Wylder's Hand

by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

  CHAPTER LVIII.

  MISS RACHEL LAKE BECOMES VIOLENT.

  So soon as the letter which had so surprised and incensed Stanley Lakewas despatched, and beyond recall, Rachel, who had been indescribablyagitated before, grew all at once calm. She knew that she had done right.She was glad the die was cast, and that it was out of her power toretract.

  She kneeled at her bedside, and wept and prayed, and then went down andtalked with old Tamar, who was knitting in the shade by the porch.

  Then the young lady put on her bonnet and cloak, and walked down toGylingden, with an anxious, but still a lighter heart, to see her friend,Dolly Wylder.

  Dolly received her in a glad sort of fuss.

  'I'm so glad to see you, Miss Lake.'

  'Call me Rachel; and won't you let me call you Dolly?'

  'Well, Rachel, dear,' replied Dolly, laughing, 'I'm delighted you'recome; I have such good news--but I can't tell it till I think for aminute--I must begin at the beginning.'

  'Anywhere, everywhere, only if it is good news, let me hear it at once.I'll be sure to understand.'

  'Well, Miss--I mean Rachel, dear--you know--I may tell you now--thevicar--my dear Willie--he and I--we've been in great trouble--oh, suchtrouble--Heaven _only_ knows--' and she dried her eyes quickly--'money,my dear--' and she smiled with a bewildered shrug--'some debts atCambridge--no fault of his--you can't imagine what a saving darling heis--but these were a few old things that mounted up with interest, mydear--you understand--and law costs--oh, you can't think--and indeed,dear Miss--well, _Rachel_--I forgot--I sometimes thought we must be quiteruined.'

  'Oh, Dolly, dear,' said Rachel, very pale, 'I feared it. I thought youmight be troubled about money. I was not sure, but I was afraid; and, tosay truth, it was partly to try your friendship with a question on thatvery point that I came here, and not indeed, Dolly, dear, fromimpertinent curiosity, but in the hope that maybe you might allow me tobe of some use.'

  'How wonderfully good you are! How friends are raised up!' and with asmile that shone like an April sun through her tears, she stood ontiptoe, and kissed the tall young lady, who--not smiling, but with a paleand very troubled face--bowed down and returned her kiss.

  'You know, dear, before he went, Mark promised to lend dear Willie alarge sum of money. Well, he went away in such a hurry, that he neverthought of it; and though he constantly wrote to Mr. Larkin--you have noidea, my dear Miss Lake, what a blessed angel that man is--oh! _such_ afriend as has been raised up to us in that holy and wise man, wordscannot express; but what was I saying?--oh, yes--Mark, you know--it wasvery kind, but he has so many things on his mind it quite escapedhim--and he keeps, you know, wandering about on the Continent, and nevergives his address; so he, can't, you see, be written to; and thedelay--but, Rachel, darling, are you ill?'

  She rang the bell, and opened the window, and got some water.

  'My darling, you walked too fast here. You were very near fainting.'

  'No, dear--nothing--I am quite well now--go on.'

  But she did not go on immediately, for Rachel was trembling in a kind ofshivering fit, which did not pass away till after poor Dolly, who had noother stimulant at command, made her drink a cup of very hot milk.

  'Thank you, darling. You are too good to me, Dolly. Oh! Dolly, you aretoo good to me.'

  Rachel's eyes were looking into hers with a careworn, entreating gaze,and her cold hand was pressed on the back of Dolly's.

  Nearly ten minutes passed before the talk was renewed.

  'Well, now, what do you think--that good man, Mr. Larkin, just as thingswere at the worst, found a way to make everything--oh, blessedmercy!--the hand of Heaven, my dear--quite right again--and we'll be sohappy. Like a bird I could sing, and fly almost--a foolish old thing--ha!ha! ha!--such an old goose!' and she wiped her eyes again.

  'Hush! is that Fairy? Oh, no, it is only Anne singing. Little man has notbeen well yesterday and to-day. He won't eat, and looks pale, but heslept very well, my darling man; and Doctor Buddle--I met him thismorning--so kindly took him into his room, and examined him, and says itmay be nothing at all, please Heaven,' and she sighed, smiling still.

  'Dear little Fairy--where is he?' asked Rachel, her sad eyes lookingtoward the door.

