the warden entered at this moment: and close behind him came the lord chancellor, a
little flushed and out of breath, and adjusting his wig, which appeared to have
been dragged partly off his head.
“but where is my precious child?” my lady enquired, as the four took their seats
at the small side-table devoted to ledgers and bundles and bills.
“he left the room a few minutes ago with the lord chancellor,” the sub-warden
briefly explained.
“ah!” said my lady, graciously smiling on that high official. “your lordship has
a very taking way with children! i doubt if any one could gain the ear of my
darling uggug so quickly as you can!” for an entirely stupid woman, my lady's
remarks were curiously full of meaning, of which she herself was wholly
unconscious.
the chancellor bowed, but with a very uneasy air. “i think the warden was about to
speak,” he remarked, evidently anxious to change the subject.
but my lady would not be checked. “he is a clever boy,” she continued with
enthusiasm, “but he needs a man like your lordship to draw him out!”
the chancellor bit his lip, and was silent. he evidently feared that, stupid as she
looked, she understood what she said this time, and was having a joke at his
expense. he might have spared himself all anxiety: whatever accidental meaning her
words might have, she herself never meant anything at all.
“it is all settled!” the warden announced, wasting no time over preliminaries. “
the sub-wardenship is abolished, and my brother is appointed to act as vice-warden
whenever i am absent. so, as i am going abroad for a while, he will enter on his
new duties at once.”
“and there will really be a vice after all?” my lady enquired.
“i hope so!” the warden smilingly replied.
my lady looked much pleased, and tried to clap her hands: but you might as well
have knocked two feather-beds together, for any noise it made. “when my husband is
vice,” she said, “it will be the same as if we had a hundred vices!”
“hear, hear!” cried the sub-warden.
“you seem to think it very remarkable,” my lady remarked with some severity,
“that your wife should speak the truth!”
“no, not remarkable at all!” her husband anxiously explained. “nothing is
remarkable that you say, sweet one!”
my lady smiled approval of the sentiment, and went on. “and am i vice-wardeness?”
“if you choose to use that title,” said the warden: “but 'your excellency' will
be the proper style of address. and i trust that both 'his excellency' and 'her
excellency' will observe the agreement i have drawn up. the provision i am most
anxious about is this.” he unrolled a large parchment scroll, and read aloud the
words “'item, that we will be kind to the poor.' the chancellor worded it for me,
” he added, glancing at that great functionary. “i suppose, now, that word 'item'
has some deep legal meaning?”
“undoubtedly!” replied the chancellor, as articulately as he could with a pen
between his lips. he was nervously rolling and unrolling several other scrolls, and
making room among them for the one the warden had just handed to him. “these are
merely the rough copies,” he explained: “and, as soon as i have put in the final
corrections—” making a great commotion among the different parchments, “—a
semi-colon or two that i have accidentally omitted—” here he darted about, pen in
hand, from one part of the scroll to another, spreading sheets of blotting-paper
over his corrections, “all will be ready for signing.”
“should it not be read out, first?” my lady enquired.
“no need, no need!” the sub-warden and the chancellor exclaimed at the same
moment, with feverish eagerness.
“no need at all,” the warden gently assented. “your husband and i have gone
through it together. it provides that he shall exercise the full authority of
warden, and shall have the disposal of the annual revenue attached to the office,
until my return, or, failing that, until bruno comes of age: and that he shall then
hand over, to myself or to bruno as the case may be, the wardenship, the unspent
revenue, and the contents of the treasury, which are to be preserved, intact, under
his guardianship.”
all this time the sub-warden was busy, with the chancellor's help, shifting the
papers from side to side, and pointing out to the warden the place whew he was to
sign. he then signed it himself, and my lady and the chancellor added their names
as witnesses.
“short partings are best,” said the warden. “all is ready for my journey. my
children are waiting below to see me off” he gravely kissed my lady, shook hands
with his brother and the chancellor, and left the room.
{image...'what a game!'}
the three waited in silence till the sound of wheels announced that the warden was
out of hearing: then, to my surprise, they broke into peals of uncontrollable
laughter.
“what a game, oh, what a game!” cried the chancellor. and he and the vice-warden
joined hands, and skipped wildly about the room. my lady was too dignified to skip,
but she laughed like the neighing of a horse, and waved her handkerchief above her
head: it was clear to her very limited understanding that something very clever had
been done, but what it was she had yet to learn.
“you said i should hear all about it when the warden had gone,” she remarked, as
soon as she could make herself heard.
“and so you shall, tabby!” her husband graciously replied, as he removed the
blotting-paper, and showed the two parchments lying side by side. “this is the one
he read but didn't sign: and this is the one he signed but didn't read! you see it
was all covered up, except the place for signing the names—”
“yes, yes!” my lady interrupted eagerly, and began comparing the two agreements.
