Eveleen

“ Eveleen turned innocent eyes upon him. “Sure I’m afraid to talk, Sir Harry. I’m in a shocking bad temper this evening, and I’d maybe say something I oughtn’t.”
“Meaning that I’m in a shocking bad temper, I suppose? My apologies, ma’am—my most humble apologies. Not that I ever do lose my temper—you’re wrong there.” Eveleen wished she had eyes in the back of her head, to see Brian’s face when he heard this. “I’m apt to be betrayed into using strong language occasionally—very wrong, I know, and I try to break myself of the habit,—but I assure you I have the sweetest temper in the world. ”

“ There must be no showing the white feather, though Eveleen’s hands felt clammy, and her thoughtful voice was a little shaky.
“They say they did, anyhow. Well, you can guess what they think is the proper way to treat the devil. But will the General be coming, ma’am?”
“I’d say he would not.” Relentless cross-examining of Richard and Brian had convinced Eveleen of this. “But sure the Khans will do nothing till he has written to say so?” ”

“ So don’t be frightened, ma’am”—with a benevolent smile at Eveleen—“by your good man’s dark forebodings. I’ll tell you this, Lord Maryport offered me additional troops either from the Upper Provinces or Bombay, or both, and I refused ’em. So you see what I think about it—eh?”
“Frightened!” said Eveleen, in high scorn. “And pray why would I be frightened, Sir Harry?”
“Why, indeed? But don’t think I blame your prudence, Ambrose,” noting the younger man’s silence. “From my soul I believe I have men enough to cope with any force the Khans can bring against us. ”

“ These field-days were a continual delight to Eveleen. The Great Duke had set the example of allowing ladies to ride with the staff on such occasions, and take station at the saluting-point—judiciously to the rear, of course—and Sir Harry would have regarded it as blasphemy to seek to improve upon his master’s methods. He was careful to detail an aide-de-camp to keep Mrs Ambrose from getting into danger or obstructing the manœuvres, but those two conditions satisfied, she might gallop where she liked. ”

“ Whatever excitement there might be for the men, who rode daily to the Fort to discuss Lord Maryport’s treaty with the Khans in durbar, life at the Residency was the very acme of dulness for the woman left at home. If Eveleen had expected to be able to resume her former pursuits, she was mistaken. She blamed herself bitterly for not having brought a horse—difficult though it might have been for poor Captain Franks to find room for it—for the lack of one played into the hands of her natural enemies. ”

“ Eveleen rode round one evening when office hours were over to pick up her husband, that they might take their ride by daylight. Here, with the desert and its wild tribes so close at hand, it was not safe to ride in the dark, so that during the sunset hour the roads in and about the Cantonments were a scene of tumultuous activity, which ceased, in Cinderella-fashion, the instant after gunfire. Eveleen expected Richard to meet her, but his horse was still waiting in charge of its syce, who said he had not seen his master, and she rode on up to the verandah steps. ”

“ The familiar dry tone brought Eveleen to her senses. She sat back and looked at him in dismay.
“Indeed, and if you did keep silence because you were afraid of my foolishness I wouldn’t wonder. I deserve it. To think of my calling out that way! But Bearer’s outside to warn us if anybody comes near, and every one’s too busy to care about us just now.”
Richard’s hand came on hers with a sudden heavy pressure. “Listen!” he murmured.
“Let the exalted magnificence listen to the words of this humble one,” pleaded the voice of Abdul Qaiyam. “In very deed there is no one within. ”

“ These youngsters are apt to grow negligent where there are no ladies—eh, ma’am?”
Gathering from Brian’s silence that she must not attempt to defend the maligned Stewart, Eveleen found herself gallantly placed at the head of the table, and heard her husband and brother warned they would be put under arrest forthwith if they let her so much as touch a carving-knife. While they wrestled with the dishes placed before her, in silence save for the enquiries necessary to the polite carver of the day, Eveleen looked down the table at the General, beaming through his glasses opposite her. ”

