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LORD RABY one of the wealthiest and most splendid noblemen in England was prouder, perhaps, of his provincial distinctions than the eminence of his rank or the fashion of his wife.
The day Raby came back from Eastbank he dined at home, and, in an unguarded moment, said something or other, on which Mrs. Little cross-examined him so swiftly and so keenly that he stammered, and let out Grace Carden was on the point of marriage. "Marriage, while my son is alive!" said Mrs.
Marianna uttered a faint shriek, and was going to repeat it, when Jack Raby gave her a pinch, which effectually recalled her to her senses, and, in a whisper, he threatened to give her another if she made the slightest noise. A minute or two of the most intense anxiety passed away, which, under the circumstances, appeared nearly an hour, and no one appeared.
This child had been to her from the day of his birth like her own: she loved him with all the pent-up forces of the great womanhood within her, which thus far had not found the natural outlet of its affections. "Doctor," she would cry vehemently, "why should Raby die? God never means that any children should die. It is all our ignorance and carelessness; all the result of broken law.
Moment by moment, Sally watched and waited for the recognition which never came. Bearing Raby in her arms, she passed and repassed, drawing as near Mrs. Little as she dared. "Surely she must see that nobody else here wholly despises me," thought the poor woman; and, whenever any one spoke with especial kindness to her, she glanced involuntarily to see if her mother-in-law were observing it.
"Signora, signora," said a voice near her; she started on hearing herself addressed, and saw Jack Raby standing at her elbow.
She dropped the oars, leaned forward, and looked eagerly at the opening in the woods where the Springton road touched the shore. "What is it, aunty? What do you see!" asked Raby. The child's voice recalled her to herself. "Nothing! nothing! Raby. I was only listening to the car-whistle. Didn't you hear it?" answered Hetty. "No," said Raby. "Where are they going? Can't you take me some day."
Henry told her he was going to ask her a great favor; would she consider all they had suffered, and, laying aside childish delays, be married to him in the old church to-morrow, along with Mr. Raby and Jael Dence? Oh, then she trembled, and blushed, and hesitated; and faltered out, "What! all in a moment like that? what would your mother think of me?"
And with this he stalked out of the house. "Oh, my poor James, how could you?" said Edith. "Forgive me," said he, quietly. "It is all over. That was our last chance." Guy Raby walked down the street, stung to the quick. He went straight to his solicitor and arranged to borrow L1900 on his own property. "For," said he, "I'll show them both how little a snob can understand a gentleman.
"What," said he, "do you forge toys! Learn that a gentleman can only forge those weapons of war that gentlemen do use. And I took you for a Raby!" With these bitter words he vanished, with flashing eyes and a look of magnificent scorn, and left his fiery, haughty features imprinted clearly on Henry's memory.
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