There were two houses in which John Glynne felt perfectly at home, and an invitation to either was most acceptable to him. These were Mrs. Bland's and Miss Lorraine's. His lodgings being close by in the Longbridge Road, it was easy to drop into either. Needless to say, good Mrs. Bland's heart went out towards the lonely young man, and for the sake of his absent mother, she showed him many a motherly kindness. And he enjoyed the life and freedom he found in her home. He was sure that his sister would like the girls. Aldyth Lorraine, too; Mary could not help liking her. She was somehow different from any girl he had ever met before.
John Glynne little suspected that he never ran up the Blands' steps or stopped in the High Street to speak to the Bland girls or their friend Aldyth, without a pair of keen, dark eyes noting that he did so. The eyes were those of the Blands' neighbour, Miss Tabitha Rudkin, an elderly maiden lady, grand-aunt to Clara Dawtrey. Her house stood opposite to Mrs. Bland's, just at the bend of the High Street, where a narrow lane ran into it, and was so built that the windows commanded two directions. The use which its occupant made of these windows had led the Bland girls to name the house the "Observatory." Nothing that happened in the High Street could escape the observation of Miss Rudkin and her hired companion, Miss Purkiss.
In her way Miss Rudkin was a power in the little town, but, alas! it was a power for evil. She was one of those unhappy spinsters who have brought a slur upon the character of elderly single women. Of cold, selfish nature and ill-disciplined mind, without occupation or any close ties of affection, she had grown more and more unamiable, more suspicious, more prone to believe the worst of her fellow mortals with advancing years. Although it was no kindly interest she took in her neighbours, the interest was intense. No one knew so much as Miss Rudkin about all that happened or might happen at Woodham. She was the most arrant gossipmonger in the place, if, indeed, she might not be described as manufacturer of that commodity. All those who had a relish for the latest piece of scandal, and could enjoy hearing the character of a neighbour pulled to pieces, without being particular as to the accuracy of the statements made, were wont to frequent Miss Rudkin's house; and many others paid her attention, not because they liked her, but because they feared her.
It was said that long, long ago, when Miss Tabitha Rudkin was young, and perhaps good-looking, there had been a talk of her marrying Stephen Lorraine. No one knew more than that there had been "something between them"; no one could explain why the marriage had never taken place; but it was certain that Miss Rudkin had still considerable influence over old Stephen Lorraine.
Whether he were actuated by a sense of having wronged her in the past, or whatever the motive, he invariably treated her with great respect. On no day did he drive down the town without drawing up for a minute at Miss Rudkin's door to inquire after her health, or leave some little present of game or fruit. Not seldom he would go in to have a chat with her, and gather information concerning the townspeople, for he, too, had an appetite for gossip. It sometimes happened that these visits produced results exceedingly annoying to Miss Lorraine, who had never liked the Rudkins.
Aldyth's life had never been more busy or more full of interest than it was now. It seemed to Miss Lorraine, as she watched her niece with loving eyes, and marked the fresh animation in her look and bearing, that Aldyth was daily growing prettier. There is, indeed, no beautifier of the human face like the glow imparted to it by a noble, spiritual, and intellectual life. High thoughts leave their impress, and a pure, unselfish spirit will illumine the homeliest features.
Three lectures had been given, and Aldyth was looking forward with great interest to the fourth, which was to treat of Wordsworth's work as a poet. It was Tuesday morning, and having completed her round of domestic duties, Aldyth sat down to finish the paper she was writing for Mr. Glynne. She was just fairly launched into her task when she heard her aunt calling to her from below—
"Come down, Aldyth; Guy is here."
Aldyth laid down her pen with a sigh, and ran to obey the summons.
Guy was chatting with Miss Lorraine in the dining room. His dog-cart stood outside the house, with a boy holding the somewhat spirited horse. Since he appeared at the first lecture, Guy had not taken the trouble to attend another, but he had happened to be at Woodham on each Thursday evening, and the Blands had found him waiting on the steps of the Town Hall, apparently for the pleasure of watching the audience disperse.