Run to Earth, Mary Elizabeth Braddon [epub ebook reader .TXT] 📗
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of a young and lovely bride; and he will be inclined to think kindly of
me, and of all the world. Yes—the letter is decidedly a fine stroke of
diplomacy.”
Reginald Eversleigh awaited a reply to his epistle with feverish
impatience; but an impatience mingled with hope.
His hopes did not deceive him. The reply came by return of post, and
was even more favourable than his most sanguine expectations had led
him to anticipate.
“Dear Reginald,” wrote the baronet, “_your generous and disinterested
letter has touched me to the heart. Let the past be forgotten and
forgiven. I do not doubt that you have suffered, as all men must
suffer, from the evil deeds of their youth_.
“_You were no doubt surprised to receive the tidings of my marriage. I
have consulted my heart alone in the choice which I have made, and I
venture to hope that choice will secure the happiness of my future
existence. I am spending the first weeks of my married life amidst the
lovely solitudes of North Wales. On the 24th of this month, Lady
Eversleigh and I go to Raynham, where we shall be glad to see you
immediately on our arrival. Come to us, my dear boy; come to me, as if
this unhappy estrangement had never arisen, and we will discuss your
future together.—Your affectionate uncle_, OSWALD EVERSLEIGH.”
“Royal Hotel, Bannerdoon, N. W.”
Nothing could be more satisfactory than this epistle. Reginald
Eversleigh and Victor Carrington dined together that evening, and the
baronet’s letter was freely discussed between them.
“The ground lies all clear before you now,” said the surgeon: “you will
go to Raynham, make yourself as agreeable as possible to the bride, win
your uncle’s heart by an appearance of extreme remorse for the past,
and most complete disinterestedness for the future, and leave all the
rest to me.”
“But how the deuce can you help me at Raynham?”
“Time alone can show. I have only one hint to give you at present.
Don’t be surprised if you meet me unexpectedly amongst the Yorkshire
hills and wolds, and take care to follow suit with whatever cards you
see me playing. Whatever I do will be done in your interest, depend
upon it. Mind, by the bye, if you do see me in the north, that I know
nothing of your visit to Raynham. I shall be as much surprised to see
you as you will be to see me.”
“So be it; I will fall into your plans. As your first move has been so
wonderfully successful, I shall be inclined to trust you implicitly in
the future. I suppose you will want to be paid rather stiffly by and
bye, if you do succeed in getting me any portion of Sir Oswald’s
fortune?”
“Well, I shall ask for some reward, no doubt. I am a poor man, you
know, and do not pretend to be disinterested or generous. However, we
will discuss that question when we meet at Raynham.”
*
On the 28th of July, Reginald Eversleigh presented himself at Raynham
Castle. He had thought never more to set foot upon that broad terrace,
never more to pass beneath the shadow of that grand old archway; and a
sense of triumph thrilled through his veins as he stood once again on
the familiar threshold.
And yet his position in life was terribly changed since he had last
stood there. He was no longer the acknowledged heir to whom all
dependents paid deferential homage. He fancied that the old servants
looked at him coldly, and that their greeting was the chilling welcome
which is accorded to a poor relation. He had never done much to win
affection or gratitude in the days of his prosperity. It may be that he
remembered this now, and regretted it, not from any kindly impulse
towards these people, but from a selfish annoyance at the chilling
reception accorded him.
“If ever I win back what I have lost, these pampered parasites shall
suffer for their insolence,” thought the young man, as he walked across
the broad Gothic hall of the castle, escorted by the grave old butler.
But he had not much leisure to think about his uncle’s servants.
Another and far more important person occupied his mind, and that
person was his uncle’s bride.
“Lady Eversleigh is at home?” he asked, while crossing the hall.
“Yes, sir; her ladyship is in the long drawing-room.”
The butler opened a ponderous oaken door, and ushered Reginald into one
of the finest apartments in the castle.
In the centre of this room, by the side of a grand piano, from which
she had just risen, stood the new mistress of the castle. She was
simply dressed in pale gray silk, relieved only by a scarlet ribbon
twisted in the masses of her raven hair. Her beauty had the same effect
upon Reginald Eversleigh which it exercised on almost all who looked at
her for the first time. He was dazzled, bewildered, by the singular
loveliness.
“And this divinity—this goddess of grace and beauty, is my uncle’s
wife,” he thought; “this is the street ballad-singer whom he picked up
out of the gutter.”
For some moments the elegant and accomplished Reginald Eversleigh stood
abashed before the calm presence of the nameless girl his uncle had
married.
Sir Oswald welcomed his nephew with perfect cordiality. He was happy,
and in the hour of his happiness he could cherish no unkind feeling
towards the adopted son who had once been so dear to him. But while
ready to open his arms to the repentant prodigal, his intentions with
regard to the disposition of his wealth had undergone no change. He had
arrived, calmly and deliberately, at a certain resolve, and he intended
to adhere to that decision.
