IN EIGHT CHAPTERS. CHAPTER VII.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 11, Issue 820, 22 January 1867, Page 3

IN EIGHT CHAPTERS. CHAPTER VII.

(From " All the.Tear B-otukl" for October.) <ysXy' It was some wepks after the momeh^^ X occurrences above related, " that Mrs.-' Muir' ■ ' caster and her fair daughters fouhd them.?';* selves together in their pretty -drawing* room, following, or attempting to follow* their accustomed avocations. y ! • '; ' : •• f '■.. Miss Mulcaster, pale and sweet as a lily; that had peeped out in the i confidence. of >.',' May, and been nipped by that inclement; season, seemed, of the three; tbhave f made "•"- the greatest efforts to be industrious, and to have succeeded least; '."'■'; Her harp, with one string snapped (a; catastrophe that brought the day's practice to a conclusion), stood Pn one side ; soinfe' work lay on the other; Before her was ah unfinished landscape) with something terri- 1 ble in the sky, and, in the' foreground, -an incomplete traveller, : who had reined up his steed in very natural consternation at the weird aspect of things. A perfect pa-r rapet of books, blue, red, mauve, yellow, evinced that .the young lady had tried, by every ordinary means,' to exorcise the demon of unrest before folding her. white hands and yielding fairly to the languid inactivity' in which we' find her. It had been a week of much uncertainty.' and discontent. The mere material absence of George was an evil in itself. Nobody ever bore teazing like him. Neverwas a victim whose gentle retorts gave greater zest' to provocation! These pleasures had departed, and left a weary void. The hours . his presence had enlivened must be filled up somehow, and every attempt to do this in a satisfactory manner had ended in signal failure.. As for the cause of his. absence, that was, by consent, ignored, as a matter, at once too distressing for laughter, and too" absurd for tears. Mrs. Mulcaster had proposed change of spe.ne for her injured darling, and had even written surreptitiously to a friend, Lady Mary St. Colomb, at Ryde, on the subject -. of cheerful lodgings ; but Mildred, on being . sounded, at once announced her intention " of remaining where she was, until—^until—no matter -To which period the project" was accordingly deferred, ' Remarkable rumours had reached The Haie during the past week. That something of an unusual nature had occurred at Gosling Graize could not admit of a doubt. But what was it? The hundred tongues of rumour sometimes confound each other, and nothing comes of the Babel but a desperate rout. There was no coherence ' in the advices from the village with which Gosling Graize held its most intimate relations. If, for example, as alleged, Sir George had shown symptoms ofaberratipn of intellect, how should the cook's haying killed a dog in the same condition have ' been the means of her master's _ecovery? Or how should the reported betrothal of' Sir „ George to a young lady of enormous wealth, and descent little short of royal, have proved so unacceptable to a very illustrious personage as to induce the 'Reverend Mr. Phlunkey to decline the publication of the banns for the ensuing Sunday? Again, why should the decease of the dog throw, the cook, who killed him, into such a frenzy ;".'" of despair, tbat; nothing short' 'of the tdar-. . riage of Sir George with a Miss Van Spla- " gen, who was a remote connexion of the burgomaster of Saardam, restore her equanimity ? The cook, the dog, the lady, and Sir George, seemed, in short, to be engaged in a sort of reel, into which the butler, though without a partner, was perpetually . intruding and creating the most perplexing complications. Vague and cursory allusions had fallen from casual visitors ; but those parties had ' invariably, like skaters . approaching the spot marked " dangerous," glanced swiftly off into indifferent topics, having that forced flavour that indicates, unmistakeably, how imminent had been the peril. Into these poor Mrs. Mulcaster, burning with anxiety to understand what had really happened, was compelled to follow. Come what might of Gosling Graize and its proprietor, it was not for her to. express oneyword, of interest in the matter. But she compared .notPs in private with her younger daughter, and was at no pains to conceal her disquietude. " You may smile, Louisa, and arch your brows, but mark my words. That boy, in his excitement, has done something rash — committed himself, I mean, to some folly that it may tax all the ingenuity of his' friends to set aside, and may, after all, entail upon hira lasting misery." "Be quite easy, dearest mamma," replied Louisa, " and mark my words. In another week George will be among us on the same footing as before." Her mother smiled at the bold prophecy, but shook her head. " I know