The correspondence between Lady Albury and Colonel Stubbs was close and frequent, the friendship between them being very close. Ayala had sometimes asked herself why Lady Albury should have been so kind and affectionate to her, and had failed to find any sufficient answer. She had been asked to Stalham at first — so far as she knew — because she had been intimate at Rome with the Marchesa Baldoni. Hence had apparently risen Lady Albury’s great friendship, which had seemed even to herself to be strange. But in truth the Marchesa had had very little to do with it — nor had Lady Albury become attached to Ayala for Ayala’s own sake. To Lady Albury Colonel Stubbs was — as she declared to herself very often — “her own real brother”. She had married a man very rich, well known in the world, whom she loved very well; and she was not a woman who in such a position would allow herself to love another man. That there might certainly be no danger of this kind she was continually impressing on her friend the expediency of marriage — if only he could find someone good enough to marry. Then the Colonel had found Ayala. Lady Albury at the beginning of all this was not inclined to think that Ayala was good enough. Judging at first from what she heard and then from what she saw, she had not been very favourable to Ayala. But when her friend had insisted — had declared that his happiness depended on it — had shown by various signs that he certainly would carry out his intentions, if not at Stalham then elsewhere, Lady Albury had yielded herself to him, and had become Ayala’s great friend. If it was written in the book that Ayala was to become Mrs Stubbs then it would certainly be necessary that she and Ayala should be friends. And she herself had such confidence in Jonathan Stubbs as a man of power, that she did not doubt of his success in any matter to which he might choose to devote himself. The wonder had been that Ayala should have rejected the chance when it had come in her way. The girl had been foolish, allowing herself to be influenced by the man’s red hair and ill-sounding name — not knowing a real pearl when she saw it. So Lady Albury had thought — having only been partially right in so thinking — not having gone to the depth of Ayala’s power of dreaming. She was very confident, however, that the girl, when once again at Stalham, would yield herself easily; and therefore she went to work, doing all that she could to smoothen love’s road for her friend Jonathan. Her woman’s mind had seen all those difficulties about clothes, and would have sent what was needful herself had she not feared to offend both the Dosetts and Ayala. Therefore she prepared a present which she could give to the girl at Stalham without offence. If it was to be the girl’s high fate to become Mrs Jonathan Stubbs, it would be proper that she should be adorned and decked, and made beautiful among others of her class — as would become the wife of such a hero.
Of all that passed between her and Ayala word was sent down to Aldershot. “The stupid little wretch will throw you out, I know,” wrote Lady Albury, “by making you start two hours before you have done your work. But you must let your work do itself for this occasion. There is nothing like a little journey together to make people understand each other.”
The Colonel was clearly determined to have the little journey together. Whatever might be the present military duties at Aldershot, the duties of love were for the nonce in the Colonel’s mind more imperative. Though his Royal Highness had been coming that afternoon to inspect all the troops, still he would have resolved so to have arranged matters as to travel down with Ayala to Stalham. But not only was he determined to do this, but he found it necessary also to arrange a previous meeting with Lady Albury before that important twentieth of the month. This he did by making his friend believe that her presence in London for a few hours would be necessary for various reasons. She came up as he desired, and there he met her at her hotel in Jermyn Street. On his arrival here he felt that he was almost making a fool of himself by the extent of his anxiety. In his nervousness about this little girl he was almost as insane as poor Tom Tringle, who, when she despised his love, was altogether unable to control himself. “If I cannot persuade her at last, I shall be knocking somebody over the head, as he did.” It was thus he was talking to himself as he got out of the cab at the door of the hotel.
“And now, Jonathan,” said Lady Albury, what can there possibly be to justify you in giving me all this trouble?
“You know you had to come up about that cook’s character.”
“I know that I have given that as a reason to Sir Harry; but I know also that I should have gone without a cook for a twelve month had you not summoned me.”
“The truth is I could not get down to Stalham and back without losing an additional day, which I cannot possibly spare. With you it does not very much matter how many days you spare.”
“Nor how much money I spend, nor how much labour I take, so that I obey all the commands of Colonel Jonathan Stubbs! What on earth is there that I can say or do for you more?”
“There are one or two things”, said he, that I want you to understand. In the first place, I am quite in earnest about this.”
“Don’t I know that you’re in earnest?”
“But perhaps you do not understand the full extent of my earnestness. If she were to refuse me ultimately I should go away.”
“Go away! Go where?”
“Oh; that I have not at all thought of — probably to India, as I might manage to get a regiment there. But in truth it would matter very little.”
“You are talking like a goose.”
“That is very likely, because in this matter I think and feel like a goose. It is not a great thing in a man to be turned out of his course by some undefined feeling which he has as to a young woman. But the thing has occurred before now, and will occur again, in my case, if I am thrown over.”
“What on earth is there about the girl?” asked Lady Albury. “There is that precious brother-in-law of ours going to hang himself incontinently because she will not look at him. And that unfortunate friend of yours, Tom Tringle, is, if possible, worse than Ben Batsby or yourself.”
“If two other gentlemen are in the same condition it only makes it the less singular that I should be the third. At any rate, I am the third.”
“You do not mean to liken yourself to them?”
“Indeed I do. As to our connection with Miss Dormer, I can see no difference. We are all in love with her, and she has refused us all. It matters little whether a man’s ugliness or his rings or his natural stupidity may have brought about this result.
“You are very modest, Jonathan.”
“I always was, only you never could see it. I am modest in this matter; but not for that reason the less persistent in doing the best I can for myself. My object now in seeing you is to let you understand that it is — well, not life and death, because she will not suffice either to kill me or to keep me alive — but one of those matters which, in a man’s career, are almost as important to him as life and death. She was very decided in her refusal.”
“So is every girl when a first offer is made to her. How is any girl so to arrange her thoughts at a moment’s notice as to accept a man off-hand?”
“Girls do do so.”
“Very rarely, I think; and when they do they are hardly worth having,” said Lady Albury, laying down the law on the matter with great precision. “If a girl accept a man all at once when she has had, as it were, no preparation for such a proposal, she must always surely be in a state of great readiness for matrimonial projects. When there has been a prolonged period of spooning then of course it is quite a different thing. The whole thing has in fact been arranged before the important word has been spoken.”
“What a professor in the art you are!” said he.
“The odd thing is, that such a one as you should be so ignorant. Can’t you understand that she would not come to Stalham if her mind were made up against you? I said nothing of you as a lover, but I took care to let her know that you were coming. You are very ready to put yourself in the same boat with poor Ben Batsby or that other unfortunate wretch. Would she, do you think, have consented to come had she known that Ben would have been there, or your friend Tom Tringle?”
There was much more of it, but the upshot was — as the Colonel had intended that it should be — that Lady Albury was made to understand that Ayala’s goodwill was essential to his happiness. “Of course I will do my best,” she said, as he parted from her. “Though I am not quite as much in love with her myself as you are, yet I will do my best.” Then when she was left alone, and was prosecuting her inquiries about the new cook, and travelling back in the afternoon to Stalham, she again considered how wonderful a thing it was such a girl as Ayala, so small, apparently so unimportant, so childish in her manner, with so little to say for herself, should become a person of such terrible importance.
The twentieth came, and at ten minutes before two Ayala was at the Paddington Railway Station. The train, which was to start at 2.15, had been chosen by herself so that she might avoid the Colonel, and there she was, with her aunt, waiting for it. Mrs Dosett had thought it to be her duty to see her off, and had come with her in the cab. There were the two boxes laden with her wardrobe, such as it was. Both she and her aunt had worked hard; for though — as she had declared to herself — there was no............