  'In the study with his Wapsie. Mrs. Woolaston, she is such a kind soul,lent him such a beautiful old picture book--"Woodward's Eccentricities"it is called--and he's quite happy--little Fairy, on his little stool atthe window.'

  'No headache or fever?' asked Miss Lake cheerfully, though, she knew notwhy, there seemed something ominous in this little ailment.

  'None at all; oh, none, thank you; none in the world. I'd be sofrightened if there was. But, thank Heaven, Doctor Buddle says there'snothing to make us at all uneasy. My blessed little man! And he has hiscanary in the cage in the window, and his kitten to play with in thestudy. He's quite happy.'

  'Please Heaven, he'll be quite well to-morrow--the darling little man,'said Rachel, all the more fondly for that vague omen that seemed to say,'He's gone.'

  'Here's Mr. Larkin!' cried Dolly, jumping up, and smiling and nodding atthe window to that long and natty apparition, who glided to the hall-doorwith a sad smile, raising his well-brushed hat as he passed, and with onegrim glance beyond Mrs. Wylder, for his sharp eye half detected anotherpresence in the room.

  He was followed, not accompanied--for Mr. Larkin knew what a gentleman hewas--by a young and bilious clerk, with black hair and a melancholycountenance, and by old Buggs--his conducting man--always grinning, whosered face glared in the little garden like a great bunch of hollyhocks. Hewas sober as a judge all the morning, and proceeded strictly on theprinciple of business first, and pleasure afterward. But his orgies, whenoff duty, were such as to cause the good attorney, when complaintsreached him, to shake his head, and sigh profoundly, and sometimes tolift up his mild eyes and long hands; and, indeed, so scandalous anappendage was Buggs, that if he had been less useful, I believe the pureattorney, who, in the uncomfortable words of John Bunyan, 'had found acleaner road to hell,' would have cashiered him long ago.

  'There is that awful Mr. Buggs,' said Dolly, with a look of honest alarm.'I often wonder so Christian a man as Mr. Larkin can countenance him. Heis hardly ever without a black eye. He has been three nights togetherwithout once putting off his clothes--think of that; and, my dear, onFriday week he fell through the window of the Fancy Emporium, at twoo'clock in the morning; and Doctor Buddle says if the cut on his jaw hadbeen half an inch lower, he would have cut some artery, and lost hislife--wretched man!'

  'They have come about law business, Dolly!' enquired the young lady, whohad a profound, instinctive dread of Mr. Larkin.

  'Yes, my dear; a most important windfall. Only for Mr. Larkin, it nevercould have been accomplished, and, indeed, I don't think it would everhave been thought of.'

  'I hope he has some one to advise him,' said Miss Lake, anxiously. 'I--Ithink Mr. Larkin a very cunning person; and you know your husband doesnot understand business.'

  'Is it Mr. Larkin, my dear? Mr. Larkin! Why, my dear, if you knew him aswe do, you'd trust your life in his hands.'

  'But there are people who know him still better; and I think they fancyhe is a very crafty man. I do not like him myself, and Dorcas Brandondislikes him too; and, though I don't think we could either give areason--I don't know, Dolly, but I should not like to trust him.'

  'But, my dear, he is an excellent man, and such a friend, and he hasmanaged all this most troublesome business so delightfully. It is whatthey call a reversion.'

  'William Wylder is not selling his reversion?' said Rachel, fixing a wildand startled look on her companion.

  'Yes, reversion, I am sure, is the name. And why not, dear? It is mostunlikely we should ever get a farthing of it any other way, and it willgive us enough to make us quite happy.'

  'But, my darling, don't you know the reversion under the will is a great_fortune_? He must not think of it;' and up started Rachel, and beforeDolly could interpos
e or remonstrate, she had crossed the little hall,and entered the homely study, where the gentlemen were conferring.

  William Wylder was sitting at his desk, and a large sheet of lawscrivenery, on thick paper, with a stamp in the corner, was before him.The bald head of the attorney, as he leaned over him, and indicated animaginary line with his gold pencil-case, was presented toward Miss Lakeas she entered.

  The attorney had just said '_there_, please,' in reply to the vicar'squestion, 'Where do I write my name?' and red Buggs, grinning with hismouth open, like an over-heated dog, and the sad and bilious younggentleman, stood by to witness the execution of the cleric's autograph.

  Tall Jos. Larkin looked up, smiling with his mouth also a little open, aswas his wont when he was particularly affable. But the rat's eyes werelooking at her with a hungry suspicion, and smiled not.

