 | CHAPTER XXVIII
THE WORLD AND THE WILL. Millbank, or, Roger Irving's ward |  |
28. CHAPTER XXVIII
THE WORLD AND THE WILL.
THE world, or that portion of it represented by Belvidere,
did not receive it kindly, and when the new heir
appeared in the street on the day succeeding the events
narrated in the last chapter, he was conscious of a certain air of
constraint and stiffness about those whom he met, and an evident
attempt to avoid him. It was known all over town by
that time, for Roger had made no secret of the matter, and an
hour after Magdalen left him, he had sent for all the servants,
and told them briefly of his changed condition. He entered
into no particulars; he merely said:
“My father saw fit to make a later will than the one found
at the time of his death. In it he gave Millbank and all its
appurtenances to Frank, as the child of his eldest son, my
brother Walter. This later will, of whose existence I did not
know, has recently been found, and by virtue of it everthing
when the will is proved. You have served me faithfully, some
of you for years, and I shall never forget your unvarying kindness
and fidelity. The amount of wages due each of you I
shall venture to pay from money kept for that purpose. My
nephew will allow me to do that, and then, so far as I am concerned,
you are at liberty to seek new situations. Our relations
as employer and servant are at an end. I do not wish you to
talk about it, or to express your sympathy for me. I could not
bear it now, so please do not trouble me.”
This last he said because of the murmur of discontent and
surprise and dissatisfaction which ran through the room when
those assembled first learned that they must part with their
master, whom they had loved and respected so long.
“We will not leave you, Mr. Irving. We will go where you
go. We will work for you for less wages than for anybody else,”
was what the house servants said to him, and what many of his
factory and shop hands said when next day he met them in front
of the huge mill where they were congregated.
He had told his servants not to talk of his affairs, but they
did not heed him; while Hester Floyd, whom no one could control,
discussed the matter freely, so that by noon the little town
was rife with rumors of every kind, and knots of people gathered
at the corners of the street, while in front of the cotton mill a
vast concourse had assembled even before the bell rang for
twelve, and instead of going home to the dinner they would
hardly have found prepared that day, they stood talking of the
strange news, which had come to them in so many different
forms. That there had been some undue influence brought to
bear upon Squire Irving, they knew; and that the mother of
the new heir was the guilty party who had slandered the Squire's
unfortunate young wife, they also knew; and many and loud
were their imprecations against the woman whose proud
haughty bearing had never impressed them favorably, and whom
they now disliked with all the unrestrained bitterness common
to their class.
All had heard of Jessie Irving, and a few remembered her as
she was when she first came among them, in her bright, girlish
beauty, with those great, sad blue eyes, which always smiled
kindly upon her husband's employes when she met with them.
As people will do, they had repeated her story many times, and
the mothers had blamed her sorely for deserting her child, while
a few envious ones, when speaking of “the grand doings at
Millbank,” had hinted that the original stock was “no better
than it should be,” and that the Irving name was stained like
many others.
But this was all forgotten now. Jessie Irving was declared
a saint, and an angel, and a martyr, while nothing was too
severe to say against the woman who had maligned her, and
influenced the jealous old Squire to do a thing which would deprive
the working classes in Belvidere of the kindest, most considerate,
and liberal of masters. The factory hands could not
work after they heard of it, and one by one they stole out upon
the green in front of the large manufactory, where they were
joined by other hands from the shoe shop, until the square was
full of excited men and boys, and girls, the murmur of their
voices swelling louder and louder as, encouraged by each other,
they grew more and more indignant toward the “new lords,” as
they called Frank and his mother, and more enthusiastic in
their praises of Roger.
One of their number proposed sending for him to come himself
and tell them if what they had heard was true, and to hear
their protest against it; and three of the more prominent men
were deputed to wait upon him.
There was no mistaking the genuine concern, and sympathy,
and sorrow written on their faces, when Roger went out to
meet them, and the sight of them nearly unmanned him again.
He had been very calm all the morning; had breakfasted with
his sister and Frank, as usual; had said to the latter that it
would be well enough to send for Lawyer Schofield, who was
not now a resident of Belvidere, but was practising in Springfield;
and had tried to quiet old Hester, who was giving loose
as she called them. He had also remembered Magdalen,
and sent her a bouquet of flowers by Celine, who represented
her as feverish and nervous, and too tired to leave her
bed. Roger did not gather from Celine's report that she was
very ill, only tired and worn; so he felt no particular anxiety
for her, and devoted himself to standing between and keeping
within bounds the other members of his household, and in so
doing felt a tolerable degree of quiet, until the men came up
from the mill, when the sight of their faces, so full of pity, and
the warm grasp of their friendly hands, brought a sudden rush
of tears to his eyes, and his chin quivered a little when he first
spoke to them.
“We've heard about it, Mr. Irving,” the speaker said, “and
we don't like it, any of us, and we hope it is not true, and we
are sent by the others who are down on the green, and who
want you to come and tell us if it is true, and what we are to
do.”
Mrs. Walter Scott, sitting by her chamber window, saw the
three men walk down the avenue, with Roger in their midst,
and saw, too, in the distance the crowd congregated in front of
the mill, and felt for a moment a thrill of fear as she began to
realize, more and more, what taking Millbank from Roger
meant. She would have felt still more uneasy could she have
seen the faces of the crowd, and their eager rush for Roger
when he appeared.
The women and the young girls were the first to pounce
upon him, and were the most voluble in their words of sorrow,
and surprise, and indignation, while the men and boys were not
far behind.
Bewildered and too much overcome at first to speak, Roger
stood like some father in the midst of his children, from whom
he is soon to be separated. He had been absent from them
for years, but his kindness and generosity had reached them
across the sea. They had lighter tasks, and higher wages,
and more holidays, and forbearance, and patience than any class
came from Roger's generosity, and the exceeding great kindness
of his heart, and they were grateful for it.
