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But she meant to be ignorant no longer. No more brooding and dreaming! It was pleasant to remember that Sir James Chide had taken a furnished house Lytchett Manor only a few miles from Beechcote, and that Mr. Ferrier was to be his guest there as soon as politics allowed. For her, Diana, that was well, for if he were at Tallyn they could have met but seldom if at all.
The colliers, who had once fervently supported him, thought of him now, either as a fine gentleman profiting pecuniarily by the ill deeds of a tyrant, or as sheltering behind his mother's skirts; the Socialist Vicar of Beechcote thundered against him; and for some time every meeting of his in the colliery villages was broken up.
Roughsedge secretly wondered whether this statement was meant to account for the frequent presence of Oliver Marsham at Beechcote. She had herself met him in the lane riding away from Beechcote no less than three times during the past fortnight. "Please come in to tea!" said Diana; "I am just expecting my cousin Miss Merton. Mrs.
Diverging a little to the left, he found himself on the open hill-side, at a point commanding the village and Beechcote itself, ringed by its ancient woods. In the village two dim lights, far apart, were visible; lights, he thought, of sickness or of birth? for the poor sleep early. One of the Beechcote windows shone with a dim illumination. Was she there, and sleepless?
It had produced a kind of indistinguishable echo in the brain, to which she could put no words which was none the less dreary; like a voice of wailing from a far-off past. During the days immediately following her arrival at Beechcote, Mrs. Colwood applied herself to a study of Miss Mallory and her surroundings none the less penetrating because the student was modest and her method unperceived.
Marsham hovered about her, inducing her to loosen her furs, bringing her tea, and asking questions about her settlement at Beechcote. He showed also a marked courtesy to Mrs. Colwood, and the little widow, susceptible to every breath of kindness, formed the prompt opinion that he was both handsome and agreeable. Oliver Marsham, indeed, was not a person to be overlooked.
A policy of waiting and diplomacy should be tried. Ferrier might be of some use. But, if nothing availed, he must marry and make the best of it. He wondered to what charitable societies his mother would leave her money! Slowly he strolled back along the hill. That dim light, high up on the shrouded walls of Beechcote, seemed to go with him, softly, insistently reminding him of Diana.
"The soberest saints are more stiff-neckèd Than the hottest-headed of the wicked." "I shall soon be back," said Diana "very soon. I'll just take this book to Dr. Roughsedge. You don't mind?" The question was addressed in a deprecatory tone to Mrs. Colwood, who stood beside her at the Beechcote front door. Muriel Colwood smiled, and drew the furs closer round the girl's slim throat.
But, in spite of these aids, the hours of waiting and suspense passed heavily, and Alicia said to herself that Cousin Lucy was beginning to look frail. Owing to the scantiness of Sunday trains, Marsham did not arrive at Beechcote village till between nine and ten at night.
Of course she must come to Beechcote she must come at once!" She sprang up, and went to a writing-table near, to look for a telegraph form. She wrote a message with eagerness, despatched it, and then explained as coherently as her evident emotion and excitement would allow. "They are my only relations in the world that I know of that papa ever spoke to me about. Mamma's sister married Mr. Merton.
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