Ravenshoe

  CHAPTER V.

  RANFORD.

  Master Charles, blessed with a placid temper and a splendid appetite,throve amazingly. Before you knew where you were, he was in tops andbottoms; before you had thoroughly realized that, he was learning hisletters; then there was hardly time to turn round, before he was arosy-cheeked boy of ten.

  From the very first gleam of reason, he had been put solely and entirelyunder the care of Mr. Snell, the old vicar, who had been with his motherwhen she died, and a Protestant nurse, Mrs. Varley. Faithfully had thesetwo discharged their sacred trust; and, if love can repay such services,right well were they repaid.

  A pleasant task they had, though, for a more lovable little lad thanCharles there never was. His little heart seemed to have an infinitecapacity of affection for all who approached him. Everything animatecame before him in the light of a friend, to whom he wished to makehimself agreeable, from his old kind tutor and nurse down to his ponyand terrier. Charles had not arrived at the time of life when it waspossible for him to quarrel about women; and so he actually had noenemies as yet, but was welcomed by pleasant and kind faces wherever hewent. At one time he would be at his father's knee, while thegood-natured Densil made him up some fishing tackle; next you would findhim in the kennel with the whipper-in, feeding the hounds,half-smothered by their boisterous welcome; then the stables would ownhim for a time, while the lads were cleaning up and feeding; then came asudden flitting to one of the keeper's lodges; and anon he would be downon the sands wading with half a dozen fisher-boys as happy ashimself--but welcome and beloved everywhere.

  Sunday was a right pleasant day for him. After seeing his father shave,and examining his gold-topped dressing-case from top tobottom--amusements which were not participated in by Cuthbert, who hadgrown too manly--he would haste through his breakfast, and with hisclean clothes hurry down the village towards the vicarage, which stoodacross the stream near the church. Not to go in yet, you will observe,because the sermon, he well knew, was getting its finishing touches, andthe vicar must not be disturbed. No, the old stone bridge would bringhim up; and there he would stay looking at the brown crystal-clear waterrushing and seething among the rocks, lying dark under the oak-roots,and flashing merrily over the weir, just above the bridge; till "flick!"a silver bar would shoot quivering into the air, and a salmon wouldlight on the top of the fall, just where the water broke, and wouldstruggle on into the still pool above, or be beaten back by the force,to resume his attempt when he had gained breath. The trout, too, underthe bridge, bless the rogues, they knew it was Sunday well enough--howthey would lie up there in the swiftest places, where glancing liquidglorified the poor pebbles below into living amber, and would hardlytrouble themselves to snap at the great fat, silly stoneflies that camefloating down. Oh! it was a terrible place for dawdling was that stonebridge, on a summer sabbath morn.

  But now would the country folks come trooping in from far and near, forRavenshoe was the only church for miles, and however many of them therewere, every one had a good hearty West-country greeting for him. And,as the crowd increased near the church door, there was so much to sayand hear, that I am afraid the prayers suffered a little sometimes.

  The villagers were pleased enough to see the lad in the old carvedhorsebox (not to be irreverent) of a pew, beneath the screen in thechancel, with the light from the old rose window shining on his curlybrown hair. The older ones would think of the haughty beautiful lady whosat there so few years ago, and oftentimes one of the more sagaciouswould shake his head and mutter to himself, "Ah! if _he_ were heir."

  Any boy who reads this story, and I hope many will read it, is herebyadvertised that it is exceedingly wrong to be inattentive in church insermon time. It is very naughty to look up through the windows at thewhite clouds flying across the blue sky, and think how merrily theshadows are sweeping over the upland lawn, where the pewits' nests are,and the blackcock is crowing on the grey stones among the heather. Noboy has any right to notice another boy's absence, and spend sermon-timein wondering whether he is catching crabs among the green and crimsonseaweed on the rocks, or bathing in the still pool under the cliff. Aboy had better not go to church at all if he spends his time in thinkingabout the big trout that lies up in one of the pools of the woodlandstream, and whether he will be able to catch a sight of him again bycreeping gently through the hazel and king fern. Birds' nests, too, eventhough it be the ringousel's, who is to lay her last egg this blessedday, and is marked for spoliation to-morrow, should be banished from aboy's mind entirely during church time. Now, I am sorry to say, thatCharley was very much given to wander in church, and, when asked aboutthe sermon by the vicar next day, would look rather foolish. Let us hopethat he will be a warning to all sinners in this respect.

