CHAPTER VIII.

A word of warning tends to great advantage when issued reverently from

the lips of the estimable. It serves to allay the danger pending on

reticence, and substantiates in a measure the confidence which has

hitherto existed between the parties concerned. Again, a judicious

advice, extended to the stubborn and self-willed, proves futile, and

incurs the further malice and fiery indignation of the regardless, the

reckless, and the uncharitable.

Lady Dunfern began now to grow both cross and careless, and seemed not

to interest herself so much (since her propositions were so emphatically

denounced by her husband) concerning the management of the household

staff. She grew daily more retired, and often has her conduct been so

preposterously strange as to cause alarm both to Sir John and all over

whom he had immediate control.

Indeed, three months of married life scarcely elapsed until she cast a

glow of despair within the breast which too often heaved for her with

true piety and love. And what was meant by such strange conduct on her

part, her husband often wondered. Only the mighty cessation of

friendship caused by the flight of her beloved guardians, never

attributing such silence and stubbornness to any fault he justly

committed.

Yes, the duped husband, when being fished for with the rod of seeming

simplicity and concealed character, and quickly caught on the hook of

ingenuity, with deception for a bait, was altogether unable to fathom

its shallowest meaning. Was he not, therefore, to be sympathised with,

who so charitably extended the hand of honour and adoration to the

offspring of unknown parents, and placed her in position equal to any

lady of title and boasted parentage within the boundary of County Kent?

Should Sir John Dunfern not have been almost worshipped by a wife whose

binding duty it was to reverence her husband in all things pertaining to

good? No doubt this would have been so had he gained the affections he

imagined he possessed, but later on he would inevitably be made aware of

matters which as yet only bordered on supposition.

Day after day Lady Dunfern pined like a prisoner in her boudoir, and

scarcely ever shared a word with the great and good Sir John, who many

times wished in former days that she had occupied his home and all its

joys. She formed an inward resolution that if prohibited from enjoying

life, to which she was accustomed at Dilworth Castle, she would make her

husband, whom she knew too well made her his idol, feel the smart, by

keeping herself aloof from his caresses as much as possible.

Often would he be found half asleep in deep thought, not having any

friend of immediate intimacy in whom he could confide or trust, or to

whom he could unbosom the conduct of his wife, whose actions now he was

beginning to detest.

The thoughts of disappointment and shame were building for themselves a

home of shelter within him--disappointment on account of cherished hopes

which unmistakably were crushed to atoms beneath the feet of her who was

the sole instigation of their origin; shame, in all probability, lest

the love he sought and bought with the price of self might not be his

after all! and may still be reserved against his right and kept for

another much less worthy! The little jealous spark again revived and

prompted him to renew its lustre, which had been hidden for a length of

time behind the cloud of dread so silently awaiting the liberty of

covering the hill of happiness.

Quietly ruminating over his wife's manner before marriage, about which

he was compelled, through observation, to demand an explanation, and

pondering carefully her strange and silent habits since it, he became

resolved to probe the wound that had swollen so enormously as to demand

immediate relief. Ringing furiously for a maid, he handed her a note, to

be delivered without delay to Lady Dunfern, the nature of which might

well be suspected. Be that as it may, its contents were instrumental in

demanding immediate attention.

Soon after its delivery a slight tap was heard at the door of Sir John's

study, this room being always his favourite haunt, where he sat beside a

bright and glowing fire, engaged in sullen thought; and with an

imperious "Come in!" he still remained in the same thinking posture;

nor was he aware, for fully five minutes or so, that his intruder was no

other than she whom he so recently ordered into his presence!

Gazing up in a manner which startled the cold-hearted woman not a

little, he requested her "to have a seat right opposite his," to which

she instantly complied. At this moment the snow was wafting its flaky

handfuls thickly against the barred enclosures of Dunfern Mansion, and

chilly as nature appeared outside, it was similarly so indoors for the

fond and far-famed husband of Lord Dilworth's charge.

