Adeline folded her arms across her breast and faced the doctor.
"I should think", she said, "that as you brought the infant into the world, you would show a little consideration for him".
Dr. Ramsay had nothing to say in reply to this.
Adeline continued, "And, if I know Lydia Busby, she will want time for her preparations and not to be rushed to the altar as though there were need for urgency".
Again Dr. Ramsay could think of nothing to say.
As they stood staring at each other they little thought that her unborn son was to marry his unborn daughter and that these two were to become the parents of a future master of Jalna.
The embarrassing situation was pushed aside by the entrance of Conway, Sholto and Mary, from the vestry. Sholto at once mounted the pulpit and, with a sanctimonious expression, intoned:
"In the beginning God created the Courts".
"Come down out of that, you young rascal", said Philip.
But Sholto continued, "And God saw that the Courts were good. And later on God created the Whiteoaks. And the son of the Whiteoaks looked on the daughter of the Courts and he perceived that, although ill-favoured, she was lusty and he took her to wed".
Now Mr. Pink also entered from the vestry. He came up behind Sholto and lifted him bodily from the pulpit and deposited him on the floor.
"It is well for you, my boy", he said, "that the church is not yet consecrated, but as it is, I must severely censure you for making light of the Holy Scriptures".
"I was just telling him to stop it", said Philip.
Adeline exclaimed, to cover her brother’s delinquency:
"Oh, Mr. Pink, you should have come sooner and heard Philip and me singing a hymn!"
Coming to her aid Wilmott added, "The organ has an excellent tone, sir. Should you like to hear me play on it?"
In the vestry a carpenter began loudly to saw and, in the vestibule, another to hammer. Peace was restored.
XXIII. A Variety of Scenes
Adeline’s parents arrived three weeks later. They were just in time for the ceremony of consecrating the new church. After the service the Bishop spent the night at Jalna. There had been a large dinner-party and the neighbourhood was happily excited. It was agreed that the church was handsome, the Bishop affable, and that Mr. Court and Lady Honoria were the most perfectly bred, good-humoured, and likeable people imaginable.
This praise included Adeline’s brother, Esmond Court, who had accompanied his parents without any previous warning. It seemed that they had had no time to write because Lady Honoria had decided only at the last moment to bring him. As Conway, who was not nearly so attractive, had picked up a quite well-off Canadian girl, Lady Honoria saw no reason why Esmond should not do even better for himself. He was the opposite of his two brothers already at Jalna, being dark and handsome, with a resemblance to Adeline. He made himself very agreeable to Philip but Philip could not help feeling that six of his wife’s relations in the house at one time was rather a lot.
Some days after his arrival, Renny Court took to his bed with an attack of lumbago. He might have been the first sufferer from that ailment, so loud were his complaints and so convinced was he that it would be the end of him. He constantly demanded applications from without and doses from within so that the house was in a ferment of attendance on him. However, when he at last threw off the attack, his cure was complete. He appeared downstairs supported on either side by Lady Honoria and Adeline. They progressed along the hall to the dining-room with him leaning heavily on them, while he now and again uttered ejaculations of pain. The rest of the family followed with expressions of commiseration. But once he was seated at table with the roast quail on toast in front of him, with a glass of excellent claret by his plate, he was himself again. He was delighted by everything. If he had said things in disparagement of Canada, he now took them back. Jalna was a marvel of achievement. When he was sufficiently recovered to inspect the estate with Philip, he could not say too much in praise of its shipshapeness. There was nothing he liked so much to see as a place in good order and Philip was forced to admit that any suggestions he had to make were excellent.
As for Lady Honoria, the visit was one long happiness to her. To see her daughter so well established, where she had feared to find her in a wilderness, was a joy. To be reunited to her younger sons, even though they gave her so much worry, was a satisfaction. Above all, her grandchildren were a delight to her. Gussie was so intelligent, already so womanly in her ways, that she was a pleasing companion. To be sure she had a temper, but what Court had not? She and Nicholas did a good deal of hair-pulling. But what a darling he was! And Ernest was an enchanting baby. He seemed to know that he was to be the centre of attraction at the next party.
Lady Honoria herself seemed rejuvenated by the acquisition of the new tooth, a miracle of dentistry. She looked more like a sister to Adeline than a mother. In the exhilarating October weather, with the countryside aflame in scarlet and gold, she inspected the flower border and kitchen garden in the making. The little goat, on whose neck she had tied the bell, seemed to remember her, for it followed her everywhere. She would collect the most brilliant of the autumn leaves to take back to Ireland with her. She herself originated a design of them for a mantel-drape she was embroidering for Adeline. As for the church, Lady Honoria was never tired of doing things for its embellishment. Before she left home, she had embroidered an Easter altar-cloth in a design of lilies, and a beautiful stole for Mr. Pink. Now, out of her own slender purse, she had ordered a crimson cushion and four crimson hassocks for the Whiteoak pew. Sometimes she and little Augusta would go to the church together and wander happily about it. Gussie was so good you could trust her anywhere. When the little girl grew up, and even when she was an old woman, she could remember this companionship between herself and her grandmother and could recall Lady Honoria’s lovely smile quite clearly.
Jalna was teeming with vitality and Esmond Court had added a large share of it. He had a talent for bringing out the liveliness of others. He was pleased with himself and the world from morning to night, unless he were crossed, when he would display a most violent temper. But it was soon over. Philip had an exhibition of this in a fencing contest between Esmond and Mr. Court. Both were expert fencers and were giving an exhibition of their skill in the library. Suddenly something went wrong. It was a question of rules. An argument broke out. The faces of the fencers became masks of fury. Each set about demonstrating his own point of view. The foils flashed. It seemed for a moment that one or the other would be pierced to the vitals. Lady Honoria and Adeline shrieked. Mary turned faint. Recklessly Conway and Sholto flung themselves between the fencers. To Philip’s astonishment the storm subsided as suddenly as it had arisen. With Sholto still clinging to him, Esmond apologised to his father and was forgiven but he was still trembling with anger, while Renny Court’s features showed a triumphant grin.
"Oh, Dada", cried Adeline, "you were by far the most to blame! You nearly ran Esmond through!"
He made a grimace of annoyance. "Always against me, aren’t you, Adeline? If my son cut me piecemeal you’d declare I was to blame!"
"Well, well", said his wife. "It’s all over and do put those nasty swords away, children".
In these days much of Adeline’s time was given to preparation for the christening. It turned out that Lydia Busby was quite willing to wait till that event was past before marrying. On his part, Dr. Ramsay was anxious to hasten the event, so that he might join the shooting party Philip was organising for his father-in-law. Renny Court was eager to make such an expedition for the sake of seeing the northern wilds and such deer, elk, moose, bears, wildcats or apes as might inhabit them. As his visit drew on he became less complimentary about the country.