‘A letter from Sibyl,’ said Duncan. ‘Why does a woman just married think it is good to hear about her? And do the pair put themselves together to show up their simplicity? Otherwise the habit leaves me at a loss. You read it, one of you women. I do not read letters from a man unable to speak from his own mouth.’
‘They are leaving Italy to-day, Father, and beginning the journey home. It will take them a week.’
‘They would see things better when they had eyes for something beside each other. And the time will be here soon enough, for it to be worth their while to wait.’
‘Sibyl has lost her diamond brooch! The one you gave her for a wedding present. What a sad thing!’
‘Well, she is the only person who will feel the loss, except that she needed the improvement it made in her.’
‘They came home one night, and found it gone. They took every step to recover it, but with no result.’
‘Of course they found it gone, when they had lost it. They wouldn’t have found it to their hand, would they? The step they could take, would be to go back and live their lives again, and 241 leave it under lock and key. Is there anything else they found it worth while to say?’
‘Indeed there is, Father. An important thing, which you may like to read for yourself.’
‘I should not; or why should I ask you to do so?’
‘They are to have a child in the spring, and are both very happy about it, and hope you are too.’
‘Why should it alter my happiness? I shall have my own in the meantime, and appear as November passing as May. And why make a mouth over saying it? Your being an old maid is no reason why we should make you more so. It had better have been you than either Cassie or Sibyl, as you are younger than the one, and older than the other. And there are enough brats about to make the future. The one upstairs begins to threaten our peace. No, keep the letter. Why should I carry it with me?’
‘I hope you will have a daughter, Cassie,’ said Nance. ‘A second brat of the same kind would indeed threaten our peace. Father could not be blamed, if his feelings were too much for him; and we have never faced him in that state, without blaming him?’
Duncan was not to suffer this test. His real and supposed sons were never beneath his roof together. A complete and simple tragedy fell on his house.
A day or two later Cassie was awakened by a violent knocking at her door, and found Bethia at her bed.
‘Will you please get up, ma’am? Master Richard will not wake! Nurse will not leave him, and begs you to come at once.’
Cassie ran upstairs and was assailed by fumes of gas, and realized they had their source in the room where the child lay. The room itself was full, though the windows were opened wide. The nurse was kneeling by the crib, where the boy seemed to 242 be asleep. Cassie touched his hands and limbs, and ran to find her husband. He had heard the stir, and met her; and they went together to the bed, stood together with their eyes on the child, and sent an urgent message to Fabian, knowing that he was dead.
‘Where does the gas turn on?’ said Duncan.
‘Behind the cupboard, sir, where you cannot see it from here. He must have got out of bed, and turned it on. I never thought of such a thing. He is at an age when no one can tell how much he knows.’
‘Were not the windows open? The fumes should have found an escape.’
‘I don’t know what to think, sir: I must have deceived myself. I was sure I opened them, and put the latches in their cases. But they were shut; I will tell you the truth.’
‘Did the child sleep alone?’
‘For the last few weeks, sir, since he was wakeful at nights. He sleeps better by himself, and I could hear the least sound.’
‘Did you not smell the gas?’
‘Yes, sir; it woke me, and I came to him at once.’
‘He could surely not have managed the windows,’ said Cassie.
‘He had seen me doing them, ma’am. He must have climbed on a chair: there is one out of place. I have never known him do such a thing, but he must have noticed more than I thought.’
‘He must begin some time to do anything fresh,’ said Duncan, breaking off, as he realized the child would do nothing again. ‘You are right to be honest, my good woman. It is the way to help.’
Fabian entered the room, and went to the child’s bed. The moment of waiting was as tense as if they had hoped. He turned at once, and spoke to Duncan. 243
‘There is nothing to be done; he has not breathed for hours. He had no suffering in all his life. We can’t many of us say as much as that.’
‘We most of us could, if we came to our end as he has. You need not put things as they are not. It does nothing. I will take the women away, and meet you again. I direct that things shall be left as they are. Admittance will be easy for anyone whose business is here. We will behave as becomes us, as we are placed.’
