CHAPTER XIII.
One afternoon, on his return from Cherbury, Plantagenet found the fireextinguished in the little room which he had appropriated to himself,and where he kept his books. As he had expressed his wish to theservant that the fire should be kept up, he complained to him of theneglect, but was informed, in reply, that the fire had been allowed togo out by his mother's orders, and that she desired in future thathe would always read in the saloon. Plantagenet had sufficientself-control to make no observation before the servant, and soon afterjoined his mother, who looked very sullen, as if she were consciousthat she had laid a train for an explosion.
Dinner was now served, a short and silent meal. Lord Cadurcis did notchoose to speak because he felt aggrieved, and his mother becauseshe was husbanding her energies for the contest which she believedimpending. At length, when the table was cleared, and the servantdeparted, Cadurcis said in a quiet tone, 'I think I shall write to myguardian to-morrow about my going to Eton.'
'You shall do no such thing,' said Mrs. Cadurcis, bristling up; 'Inever heard such a ridiculous idea in my life as a boy like youwriting letters on such subjects to a person you have never yet seen.When I think it proper that you should go to Eton, I shall write.'
'I wish you would think it proper now then, ma'am.'
'I won't be dictated to,' said Mrs. Cadurcis, fiercely.
'I was not dictating,' replied her son, calmly.
'You would if you could,' said his mother.
'Time enough to find fault with me when I do, ma'am.'
'There is enough to find fault about at all times, sir.'
'On which side, Mrs. Cadurcis?' inquired Plantagenet, with a sneer.
'Don't aggravate me, Lord Cadurcis,' said his mother.
'How am I aggravating you, ma'am?'
'I won't be answered,' said the mother.
'I prefer silence myself,' said the son.
'I won't be insulted in my own room, sir,' said Mrs. Cadurcis.
'I am not insulting you, Mrs. Cadurcis,' said Plantagenet, ratherfiercely; 'and, as for your own room, I never wish to enter it. IndeedI should not be here at this moment, had you not ordered my fire to beput out, and particularly requested that I should sit in the saloon.'
'Oh! you are a vastly obedient person, I dare say,' replied Mrs.Cadurcis, very pettishly. 'How long, I should like to know, have myrequests received such particular attention? Pooh!'
'Well, then, I will order my fire to be lighted again,' saidPlantagenet.
'You shall do no such thing,' said the mother; 'I am mistress in thishouse. No one shall give orders here but me, and you may write to yourguardian and tell him that, if you like.'
'I shall certainly not write to my guardian for the first time,' saidLord Cadurcis, 'about any such nonsense.'
'Nonsense, sir! Nonsense you said, did you? Your mother nonsense! Thisis the way to treat a parent, is it? I am nonsense, am I? I will teachyou what nonsense is. Nonsense shall be very good sense; you shallfind that, sir, that you shall. Nonsense, indeed! I'll write to yourguardian, that I will! You call your mother nonsense, do you? Andwhere did you learn that, I should like to know? Nonsense, indeed!This comes of your going to Cherbury! So your mother is nonsense; apretty lesson for Lady Annabel to teach you. Oh! I'll speak my mind toher, that I will.'
'What has Lady Annabel to do with it?' inquired Cadurcis, in a loudtone.
'Don't threaten me, sir,' said Mrs. Cadurcis, with violent gesture.'I won't be menaced; I won't be menaced by my son. Pretty goingson, indeed! But I will put a stop to them; will I not? that is all.Nonsense, indeed; your mother nonsense!'
'Well, you do talk nonsense, and the greatest,' said Plantagenet,doggedly; 'you are talking nonsense now, you are always talkingnonsense, and you never open your mouth about Lady Annabel withouttalking nonsense.'
'If I was not very ill I would give it you,' said his mother, grindingher teeth. 'O you brat! You wicked brat, you! Is this the way toaddress me? I have half a mind to shake your viciousness out of you,that I have!
You are worse than your father, that you are!' and here she wept withrage.
'I dare say my father was not so bad, after all!' said Cadurcis.
'What should you know about your father, sir?' said Mrs. Cadurcis.'How dare you speak about your father!'
'Who should speak about a father but a son?'
'Hold your impudence, sir!'
'I am not impudent, ma'am.'
'You aggravating brat!' exclaimed the enraged woman, 'I wish I hadsomething to throw at you!'
'Did you throw things at my father?' asked his lordship.
