Vain Fortune Part 6

Then, in a sudden expansion of youth she wondered. Her own life, how strange, how personal, how intense! What did it mean, what meaning had it in the great, wide world? And the impressive tranquillity, the pale death of the day, lying like a flower on the water, seemed to symbolise her thought, and she felt more distinctly than she had ever done before. And there arose in her a nervous and pa.s.sionate interest in herself. She seemed so strange, so wonderful. Her childhood was in itself an enigma. That sad and sorrowful childhood of hers, pa.s.sed in that old London house; her mother's love for her; her cruel, stern stepfather, and the endless quarrels between her father and mother, which made her young life so unbearable, so wretched, that she could never think of those years without tears rising to her eyes. And then the going away, coming to live with Mr.

Burnett! The death of her father and her dear mother, so sudden, following so soon one after the other. How much there had been in her life, how wonderful it was! Her love of Mr. Burnett, and then that bitter and pa.s.sionate change in him! That proposal of marriage; could she ever forget it? And then this cruel and sudden death. Everything she had ever loved had been taken from her. Only Julia remained, and should Julia be taken from her, she felt that she must die. But that would not, could not, happen. She was now mistress of Ashwood, she was a great heiress; and she and Julia would live always together, they would always love one another, they would always live here in this beautiful place which they loved so well.

VIII

There were at the funeral a few personal friends who lived in the neighbourhood, the farmers on the estate, and the labourers; and when the little crowd separated outside the church, Emily and Julia walked back to Ashwood with Mr. Grandly, Mr. Burnett's intimate friend and solicitor. They returned through the park, hardly speaking at all, Emily absent-minded as usual, waving her parasol occasionally at a pa.s.sing b.u.t.terfly. The gra.s.s was warm and beautiful to look on, and they lingered, prolonging the walk.

It was very good of Mr. Grandly to accompany them back; he might have gone on straight to the station, so Julia thought, and she was surprised indeed when, instead of bidding them good-bye at the front door, he said--

'Before I return to London I have a communication to make to both you ladies. Will it suit you to come into the drawing-room with me?'

'Perfectly, so far as I'm concerned; and you, Emily?'

'Oh, I've nothing to do; but if it is about business, Julia will attend----'

'I think you had better be present, Miss Watson.'

Mr. Grandly was a tall, ma.s.sive man with benevolent features; his bald, pink skull was partly covered with one lock of white hair. There was an anxious look in his pale, deep-set eyes which impressed Julia, and she said: 'I hope this communication you have to make to us is not of a painful nature. We have----'

'Yes, Mrs. Bentley, I know that you have been severely tried lately, but there is no help for it. I cannot keep you in ignorance any longer of certain facts relating to Mr. Burnett's will.' The words 'will' and 'facts'

struck on Emily's ear. She had been thinking about her fortune. The very ground she was walking on was hers. She was the owner of this beautiful park; it seemed like a fairy tale. And that house, that dear, old-fashioned house, that rambling, funny old place of all sizes and shapes, full of deep staircases and pictures, was hers. Her eyes wandered along the smooth wide drive, down to the placid water crossed by the great ornamental bridge, the island where she had watched the swans floating last night--all these things were hers. So the words 'will' and 'facts' and 'ignorance of them'

jarred her clutching little dream, and she turned her eyes--they wore an anxious look--towards Mr. Grandly, and said with an authoritative air: 'Yes, let us go into the drawing-room; I want to hear what Mr. Grandly has to say about----Let us go into the drawing-room at once.'

Julia took the chair nearest to her. Emily stood at the window, waiting impatiently for Mr. Grandly to begin. He laid his hat on the parquet, wiped his forehead with his handkerchief, and drew an arm-chair forward. 'Mr.

Burnett, as you know, made a will some years ago, in favour of his cousin and adopted daughter, Miss Emily Watson. In that will he left his entire fortune to her, Ashwood Park and all his invested money. No other person was mentioned in that will, except Miss Watson. It was I who drew up this will. I remember discussing its provisions with Mr. Burnett, and advising him to leave something, even if it were only a few hundred pounds, to his nephew, Hubert Price. But Mr. Burnett was always a very headstrong man; he had quarrelled with this young man, as he said, irreparably, and could not be induced to leave him even a hundred pounds. I thought this was harsh, and as Mr. Burnett's friend I told him so--I have always been opposed to extreme measures,--but he was not to be gainsaid. So the matter remained for many years; never did Mr. Burnett mention his nephew's name. I thought he had forgotten the young man's existence, when, suddenly, without warning, Mr. Burnett came into my office and told me that he intended to alter his will, leaving all his property to his nephew, Hubert Price. You know what old friends we were, and, presuming on our friendship, I told him what I thought of his project of disinheritance, for it amounted to that.

Well, suffice it to say, we very nearly quarrelled over the matter. I refused to draw up the will, so iniquitous did it seem to me. He said: "Very well, Grandly, I'll go elsewhere." Then I remembered that if I allowed him to go elsewhere I should lose all hold over him, and I consented to draw up the will.'

Emily listened, a vague expression of pain in her pathetic eyes. Then this house, this room where she was sitting, was not hers, and a strange man would come soon and drive her away!

'And he has left Ashwood to Mr. Price, is not that his name?' she said, abruptly.

