fc &\ x->, % S 1 . iTOpt i ?? x-J ' t ^ jfriNvxnn-^ ^-iHVMflii-t .vlOS-ANCHI 3 o A > * g 5- = ( d I I JBRARYQ ^\\M)NIVER% t\E-UNIVER . S I ^ S ? s s E-UNIVERS/A s i 5 5 OO&OOOOO cMakincj of a (Marchioness Emily Fox- Se ton (Marchioness NEWY9RK FREDERICK A.STQKES, COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright, /par, by The Century Company Copyright, igoi, by Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett Copyright, IQOI, by Frederick A. Stokes Company Published September, University Press, Jobn ffilson and Son Cambridge, U. S. A. PS /2/ M28 family 3] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS their hats as Emily appeared, and the women courtesied smilingly. They had all discov- ered that she was amiable and to be relied on in her capacity of her ladyship's repre- sentative. "She's a worker, that Miss Fox-Seton," one said to the other. " I never seen one that was a lady fall to as she does. Ladies, even when they means well, has a way of standing about and telling you to do things without seeming to know quite how they ought to be done. She's coming to help with the bread-and-butter-cutting herself this morning, and she put up all them packages of sweets yesterday with her own hands. She did 'em up in different-coloured papers, and tied 'em with bits of ribbon, because she said she knowed children was prouder of coloured things than plain they was like that. And THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS so they are : a bit of red or blue goes a long way with a child." Emily cut bread-and-butter and cake, and placed seats and arranged toys on tables all the morning. The day was hot, though beautiful, and she was so busy that she had scarcely time for her breakfast. The house- hold party was in the gayest spirits. Lady Maria was in her most amusing mood. She had planned a drive to some interesting ruins for the afternoon of the next day, and a dinner-party for the evening. Her favourite neighbours had just returned to their country- seat five miles away, and they were coming to the dinner, to her great satisfaction. Most of her neighbours bored her, and she took them in doses at her dinners, as she would have taken medicine. But the Lock- yers were young and good-looking and THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS clever, and she was always glad when they came to Loche during her stay at Mallowe. "There is not a frump or a bore among them," she said. "In the country people are usually frumps when they are not bores, and bores when they are not frumps, and I am in danger of becoming both myself. Six weeks of unalloyed dinner-parties, composed of certain people I know, would make me begin to wear moreen petticoats and talk about the deplorable condition of London society." She led all her flock out on to the lawn under the ilex-trees after breakfast. " Let us go and encourage industry," she said. " We will watch Emily Fox-Seton working. She is an example." Curiously enough, this was Miss Cora Brooke's day. She found herself actually [126] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS walking across the lawn with Lord Wal- derhurst by her side. She did not know how it happened, but it seemed to occur accidentally. "We never talk to each other," he said. " Well," answered Cora, " we have talked to other people a good deal at least I have." " Yes, you have talked a good deal," said the marquis. " Does that mean I have talked too much ? " He surveyed her prettiness through his glass. Perhaps the holiday stir in the air gave him a festive moment. " It means that you haven't talked enough to me. You have devoted yourself too much to the laying low of young Heriot." She laughed a trifle saucily. " You are a very independent young lady," remarked Walderhurst, with a lighter man- ["7] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS ner than usual. " You ought to say some- thing deprecatory or a little coy, perhaps." " I sha'n't," said Cora, composedly. u Sha'n't or won't ? " he inquired. " They are both bad words for little girls or young ladies to use to their elders." " Both," said Miss Cora Brooke, with a slightly pleased flush. " Let us go over to the tents and see what poor Emily Fox- Seton is doing." " Poor Emily Fox-Seton," said the mar- quis, non-committally. They went, but they did not stay long. The treat was taking form. Emily Fox- Seton was hot and deeply engaged. People were coming to her for orders. She had a thousand things to do and to superintend the doing of. The prizes for the races and the presents for the children must be ar- [128] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS ranged in order : things for boys and things for girls, presents for little children and presents for big ones. Nobody must be missed, and no one must be given the wrong thing. " It would be dreadful, you know," Emily said to the two when they came into her tent and began to ask questions, u if a big boy should get a small wooden horse, or a little baby should be given a cricket bat and ball. Then it would be so disappointing if a tiny girl got a work-box and a big one got a doll. One has to get things in order. They look forward to this so, and it 's heart- breaking to a child to be disappointed, is n't it?" Walderhurst gazed uninspiringly. u Who did this for Lady Maria when you were not here ? " he inquired. 