Marjorie Bowen

“ Her face was as full of splendour
As the primrose woods in spring,
When God bends through the branches,
To hear the mavis sing.
She was but a Mary Martyr, cursed for her heresy,
But her eyes were clear as water and troubled the heart in me."
The Countess rose swiftly.
"Are you glad to be in London?" she said; she came towards him, swinging her gloves; he was aware of the perfume of her garments, of the heavy soft sound of her moving velvet.
"I think I am leaving again for Paris, madam," he looked at her straightly. "Shall I not fetch Miss Chressham?"
"No," answered Lady Lyndwood. ”

“ Miss Chressham, in the shadowed background, started convulsively, shivered and drooped.
"No, no!" struck in Marius, sharply. "I will be there."
"What is my affront from Sir Francis compared to this I take from you?" said my lord, still with glowing eyes, and that fixed, proud smile. "I do not wish to see your face again, my brother. You will not come to-morrow."
Marius stood silent, and Susannah made a little moaning sound.
"Come, my lady!" commanded the Earl. "Your confidante is waiting below. Shall we not end this miserable comedy that we have not wit nor courage to carry through?" ”

“ Marius lifted her hand and kissed it in silence.
"I grow sentimental," she cried. "Come, which of these flowers do you think the new Countess would give the preference to?"
She shifted her parasol and her fingers fondled the ribbon on the handle.
"We must pick her some of my roses," she added. "I want to like her, Marius—my lady will be cold with fear, but she might have been sour or vain or common; Rose has always spoken of her as gentle and sweet."
"Her birth is well enough," answered Marius uneasily. "Her people have never been less than gentlefolk." ”

“ Miss Trefusis is aware of what she does. What do I care for her? I regard Selina——"
"She hath said farewell. She would say no other word."
Susannah broke out passionately.
"Oh, cannot you understand? She cares for you beyond anything in the world; she thinks that so do you care for her, and if you marry—Ah, but I can say no more!"
"There is no more to be said," answered my lord. "These ideas are sweet, but over-romantical. I shall ask for the hand of Miss Trefusis to-morrow, as I am a very ordinary gentleman and cannot go to ruin for a whim."
Miss Chressham pressed her brow wearily. ”

“ He paused again, then frantically, "Oh, God!" he cried, "there are things impossible to speak of—things that sear the lips! I am a coward, and I would that I were dead!"
"Marius!" cried Miss Chressham, wan and rigid, horror in her eyes. "I cannot find you in this behaviour. Why do you hesitate? What is there to weigh with you against the fact that this woman is Rose's wife?"
The Countess gave a sudden laugh.
"He knows this woman loves him, and that fact weighs something with a man."
Marius put his hand before his face, and Susannah drew back aghast. ”

“ The Countess thrust her fingers through her damp hair.
"Marius was there, that is why I am speaking of it. You can tell them afterwards."
"I do not understand," cried the maid. "Are you sane, my lady?"
"I want to say this," smiled the Countess, holding her head. "It becomes so difficult to say anything. Sir Francis fired into the air. Why are men such fools? I went to see him shot!"
"You accuse yourself of murder," said Honoria.
"When my lord's pistol clicked uselessly," continued my lady, "they thought it was Marius's doing—at least, my lord did. No one saw me. ”

“ The Countess of Lyndwood was standing by the mantelshelf. As the sconces either side were lit her delicate shoulders and pale lovely face were reflected in the dark depths of the mirror.
"No," she admitted; "after all, one can manage without it. I could never see it as a reproach, Susannah," she added.
Miss Chressham looked at her.
"Not if one is as pretty as you are," she answered, and smiled half sadly.
"Oh, fie, my dear! You must not flatter an old woman."
The Countess sank easily into a brocaded chair and her pearl-coloured satin dress gleamed in the candle-light. ”

“ Rose Lyndwood sat motionless in the shadows of the box, only the lace round the raised hand that held his head trembling a little.
"My lord," continued Miss Boyle, in a voice mournfully sweet, "thus I reason it—that sure knowledge we both have is so great a thing that—ah, 'tis as if we had been together in some pure temple that none other knew of, and the memory of it were enough. Even if the portals are forever closed, none can steal the picture we have of what lies beyond the doors—but you will smile at me and my poor fancies." ”

