CHAPTER XXVII
THE EXPECTED BLOW
That evening the blow, feared and expected, fell, for then, and nottill then, I felt that we had lost, or thought we had lost, our maid.
I found the captain sitting in the summerhouse alone, without theusual solace of his tobacco and his October. "Jack," he said, with agloomy sigh, "I am now the happiest of men, because my Molly is themost fortunate of women. I have attained the utmost I could hope orask. The most virtuous of men--I should say of noble-men--has askedthe hand of our girl. Molly will be a countess! Rejoice with me!"
I stood outside on the grass, having no words to say.
"She will marry him immediately. Nothing could be more happy or morefortunate. Such rank--such a position as places her on a level withthe highest ladies of the land, though the daughter of plain folk,with a shipowner for a father and a sailor's daughter for a mother.There is promotion for you, Jack!"
"She will go away, then, and leave us!"
"Aye; she will leave us, Jack. She will leave us. His lordship--you donot ask who it is."
"Who can it be, captain, but Lord Fylingdale?"
"The best of men. He will carry her off to his country house, wherethey will live retired for a while, yet in such state as belongs toher rank. We shall lose her, of course. That, however, we alwaysexpected. The country house is in Gloucester, on the other side ofEngland. Perhaps she may get to see us, but I am seventy-five, orperhaps more, and Jennifer, her mother, is not far from fifty. Icannot look to set eyes on her again. What matter." He hemmed bravelyand sat upright. "What matter, I say, so that the girl is happy. Hermother may, perhaps, set eyes on her once more; but she will bechanged, because, you see, our Molly must now become a fine lady."
"Yes," I groaned, "she must become a fine lady."
"Jack, sometimes I am sorry that she has so much money. Yet, what wasI to do? Could I waste and dissipate her money? Could I give away herships? Could I give her, with the fortune of a princess, to a plainand simple skipper? No; Providence--Providence, Jack, hath so orderedthings. I could not help myself."
"No, captain; you could not help things. Yet...." I broke off.
"Well, Jack, why don't you rejoice with me? Why the devil don't youlaugh and sing? All you want is to see her happy, yet there you standas glum and dumb as a mute at a funeral."
"I wish her happiness, sir, with all my heart."
"Sam Semple came here this afternoon, by order of my lord. Sam giveshimself airs now that he is a secretary and companion. He came anddemanded a private conversation with me. It was quite private, hesaid, and of the utmost importance. So we sat in the parlour, and,with a bottle of wine between us, we talked over the business. First,he told me that his patron, as he calls him, meaning his master, hadbeen greatly taken with the innocence and the beauty of Molly. Ireplied that unless he was a stock, or a stone, or an iceberg, Iexpected nothing less. He went on to say, that although a noble earlwith a long pedigree and a great estate, his patron was willing tocontract marriage with a girl who was not even of gentle birth, andhad nothing but her beauty and her innocence. I told him that she had,in addition, a very large fortune. He said that his patron scorned thethought of money, being already much more wealthy than most noblemenof his exalted rank; that he was willing, also, to pass over anydefects in manners, conversation, and carriage, which would beremedied by a little acquaintance with the polite world. In a word,his lordship offered his hand, his name, his title, his rank, andhimself--to my ward."
"His condescension," I said, "is beyond all praise."
"I think so, too. Beyond all praise. I asked his advice touching ahusband for my girl. He promises his assistance in the matter, and hethen offers himself. Jack, could anything be more fortunate?"
"I hope it may turn out so. What does Molly say?"
"You may go in and ask her yourself. She will tell you more than shewill tell anybody else. The matter is to be kept, for the present, aprofound secret between his lordship and ourselves. But since SamSemple knows it, and Jennifer knows it, and you are one of ourselves,therefore, you may as well know it, too. But don't talk about it."
"Why should it be kept a secret? Why should it not be proclaimedeverywhere?"
"My lord says that the place is a hot-bed of scandal; that he wouldnot have Molly's name passed about in the pump room to be the objectof common gossip and inventions, made up of envy and malice. He wouldspare Molly this. When she is once married and taken away from theplace they may say what they please. Whatever they say, they cannot doher any harm. Why, some of them even declared that she was one of thecompany of strolling actresses. There is nothing that they will notsay."
I made no reply, because it certainly did seem as if in asking forsecrecy his lordship had acted in Molly's interests.
"Well, captain, we must make the best of it. You must find your ownhappiness in thinking of Molly's."
"What aggravates me, Jack, is the ridiculous behaviour of my cousinJennifer. She is in the kitchen crying, and the black woman with her.Go and comfort her before you see Molly."
I looked into the kitchen. Molly's mother sat in the great woodenchair beside the fireplace. She held her apron in her hands as if shehad just pulled it off her face, and the tears were on her cheeks.When she saw me they began to flow again. "Jack," she said, "have youheard the news? Has the captain told you? The worst has happened. Ihave lost my girl. She is to be married; she will go away; she willmarry a man who scorns her guardian and despises her mother. A badbeginning, Jack. No good can come of such a marriage. A bad beginning.Oh! I foresee unhappiness. How can Molly become a fine lady? She isbut a simple girl--my own daughter. I have made her a good housewife,and all her knowledge will be thrown away and lost. It is a badbusiness, Jack. Nigra has been telling her fortune. There is nothinghopeful. All the cards are threatening. And the magpies--and thescreech owl----"
She fell to weeping again. After which she broke out anew. "Thecaptain says he is the most virtuous man in the world. It isn't true.If ever I saw the inside of a man in my life I have seen the inside ofthat man. He is corrupt through and through----"
"But--consider. All the world is crying up his noble conduct and hismany virtues."
