CHAPTER XIII
NINIAN'S DEFENCE
Olwen's heart gave a throb, and for a moment she was afraid. Then sheremembered how quickly Ninian had been disarmed by the sight of herdistress. She lifted a beseeching face to him.
"Please, Mr. Guyse! Please believe what I say. I would rather knownothing of your private affairs. I am not likely to remain long at thePele, and it is best that we remain strangers."
"We can't do that," he said with sharp decision. "Ask Sunia."
"Your spy!" she said, throwing into the words an amount of scorn whichbrought the colour to his face. He did not falter, however. Taking herarm, just above the elbow, he led her to the hearth, and pushed hergently into a chair. "This is the last time I am going to misbehave,"said he. "After this you shall do as you like with me; but you have gotto hear me now. Sorry, but really you've got to."
"But why? Why?" she cried.
"Because I insist."
She wavered. He was standing over her, and it seemed to her quiteprobable that, if she made as if to rise, he would push her back intoher chair. She could see that he was putting all the force of his willinto the affair, and, after all, was it worth fighting him about? Shehardly cared, for herself, whether she heard him or no, and was chieflyconscious of a wish that he would leave off importuning her. With ashrug of the shoulders she resigned herself, and Ninian, with a sigh ofrelief, seated himself upon a big pouffe which stood on the rug facingher, Daff's head between his knees.
Thus settled, he looked up with an impertinent grin.
"The Head of the Reformatory has given leave to the latest arrival toexplain to her how he first came to leave the paths of virtuousrectitude," he said. "She faces him, calmly judicial, and he proceedsto make a clean breast of it."
She had some ado not to laugh. "Get on and don't be silly," said she.
He drew a deep breath. "One black dark night a band of robbers," hebegan. "No. That's the wrong gambit Ahem! 'I was not ever thus,believe, fair maid----'"
Olwen made to rise from her place, and he caught and detained her.
"Oh, dash, how is it that I can't resist playing the goat?" cried he."Just one more chance, and that will be the very last, but the mischiefof it is I don't know where to begin. Afraid I shall have to go back toour first coming to live here. I was about eighteen then, and it reallywas the only thing to do, my father had left us in such a tight place.Madam had been accustomed to something very different, it was horriblyrough on her, and I dare say you'll think I was a selfish hound to bringher to such a place. But I couldn't help myself. I'm Guyse, throughand through; and though I felt that I would give up most things for her,I simply couldn't sell the last Guyse stronghold and the last few pooracres. So there it is. The first crime's off my chest."
"I can make every allowance for you there," said Olwen with a rush ofsudden sympathy.
He looked at her under his lashes. "That's something. You see, bycoming to live here I managed to send my brother Wilfrid to Oxford.He's a credit to the family--brains and manners, and so on. The otherreason was that I knew I could make a living out of the land, and alsothat, if I lived here, Madam need not lose all her friends, and I couldget across a horse and carry a gun. If we had lived in a city I couldn'thave earned bread and cheese, I've no commercial ability; and Madamwould have suffered more, though she doesn't think so. Hallo! I'm sorryI'm boring you with what doesn't matter a bit. When we had been here afew years and Wolf had left the University, he was suddenly bitten withthe notion of going to Klondyke. This upset my mother very much, madeher so ill, in fact, that we thought she would go melancholy mad. Wolfand I talked it over, and he said she was moped to death and too muchalone, and the best thing we could do was to hire a young lady to livewith her, somebody young and jolly who would take her out of herself.We did as we did in your case, looked down a list of advertisers, and atlast we chose Miss Lily Martin. She came, and she was a girl with highspirits, very good-natured, and used to make Madam laugh. She was heresome time, more than a year, and we jogged along well enough, only Sunianever took to her."
"Do you know why that was?"
"Sunia said she was not 'pukka'--I expect you know what that means.Said also that she had something up her sleeve. Said she had a lover."He was speaking with his gaze fixed on Daff's silky head, but on that heraised his face, and his eyes were hard as jade in the lamplight. "Ofcourse, Balmayne thinks I was her lover," said he.
"Why does he think so?"
