Читать книгу A Gilded Serpent - James Edward Muddock - Страница 6

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IF Norah had dropped a bombshell on the floor of the room, she could scarcely have caused more consternation to show itself in the faces of Mr. Pym and her mother than did her announcement that she would be wife to Jim or no man. Perhaps Jim himself was scarcely less surprised than they were. He was quite conscious of the fact that he was placed in a delicate as well as an awkward position. He was poor and in a sense friendless, while arrayed against him was a combination of wealth and power. Nevertheless, if Norah declared for him, he was prepared to fight his way through sea and land, and face his foes with a front of brass for her sake. That was his feeling at that moment.

Mrs. Lacey was the first to speak. Opening her eyes, and elevating her brows to their fullest possible extent as indicating the supreme surprise she felt, she exclaimed—

"Well—that—I—should—have— lived—to witness—such a scene as this." Then turning to Jim she said with a fine, acid scorn, "Your disgraceful career does not encourage me to hope that you will recognize your duty in this crisis and tell that silly girl not to disgrace herself and the proud name she bears. Yet it is your duty to do so."

Jim's blood stirred within him, and his indignation was strong as, meeting the lady's burning looks steadfastly, he answered—

"Whatever your hopes may be, Mrs. Lacey, my duty to myself is plain. Your reference to my disgraceful career as you are pleased to term it is unpardonable. My career has not been disgraceful. But anyway as Norah is true to me I shall cling to her and claim her in spite of all you may say or do."

Randolph Pym's face darkened at these defiant words, and an involuntary cry of horror escaped from Mrs. Lacey's lips. She almost rushed to the bell rope, pulled it violently once more, and when the flunky appeared she commanded him to—

"Remove that fellow; show him to the door," that fellowbeing Jim Spedwick, at whom she pointed a finger of scorn.

She was a foolish woman to betray her anger and want of self- control before the servant, but she had allowed her feelings to entirely carry her away and she was lost to reason.

Jim Spedwick did not hesitate on the course to pursue. He must act promptly for Norah's sake; she was evidently suffering keenly, and she cast an appealing look at him, a look that plainly said, "Please go."

"Pray don't concern yourself, Mrs. Lacey," said Jim with a courtly bow. "I don't want showing to the door. I know where it is, and I have the honour to wish you good-night."

With a quick, hurried glance at Norah and without deigning to notice Pym, he walked out of the room in a most dignified way and left the house. It was a beautiful calm summer night, and the stars were shining brightly. There was a deep peace in the night stillness. Nature was at rest, and the world was beautiful; the starry heavens spoke of the greatness and immensity of the universe; of limitless expanses and vast aeons of time, but Spedwick was in no mood to note these things. His heart was hot and restless, and his brain vexed with the complex problem that the events of that day had shaped themselves into. Man's life is a little span but it leads through tortuous ways and eidolons of things that seem but are not, mock him, and often lure him to suffering and destruction. But of all the forces that act upon human nature for good and ill the greatest is love. It is capable of making a man desperate and terrible, and of taking his reason prisoner.

As Jim Spedwick pursued his way through the night and over the silent fields to his home in the old-world town of Ministerfield, he was perfectly conscious that the threads of his life were ravelled, and his future dark and uncertain. What hope was there that even if Norah should remain true to him, he would ever be able to consummate his desires by making her his wife? Her people were powerful in that part, and she was pledged by them to a man who was not likely to yield his prize without a desperate struggle. What chance had Jim against such forces? He was poor and without influence; what was there to look forward to? His crotchety uncle in Jamaica might not do something for him, but it was all uncertain. The lad was by no means lacking in ability and force of character, but somehow he had warped his life so far, and he could not cheat himself into a belief that he was anything but a dependant. The current of his career had been swept by the force of circumstances into a rocky channel, and it seemed to him that it would never flow smoothly again. The idea of abandoning the struggle for the hand of Norah was maddening; but would he be justified in persuading her to give up luxury and wealth, the love and honour of friends and relatives, to wreck the peace of her home in order to share with him poverty and perhaps disgrace? It was too great a sacrifice to ask even love to make. That the girl loved him now was indubitable, but would even her love stand the test that she would be called upon to endure?

