Gwendoline

“ Lady Gwendoline kept the secrets of her own heart, and no one knew which of her two lovers had been dearest to her. She kept her own secrets; and, by-and-by, when she reappeared in the world, people saw that her beauty had suffered very little from her sorrow for her disappointment.
She was still very handsome, but her prestige was gone. Impertinent young débutantes of eighteen called this splendid creature of four-and-twenty "quite old." Wasn't she engaged to a Mr. Lansdell ever so long ago, and then to the Marquis of Heatherland? Poor thing, how very sad! ”

“ Once—only once, she dances with Charley. She has striven to avoid him—no, not that either—it is he who has avoided her. She has seen him—let her be surrounded by scores, she has seen him whispering with Lady Gwendoline, dancing with Lady Gwendoline, fanning Lady Gwendoline, flirting with Lady Gwendoline. It is Lady Gwendoline he leads to supper, and it is after supper, with the enchanting strains of a Strauss waltz filling the air, that he comes up and asks her for that dance. ”

“ What did she care for Lady Gwendoline now?—cruel jealous Lady Gwendoline, who had outraged and insulted the purity of her love.
"Isabel," Roland said, very gravely, bending his head to a level with hers, as he spoke, but looking at the ground rather than at her, "It is time that we ended this farce of duty and submission to the world; we have tried to submit, and to rule our lives by the laws which other people have made for us. But we cannot—we cannot, my dear. We are only hypocrites, who try to mask our revolt under the pretence of submission. ”

“ She has heard—is it true—can Mr. Stuart inform her—are all American girls handsome?"
And Charley—as Captain Hammond has done—bows, and looks, and replies:
"I used to think so, Lady Gwendoline. I have seen English girls since, and think differently."
Oh, the imbecile falsehoods of society! He is thinking, as he says it, how pallid and faded poor Lady Gwendoline is looking, in her dingy green satin and white Brussels lace overdress, her emeralds and bright golden hair—most beautiful and most expensive shade to be had in London. ”

“ Lady Gwendoline kept her promise. What promises are so sacred as those that are made to the dying, and which become solemn engagements binding us to the dead—the dead whom we have wronged, most likely; for who is there amongst us who does not do some wrong to the creature he most tenderly loves? Gwendoline Pomphrey repented her jealous anger against her cousin ”

“ From the tonneau behind, Reggie, who was softly stroking Gwendoline's hand, surveyed them with languid approval. "I don't suppose," he said contentedly, "that there are four such charming people as ourselves in the whole of England."
Gwendoline looked a little doubtful.
"I think Musette is very nice," she said, "but I don't quite understand her."
"You should never understand any one," replied Reggie. "It's like knowing the answer to a riddle."
"Does Tony love her?" asked Gwendoline. ”

“ Could Lady Gwendoline have any more illustrious example to follow? You settle the preliminaries. Let Lady Gwendoline do the proposing, and you may lead me any day you please as a lamb to the slaughter."
With this reply, Mr. Stuart, senior, was forced for the present to be content and go on his way. Trix, overhearing, looked up with interest:
"Would you marry her, Charley?"
"Certainly, Beatrix; haven't I said so? If a man must marry, as well a Lady Gwendoline as any one else. As Dundreary says, 'One woman is as good as another, and a good deal better.'"
"But you've never seen her." ”

“ Thus it was that Isabel found Lady Gwendoline so tender and compassionate to her. She only raised her eyes to the lady's face with a grateful look. She forgot all about the interview at Graybridge; what could she remember in that room, except that he was ill? in danger, people had told her; but she could not believe that. The experience of her husband's deathbed had impressed her with an idea that dangerous illness must be accompanied by terrible prostration, delirium, raging fever, dull stupor. ”

“ The girls were speechless. Where was the anger and the indignation they had expected to meet with when the knowledge of their carelessness came to Gwendoline’s ears? Was this white, subdued, quiet-looking girl the proud and haughty Gwendoline, whose wrath they had been afraid to encounter? Surely they were dreaming, and had reversed the two—Gwendoline for Linnæa, and Linnæa for Gwendoline; there must be some mistake. They heard the timepiece mark the seconds as they passed, and not one could break the{307} silence. Tick—tick—tick—tick—someone must speak. Each one looked at another ”

