Works of Ellen Wood

by Ellen Wood

  He had been very kind to her, there was no doubt about that, not only to her, but for her sake to those most dear to her. At one time came some beautiful hot-house grapes, at another some delicate game. Little Sarah called them the gifts of the “good unknown.”

  The rail was open all the way to quiet Ashleigh now, and although the place did not boast of a railway van or even porter, still the station master always found some willing lad ready to take the basket to the cottage, and great was the excitement it caused to Sarah and even quiet old Hannah, but then the latter always knew her darling Miss Amy would marry an Earl at the very least.

  Mrs. Neville never questioned, but looked more searchingly in Amy’s face, laid her hand more caressingly those days on her head, and spoke more softly and lovingly, while Amy never said a word.

  Once, when Sarah came dancing into the room, in her wild spirits, with another beautiful bunch of grapes, Mrs. Neville laid her thin, wasted hand on Amy’s, and said gently, —

  “Is it all right, Amy?”

  “All,” was the reply, and Mrs. Neville leant back again, apparently satisfied.

  But things could not go on thus for ever. Robert Vavasour, in his lonely home, thought more and more of Amy, and the days he was idly wasting away from her, when he ought to be striving for her love. At length, his solitude became unbearable, he could stand it no longer; whether wise or no, he must leave Somerton, the place was growing unbearable to him, and go to Ashleigh. But could he go without an intimation of some kind to her he loved? Yes, he must; for how send a note to Amy? Would she not look upon his letter as an impertinence, seeing she had given him no permission to write? So he made up his mind to go to Ashleigh without warning, for come what might, he must go.

  Robert Vavasour was not of an impulsive character, apt like Charles to be led away on the sudden spur of the moment, but he felt that remaining at Somerton would never advance his interest with her in whom all his dearest hopes of life were centred; he should simply lose the kindly feeling he had already gained in her heart, or what was worse still, be forgotten altogether.

  The craving wish to see her, grew stronger and stronger within him each day, until he could no longer refuse to gratify it, and ere another week passed over his head, he was speeding along the road to Ashleigh, arriving there by the one o’clock train.

  It was a stormy day, heavy showers of rain, with occasional sunshine, but Robert Vavasour, who saw everything couleur de rose, was charmed with the lovely scenery and quaintness of the cottages; in one of which, — perhaps the prettiest in the place, — he secured some, pleasant rooms for the time of his stay and then walked out in the hope of meeting her he loved. Vain hope! as Mrs. Neville seemed so much weaker, Amy did not leave her side. Hannah and little Sarah passed him on their way down the lane, and on their return, gave rather a high-flown account of the tall, handsome gentleman they had seen. Amy never guessed, or even thought of Robert Vavasour, but her heart fluttered strangely as it quickly passed through her mind that it might be Charles Linchmore. But alas! she failed in recognising the description so eagerly given and descanted on by Sarah.

  The morning of the next day was hopelessly wet, and Robert Vavasour’s courage rose — with his anxiety to see Amy, — to fever heat; and, determined to see her at all hazards, he bent his steps towards the cottage.

  Sarah, tired of the dulness within doors, was gazing idly from the window, little thinking that her curiosity concerning the stranger she had seen only the day before was so soon to be gratified. But there he was coming along the road, and very eagerly the little girl watched him.

  “Oh! sister Amy,” cried she, “here’s the gentleman I saw yesterday, do come and look at him before he goes out of sight; he’ll turn down the elm tree walk in another moment.”

  But before Amy could have reached the window, had she been so inclined, he had opened the little gate, and was coming up the gravel walk.

  Sarah shrank away from the window, and clapped her hands with delight. “Why he’s coming here, only think of that, Mamma. Oh! I guess it must be the ‘good unknown’ himself.”