He came to the conclusion that it would not. He had made a mistake in returning to England, or at any rate in seeing her. He was disturbing her peace of mind, doing her an injustice, and he must hasten to repair the mischief he had already done. He would give her up; he would go away, never to return until the possibility of Norah becoming his wife no longer existed.

In this varying mood, and oppressed with doubts and fears, he reached his home in Ministerfield. His father was a quiet man, not averse to occasional conviviality, but fond of books, and though poor, proud; He was much embittered against Mr. Lacey, whom he regarded as an upstart, but he had always shown a great liking for Norah. He could not fail to notice his son's moodiness when he returned on that eventful night, and he questioned him as to the cause. Jim frankly told him, and Mr. Spedwick made no attempt to conceal his annoyance.

"I am surprised," he said, "that you should have so little respect for yourself, for me and for the name you bear, as to place yourself in the power of these Laceys. Wean yourself from your infatuation for Norah. There are plenty of other young women in the world, and you've got life before you. Why make troubles for yourself in striving after the impossible? The Laceys have come out of the gutter. You have an ancestry to boast of. Why then should you crawl on your knees for the sake of Norah? There are thousands of young women in the world, any one of which would jump at you. Mind you, I am not saying a word in disparagement of Norah. The girl is to be pitied; but you haven't a penny to bless yourself with, I have no money to leave you. You are not justified, therefore, in encouraging the girl to stick to you. Of course if your Uncle Dick in Jamaica would leave you his money, your position would be different. But he's a curious mortal, and has been away so long that he is out of touch and out of sympathy with his family; and though he is my own brother he has never treated me kindly. For myself I wouldn't ask him for a shilling. I have never injured him, but he has said hard things about me. He blames me for my poverty—an easy thing to do. However, you have got to look after yourself; your future is in your own hands; don't mess your life about. Go back at once to your uncle. Stick to him; bow down to him; let him walk over you if it pleases him; let him walk over you if it pleases him, so long as he leaves his wealth to you. Remember he is an old man, and his span is nearly complete. Don't throw that chance away. In this strangely constituted world you can do nothing without money. Money is everything. 'Men make it a golden idol and bow down and worship it. If you have money, though your sins be as scarlet, people will fawn upon you. With money you can buy human souls."

Mrs. Spedwick, a subdued, careworn woman, whose life had been a disappointment, supported her husband in his argument, which was sound enough. She loved her boy, and it lacerated her heart that he should have to go from her; but it was for his own good, and she subordinated her own feelings, sacrificed herself for his sake. Jim's distress was very great, though he could not be indifferent to the advice of his parents. He fully recognized his own helplessness. He could not, dare not ask Norah to defy her people and share his poverty with him. So he went to his bed with a mental resolution. He would give Norah up, and on the morrow write to her to that effect. He would cut short his holiday; take the coach to Liverpool in a few days, and thence get ship back to Jamaica. He felt desperate, reckless and miserable, but it was no use fighting against the stars. Norah was lost to him, and it was worse than folly trying to blink the fact.

Such was his frame of mind as he fell into an uneasy sleep, and such was his frame of mind when he rose in the morning weary and unrefreshed. But as the day wore on there was placed in his hands by an under-gardener, employed at Runnell Hall, a letter, and that letter was from Norah.

