"Indeed I think it may be. They will be glad to value it as it stands.

And Cecil, we will drive away all the ghostly superst.i.tions, and that ominous Shadow----"

Cecil lifted her face, an eager light upon it. "Janet says that the curse has been worked out with the ruin of the G.o.dolphins. She thinks that the dark Shadow will never come any more."

"So much the better. We will have the Dark Plain dug up and made into a children's playground, and a summer-house for them shall be erected on the very spot which the Shadow has made its own. There may be children here some time, Cecil."

Cecil's eyelashes were bent on her flushed cheeks. She did not raise them.

"If you liked--if you liked, Cecil, we might ask Janet and Bessy to retain their home here," resumed Lord Averil, in thoughtful consideration. "Ashlydyat is large enough for all."

"Their home is decided upon," said Cecil, shaking her head. "Bessy has promised to make hers at Lady G.o.dolphin's Folly. Lady G.o.dolphin exacted her promise to that effect, before she decided to return to it. I was to have gone to it also. Janet goes to Scotland. I am quite sure that this place has become too painful for Janet to remain in. She has an annuity, as perhaps you know; it was money left her by mamma's sister; so that she is independent, and can live where she pleases; but I am sure she will go to Scotland, as soon as--as soon as----"

"I understand you, Cecil. As soon as Thomas shall have pa.s.sed away."

The tears were glistening in her eyes. "Do you not see a great change in him?"

"A very great one. Cecil, I should like him to give you to me. Will you waive ceremony, and be mine at once?"

"I will see," murmured Cecil. "When a little of this bustle, this disgrace shall have pa.s.sed away. Let it die out first."

A grave expression arose to Lord Averil's face. "It must not be very long first, Cecil: if you would be mine while your brother is in life."

"I will, I will; it shall be as you wish," she answered, her tears falling. And before Lord Averil could make any rejoinder, she had hastily left him, and was standing against the window, stealthily drying her eyes: for the door had opened to admit Thomas G.o.dolphin.

CHAPTER XXVI.

MY LADY WASHES HER HANDS.

The summer was drawing towards its close; and so was the bankruptcy of G.o.dolphin, Crosse, and G.o.dolphin.--If we adhere to the style of the old firm, we only do as Prior's Ash did. Mr. Crosse, you have heard, was out of it actually and officially, but people, in speaking or writing of the firm, forgot to omit his name. One or two maddened sufferers raised a question of his liability, in their desperation; but they gained nothing by the motion: Mr. Crosse was as legally separated from the G.o.dolphins as if he had never been connected with them.--The labour, the confusion, the doubt, attendant upon most bankruptcies, was nearly over, and creditors knew the best and the worst. The dividend would be, to use a common expression, shamefully small, when all was told: it might have been even smaller (not much, though) but that Lord Averil's claim on the sixteen thousand pounds, the value of the bonds, was not allowed to enter into the accounts. Those bonds and all connected with them were sunk in silence so complete, that at length outsiders began to ask whether they and their reported loss had not been altogether a myth.

Thomas G.o.dolphin had given up everything, even to his watch, and the signet ring upon his finger. The latter was returned to him. The jewellery of the Miss G.o.dolphins was given up. Maria's jewellery also.

In short, there was nothing that was not given up. The fortune of the Miss G.o.dolphins, consisting of money and bank shares, had of course gone with the rest. The money had been in the Bank at interest; the shares were now worthless. Janet alone had an annuity of about a hundred a year, rather more, which nothing could deprive her of: the rest of the G.o.dolphins were reduced to beggary. Worse off were they than any of their clamorous creditors, since for them all had gone: houses, lands, money, furniture, personal belongings. But that Thomas G.o.dolphin would not long be in a land where these things are required, it might have been a question how he was for the future to find sufficient to live upon.

