My Lady's Money

by Wilkie Collins

  CHAPTER XI.

  THE trim little maid-servant ran upstairs from her modest littlekitchen, trembling at the terrible prospect of having to open the door.Miss Pink, deafened by the barking, had just time to say, "What a veryill-behaved dog!" when a sound of small objects overthrown in the hall,and a scurrying of furious claws across the oil-cloth, announced thatTommie had invaded the house. As the servant appeared, introducing LadyLydiard, the dog ran in. He made one frantic leap at Isabel, which wouldcertainly have knocked her down but for the chair that happened to bestanding behind her. Received on her lap, the faithful creature halfsmothered her with his caresses. He barked, he shrieked, in his joy atseeing her again. He jumped off her lap and tore round and round theroom at the top of his speed; and every time he passed Miss Pink heshowed the whole range of his teeth and snarled ferociously at herankles. Having at last exhausted his superfluous energy, he leaped backagain on Isabel's lap, with his tongue quivering in his open mouth--histail wagging softly, and his eye on Miss Pink, inquiring how she liked adog in her drawing-room!

  "I hope my dog has not disturbed you, ma'am?" said Lady Lydiard,advancing from the mat at the doorway, on which she had patiently waiteduntil the raptures of Tommie subsided into repose.

  Miss Pink, trembling between terror and indignation, acknowledged LadyLydiard's polite inquiry by a ceremonious bow, and an answer whichadministered by implication a dignified reproof. "Your Ladyship's dogdoes not appear to be a very well-trained animal," the ex-schoolmistressremarked.

  "Well trained?" Lady Lydiard repeated, as if the expression wasperfectly unintelligible to her. "I don't think you have had muchexperience of dogs, ma'am." She turned to Isabel, and embraced hertenderly. "Give me a kiss, my dear--you don't know how wretched I havebeen since you left me." She looked back again at Miss Pink. "You arenot, perhaps, aware, ma'am, that my dog is devotedly attached to yourniece. A dog's love has been considered by many great men (whose namesat the moment escape me) as the most touching and disinterested ofall earthly affections." She looked the other way, and discovered thelawyer. "How do you do, Mr. Troy? It's a pleasant surprise to find youhere The house was so dull without Isabel that I really couldn't put offseeing her any longer. When you are more used to Tommie, Miss Pink,you will understand and admire him. _You_ understand and admire him,Isabel--don't you? My child! you are not looking well. I shall take youback with me, when the horses have had their rest. We shall never behappy away from each other."

  Having expressed her sentiments, distributed her greetings, and defendedher dog--all, as it were, in one breath--Lady Lydiard sat down byIsabel's side, and opened a large green fan that hung at her girdle."You have no idea, Miss Pink, how fat people suffer in hot weather,"said the old lady, using her fan vigorously.

  Miss Pink's eyes dropped modestly to the ground--"fat" was such a coarseword to use, if a lady _must_ speak of her own superfluous flesh! "May Ioffer some refreshment?" Miss Pink asked, mincingly. "A cup of tea?"

  Lady Lydiard shook her head.

  "A glass of water?"

  Lady Lydiard declined this last hospitable proposal with an exclamationof disgust. "Have you got any beer?" she inquired.

  "I beg your Ladyship's pardon," said Miss Pink, doubting the evidence ofher own ears. "Did you say--beer?"

  Lady Lydiard gesticulated vehemently with her fan. "Yes, to be sure!Beer! beer!"

  Miss Pink rose, with a countenance expressive of genteel disgust, andrang the bell. "I think you have beer downstairs, Susan?" she said, whenthe maid appeared at the door.

  "Yes, miss."

  "A glass of beer for Lady Lydiard," said Miss Pink--under protest.

  "Bring it in a jug," shouted her Ladyship, as the maid left the room."I like to froth it up for myself," she continued, addressing Miss Pink."Isabel sometimes does it for me, when she is at home--don't you, mydear?"

  Miss Pink had been waiting her opportunity to assert her own claim tothe possession of her own niece, from the time when Lady Lydiard hadcoolly declared her intention of taking Isabel back with her. Theopportunity now presented itself.

  "Your Ladyship will pardon me," she said, "if I remark that my niece'shome is under my humble roof. I am properly sensible, I hope, of yourkindness to Isabel, but while she remains the object of a disgracefulsuspicion she remains with me."

  Lady Lydiard closed her fan with an angry snap.

  "You are completely mistaken, Miss Pink. You may not mean it--but youspeak most unjustly if you say that your niece is an object of suspicionto me, or to anybody in my house."

