Mrs. Hartley

“ Yet it was not admiration for the scene before me that brought me to a sudden halt and caused my heart to quicken its pulsations; for upon the broad steps at the fountain foot a woman was seated with a canvas in her hand, a brush and palette at her side. At the sound of my footsteps she turned her head, and I saw that it was my lady’s sister, Mistress Grace.
“Captain Cassilis,” she said with a winning smile, “saw you ever a more lovely night? Alas! I fear that my poor efforts fall far short of the reality. But you shall judge, sir, of their merits for yourself.” ”

“ There must have been some extraordinary attraction about John Hartley, in spite of his mean and paltry occupation of a footpad, for the young women who went in white to beg for a reprieve were eager, if their prayer were granted, to cast lots among themselves for the honour of being his wife. ”

“ Hartley.
“I must find something—not a girl—that will like me and that I can like. Love is not everything, Mrs. Hartley, though it is a great deal. I cannot help thinking that the man who lets any woman wreck the whole of his life for him is very little better than a coward.”
“John Riley,” said the widow solemnly, 115“you may thank heaven I am an old woman, or I should marry you whether you liked it or not.” ”

“ Droll to see Hartley's little girl sit in her Grandmother's Chair beside her Crutch, where her Grandmother hobbling in did find her, and to think that she too will be such another old Woman, one of these Days, if she live. Some of the bigger Boys public School Boys, mighty grand, and a few wearing Spectacles like young Owls. Mrs. Hartley's Brother, Mr. St. Leger, dress himself like a Conjuror, in a conjuring Cap with magick Characters on it, and conjure with Cards, and Oranges, and little Images, and Dolls, mighty clever, and I do mean to get him if I can to teach me. ”

“ I had seen many women more beautiful. “Do I address the Lady Lettice Ingram?” I said, doffing my hat.
“She is my sister,” she replied slowly. Her eyes were still dark with fear. In a moment I was minded of the steward’s words. I told myself that this was the Mistress Grace that he had mentioned.
“Madam,” I made haste to answer, “I beg that you will not be alarmed at this intrusion, which the exigencies of my errand alone warranted. My business is with this gentleman,” I continued, indicating the Frenchman, who stood, one white hand laid upon the hilt of his rapier. ”

“ I answered quickly. “There is a chance yet—it is a desperate one! Your part, madam, must be to hinder these men as long as possible. Use your woman’s wit. Bid them search the house. Delay them but ten minutes, and all may yet be well.”
“But my sister?” she faltered, casting a lingering glance at my lady’s unconscious figure.
“You must act for her,” I said rapidly. “There is no time to lose. Listen!”
I raised my hand to enjoin silence. Far away down the avenue came the trampling of horse. “They are coming! Now, madam, will you trust me?” ”

“ POOR 'Lile Hartley'—little Hartley, as the neighbours called him—is one of the most pathetic figures in English literature. Undersized in body, of promising intellect from childhood, of child-like simplicity in character, devoid of self-control, and overmastered by the alcoholic habit, as his father was by the opium habit, he is at once pitiable, excusable, and lovable. As you ride from Ambleside to Grasmere you pass a low cottage on your right, just beneath Nab Scarr, where the young farmer and his wife lived who cared so unselfishly for him and for his comfort and welfare. ”

“ I answered quietly. “Rather should I crave your pardon, my lady, for intruding so sad a story upon you. It is one ill suited for a lady’s ears. I know not why I have told you.” And I turned from her and gazed out into the night with eyes that saw not the moonlit gardens before me, but only the sorrowful, girlish face of one who had loved me well. I started when my lady’s next words brought me to earth again. For the moment I had forgotten her presence in the room.
“And this man, sir,” she said slowly, “what of him?” ”

“ Shedding plenteous tears, he exclaimed, “My daughter! my daughter! she will never survive the shame of being uncovered before the eyes of strangers. O your highness! O dispenser of justice! spare me and my house this terrible disgrace.”
The Hartleys felt pity for the humbled chief. Harold stepped forward, and addressing the commissioner said: “Might it not be sufficient, sir, for my wife to see and identify this lady?”
“Let Mrs. Hartley ascertain that the person in court, who from her feebleness appears to be of great age, is really identical with the young widow in question,” said Mr. Thole. ”

