Complete Works of Wilkie Collins (1123 page)

The instant afterward the rustling of a woman’s dress over the carpet caught his ear. Other men might have walked out of the recess and shown themselves. Father Benwell stayed where he was, and waited until the lady crossed his range of view.

The priest observed with cold attention her darkly-beautiful eyes and hair, her quickly-changing colour, her modest grace of movement. Slowly, and in evident agitation, she advanced to the door of the picture gallery — and paused, as if she was afraid to open it. Father Benwell heard her sigh to herself softly, “Oh, how shall I meet him?” She turned aside to the looking-glass over the fire-place. The reflection of her charming face seemed to rouse her courage. She retraced her steps, and timidly opened the door. Lord Loring must have been close by at the moment. His voice immediately made itself heard in the library.

“Come in, Stella — come in! Here is a new picture for you to see; and a friend whom I want to present to you, who must be your friend too — Mr. Lewis Romayne.”

The door was closed again. Father Benwell stood still as a statue in the recess, with his head down, deep in thought. After a while he roused himself, and rapidly returned to the writing table. With a roughness strangely unlike his customary deliberation of movement, he snatched a sheet of paper out of the case, and frowning heavily, wrote these lines on it: — ”Since my letter was sealed, I have made a discovery which must be communicated without the loss of a post. I greatly fear there may be a woman in our way. Trust me to combat this obstacle as I have combated other obstacles. In the meantime, the work goes on. Penrose has received his first instructions, and has to-day been presented to Romayne.”

He addressed this letter to Rome, as he had addressed the letter preceding it. “Now for the woman!” he said to himself — and opened the door of the picture gallery.

CHAPTER IV.

FATHER BENWELL HITS.

ART has its trials as well as its triumphs. It is powerless to assert itself against the sordid interests of everyday life. The greatest book ever written, the finest picture ever painted, appeals in vain to minds preoccupied by selfish and secret cares. On entering Lord Loring’s gallery, Father Benwell found but one person who was not looking at the pictures under false pretenses.

Innocent of all suspicion of the conflicting interests whose struggle now centreed in himself, Romayne was carefully studying the picture which had been made the pretext for inviting him to the house. He had bowed to Stella, with a tranquil admiration of her beauty; he had shaken hands with Penrose, and had said some kind words to his future secretary — and then he had turned to the picture, as if Stella and Penrose had ceased from that moment to occupy his mind.

“In your place,” he said quietly to Lord Loring, “I should not buy this work.”

“Why not?”

“It seems to me to have the serious defect of the modern English school of painting. A total want of thought in the rendering of the subject, disguised under dexterous technical tricks of the brush. When you have seen one of that man’s pictures, you have seen all. He manufactures — he doesn’t paint.”

Father Benwell came in while Romayne was speaking. He went through the ceremonies of introduction to the master of Vange Abbey with perfect politeness, but a little absently. His mind was bent on putting his suspicion of Stella to the test of confirmation. Not waiting to be presented, he turned to her with the air of fatherly interest and chastened admiration which he well knew how to assume in his intercourse with women.

“May I ask if you agree with Mr. Romayne’s estimate of the picture?” he said, in his gentlest tones.

She had heard of him, and of his position in the house. It was quite needless for Lady Loring to whisper to her, “Father Benwell, my dear!” Her antipathy identified him as readily as her sympathy might have identified a man who had produced a favorable impression on her. “I have no pretension to be a critic,” she answered, with frigid politeness. “I only know what I personally like or dislike.”

The reply exactly answered Father Benwell’s purpose. It diverted Romayne’s attention from the picture to Stella. The priest had secured his opportunity of reading their faces while they were looking at each other.

“I think you have just stated the true motive for all criticism,” Romayne said to Stella. “Whether we only express our opinions of pictures or books in the course of conversation or whether we assert them at full length, with all the authority of print, we are really speaking, in either case, of what personally pleases or repels us. My poor opinion of that picture means that it says nothing to Me. Does it say anything to You?”

He smiled gently as he put the question to her, but there was no betrayal of emotion in his eyes or in his voice. Relieved of anxiety, so far as Romayne was concerned, Father Benwell looked at Stella.

Steadily as she controlled herself, the confession of her heart’s secret found its way into her face. The coldly composed expression which had confronted the priest when she spoke to him, melted away softly under the influence of Romayne’s voice and Romayne’s look. Without any positive change of colour, her delicate skin glowed faintly, as if it felt some animating inner warmth. Her eyes and lips brightened with a new vitality; her frail elegant figure seemed insensibly to strengthen and expand, like the leaf of a flower under a favoring sunny air. When she answered Romayne (agreeing with him, it is needless to say), there was a tender persuasiveness in her tones, shyly inviting him still to speak to her and still to look at her, which would in itself have told Father Benwell the truth, even if he had not been in a position to see her face. Confirmed in his doubts of her, he looked, with concealed suspicion, at Lady Loring next. Sympathy with Stella was undisguisedly expressed to him in the honest blue eyes of Stella’s faithful friend.