  Mr. Troy, quietly listening up to this point now interposed to stop thediscussion before it could degenerate into a personal quarrel. His keenobservation, aided by his accurate knowledge of his client's character,had plainly revealed to him what was passing in Lady Lydiard's mind.She had entered the house, feeling (perhaps unconsciously) a jealousy ofMiss Pink, as her predecessor in Isabel's affections, and as the naturalprotectress of the girl under existing circumstances. Miss Pink'sreception of her dog had additionally irritated the old lady. She hadtaken a malicious pleasure in shocking the schoolmistress's senseof propriety--and she was now only too ready to proceed to furtherextremities on the delicate question of Isabel's justification forleaving her house. For Isabel's own sake, therefore--to say nothing ofother reasons--it was urgently desirable to keep the peace between thetwo ladies. With this excellent object in view, Mr. Troy seized hisopportunity of striking into the conversation for the first time.

  "Pardon me, Lady Lydiard," he said, "you are speaking of a subject whichhas been already sufficiently discussed between Miss Pink and myself. Ithink we shall do better not to dwell uselessly on past events, but todirect our attention to the future. We are all equally satisfied ofthe complete rectitude of Miss Isabel's conduct, and we are all equallyinterested in the vindication of her good name."

  Whether these temperate words would of themselves have exercised thepacifying influence at which Mr. Troy aimed may be doubtful. But, as heceased speaking, a powerful auxiliary appeared in the shape of the beer.Lady Lydiard seized on the jug, and filled the tumbler for herself withan unsteady hand. Miss Pink, trembling for the integrity of her carpet,and scandalized at seeing a peeress drinking beer like a washer-woman,forgot the sharp answer that was just rising to her lips when the lawyerinterfered. "Small!" said Lady Lydiard, setting down the empty tumbler,and referring to the quality of the beer. "But very pleasant andrefreshing. What's the servant's name? Susan? Well, Susan, I was dyingof thirst and you have saved my life. You can leave the jug--I dare sayI shall empty it before I go."

  Mr. Troy, watching Miss Pink's face, saw that it was time to change thesubject again.

  "Did you notice the old village, Lady Lydiard, on your way here?" heasked. "The artists consider it one of the most picturesque places inEngland."

  "I noticed that it was a very dirty village," Lady Lydiard answered,still bent on making herself disagreeable to Miss Pink. "The artists maysay what they please; I see nothing to admire in rotten cottages, andbad drainage, and ignorant people. I suppose the neighborhood has itsadvantages. It looks dull enough, to my mind."

  Isabel had hitherto modestly restricted her exertions to keepingTommie quiet on her lap. Like Mr. Troy, she occasionally looked at heraunt--and she now made a timid attempt to defend the neighborhood as aduty that she owed to Miss Pink.

  "Oh, my Lady! don't say it's a dull neighborhood," she pleaded. "Thereare such pretty walks all round us. And, when you get to the hills, theview is beautiful."

  Lady Lydiard's answer to this was a little masterpiece of good-humoredcontempt. She patted Isabel's cheek, and said, "Pooh! Pooh!"

  "Your Ladyship does not admire the beauties of Nature," Miss Pinkremarked, with a compassionate smile. "As we get older, no doubt oursight begins to fail--"

  "And we leave off canting about the beauties of Nature," added LadyLydiard. "I hate the country. Give me London, and the pleasures ofsociety."

  "Come! come! Do the country justice, Lady
Lydiard!" put in peace-makingMr. Troy. "There is plenty of society to be found out of London--as goodsociety as the world can show."

  "The sort of society," added Miss Pink, "which is to be found, forexample, in this neighborhood. Her Ladyship is evidently not awarethat persons of distinction surround us, whichever way we turn. I mayinstance among others, the Honorable Mr. Hardyman--"

  Lady Lydiard, in the act of pouring out a second glassful of beer,suddenly set down the jug.

  "Who is that you're talking of, Miss Pink?"

  "I am talking of our neighbor, Lady Lydiard--the Honorable Mr.Hardyman."

  "Do you mean Alfred Hardyman--the man who breeds the horses?"

  "The distinguished gentleman who owns the famous stud-farm," said MissPink, correcting the bluntly-direct form in which Lady Lydiard had puther question.

  "Is he in the habit of visiting here?" the old lady inquired, with asudden appearance of anxiety. "Do you know him?"

  "I had the honor of being introduced to Mr. Hardyman at our last flowershow," Miss Pink replied. "He has not yet favored me with a visit."

  Lady Lydiard's anxiety appeared to be to some extent relieved.

  "I knew that Hardyman's farm was in this county," she said; "but I hadno notion that it was in the neighborhood of South Morden. How far awayis he--ten or a dozen miles, eh?"

  "Not more than three miles," answered Miss Pink. "We consider him quitea near neighbor of ours."

  Renewed anxiety showed itself in Lady Lydiard. She looked round sharplyat Isabel. The girl's head was bent so low over the rough head of thedog that her face was almost entirely concealed from view. So far asappearances went, she seemed to be entirely absorbed in fondling Tommie.Lady Lydiard roused her with a tap of the green fan.

