The Legacy of Cain Page 36
promised to take her far away from England, among people who have never even
heard of her sister. Miss Jillgall has used her influence to help me. All in
vain! There is no hope for us but in you. I am not thinking selfishly only of
myself. She tries to conceal it--but, oh, she is broken-hearted! Ask the
farmer's wife, if you don't believe me. Judge for yourself, sir. Go--for God's
sake, go to the farm."
I made him sit down and compose himself.
"You may depend on my going to the farm," I answered. "I shall write to Eunice
to-day, and follow my letter to-morrow." He tried to thank me; but I would not
allow it. "Before I consent to accept the expression of your gratitude," I said,
"I must know a little more of you than I know now. This is only the second
occasion on which we have met. Let us look back a little, Mr. Philip Dunboyne.
You were Eunice's affianced husband; and you broke faith with her. That was a
rascally action. How do you defend it?"
His head sank. "I am ashamed to defend it," he answered.
I pressed him without mercy. "You own yourself," I said, "that it was a rascally
action?"
"Use stronger language against me, even than that, sir--I deserve it."
"In plain words," I went on, "you can find no excuse for your conduct?"
"In the past time," he said, "I might have found excuses."
"But you can't find them now?"
"I must not even look for them now."
"Why not?"
"I owe it to Eunice to leave my conduct at its worst; with nothing said--by
me--to defend it."
"What has Eunice done to have such a claim on you as that?"
"Eunice has forgiven me."
It was gratefully and delicately said. Ought I to have allowed this circumstance
to weigh with me? I ask, in return, had I never committed any faults? As a
fellow-mortal and fellow-sinner, had I any right to harden my heart against an
expression of penitence which I felt to be sincere in its motive?
But I was bound to think of Eunice. I did think of her, before I ventured to
accept the position--the critical position, as I shall presently show--of
Philip's friend.
After more than an hour of questions put without reserve, and of answers given
without prevarication, I had traveled over the whole ground laid out by the
narratives which appear in these pages, and had arrived at my conclusion--so far
as Philip Dunboyne was concerned.
I found him to be a man with nothing absolutely wicked in him--but with a nature
so perilously weak, in many respects, that it might drift into wickedness unless
a stronger nature was at hand to bold it back. Married to a wife without force
of character, the probabilities would point to him as likely to yield to
examples which might make him a bad husband. Married to a wife with a will of
her own, and with true love to sustain her--a wife who would know when to take
the command and how to take the command--a wife who, finding him tempted to
commit actions unworthy of his better self, would be far-sighted enough to
perceive that her husband's sense of honor might sometimes lose its balance,
without being on that account hopelessly depraved--then, and, in these cases
only, the probabilities would point to Philip as a man likely to be the better
and the happier for his situation, when the bonds of wedlock had got him.
But the serious question was not answered yet.
Could I feel justified in placing Eunice in the position toward Philip which I
have just endeavored to describe? I dared not allow my mind to dwell on the
generosity which had so nobly pardoned him, or on the force of character which
had bravely endured the bitterest disappointment, the cruelest humiliation. The
one consideration which I was bound to face, was the sacred consideration of her
happiness in her life to come.
Leaving Philip, with a few words of sympathy which might help him to bear his
suspense, I went to my room to think.
The time passed--and I could arrive at no positive conclusion. Either way--with
or without Philip--the contemplation of Eunice's future harassed me with doubt.
Even if I had conquered my own indecision, and had made up my mind to sanction
the union of the two young people, the difficulties that now beset me would not
have been dispersed. Knowing what I alone knew, I could certainly remove
Eunice's one objection to the marriage. In other words, I had only to relate
what had happened on the day when the Chaplain brought the Minister to the
prison, and the obstacle of their union would be removed. But, without
considering Philip, it was simply out of the question to do this, in mercy to
Eunice herself. What was Helena's disgrace, compared with the infamy which
stained the name of the poor girl's mother! The other alternative of telling her
part of the truth only was before me, if I could persuade myself to adopt it. I
failed to persuade myself; my morbid anxiety for her welfare made me hesitate
again. Human patience could endure no more. Rashness prevailed and prudence
yielded--I left my decision to be influenced by the coming interview with
Eunice.
The next day I drove to the farm. Philip's entreaties persuaded me to let him be
my companion, on one condition--that he waited in the carriage while I went into
the house.
I had carefully arranged my ideas, and had decided on proceeding with the
greatest caution, before I ventured on saying the all-important words which,
once spoken, were not to be recalled. The worst of those anxieties, under which
the delicate health of Mr. Gracedieu had broken down, was my anxiety now. Could
I reconcile it to my conscience to permit a man, innocent of all knowledge of
the truth, to marry the daughter of a condemned murderess, without honestly
telling him what he was about to do? Did I deserve to be pitied? did I deserve
to be blamed?--my mind was still undecided when I entered the house.
She ran to meet me as if she had been my daughter; she kissed me as if she had
been my daughter; she fondly looked up at me as if she had been my daughter. At
the sight of that sweet young face, so sorrowful, and so patiently enduring
sorrow, all my doubts and hesitations, everything artificial about me with which
I had entered the room, vanished in an instant.
