A Girl of the Commune
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A GIRL OF THECOMMUNE
BY
G. A. HENTYAUTHOR OF "IN FREEDOM'S CAUSE," "WITH LEE INVIRGINIA," ETC.
NEW YORKR. F. FENNO & COMPANY9 AND 11 EAST 16TH STREET
COPYRIGHT, 1895
BY G. A. HENTY
A GIRL OF THE COMMUNE.
CHAPTER I.
Jeremiah Brander was one of the most prominent personages in theCathedral town of Abchester. He inhabited an old-fashioned, red brickhouse near the end of the High Street. On either side was a high wallfacing the street, and from this a garden, enclosing the house,stretched away to a little stream some two hundred yards in the rear; sothat the house combined the advantage of a business residence in front,with those of seclusion, an excellent garden, and an uninterrupted viewbehind.
Jeremiah Brander enjoyed, in a very large degree, the confidence andrespect of his fellow-townsmen. His father and his grandfather had been,like himself, solicitors, and he numbered among his clients most of thecounty families round. Smaller business he left to the three younger menwho divided between them the minor legal business of the place. He in noway regarded them as rivals, and always spoke of them benevolently asworthy men to whom all such business as the collection of debts,criminal prosecutions, and such matters as the buying and selling ofhouses in the town, could be safely entrusted. As for himself hepreferred to attend only to business in his own line, and he seldomaccepted fresh clients, never, indeed, until a new-comer had taken hisplace among the accepted society of the county.
In the public business of the city, however, he played a very importantpart. He was Town Clerk, treasurer of several societies, solicitor tothe Abchester County and City Bank, legal adviser of the CathedralAuthorities, deacon of the principal Church, City Alderman, president ofthe Musical Society, treasurer of the Hospital, a director of the GasCompany, and was in fact ready at all times to take a prominent part inany movement in the place.
He was a man of some fifty years of age, inclined to be stout, somewhatflorid in complexion, and always dressed with scrupulous care. There wasnothing about him to indicate that he belonged to the legal profession.His talk as a rule was genial and almost cheery, but his manner variedaccording to the circumstances. In his capacity as treasurer he wasconcise and business-like; in matters connected with the Church he was alittle given to be dogmatic, which, considering the liberality of hissubscriptions to all the Church objects and charities was but natural.
As president of the Musical Society he was full of tact, and acted thepart of general conciliator in all the numerous squabbles, jealousies,and heart-burnings incidental to such associations. In every one of thenumerous offices he filled he gave unbounded satisfaction, and the onlyregret among his fellow-townsmen was that he had on three occasionsrefused to accept the honor of the Mayoralty, alleging, and with a fairshow of reason, that although ready at all times to aid to the utmost inany movement set afoot for the advantage of the city, it was impossiblefor him to spare the time required to perform properly the duties ofMayor.
Jeremiah Brander had married the daughter of a gentleman of an oldcounty family which had fallen somewhat in circumstances. It was rumoredat the time that he had lent some assistance to the head of the family,and that the match was scarcely a willing one on the lady's part.However that might be, no whisper had ever been heard that the marriagewas an unhappy one. It was regarded as rather a come-down for her, butif so she never showed that she felt it as a fall. The marriage hadcertainly improved his standing in the county. His wife formed a sort oflink between him and his clients, and he occupied a considerably betterposition among them than his father had done, being generally acceptedas a friend as well as a legal adviser.
It is not to be supposed that so successful a man had no detractors. Oneof his legal brethren had been heard to speak of him contemptuously as ahumbug. A medical practitioner who had failed to obtain the post ofHouse Surgeon at the Hospital, owing to the support the President hadgiven to another competitor for the post, had alluded to him bitterly asa blatant ass; and a leading publican who had been fined before themagistrates for diluting his spirits, was in the habit of darklyuttering his opinion that Jerry Brander was a deep card and up to nogood.
But as every great man has his enemies, the opinion of a few malcontentswent for nothing in the general consensus of admiration for one who wasgenerally regarded as among the pillars of Abchester society, and anhonor to the city.
"It is high time you did something, Jerry," his wife said to him onemorning after their three daughters had left the breakfast-table.
"In what way, Eliza?" Mr. Brander said, looking up from his newspaper;"it seems to me I do a good deal."
