden light o f womanly tenderness

illumined Jane’

s plain face . The wife ”

looked o ut from it, in simple unconscious

radiance .

“Nor could I, sh e answered softly . It

took me three years to realise it as an in

dubitable fact .

”

“ I suppose yo u are very happy, remarked

Myra .

Jane was silent . There were shrines in that

strong nature too wholly sacred to be easily

unveiled .

“ I remember h o w I hated the idea, after

the accident,” said Myra, o f your tying

yourself to blindness .“ Oh, hush,

” said Jane Dalmain , quickly .

Y o u tread o n sacred ground,and you forget

to remove your shoes . From the first, the

sweetest thing between my husband and

myself has been that, together,we learned to

1{is s that cross .”

THE SI TUA TI ON REVI EWED 3 07

Dear o ld thin g !” said Lady Ingleby,

aff ectionately ;“

yo u deserved to be happy .

All the same I never can understand why

yo u did not marry Deryck Brand .

”

Jane smiled . She could not bring herself

to discuss her husband, but sh e was very

willing at this critical juncture to divert Lady

Ingleby from her o w n troubles by entering

into particulars concerning herself and the

doctor .

“My dear, she said, Deryck and I were

far to o much alike ever to have dovetailed

into marri age . All o ur points would have

met, and o ur diff erences gaped wide . The

qualities which go to the making o f a perfect

friendship by no means always ensure a

pe rfect marriage . There was a time when I

should have married Deryck had he asked me

to do so, simply because I im plicitly trusted

his judgment in all things, an d it would never

have occurred to me to re fuse him anything

h e asked . But it would not have resul te d in

our mutual happiness . Also, at that time, I

had n o idea what love real ly meant . I no


more understood love until—until Garth

taught me,than yo u un derstood it before you

met Jim Airth .

“I wish yo u would not keep o n alludin g to

Jim Airth,” said Myra, wearily .

“ I never

wish to hear his name again . And I cannot

allow you to suppose that I should ever have

adopted your strong-minded suggestion, and

admitted to Michael that I loved Jim . I

should have done nothing o f the kind . I

should have devoted myself to pleasing

Michael in all things, and made mys elf/ r

yes, Jane ; yo u need not look amused and

incredulous ; though I do n’

t wear collars and

shooting-boots, I can make myself do things

I should have made myself forget that there

was such a person in this world as the Earl

o f Airth and Monteith .

“ Oh spare him that ! ” laughed Mrs . Dal

main .

“Don’t call the poor man by his titles .

If he must be hanged,at least let him hang as

plain Jim Airth . If o n e had to be wicked, it

would be s o infinitely worse to be a wicked

earl, than wicked in any other walk o f life .

3 l 0 THE MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

Instantly Jane Dalrn ain’

s whole bearing al

tered. She ceased looking quizzically amused,

and left o ff swinging her brown boot . She

sat up,un crossed her knees, and leaning h er

elbows upon them,held o ut her large capable

hands to Lady Ingleby . Her noble face,grandly strong and tender, in its undeniab le

plainness,was full o f woman ly un derstan ding

an d sympathy .

“Ah , my dear, she said, now we must

come to the crux of the whole matter . I have

merely been playing around the fringe of the

subject, in order to give you time to recover

from the inevitable strain o f the long and

painful recital yo u have felt it necessary to

make, in order that I might fully understand

your position in all its bearings . The real

question is this : Are you going to forgive Jim

Airth ?“ I must never forgive h im , said Lady

Ingleby, with finality,“ because, if I forgave

him, I could n o t let him go .

”

“Why let h im go,when his going leaves your

whole life desolate?”

THE SI TUA TI ON REVI EWED 3 ”

Because, said Myra, I feel I could n o t

trust him ; and I dare not marry a man whom

I love as I love Jim Airth, unless I can trust

him as implicitly as I trus t my Go d . If I

loved him less, I would take the risk . But

I feel, f o r him , someth ing which I can neither

understand nor define ; only I know that in

tim e it would make h im so completely master

o f me that,unless I could trust him absolutely—I should be afraid .

”

Is a man never to be trusted again ,

asked Jane,“ because, under sudden fierce

temptation,he has failed you once ?