  In another moment all doubt was at an end, and Robert Vavasour in the little sitting-room, welcomed and thanked by Mrs. Neville at least, and Sarah also, if he might judge by her glistening eyes, although she was too shy to say a word, while Amy, if she did not say she was glad to see him, did not rebuke him for coming, nor appear to look on his visit as an intrusion; and soon he was quite at home with them all, and when Amy, who had been out to Hannah, to try and make some addition to their homely dinner, returned, she was surprised to see on what friendly terms he was.

  “I am afraid, dear mamma,” she said, “you are exerting yourself too much. You are so unaccustomed to see a stranger.”

  “Scarcely a stranger, Amy. Mr. Vavasour claims our friendship for his kindness; and besides, he tells me he has known you for some time.”

  “Some two months, is it not?” replied Amy.

  “Hardly so long, I think, Miss Neville. It seems but yesterday since I first saw you.”

  “Are you only here for the day?” asked Amy.

  “I am here for a week,” he replied; “some good lady in the village has allowed me to take up my abode with her for that time, or it may be longer, as any one would be tempted to remain in the clean pretty room she showed me.”

  “It must be Mrs. Turner, Mamma; her cottage is so very nice.”

  “If it is,” replied Mrs. Neville, “you will have no cause to complain, Mr. Vavasour; we stayed with her for a day or two on our first arrival, and were much pleased with her attention, and the cleanliness of the house.”

  “Is this place often visited by strangers? It must in summer be a lovely spot. It is prettier than Brampton, Miss Neville.”

  “Prettier, but not so grand; and the views are not so extensive.”

  “You prefer Brampton?”

  “Oh, no! Ashleigh is my home, and then I like it for its very quietness.”

  “It will no longer be quiet,” replied Mrs. Neville. “Stray visitors have often reached it since I have been here; and now the easy access to it by rail will, of necessity, bring more, and Ashleigh will, perhaps, become immortalized by the lovers of pic-nics. But here is Hannah to announce dinner. You must excuse my joining you, Mr. Vavasour, as I am unable to leave the sofa.”

  After dinner the weather changed; the heavy clouds cleared away, and a faint gleam of sunshine shone out.

  Amy proposed a walk, as she thought her mother would be glad of a little rest and quiet after her exertion, so with her sister she went with Robert Vavasour down into the village.

  So dreary as the lane looked now, with its tall leafless trees! But their visitor was charmed with everything, and would not allow its desolation. They inspected his new abode, which turned out to be Mrs. Turner’s; then through the village, and home by road, and found Mrs. Elrington had come to spend the evening — and what a pleasant one it was! Even Amy allowed that, although she did not feel quite at rest within herself, or satisfied at Robert Vavasour’s having come to Ashleigh; still she found herself later on in the evening laughing and chatting, in something of the old spirit, at seeing her mother take an interest in the conversation, and not nearly so weary and tired as she usually was.

  “You are so very good,” said Amy, as she went out to open the cottage door for Robert, as he went away.

  “Good! Miss Neville. How? In what way?”

  “In being content with our dull life here.”

  “It is anything but dull to me. My life lately has been a simply existing one — the slow passing of each day, or counting the hours for the night to arrive, and bring a short respite from the monotony of a dreary life. Being here is — is heaven to me! in comparison to my late existence at Somerton Park.”

  There was no mistaking the impassioned tone in which this was said. Amy hastened to change the subject.

  “I am sure your visit has given Mamma pleasure.”

  “Mrs. Nevil
le seems a great invalid, I do not wonder at your anxiety for her while absent.” As a stranger he had remarked the exhaustion and weariness, although to Amy her mother had seemed so much better.

  “Do you think she looks so very ill?” she asked, anxiously.

  “I think there is great weakness,” he replied, evading a direct answer. “Have you a clever medical attendant here?”

  “Yes, I think so. Dr. Sellon, is at least, very kind and attentive, no one could be more so; he says Mamma merely wants rousing, and we must not allow this apathy and weariness to increase, but strive to divert her mind, even as it was this evening, and all through your kindness.”

