I cannotthink now. However, to keep suspicion entirely at a distance, whenAchille came we took not the slightest notice of one another; and, sothat there should be no miscarriage of our undertaking, not so much as asingle line passed from one to the other. But just as he was going Igave him one look, to show him that I was worthy of his trust, and, comewhat would, I should keep my word.
The time had already been fixed for twelve, so that with a carriage inwaiting we could be driven across the country, twelve miles to theneighbouring town, where the main line of railway passed--ours atAllsham being but a branch. There we could catch the night mail as itwhirled through--or rather, as it stopped; and then, conveyed to London,we could leave by an early train the same morning for Scotland. Allthis had been fixed by Achille, and conveyed to me in a note at his lastlesson. And how deliciously romantic it all seemed, and how elated Ifelt, in spite of my trepidation! Away to Scotland, to be his--his own.And then, perhaps in sunny France, live a life like some golden dream,from which we could look back to the days of slavery at the Cedars. Oh,it was too much!--the thoughts of it even made me tremble; and as I laypretending to be asleep that night, I thought my heart would have burstwith its emotions, as it beat and bounded trying to be free.
Is it always so, that people will talk and do the very opposite to thatwhich you wish? Upon other nights, when I wished for half an hour'schat with Clara or Effie, they would be too sleepy to talk; but thisnight they seemed to be horribly wakeful, while the noises in the housewent on as if they would never be still. I had been in quite a flutterfor some time, owing to my having somehow mislaid the last note Achillehad sent me. Where it could be I knew not, unless it had slipped downthrough my clothes; but that I looked at as impossible, and I lay hopingthat it was still somewhere in my things. Every other letter, after tenreadings, I had carefully destroyed; but this one I dared not burn, forfear that it should contain instructions that I might forget. Eventhough I had carefully learned it by heart, I still fancied that I mightagain wish to refer to it. The very thought of its being found put mein a cold perspiration; but things all grew so quiet at last, that mycourage revived, and feeling now so thoroughly embarked in theundertaking, I summoned all my strength of mind and waited.
Twelve o'clock, and not a sound to be heard--not even the baying of thedog, which, in the excitement of the preparations, I had forgotten; andnow it seemed that he would be the only stumbling-block in my way. ButI was prepared to meet every danger; and slipping out of bed, I creptout of the room to the empty place at the end of the passage, where Ihad conveyed what few things I should require, for, of course, I had notundressed. And now--bonneted, shawled, and gloved, and with my reticulebag in my hand--I stood listening with beating pulses to the faintsounds yet to be heard in the house. Now it was the ticking of theclock, now the chirping of the crickets in the kitchen; while above all,heavily and loudly, came the beating of the rain upon the skylight,telling of how bitter a night it was, and I shuddered as I thought ofpoor Achille standing in the wet.
Our plans had been well made; and, screwing up my courage, I steppedalong the passage, down to the first floor, and reached the largestaircase window in safety, slided it up, and, to my intense joy, therewas poor, wet Achille standing at the top of a strong step-ladder, readyto assist me down.
"Enfin, mon ange," he whispered, as I climbed tremblingly upon the sillas quickly as possible; for I had heard words spoken at the foot of thestairs, and I knew directly what they meant, as dining-room anddrawing-room doors were thrown open, and lights streamed out. Yes, Iknew what Clara afterwards told me was the case--Miss Furness had pickedup the note, and they were all collected in the hall and passage, readyto capture me when I descended, little thinking that the windowmentioned meant that upon the first floor.
"Now dis foot--now dat," he hissed through his teeth; and, somehow, Idon't know in what way, he guided me down the ladder, to which I clungtightly, wet as it was; and, as lights and faces appeared at the openwindow, Achille dragged the ladder down, and we were in full flightacross the lawn; where he supported me with one hand, and trailed theladder after us with the other.
"Dere goes de confound bell," cried Achille. "No, no," he whispered,"not yet--don't faint, mon ange."
"But the dog? Where is the dog?" I exclaimed.
"Having one great pound of steaks and two mutton bones," he replied.
