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However, all was now well. The estate naturally lapsed to Lady Jocelyn. No one in the house dreamed of a will, signed with Juliana's name, attested, under due legal forms, being in existence. None of the members of the family imagined that at Beckley Court they were then residing on somebody else's ground.
"He said he had never really doubted from the moment he first set eyes on me that I was Juliana's child. But he dared not hint such a thing to me till he was certain, and anxious though he was to see a likeness between me and her, or himself, he had not been able to tell himself, truthfully, that he could really see one, until that day.
Cautley was coming back for another slice of Juliana's wedding-cake. Mrs. Moon referred to a certain abominable piece of confectionery now crumbling away on a shelf in the sideboard, where, with a breach in its side and its sugar turret in ruins, it seemed to nod at Miss Quincey with all sorts of satirical suggestions.
A wily look had crept over Juliana's features. 'Certainly, she said, in a tone that belied it, and drawing Rose to her bosom, the groan she heard there was passing sweet to her. 'He has confessed it to Mama, sobbed Rose. 'Why did he not come to me first? He has confessed it the abominable thing has come out of his own mouth. He went to her last night . . .
She let him keep it, thinking him noble for forgetting that another had pressed it before him. Some minutes later the letters were delivered. One of them contained Juliana's dark-winged missive. 'Poor, poor Juley! said Rose, dropping her head, after reading all that was on the crumpled leaf with an inflexible face. And then, talking on, long low sighs lifted her bosom at intervals.
Oh! how sad it will be for him to find no woman in his class to understand him and be his helpmate! Over, this sad subject, of which we must presume her to be accurately cognizant, Rose brooded heavily. By mid-day she gave her Grandmother notice that she was going home to Juliana's funeral. 'Well, Rose, if you think it necessary to join the ceremony, said Lady Elburne.
Evan, too, she saw. The Countess was right in her judgement of Juliana's love. Juliana looked very little to his qualities. She loved him when she thought him guilty, which made her conceive that her love was of a diviner cast than Rose was capable of.
But again it would be the young who had never been disciplined to restrain their emotions in public. Some of these ran for a time beside the cart, with glad cries, their clear, ringing voices raised in comments of a professedly humorous character. Under Juliana's direction the cart did not progress too rapidly.
It could be turned on in all its broad robust humour "Fooliana!" Or refined away into a playful or delicate suggestion, pointed with an uplifted finger "Fooli!" Or cut down and compressed into its essential meaning "Fool!" But whichever missile came handy, the effect was much the same. Juliana's complexion grew redder or grayer, but her state of mind remained unchanged.
Moon was the first to notice that. She hailed Juliana's recovery as a sign of grace, of returning allegiance to the memory of Tollington Moon. "Now," said the Old Lady, "I hope we've seen the last of Dr. Cautley." "Of course we have," said Miss Quincey. She said it irritably, but everybody knows that a little temper is the surest symptom of returning health. "What should he come for?"
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