The arrangement hinted at by Lord Averil had been carried out, and that n.o.bleman was now the owner of Ashlydyat and all that it contained. It may have been departing a little from the usual order of things in such cases to dispose of it by private arrangement; but it had been done with the full consent of all parties concerned. Even the creditors, who of course showed themselves ready to cavil at anything, were glad that the expense of a sale by auction should be avoided. A price had been put upon Ashlydyat, and Lord Averil gave it without a dissentient word; and the purchase of the furniture, as it stood, was undoubtedly advantageous to the sellers.

Yes, Ashlydyat had gone from the G.o.dolphins. But Thomas and his sisters remained in it. There had been no battle with Thomas on the score of his remaining. Lord Averil had clasped his friend's hands within his own, and in a word or two of emotion had given him to understand that his chief satisfaction in its purchase had been the thought that he, Thomas, would remain in his own home, as long---- Thomas G.o.dolphin understood the broken words: as long as he had need of one. "Nothing would induce me to enter upon it until then," continued Lord Averil. "So be it," said Thomas quietly, for he fully understood the feeling, and the gratification it brought to him who conferred the obligation. "I shall not keep you out of it long, Averil." The same words, almost the very same words that Sir George G.o.dolphin had once spoken to his son: "I shall not keep you and Ethel long out of Ashlydyat."

So Thomas remained at Ashlydyat with his broken health, and the weeks had gone on; and summer was now drawing to an end, and other things also. Thomas G.o.dolphin was beginning to be better understood than he had been at the time of the crash, and people were repenting of the cruel blame they had so freely hurled upon him. The first smart of the blow had faded away, and with it the prejudice which had unjustly, though not unnaturally, distorted their judgment, and buried for the time all kindly impulse. Perhaps there was not a single creditor, whatever might be the extent of the damage he had suffered by the Bank, but would have stretched out his hand, and given him more gold, if by that means he could have saved the life of Thomas G.o.dolphin. They learnt to remember that the fault had not lain with him: they believed that if by the sacrifice of his own life he could have averted the calamity he would have cheerfully laid it down: they knew that his days were as one long mourning, for them individually--and they took shame to themselves for having been so bitter against him, Thomas G.o.dolphin.

Not so in regard to George. _He_ did not regain his place in their estimation: and if they could have hoisted Mr. George on a pole in front of the Bank and cast at him a few rotten eggs and other agreeable missiles, it had been a relief to their spleen. Had George been condemned to stand at the bar of a public tribunal by the n.o.bleman he so defrauded, half Prior's Ash would have gone to gratify their feelings by staring at him during the trial, and have made it a day of jubilee.

Harsh epithets, exceedingly unpleasant when taken personally, were freely lavished upon him, and would be for a long while to come. He _had_ wronged them: and time alone will suffice to wash out the ever-present remembrance of such wrongs.

He had been at Prior's Ash. Gay George still. So far as could be seen, the calamity had not much affected _him_. Not a line showed itself on his fair, smooth brow, not a shade less of colour on his bright cheek, not a grey thread in his luxuriant hair, not a cloud in his dark-blue eye. Handsome, fascinating, attractive as ever, was George G.o.dolphin: and he really seemed to be as gay and light of temperament. When any ill-used creditor attacked him outright--as some did, through a casual meeting in the street, or other lucky chance--George was triumphant George still. No shame did he seem to take to himself--but so sunny, so fascinating was he, as he held the hands of the half-reluctant grumbler, and protested it should all come right some time, that the enemy was won over to conciliation for the pa.s.sing moment. It was impossible to help admiring George G.o.dolphin; it was impossible to avoid liking him: it was impossible, when brought face to face with him, not to be taken with his frank plausibility: the crustiest sufferer of them all was in a degree subdued by it. Prior's Ash understood that the officers of the bankruptcy "badgered" George a great deal when under examination; but George only seemed to come out of it the more triumphantly. Safe on the score of Lord Averil, all the rest was light in comparison; and easy George never lost his good-humour or his self-possession. He appeared to come scot-free out of everything. Those falsified accounts in the bank-books, that many another might have been held responsible for, and punished, he emerged from harmlessly. It was conjectured that the full extent of these false entries never was discovered by the commissioners: Thomas G.o.dolphin and Mr. Hurde alone could have told it: and Thomas preferred to allow the odium of loosely-kept books, of reckless expenditure of money, to fall upon himself rather than betray George.