  “Ashleigh is a lovely spot, but rather too quiet for an invalid whose mind requires rousing, and whose vital energies seem so prostrated. I should suggest a total change of scene. A new and novel life, in fact, in a place perfectly strange to her, would, I should think, conduce more towards her recovery than all the doctors and medicine in the world.”

  “Dr. Sellon has never said so; never even hinted at such a thing,” replied Amy, thoughtfully. Alas! how could it be managed, even with the sacrifice of all her salary.

  “Have you had any further advice?” he asked.

  “No. I wrote the other day to Dr. Ashley, our old doctor, who attended us all for so many years. I thought perhaps he might be coming this way and would call; but, although he wrote me a very kind reply, he does not even hint at such a stray chance happening.”

  “Does he offer any opinion or advice on Mrs. Neville’s case?”

  “Yes. You can read it if you like,” and she took it from her pocket and gave it to him; “only do not mention anything about it to Mamma, she might not like my having written; or it might make her nervous in supposing herself worse than she is. It is not exactly a secret,” she added, blushing slightly, “as Mrs. Elrington knows of it, and approved of my letter.”

  “Do not wrong me by supposing I should think so, Miss Neville. I will take it home, and read it at my leisure, if you will allow me. Good night.”

  The door closed, and he was gone before Amy could reply; but as she turned to re-enter the sitting-room, she sighed and murmured,

  “There is a fate in some things. Is there in my life?”

  CHAPTER II.

  FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE.

  “My life went darkling like the earth, nor knew it shone a star, To that dear Heaven on which it hung in worship from afar. O, many bared their beauty, like brave flowers to the bee; He might have ranged through sunny fields, but nestled down to me; And daintier dames would proudly have smiled him to their side, But with a lowly majesty he sought me for his Bride; And grandly gave his love to me, the dearest thing on Earth, Like one who gives a jewel, unweeting of its worth.” Massey.

  A fortnight passed away, and still Robert Vavasour lingered at Ashleigh, although he seemed no nearer winning Amy’s love than when he first came; yet he could not tear himself away. Sometimes he was gloomy and desponding; and on these days he never came near the cottage. At others his hopes rose when only a smile or glance kinder than usual came from her he loved, and then he was the life of the little party. But when he fancied Amy was beginning to care for him a little more, she would suddenly shrink within herself again, and become as cold and reserved as ever, but then he never thought that it was his almost tender manner that chilled and frightened her, lest he should think she was encouraging his suit. Still he hoped on, would not despair. What lover ever does? and he loved her so dearly.

  One morning, finding Mrs. Neville alone, he told her of his love for Amy, of the compact between them, and of his hopes. The widow did not discourage them, she liked Mr. Vavasour, and would have rejoiced at seeing Amy his wife; still she would not influence Amy in any way, but leave her free to choose for herself; but since she loved no other, — and Mrs. Neville half sighed as if she almost doubted it, — she thought in time the young girl’s heart might be won.

  And with this Robert Vavasour was obliged to be content. Content? he was anything but that; he was impatient, and fretted at the delay and slow progress he was making, he would have been more than human if he had not; but with Amy he was ever kind and gentle; she knew nothing, saw nothing of his anxious heart and sometimes despairing hopes.

  And so the days flew on, Mrs. Neville neither better nor worse; some days more languid, at others less so and able to sit up; but with no certainty about it, so as to lead those most anxious to believe she was in anyway advancing towards recovery.

  One morning they were surprised by a visit from Dr. Ashley. He had taken a holiday, he said, and thought he could not do better than run down to see his old friends, and was putting up, strange to say, at Mrs. Turner’s, whose cottage had been pointed out to him as the prettiest in the village; and had certainly stretched like india rubber for the occasion, but then the gentleman already lodging there had kindly consented to share the parlour with him; and they were to dine together during his stay.

  If Amy suspected Robert Vavasour of being concerned in this sudden move, she said nothing; but then she had grown very silent of late; perhaps she pondered these things more deeply in her heart; certain it was she ceased to be so distant and reserved to Robert, and he in consequence became more gentle and loving. Perhaps if Amy’s thoughts could have shaped themselves into words, they would have been, “He does not love me or he would be here; and I? what can I do?”