  Then, after church, there would be dinner, at his father's lunch time,in the dark old hall, and there would be more to tell his father andbrother than could be conveniently got through at that meal; then therewas church again, and a long stroll in the golden sunshine along theshore. Ah, happy summer sabbaths!

  The only two people who were ever cold to Charley, were his brother andMackworth. Not that they were openly unkind, but there was between bothof them and himself an indefinable gulf, an entire want of sympathy,which grieved him sometimes, though he was as yet too young to be muchtroubled by it. He only exhausted all his little arts of pleasingtowards them to try and win them; he was indefatigable in runningmessages for Cuthbert and the chaplain; and once, when kind grandauntAscot (she was a Miss Headstall, daughter of Sir Cingle Headstall, andmarried Lord George Ascot, brother of Lady Alicia, Densil's mother) senthim a pineapple in a box, he took it to the priest and would have hadhim take it. Mackworth refused it, but looked on him not unkindly for afew minutes, and then turned away with a sigh. Perhaps he was trying torecall the time so long, long ago, when his own face was as open and asinnocent as that. God knows! Charles cried a little, because the priestwouldn't take it, and, having given his brother the best slice, ate therest in the stable, with the assistance of his foster brother and two ofthe pad grooms. Thereby proving himself to be a lad of low anddissipated habits.

  Cuthbert was at this time a somewhat good-looking young fellow ofsixteen. Neither of the brothers was what would be called handsome,though, if Charley's face was the most pleasing, Cuthbert certainly hadthe most regular features. His forehead was lofty, although narrow, andflat at the sides; his cheek bones were high, and his nose was aquiline,not ill-formed, though prominent, starting rather suddenly out below hiseyes; the lips were thin, the mouth small and firmly closed, and thechin short and prominent. The _tout ensemble_ was hardly pleasing evenat this youthful period; the face was too much formed and decided for soyoung a man.

  Cuthbert was a reserved methodical lad, with whom no one could findfault, and yet whom few liked. He was studious and devout to an extentrare in one so young; and, although a capital horseman and a good shot,he but seldom indulged in those amusements, preferring rather a walkwith the steward, and soon returning to the dark old library to hisbooks and Father Mackworth. There they two would sit, like two owls,hour after hour, appearing only at meals, and talking French to oneanother, noticing Charley but little; who, however, was always full ofnews, and would tell it, too, in spite of the inattention of the strangecouple. Densil began to respect and be slightly afraid of his eldestson, as his superior in learning and in natural abilities; but I thinkCharles had the biggest share in his heart.

  Aunt Ascot had a year before sent to Cuthbert to pay her a visit atRanford, her son's, Lord Ascot's place, where she lived with him, hebeing a widower, and kept house for him. Ranford, we all know, or oughtto know, contains the largest private racing stud in England, and theAscot family for many generations had given themselves up entirely tosporting--so much so, that their marriages with other houses have beento a certain extent influenced by it; and so poor Cuthbert, as we maysuppose, was quite like a fish out of water. He detested and despisedthe men he met there, and they, on their parts, such of
them as chose tonotice him, thought him a surly young bookworm; and, as for hisgrandaunt, he hated the very sound of that excellent lady's voice. Herabruptness, her homoeopathic medicines, her Protestantism (which shewas always airing), and her stable-talk, nearly drove him mad; whileshe, on the other hand, thought him one of the most disagreeable boysshe had ever met with in her life. So the visit was rather a failurethan otherwise, and not very likely to be repeated. Nevertheless, herladyship was very fond of young faces, and so in a twelvemonth, shewrote to Densil as follows:--

  "I am one mass of lumbago all round the small of my back, and I findnothing like opodeldoc after all. The pain is very severe, but I supposeyou would comfort me, as a heretic, by saying it is nothing to what Ishall endure in a few years' time. Bah! I have no patience with youPapists, packing better people than yourselves off somewhere in thatfree-and-easy way. By-the-bye, how is that father confessor of yours,Markworth, or some such name--mind me, Ravenshoe, that fellow is arogue, and you being, like all Ravenshoes, a fool, there is a pair ofyou. Why, if one of Ascot's grooms was to smile as that man does, or towhine in his speech as that man does, when he is talking to a woman ofrank, I'd have him discharged on the spot, without warning, fordishonesty.

  "Don't put a penny on Ascot's horse at Chester; he will never stay overthe Cup course. Curfew, in my opinion, looks by no means badly for theDerby; he is scratched for the Two Thousand--which was necessary, thoughI am sorry for it, &c., &c., &c.

