The Long Vacation

by Charlotte M. Yonge

  Faith's meanest deed more favour bears, Where hearts and wills are weighed, Than brightest transports, choicest prayers, That bloom their hour and fade.--J. H. NEWMAN.

  That return to Brompton was the signal for the numerous worries awaitingClement. First, the doctors thought him much improved, but declared thata return to full work at St. Matthew's would overthrow all the benefitof his long rest, and would not hear of his going back, even withanother curate, for an experiment.

  Then all went down to Vale Leston together. Mr. Ed'dard was welcomedwith rapture by his old flock. Alda had been almost ill with excitementand delight, and had not words enough to show her ecstasy over herbeautiful daughter, nor her gratitude to Geraldine, to whose managementshe insisted on attributing the glorious result. In vain did Geraldinedisclaim all diplomacy, Lady Vanderkist was sure that all came ofher savoir faire. At any rate, it was really comfortable to be betterbeloved by Alda than ever in the course of her life! Alda even intimatedthat she should be well enough to come to Brompton to assist in thechoice of the trousseau, and the first annoyance was with Clement fornot allotting a disproportioned sum for the purpose. He declared thatFrancie ought not to have more spent on her than was reserved forher sisters, especially as it would be easy for her to supply alldeficiencies, while Alda could not endure that the future Lady Ivinghoeshould have an outfit unworthy of her rank, even though both Wilmet andGeraldine undertook to assist.

  There were other difficulties, for which the sojourn at Vale Leston wasto be dreaded. Gerald had been of age for two months, and there wereleases to be signed and arrangements made most difficult to determine inthe present state of things. Major and Mrs. Harewood wanted to wind uptheir residence in the Priory, and to be able to move as soon as thewedding was over, since Franceska begged that it might be at theonly home she remembered, and her elders put aside their painfulrecollections to gratify her; so that it was fixed for early August,just a year since her unprepared appearance as Mona.

  After all, Alda was really too ill to go to London, and Franceska hadto be sent in charge of her aunt Cherry and of her sister Mary.Lady Rotherwood would be in town, and might be trusted to have nounreasonable expectations.

  Poor Sophy! Penbeacon's destiny was one of the affairs that could not besettled, and therewith her own, though her mother could not succeed inpenetrating any of the family with the horror of giving Lord Ivinghoesuch a brother-in-law.

  In the midst of the preparations came a letter from Gerald. He didindeed write every Sunday, but of late his had been hurried letters: hewas so fully occupied and had so much writing on hand that he could notindulge in more length.

  "You have been urging me," he said, "to find out what my mother knows. Ihave not liked to press the subject while she was so ill, as she alwaysmet every hint of it with tears and agitation. However, at last, Lidabrought her to it, and we really believe she knows no more than we dowhat became of her first husband. She never heard of him after she fledfrom him. She was almost a child, and he had been very cruel to her. Butshe did tell us where we may be nearly certain of finding out, namelyfrom Signor Menotti, Via San Giacomo, Genoa, or his successors, aman who trained singers and performers, and moreover took charge ofBenista's money, and she thinks he had considerable savings. Poor woman,I believe she had no idea of the harm she might be doing me, thoughit was scarcely in human nature to see prosperity look so aggressivewithout trying to profit thereby; and when she had put herself intoO'Leary's power, the notion was to make an income out of me by privatethreats and holding their tongues. That I should have any objectionto such an arrangement, except on economical principles, never enteredtheir heads, and they tried to make as much as possible out of either meor Clement, by withholding all the information possible till it waspaid for, and our simultaneous refusal to be blackmailed entirelydisconcerted them, and made them furious. Lida said the man was violentwith her mother for letting out even what she did to trousseau, and thefirst annoyance was with Clement for not allotting a disproportioned sumfor the purpose. He declared that Francie ought not to have more spenton her than was reserved for her sisters, especially as it would be easyfor her to supply all deficiencies, while Alda could not endure that thefuture Lady Ivinghoe should have an outfit unworthy of her rank, eventhough both Wilmet and Geraldine undertook to assist.

  There were other difficulties, for which the sojourn at Vale Leston wasto be dreaded. Gerald had been of age for two months, and there wereleases to be signed and arrangements made most difficult to determine inthe present state of things. Major and Mrs. Harewood wanted to wind uptheir residence in the Priory, and to be able to move as soon as thewedding was over, since Franceska begged that it might be at theonly home she remembered, and her elders put aside their painfulrecollections to gratify her; so that it was fixed for early August,just a year since her unprepared appearance as Mona.

  After all, Alda was really too ill to go to London, and Franceska hadto be sent in charge of her aunt Cherry and of her sister Mary.Lady Rotherwood would be in town, and might be trusted to have nounreasonable expectations.

  Poor Sophy! Penbeacon's destiny was one of the affairs that could not besettled, and therewith her own, though her mother could not succeed inpenetrating any of the family with the horror of giving Lord Ivinghoesuch a brother-in-law.