It is not the failing once, said Myra . It

is the light th rown upon the whole quality o f

his love—o f that kin d o f love . The passion o f

it makes it selfish—s elfi sh to the degree o f

being utterly regardless o f right and wrong,

and carele ss o f the welfare of its unf ortunate

object . My fair name would have been

smirched ; my honour dragged in the mire ;

my pre sent, bl ighted ; my futu re , ruined ; but

what did he care ? It w as al l swept aside in

the o n e sentence : ‘You are mine, not his .


Y o u must come away with me .

’ I cannot

trust myse lf to a love which has no standard

o f right and wrong . We loo k at it from

di fferent poin ts o f view . Y o u see on ly the

man and his temptation . I knew the priceles s

treasur e o f the love ; therefore the s in against

that love seems to me unforgivable .

”

Mrs . B almain looked earnestly at her friend .

Her steadfast eyes were deeply troubled .

“Myra,”

sh e said,“

yo u are absolutely

right in your definitions, and correct in your

conclusions . But your mistake is this . Y o u

make no allowance for the sudden,desperate,

overwhelming natur e o f the temptation before

which Jim Air th fell . Remember all that led

up to it . Think o f it, Myra ! He stood s o

alone in the world ; no mother, no wife, no

woman’s tenderness . And those ten hard

years of worse than lonelin ess,when he fought

the horro rs o f disillusion, the shame o f be

trayal, the bitterness o f desertion ; the humili

ation o f the stain upon his noble name .

Against all this, during ten long years , he

struggled ; fought a man f ul fight, and over


that the news o f Lord I n gleby’

s return meant

no loss to you and to him,merely the relief

o f his exculpation,he had been coming roun d

to a more reasonable poin t o f V iew, and

realisin g that, after all, he had not lost you .

Y o u sent f o r h im , and he came—o nce more

aglow with love and certainty—o nly to hear

that he had not on ly lost yo u himself, but

must leave yo u to another man . Oh Myra !

Can yo u n o t make allowance for a moment o f

fierce madnes s ? Can you not s ee that the

very strength o f the man momentarily turned

in the wrong direction, brought about his

downfall? Y o u tell me yo u called him

coward and traitor? You might as well have

struck him ! Such words from your lips must

have been worse than blows . I admi t he

deserved them ; yet Saint Peter was thrice a

coward and a traitor, but his Lord, making

allowance f o r a sudden yielding to temptation,

did not doubt the loyalty o f his love,but gave

him a chance o f threefold public confession,

and forgave him . If Divine Lo ve could do

this—o h ,Myra,can yo u let your lover go o ut

THE SI TUA TI ON REVI EWED 3 1 5

into the world again ,alone,without o n e word

o f forgiveness ?”

“Ho w do I kn ow he wants my forgivenes s,

Jane ? He left me in a towerin g fury . And

h o w could my forgiveness reach him, even

supposin g he desired it, o r I could give it ?

Where is he n o w ?

He left yo u in despair, said Mrs . Dalmain ,

and—h e is in the library .

”

Lady Ingleby rose to her feet .

Jane ! Jim Airth in th is house ! Who

admitted him ? "

“ I did,”replied Mrs . Dalmain , coolly . I

smuggled him in N o t a soul saw us enter .

That was why I sent the carriage on ahead,

when w e reached the park gates . We walked

up the avenue, turned down o n to the terrace

and slipped in by the lower door . He has

bee n sitting in th e library ever since . If yo u

decide n o t to see h im, I can go down and te ll

him so ; he ca n go out as he came in,and none

o f your hou sehold will k now he has been here .

Dear Myra, don'

t look so distraught . Do

sit down again,and let us finish our talk .

3 I 6 THE MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

That is right . You must not be hurri ed . Ai

decision which aff ects o n e ’

s whole life,cannot

be made in a minute, n o r even in an hour .

Lord Airth does n o twish to force an interview,

n o r do I w ish to persuade yo u to grant h im o n e .

He will not be surprised if I bring him word

that yo u would rather not see him .

”

“Rather not ? ” cried Myra, with clasped

hands . “ Oh Jane, if yo u could know what

the mere thought o f see ing h im means to me,

yo u would not say‘

rath er not,’

but‘

dare not .“ Let me tell you how we met, said Mrs .

