BETWEEN THE SCENES.
PROGRESS OF THE STORY THROUGH THE POST.
I.
_From George Bartram to Admiral Bartram._
"London, April 3d, 1848.
"MY DEAR UNCLE--One hasty line, to inform you of a temporary obstacle,
which we neither of us anticipated when we took leave of each other at
St. Crux. While I was wasting the last days of the week at the Grange,
the Tyrrels must have been making their arrangements for leaving London.
I have just come from Portland Place. The house is shut up, and the
family (Miss Vanstone, of course, included) left England yesterday, to
pass the season in Paris.
"Pray don't let yourself be annoyed by this little check at starting.
It is of no serious importance whatever. I have got the address at which
the Tyrrels are living, and I mean to cross the Channel after them by
the mail to-night. I shall find my opportunity in Paris just as soon as
I could have found it in London. The grass shall not grow under my feet,
I promise you. For once in my life, I will take Time as fiercely by the
forelock as if I was the most impetuous man in England; and, rely on
it, the moment I know the result, you shall know the result, too.
Affectionately yours,
"GEORGE BARTRAM."
II.
_From George Bartram to Miss Garth._
"Paris, April 13th.
"DEAR MISS GARTH--I have just written, with a heavy heart, to my uncle,
and I think I owe it to your kind interest in me not to omit writing
next to you.
"You will feel for my disappointment, I am sure, when I tell you, in the
fewest and plainest words, that Miss Vanstone has refused me.
"My vanity may have grievously misled me, but I confess I expected a
very different result. My vanity may be misleading me still; for I must
acknowledge to you privately that I think Miss Vanstone was sorry to
refuse me. The reason she gave for her decision--no doubt a sufficient
reason in her estimation--did not at the time, and does not now, seem
sufficient to _me_. Sh e spoke in the sweetest and kindest manner, but
she firmly declared that 'her family misfortunes' left her no honorable
alternative--but to think of my own interests as I had not thought of
them myself--and gratefully to decline accepting my offer.
"She was so painfully agitated that I could not venture to plead my own
cause as I might otherwise have pleaded it. At the first attempt I
made to touch the personal question, she entreated me to spare her, and
abruptly left the room. I am still ignorant whether I am to interpret
the 'family misfortunes' which have set up this barrier between us, as
meaning the misfortune for which her parents alone are to blame, or
the misfortune of her having such a woman as Mrs. Noel Vanstone for her
sister. In whichever of these circumstances the obstacle lies, it is
no obstacle in my estimation. Can nothing remove it? Is there no hope?
Forgive me for asking these questions. I cannot bear up against my
bitter disappointment. Neither she, nor you, nor any one but myself, can
know how I love her.
"Ever most truly yours,
"GEORGE BARTRAM.
"P. S.--I shall leave for England in a day or two, passing through
London on my way to St. Crux. There are family reasons, connected with
the hateful subject of money, which make me look forward with anything
but pleasure to my next interview with my uncle. If you address your
letter to Long's Hotel, it will be sure to reach me."
III.
_From Miss Garth to George Bartram._
"Westmoreland House, April 16th.
"DEAR MR. BARTRAM--You only did me justice in supposing that your letter
would distress me. If you had supposed that it would make me excessively
angry as well, you would not have been far wrong. I have no patience
with the pride and perversity of the young women of the present day.
"I have heard from Norah. It is a long letter, stating the particulars
in full detail. I am now going to put all the confidence in your honor
and your discretion which I really feel. For your sake, and for Norah's,
I am going to let you know what the scruple really is which has misled
her into the pride and folly of refusing you. I am old enough to speak
out; and I can tell you, if she had only been wise enough to let her own
wishes guide her, she would have said Yes--and gladly, too.
"The original cause of all the mischief is no less a person than your
worthy uncle--Admiral Bartram.
"It seems that the admiral took it into his head (I suppose during your
absence) to go to London by himself and to satisfy some curiosity of his
own about Norah by calling in Portland Place, under pretense of renewing
his old friendship with the Tyrrels. He came at luncheon-time, and saw
Norah; and, from all I can hear, was apparently better pleased with her
than he expected or wished to be when he came into the house.
