“IremityouaPostOfficeorderforyourfare,andwillpayyourreturnjourney。
“Ifyouwantclothestocomein,orderwhatyouconsidersuitable,anddesirethatthebillbesenttome;Iwillpayitimmediately,toanamountnotexceedingeightorninepounds,andifyouwillletmeknowwhattrainyouwillcomeby,Iwillsendthecarriagetomeetyou。Believeme,Youraffectionatefather,T。PONTIFEX。”
OfcoursetherecouldbenohesitationonErnest’spart。Hecouldaffordtosmilenowathisfather’sofferingtopayforhisclothes,andhissendinghimaPostOfficeorderfortheexactpriceofasecond-classticket,andhewasofcourseshockedatlearningthestatehismotherwassaidtobein,andtouchedatherdesiretoseehim。Hetelegraphedthathewouldcomedownatonce。Isawhimalittlebeforehestarted,andwaspleasedtoseehowwellhistailorhaddonebyhim。Towneleyhimselfcouldnothavebeenappointedmorebecomingly。Hisportmanteau,hisrailwaywrapper,everythinghehadabouthim,wasinkeeping。Ithoughthehadgrownmuchbetter-lookingthanhehadbeenattwoorthreeandtwenty。Hisyearandahalfofpeacehadeffacedalltheilleffectsofhisprevioussuffering,andnowthathehadbecomeactuallyrichtherewasanairofinsoucianceandgoodhumouruponhisface,asofamanwithwhomeverythingwasgoingperfectlyright,whichwouldhavemadeamuchplainermangood-looking。Iwasproudofhimanddelightedwithhim。“Iamsure。”Isaidtomyself,“thatwhateverelsehemaydo,hewillnevermarryagain。”
Thejourneywasapainfulone。Ashedrewneartothestationandcaughtsightofeachfamiliarfeature,sostrongwastheforceofassociationthathefeltasthoughhiscomingintohisaunt’smoneyhadbeenadream,andhewereagainreturningtohisfather’shouseashehadreturnedtoitfromCambridgeforthevacations。Dowhathewould,theolddullweightofhome-sicknessbegantooppresshim,hisheartbeatfastashethoughtofhisapproachingmeetingwithhisfatherandmother,“andIshallhave。”hesaidtohimself,“tokissCharlotte。”
Wouldhisfathermeethimatthestation?Wouldhegreethimasthoughnothinghadhappened,orwouldhebecoldanddistant?How,again,wouldhetakethenewsofhisson’sgoodfortune?Asthetraindrewuptotheplatform,Ernest’seyeranhurriedlyoverthefewpeoplewhowereinthestation。Hisfather’swell-knownformwasnotamongthem,butontheothersideofthepalingswhichdividedthestationyardfromtheplatform,hesawtheponycarriage,looking,ashethought,rathershabby,andrecognisedhisfather’scoachman。InafewminutesmorehewasinthecarriagedrivingtowardsBattersby。Hecouldnothelpsmilingashesawthecoachmangivealookofsurpriseatfindinghimsomuchchangedinpersonalappearance。ThecoachmanwasthemoresurprisedbecausewhenErnesthadlastbeenathomehehadbeendressedasaclergyman,andnowhewasnotonlyalayman,butalaymanwhowasgotupregardlessofexpense。ThechangewassogreatthatitwasnottillErnestactuallyspoketohimthatthecoachmanknewhim。
“Howaremyfatherandmother?”heaskedhurriedly,ashegotintothecarriage。“TheMaster’swell,sir。”wastheanswer,“buttheMissisisverysadly。”Thehorseknewthathewasgoinghomeandpulledhardatthereins。Theweatherwascoldandraw——theveryidealofaNovemberday;inonepartoftheroadthefloodswereout,andnearheretheyhadtopassthroughanumberofhorsemenanddogs,forthehoundshadmetthatmorningataplacenearBattersby。
Ernestsawseveralpeoplewhomheknew,buttheyeither,asismostlikely,didnotrecognisehim,ordidnotknowofhisgoodluck。
WhenBattersbychurchtowerdrewnear,andhesawtheRectoryonthetopofthehill,itschimneysjustshowingabovetheleaflesstreeswithwhichitwassurrounded,hethrewhimselfbackinthecarriageandcoveredhisfacewithhishands。
Itcametoanend,aseventheworstquartersofanhourdo,andinafewminutesmorehewasonthestepsinfrontofhisfather’shouse。Hisfather,hearingthecarriagearrive,camealittlewaydownthestepstomeethim。LikethecoachmanhesawataglancethatErnestwasappointedasthoughmoneywereabundantwithhim,andthathewaslookingrobustandfullofhealthandvigour。