The baronet told his nephew this frankly in the first confidential
conversation which they had after the young man’s arrival at Raynham.
“You may think me harsh and severe,” he said, gravely; “but the
resolution which I announced to you in Arlington Street cost me much
thought and care. I believe that I have acted for the best. I think
that my over-indulgence was the bane of your youth, Reginald, and that
you would have been a better man had you been more roughly reared.
Since you have left the army, I have heard no more of your follies; and
I trust that you have at last struck out a better path for yourself,
and separated yourself from all dangerous associates. But you must
choose a new profession. You must not live an idle life on the small
income which you receive from me. I only intended that annuity as a
safeguard against poverty, not as a sufficient means of life. You must
select a new career, Reginald; and whatever it may be, I will give you
some help to smooth your pathway. Your first cousin, Douglas Dale, is
studying for the law—would not that profession suit you?”
“I am in your hands, sir, and am ready to obey you in everything.”
“Well, think over what I have said; and if you choose to enter yourself
as a student in the Temple, I will assist you with all necessary
funds.”
“My dear uncle, you are too good.”
“I wish to serve you as far as I can with justice to others. And now,
Reginald, we will speak no more of the past. What do you think of my
wife?”
“She is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld.”
“And she is as good and true as she is beautiful—a pearl of price,
Reginald. I thank Providence for giving me so great a treasure.”
“And this treasure will be possessor of Raynham Castle, I suppose,”
thought the young man, savagely.
Sir Oswald spoke presently, almost as if in answer to his nephew’s
thoughts.
“As I have been thoroughly candid with you, Reginald,” he said, “I may
as well tell you even more. I am at an age which some call the prime of
life, and I feel all my old vigour. But death sometimes comes suddenly
to men whose life seems as full of promise as mine seems to me now. I
wish that when I die there may be no possible disappointment as to the
disposal of my fortune. Other men make a mystery of the contents of
their wills. I wish the terms of my will to be known by all interested
in it.”
“I have no desire to be enlightened, sir,” murmured Reginald, who felt
that his uncle’s words boded no good to himself.
“My will has been made since my marriage,” continued Sir Oswald,
without noticing his nephew’s interruption; “any previous will would,
indeed, have been invalidated by that event Two-thirds—more than two-thirds—of my property has been left to my wife, who will be a very
rich woman when I am dead and gone. Should she have a son, the landed
estates will, of course, go to him; but in any case, Lady Eversleigh
will be mistress of a large fortune. I leave five thousand a year to
each of my nephews. As for you, Reginald, you will, perhaps, consider
yourself bitterly wronged; but you must, in justice, remember that you
have been your own enemy. The annuity of two hundred a year which you
now possess will, after my death, become an income of five hundred a
year, derived from a small estate called Morton Grange, in
Lincolnshire. You have nothing more than a modest competency to hope
for, therefore; and it rests with yourself to win wealth and
distinction by the exercise of your own talents.”
The pallor of Reginald Eversleigh’s face alone revealed the passion
which consumed him as he received these most unwelcome statements from
his uncle’s lips. Fortunately for the young man, Sir Oswald did not
observe his countenance, for at this moment Lady Eversleigh appeared on
the terrace-walk outside the open window of her husband’s study, and he
hurried to her.
“What are to be our plans for this afternoon, darling?” he asked. “I
have transacted all my business, and am quite at your service for the
rest of the day.”
“Very well, then, you cannot please me better than by showing me some
more of the beauties of your native county.”
“You make that proposition because you know it pleases me, artful puss;
but I obey. Shall we ride or drive? Perhaps, as the afternoon is hot,
we had better take the barouche,” continued Sir Oswald, while Honoria
hesitated. “Come to luncheon. I will give all necessary orders.”
They went to the dining-room, whither Reginald accompanied them.
Already he had contrived to banish the traces of emotion from his
countenance: but his uncle’s words were still ringing in his ears.
Five hundred a year!—he was to receive a pitiful five hundred a year;
whilst his cousins—struggling men of the world, unaccustomed to luxury
and splendour—were each to have an income of five thousand. And this
woman—this base, unknown, friendless creature, who had nothing but her
diabolical beauty to recommend her—was to have a splendid fortune!
These were the thoughts which tormented Reginald Eversleigh as he took
his place at the luncheon-table. He had been now a fortnight at Raynham
Castle, and had become, to all outward appearance, perfectly at his
ease with the fair young mistress of the mansion. There are some women
who seem fitted to occupy any station, however lofty. They need no
teaching; they are in no way bewildered by the novelty of wealth or
splendour; they make no errors. They possess an instinctive tact, which
all the teaching possible cannot always impart to others.
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