"They may say what they like. It is false; he is heartless; he iscold; he is selfish. He marries Molly for her money. Persuade thecaptain, if you can. He will not believe me."
"How can I persuade him? I have no knowledge. Are they all in a tale?Are you the only person who knows the truth? How do you know it?"
"I know it because I love my girl, and so I can read the very soul ofa man. I have read your soul, Jack, over and over again. You are trueand faithful. You would love her and cherish her. But this man? Heknows not what love means, nor fidelity, nor anything. Go, Jack. Thereis no help in you or in any other. Because there is none other----"She spoke the words of the prayer book. "None other that fighteth forus, but only Thou, O God! Only Thou, O God!" She covered her faceagain with her apron and fell to sobbing afresh.
So I went into the parlour where Molly was sitting. "Jack!" she jumpedup. "Oh, Jack, I want you so badly."
"I know all, Molly. Except what you yourself say and think about it."
She had a piece of work in her hands, and she began to pull it andpick it as she replied. For the first time in my life I found Mollyuncertain and hesitating.
"The captain says that it is the greatest honour that was ever offeredto any woman to be raised from a lowly condition to a high rank--andall for love."
"All for love?" I asked.
"Why, what else can it be that made him fight for me with thatdesperate villain? He risked his life. Whatever happens, Jack, Icannot forget that."
"No. It was doubtless a great thing to do. Has he told you himselfthat it was all for love?"
"He has not spoken about love at all. He has never once been alonewith me. It seems that these great people make love by message. Hesent a message by Sam Semple."
"A very fine messenger of Cupid, truly!"
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"Offering marriage. The captain cannot contain his satisfaction andsits glum. My mother says she will never be able to see me again andbegins to cry."
"Well--but, Molly, to be sure it is a great thing to become acountess. Most women would jump at the chance, under any conditions.Do you, however, think that you can love the man?"
"He hasn't asked for love. Oh, Jack, to think that people should marryeach other without a word of love! If he loves me I suppose he thinksthat I am bound to give him love in return."
"There, again, Molly, do you love the man?"
"Jack, nobody knows me better than you. What reply can I make?"
"He is too cold and too proud for you, Molly. How can you love him?Perhaps," I added, because I was very sure that she would marry him,"after marriage you will find that his coldness is only a cloak tohide his natural warmth, and that his pride covers his wife as well ashimself."
"He is a good man. Everybody says so. Lady Anastasia declares that heis the most honourable and high-principled of men. On that point I amsafe. And think, Jack, what a point it is! Why, to marry a drunkard, asot, a profligate, a gambler--one would sooner die at once and so anend. But I can trust myself with him. I have no fear of such treatmentas drives some wives to distraction. Yet he is cold in his manner andproud in his speech. I might find it in my heart to love him if I wasnot afraid of him." And so she went backwards and forwards. He was sogood and so great; his wife must always respect him. He was of rank soexalted--it was a great honour to become his wife. He was sobrave--she owed her rescue to his bravery. Yet he had spoken no wordof love; nor had she seen any sign of love. I asked her what sign sheexpected, and she was confused. "Of course," she said, "every girlknows very well when a man is in love with her." "How does she know?"I asked her. "She knows, because she knows." I suppose she felt theman was not in love with her just as her mother felt that hischaracter for virtue and nobility was assumed--"corrupt within," shesaid. Women are made so. And in the next breath Molly repeated thatwhat his lordship had done was done for love. "How do you know?" Iasked again. "Because the captain says so," she replied, withunconscious inconsistency.
"Is the courtship to be conducted entirely by messenger?" I asked.
"No; he will come to-morrow morning and see me. I am to give him ananswer then. But the captain has already told him what the answer isto be. Oh, Jack, I am so happy! I am so fortunate that I ought to behappy. Yet I am so down-hearted about it. Going away is a dreadfulthing. And when shall I see any of you, I wonder, again? Oh, I am sofortunate! I am so happy." And to show her happiness she dropped atear, and more tears followed.
What kind of happiness, what kind of good fortune was that which couldfill the mind of the captain with gloom and could dissolve Molly'smother in tears, and could herald its approach to the bride by sadnesswhich weighed her down? And as for me, you may believe that my heartwas like a lump of lead within me, partly because I was losing thegirl I loved, but had never hoped to marry, and partly because fromthe outset of the whole affair--yes, from the very evening when thenews of the grand discovery was read to the "Society of Lynn"--I hadlooked forward to coming events with foreboding of the most dismalkind.
"Come to see me to-morrow afternoon, Jack," she said. "I must talkabout it to some one. With the captain I cannot talk, because he isall for the unequal match, and with my mother I cannot talk becauseshe foretells trouble, and will acknowledge no good thing at all inthe man or in the match. Do not forget, Jack. Come to-morrow. I don'tknow how many days are left to me when I can ask you to come. Oh,Jack, to leave everybody--all my friends--it is hard! But I am themost ungrateful of women, because I am the happiest--the happiest. Oh,Jack, the happiest and most fortunate woman that ever lived."