第21章 BARBARA OF THE HOUSE OF GREBE(4)
He wrote to her from Le Havre,as soon as he reached that port,which was not for seven days,on account of adverse winds;he wrote from Rouen,and from Paris;described to her his sight of the King and Court at Versailles,and the wonderful marble-work and mirrors in that palace;wrote next from Lyons;then,after a comparatively long interval,from Turin,narrating his fearful adventures in crossing Mont Cenis on mules,and how he was overtaken with a terrific snowstorm,which had well-nigh been the end of him,and his tutor,and his guides.Then he wrote glowingly of Italy;and Barbara could see the development of her husband's mind reflected in his letters month by month;and she much admired the forethought of her father in suggesting this education for Edmond.Yet she sighed sometimes--her husband being no longer in evidence to fortify her in her choice of him--and timidly dreaded what mortifications might be in store for her by reason of this mesalliance.She went out very little;for on the one or two occasions on which she had shown herself to former friends she noticed a distinct difference in their manner,as though they should say,'Ah,my happy swain's wife;you're caught!'
Edmond's letters were as affectionate as ever;even more affectionate,after a while,than hers were to him.Barbara observed this growing coolness in herself;and like a good and honest lady was horrified and grieved,since her only wish was to act faithfully and uprightly.It troubled her so much that she prayed for a warmer heart,and at last wrote to her husband to beg him,now that he was in the land of Art,to send her his portrait,ever so small,that she might look at it all day and every day,and never for a moment forget his features.
Willowes was nothing loth,and replied that he would do more than she wished:he had made friends with a sculptor in Pisa,who was much interested in him and his history;and he had commissioned this artist to make a bust of himself in marble,which when finished he would send her.What Barbara had wanted was something immediate;but she expressed no objection to the delay;and in his next communication Edmund told her that the sculptor,of his own choice,had decided to increase the bust to a full-length statue,so anxious was he to get a specimen of his skill introduced to the notice of the English aristocracy.It was progressing well,and rapidly.
Meanwhile,Barbara's attention began to be occupied at home with Yewsholt Lodge,the house that her kind-hearted father was preparing for her residence when her husband returned.It was a small place on the plan of a large one--a cottage built in the form of a mansion,having a central hall with a wooden gallery running round it,and rooms no bigger than closets to follow this introduction.
It stood on a slope so solitary,and surrounded by trees so dense,that the birds who inhabited the boughs sang at strange hours,as if they hardly could distinguish night from day.
During the progress of repairs at this bower Barbara frequently visited it.Though so secluded by the dense growth,it was near the high road,and one day while looking over the fence she saw Lord Uplandtowers riding past.He saluted her courteously,yet with mechanical stiffness,and did not halt.Barbara went home,and continued to pray that she might never cease to love her husband.
After that she sickened,and did not come out of doors again for a long time.
The year of education had extended to fourteen months,and the house was in order for Edmond's return to take up his abode there with Barbara,when,instead of the accustomed letter for her,came one to Sir John Grebe in the handwriting of the said tutor,informing him of a terrible catastrophe that had occurred to them at Venice.Mr Willowes and himself had attended the theatre one night during the Carnival of the preceding week,to witness the Italian comedy,when,owing to the carelessness of one of the candle-snuffers,the theatre had caught fire,and been burnt to the ground.Few persons had lost their lives,owing to the superhuman exertions of some of the audience in getting out the senseless sufferers;and,among them all,he who had risked his own life the most heroically was Mr.
Willowes.In re-entering for the fifth time to save his fellow-creatures some fiery beams had fallen upon him,and he had been given up for lost.He was,however,by the blessing of Providence,recovered,with the life still in him,though he was fearfully burnt;and by almost a miracle he seemed likely to survive,his constitution being wondrously sound.He was,of course,unable to write,but he was receiving the attention of several skilful surgeons.Further report would be made by the next mail or by private hand.
The tutor said nothing in detail of poor Willowes's sufferings,but as soon as the news was broken to Barbara she realized how intense they must have been,and her immediate instinct was to rush to his side,though,on consideration,the journey seemed impossible to her.Her health was by no means what it had been,and to post across Europe at that season of the year,or to traverse the Bay of Biscay in a sailing-craft,was an undertaking that would hardly be justified by the result.But she was anxious to go till,on reading to the end of the letter,her husband's tutor was found to hint very strongly against such a step if it should be contemplated,this being also the opinion of the surgeons.And though Willowes's comrade refrained from giving his reasons,they disclosed themselves plainly enough in the sequel.
The truth was that the worst of the wounds resulting from the fire had occurred to his head and face--that handsome face which had won her heart from her,--and both the tutor and the surgeons knew that for a sensitive young woman to see him before his wounds had healed would cause more misery to her by the shock than happiness to him by her ministrations.
Lady Grebe blurted out what Sir John and Barbara had thought,but had had too much delicacy to express.