  "Take Tommie out, Isabel, for a run in the garden," she said. "He won'tsit still much longer--and he may annoy Miss Pink. Mr. Troy, will youkindly help Isabel to keep my ill-trained dog in order?"

  Mr. Troy got on his feet, and, not very willingly, followed Isabel outof the room. "They will quarrel now, to a dead certainty!" he thought tohimself, as he closed the door. "Have you any idea of what this means?"he said to his companion, as he joined her in the hall. "What has Mr.Hardyman done to excite all this interest in him?"

  Isabel's guilty color rose. She knew perfectly well that Hardyman'sunconcealed admiration of her was the guiding motive of Lady Lydiard'sinquiries. If she had told the truth, Mr. Troy would have unquestionablyreturned to the drawing-room, with or without an acceptable excusefor intruding himself. But Isabel was a woman; and her answer, it isneedless to say, was "I don't know, I'm sure."

  In the mean time, the interview between the two ladies began in a mannerwhich would have astonished Mr. Troy--they were both silent. For oncein her life Lady Lydiard was considering what she should say, before shesaid it. Miss Pink, on her side, naturally waited to hear what objecther Ladyship had in view--waited, until her small reserve of patiencegave way. Urged by irresistible curiosity, she spoke first.

  "Have you anything to say to me in private?" she asked.

  Lady Lydiard had not got to the end of her reflections. She said"Yes!"--and she said no more.

  "Is it anything relating to my niece?" persisted Miss Pink.

  Still immersed in her reflections, Lady Lydiard suddenly rose to thesurface, and spoke her mind, as usual.

  "About your niece, ma'am. The other day Mr. Hardyman called at my house,and saw Isabel."

  "Yes," said Miss Pink, politely attentive, but not in the leastinterested, so far.

  "That's not all ma'am. Mr. Hardyman admires Isabel; he owned it to mehimself in so many words."

  Miss Pink listened, with a courteous inclination of her head. She lookedmildly gratified, nothing more. Lady Lydiard proceeded:

  "You and I think differently on many matters," she said. "But we areboth agreed, I am sure, in feeling the sincerest interest in Isabel'swelfare. I beg to suggest to you, Miss Pink, that Mr. Hardyman, as anear neighbor of yours, is a very undesirable neighbor while Isabelremains in your house."

  Saying those words, under a strong conviction of the serious importanceof the subject, Lady Lydiard insensibly recovered the manner and resumedthe language which befitted a lady of her rank. Miss Pink, noticing thechange, set it down to an expression of pride on the part of her visitorwhich, in referring to Isabel, assailed indirectly the social positionof Isabel's aunt.

  "I fail entirely to understand what your Ladyship means," she saidcoldly.

  Lady Lydiard, on her side, looked in undisguised amazement at Miss Pink.

  "Haven't I told you already that Mr. Hardyman admires your niece?" sheasked.

  "Naturally," said Miss Pink. "Isabel inherits her lamented mother'spersonal advantages. If Mr. Hardyman admires her, Mr. Hardyman shows hisgood taste."

  Lady Lydiard's eyes opened wider and wider in wonder. "My good lady!"she exclaimed, "is it possible you don't know that when a man admiresa women he doesn't stop there? He falls in love with her (as the sayingis) next."

  "So I have heard," said Miss Pink.

  "So you have _heard?_" repeated Lady Lydiard. "If Mr. Hardyman findshis way to Isabel I can tell you what you will _see_. Catch the twotogether, ma'am--and you will see Mr. Hardyman making love to yourniece."

  "Under due restrictions, Lady Lydiard, and with my permission firstobtained, of course, I see no objection to Mr. Hardyman paying hisaddresses to Isabel."

  "The woman is mad!" cried Lady Lydiard. "Do you actually suppose, MissPink, that Alfred Hardyman could, by any earthly possibility, marry yourniece!"

  Not even Miss Pink's politeness could submit to such a question as this.She rose indignantly from her chair. "As you aware, Lady Lydiard, thatthe doubt you have just expressed is an insult to my niece, and a insultto Me?"

  "Are _you_ aware of who Mr. Hardyman really is?" retorted her Ladyship."Or do you judge of his position by the vocation in life which he hasperversely chosen to adopt? I can tell you, if you do, that AlfredHardyman is the younger son of one of the oldest barons in the EnglishPeerage, and that his mother is related by marriage to the Royal familyof Wurtemberg."

  Miss Pink received the full shock of this information without recedingfrom her position by a hair-breadth.

  "An English gentlewoman offers a fit alliance to any man living whoseeks her hand in marriage," said Miss Pink. "Isabel's mother (you maynot be aware of it) was the daughter of an English clergyman--"

  "And Isabel's father was a chemist in a country town," added LadyLydiard.

