"Yes, let me hear," said the voice, eager, though stifled.
"I thought it might be what you wished me to see and went up to read the names."
"Do not spare. Never fear. Let me hear the very words."
"On one face of the block there was a name-
'WILLIAM SEDHURST,
AGED 27,
DIED MAY 13, 1729.'
On the other side was this inscription:-
'MARY,
ONLY DAUGHTER OF GEORGE SEDHURST, ESQUIRE,
AGED 19,
DIED AUGUST 1st, 1729.
Love is strong as Death.
Sorrow not as others that have no Hope.'
In smaller letters down below, 'This epitaph is at her own special request.'
"Sir," continued Aurelia, "it was very curious. I should not have observed those words if it had not been that a large beautiful butterfly, with rainbow eyes on its wings, sat sunning itself on the white marble, and Fay called me to look at it."
"Her message! May I ask you to repeat it again?"
"The texts? 'Love is strong as death. Sorrow not as others that have no hope.'"
"Did you call them Scripture texts?"
"Yes, sir; I know the last is in one of the Epistles, and I will look for the other."
"It matters not. She intended them for a message to me who lay in utter darkness and imbecility well befitting her destroyer."
"Nay, they have come to you at last," said Aurelia gently. "You really never knew of them before?"
"No, I durst not ask, nor did any one dare to speak to me. My brother, who alone would have done so, died, I scarcely know when; but ere the very consciousness of my own wretched existence had come back to me. Once again repeat the words, gentle messenger of mercy."
She obeyed, but this time he mournfully murmured, "Hope! What hope for their destroyer?"
"They are God's words, as well as hers," the girl answered, with diffident earnestness, but in reply she only heard tightened breaths, which made her say, "You cannot bear more, sir. Let me call Jumbo, and bid you good night."
Jumbo came at the mention of his name. Somehow he was so unlike other human beings, and so wholly devoted to his master, that it never seemed to be a greater shock to find that he had been present than if he had been a faithful dog.
A few days later he told Aurelia that Mas'r was not well enough to see her. He had set forth as soon as the moon had set, and walked with his trusty servant to Sedhurst, where he had traced with his finger the whole inscription, lingering so long that the sun was above the horizon before he could get home; and he was still lying on the bed where he had thrown himself on first coming in, having neither spoken nor eaten since. Jumbo could not but grumble out that Mas'r was better left to himself.
Yet when Aurelia on the third evening was recalled, there was a ring of refreshment in the voice. It was still melancholy, but the dejection was lessened, and though it was only of Achilles and Patroclus that they talked, she was convinced that the pressure of the heavy burthen of grief and remorse was in some degree lightened.
CHAPTER XII. THE SHAFTS OF PHOEBE.
Her golden bow she bends,
Her deadly arrows sending forth.
Greek Hymn (KEIGHTLEY).
On coming in from a walk, Aurelia was surprised by the tidings that Mistress Phoebe Treforth had come to call on her, and had left a billet. The said billet was secured with floss silk sealed down in the antiquated fashion, and was written on full-sized quarto paper. These were the contents:-
"Madam,
"My Sister and Myself are desirous of the Honour of your
Acquaintance, and shall be happy if you will do use the
Pleasure of coming to partake of Dinner at Three o'Clock
on Tuesday, the 13th instant.
"I remain,
"Yours to command,
"DELIA TREFORTH."
Aurelia carried the invitation to her oracle.
"My cousins are willing to make your acquaintance?" said he. "That is well. Jumbo shall escort you home in the evening."
"Thank you, sir, but must I accept the invitation?"
"It could not be declined without incivility. Moreover, the Mistresses Treforth are highly respected, and your father and sister will certainly think it well for you to have female friends."
"Do you think those ladies could ever be my friends, sir?" she asked, with an intonation that made him reply, with a sound of amusement.
"I am no judge in such matters, but they are ladies connected and esteemed, who might befriend and counsel you in case of need, and at any rate, it is much more suitable that you should be on terms of friendly intercourse with them. I am heartily glad they have shown you this attention."
"I do not mean to be ungrateful, sir."
"And I think you have disproved that
Crabbed age and youth
Cannot live together."
"If they were only like you, sir!"
"What would they say to that?" he said with the slight laugh that had begun to enliven his voice. "I suppose your charges are not included in the invitation?"
"No; but Molly can take care of them, if my Lady will not object to my leaving them."
"She cannot reasonably do so."
"And, sir, shall I be permitted to come home in time for you to receive me?"
"I fear I must forego that pleasure. The ladies will insist on cards and supper. Jumbo shall come for you at nine o'clock."
Aurelia submitted, and tripped down arrayed in the dress that recalled the fete at Carminster, except that only a little powder was sprinkled on her temples. the little girls jumped round her in admiring ecstasy, and, under Molly's charge, escorted her to the garden gate, and hovered outside to see her admitted, while she knocked timidly at the door, in the bashful alarm of making her first independent visit.
The loutish man ushered her into a small close room, containing a cat, a little spaniel, a green parrot, a spinning-wheel, and an embroidery frame. There were also the two old ladies, dressed with old-fashioned richness, a little faded, and a third, in a crimson, gold-laced joseph [A long riding coat with a small cape, worn by women in the 18th century.-D.L.], stout, rubicund, and hearty, to whom Aurelia was introduced thus-
"Mrs. Hunter, allow me to present to you Miss Delavie, a relative of my Lady Belamour. Miss Delavie, Mrs. Hunter of Brentford."
"I am most happy to make your acquaintance, Miss," said the lady, in a jovial voice, and Aurelia made her curtsey, but at that moment the man announced that dinner was served, whereupon Mrs. Delia handed Mrs. Hunter in, and Mrs. Phoebe took the younger guest.
The ladies' faces both bore token of their recent attention to the preparation of the meal, and the curious dishes would have been highly interesting to Betty, but there was no large quantity of any, and a single chicken was the piece de resistance, whence very tiny helps were dealt out, and there was much unnecessary pressing to take a little more, both of that and of the brace of partridges which succeeded it. As to conversation, there was room for none, except hospitable invitations from the hostesses to take the morsels that they cut for their guests, praises of the viands from Mrs. Hunter, and endeavours to fish at the recipes, which the owners guarded jealously as precious secrets. Aurelia sat perfectly silent, as was then reckoned as proper in a young lady of her age, except when addressed. A good deal of time was also expended in directing John Stiggins, the ladies' own man, and George Brown, who had ridden with Mrs. Hunter from Brentford, in the disposal of the dishes, and the handing of the plates. George Brown was the more skilled waiter, and as the man who was at home did not brook interference, their disputes were rude and audible, and kept the ladies in agonies lest they should result in ruin to the best china.