  But Charles Linchmore’s staying away was no proof that he did not love Amy, believing as he did that her heart was another’s; had he not thought so, not even his sister-in-law’s frowns and sarcasms would have kept him from her side. As it was, he knew not even of Robert Vavasour’s presence at Ashleigh, as Amy, when she wrote to Julia and Anne, never mentioned it, feeling sure of a bantering letter in return; as of course they would guess of his love for her, and imagine it was going to be a match, whether she denied it or no; certainly they would never think of the true reason that had brought him — namely, her refusal.

  It was the second and last day of Dr. Ashley’s stay; one of Mrs. Neville’s worst days, and she had not as yet made her appearance downstairs when Mrs. Elrington entered the room where the two sisters sat.

  “Mamma has not come down yet,” said Amy, “she was very wakeful all night, and I persuaded her to rest a little longer this morning, although she was very loath to do so, on Dr. Ashley’s account.”

  “Has he been to see her yet?”

  “No, but I am expecting him every moment. Mamma was so much better yesterday that perhaps she is now suffering from the over-excitement of seeing him.”

  “Very possibly. Old times must have come before her so forcibly, and they are but sad ones for your mother to look back to. It is perhaps just as well Dr. Ashley should see her at her worst. What is his opinion of Mrs. Neville?”

  “I did not ask him, and he never volunteered to tell me; but I must ascertain to-day. Do you not think I ought to?”

  “Certainly I do, Amy; you would be wrong if you did not. I think if I were you I would ask his true,” and Mrs. Elrington laid a stress on the word, “opinion on your mother’s case.”

  “Do you think her very ill?” asked Amy.

  “Yes, Amy, I do,” replied Mrs. Elrington, gently. “That is to say, I think her very weak, weaker than she was when I wrote to you after her recovery from the severe illness she had.”

  Amy sighed. “I sometimes fancy,” she said, “that Ashleigh, lovely as it is, does not suit Mamma; you know her quiet life here is so very different from what she has been accustomed to; but I do not see how a change is to be effected.”

  “It would be a great expense, certainly.”

  “It would, and the means to effect it with will be smaller; as I fear, Mrs. Elrington, I shall have to resign my situation at Brampton; I cannot leave Mamma so lonely, neither can I be happy away from her while she is so ill.”

  “I have been thinking the same thing, Amy; your mother certainly does require all your care and attention. It would
not be right to leave her.”

  “Do you think Mrs. Linchmore will be annoyed at my leaving in the middle of my quarter without any hint or warning whatever?”

  “Not under the circumstances, Amy. You were happy there?”

  “Yes, as happy as I shall ever be away from home; I was very fond of my pupils, of Edith especially.”

  “Was she the youngest?”

  “No, the eldest. An orphan niece of Mr. Linchmore’s, and adopted by him at her mother’s and his sister’s death. I shall regret leaving Brampton. I think change must be one of the worst trials of a governess’s life.”

  “It is a sad one, no doubt, when, as in your case, a governess happens to be attached to those she is leaving. Perhaps,” continued Mrs. Elrington, as she rose, “I had better not wait to see your mother now. As soon as you have made up your mind, Amy, I would advise your writing at once to Mrs. Linchmore without delay.”

  Amy leant back in her chair very sorrowfully after Mrs. Elrington had gone. If she had had any doubt about the propriety of leaving Brampton, her mother’s old friend — she, whose advice she so valued — had cleared it away; it was evident the step must be taken, however slow her heart might be to break asunder the one tie that yet seemed to bind her to Charles Linchmore.

  “What are you thinking of, Amy?” asked Sarah, who had been watching her sister for some time. “You look so sad.”

  “Do I? I was thinking of Mamma, and whether we could do anything to make her better; and about my leaving Brampton, Sarah.”

  “But that will be so nice to have you always here; you can’t be sorry about that, sister.”