9 [129] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS " Oh, other people. But she says it was tiresome." Then with an illumined smile : " She has asked me to Mallowe for the next twenty years for the treats. She is so kind." " Maria is a kind woman " with what seemed to Emily delightful amiability. "She is kind to her treats and she is kind to Maria Bayne." " She is kind to me" said Emily. " You don't know how I am enjoying this." " That woman enjoys everything," Lord Walderhurst said when he walked away with Cora. " What a temperament to have ! I would give ten thousand a year for it." "She has so little," said Cora, " that everything seems beautiful to her. One does n't wonder, either. She 's very nice. Mother and I quite admire her. We are C'30] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS thinking of inviting her to New York and giving her a real good time." " She would enjoy New York." " Have you ever been there, Lord Wal- derhurst ? " " No." " You ought to come, really. So many Englishmen come now, and they all seem to like it." " Perhaps I will come," said Walderhurst. " I have been thinking of it. One is tired of the Continent and one knows India. One does n't know Fifth Avenue, and Cen- tral Park, and the Rocky Mountains." " One might try them," suggested pretty Miss Cora. This certainly was her day. Lord Wal- derhurst took her and her mother out in his own particular high phaeton before lunch. [131] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS He was fond of driving, and his own phaeton and horses had come to Mallowe with him. He took only his favourites out, and though he bore himself on this occasion with a calm air, the event caused a little smiling flurry on the lawn. At least, when the phaeton spun down the avenue with Miss Brooke and her mother looking slightly flushed and thrilled in their high seats of honour, several people exchanged glances and raised eye-brows. Lady Agatha went to her room and wrote a long letter to Curzon Street. Mrs. Ralph talked about the problem-play to young He- riot and a group of others. The afternoon, brilliant and blazing, brought new visitors to assist by their pres- ence at the treat. Lady Maria always had a large house-party, and added guests from the neighbourhood to make for gaiety. Cs] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS At two o'clock a procession of village children and their friends and parents, headed by the village band, marched up the avenue and passed before the house on their way to their special part of the park. Lady Maria and her guests stood upon the broad steps and welcomed the jocund crowd, as it moved by, with hospitable bows and nods and becks and wreathed smiles. Everybody was in a delighted good-humour. As the villagers gathered in the park, the house-party joined them by way of the gar- dens. A conjurer from London gave an entertainment under a huge tree, and chil- dren found white rabbits taken from their pockets and oranges from their caps, with squeals of joy and shouts of laughter. Lady Maria's guests walked about and looked on, laughing with the children. THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS The great affair of tea followed the per- formance. No treat is fairly under way until the children are filled to the brim with tea and buns and cake, principally cake in plummy wedges. Lady Agatha and Mrs. Ralph handed cake along rows of children seated on the grass. Miss Brooke was talking to Lord Walder- hurst when the work began. She had pop- pies in her hat and carried a poppy-coloured parasol, and sat under a tree, looking very alluring. " I ought to go and help to hand cake," she said. " My cousin Maria ought to do it," re- marked Lord Walderhurst, " but she will not neither shall I. Tell me something about the elevated railroad and Five-Hun- dred-and-Fifty-Thousandth Street." ['34] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS He had a slightly rude, gracefully languid air, which Cora Brooke found somewhat impressive, after all. Emily Fox-Seton handed cake and regu- lated supplies with cheerful tact and good spirits. When the older people were given their tea, she moved about their tables, attend- ing to every one. She was too heart-whole in her interest in her hospitalities to find time to join Lady Maria and her party at the table under the ilex-trees. She ate some bread- and-butter and drank a cup of tea while she talked to some old women she had made friends with. She was really enjoying her- self immensely, though occasionally she was obliged to sit down for a few moments just to rest her tired feet. The children came to her as to an omnipotent and benign being. She knew where the toys were kept and ['35] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS what prizes were to be given for the races. She represented law and order and bestowal. The other ladies walked about in wonderful dresses, smiling and exalted, the gentlemen aided the sports in an amateurish way and made patrician jokes among themselves, but this one lady seemed to be part of the treat itself. She was not so grandly dressed as the others, her dress was only blue linen with white bands on it, and she had only a sailor hat with a buckle and bow, but she was of her ladyship's world of London people, nevertheless, and they liked her more than they had ever liked a lady before. It was a fine treat, and she seemed to have made it so. There had never been quite such a varied and jovial treat at Mallowe before. The afternoon waxed and waned. The children played games and raced and rejoiced [136] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS until their young limbs began to fail them. The older people sauntered about or sat in groups to talk and listen to the village band. Lady Maria's visitors, having had enough of rural festivities, went back to the gardens in excellent spirits, to talk and to watch a game of tennis which had taken form on the court. Emily Fox-Seton's pleasure had not abated, but her colour had done so. Her limbs ached and her still-smiling face was pale, as she stood under the beech-tree regarding the final ceremonies of the festal day, to preside over which Lady Maria and her party returned from their seats under the ilex-trees. The National Anthem was sung loudly, and there were three tremendous cheers given for her ladyship. They were such joyous and hearty cheers that Emily was stirred almost to emotional tears. At all events, her hazel [ '37] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS eyes looked nice and moistly bright. She was an easily moved creature. Lord Walderhurst stood near Lady Maria and looked pleased also. Emily saw him speak to her ladyship and saw Lady Maria smile. Then he stepped forward, with his non-committal air and his monocle glaring calmly in his eye. "Boys and girls," he said in a clear, far- reaching voice, " I want you to give three of the biggest cheers you are capable of for the lady who has worked to make