kinddoctor called every day to report on the health of his patient. Hegladly undertook to do all in his power in carrying out Mr. Kyffin'swishes, and promised not to betray the donor of the money which was tobe placed at Mrs. Tryon's disposal.
Roger Kyffin could with difficulty tear himself away from theneighbourhood. He received constant communications from Dr. Jessop, whosent him rather more favourable reports of Mrs. Tryon. Five yearspassed by--Mrs. Tryon's mother was dead. She had no wish to leave herlittle cottage. Where, indeed, could she go? Her only employment wasthat of watching over her little boy. During this time several changeshad taken place in the neighbourhood. Sir Harcourt Tryon died. Thoughhe must have been aware of his grandson's existence, he had neverexpressed any wish to see him. At length the mother caught cold. Theeffect was serious. Dr. Jessop became alarmed, and wrote an account ofher state to Mr. Kyffin. She could no longer take Harry out to walk,and had therefore to send him under charge of a nursemaid.
One day he and his nurse were longer absent than usual. What could havekept them? The young mother went to the garden-gate several times, andlooked anxiously along the road. She felt the wind very cold. Againshe entered the house. Could she have mistaken the hour? The next timeshe threw a shawl over her shoulders, but the cold made her coughfearfully. At last she saw a female figure in the distance. It wasSusan the nurse, but Harry was not with her. Mrs. Tryon had to supportherself by the gate till the girl came up.
"Where is Harry? where is my child?" she exclaimed.
"I could not help it, ma'am, I did my best to prevent it," answered thenurse, crying.
Poor Fanny's heart sank within her; her knees trembled.
"Prevent what?" she exclaimed; "what has happened? where is my boy?"
"No harm has come to him, ma'am, though there might have been, but it isall right now," answered Susan. "We were going on, Master Harryskipping and playing in front of me, when I saw a carriage coming alongthe road very fast. I ran on to catch hold of him, but he darted awayjust under the horses' feet. I screamed out, and the coachman pulledup. An old lady was in the carriage, and putting her head out of thewindow she asked what was the matter? Seeing the little boy, she wantedto know whose child he was. When I told her, she ordered the footman tolift him into the carriage. She looked at his face as if she wasreading a book, then she kissed him and sat him down by her side. Ibegged the lady to let me have him again, as I wanted to come home.`No,' she said, `go and tell your mistress that his grandmother hastaken him with her, that she is pleased with his looks, and must takehim for a short time.' I knew, ma'am, that you would be vexed, and Ibegged the lady again and again to let me have him, but she answeredthat he must go with her, and that it would be better for him in theend."
Poor Mrs. Tryon had been listening with breathless eagerness to thisaccount of the nursemaid's. Leaning on the girl's arm, she totteredback to the house, scarcely knowing whether or not she ought to bethankful that the boy had been seen by his grandmother. One thing sheknew, she longed to press him to her own bosom. She felt, however, weakand ill. While yet undecided how to act, Dr. Jessop's carriage drove upto the gate. As he entered the house, she was seized with a fit ofcoughing, followed by excessive weakness. As she was leaning back inthe arm-chair, the doctor felt her pulse. As soon as she could speakshe told him what had happened. He looked very grave.
"My dear madam," he said, "I am sorry that her ladyship has carried offthe little boy. If you will give me authority, I will drive on andbring him back to you. An old friend of yours has come down to thisneighbourhood, and he wishes to see Harry. He has heard that you areill, and desires to know from your own lips your wishes with regard toyour boy."
"What do you mean, doctor?" asked the dying lady, looking up with aninquiring glance at the doctor's face. "The child is so young that Ishould not wish to part from him for some years to come."
"My dear lady," said Dr. Jessop, solemnly, "the lives of all of us arein God's hands. You are suffering from a serious complaint. It wouldbe cruel in me not to warn you that you are in considerable danger."
"Do you mean to say I'm going to die, doctor--that I must part from myboy?" gasped out poor Fanny, in a faint voice.
