[CHAPTER XXXIII.]
A REBEL AGAINST FATE
Lady Dashwood smiled through her tears. She had eyes of affection for this tall, handsome, earnest man who paced up and down the room now with the burning words on his lips. He was moved to the very heart; it seemed to him that his scheme was the only way. Lady Dashwood felt that she could hesitate no longer.
"You are very eloquent, Ralph," she said, "and whatever the faults of your scheme may be, you are terribly in earnest. It is not for me to stand in the way. God knows the family pride that I did so much to foster has done harm enough. It drove your father away from home, it came between me and my son and my husband, and rendered all the best years of my life a blank and a desolation. Some day, when I have the courage, I will tell you why your father left home, and the shameful deceit that I put upon him. And all to save the family dignity! And now Mary is as hard as I ever was. Still, the good that lies in that girl of mine----"
"I know it," Ralph cried. "Mary's is, in reality, a beautiful nature. But the fires will go out one by one if the cinders are not cleared away, so that by the time Mary comes to middle age she will be a cold and distant woman with none to love her. This is why I have practically turned her out of house and home. Her proper pride will not permit her to be dependent upon anyone; you may offer her a home here, but she will never accept it. She will elect to go, out into the world and get her own living."
"Which she is not the least fitted to do, Ralph."
"Of course she isn't," Ralph exclaimed. "With all her courage and pride and beauty, she has no equipment to battle with the world. And yet it is the best thing that could happen to her. She will realise her own helplessness, she will come to acknowledge that the typewriting girls and the shop assistants have qualities and virtues that she does not possess. Oh, those lovely blue eyes will come to see at last, the mind come to learn that there is dignity in labour and cheerfulness in the struggle that put family pride to shame. And then Mary will be the bride for me, the noblest and sweetest mistress that ever yet ruled at Dashwood. You may laugh at me, grandmother, but that is my dream. Wherever Mary is, I shall not be far off, she will have a friend in me."
Lady Dashwood's tears were falling fast now. For the first time she fully understood the breadth and beauty of Ralph's scheme. It seemed hard that the misfortune should fall upon Mary, and yet it was all for the best. Still, tradition and training are not to be put lightly aside, and the idea of Mary taking her place with the working women of the county was a vision that caused Lady Dashwood a pang.
"Let us hope that everything will turn out right," she murmured. "I will not betray your secret, Ralph; I am an old woman, and you are a strong, masterful man. Still, I shall be bound to offer Mary a home here, and I am afraid that I shall be glad if she accepts it."
"She won't," Ralph said confidently, "she is too proud. Besides, after what has happened, she could not stay so near to Dashwood Hall. Remember, she has reigned there, she has looked for homage as naturally as a queen. She will go away; probably she will try to obtain some occupation in London. Anyway, I will see that she does not starve. And when the lesson is learned and the clouds have cleared away----"