The Bramleighs of Bishop's Folly Part 13

"Now, my Lord, you can see the cottage completely. Is it not very pretty, and very picturesque, and is there not something very interesting--touching almost, in the thought of beauty and captivation--dwelling in this un-travelled wilderness?"

He almost gave a little shudder, as his eye followed the line of the rugged mountain, till it blended with the bleak and shingly sh.o.r.e on which the waves were now washing in measured plash,--the one sound in the universal silence around.

"Nothing but being desperately in love could make this solitude endurable," said he at last.

"Why not try that resource, my Lord? I could almost promise you that the young lady who lives yonder is quite ready to be adored and worshipped, and all that sort of thing; and it would be such a boon on the frosty days, when the ground is too hard for hunting, to have this little bit of romance awaiting you."

"Coquetry and French cookery pall upon a man who has lived all his life abroad, and he actually longs for a little plain diet, in manners as well as meals."

"And then you have seen all the pretty acts of our very pretty neighbor so much better done?"

"Done by real artists," added he.

"Just so. Amateurship is always a poor thing. This is the way, my Lord.

If you will follow me, I will be your guide here; the path here is very slippery, and you must take care how you go."

"When I fall, it shall be at your feet," said he, with his hand on his heart.

As they gained the bottom of the little ravine down which the footpath lay, they found Julia, hoe in hand, at work in the garden before the door. Her dark woollen dress and her straw hat were only relieved in color by a blue ribbon round her throat, but she was slightly flushed by exercise, and a little flurried, perhaps, by the surprise of seeing them, and her beauty, this time, certainly lacked nothing of that brilliancy which Lord Culduff had p.r.o.nounced it deficient in.

"My brother will be so sorry to have missed you, my Lord," said she, leading the way into the little drawing-room, where, amidst many signs of narrow fortune, there were two or three of those indications which vouch for cultivated tastes and pleasures.

"I had told Lord Culduff so much about your cottage, Julia," said Marion, "that he insisted on coming to see it, without even apprising you of his intention."

"It is just as well," said she artlessly. "A little more or less sun gives the only change in its appearance. Lord Culduff sees it now as it looks nearly every day."

"And very charming that is," said he, walking to the window and looking out. And then he asked the name of a headland, and how a small rocky island was called, and on which side lay the village of Portshandon, and at what distance was the church, the replies to which seemed to afford him unmixed satisfaction; for, as he resumed his seat, he muttered several times to himself, "Very delightful indeed; very pleasing in every way!"

"Lord Culduff was asking me, as he came-along," said Marion, "whether I thought the solitude--I think he called it the savagery of this spot--was likely to be better borne by one native to such wildness, or by one so graced and gifted as yourself, and I protest he puzzled me."

"I used to think it very lonely when I came here first, but I believe I should be sorry to leave it now," said Julia, calmly.

"There, my Lord," said Marion, "you are to pick your answer out of that."

"As to those resources which you are so flattering as to call my gifts and graces," said Julia, laughing, "such of them at least as lighten the solitude were all learned here, I never took to gardening before; I never fed poultry."

"Oh, Julia! have mercy on our illusions!"

"You must tell me what they are, before I can spare them. The curate's sister has no claim to be thought an enchanted princess."

"It is all enchantment!" said Lord Culduff, who had only very imperfectly caught what she said.

"Then, I suppose, my Lord," said Marion, haughtily, "I ought to rescue you before the spell is complete, as I came here in quality of guide."

And she rose as she spoke. "The piano has not been opened to-day, Julia.

I take it you seldom sing of a morning?"

"Very seldom, indeed."

"So I told Lord Culduff; but I promised him his recompense in the evening. You are coming to us to-morrow, ain't you?"

"I fear not. I think George made our excuses. We are to have Mr.

Longworth and a French friend of his here with us."

"You see, my Lord, what a gay neighborhood we have; here is a rival dinner-party," said Marion.

"There's no question of a dinner; they come to tea, I a.s.sure you," said Julia, laughing.

"No, my Lord, it's useless; quite hopeless. I a.s.sure you she 'll not sing for you of a morning." This speech was addressed to Lord Culduff, as he was turning over some music-books on the piano.

"Have I your permission to look at these?" said he to Julia, as he opened a book of drawings in water-colors.

"Of course, my Lord. They are mere sketches taken in the neighorhood here, and, as you will see, very hurriedly done."

"And have you such coast scenery as this?" asked he, in some astonishment, while he held up a rocky headland of several hundred feet, out of the caves at whose base a tumultuous sea was tumbling.

"I could show you finer and bolder bits than even that."

"Do you hear, my Lord?" said Marion, in a low tone, only audible to himself. "The fair Julia is offering to be your guide. I 'm afraid it is growing late. One does forget time at this cottage. It was only the last day I came here I got scolded for being late at dinner."

And now ensued one of those little bustling scenes of shawling and embracing with which young ladies separate. They talked together, and laughed, and kissed, and answered half-uttered sentences, and even seemed after parting to have something more to say; they were by turns sad, and playful, and saucy--all of these moods being duly accompanied by graceful action, and a chance display of a hand or foot, as it might be, and then they parted.

"Well, my Lord," said Marion, as they ascended the steep path that led homewards, "what do you say now? Is Julia as cold and impa.s.sive as you p.r.o.nounced her, or are you ungrateful enough to ignore fascinations all displayed and developed for your own especial captivation?"

"It was very pretty coquetry, all of it," said he, smiling. "Her eyelashes are even longer than I thought them."

"I saw that you remarked them, and she was gracious enough to remain looking at the drawing sufficiently long to allow you full time for the enjoyment."

The steep and rugged paths were quite as much as Lord Culduff could manage without talking, and he toiled along after her in silence, till they gained the beach.

"At last a bit of even ground," exclaimed he, with a sigh.

"You'll think nothing of the hill, my Lord, when you've come it three or four times," said she, with a malicious twinkle of the eye.

"Which is precisely what I have no intention of doing."

"What! not cultivate the acquaintance so auspiciously opened?"

"Not at this price," said he, looking at his splashed boots.

"And that excursion, that ramble, or whatever be the name for it, you were to take together?"

"It is a bliss, I am afraid, I must deny myself."

"You are wrong, my Lord,--very wrong. My brothers at least a.s.sure me that Julia is charming _en tete-a-tete_. Indeed, Augustus says one does not know her at all till you have pa.s.sed an hour or two in such confidential intimacy. He says 'she comes out'--whatever that may be--wonderfully."

"Oh, she comes out, does she?" said he, caressing his whiskers.

"That was his phrase for it. I take it to mean that she ventures to talk with a freedom more common on the Continent than in these islands. Is that coming out, my Lord?"