CHAPTER VII.
"I SHOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE OF SLOWBRIDGE."
When he announced at breakfast his intention of taking his departure onthe midday train, Lucia wondered again what would happen; and again, toher relief, Lady Theobald was astonishingly lenient.
"As your friends expect you, of course we cannot overrule them," shesaid. "We will, however, hope to see something of you during your stay atBroadoaks. It will be very easy for you to run down and give us a fewhours now and then."
"Tha-anks," said Capt. Barold.
He was decently civil, if not enthusiastic, during the few remaininghours of his stay. He sauntered through the grounds with Lucia, who tookcharge of him in obedience to her grandmother's wish. He did not find herparticularly troublesome when she was away from her ladyship's side. Whenshe came out to him in her simple cotton gown and straw hat, it occurredto him that she was much prettier than he had thought her at first. Foreconomical reasons she had made the little morning-dress herself, withoutthe slightest regard for the designs of Miss Chickie; and as it was nottrimmed at all, and had only a black-velvet ribbon at the waist, therewas nothing to place her charming figure at a disadvantage. It could notbe said that her shyness and simplicity delighted Capt. Barold, but, atleast, they did not displease him; and this was really as much as couldbe expected.
"She does not expect a fellow to exert himself, at all events," was hisinward comment; and he did not exert himself.
But, when on the point of taking his departure, he went so far as to makea very gracious remark to her.
"I hope we shall have the pleasure of seeing you in London for a season,before very long," he said: "my mother will have great pleasure in takingcharge of you, if Lady Theobald cannot be induced to leave Slowbridge."
"Lucia never goes from home alone," said Lady Theobald; "but I shouldcertainly be obliged to call upon your mother for her good offices, inthe case of our spending a season in London. I am too old a woman toalter my mode of life altogether."
In obedience to her ladyship's orders, the venerable landau was broughtto the door; and the two ladies drove to the station with him.
It was during this drive that a very curious incident occurred,--anincident to which, perhaps, this story owes its existence, since, if ithad not taken place, there might, very possibly, have been no events of astirring nature to chronicle. Just as Dobson drove rather slowly up thepart of High Street distinguished by the presence of Miss BelindaBassett's house, Capt. Barold suddenly appeared to be attracted by somefigure he discovered in the garden appertaining to that modest structure.
"By Jove!" he exclaimed, in an undertone, "there is Miss Octavia."
For the moment he was almost roused to a display of interest. A faintsmile lighted his face, and his cold, handsome eyes slightly brightened.
Lady Theobald sat bolt upright.
"That is Miss Bassett's niece, from America," she said. "Do I understandyou know her?"
Capt. Barold turned to confront her, evidently annoyed at having alloweda surprise to get the better of him. All expression died out of his face.
"I travelled with her from Framwich to Stamford," he said. "I suppose weshould have reached Slowbridge together, but that I dropped off atStamford to get a newspaper, and the train left me behind."
"O grandmamma!" exclaimed Lucia, who had turned to look, "how very prettyshe is!"
Miss Octavia certainly was amazingly so this morning. She was standing bya rosebush again, and was dressed in a cashmere morning-robe of thefinest texture and the faintest pink: it had a Watteau plait down theback, _jabot_ of lace down the front, and the close, high frills of lacearound the throat which seemed to be a weakness with her. Her hair wasdressed high upon her head, and showed to advantage her little ears andas much of her slim white neck as the frills did not conceal.
But Lady Theobald did not share Lucia's enthusiasm.
"She looks like an actress," she said. "If the trees were painted canvasand the roses artificial, one might have some patience with her. Thatkind of thing is scarcely what we expect in Slowbridge."
Then she turned to Barold.
"I had the pleasure of meeting her yesterday, not long after shearrived," she said. "She had diamonds in her ears as big as peas, andrings to match. Her manner is just what one might expect from a youngwoman brought up among gold-diggers and silver-miners."
"It struck me as being a very unique and interesting manner," said Capt.Barold. "It is chiefly noticeable for a _sang-froid_ which might beregarded as rather enviable. She was good enough to tell me all about herpapa and the silver-mines, and I really found the conversationentertaining."
"It is scarcely customary for English young women to confide in theirmasculine travelling companions to such an extent," remarked my ladygrimly.
"She did not confide in me at all," said Barold. "Therein lay herattraction. One cannot submit to being 'confided in' by a strange youngwoman, however charming. This young lady's remarks were flavored solelywith an adorably cool candor. She evidently did not desire to appeal toany emotion whatever."
And as he leaned back in his seat, he still looked at the picturesquefigure which they had passed, as if he would not have been sorry to seeit turn its head toward him.
In fact, it seemed that, notwithstanding his usual good fortune, Capt.Barold was doomed this morning to make remarks of a nature objectionableto his revered relation. On their way they passed Mr. Burmistone's mill,which was at work in all its vigor, with a whir and buzz of machinery,and a slight odor of oil in its surrounding atmosphere.
"Ah!" said Mr. Barold, putting his single eyeglass into his eye, andscanning it after the manner of experts. "I did not think you had anything of that sort here. Who put it up?"
"The man's name," replied Lady Theobald severely, "is Burmistone."
"Pretty good idea, isn't it?" remarked Barold. "Good for the place--andall that sort of thing."
"To my mind," answered my lady, "it is the worst possible thing whichcould have happened."
Mr. Francis Barold dropped his eyeglass dexterously, and at once lapsedinto his normal condition--which was a condition by no means favorableto argument.
"Think so?" he said slowly. "Pity, isn't it, under the circumstances?"
And really there was nothing at all for her ladyship to do but preserve alofty silence. She had scarcely recovered herself when they reached thestation, and it was necessary to say farewell as complacently aspossible.
"We will hope to see you again before many days," she said with dignity,if not with warmth.
Mr. Francis Barold was silent for a second, and a slightly reflectiveexpression flitted across his face.
"Thanks, yes," he said at last. "Certainly. It is easy to come down, andI should like to see more of Slowbridge."
When the train had puffed in and out of the station, and Dobson wasdriving down High Street again, her ladyship's feelings rather got thebetter of her.
"If Belinda Bassett is a wise woman," she remarked, "she will take myadvice, and get rid of this young lady as soon as possible. It appears tome," she continued, with exalted piety, "that every well-trained Englishgirl has reason to thank her Maker that she was born in a civilizedland."
"Perhaps," suggested Lucia softly, "Miss Octavia Bassett has had no oneto train her at all; and it may be that--that she even feels it deeply."
The feathers in her ladyship's bonnet trembled.
"She does not feel it at all!" she announced. "She is animpertinent--minx!"