"So far, this is mere guess-work; but it is unluckily certain that he
and Mrs. Tyrrel had some talk together alone when luncheon was over.
Your name was not mentioned; but when their conversation fell on Norah,
you were in both their minds, of course. The admiral (doing her full
justice personally) declared himself smitten with pity for her hard
lot in life. The scandalous conduct of her sister must always stand (he
feared) in the way of her future advantage. Who could marry her, without
first making it a condition that she and her sister were to be absolute
strangers to each other? And even then, the objection would remain--the
serious objection to the husband's family--of being connected by
marriage with such a woman as Mrs. Noel Vanstone. It was very sad; it
was not the poor girl's fault, but it was none the less true that
her sister was her rock ahead in life. So he ran on, with no real
ill-feeling toward Norah, but with an obstinate belief in his own
prejudices which bore the aspect of ill-feeling, and which people with
more temper than judgment would be but too readily disposed to resent
accordingly.
"Unfortunately, Mrs. Tyrrel is one of those people. She is an excellent,
warm-hearted woman, with a quick temper and very little judgment;
strongly attached to Norah, and heartily interested in Norah's welfare.
From all I can learn, she first resented the expression of the admiral's
opinion, in his presence, as worldly and selfish in the last degree;
and then interpreted it, behind his back, as a hint to discourage his
nephew's visits, which was a downright insult offered to a lady in her
own house. This was foolish enough so far; but worse folly was to come.
"As soon as your uncle was gone, Mrs. Tyrrel, most unwisely and
improperly, sent for Norah, and, repeating the conversation that had
taken place, warned her of the reception she might expect from the man
who stood toward you in the position of a father, if she accepted an
offer of marriage on your part. When I tell you that Norah's faithful
attachment to her sister still remains unshaken, and that there lies
hidden under her noble submission to the unhappy circumstances of her
life a proud susceptibility to slights of all kinds, which is deeply
seated in her nature--you will understand the true motive of the refusal
which has so naturally and so justly disappointed you. They are all
three equally to blame in this matter. Your uncle was wrong to state
his objections so roundly and inconsiderately as he did. Mrs. Tyrrel was
wrong to let her temper get the better of her, and to suppose herself
insulted where no insult was intended. And Norah was wrong to place a
scruple of pride, and a hopeless belief in her sister which no strangers
can be expected to share, above the higher claims of an attachment which
might have secured the happiness and the prosperity of her future life.
"But the mischief has been done. The next question is, can the harm be
remedied?
"I hope and believe it can. My advice is this: Don't take No for an
answer. Give her time enough to reflect on what she has done, and to
regret it (as I believe she will regret it) in secret; trust to my
influence over her to plead your cause for you at every opportunity I
can find; wait patiently for the right moment, and ask her again. Men,
being accustomed to act on reflection themselves, are a great deal too
apt to believe that women act on reflection, too. Women do nothing of
the sort. They act on impulse; and, in nine cases out of ten, they are
heartily sorry for it afterward.
"In the meanwhile, you must help your own interests by inducing your
uncle to alter his opinion, or at least to make the concession of
keeping his opinion to himself. Mrs. Tyrrel has rushed to the conclusion
that the harm he has done he did intentionally--which is as much as to
say, in so many words, that he had a prophetic conviction, when he came
into the house, of what she would do when he left it. My explanation of
the matter is a much simpler one. I believe that the knowledge of your
attachment naturally aroused his curiosity to see the object of it, and
that Mrs. Tyrrel's injudicious praises of Norah irritated his objections
into openly declaring themselves. Anyway, your course lies equally plain
before you. Use your influence over your uncle to persuade him into
setting matters right again; trust my settled resolution to see Norah
your wife before six months more are over our heads; and believe me,
your friend and well-wisher,
"HARRIET GARTH."
IV.
_From Mrs. Drake to George Bartram._
"St. Crux, April 17th.
"SIR--I direct these lines to the hotel you usually stay at in London,
hoping that you may return soon enough from foreign parts to receive my
letter without delay.
"I am sorry to say that some unpleasant events have taken place at St.