  In the midst of the preparations came a letter from Gerald. He didindeed write every Sunday, but of late his had been hurried letters: hewas so fully occupied and had so much writing on hand that he could notindulge in more length.

  "You have been urging me," he said, "to find out what my mother knows. Ihave not liked to press the subject while she was so ill, as she alwaysmet every hint of it with tears and agitation. However, at last, Lidabrought her to it, and we really believe she knows no more than we dowhat became of her first husband. She never heard of him after she fledfrom him. She was almost a child, and he had been very cruel to her. Butshe did tell us where we may be nearly certain of finding out, namelyfrom Signor Menotti, Via San Giacomo, Genoa, or his successors, aman who trained singers and performers, and moreover took charge ofBenista's money, and she thinks he had considerable savings. Poor woman,I believe she had no idea of the harm she might be doing me, thoughit was scarcely in human nature to see prosperity look so aggressivewithout trying to profit thereby; and when she had put herself intoO'Leary's power, the notion was to make an income out of me by privatethreats and holding their tongues. That I should have any objectionto such an arrangement, except on economical principles, never enteredtheir heads, and they tried to make as much as possible out of either meor Clement, by withholding all the information possible till it waspaid for, and our simultaneous refusal to be blackmailed entirelydisconcerted them, and made them furious. Lida said the man was violentwith her mother for letting out even what she did to Lance, and he meantto put a heavy price even on the final disclosure, in the trust (which Ishare) that it may prove the key to the mystery. She had no notion thatthe doubt was upsetting my position. Poor thing, she never had a chancein her life--gipsy breeding at first, then Benista's tender merciesand the wandering life. She could not fail to love my father till hisrequirements piqued her, and it was a quarrel, exasperated perhaps bythe commencement of his illness, over her neglect of my unlucky self,and her acceptance of Schnetterling's attentions, that led to herabandoning him. I really do not think she ever realized that it was asin. That good Pere Duchamps is the first priest of any kind she everlistened to, and he has had a great effect upon her. He would like toextend it to Lida and me, but Lida is staunch to her well-beloved Mr.Flight as well as to me, and there is a church on the other side thebay to which I take her when our patient is well enough to spare her towalk, or we can afford the crossing. Easter was a comfort there.

  "The warm weather has revived the patient, and she may live some monthslonger, though she is a mere skeleton. Lida tends her in the mostaffectionate manner, and is really a little angel in her way. She hasgot some private pupils in music, and is d
elighted to bring in grist tothe mill, which grinds hard enough to make me realize the old days youare so fond of recollecting.

  "Don't ask me to send you the Lacustrian. I am ashamed of it, and of myown articles. Nothing will go down here but the most highly spiced, andit is matter of life and death to us, as long as my mother lives, tokeep on the swaying top of the poplar tree of popularity. You woulddespise the need, and talk of Felix, but it is daily bread, and I cannotlet my mother and sister starve for opinions of mine. One comfort foryou is that if I ever do come home again to reign at Vale Leston, Ishall have seen the outcome of various theories of last year, and provedwhat is the effect of having no class to raise a standard or to look upto. I don't think I shall be quite so bumptious, and I am quite sure Ishall value my Cherie's tenderness much better than I have ever done,more shame for me! Love to the bride and all at Vale Leston. There isan old age of novelty about these eastern states, quite disgusting incomparison with the reverend dignity of such a place as Vale Leston. Younever thought that I appreciated it! You will find no fault with me onthat score now. The lake is beautiful enough, but I begin to hate thesight of it, especially when a Yankee insists on my telling him whetherwe have in all Europe anything better than a duck-pond in comparison.Little Lida is my drop of comfort, since she has ceased to be mortallyafraid of 'Brother.' Love to all and sundry again.

  "Your loving G."

  There was a consultation over this letter, which ended in JohnHarewood's volunteering to go to Genoa, and find out this Menotti or hisrepresentative, returning in time for the wedding, and hoping that theuncertainty would thus be over in time for the enjoyment of a trulyprosperous event.

  A letter that came before his departure rendered Geraldine doublyanxious for the decision. Mrs. Henderson sent it to her to read, sayingthat it was by Lady Merrifield's advice, since she thought that itshould be known how it was with Gerald, for even to Dolores he had nottold half what Ludmilla related.