“ The General’s face cleared wonderfully. “Why, so they ought! There are times when no man who is a man ought to keep his temper. And I am proud to say that on occasions like that I have never failed—yes, I think I may say I have never failed—to lose mine.”
Eveleen fought with a wild desire to laugh. “True for you, I’m sure, Sir Harry—most thoroughly. W-will we gallop now?” she welcomed almost hysterically a broad stretch of smooth sand in front, for the General had glanced round suspiciously, and she was afraid of disgracing herself for ever. ”

“ He stopped perforce, for Eveleen had flung herself upon him with a shriek. “Ambrose! you don’t mean it? They wouldn’t hurt you because of my silliness? I’ll write—I’ll go and tell them——”
“My dear! Pray”—he freed himself with some difficulty—“do try to exercise self-control. Nothing will happen to either of us if you will only behave with ordinary prudence. The matter is happily ended now, and needs no intervention on your part. But if I had not belittled the talisman—had I shown any desire to regain it—we should all probably have had to fight for our lives to-night. ”

“ Her confidence was justified. When mind and body were alike worn out, and she was almost dropping asleep as she sat, he returned to say that the Arabits consented to carry Richard with them to the camp, that Kamal-ud-din might have the responsibility of deciding what was to be done with him. A camel-litter was brought forward—intended for Eveleen’s own use—and Richard was lifted and laid upon the cushions. It was the kind of long palanquin called in Persia a takhtrawan, and Eveleen was able to climb in as well, and settle herself in the place which otherwise would have been Ketty’s. ”

“ Tears and fury strove in Eveleen’s voice.
“They would regard it as quite friendly to invite a man to divorce his wife that she might marry some one else. The unfriendly way would be to take her without asking. Now really, my dear! I thought you would look upon it as a good joke, or I wouldn’t have told you.”
“And I suppose he said your wife was a crosspatch, and as ugly as sin, and altogether you’d do well to be rid of her and get another?”
“You must think me a very patient fellow, my dear! And ’pon my honour,” slowly, “I begin to believe I must be.”
“Ambrose, you have made a joke! ”

“ Eveleen made numberless irrevocable resolutions that never, no, never! in any circumstances whatever would she attempt to appeal again to the compassion, or even the sense of justice, of those two stony-hearted men—but evidently she was one of the people to whom things are bound to happen. Colonel Bayard had gone to pay his farewell visit to the Khans, attended by Richard Ambrose and other subordinates, and preceded by chobdars bearing silver sticks and similar insignia of dignity, when the remaining occupants of the Residency became aware that Mrs Ambrose had another row on hand. ”

“ He said the Bahadar Jang had treated the Khans’ women with consideration, and he would treat the Feringhee women the same.”
“But sure he did attack,” objected Eveleen.
“That was a body of horse that had already started—not his fault. A fine fellow that—a young man after my own heart. It does one good to be able to respect one’s enemy—as we did in the Peninsula, where the British soldier thought far more of his French opponents than of his bloodthirsty and treacherous allies.” ”

“ But nothing was farther from Eveleen’s intentions, and the moment Colonel Bleackley was gone—Carthew having been removed in custody earlier—she attacked her brother again on the subject.
“He must be let go, Brian—you must give the General no peace till he pardons him. He had actually escaped—he went away with the Khan, leaving us, as he thought, perfectly safe. ”

“ So you see I have the three of ’em to thank.”
“I’m jealous,” said Eveleen discontentedly. “What were these two men of mine doing, Sir Harry?”
“Staying where they were told, ma’am, and carrying messages when they were required. D’ye think I wanted the whole staff trotting up and down with me to draw the enemy’s fire, and riding down our own men when they turned? I tell you there was no room for parade manœuvres of that sort. Our line was never more than three yards from the enemy’s—sometimes only one. So don’t scold these good fellows when they deserve to be praised rather. ”

“ They call you the Woman of the Seal, and the Khan thinks he won’t have his full luck till you two are together again—till you have the seal and he has you. So—if you’ll excuse me mentioning it—his notion was to give you back the stone and take you into his zenana.”
“Sure the poor man little guesses the sort of time he’d have!”
“I’m glad you can take it like this, ma’am!”
The reproving tone sobered Eveleen. “But you can’t mean—it’s too ridiculous entirely—that a man can propose to himself deliberately to murder a woman’s husband, and then marry her himself?” ”