Crux since you left it, and that my honored master, the admiral, is far
from enjoying his usual good health. On both these accounts, I venture
to write to you on my own responsibility, for I think your presence is
needed in the house.
"Early in the month a most regrettable circumstance took place. Our new
parlor-maid was discovered by Mr. Mazey, at a late hour of the night
(with her master' s basket of keys in her possession), prying into the
private documents kept in the east library. The girl removed herself
from the house the next morning before we were any of us astir, and
she has not been heard of since. This event has annoyed and alarmed my
master very seriously; and to make matters worse, on the day when the
girl's treacherous conduct was discovered, the admiral was seized with
the first symptoms of a severe inflammatory cold. He was not himself
aware, nor was any one else, how he had caught the chill. The doctor was
sent for, and kept the inflammation down until the day before yesterday,
when it broke out again, under circumstances which I am sure you will be
sorry to hear, as I am truly sorry to write of them.
"On the date I have just mentioned--I mean the fifteenth of the
month--my master himself informed me that he had been dreadfully
disappointed by a letter received from you, which had come in the
morning from foreign parts, and had brought him bad news. He did not
tell me what the news was--but I have never, in all the years I have
passed in the admiral's service, seen him so distressingly upset, and so
unlike himself, as he was on that day. At night his uneasiness seemed
to increase. He was in such a state of irritation that he could not bear
the sound of Mr. Mazey's hard breathing outside his door, and he laid
his positive orders on the old man to go into one of the bedrooms for
that night. Mr. Mazey, to his own great regret, was of course obliged to
obey.
"Our only means of preventing the admiral from leaving his room in his
sleep, if the fit unfortunately took him, being now removed, Mr. Mazey
and I agreed to keep watch by turns through the night, sitting, with the
door ajar, in one of the empty rooms near our master's bed-chamber.
We could think of nothing better to do than this, knowing he would not
allow us to lock him in, and not having the door key in our possession,
even if we could have ventured to secure him in his room without his
permission. I kept watch for the first two hours, and then Mr. Mazey
took my place. After having been some little time in my own room, it
occurred to me that the old man was hard of hearing, and that if his
eyes grew at all heavy in the night, his ears were not to be trusted to
warn him if anything happened. I slipped on my clothes again, and went
back to Mr. Mazey. He was neither asleep nor awake--he was between the
two. My mind misgave me, and I went on to the admiral's room. The door
was open, and the bed was empty.
"Mr. Mazey and I went downstairs instantly. We looked in all the north
rooms, one after another, and found no traces of him. I thought of the
drawing-room next, and, being the more active of the two, went first to
examine it. The moment I turned the sharp corner of the passage, I saw
my master coming toward me through the open drawing-room door, asleep
and dreaming, with his keys in his hands. The sliding door behind him
was open also; and the fear came to me then, and has remained with me
ever since, that his dream had led him through the Banqueting-Hall into
the east rooms. We abstained from waking him, and followed his steps
until he returned of his own accord to his bed-chamber. The next
morning, I grieve to say, all the bad symptoms came back; and none of
the remedies employed have succeeded in getting the better of them yet.
By the doctor's advice, we refrained from telling the admiral what had
happened. He is still under the impression that he passed the night as
usual in his own room.
"I have been careful to enter into all the particulars of this
unfortunate accident, because neither Mr. Mazey nor myself desire to
screen ourselves from blame, if blame we have deserved. We both acted
for the best, and we both beg and pray you will consider our responsible
situation, and come as soon as possible to St. Crux. Our honored master
is very hard to manage; and the doctor thinks, as we do, that your
presence is wanted in the house.
"I remain, sir, with Mr. Mazey's respects and my own, your humble
servant,
"SOPHIA DRAKE."
V.
_From George Bartram to Miss Garth._
"St. Crux, April 22d.
"DEAR MISS GARTH--Pray excuse my not thanking you sooner for your kind
and consoling letter. We are in sad trouble at St. Crux. Any little
irritation I might have felt at my poor uncle's unlucky interference
in Portland Place is all forgotten in the misfortune of his serious
illness. He is suffering from internal inflammation, produced by cold;
and symptoms have shown themselves which are dangerous at his age. A
physician from London is now in the house. You shall hear more in a few
days. Meantime, believe me, with sincere gratitude,
"Yours most truly,
"GEORGE BARTRAM."