  "MY DEAREST MRS. HENDERSON,

  "It is a long time since I received your dearest, kindest of letters,and if I did not answer it sooner, it was not from want of gratitude,but attendance on my poor dear mother and assistance to our landladyoccupies me at every minute that I can spare from giving music lessonsto some private families, and an evening class. I am very thankful to beable to earn something, so as to take off something of the burthen on mydear brother's shoulders. For, alas! the care and support of my motherand me weigh very heavily upon him. The proprietor of the Lacustrian hasparted with his other clerk, and my brother has the entire businessof not only writing, extracting for, and editing the paper, but ofcorrecting the press, and he dares not remonstrate or demand betterpayment, as we live from week to week, and he could not afford to bedismissed. He is at the office all day, beginning at six in the morningto meet the central intelligence, he only rushes home for his meals,and goes back to work till twelve or one o'clock at night. Even then hecannot sleep. I hear him tossing about with the pain in his back thatsitting at his desk brings on, and his hands are so tired by writing,and with the heat, which has been dreadful for the last few weeks, andhas taken away all the appetite he ever had. You would be shocked tosee him, he is so thin and altered; I cannot think how he is to continuethis, but he will not hear of my writing to Lady Travis Underwood. Heis never angry, except when I try to persuade him, and you never sawanything like his patience and gentleness to my poor mother. She neverdid either, she cannot understand it at all. At first she thought hewanted to coax the confession out of her, and when she found that itmade no difference, she could not recover from her wonder--he, whom shehad deserted in his babyhood, and so cruelly injured in his manhood, todevote himself to toiling for her sake, and never to speak harshly toher for one moment. She knew I loved her, and she had always been goodto me, except when O'Leary forced her to be otherwise, but his behaviourhas done more to touch her heart than anything, and I am sure she is,as Pere Duchamps says, a sincere penitent. She is revived by the summerheat, and can sit under the stoop and enjoy the sweet air of the lake;but she is very weak, and coughs dreadfully in the morning, just when itis cooler, and my brother might get some sleep. She tries to be good andpatient with us both, and it really does soothe her when my brother cansit by her, and talk in his cheerful droll way; but he can stay but avery short time. He has to rush back to his horrid stuffy office, andthen she frets after him and says, 'But what right have I to such ason?' and she begins to cry and cough."

  "Ah!" said Clement, as Geraldine, unable to speak for tears, gave himthe letter. "This is a furnace of real heroism."

  "Christian heroism, I am sure," said Geraldine. "Oh, my boy, I am proudof him. He will be all the better for his brave experiment."

  "Yes, he had an instinct that it would be wholesome, besides theimpelling cause. Real hardship is sound training."

  "If it is not too hard," said she.

  "'Let not their precious balms break my head,'" said Clement.

  "I do not like that pain in the back. Remember how he dragged hislimbs when first we had him at home, and how delicate he was up tothirteen--only eight years ago!"

  "Probably it will not last long enough to do him much harm."

  "And how nobly uncomplaining he is!"

  "This has brought out all the good we always trusted was in reserve."

  "Better than Emilia's experiment," sighed Geraldine.

  For Emilia Vanderkist, before her year was over, was at home, havingbroken down, and having spent most of her holidays with Mrs. PeterBrown, the wife of Sir Ferdinand's partner. She had come back, notlooking much the worse for her hospital experience, but with an immensedeal to say of the tyranny of the matron, the rudeness of the nurses toprobationers, the hardness and tedium of the work to which she had beenput, and the hatefulness of patients and of doctors.

  Anna sympathized with all the vehemence of her sisterly affection,and could hardly believe her aunts, who told her that things must havechanged in a wonderful manner since the time of Angela's experiences,for she had been very happy in the same place, and made no complaints.

  Emilia had written to her cousin Marilda to express her willingness toreturn so soon as the Travis Underwoods should come home, and inthe meantime she remained at Vale Leston, not showing quite as muchtolerance as might be expected of the somewhat narrow way of life ofher sisters. She did not like being a lodger, as it were, in Sophy'sbedroom; she found fault with the parlour-maid's waiting, complained ofthe noise of the practising of the three little sisters, and altogetherreminded Geraldine of Alda in penance at home.

  Major Harewood was detained longer than he expected, for on arriving atGenoa he found that Menotti had migrated, and had to follow him to hisvilla on the Apennines, where, in the first place, he had to overcomethe old man's suspicions that he was come to recover Benista's means onbehalf of his family, and then at last was assured that the man had beendead long before 1870. Still John Harewood thought it well to obtainpositive evidence, and pursued the quest to Innspruck, where Menottiaverred that the man had been left by his companions dying in the careof some Sisters of Charity.

  So it proved. At Innspruck, the record of the burial of GiovanniBenista, a native of Piedmont, was at length produced, dated the 12thof February, 1868, happily and incontestably before Zoraya's marriage toEdgar Underwood!

  John Harewood made haste to telegraph the tidings to Vale Leston and toJonesville, and came home exultant, having dispelled the cloud thathad brooded over the family for nearly a year, and given them freely toenjoy the wedding.

  Would they do so the more or the less for Emilia's announcement thatshe had a letter from Mr. Ferdinand Brown, eldest son of Sir Ferdinand'spartner, offering her marriage, and that she had accepted him? He was,of course, a rich man, but oh! how Emily, Annie, and Gerald had beenwont to make fun of him, and his parents.

  "But, my dear Nan," said she, "I shall be able to do much more good inthat way."

  "Oh!"

  "And really I cannot go back to those intolerable
backgammon evenings atKensington Palace Gardens."

  CHAPTER XXXIII. -- A MISSIONARY WEDDING