your treat the success it has been. Her ladyship tells me she has never had such a treat before. Three cheers for Miss Fox-Seton." Emily gave a gasp and felt a lump rise in her throat. She felt as if she had been with- out warning suddenly changed into a royal personage, and she scarcely knew what to do. ['38] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS The whole treat, juvenile and adult, male and female, burst into three cheers which were roars and bellows. Hats and caps were waved and tossed into the air, and every creature turned toward her as she blushed and bowed in tremulous gratitude and delight. Oh, Lady Maria ! oh, Lord Walder- hurst ! " she said, when she managed to get to them, " how kind you are to me ! " [139] FTER she had taken her early tea in the morn- ing, Emily Fox-Seton lay upon her pillows and gazed out upon the tree-branches near her window, in a state of bliss. She was tired, but happy. How well everything had "gone off" ! How pleased Lady Maria had been, and how kind of Lord Walderhurst to ask the villagers to give three cheers for her- self! She had never dreamed, of such a thing. It was the kind of attention not usu- [HO] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS ally offered to her. She smiled her childlike smile and blushed at the memory of it. Her impression of the world was that people were really very amiable, as a rule. They were always good to her, at least, she thought, and it did not occur to her that if she had not paid her way so remarkably well by being useful they might have been less agreeable. Never once had she doubted that Lady Maria was the most admirable and generous of human beings. She was not aware in the least that her ladyship got a good deal out of her. In justice to her ladyship, it may be said that she was not wholly aware of it herself, and that Emily absolutely enjoyed being made use of. This morning, however, when she got up, she found herself more tired than she ever remembered being before, and it may be [ '4'] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS easily argued that a woman who runs about London on other people's errands often knows what it is to be aware of aching limbs. She laughed a little when she dis- covered that her feet were actually rather swollen, and that she must wear a pair of her easiest slippers. " I must sit down as much as I can to-day," she thought. " And yet, with the dinner-party and the excursion this morning, there may be a number of little things Lady Maria would like me to do." There were, indeed, numbers of things Lady Maria was extremely glad to ask her to do. The drive to the ruins was to be made before lunch, because some of the guests felt that an afternoon jaunt would leave them rather fagged for the dinner-party in the evening. Lady Maria THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS was not going, and, as presently became apparent, the carriages would be rather crowded if Miss Fox-Seton joined the party. On the whole, Emily was not sorry to have an excuse for remaining at home, and so the carriages drove away comfortably filled, and Lady Maria and Miss Fox-Seton watched their departure. " I have no intention of having my vener- able bones rattled over hill and dale the day I give a dinner-party," said her ladyship. " Please ring the bell, Emily. I want to make sure of the fish. Fish is one of the problems of country life. Fishmongers are demons, and when they live five miles from one they can arouse the most powerful human emotions." Mallowe Court was at a distance from the country town delightful in its effects upon [ H3] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS the rusticity of the neighbourhood, but appal- ling when considered in connection with fish. One could not dine without fish ; the town was small and barren of resources, and the one fishmonger of weak mind and unre- liable nature. The footman who obeyed the summons of the bell informed her ladyship that the cook was rather anxious about the fish, as usual. The fishmonger had been a little doubtful as to whether he could supply her needs, and his cart never arrived until half- past twelve. " Great goodness ! " exclaimed her lady- ship when the man retired. " What a sit- uation if we found ourselves without fish ! Old General Barnes is the most ferocious old gourmand in England, and he loathes people who give him bad dinners. We are all E'44] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS rather afraid of him, the fact is, and I will own that I am vain about my dinners. That is the last charm nature leaves a woman, the power to give decent dinners. I shall be fearfully annoyed if any ridiculous thing happens." They sat in the morning-room together writing notes and talking, and, as half- past twelve drew near, watching for the fish- monger's cart. Once or twice Lady Maria spoke of Lord Walderhurst. " He is an interesting creature, to my mind," she said. " I have always rather liked him. He has original ideas, though he is not in the least brilliant. I believe he talks more freely to me, on the whole, than to most people, though I can't say he has a particularly good opinion of me. He stuck his glass in his eye and stared at me last . 10 [ '45 ] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS night, in that weird way of his, and said to me, c Maria, in an ingenuous fashion of your own, you are the most abominably selfish woman I ever beheld.' Still, I know he rather likes me. I said to him: 'That isn't quite true, James. I am selfish, but I 'm not abominably selfish. Abominably selfish people always have nasty tempers, and no one can accuse me of having a nasty temper. I have the disposition of a bowl of bread and milk.' " " Emily," as wheels rattled up the avenue, " is that the fishmonger's cart ? " "No," answered Emily at the window; " it is the butcher." u His attitude toward the women here has made my joy," Lady Maria proceeded, smil- ing over the deep-sea fishermen's knitted helmet she had taken up. " He behaves beautifully to them all, but not one of them [ 146] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS has really a leg to stand on as far as