CHAPTER X.
"IT IS ONLY HE WHO MATTERS!"
Christina's thoughts that evening often travelled to the silent valley,and to the beautiful woman with the anguished face, who had made soprofound an impression upon her. Having tucked Baba safely into hercot, and heard the soft breathing which indicated that the blue-eyedbaby was sleeping, Christina returned to the sitting-room, and drawingan armchair close to the fire, took up a novel in which she was deeplyinterested. But to-night her thoughts refused to follow the chequeredfortunes of her heroine, and she no longer felt herself the leastthrilled over the approaching climax of the story. The strange pieceof real life into which she had been unwittingly plunged, interestedher far more than any heroes or heroines of fiction, and she soon foundherself with her book on her lap, and her own eyes fixed on the glowingcoals, whilst her mind recapitulated all the events of the past fewhours.
"It is just like something entrancingly exciting in a melodrama," shereflected: "that lonely house, and the beautiful lady with the whiteface, and that silent valley." Remembering the silence in the valley,she shuddered a little, and wondered whether the lady of theunfathomable eyes ever minded the loneliness and silence; whethersometimes she was afraid--down there in the stillness of thosesheltering woodlands.
"I don't suppose I shall ever know any more about her," the girl'sthoughts ran on, "but I should like to see her again. I never sawanybody like her in my life before, and she looked so sad; I wish Icould have helped her more." From this point her reflections passed onto subsequent events of the day: to her own audacious stopping of thebig motor; to the grey-eyed man whose failure to recognise her hadgiven her just a tiny pang of regret; to the blue-eyed man, who hadlooked at her with an admiration to which she was quite unaccustomed.The memory of it brought a little flush to her face, even now that shesat alone in the firelight, and brought with it, too, a stab ofresentment.
"I don't think I quite like anybody to look at me like that," shethought; "and, after all, even if I am only a nurse, earning my ownliving--I--am still a woman." She drew up her head with a proudgesture characteristic of her, and then her reflections slipped awayfrom the two men who had driven her to the doctor's house, and wanderedon to the doctor himself.
"I like _that_ man," she murmured emphatically, lifting her foot topush a protruding coal between the bars; "he wouldn't ever look at anywoman as if he didn't respect her, and a woman might put her wholetrust in him; so she might in--that other!" Rupert's face rose againbefore her mental vision, and she wondered as she had wondered manytimes that afternoon and evening, what was the pain that had carvedsuch deep lines in his face, and brought so haunting a look of miseryinto his eyes.
"His eyes seem as if he was looking all the time for something he haslost," she thought, repeating her former musings; "perhaps, if he isLady Cicely's cousin, I may see him again some day. I wonder what hisname is--besides Rupert? I only heard him called Rupert." She leantback in her chair, her book still upon her knee, her eyes seeing manypictures in the coals--pictures in which a man with a rugged face, andkind grey eyes, seemed to be continually walking beside a tall ladywith a beautiful white face, and eyes of unfathomable sadness andmystery, until the pictures merged themselves into dreams, andChristina slept peacefully. A loud knocking at the door startled herinto wakefulness, and jumping to her feet, she confronted Mrs. Nairne,who looked at her with injured amusement.
"Been asleep by the fire, missy, I suppose. I couldn't make you hearnohow, knock as I might. There's a gentleman in a motor-car at thedoor, wanting to speak to you all in a hurry."
"A gentleman--in a motor--wanting _me_?" Christina asked, feeling thatshe must still be in the world of dreams.
"Well, he said he wanted to speak to the young lady who was stayinghere, with the little girl," Mrs. Nairne answered, and Christina, afaint hope stirring at her heart that Lady Cicely's cousin might havecome to ask her about Baba, went quickly to the farmhouse door, to begreeted by Dr. Fergusson, who awaited her with obvious impatience.
"I came to see if I could get some help from you," he said, with noother preamble. "I have been to the house in the valley, and thingsthere are pretty bad."
"But--how can I help?" Christina asked.
"I want you to come back with me to the house, and stay there for thenight, with the lady of whom you told me to-day."
"I could not do that," Christina answered decidedly; "it is out of thequestion. I am here in charge of a little child. I could not go awayfor the night, and leave her."
