Mrs. Molesworth

“ Moore squeezed my arm in token of affection. He was like a girl in many of his ways as well as in his looks—demonstrative and caressing, yet brave as a lion and essentially manly.
“You’ll have me for ages yet,” he said consolingly, “at least for holidays; and perhaps the dreadful things won’t all be on the side of us boys. You’ll be going and getting married, Reggie, once you’re grown-up. Oh, how I shall hate your husband!”
I could not help laughing at his vehemence.
“Wait till he exists to be hated,” I said. “You really needn’t trouble about him. Perhaps there will never be such a person. ”

“ His brother glanced at him half-mischievously.
“Speak for yourself, if you please, my dear boy,” he said. “Miss Fitzmaurice does not feel very antique and decrepit, I am quite sure. Nor do I. I think life ‘grows upon one,’ and becomes more and more interesting every new year one has of it.”
“So do I,” I exclaimed eagerly. “I used to dread getting big—I mean leaving off being a child”—and I felt that I blushed a little, as if I were talking egotistically—“but I think being grown-up is very nice after all.”
“Yet there are plenty of sad things too,” said Clarence gently. ”

“ He turned; no, it was not Jocelyn? “I am so sorry,” he said, though the regret expressed was tempered by a smile, “I am so sorry to disappoint you, but I can’t help it! You see I am only myself—not ‘Jocelyn’?”
Though I did not say so, I cannot but confess that the disappointment was scarcely worthy of the name, for the unexpected guest was Clarence Payne!
“Oh, how delightful!” was my first thought; “now I am going to hear all! And things must have gone rightly—he looks in such good spirits—Dad and he must have taken to each other.” ”

“ I think she specially loved the filing of a mother in our home, above all a mother who had known hers.
“It must be so delightful, Regina,” she said, a day or two after her arrival, “to have some one you can always appeal to, always consult, like Mrs Fitzmaurice, close at hand,” and she gave a little sigh. “Papa is the dearest of fathers, and since Margaret’s marriage he and I have been, as you know, everything to each other. Still, after all, a man isn’t a woman, and over and over again I long for a mother.” ”

“ I made up my mind on the spot—I think I am naturally gifted with a certain amount of insight into character and idiosyncrasies—I made up my mind on the spot that Isabel was mistaken.
“It is the elder brother,” I mentally ejaculated, “who is at the root of it all! He is the most miserable of the four, because he feels that he has brought their trouble upon them. But nevertheless it would be very difficult to believe that that man has ever done anything mean or dishonourable.” And I felt that the personal sight of the Grey family had to me only deepened the mystery. ”

“ But I have found out that I am very shy. I think I am rather afraid of Mr Wynyard. He has brought up his own daughters to be such pinks of perfection! I am sure that he won’t approve of frivolous conversation. I remember Isabel saying how he disliked gossip. And oh! by-the-bye,” I broke off, “that reminds me, Jocelyn! There is such a queer story, a regular mystery where the Wynyards live.”
“Do you mean that the house is haunted?” said Jocelyn, laughingly.
“Oh, no; it is not about their own house, but a house near, in the neighbourhood. ‘Grimsthorpe,’ I think, is its proper name. ”

“ I touched mother’s arm and showed her the address, saying in a low voice, “Shall I ask if it is for them?” when to my surprise she started. “Wynyard?” she said, “James Wynyard! Why, that was the name of Maud Prideaux’s husband. How curious if—if it should be—”
She glanced up. Her face was aglow with excitement, as had been Moore’s. But before she finished her sentence, I saw a look of new expectancy in her eyes, and turning in the same direction, I caught sight of “the father,” as we called him, coming towards us, a letter in his hand also, and a look of inquiry and surprise in his face. ”

“ I said, my curiosity aroused. “Do go on, dear godmother. I could never mind anything you would say.”
She laughed, but there was a little constraint in her manner.
“I was only going to—to express a hope,” she resumed, “that some day you may meet somebody as desirable for a different kind of companion as Isabel Wynyard is in her way. A commonplace thing to say, and certainly in your case there is time enough! ”

“ I decided. “He is not the cause of the family unhappiness and isolation. I should say he is a sort of saint, happy to bear for the sake of others.”
Then my eyes turned to the elder brother. The sisters I had already glanced at, and found them exactly what I had expected from Isabel’s description—refined, rather insignificant-looking, inexpressibly melancholy; but the face of the senior of the party was in a sense the most interesting of all. He was evidently a strong man, well-made and originally powerful. ”

“ I said triumphantly, “we shall get a peep inside the enchanted ground. This is a ‘find’ of mine. Confess, Zella, that I have done more in a few days towards unearthing the mystery than you in twice as many years.”
But Isabel looked too frightened to take the matter lightly.
“Don’t speak so loud, Regina,” she said in a half whisper; “some one may be near us, inside.”
She was quite pale with excitement, yet, timid though she was, her curiosity, as well as mine, was thoroughly awakened.
“We may as well glance in,” she went on, “if we are very, very careful. ”