A few, of course, had taken advantage of his goodness, and
loitered, and idled, and complained of their hard lot, and talked
as if to work at all were a great favor to their employer. But
the majority had appreciated him to the full, and given him
back measure for measure, working for his interest, and serving
him so faithfully, that few manufactories were as prosperous or
yielded so large an income as those in Belvidere. And now
these workmen stood around their late master, with their sad
faces upturned, listening for what he had to say.
“It is all true,” he said. “There was another will, made by
my father a few months before he died.”
Here a few groans for Squire Irving were heard from a knot
of boys by the fence, but these were soon hushed, and Roger
went on:
“This will Hester Floyd saw fit to hide, because she thought
it unjust, and so for years —”
He did not get any further, for his voice was lost in the
deafening cheers which went up from the groaning boys for
Hester Floyd, whom they designated as a trump and a brick,
hurrahing with all their might, “Good for her. Three cheers
and a tiger for Hester Floyd.”
The cheers and the tiger were given, and then the boys
settled again into quiet, while Roger tried to frame some reasonable
excuse for what his father had done. But they would
not listen to that, and those nearest him said, “It's no use, Mr.
Irving. We've heard the reason and we know whom to thank
for this calamity, and there's not one of us but hates her for it.
We can never respect Mrs. Walter Irving.”
The multitude caught the sound of that name, and the boys
by the fence set up a series of most unearthly groans, which
were in no wise diminished when they saw coming toward them
Frank, the heir, and their new master, if they chose to serve
him. Frank's face was very pale, and there was something
the crowd, and heard the groans and hisses with which they
greeted him. Making his way to Roger's side, he whispered,
“Speak to them for me. They will listen to you when they
would only insult me. Tell them I am not in fault.”
So it was Roger who spoke for Frank, explaining matters
away, and trying to make things as smooth as possible.
“My nephew is not to blame,” he said. “He had nothing
to do with the will. He knew nothing of it, and was as much
surprised as you are when he found there was one.”
“Yes, and would have burned it, too; tell them that,” Frank
said, anxious to conciliate a people whose enmity he dreaded.
Roger repeated the words, which were received with incredulity.
“Stuff!” “Bosh!” “Can't make me swaller that!”
“Don't believe it!” and such like expressions ran through the
crowd, till, roused to a pitch of wild excitement, Frank sprang
upon a box and harangued the multitude eloquently in his own
defence.
“It is true,” he said. “I did try to burn the will, and
would have done so if it had not been struck from my hand.
I held a lighted match to it, and Roger will tell you that a part
of it is yellow now with the smoke and flame.”
“Yellow with time more like,” a woman said, while a son of
Erin called out, “Good for you, Misther Franklin, to defind
yourself, but plase tell us who struck the match from yer
hand.”
“An' sure who would be afther doin' the mane thing but his
mither, bad luck to her,” interrupted another of Ireland's sons,
and Frank rejoined, “It was not my mother. Roger will tell
you that it was some one whom you love and respect, and who
was just as desirous that the will should be destroyed as I was,
but who did not think it right and dared not do it. I am sorrier
about it than you are, and I've tried to make Roger keep
Millbank, and he refuses. I can no more help being the heir
than I could help being born, and I do not want to be blamed.
Roger's experience, nor Roger's sense; but I'll do the very best
I can, and you must stand by me and help me to be what
Roger was.”
Frank was growing very eloquent, and his pale, boyish face
lighted up and his eyes kindled as he went on telling what he
meant to be if they would only help him instead of hindering
and disliking him, until the tide began to set in his favor and
the boys by the fence whispered to each other:
“Let's go in for white-hair, jest for fun if nothing more, — he
talks reasonable, and maybe he'll give us half holidays when
the circus is in town. Mr. Irving never done that.”
“Yes, but he let us go to see the hanimals, and gin Bob
'Untley a ticket,” said a red-faced English youth.
But the circus clique carried the day, and there rose from
that part of the green a loud huzza for “Mr. Franklin Irving,”
while the faces of the older ones cleared up a little, and a few
spoke pleasantly to Frank, who felt that he was not quite so
obnoxious to the people as he had been. But they kept aloof
from him, and followed their late master even to the gates of
Millbank, assuring him of their readiness to go with him and
work for him at lower rates than they were working now. And
Roger, as he walked slowly up the avenue, felt that it was worth
some suffering and trial to know that he stood so high in the
estimation of those who had been employed by him so long.
All over town the same spirit prevailed, pervading the higher
circles, and causing Mrs. Johnson to telegraph to Springfield
for Lawyer Schofield, who she hoped might do something,
though she did not know what. He came on the next train,
and went at once to Millbank and was closeted with Roger for
an hour and looked the ground over and talked with Hester
Floyd and screamed to Aleck through an ear trumpet and
said a few words to Frank and bowed coldly to Mrs. Walter
Scott, and then went back to the group of ladies assembled in
Mrs. Johnson's parlor, and told them there was no hope. The
will was perfectly good. Frank was the rightful heir, and
had received. And then his auditors all talked together, and
abused Mrs. Walter Scott and pitied Roger and spoke slightingly
of Frank, and wondered if there was any truth in the
rumor that Magdalen was to marry him. They had heard so,
and the rumor incensed them against her, and when Lawyer
Schofield said he thought it very possible, they pounced upon
the luckless girl and in a very polite way tore her into shreds,
without, however, saying a word which was not strictly lady-like
and capable of a good as well as of a bad construction.
| CHAPTER XXVIII
THE WORLD AND THE WILL. Millbank, or, Roger Irving's ward | |