  'William Wylder, I am so glad I'm in time,' said Rachel, rustling acrossthe room.

  '_There_,' said the attorney, very peremptorily, and making a littlefurrow in the thick paper with the seal end of his pencil.

  'Stop, William Wylder, don't sign; I've a word to say--you _must_ pause.'

  'If it affects our business, Miss Lake, I do request that you addressyourself to me; if not, may I beg, Miss Lake, that you will defer it fora moment.'

  'William Wylder, lay down that pen; as you love your little boy, lay it_down_, and hear me,' continued Miss Lake.

  The vicar looked at her with his eyes wide open, puzzled, like a man whois not quite sure whether he may not be doing something wrong.

  'I--really, Miss Lake--pardon me, but this is very irregular, and, infact, unprecedented!' said Jos. Larkin. 'I think--I suppose, you canhardly be aware, Ma'am, that I am here as the Rev. Mr. Wylder'sconfidential solicitor, acting solely for him, in a matter of a strictlyprivate nature.'

  The attorney stood erect, a little flushed, with that peculiarcontraction, mean and dangerous, in his eyes.

  'Of course, Mr. Wylder, if you, Sir, desire me to leave, I shallinstantaneously do so; and, indeed, unless you proceed to sign, I hadbetter go, as my time is generally, I may say, a little pressed upon, andI have, in fact, some business elsewhere to attend to.'

  'What _is_ this law-paper?' demanded Rachel, laying the tips of herslender fingers upon it.

  'Am I to conclude that you withdraw from your engagement?' asked Mr.Larkin. 'I had better, then, communicate with Burlington and Smith bythis post; as also with the sheriff, who has been very kind.'

  'Oh, no!--oh, no, Mr. Larkin!--pray, I'm quite ready to sign.'

  'Now, William Wylder, you _sha'n't_ sign until you tell me whether thisis a sale of your reversion.'

  The young lady had her white hand firmly pressed upon the spot where hewas to sign, and the ring that glittered on her finger looked like atalisman interposing between the poor vicar and the momentous act he wasmeditating.

  'I think, Miss Lake, it is pretty plain you are not acting for yourselfhere--you have been sent, Ma'am,' said the attorney, looking veryvicious, and speaking a little huskily and hurriedly; 'I quite conceiveby whom.'

  'I don't know what you mean, Sir,' replied Miss Lake, with grave disdain.

  'You have been commissioned, Ma'am, I venture to think, to come here towatch the interests of another party.'

  'I say, Sir, I don't in the least comprehend you.'

  'I think it is pretty obvious, Ma'am--Miss Lake, I beg pardon--you havehad some conversation with your _brother_,' answered the attorney, with asignificant sneer.

  'I don't know what you mean, Sir, I repeat. I've just heard, in the otherroom, from your wife, William Wylder, that you were about selling yourreversion in the estates, and I want to know whether that is so; for ifit be, it is the act of a madman, and I'll prevent it, if I possiblycan.'

  'Upon my word! possibly'--said the vicar, his eyes very wide open, andlooking with a hesitating gaze from Rachel to the attorney--'there may besomething in it which neither you nor I know; does it not strike you--hadwe not better consider?'

  'Consider _what_, Sir?' said the attorney, with a snap, and losing histemper somewhat. 'It is simply, Sir, that this young lady representsCaptain Lake, who wishes to get the reversion for himself.'

  'That is utterly false, Sir!' said Miss Lake, flashing and blushing withindignation. 'You, William, are a _gentleman_; and such inconceivablemeanness cannot enter _your_ mind.'

  The attorney, with what he meant to be a polished sarcasm, bowed andsmiled toward Miss Lake.

  Pale little Fairy, sitting before his 'picture-book,' was watching thescene with round eyes and round mouth, and that mixture of interest, awe,and distress, with which children witness the uncomprehended excitementand collision of their elders.

  'My dear Miss Lake, I respect and esteem you; you quite mistake, I ampersuaded, my good friend Mr. Larkin; and, indeed, I don't quitecomprehend; but if it were so, and that your brother really wished--doyou think he does, Mr. Larkin?--to buy the reversion, he might think itmore valuable, perhaps.'

