Jalna: Books 1-4: The Building of Jalna / Morning at Jalna / Mary Wakefield / Young Renny (128 page)

She smiled maliciously and went to the writing bureau, on top of which stood a framed photograph of her husband, and fumbled in the top drawer for her book of blank cheques. She found it and her pen, a slender ivory handled one she had brought from India, too delicate now for her old fingers. But she gripped it and, peering and blowing at the cheque, she filled it in for a hundred dollars and signed her name — Adeline Whiteoak — with a flourish.

She examined it critically. The ink was rather thick; still, it was quite legible — a good signature, a good name. She put her second finger to her mouth and cleansed it of the ink stain.

She went to the red woollen bell cord and gave it a tug. She said, when Eliza appeared: —

“Find Mr. Court for me. Tell him I’d like to see him here.”

“Thank you, ’m,” said Eliza stiffly. She did not approve of Mr. Court.

Malahide came, a lift in his spirits at the summons. He found life at Jalna intolerably boring at times.

“Here,” said Adeline, thrusting her cheque into his hand, “a little present for you.” She regarded his sallow face affectionately.

His fingers closed on the cheque. “Ah, my dear!” he exclaimed. “You are too generous!”

“Wait till you’ve examined it before you say that,” she returned brusquely.

“As though the amount signified!” he exclaimed. “It is your spirit that is generous. What can I say? Nothing that will express what I feel! Here I am — stranded without means — depending on your hospitality — and you are not only the spirit of hospitality, but of liberality as well!”

He took her hand and pressed his lips to it. She smiled down on his head. “Look at the cheque,” she repeated shortly. “It is not for a large sum, but I thought it would come in handy.”

He straightened his back and took in the figures.

The door opened and Ernest’s long delicate nose was introduced. He fixed his eyes on Malahide and the cheque with an expression of dismay. He did not know whether to advance or retreat, but his mother saw him and commanded: —

“Come in, come in, you’re making a draught.”

Ernest entered and said, in a tone which he tried to make casual: —

“I came to tell you that the luggage is being carried down. Our time is getting short and we thought you would like to be with us. We are having tea on the lawn.”

Malahide had somewhat hastily thrust the cheque into his pocket. He smiled from Ernest’s gloomy face to Adeline’s bold one, and said: —

“Yes, yes, we must spend our last moments together! How sad it makes us to think you are going, doesn’t it, Cousin Adeline?”

“Oh, we’ll get along,” she said cheerfully. “I’ll look after Malahide and Malahide will look after me!” She tucked her arm into his.

Ernest said — “Don’t you think you had better come with us after all, Malahide? I am afraid I shall be very
de trop
with Augusta and Edwin. They are so devoted to each other.”

“Too late, too late!” said his mother, giving him a waggish look.

“I think it could be managed. Really, I am afraid you will find it very quiet here as the nights draw in.”

“I was never better entertained in my life,” returned Malahide. “No, as long as Cousin Adeline wants me to stay, I’ll remain.”

Ernest stood aside to let them pass. Then he went into the dining room, where Nicholas was mixing himself a drink of whiskey and water.

“Nick,” he said gloomily, “we’ve made a horrible mistake. Philip and Renny are quite right. Malahide is a menace. We should have seen how he was getting round Mamma. Think of the diamond cravat pin! He should be leaving today.”

“I hate these partings,” said Nicholas, sipping his whiskey, “and for my part I am glad that Malahide is staying. I find him very entertaining. So does Mamma.”

“Entertaining! I should think so. And she is paying for the entertainment. And so, indirectly, are you! Just as I went into her room now I found him pocketing a cheque.”

Nicholas looked much disturbed. “Well — h’m — that’s serious. I had no notion she would give him money. Why, it’s awful! Have you any idea what the cheque was for?”

“No. He tried to conceal it. Mama had that teasing look she assumes when she thinks she will annoy us — and me, in particular. We have been fools, Nick. I see it now!”

“Well —” Nicholas set down his glass and wiped his moustache — “it’s too late to chuck him out now, but I certainly shan’t encourage him to prolong his visit.”