“ Grace said with a frankness which caused Mrs. Hartley to shake for the ultimate success of her project; “indeed, I should like to serve any of them. It would be a sad thing if for lack of a friendly hand Mrs. Riley and the girls had to leave Woodbrook.”
“It is clearly Lord Ardmorne’s opinion that the sooner they leave Woodbrook the better for all concerned,” observed Mrs. Hartley. “And in that opinion I entirely agree. If all the poor Irish gentry were compelled to sell their estates, and let people who have money and sense purchase them, it would be a grand thing for the country.” ”

“ The girl looked out the window dreamily.
“Mr. Hartley,” she said hesitatingly, “I hardly know what to say to you. I realize all the advantages of your offer, and sometimes I feel sure that I could be contented with you. But, again, I am doubtful. I was born a city girl, and I am afraid to bind myself to a quiet suburban life.”
“My dear girl,” said Hartley, ardently, “have I not told you that you shall have everything that your heart can desire that is in my power to give you? You shall come to the city for the theatres, for shopping and to visit your friends as often as you care to. ”

“ Robin went forward to see what was going on. The youth had not gone many steps when he suddenly stopped short with an exclamation, his whole soul in his eyes,—looking like a man who beholds an apparition. Before him, in the yellow torch-light, stood Harold Hartley, clad in snowy Oriental garments, looking even more startled than himself, for Harold recognised in the form before him, dressed in Persian costume, the brother for whose supposed death he had so bitterly mourned! ”

“ The colour deepened in her face with her sweet yielding shame.
“You are the keeper of my heart,” she whispered in reply; “my lover—and my king!” I caught her hands in mine and raised them to my lips.
“Listen,” she continued softly, ere I could find words to speak. “I was proud and cold to you, dear love, against my own heart’s teaching. I am proud still! Prouder in your love than ever I was before! I would rather share your exile than be the richest lady in the land! In fortune or distress, in poverty or prison—so that I am with you, sir, I care not what befalls!” ”

“ She was touched at the proofs of her daughter’s affection, and the hot tears rolled rapidly down her furrowed cheek, but she steadily refused to leave the institution. In vain the poor girl pleaded, and Mr. Hartley and myself joined in our entreaties that she would accompany her daughter and her husband. Finding all our arguments of no avail I advised Mr. Hartley to let the poor creature have her way till the reality of the situation had come home to her, recommending him to allow his wife to call frequently at the Convent to see her mother. ”

“ The child, desolate and helpless in a land of strangers, where the name of Christian was scarcely known, had no one to whom to look for kindness and protection but Harold. He had regarded her as unlovely and unloveable; Shelah, in her merrier days, had excited no sympathy in his mind; but Christian pity now touched a chord, and that chord wakened something like music in young Hartley's desolate spirit. As he marched on painfully in the heat, keeping as near as he could to the camel on which poor Shelah was perched, Harold thought much of the future fate of the young Irish girl. ”

“ Travellers used to look after him on the road, and guides and drivers were always willing to tell about him; and still his old friends almost expect to see Hartley at any turn,—the little figure, with the round face, marked by the blackest eyebrows and eyelashes, and by a smile and expression of great eccentricity. ”

“ Half-way up a low hill rise on the far side of the Mangadone Cantonment was the bungalow of Hartley, Head of the Police. It was a tidy, well-kept house, the house of a bachelor who had an eye to things himself and who was well served by competent servants. Hartley had reached the age of forty without having married, and he was solid of build and entirely sensible and practical of mind. He was spoken of as "sound" and "capable," for it is thus we describe men with a word, and his mind was adjusted so as to give room for only one idea at a time. ”

“ The steward waited until he had recovered his breath, then:
“There be some at the house yonder who think ’tis Mistress Grace he would be wedding,” he said slowly, but the old man only shook his head.
“It’s not my lady,” he answered doggedly. “I’ll take my oath of that! No, nor Mistress Grace either.”
“Then why is he here?” cried the steward eagerly. “Tell me that!” The other raised his head with a cunning look on his wrinkled face.
“I have heard it said that James Stuart is in Ireland,” he said slowly.
“Bah!” the man in the cloak answered. “Every one knows that!” ”