Matters had appeared so unpleasant and altogether bewildering of late

that Sir John formed a resolution to bring them to a crisis. Looking

fully into the face that seemed so lovely just now, with the dainty

spots of blazing ire enlivening the pale cheeks of creeping sin, Sir

John began--

"Irene, if I may use such familiarity, I have summoned you hither, it

may be to undergo a stricter examination than your present condition

probably permits; but knowing, as you should, my life must be miserable

under this growing cloud of unfathomed dislike, I became resolved to

end, if within my power, such contentious and unladylike conduct as that

practised by you towards me of late. It is now quite six months--yea,

weary months--since I shielded you from open penury and insult, which

were bound to follow you, as well as your much-loved protectors, who

sheltered you from the pangs of penniless orphanage; and during these

six months, which naturally should have been the pet period of nuptial

harmony, it has proved the hideous period of howling dislike!

"I, as you see, am tinged with slightly snowy tufts, the result of

stifled sorrow and care concerning you alone; and on the memorable day

of our alliance, as you are well aware, the black and glossy locks of

glistening glory crowned my brow. There dwelt then, just six months this

day, no trace of sorrow or smothered woe--no variety of colour where it

is and shall be so long as I exist--no furrows of grief could then be

traced upon my visage. But, alas! now I feel so changed! And why?

"Because I have dastardly and doggedly been made a tool of treason in

the hands of the traitoress and unworthy! I was enticed to believe that

an angel was always hovering around my footsteps, when moodily engaged

in resolving to acquaint you of my great love, and undying desire to

place you upon the highest pinnacle possible of praise and purity within

my power to bestow!

"I was led to believe that your unbounded joy and happiness were never

at such a par as when sharing them with me. Was I falsely informed of

your ways and worth? Was I duped to ascend the ladder of liberty, the

hill of harmony, the tree of triumph, and the rock of regard, and when

wildly manifesting my act of ascension, was I to be informed of treading

still in the valley of defeat?

"Am I, who for nearly forty years was idolised by a mother of untainted

and great Christian bearing, to be treated now like a slave? Why and for

what am I thus dealt with?

"Am I to foster the opinion that you treat me thus on account of not

sharing so fully in your confidence as it may be, another?

"Or is it, can it be, imaginative that you have reluctantly shared, only

shared, with me that which I have bought and paid for fully?

"Can it be that your attention has ever been, or is still, attracted by

another, who, by some artifice or other, had the audacity to steal your

desire for me and hide it beneath his pillaged pillow of poverty, there

to conceal it until demanded with my ransom?

"Speak! Irene! Wife! Woman! Do not sit in silence and allow the blood

that now boils in my veins to ooze through cavities of unrestrained

passion and trickle down to drench me with its crimson hue!

"Speak, I implore you, for my sake, and act no more the deceitful

Duchess of Nante, who, when taken to task by the great Napoleon for

refusing to dance with him at a State ball, replied, 'You honoured me

too highly'--acting the hypocrite to his very face. Are you doing

likewise?" Here Sir John, whose flushed face, swollen temples, and fiery

looks were the image of indignation, restlessly awaited her reply.

Lady Dunfern began now to stare her position fully in the face. On this

interview, she thought, largely depended her future welfare, if viewed

properly. Should she make her husband cognisant of her inward feelings,

matters were sure to end very unsatisfactorily. These she kept barred

against his entrance in the past, and she was fully determined should

remain so now, until forced from their home of refuge by spirited

action.

Let it be thoroughly understood that Lady Dunfern was forced into a

union she never honestly countenanced. She was almost compelled, through

the glittering polish Lady Dilworth put on matters, to silently resign

the hand of one whose adoration was amply returned, and enter into a

contract which she could never properly complete. All she could now do

was to plunge herself into the lake of evasion and answer him as best

she could.