  "I wish you would send me your boy, will you? Not the eldest: theProtestant one. Perhaps he mayn't be such an insufferable coxcomb as hisbrother."

  At which letter Densil shook his honest sides with uproarious laughter."Cuthbert, my boy," he said, "you have won your dear aunt's heartentirely; though she, being determined to mortify the flesh with itsaffection, does not propose seeing you again, but asks for Charley. Thecandour of that dear old lady increases with her age. You seem to havebeen making your court, too, father; she speaks of your smile in themost unqualified terms."

  "Her ladyship must do me the honour to quiz me," said Mackworth. "If itis possible to judge by her eye, she must like me about as well as a maddog."

  "For my part, father," said Cuthbert, curling up the corners of histhin lips sardonically, "I shall be highly content to leave my dear auntin the peaceable enjoyment of her favourite society of grooms,horse-jockeys, blacklegs, dissenting ministers, and such-like. A monthin that house, my dear Charley, will qualify you for a billiard-marker;and, after a course of six weeks, you will be fit to take the situationof croupier in a low hell on a race-course. How you will enjoy yourself,my dear!"

  "Steady, Cuthbert steady," said his father; "I can't allow you to talklike that about your cousin's house. It is a great house for fieldsports, but there is not a better conducted house in the kingdom."

  Cuthbert lay over the sofa to fondle a cat, and then continued speakingvery deliberately, in a slightly louder voice,--

  "I will allow my aunt to be the most polite, intellectual,delicate-minded old lady in creation, my dearest father, if you wish it;only, not having been born (I beg her pardon, dropped) in a racingstable, as she was herself, I can hardly appreciate her conversationalways. As for my cousin, I consider him a splendid sample of anhereditary legislator. Charley, dear, you won't go to church on Sundayafternoon at Ranford; you will go into the croft with your cousin Ascotto see the chickens fed. Ascot is very curious in his poultry,particularly on Sunday afternoon. Father, why does he cut all the cocks'tails square?"

  "Pooh, pooh," said Densil, "what matter? many do it, besides him. Don'tyou be squeamish, Cuthbert--though, mind you, I don't defendcock-fighting on Sunday."

  Cuthbert laughed and departed, taking his cat with him.

  Charles had a long coach journey of one day, and then an awful andwonderful journey on the Great Western Railway as far asTwyford--alighting at which place, he was accosted by apleasant-looking, fresh-coloured boy, dressed in close-fitting cordtrousers, a blue handkerchief, spotted with white, and a Scotch cap; whosaid--

  "Oh! I'm your cousin Welter. I'm the same age as you, and I'm going toEton next half. I've brought you over Tiger, because Punch is lame, andthe station-master will look after your things; so we can come at once."

  The boys were friends in two minutes; and, going out, there was a groomholding two ponies--on the prettiest of which Charley soon found himselfseated, and jogging on with his companion towards Henley.

  I like to see two honest lads, just introduced, opening their hearts toone another, and I know nothing more pleasant than to see how theyrejoice as each similarity of taste comes out. By the time these twohad got to Henley Bridge, Lord Welter had heard the name of every horsein the Ravenshoe stables, and Charley was rapidly getting learned inLord Ascot's racing stud. The river at Henley distracted his attentionfor a time, as the biggest he had seen, and he asked his cousin, "Did hethink the Mississippi was much bigger than that now?" and Lord Weltersupposed, "Oh dear yes, a great deal bigger," he should say. Then therewas more conversation about dogs and guns, and pleasant country placesto ride through; then a canter over a lofty breezy down, and then theriver again, far below, and at their feet the chimneys of Ranford.

  The house was very full; and, as the boys came up there was a crowd ofphaetons, dog-carts, and saddle-horses, for the people were justarriving home for dinner after the afternoon drive; and, as they had allbeen to the same object of attraction that afternoon, they had all comein together and were loitering about talking, some not yet dismounted,and some on the steps. Welter was at home at once, and had a word withevery one; but Charles was left alone, sitting on his pony, feeling veryshy; till, at last, a great brown man with a great brown moustache, anda gruff voice, came up to him and lifted him off the horse, holding himout at arm's length for inspection.

  "So you are Curly Ravenshoe's boy, hey?" said he.

  "Yes, sir."

  "Ha!" said the stranger, putting him down, and leading him towards thedoor; "just tell your father you saw General Mainwaring, will you? andthat he wanted to know how his old friend was."

