Irene Iddesleigh
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.
CHAPTER IX.
The thickest stroke of sadness can be effaced in an instant, and
substituted with deeper traces of joy. The heart of honest ages, though
blackened at times with domestic troubles, rejoices when those troubles
are surmounted with blessings which proclaim future happiness.
On the tenth day of June, following Lady Dunfern's interview with her
husband, she gave birth to a son and heir. This great event brought with
it entire forgiveness on the part of Sir John of his wife's recent
conduct. It served for a short time only, a trivial portion too, to
stifle the alienation which existed between them, and to heal the sore
of evident separation that marred their happiness for months before.
The glad and happy father was only too eager now to snatch a smile from
his wife's face, and anxious was he to bury any little obstacle that may
have existed in the past, and expel it for ever from its lurking corner
of tempting repose. He saw that Lady Dunfern's life was hanging by a
flimsy hair, and who could, for an instant, depict the great despair of
her husband when told that all hope must be abandoned!
The frantic father wrung his hands in a frenzy of momentary madness, and
in spite of authoritative advice he timidly moved in the direction of