After she had thanked me for coming to see her, I saw her tremble a little. The
uppermost interest in her heart was forcing its way outward to expression, try
as she might to keep it back. "Have you seen Philip?" she asked. The tone in
which she put that question decided me--I was resolved to let her marry him.
Impulse! Yes, impulse, asserting itself inexcusably in a man at the end of his
life. I ought to have known better than to have given way. Very likely. But am I
the only mortal who ought to have known better--and did not?
When Eunice asked if I had seen Philip, I owned that he was outside in the
carriage. Before she could reproach me, I went on with what I had to say: "My
child, I know what a sacrifice you have made; and I should honor your scruples,
if you had any reason for feeling them."
"Any reason
for feeling them?" She turned pale as she repeated the words.
An idea came to me. I rang for the servant, and sent her to the carriage to tell
Philip to come in. "My dear, I am not putting you to any unfair trial," I
assured her; "I am going to prove that I love you as truly as if you were my own
child."
When they were both present, I resolved that they should not suffer a moment of
needless suspense. Standing between them, I took Eunice's hand, and laid my
other hand on Philip's shoulder, and spoke out plainly.
"I am here to make you both happy," I said. "I can remove the only obstacle to
your marriage, and I mean to do it. But I must insist on one condition. Give me
your promise, Philip, that you will ask for no explanations, and that you will
be satisfied with the one true statement which is all that I can offer to you."
He gave me his promise, without an instant's hesitation.
"Philip grants what I ask," I said to Eunice. "Do you grant it, too?"
Her hand turned cold in mine; but she spoke firmly when she said: "Yes."
I gave her into Philip's care. It was his privilege to console and support her.
It was my duty to say the decisive words:
"Rouse your courage, dear Eunice; you are no more affected by Helena's disgrace
than I am. You are not her sister. Her father is not your father; her mother was
not your mother. I was present, in the time of your infancy, when Mr.
Gracedieu's fatherly kindness received you as his adopted child. This, I declare
to you both, on my word of honor, is the truth."
How she bore it I am not able to say. My foolish old eyes were filling with
tears. I could just see plainly enough to find my way to the door, and leave
them together.
In my reckless state of mind, I never asked myself if Time would be my
accomplice, and keep the part of the secret which I had not revealed--or be my
enemy, and betray me. The chances, either way, were perhaps equal. The deed was
done.
CHAPTER LXIV.
THE TRUTH TRIUMPHANT.
THE marriage was deferred, at Eunice's request, as an expression of respect to
the memory of Philip's father.
When the time of delay had passed, it was arranged that the wedding ceremony
should be held--after due publication of Banns--at the parish church of the
London suburb in which my house was situated. Miss Jillgall was bridesmaid, and
I gave away the bride. Before we set out for the church, Eunice asked leave to
speak with me for a moment in private.
"Don't think," she said, "that I am forgetting my promise to be content with
what you have told me about myself. I am not so ungrateful as that. But I do
want, before I consent to be Philip's wife, to feel sure that I am not quite
unworthy of him. Is it because I am of mean birth that you told me I was Mr.
Gracedieu's adopted child--and told me no more?"
I could honestly satisfy her, so far. "Certainly not!" I said.
She put her arms round my neck. "Do you say that," she asked, "to make my mind
easy? or do you say it on your word of honor?"
"On my word of honor."
We arrived at the church. Let Miss Jillgall describe the marriage, in her own
inimitable way.
"No wedding breakfast, when you don't want to eat it. No wedding speeches, when
nobody wants to make them, and nobody wants to hear them. And no false
sentiment, shedding tears and reddening noses, on the happiest day in the whole
year. A model marriage! I could desire nothing better, if I had any prospect of
being a bride myself."
They went away for their honeymoon to a quiet place by the seaside, not very far
from the town in which Eunice had passed some of the happiest and the
wretchedest days in her life. She persisted in thinking it possible that Mr.
Gracedieu might recover the use of his faculties, at the last, and might wish to
see her on his death-bed. "His adopted daughter," she gently reminded me, "is
his only daughter now." The doctor shook his head when I told him what Eunice
had said to me--and, the sad truth must be told, the doctor was right.
Miss Jillgall returned, on the wedding-day, to take care of the good man who had
befriended her in her hour of need.
Before the end of the week, I heard from her, and was disagreeably reminded of
an incident which we had both forgotten, absorbed as we were in other and
greater interests, at the time.
Mrs. Tenbruggen had again appeared on the scene! She had written to Miss
Jillgall, from Paris, to say that she had heard of old Mr.. Dunboyne's death,
and that she wished to have the letter returned, which she had left for delivery
to Philip's father on the day when Philip and Eunice were married. I had my own
suspicions of what that letter might contain; and I regretted that Miss Jillgall
had sent it back without first waiting to consult me. My misgivings, thus
excited, were increased by more news of no very welcome kind. Mrs. Tenbruggen
had decided on returning to her professional pursuits in England. Massage, now
the fashion everywhere, had put money into her pocket among the foreigners; and
her husband, finding that she persisted in keeping out of his reach, had
consented to a compromise. He was ready to submit to a judicial separation; in
consideration of a little income which his wife had consented to settle on him,
under the advice of her lawyer.