"Sir and husband," she said, with great nervousness at first, "you have

summoned me hither to lash your rebuke unmercifully upon me, provoked,

it may be, by underhand intercourse. You accordingly, in the course of

your remarks, fail not to tamper with a character which as yet defies

your scathing criticism. Only this week have I been made the recipient

of news concerning my deceased parents, of whom I never before obtained

the slightest clue, and armed with equality, I am in a position fit to

treat some of your stingy remarks with the scorn they merit.

"You may not already be aware of the fact that I, whom you insinuate you

wrested from beggary, am the only child of the late Colonel Iddesleigh,

who fell a victim to a gunshot wound inflicted by the hand of his wife,

who had fallen into the pit of intemperance. Yes, Earl Peden's daughter

was his wife and my mother, and only that this vice so actuated her

movements, I might still have lent to Society the object it dare not now

claim, and thereby would have shunned the iron rule of being bound down

to exist for months at a time within such a small space of the world's

great bed.

"If my manner have changed in any way since our union, of it I am not

aware, and fail to be persuaded of any existing difference, only what

might be attributed to Lady Dilworth's sudden and unexpected removal

from our midst, which occasioned me grief indeed.

"It behoves elderly men like you to rule their wives with jealous

supervision, especially if the latter tread on the fields of youth. Such

is often fictitious and unfounded altogether, and should be treated with

marked silence.

"I may here say I was mistress, in a measure, of my movements whilst

under the meek rule of Lady Dilworth; nor was I ever thwarted in any way

from acting throughout her entire household as I best thought fit, and

since I have taken upon me to hold the reins of similarity within these

walls, I find they are much more difficult to manage. I, more than once,

have given orders which were completely prohibited from being executed.

By whom, might I ask, and why? Taking everything into consideration,

I am quite justified in acquainting you that, instead of being the

oppressor, I feel I am the oppressed.

"Relative to my affections, pray have those courted by me in the past

aught to do with the present existing state of affairs? I am fully

persuaded to answer, 'Nothing whatever.'

"You speak of your snowy tufts appearing where once there dwelt locks of

glossy jet. Well, I am convinced they never originated through me, and

must surely have been threatening to appear before taking the step which

links me with their origin.

"I now wish to retire, feeling greatly fatigued, and trusting our

relations shall remain friendly and mutual, I bid thee good-night."

Lady Dunfern swept out of the room, and hurrying to her own apartment,

burst into an uncontrollable fit of grief.

She had surely been awaked from her reverie by Sir John, and felt

sharply the sting of his remarks, which were truly applied, indeed.

She now resolved to let matters move along as quietly as possible until

after she should pass the most critical period of her existence. She was

prepared to manifest her innocence throughout, without detection if

possible. But amongst the household there moved a matron under whose

hawk-like eye Lady Dunfern was almost inclined to shrink. She felt when

in her presence to be facing an enemy of unbounded experience. She

abhorred her stealing tread, but not without cause. It was to this dame

she so often issued orders that never were carried out; and when

intimating to Sir John the necessity of instantly dismissing such a

tyrant, he quietly "rebelled," adding "that she had been almost twenty

years in his service, and presently could not think of parting with such

a valued and much-trusted friend."

This woman's name was Rachel Hyde, and proved the secret channel of

intercourse between Sir John and Lady Dunfern, evidently paving the way

for her ladyship's downfall; as Rachel, being mistress for such a period

over Dunfern Mansion, could never step the fence leading to abolition of

power, which she so unwillingly tried to mount since Sir John's

marriage, and failing totally in her attempt, was lifted and thrown over

by her mistress, an act she could never forget, and consequently carried

all news, trivial or serious, concerning Lady Dunfern to her master, and

delivered it in such an exaggerated form as to incur his wrath, which

already had been slightly heated.

A few months elapsed again, during which time matters went on much as

usual, until an event happened that should have chased the darkest cloud

of doubt and infidelity from the noble brow of the mighty and revered

master of Dunfern Mansion.