Caught in a Trap Part 3

"Aye, that would be telling, sure," as a native of the Emerald Isle says when you question him about anything he does not care to disclose. But few persons could give you any satisfactory answer to your enquiry, not even the sharp, shrewd old dowager in whose employ she now was. She might tell you that Miss Kingscott was a governess, a lady's companion-- regarding her in the light of a saleable article of furniture--and that she came to her well recommended, and that she supposed she knew what she professed to teach, and was worth her wages, or she would not be hired; but she personally thought her "a bold hussie," and that was all.

Knowledge has its limits, and there Mrs Hartshorne ceased.

Who was Miss Kingscott? An easy question on the face of it, but one requiring a very complicated answer. Who was she? Why, _une fille errante_, a n.o.body's child, a sort of female Bedouin, whose hand was against every man's--and woman's also--as she thought theirs to be against her. A woman young, beautiful, and, beyond all, clever, and not only very clever but heartless, and as devoted to self as she was _sans coeur_. One who could take her part--aye, and play her part--before the world; a fair face with a devil's heart--that is if a devil does have a heart--and great keen basilisk eyes. One who might be anything and everything, for you could hardly judge her as to what _role_ would suit her best, or rather suit her purpose best. A child yesterday, a woman to-day--nay, she could never have been a child. Only a governess now mayhap, but she might be _miladi_ to-morrow if she plays her cards well.

Pshaw! she always played her cards well, for there's a rare little plotting head on her well-formed shoulders. Miss Kingscott, _entendez vous_, is a clever woman; one day she may be any character she please, and G.o.d knows what the next.

Now to sketch her personal attributes. In the ante-pa.s.sport abolition days an employe in the _Bureau des Pa.s.seportes_ might have put her down as follows: _Des yeux--gris; nez--aquilin; teint--pale; cheveux--noirs; et taille moyenne_. In plain English she was a girl--woman that is--of some five feet two in height, of pale--strange the French have no distinction between pale and sallow--complexion, and with black hair and grey eyes. Grey eyes the Gallic officer would call them, but that would not describe them; they were basilisk eyes, eyes that had a depth of cunning, and treachery, and entrancement in them, which no colour term would express.

Ten years ago Clara Joyce--she had lately adopted the name of Kingscott, bequeathed her by a maiden aunt, who left her nothing else but her patronymic, which she could wear or not as she pleased, for there was no one living to question her right to the same--filled the position of English governess at a _Pensionat des Filles_ in the _Rue des Courcelles_ in Paris. The school was a famous one, and is a famous one still, so we must not be too particular about names or dates exactly.

Her previous life had been one of hards.h.i.+p, slavery, and neglect. Her parents had died when she was quite young, and she was placed at school, not to learn merely her education like her mates, but to learn her profession. She was to be a governess, and her earlier years were but a training for what she had afterwards to go through. First, she was a scholar _pur et simple_; next, she became a sort of general drudge, or female usher, as she grew older; and then her aunt--when the harpy who watched over her budding intellects grew tired of her temper, and declared her to be sufficiently taught to be able to teach others,--told her she could do nothing more for her, having recommended her to a situation, where she was engaged to teach every possible and impossible grace and accomplishment at starvation rate, and _ma tante_ washed her hands metaphorically of her. This aunt of hers, who was the only relative that Clara Joyce ever remembered coming across, was by no means the sort of person to impress anyone with the idea of domestic affection, so houseless, homeless, and friendless, the girl had been all her school life, and houseless, homeless, and friendless she was when turned out into the world.

The very marrow of her nature had been frozen by her surroundings, and the life of a governess was not one to imbue her with any better feelings, although it increased her knowledge of human nature. One situation after another she filled in England until she was fairly sick of her country, and she eagerly accepted the position offered her in the _pensionat_ in Paris, thinking that it might throw her into a fresh field and improve her chances of rising in the social scale. She had been an _intriguante_ early, her experiences of life already had deepened her convictions that in order to succeed she must skilfully manoeuvre the wires, looking upon her fellows as puppets; but even then if she had had a fair chance--good heavens! how many of us are there not crying out for a fair chance--Clara Joyce would have turned out a very different person from the Clara Kingscott, of our story; but it was not to be.

