Lady Hester; Or, Ursula's Narrative

by Charlotte M. Yonge

  CHAPTER VII.

  HUNTING.

  Emily told Mr. Dayman the whole truth. Poor fellow! he could not faceFulk again, and went back to Canada.

  No doubt Emily went through a great deal, but we never exactly knewwhat.

  Fulk wrote to Mrs. Deerhurst, stating that he hoped in four years' timeto be able to purchase the farm, of which he had the lease, and withoutgoing into the past, asking her sanction to the engagement.

  She sent a cold letter in answer, to desire that the impertinenceshould not be repeated.

  And Emily wrote that her mother would not hear of the engagement, andshe knew Fulk would not wish her to deceive or disobey, "And so we musttrust one another still; but how sweet to do that!"

  And when any of us met her there were precious little words and looks,and Fulk meant to try again after the four years. In the meantime hewas much respected, and had made himself a place of his own. It chafedHester to perceive that though she had pulled us down she could notdepress us after the first. She had lowered her position, too, by hermarriage. At first Perrault was on his good behaviour, and made afavourable impression among the second-rate Shinglebay society Hestergot round her; but as the hopes of the title coming to her diminished,he kept less within bounds, did not treat her well at home, and took toracing and gambling.

  I never could get Fulk to share my alarms about Alured, but he did notthink Perrault's society fit for the boy, told Alured so, and forbadehim to go to Spinney Lawn. But though Alured was much improved as toobedience, it was almost impossible to enforce this command. Hesterhad some strange fascination for him. She would fiercely caress him attimes, and he knew she was his sister, and could not see why, when shewas often alone, he should not be with her. The passion for Trevor wasin full force, too, and the boys could not be content only to meet atthe farm. We tried sending Alured to make visits from home in theholidays, but he did not like it, and he was not happy; his heart waswith his home, and with Trevor. We tried having a tutor for the springholidays before he went to Eton, but it did not answer. He was not asensible man, did not like dining in the keeping-room with thehousehold, and though he did it, he showed that he thought it acondescension.

  Moreover, instead of attending to Alured, he was always trying to flirtwith Jaquetta, infinitely disturbing Arthur Cradock's peace; and theend of it was, that Alured was a great deal more left to his owndevices than ever he had been before, and exasperated besides.

  He was in that mood, when one day, as he was riding along the lanes, hemet Perrault and Trevor coming in from hunting.

  Alured had a very pretty pony, but he was growing rather large for it,and Fulk had promised that, if he worked well at Eton, he should have alovely little Arab, that was being trained by a dealer he knew; andthat another year, Fulk himself would go out hunting with him.

  Perrault began to pity him for having missed the run. Why did not hisbrother take him out? Fulk's old mare was a sort of elephant, and itwas not convenient to get another horse just then. That Alured knewand explained, but he was pitied the more for being kept back, andPerrault ended by saying that if on the next hunting day he could meetthem at the corner of the park, a capital mount should be there for him.

  The hour was attainable if Alured made haste with his studies, and heaccepted gladly, and without compunction. Fulk had never in so manywords forbidden him, and besides, Fulk had delegated his authority tothe hateful tutor.

  But the next morning, before Alured was up Trevor was in his bedroom."You won't go, Trevorsham?"

  "Yes, I shall; I'm not such a muff as to stay for that fellow."

  But I need not try to tell what passed, as of course I did not hear it;I never so much as knew of it till long after, only Trevorsham wasdetermined, and Trevor tried all round the due arguments of principle,honour, and duty; but Alured had worked up a schoolboyself-justification on all points, and besides had the stronghold of "Iwill," and "I don't care."

  Then Trevor told him, under his breath, he was sure it was not a safehorse. But my high-spirited boy laughed this to scorn. "And perhapshe'll play you some trick," added Trevor. But Trevorsham was stillundaunted in his self-will, till Trevor resolutely announced hisdetermination, if nothing else would stop it, of going at once to Fulk,and informing him.

  The boy endured all the rage and scorn that a threat so contrary to allschoolboy codes of honour and friendship might deserve. I believeAlured struck him, but at any rate Trevor Lea gained his point, thoughat the cost of a desperate quarrel.

  Alured held aloof and sulked at him for the remaining fortnight athome, and only vouchsafed the explanation to us that "Lea was a horridlittle sneak, and he had done with him."

  They did not make it up till they met in the same house at Eton, andthen, though Trevor was placed far above Alured, they became asfriendly as ever. In fact, I believe, Alured, having imprudentlydenominated himself by his full title, was having it kicked out of him,when the fortunate possessor of the monosyllabic name came and stood byhim and made common cause, to the entire renewing of love.

  Poor Trevor! his was a dreary home. His mother loved him passionately,but she was an anxious, worn, disappointed woman, always craving,restless and expectant of something, and Perrault was always tormentingher for money. He was deeply in debt, and though he could not touchthe bulk of her fortune--neither, indeed, could she, as it was conveyedto trustees--he was always demanding money of her, and bullying her;while matters grew worse and worse, and they were in danger of havingto let Spinney Lawn and go to live abroad.

  As to keeping Trevor at Eton that was becoming impossible. AtChristmas the tutor consulted Fulk about how he should get Lea's billspaid, and intimated that he must not return unless this were done.

  And poor Trevor himself had little comfort except with us. Weencouraged him to come to us, for we had all come to have a very reallove for the dear lad himself, and we saw he was unhappy at home;besides that, it was the only way of keeping Alured contented.

  Trevor had entirely left off inviting Alured to Spinney Lawn. Partly,he was too gentlemanly and good a boy not to be ashamed of the men whohung about the stables; and besides, we now perceive that the sameawful impression that was on Emily Deerhurst was upon him, and that hehad a sense that Trevorsham was regarded in a manner that made hispresence there a peril.

  He was but a boy, and it was an undefined horror, and he never breatheda word of it; but oh, there was a weight on that young brow, an anxiouslook about the face, and though now and then he would be all joy andfun, still there was the older, more sorrowful look about him.

  We thought he was grieving at not going back to Eton, and Fulk wasliving in hopes of an answer to the letter he had written to FrancisDayman about it, but that was not all. One day--Christmas Eve itwas--Mr. Cradock, on coming into the church to look at the hollywreaths, found Trevor kneeling on his father's gravestone in thepavement, sobbing as if his heart was breaking, and heard between thesobs a broken prayer about "Forgive"--"don't let them do it"--"turnmother's heart."

  Then Mr. Cradock went out of hearing, but he waited for the boyoutside, and asked if he could do anything for him.

  "No." Trevor shook his head, thanked him, and grew reserved.