The People of the Mist | Page 4

Providence had decreed a delicate constitution to his
elder and only brother Thomas. But Sir Thomas Outram, their father,
was reputed to be an ambitious man who looked to see his sons marry
well, and this marriage would scarcely have been to Leonard's
advantage from the family lawyer point of view.
Therefore, when the matter came to the ears of Jane's parents, they
determined to forego the outward expression of their pride and delight
in the captive whom they owed to the bow and spear of their daughter's
loveliness, at any rate for a while, say until Leonard had taken his
degree. Often and often in the after-years did they have occasion to
bless themselves for their caution. But not the less on this account was
Leonard's position as the affianced lover of their daughter recognised
among them; indeed, the matter was no secret from anybody, except

perhaps from Sir Thomas himself. For his part, Leonard took no pains
to conceal it even from him; but the father and son met rarely, and the
estrangement between them was so complete, that the younger man saw
no advantage in speaking of a matter thus near to his heart until there
appeared to be a practical object in so doing.
The Rev. James Beach was a stout person of bland and prepossessing
appearance. Never had he looked stouter, more prepossessing, or
blander than on this particular evening when Leonard was ushered into
his presence. He was standing before the fire in his drawing-room
holding a huge and ancient silver loving-cup in both hands, and in such
a position as to give the observer the idea that he had just drained its
entire contents. In reality, it may be explained, he was employed in
searching for a hall-mark on the bottom of the goblet, discoursing the
while to his wife and children--for Jane had a brother --upon its value
and beauty. The gleam of the silver caught Leonard's eye as he entered
the room, and he recognised the cup as one of the heirlooms of his own
family.
Leonard's sudden and unlooked-for advent brought various emotions
into active play. There were four people gathered round that
comfortable fire--the rector, his wife, his son, and last, but not least,
Jane herself. Mr. Beach dropped the cup sufficiently to allow himself to
stare at his visitor along its length, for all the world as though he were
covering him with a silver blunderbuss. His wife, an active little
woman, turned round as if she moved upon wires, exclaiming, "Good
gracious, who'd have thought it?" while the son, a robust young man of
about Leonard's own age and his college companion, said "Hullo! old
fellow, well, I never expected to see you here to-day!"--a remark which,
however natural it may have been, scarcely tended to set his friend at
ease.
Jane herself, a tall and beautiful girl with bright auburn hair, who was
seated on a footstool nursing her knees before the fire, and paying very
little heed to her father's lecture upon ancient plate, did none of these
things. On the contrary, she sprang up with the utmost animation, her
lips apart and her lovely face red with blushes, or the heat of the fire,

and came towards him exclaiming, "Oh, Leonard, dear Leonard!"
Mr. Beach turned the silver blunderbuss upon his daughter and fired a
single, but most effective shot.
"Jane!" he said in a voice in which fatherly admonition and friendly
warning were happily blended.
Jane stopped in full career was though in obedience to some lesson
which momentarily she had forgotten. Then Mr. Beach, setting down
the flagon, advanced upon Leonard with an ample pitying smile and
outstretched hand.
"How are you, my dear boy, how are you?" he said. "We did not
expect--"
"To see me here under the circumstances," put in Leonard bitterly.
"Nor would you have done so, but Tom and I understood that it was
only to be a three days' sale."
"Quite right, Leonard. As first advertised the sale was for three days,
but the auctioneer found that he could not get through in the time. The
accumulations of such an ancient house as Outram Hall are necessarily
vast," and he waved his hand with a large gesture.
"Yes," said Leonard.
"Hum!" went on Mr. Beach, after a pause which was beginning to grow
awkward. "Doubtless you will find it a matter for congratulation that on
the whole things sold well. It is not always the case, not by any means,
for such collections as those of Outram, however interesting and
valuable they may have been to the family itself, do not often fetch
their worth at a country auction. Yes, they sold decidedly well, thanks
chiefly to the large purchases of the new owner of the estate. This