“ Gwendoline looked up and tried to prevaricate. But conscience was too strong for her; the truth would out for all that. “Yes, mother,” she cried, after a pause, “and he said, oh, he said—I could never tell you what dreadful things he said. But he’s so wicked, so cruel! You never knew such a man! He thinks I want to marry Granville Kelmscott, and so he told me—” She broke off, of a sudden, unable to proceed, and buried her face in her hands, sobbing long and bitterly. ”

“ Gudgeon had Gwendoline. Gwendoline was the little fire on Mr. Gudgeon's secret hearth. He loved her, and though he never thought about it, not being a reflective person, he was certain that she liked him best. There was an understanding between them. He knew her ways: when she liked to be "changed down," how to coax her up Hill Rise, and when, in spite of the garage expert, she was feeling "below par." Unlike the other drivers he never left her to freeze stiff in the bitter winter blasts whilst he warmed himself before the fire at The King's Arms, but covered her radiator with his own blanket. ”

“ Yes, Gwendoline rode the stallion, rode to victory the colt she herself had reared. A few years back, when her father lived, he had owned the mother of Cliquot, and, from the time the beautiful sorrel came into the world until that dark day when misery, ruin and death settled on their hearts and homes, the girl had caressed and fondled the lovely creature, who, when old enough to mount, was, for her, as gentle as a lamb. ”

“ Farewell, and, should we meet no more, think as I do, oh! my darling, that, if separated in this world of strife and though our paths of brief existence lie apart, we may hope the immortal life may seal our union in the sky.
“Neil Emory.”
Lying upon the floor of her chamber, with the letter crushed beneath her outstretched hands, Mrs. Gwinn found Gwendoline; and as she raised her stricken child she knew all hope had fled, and all her dreams of that bright future, which she had planned for her daughter, faded into nothing. ”

“ Gwendoline sprang to her feet, tossing her tawny mane, as she shook off her mother’s hand.
“Mamma!” she exclaimed, “this is too much! I will not be bartered for like a Virginia slave! I am weary, weary of it all, and I can stand it no longer! Why should I marry at all?”
“Why?” said her mother, waving her white hand slowly back and forth. “Why, Gwendoline, for a [40] very simple reason—you cannot help it! My dear, you are hardly the woman to fill the role of an old maid. No, no, there is too much fire there!” ”

“ He has grown ten years older in as many months—his hair is absolutely streaked with gray, his eyes are sunken, his cheeks are hollow. He looks miserably, wretchedly out of health. If men ever do break their hearts," said Lady Portia, going over to a large mirror and surveying herself, "then that misguided young man broke his on his wedding-day."
"It serves him right," said Lady Gwendoline, her pale eyes kindling. ”

“ I shall resign my guardianship; Gwendoline—Lady Baring—will accept the position. She likes you, and—you will find it hard to break her heart."
"Do you mean," says the girl, "that I have broken yours? Yours? Have I been so bad as that? Yours? I have been wilful, I know, and troublesome, but troublesome people do not break one's heart. What have I done then that yours should be broken?" She has moved closer to him. Her eyes are gazing with passionate question into his.
"Do not think of that," says the professor, unsteadily. "Do not let that trouble you. ”

“ Calling good-night to the others, Gwendoline slipped her arm through Linnæa’s, and the two walked away in the direction of the stairs.
“How strange it is, coming in amongst a lot of girls one has never seen before! It is fortunate for me I am not shy, else, I suppose, I should feel dreadfully put out. ”

“ Afar off in her rosy bower that breezy morn Gwendoline thought of him, and her cheek grew paler at the idea that he might have discovered her. No word or look, as yet, had betrayed her passionate love for him. The color rushed over throat and brow, as she thought of what she had braved for him. To give to the husband of another her heart’s best treasure [97] was terrible in itself ”

