As soon as I was alone, I took
from my pocket one of the handbills
which my excitable fellow-traveler
had presented to me, so as to
have it ready for Mrs. Baggs
the moment we stood face to face.
Armed with this ominous letter
of introduction, I kicked a chair
down against the folding-doors,
by way of giving a preliminary
knock to arouse the housekeeper's
attention. The plan was immediately
successful. Mrs. Baggs opened
the doors of communication violently.
A slight smell of spirits entered
the room, and was followed close
by the housekeeper herself, with
an indignant face and a disordered
head-dress.
"What do you mean, sir? How
dare you--" she began; then stopped
aghast, looking at me in speechless
astonishment.
"I have been obliged to make
a slight alteration in my personal
appearance, ma'am," I said. "But
I am still Frank Softly."
"Don't talk to me about personal
appearances, sir," cried Mrs.
Baggs recovering. "What do you
mean by being here? Leave the
house immediately. I shall write
to the doctor, Mr. Softly, this
very night."
"He has no address you can
direct to," I rejoined. "If you
don't believe me, read that." I
gave her the handbill without
another word of preface.
Mrs. Baggs looked at it--lost
in an instant some of the fine
color plentifully diffused over
her face by sleep and spirits--sat
down in the nearest chair with
a thump that seemed to threaten
the very foundations of Number
Two, Zion Place--and stared me
hard in the face; the most speechless
and helpless elderly female I
ever beheld.
"Take plenty of time to compose
yourself ma'am," I said. "If
you don't see the doctor again
soon, under the gallows, you
will probably not have the pleasure
of meeting with him for some
considerable time."
Mrs. Baggs smote both her hands
distractedly on her knees, and
whispered a devout ejaculation
to herself softly.
"Allow me to deal with you,
ma'am, as a woman of the world," I
went on. "If you will give me
half-an-hour's hearing, I will
explain to you how I come to
know what I do; how I got here;
and what I have to propose to
Miss Alicia and to you."
"If you have the feelings of
a man, sir," said Mrs. Baggs,
shaking her head and raising
her eyes to heaven, "you will
remember that I have nerves,
and will not presume upon them."
As the old lady uttered the
last words, I thought I saw her
eyes turn from heaven, and take
the earthly direction of the
sofa in the front parlor. It
struck me also that her lips
looked rather dry. Upon these
two hints I spoke.
"Might I suggest some little
stimulant?" I asked, with respectful
earnestness. "I have heard my
grandmother (Lady Malkinshaw)
say that, 'a drop in time saves
nine.' "
"You will find it under the
sofa pillow," said Mrs. Baggs,
with sudden briskness. " 'A drop
in time saves nine'--my sentiments,
if I may put myself on a par
with her ladyship. The liqueur-glass,
Mr. Softly, is in the backgammon-board.
I hope her ladyship was well
the last time you heard from
her? Suffers from her nerves,
does she? Like me, again. In
the backgammon-board. Oh, this
news, this awful news!"
I found the bottle of brandy
in the place indicated, but no
liqueur-glass in the backgammon-board.
There was, however, a wine-glass,
accidentally left on a chair
by the sofa. Mrs. Baggs did not
seem to notice the difference
when I brought it into the back
room and filled it with brandy.
"Take a toothful yourself," said
Mrs. Baggs, lightly tossing off
the dram in a moment. " 'A drop
in time'--I can't help repeating
it, it's so nicely expressed.
Still, with submission to her
ladyship's better judgment, Mr.
Softly, the question seems now
to arise, whether, if one drop
in time saves nine, two drops
in time may not save eighteen." Here
Mrs. Baggs forgot her nerves
and winked. I returned the wink
and filled the glass a second
time. "Oh, this news, this awful
news!" said Mrs. Baggs, remembering
her nerves again.
Just then I thought I heard
footsteps in front of the house,
but, listening more attentively,
found that it had begun to rain,
and that I had been deceived
by the pattering of the first
heavy drops against the windows.
However, the bare suspicion that
the same stranger who had called
already might be watching the
house now, was enough to startle
me very seriously, and to suggest
the absolute necessity of occupying
no more precious time in paying
attention to the vagaries of
Mrs. Baggs' nerves. It was also
of some importance that I should
speak to her while she was sober
enough to understand what I meant
in a general way.