At the time she entered the _pensionat_ she was barely twenty years of age--she was now consequently just thirty--a handsome girl, although somewhat thin and pale, from the hard life and harder living she had gone through; and she now determined more than ever to take advantage of her looks and chances, literally to husband her resources. To endeavour in fact by a wealthy marriage--she had read and was told that eligible _partis_ were much sooner picked up on the continent than in the more calculating Britain--to rid herself for ever of her working life, and be above the danger of want, which, poor _intriguante_, she had already gone through, and the necessity for drudgery.

She had no romance in her nature, no absurd ideas on the subject of love and happiness which the more benighted of us sometimes imagine to be indissolubly connected with the married state; but, taking her as she was, and putting such thoughts out of consideration, Clara Joyce, if she had had the chance, as has been before suggested, might have made a most exemplary wife for some one, and turned out, perhaps, a highly correct and eminently respectable mother of a family. Consider, now, she was brought up to slave for others, to subdue her own private feelings and wishes, to conceal her own thoughts and opinions, to enact a series of petty deceptions and tell white lies every day. How many are there not of our n.o.ble army of British matrons who go through the same parts every day? Fancy how Joan has to wheedle old Darby, and laugh at his stale jokes and "keep up appearances," and slave for the children, so that her life is one long drudgery, the same as Clara's. _Ma foi_! there are slaves and slaves, many whose black skins are hidden by a white mask, and whose chains clank beneath their silk or merino gowns.

French life with its manners and customs pleased our young _debutante_.

Although as a matter of course, _mademoiselles les etudiantes_ were carefully looked after, yet she had plenty of liberty allowed her, for she so "got round" the _directrice_ of the school that she was nearly her own mistress; and she was not slow to employ her spare time in seeing as much as she could of the gay city, its habits, and its visitors. _Madame la Directrice_ would have been shocked if she had known that her timid little modest English teacher, "such a quiet little thing, _pauvre enfante_!" often went to fetes by herself, _sans chaperone_, and had been even seen in one of those monstrous places--a theatre! The _gouvernante_ was a shrewd, cautious little actress, and _Madame la Directrice_ was as blind, bah! as a mole. It was easy enough to make up a little story of relations to be seen, and to show letters of invitation imploring a certain demure English teacher to visit her poor aunt, who was all alone in Paris. And then the _pauvre enfante_ was so regular in coming back. She was always in at the fixed hour every evening she went out--so quiet, so punctual. Madame never dreamt of such things as bribing a _concierge_!

While Clara Joyce was thus busying herself in investigating human nature, a certain young Englishman came to Paris, and in one of her excursions he made her acquaintance. _Monsieur l'Anglais_ was tall and handsome and rich. He had plenty of money, and was liberal, and was looked upon as a _milord_ at least by those with whom he a.s.sociated.

The young Englishman, however, was as shrewd and clever as the _gouvernante_. Need it be said that his name was one with which we are already acquainted? It was Allynne Markworth.

Clara Joyce was an elegant, pretty girl, and the way he made her acquaintance was in itself an additional charm. Markworth was attracted by her, and courted her society. He had then a little romance in him, and was to a certain extent in love with her; but the girl was as cautious as he was enamoured. She thought that at last she had succeeded in picking up her eligible _parti_, not only a wealthy one, but a young and handsome one also, a regular pearl of price. But, like all young players, she underrated her adversary, and let him see her hand too soon. Markworth was not one to be caught so easily. He was one, also, who was marketing on his good looks, and contemplated matrimony only through the diamond light of a fortune. He was not going to sacrifice himself for a pretty English governess, who had only her graces to recommend her, and not a sou of _dot_! He laughed at her when she spoke of the hymeneal altar; and so poor Clara Joyce--one cannot help pitying a clever woman who lays herself out to win and loses in the end--had made her _coup_ and missed it just by a fluke!