"My dear one," it ran. "That awful scene last night nearly killed me, and after you had gone I had to endure purgatory. I have never seen my mother so angry, and in the presence of Mr. Pym she said all sorts of hard and cruel things, while he, like the coward that he is, took her part against me. Mother is writing to-day to father, who is in London, and is going to send her letter by special messenger. But, Jim dear, I don't care what they do so long as you remain true to me. I won't give you up. And I will have you if I have to wait years. It is simply awful that they should want me to marry a man that I don't care two straws for. I told Mr. Pym last night that I could never love him; but he only laughed and said I was simply infatuated with you, and that as soon as you had gone away again I would forget all about you. But you won't believe that, will you, dear? My heart is yours and yours only, and unless you say that you don't want me I will die rather than be forced to wed a man I hate. Oh how I wish I could comfort you, for I know how unhappy you will be; but don't, despair, dear one. You know the saying, I think it is one of Shakespeare's plays, 'The course of true love never did run smooth.' If we are true to each other we shall triumph in the end. I love, you, dear with all my heart and soul, and if you are patient you shall have me. I had no idea that my mother could have been so embittered against you, but she seems to be entirely under the influence of Mr. Pym, who imagines that I am so lacking in spirit and independence that I will submit to be treated like a child. He made me very angry last night when he accused you of being a dissipated young man, with no moral principles. I was furious, and spoke my mind very freely.

"You may imagine the time I had with the two of them; mother on one side and Mr. Pym on the other. But I held my own, I assure you, and told them I wouldn't hear a word said against you. But it was no use, they said the most cruel, bitter things, and I was so overcome that at last I fainted. When I had recovered I was thankful to find that Mr. Pym had gone.

"Of course, dear, we shall be closely watched and shall have to be very careful; but I felt as if I should go mad this morning if I didn't write to you and tell you that I shall be faithful unto death. I am sending this by Robin Agg, one of the gardeners, though I don't think it is wise to rely upon him, or anyone else. But you must let me have an answer, Jim, and tell me you won't let them separate us. There is a way we can write to each other without its being known. In the wood, close to the gate, where I met you yesterday, is a large oak on the left side of the path with a hole in the trunk. Don't you remember when you and I were children we once took a tomtit's nest out of that hole. Write me a letter and put it in that hole to-night and I will go for it some time to-morrow, and the following day I will put one there for you. But be sure you are careful, dear, for we shall be watched. God bless you, my dear sweetheart. Be true to me."

By the time he had finished reading this very womanly letter Jim's previous resolutions had all vanished, and he made fresh ones. Neither persuasions nor force should prevail upon him to give Norah up. And it came into his mind to suggest that she should elope with him to Gretna Green, and as soon as they were married they would leave England for Jamaica. It was a bold scheme and he kept it to himself; but he forgot the old proverb, "Man proposes, but God disposes." A lover, however, is invariably reckless, and ready to take risks that under other circumstances he would shrink from. Norah was still under age and still dependent upon, and under, her parents' control. Her father was a wealthy man, but if she defied him he might cast her out and leave her penniless. Moreover, an alliance by marriage with the House of Pym had become almost a mania with him. It appealed to his pride, for the Pyms were an old county family, although there had been many black sheep among them. But the present baronet was wealthy, with great political influence. And though Lacey had riches, he had hitherto failed to obtain the recognition at the hands of the aristocracy of the county that he so much desired. But Sir Yardley Pym, an easy-going and exceedingly worldly man, did not hold his head quite as high as some of his people had done. Moreover, Randolph had been a source of anxiety to him, with a tendency to fast living. Therefore the old man had come to regard marriage between his son and Norah as a very desirable thing. And in discussing the matter with Mr. Lacey he stipulated, that apart from any settlement he himself might make, Lacey should pay off the young man's debts, which were by no means inconsiderable, and present the young couple with a portion of the Lacey estates, which comprised an old and very comfortable mansion. To these terms Lacey had readily agreed, and all the desires of the two families seemed in a fair way of being realized. It will therefore be easily understood that Jim Spedwick would have to contend against forces that were likely to prove too powerful for him. At the same time Randolph Pym was exceedingly uneasy in his mind, and by no means disposed to underrate his enemy; he recognized clearly that if Norah was determined, Jim Spedwick was a force that would have to be reckoned with.