VI.
_From Mr. Loscombe to Mrs. Noel Vanstone._
"Lincoln's Inn Fields, May 6th.
"DEAR MADAM--I have unexpectedly received some information which is
of the most vital importance to your interests. The news of Admiral
Bartram's death has reached me this morning. He expired at his own
house, on the fourth of the present month.
"This event at once disposes of the considerations which I had
previously endeavored to impress on you, in relation to your
discovery at St. Crux. The wisest course we can now follow is to open
communications at once with the executors of the deceased gentleman;
addressing them through the medium of the admiral's legal adviser, in
the first instance.
"I have dispatched a letter this day to the solicitor in question. It
simply warns him that we have lately become aware of the existence of a
private Document, controlling the deceased gentleman in his use of the
legacy devised to him by Mr. Noel Vanstone's will. My letter assumes
that the document will be easily found among the admiral's papers; and
it mentions that I am the solicitor appointed by Mrs. Noel Vanstone to
receive communications on her behalf. My object in taking this step is
to cause a search to be instituted for the Trust--in the very probable
event of the executors not having met with it yet-before the usual
measures are adopted for the administration of the admiral's estate.
We will threaten legal proceedings, if we find that the object does not
succeed. But I anticipate no such necessity. Admiral Bartram's executors
must be men of high standing and position; and they will do justice to
you and to themselves in this matter by looking for the Trust.
"Under these circumstances, you will naturally ask, 'What are our
prospects when the document is found?' Our prospects have a bright side
and a dark side. Let us take the bright side to begin with.
"What do we actually know?
"We know, first, that the Trust does really exist. Secondly, that there
is a provision in it relating to the marriage of Mr. George Bartram in
a given time. Thirdly, that the time (six months from the date of your
husband's death) expired on the third of this month. Fourthly, that Mr.
George Bartram (as I have found out by inquiry, in the absence of any
positive information on the subject possessed by yourself) is, at the
present moment, a single man. The conclusion naturally follows, that the
object contemplated by the Trust, in this case, is an object that has
failed.
"If no other provisions have been inserted in the document--or if, being
inserted, those other provisions should be discovered to have failed
also--I believe it to be impossible (especially if evidence can be found
that the admiral himself considered the Trust binding on him) for the
executors to deal with your husband's fortune as legally forming part of
Admiral Bartram's estate. The legacy is expressly declared to have been
left to him, on the understanding that he applies it to certain stated
objects--and those objects have failed. What is to be done with the
money? It was not left to the admiral himself, on the testator's own
showing; and the purposes for which it _was_ left have not been, and
cannot be, carried out. I believe (if the case here supposed really
happens) that the money must revert to the testator's estate. In that
event the Law, dealing with it as a matter of necessity, divides it
into two equal portions. One half goes to Mr. Noel Vans tone's childless
widow, and the other half is divided among Mr. Noel Vanstone's next of
kin.
"You will no doubt discover the obvious objection to the case in our
favor, as I have here put it. You will see that it depends for its
practical realization not on one contingency, but on a series of
contingencies, which must all happen exactly as we wish them to happen.
I admit the force of the objection; but I can tell you, at the same
time, that these said contingencies are by no means so improbable as
they may look on the face of them.
"We have every reason to believe that the Trust, like the Will, was
_not_ drawn by a lawyer. That is one circumstance in our favor that is
enough of itself to cast a doubt on the soundness of all, or any, of the
remaining provisions which we may not be acquainted with. Another
chance which we may count on is to be found, as I think, in that strange
handwriting, placed under the signature on the third page of the Letter,
which you saw, but which you, unhappily, omitted to read. All the
probabilities point to those lines as written by Admiral Bartram: and
the position which they occupy is certainly consistent with the theory
that they touch the important subject of his own sense of obligation
under the Trust.
"I wish to raise no false hopes in your mind. I only desire to satisfy
you that we have a case worth trying.
