The Lonely Stronghold

by Mrs. Baillie Reynolds

  CHAPTER XI

  MISS LILY MARTIN

  The sight of Dr. Balmayne's little run-about car creeping slowly alongthe snowy road across the moor was indeed in the nature of an event.From Tuesday until Saturday only a few farm carts had dared the track.The doctor stopped at the outer gateway, crossing the causeway on foot,so his approach was not visible from the Pele itself. Olwen had,however, been out to feed the chickens, their mistress being actually inher bed; and Mrs. Baxter ran into the courtyard in some excitement toannounce the arrival, descried by herself from the vantage ground of theGatehouse.

  Mr. Guyse being out, Olwen had no hesitation in going to the archway togreet the doctor. She stood, in fur cap and big coat, smiling and rosy,under the fangs of the rusty portcullis.

  "Well," said Balmayne, drawing off his glove to greet her, "so you arestill alive!"

  She laughed gaily. "Did you expect to see my head fixed upon a spikeoutside the battlements?" she inquired. "No; I find Castle Terribilstrange enough, but possible."

  "Good!" he answered. "Strange, but possible! You seem to have a finetaste in adjectives."

  "I have felt like ransacking a dictionary for them since I came here,whenever I am wrestling with the difficulty of conveying to my whollyPhilistine relations anything like the impression this place produces!"

  He stopped midway as they strolled across the quadrangle, gazing up atthe almost unbroken wall of the Pele, grim and grey, on that sidepierced only by the loopholes which lighted the newel stair.

  "It's still fine, you know," he said half grudgingly. "When it was firstbuilt it possessed, of course, the supreme attribute ofarchitecture--that of complete fitness for its intended purpose. Buteven now that this is so no more--now that it is no praise of a dwellingthat it shall also be a fortress--it is still wonderful, stilldignified."

  "Like some people one knows, it turns its most forbidding face to theapproaching stranger," she replied. "On the other side, where itoverlooks the valley, the Tudor Guyses opened out windows quiterecklessly."

  "They had no hesitation in adapting it to their needs. We are afraid todo that now, the spell of the past is too strong for us."

  "Humph! Somebody or other, not so many generations back, perpetrated_that_!" observed the girl, pointing the finger of scorn to the low uglykitchen huddled against the south wall, its chimney sulkily asmoke.

  He laughed. "Well, that's not encouraging, I own. And so you arefinding existence possible?"

  "I am having an experience," was her reply, "and I was rather in searchof that. However, it is early days yet---- I suppose the snow doesn'tlie all the year round, even here. As regards Mrs. Guyse, I fear herbad cold IB my fault. I urged her to go for a sleigh drive, and she isso unused to fresh air that it gave her cold, so I am feeling rather afailure just at present."

  "Your theory was right, but in practice it went back on you," he repliedamused. "A thing which does sometimes happen, even in these anythingbut tropical climes----"

  "When a vessel is, so to speak, snarked," she concluded. "Yes, you havehelped me to a word. Mrs. Guyse is, so to speak, snarked. Really sheis a good deal like the Bellman, in being courteous and grave, but theorders she gave are enough to bewilder a crew--oh, I'm talking nonsense,but really it is such a queer household! The poor lady resented mycoming, but, as a fact, she is in sad need of a companion."

  "Yes," he replied reflectively, laying his hat and gloves on the halltable, for they had entered the Pele while they talked, "but her lastexperience in that direction was a bit shattering, wasn't it?"

  She gave a startled glance. "Was it? I didn't know. Tell me."

  He coloured slightly. "I beg your pardon. I thought you might havebeen told something of it by this time. However, as the Guyses have saidnothing, I have no business to be discussing their affairs."

  "Certainly, you are right," but she said it reluctantly. She had theidea that this man might supply her with a clue, tell her somethingwhich might form a key to the characters of the strange people amongwhom she found herself.

  "Will you wait a moment while I let Mrs. Guyse know?" she said, andvanished from his sight behind the curtain which hid the stair-foot.

  When she returned, he stood with his back to the stove, contemplatingthe barrel vault. It was never anything like full daylight in thevestibule owing to the primitive nature of the fenestration.

  "Have you seen the well yet?" he asked.

  "No," she replied with vivid interest. "Where is it?"