The family met at breakfast, stunned and silent, but with a sense that they might have had a fuller grief. Duncan’s aloofness from his supposed son, his tacit discouragement of interest in him, enhanced, as it seemed, by his consistent thought for his welfare, had prevented feeling from gathering about him, as it might have about another child; and they suffered from the pathos of the helpless death, and from the threat of the world’s judgement, rather than any actual sorrow.
‘The nurse is honest,’ said Fabian, ‘a much better woman than the last. She may have had a lapse of memory, but she is not that kind. The boy must have climbed out of bed, and played with the gas and the windows. He had seen such things done, and wanted to do them; had probably watched on purpose. It was impossible to think of it; no blame attaches to anyone; but there is nothing else it could have been.’
‘We must send a telegram to Grant and Sibyl,’ said Duncan.
‘Is there any need, Father? They will be home in three days.’
‘I said we must send a telegram. That is a way of saying there is need. They will be home to-morrow evening.’ Duncan’s manner showed he might have been more deeply shaken.
Bethia appeared, revealing by her face that she identified herself with the family. 244
‘Mrs Jekyll and Mr Oscar hope you will see them, ma’am.’
‘Well, so there is trouble again,’ said Gretchen. ‘And of a kind you can’t pretend to keep to yourselves. We have joined your family in time to share it.’
‘We must stand together,’ said Duncan.
‘We shan’t have much chance of anything else. It is something that no one is accountable.’
‘It was not a thing that should have happened.’
‘I did not say it was: I should be saying it by myself.’
‘The child was my charge,’ said Cassie.
‘People won’t want to disagree with you. You will find yourself welcome to your place.’
‘They will say it would not have happened, if he had been my own son.’
‘They will; but it does not make me wish he had been your own.’
‘It is a crushing thing,’ said Cassie. ‘A helpless child!’
‘Don’t talk in that witless way,’ said Duncan. ‘What difference does his being helpless make? If he had been less helpless, it would not have happened. You speak as if someone had done it on purpose.’
‘If it were possible, I should think someone had.’
‘Well, we have seen it was not possible; unless you did it yourself. Women in your state are known to do strange things.’
‘Men in your state too, Duncan,’ said Oscar.
Duncan looked at his brother-in-law, and gave a short laugh.
‘I hope you subdue that man, Cassie?’
‘Yes, yes, she subdues me. A masterful woman: I become a cipher in my own house.’
‘Will you see Mr Bode and Miss Bode, ma’am?’ said Bethia.
245‘Yes, yes; let anyone come in,’ said Duncan. ‘We are glad of the support of our friends.’
‘Father dear, no questions!’ came Dulcia’s voice from the hall.
‘Mrs Edgeworth, I hoped you might command me to some service,’ said Mr Bode, doing his utmost with statement.
Dulcia came up to Nance, and stood with her eyes before her, openly controlling the workings of her face.
‘We are here to prove we are your friends through thick and thin.’
‘Which is this?’ said Nance.
‘Darling, you are worked up and strained.’
‘An odd person would wonder at it,’ said Duncan.
‘My wife would not come,’ said Mr Bode. ‘You could not bear with us all, and she put herself last, as usual.’
‘She withdrew from the competition,’ said Gretchen.
‘Dear ones, that is what it was; a competition,’ said Dulcia. ‘You may believe it or not, but it was.’
‘I believe it,’ said Gretchen. ‘I dare say all their friends will join it.’
‘If they do not!’ said Dulcia, clenching her fist. ‘Well, I for one shall think very little of them; I won’t go further at the moment; I will wait for the hour of need.’
Florence entered the room, without waiting to be shown, and went up to Cassie.
‘There is a dear, genuine character!’ said Dulcia, with a slight gesture.
‘We are not mending matters by being on the top of each other,’ said Gretchen.
‘We may be in a way,’ said Dulcia: ‘I feel it does make a difference.’
‘You feel you are doing some good, do you?’
246‘Mrs Jekyll, I do: I feel I am doing all I can, and no one can do more. And I should be deeply ashamed, if I had stayed away. You feel with me, Mrs Smollett?’