“ It was before the days of bicycles, but Isabel had a little pony-cart and a sturdy, sure-footed pony, in which we managed to get over the ground in a wonderful way. Hilly roads and rough ground were no obstacles to our progress; sometimes even, we ourselves lifted the cart over some specially awkward place, the pony seeming quite to enter into the fun of the thing.
We walked, too, quite long distances now and then, and several times, both walking and driving, we passed the high walls which surrounded Grimsthorpe House, the object of so much curiosity and speculation on my part. ”

“ My only experience of London has been for quite a short time together, and under Margaret’s wing. But then, Regina, you are much, much stronger-minded than I. I dare say in the end you will really enjoy it.”
“Perhaps,” I allowed. “I certainly should not care to live a very shut-up life, nor would you either, in any extreme. For instance,” I went on, with a little self-consciousness, which, if Isabel perceived, she was clever enough to conceal that she did so, “for instance, we don’t envy those poor little Miss Greys at Grimsthorpe. ”

“ I added lightly, though in point of fact I was not sorry to hear of Moore’s reticence as to the adventure which, except for his agreement with me, he would doubtless have found a highly spiced experience to relate and be listened to by his companions.
“I don’t know,” said Rupert rather gloomily. “We are all getting very old, I suppose. I often feel as if I were ninety, and I don’t think I should much care if I were. Life is not so very entrancing, that I can see.” ”

“ Mr Wynyard was a little behind us, talking to Mr Franklin.
“Oh, no, no,” I exclaimed, putting out a hand to stop her, as I fancied she was turning towards her father, “oh, no, Isabel. You know your father hates gossip, and he would be sure to ask why I had chosen that lonely road, and we couldn’t help letting him see that I am awfully interested in the Grim House; and then, if the least thing was said about our thinking the man was perhaps a ghost, he would never forget it—he would think it so silly.” Isabel laughed, but yielded to my wishes. ”

“ You are plucky enough for anything—not like Isabel; and just supposing, Reggie, that there is somebody shut up there that no one has ever seen; that man you met might be a kind of a keeper.”
“He was a gentleman,” I replied.
“He might have been some sort of a doctor,” said Moore consideringly.
“And don’t think for a moment,” I said, without noticing his last remark, “that they are the kind of people to do anything wicked or cruel. They are the sufferers themselves, of that I am certain.” ”

“ Then we stopped, and I whispered to him that I thought it would be safe to peep out a little. He did so, keeping still well in the shade of the heavy clumps of evergreens farther inside the grounds. Then, after reconnoitring, he beckoned to me to come on.
“There isn’t a creature about,” he said, “and we can’t be seen from the windows at this side. You needn’t be so dreadfully frightened, Reggie.”
“Oh, but it was just like this the last time,” I whispered, “when all of a sudden we heard the cripple brother coming. No, Moore, I won’t go farther in!” ”

“ Things grew easier for them, materially speaking, by a moderate fortune being left to them shortly before the elder brother’s imprisonment terminated. But he came back to them an utterly crushed, broken, and aged man, to find the “girls” he had left in little better case than himself. Only the youngest of the four, Caryll, despite the accident which had made him a life-long cripple, retained any cheerful or hopeful hold on life.
Then came the decision of the four to cling together at all costs; to hide themselves from the world, giving up everything but each other. ”

“ They really must be good people, for on one occasion they did break through their rule of never leaving their own grounds. It was when little Tony at the vicarage fell off a haystack and they feared for his life; he was insensible for many hours, and his mother was in despair. That same afternoon the fly drove up to the vicarage, and, to Mrs Franklin’s astonishment, the Misses Grey were announced! She could scarcely believe her ears, and she has often told me that the very excitement of their coming did her good. ”

“ I don’t know how she could ever stand alone, as she may have to do any day,” he added with a little sigh which touched me.
“But you are not at all old, Mr Wynyard,” I said, rather brusquely perhaps. “You can’t be older than father, and we look upon him as—oh! quite a young man. Then, too, Margaret, Mrs Percy, and her husband are devoted to dear Zella!”
“Yes,” he agreed, “but still the best of brothers and sisters are not like a parent, and I suppose, to confess the truth, I have spoilt Zella a little. Circumstances seemed to make it inevitable.” ”

“ As will be remembered, the words I had overheard clearly pointed to the elder Mr Grey being the centre of the trouble—my own instinctive conviction since my first glimpse of the four faces in the square pew at Millflowers church.
Mrs Payne’s first words relieved my immediate apprehension. She looked serenely content, and pleased with herself and everybody else, us truants included.
“Is it not a charming show?” she said. “I have never seen a prettier. Your father and I, Clarence, are feeling more eager than ever about the little country-house we often talk of. ”

“ Moore arrived, brimful of delight, and very much inclined to think the epidemic at school an unlimited subject of congratulation. He was looking very well, I was pleased to see—altogether in a mood for viewing everything with rose-coloured spectacles.
“This is a jolly place, Regina,” he confided to me when we were strolling about the first morning after his arrival, I acting “cicerone,” as Isabel was engaged in her housekeeping cares. “Now I hope you’ll give me some credit for knowing what I’m about when I make friends with people! ”