Thiswasnotwhathehadbargainedfor。HewantedErnesttoreturn,buthewastoreturnasanyrespectable,well-regulatedprodigaloughttoreturn——abject,broken-hearted,askingforgivenessfromthetenderestandmostlong-sufferingfatherinthewholeworld。Ifheshouldhaveshoesandstockingsandwholeclothesatall,itshouldbeonlybecauseabsoluteragsandtattershadbeengraciouslydispensedwith,whereasherehewasswaggeringinagreyulsterandablueandwhiteneck-tie,andlookingbetterthanTheobaldhadeverseenhiminhislife。Itwasunprincipled。WasitforthisthathehadbeengenerousenoughtooffertoprovideErnestwithdecentclothesinwhichtocomeandvisithismother’sdeath-bed?CouldanyadvantagebemeanerthantheonewhichErnesthadtaken?Well,hewouldnotgoapennybeyondtheeightorninepoundswhichhehadpromised。Itwasfortunatehehadgivenalimit。Whyhe,Theobald,hadneverbeenabletoaffordsuchaportmanteauinhislife。HewasstillusinganoldonewhichhisfatherhadturnedovertohimwhenhewentuptoCambridge。Besides,hehadsaidclothes,notaportmanteau。
Ernestsawwhatwaspassingthroughhisfather’smind,andfeltthatheoughttohavepreparedhiminsomewayforwhathenowsaw;buthehadsenthistelegramsoimmediatelyonreceivinghisfather’sletter,andhadfolloweditsopromptlythatitwouldnothavebeeneasytodosoevenifhehadthoughtofit。Heputouthishandandsaidlaughingly,“Oh,it’sallpaidfor——IamafraidyoudonotknowthatMrOvertonhashandedovertomeAuntAlethea’smoney。”
Theobaldflushedscarlet。“Butwhy。”hesaid,andthesewerethefirstwordsthatactuallycrossedhislips——“ifthemoneywasnothistokeep,didhenothanditovertomybrotherJohnandme?”Hestammeredagooddealandlookedsheepish,buthegotthewordsout。
“Because,mydearfather。”saidErneststilllaughing,“myauntleftittohimintrustforme,notintrusteitherforyouorformyUncleJohn——andithasaccumulatedtillitisnowover70,000
pounds。Buttellmehowismymother?”
“No,Ernest。”saidTheobaldexcitedly,“themattercannotresthere,Imustknowthatthisisallopenandaboveboard。”
ThishadthetrueTheobaldringandinstantlybroughtthewholetrainofideaswhichinErnest’smindwereconnectedwithhisfather。Thesurroundingsweretheoldfamiliarones,butthesurroundedwerechangedalmostbeyondpowerofrecognition。HeturnedsharplyonTheobaldinamoment。Iwillnotrepeatthewordsheused,fortheycameoutbeforehehadtimetoconsiderthem,andtheymightstrikesomeofmyreadersasdisrespectful;therewerenotmanyofthem,buttheywereeffectual。Theobaldsaidnothing,butturnedalmostofanashencolour;heneveragainspoketohissoninsuchawayastomakeitnecessaryforhimtorepeatwhathehadsaidonthisoccasion。Ernestquicklyrecoveredhistemperandagainaskedafterhismother。Theobaldwasgladenoughtotakethisopeningnow,andrepliedatonceinthetonehewouldhaveassumedtowardsonehemostparticularlydesiredtoconciliate,thatshewasgettingrapidlyworseinspiteofallhehadbeenabletodoforher,andconcludedbysayingshehadbeenthecomfortandmainstayofhislifeformorethanthirtyyears,butthathecouldnotwishitprolonged。
ThepairthenwentupstairstoChristina’sroom,theoneinwhichErnesthadbeenborn。Hisfatherwentbeforehimandpreparedherforherson’sapproach。Thepoorwomanraisedherselfinbedashecametowardsher,andweepingassheflungherarmsaroundhim,cried:“Oh,Iknewhewouldcome,Iknew,Iknewhecouldcome。”
Ernestbrokedownandweptashehadnotdoneforyears。
“Oh,myboy,myboy。”shesaidassoonasshecouldrecoverhervoice。“Haveyouneverreallybeennearusforalltheseyears?
Ah,youdonotknowhowwehavelovedyouandmournedoveryou,papajustasmuchasIhave。Youknowheshowshisfeelingsless,butI
cannevertellyouhowvery,verydeeplyhehasfeltforyou。
SometimesatnightIhavethoughtIhaveheardfootstepsinthegarden,andhavegotquietlyoutofbedlestIshouldwakehim,andgonetothewindowtolookout,buttherehasbeenonlydarkorthegreynessofthemorning,andIhavegonecryingbacktobedagain。
StillIthinkyouhavebeennearusthoughyouweretooproudtoletusknow——andnowatlastIhaveyouinmyarmsoncemore,mydearest,dearestboy。”
Howcruel,howinfamouslyunfeelingErnestthoughthehadbeen。
“Mother。”hesaid,“forgiveme——thefaultwasmine,Ioughtnottohavebeensohard;Iwaswrong,verywrong“;thepoorblubberingfellowmeantwhathesaid,andhisheartyearnedtohismotherashehadneverthoughtthatitcouldyearnagain。“Buthaveyounever。”
shecontinued,“comealthoughitwasinthedarkandwedidnotknowit——oh,letmethinkthatyouhavenotbeensocruelaswehavethoughtyou。Tellmethatyoucameifonlytocomfortmeandmakemehappier。”
Ernestwasready。“Ihadnomoneytocomewith,mother,tilljustlately。”
ThiswasanexcuseChristinacouldunderstandandmakeallowancefor;“Oh,thenyouwouldhavecome,andIwilltakethewillforthedeed——andnowthatIhaveyousafeagain,saythatyouwillnever,neverleaveme——nottill——nottill——oh,myboy,havetheytoldyouI
amdying?”Sheweptbitterly,andburiedherheadinherpillow。
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