Dalmain ,ignoring the last remark . I reached

Charin g Cross in good time ; stopped at th e

boo k stall for a supply o f papers ; secured an

empty compartment, and settled down to

a quiet hour . Jim Airth dashed into the

station with barely o n e minute in which to

take h is ticket and reach the train . He tore

up the platform,as th e train began to move ;

had n o t tim e to reach a smoker ; wrenched

open the door o f my compartment ; jum ped in

headlong, an d sat down upon my papers ;

turned to apologise, and found himself shut

3 l 8 THE MI STRESS OF SHENSTONE

America almost imm edi ately, but could n o t

bring himself to leave England without

having expressed to you his contrition, and

obtain ed your pardon . He would have

w ritten, but did not fee l he ought, f o r your

sake, to run the risk o f putting explanations

o n to paper . Also I honestly believe it is

breaking his heart, poor fellow, to feel that

you and he parted forever, in anger . His

love f o r you is a very great love,Myra“ Oh,Jane,

” cried Lady Ingleby, I cannot

let him go ! And yet—I can n o t marry him .

I love him with every fibre o f my whole being,

and yet I cannot trust h im . Oh,Jane,what

shall I do ?“Y o u must give him a chance, said Mrs .

Dalmain ,“ to retrieve his mistake, and to

prove himself the man we know him to be .

Say to him, without explanation, what yo u

have just said to me : that yo u can n o t let him

go ; and s ee how he takes it . Listen, Myra .

The unf oreseen developments o f the last few

hours have put it into your power to give

Jim Airth h is chance . Y o u must not rob

THE SI TUATI ON REVI EWED 3 l9

him o f it . Years ago,when Garth and I were

in an apparently hopeless tangle of irretriev

able mistake, Deryck found us a way o ut.

He said if Garth could go behin d his blin dn es s

and express an op inion whi ch he only could

have given wh ile he had his sight,the question

might be solved . I need not trouble yo u with

details, but that was exactly what happened,

and o ur great happiness resulted . N o w , in

your ca se, Jim Airth must be given the

chance to go behin d his madn es s , regain his

o w n self-respect, and prove himself worthy

o f your trus t . Have yo u told any one o f the

second telegram from Cairo ?“ I saw nobody,

” said Lady Ingleby, from

the moment S ir Deryck left me, until you

walked in .

”

“V ery well . Th en you, and Deryck, and

I , are the only people in England who know

of it . Jim Airth will have no idea o f any

chan ge o f conditions since yesterday . Do

you see what that means,Myra ?"

Lady I n gleby'

s pale face flushed .

Jane , I dare not ! I f he failed again


He will not fail, replied Mrs . Dalm ain ,

with decision ; but should he do s o , he will

have proved him self, as yo u say, unworthy

o f your trust Then—yo u can forgive h im,

and let h im go .

if I cannot let h im go ! ” cried Myra . And

yet I can not marry him,un less he is all I have

believed him to be .

”

“Ah,my dear,my d ear !” said Mrs . Dal

main,tenderly .

“Y o u need to learn a lesson

about married life . True happiness does not

come from marryin g an idol throned o n a

pedestal. Before Galatea could wed Pyg

malio n , sh e had to change from marble into

glowing flesh and blood,and step down from

o ff her pedestal . Love should not make us

blind to o n e another’s faults . I t sh o uld

‘

o n ly

make us in finitely tender, and completely un

derstan din g . Let me tell yo u a shrewd remark

o f Aun t Georgina’

s o n that subject. Speakin g

to a young married woman who considered her

self wronged and disillusioned because, the

honeymoon over, sh e discovered her husband

n o t to be in all thin gs abso lutely perfect :‘Ah,


I’

m not there to spank them ; and then

there ’

11 be a shipwreck ! Oh,why did Adam

marry, and spoil that peaceful garden ?’

Whereat Tommy, the o ld scarlet macaw,

swun g head downwards from his golden

perch,with such shrieks o f delighted laughter,

mingled with appropriate profanity, that

Aunt’

Gina’

s good-humour was instantly

restored .

