They were married, and lived together for five years. Outwardly there was nothing whatever to suggest that they were not as happy as married people ordinarily are. They had no children, and Mr. Clarendon was said to be vexed at this, but such little vexations a wise man philosophically endures. And Mr. Clarendon laid claim to a certain kind of philosophy. In these latter years of his life his cynicisms of speech became rather more pronounced, but they were of a kind which with most people earned him credit for superiority. One favourite phrase he had which came to his lips whenever he happened to be talking of his worldly affairs; it was: Après moi le déluge. He seemed to mean something special by this.
Isabel grew to hate the sound of those words, as if they had been a formula of diabolical incantation.
At first she had life all her own way. They went on to the Continent, where her young mind grew, then came back to spend the winter at Knightswell. The house was kept incessantly full of guests, and Isabel shone. Mr. Clarendon never rode to hounds, but for his wifes sake hunters were bought, and Isabel proved herself the most splendid horsewoman in the field; that bareback riding at her uncles farm had been of service to her. She entered into the joy of hunting with almost reckless abandonment; she risked leaps which made men stare, and was in at the death with a face and figure which took away ones breath. Mr. Clarendon stayed at home these days, and was in the doorway to receive her when she returned. They were not seen to greet each other.
Then Mr. Clarendon fell ill of the disease which was to kill him. It was horribly painful, necessitating hideous operations, renewed again and again; an illness lasting for three years. He went to London, and Isabel began her work of tending him. To move about his bedroom, with that clear, cold, gray eye of his following her wherever she went, was a ghastly trial, but she bore it. Society was renounced; only occasionally she went to see intimate friends. One day her maid, a woman who loved her, begged leave to tell her somethingsomething of which she was not sure that she ought to speak.
Whenever you leave the house, maam, she said, a man follows youfollows you everywhere, and back home again.
Why, what man?
A man, maam, whowho has been to see master several times, said the servant, with apprehension.
You meana paid man? A man employed for this?
It was enough. Isabel went out no more. A friend or two came to see her, but at length she was deserted. Her mother died, and she could not even attend the funeral. Then Mr. Clarendon was removed to Knightswell, where she tended him for yet another year. At length he died after an agony of twelve hours. His last words were: Après moi le déluge.
It was said that he had left an extraordinary will; those who cared to do so discovered the details, and talked them over with much enjoyment of the sensation. Outwardly, Isabels life soon returned to its former joyousness. In the season in London (though not in the former house; she took rooms each year for three months), the rest of the year at Knightswell, she pursued her social triumphs; people held that she was more charming than ever. One curious change there was in her circumstances. Immediately after her husbands death she took to live with her a little girl of seven, a very plain and unattractive child, whose name was Ada Warren. She seemed to have made of her an adoptive daughter. Those who knew Mr. Clarendons will understood the childs presence in the house. Mrs. Clarendon never directly spoke of her.
And so twelve years of widowhood went by, and time brought the Midsummer Day which found Bernard Kingcote rambling between Salcot East and Winstoke. Mrs. Clarendons age was now thirty-six.
CHAPTER III
One morning in August Mrs. Clarendon was sitting in the garden at Knightswell, with Ada Warren and a young lady named Rhoda Meres, a guest at the house. They had chosen a spot which was often resorted to for tea on hot afternoons, a little piece of lawn closely shut in with leafage, whence an overbowered pathway led out to the front garden. The lady of Knightswell sat reposefully in a round-backed rustic chair. She wore a pretty garden costume, a dainty web of shawl just covering her head, her crossed feet just showing below the folds of her dress. An open sunshade lay tumbled on the grass beside her, and on her lap was an illustrated paper, of which she turned the leaves with idle interest. Miss Warren sat a couple of yards away, reading a review. Her dress was plain, and of dark material, and she wore a brown broad-brimmed straw hat. The other young lady made no pretence of being occupied. With knit brows and bent head she walked backwards and forwards on the grass, biting a long leaf which she had pulled from a bough in passing. She was a pretty girl, fair-cheeked and graceful of form. She carried her hat by its ribbon, and let the stray sunlight make gleamings upon her golden hair. Her age was not quite nineteen, and the beautiful lines of her maiden figure lost nothing by her way of holding herself, whether she moved or stood.
After several side glances at her silent companions, she presently came to a pause before Mrs. Clarendons chair, and, still holding the leaf between her lips, asked, rather plaintively:
Why shouldnt I, Mrs. Clarendon?
Isabel looked up with suave smiling features, and met the girls eyes in silence for a moment.
My dear Rhoda, she said then, why should you?
No, urged the girl, I think all the reasons are needed on the other side. I must do something, and this is what I think Im suited for. Why shouldnt I?
For one thing, because you are a lady, and ladies dont do such things.
There you have Mrs. Clarendons last word, remarked Ada Warren, without looking up. Her voice contrasted strangely with those which had been just heard; it was hard in tone, giving clear utterance to each syllable, as if to accentuate the irony in her observation.
Certainly, said Isabel, with good humour; if Rhoda is content to let it be.
Still biting her leaf, Miss Meres held her head a little on one side, and, after glancing at Ada, turned her eyes again upon Mrs. Clarendon.
But are you quite sure it is so, Mrs. Clarendon? she urged. I mean that ladies dont go on to the stage? It used to be so, no doubt, but things have been changing. Im sure Ive heard that both ladies and gentlemen are beginning to take to acting nowadays. And I cant see why they shouldnt. It seems to be better than
She stopped, and looked a little embarrassed.
Better than doing nothing at all, you were going to say, Isabel supplied; like myself, for instance? Perhaps it is. But I fancy that the ladies who go on to the stage are generally those who, for some reason or other, have lost their places in society.
With a large S, put in Ada, still without looking up.
Yes, a very large one, assented Isabel, smiling.
And suppose, exclaimed Rhoda, suddenly bold, I dont care anything about the society which spells itself with a large S.
Mrs. Clarendon shook her head indulgently.
My child, you cant help caring about it.
Not if I find something I like better outside it?
Mrs. Clarendon crossed her hands upon the paper, and sighed a little before speaking.
You think it would be nice to become a Bohemian, and live in contempt of us poor subjects of Mrs. Grundy. Rhoda, those Bohemians struggle for nothing so hard as to get into society. If they are successful, the best fruit of their success is an invitation to a ladys at home, the unsuccessful ones would give their ears to be received in the most commonplace little drawing-room. Now you have already what they strive for so desperately. Youll see all this plainly enough when you know a little more of the world.