Читать книгу Lovers' Knots - Bowen Marjorie - Страница 4

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Petulance and impatience rested on the face of Miss Eulalie Montacute, eclipsing a vast natural gaiety; she sat on the Sheraton table and dangled her silk-shod feet above their rose-red reflections in the waxed floor.

Opposite her a window opened into a garden filled with symbols of the season, appropriate roses, neatly white and pink, and a park pretty with the prettiness of July.

Little woolly clouds (the beloved of fan painters) sailed over a milky-blue sky, and the distant trees were as verdant as their portrait in any book of spring poems.

It was decidedly an uninteresting prospect; petulance and impatience deepened as Miss Eulalie glanced from the window and round the mellow-gold room.

A very well-ordered chamber certainly; the walls polished and shining, the light furniture, with its inlaid patterns of seashells, neatly arranged, the white and gold clock and candlesticks standing stiffly at attention on the mantelpiece.

Oval pastels in gilt frames adorned the walls and light yellow silk curtains waved round the open window which stood wide, like a door, into the garden.

Miss Eulalie herself was not in keeping with the room; she was vividly coloured, vividly dressed, alert, with a petulant face.

Her rose-red silk was worn in a dashing manner, a little chip hat lay on the top of her high-piled brown hair, and the strings ended in a bow of black velvet under her round chin.

Eyes of a clear, steady blue under brows most delicately arched, contradicted with their dignity full lips insolently red, and a short, disdainful nose.

Her clear and glowing complexion was set off by a moon-shaped patch near her lower lip, and on the table beside her lay a pink parasol.

Although this was Kent, and five miles from a town, Miss Eulalie was fashionable in her appointments. Her hair was decidedly â la mode, and her gown of the cut sanctioned by Almack's and the Pantheon. The china clock struck twelve; Miss Eulalie's discontent was gathering into a positive frown when she heard a step without.

A superb youth lounged into view along the emerald grass; he languidly swung a cane, to the great danger of the roses, and, seeing Miss Eulalie, swept off his pale silk jampot hat.

She responded with the shadow of a smile and an impatient glance from haughty blue eyes.

"A positive wretch!" she cried.

The youth came to the window and stood leaning against the frame in an attitude of careless grace.

The veiled sun glittered in the curls of his smooth, thick chestnut hair and on the diamond in the folds of his white stock—his elegant figure was attired in faultless clothes, a pale grey coat, the perfection of white breeches, lemon-topped boots, and a cream satin waistcoat curiously embroidered with strawberries and garnished by turquoise enamel buttons.

The countenance was pale, yet of the florid type, well-featured and fresh; his mouth, too full for strength, bore an expression of well-. bred insolence, and the effect of his fine red-brown eyes was spoiled by the heavy droop in one of his lids, which gave the whole face an appearance slightly sinister, slightly repellent.

"A wretch!" exclaimed Miss Eulalie again. "Augustus, you are half an hour late—absolutely—by the clock."

The Hon. Augustus Tollemache gave an oblique glance at the china timepiece as if he bore it malice for being a witness to his misdemeanour.

"Dear Miss," he said, in a voice of languid protest, "I came round by the village—knowing it for the shorter way—and there was such a prodigious crowd assembled round the church that I turned from my way to discover the cause of the commotion."

Miss Eulalie turned uninterested eyes towards the speaker. "I protest, Augustus, this is not a vastly diverting excuse."

"Truth makes it tiresome, dear Miss—an invention would have boasted a more entertaining flavour. As I remarked, there was a crowd gathered about the church. I discovered that the centre of interest was a handbill that had been affixed to the porch. Other copies of this document were being distributed. I obtained one."

Miss Eulalie's short lip curled.

"Some one has lost a purse or a ring, or a passenger on the Maidstone coach has left his luggage behind."

"It is something infinitely more amusing," answered the Hon. Augustus, lazily swinging his cane. "Something that may pleasantly vary a rural charm that, unbroken, might prove monotonous."