George Gosling," she said. " And I Mildred Mulcaster," saidLPiiey. ' .As the ladies sat together on the day -we. ' have mentioned, a visitor waited upon them, the announcement of whose name" seemed to create a subdued sensation not wholly complimentary. " Miss Shrapnell." , This lady was the last that remained unmarried of the very numerous daughters' ; of the late Lord Boombe. ' The deceased' '\ nobleman had been a quiet, miid-maunered ' ' ' little man, shy and nervous to the ; last degree. His disposition was so gentle and ' humane that it seems like a pleasantry, fo , state that his whole existence was pasSecl in the invention of the most terrific ageuts for the destruction of the person and "property of his fellow-men. "'"' ; . . To him is society indebted for the first"" D conception of that delicate little instrument the Seaquake shell, whose mere fillip suffices to hurl the largest line-of-battle ship that ever swam fifty fathoms out of her native element. To Lord Boombe the world's !best acknowledgments are considerably overdue for that beautiful adaptation of steam- t _ power to military ends, which, at the distance .of three miles, will effect, the annihilation of an entire battalion, colonel, drummers, band, doctor, and all, in the insignificant space of one minute and a half.Encouraged by obtaining, after a correspondence of thirty-five years, -the consent X-' of government to test the value of tj^is.lasi;; invention on the very first favQurahleLbppPr-: j . ■ , tunity, his lordship next turned fcds 'atl^-V; y|%; tion to the perfecting hw3b^|^u|: S%s^ : v"^ bomb, calculated tp, reduc^^atyp^||U^ii; charge, the most powe*tfutf6rtjr^ when a slight explosion^i^'^s^Silfel^^^ trivial as to havp-'.been J-mistkliPii J by!wes?l butler for the oat sneezing, shat^s^l^^

: nervous system, and, in fact, originated the Wessfrom * ."The family mansion, Battery-Boombe, : ,■'-, was curious in itself, as representing the old ' system of Vauban adapted to the residence ' of a smaU British family. It had a draw- ! bridge*; moat, and wall, with salient and reentering angles complete, although it was • V, almost beyond the range of possibility that any rational human being would sally or re- ] enter thereby. There was a laboratory and a guard-room, besides another apartment or two, the whole made bomb-proof with a ' covering of earth twelve feet thick. The six young ladies inhabited the casemates, until, finding, in due course, mates of another, description, they were discharged — m^rried-r-i-ke shots fired at regular intervals. The sixth and now the sole, Miss {Shrapnell, formed, with her own modest establishment, the entire garrison holding . Battery-Boombe, from which she descended, grenade in hand, whenever a fitting opportunity for exploding the same with effect ! seemed to present itself. Miss Shrapnell, like her excellent father, had a soft, silken manner, which went some way towards winning entrance into the good graces of all who were not forewarned of what -was' likely to ensue. She had a knack of possessing herself of every species of unwelcome hews. She would mould and condense - the same - into a verbal ball, and, having first artfully created a little garden of delight, in which everybody was completely ; happy and at ease, bang went the shot into . the very midst, and off, in the confusion, sailed Miss Shrapnell, exulting. Mrs. Mulcaster was fully aware of this little peculiarity, and felt towards her visitor much the same regard and confidence with which James the First might have welcomed Guy Fawkes, had that gentleman escaped and presented himself at a levee. ' Sweetly and softly Miss Shrapnell came i melting into the room. " Dear friends ! At last. Hush — stop. ; Dear Miss Mulcaster, for one moment, I , implore you — - don't stir — don't even breathe ! Heavens ! what a picture ! " ; (She drew a deep inspiration.) " Enough ! Thanks. You three dear, beautiful, and • happy beings," continued the enthusiastic lady. "What a gift is yours ! Without « uttering one syllable, without the movement of a muscle, you have been able to make a poor, solitary creature happy for the day. How bright you look——" ( "Louey,' draw down that blind," said ■ Mrs. Mulcaster. ' . ■ rt — how tranquil! how serene! Dear ; Mrs. Mulcaster, how sweetly this troublesome world glides onwards with its favored . few ! Nature, art, destiny, seem to enter . into little plots to make certain people . happy. Are you not of these, dear friend ? ( Confess, now— are you not as perfectly *, content as human heart can desire ? " , "I— l am very content and happy — in ■ my surroundings," said the lady addressed, \ suspiciously. j " Content!