Mrs. Cadurcis went into an hysterical rage; then, suddenly jumping up,she rushed at her son. Lord Cadurcis took up a position behindthe table, but the sportive and mocking air which he generallyinstinctively assumed on these occasions, and which, while itirritated his mother more, was in reality affected by the boy from asort of nervous desire of preventing these dreadful exposures fromassuming a too tragic tone, did not characterise his countenance onthe present occasion; on the contrary, it was pale, but composed andvery serious. Mrs. Cadurcis, after one or two ineffectual attempts tocatch him, paused and panted for breath. He took advantage of thismomentary cessation, and spoke thus, 'Mother, I am in no humour forfrolics. I moved out of your way that you might not strike me, becauseI have made up my mind that, if you ever strike me again, I will livewith you no longer. Now, I have given you warning; do what you please;I shall sit down in this chair, and not move. If you strike me, youknow the consequences.' So saying, his lordship resumed his chair.
Mrs. Cadurcis simultaneously sprang forward and boxed his ears; andthen her son rose without the slightest expression of any kind, andslowly quitted the chamber.
Mrs. Cadurcis remained alone in a savage sulk; hours passed away, andher son never made his appearance. Then she rang the bell, and orderedthe servant to tell Lord Cadurcis that tea was ready; but the servantreturned, and reported that his lordship had locked himself up in hisroom, and would not reply to his inquiries. Determined not to give in,Mrs. Cadurcis, at length, retired for the night, rather regretting herviolence, but still sullen. Having well scolded her waiting-woman, sheat length fell asleep.
The morning brought breakfast, but no Lord Cadurcis; in vain were allthe messages of his mother, her son would make no reply to them. Mrs.Cadurcis, at length, personally repaired to his room and knocked atthe door, but she was as unsuccessful as the servants; she began tothink he would starve, and desired the servant to offer from himselfto bring his meal. Still silence. Indignant at his treatment of theseovertures of conciliation, Mrs. Cadurcis returned to the saloon,confident that hunger, if no other impulse, would bring her wild cubout of his lair; but, just before dinner, her waiting-woman camerunning into the room.
'Oh, ma'am, ma'am, I don't know where Lord Cadurcis has gone; but Ihave just seen John, and he says there was no pony in the stable thismorning.'
'Mrs. Cadurcis sprang up, rushed to her son's chamber, found the doorstill locked, ordered it to be burst open, and then it turned out thathis lordship had never been there at all, for the bed was unused. Mrs.Cadurcis was frightened out of her life; the servants, to consoleher, assured her that Plantagenet must be at Cherbury; and while shebelieved their representations, which were probable, she became notonly more composed, but resumed her jealousy and sullenness. 'Goneto Cherbury, indeed! No doubt of it! Let him remain at Cherbury.'Execrating Lady Annabel, she flung herself into an easy chair, anddined alone, preparing herself to speak her mind on her son's return.
The night, however, did not bring him, and Mrs. Cadurcis began torecur to her alarm. Much as she now disliked Lady Annabel, shecould not resist the conviction that her ladyship would not permitPlantagenet to remain at Cherbury. Nevertheless, jealous, passionate,and obstinate, she stifled her fears, vented her spleen on her unhappydomestics, and, finally, exhausting herself by a storm of passionabout some very unimportant subject, again sought refuge in sleep.
She aw
oke early in a fright, and inquired immediately for her son.He had not been seen. She ordered the abbey bell to be sounded, sentmessengers throughout the demesne, and directed all the offices tobe searched. At first she thought he must have returned, and slept,perhaps in a barn; then she adopted the more probable conclusion, thathe had drowned himself in the lake. Then she went into hysterics;called Plantagenet her lost darling; declared he was the best and mostdutiful of sons, and the image of his poor father, then abused all theservants, and then abused herself.
About noon she grew quite distracted, and rushed about the housewith her hair dishevelled, and in a dressing-gown, looked in all theclosets, behind the screens, under the chairs, into her work-box, but,strange to say, with no success. Then she went off into a swoon, andher servants, alike frightened about master and mistress, mother andson, dispatched a messenger immediately to Cherbury for intelligence,advice, and assistance. In less than an hour's time the messengerreturned, and informed them that Lord Cadurcis had not been atCherbury since two days back, but that Lady Annabel was very sorryto hear that their mistress was so ill, and would come on to see herimmediately. In the meantime, Lady Annabel added that she had sentto Dr. Masham, and had great hopes that Lord Cadurcis was atMarringhurst. Mrs. Cadurcis, who had now come to, as her waiting-womandescribed the returning consciousness of her mistress, eagerlyembraced the hope held out of Plantagenet being at Marringhurst,poured forth a thousand expressions of gratitude, admiration, andaffection for Lady Annabel, who, she declared, was her best, her onlyfriend, and the being in the world whom she loved most, next to herunhappy and injured child.
After another hour of suspense Lady Annabel arrived, and her entrancewas the signal for a renewed burst of hysterics from Mrs. Cadurcis, sowild and terrible that they must have been contagious to any female ofless disciplined emotions than her guest.