"Nine o'clock," said Winston, at length, consulting his watch, and
pushing back his chair. "The carriage will be at the door in fifteen
minutes, Mr. Chilton. The road is heavy this morning, and the stage
passes the village at ten."
"I shall be ready," responded Frederic. "I am sorry your carriage
and coachman must be exposed to the rain."
"That is nothing. They are used to it. I never alter my plan of
travel on account of the weather, how ever severe the storm. This
warm rain can hurt nobody."
"It is pouring hard," remarked Mrs. Button, solicitously. "And that
stage is wretchedly uncomfortable in the best weather. I wish you
could be persuaded to stay with us until it clears off, Mr. Chilton,
and"--making a bold push--"I am sure my nephew concurs in my
desire."
"Mr. Chilton should require no verbal assurance of my hospitable
feelings toward him and my other guests," said Mr. Aylett,
frigidly--smooth as ice-cream. "If I forbear to press him to prolong
his stay, it is in reflection of the golden law laid down for the
direction of hosts--'Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest.'"
"You are both very kind, but I must go," Frederic replied, concisely
and civilly, following Mabel into the parlor, whither the other
visitors were fabled to have repaired. As he had guessed, his
betrothed was the only person there; the quartette having dispersed
with kindly tact, for which he gave them due credit.
"Don't think hardly of me, dear," he began, seating himself beside
her on the sofa.
"Allow me to offer you a few of the finest cigars I have enjoyed for
many years," said Mr. Aylett, entering in season to check Frederic's
movement to encircle Mabel's drooping form with his arm. "You smoke,
I believe? You may have an opportunity of indulging in this solace
in an empty stage. At least, there is little probability that you
will be denied the luxury by the presence of lady passengers. I
procured those in Havana, last winter. In case you should like them
well enough to order some for yourself, I will give you the address
of the merchant from whom I purchased them."
He wrote a line upon a card, as he might sign a beggar's
petition--with a supercilious parade of benevolence--and passed it
to the other, who accepted it with a phrase of acknowledgment
neither hearty nor grateful. Then the master of the house paced the
floor with a slow, regular step, his hands behind him; his
countenance placidly ruminative, his thoughts apparently engaged
with anything rather than the pain upon the corner-sofa, whose
leave-taking he had mercilessly marred. Frederic dumb and furious;
Mabel equally dumb and amazed to alarm, knowing as she did that her
brother's actions were never purposeless, sat still, their hands
clasped stealthily amid the folds of Mabel's dress; their eyes
saying the dear and passionate things forbidden to their tongues.
Neither would feign indifference, or attempt a lame dialogue upon
other topics than those that filled their minds. Mr. Aylett was not
one to pay outward heed to hints when he chose to ignore them. He
kept up his walk until the carriage was driven around to the front
door, informed the parting guest that it awaited his commands,
likewise that he would need all the time that remained to him if he
hoped to catch the stage; without leaving the room, called to a
servant to bring down Mr. Chilton's baggage, and did not lose sight
of his sister's lover until the last farewell was said, and Frederic
bestowed inside the vehicle. There was nothing offensively officious
or malicious in all this. Having declared as an incontrovertible
dogma, that a ward could form no engagement without the formal
sanction of her legal guardian, he saw fit to put the seal upon the
decision at this, their adieu, in a manner they were not likely to
forget. An hour's harangue would not have imbued them with the sense
of his authority, his determination to exercise it, and their
impotency to resist it, as did this practical lesson.