  "Almost under your feet where you stand. Get Guyse to show you. It'sbeautiful water, and was the sole source of supply until they came tosettle here, ten years ago, when he brought water up the hillside intothe courtyard."

  "What a place!" she laughed.

  "Have you ever thought to wonder how they conveyed any furniture to theupper floors?"

  "I did, but never made inquiries. Now one thinks of it, how could theyhave got a billiard-table in?"

  "Pulled out all the mullions of the big south window and hauled thetable up with ropes outside the wall. That was Ninian's father allover."

  "They must have done the same thing all over the house!"

  "I believe they did, except for such things as had been carried up inpieces and put together on the spot. You know, in the old times whenthere was raiding on the border, the cattle were all driven in here,where we stand, the women and children being accommodated above.Sometimes there were too many beasts for this place, and on oneoccasion, at least, some of them were stabled in the Gatehouse with thegarrison--but perhaps Guyse has told you all this?"

  "No, indeed, we don't have very much to say to one another."

  "Well, the legend is that the attacking enemy made a breach in themasonry of the Gatehouse tower, and that a bull jumped out through thehole and fell into the ravine. That is why they call the causeway theBull-drop."

  "I didn't know it was so called."

  "Yes, it is; and the legend goes on to assert that when another bullshall drop into the ravine there shall occur the birth of a fair-hairedGuyse, and the Guyses of Guysewyke shall come into their own again."

  "Does that mean, get back their lands?"

  "The folk hereabout think it means that title and all shall pass to theelder branch. The present Lord Caryngston, you know, belongs to thejunior line, the title having been conferred on his great-grandfather."

  "The present Mr. Guyse has quite black hair."

  "You haven't seen his brother?"

  "His brother? I didn't know he had one."

  "Oh, yes, they are twins, and Wilfrid is as fair as he is dark. Well, Imust not keep you here chattering but go and see my patient! Lead on,please."

  They proceeded up the newel, Olwen's brain busy with the facts justlearned.

  Dr. Balmayne, while not recommending any more sleigh drives at present,urged his patient to as much change of air as the Pele could afford. Hesaid the banqueting hall was the only really airy room in the house, andthat she ought to spend the greater part of her time in it. Olweneagerly said that she was quite sure that could be arranged; but as shemarked the obstinate fold of the lady's pale lips, she guessed that, inface of the patient's opposition, no orders of the doctor could becarried out.

  As they passed from the bedroom to the sitting-room, the doctor asked,"What has become of the ayah?"

  "Oh, I don't expect she is far off; but she asked me to bring youupstairs, she is very anxious not to seem to be usurping any prerogativeof mine."

  "Dear me!" he said in a tone of great surprise. "She must have alteredvery much of late."

  "Why, was she jealous of the last companion? But I forgot, I ought notto ask you that question."

  They had reached the hall once more. "Oh," he said, "there can be noharm in my saying that the Hindu was very jealous of Miss Martin, andthey never got on well."

  "Why, she is kindness itself to me--almost too kind! She overwhelms mewith devotion. Sh
e has some sort of superstitious idea that it is herdestiny to serve me. Look here!" she held out her hands, the nailsbeautifully manicured; then, turning her back to display her head, "Areyou a judge of hair-dressing? What do you think of this for a winter'smorning in the wilds of the Border? Why do you look at me like that?"

  In fact, his expression was that of consternation. "I--I amsurprised--what you tell me surprises me. What can be the woman'sobject? For she does nothing without an object."

  "To induce me to stay, I should think," laughed Olwen. "She may havefound that it is not easy to detain anybody young in this weird spot."

  "That may be," he said slowly, but not as if he were convinced. "Areyou an orphan?" he asked abruptly; and her reply that she was caused himto furrow his brow. He said nothing, however, picking up his hat andgloves slowly from the table.

  Looking up, he caught her anxious eyes, and a smile kindled in his own."Certainly the coiffure is tip-top, but Sunia had fine material to workupon, if I may be pardoned the remark." Tone and manner were alike justright, and she laughed with a clear mind.

  "Shall you be coming again?" she wished to know.

