Two on a Tower

by Thomas Hardy

  XXVIII

  The conversation which arose between the Bishop and Lady Constantine wasof that lively and reproductive kind which cannot be ended during anyreasonable halt of two people going in opposite directions. He turned,and walked with her along the laurel-screened lane that bordered thechurchyard, till their voices died away in the distance. Swithin thenaroused himself from his thoughtful regard of them, and went out of thechurchyard by another gate.

  Seeing himself now to be left alone on the scene, Louis Glanvilledescended from his post of observation in the arbour. He came throughthe private doorway, and on to that spot among the graves where theBishop and St. Cleeve had conversed. On the tombstone still lay thecoral bracelet which Dr. Helmsdale had flung down there in hisindignation for the agitated, introspective mood into which Swithin hadbeen thrown had banished from his mind all thought of securing thetrinket and putting it in his pocket.

  Louis picked up the little red scandal-breeding thing, and while walkingon with it in his hand he observed Tabitha Lark approaching the church,in company with the young blower whom she had gone in search of toinspire her organ-practising within. Louis immediately put together,with that rare diplomatic keenness of which he was proud, the littlescene he had witnessed between Tabitha and Swithin during theconfirmation, and the Bishop's stern statement as to where he had foundthe bracelet. He had no longer any doubt that it belonged to her.

  'Poor girl!' he said to himself, and sang in an undertone--

  'Tra deri, dera, L'histoire n'est pas nouvelle!'

  When she drew nearer Louis called her by name. She sent the boy into thechurch, and came forward, blushing at having been called by so fine agentleman. Louis held out the bracelet.

  'Here is something I have found, or somebody else has found,' he said toher. 'I won't state where. Put it away, and say no more about it. Iwill not mention it either. Now go on into the church where you aregoing, and may Heaven have mercy on your soul, my dear.'

  'Thank you, sir,' said Tabitha, with some perplexity, yet inclined to bepleased, and only recognizing in the situation the fact that LadyConstantine's humorous brother was making her a present.

  'You are much obliged to me?'

  'O yes!'

  'Well, Miss Lark, I've discovered a secret, you see.'

  'What may that be, Mr. Glanville?'

  'That you are in love.'

  'I don't admit it, sir. Who told you so?'

  'Nobody. Only I put two and two together. Now take my advice. Bewareof lovers! They are a bad lot, and bring young women to tears.'

  'Some do, I dare say. But some don't.'

  'And you think that in your particular case the latter alternative willhold good? We generally think we shall be lucky ourselves, though allthe world before us, in the same situation, have been otherwise.'

  'O yes, or we should die outright of despair.'

  'Well, I don't think you will be lucky in your case.'

  'Please how do you know so much, since my case has not yet arrived?'asked Tabitha, tossing her head a little disdainfully, but less than shemight have done if he had not obtained a charter for his discourse bygiving her the bracelet.

  'Fie, Tabitha!'

  'I tell you it has not arrived!' she said, with some anger. 'I have notgot a lover, and everybody knows I haven't, and it's an insinuating thingfor you to say so!'

  Louis laughed, thinking how natural it was that a girl should soemphatically deny circumstances that would not bear curious inquiry.

  'Why, of course I meant myself,' he said soothingly. 'So, then, you willnot accept me?'

  'I didn't know you meant yourself,' she replied. 'But I won't acceptyou. And I think you ought not to jest on such subjects.'

  'Well, perhaps not. However, don't let the Bishop see your bracelet, andall will be well. But mind, lovers are deceivers.'

  Tabitha laughed, and they parted, the girl entering the church. She hadbeen feeling almost certain that, having accidentally found the braceletsomewhere, he had presented it in a whim to her as the first girl he met.Yet now she began to have momentary doubts whether he had not beenlabouring under a mistake, and had imagined her to be the owner. Thebracelet was not valuable; it was, in fact, a mere toy,--the pair ofwhich this was one being a little present made to Lady Constantine bySwithin on the day of their marriage; and she had not worn them withsufficient frequency out of doors for Tabitha to recognize either aspositively her ladyship's. But when, out of sight of the blower, thegirl momentarily tried it on, in a corner by the organ, it seemed to herthat the ornament was possibly Lady Constantine's. Now that the pinkbeads shone before her eyes on her own arm she remembered having seen abracelet with just such an effect gracing the wrist of Lady Constantineupon one occasion. A temporary self-surrender to the sophism that if Mr.Louis Glanville chose to give away anything belonging to his sister, she,Tabitha, had a right to take it without question, was soon checked by aresolve to carry the tempting strings of coral to her ladyship thatevening, and inquire the truth about them. This decided on she slippedthe bracelet into her pocket, and played her voluntaries with a lightheart.

  * * * * *

  Bishop Helmsdale did not tear himself away from Welland till about twoo'clock that afternoon, which was three hours later than he had intendedto leave. It was with a feeling of relief that Swithin, looking from thetop of the tower, saw the carriage drive out from the vicarage into theturnpike road, and whirl the right reverend gentleman again towardsWarborne. The coast being now clear of him Swithin meditated how to seeViviette, and explain what had happened. With this in view he waitedwhere he was till evening came on.

