My uncle, after all, was not ill that day, after the strange fashion
of his malady, be it what it might. Old Wyat repeated in her
sour laconic way that there was 'nothing to speak of amiss with
him.' But there remained with me a sense of pain and fear. Doctor Bryerly, notwithstanding my uncle's sarcastic reflections, remained, in my estimation, a true and wise friend. I had all my life been accustomed to rely upon others, and here, haunted by many unavowed and ill-defined alarms and doubts, the disappearance of an active and able friend caused my heart to sink.
Still there remained my dear Cousin Monica, and my pleasant
and trusted friend, Lord Ilbury; and in less than a week arrived
an invitation from Lady Mary to the Grange, for me and Milly, to meet Lady Knollys. It was accompanied, she told me, by a note from Lord Ilbury to my uncle, supporting her request; and in the afternoon I received a message to attend my uncle in his room.
'An invitation from Lady Mary Carysbroke for you and Milly
to meet Monica Knollys; have you received it?' asked my uncle, so soon as I was seated. Answered in the affirmative, he continued—
'Now, Maud Ruthyn, I expect the truth from you; I have
been frank, so shall you. Have you ever heard me spoken ill
of by Lady Knollys?'
I was quite taken aback.
I felt my cheeks flushing. I was returning his fierce cold gaze
with a stupid stare, and remained dumb.
'Yes, Maud, you have.'
I looked down in silence.
'I know it; but it is right you should answer; have you or
have you not?'
I had to clear my voice twice or thrice. There was a kind of
spasm in my throat.
'I am trying to recollect,' I said at last.
Do recollect,' he replied imperiously.
There was a little interval of silence. I would have given the
world to be, on any conditions, anywhere else in the world.
'Surely, Maud, you don't wish to deceive your guardian? Come, the question is a plain one, and I know the truth already. I ask you again—have you ever heard me spoken ill of by Lady Knollys?'
'Lady Knollys,' I said, half articulately,' speaks very freely, and often half in jest; but,' I continued, observing something menacing in his face, 'I have heard her express disapprobation of some things you have done.'
'Come, Maud,' he continued, in a stern, though still a low
key, 'did she not insinuate that charge—then, I suppose, in a
state of incubation, the other day presented here full-fledged, with beak and claws, by that scheming apothecary—the statement that I was defrauding you by cutting down timber upon the grounds?'
'She certainly did mention the circumstance; but she also
argued that it might have been through ignorance of the extent
of your rights.'
'Come, come, Maud, you must not prevaricate, girl. I willhave it. Does she not habitually speak disparagingly of me, in your presence, and to you? Answer.'
I hung my head.
'Yes or no?'
'Well, perhaps so—yes,' I faltered, and burst into tears.
'There, don't cry; it may well shock you. Did she not, to your
knowledge, say the same things in presence of my child Millicent? I know it, I repeat—there is no use in hesitating; and I command you to answer.'
Sobbing, I told the truth.
'Now sit still, while I write my reply.'
He wrote, with the scowl and smile so painful to witness, as
he looked down upon the paper, and then he placed the note
before me—
'Read that, my dear.'
It began—
'M L K.—You have favoured me with a note, adding your request to that of Lord Ilbury, that I should permit my ward and my daughter to avail themselves of Lady Mary's invitation. Being perfectly cognisant of the ill-feeling you have always and unaccountably cherished toward me, and also of the terms in which you have had the delicacy and the conscience to speak of me before and to my child and my ward, I can only express my amazement at the modesty of your request, while peremptorily refusing it. And I shall conscientiously adopt effectual measures to prevent your ever again having an opportunity of endeavouring to destroy my influence and authority over my ward and my child, by direct or insinuated slander.
'Your defamed and injured kinsman,
S R.'
I was stunned; yet what could I plead against the blow that
was to isolate me? I wept aloud, with my hands clasped, looking
on the marble face of the old man.
Without seeming to hear, he folded and sealed his note, and
then proceeded to answer Lord Ilbury.