第103章

One speaks of the moods of spring,but the days that are her true children have only one mood;they are all full of the rising and dropping of winds,and the whistling of birds.New flowers may come out,the green embroidery of the hedges increase,but the same heaven broods overhead,soft,thick,and blue,the same figures,seen and unseen,are wandering by coppice and meadow.The morning that Margaret had spent with Miss Avery,and the afternoon she set out to entrap Helen,were the scales of a single balance.Time might never have moved,rain never have fallen,and man alone,with his schemes and ailments,was troubling Nature until he saw her through a veil of tears.

She protested no more.Whether Henry was right or wrong,he was most kind,and she knew of no other standard by which to judge him.She must trust him absolutely.As soon as he had taken up a business,his obtuseness vanished.He profited by the slightest indications,and the capture of Helen promised to be staged as deftly as the marriage of Evie.

They went down in the morning as arranged,and he discovered that their victim was actually in Hilton.On his arrival he called at all the livery-stables in the village,and had a few minutes'

serious conversation with the proprietors.What he said,Margaret did not know--perhaps not the truth;but news arrived after lunch that a lady had come by the London train,and had taken a fly to Howards End.

"She was bound to drive,"said Henry."There will be her books.

"I cannot make it out,"said Margaret for the hundredth time.

"Finish your coffee,dear.We must be off."

"Yes,Margaret,you know you must take plenty,"said Dolly.

Margaret tried,but suddenly lifted her hand to her eyes.Dolly stole glances at her father-in-law which he did not answer.In the silence the motor came round to the door.

"You're not fit for it,"he said anxiously.

"Let me go alone.I know exactly what to do.""Oh yes,I am fit,"said Margaret,uncovering her face."Only most frightfully worried.I cannot feel that Helen is really alive.Her letters and telegrams seem to have come from someone else.Her voice isn't in them.I don't believe your driver really saw her at the station.I wish I'd never mentioned it.I know that Charles is vexed.Yes,he is--"She seized Dolly's hand and kissed it."There,Dolly will forgive me.

There.Now we'll be off."

Henry had been looking at her closely.He did not like this breakdown.

"Don't you want to tidy yourself?"he asked.

"Have I time?"

"Yes,plenty."

She went to the lavatory by the front door,and as soon as the bolt slipped,Mr.Wilcox said quietly:

"Dolly,I'm going without her."

Dolly's eyes lit up with vulgar excitement.

She followed him on tip-toe out to the car.

"Tell her I thought it best."

"Yes,Mr.Wilcox,I see."

"Say anything you like.All right."

The car started well,and with ordinary luck would have got away.But Porgly-woggles,who was playing in the garden,chose this moment to sit down in the middle of the path.Crane,in trying to pass him,ran one wheel over a bed of wallflowers.Dolly screamed.Margaret,hearing the noise,rushed out hatless,and was in time to jump on the footboard.She said not a single word:he was only treating her as she had treated Helen,and her rage at his dishonesty only helped to indicate what Helen would feel against them.She thought,"I deserve it:I am punished for lowering my colours."And she accepted his apologies with a calmness that astonished him.

"I still consider you are not fit for it,"he kept saying.