  "Isabel's father," rejoined Miss Pink, "was attached in a mostresponsible capacity to the useful and honorable profession of Medicine.Isabel is, in the strictest sense of the word, a young gentlewoman. Ifyou contradict that for a single instant, Lady Lydiard, you will obligeme to leave the room."

  Those last words produced a result which Miss Pink had notanticipated--they roused Lady Lydiard to assert herself. As usual insuch cases, she rose superior to her own eccentricity. ConfrontingMiss Pink, she now spoke and looked with the gracious courtesy and theunpresuming self-confidence of the order to which she belonged.

  "For Isabel's own sake, and for the quieting of my conscience," sheanswered, "I will say one word more, Miss Pink, before I relieve youof my presence. Considering my age and my opportunities, I may claimto know quite as much as you do of the laws and customs whichregulate society in our time. Without contesting your niece's socialposition--and without the slightest intention of insulting you--I repeatthat the rank which Mr. Hardyman inherits makes it simply impossible forhim even to think of marrying Isabel. You will do well not to give himany opportunities of meeting with her alone. And you will do betterstill (seeing that he is so near a neighbor of yours) if you permitIsabel to return to my protection, for a time at least. I will wait tohear from you when you have thought the matter over at your leisure.In the mean time, if I have inadvertently offended you, I ask yourpardon--and I wish you good-evening."

  She bowed, and walked to the door. Miss Pink, as resolu
te as ever inmaintaining her pretensions, made an effort to match the great lady onher own ground.

  "Before you go, Lady Lydiard, I beg to apologize if I have spoken toowarmly on my side," she said. "Permit me to send for your carriage."

  "Thank you, Miss Pink. My carriage is only at the village inn. I shallenjoy a little walk in the cool evening air. Mr. Troy, I have no doubt,will give me his arm." She bowed once more, and quietly left the room.

  Reaching the little back garden of the villa, through an open doorat the further end of the hall, Lady Lydiard found Tommie rollingluxuriously on Miss Pink's flower-beds, and Isabel and Mr. Troy in closeconsultation on the gravel walk.

  She spoke to the lawyer first.

  "They are baiting the horses at the inn," she said. "I want your arm,Mr. Troy, as far as the village--and, in return, I will take you backto London with me. I have to ask your advice about one or two littlematters, and this is a good opportunity."

  "With the greatest pleasure, Lady Lydiard. I suppose I must say good-byto Miss Pink?"

  "A word of advice to you, Mr. Troy. Take care how you ruffle Miss Pink'ssense of her own importance. Another word for your private ear. MissPink is a fool."

  On the lawyer's withdrawal, Lady Lydiard put her arm fondly roundIsabel's waist. "What were you and Mr. Troy so busy in talking about?"she asked.

  "We were talking, my Lady, about tracing the person who stole themoney," Isabel answered, rather sadly. "It seems a far more difficultmatter than I supposed it to be. I try not to lose patience andhope--but it is a little hard to feel that appearances are against me,and to wait day after day in vain for the discovery that is to set meright."

  "You are a dear good child," said Lady Lydiard; "and you are moreprecious to me than ever. Don't despair, Isabel. With Mr. Troy's meansof inquiring, and with my means of paying, the discovery of the thiefcannot be much longer delayed. If you don't return to me soon, I shallcome back and see you again. Your aunt hates the sight of me--but Idon't care two straws for that," remarked Lady Lydiard, showing theundignified side of her character once more. "Listen to me, Isabel! Ihave no wish to lower your aunt in your estimation, but I feel far moreconfidence in your good sense than in hers. Mr. Hardyman's business hastaken him to France for the present. It is at least possible that youmay meet with him on his return. If you do, keep him at a distance, mydear--politely, of course. There! there! you needn't turn red; I am notblaming you; I am only giving you a little good advice. In your positionyou cannot possibly be too careful. Here is Mr. Troy! You must come tothe gate with us, Isabel, or we shall never get Tommie away from you; Iam only his second favorite; you have the first place in his affections.God bless and prosper you, my child!--I wish to heaven you were goingback to London with me! Well, Mr. Troy, how have you done with MissPink? Have you offended that terrible 'gentlewoman' (hateful word!); orhas it been all the other way, and has she given you a kiss at parting?"

  Mr. Troy smiled mysteriously, and changed the subject. His brief partinginterview with the lady of the house was not of a nature to be rashlyrelated. Miss Pink had not only positively assured him that her visitorwas the most ill-bred woman she had ever met with, but had furtheraccused Lady Lydiard of shaking her confidence in the aristocracy of hernative country. "For the first time in my life," said Miss Pink, "I feelthat something is to be said for the Republican point of view; and I amnot indisposed to admit that the constitution of the United States _has_its advantages!"