But when Tozer got up after him to tell about the prosperity of the congregation, the anticlimax was felt even by the people of Salem. Some said, No, no, audibly, some laughed, not a few rose up and went away. Vincent himself, feeling the room very hot, and not disliking the little commotion of interest which arose on his departure, withdrew himself from the platform, and made his way to the little vestry, where a breath of air was to be had; for, January night as it was, the crowd and the tea had established a very high temperature in the under-regions of Salem. He opened the window in the vestry, which looked out upon the damp ground behind the chapel and the few gravestones, and threw himself down on the little sofa with a sensation of mingled self-reproach and amusement. Somehow, even when one disapproves of ones self for doing it, one has a certain enjoyment in bewildering the world. Mr. Vincent was rather pleased with his success, although it was only a variety of humbug. He entertained with Christian satisfaction the thought that he had succeeded in introducing a certain visionary uneasiness into the lively atmosphere of the tea-meeting and he was delighted with his own cleverness in spite of himself.
While he lay back on his sofa, and pondered this gratifying thought, he heard a subdued sound of voices outside voices and steps that fell with but little sound upon the damp grass. A languid momentary wonder touched the mind of the minister: who could have chosen so doleful a retirement? It was about the last place in the world for a lovers interview, which was the first thing that suggested itself to the young man; the next moment he started bolt upright, and listened with undisguised curiosity. That voice so different from the careless voices of Salem, the delicate refined intonations which had startled him in the shabby little room in Back Grove Street, awoke an interest in his mind which no youthful accents in Carlingford could have excited. He sat upright on the instant, and edged towards the open window. The gas burned low in the little vestry, which
nobody had been expected to enter, and the illumination from all the schoolroom windows, and sounds of cheering and commotion there, had doubtless made the absolute darkness and silence behind seem perfectly safe to the two invisible people now meeting under the cloud of night. Mr. Vincent was not startled into eavesdropping unawares, nor did he engage in any sophistical argument to justify himself for listening. On the contrary, he listened honestly, with the full intention of hearing all he could suddenly changed from the languid sentimentalist, painful and self-conscious, which the influences of the evening had made him, into a spectator very wide awake and anxious, straining his ear to catch some knowledge of a history, in which a crowd of presentiments warned him that he himself should yet be concerned.
If you must speak, speak here, said that voice which Vincent had recognised: it is scarcely the atmosphere for a man of your fine taste, to be sure; but considering the subject of the conference, it will do. What do you want with me?
By Jove, it looks dangerous! what do you mean to suggest by this sweet rendezvous murder? said the man, whoever he was, who had accompanied Mrs. Hilyard to the damp yard of Salem Chapel, with its scattered graves.
My nerves are strong, she answered. It is a pity you should take the trouble to be melodramatic. Do you think I am vain enough to imagine that you could subject yourself to all the unpleasant accessories of being hanged on my account? Fancy a rough hempen rope, and the dirty fingers that would adjust it. Pah! you would not risk it for me.
Her companion swore a muttered oath. By Jove! I believe youd be content to be murdered, to make such an end of me, he answered, in the baffled tone of rage which a man naturally sinks into when engaged in unequal conflict of recrimination with a woman.
This is too conjugal, said Mrs. Hilyard; it reminds me of former experiences: come to the point, I beg of you. You did not come here and seek me out that we might have an amusing conversation what do you want with me?
Dont tempt me too far with your confounded impertinence, exclaimed the man, or there is no telling what may happen. I want to know where that child is; you know I do. I mean to reclaim my rights so far as she is concerned. If she had been a ward in Chancery, a man might have submitted. But I am a reformed individual my life is of the most exemplary description no court in Christendom would keep her from my custody now. I want the girl for her own good she shall marry brilliantly, which she never could do with you. I know shes grown up as lovely as I expected
How do you know? interrupted Mrs. Hilyard, with a certain hoarseness in her voice.
Ah! I have touched you at last. Remembering what her mother was, he went on, in a mocking tone, though I am grieved to see how much you have gone off in late years and having a humble consciousness of her fathers personal advantages, and, in short, of her relatives in general, I know shes a little beauty and, by Jove, she shall be a duchess yet.