he is responsible for it. But I will tell you some- thing, Emily." And she paused. Miss Fox-Seton waited with interested eyes. " He is thinking of bringing the thing to an end and marrying some woman. I feel it in my bones." "Do you think so?" exclaimed Emily. " Oh, I cari4 help hoping " But she paused also. "You hope it will be Agatha Slade," Lady Maria ended for her. " Well, per- haps it will be. I sometimes think it is Agatha, if it 's any one. And yet I 'm not sure. One never could be sure with Wal- derhurst. He has always had a trick of keeping more than his mouth shut. I won- der if he could have any other woman up his sleeve ? " [H7] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS " Why do you think " began Emily. Lady Maria laughed. "For an odd reason. The Walderhursts have a ridiculously splendid ring in the family, which they have a way of giving to the women they become engaged to. It's ridiculous because well, because a ruby as big as a trousers' button is ridiculous. You can't get over that. There is a story con- nected with this one centuries and things, and something about the woman the first Walderhurst had it made for. She was a Dame Something or Other who had snubbed the King for being forward, and the snub- bing was so good for him that he thought she was a saint and gave the ruby for her betrothal. Well, by the merest accident I found Walderhurst had sent his man to town for it. It came two days ago." [148] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS " Oh, how interesting ! " said Emily, thrilled. "It must mean something." " It is rather a joke. Wheels again, Emily. Is that the fishmonger ? " Emily went to the window once more. " Yes," she answered, " if his name is Buggle." " His name is Buggle," said Lady Maria, " and we are saved." But five minutes later the cook herself appeared at the morning-room door. She was a stout person, who panted, and respect- fully removed beads of perspiration from her brow with a clean handkerchief. She was as nearly pale as a heated person of her weight may be. " And what has happened now, cook ? " asked Lady Maria. " That Buggle, your ladyship," said cook, [49] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS " says your ladyship can't be no sorrier than he is, but when fish goes bad in a night it can't be made fresh in the morn- ing. He brought it that I might see it for myself, and it is in a state as could not be used by any one. I was that upset, your ladyship, that I felt like I must come and explain myself." " What can be done ? " exclaimed Lady Maria. " Emily, do suggest something." " We can't even be sure," said the cook, " that Batch has what would suit us. Batch sometimes has it, but he is the fishmonger at Maundell, and that is four miles away, and we are short-'anded, your ladyship, now the 'ouse is so full, and not a servant that could be spared." "Dear me!" said Lady Maria. "Emily, this is really enough to drive one quite mad. THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS If everything was not out of the stables, I know you would drive over to Maundell. You are such a good walker," catching a gleam of hope, u do you think you could walk ? " Emily tried to look cheerful. Lady Maria's situation was really an awful one for a hostess. It would not have mattered in the least if her strong, healthy body had not been so tired. She was an excellent walker, and ordinarily eight miles would have meant nothing in the way of fatigue. She was kept in good training by her walking in town. Springy moorland swept by fresh breezes was not like London streets. " I think I can manage it," she said nice- temperedly. " If I had not run about so much yesterday it would be a mere nothing. You must have the fish, of course. I will THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS walk over the moor to Maundell and tell Batch it must be sent at once. Then I will come back slowly. I can rest on the heather by the way. The moor is lovely in the afternoon." " You dear soul ! " Lady Maria broke forth. " What a boon you are to a woman ! " She felt quite grateful. There arose in her mind an impulse to invite Emily Fox- Seton to remain the rest of her life with her, but she was too experienced an elderly lady to give way to impulses. She privately re- solved, however, that she would have her a good deal in South Audley Street, and would make her some decent presents. When Emily Fox-Seton, attired for her walk in her shortest brown linen frock and shadiest hat, passed through the hall, the post-boy was just delivering the midday THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS letters to a footman. The servant presented his salver to her with a letter for herself lying upon the top of one addressed in Lady Claraway's handwriting " To the Lady Agatha Slade." Emily recognised it as one of the epistles of many sheets which so often made poor Agatha shed slow and depressed tears. Her own letter was directed in the well-known hand of Mrs. Cupp, and she wondered what it could contain. " I hope the poor things are not in any trouble," she thought. " They were afraid the young man in the sitting-room was en- gaged. If he got married and left them, I don't know what they would do ; he has been so regular." Though the day was hot, the weather was perfect, and Emily, having exchanged her easy slippers for an almost equally easy pair [53] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS of tan shoes, found her tired feet might still be used. Her disposition to make the very best of things inspired her to regard even an eight-mile walk with courage. The moor- land air was so sweet, the sound of the bees droning as they stumbled about in the heather was such a comfortable, peaceful thing, that she convinced herself that she should find the four miles to Maundell quite agreeable. She had so many nice things to think of that she temporarily forgot that she had put Mrs. Cupp's letter in her pocket, and was half-way across the moor before she re- membered it. " Dear me ! " she exclaimed when she re- called it. " I must see what has happened." She opened the envelope and began to read as she walked ; but she