“ They just start out blindly and keep on going, as Mr. Gudgeon did. Of course luck was with him. It was a slack time of the day, and the main thoroughfares were fairly clear. When they weren't Mr. Gudgeon swerved into side streets, which, never having seen a bus before, were considerably astonished, and if necessary he turned back on himself, so that the mounted police got hot on several wrong scents and never so much as caught a glimpse of him. And then Gwendoline played up like the great-hearted, gallant creature she was. ”

“ Gwinn. “I had not heard that. Thanks for your kind information,” and she turned her face to the stage, as the curtain rose.
[145]
Like all Cassandra’s selections, the play was both tasty and beautiful. Gwendoline thought her quite as lovely as ever, only, perhaps, a little thinner, and a “wee bit” worn in face and figure. The story of the drama was one like unto her own life—the hopeless, passionate love of a woman for a man, who had given the best of his heart-treasures to another. Emory, standing in the shade of a column, saw all and felt her powerful language. ”

“ Just to save himself from official reproof he had failed a friend in the hour of need, and for the first time in his patient, uncomplaining life a tiny point of anger and protest flickered up in him.
"If I'd 'ave stopped they'd 'ave sacked me," he explained to her. And Gwendoline had understood. Gwendoline knew what "them inspectors" were like. She knew what life was. You had to keep "on time," and sooner or later they'd scrap you, anyhow.
And because of Gwendoline Mr. Gudgeon did not know that he was a lonely little man, growing old.
IV
To Elfreda Mr. ”

“ Mark my words, child, that boy's up to some devilry."
"He is," I answered.
"Yes, he wouldn't be in such a rampaging hurry to get in—being as lazy as he's empty-headed—takes after Gwendoline in that—if he hadn't some excellent reason for wishing to take possession: and depend upon it, the reason is that he wants to get hold of something or other that's Harold's. But he sha'n't if I can help it; and thank my stars, I'm a dour woman to reckon with. If he comes, he comes over my old bones, child. I've been overhauling everything of Marmy's, I can tell you, to checkmate the boy if I can ”

“ She freed herself gently from the clinging arms and followed the two. "Miss Royle, will you take Gwendolyn?"
As the governess promptly advanced, with a half-bow, and a set smile that was like a grimace, Gwendolyn raised a face tense with earnestness. Until half an hour before, her whole concern had been for herself. But now! To fail to grow up, to have her long-cherished hopes come short of fulfillment—that was one thing. To know that her mother and father had real and serious troubles of their own, that was another!
"Oh, moth-er! Don't you go!" ”

“ Upon this arbor, bouncing along with an occasional chirp of contentment, and with the air of one who has assumed the lead, went the Bird.
Gwendolyn's father walked in silence, his look fixed far ahead. Trotting at his side, she glanced up at him now and then. She did not have to dread the coming of Jane, or Miss Royle, or Thomas. Yet she felt concern—on the score of keeping beside him; of having ready a remark, gay or entertaining, should he show signs of being bored. ”

“ With all her heart Gwendolyn envied them—envied their freedom, and the fact that they were indisputably grown-up. And she decided that, later on, when she was as big and strong, she would be a laundry-maid and run about on just such level roofs, joyously hanging up wash. ”

“ Lady Gwendolyn would have been less than a woman if she had not allowed her sneer to be perceptible—for she owed all her misery and humiliation to Pauline; and to know that she had managed to exalt herself in Lord Teignmouth’s eyes at the expense of his sister, did not give her a very Christianlike feeling toward the clever countess, assuredly. But, having relieved herself by this little piece of spite, Gwendolyn melted into tears again, and was so agitated she did not notice the arm that was stealing round her waist so gently. ”

“ It was Gwendolyn's father, murmuring to himself.
"The bee!"
Now the Bird came bouncing to Gwendolyn's side. "You've read that bees are busy little things, haven't you?" he asked. "Well, this particular so-cial hon-ey-gath-er-ing in-sect—"
"That's the very one!" she declared excitedly.
"—Is no exception."
"We must get it away from her," declared Gwendolyn. "Oh, how tired her poor feet must be!" (As she said it, she was conscious of the burning ache of her own feet; and yet the tears that swam in her eyes were tears of sympathy, not of pain.) "Puffy! Won't you eat it?" ”