Some days later, I received a delightful letter from Philip and Eunice;
reminding me that I had engaged to pay them a visit at the seaside. My room was
ready for me, and I was left to choose my own day. I had just begun to write my
reply, gladly accepting the invitation, when an ominous circumstance occurred.
My servant announced "a lady"; and I found myself face to face with--Mrs.
Tenbruggen!
She was as cheerful as ever, and as eminently agreeable as ever.
"I have heard it all from Selina," she said. "Philip's marriage to Eunice (I
shall go and congratulate them, of course), and the catastrophe (how dramatic!)
of Helena Gracedieu. I warned. Selina that Miss Helena would end badly. To tell
the truth, she frightened me. I don't deny that I am a mischievous woman when I
find myself affronted, quite capable of taking my revenge in my own small
spiteful way. But poison and murder--ah, the frightful subject! let us drop it,
and talk of something that doesn't make my hair (it's really my own hair) stand
on end. Has Selina told you that I have got rid of my charming husband, on easy
pecuniary terms? Oh, you know that? Very well. I will tell you something that
you don't know. Mr. Governor, I have found you out."
"May I venture to ask how?"
"When I guessed which was which of those two girls," she answered, "and guessed
wrong, you deliberately encouraged the mistake. Very clever, but you overdid it.
From that moment, though I kept it to myself, I began to fear I might be wrong.
Do you remember Low Lanes, my dear sir? A charming old church. I have had
another consultation with my lawyer. His questions led me into mentioning how it
happened that I heard of Low Lanes. After looking again at his memorandum of the
the church register at Low Lanes. Need I tell you the result? I know, as well as
you do, that Philip has married the adopted child. He has had a mother-in-law
who was hanged, and, what is more, he has the honor, through his late father, of
being otherwise connected with the murderess by marriage--as his aunt!"
Bewilderment and dismay deprived me of my presence of mind. "How did you
discover that?" I was foolish enough to ask.
"Do you remember when I brought the baby to the prison?" she said. "The
father--as I mentioned at the time--had been a dear and valued friend of mine.
No person could be better qualified to tell me who had married his wife's
sister. If that lady had been living, I should never have been troubled with the
charge of the child. Any more questions?"
"Only one. Is Philip to hear of this?"
"Oh, for shame! I don't deny that Philip insulted me grossly, in one way; and
that Philip's late father insulted me grossly, in another way. But Mamma
Tenbruggen is a Christian. She returns good for evil, and wouldn't for the world
disturb the connubial felicity of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Dunboyne."
The moment the woman was out of my house, I sent a telegram to Philip to say
that he might expect to see me that night. I caught the last train in the
evening; and I sat down to supper with those two harmless young creatures,
knowing I must prepare the husband for what threatened them, and weakly
deferring it, when I found myself in their presence, until the next day. Eunice
was, in some degree, answerable for this hesitation on my part. No one could
look at her husband, and fail to see that he was a supremely happy man. But I
detected signs of care in the wife's face.
Before breakfast the next morning I was out on the beach, trying to decide how
the inevitable disclosure might be made. Eunice joined me. Now, when we were
alone, I asked if she was really and completely happy. Quietly and sadly she
answered: "Not yet."
I hardly knew what to say. My face must have expressed disappointment and
surprise.
"I shall never be quite happy," she resumed, "till I know what it is that you
kept from me on that memorable day. I don't like having a secret from my
husband--though it is not my secret."
"Remember your promise," I said
"I don't forget it," she answered. "I can only wish that my promise would keep
back the thoughts that come to me in spite of myself."
"What thoughts?"
"There is something, as I fear, in the story of my parents which you are afraid
to confide to me. Why did Mr. Gracedieu allow me to believe and leave everybody
to believe, that I was his own child?"
"My dear, I relieved your mind of those doubts on the morning of your marriage."
"No. I was only thinking of myself at that time. My mother--the doubt of her is
the doubt that torments me now."
"What do you mean?"
She put her arm in mine, and held by it with both hands.
"The mock-mother!" she whispered. "Do you remember that dreadful Vision, that
horrid whispering temptation in the dead of night? Was it a mock-mother? Oh,
pity me! I don't know who my mother was. One horrid thought about her is a
burden on my mind. If she was a good woman, you who love me would surely have
made me happy by speaking of her?"
Those words decided me at last. Could she suffer more than she had suffered
already, if I trusted her with the truth? I ran the risk. There was a time of
silence that filled me with terror. The interval passed. She took my hand, and
put it to her heart. "Does it beat as if I was frightened?" she asked.
No! It was beating calmly.
"Does it relieve your anxiety?"
It told me that I had not surprised her. That unforgotten Vision of the night
had prepared her for the worst, after the time when I had told her that she was
an adopted child. "I know," I said, "that those whispered temptations
overpowered you again, when you and Helena met on the stairs, and you forbade