  Meanwhile Lady Constantine and her brother dined by themselves at WellandHouse. They had not met since the morning, and as soon as they were leftalone Louis said, 'You have done very well so far; but you might havebeen a little warmer.'

  'Done well?' she asked, with surprise.

  'Yes, with the Bishop. The difficult question is how to follow up ouradvantage. How are you to keep yourself in sight of him?'

  'Heavens, Louis! You don't seriously mean that the Bishop of Melchesterhas any feelings for me other than friendly?'

  'Viviette, this is affectation. You know he has as well as I do.'

  She sighed. 'Yes,' she said. 'I own I had a suspicion of the samething. What a misfortune!'

  'A misfortune? Surely the world is turned upside down! You will driveme to despair about our future if you see things so awry. Exert yourselfto do something, so as to make of this accident a stepping-stone tohigher things. The gentleman will give us the slip if we don't pursuethe friendship at once.'

  'I cannot have you talk like this,' she cried impatiently. 'I have nomore thought of the Bishop than I have of the Pope. I would much rathernot have had him here to lunch at all. You said it would be necessary todo it, and an opportunity, and I thought it my duty to show somehospitality when he was coming so near, Mr. Torkingham's house being sosmall. But of course I understood that the opportunity would be one foryou in getting to know him, your prospects being so indefinite atpresent; not one for me.'

  'If you don't follow up this chance of being spiritual queen ofMelchester, you will never have another of being anything. Mind this,Viviette: you are not so young as you were. You are getting on to be amiddle-aged woman, and your black hair is precisely of the sort whichtime quickly turns grey. You must make up your mind to grizzledbachelors or widowers. Young marriageable men won't look at you; or ifthey do just now, in a year or two more they'll despise you as anantiquated party.'

  Lady Constantine perceptibly paled. 'Young men what?' she asked. 'Saythat again.'

  'I said it was no use to think of young men; they won't look at you muchlonger; or if they do, it will be to look away again very quickly.'

  'You imply that if I were to marry a man younger than myself he wouldspeedily acquire a contempt for me? How much younger must a man be thanhis wife--to get that feeling for her?' She was restin
g her elbow on thechair as she faintly spoke the words, and covered her eyes with her hand.

  'An exceedingly small number of years,' said Louis drily. 'Now theBishop is at least fifteen years older than you, and on that account, noless than on others, is an excellent match. You would be head of thechurch in this diocese: what more can you require after these years ofmiserable obscurity? In addition, you would escape that minor thorn inthe flesh of bishops' wives, of being only "Mrs." while their husbandsare peers.'

  She was not listening; his previous observation still detained herthoughts.

  'Louis,' she said, 'in the case of a woman marrying a man much youngerthan herself, does he get to dislike her, even if there has been a socialadvantage to him in the union?'

  'Yes,--not a whit less. Ask any person of experience. But what of that?Let's talk of our own affairs. You say you have no thought of theBishop. And yet if he had stayed here another day or two he would haveproposed to you straight off.'

  'Seriously, Louis, I could not accept him.'

  'Why not?'

  'I don't love him.'

  'Oh, oh, I like those words!' cried Louis, throwing himself back in hischair and looking at the ceiling in satirical enjoyment. 'A woman who attwo-and-twenty married for convenience, at thirty talks of not marryingwithout love; the rule of inverse, that is, in which more requires less,and less requires more. As your only brother, older than yourself, andmore experienced, I insist that you encourage the Bishop.'

  'Don't quarrel with me, Louis!' she said piteously. 'We don't know thathe thinks anything of me,--we only guess.'

  'I know it,--and you shall hear how I know. I am of a curious andconjectural nature, as you are aware. Last night, when everybody hadgone to bed, I stepped out for a five minutes' smoke on the lawn, andwalked down to where you get near the vicarage windows. While I wasthere in the dark one of them opened, and Bishop Helmsdale leant out. Theilluminated oblong of your window shone him full in the face between thetrees, and presently your shadow crossed it. He waved his hand, andmurmured some tender words, though what they were exactly I could nothear.'

  'What a vague, imaginary story,--as if he could know my shadow! Besides,a man of the Bishop's dignity wouldn't have done such a thing. When Iknew him as a younger man he was not at all romantic, and he's not likelyto have grown so now.'

  'That's just what he is likely to have done. No lover is so extreme aspecimen of the species as an old lover. Come, Viviette, no more of thisfencing. I have entered into the project heart and soul--so much that Ihave postponed my departure till the matter is well under way.'

  'Louis--my dear Louis--you will bring me into some disagreeableposition!' said she, clasping her hands. 'I do entreat you not tointerfere or do anything rash about me. The step is impossible. I havesomething to tell you some day. I must live on, and endure--'

  'Everything except this penury,' replied Louis, unmoved. 'Come, I havebegun the campaign by inviting Bishop Helmsdale, and I'll take theresponsibility of carrying it on. All I ask of you is not to make aninny of yourself. Come, give me your promise!'