*" moaned Miss Shrapnell. - " Then, may Heaven forgive you ! " . " Well, I hope so," said Mrs. Mulcaster, , still on her guard. " But may I ask why f " • "Content! Simply content! Your i glorious Mildred! Your gentle, twining ; Louey!" "I am called a parasite," said Miss • Louisa, pretending to pout. ( "With such blessings as these, my dear Mrs. Mulcaster," continued their visitor, in ; an admonitory tone, " I hold flat content- j ment nothing short of crime ! This dear . nest of yours always reminds me of Dear me! Mildred, darling, you know ( everything— what's that that builds upon the sea?" : "Is it a riddle ? ". asked Mildred. j "No; a question." " A duck," said Mildred, languidly. , " Nonsense, my dear ; a hal — something. Well, The Haie always reminds me of the hal thing. Sunshine and smooth waters. { Not one ripple. Not one cloud." * Mrs. Mulcaster became seriously alarmed. Miss Shrapnell has evidently covered the { enemy, and was fingering the lanyard of her gun. , If Mildred could only be got out of * range, all was well. " "Mildred, sweet," she said, anxiously, 1 " Miss Shrapnell, I am sure, will kindly excuse you. Remember your little walk." ' Mildred, sweet, was, however, insensible to the danger, and, being indisposed for any little walk, retained her seat. 1 " Well, I, at all events, must go my way," i resumed Miss Shrapnell. " Five minutes in this dear, tranquil house does more for 1 me than an hour elsewhere. It tones and I braces me. The music of the spheres I (which must have been something highly i gratifying) might surely find a parallel in I the quiet soothing harmony that pervades I this blessed mansion. Do you know, I I always feel inclined to call it ' home' ?" s "I am sure you could not pay it a more * welcome compliment than by making it such ' as much as possible," said the lady ad- " dressed, preparing to bow the visitor out as * promptly as politeness allowed. < " Adieu, then, my happy Three !" cried Tthe affectionate lady, and, to Mrs. Mulcaster's equal surprise and relief, tripped harm- I lessly away. Still, there was a lurking i gleam in her eye, like the glimmering of a * portfire, and Mrs. Mulcaster could hardly - 1 bring herself to believe that Fawkes, after * laying his powder with such manifest pains, would depart without applying the match. I Her misgiving was correct. . The bonnet i of Miss Shrapnell, like the muzzle of a gun i suddenly run out, reappeared at the door. < She.siipled sweetly on the three : "Heard the news?" 3 " No !" exclaimed Mildred. I " Sir George Gosling is engaged to his 'cook." ( $Bw i Shrapnell softly closed the door, "* and drove away in the highest glee. Never had she delivered a calmer, more accurate, and niore discomfiting shot. It was some minutes before the excellent lady could * compose herself, fitly, to the preparation of r another little missile, intended fora quiet y famijy who, Bhe had every reason to believe, * " had money in a country bank that had suspended payment that morning. j The explosion of an actual bomb in the drawing-room of The Haie could hardly ( -:; have produced greater consternation. Mil- £ ; dred. threw, up her arms with a cry of horror. I ; ; burst into tears. Mrs. Mulcaster, I Vy^etter^prenared for the fatal tidings, thought pnly of their effect upon her darling — on r oh£%]i}6,_^pbi_;. lavished every consolation her j . But Mildred repulsed s lSft?SPiP^^-^^ er « Self-reproach i llfp-^^^onama^t;: .feeling. George had i and had t fm^M^X'PkXX.yyyl:x''Xy:, , ■ i

"I am a vile, wicked, heartless woman,' moaned Mildred. "Take away your hands mamma. Let nobody caress me— -nobodj comfort me. I tell you lam all made ur. of self and folly. 0 mamma— why didn'l you? Why didn't you?" "My treasure, didn't I what?" said Mrs Mulcaster, soothingly. v - ' ( , , "Punish me when I^vas little!" retortec the spoiled one, with flashing eyes. " Yoi knew my wilfulness."' "Pretty well," sighed poor Mrs. Mulcaster. "There — you confess it — -and with al my life's happiness at stake ! 0 mamma, ] wish I could forgive you ! " "Louisa, do you he&vthis?" said Mrs, Mulcaster, turning to her younger daughter Should Providence ever send you children recollect that too great tenderness may cosl you their duty." "Mildred is not herself, mamma," saic Louey, with some warmth, "I do believe she is mad." " I thank you, Louisa, for your very kinc and sisterly remark," said Mildred, majestically. "I shall at least know where ] need not seek comfort or sympathy in mj sorrow." " You told us, dear, you did not wanl any," replied Louisa. Mildred put her tiny hands to her face. " Louey, Louey ! " exclaimed her mother, " surely this is not the tone. Govern your temper, I beg, or I must request yot to leave the room, until my suffering child is better able to endure such rebukes." "I'm not suffering at all, mamma," said Mildred, bursting into a flood of tears. "My* darling, compose yourself. See, Louisa, what your violence has done ! Hark, Hark! There's a visitor. Quick, Louisa. Not at home." "Stop, Louey," said Mildred, wiping her beautiful s eyes, ■ and regaining her dignity. This must not be. Let them come. Lef anybody come. Mamma, lam ashamed oi you. Would you wish it said that your daughter was breaking her heart in solitude because her lover had deserted her for his scullion?" "Because," remarked Louisa, dryly, " that would hardly represent the facts ! " " Hush, both of you," said Mrs. Mulcaster, authoritatively. And the servant announced " Colonel Lugard." The colonel saw at a glance that tidings of some sort had reached The Haie. Nevertheless, the smile he had worn on entering did not relax; but, on the contrary, broadened into a decided laugh. " 1 caught sight of Miss Shrapnell's ponycarriage," he said, "as I turned into the drive and quickened my pace to a charging gallop. But I'm only in time to restore order. Whenever I cannot anticipate my fair neighbour of Battery-Boombe, I make a point of following her as promptly as possible. And you can hardly imagine, my dear ladies, how much I am able to effect, in binding up mental hurts, correcting intelligence, straightening distorted facts, and general repairs of a like description. lam a complete ambulance-corps, attached to the division Shrapnell. Who's hit now? Come, tell the doctor. Well, my dear Miss Louisa, you look the gravest. I begin with you. The last piece of county gossip conveyed to you related to— to — shall I go on ? A wedding." Mrs. Mulcaster trembled, and glanced at Mildred; but her daughter's calm, fixed look, and the colonel's beaming smile, reassured her. She let him go on. "You," he said, addressing them all, "like myself, have heard a ridiculous rumour connecting the name of our young neighbour George Gosling, with one so far beneath him" in station, that the jest — and a very bad and malicious one it was— ought to have been at once apparent." Mildred's look thanked the speaker so eloquently, that a sudden thrill shot through his heart, for he knew, that unlucky colonel, that there was mote, considerably more, to say. With that radiant glance, too joyful for disguise, entered into the colonel's startled soul the conviction that Mildred loved, and that he himself, purposing only to clear their general favourite, George, from an unworthy rumour, must, if he told his story out, scatter worse confusion than Miss Shrapnell herself! He knew, in common with many others, that a union between the houses of Gosling and Mulcaster had been ranked among the very probable events of the county ; but of the actual engagement, and its rupture, he knew nothing. Mrs. Mulcaster had, at his last visit, mentioned in a rather significant manner that intercourse with Gosling Graize had diminished. When, therefore, the report reached him that George was about to be married, and to one of his own domestic servants, his astonishment had been entirely limited to his young friend's selection. " There has been a row — a lover's quarrel — a rash move of the rebel George," thought the perplexed officer, " and of that, bar the cook, they know nothing. Halt, there. Threes about !" But this prudent manoeuvre was not to be- executed. The "three" before him would not permit it. Convinced of the falsehood of Miss Shrapnell's tidings, Mrs. Mulcaster saw no objection to continuing the subject. "It is curious how circumstantial false- | hood has become of late. My only wonder is that we were not favoured with all the interesting particulars of Geo — Sir George Gosling's courtship." " Ha, ha !" said the colonel! " Gossip, you know, grows like the Highland cairn. Everybody adds a stone !" "Scandalous. Stories like these, devoid of the merest atom of foundation, should be visited with some severe social penalty." " Ahem !" said the colonel — " yes." " You don't agree with me ?" "Perfectly. Without foundation — yes. Such" added the colonel, briskly, " could not be too severely reprehended." "Such as this" said Mrs. Mulcaster, fixing him to the point. The poor colonel winced, His sense of justice, even to a Shrapnell, was keen. "I— l— the fact is, Will Crooke " (Will Crooke, once his orderly, now his groom, was the colonel's reserve in difficulty ; but here William could not act. The appeal was only a sign of distress.) " I beg your pardon. Will >? " " Yes. The — the fact is, lam a very poor retailer of gossip, and am sure to make some blunder or other. But Will — Will is the man. That fellow, chronicles every incident in the neighbourhood ; and sometimes, as we are jogging along the road, gallops] up, saluting, and reports some nonsense he has picked up, as if it were