"I should wish you to be prepared, should it be God's will to call youaway," answered the doctor, much moved. "If you will give authority toyour devoted friend, Mr. Roger Kyffin, I am sure he will act the part ofa parent to your boy. I expect him here this evening, and as he wishesto see Harry, I will drive over to Lady Tryon and request her ladyshipto allow me to bring your boy back to you. Certainly in most cases achild's grandmother is a proper person to act as guardian, but though Iattend Lady Tryon professionally when she is in the country, I am unableto express a satisfactory opinion as to her fitness for the task. Ibegged my friend Tom Wallis, the solicitor at Lynderton, to ride overhere with Mr. Kyffin; so that should you wish to place your boy underthe legal protection of your old friend, you may be able to do so."
"Surely his grandmother is a proper person to take charge of Harry;though I have no cause to regard her with affection," said Fanny, in afaint voice, "yet I could with more confidence consign him to that kindand generous man, Mr. Kyffin; I will do therefore as he wishes, onlyrequesting that the boy may be allowed to remain as much as possibleduring his childhood with his grandmother."
Poor Fanny! a lingering feeling of pride prompted this resolution. Farbetter would it have been, in all human probability, for the boy, hadshe committed him entirely to her faithful friend's care, and notmentioned Lady Tryon. The doctor knew too well that his patient had notmany hours to live. He hurried off to Aylestone Hall, the residence ofLady Tryon. The old lady expressed herself delighted with the child,and was very unwilling to part with him. Indeed, though she was told ofher daughter-in-law's dangerous state, she positively refused to givehim up, unless the doctor promised to bring him back again. Harry wasaccordingly placed in the doctor's carriage, which drove rapidly back toMrs. Tryon's cottage.
"I can give you but little hopes," said the doctor to Roger Kyffin,whom, in company with Mr. Wallis, he met at the cottage gate.
Roger Kyffin sighed deeply. The little boy flew towards his mother.She had scarcely strength to bend forward to meet him. The doctor heldhim while she pressed him to her bosom.
"May he come in?" asked the doctor.
"Yes," she whispered, "I should be glad to see him before I die; youwere right, doctor, and kind to warn me."
Roger Kyffin entered the room, but his knees trembled, and he couldscarcely command his voice. Fanny thanked him for all his kindness;"continue it," she said, "to this poor child."
The doctor signed to Mr. Wallis to come forward. He had brought writingmaterials. Fanny expressed her wish to place her child under RogerKyffin's guardianship. She signed the paper. She evidently wished tosay more, but her voice failed her. It was with difficulty she couldgasp out the last words she had uttered. In vain the doctoradministered a restorative. With her one arm flung round her boy, whileRoger Kyffin held her other hand, her spirit took its departure.
Roger Kyffin would gladly have carried Harry off to London, but nosooner did Lady Tryon hear of the death of her neglecteddaughter-in-law, than, driving over to the cottage, she took Harry withher back to Aylestone Hall. She directed also that a proper funeralshould be prepared; and at her request several distant members andconnections of the family attended it. Thus Mrs. Tryon was laid to restwith as much pomp and ceremony as possible, in Lynderton churchyard.
With a sad heart Roger Kyffin returned to London and devoted himselfwith even more than his usual assiduity to his mercantile duties.
Aylestone Hall was a red brick building, surrounded by a limited extentof garden and shrubbery, within half a mile of the town of Lynderton.The interior, for a country house, had a somewhat gloomy andunpicturesque aspect. Young Harry felt depressed by the atmosphere, sodifferent from the cheerful little cottage, with its flower-surroundedlawn, to which he had been
accustomed. He was not drawn either to hisgrandmother, though she intended to be kind to him. She treated himindeed much as a child does a new plaything, constantly fondling it atfirst, and then casting it aside uncared for. Harry was also soonnauseated by the old lady's caresses. He had, too, a natural antipathyto musk, of which her garments were redolent.
Lady Tryon was a small woman with strongly marked features, decidedlyforbidding at first sight, though she possessed the art of smiling, andmaking herself very agreeable to her equals. She could smile especiallyvery sweetly when she had an object to gain, or wished to beparticularly agreeable; but her countenance could also assume a verydifferent aspect when she was angry. She had bright grey eyes,
Roger Kyffin's Ward Page 5