had not taken many THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS steps before she uttered an exclamation and stopped. " How very nice for them ! " she said, but she turned rather pale. From a worldly point of view the news the letter contained was indeed very nice for the Cupps, but it put a painful aspect upon the simple affairs of poor Miss Fox-Seton. " It is a great piece of news, in one way," wrote Mrs. Cupp, " and yet me and Jane can't help feeling a bit low at the thought of the changes it will make, and us living where you won't be with us, if I may take the liberty, miss. My brother William made a good bit of money in Australia, but he has always been homesick for the old country, as he always calls England. His wife was a Colonial, and when she died a year ago he made up his mind to come home to settle ['55] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS in Chichester, where he was born. He says there 's nothing like the feeling of a Cathe- dral town. He 's bought such a nice house a bit out, with a big garden, and he wants me and Jane to come and make a home with him. He says he has worked hard all his life, and now he means to be comfortable, and he can't be bothered with housekeeping. He promises to provide well for us both, and he wants us to sell up Mortimer Street, and come as quick as possible. But we shall miss you, miss, and though her Uncle William keeps a trap and everything accord- ing, and Jane is grateful for his kindness, she broke down and cried hard last night, and says to me : c Oh, mother, if Miss Fox- Seton could just manage to take me as a maid, I would rather be it than anything. Traps don't feed the heart, mother, and I Ve E'56] THE -MAKING of a MARCHIONESS a feeling for Miss Fox-Seton as is perhaps unbecoming to my station.' But we Ve got the men in the house ticketing things, miss, and we want to know what we shall do with the articles in your bed-sitting- room." The friendliness of the two faithful Cupps and the humble Turkey-red comforts of the bed-sitting-room had meant home to Emily Fox-Seton. When she had turned her face and her tired feet away from discouraging errands and small humiliations and discom- forts, she had turned them toward the bed- sitting-room, the hot little fire, the small, fat black kettle singing on the hob, and the two- and-eleven-penny tea-set. Not being given to crossing bridges before she reached them, she had never contemplated the dreary possi- bility that her refuge might be taken away THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS from her. She had not dwelt upon the fact that she had no other real refuge on earth. As she walked among the sun-heated heather and the luxuriously droning bees, she dwelt upon it now with a suddenly realis- ing sense. As it came home to her soul, her eyes filled with big tears, which brimmed over and rolled down her cheeks. They dropped upon the breast of her linen blouse and left marks. " I shall have to find a new bed-sitting- room somewhere," she said, the breast of the linen blouse lifting itself sharply. " It will be so different to be in a house with strangers. Mrs. Cupp and Jane " She was obliged to take out her handkerchief at that moment. " I am afraid I can't get anything respectable for ten shillings a week. It was very cheap and they were so nice ! " THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS All her fatigue of the early morning had returned. Her feet began to burn and ache, and the sun felt almost unbearably hot. The mist in her eyes prevented her seeing the path before her. Once or twice she stumbled over something. " It seems as if it must be farther than four miles," she said. " And then there is the walk back. I am tired. But I must get on, really." 'HE drive to the ruins had been a great success. It was a drive of just suffi- cient length to put people in spirits without fatigu- ing them. The party came back to lunch with delightful appetites. Lady Agatha and Miss Cora Brooke had pink cheeks. The Marquis of Walderhurst had behaved charmingly to both of them. He had helped each of them to climb about among the ruins, and had taken them both up the steep, dark stairway of one of the [160] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS towers, and stood with them looking over the turrets into the courtyard and the moat. He knew the history of the castle, and could point out the banquet-hall and the chapel and the serving-places, and knew legends about the dungeons. " He gives us all a turn, mother," said Miss Cora Brooke. " He even gave a turn yesterday to poor Emily Fox-Seton. He 's rather nice." There was a great deal of laughter at lunch after their return. Miss Cora Brooke was quite brilliant in her gay little sallies. But though she was more talkative than Lady Agatha, she did not look more bril- liant. The letter from Curzon Street had not made the beauty shed tears. Her face had fallen when it had been handed to her on her return, and she had taken it upstairs ii [ 161 ] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS to her room with rather a flagging step. But when she came down to lunch she walked with the movement of a nymph. Her lovely little face wore a sort of tremulous radiance. She laughed like a child at every amusing thing that was said. She might have been ten years old instead of twenty-two, her colour, her eyes, her spirits seemed of a freshness so infantine. She was leaning back in her chair laugh- ing enchantingly at one of Miss Brooke's sparkling remarks when Lord Walderhurst, who sat next to her, said suddenly, glancing round the table : " But where is Miss Fox-Seton ?" It was perhaps a significant fact that up to this moment nobody had observed her absence. It was Lady Maria who replied. [162] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS " I am almost ashamed to answer," she said. " As I have said before, Emily Fox- Seton has become the lodestar of my ex- istence. I cannot live without her. She has walked over to Maundell to make sure that we do not have a dinner-party without fish to-night." " She has walked over to Maundell," said Lord Walderhurst " after yesterday ? " " There was