As he was of an old local family,some of whose members were held in respect in the county,Phyllis,in bringing him to her feet,had accomplished what was considered a brilliant move for one in her constrained position.How she had done it was not quite known to Phyllis herself.In those days unequal marriages were regarded rather as a violation of the laws of nature than as a mere infringement of convention,the more modern view,and hence when Phyllis,of the watering-place bourgeoisie,was chosen by such a gentlemanly fellow,it was as if she were going to be taken to heaven,though perhaps the uninformed would have seen no great difference in the respective positions of the pair,the said Gould being as poor as a crow.
This pecuniary condition was his excuse--probably a true one--for postponing their union,and as the winter drew nearer,and the King departed for the season,Mr.Humphrey Gould set out for Bath,promising to return to Phyllis in a few weeks.The winter arrived,the date of his promise passed,yet Gould postponed his coming,on the ground that he could not very easily leave his father in the city of their sojourn,the elder having no other relative near him.
Phyllis,though lonely in the extreme,was content.The man who had asked her in marriage was a desirable husband for her in many ways;her father highly approved of his suit;but this neglect of her was awkward,if not painful,for Phyllis.Love him in the true sense of the word she assured me she never did,but she had a genuine regard for him;admired a certain methodical and dogged way in which he sometimes took his pleasure;valued his knowledge of what the Court was doing,had done,or was about to do;and she was not without a feeling of pride that he had chosen her when he might have exercised a more ambitious choice.
But he did not come;and the spring developed.His letters were regular though formal;and it is not to be wondered that the uncertainty of her position,linked with the fact that there was not much passion in her thoughts of Humphrey,bred an indescribable dreariness in the heart of Phyllis Grove.The spring was soon summer,and the summer brought the King;but still no Humphrey Gould.
All this while the engagement by letter was maintained intact.
At this point of time a golden radiance flashed in upon the lives of people here,and charged all youthful thought with emotional interest.This radiance was the aforesaid York Hussars.
CHAPTER II
The present generation has probably but a very dim notion of the celebrated York Hussars of ninety years ago.They were one of the regiments of the King's German Legion,and (though they somewhat degenerated later on)their brilliant uniform,their splendid horses,and above all,their foreign air and mustachios (rare appendages then),drew crowds of admirers of both sexes wherever they went.
These with other regiments had come to encamp on the downs and pastures,because of the presence of the King in the neighbouring town.
The spot was high and airy,and the view extensive,commanding the Isle of Portland in front,and reaching to St.Aldhelm's Head eastward,and almost to the Start on the west.
Phyllis,though not precisely a girl of the village,was as interested as any of them in this military investment.Her father's home stood somewhat apart,and on the highest point of ground to which the lane ascended,so that it was almost level with the top of the church tower in the lower part of the parish.Immediately from the outside of the garden-wall the grass spread away to a great distance,and it was crossed by a path which came close to the wall.
Ever since her childhood it had been Phyllis's pleasure to clamber up this fence and sit on the top--a feat not so difficult as it may seem,the walls in this district being built of rubble,without mortar,so that there were plenty of crevices for small toes.
She was sitting up here one day,listlessly surveying the pasture without,when her attention was arrested by a solitary figure walking along the path.It was one of the renowned German Hussars,and he moved onward with his eyes on the ground,and with the manner of one who wished to escape company.His head would probably have been bent like his eyes but for his stiff neck-gear.On nearer view she perceived that his face was marked with deep sadness.Without observing her,he advanced by the footpath till it brought him almost immediately under the wall.
Phyllis was much surprised to see a fine,tall soldier in such a mood as this.Her theory of the military,and of the York Hussars in particular (derived entirely from hearsay,for she had never talked to a soldier in her life),was that their hearts were as gay as their accoutrements.
At this moment the Hussar lifted his eyes and noticed her on her perch,the white muslin neckerchief which covered her shoulders and neck where left bare by her low gown,and her white raiment in general,showing conspicuously in the bright sunlight of this summer day.He blushed a little at the suddenness of the encounter,and without halting a moment from his pace passed on.
All that day the foreigner's face haunted Phyllis;its aspect was so striking,so handsome,and his eyes were so blue,and sad,and abstracted.It was perhaps only natural that on some following day at the same hour she should look over that wall again,and wait till he had passed a second time.On this occasion he was reading a letter,and at the sight of her his manner was that of one who had half expected or hoped to discover her.He almost stopped,smiled,and made a courteous salute.The end of the meeting was that they exchanged a few words.She asked him what he was reading,and he readily informed her that he was re-perusing letters from his mother in Germany;he did not get them often,he said,and was forced to read the old ones a great many times.This was all that passed at the present interview,but others of the same kind followed.