‘Give him a strawberry, somebody !’

sh e said ; and spoke no more o n things matri

monial . ”

Myra laughed . The duchess’s views are

always refreshing . I wonder whether Michael

and I made the mistake o f not realising each

other to be human ; o f not adm itting there

was anything to forgi ve, and therefore never

forgiving ?“Well, don

’

t make it with Jim Airth,

advised Mrs . Dalmain , f o r he is the most

human man I ever met ; also the strongest,

and o n e o f the most lovable . Myra, there is

nothing to be gained by waiting . Let me

send him to you n o w ; and, remember, all he

asks o r expects is o n e word o f forgiveness . ”

THE SI TUA TI ON REVI EWED 3 2 3

Oh, Jane !”cried Lady Ingleby, with

clasped hands . “ Do wait a little while .

Give me time to think ; time to consider ; time

to decide .

”

“Nonsense,my dear, said Mrs . B almain .

When but o n e right course lies before yo u,

there can be no possible need for hesitation o r

consideration . Y o u are merely nervously

postpon ing the inevitable . Y o u remind me

o f scenes w e used to have in the out-patient

department o f a hospital in the East End o f

Lo ndon, to which I once went for training .

When patients came to the surgery for teeth

extraction, and the pretty sympathetic little

nurse in charge had got them safe ly fixed into

the chair ; as o n e o f th e doctors, prompt

and alert, came forward with unmistakably

busines s -like forceps ready, th e terri fied pa

tient would exclaim :‘Oh , let th e nurse do

it ! Le t th e nurse do it ! ’

the idea evidently

being that three or four diffide n t pul l s by th e

nurse , we re less alarming than the sharp

ce rtain ty of o n e from th e doctor . N o w , my

dear Myra, you have to face your ord eal.


If it is to be successful there must be no

uncertainty .

“Oh, Jane, I wish yo u were not such a

decided person . I am sure when yo u were the

nurse, the poor things preferred the doctors .

I am terrified ; yet I know you are right . And,

o h , yo u dear, don’

t leave me ! See me

through .

“ I am never away from Garth f o r a night,as you know,

” said Mrs . Dalmain .

“ But he

and little Geoff went down to Overdene this

morning,with Simpson and nurse ; s o , if your

man can motor me over during the evening,I

will stay as long as yo u need me .

Ah, thanks," said Lady Ingleby . And

n o w,Jane,yo u have done all yo u can f o r me ;

and G o d knows h o w much that means . I “ I

want to be quite alone f o r an hour . I feel

I must face it o ut, and decide what I really

intend doing . I o we it to Jim, I o we it to

myself, to be quite sure what I mean to say,

before I s ee him . Order tea in the library .

Tell him I will s ee him ; and,at the end o f the

hour, send him here . But,Jane —not a hint

3 2 6 THE MI STRESS OF SHE N S TONE

lead me, and Thy right Hand shall hold

me .

’

“Ah ,you are right, said Jane

’s deep earn

est voice ; that is the best o f all . God’s hand

alone leads sur ely,o ut o f darkness into light .

She put a kind arm firmly around her friend,

f o r a moment .

Then I will send him to yo u in an hour,

she said, and left the room .

Lady Ingleby was alone .

CHAPTER X X V

TH E TEST

HE door o f Myra’

s sittin g-room opened

quietly, and Jim Airth came in .

She awai ted h im upon the couch, sitting

very still,her hands folded in her lap .

The roo m seemed full o f flowers,and of soft

sunset light .

He closed the door, and came and stood

before her .

Fo r a few moments they looked steadily

into one another ’s faces .

Then Jim Airth spoke,very lo w“It is so good o f yo u to see me , h e said .

It is almost more than I had ventured to

hope . I am leaving England in a few ho urs .

It would have been hard to go —w ithout this .

N o w it will be easy .


She lif ted her eyes to his, and waited in

silence .

Myra, he said, can yo u forgive me?

I do n o t kn ow,Jim ,

”sh e answered,gently .

I want to be quite honest with you,and with

mys elf . If I had cared less, I could have

forgiven more easily .

”

“ I kn ow,” he said . Oh, Myra, I know .