She had staked her all, her _pet.i.t rouleau_ of a heart on "black," and here _noir perd et pa.s.se le coup_, as the gentleman, who presides over a queer looking long table divided into red and black squares as to its surface, at Homburg, says mechanically as he rakes in the little piles of glittering coin and quires of _billets de banque_, while the unlucky gamesters gaze on him ruefully, and bite their nails in disgust.

The girl was furious against him. She railed at him, she threatened him, she vowed vengeance, but he did not care a jot. He had not committed himself. He was too wary for that, and what did he care? She bored him, he said, and so he took himself off, and left her to her own machinations. But Clara was not one to be insulted or injured with impunity. She had vowed vengeance, and she intended to have it. She interested herself about Markworth. She wrote to England about him.

She found out many little things about him which he never thought any one would recollect, or know here in Paris, at all events. By her indefatigable exertions, she discovered after a year's spying, and seeking, and enquiry, that Markworth was on the eve of marriage with a millionairess--a besotted old widow of a Lyons manufacturer, who adored Englishmen, especially if they were _milords_, and the young lady communicated with the friends of the _devotee_. Through information she gave, the match was broken off, and Markworth learnt who had spoiled his little game. He could not do much, however; he could only expose her at the Pension, and then there was a fine blow up with Madame Bonchose, the _Directrice_. Of course Clara had to leave--such a "little snake in the gra.s.s," as Madame called her. But she had had her revenge. Not that she was satisfied yet. That was only the first of a series of attacks she planned. She intended to be Mr Allynne Markworth's evil star through life. It was an unlucky day for him, according to the Fates, when he came across her orbit and discovered Clara Joyce.

After leaving the _Pensionat des Filles_ in disgrace, she next became a _Femme de Chambre_ to a Marquise of questionable reputation, with whom she remained some two years, travelling about and increasing her knowledge of the world. But she had not forgotten Markworth, not she, and was ready to lay her hand on him again whenever she had the opportunity.

Time pa.s.sed, and she came back once more to England. Her aunt died, so she a.s.sumed her name; and, as Miss Kingscott now, she took a situation once more in an English family at a cathedral town in the south. She knew _he_ was in London now, and she wanted to be near him. She was so fond of him, you see!

But she had another little game, too, to watch over. One day Doctor Jolly had come to visit at the house where she was employed as a governess, and where she was about leaving, on account of the breaking up of the household. Doctor Jolly was impressed with her, and our heroine, having made enquiries, thought there might be worse lots in life than being a rich doctress: so she made eyes at him, and set her cap coquettishly.

The doctor mentioned that Mrs Hartshorne was in want of a lady companion for her daughter, and said he would recommend her.

Miss Kingscott was agreeable. She had heard there was an only son--Poor Tom!--and who knew what might turn up? Besides, she would be near the doctor, and consequently have him to fall back upon.

And so she came to be domesticated at The Poplars. The old lady squabbled with her, but she gave her as much as she got; and the dowager, pleased with having some one worth quarrelling with, retained her.

Susan, of course, was pa.s.sive in her hands, and the son of the house she had not yet seen, so she bided her time, and diligently cultivated old Jolly, whose cheery "How-de-do!" to her would be heard afar, echoing through the poplar trees when he came to visit at the house, which he now did much oftener than before.

She was surprised, naturally, to see Markworth at the present juncture, but not so much as he was. He of course had not recognised her new name, which, indeed, he had never heard of before; and would have been as pleased--aye! more so--to have met his Satanic Majesty now than his quondam Parisian love--the little English governess.

"d.a.m.n her!" he growled, _sotto voce_ to himself; "what the devil brings her here to spoil my game?"

Volume 1, Chapter V.

COUNTING THE COST.

"Miss Kingscott, I presume?" said Tom, bowing politely, as the lady gave a Parthian glance, sharp, quick, and incisive, of mingled recognition and command-to-keep-his-own-counsel-until-further-orders at her _soi-disant_ lover Markworth, who stood in the rear of his companion, and who, although he was startled at her appearance, was too much the cool man of the world to give expression aloud to his astonishment.