not a pair of wheels left in the stable," answered Lady Maria. " It is disgraceful, of course, but she is a splendid walker, and she said she was not too tired to do it. It is the kind of thing she ought to be given the Victoria Cross for saving one from a dinner-party without fish." The Marquis of Walderhurst took up the cord of his monocle and fixed the rigidly in his eye. [163] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS " It is not only four miles to Maundell," he remarked, staring at the table-cloth, not at Lady Maria, u but it is four miles back." " By a singular coincidence," said Lady Maria. The talk and laughter went on, and the lunch also, but Lord Walderhurst, for some reason best known to himself, did not finish his. For a few seconds he stared at the table-cloth, then he pushed aside his nearly disposed-of cutlet, then he got up from his chair quietly. " Excuse me, Maria," he said, and with- out further ado went out of the room, and walked toward the stables. There was excellent fish at Maundell ; Batch produced it at once, fresh, sound, and desirable. Had she been in her normal [164] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS spirits, Emily would have rejoiced at the sight of it, and have retraced her four miles to Mallowe in absolute jubilation. She would have shortened and beguiled her re- turn journey by depicting to herself Lady Maria's pleasure and relief. But the letter from Mrs. Cupp lay like a weight of lead in her pocket. It had given her such things to think of as she walked that she had been oblivious to heather and bees and fleece-bedecked summer-blue sky, and had felt more tired than in any tramp through London streets that she could call to mind. Each step she took seemed to be carrying her farther away from the few square yards of home the bed-sitting-room had represented under the dominion of the Cupps. Every moment she recalled more strongly that it had been home home. Of THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS course it had not been the third-floor back room so much as it had been the Cupps who made it so, who had regarded her as a sort of possession, who had liked to serve her, and had done it with actual affection. " I shall have to find a new place," she kept saying. "I shall have to go among quite strange people." She had suddenly a new sense of being without resource. That was one of the proofs of the curious heaviness of the blow the simple occurrence was to her. She felt temporarily almost as if there were no other lodging-houses in London, though she knew that really there were tens of thousands. The fact was that though there might be other Cupps, or their counterparts, she could not make herself believe such a good thing possible. She had been physically worn out ['66] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS before she had read the letter, and its effect had been proportionate to her fatigue and lack of power to rebound. She was vaguely surprised to feel that the tears kept filling her eyes and falling on her cheeks in big heavy drops. She was obliged to use her handkerchief frequently, as if she was sud- denly developing a cold in her head. " I must take care," she said once, quite prosaically, but with more pathos in her voice than she was aware of, "or I shall make my nose quite red." Though Batch was able to supply fish, he was unfortunately not able to send it to Mallowe. His cart had gone out on a round just before Miss Fox-Seton's arrival, and there was no knowing when it would return. " Then I must carry the fish myself," said Emily. " You can put it in a neat basket." [167] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS " I 'm very sorry, miss ; I am, indeed, miss," said Batch, looking hot and pained. " It will not be heavy," returned Emily ; "and her ladyship must be sure of it for the dinner-party." So she turned back to recross the moor with a basket of fish on her arm. And she was so pathetically unhappy that she felt that so long as she lived the odour of fresh fish would make her feel sorrowful. She had heard of people who were made sorrowful by the odour of a flower or the sound of a melody, but in her case it would be the smell of fresh fish that would make her sad. If she had been a person with a sense of humour, she might have seen that this was thing to laugh at a little. But she was not a humorous woman, and just now " Oh, I shall have to find a new place," L'68] The Marquis of Walderhurst THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS she was thinking, and I have lived in that little room for years." The sun got hotter and hotter, and her feet became so tired that she could scarcely drag one of them after another. She had forgotten that she had left Mallowe before lunch, and that she ought to have got a cup of tea, at least, at Maundell. Before she had walked a mile on her way back, she realised that she was frightfully hungry and rather faint. " There is not even a cottage where I could get a glass of water," she thought. The basket, which was really compara- tively light, began to feel heavy on her arm, and at length she felt sure that a certain burning spot on her left heel must be a blis- ter which was being rubbed by her shoe. How it hurt her, and how tired she was [169] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS how tired ! And when she left Mallowe lovely, luxurious Mallowe she would not go back to her little room all fresh from the Cupps* autumn house-cleaning, which in- cluded the washing and ironing of her Tur- key-red hangings and chair-covers ; she would be obliged to huddle into any poor place she could find. And Mrs. Cupp and Jane would be in Chichester. vt But what good fortune it is for them ! " she murmured. " They need never be anx- ious about the future again. How how wonderful it must be to know that one need not be afraid of the future ! I indeed, I think I really must sit down." She sat down upon the sun-warmed heather and actually let her tear-wet face drop upon her hands. " Oh, dear ! Oh, dear ! Oh, dear ! " she THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS said helplessly. " I must not let myself do