"I'll tell you. After about a year things began to go wrong. I expectMiss Martin got a bit fed up with this place and the monotony of thelife. I couldn't even send Madam away for a few weeks in the summerthat year, for Wolf had got into difficulties and it took all I had tosend him what he asked for. Miss Martin's temper changed. Sunia toldus afterwards that when she first came she got letters constantly,always two or three a week, sometimes more. By degrees they had droppedoff, until of late she had only one or two a month. I suppose thisupset her; anyway, she became moody and had fits of temper. I didn'tmind her working it off on me, but when it came to Madam I had tointerfere, for she took to bullying her. One day she had a queeroutburst. I had found Madam in hysterics, and I was obliged to call thegirl over the coals about it. She flew out at me and said we werebloated aristocrats, but that she was as good as us any day, and that,if she only chose, she could make things hot for us. To this day Idon't know what she meant by that. On my honour, I don't believe herchange of manner had anything to do with me. I may have chaffed her abit, but I never made love to her. However, the end of it was that Itold her I thought she had better leave. She was evidently no longerhappy with us, and, what was more, she didn't make Madam happy either.I couldn't have her upset--why, the only reason the silly fool was inthe house at all was to keep Madam happy! ... So I gave her notice.After that we had a treat. The first week she was furious, the secondsulky, the third tearful--oh, my word! She wept at meals, she wept inher bedroom--so Sunia said--she wept all over poor Madam, and one dayshe--she wept on me. I couldn't stick it, and I am afraid I told herso, more hotly than I meant. Ah, I can see your sympathy for hershowing in your eyes."
"You are quite mistaken. I was thinking that when you succeeded inmaking me cry this evening you must have been forcibly reminded of poorMiss Martin!"
He grinned. "After that it seemed to me that it would be better if Ikept out of the way until she took her departure. I was very busy atthe time, as it happened, so I stayed down at Lachanrigg with the Kays,and had all my meals there next day. When I came home, late at night,Sunia and the Baxters were in a fearful state. Miss Martin haddisappeared."
"You mean she had left?"
"Nobody knew. It seems she had spent the afternoon in the billiard-roomby herself. Madam at that time used always to sit there, but she hadgot so fed up with the girl that, on that occasion, she went off to herown room and shut herself in. Sunia afterwards told us that MissMartin, after an interval of five weeks, had got a letter that morningwhich had visibly upset her. She seems to have made a fire in thebilliard-room and burned therein her whole collection of letters. Suniatook her a cup of tea, and found her kneeling on the hearth feeding thefire with torn letters, and noticed that she was in tears. Nobody sawher after that. She had not put on a hat, so they thought for a longtime that she was concealed somewhere in the house, where there are agood many hiding-places. We began by searching pretty thoroughly, andwhen we proved unsuccessful, I thought I would go down to Lachanrigg bythe short cut, down the hill, and get Kay to come and help me or adviseme what to do."
"Did you know where she came from--who were her people?"
"She was living in rooms in London when we engaged her. She had nohome. She came originally from Canada, I believe. We knew of nofriends to whom she would be likely to go."
"Where did her letters come from?"
"Always London. We thought probably from a clerk i
n some bank, for theaddress was type-written... Well, as I was telling you, I went out anddown the hill. It is almost precipitous down there, but there is a pathof sorts, winding among the trees. Just as I went crashing down thesteepest bit I thought I heard a moan. It was a very dark night, and Icould see nothing, I had a lantern with me, and I turned it this way andthat. The sound came several times, and it seemed to be behind mehigher up the hill. After questing all about I found it was alwaysabove me, over my head, and at last I had the wit to peer up into thebranches of the trees. There I found her. She had flung herself out ofthe big oriel in the banqueting hall, intending to commit suicide, andhad stuck in the branches of an ash."
"Alive, of course?"
"Oh, yes, but she was badly injured. I had to go and rouse Ezra, andbetween us we got her down and carried her to the Gatehouse, where welaid her in Mrs. Baxter's parlour. It was not possible, with her brokenbones, to get her upstairs at the Pele, so in the Baxters' parlour shestayed. Balmayne had only just come here then, and he was immenselyinterested in the case. Thought she was a poor martyred saint, victimof my heartless cruelty. As for me, I was just about fed up with her,and I kept clear of her all the time she was ill. She utterly declinedto say why she had tried to kill herself, and only declared that shewished she had succeeded in her attempt. At first she said that themoment she was strong enough to get about she would have another try;but Balmayne explained to her that, unless she took a solemn oath not torepeat it, he would have to inform a magistrate and get her bound over.That frightened her a bit, but she remained in a queer state of mind;very unsatisfactory it was for all concerned."