Feeling convinced that she
was in imminent danger of becoming
downright drunk if I gave her
another glass, I kept my hand
on the bottle, and forthwith
told my story over again in a
very abridged and unceremonious
form, and without allowing her
one moment of leisure for comment
on my narrative, whether it might
be of the weeping, winking, drinking,
groaning, or ejaculating kind.
As I had anticipated, when I
came to a conclusion, and consequently
allowed her an opportunity of
saying a few words, she affected
to be extremely shocked and surprised
at hearing of the nature of her
master's pursuits, and reproached
me in terms of the most vehement
and virtuous indignation for
incurring the guilt of abetting
them, even though I had done
so from the very excusable motive
of saving my own life. Having
a lively sense of the humorous,
I was necessarily rather amused
by this; but I began to get a
little surprised as well, when
we diverged to the subject of
the doctor's escape, on finding
that Mrs. Baggs viewed the fact
of his running away to some hiding-place
of his own in the light of a
personal insult to his faithful
and attached housekeeper.
"It shows a want of confidence
in me," said the old lady, "which
I may forgive, but can never
forget. The sacrifices I have
made for that ungrateful man
are not to be told in words.
The very morning he sent us away
here, what did I do? Packed up
the moment he said Go. I had
my preserves to pot, and the
kitchen chimney to be swept,
and the lock of my box hampered
into the bargain. Other women
in my place would have grumbled--I
got up directly, as lively as
any girl of eighteen you like
to mention. Says he, 'I want
Alicia taken out of young Softly's
way, and you must do it.'---Says
I, 'This very morning, sir?'--Says
he, 'This very morning.'--Says
I, 'Where to?'--Says he, 'As
far off as ever you can go; coast
of Wales--Crickgelly. I won't
trust her nearer; young Softly's
too cunning, and she's too fond
of him.'--'Any more orders, sir?'
says I.--'Yes; take some fancy
name--Simkins, Johnson, Giles,
Jones, James,' says he, 'what
you like bu t Dulcifer; for that
scamp Softly will move heaven
and earth to trace her.'--'What
else?' says I.--'Nothing, but
look sharp,' says he; 'and mind
one thing, that she sees no visitors,
and posts no letters.' Before
those last words had been out
of his wicked lips an hour, we
were off. A nice job I had to
get her away--a nice job to stop
her from writing letters to you--a
nice job to keep her here. But
I did it; I followed my orders
like a slave in a plantation
with a whip at his bare back.
I've had rheumatics, weak legs,
bad nights, and miss in the sulks--all
from obeying the doctor's orders.
And what is my reward? He turns
coiner, and runs away without
a word to me beforehand, and
writes me a trumpery note, without
a date to it, without a farthing
of money in it, telling me nothing!
Look at my confidence in him,
and then look at the way he's
treated me in return. What woman's
nerves can stand that? Don't
keep fidgeting with the bottle!
Pass it this way, Mr. Softly,
or you'll break it, and drive
me distracted."
"He has no excuse, ma'am," I
said. "But will you allow me
to change the subject, as I am
pressed for time? You appear
to be so well acquainted with
the favorable opinion which Miss
Alicia and I entertain of each
other, that I hope it will be
no fresh shock to your nerves,
if I inform you, in plain words,
that I have come to Crickgelly
to marry her."
"Marry her!
marry--If you don't leave off
fidgeting with the
bottle, Mr. Softly, and change
the subject directly, I shall
ring the bell."
"Hear me out,
ma'am, and then ring if you
like. If you persist,
however, in considering yourself
still the confidential servant
of a felon who is now flying
for his life, and if you decline
allowing the young lady to act
as she wishes, I will not be
so rude as to hint that--as she
is of age--she may walk out of
this house with me, whenever
she likes, without your having
the power to prevent her; but,
I will politely ask instead,
what you would propose to do
with her, in the straitened position
as to money in which she and
you are likely to be placed?
You can't find her father to
give her to; and, if you could,
who would be the best protector
for her? The doctor, who is the
principal criminal in the eye
of the law, or I, who am only
the unwilling accomplice? He
is known to the Bow Street runners--I
am not. There is a reward for
the taking of him, and none for
the taking of me. He has no respectable
relatives and friends, I have
plenty. Every way my chances
are the best; and consequently
I am, every way, the fittest
person to trust her to. Don't
you see that?"
Mrs. Baggs
did not immediately answer.
She snatched the bottle
out of my hands--drank off another
dram, shook her head at me, and
ejaculated lamentably: "My nerves,
my nerves! what a heart of stone
he must have to presume on my
poor nerves!"
