"I got invited to Sir Jervis's house,"Alban resumed,"by treating the old savage as unceremoniously as he had treated me.
'That's an idle trade of yours,'he said,looking at my sketch.
'Other ignorant people have made the same remark,'I answered.He rode away,as if he was not used to be spoken to in that manner,and then thought better of it,and came back.'Do you understand wood engraving?'he asked.'Yes.''And etching?''I have practiced etching myself.''Are you a Royal Academician?''I'm a drawing-master at a ladies'school.''Whose school?''Miss Ladd's.''Damn it,you know the girl who ought to have been my secretary.'I am not quite sure whether you will take it as a compliment--Sir Jervis appeared to view you in the light of a reference to my respectability.At any rate,he went on with his questions.'How long do you stop in these parts?''I haven't made up my mind.''Look here;I want to consult you--are you listening?''No;I'm sketching.'He burst into a horrid scream.Iasked if he felt himself taken ill.'Ill?'he said--'I'm laughing.'It was a diabolical laugh,in one syllable--not 'ha!
ha!ha!'only 'ha!'--and it made him look wonderfully like that eminent person,whom I persist in thinking he resembles.'You're an impudent dog,'he said;'where are you living?'He was so delighted when he heard of my uncomfortable position in the kennel-bedroom,that he offered his hospitality on the spot.'Ican't go to you in such a pigstye as that,'he said;'you must come to me.What's your name?''Alban Morris;what's yours?'
'Jervis Redwood.Pack up your traps when you've done your job,and come and try my kennel.There it is,in a corner of your drawing,and devilish like,too.'I packed up my traps,and Itried his kennel.And now you have had enough of Sir Jervis Redwood.""Not half enough!"Emily answered."Your story leaves off just at the interesting moment.I want you to take me to Sir Jervis's house.""And I want you,Miss Emily,to take me to the British Museum.
Don't let me startle you!When I called here earlier in the day,I was told that you had gone to the reading-room.Is your reading a secret?"His manner,when he made that reply,suggested to Emily that there was some foregone conclusion in his mind,which he was putting to the test.She answered without alluding to the impression which he had produced on her.
"My reading is no secret.I am only consulting old newspapers."He repeated the last words to himself."Old newspapers?"he said--as if he was not quite sure of having rightly understood her.
She tried to help him by a more definite reply.
"I am looking through old newspapers,"she resumed,"beginning with the year eighteen hundred and seventy-six.""And going back from that time,"he asked eagerly;"to earlier dates still?""No--just the contrary--advancing from 'seventy-six'to the present time."He suddenly turned pale--and tried to hide his face from her by looking out of the window.For a moment,his agitation deprived him of his presence of mind.In that moment,she saw that she had alarmed him.
"What have I said to frighten you?"she asked.
He tried to assume a tone of commonplace gallantry."There are limits even to your power over me,"he replied."Whatever else you may do,you can never frighten me.Are you searching those old newspapers with any particular object in view?""Yes."
"May I know what it is?"
"May I know why I frightened you?"
He began to walk up and down the room again--then checked himself abruptly,and appealed to her mercy.
"Don't be hard on me,"he pleaded."I am so fond of you--oh,forgive me!I only mean that it distresses me to have any concealments from you.If I could open my whole heart at this moment,I shou ld be a happier man."She understood him and believed him."My curiosity shall never embarrass you again,"she answered warmly."I won't even remember that I wanted to hear how you got on in Sir Jervis's house."His gratitude seized the opportunity of taking her harmlessly into his confidence."As Sir Jervis's guest,"he said,"my experience is at your service.Only tell me how I can interest you."She replied,with some hesitation,"I should like to know what happened when you first saw Mrs.Rook."To her surprise and relief,he at once complied with her wishes.
"We met,"he said,"on the evening when I first entered the house.Sir Jervis took me into the dining-room--and there sat Miss Redwood,with a large black cat on her lap.Older than her brother,taller than her brother,leaner than her brother--with strange stony eyes,and a skin like parchment--she looked (if Imay speak in contradictions)like a living corpse.I was presented,and the corpse revived.The last lingering relics of former good breeding showed themselves faintly in her brow and in her smile.You will hear more of Miss Redwood presently.In the meanwhile,Sir Jervis made me reward his hospitality by professional advice.He wished me to decide whether the artists whom he had employed to illustrate his wonderful book had cheated him by overcharges and bad work--and Mrs.Rook was sent to fetch the engravings from his study upstairs.You remember her petrified appearance,when she first read the inion on your locket?The same result followed when she found herself face to face with me.I saluted her civilly--she was deaf and blind to my politeness.Her master snatched the illustrations out of her hand,and told her to leave the room.She stood stockstill,staring helplessly.Sir Jervis looked round at his sister;and Ifollowed his example.Miss Redwood was observing the housekeeper too attentively to notice anything else;her brother was obliged to speak to her.'Try Rook with the bell,'he said.Miss Redwood took a fine old bronze hand-bell from the table at her side,and rang it.At the shrill silvery sound of the bell,Mrs.Rook put her hand to her head as if the ringing had hurt her--turned instantly,and left us.'Nobody can manage Rook but my sister,'