And I would n o t have you forgive lightly, s o

great a s in against o ur love . But, dear—ifbefore I go , you could say,

‘I un derstand,

it would mean almost more to me,than if you

said,‘I forgive .

’

“

Jim ,

”said Myra, gently, a tremor o f

tenderness in her sweet voice,“ I understand .

”

He came quite near, and took her hands in

h is , holdi ng them f o r a moment,with tender

reverence .

“Than k yo u, dear, he said . You are

very good .

He loo sed her hands,an d again sh e folded

them in her lap . He walked to the mantel

p iece and stood lookin g down upon the ferns

and lilies .


h en s io n . All my life through I shall carry

with me,deep hidden in my heart,these words

o f yours . Oh, my dear—my dear ! Don’t

speak again ! Let them be the last . On ly

may I say it —never let thoughts o f me,

sadden your fair life . I am going to America-a grand place for fresh beginnings ; a land

where o n e can work, and truly live ; a land

where earnest endeavour meets with fullest

success,and where a man’s energy may have

full scope . I want yo u to think o f me,Myra,

as living,and working,and striving ; n o t going

un der . But, if ever I feel like going under,

I shall hear your dear voice singing at my

shoulder, in the little Cornish church, o n the

quiet Sabbath evening,in the sunset : Eternal

Father, strong to save .

’

And—whenI think o f yo u, my dear—my dear ; I shallknow your life is being good and beautiful

every hour, and that you are happy with

he lif ted his eyes to Lord I n gleby’

s portrait ;

they dwelt f o r a moment o n the kind quiet

face—“with o n e o f the best o f men,” said

Jim Airth,bravely .

THE TEST 3 3 1

He took a last look at her face . Silent tears

stole slowly down it,and fell upon her folded

hands .

A spasm o f anguish shot across Jim Airth’

s

set features .“Ah, I must go,

” he said,suddenly . God

keep you,always .”

He turned so quickly, that hi s hand was

actually upo n the h andle o f the door, before

Myra reached him , though she sprang up,

an d flew across the room .

Jim,

” she said,breathlessly . Stop,Jim !

Ah, stop ! Listen ! Wait -Jim , I have al

ways known —I told Jane s e—that if I forgave you, I could not let you go .

”She

flung her arms around his neck, as he stood

gazing at her in dum b bew ilderment . “ Jim,

my be loved ! I cannot let you go ; o r, if yo u

go,you must take me with you . I cannot live

without you,Jim Airth !"

Fo r the space of a dozen heart-beats he

sto od silen t, wh ile she hung around him ; her

head upo n his breast,he r clinging arms about


Then a cry s o terrible bur st from him,that

Myra’s heart stood still .“ Oh,my G o d,

” he cried, this is the worst

o f all ! Have I, in falling,dragged her down ?

Now, indeed am I broken— broken . What

was the loss o f my own pride,my o w n honour,

my o w n self-esteem, to this ? Have I soiled

her fair whiteness ; weakened the noble

strength o f her sweet pur ity ? Oh,not this

my G o d, n o t this !”

He lif ted his hands to his n eck, took hers

by the wrists, and forcibly drew them down,

stepping back a pace, s o that she must lift

her head .

Then,holding her hands against his breast

Lady Ingleby, he said,“ lift your eyes,

and look into my face .

”

Slowly—slowly—Myra lifted her grey eyes .The fire o f his held her ; sh e felt the strength

o f him mastering her, as it had often done

before . She could scarcely s ee the anguish in

h is face,s o vivid was the blaze o f h is blue eyes .“ Lady Ingleby,

” he said, and the grip o f

his hands on hers,tightened . Lady Ingleby


these moments co me back to you, Lady

Ingleby, remember, the whole blame was

mine . Hush, I tell you ; hush ! And

will you loose my hands ?

But Myra clung to those big hands, laugh

ing, and weeping, and striving to speak .

Oh, Jim—my Jim —yo u can

’

t leave me

to climb alone,because I am all your o w n ,and

free to be yours and no other man ’s, and to

gether, thank God,we can stand o n the cliff

to p where His hand has led us . Dearest

Jim, dearest—don ’t pull away from me,

because I must cling o n , until you have read

these telegrams . Oh,Jim, read them quickly !