"Give me one minute more," I
went on. "I propose to take you
and Alicia to-morrow morning
to Scotland. Pray don't groan!
I only suggest the journey with
a matrimonial object. In Scotland,
Mrs. Baggs, if a man and woman
accept each other as husband
and wife, before one witness,
it is a lawful marriage; and
that kind of wedding is, as you
see plainly enough, the only
safe refuge for a bridegroom
in my situation. If you consent
to come with us to Scotland,
and serve as witness to the marriage,
I shall be delighted to acknowledge
my sense of your kindness in
the eloquent language of the
Bank of England, as expressed
to the world in general on the
surface of a five-pound note."
I cautiously snatched away
the brandy bottle as I spoke,
and was in the drawing-room with
it in an instant. As I suppose,
Mrs. Baggs tried to follow me,
for I heard the door rattle,
as if she had got out of her
chair, and suddenly slipped back
into it again. I felt certain
of her deciding to help us, if
she was only sober enough to
reflect on what I had said to
her. The journey to Scotland
was a tedious, and perhaps a
dangerous, undertaking. But I
had no other alternative to choose.
In those uncivilized days,
the Marriage Act had not been
passed, and there was no convenient
hymeneal registrar in England
to change a vagabond runaway
couple into a respectable man
and wife at a moment's notice.
The trouble and expense of taking
Mrs. Baggs with us, I encountered,
of course, solely out of regard
for Alicia's natural prejudices.
She had led precisely that kind
of life which makes any woman
but a bad one morbidly sensitive
on the subject of small proprieties.
If she had been a girl with a
recognized position in society,
I should have proposed to her
to run away with me alone. As
it was, the very defenselessness
of her situation gave her, in
my opinion, the right to expect
from me even the absurdest sacrifices
to the narrowest conventionalities.
Mrs. Baggs was not quite so sober
in her habits, perhaps, as matrons
in general are expected to be;
but, for my particular purpose,
this was only a slight blemish;
it takes so little, after all,
to represent the abstract principle
of propriety in the short-sighted
eye of the world.
As I reached the drawing-room
door, I looked at my watch.
Nine o'clock! and nothing done
yet to facilitate our escaping
from Crickgelly to the regions
of civilized life the next morning.
I was pleased to hear, when I
knocked at the door, that Alicia's
voice sounded firmer as she told
me to come in. She was more confused
than astonished or frightened
when I sat down by her on the
sofa, and repeated the principal
topics of my conversion with
Mrs. Baggs.
"Now, my own love," I said,
in conclusion--suiting my gestures,
it is unnecessary to say, to
the tenderness of my language--"there
is not the least doubt that Mrs.
Baggs will end by agreeing to
my proposals. Nothing remains,
therefore, but for you to give
me the answer now, which I have
been waiting for ever since that
last day when we met by the riverside.
I did not know then what the
motive was for your silence and
distress. I know now, and I love
you better after that knowledge
than I did before it."
Her head dropped into its former
position on my bosom, and she
murmured a few words, but too
faintly for me to hear them.
"You knew more about your father,
then, than I did?" I whispered.
"Less than you have told me
since," she interposed quickly,
without raising her face.
"Enough to convince you that
he was breaking the laws," I
suggested; "and, to make you,
as his daughter, shrink from
saying 'yes' to me when we sat
together on the river bank?"
She did not answer. One of
her arms, which was hanging over
my shoulder, stole round my neck,
and clasped it gently.
"Since that time," I went on, "your
father has compromised me. I
am in some danger, not much,
from the law. I have no prospects
that are not of the most doubtful
kind; and I have no excuse for
asking you to share them, except
that I have fallen into my present
misfortune through trying to
discover the obstacle that kept
us apart. If there is any protection
in the world that you can turn
to, less doubtful than mine,
I suppose I ought to say no more,
and leave the house. But if there
should be none, surely I am not
so very selfish in asking you
to take your chance with me?
I honestly believe that I shall
have little difficulty, with
ordinary caution, in escaping
from pursuit, and finding a safe
home somewhere to begin life
in again with new interests.
Will you share it with me, Alicia?
I can try no fresh persuasions---I
have no right, perhaps, in my
present situation to have addressed
so many to you already."
Her other arm stole round my
neck; she laid her cheek against
mine, and whispered--
"Be kind to
me, Frank--I have nobody in
the world who loves
me but you!"