"Humph!" he thought unto himself, as he pulled his wits together. "I'm to keep dark, I suppose," and he adopted an air of well-bred indifference.

Miss Kingscott smiled bewitchingly on the young squire.

"I am Tom Hartshorne," continued that gentleman, in a warm, friendly manner. "You have been very kind to my sister, and I hope we shall be friends."

This was a pleasant little fiction, by the way, on Tom's part, as he had no previous knowledge whatever of Miss Kingscott's kindness, or the reverse, but the young officer was of a gallant disposition.

"Oh, indeed!" said the lady, with an air of agreeable surprise. "And so you are Mr Tom. I am sure dear Susan has spoken often enough to me about you. I am only Miss Hartshorne's governess, you know, but I've no doubt we will be good friends as far as our respective positions will allow."

Humility was one of her cards, you see, but it was thrown away on Tom: he was more shocked than pleased, as others more purse-proud might have been, at the contrast drawn.

"This is my friend Allynne Markworth," he went on, hurriedly; "we ran down together for a week to dissipate the London dust. He and I are great friends, so I hope that we'll all be jolly together."

Both inclined as if they had never seen each other before. Mr Markworth was remarkably deferential, with a concealed sneer on his lips, and the governess sweeping in her condescension.

Some little commonplace expressions and conversation then pa.s.sed between the party, and you would have thought it the most delightful trio in the world.

All the while Susan Hartshorne was aloof from the party, seated in a corner of the half-furnished and half-lighted room, for the outside shutters were partially closed, and it looked as if it had not been inhabited for years--most probably a fire had not been lighted in its old grate since the squire's death. She was playing on an antique-looking organ, with its zigzag rows of metal pipes which nearly filled up one end of the apartment, a fitful sort of air which rose and fell every now and then with a shriek like the last despairing moan of one of the lost spirits in Dante's Inferno. Presently she ceased playing, and coming up to the others touched Tom on the arm.

"Come, brother," she said, in a low, soft voice, without any inflexion in it; and, taking no notice of either the governess or Markworth, she led him gently towards the door. "You must see my garden," she continued, speaking to him as if they were alone, just in the same quiet tones.

"I'll be back presently; pray excuse me," said Tom, as he went out; and Markworth and Miss Kingscott were left alone.

The former was the first to speak.

"So we've changed names, have we? Clara Joyce is dead, and Miss Kingscott reigns in her stead?"

"Mr Allynne Markworth, however, is still flouris.h.i.+ng, I see," she replied, in accents whose sarcasm was bitter enough and apparent enough without glancing at her scornful flas.h.i.+ng eyes.

"Yes, small blame to you; but I don't think you'll play any more tricks with me again. Well, that's long ago, and I can 'forgive and forget;' I shan't rake up the past if you won't. You are here under an a.s.sumed name, and--but what's it to be, Clara, peace or war between us?"

"Or you'll unmask me, eh? You will tell all about the silly English teacher-girl who was _eprise_ of a swindling vagabond, and the mistress of whose school was so very correct as to discharge her without a character, will you? You'd like to get me turned out from here, the house of your rich country friends, would you?" she spoke rapidly and with intense bitterness. "Bah! I do not fear you, Allynne Markworth, any more than I do that baby-faced, idiot girl who has just left the room!"

"What's the use of going on like that, Clara? Who said that I was going to injure you, or that you were afraid of me? By Jove! I know to my cost you're not. Why can't you be calm and look at things reasonably?

You and I may be able to a.s.sist each other, and it's better for us to be friends than enemies."

"I care as little for your enmity as I do for the valuable friends.h.i.+p you gave me formerly. There can be little in common between us.

Besides, even if I had the inclination, I don't see how either you can help me, or I you."

"But you can help me very much."

"Ha! I thought you wanted something! No, there can be no accord between us. You are a man of the world, and I am, myself!" (here she laughed bitterly) "so let us each go our own way in peace or in war, just as you please--it's indifferent to me."

"What nonsense!" said Markworth. "It is not indifferent to you. You can a.s.sist me here in this very house, and, if you do, it will be to your advantage."