'Yes; he has left Ashwood to Mr. Price.'

'And when did he make this new will?'

'I think it is just about a month ago.'

Emily leaned forward, and her great eyes, full of light and sorrow, were fixed in s.p.a.ce, her little pale hands linked, and the great ma.s.s of chestnut hair slipping from the comb. She was, in truth, at that moment the subject of a striking picture, and she was even more impressive when she said, speaking slowly: 'Then that old man was even wickeder than I thought.

Oh, what I have learned in the last three or four weeks! Oh, what wickedness, what wickedness!... But go on,' she said, looking at Mr.

Grandly; 'tell me all.'

'I suppose there was some very serious reason, but on that point Mr.

Burnett absolutely refused to answer me. He said his reasons were his own, and that he intended to leave his money to whom he pleased.'

'There was----' Julia stopped short, and looked interrogatively at Emily.

'Go on, Julia, tell him; we have nothing to conceal.'

'Mr. Burnett asked Emily to marry him a short time ago; she, of course, refused, and ever since he seemed more like----'

'A madman than anything else,' broke in Emily. 'Oh, for the last month we have led a miserable life! It was a happy release.'

'Is it possible,' said Mr. Grandly, 'that Mr. Burnett seriously contemplated marriage with Miss Watson?'

'Yes, and her refusal seemed to drive him out of his mind.'

'I never was more surprised.' The placid face of the eminently respectable solicitor lapsed into contemplation. 'I often tried,' he said, suddenly, 'to divine the reason why he changed his will. Disappointed love seemed the only conceivable reason, but I rejected it as being quite inconceivable.

Well, it only shows how little we know what is pa.s.sing in each other's minds.'

'Then,' said Julia, 'Mr. Burnett has divided his fortune, leaving Ashwood to Mr. Price, and all his invested money to Emily?'

A look of pain pa.s.sed over Mr. Grandly's benevolent face, and he answered: 'Unfortunately he has left everything to Mr. Price.'

'I'm glad,' exclaimed Emily, 'that he has left me nothing. Once he thought fit to disinherit me because I would not marry him, I prefer not to have anything to do with his money.'

Mr. Grandly and Julia looked at each other; they did not need to speak; each knew that the girl did not realise at once the full and irretrievable nature of this misfortune. The word 'dest.i.tute' was at present unrealised, and she only thought that she had been deprived of what she loved best in the world--Ashwood. Mr. Grandly glanced at her, and then speaking a little more hurriedly, said--

'I was saying just now that I only consented to draw up the will so that I might be able at some future time to induce Mr. Burnett to add a codicil to it. Later on I spoke to him again on the subject, and he promised to consider it, and a few days after he wrote to me, saying that he had decided to take my advice and add a codicil. Subsequently, in another letter he mentioned three hundred a year as being the sum he thought he would be in honour bound to leave Miss Watson. Unfortunately, he did not live long enough to carry this intention into execution. But the letters he addressed to me on the subject exist, and I have every hope that the heir, Mr. Price, will be glad to make some provision for his cousin.'

'Have you any reason for thinking that Mr. Price will do so?' said Julia.

'No. But it seems impossible for any honourable man to act otherwise.'

'He cannot bear enmity against Emily, who of course knew nothing of his quarrel with his uncle. Do you know anything about Mr. Price? What is he?

Where does he live?'

'He is a literary man, I believe. I have heard that he writes plays!'

'Oh, a writer of plays.'

'Yes. I am glad of it; he may be easier to deal with. I daresay it is a mistaken notion, but one is apt to imagine that these artist folk are more generous with their money than ordinary mortals.'

'Is he married?' said Julia, and involuntarily she glanced toward Emily.

Mr. Grandly, too, looked toward the girl, and then he said: 'I don't know if Mr. Price is married; I hope not.'

'Why do you hope so?' said Emily, suddenly.

'Because if he isn't, there will only be one person to deal with. If he had a wife, she would have a voice in the matter; and in such circ.u.mstances as ours a man is easier to deal with. I earnestly hope Mr. Hubert Price is not married, and shall consider it a great point in our favour if on returning to town I find he is not.' Then a.s.suming a lighter tone, for the nervous strain of the last ten minutes had been intense, he said: 'If he is not married, who knows--you may take a fancy to him, and he to you; then things would be just the same as before--only better.'

'I should not marry him--I hate him already. I wonder how you can think of such a thing, Mr. Grandly? You know that he must be a very wicked man for uncle to have disinherited him. I have always heard that--but I don't know what I am saying.' Tears welled up into her eyes. 'I daresay my cousin is not so bad as--but I can talk no more.... I am very miserable, I have always been miserable, and I don't know why; I never did harm to any one.'

Soon after Mr. Grandly bade the ladies good-bye. Julia followed him to the front door. 'You will do all you can to help us? That poor child is too young, too inexperienced, to realise what her position is.'

'I know, I know,' said Mr. Grandly, extending both hands to Julia; 'in the whole course of my experience I never met with a sadder case. But we must not take too sad a view of it. Perhaps all will come right in the end. The young man cannot refuse to make good his uncle's intentions. He cannot see his cousin go to the workhouse. I will do the best I can for you. The moment I get back to London, I'll set inquiries on foot and find out his address, and when I have seen him I'll write. Good-bye.'