“ Then his tone changed. “Well, ma’am, that puts an end to the business. When a girl—or a woman either, for it would have made no difference if the marriage was a week ago instead of a week hence—is taken to the Fort, there she stays.”
Eveleen gazed at him, horror-stricken. “Any girl—and against her will—and no one minds?”
“That’s the way here,” curtly.
“You see, Mrs Ambrose”—Captain Crosse took up the parable—“it ain’t the same with these people as it is with us. The Arabits take a girl when they want her just as they take anything that pleases ’em from a shop in the Bazar. ”

“ It seemed to Eveleen that these good ladies thought considerably more about their furniture and food than about the impending crisis, and they declared that no one but a wild Irishwoman could have expected them to settle down contentedly amid such surroundings. ”

“ He stood up stiffly to shake hands with each of his guests. “Good night, ma’am; good night, good night! I wish you would take order with this brother of yours. He goes about looking for personal combats, which I tell him ain’t becoming in a staff officer. After having his horse killed under him in the bed of the watercourse, what does he do but seek out and slay one of the principal chiefs of the enemy, in the midst of his followers? There’s a fire-eater for you—eh?”
“Brian!” Eveleen’s tone was poignant, “d’ye tell me Cromaboo is killed? ”

“ What do you think Sir Evelyn did then, Timothy? He sat straight down to historical research of the most abstruse kind. There's an example for you! Now, Sir Evelyn, you talk to him about Christological heresies while I go and make the pancakes. You'll hardly believe it, but I've put the advantages of that corner of the Dean's before him dozens of times and he hasn't done a thing yet, not even ragged a Monophysite, though that must be an easy enough thing for anyone who knows Greek. ”

“ Then Evelina turned on him, with a sudden strange pride that lay beneath all other pride, and was of a nobler and truer sort. “Do you think I would have given you the look that I did if it had not come from my heart?” she demanded. “What did you take me to be—false and a jilt? I may be a forward young woman, who has overstepped the bounds of maidenly decorum, and I shall never get over the shame of it, but I am truthful, and I am no jilt.” The brilliant color flamed out on Evelina's cheeks. Her blue eyes met Thomas's with that courage of innocence and nature which dares all shame. ”

“ Here Sir Evelyn's guardian angel smiled again. How far these beings arrange our future for us is uncertain, but there is no doubt that they know what is going to happen to us some time ahead. When they hear us asserting confidently that we are going to do something, or not going to do it, they are [24] amused, being aware that our plans have very little to do with what actually happens. Sir Evelyn's angel knew perfectly well that his ward would lunch that day at the vicarage, that he would meet Mrs. Eames, and that consequences of the most unexpected kind would follow. ”

“ The public appearance of a daughter of Sir John Belmont will revive the remembrance of Miss Evelyn's story in all who have heard it,-who the mother was, will be universally demanded,-and if any other Lady Belmont should be named, the birth of my Evelina will receive a stigma, against which, honour, truth, and innocence may appeal in vain!-a stigma, which will eternally blast the fair fame of her virtuous mother, and cast upon her blameless self the odium of a title, which not all her purity can rescue from established shame and dishonour! ”

“ In fact, an air of sincere and inevitable truthfulness robs John Evelyn's diary of all that is romantic and sentimental. We see in it the life of a highly cultivated and deeply religious man, whose fate it was to witness all those tremendous and sovereign changes which swept over England like successive tidal waves between the execution of the Earl of Strafford and the accession of Queen Anne. ”

“ Let him die as the fool dies; withhold your breath of life from him. Dead he would be but for the vitality you exhale upon the upper realms of his being. Let him die! Let him be damned, as he has damned my poor Waldemar into being! ”

“ And as on a summer's day to people sitting in a shaded room, the world beyond shut out, the opening of a door into the sunshine may reveal a sudden vista of light, of flowers shining in the sun, so to the two people who were awaiting Rachel's arrival she brought a sudden vision of youth, brightness, colour, hope, as she came swiftly in, smiling and confident, with the face and expression of one who had never come into the presence of either of these two companions without seeing her gladness reflected in the light of welcome that shone in their eyes. ”