"Augustus! I protest that you put me beside myself with curiosity. Augustus, pray, enlighten me."

She bent a little forward, with mittened hands clasped in her lap and the rose-red ribbons in her hat fluttering.

"Augustus, assist me from the table."

He advanced at an elegant saunter and offered his gloved hand, which she took lightly and leaped to the ground.

"You shall take me for our promised walk, and inform me of this prodigious news," said Miss Eulalie. She put her aim through his. Despite her piled-up hair and elevated hat, she came scarcely to his shoulder.

They strolled into the garden.

"It is a forger," said Mr. Tollemache, leaning sideways, indulgently to her shorter stature.

"Ha!" exclaimed Miss Eulalie. "A forger!"

"Positively. I believe he was arrested in London with the counterfeit notes. I believe that he escaped and fled to Maidstone, where he was arrested again. A second time he escaped, and is at large—hiding, I presume—somewhere in the vicinity."

Miss Eulalie caught her stiff skirt out of reach of the heads of the carnations; the gesture was something like a shudder.

"Horrible! Why are there such people? Do you suppose, Augustus, that he will elude the vigilance of the constables?"

"I consider it improbable. There are a hundred guineas on his head. The inhabitants of Marlowe will strive to secure those guineas."

Miss Eulalie was interested. There was a novel element of horror and excitement that fascinated; she glanced up into the indolent face of the Hon. Augustus.

"We will sit down."

She indicated a green wooden seat under some beech trees.

"And, Augustus, you must show me the handbill. Does it contain the description of the forger?"

Mr. Tollemache sank elegantly into the seat, and produced from his pocket a roll of paper; his companion settled her shimmering skirt, and put up her frilled parasol to protect her from the sun that gleamed through the beech leaves.

The Hon. Augustus pulled off his gloves, and with plump, ringed hands unrolled the handbill.

He commenced reading aloud the thick headlines:

"Maidstone—this loth day of July, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight. Whereas one—"

Miss Eulalie interrupted.

"Dear sir, it is not interesting. Proceed to the description."

Mr. Tollemache moved the paper so that it was free from the flickering shadows of the beech leaves.

"The gist of the matter is that this person, giving his name as Conyers Redmond, is guilty of forgery on the Bank of England to the extent of seven thousand pounds (a dull dog, or he would have made it seventy), and there is a hundred guineas to the man who gives information as to his whereabouts."

"An odious wretch!" exclaimed Miss Eulalie. "I pray that some honest man may obtain the reward."

"If you dispense with the adjective, dear Miss, no doubt your wish will be accomplished."

The Hon. Augustus smiled lazily over the heavy folds of his stock; she gave a quick glance over his refined splendour, and her blue eyes flashed with inscrutable expression.

"I vow I will have the description."

He recommenced reading in his slow, studied voice.

"Item one—tall, about five foot eleven." Miss Eulalie nodded.

"Item two—thin and inclined to stoop." Miss Eulalie nodded again.

"Pale, good-looking features, grey eyes, and black hair, worn short."

"La, Augustus! I consider him innocent, and am heartily sorry for him. I adore grey eyes."

She twirled her parasol round and laughed. Mr. Tollemache took no notice.

"Item four—he has a cut across his upper lip, received in a fight with the constables, and a Roman nose scarred across the bridge."

"I loathe Roman noses. I think the fellow is guilty."

"Item five—he is dressed in fashionable but soiled clothes, plum-coloured coat and breeches, green waistcoat, and red stockings."

The Hon. Augustus elevated his eyebrows.

"Red stockings! His taste appears to be as deplorable as his morals."

"And his appearance worse than either," said Miss Eulalie. "But continue, Augustus.

"Item six—he wears a cravat of Limerick lace and a frayed black hat."

"A wretch, obviously." Miss Eulalie glanced with slackened interest at the paper, and then away across the lawn; her parasol cast a delicate rosy shade over her face and throat; the beech leaves made a pleasant rustle overhead, gracefully filling the pause in the converse.