"You know what I mean," she said, sharply. "You know you promised me ahundred times that you would give up all this miserable business andsettle down in the county. The girls are growing up, Mary has just leftGirton and is of an age to go into society."
"She may be of age," Mr. Brander said, with an irritability unusual tohim, "but it strikes me that society is the last thing she is thinkingof. We made a mistake altogether in giving way to her and letting her goto that place; she has got her head full of all sorts of absurd ideasabout woman's mission and woman's duties, and nonsense of that sort, andhas got out of hand altogether. You have not a shadow of influence overher, and I can't say that I have much more. Thank goodness her sistersdon't take after her in any way."
"Well, that is all true," Mrs. Brander said, "and you know we haveagreed on that subject for a long time, but it is no answer to myquestion. I have been content to live all these years in this miserabledull place, because I was fool enough to believe your promise that youwould in time give up all this work and take a position in the county."
"To some extent I kept my promise," he said. "There is not a week thatwe don't drive half-a-dozen miles, and sometimes a dozen, to take partin a dull dinner."
"That is all very well so far as it goes, but we simply go to thesedinners because you are the family lawyer and I am your wife."
"Well, well, you know, Eliza, that I was in treaty for the Haywood'sEstate when that confounded mine that I had invested in went wrong, andfifteen thousand were lost at a blow--a nice kettle of fish we madebetween us of that."
"We," she repeated, scornfully.
"Yes, we. You know perfectly well that before I went into it I consultedyou. The mine was paying well then, and at the rate I bought in wouldhave paid twenty per cent on the investment. I told you that there was acertain risk always with these mines, and that it was either a bigaddition to our income or a total loss."
"Yes, but you said that coal mines were not like other mines."
"And as a rule they are not," he said, "but there was first that greatstrike, then a fall in the price of coal, and then just when thingsbegan to look better again we came upon that fault that nobody haddreamt of being there, and then the whole thing went to smash. You mustnot be impatient. I am as anxious as you are, Eliza, to have done withall this, and I hope by the time Clara and Julia are ready to come out,I may be able to carry out the plans we have always had--I as much asyou. Tancred takes a great deal of the work off my hands now, and I cansee that he has the confidence of most of my people. In another coupleof years I shall have no fear of the business falling off if I hand itover to him entirely. You know he has only a fifth share, and I have nodoubt he will be glad to arrange to pay me half or perhaps three-fifthswhen I retire. Now I must be going across to the office."
The office was situated in a smaller house standing opposite thelawyer's residence.
In his father's time a portion of the ground floorof the house was devoted to business purposes, but after his marriageJeremiah Brander had taken the house opposite and made it his place ofbusiness.
About twelve o'clock a gig drew up at the door; a moment later a youngclerk came in.
"Doctor Edwards wishes to speak to you, Mr. Brander."
"Show him in."
"Well, doctor," he said, as his visitor entered, "it is seldom that Isee you here, though we meet often enough elsewhere. Come you to buy orto sell, or do you want a will prepared or a patient sued? If so youknow that's altogether out of my line."
"I quite understand that, Brander," the other said, as he took thearmchair the lawyer pointed out to him. "No, I have come to tell yousomething you will be very sorry to hear. I have just come in fromFairclose. I had a note from Hartington last night asking me to go overfirst thing this morning."
"He does not look like a man who would require professional services,doctor; he is sixty, I suppose, but he could tire out most of theyounger men either across country or after the partridges."
"Yes, he looks as hard as iron and sound as a roach, but appearances aredeceptive. I should have said as you do yesterday if anyone had askedme. I have come to tell you to-day in confidence that he has not manymonths, perhaps not many weeks to live."
The lawyer uttered an exclamation of surprise and regret.
"Yes, it is a bad business," the doctor went on, "he told me that whenhe came back from hunting yesterday he went upstairs to change whensuddenly the room seemed to go round. Fortunately he had just sat downon a couch and taken off his top boots, and he fell sideways on to it.He says he was insensible for about half an hour; the first thing he wasconscious of was the servant knocking at the door, to say that dinnerwas ready; he told the man that he did not feel well and should not godown; he got off his things and lay down for an hour and then felt wellenough to write the note to me. Of course I made a thorough examinationof him, and found that, as I feared, it was a bad case of heart disease,probably latent for a long time, but now I should say making rapidprogress. Of course I told him something of the truth.