I felt her tears on my face;
my own eyes moistened as I tried
to answer her. We sat for some
minutes in perfect silence--without
moving, without a thought beyond
the moment. The rising of the
wind, and the splashing of the
rain outside were the first sounds
that stirred me into action again.
I summoned my resolution, rose
from the sofa, and in a few hasty
words told Alicia what I proposed
for the next day, and mentioned
the hour at which I would come
in the morning. As I had anticipated,
she seemed re lieved and reassured
at the prospect even of such
slight sanction and encouragement,
on the part of another woman,
as would be implied by the companionship
of Mrs. Baggs on the journey
to Scotland.
The next and last difficulty
I had to encounter was necessarily
connected with her father. He
had never been very affectionate;
and he was now, for aught she
or I knew to the contrary, parted
from her forever. Still, the
instinctive recognition of his
position made her shrink, at
the last moment, when she spoke
of him, and thought of the serious
nature of her engagement with
me. After some vain arguing and
remonstrating, I contrived to
quiet her scruples, by promising
that an address should be left
at Crickgelly, to which any second
letter that might arrive from
the doctor could be forwarded.
When I saw that this prospect
of being able to communicate
with him, if he wrote or wished
to see her, had sufficiently
composed her mind, I left the
drawing-room. It was vitally
important that I should get back
to the inn and make the necessary
arrangements for our departure
the next morning, before the
primitive people of the place
had retired to bed.
As I passed
the back parlor door on my
way out, I heard the
voice of Mrs. Baggs raised indignantly.
The words "bottle!" "audacity!" and "nerves!" reached
my ear disjointedly. I called
out "Good-by! till to-morrow;" heard
a responsive groan of disgust;
then opened the front door, and
plunged out into the dark and
rainy night.
It might have been the dropping
of water from the cottage roofs
while I passed through the village,
or the groundless alarm of my
own suspicious fancy, but I thought
I was being followed as I walked
back to the inn. Two or three
times I turned round abruptly.
If twenty men had been at my
heels, it was too dark to see
them. I went on to the inn.
The people there were not gone
to bed; and I sent for the landlord
to consult with him about a conveyance.
Perhaps it was my suspicious
fancy again; but I thought his
manner was altered. He seemed
half distrustful, half afraid
of me, when I asked him if there
had been any signs, during my
absence, of those two gentlemen,
for whom I had already inquired
on arriving at his door that
evening. He gave an answer in
the negative, looking away from
me while he spoke.
Thinking it advisable, on the
whole, not to let him see that
I noticed a change in him, I
proceeded at once to the question
of the conveyance, and was told
that I could hire the landlord's
light cart, in which he was accustomed
to drive to the market town.
I appointed an hour for starting
the next day, and retired at
once to my bedroom. There my
thoughts were enough. I was anxious
about Screw and the Bow Street
runner. I was uncertain about
the stranger who had called at
Number Two, Zion Place. I was
in doubt even about the landlord
of the inn. Never did I know
what real suffering from suspense
was, until that night, Whatever
my apprehensions might have been,
they were none of them realized
the next morning.
Nobody followed me on my way
to Zion Place, and no stranger
had called there before me a
second time, when I made inquiries
on entering the house. I found
Alicia blushing, and Mrs. Baggs
impenetrably wrapped up in dignified
sulkiness. After informing me
with a lofty look that she intended
to go to Scotland with us, and
to take my five-pound note--partly
under protest, and partly out
of excessive affection for Alicia--she
retired to pack up. The time
consumed in performing this process,
and the further delay occasioned
by paying small outstanding debts
to tradespeople, and settling
with the owner of the house,
detained us till nearly noon
before we were ready to get into
the landlord's cart.
I looked behind me anxiously
at starting, and often afterward
on the road; but never saw anything
to excite my suspicions. In settling
matters with the landlord over
night, I had arranged that we
should be driven to the nearest
town at which a post-chaise could
be obtained. My resources were
just as likely to hold out against
the expenses of posting, where
public conveyances could not
be obtained, as against the expense
of waiting privately at hotels,
until the right coaches might
start. According to my calculations,
my money would last till we got
to Scotland. After that, I had
my watch, rings, shirtpin, and
Mr. Batterbury, to help in replenishing
my purse. Anxious, therefore,
as I was about other things,
money matters, for once in a
way, did not cause me the smallest
uneasiness.
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