"Wouldn't she be safe with the woman of the house?" Fergusson askedimperiously; "she looked to me a very reliable body."
Although they were alone at the door, he and Christina spoke in lowvoices; perhaps some of the mystery of the lonely valley and shut-inhouse, lingered with them still.
"Mrs. Nairne is in every way reliable, but Lady Cicely, my littlecharge's mother, has trusted me so entirely, I should feel I wasabusing her trust if I did what you ask."
"I am at my wits' end to know what to do," was the answer. "I don'tprofess to be able to understand the inwardness of all I saw at thehouse I have just left, but it is plain that there is some vital needfor secrecy. I can't possibly send a woman from the village to thesepeople, and yet they must have somebody for the night. I came to you,because I am sure you can hold your tongue."
"Certainly I can do that"; Christina laughed a little, and drew moreclosely round her the cloak she had snatched from its peg as she cameto the door, "and I would gladly--oh, most gladly, do anything I couldto help that poor lady. But, my duty seems to lie here."
"I should only ask you to come for a few hours. I will undertake thatyou shall be back here before your little charge is ready for you inthe morning. It is vitally necessary that someone should be with 'thatpoor lady,' as you rightly call her, and my thoughts flew at once toyou."
"I wish I knew what was right to do," Christina said wistfully; and ather words, Dr. Fergusson sprang from his car and seized her hands inhis.
"I will tell you," he said firmly; "it is right to come with me. Iwill explain to Mrs. Nairne as much of the circumstances as it isnecessary she should know, and I have no doubt she will come to therescue. Go and fetch whatever you will need for the night; it will bea night spent in sitting-up, not in bed; and I will settle with thegood woman."
Swept off her feet by the masterfulness which brooked no resistance,Christina obediently did his bidding, and when she returned to thedoor, found Mrs. Nairne in close conversation with the doctor.
"There, missy, that'll be all right, never you fear," she said asChristina appeared; "the doctor, he've been telling me there's a poorlady in great trouble, and that you could comfort her by sitting upwith her a bit. Why, I'll sleep with the little missy with all thepleasure in life, and you can feel as safe about her, as if you washere yourself."
When the doctor had handed her into the car, and they drove swiftlyaway, the girl felt as if she were merely a puppet, whose strings werebeing pulled by Fergusson's strong hands. She had a curious sense ofhelplessness, that was not wholly unpleasant. So dominating was thepersonality of the man who sat beside her, that she was convinced hewas only doing what was right in whirling her away with him through thedarkness; and his brown eyes were so steadfast, so reliable, that whentheir glance met hers, she felt safe. He spoke scarcely at all to her,until they had turned off the moorland into the steep lane, that led tothe house amongst the woods. Then he said quietly, steering the car ata walking pace:
"I found an uncomfortable state of things in the house to which we aregoing, when I got there to-day."
"Was someone very ill?" Christina questioned; "the lady said 'a matterof life and death.'"
"It was certainly that," he answered grimly, "considering I was onlyjust in time to save her from being murdered, by as violent a homicidalmaniac as I ever saw."
"Oh!" Christina exclaimed with horror.
"At first, I couldn't get into the place at all. Then a ser
vant cameto the gate, and she seemed in a terrible state. No wonder! She tookme into the house, and in one of the rooms I found the lady of whom youhave been speaking, in the grip of a madwoman, lighting for her life.My God! I was only just in time. It seems the woman had been ill, andhad had paroxysms of what they thought was delirium. As a matter offact it was acute mania; and, as I say, I was only just in time."
"What have you done with----" Christina broke off with a shudder, butFergusson saw that her face was white.
"With the unfortunate madwoman? I have secured her for the time, and Imean to drive her over to-night to the nearest asylum. But I must takethe servant with me, and that is why I want you. Your beautiful ladycannot be left alone."
"I thought it must have been a man who was ill," Christina said; "shecertainly spoke of 'him' and 'he.'"
"I saw no man, only the madwoman and a servant."
"And why is there all this mystery?" Christina said, with bewildermentin her voice; "what makes so much secrecy necessary?"
"Ah! that I do not know," the doctor answered gravely. "I can'tunderstand it myself, but it is quite obvious that for some reason thelady of the house is most anxious to keep her whereabouts hidden fromthe world. And--when one looks at her, one feels it is impossible todo anything but respect her wishes, and help her keep hersecret--whatever it may be," he added under his breath.