The discussion on the subject of the unfortunate picture was resumed by Lord Loring, who thought the opinions of Romayne and Stella needlessly severe. Lady Loring, as usual, agreed with her husband. While the general attention was occupied in this way, Father Benwell said a word to Penrose — thus far, a silent listener to the discourse on Art.

“Have you seen the famous portrait of the first Lady Loring, by Gainsborough?” he asked. Without waiting for a reply, he took Penrose by the arm, and led him away to the picture — which had the additional merit, under present circumstances, of hanging at the other end of the gallery.

“How do you like Romayne?” Father Benwell put the question in low peremptory tones, evidently impatient for a reply.

“He interests me already,” said Penrose. “He looks so ill and so sad, and he spoke to me so kindly — ”

“In short,” Father Benwell interposed, “Romayne has produced a favorable impression on you. Let us get on to the next thing. You must produce a favorable impression on Romayne.”

Penrose sighed. “With the best will to make myself agreeable to people whom I like,” he said, “I don’t always succeed. They used to tell me at Oxford that I was shy — and I am afraid that is against me. I wish I possessed some of your social advantages, Father!”

“Leave it to me, son! Are they still talking about the picture?”

“Yes.”

“I have something more to say to you. Have you noticed the young lady?”

“I thought her beautiful — but she looks a little cold.”

Father Benwell smiled. “When you are as old as I am,” he said, “you will not believe in appearances where women are concerned. Do you know what I think of her? Beautiful, if you like — and dangerous as well.”

“Dangerous! In what way?”

“This is for your private ear, Arthur. She is in love with Romayne. Wait a minute! And Lady Loring — unless I am entirely mistaken in what I observed — knows it and favors it. The beautiful Stella may be the destruction of all our hopes, unless we keep Romayne out of her way.”

These words were whispered with an earnestness and agitation which surprised Penrose. His superior’s equanimity was not easily overthrown. “Are you sure, Father, of what you say?” he asked.

“I am quite sure — or I should not have spoken.”

“Do you think Mr. Romayne returns the feeling?”

“Not yet, luckily. You must use your first friendly influence over him — what is her name? Her surname, I mean.”

“Eyrecourt. Miss Stella Eyrecourt.”

“Very well. You must use your influence (when you are quite sure that it
is
an influence) to keep Mr. Romayne away from Miss Eyrecourt.”

Penrose looked embarrassed. “I am afraid I should hardly know how to do that,” he said “But I should naturally, as his assistant, encourage him to keep to his studies.”

Whatever Arthur’s superior might privately think of Arthur’s reply, he received it with outward indulgence. “That will come to the same thing,” he said. “Besides, when I get the information I want — this is strictly between ourselves — I may be of some use in placing obstacles in the lady’s way.”

Penrose started. “Information!” he repeated. “What information?”

“Tell me something before I answer you,” said Father Benwell. “How old do you take Miss Eyrecourt to be?”

“I am not a good judge in such matters. Between twenty and twenty-five, perhaps?”

“We will take her age at that estimate, Arthur. In former years, I have had opportunities of studying women’s characters in the confessional. Can you guess what my experience tells me of Miss Eyrecourt?”

“No, indeed!”

“A lady is not in love for the first time when she is between twenty and twenty-five years old — that is my experience,” said Father Benwell. “If I can find a person capable of informing me, I may make some valuable discoveries in the earlier history of Miss Eyrecourt’s life. No more, now. We had better return to our friends.”

CHAPTER V.

FATHER BENWELL MISSES.

THE group before the picture which had been the subject of dispute was broken up. In one part of the gallery, Lady Loring and Stella were whispering together on a sofa. In another part, Lord Loring was speaking privately to Romayne.

“Do you think you will like Mr. Penrose?” his lordship asked.

“Yes — so far as I can tell at present. He seems to be modest and intelligent.”

“You are looking ill, my dear Romayne. Have you again heard the voice that haunts you?”

Romayne answered with evident reluctance. “I don’t know why,” he said — ”but the dread of hearing it again has oppressed me all this morning. To tell you the truth, I came here in the hope that the change might relieve me.”

“Has it done so?”

“Yes — thus far.”

“Doesn’t that suggest, my friend, that a greater change might be of use to you?”

“Don’t ask me about it, Loring! I can go through my ordeal — but I hate speaking of it.”

“Let us speak of something else then,” said Lord Loring. “What do you think of Miss Eyrecourt?”

“A very striking face; full of expression and character. Leonardo would have painted a noble portrait of her. But there is something in her manner — ” He stopped, unwilling or unable to finish the sentence.

“Something you don’t like?” Lord Loring suggested.

“No; something I don’t quite understand. One doesn’t expect to find any embarrassment in the manner of a well-bred woman. And yet she seemed to be embarrassed when she spoke to me. Perhaps I produced an unfortunate impression on her.”

Lord Loring laughed. “In any man but you, Romayne, I should call that affectation.”

“Why?” Romayne asked, sharply.

Lord Loring looked unfeignedly surprised. “My dear fellow, do you really think you are the sort of man who impresses a woman unfavorably at first sight? For once in your life, indulge in the amiable weakness of doing yourself justice — and find a better reason for Miss Eyrecourt’s embarrassment.”