XXVI
Half an hour before this time Swithin St. Cleeve had been sitting in hiscabin at the base of the column, working out some figures fromobservations taken on preceding nights, with a view to a theory that hehad in his head on the motions of certain so-called fixed stars.
The evening being a little chilly a small fire was burning in the stove,and this and the shaded lamp before him lent a remarkably cosy air to thechamber. He was awakened from his reveries by a scratching at the window-pane like that of the point of an ivy leaf, which he knew to be reallycaused by the tip of his sweetheart-wife's forefinger. He rose andopened the door to admit her, not without astonishment as to how she hadbeen able to get away from her friends.
'Dearest Viv, why, what's the matter?' he said, perceiving that her face,as the lamplight fell on it, was sad, and even stormy.
'I thought I would run across to see you. I have heard somethingso--so--to your discredit, and I know it can't be true! I know you areconstancy itself; but your constancy produces strange effects in people'seyes!'
'Good heavens! Nobody has found us out--'
'No, no--it is not that. You know, Swithin, that I am always sincere,and willing to own if I am to blame in anything. Now will you prove tome that you are the same by owning some fault to me?'
'Yes, dear, indeed; directly I can think of one worth owning.'
'I wonder one does not rush upon your tongue in a moment!'
'I confess that I am sufficiently a Pharisee not to experience thatspontaneity.'
'Swithin, don't speak so affectedly, when you know so well what I mean!Is it nothing to you that, after all our vows for life, you have thoughtit right to--flirt with a village girl?'
'O Viviette!' interrupted Swithin, taking her hand, which was hot andtrembling. 'You who are full of noble and generous feelings, and regardme with devoted tenderness that has never been surpassed by woman,--howcan you be so greatly at fault? _I_ flirt, Viviette? By thinking thatyou injure yourself in my eyes. Why, I am so far from doing so that Icontinually pull myself up for watching you too jealously, as to-day,when I have been dreading the effect upon you of other company in myabsence, and thinking that you rather shut the gates against me when youhave big-wigs to entertain.'
'Do you, Swithin?' she cried. It was evident that the honest tone of hiswords was having a great effect in clearing away the clouds. She addedwith an uncertain smile, 'But how can I believe that, after what was seento-day? My brother, not knowing in the least that I had an iota ofinterest in you, told me that he witnessed the signs of an attachmentbetween you and Tabitha Lark in church, this morning.'
'Ah!' cried Swithin, with a burst of laughter. 'Now I know what youmean, and what has caused this misunderstanding! How good of you,Viviette, to come at once and have it out with me, instead of broodingover it with dark imaginings, and thinking bitter things of me, as manywomen would have done!' He succinctly told the whole story of his littleadventure with Tabitha that morning; and the sky was clear on both sides.'When shall I be able to claim you,' he added, 'and put an end to allsuch painful accidents as these?'
She partially sighed. Her perception of what the outside world was madeof, latterly somewhat obscured by solitude and her lover's company, hadbeen revived to-day by her entertainment of the Bishop, clergymen, and,more particularly, clergymen's wives; and it did not diminish her senseof the difficulties in Swithin's path to see anew how little was thoughtof the greatest gifts, mental and spiritual, if they were not backed upby substantial temporalities. However, the pair made the best of theirfuture that circumstances permitted, and the interview was at lengthdrawing to a close when there came, without the slightest forewarning, asmart rat-tat-tat upon the little door.
'O I am lost!' said Viviette, seizing his arm. 'Why was I soincautious?'
'It is nobody of consequence,' whispered Swithin assuringly. 'Somebodyfrom my grandmother, probably, to know when I am coming home.'
They were unperceived so far, for the only window which gave light to thehut was screened by a curtain. At that moment they heard the sound oftheir visitors' voices, and, with a consternation as great as her own,Swithin discerned the tones of Mr. Torkingham and the Bishop ofMelchester.
'Where shall I get? What shall I do?' said the poor lady, clasping herhands.