“ Look at Jocelyn now—he might give himself airs. But he always talks of his holidays when he comes home. He very seldom even calls it ‘leave,’ though he is—how old is he now, Rex? Twenty-five? Yes—eleven years older than I.”
“We’re all getting very old,” I said. “I shall be eighteen next spring. Can you believe it? And there’s only Horace between you and me. We shall all be grown-up before we know where we are, Moore.” ”

“ At this it seemed to me that Clarence Payne got rather red.
“My dear mother,” he said, “you give me credit for far more virtues than I possess. But perhaps Miss Fitzmaurice knows already that all your home-farm poultry turn to swans, whatever they were to start with. I am afraid philanthropic schemes and I haven’t had much to say to each other of late. And after all,” here he spoke more slowly, and I knew that his words were tacitly addressed to me, “I doubt if my greatest sympathy is with the poor. ”

“ I said laughingly. “And the very first time we go out, Isabel, you will promise, won’t you, to show me the Grim House! And oh!” I went on, “you haven’t yet told me what has happened there just lately.”
“It sounds so little to tell,” said Isabel; “but if you could realise the utter isolation of these poor people, you would understand the sensation it has made. It is simply that they have had visitors for the first time in the memory of man!”
“What sort of visitors?” I asked eagerly.
“Two men—gentlemen—an old and a young one! They stayed at Grimsthorpe one night. ”

“ But my rather sharp retort and reproachful manner only seemed to amuse my companion again.
“Yes,” he said, “I gathered as much from Miss Grey’s account of the visit. It must have been quite a little comedy in its way.”
“It was very, very kind of them,” I said, not yet quite smoothed down.
“Of course it was,” he replied, “as I think I have had the pleasure of telling you before, they are the very kindest people in the world. That is why one feels so specially for them in their troubles. But please forgive me for supposing that you took Miss Wynyard into your confidence—I spoke thoughtlessly. ”

“ I interrupted rather indignantly. “It would only have been part of the truth, I allow, but still—”
“Oh, well, don’t let us quarrel about it,” said Isabel, smiling; “but I do think, Regina, we had better not continue our investigations; we might get ourselves, and possibly other people, into trouble somehow.”
“Ourselves perhaps,” I agreed, “but not other people, that I can see. And I don’t mind risking something myself, if it could do any good.”
“It might do harm,” Isabel persisted. “Whatever it is, the motive must be of the strongest—the Greys’, I mean—which compels them to live as they do. ”

“ A slight, the very slightest touch on my foot, and a glance at my friend’s face checked me. I remembered that we were not alone, for Maple was in the waggonette with us, and I felt ashamed of my stupid indiscretion.
“You mean Grimsthorpe?” said Isabel quietly. “No, we do not pass that way. Not that there is much to see if we did; it is a very ugly house, though an old one. Indeed the houses about here are rarely picturesque, though I think ours is pretty inside, and so is the vicarage. There are no other at all large houses near us. Millflowers, you know, is a very tiny village. ”

“ Isabel Wynyard only told me that the doctor looked very grave when she or her father inquired about him.”
Clarence thought for a moment before replying. I waited anxiously.
“He is certainly very seriously ill,” he said at last. “But these delicate people often pull through where stronger ones snap. But—I fear there are complications which are unfavourable.”
“Do you mean,” I said eagerly, “anything connected with the whole affair? The mystery, whatever it is? For of course that there is a mystery is no secret. ”

“ So of course they know all that any outsider can know about Grimsthorpe. But Mr Wynyard put down gossip with an iron hand—that was why Moore—my brother—and I were so grateful to Mr Grey for agreeing that nothing should be said about that—that inexcusable intrusion.”
“Your brother is only a schoolboy, when all is said and done,” said Clarence, as I momentarily hesitated.
I felt my face grow red, but I don’t think he noticed it.
“Ah!” I exclaimed, “you don’t know all—you judge too leniently. Some day perhaps,” but then I broke off abruptly. ”

“ What a truism is the old saying, that “nothing is certain except the unforeseen,” and yet how constantly one feels inclined to quote it to oneself even in everyday life! Two most unforeseen circumstances occurred during the first three weeks of my stay at Millflowers—Moore’s joining me there, and now a sudden summons to Mr Wynyard and Isabel to go to Mr Percy’s for some days. ”

“ But now I allow that it does seem probable Mr Grey’s face is all you say; it tells of cruel struggle, and endurance too, while the others rather express patience and resignation. He must—the elder one, I mean—have been very good-looking.”
“He has a very high-bred look,” I agreed. “But, Isabel, who can my stranger have been? Is it possible that there is a fifth member of the party who is kept dark altogether?” ”

“ And what we should be still more thankful for—his nature is a quite wonderfully buoyant one.”
“He is so very, very good,” murmured the other little sister. “Always cheerful, always thinking of others, never of himself, dear fellow.”
She lost her shyness and timidity as she spoke of him. It was really beautiful to see. I felt as I ran upstairs, eager to confide to Moore the details of the wonderful visit, that it was not only Mr Caryll Grey who was “so very, very good,” but that I had indeed been entertaining angels! ”