"My beautiful lady has bewitched him, too," Christina reflectedshrewdly; and, for the rest of the way, spent her time in silentlyspeculating upon what lay before her.
The green door stood ajar now, and a lighted lantern had been placed onthe ground just inside it. By its rather uncertain light, Fergussonled her across the garden and into the hall, where a wood fire wasburning brightly. They did not, however, linger here, but, crossingit, ascended a wide staircase to the floor above, on which were severalrooms. The door of one of these stood wide open, a stream of lightfrom it flooded the landing, and the doctor, tapping gently on thedoor, entered, Christina following him half fearfully, dreading whatshe might see. But no dreadful sight met her gaze. She saw only asimply-furnished bedroom, and in the bed, propped up by pillows, andwith her face turned anxiously towards the door, lay the beautifulwoman, whose image had haunted the girl ever since the afternoon. Shelooked, if possible, even whiter than when she had accosted Christinain the lane, and her eyes seemed darker and more heavily pencilled withshadows; but she greeted her visitors with a smile, and held out herhand in welcome.
"How good of you to come," she said, grasping the girl's hand in anervous, clinging clasp; "how very good of you. I think I shouldreally have been quite safe just for a few hours, but the doctor wouldnot let me stay here----"
"Alone?" Fergusson exclaimed, when her sentence remained unfinished;"certainly not. Now, see here, Miss----" he paused and looked atChristina.
"It sounds very absurd to say so, but I don't know your name," he added.
"Moore," she answered.
"Well, Miss Moore, all I want you to do is to sit with this lady, seethat she takes some food through the night, and don't allow her toworry about anything."
A faint laugh broke from the woman in the bed.
"What an easy order to give, and what a hard one to carry out," shesaid; "but--I will promise--to try and keep my mind at rest--as far aspossible," she added under her breath; "and you are taking poor Marionwhere she will be safe and well cared for?"
"I am taking her where she will do no one any harm," Fergusson answeredgrimly, "and I will bring your servant back as soon as I can. She is atreasure, that servant of yours."
"I think she is worth her weight in gold," was the quiet answer; "sheis more than servant; she is a friend--a faithful, loyal friend."
"You are fortunate to have found such an one," Fergusson smiled, "andnow I must go and get that poor soul away; and Miss Moore will keep youcompany, and take care of you, until I bring your servant back."
As he spoke the last words he was gone, closing the door softly behindhim, and carrying with him some of the sense of health-giving strengthand vitality, with which his very presence seemed to fill the room.
Unusual as was the position in which she found herself, Christina hadsufficient perception to see that the nerves of the woman she had cometo tend, were already stretched to breaking point, and that a normalmanner, and matter-of-fact way of taking the situation for granted,would do more than anything else to relieve the tension.
She took off her hat and cloak, therefore, with quiet deliberation,unrolled the dressing-gown she had brought with her, and was proceedingto hang it over a chair before the fire, when her patient said suddenly:
"Watch them go; tell me when they have gone. Tell me when you and Iare alone."
Christina moved from the fire to the bedside.
"You want me to see them off from the gate?" she asked, and the othernodded.
"Yes. Lock and bolt the gate after them. When the doctor comes back,we shall hear him. But the door must be locked behind them now." Hervoice rose in feverish excitement, her hands moved restlessly on thesheet, her eyes were bright with eagerness, and Christina could havesworn that fear looked out of them, too.
"Of course I will go and do as you wish," she said very gently, herhand stroking the restlessly moving hands; "you will lie very quietlyhere whilst I am gone?"
"Yes, oh yes!" the accents were impatient. "Only go--go down now.They must be ready to start."
Slipping on her cloak again, Christina ran downstairs, pausing half-wayas she heard a sound of voices and footsteps coming from the corridorthat intersected the hall, and that was just out of her sight.
"Carefully--lift her feet a little--take care round this corner--so,"she heard the sentence jerked out in the doctor's voice, and from herpost of observation, she presently saw him emerge slowly into the hall,walking backwards, and holding an inanimate woman's head and shouldersin his arms. Holding her feet, bearing half the burden of herunconscious form, was a tall woman of the servant class, upon whoseface the rays of the hall lamps fell fully, and Christina could see allthe shrewd kindliness of the plain features.