Swithin looked around the cabin, and a very little look was required totake in all its resources. At one end, as previously explained, were atable, stove, chair, cupboard, and so on while the other was completelyoccupied by a diminutive Arabian bedstead, hung with curtains of pink-and-white chintz. On the inside of the bed there was a narrow channel, abouta foot wide, between it and the wall of the hut. Into this crampedretreat Viviette slid herself, and stood trembling behind the curtains.
By this time the knock had been repeated more loudly, the light throughthe window-blind unhappily revealing the presence of some inmate. Swithinthrew open the door, and Mr. Torkingham introduced his visitors.
The Bishop shook hands with the young man, told him he had known hisfather, and at Swithin's invitation, weak as it was, entered the cabin,the vicar and Louis Glanville remaining on the threshold, not toinconveniently crowd the limited space within.
Bishop Helmsdale looked benignantly around the apartment, and said,'Quite a settlement in the backwoods--quite: far enough from the world toafford the votary of science the seclusion he needs, and not so far as tolimit his resources. A hermit might apparently live here in as muchsolitude as in a primeval forest.'
'His lordship has been good enough to express an interest in yourstudies,' said Mr. Torkingham to St. Cleeve. 'And we have come to askyou to let us see the observatory.'
'With great pleasure,' stammered Swithin.
'Where is the observatory?' inquired the Bishop, peering round again.
'The staircase is just outside this door,' Swithin answered. 'I am atyour lordship's service, and will show you up at once.'
'And this is your little bed, for use when you work late,' said theBishop.
'Yes; I am afraid it is rather untidy,' Swithin apologized.
'And here are your books,' the Bishop continued, turning to the table andthe shaded lamp. 'You take an observation at the top, I presume, andcome down here to record your observations.'
The young man explained his precise processes as well as his state ofmind would let him, and while he was doing so Mr. Torkingham and Louiswaited patiently without, looking sometimes into the night, and sometimesthrough the door at the interlocutors, and listening to their scientificconverse. When all had been exhibited here below, Swithin lit hislantern, and, inviting his visitors to follow, led the way up the column,experiencing no small sense of relief as soon as he heard the footstepsof all three tramping on the stairs behind him. He knew very well that,once they were inside the spiral, Viviette was out of danger, herknowledge of the locality enabling her to find her way with perfectsafety through the plantation, and into the park home.
At the top he uncovered his equatorial, and, for the first time at ease,explained to them its beauties, and revealed by its help the glories ofthose stars that were eligible for inspection. The Bishop spoke asintelligently as could be expected on a topic not peculiarly his own;but, somehow, he seemed rather more abstracted in manner now than when hehad arrived. Swithin thought that perhaps the long clamber up thestairs, coming after a hard day's work, had taken his spontaneity out ofhim, and Mr. Torkingham was afraid that his lordship was getting bored.But this did not appear to be the case; for though he said little hestayed on some time longer, examining the construction of the dome afterrelinquishing the telescope; while occasionally Swithin caught the eyesof the Bishop fixed hard on him.
'Perhaps he sees some likeness of my father in me,' the young manthought; and the party making ready to leave at this time he conductedthem to the bottom of the tower.
Swithin was not prepared for what followed their descent. All werestanding at the foot of the staircase. The astronomer, lantern in
hand,offered to show them the way out of the plantation, to which Mr.Torkingham replied that he knew the way very well, and would not troublehis young friend. He strode forward with the words, and Louis followedhim, after waiting a moment and finding that the Bishop would not takethe precedence. The latter and Swithin were thus left together for onemoment, whereupon the Bishop turned.
'Mr. St. Cleeve,' he said in a strange voice, 'I should like to speak toyou privately, before I leave, to-morrow morning. Can you meet me--letme see--in the churchyard, at half-past ten o'clock?'
'O yes, my lord, certainly,' said Swithin. And before he had recoveredfrom his surprise the Bishop had joined the others in the shades of theplantation.
Swithin immediately opened the door of the hut, and scanned the nookbehind the bed. As he had expected his bird had flown.