“'item, that he shall exercise the authority of warden, in the warden's absence.'
why, that's been changed into 'shall be absolute governor for life, with the title
of emperor, if elected to that office by the people.' what! are you emperor,
darling?”
“not yet, dear,” the vice-warden replied. “it won't do to let this paper be
seen, just at present. all in good time.”
my lady nodded, and read on. “'item, that we will be kind to the poor.' why,
that's omitted altogether!”
“course it is!” said her husband. “we're not going to bother about the wretches!
”
“good,” said my lady, with emphasis, and read on again. “'item, that the
contents of the treasury be preserved intact.' why, that's altered into 'shall be
at the absolute disposal of the vice-warden'! well, sibby, that was a clever trick!
all the jewels, only think! may i go and put them on directly?”
“well, not just yet, lovey,” her husband uneasily replied. “you see the public
mind isn't quite ripe for it yet. we must feel our way. of course we'll have the
coach-and-four out, at once. and i'll take the title of emperor, as soon as we can
safely hold an election. but they'll hardly stand our using the jewels, as long as
they know the warden's alive. we must spread a report of his death. a little
conspiracy—”
“a conspiracy!” cried the delighted lady, clapping her hands. “of all things, i
do like a conspiracy! it's so interesting!”
the vice-warden and the chancellor interchanged a wink or two. “let her conspire
to her heart's content!” the cunning chancellor whispered. “it'll do no harm!”
“and when will the conspiracy—”
“hist!', her husband hastily interrupted her, as the door opened, and sylvie and
bruno came in, with their arms twined lovingly round each other—bruno sobbing
convulsively, with his face hidden on his sister's shoulder, and sylvie more grave
and quiet, but with tears streaming down her cheeks.
“mustn't cry like that!” the vice-warden said sharply, but without any effect on
the weeping children. “cheer 'em up a bit!” he hinted to my lady.
“cake!” my lady muttered to herself with great decision, crossing the room and
opening a cupboard, from which she presently returned with two slices of plum-cake.
“eat, and don't cry!” were her short and simple orders: and the poor children sat
down side by side, but seemed in no mood for eating.
for the second time the door opened—or rather was burst open, this time, as uggug
rushed violently into the room, shouting “that old beggars come again!”
“he's not to have any food—” the vice-warden was beginning, but the chancellor
interrupted him. “it's all right,” he said, in a low voice: “the servants have
their orders.”
“he's just under here,” said uggug, who had gone to the window, and was looking
down into the court-yard.
“where, my darling?” said his fond mother, flinging her arms round the neck of
the little monster. all of us (except sylvie and bruno, who took no notice of what
was going on) followed her to the window. the old beggar looked up at us with
hungry eyes. “only a crust of bread, your highness!” he pleaded.
{image...'drink this!'}
he was a fine old man, but looked sadly ill and worn. “a crust of bread is what i
crave!” he repeated. “a single crust, and a little water!”
“here's some water, drink this!”
uggug bellowed, emptying a jug of water over his head.
“well done, my boy!” cried the vice-warden.
“that's the way to settle such folk!”
“clever boy!”, the wardeness chimed in. “hasn't he good spirits?”
“take a stick to him!” shouted the vice-warden, as the old beggar shook the water
from his ragged cloak, and again gazed meekly upwards.
“take a red-hot poker to him!” my lady again chimed in.
possibly there was no red-hot poker handy: but some sticks were forthcoming in a
moment, and threatening faces surrounded the poor old wanderer, who waved them back
with quiet dignity. “no need to break my old bones,” he said. “i am going. not
even a crust!”
“poor, poor old man!” exclaimed a little voice at my side, half choked with sobs.
bruno was at the window, trying to throw out his slice of plum-cake, but sylvie
held him back.
“he shalt have my cake!” bruno cried, passionately struggling out of sylvie's
arms.
“yes, yes, darling!” sylvie gently pleaded. “but don't throw it out! he's gone
away, don't you see? let's go after him.” and she led him out of the room,
unnoticed by the rest of the party, who were wholly absorbed in watching the old
beggar.
the conspirators returned to their seats, and continued their conversation in an
undertone, so as not to be heard by uggug, who was still standing at the window.
“by the way, there was something about bruno succeeding to the wrardenship,” said
my lady. “how does that stand in the new agreement?”
the chancellor chuckled. “just the same, word for word,” he said, “with one
exception, my lady. instead of 'bruno,' i've taken the liberty to put in—” he
dropped his voice to a whisper, “to put in 'uggug,' you know!”
“uggug, indeed!” i exclaimed, in a burst of indignation i could no longer
control. to bring out even that one word seemed a gigantic effort: but, the cry
once uttered, all effort ceased at once: a sudden gust swept away the whole scene,
and i found myself sitting up, staring at the young lady in the opposite corner of
the carriage, who had now thrown back her veil, and was looking at me with an
expression of amused surprise.