"As for the dark side of the prospect, I need not enlarge on it. After
what I have already written, you will understand that the existence of
a sound provision, unknown to us, in the Trust, which has been properly
carried out by the admiral--or which can be properly carried out by his
representatives--would be necessarily fatal to our hopes. The legacy
would be, in this case, devoted to the purpose or purposes contemplated
by your husband--and, from that moment, you would have no claim.
"I have only to add, that as soon as I hear from the late admiral's man
of business, you shall know the result.
"Believe me, dear madam, faithfully yours,
"JOHN LOSCOMBE."
VII.
_From George Bartram to Miss Garth._
"St. Crux, May 15th.
"DEAR MISS GARTH--I trouble you with another letter: partly to thank you
for your kind expression of sympathy with me, under the loss that I have
sustained; and partly to tell you of an extraordinary application made
to my uncle's executors, in which you and Miss Vanstone may both feel
interested, as Mrs. Noel Vanstone is directly concerned in it.
"Knowing my own ignorance of legal technicalities, I inclose a copy of
the application, instead of trying to describe it. You will notice as
suspicious, that no explanation is given of the manner in which the
alleged discovery of one of my uncle's secrets was made, by persons who
are total strangers to him.
"On being made acquainted with the circumstances, the executors at once
applied to me. I could give them no positive information--for my uncle
never consulted me on matters of business. But I felt in honor bound to
tell them, that during the last six months of his life, the admiral had
occasionally let fall expressions of impatience in my hearing, which
led to the conclusion that he was annoyed by a private responsibility of
some kind. I also mentioned that he had imposed a very strange condition
on me--a condition which, in spite of his own assurances to the
contrary, I was persuaded could not have emanated from himself--of
marrying within a given time (which time has now expired), or of not
receiving from him a certain sum of money, which I believed to be the
same in amount as the sum bequeathed to him in my cousin's will. The
executors agreed with me that these circumstances gave a color of
probability to an otherwise incredible story; and they decided that
a search should be instituted for the Secret Trust, nothing in the
slightest degree resembling this same Trust having been discovered, up
to that time, among the admiral's papers.
"The search (no trifle in such a house as this) has now been in full
progress for a week. It is superintended by both the executors, and by
my uncle's lawyer, who is personally, as well as professionally, known
to Mr. Loscombe (Mrs. Noel Vanstone's solicitor), and who has been
included in the proceedings at the express request of Mr. Loscombe
himself. Up to this time, nothing whatever has been found. Thousands and
thousands of letters have been examined, and not one of them bears the
remotest resemblance to the letter we are looking for.
"Another week will bring the search to an end. It is only at my express
request that it will be persevered with so long. But as the admiral's
generosity has made me sole heir to everything he possessed, I feel
bound to do the fullest justice to the interests of others, however
hostile to myself those interests may be.
"With this view, I have not hesitated to reveal to the lawyer a
constitutional peculiarity of my poor uncle's, which was always kept a
secret among us at his own request--I mean his tendency to somnambulism.
I mentioned that he had been discovered (by the housekeeper and his old
servant) walking in his sleep, about three weeks before his death, and
that the part of the house in which he had been seen, and the basket of
keys which he was carrying in his hand, suggested the inference that he
had come from one of the rooms in the east wing, and that he might have
opened some of the pieces of furniture in one of them. I surprised the
lawyer (who seemed to be quite ignorant of the extraordinary actions
constantly performed by somnambulists), by informing him that my uncle
could find his way about the house, lock and unlock doors, and remove
objects of all kinds from one place to another, as easily in his sleep
as in his waking hours. And I declared that, while I felt the faintest
doubt in my own mind whether he might not have been dreaming of the
Trust on the night in question, and putting the dream in action in his
sleep, I should not feel satisfied unless the rooms in the east wing
were searched again.
"It is only right to add that there is not the least foundation in fact
for this idea of mine. During the latter part of his fatal illness, my
poor uncle was quite incapable of speaking on any subject whatever. From
the time of my arrival at St. Crux, in the middle of last month, to the
time of his death, not a word dropped from him which referred in the
remotest way to the Secret Trust.
"Here then, for the present, the matter rests. If you think it right to
communicate the contents of this letter to Miss Vanstone, pray tell
her that it will not be my fault if her sister's assertion (however
preposterous it may seem to my uncle's executors) is not fairly put to
the proof.
