XI. MORE LETTERS.
|Next morning, several letters arrived at Ouselcroft, and were brought by Laura to Mrs. Calverley's dressing-room.
The first opened by the lady was one from Lord Courland, as full of ardour and passion as his last letter, but considerably shorter.
Its chief object was to mention that he and Scrope Danvers would make their appearance in plenty of time for dinner. But he added, as a postscript, that he was dying with curiosity to behold Ouselcroft.
“The place is not yet mine,” thought Teresa. “But rest easy. You shall not be disappointed. My project is only deferred.”
The next letter opened was from Lady Thicknesse. This was quite unexpected. Her ladyship had talked of coming to Ouselcroft, but at a later date. She now volunteered a visit. But we must give her own words:
“You have pressed me so strongly to come to you, dear Mrs. Calverley, that I cannot resist. I propose to come to you to-morrow about mid-day. I have got a surprise for you. You will wonder what it is; but as you will never guess, I must tell you I am bringing with me my chef, Zephyrus, and I place him at your disposal.”
“Charming!” exclaimed Teresa. “This will be a great delight to Lord Courland. I know how highly he appreciates Monsieur Zephyrus's performances. Nothing could please me better. But he is not the only one, it seems. I shall have an entirely new household.”
“I shall also venture to bring with me my butler, Higgins. He is a very clever man, and I think you will find him useful; but if he is at all in the way, he can go on to Brackley.”
“Oh, I am so glad Higgins is coming!” cried Mrs. Calverley. “He will be of the greatest use, and will enable me to get rid of that suspicious old Norris, whose eye seems ever upon me. But stop! I must not offend old Norris, or I shall arouse another enemy. He must be kept in the background as much as possible. So far, my letters have been very satisfactory. Here is another, and I think it is from Sir Bridgnorth Charlton. Let us see what he says.”
“Since Chetwynd does not seem disposed to return, I must come to Ouselcroft. Have you room for me for two or three days?”
“Plenty of room, and shall be delighted to see him!” remarked Mrs. Calverley. “Here's a note from Captain Danvers,” she added, with indifference. “They all seem resolved to come here. Well, I dare say I shall be able to accommodate him.”
But, besides these, there was one person on whom nobody counted.
This was Mr. Tankard. He had written a letter to Chetwynd, saying he was coming with his friend, Mr. Higgins, and hoping it might not be considered a liberty.
Chetwynd went at once to Norris; and the old butler, glad to find that Higgins was coming to see him, undertook that beds should be prepared for that important personage and Tankard—to say nothing of Harry Netterville, Tom Tankard, and Zephyrus.
With such a party below stairs, it seemed more than probable that some of the gaieties of Belgrave-square might be repeated at Ouselcroft.
Having ascertained the train by which Lady Thick-nesse must of necessity arrive, Mrs. Calverley met her at the station in her pony-carriage.
The whole of the luggage, which was rather cumbrous, together with Zephyrus, Higgins, and Tankard, came by a special omnibus.
Lady Thicknesse was one of the very few persons whom Mrs. Calverley really liked, and she showed she was glad to see her. The day happened to be fine, so they had an extremely pleasant drive of five or six miles to Ouselcroft.
Lady Thicknesse was in high good humour, and disposed to be pleased with everything. The approach to the house charmed her. Properly speaking, there was no park, but there was a good deal of land that had a very park-like character, being tolerably well timbered, while all the hedges were taken down.
As the carriage was stopped for a moment at a good point of view. Lady Thicknesse exclaimed:
“You are most fortunate, dear Mrs. Calverley. This is just the house to live in! I am sure Lord Courland will be of my opinion.”
But her ladyship was quite as much pleased with the house on a nearer inspection, as she had been on a more distant survey. The gardens and grounds were perfection; and, as she looked out on the smooth lawn from her chamber window, she thought she had never seen a lovelier place.
Mrs. Calverley had an interview with Zephyrus soon after his arrival, and expressed her great satisfaction at having the advantage of his services.
Flattered by her compliments, the distinguished chef promised her an excellent dinner, but, to achieve his object, he declared he must have absolute control of the kitchen. This was readily accorded him, and everything else he required; so he proceeded to make his arrangements, and struck terror into the breast of the cook and her assistants by his arbitrary manner.
Pursuing her policy of conciliation, Mrs. Calverley was very kind and courteous in her manner to Mr. Higgins and Mr. Tankard, begged them to make themselves at home, and desired Norris to show them every attention.
Harry Netterville and Tom Tankard likewise came in for a share of her civilities. They had just been to Knutsford to attend the examination of Romney and his companion who were sentenced by a full bench of magistrates to six months' imprisonment. Mrs. Calverley expressed her great satisfaction at the result, and took the opportunity of complimenting the young men on their prowess. Her observations were very simple; but Tom was greatly elated by them.
“There! did you see how sweetly she smiled on me?” he said to Netterville: “I told you I was high in favour.”
Tom was not particularly gratified by his father's unlooked-for appearance on the scene, thinking, perhaps, his own importance might be diminished.
“What the deuce has brought the guv'nor down here?” he remarked to Netterville. “We could have done very well without him.”
“He's come to look after you, I've no doubt, Tom,” observed Netterville, laughing.
“No; it's Higgins!” cried Tom. “He can't live without Higgins. Where Higgins goes, Tankard must go too. I believe if Higgins set off for Jerusalem by next train, if there is a railway to Jerusalem, Tankard would set off after him. But I must shut up! Here come the guv'nor and Higgins. I hope they didn't overhear my remarks.”
But it seemed they did, for they both shook their hands at him.