  Charles looked at the great brown hand which was in his own, and thoughtof the Affghan war, and of all the deeds of renown that that hand haddone, and was raising his eyes to the general's face, when they werearrested half-way by another face, not the general's.

  It was that of a handsome, grey-headed man, who might have been sixty,he was so well _conserve_, but who was actually far more. He wore hisown white hair, which contrasted strongly with a pair of delicate thinblack eyebrows. His complexion was florid, with scarcely a wrinkle, hisfeatures were fine and regular, and a pair of sparkling dark grey eyesgave a pleasant light to his face. His dress was wondrously neat, andCharles, looking on him, guessed, with a boy's tact, that he was a manof mark.

  "Whose son did you say he was, general?" said the stranger.

  "Curly's!" said Mainwaring, stopping and smiling.

  "No, really!" said the other; and then he looked fixedly at Charles,and began to laugh, and Charley, seeing nothing better to do, looked upat the grey eyes and laughed too, and this made the stranger worse; andthen, to crown the joke, the general began to laugh too, though none ofthem had said a syllable more than what I have written down; and at lastthe ridiculous exhibition finished up by the old gentleman taking agreat pinch of snuff from a gold box, and turning away.

  Charles was much puzzled, and was still more so when, in an hour's time,having dressed himself, and being on his way downstairs to his aunt'sroom, who had just come in, he was stopped on a landing by this same oldgentleman, beautifully dressed for dinner, who looked on him as before.

  He didn't laugh this time, but he did worse. He utterly "dumbfoundered"Charley, by asking abruptly--

  "How's Jim?"

  "He is very well, thank you, sir. His wife Norah nursed me when mammadied."

  "Oh, indeed," said the other; "so he hasn't cut your father's throatyet, or anything of that sort?"

  "Oh dear no," said Charles, horrified; "
bless you, what can make youthink of such things? Why, he is the kindest man in the world."

  "I don't know," said the old gentleman, thoughtfully; "that excessivelyfaithful kind of creature is very apt to do that sort of thing. I shoulddischarge any servant of mine who exhibited the slightest symptoms ofaffection as a dangerous lunatic;" with which villainous sentiment hedeparted.

  Charles thought what a strange old gentleman he was for a short time,and then slid down the banisters. They were better banisters than thoseat Ravenshoe, being not so steep, and longer: so he went up, and sliddown again;[1] after which he knocked at his aunt's door.

  It was with a beating heart that he waited for an answer. Cuthbert haddescribed Lady Ascot as such a horrid old ogress, that he was notwithout surprise when a cheery voice said, "Come in;" and entering ahandsome room, he found himself in presence of a noble-looking old lady,with grey hair, who was netting in an upright, old-fashioned chair.

  "So you are Charles Ravenshoe, eh?" she began. "Why, my dear, you mustbe perished with cold and hunger. I should have come in before, but Ididn't expect you so soon. Tea will be here directly. You ain't abeauty, my dear, but I think I shall like you. There never was but onereally handsome Ravenshoe, and that was poor Petre, your grandfather.Poor Alicia made a great fool of herself, but she was very happy withhim. Welter, you naughty boy, be still."

  The Right Honourable Viscount Welter wanted his tea, and wasconsequently troublesome and fractious. He had picked a quarrel with hisgrandmother's terrier, which he averred had bitten him in the leg, andhe was now heating the poker, in order, he informed the lady, to burnthe place out, and prevent hydrophobia. Whether he would have done so ornot, we shall never know now, for, tea coming in at that moment, heinstantly sat down at table, and called to Charles to do likewise.

  "Call Miss Adelaide, will you, Sims?" said Lady Ascot; and presentlythere came tripping into the room the loveliest little blonde fairy,about ten years old, that ever you saw. She fixed her large blue eyes onCharley, and then came up and gave him a kiss, which he, the rogue,returned with interest, and then, taking her seat at the table, sheturned to Welter, and hoped he was going to be good.