The Hon. Augustus put the handbill into his waistcoat pocket; then, with a face slightly vacant, gazed at his own reflection in the agate knob of his cane.

"Augustus!" Miss Eulalie turned a questioning face. "Does not this description call some one to your mind?"

"My acquaintances," answered Mr. Tollemache, "are numerous, but all, dear Miss, of bon ton."

"Naturally," she assented. "I mean merely a resemblance."

"I know no one," interrupted the Hon. Augustus lazily, "who could wear red stockings with a plum-coloured coat. On my honour."

"I take it, dear sir, that you know no one who would commit a forgery."

"I could not swear to it. I choose my friends for their taste, not their morals. The first is everybody's business, the second decidedly their own."

Miss Eulalie slightly frowned.

"I must pray you, Augustus, to give me your attention."

He bestowed on her a glance of indolent admiration. "Would it be possible to do otherwise?"

"I believe so." Her frown deepened. "You were not, Augustus, attending to me when I spoke. I said that a resemblance seemed to me to exist between this person whom we have read of and some one whom we both know."

Mr. Tollemache elevated his thick red brows.

"Distressing! I cannot imagine who the unfortunate may be."

Her blue eyes opened wide with eagerness.

"Consider—tall, stooping, pale, well-featured, black hair—a Roman nose, Augustus! Who is that like?"

"I cannot conceive, dear Miss."

He tilted his hat so that the narrow brim sheltered his eyes from the sun, and gazed at her from the shadow. She sat erect, looking at him with a half-smile; she laid her fingers delicately on her lips and said:

"Sophia!"

"By the la!" exclaimed the Hon. Augustus softly. "It is a very picture of Sophia!"

"But it never occurred to you?"

"I was not considering the ladies," smiled Mr. Tollemache. "Certainly the gentleman must be like Sophia. You will hardly suggest it to Beverly?"

"I am not afraid of Sophia," said Miss Eulalie, with a curling lip.

"Beverly is, I think."

"My unfortunate brother is her husband, Augustus. He is bound to consider her. I do not imagine that he is afraid of her."

"Then he dotes on her?" questioned Mr. Tollemache languidly. "'Tis one or the other, dear Miss, the county knows that Sophia rules in Montacute House."

Miss Eulalie twirled her parasol furiously.

"I hate Sophia."

"The county knows that," he smiled.

Miss Eulalie seemed to hesitate in something she was about to say; she swung the parasol rapidly and tapped the bright grass with her foot; then she raised her glowing face.

"Sophia desires me to marry Mr. Champneys."

"Mr. Champneys!" echoed the Hon Augustus in a tone of distress.

Miss Eulalie broke into a frank laugh.

"Positively. Mr. Champneys approached Beverly, Beverly spoke to Sophia, Sophia spoke to me." Her blue eyes danced.

"There are the advantages. Mr. Champneys has a neighbouring estate and five thousand a year; he is not more foolish than most men, nor more ill-favoured; he is very generous, and I (says Sophia) would be a fool to refuse."

"But you have?"

"Augustus!"

Then she laughed again.

"Do you not consider the whole affair absurd, Augustus?" she demanded, in a lighthearted scorn. "Mr. Champneys! Pray conceive Mr. Champneys! I have ambitions; I put a vast value on myself. Sophia will not be rid of me so easily—nor Beverly. Mr. Champneys! It is diverting."

His red eyes considered her. He balanced his cane carefully over his crossed knees; his expression was serious, reserved; she touched his arm with her finger-tips, still laughing.

"Augustus! Does it not amuse you? This gravity is hardly befitting the subject."

Her dazzling eyes, her smiling lips, the loose locks of her shining hair made a brightness in the shade; the Hon. Augustus did not stir from his languid attitude, but beneath his drooping lids his glance showed interested.

"Mr. Champneys," he said, with a lofty calm, "is a foolish fellow—it was prodigious insolence on his part. Naturally, dear Miss, you have a right to look higher."