And then, with the murmur of voices behind, and the bell ringing loudly,we hurried through the wet bushes to the wall, where he placed theladder, and this time nerving myself, I mounted it boldly, and before Iknew where I was I found myself helped down into a carriage drawn closeup at the side--that is to say, into the cart; for Achille had been sounfortunate that he could not procure a post-chaise. There, with anumbrella to protect me from the inclemency of the weather, I sat uponthe hard seat between Achille and the rough man who was the driver.
"That ere was the pleeceman as we passed," growled the latter, directlyafter we had started.
"P'raps they shall want him at de house," replied Achille, laughing.
Away onward we tore, for fully an hour and a half, through the darknight, and through the rain, which would keep coming, blown by thegusts, right underneath the umbrella, in spite of all _he_ did toprotect me. And in spite of all my efforts and the tender words ofAchille--whispered to me in his own dear tongue--I could not keep fromshivering; for somehow all this did not seem so very nice, and romantic,and pleasant.
Oh, that night! I shall never forget it, though it all seems whirled uptogether in one strange, gloomy dream of rain, and darkness, and wind,and cold, and a stumbling horse, and a rough, stably-smelling, wetdriver, smoking a strong pipe, and shouting to the horse to "Harm!" Ofwet straw, and Achille without a great coat, and the umbrella so blownby the wind that it took two hands to hold it, and the points would gointo the driver's eye and make him swear.
Then there was poor Achille, wet and suffering from the cold and waitingin the rain; and his hands so cramped with holding the umbrella; and thedreary, miserable station fire so low that it would not warm him. Andafter he had dismissed the man, he was too cold to get out his purse;but fortunately I was able to pay for the two first-class tickets toLondon. And then almost directly there was a vision of steam, andlights, and noise, and the fast train dashed into the wet station, wherethe rain kept flying from the wind, which seemed to hunt it along; andthen we were inside one of the dark blue cloth lined carriages, where Icould see by the dim light of the thick, scratchy, bubble lamp thatthere were two gentlemen. I felt so ill, and cold, and shivery, Ishould not have known how to keep up, if one them, seeing my wet state,had not kindly passed a little flask of sherry to Achille, who made medrink some.
How I trembled, and felt that they were looking me through and through;and I felt sure that I had seen them both before, and that they knew me,and would go straight off and tell papa; but fortunately they bothseemed sleepy, and curled up in their wrappers in the two corners, afterone of them had insisted upon lending us a great skin thing, which wasnice and warm and comfortable.
But they say that there are a great many hidden things in nature thatyet remain to be explained; and really this must be one of them, thiswhich I am now about to mention. Something would keep trying the wholetime to make me believe that all this was not very nice, and that Iwould much rather have been back at the Cedars, snug in my own bed. Itwas, of course, all nonsense--only a weak fancy prompted by mydisordered mind; but still it would keep coming back and back, in spiteof all Achille's whispers and tender words, till at last I really thinkI had forgotten all about the "sunny South" in the miseries of thepresent.
But I crushed all those thoughts at last, down, down into the darkdepths of oblivion; for I was allowing Achille to hold my cold hand inhis, as I tried to make out what the train kept saying, for asdistinctly as could be in the noise and rattle, and whirl and rush,there were certain words seeming to be formed, and it sounded to me asif those words were--"Blind, conceited, foolish gi
rl!--blind, conceitedfoolish girl!" over and over again, till I would not listen to them anylonger, as we sped on and on, nearer and nearer to great London.
I supposed that my note had been found, but I felt that it must havebeen too late to do us any harm; for I knew that the telegraph clerkleft Allsham Station at eight o'clock, through Mrs Blunt once wantingto send a message to one of the girls' parents when she was ill, andthey could not have it until the next morning, which was not so soon asthey could get a letter. So I felt quite at rest upon that score; whilenow, thanks to the sherry and the skin rug, I began to get rid of themiserable shivering that had made me feel so wretched.
Only to think of it!--on and on, towards London, where papa and mammawere lying calmly asleep. The thoughts of them, and their peace, andunconsciousness of what was happening, made me recall the letter I hadwritten, and