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Page 82
"Oh, mother, I cannot take Harry's place! I love Harry, and I did not
know how much until this hour"--
"Stop a bit, Stephen. When Harry grew up, and went into the army, your
grandfather wasn't so satisfied with what he had done. 'Here's a fine
property going to sharpers and tailors and Italian singing-women,' he
used to say; and he felt baddish about it. And yet he loved Squire
William, as he had loved his father, and Mistress Alice and Harry and
Sophia and Charlotte; why, he thought of them like his own flesh and
blood. And he could not bear to undo his kindness. And he could not bear
to tell Squire William the truth, for he knew well that he would undo
it. So one day he sent for Lawyer Moser; and the two of them together
found out a plan that seemed fair, for both Sandal and Latrigg.
"You were to remain Stephen Latrigg, unless it was to ward off wrong or
ruin in Sandal-Side. But if ever the day came when Sandal needed
Latrigg, you were to claim your right, and stand up for Sandal. Such a
state of things as Harry brought about, my father never dreamed of. He
would not have been able to think of a man selling away his right to a
place like Seat-Sandal; and among all the villains he ever knew, or
heard tell of, he couldn't have picked out one to lead him to such a
villain as Julius Sandal. So, you see, he left no special directions for
such a case, and I was a bit feared to move in too big a hurry; and,
maybe, I was a bit of a coward about setting every tongue in Sandal-Side
talking about me and my bygone days.
"But, when the squire died, I thought from what Charlotte told me of the
Julius Sandals, that there would have to be a change; and when I saw
your grandfather sorting the papers for me, and heard that Mistress
Alice and Charlotte had been forced to leave their home, I knew that the
hour for the change had struck, and that I must be about the business.
Moser was written to soon after the funeral of Squire William. He has
now all the necessary witnesses and papers ready. He is at Ambleside
with them, and to-morrow morning they will have a talk with Mr. Julius
at Seat-Sandal."
"I wonder where Harry Sandal is."
"After you, comes Harry. Your grandfather did not forget him. There is a
provision in the will, which directs, that if, for any cause not
conceivable by the testator, Harry Sandal must resign in favor of
Stephen Sandal, then the land and money devised to you, as his heir,
shall become the property of Harry Sandal. In a great measure you would
only change places, and that is not a very hard punishment for a man who
cared so little for his family home as Harry did. So you see, Stephen,
you must claim your rights in order to give Harry his."
The facts of this conversation opened up endlessly to the mother and
son, and hour after hour it was continued without any loss of interest.
But the keenest pleasure his new prospects gave Stephen referred itself
to Mrs. Sandal and Charlotte. He could now reinstate them in their old
home and in their old authority in it. For the bright visions underneath
his eyelids, he could not sleep,--visions of satisfied affection, and of
grief and humiliation crowned with joy and happiness and honor.
It had been decided that Stephen should drive his mother to the rectory
in the morning, and there they were to wait the result of Moser's
interview with Julius. The dawning came up with sunshine; the storm was
over, the earth lay smiling in that "clear shining after rain," which is
so exhilarating and full of promise. The sky was as blue, the air as
fresh, fell and wood, meadow and mountain, as clean and bright as if
they had just come new from the fingers of the Almighty. Ducie was
handsomely dressed in dark violet-colored satin, and Stephen noticed
with pride how well her rich clothing and quiet, dignified manner became
her; while Ducie felt even a greater pride in the stately, handsome
young man who drove her with such loving care down Latrigg fell that
eventful morning.
Julius was at breakfast when the company from Ambleside were shown into
the master's room in Seat-Sandal. The lawyer sent in his card; and
Julius, who knew him well, was a trifle annoyed by the visit. "It will
be about your mother's income, Sophia," he said, as he viciously broke
the egg he was holding; "now mind, I am not going to yield one inch."
"Why should you, Julius? I am sure we have been blamed and talked over
enough. We never can be popular here."
"We don't want to be popular here. When we have refurnished the house,
we will bring our company from Oxford and London and elsewhere. We will
have fine dinners and balls, hunting-parties and fishing-parties; and,
depend upon it, we shall very soon have these shepherd lords and
gentlemen begging for our favor."
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