"'Is it as bad as that?' he said. 'I have felt a lot of palpitationlately after a hard run with the hounds, and fancied something must bewrong. Well, say nothing about it, doctor; when it comes it must come,but I don't want my affairs to be discussed or to know that every man Imeet is saying to himself 'poor old buffer, we shan't have him longamong us.'
"Then he said more seriously, 'I would rather it should be so than thatI should outgrow my strength and become a confirmed invalid. I haveenjoyed my life and have done my best to do my duty as a landlord and asa magistrate. I am as prepared to die now as I should be twenty yearson. I have been rather a lonely man since I lost my wife. Cuthbert'sways are not my ways, for he likes life in London, cares nothing forfield sports. But we can't all be cast in one groove, you know, and Ihave never tried to persuade him to give up his life for mine, whyshould I? However, though I wish you to tell no one else, I should beglad if you will call on Brander and ask him to drive over. I made mywill years ago, but there are a few matters I should like to talk overwith him.'"
"This is sad, indeed," the lawyer said, sympathetically. "TheSquire--everyone about here calls him the Squire, you know, though thereare men with broader acres than his in the neighborhood--will beterribly missed. Dear, dear, it will make a sad gap indeed: how long doyou think he is likely to last?"
"He might go at any moment, Brander; but as he has rallied from thisshock it may be some little time before he has another. I should givehim perhaps a couple of months. By the way, I think his son ought to beinformed of it."
"I will ask him about it," the lawyer said. "Of course Cuthbert oughtto know, but may be the Squire will keep it entirely to himself. Ishould say there is nothing that would upset him more than the thoughtof being fretted over, and I am not sure that he is not right. Of courseI shall drive over there this afternoon."
After Dr. Edwards had left, Jeremiah Brander sat for a long time in deepthought. Once the clerk came in to ask for instructions about a deedthat he was drawing up, but he waved him away impatiently. "Put itaside," he said, "I cannot see to it just now, I am busy, and not to bedisturbed for the next hour, whoever comes."
It was evidently a difficult problem Jeremiah Brander had to solve. Hetook out his bank-book and went through his payments for a long whileback and then went through some bundles of old checks. One of these hetook off the file; it was for the sum of fifteen thousand pounds, madepayable to self.
"It is lucky now," he muttered, "that I drew it, as I didn't want itknown even in the bank what I was putting the money into," then from astrongbox with the name "J. W. Hartington," he took out a bundle ofdocuments, many of which were receipts for money signed by the Squire,carefully examined the dates and amounts, and put them down on a pieceof paper.
"There would be no difficulty about the signature," he said; "nonewhatever; a child could imitate it."
Laying one of the sheets before him he wrote on a sheet of foolscap "J.W. Hartington" a score of times, imitating the somewhat crabbedhandwriting so accurately that even an expert would have had somedifficulty in detecting the difference; he then tore the sheet intosmall pieces, put them into the heart of the fire, and watched themshrivel up to nothing.
"I think it could be done without the slightest risk," he said tohimself, "if one managed the details carefully." Then he sat down andremained for half an hour without stirring. "It can be done," he said atlast, "it is well worth trying; the property ought to be worth seventythousand, but at a forced sale it might go for fifty-five or sixty. Ireckoned last week that I could sell out my stocks for twenty-sixthousand, which, with the fifteen thousand, would bring it over forty,and I could raise the balance on the estate without difficulty; thenwith the rents and what I shall draw for this business, I shall be inclover." He locked up the papers carefully, put on his hat, and wentacross the road to lunch.
There was no trace in his face or manner of the grave matters that hadoccupied his thoughts for the last two hours. He was cheerful and evengay over the meal. He joked Mary about the advancement of women, toldthe other girls that he intended that they should take lessons inriding, gave them an amusing account of the meeting of the MusicalSociety he had attended the evening before, and told his wife that shemust dress specially well at the dinner they were going to that evening,as he had heard that most of the county big-wigs would be there.
Mr. Brander was always pleasant in the bosom of his family, occasionallysharp words might pass when he and his wife were alone, but when thegirls were present he was always the genial father. There is no betteradvertisement for a man than his children's talk. They are unconsciouslyhis best trumpeters, and when Mr. Brander's name was mentioned and hismany services to his townsmen talked over, the fact that he was one ofthe best and kindest of men in his family circle, and that his girlspositively worshipped him, was sure to be adduced as final and clinchingevidence of the goodness of his character.