“ The maid looked over her shoulder.
"A notice in the Gazette—were like fire to straw——"
The Countess glanced at her.
"I will put it in; what is that she says of me? A sneer, I doubt not; they think I am a fool or indifferent; her refined love letters! She is like the others for all her quiet face; what is there in my lord for a little saint to adore?" She laughed bitterly. "I swear Sir Francis is the better man."
"He will prove himself so, or endeavour to," answered Honoria; "if we once bring them together over the matter of Selina Boyle." ”

“ Listen! He met a lady abroad; he hoped to marry her."
"At one-and-twenty?" Rose Lyndwood half smiled. "How many marry their first loves, my lady?"
The Countess sank into the chair.
"I did," she murmured in an uncontrolled voice, "and I had nothing but happiness." And she began weeping for the twelve years dead.
"Marius was my lord's heir with you," said the Earl, "and I have brought you nothing but misfortune. Do not shed tears, my lady, and shame me, for maybe I can still sell myself to buy Marius his romance." ”

“ We have always disliked each other; do not have the hypocrisy to disclaim it."
"You are my lord's wife," interrupted Miss Chressham, withdrawn again into a cold reserve, and armed with angry pride.
"My lord's wife!" repeated the Countess Lavinia. "That to you, and no more. My lord's wife to be reclaimed like a straying dog and sent back shivering to my post! [232] My lord's wife! But I am more, madam; I am a woman."
She rose impetuously and leant against the spinet, her muslin ruffles touching the white roses.
"What's to do?" muttered Marius. ”

“ She rose and went on her knees beside Selina's low chair, and both were clasped tightly in each other's arms in an overwhelming impulse of sad affection.
Miss Chressham kissed the bowed, delicate head resting on her shoulder, saying in her soul: "She will never know, [294] thank God! She will never know!" She herself, who did know the man for whom she grieved, she who had given all her love to one who did not ever hear of it, she who must guard her secret, uncomforted, to the end, could yet conceal her deeper anguish to soothe with her strong sympathy the woman who believed in her beloved. ”

“ I never believed that she would do anything so desperate, but it is amazing how she hates my lord."
"Captain Lyndwood will bring her back," cried Susannah, remembering last night. "I can trust him for that. He will see her insanity, and bring her back."
"Do you think so?" asked Honoria. "If she throws herself on his pity, madam?"
The flash of hope died away. How could she tell what Marius would see as his duty? He was inflamed against the Earl, rejected by herself, bitter against his world. In a manner the Countess had always been on his conscience. ”

“ He rose suddenly. "I' God's name, Marius, let us have done with this prating; we each mean the same thing, I doubt not; why should we be discontented with one another? Stay in London and make the best of it; do what others do, 'tis the surest wisdom."
"What others do!" repeated his brother with quickened breath; "marry an heiress and gamble myself and her to ruin, take some woman for her fortune and make her life unendurable with my disdain while I spend her money on sordid pleasures; buy myself into a corrupt Ministry and fatten on the proceeds of Court intrigues. ”

“ Rose obeyed his own imprudence—his own recklessness—in marrying this woman; because of my lady's tears and the reproaches of Marius he sells himself on the instant to a tradesman's daughter, and brings into the family a creature that will surely ruin it!"
"Yet it was nobly done," murmured Selina.
"But wilful nobleness, and in any case a mistake," answered Miss Chressham; "a mistake we are all paying for in misery and bitterness. How dare he set this woman up as mistress of his house where she is in a position to work harm among all for whom he ever cared?" ”

“ Susannah rose and rested her hand against the mantelshelf.
"Please put this clearly," she said; "why would it be folly?"
He smiled.
"You yourself, my dear, have remarked the state of my fortunes—Miss Boyle is not wealthy."
"Money—again money!" cried Miss Chressham in horrified accents. "Do you dare to consider money—after all that has passed?"
"It is a necessary evil," said the Earl.
"But you love her!" broke from Susannah.
A pause followed. My lord took a half-turn across the room followed by his cousin's bewildered, appealing eyes, then he turned and faced her. ”

