CHAPTER XV.—THE BANQUET WAITS.
The explanation that Philip, having important business in town, had no doubt been detained so long as to have missed his train, satisfied all the guests except one. She, however, maintained as calm a demeanour as Mr Hadleigh himself; and he regarded her at times with a curiously thoughtful expression.
‘How brave she is,’ was his thought. ‘Can she have misgivings and he so firm?’
Madge had misgivings; for Philip had told her that he had only to put his seal on the despatch-box containing the important papers he was to carry with him to Uncle Shield, and that he expected to return early enough to call at Willowmere before going home. This, she had suggested, would be waste of time, for she would be busy with her elaborate toilet, and unable to see him. They both enjoyed the fun of the idea that she should be so long engaged in dressing for this important occasion as to leave no time to see him.
‘Well, I shall see Uncle Dick at anyrate, and of course he will be a first-rate substitute. Indeed, now I think of it, he would be far more interesting than a coquettish young person whose mind is wholly absorbed in the arrangement of her bows and laces. He would tell me all about the spread of the foot-and-mouth disease, and that would be useful information at anyrate. Eh?’
They parted, laughing, and thus it was only a half-promise that he should call. She was not surprised, therefore, when he did not appear.
When, however, the hour of dinner at the Manor arrived and he had not yet returned, she felt that vague anxiety which is almost more difficult to hide in the presence of others than the pain of some definite calamity. She knew quite well that if he had only missed a train, he would have telegraphed. But no one looking at her would have suspected that her mind was disturbed by the least unhappy thought.
Miss Hadleigh only said: ‘That careless boy! To be late on such an occasion as this when he knows that papa is always put out when anybody is late’—and went on doing her best to remember her duty as a hostess by not giving all her attention to ‘Alfred.’ Miss Caroline only whispered in reply: ‘He is so stupid.’ As for Miss Bertha, she was so busily engaged in conversation with one of her brother Coutts’s friends, that she was unconscious of any disarrangement of the evening’s programme.
So the party in the drawing-room buzzed like a hive of contented bees on a warm summer day, and no one showed the slightest symptom of being aware that the hour appointed for dinner had passed.
The vicar, Paul Havens, was a hale, sunny-faced man of about fifty years, with bushy iron-gray hair and whiskers, and square muscular frame. He was one of those men whose strong, kindly nature reflects itself upon all who come in contact with him, and inspires them too with a sense of strength. His genial presence was like fresh air in the mansion or the peasant’s cot. He was no ‘sporting parson;’ but he chatted with Crawshay with as much interest as if he were, about the prospects of sport on the stubble this season, and how the pheasants were likely to turn out when their time came. Then, as Dr Guy came up, the vicar turned to little Mrs Joy in time to relieve her from utter distraction at the cynical jokes and compliments of Coutts Hadleigh. The latter delighted in bewildering this good lady, whose wits were not particularly quick, although, with her husband, Dr Edwin Joy, she was an enthusiastic social reformer.
‘My husband and I believe,’ she would say, with her little head bending slightly to one side, ‘that want of thrift is at the bottom of all the poverty and misery of the working-classes in town and country. Now we endeavour to inculcate that great fact on all who come under our influence; and Dr Joy, as my father’s partner, you know, has many opportunities for speaking a word in season. And we always speak it! Thrift, thrift, thrift, is our text; and I assure you we have succeeded in making some improvements in our district.’
And they did preach from this text with untiring enthusiasm; they diligently perused every book and pamphlet published on the subject, and their own affairs were continually in a hopeless muddle. They could always see exactly what other people ought to do under any given circumstances, and were always ready with the best advice; but they were like children in dealing with the most ordinary difficulties of their own lives. They were a good-natured couple, however, thoroughly sincere and well meaning, so that these little idiosyncrasies amused their friends, and did no harm to the working-people on whose behalf they were specially exercised.
Mrs Joy’s father, Dr Guy, smiled grimly at the profound wisdom they displayed in other people’s business, and the folly which invariably cropped up whenever they had anything to do for themselves. At the beginning of every year, they made a serious calculation of the least amount their income was likely to be for the coming twelve months, and resolved to live within it; they even determined to lay aside some portion to meet contingencies. At the end of every year, they were amazed to find how far they had exceeded their calculated expenditure, and spent days in wondering how it could be.
‘Edwin, I cannot understand it,’ Mrs Joy would exclaim helplessly.
‘Neither can I,’ he would answer with a puzzled look at the figures before him. Then, brightening up, he would say: ‘We must try again, my dear.’
‘Yes, we must try again, dear,’ she would say, also brightening up, and comforted by visions of the surplus which the mighty thrift would give them next time.
Then they would make another serious calculation of ways and means, and with light hearts, go on just as before, studying and preaching the doctrines which, by some inscrutable twist in their natures, they were unable to practise. They were so like children playing at housekeeping, that although Dr Guy had to bear the consequences of their mismanagement, he could not be angry with them long at a time. Besides, he had consolation in two facts: first, that Fanny was his only child, and would inherit everything he possessed; and second, that Edwin Joy was really a clever surgeon, successful in his practice, and much liked by his patients, notwithstanding his stupidity in money matters. Indeed, the greater part of the practice rested on his shoulders now, and nothing delighted him more than to be up to the eyes in work.
Dr Guy belonged to the old school of country practitioners, and was as much interested in agriculture as in physic. He had a small farm, in the management of which he found agreeable occupation. So he took the first opportunity of getting Crawshay into a corner to discuss the best means of stamping out the rapidly spreading foot-and-mouth disease and the advantages of ensilage.
Madge and Mrs Crawshay looking on, were well pleased to see that for once Uncle Dick did not regret coming to Ringsford. But although Madge found time to think of this, and to give intelligent attention to any one who addressed her, she glanced often at the door expectantly.
At length the door opened, the butler entered, spoke a few words to his master, and then withdrew. Mr Hadleigh immediately advanced to Madge.
‘I am glad to tell you, Philip has returned,’ he said in a quiet voice.
A flush of pleasure on her calm face expressed her gratitude for this good news.
‘Then he was only detained—nothing has happened?’
‘I presume that nothing particular has happened; but we shall learn presently from himself. His message to me was only to desire that we should proceed to dinner at once, and allow him to join us in the dining-room. So you must permit Coutts to take you down.’