"What did Madam say?"
"Madam behaved very queerly. I suppose Balmayne got at her, for shecertainly believed that I was seriously to blame. She said she pitiedthe poor girl from the bottom of her heart, but for all that, she couldnot be persuaded to go and see her. I thought it would be a jolly goodthing if she did, as she might get something out of her; but no. Neveronce did she see Miss Martin from the day of the accident to the day ofher departure."
"Departure? She went away then?"
"Yes. I was at my wits' end, wondering what on earth was to become ofthe poor thing, and making up my mind that I must screw myself to thepoint of making Madam go and see her and ask what her plans were, whenshe got a letter from the usual source. This letter seemed to buck herup no end. She told Mrs. Baxter next day that she was going to Londonas soon as the doctor would allow her to travel. And she was as good asher word. When she went off she informed me that I should see her againa great deal sooner than I expected; and I was fully prepared for aletter from some firm of lawyers, threatening an action of some kind.But from that day to this we haven't any of us heard a word of her. Theearth might have opened and swallowed her. She was a queer one. Suniasays she had a wedding-ring slung round her neck, under her clothes, butI don't know if that is true. There! Now you have heard the history ofMiss Lily Martin and myself to date. When Balmayne gives you hisversion, you can put the two together and see what they amount to."
Olwen rested her elbows on her knees, her chin cupped in her hands, andgazed thoughtfully at the glowing logs. "And all that happened--when?"
"More than three years ago."
"I wonder what made you tell me?"
"It's pretty obvious. If you stay on you are bound to hear it, and Iwanted you to hear it from me."
"I--I think I am glad you told me." She was in fact conscious ofconsiderable relief. The story explained many things. Deb's distrustof the young man, Balmayne's uneasiness that another girl should beplaced in the same position as the unlucky Lily; Mrs. Guyse's reticenceand anxiety, Sunia's careful spying, and, most of all, Ninian'sself-consciousness and inability to be natural with her.
"Well, after hearing this pretty tale, shall you funk staying in theDark Tower?" he asked, after a prolonged survey of her grave littleface, lit by the flickering flame-light.
"I think I am safe enough," she replied, not turning her head to look athim. "I am not a bit a Lily-Martin kind of girl."
"Give a chap a chance! Can't I see that much? But you know there isanother kind of girl just as bad, and when first I saw you I thought youwere that kind."
"Indeed. What?"
"A prude."
"Well," the fire-light emphasised the dimple, "I think I am rather thatkind. That is, I am apt to be thorny, except with----"
"People who speak your language?" The tone was soft and insinuating.
"That's it."
"Well," said Nin, laying his olive cheek down on Daff's yellow head,"I'm going to learn, if it takes me a year. As I just told you, I'vemisbehaved for the last time. I am now a reformed character, your wordis my law. If you say, 'Detestable young man, leave the room,' hard asthat command will be, I shall obey. I'll be like a lover out ofRichardson or Mrs. Radcliffe----"
"Oh, but please! I don't want you to be like a lover of any kind."
"My mistake! I'm a pupil, am I not? And you're my teacher, if you'lltake me on. Oh, do! 'I know it the only thing to save my yet younglife in the wilds of time!'"
"With the poets at your finger-ends there is no excuse for you," shelaughed. "Don't be so ridiculous."
"Oh, come, you'll have to let me be ridiculous! Prunesprism was nevermy line."
"It need not be your line, or mine either, when once you have masteredthe 'simple little rules and few' which lie at the root of the languageyou have to learn."
"Can't we begin now?"
"Not now. Really I don't want to be crabby any more, but you do seethat while Madam is so poorly I must look after her, don't you?" Shebroke off and a wicked smile flashed at him, "_Why, all the silly foolis in the house for at all is to keep Madam happy!_"
"Jove, you're quick! I must mind my p's and q's with you!"
"Yes, they are rather important letters in your new alphabet!"
The Lonely Stronghold Page 13