  'No, I cannot,--I don't know how to! I only know one thing,--that I amin no hurry--'

  '"No hurry" be hanged! Agree, like a good sister, to charm the Bishop.'

  'I must consider!' she replied, with perturbed evasiveness.

  It being a fine evening Louis went out of the house to enjoy his cigar inthe shrubbery. On reaching his favourite seat he found he had left hiscigar-case behind him; he immediately returned for it. When heapproached the window by which he had emerged he saw Swithin St. Cleevestanding there in the dusk, talking to Viviette inside.

  St. Cleeve's back was towards Louis, but, whether at a signal from her orby accident, he quickly turned and recognized Glanville; whereuponraising his hat to Lady Constantine the young man passed along theterrace-walk and out by the churchyard door.

  Louis rejoined his sister. 'I didn't know you allowed your lawn to be apublic thoroughfare for the parish,' he said.

  'I am not exclusive, especially since I have been so poor,' replied she.

  'Then do you let everybody pass this way, or only that illustrious youthbecause he is so good-looking?'

  'I have no strict rule in the case. Mr. St. Cleeve is an acquaintance ofmine, and he can certainly come here if he chooses.' Her colour rosesomewhat, and she spoke warmly.

  Louis was too cautious a bird to reveal to her what had suddenly dawnedupon his mind--that his sister, in common with the (to his thinking)unhappy Tabitha Lark, had been foolish enough to get interested in thisphenomenon of the parish, this scientific Adonis. But he resolved tocure at once her tender feeling, if it existed, by letting out a secretwhich would inflame her dignity against the weakness.

  'A good-looking young man,' he said, with his eyes where Swithin hadvanished. 'But not so good as he looks. In fact a regular youngsinner.'

  'What do you mean?'

  'Oh, only a little feature I discovered in St. Cleeve's history. But Isuppose he has a right to sow his wild oats as well as other young men.'

  'Tell me what you allude to,--do, Louis.'

  'It is hardly fit that I should. However, the case is amusing enough. Iwas sitting in the arbour to-day, and was an unwilling listener to theoddest interview I ever heard of. Our friend the Bishop discovered, whenwe visited the observatory last night, that our astronomer was not alonein his seclusion. A lady shared his romantic cabin with him; and findingthis, the Bishop naturally enough felt that the ordinance of confirmationhad been profaned. So his lordship sent for Master Swithin this morning,and meeting him in the churchyard read him such an excommunicatinglecture as I warrant he won't forget in his lifetime. Ha-ha-ha! 'Twasvery good,--very.'

  He watched her face narrowly while he spoke with such seemingcarelessness. Instead of the agitation of jealousy that he had expectedto be aroused by this hint of another woman in the case, there was acurious expression, more like embarrassment than anything else whichmight have been fairly attributed to the subject. 'Can it be that I ammistaken?' he asked himself.

  The possibility that he might be mistaken restored Louis to good-humour,and lights having been brought he sat with his sister for some time,talking with purpose of Swithin's low rank on one side, and the sordidstruggles that might be in store for him. St. Cleeve being in theunhappy case of deriving his existence through two channels of society,it resulted that he seemed to belong to either this or that according tothe altitude of the beholder. Louis threw the light entirely onSwithin's agricultural side, bringing out old Mrs. Martin and herconnexions and her ways of life with luminous distinctness, till LadyConstantine became greatly depressed. She, in her hopefulness, hadalmost forgotten, latterly, that the bucolic element, so incisivelyrepresented by Messrs. Hezzy Biles, Haymoss Fry, Sammy Blore, and therest entered into his condition at all; to her he had been the son of hisacademic father alone.

  But she would not reveal the depression to which she had been subjectedby this resuscitation of the homely half of poor Swithin, presentlyputting an end to the subject by walking hither and thither about theroom.

  'What have you lost?' said Louis, observing her movements.

  'Nothing of consequence,--a bracelet.'

  'Coral?' he inquired calmly.

  'Yes. How did you know it was coral? You have never seen it, have you?'

  He was about to make answer; but the amazed enlightenment which herannouncement had produced in him through knowing where the Bishop hadfound such an article, led him to reconsider himself. Then, like anastute man, by no means sure of the dimensions of the intrigue he mightbe uncovering, he said carelessly, 'I found such a one in the churchyardto-day. But I thought it appeared to be of no great rarity, and I gaveit to one of the village girls who was passing by.'

  'Did she take it? Who was she?' said the unsuspecting Viviette.

  'Really, I don't remember. I suppose it is of no consequence?'

  'O no; its value is nothing, compar
atively. It was only one of a pairsuch as young girls wear.' Lady Constantine could not add that, in spiteof this, she herself valued it as being Swithin's present, and the besthe could afford.

  Panic-struck by his ruminations, although revealing nothing by hismanner, Louis soon after went up to his room, professedly to writeletters. He gave vent to a low whistle when he was out of hearing. Heof course remembered perfectly well to whom he had given the corals, andresolved to seek out Tabitha the next morning to ascertain whether shecould possibly have owned such a trinket as well as his sister,--which atpresent he very greatly doubted, though fervently hoping that she might.