  'I can say with certainty, Sir, that from that quarter you would getnothing like what you have agreed to take; and I must say, once for all,Sir, that--quite setting aside every consideration of honour and ofconscience, and of the highly prejudicial position in which you wouldplace me as a man of business, by taking the very _short turn_ which thisyoung lady, Miss Lake, suggests--your letters amount to an equitableagreement to sell, which, on petition, the court would compel you to do.'

  'So you see, my dear Miss Lake, there is no more to be said,' said thevicar, with a careworn smile, looking upon Rachel's handsome face.

  'Now, now, we are all friends, aren't we?' said poor Dolly, who could notmake anything of the debate, and was staring, with open mouth, from onespeaker to another. 'We are all agreed, are not we? You are all so good,and fond of Willie, that you are actually ready almost to quarrel forhim.' But her little laugh produced no echo, except a very joyless andflushed effort from the attorney, as he looked up from consulting hiswatch.

  'Eleven minutes past three,' said he, 'and I've a meeting at my house athalf-past: so, unless you complete that instrument _now_, I regret to sayI must take it back unfinished, and the result may be to defeat thearrangement altogether, and if the consequences should prove serious, I,at least, am not to blame.'

  'Don't sign, I entreat, I _implore_ of you. William Wylder, you_shan't_.'

  'But, my dear Miss Lake, we have considered everything, and Mr. Larkinand I agree that my circumstances are such as to make it inevitable.'

  'Really, this is child's play; _there_, if you please,' said theattorney, once more.

  Rachel Lake, during the discussion, had removed her hand. Thefaintly-traced line on which the vicar was to sign was now fairlypresented to him.

  'Just in your usual way,' murmured Mr. Larkin.

  So the vicar's pen was applied, but before he had time to trace the firstletter of his name, Rachel Lake resolutely snatched the thick, bluishsheet of scrivenery, with its handsome margins, and red ink lines, frombefore him, and tore it across and across, with the quickness of terror,and in fewer seconds than one could fancy, it lay about the floor andgrate in pieces little bigger than dominoes.

  The attorney made a hungry snatch at the paper, over William Wylder'sshoulder, nearly bearing that gentleman down on his face, but his clutchfell short.

  'Hallo! Miss Lake, Ma'am--the paper!'

  But wild words were of no avail. The whole party, except Rachel, wereaghast. The attorney's small eye glanced over the ground and hearthstone,where the bits were strewn, like

  Ladies' smocks, all silver white, That paint the meadows with delight.

  He had nothing for it but to submit to fortune with his best air. Hestood erect; a slanting beam from the window glimmered on his tall, baldhead, and his face was black and menacing as the summit of athunder-crowned peak.

  'You are not aware, Miss Lake, of the nature of your act, and of theconsequences to which you have exposed yourself, Madam. But that is aview of the occurrence
in which, except as a matter of deep regret, Icannot be supposed to be immediately interested. I will mention, however,that your interference, your _violent_ interference, Madam, may beattended with most serious consequences to my reverend client, for which,of course, you constituted yourself fully responsible, when you enteredon the course of unauthorised interference, which has resulted indestroying the articles of agreement, prepared with great care andlabour, for his protection; and retarding the transmission of thedocument, by at least four-and-twenty hours, to London. You may, Madam, Iregret to observe, have ruined my client.'

  'Saved him, I hope.'

  'And run yourself, Madam, into a _very_ serious scrape.'

  'Upon that point you have said quite enough, Sir. Dolly, William, don'tlook so frightened; you'll both live to thank me for this.'

  All this time little Fairy, unheeded, was bawling in great anguish ofsoul, clinging to Rachel's dress, and crying--'Oh! he'll hurt her--he'llhurt her--he'll hurt her. Don't let him--don't let him. Wapsie, don't lethim. Oh! the frightle man!--don't let him--he'll hurt her--the frightleman!' And little man's cheeks were drenched in tears, and his wee feetdanced in an agony of terror on the floor, as, bawling, he tried to pullhis friend Rachel into a corner.

  'Nonsense, little man,' cried his father, with quick reproof, on hearingthis sacrilegious uproar. 'Mr. Larkin never hurt anyone; tut, tut; sitdown, and look at your book.'

  But Rachel, with a smile of love and gratification, lifted the little manup in her arms, and kissed him; and his thin, little legs were claspedabout her waist, and his arms round her neck, and he kissed her with hiswet face, devouringly, blubbering 'the frightle man--you doatie!--thefrightle man!'