Sir Deryck Brand brought them down

from town this afternoon . And oh, forgive

me that I did not tell yo u at once . I

wanted yo u to prove yourself, what I knew

yo u to be, faithful, loyal, honourable, brave,

the man o f all men whom I trust ; th e man who

will never fail me in the upward climb, until

we stand together beneath the blue o n the

heights o f God ’s eternal hills . Oh,H

THE TEST 3 3 5

Her voice faltered into silence ; f o r Jim

Airth knelt at her feet, his head in her lap,

his arms flung around her,and he was sobbing

as only a strong man can sob,when his heart

has been strained to breaking point,and sud

den relief has co me .

,Myra laid her hands, gently, upon the

roughn ess o f his hair . Thus they stayed

long, without speakin g o r moving .

And in those sacred minutes Myra learned

the lesson which ten years of wedded life had

failed to teach : that in the strongest man there

is,sometimes,the eternal child—e ager,master

ful,dependent,full o f needs ; and that,i n every

woman ’s love there must therefore be an

element o f the eternal mother—tender,under

standing, patient ; wise, yet self -surrendering ;

able to bear ; ready to forgive ; her strength

made perfect in weakness .

At length Jim Airth lifted his head .

The last beams of the setting sun,entering

th rough the western window, illumined, with

a ray o f golden glory, the love ly face above

him . But he saw o n it a radiance more


bright than the reflected glory of any ear thly

sunset .

“Myra ? ” he said, awe and wonder in his

voice . Myra ? What is it ?

And clasping her hands about his neck as

he knelt before her, sh e drew his head to her

breast, and answered

I have learnt a lesson,my beloved ; a lesson

on ly you could teach . And I am very happy

and thankful, Jim ; because I kn ow, that at

last, I—even I—am ready f o r wifeho o d.

”


past ten . The Miss Murgatro yds must have

gone up, in staid procession, exactly four

minutes ago . Look at the stag’s head !

There is the antler, o n the topmost point o f

which yo u always hung your cap .

Myra

Y es , dear . Oh, I hope the Murgatro yds

are still here . Let ’

s look in the book .

Y es , s ee ! Here are their names with date o f

arrival, but none o f departure . And, o h ,

dearest, here is‘

Jim Airth,’

as I fir st saw it

written ; and look at‘Mrs . O

’Mara’ just

beneath it ! How well I remember glancing

back from the turn o f the staircase,seeing yo u

come o ut and read it,and wishing I had writ

ten it better . Y o u can s etme plenty o f copies

now,Jim .

”

“Myra !

Y es , dear . Do you know I am going to

fly up and unpack . Then I will come o ut to

the honeysuckle arbour and s it with you while

you smoke . And we need not mind bein g late ;

because the dear ladies,not knowing we have

returned, will not all be sleep ing with doors

WHA T SHALL WE WR I TE i> 3 3 9

ajar . But o h Jim, you must—however late

it is—plum p your boots o ut into the passage,just f o r the fun o f making Miss Susann ah

’

s

heart jump unexpectedly“Myra ! Ch , I say ! My wife

Yes,darling, I know ! But I am perfectly

certain ‘Aun t Ingleby’ is peeping o ut of her

little offi ce at the end o f the passage ; also,

Polly has finished helping Sam place o ur

luggage upstairs, and I can feel her, hangin g

over the top banisters ! Be patient f o r just a

little While, my Jim . Let’

s put o ur names

in the visitors’

book . Wh at shall w e wri te ?

Really w e shall be obliged eventually to let

them know who yo u are . Think what an

excitement for the Miss Murgatro yds . But,

just fo r once, I am going to write myself down

by the name,o f all others,I have most Wished

to bear .

”

S o , smiling gaily up at her husband, then

bending over the table to hide her happy face

from the adoration o f his eyes,the newly-made

Countess o f Airth and Monteith took up the

pen ; an d,w ithout pausing to remove h er glove,


wrote in the visitors’ book o f the Moorhead

Inn, in the clear bold handwritin g peculiarly

her o wn

The Mistress of Shenstone · The Mistress of Shen sto n e CHAPTE R I ON THE TERRACE A T S HEN S TON...

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