After lunch he went down to the bank and had a private interview withthe manager.
"By the bye," he said, after a short talk, "I have a client who wants tobuy fifty shares."
The manager glanced sharply at him.
"They stand at a premium," Mr. Brander went on, as if not noticing theglance; "though they have fallen thirty shillings lately. It is not aninvestment I should myself recommend, but at the same time, for variousreasons, I did not care to endeavor to dissuade him; it would scarcelydo for it to be reported that I had said anything to the disadvantage ofthis institution, standing as I do in the position of its solicitor. Ithink you mentioned the other day that you held rather more shares thanyou cared for, perhaps you could let me have some?"
The other nodded. "I could part with fifty," he said, dryly.
"Let me think, when was the last board meeting?"
"This day fortnight."
"I have rather neglected the matter in the pressure
of business," Mr.Brander said, quietly, "and my client thinks the matter is alreadyconcluded, so perhaps it would be as well to date the transfer on theday after the board meeting, and I will date my check accordingly."
"It will be all the same to me," the manager said, "shall I draw out thetransfer at once?"
"Do so. The shares stand at six pounds ten, I think, so I will draw youout a check for three hundred and twenty-five pounds. That will beright, I think," and he wrote a check and handed it across to themanager.
"What name shall I put in as the purchaser, Mr. Brander?"
"James William Hartington."
The manager lifted his brows and hesitated for a moment, but then,without a remark, filled in the transfer, dating it as requested.
"I must get two of the clerks to witness my signature," he said.
The lawyer nodded.
Two young clerks were fetched up by the messenger.
"I only want you to witness my signature," the manager said, as hesigned his name. "Please to sign here, Mr. Karford; now Mr. Levison, yousign underneath." He held his finger to the spot where they were to signin such a way that they could not even if they wished read the nameinserted in the body of the document.
"I will take it away with me and obtain Hartington's signature," Mr.Brander said, after they had left the room, "I am going over to see himnow. I will send it in to you before the next board meeting, and by theway it would be as well when you get it stamped to pass it in withseveral others. I know how these things are done, and in ninety-ninecases out of a hundred the directors don't even glance at the names onthe transfers. Of course they are nothing to them, they have otherthings to think about, but there might possibly be some remark at yourtransferring some of your shares just at the present moment. By theway," he said, carelessly, "I don't think if I were you I would make anyfurther advances to Mildrake. Of course, he has a big business, and nodoubt he is all right, but I have learned privately that they are notdoing as well as they seem to be, and I know the bank is pretty deepthere already."
The manager turned somewhat paler, but said, though with manifesteffort--
"They are perfectly safe, Mr. Brander, as safe as a bank."
"No doubt, no doubt, Mr. Cumming, but you know all banks are notperfectly safe. Well, I dare say you can manage that for me."
"Certainly, there can be no difficulty whatever about it. I have ten ortwelve other transfers, and there will doubtless be some more beforenext board meeting. The affixing the stamp is a purely mechanicalbusiness."
After the lawyer had left Mr. Cumming sat for some time passing his handnervously over his chin.
"Brander evidently has an idea that all is not right," he thought tohimself. "Of course he cannot know how things really stand or he wouldnever have let Hartington take shares. It is a curious transactionaltogether, and I cannot make head nor tail of it. However, that is nobusiness of mine. I will cash the check at once and send the money totown with the rest; if Mildrake can hold on we may tide matters over forthe present; if not there will be a crash. However, he promised to sendme forty-eight hours' notice, and that will be enough for me to arrangematters and get off."
Returning to his office the lawyer found his gig waiting at the door,and at once drove over to Fairclose, Mr. Hartington's place.
"I am grieved, indeed, to hear the news Edwards brought me thismorning," he said, as he entered the room where the Squire was sitting.
"Yes, it is rather sudden, Brander, but a little sooner or a littlelater does not make much difference after all. Edwards told you, ofcourse, that I want nothing said about it."
"That is so."
"Nothing would annoy me more than to have any fuss. I shall just go onas I have before, except that I shall give up hunting; it is just theend of the season, and there will be but two or three more meets. Ishall drive to them and have a chat with my friends and see the houndsthrow off. I shall give out that I strained myself a bit the last time Iwas out, and must give up riding for a time. Have you brought my willover with you?"