‘It was a question of whether I was wanted; and I chose to think I was.’
‘Miss Fellowes!’ said Bethia.
Beatrice came swiftly forward, in semi-mourning garments, and going up to Nance and Cassie, kissed them in a deliberate manner, as if by no means omitting signs of intimacy. Florence covertly, and Gretchen openly, regarded her apparel.
‘It is good of you to come, Miss Fellowes,’ said Duncan. ‘Our friends are what we thought them.’
‘If we had stayed away!’ breathed Dulcia.
Beatrice looked at Duncan, and opened her mouth, but at the moment her cousin hurried past, in her usual clothes.
‘Now you are good to be all together. I let Beatrice get a start, and she took a base advantage. But you do not assume our feelings are in that proportion.’
‘I am sure they know we feel for them equally,’ said Beatrice.
‘Now is there any job you can put me to?’ said Miss Burtenshaw, not turning her eyes on her cousin. ‘Can I write letters, or go on errands, or do any of the hundred and one things that whisper they must be done?’
‘I should be grateful if you would write some letters,’ said Cassie. ‘They must be written, and I feel I cannot settle to them.’
‘And you shall not,’ said the other, drawing off her gloves. ‘I feel you are treating me kindly. I ask a favour, and am at once granted it, most rare and congenial treatment.’
She and Cassie left the room, and Beatrice stood looking after them. 247
‘Is there anything I can do, Nance?’
‘No. Setting you all to wait upon us will not mend matters.’
‘Dearest, I am going to give you a lead,’ said Dulcia, taking Beatrice’s elbow. ‘You want to give Nance your familiar – and dear and true message. Now does that break the ice?’
Beatrice turned a smile upon Nance.
‘I am ashamed of waiting for the ice to be broken; I am but a feeble witness. But may I second the effort? I do not claim it as mine.’
‘It is kind of you both,’ said Nance, not disputing this view of the initiative; ‘but the message is familiar, as Dulcia said.’
‘Dear, don’t repudiate what may bring you comfort and strength,’ said the last.
‘Why should I repudiate it, any more than either of you? Or do you hesitate to state your reasons?’
‘Darling, if it has brought a twinkle to your eyes, it has done its work.’
‘It is supposed to be cheering, I know.’
‘Mrs Edgeworth,’ said Dulcia, as Cassie returned, ‘I think questions would be, like comparisons, odious. But it would be a comfort to know if we have any light upon what has befallen us.’
‘The child must have played with the gas, and shut the windows; unless his nurse forgot to open them. No definite light is possible.’
‘Mrs Edgeworth,’ said Dulcia, standing with one foot forward, ‘a thought has struck me! Forgive my giving voice to it. It is, that that poor, broken-hearted nurse should not be condemned and sent forth but should be bidden to stay and work out her atonement.’
248 ‘She has been bidden to stay,’ said Duncan. ‘There is no reason for any other course. She is an innocent woman.’
Dulcia drew back, bowing her head with dramatic submission. Beatrice, whose eyes had been upon her, came up.
‘I think we should avoid a note of flippancy in dealing with certain things. The more so, that jokes of that kind are so easy, and in their way so effective.’
‘Oh, a note of flippancy, anything, everything, is grist to my mill, while it brings a smile to Nance’s face, and any cheer to this family. I can’t be taken to task for putting my opinions, your opinions, any in this world or the next, second to that.’
Beatrice drew back, recognizing her isolation.
‘Mrs Edgeworth, we have done nothing for you,’ said Mr Bode; ‘but you have done much for us. I can tell my wife that in goodness to your friends you are yourselves.’
‘Dear Father!’ said Dulcia. ‘Sometimes he does make a success of his little speeches. I wholeheartedly second what he said.’
Mr Bode took his way, assuming the continued need for his daughter, whose feeling was still with him.
Beatrice walked swiftly and silently to Florence.
‘Mrs Smollett, a thought has struck me, which I think should be communicated to someone near the family. Do you know if the sad news has been sent to Alison Edgeworth, Alison Bode, as she is now? Nothing alters the fact that she is the child’s mother.’
