Chapter IV: A New Face

CLAYBURY SCHOOL was richly endowed, and had many valuable scholarships open to candidates born within a certain radius of its walls. It had been Mark Walthew's desire to win one of these, believing that if he succeeded his father would consent to his continuing his studies after the allotted three years.

His success exceeded his most sanguine hopes. He won two of the best, and even without further help from Mr. Walthew, might work on for three more years, and, he trusted, win further distinctions.

"Scholarships!" said old Daniel, when informed of Mark's success. "Hasn't he been getting scholarships these last three years? He went for learning, and he should have put some by for future use by this time. I don't know what you mean by two scholarships. I always lumped the whole concern, and called it learning. Well, if he has got a double dose, so much the better; I reckon it will last longer. And when he is settled down at home, he will have plenty to serve him his lifetime."

Then came the struggle. Mark bared his heart, and told his hopes to his father, and was answered by a torrent of reproaches—told that he wanted to set up for a fine gentleman, instead of keeping to the old rut, and doing the work his father had been proud to do well.

This story begins with some of the words used by the wrathful old man; many others, far more bitter and cruel, sank deep into Mark's memory, and grieved him to the heart, but they need not be repeated here.

"If," said Mr. Walthew, "you are resolved to turn your back on home, and choose a new road for yourself, go, and never darken my doors again. But if you think of being kept in idleness by the old father's money, you will find your mistake out; I will never leave you a penny! You choose now—once and for all!"

"Then I must choose to go, father," said Mark. "God has given me some talents to account for, and I must use them. I will never ask you for money; but some day I hope I shall hear you say I have chosen wisely. If you are not now proud of my success—and, oh, I had so counted on hearing you and mother say, 'Well done, Mark!'—you shall not be ashamed of me in after years."

"I am proud of you, Mark," cried Mrs. Walthew, "so proud that I would not have you stay and be tied down from youth to age, to such a life as we have led! We are too old to change; but for you it would be a living death. Go, my son, my one darling, if so be you can choose, and have no fear of want before your eyes. I have been twenty-eight years always going the same daily round, without change in anything, except the growing older. Talk of money! What is it worth if it never gives a day's brightness, and the only pleasure the owner has is the being able to say, 'I have so many thousands of pounds, or hundreds of acres'?"

"Listen, my boy. It is terrible for a wife to take the opposite side to her husband, but I could not bear to think of your growing into a man like your father. Not that he is dishonest! To gain a hundred pounds, he would not take a penny wrongfully, or refuse to pay what is fairly due. He has only robbed himself and me of everything that money could have bought in the way of happiness for ourselves, or enabled us to give it to other people. Those who have wealth, and neither the heart to spend nor give of their abundance, are the poorest of the poor. You may be blessedly rich with very little money."

Need it be said that Daniel Walthew was not present when his wife spoke these words to her son? They cheered Mark, for they told him that his mother's blessing would be on his head, his mother's prayers ever offered on his behalf. And both hoped that in time the father's views might change. How could he stand singly against the world?

The world meant Claybury and the country round, for naturally Mark's success had made his friends proud of him—none more so than the Mitchesons, and most of all his friend Dolly. Many a time the true-hearted girl had cheered the boy on, until her own brothers used to say that the adopted one took the first place of all in her thoughts, and had more than an eighth share thereof.

Mr. Mitcheson tried to move Mr. Walthew from his resolve, but in vain. The headmaster of the school used his influence, and spoke in such terms of Mark's talents and industry, that any other man would have been delighted beyond measure to call him son.

Not so Daniel Walthew. "I don't hold with learning that takes a man out of his proper spear, and makes him ashamed of the honest work his father does," said he, and refused to hear any argument on the other side, or to speak again on the subject.

So the cottage door closed behind Mark Walthew, and all the articles purchased for his use went with him. The old man would not suffer a scrap belonging to him to remain, and the goodly pile of handsome books which had brightened the dingy parlour no longer lay on its table, to tell of the boy's school victories.

Daniel Walthew neither spoke of Mark nor allowed any other person to mention his name.

In his heart he must have felt for the sorrow of his faithful wife, for he did not hinder her from receiving letters; and he knew that the tidings they brought must be good by the glad light on her face, though tears often accompanied it—tears because her husband did not share her joy.