this. I must n't. Oh, dear ! Oh, dear ! Oh, dear!" She was so overpowered by her sense of her own weakness that she was conscious of nothing but the fact that she must control it. Upon the elastic moorland road wheels stole upon one without sound. So the wheels of a rapidly driven high cart approached her and were almost at her side before she lifted her head, startled by a sudden consciousness that a vehicle was near her. It was Lord Walderhurst's cart, and even as she gazed at him with alarmed wet eyes, his lordship descended from it and made a sign to his groom, who at once impassively drove on. Emily's lips tried to tremble into a smile ; she put out her hand fumblingly toward the THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS fish-basket, and having secured it, began to rise. "I sat down to rest," she faltered, even apologetically. " I walked to Maundell, and it was so hot." Just at that moment a little breeze sprang up and swept across her cheek. She was so grateful that her smile became less diffi- cult. " I got what Lady Maria wanted," she added, and the childlike dimple in her cheek endeavoured to defy her eyes. The Marquis of Walderhurst looked rather odd. Emily had never seen him look like this before. He took a silver flask out of his pocket in a matter-of-fact way, and filled its cup with something. " That is sherry," he said. " Please drink it. You are absolutely faint." E7] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS She held out her hand eagerly. She could not help it. " Oh, thank you thank you ! " she said. " I am so thirsty ! " And she drank it as if it were the nectar of the gods. "Now, Miss Fox-Seton," he said, "please sit down again. I came here to drive you back to Mallowe, and the cart will not come back for a quarter of an hour." " You came on purpose ! " she exclaimed, feeling, in truth, somewhat awe-struck. " But how kind of you, Lord Walderhurst how good ! " It was the most unforeseen and amazing experience of her life, and at once she sought for some reason which could connect with his coming some more interesting person than mere Emily Fox-Seton. Oh, the thought flashed upon her, he had E'73] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS come for some reason connected with Lady Agatha. He made her sit down on the heather again, and he took a seat beside her. He looked straight into her eyes. " You have been crying," he remarked. There was no use denying it. And what was there in the good gray-brown eye, gaz- ing through the monocle, which so moved her by its suggestion of kindness and and some new feeling ? " Yes, I have, " she admitted. " I don't often but well, yes, I have." " What was it ? " It was the most extraordinary thump her heart gave at this moment. She had never felt such an absolute thump. It was per- haps because she was tired. His voice had lowered itself. No man had ever spoken to [174] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS her before like that. It made one feel as if he was not an exalted person at all ; only a kind, kind one. She must not presume upon his kindness and make much of her prosaic troubles. She tried to smile in a proper casual way. " Oh, it was a small thing, really," was her effort at treating the matter lightly; "but it seems more important to me than it would to any one with with a family. The people I live with who have been so kind to me are going away." " The Cupps ? " he asked. She turned quite round to look at him. " How," she faltered, " did you know about them ? " " Maria told me," he answered. " I asked her." It seemed such a human sort of interest ['75] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS to have taken in her. She could not under- stand. And she had thought he scarcely realised her existence. She said to herself that was so often the case people were so much kinder than one knew. She felt the moisture welling in her eyes, and stared steadily at the heather, trying to wink it away. u I am really glad," she explained hastily. " It is such good fortune for them. Mrs. Cupp's brother has offered them such a nice home. They need never be anxious again." "But they will leave Mortimer Street and you will have to give up your room." "Yes. I must find another." A big drop got the better of her, and flashed on its way down her cheek. " I can find a room, [176] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS perhaps, but I can't find " She was obliged to clear her throat. " That was why you cried ? " " Yes." After which she sat still. " You don't know where you will live ? " " No." She was looking so straight before her and trying so hard to behave discreetly that she did not see that he had drawn nearer to her. But a moment later she realised it, because he took hold of her hand. His own closed over it firmly. " Will you," he said "I came here, in fact, to ask you if you will come and live with me ? " Her heart stood still, quite still. London was so full of ugly stories about things done by men of his rank stories of transgres- 12 [I 77 ] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS sions, of follies, of cruelties. So many were open secrets. There were men who, even while keeping up an outward aspect of re- spectability, were held accountable for pain- ful things. The lives of well-born strug- gling women were so hard. Sometimes such nice ones went under because tempta- tion was so great. But she had not thought, she could not have dreamed She got on her feet and stood upright be- fore him. He rose with her, and because she was a tall woman their eyes were on a level. Her own big and honest ones were wide and full of crystal tears. " Oh ! " she said in helpless woe. " Oh ! " It was perhaps the most effective thing a woman ever did. It was so simple that it was heartbreaking. She could not have uttered a word, he was such a powerful and ['78] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS great person, and she was so without help or stay. Since the occurring of this incident, she has often been spoken of as a beauty, and she has, without doubt, had her fine hours ; but Walderhurst has never told her that the most beautiful moment of her life