"Gently--wait a moment to rest. There--that's right--now then. Ah!the lantern," he exclaimed; "we must have the lantern across that darkgarden."
"I will bring the lantern," Christina called out, rather tremulously,but running down the stairs without delay. "I was sent to lock thegate after you; I can light you across the garden."
She picked up the lantern from the hall table upon which Fergusson hadplaced it; and, with one shuddering glance at the flushed,heavily-breathing woman, who was being carried from the house, she putherself at the head of the strange little procession, lighting theirfootsteps as well as she was able. It was no easy task to lift theunfortunate creature, first through the green door, and then into thecar, but Fergusson being an athletic man, with muscles in excellentorder, and the tall servant being strong and well-built, their jointefforts succeeded in laying their burden along the cushions.
Christina stood at the door for a moment, watching the car turn up thelane, but when its brilliant lights were engulfed by the darkness, sheturned back with a shiver into the garden, locking and bolting the doorwith trembling fingers, and running up the dark path as though all thepowers of evil were at her heels. The front door of the house shesecured as firmly as the other, then, more than half-ashamed of thenameless terror that shook her, she sat down for a moment on an oakchest by the fire.
"You silly coward," she said to herself; "you know you and a sick womanare alone in the house, and what are you afraid of?" But for all herattempt at courage, as she flew up the stairs again, she repeatedlylooked over her shoulder, with a nervous dread of she knew not what.
"Have they gone--safely gone? And is the door locked?" The wordsgreeted her ears directly she entered the bedroom upstairs, and thedark eyes of the woman in the bed looked at her, with agonisedquestioning and dread.
"Yes; they have driven away, and everything is locked up, an
d now Iwant to make you comfortable, and poke up the fire, and we shall bequite cosy in this nice warm room." Christina spoke cheerfully, alltrace of her own nervous fears had vanished; she was intent on calmingthe troubled woman, whose feverish excitement was still only tooapparent.
"Nice and cosy?" the woman laughed drearily. "I can't rest quietlyuntil I know:--he---- Can I trust you?" She pulled herself boltupright in the bed, and looked fixedly at Christina; "will you besilent about everything you see, everything you hear?"
"Why, of course. But, you will try and go to sleep now, won't you?"Christina said soothingly, with a startled certainty that her beautifulcharge must be delirious.
"Go to sleep?" The dreary laugh came again. "How could I sleep? Imust lie here; there is no help for that. Marion has done her workwell, though, poor soul! she did not mean to harm me. But I can't liehere whilst he--you will promise to keep silence?"
"I promise," Christina said hastily, intent only on quieting her at anycost; "is there something you want me to do?"
The other nodded.
"Go along the passage that leads off this landing," she said, "knock atthe third door on the left; and ask--my--the person who is there ifthere is anything he needs. He may need--food--we could do nothing forhim whilst Marion--and the doctor----"
She dropped back upon the pillow with closed eyes, and so exhausted alook, that Christina bent over her, too anxious about her well-being tothink of her own surprise at the order just given her.
"Never mind me," the dark eyes opened, the brows drew together in afrown; "only go to him--and do what he needs. I shall be all right; itis only he who matters."
Unfeignedly puzzled, and with all her nervous tremors trooping backupon her, Christina went across the landing, and turned along thepassage as directed. Who and what was she going to find in that thirdroom on the left? And why was there a necessity for all this secrecy?Her heart beat very fast, so fast that it nearly suffocated her, as shepassed on and paused at the third door, wondering again with a sinkingdread, what new mystery was to be revealed to her? To her soft knock,a man's voice responded:
"Come in," and she entered a warm and luxuriously-furnished apartment,which appeared to be sitting-room and bedroom combined. Closelywrapped in a thick dressing-gown, and seated in an armchair by thefire, was a man whose cadaverous face and sunken eyes seemed to showrecent recovery from some severe illness; and his efforts to rise, whenhe saw a stranger at the door, only resulted in his sinking back with agroan.
"Who are you?" he asked; "why have you come? Where is Madge?"
Christina fancied she detected a faint foreign accent in his words,though he spoke fluent English.