“ Mistress Maddon cried, “you have a keen wit, madam, have you not? ’Tis a pleasure to converse with you. Will your ladyship condescend to be seated?”
“I prefer to stand,” my lady replied haughtily. She turned to the man, who still sat silent at the table.
[73] “Sir Richard Danvers,” she cried, “I presume you have already heard from the lips of this gentleman a version of the story that brings me to Exeter?” and she shot a glance replete with scorn at where I stood. “I demand to know,” she continued proudly, “by what right do you arrest a guest residing in my house?” ”

“ I burst out.
“I am a woman, sir,” she answered. “Is not that reason logical enough?”
“Yet a few days ago nothing would have been too bad to happen to them,” I said bluntly.
“A few days ago, sir, I did not know many things that [170] I do now,” she rejoined, toying with a rope of pearls that hung from her shoulders. “And in that I pity him, I do but make use of the prerogative of my sex. ’Tis the divine right of woman to be inconsistent.”
To this I found no reply, and again we fell silent.
Suddenly my lady leaned forwards.
“Mr. Cassilis,” she said winningly, “will you answer me a question?” ”

“ Shall the energetic men of earth look on difficulties as 'things to be overcome,' whilst God's servants magnify them into impossibilities."
Harold's reflections were interrupted by Miss Petty's meeting him as he passed out of the shop. She looked flustered, excited, and eager.
"Oh! Dear Mr. Hartley, I'm so delighted to see you; you are the very person whom I wanted to meet!" she exclaimed. "Do just lend me twelve shillings at once, for I've spent my last sixpence already in lace. Malta, with its shops full of beautiful things, is the place to empty the purse of a Crœsus!" ”

“ But I [173] forget that this story can have but little interest for you, my lady.”
“Why should it not?” she replied. “Life is full of such sad stories.” She leant her head on her hand, and for a moment or two we were silent. “I, too, am troubled to-night for the safety of one I love,” she continued.
“Yes, madam?” I murmured as she paused.
“I allude to my brother,” she said quickly. “Mr. Cassilis, you know well that a battle is imminent. Alas! my brother is a true Ingram, in that he is so rash. I tremble for his safety.” ”

“ Above all, is the mother blessed. She suffers much—her burden is hard to bear—the night is dark—but the morning that opens upon her is the brightest a human soul knows during its earthly pilgrimage. And no wonder. She has performed the highest and holiest of offices—she has given birth to an immortal being—and her reward is with her."
Hartley had loved his wife truly, deeply, tenderly. Every day, he saw more and more in her to admire. There was an order, consistency, and harmony in her character as a wife, that won his admiration. ”

“ My lady turned quickly at the words.
“The paper which you stole, sir?” she said coldly.
“Which I—— You use a harsh phrase, madam,” I answered irrelevantly, advancing a few paces nearer to her. On a sudden I was minded to prove to her that she was unjust to me—to shame her for her words. “I had no wish,” I continued in a low voice, “to use it to your injury, my lady, and so——”
“You can spare me further, sir!” she interrupted icily. “Your insolence I can bear for the present, but not your hypocrisy. That you are present here to-day is insult enough to my womanhood ”

“ But my lady put her aside.
“No, no,” she cried passionately. “It is nothing—nothing! Is not this the hour of my triumph? And [207] shall I not take it? Shall I not——” She broke off abruptly with a slight shudder, then with a sudden change of manner she ran to the terrace wall and beckoned to the expectant crowd below.
“Look there,” she cried fiercely, flinging out her arm towards me. “There is the man before whom for many days we have cowered and trembled, who has held our safety and our lives in the hollow of his hand ”

“ Her graciousness, her altered demeanour towards me, had been but assumed—part of the snare into which, despite my boasted knowledge of the world, I had fallen as easily as any rustic Corydon.
On a sudden, still with her eyes on mine, my lady slowly raised her injured arm. Slowly, slowly, she raised it, then with a quick, passionate gesture she tore the bandage from her wrist and flung it into the empty grate behind her. That broke the spell.
With a long-drawn, shivering breath I recovered my composure. “God forgive you, madam,” I said quietly; “for I believe that you have sent me to my death.” ”