  "Oh, yes. Mrs. Guyse must not leave her room until I have seen her. Itis a great thing for her to have your society; but I--I feel"--hedropped his voice--"as if I ought perhaps to utter one word of warning.The ayah is not to be trusted; and----"

  She smiled up at him with limpid eyes. "Are you going to echo Mrs.Askwith's warning to 'keep Muster Nin at a distance'?" she replied inthe same undertone. "Well, you needn't be uneasy. We are not hitting itoff. I have had to administer one or two snubs, and he now says hethinks I was born to be the mistress of a reformatory."

  They went out together into the frosty twilight. When they had gonesome steps she remarked: "The hall is not a safe place in which to talk.You never know where the ayah is. However, she is welcome to haveoverheard all that we have said to-day."

  "Mrs. Askwith's advice was good; I am in a position to tell you that itwas by no means unnecessary. But I think you are all right; you seem tohave plenty of sense. Would it be an impertinence if I asked how youhappened to come here?"

  "Oh, very simply. I advertised, and Mrs. Guyse answered myadvertisement. It wasn't quite what I wanted, but they pay well, and Ithought it would be a beginning. I don't expect to be here very long,and if it grows in any way uncomfortable I shall leave."

  "Good!" he said; and added after thought, "I wish you were not quite soisolated. You have literally no neighbours. There is nobody nearerthan the vicarage at Lachanrigg, and Mr. and Mrs. Baines are both overseventy, so during the winter they might as well not exist as far as thePele is concerned."

  They strolled out across the Bull-drop. Just as they reached the outergate Ninian Guyse rode up, mounted on Deloraine.

  "Hallo!" said he, with a swift glance at the two. "Risked your preciousFordette on these roads, eh?"

  "Don't you sneer at my tin-kettle! She's as game a little machine asever hummed along these God-forsaken tracks," replied Balmayne. "Well,I've seen your mother, and she ought soon to be all right. Just aslightly relaxed throat which has sent up her temperature. I am tellingMiss Innes to persuade her to pass more time in your billiard-room, orlibrary, whatever you call it. It is spacious and airy, and while shegoes out so little, she must take all the air she can get indoors."

  "Yes, the doctor has put an idea into my head," chimed in Olwen, as thedoctor shook hands, and hastened to where his chauffeur was cranking upthe motor. "Good-bye, doctor, and thank you! I'll expect the medicineby the postman to-morrow and yourself the day after--and I'll rememberall your directions!"

  The car started. Ninian, after standing, a moment as if in profoundthought, took Deloraine's bridle, and Olwen and he walked across thecauseway.

  "Dr. Balmayne has been telling me that they call this the Bull-drop,"said she conversationally.

  "Oh, indeed! What more has he been telling you, I wonder?"

  "Something extremely interesting--that there is a well under the floorof the hall. I do so want to see it!"

  "There's nothing to see."

  "Oh, if it's any trouble, it really doesn't matter in the least. Pleaseforget that I mentioned it, and let me say a word about Madam. I havebeen wondering why she doesn't use the billiard-room more; it is muchthe nicest room in the house, and not a bit draughty, and I believe Ihave discovered the reason."

  He turned his face to her, but the gathering night hid his expression."You have noticed that my mother doesn't like the billiard-room?"

  "Evidently she doesn't like being there."

  "And you think you know why?"

  "Yes. I think it is because she is not comfortable there. There is nosofa upon which she can lie down."

  "I wonder if by any chance you are right," he mused, speaking for thefirst time since she had known him quite earnestly and naturally. "Itmight be worth trying."

  "Exactly what I was going to suggest," she broke in eagerly. "Ofcourse, I can see that no sofa could be carried upstairs. But I havebeen studying the catalogue from Barton's, the big Leeds people, andthey have those canvas lounges which fold up. With the cushions off thedining-room sofa and some pillows we could make one of those quite comfyfor her. The one I liked is only thirty shillings, carriage paid. Wecould move back the settle, put up the big leather screen, set a tableclose by, and she would be almost as cosy as she is upstairs."

  He checked Deloraine in the courtyard and began to unsaddle him. "It'sa rattling good idea. I'll write and order the thing to-night."

  "Oh, thanks! I am glad you don't snub my poor little plan!"

  "Why should I snub it?"

  "Somehow I thought you would."

  "You think you know all about me, don't you?"

  "On the contrary, how can I know anything except what you have shownme?"

  He made no answer, and in the dusk she escaped, hurrying upstairs totell Sunia what the doctor had said and to prepare a fomentation forMadam's throat.