"Believe me, dear Miss Garth, always truly yours,
"GEORGE BARTRAM.
"P. S.--As soon as all business matters are settled, I am going abroad
for some months, to try the relief of change of scene. The house will be
shut up, and left under the charge of Mrs. Drake. I have not forgotten
your once telling me that you should like to see St. Crux, if you ever
found yourself in this neighborhood. If you are at all likely to be
in Essex during the time when I am abroad, I have provided against the
chance of your being disappointed, by leaving instructions with Mrs.
Drake to give you, and any friends of yours, the freest admission to the
house and grounds."
VIII.
_From Mr. Loscombe to Mrs. Noel Vanstone._
"Lincoln's Inn Fields, May 24th.
"DEAR MADAM--After a whole fortnight's search--conducted, I am bound to
admit, with the most conscientious and unrelaxing care--no such document
as the Secret Trust has been found among the papers left at St. Crux by
the late Admiral Bartram.
"Under these circumstances, the executors have decided on acting under
the only recognizable authority which they have to guide them--the
admiral's own will. This document (executed some years since) bequeaths
the whole of his estate, both real and personal (that is to say, all the
lands he possesses, and all the money he possesses, at the time of his
death), to his nephew. The will is plain, and the result is inevitable.
Your husband's fortune is lost to you from this moment. Mr. Georg e
Bartram legally inherits it, as he legally inherits the house and estate
of St. Crux.
"I make no comment upon this extraordinary close to the proceedings.
The Trust may have been destroyed, or the Trust may be hidden in some
place of concealment inaccessible to discovery. Either way, it is, in my
opinion, impossible to found any valid legal declaration on a knowledge
of the document so fragmentary and so incomplete as the knowledge which
you possess. If other lawyers differ from me on this point, by all
means consult them. I have devoted money enough and time enough to the
unfortunate attempt to assert your interests; and my connection with the
matter must, from this moment, be considered at an end.
"Your obedient servant,
"JOHN LOSCOMBE."
IX.
_From Mrs. Ruddock (Lodging-house Keeper) to Mr. Loscombe._
"Park Terrace, St. John's Wood, June 2d.
"SIR--Having, by Mrs. Noel Vanstone's directions, taken letters for her
to the post, addressed to you--and knowing no one else to apply to--I
beg to inquire whether you are acquainted with any of her friends; for
I think it right that they should be stirred up to take some steps about
her.
"Mrs. Vanstone first came to me in November last, when she and her maid
occupied my apartments. On that occasion, and again on this, she has
given me no cause to complain of her. She has behaved like a lady, and
paid me my due. I am writing, as a mother of a family, under a sense of
responsibility--I am not writing with an interested motive.
"After proper warning given, Mrs. Vanstone (who is now quite
alone) leaves me to-morrow. She has not concealed from me that her
circumstances are fallen very low, and that she cannot afford to remain
in my house. This is all she has told me--I know nothing of where she is
going, or what she means to do next. But I have every reason to believe
she desires to destroy all traces by which she might be found, after
leaving this place--for I discovered her in tears yesterday, burning
letters which were doubtless letters from her friends. In looks and
conduct she has altered most shockingly in the last week. I believe
there is some dreadful trouble on her mind; and I am afraid, from what I
see of her, that she is on the eve of a serious illness. It is very sad
to see such a young woman so utterly deserted and friendless as she is
now.
"Excuse my troubling you with this letter; it is on my conscience to
write it. If you know any of her relations, please warn them that time
is not to be wasted. If they lose to-morrow, they may lose the last
chance of finding her.
"Your humble servant,
"CATHERINE RUDDOCK."
X.
_From Mr. Loscombe to Mrs. Ruddock._
"Lincoln's Inn Fields, June 2d.
"MADAM--MY only connection with Mrs. Noel Vanstone was a professional
one, and that connection is now at an end. I am not acquainted with any
of her friends; and I cannot undertake to interfere personally, either
with her present or future proceedings.
"Regretting my inability to afford you any assistance, I remain, your
obedient servant,
"JOHN LOSCOMBE."