"I was sent by--by the lady of the house," Christina answered."I--don't know her name, but she is--very tired." She substituted thatword for "ill," when she saw how the sick man started and flushed."She asked me to come and see if there is anything you need."
"Madge tired?" he said in a slow, dreamy voice; "it is so difficult tothink that Madge can be tired. She used to be such a tower ofstrength, always such a tower of strength."
His sunken eyes glanced wistfully at Christina; she felt compelled toutter some words of comfort.
"Perhaps she is only tired--just for the time," she answered, though inuttering the words a remorseful remembrance smote her of the fragilewhite face of the woman she had left. "She will feel stronger againsoon."
"Do you think so? Do you really think so." He leant forward, andChristina saw how his hands were trembling; "you see, I feel--I can'thelp feeling--that it is my fault--all my fault. First, the oldtrouble; and then, my coming back to burden---- But you are a strangerto us," he exclaimed, breaking off and looking at her with a newalertness; "why did Madge send a stranger? Where is Elizabeth?"
Christina, jumping to the conclusion that Elizabeth must be thekindly-faced servant, and anxious to check the sick man's risingexcitement, said gently:
"She is busy just now, and they sent me because I am a friend; and youmay be quite sure that I shall never speak a word to anyone of what Isee or hear in this house."
"Then you don't know----" he began, breaking off again, and looking ather almost furtively.
"I know nothing," was the grave response. "I came here just forto-night, to help--because--because Elizabeth is busy. That is all."
To her great relief, he accepted her explanation without furtherquestioning, the truth being that his brain, exhausted by illness,refused to work with any rapidity, being ready enough to acceptwhatever was put before it; and, with a weary sigh, he turned away fromthe girl, and held out his thin hands to the fire.
"Now, can I fetch you anything, or do anything for you?" Christinaasked brightly; "try to look upon me as--as Elizabeth, and let me dofor you what she would do if she were here."
His eyes turned to her again; he smiled.
"You are not very like Elizabeth," he said, his glance taking in theslight figure in its neat green gown--the girlish face, the eager eyes;"a very fertile imagination would be needed to see Elizabeth in you."
"I am afraid I am not half so capable as Elizabeth," she said, ignoringthe subtle compliment, "but I will do my best."
"Will you give me your arm to the bed then? I am too much of a crippleto walk there alone, but I can get myself into it when I am there. Andif you would further be good enough to bring me from next door somemilk, and whatever other eatables Elizabeth has prepared for me, Ishall be very grateful. Though I cannot imagine why Elizabeth isleaving me to a stranger to-night," he went on, with the petulance of asick child.
Christina thought it best to ignore the latter half of this sentence,and having fetched from the dressing-room next door, a tray ofappetising viands, which she deposited on a table by the bed, she cameto the sick man's side to give him the help he needed. It was withgreat difficulty that he dragged himself from his chair, and the girl'sstrength was taxed to the utmost to support his weight, when he leantheavily upon her shoulder. He was considerably taller than he hadlooked when sitting in the chair; and he was so weak, and apparently socrippled, that his progress across the room was a slow and painful one.Short though the transit was from chair to bed, his breath came fast ashe sank down upon the pillow, and for several seconds he looked so wornand exhausted, that Christina did not dare to leave him. Into the milkput ready for him, she poured some brandy from a flask on the tray,and, holding the glass to his lips, was thankful to see that he coulddrink its contents, and that having done so, the colour graduallyreturned to his face.
"Better now," he said slowly, opening his sunken eyes and looking atChristina with a smile that gave his face a pathetic wistfulness. "Ishall be all right soon."
"Can't I do anything more for you?" Christina asked, still troubled byhis exhausted looks.
"No, nothing more. Come back in half an hour to see if I am allright--just to console Madge," he answered, smiling again, as shesoftly stole away.
"Did he ask many questions? Had he heard anything of what happened?He was not frightened or upset?" The questions poured out in a torrentfrom the lips of the white-faced woman in the other room, whenChristina re-entered it. She was sitting up in the bed, her handsclasped in front of her, her eyes dark with anxiety.
"He asked very little," Christina answered, "and I think he could nothave been upset by hearing anything that happened. I am sure he couldhave heard nothing," she added earnestly; "he is going to bed now, andI am to go back presently to see that he is all right. He said itwould comfort Madge."
A smile flickered over the white face.
