“Ada, I can go, if you wish,” said Emmeline. “Tell me the truth. Do you want me to go or stay?”
“To stay. I need my sister. Nothing new has happened. No change has come. I simply have greater need. And Father wants his daughter — his grand-daughter — all that it is. I can accept it. If I had not learned to accept, I should be a person who could learn nothing.”
“What a family we are!” said Reuben to his brothers. “I don’t know whether to be proud or ashamed of belonging to it.”
“I see no cause for pride,” said Merton.
“I do,” said Trissie, in a whisper. “They would make anyone proud. And I am almost their relation.”
“I say nothing, Joanna,” said Sir Michael. “Once more I wish you had not known. Once more I would have spared you.”
“I say nothing too. I should like to say something in my own vein. Even at this moment I should like it. And I cannot think of anything. And I see I don’t deserve to. Alfred was more fortunate. But then I daresay he did.”
“Did you ever suspect this was the truth?”
“No, but I sometimes felt it ought to be. It fitted in like a book. And truth is stranger than fiction. So it ought to be as good.”
“You all say that nothing has happened,” said Zillah. “And you go on talking as if something had.”
“You do not, Aunt Penelope,” said Ada. “And I should like to have a word.”
“Then you shall. I will say one. The word that had come into my mind. That I find you brave and kind and wise.”
“Oh, Aunt Penelope, that is a help. It is just the word I need. It gives me strength to go on.”
Sir Michael moved to Ada and put a hand on her shoulder. She started and broke into tears, and at that moment the door opened and Hereward stood with his eyes on her.
“So I have come at the peak of the occasion. I hoped it would be over. I thought I had given it time.”
“It is over, Hereward,” said Ada, raising her eyes. “And other things are over too. I shall say nothing. There is nothing for me to say.”
“There is nothing for me either. The words would have no place. They are out of their time.”
“Is this all it is to be?” said Joanna to her husband. “It somehow does not seem enough. I suppose I can’t want it to be any more. It must be that human motives are mixed.”
“So you have had a burden I did not know of, Hereward,” said Ada. “As well as all those I know.”
“My wife, it is a good word. It was a good thought. I do not meet so many. And there is a word I will say to you. And it has nothing to do with my daughter. I am glad you have given me my sons.”
“So this has drawn Ada and Hereward together,” said Joanna to Sir Michael. “It is always an unfortunate thing that does that. And it was unfortunate things that put them apart. I wonder if a fortunate thing could do anything. I have never heard of it.”
“Joanna, I find it too much. Do not try to help me. Do not say we have another grandchild. I am degraded by these covert relationships. I am only sure of one thing. I wish my son had been different.”
“In one way, Father,” said Zillah. “Surely in no other. A man must be taken as a whole.”
“Oh, this whole! It is a bale and a ban. Why must we take the whole of anything, when it is both good and bad? I can’t help it, Joanna. I can only be myself.”
“I don’t want you to be anyone else. The standard is too uncertain. I must be able to respect my husband.”
“I wish poor Ada could respect hers. I wish I could respect my son.”
“I know you cannot, Father,” said Hereward. “But you can take what I give. And I can respect you. Let that be the exchange between us. And this trouble is in the past.”
“And when things are there, they do not count,” said Joanna. “‘It is a long time ago’ people say. So nothing is really wrong. It only has to wait long enough. It is a good thing this has done so.”
“Mamma, you are what you are,” said Ada. “I would not and could not say more.”
“And I am what I am,” said Sir Michael. “And I do not hear such words. But I can’t help feeling there is right on my side.”
“Of course there is,” said Joanna. “There has to be right somewhere. Or there would not be such a thing. And there is not any anywhere else.”
“Joanna, have we cared for Ada enough?” said Sir Michael, lowering his tone.
“We have not. She would never be cared for enough. Just as I am always cared for too much. Don’t tell anyone I am proud of it.”
“Well, you have never tried to achieve it.”
“But I have. I have tried very hard. And I can feel I have my reward.”
“Should we have a celebration to-night?” said Hereward, in an ironic tone. “There is nothing more to come to light. Is it an occasion to be observed?”
“Let us forget it and go on in our usual way,” said Sir Michael, with something in his voice that did not exalt any other.
“Then we should send for Henry,” said Salomon. “We have seen nothing of him since yesterday. That is not our usual way.”
Henry appeared in response to the summons, and stood inside the room without evincing any sign of interest. Nurse had an air of uneasiness and remained at hand.
“He is not quite himself to-day, ma’am. He may be a little fractious. He had better not stay too long.”
“Stay a long time,” said Henry, in a tone that supported her misgiving.
“Come and talk to Father,” said Hereward.
“No, not talk.”
“Tell us what you have done to-day.”
“No, not tell.”
“Is it a secret?”
“No, not a secret. Secret is good.”
“What has made you tired this evening?”
“Not tired. Not go upstairs. Not go to bed any more.”
“But you would be tired then.”
“Yes, he would, poor little boy,” said Henry, wearily.
“Think of something you would like to do.”
“Ring-a-ring-a-roses!” said Henry, a light breaking over his face.
The ensuing scene was a contrast to those that had preceded it. Galleon, alive to all of them, smiled to himself at the difference, while keeping in the background to avoid being involved.
“Well, I am the person to be tired,” said Sir Michael, as he rose from the ground. “This is more for Henry’s age than mine. I am three-quarters of a century too old for it.”
“Grandpa very slow,” said Henry looking at him.
“Yes, his bones are old and stiff. He can hear them creak.”
Henry looked at him and broke into a wail.
“Poor Grandpa! His bones creak and he hear them. Hurt him very much.”
“No, they are not hurting him now,” said Nurse.
“Yes, he hear them. Henry hear them too. Oh, poor Grandpa!”
“No, you know you did not hear them.”
“Not say he didn’t hear,” said Henry, angrily, as he was led from the room.
Chapter XIV
“Rosa, I am glad to be with you,” said Hereward. “How long is it since we met?”
“I have lost count, as you have. Why are you with me now?”
“Does there have to be a reason?”
“No, but there is one. What has happened?”
“The one thing there was left to happen. My last secret has escaped. I must talk of it to someone. There has to be silence at home.”
“You are fortunate. There might be something else. Does Salomon want to marry Viola?”
“Rosa, you think of it at once. How did you guess?”
“Well, he is the one who is free. And she is what we know. It seems a situation for your family.”