They joined the others at tea, which was more lavish than usual, but less enjoyed. Ernest took the opportunity of telling the Buckleys, in a whisper, the disturbing news of the cheque. Renny was troubled by Lulu’s appearance of the morning, and Philip, conscious of his son’s mood, was troubled too. Mary and Meg felt chagrin at not having been able to get rid of their uninvited guest. And Adeline had less appetite than usual because of the unease of the preparation for departure and a twinge of remorse for her treatment of Ernest.

Over them all was the feeling that the object of the visit had not been fulfilled. It had been made to celebrate a wedding and no wedding had taken place. Meg sat in their midst trying hard to be brave, to live down the disappointment, but still abstracted and often melancholy.

The little boys were taking tea with the family as a special treat, dressed in white as they had been at the garden party. Augusta took Eden on her knees and whispered to him: —

“You won’t forget Aunt Augusta, dear, will you?”

“No,” he answered firmly, “I won’t forget you and I’ll say ‘God bless you’ in my prayers and I’ll go to visit you when I’m big and you’ll take me to the zoo.”

Augusta held him close. “I wish I could take him back with me,” she said. “I shall miss him so much — and Peep too.”

Philip said — “Molly and I will take all the children to visit you one day, Gussie.”

Augusta looked as though she thought that would be too much of a good thing. She said: —

“That would be delightful. But, speaking of visiting, I do think that Edwin and I have made a very long visit at Jalna. I think long visits are a great mistake.”

Sir Edwin added — “Yes, yes, we have stayed a very long time.”

“You’ve been very welcome,” said Mary. “It makes all the difference in the world who visitors are.”

“Yes, indeed,” said Meg. “Some people could never stay too long, while others …”

“I agree,” said Ernest, “that visits should not be prolonged and, even while Jalna is my home, the time comes when I know I should return to London.”

“Don’t be sanctimonious about it,” growled Nicholas. “You know you’re glad to get back.”

“One thing that
I’m
glad of,” put in their mother, “is that Malahide Court is staying on. He’ll be a great comfort to me.” She laid her hand protectingly on Malahide’s knee.

Hoofs now sounded on the gravel and the carriage appeared. Hodge drew up in front of the door.

“He’s too early,” said Ernest, looking at his watch.

Eliza came out of the house and spoke to Hodge. She then crossed the lawn and approached Philip. She told him something in a low tone. He turned a startled face to the others.

“What do you suppose has happened? Robert Vaughan has had a stroke! Poor man, this affair has been too much for him.”

“Just when we are about to leave!” said Augusta.

“A great blow for Mrs. Vaughan,” said Sir Edwin.

“I wonder what young Maurice will think of himself now,” growled Nicholas.

Mary exclaimed — “I have felt something — a shadow — all day!”

“I remember,” said Ernest, “how shaken he seemed that morning when we three went to see him. He could not at all keep himself in hand as we did.”

All discussed the calamity in sorrowful excitement, with the exception of Adeline, who sat, a hand on each knee, staring straight in front of her. At last she said: —

“A stroke, eh? Robert Vaughan a stroke. D’ye think he’ll be about again, Philip?”

“There is hope, Mamma.”

“Ha, that’s good! Must go to see him. Cheer him up. Where did you say he’s affected?”

“Down one side — the left.”

She shook her head in commiseration and rubbed her hand up and down her left thigh.

Sir Edwin looked at his watch. “By Jove!” he exclaimed, “we have no time to spare!”

“To think,” said Augusta, “that I must go without seeing poor Mrs. Vaughan! Mamma, you must give her our deepest sympathy.”

“They’ll get along. They’ll get along. Don’t you worry,” said her mother tersely.

But now the family goodbyes must be said. Sir Edwin, Augusta, and Ernest were in turn enfolded in Adeline’s strong embrace. To the last she whispered: —

“Ye mustn’t mind me giving a little present to Malahide. ’Twas nothing of any account.”

Ernest looked relieved but still a little dubious. He whispered back — “Don’t imagine that I grudge anything that gives you pleasure, Mamma. But, if I were you, I should not urge him to stay on. After all, it is Philip’s and Molly’s house and it is obvious that they dislike his presence.”

He had said the wrong thing when he referred to Mary as having a share in the ownership of Jalna. His mother pushed him from her.

“Jalna belong to that one! Jalna belong to that flibbertigibbety wife of Philip’s. You talk like a fool!”