“ She rose. The dim lamplight felt a weight upon her eyes.
"I had no business to ask you to hold back, Marius," she said dully. "Women should not interfere."
He made no answer. His head drooped a little on his breast, his eyes were cast down.
"But I could not bear it," continued Susannah. "That must be my excuse. I could not bear"—she stressed the words passionately—"to see you draw your sword on him; but I was wrong. It was unjust to you."
"He has done with me," said Marius, without raising his head. ”

“ What would my lord care for any sin of mine, did it not touch him?"
She pressed her hands to her bosom, and took a step or two towards Miss Chressham, her whole slight body trembling.
"Away with your flimsy morality!" she said. "You speak for yourself, I for myself, and your object is no worthier than mine. My lord and the name of Lyndwood is as little to me as my happiness is to you. There is no argument that you can touch me with."
"Lavinia!" interrupted Marius, in a low and terrible voice, "I will not hear you speak in such fashion." ”

“ And there was no need now to write to Selina Boyle; she would never know that he could not be faithful.
Susannah looked again round the chamber at the paintings, at the carvings, and every small detail seemed invested with unbearable meaning.
She leant back in her chair; she stared at the sunlight that shone through the crevices of the shutters; she rose and walked up and down the room; she seemed to see everything, to touch everything through a distorting mirror; her own body felt numb and strange. ”

“ Had it not been for you I should have lost courage and fled from town."
"I entreat you," interrupted Susannah, "do not mock me, dear. And how are we to find Rose? I have no idea what he is wearing."
Selina looked desperately down the ballroom, and her glance fell on Marius.
"Does he not know," she asked—"Captain Lyndwood?"
"Oh, nothing, my dear. He never looks at the papers, and hardly sees anyone." Miss Chressham's eyes were bright through the holes of her mask. "He is drifting, I fear, like Rose—like all of them." ”

“ The Countess sank down upon the sofa, and with a groan hid her face in the bend of her arm.
"He knows," said the maid, thrusting the loose gold hair back under her mob.
"He has always known," the Countess raised her face, "and it doth not touch him; he brushes it from him as a fly off his sleeve. I told him of my father's letter; what did he care?" She clenched her fragile hands in the dove-coloured cushions. "My God, I am sick with hate, or love."
Honoria Pryse observed her curiously. Lady Lyndwood's passionate loathing of her lord had always been beyond her understanding ”

“ Selina looked at her with expressionless eyes, but Susannah spoke.
"Who are you, madam?"
"I was 'Statira,' ma'am," answered the actress, "but I am as free as you to come and look at him now."
She lifted her head defiantly; tears had stained the rouge and powder on her face, and her powdered hair was disarranged under her fantastic hat.
"Poor soul," said Miss Chressham. "I suppose you cared too. Do not look at me so fiercely," she added softly; "it does not hurt us that you have come." ”

“ Do you not suppose that my lord would be pleased to see you in the sulks that he might shut you away here under his mother's espionage? Be wary, my lady, and gay and pleasant, and go with him to London. Hold your own."
"There is sense in what you say," answered the Countess, in a deep breath. "But Marius Lyndwood is going away."
"He will come back; and there are others."
The two women looked at one another.
"Oh, a great lady may do much!" cried Honoria, "and still be a great lady. My lord is the most famous rake in town. His wife will be allowed a fair margin." ”

“ Marius answered in a soft troubled voice.
"Do not blame me, cousin, 'tis not entirely for me that he does this——"
"Very largely for you, that you may have the chance to win this lady who may be all in all to you."
"I am grateful," said Marius simply. "For indeed I want little else but that same lady—we shall not trouble Rose."
They had turned away from the lake into a little grove of Eastern shrubs, myrtles, laurels and oleanders; Susannah's skirt trailing over the fallen fragrant leaves made a pleasant sound; she softly closed the parasol. ”

“ Marius," she said; "but these great gentlemen are strange. But they are men," she added quickly, "and you are a woman, my lady. He was in love with you once, and might be again, I'll swear to it!"
The Countess Lavinia was silent, wearily struggling with tumultuous sobs that hurt her breast. She clasped her hands over her heart and looked on the ground.
The maid leant forward. A stray ray of moonlight pierced the gently waving foliage, and showed her delicate, sharp face and the curling locks of bright gold hair that escaped from under her white muslin cap. ”