was undoubtedly that in which she stood upon the heather, tall and straight and simple, her hands hanging by her sides, her large, tear-filled hazel eyes gazing straight into his. In the femininity of her frank defence- lessness there was an appeal to nature's self in man which was not quite of earth. And for several seconds they stood so and gazed into each other's souls the usually unilluminated nobleman and the prosaic young woman who lodged on a third floor back in Mortimer Street. C'79] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS Then, quite quickly, something was lighted in his eyes, and he took a step toward her. " Good heavens ! " he demanded. " What do you suppose I am asking of you ? " " I don't know," she answered ; " I don't know." " My good girl," he said, even with some irritation, " I am asking you to be my wife. I am asking you to come and live with me in an entirely respectable manner, as the Marchioness of Walderhurst." Emily touched the breast of her brown linen blouse with the tips of her fingers. " You are asking me ? " she said. "Yes," he answered. His glass had dropped out of his eye, and he picked it up and replaced it. " There is Black with the cart," he said. u I will explain myself [180] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS with greater clearness as we drive back to Mallowe." The basket of fish was put in the cart, and Emily Fox-Seton was put in. Then the marquis got in himself, and took the reins from his groom. "You will walk back, Black," he said, "by that path," with a wave of the hand in a diverging direction. As they drove across the heather, Emily was trembling softly from head to foot. She could have told no human being what she felt. Only a woman who had lived as she had lived and who had been trained as she had been trained could have felt it. The brilliance of the thing which had hap- pened to her was so unheard of and so undeserved, she told herself. It was so [181] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS incredible that, even with the splendid gray mare's high-held head before her and Lord Walderhurst by her side, she felt that she was only part of a dream. Men had never said "things" to her, and a man was say- ing them the Marquis of Walderhurst was saying them. They were not the kind of things every man says or said in every man's way, but they so moved her soul that she quaked with joy. " I am not a marrying man," said his lordship, "but I must marry, and I like you better than any woman I have ever known. I do not generally like women. 1 am a selfish man, and I want an unselfish woman. Most women are as selfish as I am myself. I used to like you when I heard Maria speak of you. I have watched you and thought of you ever since I came here. You are [182] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS necessary to every one, and you are so modest that you know nothing about it. You are a handsome woman, and you are always thinking of other women's good looks." Emily gave a soft little gasp. " But Lady Agatha," she said. " I was sure it was Lady Agatha." " I don't want a girl," returned his lord- ship. " A girl would bore me to death. I am not going to dry-nurse a girl at the age of fifty-four. I want a com- panion." " But I am so far from clever," faltered Emily. The marquis turned in his driving-seat to look at her. It was really a very nice look he gave her. It made Emily's cheeks grow pink and her simple heart beat. [' 8 3j THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS " You are the woman I want," he said. " You make me feel quite sentimental." When they reached Mallowe, Emily had upon her finger the ruby which Lady Maria had graphically described as being " as big as a trouser button." It was, indeed, so big that she could scarcely wear her glove over it. She was still incredible, but she was blooming like a large rose. Lord Wal- derhurst had said so many " things " to her that she seemed to behold a new heaven and a new earth. She had been so swept off her feet that she had not really been allowed time to think, after that first gasp, of Lady Agatha. When she reached her bedroom she al- most returned to earth as she remembered it. Neither of them had dreamed of this neither of them. What could she say to [184] THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS Lady Agatha? What would Lady Agatha say to her, though it had not been her fault ? She had not dreamed that such a thing could be possible. How could &he, oh, how could she? She was standing in the middle of her room with clasped hands. There was a knock upon the door, and Lady Agatha herself came to her. What had occurred ? Something. It was to be seen in the girl's eyes, and in a certain delicate shyness in her manner. " Something very nice has happened," she said. " Something nice ? " repeated Emily. Lady Agatha sat down. The letter from Curzon Street was in her hand half unfolded. "I have had a letter from mamma. It seems almost bad taste to speak of it so THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS soon, but we have talked to each other so much, and you are so kind, that I want to tell you myself. Sir Bruce Norman has been to talk to papa about about me." Emily felt that her cup filled to the brim at the moment. " He is in England again ? " Agatha nodded gently. " He only went away to well, to test his own feelings before he spoke. Mamma is delighted with him. I am going home to-morrow." Emily made a little swoop forward. u You always liked him ? " she said. Lady Agatha's delicate mounting colour was adorable. " I was quite unhappy" she owned, and hid her lovely face in her hands. THE MAKING of a MARCHIONESS In the morning-room Lord Walderhurst was talking to Lady Maria. u You need not give Emily Fox-Seton any more clothes, Maria," he said. " I am go- ing to supply her in future. I have asked her to marry me." Lady Maria lightly gasped, and then began to laugh. " Well, James," she said, " you have cer- tainly much more sense than most men of your rank and age." UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES o o o o o o * o o O O O O O ;^Jo O oooooooo Q <2> & O O ^C^Bv r O <3> O O ' O O