Mr. Mitcheson still transacted Daniel's legal business, found new investments for his hoards, and made out deeds when some fresh purchase was completed. But he felt equal pity and indignation at the sight of his self-willed client, and his inability to value the good gift bestowed on him in the shape of his talented and worthy son.

Years passed on. Mark did wonders, and his friends rejoiced that his career had more than fulfilled their most sanguine expectations.

He was at Claybury, the honoured guest of the headmaster of the old school, and his name was mentioned in the columns of the principal local papers. Copies of these came to Mrs. Walthew, who, entering the kitchen gently, found her husband eagerly reading the paragraphs relating to his boy.

At sight of her, he angrily thrust the paper between the bars and saw it burn to ashes. But his wife had caught the expression on his face as he read, and thanked God for this, as for a ray of light and hope.

"He is not so hard as he seems," she said to herself. And this she not only thought, but told her son in a letter, written in a cramped hand and imperfectly spelled, but which the youth kissed—soft-hearted fellow that he was—because it came from that dear unselfish mother whom he had only seen very rarely for seven long years.

He was turned four-and-twenty, tall, straight, and healthy, despite hard brain work, for he had lived temperately, taken outdoor exercises, and not "burned the candle at both ends."

There was a fair face that lighted at his coming—a warm, loving heart that did not try to hide its gladness, when, at an evening gathering at the headmaster's house, in honour of his old pupil, Dolly Mitcheson's hand was clasped in that of Mark Walthew.

Dorothy was twenty-two now, and for years past she and Mark had known that each held the first place in the other's heart. Friends—adopted brother and sister!—these might be and were sweet relationships; but that which subsisted now was nearer and dearer still.

Dolly had been wooed by wealthy suitors. Mark's father would never break his word, so that he had only himself to rely upon; but she knew that a time would come when her lover would be able to claim his bride, and offer a home of his own winning. And Mark knew that wealth had sought in vain for Dorothy's regard, and that she would wait, no matter how long, for her one love.

"There is one chance as to old Daniel," said Mr. Mitcheson to his wife. "He will hate to go to any other lawyer; it would be stepping out of his rut. He may not make a will at all. He has said he will leave nothing to Mark. Let him die intestate, and the lad will get the money, and the old man keep his word."

The same thought had passed through Mrs. Walthew's mind; and, if truth may be told, through that of Daniel also.

Before Mark left Claybury, he paid a brief visit to Grimblethorpe, and saw his mother; not in the cottage—never would he cross its threshold without his father's leave—but in a field-path, between the waving corn, they walked and talked together, whilst Daniel Walthew kept a business appointment with Mr. Mitcheson at Claybury.

The mother fed on that happy meeting for many a day—looking back on it, and forward to the next.

Winter came, and sturdy old Daniel, who had never known a day's illness before, was attacked by severe bronchitis, and confined, not only to house, but to bed for many weeks. It would have been going out of the regular rut to have outside help; so Barbara toiled and watched, and nursed him tenderly, getting often hard words and never thanks—for Daniel was a most impatient patient. It was only when he was fairly well again, and grumbling over his sadly-neglected plots, that Barbara's strength gave way. She was simply worn out with loss of rest and overwork. She had been as hale as Daniel; as independent of doctors and their physic; but now a great dread fell upon her husband. What if his wife were to die? He had always made sure she would outlive him, and counted on her careful nursing to the last.

Who was to nurse her? They had kept themselves to themselves. They had no neighbours in the ordinary sense, and were unused to asking favours of anyone.

Worse still, Daniel must go to Claybury on the very day that Barbara broke down, as deeds had to be signed, and the other party to them would come a long way to meet him.

Barbara suggested the name of an elderly woman who would bear her company during his absence, and she further said, "There are nurses at Claybury. Ask Mr. Mitcheson to give you the name of one."

The lawyer felt sorry to see the trouble of his stout old client, despite his stubbornness and unreasonable treatment of Mark, and called Mrs. Mitcheson into consultation about finding a nurse for Mrs. Walthew.

"I think I can find one," she said. "I will do my best, for I am grieved to hear of Mrs. Walthew's illness. No doubt she has broken down through overwork and anxiety."