  'Then, Mr. Wylder, I shall have the document prepared again from thedraft. You'll see to that, Mr. Buggs, please; and perhaps it will bebetter that you should look in at the Lodge.'

  When he mentioned the Lodge, it was in so lofty a way that a strangerwould have supposed it something very handsome indeed, and one of thesights of the county.

  'Say, about nine o'clock to-morrow morning. Farewell, Mr. Wylder,farewell. I regret the enhanced expense--I regret the delay--I regret therisk--I regret, in fact, the whole scene. Farewell, Mrs. Wylder.' Andwith a silent bow to Rachel--perfectly polished, perfectly terrible--hewithdrew, followed by the sallow clerk, and by that radiant scamp, oldBuggs, who made them several obeisances at the door.

  'Oh, dear Miss Lake--Rachel, I mean--Rachel, dear, I hope it won't be alloff. Oh, you don't know--Heaven only knows--the danger we are in. Oh,Rachel, dear, if this is broken off, I don't know what is to become ofus--I don't know.'

  Dolly spoke quite wildly, with her hands on Rachel's shoulders. It wasthe first time she had broken down, the first time, at least, the vicarhad seen her anything but cheery, and his head sank, and it seemed as ifhis last light had gone out, and he was quite benighted.

  'Do you think,' said he, 'there is much danger of that? Do you reallythink so?'

  'Now, don't blame me,' said Miss Lake, 'and don't be frightened till youhave heard me. Let us sit down here--we shan't be interrupted--and justanswer your wretched friend, Rachel, two or three questions, and hearwhat she has to say.'

  Rachel was flushed and excited, and sat with the little boy still in herarms.

  So, in reply to her questions, the vicar told her frankly how he stood;and Rachel said--'Well, you must not think of selling your reversion. Oh!think of your little boy--think of Dolly--if _you_ were taken away fromher.'

  'But,' said Dolly, 'Mr. Larkin heard from Captain Lake that Mark isprivately married, and actually has, he says, a large family; and he, youknow, has letters from him, and Mr. Larkin thinks, knows more than anyoneelse about him; and if that were so, none of us would ever inherit theproperty. So'--

  '_Do_ they say that Mark is married? Nothing can be more _false_. I_know_ it is altogether a falsehood. He neither is nor ever will bemarried. If my brother _dared_ say that in my presence, I would make himconfess, before you, that he _knows_ it cannot be. Oh! my poor littleFairy--my poor Dolly--my poor good friend, William! What shall I say? Iam in great distraction of mind.' And she hugged and kissed the palelittle boy, she herself paler.

  'Listen to me, good and kind as you are. You are never to call me yourfriend, mind that. I am a most unhappy creature forced by circumstancesto be your enemy, for a time--not always. You have no conception _how_,and may never even suspect. Don't ask me, but listen.'

  Wonder stricken and pained was the countenance with which the vicar gazedupon her, and Dolly looked both frightened and perplexed.

  'I have a little more than three hundred a-year. There is a littleannuity charged on Sir Hugh Landon's estate, and his solicitor haswritten, offering me six hundred pounds for it. I will write to-nightaccepting that offer, and you shall have the money to pay those debtswhich have been pressing so miserably upon you. _Don't_ thank--not aword--but listen. I would so like, Dolly, to come and live with you. Wecould unite our incomes. I need only bring poor old Tamar with me, and Ican give up Redman's Farm in September next. I should be so much happier;and I think my income and yours joined would enable us to live withoutany danger of getting into debt. Will you agree to this, Dolly, dear; andpromise me, William Wylder, that you will think no more of selling thatreversion, which may be the splendid provision of your dear little boy.Don't thank me--don't say anything now; and oh! don't reject my poorentreaty. Your refusal would almost make me mad. I would try, Dolly, tobe of use. I think I could. Only try me.'

  She fancied she saw in Dolly's face, under all her gratitude, someperplexity and hesitation, and feared to accept a decision then. So shehurried away, with a hasty and kind good-bye.

  A fortnight before, I think, during Dolly's jealous fit, this magnificentoffer of Rachel's would, notwithstanding the dreadful necessities of thecase, have been coldly received by the poor little woman. But thatdelusion was quite cured now--no reserve, or doubt, or coldness leftbehind. And Dolly and the vicar felt that Rachel's noble proposal was themaking of them.