Were the whole thing laid bare and declared, it could not bring a fraction of good to the creditors, so, from that point of view, it was as well to let it rest. Are these careless, sanguine, gay-tempered men always lucky? It has been so a.s.serted; and I do think there is a great deal of truth in it. Most unequivocally lucky in this instance was George G.o.dolphin.

It was of no earthly use asking him where all the money had gone--to what use this sum had been put, to what use the other--George could not tell. He could not tell any more than they could; he was as much perplexed about it as they were. He ran his white hand unconsciously through his golden hair, hopelessly trying his best to account for a great many items that no one living could have accounted for. All in vain. Heedless, off-handed George G.o.dolphin! He appeared before those inquisitive officials somewhat gayer in attire than was needful. A sober suit, rather of the seedy order, might have been deemed appropriate at such a time; but George G.o.dolphin gave no indication of consulting any such rules of propriety. George G.o.dolphin's refined taste had kept him from falling into the loose and easy style of dress which some men so strangely favour in the present day, placing a gentleman in outward aspect on a level with the roughs of society. George, though no c.o.xcomb, had always dressed well and expensively; and George appeared inclined to do so still. They could not take him to task on the score of his fine broadcloth or of his neatly-finished boot; but they did bend their eyes meaningly on the ma.s.sive gold chain which crossed his white waistcoat: on the costly appendages which dangled from it; on the handsome repeater which he more than once took out, as if weary of the pa.s.sing hours. Mr.

George received a gentle hint that those articles, however ornamental to himself, must be confiscated to the bankruptcy; and he resigned them with a good grace. The news of this little incident travelled abroad, as an interesting anecdote connected with the proceedings, and the next time George saw Charlotte Pain, she told him he was a fool to walk into the camp of the Philistines with pretty things about him. But George was not wilfully dishonest (if you can by any possibility understand that a.s.sertion, after what you know of his past doings), and he replied to Charlotte that it was only right the creditors should make spoil of his watch, and anything else he possessed. The truth, were it defined, being, that George was only dishonest when driven so to be. He had made free with the bonds of Lord Averil, but he could not be guilty of the meanness of concealing his personal trinkets.

Three or four times now had George been at Prior's Ash. People wondered why he did not remain; what it was that took him again and again to London. The very instant he found that he could be dispensed with at Prior's Ash, away he flew; not to return to it again until imperatively demanded. The plain fact was that Mr. George did _not_ like to face Prior's Ash. For all the easy self-possession, the gay good-humour he displayed to its inhabitants, the place had become utterly distasteful to him, almost unbearable; he shunned it and hated it as a pious Roman Catholic hates and would shun purgatory. For that reason, and for no other, George did his best to escape from it.

He had seen Lord Averil. And his fair face had betrayed its shame as he said a few words of apology for what he had done--of thanks for the clemency shown him--of promises for the future. "If I live, I'll make it good to you," he murmured. "I did not intend to _steal_ them, Averil; I did not, on my solemn word of honour. I thought I should have replaced them before anything could be known. Your asking for them immediately--that you should do so seemed a very fatality--upset everything. But for that, I might have weathered it all, and the house would not have gone. It was no light pressure that forced me to touch them--Heaven alone knows the need and the temptation."

And the meeting between the brothers? No eye saw it; no ear heard it.

Good Thomas G.o.dolphin was dying from the blow, dying before his time; but not a word of reproach was given to George. How George defended himself--or whether he attempted to defend himself, or whether he let it wholly alone--the outside world never knew.