“Sh, Mamma, she’ll hear you! All I meant was …”

But he was given no time for explanation. Nicholas pushed him toward the carriage. The bays were sweeping the gravel with their polished hoofs. Peep was being held up by Renny to throw kisses. Mary was snatching Eden from under the horses’ heads. Meg, all her trouble brought back by the news of Mr. Vaughan’s illness, was weeping on Philip’s shoulder. Malahide tucked Adeline’s hand in the crook of his arm and beamed, protectingly. He waved a glad farewell to the occupants of the carriage, as the dark branches of the hemlocks stretched out to hide them from view.

A
N
O
LD
C
OAT AND AN 
O
LD
M
ARE

T
HE EARTH SEEMED
to have wearied of heat and now, though it was still August, groped toward the chill walls of autumn. With the departure of three guests, Mary’s burden of housekeeping was lightened. She began to recover from her disappointment over Meg’s broken engagement. The relations between her and her stepchildren were happier than ever before. Eden, whose health had given her much anxiety, was now sparkling with vitality and Peep was as sturdy as a child could well be. There was this to be said for the company of Malahide: it gave her more of Philip, the intimate companionship she craved.

She loved his horses and dogs almost as well as he did. They would stand in the orchard watching a sow suckling her litter, with quiet pleasure. Happiest to them both were the hours they spent by the river, hidden by thick growing shrubs, while she read poetry to him and he lay watching the pale sunshine dapple the fine skin of her face and throat. What Mary could not and would not do was to go fishing with him. There he had the solitude which his nature demanded.

Adeline was less content in these days. The departure of her children left a blank not easy to fill. She leant on Ernest more than she realized, and she felt a keen sense of irritation when he was not at hand to wait on her, to supply that particular something which his personality offered. She missed the Buckleys, too, even Sir Edwin’s crisp protection of Augusta from her sometimes barbed remarks.

Her head grew weary from late sittings at the card table or backgammon board. Malahide was a better player than she, and she was shrewd enough to reject his suggestion that they play for money. Yet he did win money from both Philip and Nicholas at bridge.

One morning a stirring wind blew across the countryside, driving the clouds before it. They melted into the horizon beyond the lake, and the sky arched itself in summer blueness. The sun caressed the late flower buds into bloom.

Adeline longed for something active to do. Through all her body she had a sense of the futile inaction of the past weeks. She made up her mind that she would go about more. She would take some long drives. She would go to see Robert Vaughan, who was now able to sit up, the stroke having been a slight one. But on this fine blowy morning the first thing she should do would be to put her Philip’s clothes out in the sun and brush and shake them thoroughly, against the ravages of moths. This she did once every year at about this time. Her son Philip always helped her because Ernest shrank too much from what, to him, was a depressing ordeal, and Nicholas invariably drew her attention to new moth holes and advised her to give the clothes away or to burn them.

Now she went out at the side door to where she had heard Philip’s voice, in conversation with the prospective buyer of a horse, and called to him: —

“Philip, my dear, come here! I have something I want you to help me with.”

Philip’s back was toward her, and before turning round he hesitated. There was that in her tone which told him what his task was to be and his heart rebelled, on such a morning as this. He stood sulkily, as he had often stood when a small boy, reluctant to answer the summons.

“Philip,” she called sharply, “are you woolgathering that you pay no heed to me?”

He turned slowly and came toward her, taking off his dilapidated Panama hat and passing his hand across his fair hair.

“I was just thinking,” he said deliberately, “that I have about a thousand things to do this morning.”

“You’re taking your time about them,” she returned sarcastically. “But there’s one thing, Philip, that you must do. You must help me give your father’s clothes an airing. The time is past due for it and there’s a fine cleansing wind.”

He came and put his arm about her waist. “Wouldn’t you like a nice drive in the phaëton, old girl?” he asked coaxingly.

“No,” she answered with resolve. “We’ll air your father’s clothes.”

Philip made a resigned movement of his shoulders and said — “Very well, I’ll have the boxes brought down.”

The limpid notes of an oriole came to them in late summer sweetness, from where he swayed near by his empty nest. Philip said: —

“He doesn’t trouble his head about the past. He enjoys his present — before the winter comes.”