"My poor Max," she whispered under her breath. "I could not bear it ifanything else happened to hurt him; I could _not_ bear it." Thepassion in her voice brought a lump into Christina's throat. "He hashad so much to bear. Ah! my God! give him peace at the last!"
The vehement voice died into silence, and Christina, feeling very youngand forlorn, and quite unable to cope with a grief and passion sointense, could only stand silently by
the bed, her hand just touchingthe restless hand, on which a thick wedding ring was the only ornament.
"You don't know what it means to care like that for a man," thepassionate voice spoke again; "you are so young--just a slip of agirl"; the woman's dark eyes rested tenderly, almost sadly, onChristina's face. "You don't know what it means, to care so much for aman that--no matter what he is, or does, he is your world, your wholeworld. Do you?" she asked, leaning forward and seizing the girl'shands in her own hot ones.
"No--o," Christina faltered, whilst, unbidden, there flashed into hermind the vision of a rugged face, and two grey eyes full of hiddenpain, "but--I think I can understand," she ended shyly.
"You dear little girl," the two hot hands drew her down, and Christinafelt a gentle kiss on her cheek; "some day you will know, if I judgeyour eyes aright. Nature did not give you those eyes, and that facefor nothing. I wonder----" the woman's glance suddenly concentrateditself upon the girl. "I wonder why something in your face seems to mefamiliar. Can I ever have seen you before?"
"No, I could not ever forget you if I had seen you," Christina answeredquickly; and the other, though she smiled, still looked into the girl'sface with a puzzled expression.
Half an hour later, Christina, upon whom her responsibilities weighedwith double heaviness, now that she had realised the presence of thesick man in the house, went to visit the room along the passage. Thepatient there was now in bed, and the girl observed that the look ofintense exhaustion had left his face, and that he was breathingnormally and quietly.
"Tell Madge I am quite all right," he said, his voice sounding strongerthan before; "don't let her worry about me. She must rest herself ifshe is tired. Tell her I shall sleep like a top!"
To Christina the night that followed was one of her most curiousexperiences. In a strange house, with people of whose very names shewas ignorant, and about whom hung a mystery, the nature of which wasunknown to her, she felt as though she had become part of a story, orof a puzzling dream, from which she should presently awake in her ownbed at Graystone, with Baba's cot beside her.
Wrapped in her thick dressing-gown she sat by the fire in the room ofthe woman, who in her own mind she called "the beautiful lady,"sometimes turning the leaves of a book she had found on the table,sometimes looking dreamily at the flickering flames. In accordancewith the doctor's orders, she occasionally fed her patient, who, thoughvery wide-awake, spoke but little during the long night hours.Christina, by the light of the softly-shaded lamp, could see how seldomher companion's eyes were closed, how almost continually they werefixed, either upon her, or upon the firelit walls.
Once or twice she uttered some brief remark, but no word was said thatmade clear to the watching girl any of the strange happenings in thisstrange house. But when the grey light of dawn was beginning to stealthrough the window curtains, the woman in the bed said gently:
"It was wonderfully good of you to come here and take care of me likethis. I wonder whether you are thinking you have come into a place ofmad people?"
"No, I did not think that."
"You have taken a great deal on trust, and though it is very much toask of a stranger, I am going to ask you still--to take me--on trust.I have not done--anything wrong; if it is folly--well, I shall have topay the price."
To this enigmatical sentence Christina could think of no reply, but shewent to the bedside, and gently touched the shapely hand on whichrested that plain gold ring.
"Your eyes tell me you are a faithful soul," the low voice continued;"you belong to the race of people who make good friends. I haveanother--good friend in the world, but he--will you still take me ontrust?" she ended abruptly, her fingers closing round Christina's hand.
"I couldn't do anything else," the girl answered quickly; "you need nottell me you have done nothing wrong; I know it. Nobody who looked intoyour face could ever distrust you," she added, in a burst of girlishenthusiasm.
"Some day--if we meet again, and if you care to hear it--you shall hearall the story, but not now--not now. And you--you will keepsilence--about--everything here?" The dark eyes searched her faceanxiously. "Remember, even the doctor knows nothing."
"I will keep silence about everything," Christina answered solemnly,stooping for the second time to touch the beautiful face with her lips.
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