' tidings from an outpost. Well, I must say i, good morning." . " You will do no such thing," said Mrs. ) Mulcaster, decisively, " until you have ext plained why you hesitated when I said there was no pretext for this wild story of Miss . Shrapnell's." "Dt'd I hesitate?" said the colonel. 1 "No— did I?" He glanced uneasiiy at i Mildred. Should he tell all he knew, all that the too-reliable Will had been report- - ing tp him, up to the moment that he, the colonel, dismounted at the door ? " 1 Relief came from an unexpected quarter. [ " Sir George Gosling has 'not decided to marry his cook," said Mildred, withaper- . fectly steady voice and look. "Will you . tell us, Colonel Lugard, if you are aware of , his engagement to any other lady ? " t Had the colonel detected the slightest change of colour, the minutest tremor of 1 tone, he would have fenced with the ques--3 tion, direct as it was. Taking courage, however, from the speaker's, he boldly ad--1 mitted — of course, on the authority of Will ■ Crooke — that the young baronet was unC derstood to have made his selection, and j that it had fallen upon a young lady every way qualified to grace her future station. b " That is — very well," said Mildred, in the same steady voice ; " and — who—— " but there the sound suddenly became a • whisper, and ceased. i " Who is it ? " asked Louisa. i "You remember," replied the colonel, I "my mentioning a young person of singular appearance (some might call her handsome) I whom I met in the park, and who picked up my——" , A cry from Mrs. Mulcaster! Louisa ! glancing like a white meteor across the , room ! She was barely in time. Mildred fell into her sister's arms, her beautiful hair ; flooding the ground. Her desperate attempt to enact the heroine had failed. I; Nature triumphed. p As for the poor colonel, alarmed yet , helpless, as men usually are under such , circumstances, and conscience-stricken bej sides, after making a feint towards the bell, then towards the window, murmurs, of ij "Will Crooke" issuing from his lips, he judged it best to sound a retreat. While , lingering in the hall, a message from Mrs. Mulcaster announced that her daughter, restored to consciousness, had been conveyed to her room, and that she herself , begged him to return. . ' "Can you," she said, "spare me five , minutes longer?" " Can I, my dear lady," exclaimed the gossip-loving veteran, "I will." The colonel then related all he knew from Will x Crooke about , the meeting in the rose gar- \ den, the encounter with the dog, and the \ sudden engagement between Sir George and '. Esther Vann. " He had known her long ? " ' "Since five o'clock in the morning," said r the colonel ; at which hour they met, quite accidentally, in the rose-pleasance. The \ acquaintance, however, ripened very rapidly. ■^ George's black dog, Swartz, selected that opportune moment for doing what, in my ( humble opinion, his master must have done , before him. He went mad. The insane parties met, and but for the really heroic conduct of this girl, Esther Vann, ' very grave results might have ensued. If she did not actually save his life, she delivered him, at the risk of her own, from . imminent [peril. They were engaged bei fore she quitted the house that day. The marriage is to take place almost immediately." " A most delicate proceeding !" exclaimed 1 the lady. 1 "It was not so purposed," resumed the colonel, revelling in the full tide pf gossip,' " but there was a row. Before George had made up his mind to inform his sister, Lady ' Haughfield, of his new engagement, some one Q know not who) did it for him. 1 Down came my lady as fast as four horses could bring her, to remonstrate. No avail. George was kind, but immutable. This 1 girl, who, he admitted, was his cook's niece and a nursery governess, but decently 1 educated, should be his wife. Clara, in despair, telegraphed for Haughfield. (A bad move.) Down comes my lord, secretly furious, and, at the first interview, lost all that slight amount of temper he usually possesses. Gosling had borne with his sister, but he wouldn't stand that ; and, to end the story, his visitors departed, carrying with them the assurance that George would resent their ill-advised and worse- ' managed interposition, by carrying out his intention at the very earliest, moment to which the young lady could be prevailed on i to agree. What arguments he used," concluded the colonel, " I cannot pretend to say ; but of this lam certain — Will Crooke knows it to be a fact-— that the girl has consented to shorten, very materially, the interval for which, with a propriety for which we can't deny her credit, she had at first stipulated. The cook, her aunt, has removed to a small farm house a few miles from hence, where her niece will, no doubt, join her, and the ceremony will take place at the little village — Rosedale — close at hand." " A thousand thanks, my good friend," said Mrs. Mulcaster, rising nervously, and looking considerably alarmed at the task before her.