Lady G.o.dolphin's Folly was no longer in the occupancy of the Verralls or of Mrs. Pain: Lady G.o.dolphin had returned to it. Not a day aged; not a day altered. Time flitted lightly over Lady G.o.dolphin. Her bloom-tinted complexion was delicately fresh as ever; her dress was as becoming, her flaxen locks were as youthful. She came with her servants and her carriages, and she took up her abode at the Folly, in all the splendour of the old days. Her income was large, and the misfortunes which had recently fallen on the family did not affect it. Lady G.o.dolphin washed her hands of these misfortunes. She washed her hands of George. She told the world that she did so. She spoke of them openly to the public in general, to her acquaintances in particular, in a slighting, contemptuous sort of manner, as we are all apt to speak of the ill-doings of other people. They don't concern us, and it's rather a condescension on our part to blame them at all.--This was no concern of Lady G.o.dolphin's. She told every one it was not so. George's disgrace did not reflect itself upon the family, and of him she--washed her hands. No: Lady G.o.dolphin could not see that this break-up caused by George should be any reason whatever why she or the Miss G.o.dolphins should hide their heads and go mourning in sack-cloth and ashes. Many of her old acquaintances in the county agreed with Lady G.o.dolphin in her view of things, and helped by their visits to make the Folly gay again.

To wash her hands of Mr. George, was, equitably speaking, no more than that gentleman deserved: but Lady G.o.dolphin also washed her hands of Maria. On her return to Prior's Ash she had felt inclined to espouse Maria's part; to sympathize with and pity her; and she drove down in state one day, and left her carriage with its powdered coachman and footman to pace to and fro in Crosse Street before the Bank, while she went in. She openly avowed to Maria that she considered herself in a remote degree the cause which had led to her union with George G.o.dolphin: she supposed that it was her having had Maria so much at the Folly, and afterwards on the visit at Broomhead, which had led to the attachment. As a matter of course she regretted this, and wished there had been no marriage, now that George had turned out so gracelessly. If she could do anything to repair it she would: and, as a first step, she offered the Folly as a present asylum to Maria. She would be safe there from worry, and--from George.

Maria scarcely at first understood her. And when she did so, her only answer was to thank Lady G.o.dolphin, and to stand out, in her quiet, gentle manner, but untiringly and firmly, for her husband. Not a shade of blame would she acknowledge to be due to him; not a reverence would she render him the less: her place was with him, she said, though the whole world turned against him. It vexed Lady G.o.dolphin.

"Do you know," she asked, "that you must choose between your husband and the world?"

"In what way?" replied Maria.

"In what way! When a man acts as George G.o.dolphin has acted, he places a barrier between himself and society. But there's no necessity for the barrier to extend to you, Maria. If you will come to my house for a while, you will find this to be the case--it will not extend to you."

"You are very kind, Lady G.o.dolphin. My husband is more to me than the world."

"Do you approve of what he has done?"

"No," replied Maria. "But it is not my place to show that I blame him."

"I think it is," said Lady G.o.dolphin in the hard tone she used when her opinion was questioned.

Maria was silent. She never could contend with any one.

"Then you prefer to hold out against the world," resumed Lady G.o.dolphin; "to put yourself beyond its pale! It is a bold step, Maria."

"What can I do?" was Maria's pleading answer. "If the world throws me over because I will not turn against my husband, I cannot help it. I married him for better or for worse, Lady G.o.dolphin."

"The fact is, Maria," retorted my lady sharply, "that you have loved George G.o.dolphin in a ridiculous degree."

"Perhaps I have," was Maria's subdued answer, the colour dyeing her face with various reminiscences. "But surely there was no sin in it, Lady G.o.dolphin: he is my husband."

"And you cling to him still?"

"Oh yes."

Lady G.o.dolphin rose. She shrugged her shoulders as she drew her white lace shawl over them, she glanced at her coquettish blue bonnet in the gla.s.s as she pa.s.sed it, at her blush-rose cheeks. "You have chosen your husband, Maria, in preference to me; in preference to the world; and from this moment I wash my hands of you, as I have already done of him."

It was all the farewell she took: and she went out to her carriage, thinking what a blind, obstinate, hardened woman was Maria G.o.dolphin.

She saw not what it had cost that "hardened" woman to bear up before her: that her heart was nigh unto breaking; that the sorrow laid upon her was greater than she well knew how to battle with.