  Such, however, it soon appeared, was not his lordship's intention. Hehad a guest at table, and he was bound in honour to show off before him,besides having to attend to his ordinary duty of frightening hisgrandmother as nearly into fits as was safe. Accordingly, he began therepast by cramming buns into his mouth, using the handle of his knife asa rammer, until the salvation of his life appeared an impossibility, atwhich point he rose and left the room with a rapid, uneven step. On hisre-appearance he began drinking, but, having caught his grandmother'seye over his teacup, he winked at her, and then held his breath till hewas purple, and she begun to wring her hands in despair. All this timehe was stimulated by Charles's laughter and Adelaide's crying out,continually, "Oh, isn't he a naughty boy, Lady Ascot? oh, do tell himnot to do it." But the crowning performance of this promising younggentleman--the feat which threw everything else into the shade, andwhich confirmed Charley in his admiration of his profound talents--wasthis. Just as a tall, grave, and handsome footman was pouring water intothe teapot, and while her ladyship was inspecting the operation with allthe interest of an old tea-maker, at that moment did Lord Weltercontrive to inflict on the unfortunate man a pinch on the leg, of such ashrewdly agonising nature as caused him to gnash his teeth in LadyAscot's face, to cry aloud, "Oh, Lord!" to whirl the kettle within aninch of her venerable nose, and finally, to gyrate across the room onone leg, and stand looking like the king of fools.

  Lady Ascot, who had merely seen the effect, and not the cause, orderedhim promptly to leave the room, whereupon Welter explained, andafterwards continued to Charles, with an off-hand candour quite his own,as if no such person as his grandmother was within a hundred miles--

  "You know, Charley, I shouldn't dare to behave like this if my tutor wasat home; she'd make nothing of telling him, now. She's in a terriblewax, but she'll be all right by the time he comes back from hisholidays; won't you, grandma?"

  "You wicked boy," she replied, "I hope Hawtrey will cure you; Keatewould have, I know."

  The boys slid on the banisters; then they went to dessert. Then theywent upstairs, and looked over Welter's cricket apparatus, fishingtackle, and so on; and then they went into the billiard-room, which wasnow lighted up and full of guests.

  There were two tables in the room, at one of which a pool was gettingup, while the other was empty. Welter was going to play pool, andCharles would have liked to do so too, being a very tolerable player;only he had promised his old tutor not to play for money till he waseighteen, and so he sat in the corner by the empty table, under themarking-board, with one leg gathered under him, and instantly foundhimself thinking about the little girl he had seen upstairs.

  Once or twice he was surprised to find himself thinking so much abouther, but he found it a pleasant subject, too, for he had sat in hiscorner more than half an hour without changing it, when he became awarethat two men were taking down cues from the rack, and were going to playat his table.

  They were his two friends of the afternoon, General Mainwaring and thegrey-headed man who laughed. When they saw him they seemed glad, and theold gentleman asked him why he wasn't playing.

  "I musn't play pool," he answered. "I should like to mark for you."

  "Well said, my hero," said the general: "and so Jim's an honest man, ishe?"

  Charles saw that the old gentleman had told the general what had passedon the stairs, and wondered why he should take such an interest in him;but he soon fell to thinking about little Adelaide again, and markingmechanically though correctly.

  He was aroused by the general's voice--"Who did you mark that last missto, my little man?" he said.

  "To the old gentleman," said Charles, and then blushed at theconsciousness of having said a rude thing.

  "That is one for you, Methuselah," said the general.

  "Never mind," said the old gentleman, "I have one great source of pride,which no one can rob me of; I am twelve years older than I look."

  They went on playing. "By-the-bye," said the general, "who is thatexceedingly pretty child that the old lady has got with her?"

  "A child she has adopted," said the old gentleman. "A grand-daughter ofan old friend who died in poverty. She is a noble-hearted old soul, thejockey, with all her absurdities."

  "Who was she?" said the general. "(That was rather a fluke, was itnot?)"

  "She? Why, a daughter of old Cingle Headstall's, the mad old Cheshirebaronet--you don't remember him, of course, but your father knew him.Drove his tandem round and round Berkeley square for four hours on afoggy night, under the impression he was going home to Hounslow, andthen fired at the watchman who tried to put him right, taking him for ahighwayman. The son went to France, and was lost sight of in therevolution; so the girl came in for what money there was: not very much,I take it. This poor thing, who was pretty and clever enough, butwithout education, having been literally brought up in a stable,captivated the sagacious Ascot, and made him a capital wife."

  "I suppose she'll portion this girl, then; you say she had money?"

  "H'm," said the old gentleman, "there's a story about the aforesaidmoney, which is told in different ways, but which amounts to this, thatthe money is no more. Hallo, our marker is getting sleepy."

  "Not at all, sir," said Charles. "If you will excuse me a moment, I willcome back."

  He ran across to Lord Welter, who was leaning on his cue. "Can you tellme," said he, "who is that old gentleman?"

  "Which old gentleman?"

  "That one, with the black eyebrows, playing with General Mainwaring.There, he is taking snuff."

  "Oh _him_?" said Welter; "that is Lord Saltire."