Florence regarded her with level eyes, and turned them to Cassie.
‘My dear, has anyone let the child’s mother know? If not, I can attend to it.’
‘A telegram has been sent to her husband, so that he may break it to her.’
249 ‘But, dear, I am grateful,’ said Dulcia, edging to Beatrice, perhaps with some feeling of compunction. ‘That question comes near home, as you may guess. I have suppressed it, uncertain of its opportuneness. You did better.’
‘I felt the little job should be done. It went a thought against the grain, as I was myself not sure of its being welcome. But it was clearly not a matter for choice; and the effort was soon over.’
‘Well, I have been allowed to make myself useful,’ said Miss Burtenshaw, in the hall. ‘It made me glad I did not delay, to make myself ornamental. And I am to come back this afternoon to be more useful. I feel inclined to hold my head rather high.’
‘We all had our little duties,’ said her cousin.
‘So we are not to be allowed to omit our farewells after all. We thought we had baulked you, Mr Edgeworth,’ said Miss Burtenshaw, turning to her host in comprehension of his view.
‘Good-bye, Mr Edgeworth, good-bye – Cassie,’ said Dulcia. ‘I feel it an occasion when any sign of intimacy may be welcome and even – decent. I shall not go so far again.’
‘I hope not,’ said Oscar, ‘considering the impetus needed.’
‘I am glad Mrs Jekyll is staying with them,’ said Beatrice; ‘I don’t know how we should feel, if we were leaving them by themselves.’
‘I certainly cannot know,’ said her cousin, ‘as I should not have left them.’
‘We might not have had the choice.’
‘I should have had one, as I should have made it.’
‘We might not have been able to,’ said Beatrice, continuing at once. ‘I wonder if there is anything we can do for Mr Jekyll, as he is leaving his work to-day.’
250 ‘I do not wonder; I find I can do enough to take every minute until I return. I did not rush off as you did, without a word, but I made use of the interval.’
‘I did not rush off. I heard my friends were in trouble, and went at once to them.’
‘Did it not occur to you that I should wish to go too?’
‘I am afraid I was thinking only of them at the moment.’
‘I am afraid your point of view was limited,’ her cousin easily agreed.
‘Can I help you in anything you have to do?’ said Beatrice.
‘You can help most of us in most times,’ said Dulcia. ‘I for one have been honouring you in my mind to-day, as you stood there in your simple black, enough to show you identified yourself with the family, and yet not enough for complete identification. I was struck by it as the acme of good taste.’
Miss Burtenshaw just glanced at her cousin’s attire, at this description.
‘I am afraid claims for oneself may sometimes creep into one’s thoughts for others,’ said Beatrice.
‘We all find that sometimes,’ said Miss Burtenshaw; ‘though I cannot be accused of feeling much was due to myself to-day. It is true you did not rush off. You made most deliberate preparations.’
‘I did not see it as what was due to myself, but as what was due to my friends.’
‘You did not tell me you were going to adapt yourself in that way.’
‘It did not seem to me worth speaking about.’
‘Only worth doing.’
‘I think, if a thing like that does not occur to one personally, it has no value.’ 251
‘Value?’ said Miss Burtenshaw, slightly contracting her brows.
‘I meant, no point in it.’
‘You are both such necessary people, that competition between you would be absurd,’ said Dulcia, waving her hand, and desisting in view of the circumstances. ‘A real reductio ad absurdum. Give my love to Mr Burtenshaw, and to each other, and don’t forget the last.’
The cousins were silent over this interpretation of their words.
‘I am sorry I did not tell you I was going to change my clothes, if you would have liked to know.’
‘I should not have liked it. It was better I should not. It only struck me as odd, that you should not communicate the idea, in case anyone would like to follow it, especially as you thought it due to our friends. It is a good thing I did not know; or I might have spent time useful to other people, in trimming up myself.’
‘I am glad you can be so useful to the Edgeworths.’
‘Yes; I trotted about this morning in my old clothes; and I shall trot round again in them this afternoon, and put forth my best effort, undaunted by them.’