Her red lips parted in a charming mockery; she clasped her hands over the satin bow that rose and fell on her bosom.

"Thank you, Augustus!" She looked demurely away. "You may tell Beverly so, if you will."

Still surveying her under the brim of his tilted hat, he answered evenly:

"I will tell Beverly more than that—with your permission."

She faced him again.

"What, Augustus?"

He raised himself carelessly into an elegant posture against the side of the seat.

"Miss Eulalie."

Her eyes flashed, then drooped. She smiled. Mr. Tollemache rose and swept off his hat, showing his hair glittering like copper.

"Miss Eulalie"—he laid his hand above where a nice calculation had told him his heart lay—"I adore you. Will you, my sweet charmer, do me the vast honour of accepting my hand, my heart, my fortune?"

"Augustus!"

Her tone a little disturbed his serene confidence; he sank gracefully into the scat again and tried to take her hand.

"Eulalie, you will marry me?"

She stared at him a moment, and then she laughed—laughed as frankly as she had done when she spoke of Mr. Champneys.

"Is this serious, dear sir?"

"Upon my honour," he reassured her, inclining easily towards her end of the seat. Miss Eulalie's laughter rose delicately.

"Do you, then, fall so soon into the errors that you condemn in others, Augustus? Do you wish it to be said that Mr. Tollemache is a foolish fellow—it was prodigious insolence on his part?"

The Hon. Augustus Tollemache, the finest match in the county, who had had a fair choice of the beauties of two London seasons, stared at the country miss who had so received his condescension; a slow red mounted to his face, indignation strove with incredulity in his expression. Miss Eulalie laughed the more.

"You look foolish, Augustus—la! near as foolish as Mr. Champneys."

"Madam," he demanded, in a shaking voice, "what am I to understand at your answer?"

The blue eyes shone with amusement.

"I am ambitious; I set a high value on myself," she smiled; "I have hopes of some one vastly different to you—or Mr. Champneys. You are charming as a friend, Augustus, but"—she shrugged her slender shoulders—"how can you be so foolish?" she finished.

"And this is my answer, Madam?"

He had never been so humiliated before in the whole of his elegant life. He rose, clasping his hat to his bosom. Miss Eulalie glanced up into the blue and the pretty little clouds.

"Yes, Augustus, of course." And she added: "If you waited long enough I might one day consider your proposal—but at present—la!"

His eyes shone furiously; he bowed with a frozen courtesy.

"I shall be happy to wait your pleasure," he said, his whole face sneering. "I am always, Madam, your humble servant."

Miss Eulalie looked surprised.

"Are you affronted, Augustus?" she asked innocently. He bowed again till his silk beaver swept the lawn.

"Madam, you must pardon my mistake."

He turned on his heel and walked away with a saunter rather affected than real, and a carelessness of demeanour slightly overacted. Miss Eulalie looked after him in a mischievous amusement; she was not blind to his vanity, and she recalled with satisfaction how foolish she had made him look; it was pleasant to think that she had lowered his inordinate presumption.

"It was absurd!" She laughed as she thought of it—Augustus, whom long usage had made commonplace—Augustus, a most ordinary young man, whom she had always secretly despised, as a person lazy of mind and slow of apprehension.

Certainly, when he had been in London or abroad she had missed him; she admitted that, but she would have missed anyone who had contributed to enliven a society not of itself vastly diverting; his sister Diana had been an equal loss. She had even regretted the absence of Mr. Champneys when he was away from the Manor; he was sometimes amusing, also a distraction from the company of Sophia and the intolerable Beverly.

So now, after a while, she yawned for lack of her companion, and, rising discontentedly, strolled across the garden to the park.

Sophia had forbidden her to go far abroad unattended; this was a stimulus to her gay spirit to roam far across the sun and shadows till Montacute House was lost behind the oaks and elms.

Miss Eulalie walked slowly, trailing the rose-red silk over the grass and daisies, with her parasol daintily over her shoulder, and a smiling, dreaming face.