When Daniel Walthew was ready to return, the nurse was forthcoming. She was young, and pleasant to look upon, but such a picture of neatness! No frizzled hair or finery, but smooth braids under a cottage bonnet, whilst wholesome-looking prints, ample aprons, and snug caps, with stout serviceable boots for outside, and noiseless slippers for indoor wear, composed her visible wardrobe.

How deft she was in her movements! How tender in her manner towards the poor invalid! How clever in preparing little things to tempt her appetite, and how patient and considerate to Daniel himself!

The old man saw his wife's face become more hopeful-looking, and in time overspread with a faint colour. He noted that her spirits improved, and that this young presence had a cheering effect on himself, for the nurse told bright tales, and as her patient gained strength, went singing about the cottage in a voice that sounded wondrously sweet, when compared with anything he had ever heard.

Barbara and her young nurse had always plenty to talk about, but sometimes they stopped suddenly when Daniel came in. He noticed, too, that she had very pretty ways, and what he called "lady hands," and yet how clever they were at whatever they attempted!

Barbara went on improving to a certain point, and then stopped. The doctor was puzzled, and said so. Day after day passed, and no progress was made. Then she began to go back a little. In mortal dread, Daniel consulted the nurse, who calmly answered, "Mrs. Walthew wants a medicine which only you can give her. She wants her son's arms round her neck, and the sight of his face."

An angry exclamation fell from Daniel's lips, and he left the cottage for a time. When he returned the nurse was standing with her outdoor garments on and her box packed ready to depart, as it was the carrier's day for Claybury.

"You will not leave her!" he cried, aghast at the sight and at the tears of his wife.

"I would not, if I could do more for her, but I cannot stay to see her die when it is in your power to save her. If Mrs. Walthew dies, the blame will be on your head."

The nurse looked fearlessly at Daniel, who turned from her to his wife as these plain words fell on his ears.

"Have your will," he said. "She must be saved. It is human nature for a mother to want her only son."

Joyfully the nurse prepared a telegram, and ran with it to the post-office, Daniel watching the while beside his wife. Not many hours later Mark stood by his mother, and that too by his father's wish, and from that moment Mrs. Walthew began to mend.

"I may have been wrong in keeping in one rut all my life, and keeping other people at a distance," said old Daniel. "Nurse Dora has taught me a good many lessons in a few weeks, more than I had learned in seventy years before. I don't know how we shall do without her, and she will have to leave us soon, she says. Here is Mark, far and away happier without money than mine has ever made me. That is a good thing. For I have said I will not leave him any, and I will not break my word."

"Do not make a will at all," said Nurse Dora.

"But I shall, my dear," said the old man, his eyes twinkling with a knowing expression, such as Mark had never seen in them before. "I shall make a will, that I may leave you a legacy. And there is no need to trouble for a way out of the difficulty. I never said I would not give Mark anything. I am free to do that, and I am not sure but what there is more pleasure in giving than leaving, for you can see the fruits of one, and not the other."

"Ah, Miss Dorothy," he continued, "the old man is not quite so blind as you thought! You have not come to speak to me of late years, but you have some of the child's face left yet, and you favour your mother. And my ears have caught old words now and then, and I know how good and true a heart my lad has won, and what a clever housewife and nurse can be joined to a born lady. You have won old Daniel as well as young Mark, and all I can say is, 'May God bless you both, and forgive me!'"

Is it worth while to add another word? To tell how Dolly Mitcheson's wise resolve, "to learn everything," brought good fruit, or to speak of the way in which Daniel opened his purse as well as his heart, or of the renewed health of Mrs. Walthew, the changed cottage, the abandoned rut, the perfect union between the faithful young pair when they twain became one, or of the manner in which Daniel kept his word?

He gave a handsome sum to Mark, and that, too, before his marriage; and when he and Barbara have done with the rest, it will go to "Nurse Dora," as old Daniel delights to call his daughter-in-law. No fear that this bequest will disturb the true union between Mark and his wife, despite the power put into her capable hands by the Married Women's Property Act!

Dorothy tells her husband in confidence, that however proud she may be of him, his devoted love and his great attainments, the conquest on which she plumes herself most of all is her victory over old Daniel's prejudices, and on having coaxed him out of the narrow path to which he had restricted himself for threescore years and ten.

THE END.

Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London & Bungay.