“ He kissed her fingers.
"In the withdrawing-room? I will go round by the garden; good-night."
They parted; she to enter the house, he to make his way through the roses and laurels to the terrace at the back.
The long windows still stood open as Susannah had left them; the gleam of candle-light fell over the stone balustrade and the flowers, the hyacinths, pinks, and tulips.
Rose Lyndwood heard voices, light, laughing voices, and the rustle of silk; he stepped into the light and saw the Countess standing on the hearth. ”

“ The room was very pleasantly full of candle-light; it sparkled in the folds of Miss Chressham's red silk gown as she moved close to the Countess's chair; through the still open window terrace, trees and sky showed luminous and purple.
"I have heard the names of several ladies," remarked the Countess, "mentioned by Rose and other people, but not one he could or would marry."
"Why, when he meets her he will not speak of it," smiled Susannah.
Lady Lyndwood sighed. ”

“ Ah! you have no fire nor life left in you, Lord Lyndwood, you are become a worthless rake indeed."
Still she could not move him; he yawned again and thrust his hands into the embroidered pockets of his white velvet waistcoat.
"Do you think you care for her?" cried the Countess, furious. "It is a paltry pretence; if I died to-morrow you would marry another woman with money and whistle Selina Boyle down the wind."
[204]
"The candle requires snuffing," said Rose Lyndwood; "but I do not wish to burn my fingers nor can I see the snuffers." He smiled with his pale lips and his fickle grey eyes. ”

“ Believe me, I respect and admire that lady too much to ever act with her the comedy my marriage must be."
Susannah clenched her hand impatiently on the mantelshelf.
"Oh, you talk, talk!" she cried, "and meanwhile Selina waits; do you suppose these sophistries occur to her, or if they do that they can comfort her in face of the fact that you do not write, you do not come, and she hears your name coupled with that of other women?"
"Still you speak under a misconception," said my lord. "I could never marry for love." ”

“ The Countess struggled a moment for breath, gave a sound like a laugh, and fell against my lord's breast.
"She is dead!" said the Earl.
Confusion and bewilderment fell on my lady's chambers; only Honoria Pryse was cool and unmoved. She gave one look at the face of the Countess as they carried her to the bed, then slipped away, picked up my lady's red cloak of last night, in the pocket of which still remained the casket of jewels she had provided for her flight, and quietly left the apartment.
"There is no hope," said the old doctor in a frightened voice. "She is dead or dying." ”

“ The Countess did not seem to hear.
"How may one touch a man like that—hath he no soul beyond his easy pleasures?" she cried vehemently. "He will not cross swords for Selina Boyle, and he thinks he loves her. I cannot move him to any fury by talk of ruin, always his face hath one expression for me, and no way can I alter it; is there nothing in the world he cares for?"
Honoria shrugged her shoulders.
"His name, his dignity, I suppose; we have never affected that. You have been very discreet, my lady, and he knows you cannot be otherwise and keep the position you paid so highly for." ”

“ He had never thought about his brother's looks, though a certain magnificence of bearing about the Earl had always held him in awe; but to-night, as he gazed up at the proud expressive countenance of Rose, he was almost startled by the extreme handsomeness of the blunt-featured, composed, slightly defiant face with the nostrils a little distended, the lips firmly set, and the large eyes very brilliant under the long lashes.
They call him Beau Lyndwood, thought the young man with a slight sense of distaste. Contemplation of his brother's splendour gave him an alien feeling. ”

“ Francis Boyle spoke on a passionate exclamation.
"'Tis your presence distresses this lady, Lord Lyndwood. With the knowledge you have 'twas an insult that you sought to speak to her to-night, and that you stay is, my lord, insolence!"
The Earl turned at this slightly, with an air of utterly dismissing and despising the speaker. His eyes were wildly bright and daring in a face composed and colourless. He spoke directly to Miss Boyle, with no attempt to disguise the meaning in his voice.
"Will you speak for yourself, madam? Does not the gentleman pretend to overmuch? ”