"Yes, I thought you might want to add something to it."
"That is right, there are two or three small legacies I have thought of;there is a list of them."
Mr. Brander took out the will and added a codicil. The legacies weresmall ones of ten or twenty pounds to various old people in the village,and the work occupied but a few minutes. The housekeeper and one of themen were called up to witness the signature, and when they had retiredMr. Brander sat chatting for half an hour on general topics, Mr.Hartington avoiding any further allusion to the subject of his illness.Mr. Brander got back in time to dress comfortably for dinner.
"Really, Mary," he said, when he went into the drawing-room where hiswife and Mary were waiting ready for him, "I do think you might dressyourself a little more brightly when we are going to such a house as weare to-night. I don't say that that black silk with the lace and thosewhite flowers are not becoming, but I think something lighter and gayerwould be more appropriate to a young girl."
"I don't like colors, father, and if it hadn't been for mamma I shouldnever have thought of getting these expensive flowers. I do think womenlower themselves by dressing themselves as butterflies. No wonder menconsider they think of nothing but dress and have no minds for highermatters."
"Pooh, pooh, my dear, the first duty of a young woman is to look aspretty as she can. According to my experience men don't troublethemselves much about the mind, and a butterfly after all is a good dealmore admired than a bee, though the bee is much more useful in the longrun."
"If a woman is contented to look like a butterfly, father, she must becontent to be taken for one, but I must say I think it is degrading thatmen should look upon it in that light. They don't dress themselves up inall sorts of colors, why should we."
"I am sure I can't tell you why, Mary, but I suppose it is a sort ofinstinct, and instincts are seldom wrong. If it had been intended thatwomen should dress themselves as plainly and monotonously as we do, theywould not have had the love of decorating themselves implanted almostuniversally among them. You are on the wrong track, child, on the wrongtrack altogether, and if you and those who think like you imagine thatyou are going to upset the laws of nature and to make women rivals ofmen in mind if not in manner, instead of being what they were meant tobe, wives and mothers, you are althogether mistaken."
"That is only another way of putting it, father, that because woman havefor ages been treated as inferiors they ought always to remain so."
"Well, well, my dear, we won't argue over it. I think you are altogetherwrong, but I have no objection to your going your own way and finding itout at last for yourself, but that does not alter my opinion that on anoccasion of a set dinner-party in the county where everybody will be intheir fullest fig, that dress, which is pretty and becoming enough inits way, I admit, can hardly be considered as appropriate."
Mary did not answer, but gave an almost imperceptible shrug of hershoulders, expressing clearly her absolute indifference to otherpeople's tastes so long as she satisfied her own. Mary was indeeddecided in most of her opinions. Although essentially feminine in mostrespects, she and the set to which she had belonged at Girton, hadestablished it as a principle to their own satisfaction, that feminineweaknesses were to be sternly discouraged as the main cause of theposition held relatively to men. Thus they cultivated a certainbrusqueness of speech, expressed their opinion uncompromisingly, andwere distinguished by a certain plainness in the fashion of their gowns,and by the absence of trimmings, frillings, and similar adornments.
At heart she was as fond of pretty things as other girls of her age, andhad, when she attired herself, been conscious that she felt a greatersatisfaction at her appearance than she ought to have done, and doubtedwhether she had not made an undue concession to the vanities of societyin the matter of her laces and flowers. She had, however, soothed herconscience by the consideration that she was at home but for a shorttime, and while there she might well fall in with her paren
ts' views, asshe would be soon starting for Germany to enter upon earnest work. Herfather's remarks then were in a sense satisfactory to her, as theyshowed that, although she had made concessions, she had at least gonebut half-way.
The dinner passed off well. Mary was fortunate in being taken down by agentleman who had advanced views on the necessity of Britishagriculturists adopting scientific farming if they were to hold theirown against foreign producers, and she surprised him by the interest sheexhibited in his theories. So much so, that he always spoke of herafterwards as one of the most intelligent young women he had ever met.
Mr. Brander was in remarkably good spirits. On such occasions heentirely dropped his profession, and showed a keen interest in allmatters connected with the land. No one would that evening have supposedthat his mind was in the smallest degree preoccupied by grave matters ofany kind.